Following upon the establishment of Israel in the land, and their recognition of Jesus, the One whom they pierced, as the Messiah, their King, we find a terrible invasion of their country takes place by the powers of the North. Many have had the thought that immediately upon the manifestation of Christ in glory, the reign of peace and blessing will set in all its fullness; but this is not so. A terrible destruction of enemies takes place even after, though probably very shortly after Christ has appeared. A detailed account of this scene is given us in Ezekiel 38 and 39 and it is thought by many very possible to be identical with the last blow of the Assyrian, when he falls by divine judgment, which we have already glanced at.
Israel being gathered in their land with great wealth, the cupidity of a mighty power in the North is excited. The Western powers being destroyed, he thinks that his time is now come to possess the long-coveted land, and also the riches stored there. He is called in the prophecy “Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal”; but the correct rendering of the original is “Prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal,” and refers to the great Russian empire. He comes down on the land with a mighty army of his own, and accompanied by Persia, Ethiopia (Asiatic Ethiopia probably, territory by the Persian Gulf), Libya (or Phut by the Euphrates), Gomer, and all his bands (part of Asia Minor), and Togarmah (Armenia), and many peoples besides.
Israel will be dwelling safely without walls, bars, or gates when he comes down to take a spoil, and to take a prey (Ezek. 38:11-1211And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. (Ezekiel 38:11‑12)). The fury of the Lord comes up in His face (Ezek. 38:1818And 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. (Ezekiel 38:18)), and He says, “I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him 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. 38:21, 2221And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother. 22And I will plead against him 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. (Ezekiel 38:21‑22)). The ravenous birds, and the beasts of the field, devour the vast host smitten by the judgment of God, and for seven years the children of Israel go forth and burn the implements of war, and take seven months to bury their bones. (Ezek. 39).
Thus close the awful judgments upon Israel and the nations, which God has foretold shall accompany the second advent of the Son of Man, and the establishment of His kingdom in the earth. Ezekiel 40 to the close of Ezekiel gives a description of the millennial temple, the redivision of the land amongst the tribes. This brings us to the full millennial blessing. At the present time the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain; but in that day it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty (or liberty of the glory) of the children of God. (Rom. 8:20-2120For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:20‑21)). The dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, will be bound in the bottomless pit (or the abyss) for the thousand years, by an angel that shall come down from heaven (Rev. 20:33And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. (Revelation 20:3)), and no longer be enabled to make this world the sphere of his wiles and delusions, leading men captive in their sins.
In this wondrous day, the earth’s jubilee, the Lord Jesus Christ, having come forth as the Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings, will reign in glory with His heavenly saints over the earth. God will head up all things in Christ in heaven and in the earth. The government will be upon His shoulder, and He will rule over all for a thousand years, as King of kings and Lord of lords.
The righteous shall shine forth as the sun with Him, in the kingdom of their Father, and the world shall know that He has loved them as He has loved Him. The throne of Christ shall be set up, and all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him. There shall be one King over all the earth, one Lord, and His name one (Zech. 14:99And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one. (Zechariah 14:9)). It is then that His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end. upon the throne of David, and upon His kingdom, to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this. “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel” (Hos. 2:21-2221And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 22And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. (Hosea 2:21‑22)). And the knowledge of the Lord and of His glory shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isa. 11:99They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9); Hab. 2:1414For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)).
How blessed for the Christian, as he treads the pathway of faith, gazing upon His absent and rejected Lord, to know that He shall shortly come forth in power and great glory, to take the kingdoms of this world as His own, when He shall be universally honored, and the whole scene shall rejoice under His glorious and beneficent sway.
(Continued and to be continued).