Comparing the Two Gog of Magog Invasions
on Monday, March 10, 2025 by Bill SalusThis article is taken from my book entitled, The MILLENNIUM Prophecies and the NEW JERUSALEM.
Some teach that the Magog invasion identified in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is the same as the one in Revelation 20:7-10. However, there are several distinct differences between these two biblical predictions. Before identifying the glaring dissimilarities, let’s look at these two Gog of Magog prophecies.
Gog of Magog Invasion #1: (Ezekiel 38 and 39)
There are 52 verses in Ezekiel 38 and 39, so for the sake of this article’s brevity you can read a summary of this prophecy in my article entitled, “An Overview of Ezekiel 38 and 39.” (Click the article title to read it).
Gog of Magog Invasion #2: (Revelation 20:7-10)
The scenario is that Satan will be confined in the bottomless pit and no longer be able to deceive humankind throughout the entire Millennium.
“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.” (Revelation 20:1-3)
After the thousand years, “he must be released for a little while.” Following his release he perpetrates the second Gog of Magog Invasion.
“ Now when the (Millennium of the) thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city (of Jerusalem). And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:7-10, NKJV; emphasis added)
Comparing the Invasions
The clear distinctions between these two Gog of Magog invasions are provided below.
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• The battlefields: Ezek. 39:2; 38:16 takes place on the mountains of Israel, but Rev. 20:9 says the troops surround the camp of the saints and the beloved city of Jerusalem.
- • The defeats: Ezek. 38:19-22 predicts a great earthquake, Every man’s sword will be against his brother, pestilence and bloodshed, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. In Rev. 20:9 only fire comes down from God out of heaven.
- • The troops: Ezek. 38:2-7 identifies a limited group of localized Muslim nations led by Russia that invade from the north. Rev. 20:8 speaks of an international army, whose number is as the sand of the sea, from nations which are in the four quarters of the earth.
- • The weapons of warfare: Ezek. 39:9-10 says that Israel will be burning the enemies’ weapons for seven years. According to Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, the weapons that used to exist in the old earth have since been destroyed and turned into farm implements, (plowshares and pruning hooks). It hardly seems that Israel will be able to burn weapons that likely no longer exist.
- • The timing of the weapons’ burning: Ezek. 39:9 emphasizes the weapons supply can provide fuel to burn for seven years, but shortly after the Rev. 20:7-10 Magog prophecy concludes, the White Throne Judgment happens and then the Eternal Order starts. It seems unlikely that weapons will be burning in these two aftermath scenarios.
- • The timing of Israel’s rebirth vs. the reign of Jesus Christ: Ezek. 38:8 points out that the first Gog of Magog invasion takes place shortly after the Jews are restored to their homeland of Israel, which began on May 14, 1948. Rev. 20:7 says that Satan is loosed after Jesus the Messiah has reigned over the world for one thousand years.
- • The timing of the regathering of Israel: Ezek. 38:8 points out that the Jews are regathered from the nations to Israel. In the Millennium, there is no hint of an additional Jewish dispersion that would require another regathering. Thus, Rev. 20:7-10 happens over 1000 years after Israel had been regathered.
- • The leaders of the invasions: Ezek. Ezek. 38:2-11 says it’s Gog of Magog, but in Rev. 20:7-8 it’s clearly Satan released from the abyss.
In his book about the Ezekiel 38 prophecy entitled, Northern Storm Rising, Dr. Ron Rhodes brings up the additional points below. Firstly, Rhodes addresses the likely reason that the apostle John referred to Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:8. Secondly, he points out how the chronology between Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20:7-10 is all wrong.
Firstly…
“It is likely that the apostle John was simply using the terms Gog and Magog as a shorthand metaphor, kind of like we do today. For example, the word Wall Street in the English language has come to metaphorically refer to the stock market. Likewise, back in New Testament times, terms like Corinthian and Nazarene came to metaphorically refer to people with less-than-desirable qualities. Whether among modern people or people in New Testament times, the hearers of such words immediately draw the right connection and understand what is meant by the use of such terms. Likewise, when John used the terms Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:7- 10, his readers no doubt immediately drew the right connection and understood that this invasion at the end of the millennium would be similar to what Ezekiel described in that a confederation of nations will attack Israel but not succeed. In other words, this was to be a Gog/Magog-like invasion.”
Secondly…
“The chronology is all wrong. The invasion described by Ezekiel in Ezekiel 38—39 is part of a larger section of Ezekiel’s book which deals with the restoration of Israel (chapters 33—39). This is followed by another large section of Ezekiel’s book which describes the Jewish millennial temple and the restoration of sacrifices (chapters 40-48). In other words, Ezekiel’s invasion is before the millennial kingdom. By contrast, the invasion described in Revelation 20:7-10 takes place at the end of the millennial kingdom, and hence these invasions are separated by a thousand years….In keeping with the above, the invasion prophesied by Ezekiel is immediately followed by the establishment of the millennial kingdom (Ezekiel 40—48), whereas the invasion prophesied in Revelation 20:7-10 is immediately followed by the establishment of the eternal state (Revelation 21).”
Conclusion
Ezekiel 38:18-39:6 prophesies that God supernaturally defeats the Magog invaders and thwarts their plans to destroy Israel and capture its plunder and great booty. Then, Ezekiel 39:7 informs why God intercedes.
“So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezekiel 39:7)
Through the events of the Gog of Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38, God shows the nations, all of the nations in the world, that “I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.”
Similarly, in the Gog of Magog-like invasion of Revelation 20:7-10, God will supernaturally stop Satan and his band of sinners, and the results will be made perfectly clear to all the nations throughout the world again that, “I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.”
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