The Last Battle

The Last Battle (Ezekiel 38:1-9, Ezekiel 39:17-20, Revelation 19:17-18, 2nd Peter 3:10)

The purpose of God in the prophecy of Ezekiel is to show us the transition from the Old Testament temple in Jerusalem, to the New Testament temple of God in the souls of the New Testament believers, and then after this earth has been destroyed to the new creation, which will be God’s final dwelling place.

In this prophecy God tells us at length that the Old Testament temple was destroyed for the wickedness of the people of Judah and Jerusalem. But Judah and Jerusalem were not the only wicked people on this earth, and that is why this prophecy also addresses many nations. Satan is ruling in the hearts of the people in those nations. Therefore God has a special message to the king of Tyre and to the king of Egypt, which are actually messages to Satan that he will be judged. Beginning in chapter 34 are messages to the New Testament congregation. Then in chapters 38-39 we read about the Last Battle. And in chapters 40-48 we read about the New Jerusalem in the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Here is the Last Battle:

Ezekiel 38:1
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Ezekiel 38:2
Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Ezekiel 38:3
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

Ezekiel 38:4
And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:

Ezekiel 38:5
Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

Ezekiel 38:6
Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Ezekiel 38:7
Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

Ezekiel 38:8
After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.

Ezekiel 38:9
Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

In verse 2 God speaks to Gog. The KJV shows exactly what the Hebrew text reads. Gog is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; Gog is identified with the land of Magog. These names Magog, and Meshech, and Tubal, and Gomer are given in Genesis 10 as the sons of Japheth, the son of Noah. And Togarmah is identified as the son of Gomer. And thus these names refer to the Gentile nations West and North of the nation of Israel. These nations have allied themselves with the nations East and South of the nation of Israel, for we read that also Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them. It looks like all the Gentile nations are waging war against the nation of Israel.

Why do I call this the Last Battle?

Let us take a look at Ezekiel 39:17, and there we read about the end of that great army:

Ezekiel 39:17
And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.

Ezekiel 39:18
Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.

Ezekiel 39:19
And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.

Ezekiel 39:20
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

We know that these words refer to the Last Day of this earth, when Satan and all his demons and all people who are with him will be cast into Hell. God told us that in Revelation 19:17-18.

In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 19 we read about the Last Battle that will be fought on this earth. Satan and all the nations of the world against the Lord Jesus Christ and His army. This will not be a physical battle; this will be a spiritual battle, for the battle between Christ and Satan is always a spiritual battle. But spiritual battles are outside our range of understanding, and thus God conveys it in earthly terms.

Revelation 19:17
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

Revelation 19:18
That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

And thus we must read the prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 as a prophecy concerning the Last Battle on this earth.

There are not two last battles; there is only one Last Battle. It is the battle that will be fought during the Final Tribulation Period. The Final Tribulation Period will be characterized by an outward peace and safety in this world. For example, we read in 2 Peter 3:10, that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night”. Almost no one will be expecting Christ to return at that time, because spiritual battles are not visible to the world of the unsaved.

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Alfred J. Chompff