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[0:00] Thank you, Gary. In response to the questions that were submitted, we are going to begin with the one in Revelation, and we'll address that first, and then we'll return to Ezekiel and take up some of the content of chapter 38 and 39 as regards the battles of Gog and Magog and the attack from the northernmost region.

[0:25] The question that was submitted has to do with the verse that was here in chapter 20, and that's verse 7, when it says, the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison.

[0:40] And the question that was submitted says, I hate to show my denseness, but I'm still not sure I could answer the question, why was Satan released after a thousand years?

[0:54] Well, you shouldn't be concerned about showing your denseness because I do it all the time, and after a while, it becomes easier.

[1:06] So there are a lot of things upon which we are all dense, and this is not an easy concept to understand. I probably should have spent more time on it than I did, because a logical question that surfaces is, if you have the adversary bound, and that too involves issues and problems that we don't understand, largely because we are talking about supernatural aspects here.

[1:29] Satan is a supernatural being. He is going to be bound in a supernatural way. It is not simply a matter of incarcerating him in a jail cell with bars or chains or something of that nature.

[1:43] We have no idea how God would go about binding a spiritual being who is immaterial. But that's God's problem, and he is sufficient to it.

[1:56] So, however it is done, the bottom line is this. Satan is out of commission for a thousand years. Next question that would normally arise is, are these thousand years real years?

[2:13] Yes, they are. They are 365 days plus one-fourth years. They are to be taken, I believe, very literal. They are not simply symbolic.

[2:26] They are a thousand years. That is the exact length of time that the reign of Christ will be realized here on this earth for one thousand years.

[2:38] And during that time, Satan will not be able to go out, and if you'll note in verse 3, the word deceive is used. That he should not deceive the nations any longer, which of course implies that's what he's been doing all along.

[2:56] But he'll not be able to do it any longer. He will be bound, out of commission. And then in verse 8, when he is released after the thousand years of incarceration, he will come out to deceive the nations.

[3:10] Same M.O. To deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth. The manner in which he is doing this, I think, is that he appeals to the natural instincts of man's fallenness.

[3:29] And in our fallenness, we very frequently are found to have two great temptations. One is to wealth.

[3:43] The accumulation of assets so that we can spend it upon ourselves so that it provides us with the flexibility and the freedom that we would all like.

[3:57] Think of the things you could do if you were very wealthy that you cannot do now. Nice to even think about it, isn't it?

[4:07] And the second temptation that man has is the acquisition of power, authority, the ability to be in control.

[4:22] There are other temptations that we have, but I think these are the two biggies. Because the way it works is power equals wealth or potential wealth.

[4:42] And wealth equals power or potential power. That's the way it works. And he is going to dangle these carrots before the right kind of people, and they, of course, will go after them.

[4:59] Human nature being what it is. Nations are deceived because a nation's leadership is deceived. Corruption always begins from the head down.

[5:14] That's the way it works. And when you have a corrupt leadership, that fosters a corrupt people. Because the people are looking to leadership, for example, etc.

[5:27] Satan is going to capitalize on that. He knows what he's doing. And he knows what our weaknesses are. We know how he operates. The Apostle Paul said, We are not ignorant of his devices.

[5:42] We know how he works. And knowing that helps us to be on guard. At any rate, he is the expert of all times of deceiving the nations.

[5:54] And then the question naturally arises, When you have this kind of a toxic individual confined, why in the world would you release him?

[6:06] Why not keep him there in perpetuity? Why release him? And that's a very legitimate question. And I treated it last week, but I'm sure I didn't treat it as well as I could have or should have.

[6:20] And I have a document here taken from Bibliotheca Sacra, which is a theological journal. And I dug this out of my archives of things that I've been saving over the years.

[6:32] And this is from the April-June issue of 2000. So it's about 10 years old, but it is just as up-to-date as when it was written. And I'm going to give you just an excerpt of it.

[6:46] It was written by David McLeod. He was a faculty member of Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa. And he has authored this article entitled, The Fifth Last Thing, The Release of Satan and Man's Final Rebellion.

[7:01] And if I just read you his summary, it would probably be more concise and more understandable than what I would try to give you. So let me just share this with you by way of his conclusion.

[7:14] This passage, and we're talking about Revelation 20, particularly verse 7, the releasing of Satan. This passage demonstrates that the believers' three great enemies in spiritual warfare, the world, the flesh, and the devil, will exist up to the very end of this present world.

[7:36] The world system, that is, the pagan mindset of collective rebellion against the will of God, will re-emerge in the Millennial Kingdom in spite of the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[7:54] As for the flesh, the human heart is deceitful and corrupt, and those who face God at the last judgment will have nothing to say. The devil is an evil being who is incorrigible.

[8:09] He will act hatefully and murderously toward the people of God until the end. Believers should be wary of this evil being who seeks their destruction.

[8:20] There is only one way to escape. Men and women must confess their sins and embrace Christ as their Savior. Only those who believe in Christ as their Savior will have their sins forgiven.

[8:33] This generation is trying hard to suppress the sense of sin. But out of sight does not mean out of mind.

[8:45] Thankfully, God has given people consciences, and He has sent His messengers to talk to them about their sins and their need of forgiveness.

[8:55] There is no thicket in which they can hide themselves from the storms of self-accusation. There is no shore that cannot be washed by the recurrent tides of the brooding awareness of their sins.

[9:11] The problem with this world is the human race. Years ago, a correspondent for the London Times wrote a series of articles on a number of the same social problems that face the world now.

[9:41] He ended each article with the question, What's wrong with the world? G.K. Chesterton read a number of the articles and then wrote his famous reply, Dear Editor, What's wrong with the world?

[9:59] I am. Faithfully yours, G.K. Chesterton He was affirming that at the base of all the world's problems is the sinfulness of humanity.

[10:14] In the millennium, many people will embrace the faith of their parents, but many will not. This is another reminder that born-again people do not propagate born-again children.

[10:27] Every child born into this world has to make his or her own decision to accept or reject Christ. Parents and grandparents must be encouraged to place the claims of Christ before the children in their care.

[10:44] Two eternal homes have been prepared for God's creatures. For the devil and his angels, God has prepared the lake of fire. For his own redeemed people, Christ has prepared the heavenly city.

[10:59] The challenge that preachers of the word must place before those to whom they proclaim God's word is, In which of these homes will you spend eternity?

[11:09] So, The essence of this is, God releases Satan at the end of the thousand years in order to reveal to man two things.

[11:24] Number one, Satan is incorrigible. He has not repented nor learned a thing during his thousand years of incarceration. Perhaps, if anything, he has intensified his anger and rebellion against God, because it's had another thousand years to foment.

[11:43] And the second thing that needs to be realized from this, is that God reveals that man in his fallenness, and these are men without redeemed, or without redeemed bodies, they are not in a glorified state, that man is incorrigible as well.

[11:59] In that, he is not subject to reformation. He is subject to regeneration. And nothing short of regeneration will do what needs to be done.

[12:13] So, his release at the end of the thousand years will demonstrate to everyone, Satan is unchanged, and it will demonstrate to everyone that the nature of fallen man is unchanged as well.

[12:26] Despite the fact, having lived under ideal conditions, where nobody really has a legitimate gripe for a thousand years, yet, Satan, when he is released, will succeed in recruiting a huge throng of people.

[12:46] Only this time, there will be no battle. There will be no conflict. God will summarily dispose of them just like that. Fire will come down from heaven, and they will be incinerated on the spot.

[13:02] And we say, Oh, that's terrible. No, it isn't. That's justice. What is terrible is sin.

[13:16] That's the thing we don't have a handle on. We are somewhat aware of how bad, wicked, evil, rebellious other people's sin is.

[13:28] And I'm sure glad I'm not one of them. Aren't you? Remember the Pharisee who went to the temple?

[13:41] And there was this, and Jesus records this in the Gospel of Luke. There was the old recluse, the beggar, the bum, the dregs of the earth who was there, this publican.

[13:54] And then there was this very, very righteous man. And one said, I thank thee, God, that I am not as other men.

[14:06] I do this, and I do that. And he went through all of the religious rigmarole. And I'm not like this other man. And he pointed to this down and outer.

[14:18] Boy, I'm glad I'm not one of those. I'm head and shoulders above this guy. And then it came to the comments of the other guy who was supposed to be the reprobate.

[14:29] And all he could do was smite himself on the breast and say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And Jesus said, I ask you, which of those men went away from there justified?

[14:45] Well, it was certainly not the one who was steeped in his self-righteousness. There are people who think they are just so wonderful, God couldn't possibly do anything but accept them with open arms.

[14:59] And the scriptures tell the lie about that. That is not the way it is. But the one who faces reality and says, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.

[15:10] I acknowledge my sin. That's the first step. And as I've often told you, and so far as the proclamation of the gospel is concerned, there are two parts to it.

[15:20] The first part is very difficult. The second part is very easy. First thing that is so difficult about the gospel is to get people to come to the reality of their true condition before God.

[15:36] And that is, we are all in a state of fallenness and undeservedness. Every one of us, without exception.

[15:48] We have a rebellious, disobedient heart. We are self-centered, self-willed, and self-seeking through and through. It is moral, spiritual rottenness to the bones.

[16:01] That's not very flattering. And can you not see how it is difficult to get people to buy into that? The natural human response is, Well, I'm not that bad.

[16:15] Yes, you are. You just don't see it that way. But God does. That's the hard part. To get a person over that hump of the ego that says, I'm really a pretty nice person.

[16:30] A lot better than most. And that's the way we tend to think. That's the hard part of the gospel. Vance Havner used to say, Most difficult thing about getting people saved is getting them lost.

[16:44] Because it isn't until we realize, recognize, we are lost and we cannot save ourselves. And once you come to that realization, then the natural response is to say, Oh, woe is me.

[16:59] Where is my help? Where is my hope? What can I do? How can I possibly be made acceptable to God? And that's where Jesus Christ comes in and does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

[17:13] So once we recognize that we need a Savior, that's the hard part, then coming and putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your substitute for sin, that's the easy part.

[17:24] God has already done the very most that he could do in providing his Son. God interrupted the triune nature of the Godhead in order to provide redemption for us.

[17:44] He has done the most that he could do so that he would have to require from us only the least that we could do.

[17:56] We are not given a list of religious feats that we have to accomplish. We are not demanded to fast, to pray for hours on end, to attend church every Sunday for a year without missing.

[18:11] We aren't required to do any of those things. What we are required to do is simply place our confidence, our trust, our reliance, our future, our destiny, our everything in Jesus Christ as our substitute for our sin.

[18:31] You can do that. It's an act of the will. It is the use of the volition that God gave to every one of us. That's the easy part.

[18:43] God wants to be believed more than anything else. So, with that in mind, let's go to our second part, and that requires us to go back to Ezekiel and close to the passage that Gary read earlier, and I'll try to wrap this up so we'll have time for Q&A.

[19:01] The question is, Marv, I do not understand how all the battles and wars are timed from the beginning of the tribulation period on.

[19:13] And then again, at the end of Revelation, we have the wars of Gog and Magog, Armageddon, and so on. Can you devote a Sunday to teach how all of these fit together?

[19:24] Maybe I missed it earlier. Well, we will spend the balance of the time that we have on this, and I am not dogmatic about these things because there are greater theological minds than mine that differ radically on these issues, but I am going to simply give you the explanation as best as I understand it with the caveat that this is my assessment of this, and I am not prepared to go to the map with it, but this is as I see it.

[20:02] The first event that we believe will occur insofar as future events are concerned has to do with the rapture.

[20:16] This is the catching away of the body of Christ. It is imminent. That means we do not know when it is going to occur, but it could be at any time.

[20:27] It could be within the next few seconds. It could be within the next several years. We do not know. And it is futile and foolish to set dates and try to predict when that's going to be.

[20:38] But when that time comes, a la 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, the trumpet will sound, the dead in Christ shall rise first, we who are alive and remain will be caught up to be with the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

[20:57] That is the catching away. That is the translation of the saints. Everyone who has faith in Jesus Christ will be taken.

[21:07] I don't know exactly how that means, whether bodily, whether we're going to leave a lump of clothes behind and go. I just don't know the details. We aren't given the details.

[21:18] We are just told that we're going to be caught away and we will be with the Lord. That will conclude the body of Christ. It will have been completed when that takes place.

[21:30] And we are told that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. That's Romans 9, 10, and 11.

[21:41] And that simply means that with the rapture of the church and the body of Christ removed, God returns with his focus upon the nation of Israel.

[21:54] And sometime after the rapture, it may be soon after, it may even be a few years after. Again, we don't know. But the Antichrist will sign a pact guaranteeing the safety and security of the nation of Israel.

[22:13] This is spelled out in Daniel chapter 9. We'll not take time to go there because we've visited before a number of times. But the text makes it clear that the prince that shall come will succeed in gaining the confidence of the nation of Israel.

[22:31] And if you know anything about the nation of Israel today and you follow that, you know that their undying concern is security and the security of their borders and of their people.

[22:44] And this pact, that will be a seven-year pact, that Israel will willingly sign with the Antichrist that will guarantee them seven years of safety.

[22:58] And they will let their guard down, they will breathe a sigh of relief, and things will be looking up, and Israel will dwell in a peace and security that it is not known for a long, long time.

[23:09] And then, according to Matthew 24, and our Lord Jesus quoting the passage from Daniel 9, when he says, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, then let him that is in the house flee to the mountains, etc.

[23:31] It means that in the middle of the 70th week, which is a seven-year period or a three-and-a-half-year period broken down, it means that the pact will be violated.

[23:43] The Antichrist will converge upon Israel, having desecrated the temple, the Jewish temple, which of course will require as having been rebuilt.

[23:55] He will desecrate the temple, he will pull off, if you will, his mask, and he will be revealed to be who he really is, the Antichrist. He has succeeded in selling the Jews a bill of goods for three-and-a-half years.

[24:11] They bought it. But now, the tables are turned and there will be massive warfare against all of the Jews. What will occur will be an onslaught, the likes of which that will make the Holocaust look tame by comparison.

[24:30] It will be worldwide open season on the Jew. The Jew, at this time, will be the scapegoat for the whole world.

[24:43] And all the nations are going to be against Israel. We would like to think the U.S. of A. would not be one of them, but let me tell you, the wind of politics can shift dramatically overnight.

[25:00] It all depends upon what a nation, any nation, considers to be in its best interests. And that's the way they will go.

[25:10] That's just the way it is. That's the way it has always been. So Israel will be under a murderous attack with the intent of virtually eliminating them.

[25:23] this will be the dream of the Arab world in reality. And it will be on the verge of being fulfilled.

[25:36] The only thing that will spare the nation from complete annihilation will be the return of Jesus Christ, who will go forth and fight for his people.

[25:50] He will return to the earth. He is coming to Basra, to Edom, to, as best we can understand, to Petra, and he is going to march north to the Mount of Olives, and his feet will touch on the Mount of Olives, which is the same place from which he ascended.

[26:10] In Acts chapter 1, as the disciples were gathered around, the apostles, they communed with the Lord, they asked him if he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel now, and right before their very eyes, he ascended bodily, in a glorified body, bodily into heaven, and they stood there, aghast, with their eyes wide open, and their jaws dropped looking up as he went right up from them into heaven.

[26:40] And two angels standing by said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye here gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come again in like manner, as you have seen him go into heaven.

[26:56] He's going to return. And when he does, it will be to rescue his people. Then, the battle or the campaign of Armageddon will take place.

[27:09] We do not know how long this battle is going to last, but it will not be a weekend excursion. It won't be a six-day war like Israel has had before.

[27:23] This will be a war to the end, and it will result in the complete decimation of all of the enemies of Israel. In fact, all unbelievers of all stripes are going to be judged summarily at the conclusion of the Armageddon, and virtually eliminated.

[27:46] So that those who enter the millennial reign of Christ will be believers with glorified bodies who return from heaven with him, and all of the believers, whether Jew or Gentile, who survived the tribulation period.

[28:04] And there will be apparently millions of them at that time. And there will also be millions who will be virtually eliminated. So, that's the Armageddon, and that is the conclusion of the tribulation period.

[28:22] That's how it ends. However, the events we have in Ezekiel 37, 38, and 39, I believe, it's a Wiseman opinion, that these are not Armageddon events.

[28:35] They transpire before that. I don't know exactly where to put them in the 70th week of Daniel, in the period of tribulation.

[28:45] My guess is, and again, this is a guess, my guess is that it will be that which initiates the second half of the tribulation period.

[28:59] Because for the first three and a half years, things aren't going to be all that bad, especially for Israel. but it's in the middle of that 70th week of Daniel, 42 months into it, that everything erupts.

[29:15] And this may be the beginning of that. It may be the eruption. So I want to begin reading in Ezekiel chapter 38, if you will, please. And I'm skipping, well, Gary read earlier much of the content of chapter 37, but for time's sake, we must begin with 38.

[29:37] And the word of the Lord, Ezekiel says, the word of the Lord came to me saying, and bear in mind, Ezekiel lived several hundred years before Christ was ever born.

[29:51] Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal, and prophesy against him.

[30:05] That means preach. Prophesy not only means to foretell, but it means read them out. Tell them what I want them to know.

[30:17] And here is what he wants them to know. Thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshach, and Tubal, and I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords.

[30:53] Now, we look at this warfare and the implements that they are using. We can't identify with that. Horses, swords, shields, what's that all about?

[31:06] Surely he has to be talking about a time long since past because today we fight with lasers and tanks and drones and missiles. Well, I don't have an answer.

[31:19] I don't know how it is that men are going to be willing to resort to this kind of warfare. After all of the technological advances that we have and the equipment, we have devised more efficient ways of killing people than anybody has ever known.

[31:42] Why in the world would we resort to this? And I just throw out one possibility. I'm not saying that this is what's going to happen. I'm saying it is just a possibility. We look at these prophetic passages and years ago it was even more so and say this can't be right, this can't be true, look at how far we've come, look at how advanced we are.

[32:05] That's, you know, it must just be symbolic. Well, I think I explained to you just briefly in our last session about the possibility of a nuclear strike on this country and perhaps other countries too.

[32:22] It would not be limited. You must understand that insofar as radical Islam is concerned, they don't just hate us, they hate the whole western world.

[32:34] They hate everybody who has our standard of living and our values. And granted, there's a lot to be desired about a lot of our values, especially when you're talking about moral issues, but they hate everybody equally.

[32:48] I mean, radical Islam is an equal hate employer. You know, they've got a thing about a lot of people, and we are referred to as the great Satan.

[33:01] Israel is referred to as the little Satan. And they are their bitterest enemies, and the reason that they believe, the only reason they believe that little Satan, Israel, is able to even survive is because of the great Satan.

[33:18] That's us. Well, who can deny? We have propped up Israel, militarily and financially, for decades. They have been on our payroll, if you will, and they have received all kinds of equipment, technology, etc., that enables them to defend themselves.

[33:36] And were it not for that, from a human standpoint, they wouldn't even be in existence. We believe that God has had a hand in it, but guess what? Israel doesn't.

[33:46] Israel is a very secularist state. Don't think that it's made up of devout Jews. It is not. The devout Jews in Israel consist of a tiny, tiny percentage of them, perhaps 10 to 15%.

[34:01] And the vast majority of them do not give God the credit for their existence at all. They think it is just luck and Jewish tenacity and technology that is responsible for their survival.

[34:17] We, however, suspect that it isn't that way. So if there were to be an attack, an EMP attack, which is referred to as electromagnetic pulse, this would be a nuclear device that could be carried on any container ship coming into the United States, coming into the port of New York.

[34:40] There are thousands of container ships that come into American ports, every day. And for the most part, we have no idea what's on board those ships.

[34:52] We search some of them, but it's just a random spot search. You couldn't possibly hire enough people to search diligently every vessel and see what everybody's carrying.

[35:03] It would be impossible. So one of these devices could be launched from one of those ships very easily, and they already have the technology to do it.

[35:19] They could do it tomorrow if they wanted to. And our response is, well, then why don't they? Well, I think that they are just waiting for what they think is the right time.

[35:30] This electromagnetic pulse device would be a nuclear explosion over central United States that would literally neutralize everything, electronic or electrical.

[35:47] Nothing would work. Anything that's got computer chips in it is defunct. Your car won't work. Your radio won't work. Your TV won't work.

[35:58] No radio station would be on the air. Tanks won't move. Weaponry that is sophisticated and fired from satellites won't work.

[36:10] Satellites won't work. Everything will be shut down and everyone affected by that and it could be multiple nations. There could be multiple strikes.

[36:20] They have the capability of doing that. They could do that with Great Britain. They could do it with France. They could do it with other countries simultaneously to the time they do it with us.

[36:31] The entire world, Western world at least, could be reduced to a 19th century civilization. Think of it. Think of the hardship and the inconveniences you have when your electricity fails for 24 hours.

[36:51] Someone says, well, you'd have to have batteries for your radio, wouldn't you? Well, it wouldn't make any difference whether you had batteries for your radio or not. There wouldn't be any radio stations on the air to listen to. Everything's down.

[37:04] What would man do in a case like that? Well, he'll do what he has to. He has not lost the ambition to kill his enemy. So, he'll mount up on horses.

[37:16] And his sophisticated technology won't work. A lot of his weaponry won't work. He'll use whatever he has to use. Man will resort to clubbing another man to death rather than not be able to kill him at all.

[37:30] You know that. And that's exactly what may happen. So, all I'm giving you is a possible scenario. Again, Marv is not predicting that this is going to happen. But I'll tell you one thing, I would not be surprised if it did.

[37:45] And neither should you be. So, let's read on. Persia, verse 5. Do you know who Persia is? Persia is Iran.

[37:59] The Shah of Iran was a Persian. Ethiopia and put with them.

[38:11] All of them with shield and helmet. These are all Arab nations. Gomer with all its troops.

[38:25] Beth to Gomer from the remote parts of the north with all its troops. Many people with you. Be prepared and prepare yourself. You and all your companies that are assembled about you.

[38:37] And be a guard for them. After many days you will be summoned. In the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations.

[38:52] This is all speaking about Israel. Where are the many nations? All over the world. Nations from which Jews have returned to their land.

[39:07] Out of Eastern Europe there are hundreds of thousands of Jews have come from Eastern Europe back to the tiny little land of Israel.

[39:21] Its people were brought out from the nations and they are living securely. All of them. I think that speaks of the time when the covenant pact is signed. And you will go up.

[39:32] This is God speaking to the enemies of Israel to the north. You will go up. You will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land.

[39:44] You and all your troops and many peoples with you. I still do not think that this is Armageddon. I believe this precedes Armageddon.

[39:56] This is an entirely independent battle from Armageddon. Now there are some scholars who believe this is Armageddon and they're entitled to their opinions but I don't think so.

[40:09] You see the last three and a half years is going to be really hell on earth. It's just going to be perpetual conflict during the last three and a half years and it could be that this is going to be very extensive and it's going to Armageddon and verse 11 and you these enemies that come from the north and many believe and I suspect they're probably right that this will involve Russia and other nations to the north that the old communist bloc and you will say I will go up against the land of unwalled villages what's that mean unwalled villages is biblical language for an unprotected land and they will not feel the need for this kind of protection because they have guarantees and assurances from the antichrist with the pact that they have signed that will secure their land this is the land of unwalled

[41:15] I will go against those who are at rest that live securely is Israel living securely today not on your life they're living on edge every now and then rockets are lobbed over from Lebanon or from Gaza and this still goes on and Jews are being killed right and left by conflict from without but they will be living securely all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates don't need any peace safety we dwell secure so they think and they will be going up to capture spoil and to seize plunder to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited and against the people who are gathered from the nations who have acquired cattle and goods who live at the center of the world Sheba Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish these are all Arab nations with all its villages will say to you have you come up to capture spoil have you assembled your company to seize plunder to carry away silver and gold to take away cattle and goods to capture great spoil

[42:24] I do not know of the truthfulness of this but I have heard it from different sources that the amount of wealth chemically and so far as chemicals and minerals are concerned the amount of wealth in the Dead Sea exceeds a trillion dollars that would be very lucrative for anyone therefore prophesy son of man and say to Gog thus says the Lord God on that day when my people Israel are living securely will you not know it oh yes they'll know it their guards down they're not protected let's go you will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north you and many peoples with you all of them riding on horses a great assembly and a mighty army and you will come up against my people Israel like a cloud to cover the land it will come about in the last days that should give us some kind of clue in the last days that

[43:33] I shall bring you land in order that the nations may know me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes O Gog thus says the Lord God are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through my servants the prophets of Israel who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them and it will come about on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel declares the Lord God that my fury will mount up in my anger and in my zeal and in my blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of

[44:38] Israel and God will use that for his own benefit and I want you to turn now if you will please to chapter 39 and verse 11 we are talking about the same setting and I must hurry because our time is already gone verse 11 it will come about on that day that I shall give Gog a burial a burial ground there in Israel the valley east of the sea and it will block off the passers by so they will bury Gog there with all his multitude and they will call it the valley of Haman Gog for seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land think of that going to take seven months to dispose of the corpses even all the people of the land will bury them and be to their renown on the day that I glorify myself declares the

[45:40] Lord they will set apart men who will constantly pass through the land this is a burial detail burying those who were passing through even those left on the surface of the ground in order to cleanse it at the end of seven months they will make a search and as those who pass through the land pass through and anyone sees a man's bone then he will set up a marker by it until the buriers have buried it in the valley of Haman Gog this is a burial detail that will be specially equipped to bury the dead and when someone finds a bone a skeletal remain of a corpse you are not to touch it or go near it you flag it why is that I don't know someone suggested radioactive contamination this may be a nuclear confrontation and we all know that nuclear bombs contaminate and the rays from it can be devastating and even those sometimes can be fatal so that may very well be involved all

[46:59] I'm saying is these things that as we read them in prophecy they seem so far fetched and so impossible of fulfillment but let me tell you very dramatic changes can occur in a very short period of time and men can be reduced to doing what they have to or feel they have to in order to realize their goals and objectives this is coming upon the earth as surely as God is God the only protection that we have is that which he has already provided our refuge is in the person and work of Jesus Christ and if your trust and confidence is in him you may be concerned and you may fret and stew about what you think is coming but it cannot touch you personally if you are in

[48:02] Christ even if it takes your life it cannot touch your spirit or your soul that's what belongs to him and that is our comfort it's the only comfort we have but it's the only comfort we need may we pray father if there is anyone here who for whatever reason has not fled to the finished work of Christ for redemption and salvation and peace and joy we pray that you will use the text of scripture we've spoken of today to be a goad an impetus in their own heart and mind realize that you have made ample provision for escaping the wrath that is to come and it is only our willfulness and stubbornness that would refuse to embrace it help each one here we pray to deal realistically with their ego and with their insistence on maintaining a personal autonomy and acknowledge that you can control and run these lives better than we ever could and you've demonstrated that in the lives of so many so here our father in this closing moment we would invoke your blessing and your dealing with anyone here who has not placed their trust in

[49:29]  Christ and may they even now in their heart of hearts say Lord Jesus I want to be where and what you want me to be and you obviously want me with you because you died for me to make that possible and I want to fulfill my part of that I want to put my trust and my confidence in you thank you Lord Jesus for dying on that cross for my sins my trust is in you would you make that your prayer dear friend and if you have I can promise you God will hear and God will save and cleanse and pardon and forgive and make you his child all on the basis of undeserved grace thank you for it father once again in Christ's wonderful name amen