I have a question about the Gog/Magog war. I have a friend who uses the Ezekiel 38:17 verse as proof that “the one spoken about by the prophets” is none other than the AC and that Gog/Magog (Ezekiel 38-39) is just another summary of the Armageddon war. I believe as you do that these 2 wars are different, and I have told them that I thought Haggai and Ezekiel (and possibly Joel) might be the prophets referenced here. What is your take on this verse and who are the prophets that spoke of the Gog/Magog war and are referenced in Ezekiel 38-39?
As you know I’ve argued against Ezekiel 38 being the Battle of Armageddon, and the more I study it the more sense that position makes to me.
Setting aside the 7 year burning of weapons that makes sense only if the battle is fought at the outset of Daniel’s 70th Week, Ezekiel 38:13 describes countries that aren’t involved whereas Zechariah 12:3-5 says that all the nations will be aligned against Jerusalem at a time when its residents are following the Lord. That’s not the case with Ezekiel’s battle. It’s the one that upon its conclusion re-awakens Israel to its covenant relationship. (Ezek 29:22) And Ezekiel’s battle isn’t fought in Jerusalem but on the mountains of Israel to the north.
Ezekiel 38:17 describes the Lord talking to Gog. He’s the one spoken about by the prophets, specifically in Amos 7:1 where the Greek translation names Gog as the king of the locusts.
Amos was written over 200 years before Ezekiel. It’s the only place in any translation of the Old Testament where Gog is mentioned by name except in 1 Chron 5:4 where a son of Joel from the family of Reuben is named Gog.
I’m sticking with the early timing for Ezekiel’s Battle.