Placing Ezekiel 38 On The Prophetic Timeline

Q

Thanks for the tremendous articles on a plethora of Biblical topics. Both your site and Rapture Ready are my favorite sites for eschatology.

But I do have a question: Why do most prophecy scholars put the Gog revolution before the tribulation? To me it seems to fit better at the close of the millennium where Israel certainly is living in peace and safety, but Satan is loosed for a short time to again stir up the nations.

A

There are major two problems with placing Ezekiel 38-39 at the end of the Millennium. The first is that according to Ezek. 39:22 God will use this Battle to awaken Israel to their covenant relationship with Him which is necessary before Daniel’s 70th Week can begin. The second is that Ezekiel’s prophecies are chronological so chapters 38-39 have to fit between the re-birth of the nation (Ezek. 36-37) and the beginning of the Millennium (Ezek. 40-48).