I want to exalt the Lord today. And in doing that, we're going to read a lot. Let's start out by turning to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 38. I'm going to go over the details of Gog, G-O-G, and his great army. that invade Israel and the result of that invasion. So I thought the best way to do this is, for the most part, is just read and then make comments as we go. Chapter 38 begins, and the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, that is, unto Ezekiel, God's word came for him to write down for us, so we could remember. In the second verse, he said, son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. Ezekiel was unique in the Old Testament prophets in that he was addressed by God as the Son of Man again and again. He said, set thy face against God. Exactly 11 times in this book, 11's a number for judgment. God told the prophet to set his face against different things, against Jerusalem, against the mountains of Israel, against the daughters of thy people, against the Southland, against the Ammonites, against Sidon, against Pharaoh in Egypt, and against Mount Seir, and now against Gog. Gog, a name that simply means mountain. For years, I've searched this and looked at it and looked at it, and I can't find anything else about it except that it's called mountain. Magog, the land of Magog. Magog was the second son of Japheth, and he was a grandson of Noah. And he is the ancestor of several tribes of people that moved northward from Israel. Magog is that mountainous region between Cappadocia and Media. And the sons of Japheth, grandson of Noah, settled there. You'll find that back in Genesis 10 and Genesis 9. This Gog is called the chief prince. He's the foremost leader or the sovereign of this land. He says it's a Meshach and Tubal prophesying against him. I can't say for sure exactly who or what Meshach and Tubal is. Some people say that they're Moscow and Tobolsk. I don't know. But we do know that the area of Magog is generally Russia in the north quarter of Asia and Europe. And what is he to say to God? Thus saith the Lord God, behold, I am against thee, O God, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and I will turn thee back and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, Even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. God is a sovereign act. I'm going to put hooks in your jaws and bring you down on the mountains of Israel. I was amused. Brother Clark's brother one time was talking about what God does to us as sinners. He puts hooks in our jaws and draws us to himself. He said, well, I think I can just take the hooks out. I said, well, you're a dead, dyed-in-the-wool Armenian. You never will understand. Poor guy. So he goes on to say in verse 5, Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet, Gomer and all his bands, the House of Torgamah of the North Quarters and all his bands, and many people with them. Now, I want to talk about for a minute who these people are as best we know. Persia is modern Iran. Not the area encompassed by the old Persian Empire, but it's what they call their country. Far, they never call it Iran. And so Iran is for sure is part of this great army. Second is Ethiopia, which is modern Sudan. The history of Sudan is very interesting because in the ancient times, South Sudan extended from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Red Sea. and the northern 600 miles of Africa. So it's a great, great area, and it encompasses a lot of nations that we are familiar with today. It talks about Libya. There is a country called Libya, but this is modern Libya called Gomer. Gomer is the ancient Symerians. These were nomadic people who originated in the parts of Central Asia and in an area that is corresponding to Eastern Kazakhstan. I can't say the word, Kakistan. And it's approximately, like many of these countries, 70% Muslim or Islamic. The house of Turgama in the north borders is Georgia and Armenia. And he said, many people with thee. I've thought about this for years, and I've looked at these nations, and I've thought about it, and you may have the same conclusion. I have concluded in my studies that this seems to show that the whole invasion force is a great host of the Islamic religion, all of whom serve a false god. I believe that's true. Now let's read on and we'll make some comments as we go. Verse 7, Be thou prepared and prepare for thyself thou and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited." Notice that. God is going to go to them and move them. When he talks about visiting, that means he's doing something in that part of the world, and that's what he's doing there. And he says it's in the latter year. I want you to underscore that in your Bible, the latter year. You ought to do a word study about that sometime. It'd be a blessing to you. In the latter years, thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste, but is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely, all of them. They shall dwell safely. They've come out of the nation. I've come to believe that many of us who are older have seen this gathering actually begin to happen. Isaiah, Isaiah describes it in chapter 66 in verse 20. He said, I shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord. as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel under the house of the Lord. I remember them quoting this very scripture when we saw Jewish people coming from all over the world in ships and in every conveyance they could get their hands on to get back to the land of Israel. Some of them never been there. Most of them had never been there. Now, on May 14, 1948, on that historic day, David Ben-Gurion, the executive head of the World Zionist Organization, soon to be the first prime minister of Israel, publicly read the Israeli Declaration of Independence. This momentous occasion marked the restoration of Jewish independence after 1,878 years. Think of that. Eighteen hundred and seventy-eight years went by since A.D. 70, and these Jews are scattered in all the nations of the world, all of that time, and their land lay there under the domination of different people for all of that time. What I've noticed is, it's amazing to me that the Jews have retained their identity. They have retained their language. And in them is a burning desire to go to the land of Israel, though they've never been there. 1972, 73, I was stationed at Fort Richardson. And a couple of Jewish people were in my outfit, and they both were named Frank. They were married. I'll never forget when the 67th War took place, and they come in talking about that. They were just ecstatic. And they said, we can't go back now, but we're sending every nickel that we can to help those who will go back. Every Jew I've ever met wants to go there, and certainly I someday will. Now, this is amazing to me, too. The Ottoman Empire, called the Turkish Empire, was a very vast and powerful state that existed over six centuries, from the 13th to the early 20th. It was founded in modern-day Turkey, expanded to include territories in Europe, Asia, and Africa. And in 1516, the Ottoman Empire conquered Palestine. Think about that. They took over Palestine, and it was under Turkish rule until the end of the First World War. At the end of the First World War, then the British took over. The Ottoman Empire was dissolved, and it was during this British rule of Palestine that the United Kingdom's foreign secretary, Arthur Balfour, sent what is called today the Balfour Declaration to Lord Rothschild, who was a leader of people in Great Britain. And that declaration said this. Listen to this. Dear Lord Rothschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty's government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations, which has been submitted to and approved by the Cabinet. His Majesty's government view would favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object. It being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." He said, I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Federation, signed Arthur Balfour. I consider the things behind the Balfour Declaration and what followed. There's pages and pages and pages of this, some for, many against, most against, I guess. It's a result, in my mind, of the hand of Almighty God on the British rulers, much like God's moving in the heart of King Cyrus of Persia to build his house in Jerusalem. Now we know that the Jews are still scattered. In Luke chapter 21 it says, they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem shall be trotted down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Notice this phrase, the times, not the fullness of the Gentiles. The times had to do with the ruling powers and not the elect of God. Now, he told Ezekiel, they shall dwell safely, all of them. Israel is in the middle of a conflict right now. Mr. Netanyahu said, there's a few left, and we're not going to leave any. We're going to take them all. Now, the first thing we want to ask ourselves, and what's something that people ask me all the time, are those persons who are in Israel today who claim to be Jewish, actually Jews. We can't be sure. But we know the Lord knows them that are His, and will purge out the rebels, whoever they are, and after they're brought into the bond of the covenant. We'll see that in Zechariah 13, one. In Zechariah 13, it says, it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts thereof shall be cut off and die. There's 67% of them gone. Two-third do we cut off and die, but the third shall be left therein, and I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver's refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call my name, and I will hear them. I will say it is my people, and they shall say the Lord is my God. What a wonderful blessing. The Jews, the overwhelming majority of Jews speak Hebrew, their native tongue, and they're thinking about Israel. I'm just going to say these times real quick because I don't want to have to read this and something for you to remember. I think about all the things that have happened to these people since they come back to Israel. And everything that's happened to them, they turned it away. They conquered or they overcome every single time. The Suez Crisis in 1956. The Six Day War in 1967. I'll never forget seeing the pictures of the Egyptian armored column coming all the way from Cairo across the southern part of Israel. And how that looked like there was no hope for them. And the next day, every one of those armored vehicles were ablaze and afire. And if they hadn't stopped the Israelis, they would have been in Cairo. I had never seen such a thing as it was a hand of God on them. 1973, the Yom Kippur War. It ended up with the signing of an agreement at Camp David, but there was the invasion of Lebanon. The Lebanese had given them trouble and they went in and they withdrew in a week after forcing the PLO away from the border. There was a Lebanon war in 1996, and all of these things show me that they live there safely. Yes, there are wars, there are conflicts, but they've overcome in almost all of them. So we see God putting his hooves in the jaws of God, and bringing him down on the mountains of Israel. Now let's continue reading with chapter 38, verse 9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm. Thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord, it shall also come to pass. that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought. I wonder how that happened. And 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. Now friends, that's the way it is there today. The only walls are the broken walls that remain of the old city of Jerusalem. Otherwise, there's no bars, no gates, none of that. Verse 12, to take a spoil or 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 nation, which have gotten cattle and good that dwell in the midst of the land. Let me talk about that a minute. I was privileged to go there. I've never seen such fat and wonderful cattle in my life. dairy cattle, beef cattle, and the vegetables and all of the fruit that is there in that land. It's unbelievable how that it's almost like it's just become a new thing. And it says, Sheba and Dedan, verse 13, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions that are off, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto God, Thus saith the Lord God. In that day, when my people of Israel dwell safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north part, that is, north of Israel, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army. and now shall come up against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land. It shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know when I shall be sanctified or set apart in thee, O God, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God, Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time, by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years, that I would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time, when Gog shall come against the Lamb 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. I think that's the earthquake. I talked about it in Revelation. so that the fissures 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. 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. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood. I will rain upon him and upon his band and upon the many people that are with him an overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone." I keep wondering if those are the hailstones that God spoke to Job about as reserved unto the day of battle. Well, I think it probably is. He said, thus, in this way will I magnify myself. and sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know I am the Lord." You talk about a change across the world. It's going to happen when this takes place. Now, scoot on into the 39th chapter, first verse. Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshach and Tubal, and I will turn thee back, and leave but a sixth part of thee, and I will cause thee to come up from the north part, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel, and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrow to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy men, and the people that is with thee. I will give thee unto the ravenous bird of every sort, and to the beast of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. And I will send a fire on Magog, that is, their country from which they came. and among them to wail carelessly in the isles, and they shall know that I am the Lord. So I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more, and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God. This is the day whereof I have spoken. And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shield and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand staves and the spears. And they shall burn them with fire seven years. so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any of the forest, for they shall burn the weapons with fire, and they shall spoil those that spoil them, and rob those that rob them, saith the Lord God. 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, Dead Sea, I think. 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 Haman-Gog. In seven months shall the house of Israel be bearing them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all of the people in the land shall bury them, and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers that remain up on the face of the earth to cleanse it, after the end of seven months shall they serve. And the passengers pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hemingog. And also the name of the city shall be Hamanah, thus shall they cleanse the land. And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God, speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field. Assemble yourselves, come and gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you. Even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel that you may eat flesh and blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, of goats, and of bullocks. of all of them fattening to Bashan, and ye shall eat till ye be full, and drink blood to be drunken of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord." Now this is similar But it's not the same as Revelation 19, where the Lord returns to earth and at Armageddon. This is not Armageddon. This happens before Armageddon. Somewhere between now and Armageddon, you and I are going to see this take place. Now, chapter 39, verse 21, and I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I've executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. Now, I want you to underscore and highlight this next verse. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. That provides the time for their conversion. And we're going to read about that in a little bit. From that day forward, they're going to be converted and know the Lord. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they trespassed against me. Therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies, so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, both Judah and Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name, after that they have borne their shame, and all their transgressions, whereby they have transgressed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. when I have brought them again from the people and gathered them out of their enemy's land, and I'm sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen. But I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them. For I poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God." Now he said, I'm not going to leave any of them in the places where they're scattered. Today, only 30% of the population of Jews in the world have returned to Israel. In the United States alone, which has the biggest share, we have 51% of the Jews in the world. Other nations have small bunches. But we have the most. But they're not going to stay here, because they're going to flee out of this land and go back there. The Lord will take them back. Now, in order to understand this right, I think we have to read some more. Zechariah chapter 12, verse 1. Zechariah chapter 12, verse 1. I like it. I just love it. I love to read this. It's so exciting to me. Zechariah 12, 1. The burden of the word of the Lord for Israel saith the Lord which stretcheth forth the heavens and layeth the foundation of the earth and formeth the spirit of man within him. Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in a siege, both against Judah and against Jerusalem." And notice the phrase, in that day. in that day. God does this in one day. Will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people? All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. Now let me stop here and just interject this. God and these nations are only a small part of the nations of the world. When Armageddon comes, which is shortly after this, all the armies of all the nations in the world will be gathered there. That's the difference. It's like when you're reading in the Revelation, it says, and the new earth, there's no more sea. Why is that in there? It's to tell us the difference between the millennium and the eternal age. And that's the point here. Verse four. In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness, and I will open my eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse. Other people will blame this. And the governors of Judah shall say in their hearts, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength, and the Lord of hosts their God. In that day, there it is again, will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, like a torch of fire in a sheaf, and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left, and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. The Lord also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. In that day, there it is again, shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David, and the house of David shall be as God, and the angel of the Lord before them. And it shall come to pass in that day, there we go, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Now I think he's talking about God and his allies. Now notice this carefully. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is bitterness for his firstborn. God gives them a spirit of repentance where they look and they see that they were responsible to crucify the Lord. Verse 11, in that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadarimon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn every family apart, the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart, the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart, and the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart, the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart. All the families that remain, every family apart and their wives apart, they're in deep contrition. Their hearts are broken over what they've done. Now God's ready to do something to them. He's ready to convert them and change them. The first verse of the next chapter should be at the end of this one. Let's read it. Chapter 13, verse 1. In that day... Uh-oh, here it is again. In that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. There is where the Lord shows Himself to them as their Savior and as their God. Now, things begin to happen. I want to read the rest of this and then we're done. Verse 2, it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered. And also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land. God is doing away with all false gods and all false religions and casting it away. And it shall come to pass that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begot him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live, for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord. And his father and his mother that begot him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth. And it shall come to pass in that day that the prophet shall be ashamed of every one of his visions when he hath prophesied, neither shall he wear a rough garment to deceive. But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am a husbandman, for God taught me to keep cattle from my youth. And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hand? Thus he shall answer those with which I was wounded in the house of my friend. That's a picture of them seeing the Lord. A wakele sword against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, mighty shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered, and I will turn mine hand upon the little one. That is a prophetic utterance. We read that in the New Testament. 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. Now it said, we don't know if all of those people are God's people or not, but he knows. And he's gonna cut out two thirds of them. And then he's gonna bring what's left through the fire of judgment and clean up their life. My, what a time. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver's refined, and will try them as gold has tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them. I will say, it is my people, and they shall say, the Lord is my God. Praise His name. I just love this. I just enjoy so much reading God's Word. It's just like I see it. See it right before my eyes. You know, I hope every one of you know the Lord. I can't make you know the Lord, but He can. He made me know Him. He brought me to Himself, just like He's going to bring them to Himself. And what do you do? You know, if you believe, then come and be baptized and say that, I believe. Baptism is a confession of your faith. And if you're not willing to be baptized, you're not willing to confess the Lord as your Savior. and then get in the church, get in this church or church like this church so that you can be taught and remember and be reminded of the things the Lord has commanded us, each and everything. That's His program. That's the way it is. I hope that you will come to Him in faith and obey Him and follow Him. Thank you for your splendid attention. I appreciate your attention so much.