God chose Abraham to be the patriarch of what would become the nation of Israel. He chose the nation of Israel through which to reveal Himself to the rest of the world (Genesis 12 and 17).

As time passed by, God proceeded to reveal Himself in many ways, not the least of which is prophetic fulfillment and mighty miracles.

Most importantly, He chose Israel as the nation that would provide the world with a Savior, a Messiah, the Son of God Himself, to take the sins of all mankind upon Himself and reconcile fallen man back to God, thus bestowing eternal life upon all who would believe” (Isaiah 7:14; Isaiah 41:14; Genesis 3:5; John 3:16).

Rejection of these biblically revealed truths can and sometimes does fill a man’s heart with a venomous hatred toward the God of Israel and can poison his mind and heart against the only one capable of saving him.

Lucifer cares not whether someone hates God because they are atheists and mock the idea of any type of God, or whether they are globalist elitists who believe they are here to replace God, or whether they are followers of a false god and false prophet whose teachings have turned them into a mindless murderous demon-possessed death cult such as Hamas, or whether they are spiritual seekers who believe that there are many paths to enlightenment, seekers who have (2Timothy 3:5) a form of godliness but deny the power thereof.

Any road the devil can persuade people to travel, as long as it leads to hatred for the God of Israel, is fine with him.

When a man’s (or woman’s) heart becomes poisoned against God, the devil will be only too willing to lead that man or woman even further down into utter darkness.

Satan and his legions of demons know full well that Jesus is the Son of the Most-High God and the Messiah. They tremble at the mere mention of His name (James 2:19).

Even so, that does not stop Satan or his minions from attempting to deceive any and all souls who reject Jesus, leading them into dangerous places like the world of the occult, where even more lies and deceptions can be imposed upon them.

A world religion that is right now shaping up and is based on new-age occult teachings disguised as ecumenicalism will be a huge part of the antichrist’s draconian new world order during the Tribulation.

Anti-Christ means against Christ or in place of Christ.

The world of the occult is a place where false gospels abound. A place where lies are embraced as truths.

A place where demons pose as angels. A place where foolishness is presented as wisdom.

The realm of the occult is populated by demons. The deeper one dives into it, the greater the chance of becoming demon-possessed.

Putting on the Armor of God is the exact opposite of diving into the realm of the occult (Ephesians 6:10-18).

The realm of the occult is a deep pool. Many souls have dived in deep, only to drown and be devoured. Access to the occult realms is often by way of various meditation techniques.

Some souls dive deep into the occult pool and are drowned, devoured, regurgitated, and spit back out with a talking demon at the helm. Some call this channeling.

In the occult world of new-age belief systems, channeling is often admired as a sign of advanced enlightenment. The bizarre behavior of someone channeling, if observed dispassionately, looks a lot more like demon possession.

Satan has produced many counterfeit forms of enlightenment or illumination. Ironically and paradoxically, they are all attained in utter darkness, where demons are waiting and willing to take possession.

Satan’s ability to fool people is legendary, and yet, there continues to be no shortage of naïve willing converts falling for his deceptions.

Be wise or be fooled. Either choice has eternal consequences.

Reach toward the devil, and he will pull you under. Reach toward God, and He will lift you up.

When a person gives their whole heart to God, through Jesus, the Creator of life itself becomes their protector, and that person’s soul is then forever beyond the devil’s reach. Satan will continue to tempt but loses his power to corrupt.

Some deluded souls pursue wickedness on purpose and even profess devotion to Satan openly.

Many others, however, pursue wickedness naively and unknowingly, lured down a path of false enlightenment.

Satan has contrived numerous paths of false enlightenment, each one masquerading as a pathway to the truth. Eventually, however, every false path leads back to the father of lies.

The realm of the occult is a nightmarish place, and yet, many a seeker is convinced that they will find God in there.

The realm of the occult is a spirit realm, just as the realm of angels is a spirit realm. Hell is a spirit realm just past the occult realm, but deeper and further down into the darkest of all dark places.

Heaven is a spirit realm just beyond the angelic realm, extending and rising into the full presence of God’s Holiness, His eternal light, and his bountiful joy.

Characteristics, influences, principalities, and personal representatives from Heaven and Hell coexist on Earth and are engaged in a battle for the souls of men and women.

Instead of imagining that Heaven and Hell don’t exist – because Jesus says a great deal about how they both do exist – imagine if the two were completely separate.

Imagining a world of love and beauty, where life is eternal in God’s Holy presence and evil is non-existent, is a delightful prospect (Revelation 21).

Whereas imagining a world in the form of a lake filled with a dim glow of unquenchable fire and populated by Satan, the antichrist and his false prophet, demons, and everyone who ever lived that had given themselves over to every imaginable kind of wickedness and evil, all packed together, blaspheming, wailing and moaning and gnashing their teeth and cursing God continually with no let up at all forever and ever, is a mighty grim thing to imagine (Matthew 13:50; Revelation 21:8).

Jesus told His disciples to take the Gospel of Salvation to every nation on Earth (Matthew 28:18-20).

He mercifully wanted everyone to know that Hell and the Lake of Fire can be avoided.

God is so very merciful.

From the time when Jesus rose from the dead until now, as we stand upon the threshold of His return, Almighty God has graciously allotted two thousand years for that great commission of spreading the good news of Salvation by Grace to be completed.

Everyone who ever sinned should thank God that His perfect justice is tempered by His wonderful mercy.

Everyone who ever sinned is also everyone who ever lived.

If not for God’s Amazing Grace, the Lake of Fire would have to be a much bigger place.

The free will choice between a never-ending, glorious and beautiful journey or an eternal life sentence of confinement in burning darkness and misery – you would think that would be a no-brainer.

If evil did not exist, there would be no need for justice or Hell or a Lake of Fire. Heaven on Earth is all that we would have ever known.

In the Garden of Eden, God warned Adam and Eve not to eat from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil” (Genesis 2:17).

Instead of trusting Him who created them, Eve and then Adam fell for the first known lie of Lucifer the devil, and as a result, we have the knowledge that good and evil most definitely do exist.

Rest assured on God’s Prophetic Word that the idea of pure good and depraved evil, each without the other, will one day become reality.

The truth is out there, and the information is available to the mortal man. It is called the “Word of God,” and it can be found in a book known as the “Holy Bible.”

Ironically, what is referred to as “new-age” in regard to occultism is really old-age and has been around for a very long time. There are plenty of new terms for old ideas, but it is the same old lies that lead souls into dark places.

In that Holy Bible is the story (1 Samuel 28) about the first king of Israel who happened to be a man named Saul.

Saul had been warned by God about avoiding the occult, but Saul did not listen.

Saul disguised himself and sought counsel from a familiar spirit known as the Witch of Endor.

Saul asked her to raise up the spirit of the prophet Samuel who had recently died, so that Samuel might advise Saul about a battle against the Philistines that was going to take place the very next day.

It appears in this story that God allowed Samuel to appear and that the dead Samuel told Saul the same thing that the living Samuel had told him.

Don’t mess with the occult. The very same occult that Saul himself, under God’s direction through the living Samuel, had outlawed in the land of Israel.

Saul had flat-out disobeyed God by seeking occult counsel l through necromancy.

The very next day, Saul was slain in the battle with the Philistines, and David then became King of Israel.

Nothing good will ever be found inside the dark realms of the occult. God forbids us going there for our own safety and our own good.

Satan attempts to lure souls into occultic participation by dressing it up with words like mystical, mysticism, and romantic song lyrics like “sailing off into the mystic.” Satan tries to make it appear benign, peaceful, beautiful, harmless, and even fun.

Like so many things in this world and in this life, it is a choice. Believe God and stay away from the occult, or believe Satan and dive in like Saul did, in direct defiance of all warnings.

There are consequences for bad choices that defy the warnings that God gives to us. Warnings for our own safety and well-being.

One choice that only good can come from is inviting Jesus into your heart to be your Lord and Savior.

Invite Jesus into your heart and into your life to be your Savior and best friend. He will never force Himself upon you, and yet, He waits for your invitation.

Jesus loves you so much that He was willing to, and actually did, lay down His life for you so that you might live forever. He laid down His precious life for you and for me and for everyone (John 15:13).

His Father, who is also our Heavenly Father, then raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrected body, like the one Jesus has, is promised to all who believe. A body that will never know death, never grow old, nor get sick (Philippians 3:20-21).

He promises us eternal life in a paradise so amazing and so beautiful and forever interesting that there are no words to describe the magnificence of it this side of Heaven itself.

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived, are the things God has prepared for those who love Him” (1Corintians 2:9).

Romans 10:9-10 teaches us how to ask Jesus into our lives. “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

We do not need the occult or anything that is even remotely associated with it.

We need only to Believe in the Only Begotten Son of God, the One who spoke Creation itself into existence. The Son of our Heavenly Father, God All Merciful and Almighty, The Holy One of Israel.

Be Eternally Blessed and become part of His Forever Family.

You will be most welcome.

In the Holy name of Jesus,

Your brother, Rick Segoine

***

All are invited to visit ricksegoine.net for free downloads of my book, From God to Eternity, or to order a paperback copy. Free downloads are also available for original gospel songs and story songs.

 

 

In the awful current situation in Israel, I see people are again raising the possibility that this could be the start of the Gog/Magog war. I am not criticizing any of the RR writers, as I think most are balanced in that matter. However, will you please consider this clarification I want to do at this time?  It is always hard to break entrenched ideas, and these ideas aggregate over time, then coalesce, and then are never questioned.

I do not ever place myself as a fount of knowledge. I am always striving to come to the truth, but I am saying we must always examine the whole in context.  For those of you who think the Gog war happens before the Rapture or happens early in the Tribulation, please consider what I am saying. I am setting out the case for the impossibility for that to happen.

Let us look at selections from Ezekiel 38 and 39 regarding this war.

[1].  APOCALYPTIC LANGUAGE DOES NOT BELONG TO THE PRE-RAPTURE/PRE-TRIBULATION PERIOD

Ezekiel 38: ¹⁸ “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, ¹⁹ 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 Israel. ²⁰ The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and ALL THE MEN WHO ARE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH WILL SHAKE AT MY PRESENCE.  The mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.”

The quotation there begins with “on that day,” and immediately Gog moves against Israel, but then, all this judgment comes from God. The language used in verses 18 and 19 is as strong as it can get.  This is God in wrath. Nothing could be more fearful. People on the earth and the earth itself will shake. That sort of thing can only happen in the time of God’s wrath, that is, in the Tribulation time.  That places the setting for Gog in the Tribulation. It CANNOT be before the Tribulation.

There are key words, phrases, and contextual indicators all through the Bible, but especially in the Old Testament. There are certain ones that have prophetic significance. One of these is “In that day,” and another “At that time,” and another “On that day,” and there are a couple of variants of those. Every single one of them has the fulfillment in the Tribulation or in the Millennium. I cannot cover all that right now. Check it out for yourself if you don’t believe me.

LOOK AT VERSES 19 AND 20:

>A great earthquake.  The verse says “in the land of Israel,” but that is being specific. I think this is in the “earthquake period,” and many are described in Revelation. Earthquakes are always associated with judgment In the Book of Revelation.

>The words in the NASB, “My zeal and in My blazing wrath,” or in the AV, “my jealousy and the fire of my wrath.”  The Holman Version I greatly respect says, “My zeal and fiery rage.” Now who among you, or those who read this, can truly say this is language that would apply to the current Church age? Verse 18 is just as telling – “My fury will mount up in My anger.”  YES, the fury of God is mounting up, as is His anger, and will soon be released, BUT NOT BEFORE the Rapture.

And what about those who say the Gog war happens in the first part of the Tribulation?  Well, if you recall, there is a treaty operating for 7 years made with Israel by the Antichrist to begin the Tribulation years that he breaks halfway through, but the first three and one-half years are peaceful for Israel. The Gog war cannot happen then either, so that leaves us ONLY the second half of the Tribulation for that to occur.

BUT WHEN IN THE SECOND HALF?

That is not a difficult answer, and I believe all who get the Gog campaign confused and misplaced do so because they fail to read the WHOLE account. They just take the beginning of the account and reject the end of the account. We will work through this important area.

[2].  ONE OUTCOME OF THE GOG/MAGOG CONFLICT

Just imagine today, right here in November 2023, if God intervened in the affairs of the Middle East and slew all Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran and delivered His people Israel. Think about that. The world would be astounded. Look at this verse – Ezekiel 38:23 “I shall magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and MAKE MYSELF KNOWN IN THE SIGHT OF MANY NATIONS, AND THEY WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.”

Well, we know that is not going to happen right now. The LORD will not be known to the nations, nor will He make Himself known to them before the Second Coming. Not for the Church Age, nor for the Tribulation where we have God in wrath.

[3].  THE AFTERMATH OF THE GOG DEFEAT CAN NOT HAPPEN DURING THE TRIBULATION

Take a serious look at these verses underneath, a selection from Ezekiel 39 that happens right after Gog is defeated. Consider carefully how these events could not possibly happen in the second half of the Tribulation when Israel is in chaos, with the Tribulation saint believers fleeing for their lives (Revelation 12), and the verses Matthew 24:15-17 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house…”

Here are those Ezekiel verses – Ezekiel 39:8-10 “’Behold, it is coming and it shall be done,’ declares the Lord GOD. ‘That is the day of which I have spoken [The DAY OF THE LORD]. Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them. They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

This description of the aftermath of the Gog battle cannot happen in any logical way during the Tribulation. The righteous Jews are fleeing for their lives. This is a scene of peace and victory. There will be no peace or victory for Israel in the Tribulation.

[4].  THE BANQUET FOR THE BIRDS OF THE WORLD AND THE BEASTS

The corpses need to be cleaned up after the war, and God calls His nature in to do this. I think there will be something miraculous about this. There will be a great and immediate slaughter by the Lord, so I think the miracle will be to gather all the birds of prey from all over the world and let them appear in Israel. Here is the Ezekiel passage RIGHT AFTER GOG’S DEFEAT:

Ezekiel 39:17-18 “’As for you, son of man,’ Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Speak to EVERY KIND OF BIRD AND TO EVERY BEAST OF THE FIELD. Assemble and come, gather from every side to my sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a GREAT SACRIFICE ON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.”

That scene just described by Ezekiel is huge, not some episode tucked away in a back room. What does that description remind you of? Well, clearly, IT IS THIS SAME DESCRIPTION we have in these verses:

Revelation 19:17-21 “I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great supper of God, in order that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.’ I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army, and the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and ALL THE BIRDS WERE FILLED WITH THEIR FLESH.”

The Ezekiel and Revelation descriptions are parallel because they both describe one event. The GREAT BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON is one event, but it has three separate but unified parts. There will be the armies of the beast and false prophet, drawn from all over the world by the frog spirits that went out into the whole world to gather all nations.

It will have as another section the kings of the east, probably headed up by China (which, by the way, is becoming more active in recent days in the Middle East.

Then the third component is the nations in the Gog/Magog alliance detailed early in Ezekiel 38. This is the one we are concentrating on in this article.

Because these three separate groupings have a common cause and purpose and arrive at roughly the same time in Israel to obliterate it like Islam is trying to do today, then they all will suffer the same fate at the Second Coming and be wiped out. The birds and beasts will feast on ALL the armies that gathered and were destroyed. Zechariah 12:9 “And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”

[5].  THE GREAT OUTCOME REALIZED BY ISRAEL

The reason why some misconceived ideas exist about the Gog war is that people neglect the whole context.  We are speaking of the WHOLE OF Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 here, not just isolated parts we latch onto.  This whole Gog account does not end until verse 29 of chapter 39. Those two chapters cover the start of the war, the account of it, and the aftermath.  All must be carefully considered because it is an integrated whole.

STRAIGHT AFTER the defeat of Gog in [2] [3] and in [4] above, we saw what happens at the end of the war. Now, we are going to see another outcome in [5]. Here are the relevant verses:

Ezekiel 39:21-22 “I SHALL SET MY GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS and all the nations will see my judgment which I have executed, and my hand which I have laid on them, and the HOUSE OF ISRAEL will know that I am the LORD their God FROM THAT DAY ONWARD.”

PLEASE NOTE THIS VERY CAREFULLY

What does 39:21-22 tell us?  Firstly, God is setting His glory among the nations. Will this happen before the Rapture? No. Will this happen at any time in the 7 years of the Tribulation? No. When can it happen?  It can only be so on the LORD’s return and into the Millennium. It happens after the Second Coming. This confirms the Gog war must be part of the whole Armageddon conflict.

Secondly, the world will see the judgment God executed on Gog. That is not for our time nor part of the Tribulation judgments of the seals, trumpets, and bowls. As I said, it is part of Armageddon.

Thirdly, and this is so clearly obvious, I don’t know how it is missed – The WHOLE “house of Israel” will know that “I am the LORD their God FROM THAT DAY ONWARDS.”  There you have it in black and white. The Gog war will mean that Israel will know her LORD from THAT DAY ONWARD. That is speaking of Israel’s national conversion that does not happen until the Second Coming. That means the Gog war is part of the Second Coming, in other words, part of Armageddon. Immediately after the defeat of Gog (and the armies of the world  – Armageddon), Israel will be in God’s hand forever, and the nation is converted.

[6].  THE GREAT OUTCOME REALIZED UNIVERSALLY

Now we move to the effect the Gog outcome has on the nations. This is recorded:

Ezekiel 39:23 “THE NATIONS WILL KNOW that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them, so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword.”

There is going to be a great revelation at the Second Coming, firstly for Israel (Zechariah, the latter chapters), and then for the whole world. The world will have set before it the whole understanding of the sin and sufferings of Israel for 3,000 years – why it happened and what God did about it. That great event can be ONLY at the Second Coming and at NO other time. That gives the setting for the Gog war right at the time of the Second Coming, same as Armageddon. Of course, I think the Gog armies could have been in Israel for some weeks, even months before the Second Coming.

[7].  AS IF THAT IS NOT ENOUGH, HERE IS THE ABSOLUTE PROOF:

Read this passage that concludes the account of this war and see for yourself where the setting lies.  It is so clear there can be only one answer.

Ezekiel 39:25-29 “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘NOW I SHALL RESTORE THE FORTUNES OF JACOB, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel and I shall be jealous for My holy name, and THEY SHALL FORGET THEIR DISGRACE and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid.  When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I SHALL BE SANCTIFIED THROUGH THEM in the sight of the many nations.  Then THEY WILL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD THEIR GOD because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land and I will leave none of them there any longer.  I WILL NOT HIDE MY FACE FROM THEM ANY LONGER, for I SHALL HAVE POURED OUT MY SPIRIT ON THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL,’ declares the Lord GOD.”

Surely, I do not have to go into every detail here and labor the point. This is the account of the salvation of Israel at the Second Coming. There is so much proof that the battle is at the same time as Armageddon; it cannot be before and cannot be after. Why do people persist in saying the Gog conflict can happen now? Is it because Russia and Iran are active in the region? That is no reason, but it indicates the time is not that far in the distance (at least 7 years from now if the Rapture happens now). Everything is set in place.

The very important mention of the Spirit being poured out on Israel parallels the descriptions of Joel.  I do believe Joel is another description of the Gog war. Read Joel carefully with Gog in view. When the army is defeated, we read this:

GOG AND ARMAGEDDON – Joel 3:1-2 “For behold, in those days and at that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I WILL GATHER ALL THE NATIONS, and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and they have divided up My land.”

THE SPIRIT POURED OUT – Joel 2:25-28 “Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall have plenty to eat and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. Then my people will never be put to shame.  Thus you will know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other; and My people will never be put to shame. It will come about after this that I will pour out my spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams,  your young men will see visions.”

May the Lord give us understanding so we can rightly divide the word of truth.

ronaldf@aapt.net.au