Jacob’s Trouble continued

Ezekiel expresses it eloquently: “And it shall come to pass at the same time, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy, and in the fire of my wrath, have I spoken, surely, in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel. . . And I will plead against him [Gog] with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people, that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone” (Ezek 38:18, 19, 22).

This is (generally and supposedly to be taken as) symbolic language (but in this particular case, is it? I believe that we are entering a time in which many things written will have both literal and symbolic fulfillment’s and that we would be wise to consider this and to be on the lookout for both so as not to be stumbled). The prophet uses the words fury, jealousy, wrath, a great shaking, pestilence, blood, an overflowing rain, great hailstone, fire, and brimstone. These were the most destructive things men knew at that time. Today men consider modern artillery, rockets, tanks, planes and ships and of course nuclear weapons to be the ultimate in destructive force. Although Gog and his allies will be liberally equipped with these, they are but puny things indeed compared with the power of God. So we can only imagine the form in which this tremendous power of God will be expressed against the enemies of Israel. But we do know that it will be demonstrated in a most spectacular manner and that the whole world will witness it, will know that a most unusual thing has taken place—something that can only be attributed to God. What they see will convince them that it is indeed the Almighty God who is fighting for his people Israel.

Millions of atheists, agnostics and heathen the world over will be instantly converted to God, when they witness this amazing event (Not necessarily to Christianity, but to a belief in THE God of Israel.)

“Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself. And I will be known in the eyes of MANY nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezek 38:23). This is confirmed two chapters earlier: “And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen [or nations]… And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes” (That is to say God will be sanctified, i.e. set-apart, proven as the one and only true God in the eyes of the world when he miraculously intervenes on the part of the nation of Israel) Ezek 36:23. “The Future of the Nation of Israel”

“And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD that my fury shall come up in my face.” (Ezek 38:18)

As God said through Isaiah, “I have long time held my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once,” and so God’s fury will come up in His face (Isa 42:14). This expression of course is figurative because no man can see God’s face and live. The expression indicates that,

(1) God has had enough. He will lay bare His holy arm (reveal His righteous indignation) in the sight of all and execute judgment (Isa 52:10).

(2) A person can be angry, but that anger can be hidden and go undiscerned by others. However, for fury to come up in God’s face means an outward manifestation of His indignation against this invading host. God will be “seen” (revealed) in this trouble. One of these ways in which he will be discerned is by means of “a great shaking [earthquake] in the land of Israel.”

“For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.” (Ezek 38:19, 20)

Once again we note how this text describes one of the ways in which God will be revealed during this trouble.

An actual or literal earthquake of such mammoth proportions and intensity will take place in that selective area, that the birds, insects, fish, animals, and people will feel its effects reverberating all throughout the world. All will shake at God’s presence.

The symbolic fulfillment of Ezek 38:19, 20 however is this, “The violence begun there will spread like a cancer, as the armies assembled against the Lord’s people turn one upon another, “every man’s sword against his brother” so too will this same sentiment spread throughout the world, “so that the fish of the sea (the unrestrained masses of humanity), and the birds of the heavens (the powers of spiritual control, both the seen and the unseen), and the beasts of the field (Gentile governments of the world), and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains (governments, kingdoms of this world) shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and EVERY wall (every shelter or place of seeming security and refuge, every man-made institution and/or organization whether secular or religious) shall fall to the ground.”

The Dome of the Rock and the city of Jerusalem, both new and old, will be leveled to prepare the topography for the Temple platform in the Kingdom. When the Mount of Olives splits, the Holy Remnant will find the valley that opens to be a place of refuge and safety. They will rush into that valley and be protected, while all around will be utter destruction. God’s method will be similar to the Israelite’s’ protection when the Red Sea opened and they crossed dry-shod in the Exodus. The “dry land” of the future will be the valley of safety between the two halves of the Mount of Olives.

Question: The end of Verse 19 defines the earthquake as being in the land of Israel, but Verses 20 and 21 sound as if the earthquake affects the whole earth. Doesn’t the qualification of Verse 19 apply to all three verses?

Answer: Yes. Zech 14:4, 5, 10, 11 confirms the selectivity.

“And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south. Then you shall flee through my mountain valley, for the mountain valley shall reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Thus the Lord my God will come and all the saints with him… All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin’s Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. The people shall dwell in it; and no longer shall there be utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.”

Zech 14:10 and 11 shows that Jerusalem will be rebuilt, Gog and Magog will come down to Jerusalem; they will not be interested in Tiberias or Haifa, for example, but the main capital.

“The city shall be taken” (Zech 14:2)—what city? Jerusalem. All the land in that environs will be lifted up and the land completely reallocated. A literal earthquake will occur in the future as it was a literal earthquake in the days of Uzziah (Zech 14:5; Amos 1:1).

So specific shall the judgments be that near the end the inhabitants of earth will know positively that it is the Day of the Lord.

“Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come” (Joel 1:15). “And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward [to me in that day, saith the LORD] ” (Isa 8:21).

“And I will call for a sword against him (Gog) throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.” (Ezek 38:21)

The particular intent is the destruction of Gog and those with him, as well as the unholy Jew, the “rebels” (Ezek 20:38) and not necessarily of Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish especially (the various peace-keeping forces on the scene in and around Israel at the time). “Every man’s sword shall be against his brother.” This statement indicates that utter confusion and panic will cause Gog’s own “sword,” the very weapons of destruction and violence, to be turned against one another. We are reminded of the Gideon-Midianite account where God gave Israel a great victory by causing the enemy to become so confused that they slaughtered each other.

We continue with our next post.