14-2 The Gog Invasion

An analysis of the last days from an Angelic viewpoint helps clarify some of these things. Ezekiel 38 and 39 speak of the Gog invasion in very similar language to prophecy concerning Assyria. The following connections are quite well known:

Angels and Assyria

The primary reference of the Isaiah passages is to the Assyrian invasion under Sennacherib. We have seen ('Angels and the Assyrian invasion', Chapter 10) that it was the Angels who both led the Assyrians to Jerusalem and also destroyed them there. Afterwards the Jews under Hezekiah went out to spoil the Assyrians, as frequently prophesied in Isaiah. This will also happen to Gog: "They that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons" (Ez. 39:9). The fact the Angels lead Assyria/Gog to invade Israel in the last days suggests that the "spirits" of Rev. 16:13-16 which gather the nations (notably the Gog confederacy) to Armageddon have something to do with Angels, perhaps through controlling other factors which act as influencing spirits on the nations.

One cannot miss the emphasis in Ezekiel 38 on the many "horses and horsemen", and the type of armour described ("Bucklers and shields", 38:4) gives the impression of many well armed cavalry men. Notice Ez. 38:15 too: "All of them riding upon horses". Why this emphasis on cavalry? The Angels are described as horse riders in Zechariah and Revelation; the horses in the chariots of Zech. 6 are also Angels (see Chapter 11), and there is the obvious connection with the Angel-cherubim chariot. Further Angelic language is found in 38:20 "My presence"; 39:7 "The Holy One".

Angel Armies

We have seen  that human armies are often described in Angelic language because there are Angels controlling them. This is also the case here with the Gog invasion, which is fitting seeing that Angels were behind the initial Assyrian invasion which is the prototype of that of Gog. They are described as "a great company, a mighty army" (Ez. 38:15)- reflecting the mighty Heavenly host. "Gomer. . Togarmah. . and all his bands" may refer to the Angels of those lands bringing forth their Angel-armies, in the same way as there was an Angelic "prince of Persia" in Dan. 10:13. Yet it is also so that all aspects of true spirituality have their antithesis in the false system of the world. Thus the real Christ is aped by an anti-Christ; and the armies of Heaven are matched by the armies of the earth, who are described in the same outline language.

It is also emphasized that the invasion came from "the north". Whilst not in any way questioning the geographical reference here, "the north" is also a reference to Heaven. The word implies a hidden place, and a closely related word is translated "hidden" in Ps. 83:3: "They. . . consulted against Thy hidden ones". Other examples include:

- "He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing" (Job 26:7)- the north seems to refer to the Heavens, a place void of man's presence.

- Lucifer said: "I will ascend into Heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will also sit upon the mount of the                Congregation in the sides of the north… above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High" (Is. 14:13,14). This shows the connection between the north and Heaven, both literally and the figurative Heaven of the temple against which Lucifer aspired, and in which the "Most High" (an Angelic title) dwelt.

- "I have raised up one (Jesus) from the north" (Is. 41:25)- a reference to Christ's Heavenly origin?

- "The secret place of the most High" (Ps. 91:1) refers to the tabernacle- which is the "Heavenlies" (we have earlier mentioned the connections between Heaven and the temple/tabernacle).

- The believers coming down from 'Heaven', a place void of man's human presence and where they cannot be harmed by man (1 Thess. 4:14; Rev. 6:9-11;21:2; Matt. 6:20; Heb. 12:23) is perhaps connected to the idea of the believers as the Cherubim in Ez. 1 coming from the figurative north.

- The offerings were slain on the north side of the altar (Lev. 1:11)- because the north represented God's presence?

Gog Revisited

Gog was to "be visited" (38:8). This is Angelic language. The parallel passage in Is. 24:21-23 also speaks of the Gog confederacy: "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish (Heb. 'visit') the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered together in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then. . the Lord of Hosts (Angels) shall reign". There are clear parallels with Gog's confederacy being visited by God, after they have been 'imprisoned' by Gog in order to support Gog's invasion. Gog is to be a "guard"- 'a prison' (s. w. Gen. 42:19)- to the other nations (38:7).  "The host of the high ones that are on high (Heaven), and the kings of the earth upon the earth" refers to both the Angels and their earthly charges. The Isaiah passage implies a gathering together of the confederacy  associated with a first Angelic 'visiting', followed by a "many days" period after which  there will be a second Angelic visiting and the final invasion. The phrase "many days" does not necessarily imply a very long period of  years- "Jacob. . mourned for his son many days" (Gen. 37:34)- not more than twenty years at the outside. A woman could have "an issue of her blood many days" (Lev. 15:25). "Ye abode in  Kadesh many days" (Dt. 1:46). Shimei "dwelt in Jerusalem  many  days"  (1 Kings 2:38).

These two Angelic visitings are spoken of in Ez. 38 too: "I (the Angels) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth". And secondly "After many days thou (Gog) shalt be visited" by the Angels; "things (shall) come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. . "(v. 10,11). This thinking was a result of Angelic visiting of Gog- to achieve their purpose of making both Assyria and Gog invade Israel, the Angels acted and will act directly on the hearts of the leaders of those nations.

Is. 10 speaks of the same "day of visitation"- not just on Israel but on the hearts of the Assyrians to effect that punishment: "O Assyrian, the rod of Mine anger. . I will send him against a hypocritical nation. . . I will give him a charge to take the spoil. . howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off nations not a few" (v. 3,5-7). Thus it was in his heart to punish Israel and other nations; "howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so". It therefore follows that the Angels must have put the thought into his heart, as of himself he did not think that way. The rest of Isaiah 10 has much Angelic language. Several times it is explained that because Assyria thought he had got success because of his own hand, he would be punished; implying he should have recognized that it was God's hand that enabled his success. The hand of God is Angelic language. Because of their pride in their own achievement, as they thought, it was "as if the rod should shake itself against them (the Angels) that lift it up" (v. 15). "Therefore shall the Lord, the Lord of Hosts (Angels), send among the fat ones leanness; and under his glory He shall kindle a burning like the burning of a fire (this is Angel-cherubim language). And the light of Israel shall be for a fire (referring back to the Angel in the wilderness giving light in the night due to the fire in which He dwelt), and his Holy One (Angelic language) for a flame"(v. 16,17). The Angels are made "a flame of fire" (Ps. 104:4). There follow a further four references to the "God of Hosts" in Isaiah 10, along with "the God of Jacob" and the "Holy One" again.

Thus  Ez. 38:7  is  the  Angels  speaking to  Gog:  "Be  thou prepared, and prepared for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard (prison) unto them".

Returning to the similarities between Assyria and the Gog invasion, remembering the prototype of the Assyrian invasion, the two invasions of Gog (or three? Ez. 38:4,8,10; or four if v. 4 implies two invasions: "I will turn thee back. . and bring thee forth"-again) find their basis in Assyria coming up several times before the final onslaught on Jerusalem. It seems evident to the present writer that there is only one coming of Christ- not a coming to the saints which is an invisible coming to the rest of the world, followed by a public "coming". This seems to rest on a misapplication of the coming of Christ with the suddenness of a thief on the unworthy saints; it also leads to advocating a kind of invisible 'parousia' almost identical to that believed in by Jehovah's pseudo witnesses.

At the coming of Christ the responsible will be gathered to judgement at Jerusalem. The plain Biblical evidence for this is too hard to go against. With Hezekiah in Jerusalem were "the sinners in Zion" (Is. 33:14), who would equate with the unworthy who are also gathered into Jerusalem. We will see later in this chapter that it is largely through the Angels that the judgement is ministered; and so it was in Hezekiah's time. In the  context of describing the punishment of these "sinners in Zion" we read: "The Lord will come with fire, and with His (Angel) chariots like a whirlwind (Angelic language), to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire". This is alluded to (quoted?) in 2 Thess. 1:7,8 concerning the Angelic punishment of the unworthy at the judgement: "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with His mighty Angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance. . ". That those punished are renegade saints who "know not God (any longer), and that obey not the Gospel" is evident from the fact that they are punished "from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power". In common with much of Thessalonians, Paul is alluding back to Matthew 24 and 25, here to the passage in 25:31-34 regarding the responsible being gathered to the judgement before "the throne of His glory". Only the responsible come into the  personal presence of Christ. The description of the judgement in Jude  24 chimes in too: "The presence of His glory".

The context of Is. 66 being concerning the "sinners in Zion" must be remembered. They are described as "the men that have transgressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched". This is quoted in Mk. 9:44 concerning Gehenna, the place of punishment for the unworthy saints. If the judgement is to be at Jerusalem, it would fit into place if the unworthy are punished literally in the physical location of Gehenna. This would make more sense of Christ's repeated allusions to it when talking of the judgement. The repeated reference to fire being used to punish the unworthy (remember the Angels can be made a flaming fire) implies their punishment will be within a defined period of time- probably very short, seeing God has no pleasure in punishing sin- and if fire is to be used, it would be logical if it was in a confined location. A punishment in literal Gehenna fits in ⁽³⁾.