Signs of the times…they are definitely visible in our world today!  I pray that our journey together is enlightening, and that you are encouraged to discern the times and understand the season!  We’re not done with “Signs of the Times,” but we’re taking a detour today to get the rest of the story provided by the prophet Ezekiel in chapters 38-39.

Over the past few days we have focused on the oil and gas finds in Israel and how they line up with Bible prophecy.  Ultimately, the discoveries could prove to be the “hooks in the jaw” God uses to draw Russia and its allies into Israel to capture spoil and seize plunder.  (Ezekiel 38:4) Though in a bit of a different context, I think the principle in Galatians 6:7 applies: Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

You see, Ezekiel 38-39 describes not only the Russian/Iranian invasion of Israel, but also God’s response to the evil plan of Gog and his cohorts…and it is glorious news for Israel!  Let’s pick it up in Ezekiel 38:15-16, where we find God (through Ezekiel the prophet) telling Gog (the leader of the Northern Invasion) that he (Gog) will come from the remote north with a mighty army against Israel “like a cloud to cover the land.  Mighty Gog believes he is calling the shots and is about to sweep in for the victory.  But au contraire!  Verse 16 clearly states that it is the God of Heaven who brings Gog and his allies down against Israel “so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

Don’t you just love it!  God uses even His enemies to accomplish His will!  Hallelujah…praise our great God and King!

Verse 18 says that God’s fury will mount up in anger. (I wouldn’t want to be the object of that wrath, what about you?)  Great destruction will come, and according to Ezekiel 39:4-6, Gog, his troops and all the people with him will perish on the mountains of Israel, and fire will descend upon Magog and other regions from which they came!  Oh my!  Do you have “Gogs” in your life that seem to threaten you?  Leave room for the wrath of God, because He is fully able!

Ezekiel 39:9-16 tell of death and destruction, and what it takes to clean it up!  Read for yourself.  But linger for a moment on verse 17.  That verse indicates that God will call birds of the air and beasts of the fields to come to the great sacrifice to eat flesh and drink blood.  In Israel today, there are wildlife preserves where certain animal species are protected.  I’ve been to one such place called Gamla, north of the Sea of Galilee, where the largest vultures I have ever seen (9’ wingspans) are granted protection in the hills of the Golan Heights.  Revelation 19:17-18 indicates that these great birds will be called to that feast, and we know that event will take place on the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 39:2)!

Now, if you have followed along with the verses, you realize that I skipped a few.  That is because I saved the best for last!  Retreat with me back to the end of Ezekiel 38.  There, God reveals his motive!

 ^“I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself known in the sight of many nations;
and they will know that I am the Lord.”
~Ezekiel 38:23

Oh, dear friends, the lengths our God will go to in order to make Himself known!  Ezekiel 39:21-24 elaborate even further, regarding God’s infinite love for Israel, and for the nations.  (That’s you and me!)  He will set His glory among the nations.  But for Israel, He does something even more profound: He will unhide His face, will make Himself known, and they will see their Messiah!  According to Ezekiel 39:25-29, Israel will ultimately be fully and completely restored, will know their God, and will live securely in their land.

Other than the fact that this happens at the end of the Northern Invasion, we don’t know the exact timing of all those events because the Bible doesn’t tell us.  Is it before the rapture, or after the rapture?  Has the antichrist come upon the scene or not?  Theologians much wiser than me have differing opinions and, as far as I can tell, Scripture does not lay out the exact timeline (at least in the context of knowledge we have presently).  But one day, oh what a glorious revelation of God’s amazing love for His people will be displayed.

Now, check out the last verse of Ezekiel 39:

“I will not hide My face from them any longer,
for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.
~Ezekiel 39:29

Want to hear a trio of prophets “sing in harmony from the same song sheet!?!”  Hum along with the prophets Joel and Zechariah:

“It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
…I will pour out My Spirit in those days.”
~Joel 2:28-29

“I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him,
as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like
the bitter weeping over a firstborn. “
~Zechariah 12:10

Wow!  Not a single prophet through whom God spoke has misfired on a single prophecy.  Every prophet of the One True God is batting 1.000, so let’s get on the same song sheet and sing the same tune!  Pray that God will soon pour out His Spirit on Israel and all mankind.  Yes, we’re praying for Jesus’s soon return, and it is so exciting!  Pray, friends, pray!

Blessings!