Those who labor to understand the nuances of the battle described in Ezekiel 38-39 quickly identify two major puzzles. One is the timing of the battle and the other is the identity of Gog, from Magog.  Suffice it to say here that almost no scholar, certainly none I’m aware of, believes the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 has already taken place. Some believe it will occur just before the beginning of Daniel’s 70th Week, while others believe Ezekiel is actually describing the Battle of Armageddon, which would put it at the end of the Great Tribulation. But all place it sometime in our future.

In my opinion, there are several reasons why Ezekiel 38 can’t be part of the Armageddon scenario.  First, only some nations are involved in Ezekiel 38.  For example, Saudi Arabia and Western Europe are said to be  on the sidelines observing and others you would expect to see, like Egypt and Jordan,  are not mentioned at all, although both appear later on.    But Zechariah 12:3 says that in preparation for the Battle of Armageddon all the nations of the Earth will come against Jerusalem.

Second, how is Israel going to burn the left over weapons for 7 years as Ezekiel 39:9 indicates unless there are 7 years left in which to burn them?  Rev. 21:24. says the nations will walk by the light of the New Jerusalem in the Millennium, so they won’t need fuel for energy then.  And then you have Ezekiel 38:11 telling us that Israel will be a peaceful and unsuspecting people when the Moslem coalition strikes.  Could that be possible near the end of the Great Tribulation when all the nations are gathering to attack? I don’t think so.

But most importantly, Daniel’s 70th week can’t start until Israel is back in covenant with God and the battle of Ezekiel 38 is what causes the covenant to be re-instated.  (Ezek. 39:22) Armageddon comes at the end of Daniel’s 70th week, not the beginning.

As for Gog and Magog, the first thing to note is that while Magog is listed in Genesis 10, Gog is not. The list of 70 names in Genesis 10 is often called the Table of Nations because each of the men named there was the original ancestor of an ethnic group that grew to become a nation of people. For instance, Magog was the 2nd son of Japeth, one of Noah’s three sons, and bore the children who in time became known to the ancient world as the Scythians. They lived in central Asia and are believed to be the forefathers of today’s Russians. Many historical references support this view.  For example,  Josephus Flavius wrote “Magog founded the Magogians, thus named after him, but who were by the Greeks called Scythians.” And in some ancient Arabic documents, the Great Wall of China is called the Ramparts of Gog and Magog.  It was built to keep the Scythians out of China.

So while the Russian people of today are likely descended from Magog, there is no such biological connection for Gog to either Magog or any other ethnic group. There is an unrelated mention of a man named Gog, a grandson of Reuben, in 1 Chronicles 5:4 but there doesn’t seem to be any connection between him and the land of Magog either. Clearly, while Magog refers to the millions of his descendants in today’s Russia, Gog remains a single individual.

Some say he’s a king or leader, and in a real sense I think that’s true but I don’t believe he’s of the human variety.  The time spanned by his three appearances in scripture make that impossible.

The first one is in the first verse of Amos 7, but you have to be reading Amos from the Septuigent translation to see it. There, Gog is identified as a king, but of a swarm of locusts. To further shroud him in mystery Proverbs 30:27 states that locusts have no king, and observers of locust swarms agree that no obvious leader directs them, as a queen would direct a hive of bees for example. The swarm of locusts led by Gog in Amos 7:1-2 was symbolic of a judgment  that was to come upon the Northern Kingdom, but the Lord relented because of Amos’ intercession.

(This hint also lends insight to another appearance of locusts, by the way. I’m referring to the one in Revelation 9, where a swarm of locusts comes out of the Abyss to afflict those on Earth who lack the seal of God on their foreheads. These locusts have a king named Abaddon in the Hebrew or Appolyon in the Greek. Here again, the Proverbs passage would indicate that these locusts are of supernatural origin like the ones in Amos 7, not ordinary locusts.)

The next time Gog’s mentioned is in Ezekiel 38:1, where he is called by name as the leader of a coalition of what are now primarily Moslem nations attacking Israel. His final mention comes from the Book of Revelation where he again leads the people from Magog against the Lord’s army at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:8).

Even if you’re among those who  place the battle of Ezekiel 38 at the end of the Great Tribulation, the span of time between Gog’s last two biblical appearances is at least 1000 years, and while I believe that some born in that era will have long life spans, there isn’t any indication that natural humans born before the Millennium begins will live to see its end. This is especially true of God’s enemies, since all surviving unbelievers are removed from Earth at the beginning of our Lord’s reign.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that Gog is a supernatural figure. The Bible clearly states that behind the human seats of government stand supernatural figures manipulating the thoughts and actions of the world’s leaders.   These figures are in Satan’s employ, helping in his effort to wrest ownership of Planet Earth from its Creator. Gog is at least the supernatural figure behind the throne of Russia, and perhaps is even Satan’s counterpart to the Archangel Michael, who commands the Lord’s armies.

In Daniel 10:13 Michael is identified as one of the Lord’s chief princes who in 536 BC came to Daniel’s aid in a supernatural struggle with the Prince of Persia, a nation barely emerging on the world scene having conquered Babylon just three years earlier. At its conclusion Michael told Daniel that he’d soon be battling the Prince of Greece, a nation that didn’t even exist at the time. In Daniel 12:1 we’re told he’ll protect Israel at the end of the age. And in Rev 12:7 he’s seen leading the angelic host in a great battle in heaven when Satan is defeated there and cast down to Earth at the outset of the Great Tribulation. Michael is clearly a supernatural warrior leaping across the pages of history in defense of the Lord’s interests. It makes sense that Satan would have a military commander leading his forces as well, since everything he does seems to mirror the actions of his Creator. With his multiple mentions in Scripture and the long span of time between appearances, Gog could easily be this commander.

Only time will tell if this view is correct. But one of the great advantages of living in our day is that we won’t have long to wait till we find out. You can almost hear the footsteps of the Messiah.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”  (Matt. 6:19-20)

US dollars are backed by the “full faith and credit” of the United States government, not by the approximately 147 million ounces of gold in Fort Knox, like they used to be.  (At $1,000 dollars per ounce that’s $147 billion worth.  The last reliable estimates put the total dollars in circulation or on deposit at $8.3 trillion, so even if the dollar was backed by gold there’s less than 2 cents worth of gold behind each one.)

So the value of a dollar is determined by how confident the rest of the world is in the stability of the US economy.  China holds the largest amount of dollars in reserve, about 2 trillion, and has about $800 billion more in bonds they hold. China has let it be known that their confidence in the dollar has been shaken by the recent economic turmoil in the US.  Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia,  and others feel the same way.  And recently the UN has joined China and others in calling for a new, more stable currency to replace the dollar in world markets.  Rest assured, if these countries can find a way to replace the dollar they’ll do so, and the value of the dollar will decline even more rapidly.

They’ll do this because they know the US has recently been flooding the market with money that isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on and sooner or later it will trigger an inflationary spiral that will further erode the dollar’s value.  In the current round of Economic Summit meetings other nations are insisting that the US agree to stop spending (printing money) and start saving.  But they don’t believe our government is willing to exercise the necessary restraint to make this action effective.  Therefore their choice is to do something and lose a little now or do nothing and lose a lot later.

Meanwhile, Back At Home …
At the same time experts in this country believe that unemployment will remain high for another year or so.  They believe that many more homes, perhaps more than a million, will soon enter foreclosure.  They know that the commercial real estate and credit card markets are still in trouble and could trigger another recession, even before we’re out of this one. Lately, I’ve been seeing more references to “recession part 2” in financial commentaries as a possibility for 2010.

It’s also been reported that a new phenomenon, called Strategic Default or “walkaway”, has come on the financial scene.  It involves home owners with good credit scores who are often current on their payments deciding to just walk away from their mortgage obligations.  They do this because they don’t believe they’ll ever get back to an equity position in their home.  According to the LA Times there were over 580,000 cases nationwide last year, more than double 2007’s total, and current indications are that this number is continuing to grow. (In California where the once booming market has gone bust, walkaways were 68 times higher in 2008 than in 2005.)

Because of all this uncertainty, some people look at converting their cash into other currencies, like Euros or Yen, to protect themselves against the possibility of the dollar’s sudden demise,  but quickly realize those currencies are just as volatile.

Still others enter the gold and silver markets, not understanding that this is just a place to temporarily park assets until the economy improves.  You can’t spend the coins you buy.  No matter how much the gold in your five dollar gold piece is worth, your neighborhood grocer is only going to give you five buck’s worth of food for it. You have to find a buyer who’ll give you paper money for your gold before you can spend it.  If the economy never rebounds, you might be out of luck.

According to Bible prophecy the world will get to a point one day where people will labor all day just to make enough money to buy their food for the day. (Rev. 6:6)  There won’t be any left over for rent, utilities, car payments, or anything else. This won’t happen because food is so scarce, but because money will be worth so little.  Therefore, trying to save up enough to get you through those times is an exercise in futility. In periods of run away inflation, savers are penalized by the consistent decline in the value of their savings.

For example, it takes 12 of today’s dollars to equal the purchasing power one dollar had at the end of WW2, and over that time annual inflation averaged less than 4% per year.  The dollar’s purchasing power could erode that significantly in a matter of months during a period of runaway inflation.

But my purpose here is not to present a seminar on economics.  It’s to introduce the only investment strategy that can protect you against catastrophic loss if the bottom falls out from under us.  It involves exchanging earthly dollars that, have steadily declined in value in both good times and bad, for Kingdom dollars that cannot decline in value, or be lost or stolen.

There are two goals in this strategy.  The first is to comfortably survive the coming hard times in what’s left of this life (Surviving), and the second is to create wealth for the next one (Thriving).  You can do both starting today.

Goal 1. Surviving
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt. 6:25,33)

A couple of years ago, I started warning people to either voluntarily change the way they live or wait till they’re forced to change involuntarily. Since then many have been forced to significantly adjust their lifestyles, and many more are teetering on the brink.  Yet I don’t hear stories of churches filling up with people seeking after the Lord’s righteousness.

If you survived the first round of financial turmoil unscathed, don’t think you’ll automatically be immune to the next one. I truly believe that the Lord is allowing every source of security to be systematically stripped from us until only He is left.  Make it easy on yourself.  Take the first step now.  Seek His kingdom and His righteousness and begin to feel the burden of worry lifting from your back, and the smile returning to your face, as you let Him take responsibility for your well being. The Lord is the only one capable of carrying us through the difficulties yet to come.

Goal 2. Thriving
Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (1 Cor. 9:6,8)

Waiting for the Lord to bless you before you start investing in His work is like waiting for a stove to give you heat before throwing in some wood.  Sowing always precedes reaping, so start where you are.   Recall how grateful you are that the Lord has saved you, and where you’d be heading had He not done so. Then express your gratitude by investing in His work.  You don’t have to look around for an area of need.  Just find a place where it’s obvious the Lord is already working and pitch in. Give gratefully and generously according to your ability.  And remember, every time you do you’re exchanging earthly dollars for Kingdom dollars.

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. (1 Cor. 9:10)

Soon you’ll see other areas where you could help and you’ll find you have an increased ability as well.  Where at first you only had a dollar to invest, you’ll see you now have two. Fight the tendency to hold some back and increase your giving instead, always with an attitude of gratitude.  The main thing to remember here is that giving with the expectation of receiving isn’t being generous, it’s being greedy.  (That’s the first fatal flaw in the so-called prosperity gospel.)

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. (1 Cor. 9:11)

Most people worry that they’ll never be able to afford giving even 10% to the Lord.  But people who follow this strategy in good faith eventually find themselves giving 30-40% and still have more than enough for themselves.  If you work for a salary, it’s hard to imagine how this could work.  But remember all money comes from the Lord, regardless of who signs your paycheck, and He has an  unlimited amount.  Show him you can be a good steward with what He’s giving you now and you’ll get an increase, because He promised that those who are faithful with a little will be given more.  But for those who are not, even the little they have will be taken away from them. The evidence is all around us.

The first half of 1 cor. 9:11 is so exciting to us that we forget the second half. Yes, we can be made rich in every way, but it’s so we can be generous on every occasion. And that’s prosperity gospel’s second fatal flaw.  Wealth is not a gift to be wasted on indulgences for our personal benefit, it’s a trust to be administered for the benefit of others.  Spending money we don’t have on things we don’t need is neither an expression of gratitude nor a demonstration of generosity.  On the contrary, it’s evidence that if the Lord gave us more money, we’d just become greedier.

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:22-23)

No matter how far upside down you are financially, you’re not beyond the Lord’s help.  The very day you determine in your heart to abandon your self indulgent ways and begin to express your gratitude and demonstrate your generosity, He’ll go to work with you to help make the future different.

And remember, generosity is not a number, it’s a state of mind.  It’s not how much you invest in His work that matters so much as the motive in your heart while you’re doing it.  Remember the widow’s mite? (Luke 21:1-3)

“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6:38)

The bottom line is that this investment strategy pays better than any other you can find.  And it’s also unbeatable for overall security.  The Lord’s bank can’t fail, inflation will never erode your earnings, and nothing can ever cause the value of your investment to decline.  Also, we can see from the examples I’ve cited that your returns are payable both in this world and in the next.  What other investment do you know of that can promise that?

And talk about safe.  The value of Kingdom dollars is backed by the full faith and credit of the Almighty Himself. The value of earthly dollars is only backed by the full faith and credit of the US government.  Are you OK with that?

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

The only condition the Lord imposes on this strategy is that we stop conforming to the patterns of this world and allow our minds to be transformed where it comes to our relationship with Him. (Romans 12:1-2)  That means we start giving Him the final say in determining the direction of our lives, and  expressing our gratitude for what He’s done for us by becoming a channel through which He can bless the world around us.  When we do, we’ll discover that we feel more gratitude, demonstrate more generosity, and in turn experience greater returns.  We can’t lose.