God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible

by Walid Shoebat

  After the war of Gog and Magog there will be no more blasphemy, no more, “There is no god but Allah and Mohammed is his messenger.” The only creed will be “There is no God but Jehovah and Jesus is His Son.”

  3. CHRIST IS PRESENT

  In both battles—Gog and Armageddon—Christ is present with the greatest earthquake: “And all the men that are upon the face of the earth shall shake at my presence.” (Ezekiel 38:20)

  Who is present? God is present—in the flesh. This is indeed the last battle, with Jesus scoring a great victory on behalf of his people against their enemies. If one doubts that Messiah is on earth, the text in verse 7 should leave no doubt. “And the heathen shall know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One in Israel,” (39:7).

  Did you see that? The Holy One is in Israel.

  Other parts of Scripture use the phrase “the Holy One of Israel,” but here the Messiah is actually present on the Earth in the Land of Israel.

  This “in” is crucial. It’s like DNA evidence in a court of law. No serious Bible student can doubt the fact that this event is anything other than the Messiah fighting the Antichrist.

  We also have verse 19, “My fury shall come up in my face.” (Ezekiel 38:18). This is a literal face—he is furious and angry.

  Not only is Christ present, but the destruction of both Gog and the Antichrist is accompanied by an earthquake of unparalleled proportions: “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,” (Ezekiel 38:19-20).

  Shake at my presence? In the same verse, we read about the earthquake and his presence on earth. This is not a small event. Every creature on the earth will shake at the presence of Jesus.

  The Book of Revelation also tells us that this event occurs when the Antichrist’s armies are gathered together against Israel: “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon…And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great…and the cities of the nations fell…And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found,” (Revelation 16:18:-20).

  Both descriptions tell us that the mountains are “thrown down.” In other words, no nations are left. Only one kingdom remains—The Kingdom of Messiah.

  Zechariah describes the same event from his own prophetic perspective: “I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle…Then Jehovah will go forth and fight against those nations, as when He fights on a day of battle. In that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south,” (Zechariah 14:1-4).

  When did Jehovah have feet?

  Zechariah 14 gives both accounts—the final victory of Jehovah-God and the great earthquake. Ezekiel 38:19-20 does as well.

  The war of Ezekiel 38 is massive. Everything about the events, indicate that this war is no mere opening act for the Great Tribulation. It is the magnificent capstone of that period and will have a decisive effect on all nations worldwide.

  If the war of Gog and Magog occurs just prior to Christ’s coming and is a separate event from Armageddon, then do we have two separate battles for Christ, one to fight Gog and the other to fight Antichrist? How many comings are there?

  The return of Christ for this battle is well defined in the Book of Joel: “Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side…Jehovah will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble. But Jehovah will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.” (Joel 3:12, 16).

  Many Western scholars agree that Zechariah 14 and Joel 3 speak of the coming of Christ. Yet, because Ezekiel 38-39 describes the names of nations coming for war, and because they do not match the European Western mold, these scholars will separate the verses from their obvious context. They attempt to create a different mold and force the Bible to fit into their mold, rather than forcing their prophetic scenarios to conform to what the Bible says. The Book of Revelation, unlike any other book in the New Testament literally oozes with references, direct citations, allusions and even many echoes of hundreds of passages from the Old Testament. In fact, nearly every verse in the Book of Revelation is founded on an Old Testament passage. Can you guess which passage Revelation 19 and the Battle or Armageddon is primarily founded on? You guessed it—Ezekiel 38 and the Battle of Gog and Magog. Nearly every Commentary on Revelation that one can find will affirm this fact—except those written by the European Antichrist theorists—they do their best to hide this fact.

  Another powerful reason to recognize the fact that Gog is Antichrist is because Ezekiel makes it clear that all prophets speak of Gog: “This is what Jehovah the Sovereign says: Are you (Gog) not the one I spoke of in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them,” (Ezekiel 38:17).

  When this event happens, the Lord asks, are you not this one spoken of by the prophets? The word prophets is plural—many prophets, or even all of them that prophesied prior to Ezekiel.

  If Israel’s prophets speak of Gog and Magog, then where are all of the references? If one denies that Gog is the Antichrist, then one will be very hard pressed to find any of these references without seriously stretching the Scriptures. In fact, I have yet to see a single treatment of this subject by someone who claims that Gog is not the Antichrist. But if we take the position that Gog is the Antichrist, it is easy to find numerous passages throughout the prophetic books that mention the Antichrist and his army.

  The next argument lies in the fact that the enemy armies are eaten by wildlife in both battles. The specific descriptions concerning the destruction of Gog and his armies and the defeat of the Antichrist mirror one another almost perfectly. Consider the striking similarities between the following two invitations given to the birds of the air and the animals to feast on the flesh of the fallen soldiers.

  Gog: “Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth…At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,’ declares Jehovah the Sovereign,” (Ezekiel 39:17-20).

  Antichrist: “And I saw an angel standing in the sun, who cried in a loud voice to all the birds flying in midair, ‘Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great,’” (Revelation 19:17).

  The enemy is destroyed by the sword in the God and Magog battle and in Armageddon.

  You might ask, so what?

  I mention this because experts who claim that the Gog and Magog battle is separate from Armageddon, base their theory on the fact that Gog and Magog are destroyed miraculously by God through hail and pestilence while the Antichrist is killed by the sword.

  The fact of the matter is that both armies are destroyed by both hail, fire, and by the sword, yet in both the Gog and Magog battle as well as Armageddon, there is the mention of the destroying sword that God will bring against the invading armies: “I will call for a sword against him [Gog] on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD…You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all yo
ur troops and the peoples who are with you,” (Ezekiel 38:21-22).

  Similarly, concerning the destruction of the Antichrist and his armies, we read, “His name is called The Word of God…From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations.” (Revelation 19: 15) This of course is the same sword that we read about in Isaiah 34—the sword of the conquering Messiah against Edom: “My sword has drunk its fill in the heavens; see, it descends in judgment on Edom, the people I have totally destroyed. The sword of the LORD is bathed in blood, it is covered with fat, the blood of lambs and goats, fat from the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah and a great slaughter in Edom.” (v. 5-6)

  Both the Battle of Gog and Magog and Armageddon experience great hailstones. The Antichrist’s army is destroyed by a sword, hailstones, earthquakes, and disease. When teachers choose one and ignore the others, we end up with a mess. The argument that all Gog’s army are destroyed miraculously and Antichrist is not has been repeated a thousand times, but it is still a clear error. It’s like saying that the stone—not God, who directed the hand of David to kill Goliath.

  David slung the stone. Yet, it was God who established the miracle. Israel is also another case. Did Israel use weapons in 1948 and 1967? Sure they did. But God’s hand was in the battle. You might argue that Israel is secular, so God couldn’t have stood with them. Well, read Ezekiel 38 again. God will change the status quo and Israel will turn back to Him.

  Beyond there being a sword and great earthquake, there is also the similarity of great hailstones that will rain on the armies of both Gog and the Antichrist.

  Gog: “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 38:22).

  Antichrist: “Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon… Then there came… From the sky huge hailstones of about a hundred pounds each fell upon men. And they cursed God on account of the plague of hail, because the plague was so terrible,” (Revelation 16:16-21).

  The enemy comes from the North in both battles.

  Perhaps the strongest argument that Gog is the Antichrist is that whenever the direction from which the Antichrist is coming is mentioned, it is always the north, and never the European west. Yet, there isn’t a single verse in Scripture mentioning a European western invasion. You can try. It simply doesn’t exist. Yet, people cling to the theory of a western invasion developed from allegories in Revelation and Daniel.

  Western prophecy analysts have always argued that the Antichrist comes from Western Europe without providing a single text from the Bible as evidence.

  “But I will remove far off from you the northern army,” (Joel 2:20).

  “And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue with sling stones; and they shall drink, [and] make a noise as through wine; and they shall be filled like bowls, [and] as the corners of the altar. And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they [shall be as] the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land,” (Zechariah 9:14-16).

  If the Messiah is going from the south, where is He going to?

  He is going NORTH.

  In that day, He will save Israel. Analysts agree that this is Armageddon. Why, then, did many overlook the fact that the enemy comes from the northern regions and not Western Europe?

  The weapons are destroyed in both The Gog and Magog battle and in Armageddon. After the destruction of Gog, the peoples of Israel will burn the weapons of war that have been scattered on the battlefield. “Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them: ‘They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,’ declares the Lord GOD,” (Ezekiel 39:8-9).

  I always hear the argument that the seven years of burning weapons must take place at the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation period because it takes 7 years to burn these weapons. This argument is used to prove that this event cannot be Armageddon. But the burning weapons are not sufficient evidence that the event happens in the beginning of the seven-year false peace treaty.

  First, it is wrong to call the seven-year false peace treaty offered by the Antichrist the “Seven-Year Tribulation.” The Tribulation begins in the middle, when the Antichrist reneges on his deal. In reality, the tribulation is 3½ years.

  Such an event, of course—the burning of weapons for 7 years—would not take place unless Israel no longer needed weapons.

  Would it make sense to burn weapons at an hour of need? I could understand them burning weapons the first 3½ years, but why would they still burn the weapons after the middle of the 7 years? They will need all of the weapons they can get.

  This theory makes no sense.

  In fact, it further proves the case that Gog and Magog is indeed the final war. There is no longer a need for weapons. They will burn into the Millennium.

  As such, this passage is also highly reminiscent of the Prophet Micah’s descriptions of the Messianic period of the millennium: “And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” (Micah 4:3).

  Section IV

  Western Misconceptions Context and Allegorical Definitions

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  Western Misconceptions

  MIDDLE EASTERN CONTEXT

  We now need to address important misconceptions regarding the scope and geographical focus of Biblical prophecy. For many years, it has been taught that in the Last-Days literally every nation of the earth will be utterly dominated by the Antichrist; that there will be no place to escape from the dreaded Mark of the Beast; that every last nation of the world will come against Jerusalem. Zechariah 12 is used to validate the theory: “all the nations of the earth” (v. 1-3) will be gathered together to attack Jerusalem. Later, in Zechariah 14, we read that God, “will gather all the nations to Jerusalem to fight against it.” The Prophet Joel prophesies similarly, “I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat,” (Joel 3:2).

  The Apostle John, using perhaps the strongest language of all, goes so far as to say that the Antichrist will be given “authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation,” (Revelation 13:7).

  This would seem as an ironclad case for the Antichrist ruling the entire world, which he uses in his march against Jerusalem.

  The world used for “earth” in Zechariah is “eretz,” which most often is translated as “land.” But there are many verses in the Bible that also use this same type of language, yet are clearly not speaking of the whole globe. These verses all use a Hebrew grammatical construct that is an exaggeration or an emphatic statement in order to convey their point. Using hyperbole is extremely common in eastern culture. Elaborating on the exceptions would entirely blunt the impact of the statement. For instance, imagine a speed limit sign that listed the exceptions painted on it, “speed limit 55—except ambulances, fire trucks, police giving chase, etc.” Thus, exceptions cannot be ruled out on the basis of exclusive language. This type of language is actually found quite frequently in the Bible.

  For instance, Daniel the prophet, speaking to King Nebuchadnezzar: “O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the peoples and nations and men of every language dreaded and feared him,” (Daniel 5:1
8, 19).

  Did every single nation in the earth fear Nebuchadnezzar’s father? Or did only those nations that had heard of Nebuchadnezzar’s father dread him? Was Daniel speaking of every nation of the earth? Or only those nations that were in a close enough proximity to Babylon to be affected by her? Were the native peoples of Hawaii or Denmark living in dread of Nebuchadnezzar’s father? “Of course not,” Daniel’s use of the phrase “all the peoples, and nations and men of every language” was more of an emphatic expression used to convey his point. Or how about this one: “Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom,” (I Kings 4:34)? Was Solomon’s wisdom so impressive that not a single king in all the earth failed to hear of it? Was Solomon visited by Kings from China, Korea, and Scotland? More likely, this verse is simply attempting to convey the renowned Solomon that enjoyed throughout the ancient Biblical world. How about, “Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities wherein they dwelt,” (2 Kings 17:29).

  Did the inhabitants of every last nation of the earth have Samaritan gods in their homes? “Of course not,” this passage concerns a local area where such practices were the norm. “All” is simply used to emphasize how widespread this practice was. In Isaiah 37:18, we read that, “the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries.” Did King Sennacherib of Assyria actually destroy all nations on the face of the earth? Was South Africa or Japan laid waste by Sennecherib? Again, “all” is simply used as an emphatic statement regarding Sennecherib’s might and power. Did Alexander the Great ever occupy the whole world? He most certainly did not. And yet the Bible states, “As I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth,” (Daniel 8:5).