Ezek 38:18 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.

The invasion of Israel led by Russia is going to make God angry and He is telling us that He will do something about it.

Zech 14:1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Israel has literally won back the land as spoil in battle. The day is coming when she will see it being taken away from her as it is being overrun by an overwhelming army. At no time in Israel's history since the time of Zechariah when he wrote this prophecy could his words be said to have been literally fulfilled. Jerusalem has been captured and destroyed numerous times. Even so there is one unique event still to be fulfilled.

Zech 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

Notice that the battle is said to be against Jerusalem. It says that only half the city will go into captivity. Why would an invading army with overwhelming force only capture half of the capital city as they invade Israel?

Zech 14:2 ... and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, ...

There are two reasons why the old city of Holy City half of Jerusalem will not be captured during the first pass of the invading army. The Jews have synagogues there, Christianity has churches there and the Muslims have mosques there. There is no military threat there.

Zech 14:2 ... and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.

There will be a desire not to damage the buildings as the Holy City half of Jerusalem will be left for last with the use of small arms only on a building to building basis if necessary so it may be captured with minimum damage done to it.

Zech 14:3 Then the Lord will go forth and fight against those nations, as He fights in the day of battle

This is the second reason, or rather the real reason why the second half of Jerusalem is not captured. The Lord will go forth and fight, and overwhelmingly win that fight, as He has done for Israel so many times before as recorded in the Old Testament.

Zech 14:4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which [is] before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

As we considered earlier, Jesus was standing on the Mount of Olives when He ascended into the clouds at the time His disciples were told that He would return in a like manner as they saw Him leave. This means He will once again stand in that same spot on the Mount of Olives.

Zech 14:4 ... and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, [and there shall be] a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.

The feet of Jesus Christ touching the Mount of Olives will cause it to split in half and cause a very great earthquake. Along with it will be other natural disasters that will be supernaturally caused. As the Mount of Olives splits, it will form a very great valley which has not happened yet and the Mount of Olives is still standing as it has for thousands of years.

Ezek 38:19 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;

Not only does Ezekiel describe a great earthquake, he also describes the effects of it being felt all around the world. The fish of the sea, birds of heaven, and all men on the fact of the earth shall shake at His presence.

Ezek 38:20 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.

The earthquake will be so devastating that it will be felt all around the earth. It will be felt in the sea, in the air and all over the earth's surface. The mountains thrown down and every wall shall fall to the ground means there will no longer be any buildings on the face of the earth.

Ezek 38:21 And 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.

God will cause massive confusion to the multi-national coalition fighting force. In modern terms, "every man's sword will be against his brother" which is called friendly fire. In other words they will be killed by their own troops. This is something that has happened to Israel's enemies in the past. However this is not the only thing that will happen that day.

Ezek 38:22 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.

God will open up His divine artillery and rain down uponn Israel's invaders supernatural plagues including pestilences, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone. The fire and brimstone is similar to what happened to Sodom and Gomorrah. But it is not the only thing that will happen that day as we could see in Job 38:22-23.

Job 38:22 Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail,

Here is mention of the great treasury of snow and hailstones that God has available to use in that day of battle.

Job 38:23 Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?

We have been accustomed to various snow and hailstorms that have occurred over history. However we normally do not expect extensive use of nail and snow by God in His Great Day of the Lord battle we usually call Armageddon.

Zech 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.

The Bible does not reveal any opposing army attacking the invaders. Rather it will be a time when God Himself by supernatural actions destroys the invading army. Some see the description of flesh and eyes dissolving describing the effect of nuclear blasts, but it is written that the Lord will use His supernatural power to strike the people. This is not a nuclear war.

Zech 14:13 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.

The overall effect of this battle is going to be massive loss of life and panic everywhere on the battlefield.

Ezek 39:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the [noses] of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call [it] The valley of Hamongog.

This is telling us that most of the very large invasion force will die there. The dead bodies of the invaders will be strewn in the fields and mountains throughout Israel. Hamon god is a Hebrew word for "the multitude of God," which will be the name of the vast cemetery for the dead invaders of Israel.

Ezek 39:12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.

There are so many dead bodies scattered around the land of Israel that it will take 7 months to bury them. There is no indication here of any survivors among the invaders. Yet we are told elsewhere that there will be some.

Zech 14:16 And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.

Here we are told that not only will there be some survivors but they will also come to Jerusalem every year to worship the Lord and to keep the feast of Tabernacles.

Zech 13:8 And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein.

This is telling us that there will be a purging of the occupants of Israel. It is likely that most of the 1/3 or about one million and half Jews who survive will be in Jerusalem, as the Holy City Jerusalem is the only area that will be left alone by Gog and his troops during that invasion and will be the only area not to experience destruction until the earthquake.

Joel 2:32 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Since it will be in Mt. Zion and Jerusalem that there will be deliverance, we could expect that the third of the Jews who survive will be located in or near the Holy City Jerusalem during the battle.

Joel 2:3 A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land [is] as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.

The land of Israel is currently like the Garden of Eden with Israel shipping food items grown there to other parts of the world. The destruction from the massive armed force invasion will literally destroy everything in its path and leave it looking like a desert once again.

Joel 2:5 Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array.

This seems to be describing what we know as waves of attack helicopters which can literally leap over mountains and whose blades make a noise similar to that of chariots in Joel's day. Attack helicopters can carry an assortment of weapons. These will include flame throwers which will be used to destroy whatever they find on the ground as they pass through. These changes will remove the things man created for his own glory. God will be free to build what He wants for His own glory.

Zech 14:5 And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.

Here we are told that when the Lord Jesus comes, He will have all the saints with Him. Thus this will happen after the first resurrection in Rev 20:6. Some know this event as the rapture though this word does not appear in the Bible.

Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

All of the saints who have ever lived since Adam up to the battle of Armageddon will take part in the first resurrection. Here we are being told that they will reign with Christ for 1000 years. They also will be with Him when He returns to destroy the wicked.

Psa 149:5 Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Psa 149:6 [Let] the high [praises] of God [be] in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; Psa 149:7 To execute vengeance upon the heathen, [and] punishments upon the people; Psa 149:8 To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; Psa 149:9 To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD.

Here in Psalms 149 we find that those who take part in the first resurrection will have the honor of assisting Christ in the execution of them according to the written judgment. This will be an honor for us to be part of this. However it also should bring to mind the need to try to assist the friends and family members we now have who are astray from following the Word of God now. Other wise we are likely to be involved in executing the written judgment on them later.

Zech 14:5 And ye shall flee [to] the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, [and] all the saints with thee.

Associated with the invasion of Israel described in Ezek 38 and Zech 14:1-2 is the return of Jesus Christ to the same spot He was at on the Mount of Olives when He ascended into the clouds. When He comes, He will bring all of the saints with Him. As we just read in Psa 149:5-9 they will help Him execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples.

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