Ezekiel 38 And Rev. 20. The Same Or Different?

Q

How come the battle of Gog and Magog in Rev. 20 is not mentioned as any of the major prophetic events in the road map to eternity. Whenever we hear the battle of Gog Magog it usually pertains to EZE 38 and 39. I would appreciate if you can please shed some light into why the Bible describes the battle in Rev 20 with the same name of the battle in Ezekiel.

A

If you compare Ezekiel 38-39 with Rev. 20:7-10 you’ll find they are not the same. Here are some examples. First, in Ezekiel 38 the attacking armies come primarily from the North and consist of several Middle Eastern nations. In Rev. 20 they come from all over the earth. Satan is not mentioned in Ezekiel 38 but is the commanding general in Rev. 20. God uses Ezekiel 38 to bring Israel back to Him (Ezekiel 39:22). In Rev. 20 Israel has been faithful to Him for 1,000 years. In Ezekiel 38 the dead are buried. In Rev. 20 they are devoured by fire. The chronology of Ezekiel places Ezekiel 38-39 before his description of the Millennium. The chronology of Rev. 20 places that battle at the end of the millennium.

Some scholars believe the use of the same names in both passages is to show that the people in Rev.20 have the same motivation as the ones in Ezekiel 38, the destruction of God’s people. Other than that, the two accounts are entirely different.