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Cover by John Little.
6th Edition
A Solar EMP And Global Earthquake
Jeremiah 30, Micah 5 and Zephaniah 3
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(6 hours 44 minutes)
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© 2022 John Little. All rights reserved.
May God preserve the words that are true
and cast away those that are not.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/01-preface-ef.mp3
Fifteen years ago, I wrote an article about our vulnerability to an electromagnetic pulse (EMP). As the years went by, my understanding of how defenseless and exposed we were increased - especially if that EMP came from our sun. More importantly, I began to see such an event in the prophetic writings of the Bible, first in Ezekiel, which is why this book is called Ezekiel's Fire.
At first, I thought that the prophets were speaking of a big solar flare like the Carrington Event of September, 1859. It was an X45 class flare that would have done horrifying damage to our way of life, if it happened today. And, on July 23rd, 2012, a Carrington-class solar superstorm swept past Earth's orbit, narrowly missing us by just days. If it had happened just a week or so earlier, we would still be picking up the pieces of our shattered lives. But, the Bible wasn't talking about anything so tiny as an X45 solar flare.
The Bible refers to something that you could see with the naked eye. And, the prophets say that it will do more than just destroy the power grid. Since it was not possible to see the Carrington Event of 1859 and the solar superstorm of 2012, except through special telescopes, the prophets could not have been talking about something like that. This is when I realized that we face something many times bigger - at least a superflare. And, that would have been very hard to imagine, until we saw them on stars just like our own.
Unfortunately, Ezekiel's Fire isn't just the biggest EMP event in five thousand years. It will also be the biggest earthquake since the Great Flood. Every building around the world will be knocked down. Cities across the globe will be destroyed - in some cases, permanently.
Civilization will collapse.
Billions will die.
Oh, and that superflare?
The description in the Bible seems to indicate something even bigger - a nova event. We never thought that our sun could produce superflares, and now that we do... we have to wonder if maybe our sun is capable of something far bigger - blasting its outer shell out into the solar system. And, as we spend more time looking out into space, we are beginning to see stars do that.
The term superflare is a word that still hasn't been officially recognized by our dictionaries, and now we have something even newer - 'micronova'. That word is slowly gaining acceptance among astronomers and will eventually take its place next to 'dwarf nova', 'classical nova' and 'supernova'. This nova event will be small enough to allow life on earth to survive, but big enough to destroy transportation, water distribution and electricity production.
Billions will die of thirst, starvation, violence and falling buildings. Those who have what people need will be killed by those who want it. Many of those who survive, will wish that they hadn't.
If you understand what I wrote in When Gog Comes, you'll know the timing of this event and the core points of what the Bible says about it. However, the focus of that book was timing. Ezekiel's Fire is about how dangerous this time will be.
In this book, you'll get enough science to make your head explode, and even more prophecy. We'll even talk about preparation.
Just remember that our job isn't just to survive. The gospel of Jesus Christ is at the center of who we are, and our goal is to be able to continue sharing the good news of salvation.
All of this can seem to be a bit overwhelming to contemplate, but I hope that this book lays the evidence out for you in a way that makes sense and even saves your life.A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
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This is the Sixth edition. Previous editions were written and compiled in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2021.
Some of what was in the 4th edition (2016) was updated and moved to When Gog Comes.
AND YES, FREE: This book will always be available for download for free from at least one of my web servers. Some publishing platforms will require you to pay something, and printing a book costs money. So, there will be a cost for the paper version, but there will be no profit made from this book, other than the desire that you would be edified.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/02-introduction-ef.mp3
On March 7th, 2009, a Delta II rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying the Kepler Space Telescope. It's purpose was to find planets like our own, but it also discovered something far more ominous:
the end of our civilization
That telescope found G-class stars exactly like our sun, blasting out flares thousands of times bigger than the worst solar flare ever seen - the Carrington Event of 1859. And, the Carrington Event was so bad that if it hit us again, a large part of our civilization would be in ruins. So, with the fact that the Kepler Space Telescope was seeing superflares from stars exactly like the Sun, it means that our way of life will one day be destroyed in a fantastic burst of light. More importantly, the Bible agrees.
I call what's coming, Ezekiel's Fire. And, that term comes from this verse:
And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
- Ezekiel 39:6 (ASV)
A fire described in the Book of Ezekiel?
Okay, Ezekiel's Fire
I could have called it Isaiah's Sun or Zechariah's Horses, and both Isaiah and Zechariah talk about the same moment in time and add important data to what we are talking about. But, this fire that will hit our earth will be truly devastating, and will destroy the modern foundations of our civilization. And, as you already know from my other book, When Gog Comes, Ezekiel is a good place to start, when considering the timing of this solar catastrophe. But, let's get back to that Kepler Space Telescope.
Kepler's job was to find planets orbiting stars like our own. And, when you want to do that, you take multiple readings of the brightness of each star over a long period of time to see if it dims a bit at any moment in time. A loss in brightness indicates that something passed across the face of the star. And, if you measure precisely enough, you can determine the size of the planet and maybe even if it holds an atmosphere. Get enough spectrographic detail, and you might even find out what kind of atmosphere the planet has.
The Kepler Space Telescope operated for nine years, gathering a vast trove of data on stars just like our own. And, it found planets. Lots of them. And, it was so successful that they launched another satellite to do even more of what Kepler did. Astrophysicists were ecstatic over the thousands of planets that they had found.
Unfortunately, scientists are all too human. They pay attention to what they expect to see and ignore what they are not looking for. Since they were only searching for G-class stars that dimmed a bit, they discarded the data that showed stars becoming brighter. We actually have a term for points of information that do not fit our expectations - extraneous data.
Enter Dr. Kazunari Shibata of Kyoto University in Japan. He looked at the extraneous data and discovered that stars like our own throw out gigantic, civilization-destroying superflares as much as a million times stronger than any flare ever seen - every 800 to 5000 years. If our sun hits Earth with one of those, we're toast. And, Dr. Shibata has been sounding the alarm since 2012.
Very few have been listening.
Unfortunately, it gets worse. We have evidence of stars brightening, disappearing and then slowly becoming visible again. And this is far, far worse than any 'superflare' because that is the signature of a nova event.
To most astronomers, a nova can happen only two ways - a star drawing material off of another object that eventually causes it to explode or a red giant collapsing in on itself and exploding. But, the nova event that I'm talking about here does not follow these rules. Our sun isn't a part of a binary star system. There's no 'hot jupiter' in close orbit. No black holes. Nothing. And, in case you haven't noticed, our sun also isn't a red giant. But, since astrophysicists cannot explain how these stars are disappearing and reappearing like this... they ignore them. (That extraneous data again.)
Scientists are like most people. If they cannot explain what they are seeing, they dismiss it. This is why it took so long for the word 'superflare' to become an accepted term. And, it will take even longer for 'micronova' - or a term like it - to become common usage among astrophysicists.
The problem is that we might not have enough time for astronomers to recognize the existence of small nova events coming from stars like our own. Therefore, it's good that we have the Bible, which describes a situation that is exactly what we would expect from a micronova. Therefore, we don't need to wait for flawed physicists to acknowledge what they refuse to see.
What is the Bible telling us?
There will be a moment in time, whether through dust accumulation or a strong magnetic anomaly, when our sun will blow off its outermost shell - out into the solar system. The result will be a temporary brightness seven times greater than normal, that will also cause our moon to be as bright as the sun. This 'outer shell' will race outwards into our solar system, while cooling - transforming into an expanding shell of dust.
As this expanding shell of dust races past Mercury, Venus and then Earth, stars will be obscured - as if being rolled up as a scroll. It will be like a line of storm clouds moving across a night sky, obscuring everything behind it. And, when you look up at night, you'll see the stars wink out as if they were being wiped away.
Our sun will also be dimmed by this cloud of dust, and the dust will shift the light reflected from our moon into the color of blood. Also, clumps of dust that hit Earth's atmosphere will flare brightly, like shooting stars. And, our satellites will fall out of orbit burning up in the atmosphere.
If any of this sounds familiar, congratulations. You've been reading your Bible, specifically Isaiah 30 and the last part of Revelation 6. Both of those passages lay out a stunningly exact description of what we would expect during a small nova event.
Here is what Isaiah says:
Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,...
- Isaiah 30:26a (NKJV)
I don't think that very many understand how big a deal that is. First of all, such an event could not last more than a few minutes or hours, because if it lasted much longer than that the heat would kill everything, turning our planet into a charred piece of rock. Second, this will be thousands of times stronger than any solar flare, ever recorded.
The Carrington Event was the biggest solar flare ever observed on Earth. The Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that hit us, was so powerful that it melted telegraph wires around the globe and gave us northern lights that reached almost to the equator. If the Carrington Event hit us like that again, it would destroy power grids around the world and millions upon millions would die. But, there's something vitally important that you need to know about the Carrington Event:
You would not have been able to see it, unless you were looking at the sun with a special telescope.
This means that Isaiah is talking about something thousands of times more powerful than seen by Richard Carrington in 1859. We will all see it. And, it will be terrifying to those who do not understand it. (It will even be bad for those of us who do.)
Now, you could make a case for this being just about a ginormous solar flare, or maybe even more than one. And, if a bunch of them burst from the sun's surface, all at once, that might account for such brightness. However, the difference between a bunch of solar flares and a micronova might just be semantics. And, we have more than Isaiah to talk about.
Those of you who have been reading When Gog Comes, will have seen what I said about the Sixth Seal of Revelation 6. It also speaks of a massive solar event and has the same context as Isaiah 30:
...and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up...
- Revelation 6:12b-14a (NKJV)
It's hard to see how this could be anything other than the aftermath of a nova event. Some have said that our solar system could be hit by an interstellar cloud of dust. And, it is true that such things exist in our galaxy. But, we haven't seen any coming our way, and the likelihood of such a circumstance is far less than a micronova.
However, it is also true that we'd see a big explosion from our sun, if we did run into a big cloud of dust. Dust accumulation on the surface of a star is the number one cause of nova events. Think of it as a dusty solar sneeze.
How would a micronova happen without running into an interstellar cloud of dust?
Multiple magnetic anomalies.
NOTE: Scientists like to use that word 'anomaly' a lot. It's an event or piece of data that cannot be explained by what we currently understand. It sounds more intelligent than saying, 'boy, that's weird'. But, since scientists are human, they need words that make them look like they know what they are doing. But, 'anomaly' isn't a bad word, so we'll continue to use it.
Solar flares occur when magnetic fields within the sun get more and more energetic as they twist tighter and tighter. Then, when these strong magnetic fields touch each other, a patch of the sun's surface explodes outward in a burst of light, energy and CME. If enough of these magnetic explosions happened at once, all over the sun, you would have a magnetic-induced nova event.
Unfortunately, we've never seen one of those, so scientists don't believe that such events are possible. I'm not a scientist, so feel free to agree with them. Just remember that no one believed that our sun could produce superflares until Dr. Shibata proved them wrong. But, more on that later. Let's get back to what the Bible says.
If you look carefully, you'll notice that I left something out of two Bible passages that I quoted to you earlier. Here they are again, in full, but with important parts in bold:
25 There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
- Isaiah 30:25-26 (NKJV)
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
- Revelation 6:12-14 (NKJV)
This will be the second biggest earthquake in the history of the world. It will sweep the globe, shattering every tall building and causing massive tsunamis bigger than anything ever recorded. Underground streams and aquifers will have their courses - and even locations - changed forever. And, there are a lot more passages in the Bible that say much the same thing about this event. We also have scientific evidence that seems to describe how and why these earthquakes will happen. Just remember that the Bible is a better guide to the future than science.We've noticed something interesting about earthquakes. Some scientists have recorded an increase in electromagnetic activity in areas where earthquakes are about to happen. Part of this is the electric discharge that happens when you put lots of pressure on a rock. Squeeze a rock hard enough, and you'll get zapped. It's called the Piezoelectric Effect. But, we've also noticed that when a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from our sun hits the earth, there appears to be a small increase in earthquake activity, especially around the north and south poles - which is a REVERSE Piezoelectric Effect. But, there's more.
Remember when I said that this will be the second biggest earthquake ever?
Well the 'first biggest' was several thousand years ago. We call that moment in time, The Great Flood. And, we aren't used to thinking of that as an earthquake. And, we are especially not used to thinking of The Great Flood as a nova event. But, there's an awful lot of glass up on the moon. In fact, the entire surface of the moon is covered in glass, with a thin layer of dust on top. A lot of that glass comes from meteors hitting the moon. (Lunar Impact Glass)
Is some of that glass from a nova event that also broke up the surface of Earth and deluged it with water?
It sounds plausible, but we haven't spent all that much time on our moon. And, we've only analyzed a tiny part of its surface. However, some recent moon missions are doing that. But, we're not sure if they are looking for the proof that we need.
Unfortunately, we quickly run into a problem when trying use scientific observation to discover the cause of these events that we are talking about - scientists. They don't want to look for it. They don't think that they need to look for it. They think that they understand the sun just fine. And, they also think that you should keep your opinions to yourself, thankyouverymuch.
Max Plank won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918, and had something to say about foolish scientists:
"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
- Max Planck, 1950
Another way of saying that is:
Science advances one funeral at a time.
The scientific community is full of flawed people who doggedly stick to old ideas, even when absolute proof is offered that shows them to be wrong. Only when arrogant and foolish scientists die, will new ideas advance, ideas that better explain the data that they have received.
Remember Dr. Shibata?
It took more than a decade for a few astronomers to reluctantly accept the idea that our sun can eject superflares. And, you can bet that there had to be quite a few funerals before younger scientists grab this new bull by the horns and acknowledge what he was saying. But, we aren't going to wait for flawed scientists to eventually recognize reality. We're going to accept the Bible as our basis for truth.
Unfortunately, for those of us who love the comforts of a modern, technologically advanced civilization, the Bible is telling us that our current way of life is doomed. All buildings of any size will be destroyed, killing everyone inside of them. Electricity will cease to exist. Water will no longer flow from our faucets. All transport will cease operating. Permanently. All of that. For a very, very long time.
And, billions of people will die.
If you have read my book When Gog Comes, you already know that this will happen long before the Antichrist and the Great Tribulation. Yes, I know that we were all taught a different story, but the theories that were introduced 200 years ago aren't going to save us when this disaster strikes.
If you are at the wrong place, at the wrong time, when the sun lights up the sky and the moon turns the night into day, your chance of survival will be very, very low - especially, if you have not taken steps to prepare spiritually, mentally and physically. That's what this book is about - giving you some of the tools that you need to understand what the Bible is warning about, helping you think through the survival process and the preparations that you need to make.
My goal is for the Body of Christ to survive and thrive during those very, very dark days. Our job as Christians is to reflect the light of Christ into a world that suffers and dies. I know that this time will be terrible, and I'm not looking forward to it. But, I also know that there is nothing worse than someone leaving this life, not knowing Christ.
It would be better to suffer terribly and lose everything - including your life - but go into eternity knowing Jesus as Lord and Savior. No amount of suffering and loss compares to life in Christ, and eternity with Him. And that's why Ezekiel's Fire won't just be a tragedy. It will also be a tremendous opportunity to share the gospel with those who see the truth of God for the first time.
So, let's dig deeper into what Ezekiel's Fire really means.
Again, Ezekiel's Fire comes from this verse:
And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
– Ezekiel 39:6 (KJV)
That verse occurs after Gog and Magog come down to seek the destruction of Israel. And, I cover the timing of this event in my book:
When Gog Comes
https://whengogcomes.com/
And, there can be no question that this is an event from our sun. Isaiah 30:26 makes that absolutely clear. The sun becoming seven times brighter is a very big deal. But, there's other proof from the Bible.
Remember that the coming of Gog and Magog and the Return of Jacob to God are the core events here. Ezekiel's Fire is just the side effect. The massive alliance created by Gog must invade Israel first, before Ezekiel's Fire happens. And, there's no way that Gog would be able to do that, unless the major military powers of today had been dramatically weakened. And, that 'weakening' is exactly what happens during the first five seals.
Again, what is our core verse?
This one:
And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
– Ezekiel 39:6 (KJV)
That verse is directly connected to this one:
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.
- Ezekiel 39:22 (KJV)
That means that the Return of Jacob to God - the Salvation of Israel - will only happen at the time of Ezekiel's fire. And, that confirms what Isaiah said about the sun being seven times brighter:
...In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people and heals the stroke of their wound.
- Isaiah 30:26b (NKJV)
That is spiritual salvation, and I call it an absolutely conclusive match. Ezekiel 39:6 and Isaiah 30:26 are both talking about the exact same event. Then, after that, God will give the Israelis enough time to mature spiritually so that 144 thousand of them can be marked in their foreheads with the signature of God - Revelation 7.
At this point, we could call this 'case closed' and go home. We have all the proof that we need to say that Ezekiel's Fire comes at the time of Gog and Magog and long before the coming of the Antichrist. But, if we stopped there, we'd be missing a lot of valuable detail.
If Ezekiel's Fire is a nova event of unimaginable ferocity, then we should see equally unimaginable side-effects from this solar cataclysm.
And we do.
Let's go to Zechariah 12, which speaks of the spiritual salvation of Israel and look at this verse:
4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
– Zechariah 12:4 (NKJV)
Normally, a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) from a more normal event, like a solar flare, would not have this effect upon cars and vehicles. An X-class flare would only cause problems for electricity distribution. But, this solar nova will be so far beyond X-class that we would need to look at a Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) to see something similar. And, Zechariah 12:4 describes the effects of an EMP, perfectly. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Let me pull back a bit and ask you this question:
What is Zechariah 12:4 describing?
Well, if we understand that Zechariah is talking about the modern age, we need to interpret the verse in a modern context.
What are the horses that Zechariah speaks of?
Well, unless you wish to claim that everyone, everywhere in the world will soon go back to riding horses, we must assume that Zechariah's use of 'horses' is actually a reference to more modern modes of transportation:
So, if Zechariah is using horses as a euphemism to describe modern transportation...
What would happen to them if they were hit by an EMP from something like Ezekiel's Fire?
Well, Zechariah speaks of these horses as having been struck blind.
What does a horse do when it is struck blind?
Nothing.
No horse with any sense at all, does ANYTHING but stay in one place if it has been struck blind.
What does a vehicle do that has been struck by an EMP?
The same thing. Nothing.
What is the context of Zechariah 12:4?
Well, we can find it, a few verses down, here:
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
- Zechariah 12:10 (NKJV)
THAT is the same context as Isaiah 30:26 and Ezekiel 39:6. And, that context is...
...spiritual salvation, the return of Israel to God.
That is a positive and conclusive match.
Oh, and for those who wish to say that the horses of Zechariah 12 are four-legged beasts of burden, think about that for a moment. If these are real horses, it will mean that our civilization will have collapsed long before Ezekiel's Fire. If our technology falls so far and so fast that we are forced to uses horses, woe unto us. It means that billions will have already died, and that Ezekiel's Fire will merely be the final nudge that destroys what's left.
For more on that, read this chapter from When Gog Comes:
Zechariah 12-13
https://whengogcomes.com/08-zechariah-12-13.html
So, now we have multiple passages that describe events from the same moment in time:
The only thing that I can think of, that would account for all of that, would be a small nova event - something bigger than anything that we have EVER seen from our sun in more than four thousand years. Unless we discover something out in the universe that would fit better with what the Bible says, I believe that our default position must be that this is a micronova.
Oh, and one more thing. Many have written to me about the use of nuclear weapons and whatnot. Please focus your mind on how this is described in the Bible. God speaks of himself as the cause of this, no one else. This will be God, demonstrating that He lives and that He truly reigns over the heavens and the Earth.
Now, if this solar nova were only going to impact the Middle East, I wouldn't be writing this. At least, I wouldn't be doing so in English. This will affect the whole earth and billions will die.
And, I do NOT want you to be one of them.
Now, we will continue our discussion of what the Bible says about what is coming later. But, right now, I want to take you on a detour through the science behind this prophecy.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/03-section-one-the-science-ef.mp3
Is there science in this prophecy in Ezekiel 39, Isaiah 30 and Zechariah 12?
Absolutely.
It's not the main point of these prophecies, but it is still an important one. In fact, your life may hang upon your ability to prepare for the science behind what the Bible is saying.
So, what is the science behind all of this?
Let's start with the verse that is easiest to analyze:
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:26 (KJV)
We will address only those parts that I have put in bold and will be dealing with the other part when we focus on Isaiah. So, what does God mean when He says that...
...the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days?
I remember the first time that I read that verse by myself. I was completely mystified, and continued to be mystified at least once a year, as I was reading through my One Year Bible.
How was the Moon going to be as bright as the Sun?
Just look out your window during the day, and it will be that bright - at night. What an incredible thought. And, we now know that there is a scientific basis for what is going to happen.
In the four chapters in this section, we will be talking about:
The Sun - what our sun is, what it has done in the past, what we have seen other 'suns' like ours do.
A Super Solar EMP - what we have discovered about EMP effects on modern technology and everything else.
Global Earthquake - why it makes sense that there will be a global earthquake, and why it will kill so many people.
The Problem With Science - its limitations and why we can't wait for scientists to make the right prediction.
Science is a very flawed tool, and using flawed tools to explain the Bible is usually a bad idea. So, I don't blame you, if you skip this section and jump to what the Bible says. But, when the Bible describes a physical event like this, it would be helpful if we could see scientific observations that back up what the Bible says. And, we actually have a lot of those.
Unfortunately, this scientific confirmation of what the Bible says, means that we will experience a level of catastrophe that we haven't seen in more than four thousand years.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/04-the-sun-ef.mp3
The Sun - big, massive, bright. Some worshiped it. Some cursed it. And a few have spent their lives studying how it works. It's so complex that predicting what it will do is extremely difficult - if not impossible. Oh, and we've spent billions of dollars studying it.
Why so much money?
Well, for all of its benefits, we have discovered the hard way that it's also a threat. Back in 1859, our sun sent out a solar flare that melted telegraph lines and burned down telegraph offices. It created magnificent auroras across our night skies and led to consternation and bewilderment among scientists. (And some thought the End was nigh.) Then, when Apollo missions landed on the moon, American astronauts found lots and lots of glass. And, some of it looked like it was created by a nova event or a superflare.
Superflares? Nova event?
"No way!" shouted the scientific community.
So, Dr. Gold's observation was consigned to the dusty back shelves of NASA. He never talked about it again.
Then, a soft-spoken Japanese astrophysicist noticed superflares coming from stars just like our own. The scientific community couldn't shout Dr. Kazunari Shibata down, since the evidence was utterly conclusive, so they didn't try. They just ignored him. But, he kept doing research and publishing papers.
Eventually, some solar astrophysicists started to take notice of Dr. Shibata's work and began to agree that the sun could launch massive superflares. They just weren't sure when such an event would occur, so they went back to their solar telescopes and continued counting sun spots. They decided that this would happen far in the future, so Dr. Shibata's work is slowly being confined to the dusty back shelves.
However, the glass on the moon is still there, and new scientists have been observing nova events in our galaxy that do not conform to the accepted explanation for how and why stars explode. They've also seen hundreds of stars disappearing. Some stars are even flashing brightly and ejecting clouds of dust, in much the same way that is described in the Bible.
Unfortunately, since most astrophysicists don't understand how this is possible, they scoff at the idea that our sun can produce such massive amounts of energy - enough energy to melt rocks on the moon. And, they also don't see how our sun could eject such a massive amount of dust out into our solar system, that would darken the sun, turn the moon blood-red and cause stars to vanish. Unfortunately, they're wrong. But, before getting into that, let's take a closer look at our sun.Compared to the little ball of rock that we call Earth, our sun is ginormous. Really big. So big, that if you ever wanted to feel insignificant, look at the sun.
But, is our sun really all that special?
Well, it's not just special. It's perfect. The perfect size. The perfect rotation. The perfect brightness.
Perfect, that is... for sustaining life.
And, of all the stars in our universe that we can see, we have only found a few that are just like our sun. Maybe just ten percent of all stars in the universe are that special G-class star, like our own. And of this special class, an even smaller number are the kinder, gentler solar-type star. And, as we look more closely at how unique our sun is, you'll see God's Hand in all of what we are talking about.
Yes, God could have created the universe differently, but it's hard to see how you and I could be alive if He did. According to the scientific evidence that we know, every planet and star has been precisely placed to make sure that life on our little ball of rock flourishes. If our sun was brighter, dimmer, bigger or smaller, the perfect balance of life on earth would be impossible.
Even the rotation of our sun is important. If it was more energetic and rotated much faster than the current 27 days, we would have far more solar flares and bigger ones. If it rotated more slowly, we would have more cosmic rays from other stars hitting earth and fewer, weaker solar flares. And, all of that is because our sun is like a giant kitchen magnet.
Our sun is a super hot ball of protons, neutrons and electrons swirling about under extremely high pressure. That subatomic soup of energetic particles is called plasma, and plasma creates magnetic fields. And, since the sun is just a ball of swirling, whirling magnetic plasma, it means that magnetic fields are everywhere - magnetic fields just like the one your kitchen magnet uses to hold up notes on your refrigerator.
However, the biggest magnetic field created by the sun, comes from something that we like to call the Solar Dynamo. We've never seen it, but we know it's there. We know that it's responsible for the north and south pole on our sun. We know that the north and south poles flip every eleven years. We just don't know for sure if it works the way that we think it works.
All of that conspires together to create something called the Heliosphere. "Helio-" comes from the Greek word for sun - Helios. And, the Heliosphere is the magnetic field created by the sun and the Solar Wind - the protons, electrons and 'alpha particles' ejected by the sun, out into the solar system. It's also the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere. So, think of our planet as floating through the outer atmosphere of our star.
Also, don't forget that the north and south pole flip, something that our sun does every eleven years. That 'flip' plays a big role in something that we call Solar Variation or the Solar Cycle. If this eleven year cycle was longer or shorter, the climate cycles on earth would have been deeply affected, leading to a significantly different human history. The warming periods that led to the rise of empires, would have happened at different times and locations.Here's an interesting video that does a reasonably good job of describing some of the basics about our sun:
The Sun: Crash Course Astronomy #10
Fun fact: A cup of protons would be the strongest possible acid - if you could keep all those protons in a cup. So, think of the core of the sun as being super acidic. (As if that matters.)
All of that is the 'official' version of how we believe the sun works. Of course, the age of the sun and how long it takes for light to reach the surface is pure theory. Scientists don't know who God is, so they aren't going to know how the universe can be six thousand years old. But, their other theories - like what's at the center of the sun and how the corona can be hotter than the sun's interior - are actually based on some pretty good observations.
However, notice something important - solar magnetism. There's a lot of it. It's powerful. It causes ginormous explosions of energy from the sun. And, it will be the number two cause for why Ezekiel's Fire knocks our civilization down. (God is always number one.)
Unfortunately, our knowledge of the sun is severely limited. We can't get very close, and we even have a hard time looking at it. We can measure what it produces, but looking inside our sun is impossible. This is why it is such a good idea to look at other stars which have the same characteristics as our sun to see what could be in our sun's future. And yes, we're looking at stars like our own, but for all the wrong reasons.
As I mentioned in my introduction, the Kepler Space Telescope was built and launched for the sole purpose of finding planets like ours, that might be able to sustain life. And, not a single word was said about wanting to know if stars like our sun have a tendency to emit civilization-killing flares. And, it took almost three years for someone to have the temerity to mention that Kepler was seeing flares so big that they could only be called superflares.
Subsequently, governments around the world realized our danger and spent billions of dollars to launch space telescopes to determine when the next superflare from our sun would happen.
Oh, wait. They didn't do that.
Instead of doing the one thing that would help us understand the likelihood of a superflare destroying us, they decided to waste more money looking for planets orbiting other stars. Even if a thousand years passes before Jesus Returns, there is literally no way that humans will ever colonize Mars - let alone planets around other stars. We're just too corrupt, greedy and foolish to be able to do so. We spent a billion dollars looking for planets we'll never touch (Kepler + TESS + ground observatories + etc.), and not a dime on searching for the one thing that will knock us back to the stone age. But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself.
When NASA launched the Kepler Space Telescope in 2009, scientists around the world were looking forward to seeing evidence of planets like our own, in orbit around stars like our Sun. And, they found lots of G-class stars with planets. But, what is absolutely astounding was their inability to see undeniable evidence of complete disaster.
Even now, when you search for a description of the Kepler Space Telescope, you’ll be lucky to see anything about the superflares that it recorded. And, we only know about them because a Japanese astronomer at Kyoto University got a bunch of 1st year undergrad students to comb through the data.
If it weren’t for Professor Kazunari Shibata, we would probably still not know that our sun has the ability to hit us with a solar flare ten thousand times more powerful than the biggest flare ever recorded in human history. But, even with conclusive evidence, astrophysicists are still pushing back against the idea that our sun could destroy our civilization with such a big burst of energy.
How is it possible for 99% of astrophysicists to ignore such explosions of light from stars that are exactly like our own sun?
Sheer human stupidity.
Before 2012, no astrophysicist was willing to contemplate the ability of our sun to emit superflares. That's why Dr. Shibata had to use first year undergraduate students to help him comb through data from the Kepler Space Telescope. Others who could help, weren't interested.
After all, everyone said that solar superflares were impossible.
However, the one thing that made Dr. Shibata unique was his specialization in astrophysical jets - the massive streams of ionized matter, ejected out into the universe by black holes, neutron stars and protostars. And, this specialization helped him understand the huge magnetic arcs of plasma on our sun that lead to solar flares. This led him to wonder if similar stars exhibited the same kinds of flares that he was seeing.
Here is a half hour lecture by Professor Kazunari Shibata, in 2019:
Kyoto Univ. International Symposium on Advanced Future Studies
Kazunari Shibata Oct 24, 2019
Just after the six minute mark, Dr. Shibata says something interesting about the massive amounts of magnetic energy stored in sunspots that often lead to solar flares:
"We know [the] physics already but [the] exact mechanism [is] still not yet completely solved."
When he says 'not yet completely solved', you should interpret that as, "we don't have a clue". And, this is the core problem that we are having with solar physics. Since Physicists think that certain events are impossible, they won't study them. This means that the burden of finding out how massive amounts of magnetic energy can accumulate on the sun's surface, is in the hands of the very, very few scientists willing to study it.
And, since this symposium also dealt with Astrobiology, Dr. Shibata mentioned something fascinating, after the 15 minute mark. He said:
"Then, in 2008 in [an] IAU regional meeting in China, I heard a very interesting [and] strange talk by a Russian researcher. He described [that] when [a] solar flare occurred, traffic accidents occurred more frequently and patient's health in hospital became worse, and he proposed 'Heliobiology' [as a] new research subject. And, I was very surprised ... I immediately asked him why, and he [said] flares cause geomagnetic storm of god [?]. Then such a disturbance affects the blood, because the hemoglobin in blood has iron that is affected by a magnetic field, and then blood pressure may change. So, [in] traffic people cannot control [their] car, and also patient[s] in hospital - [their] blood pressure changes for worse.
Then amazingly, one month later, again in another IAU symposium, one Bulgarian researcher showed this interesting graph - the relationship between blood pressure and geomagnetic storm strength and some positive correlation, and again I was very surprised."
The presentation that he heard in August of 2008 in China, was this one given by Dr. Elchin Babayev:
Sun-Earth interaction: potential effects of solar activity and related geomagnetic disturbances on human health state on the Earth (middle latitudes) Proceedings of the 10th Asian-Pacific Regional IAU Meeting 2008 (APRIM-2008), August 3-6, 2008, Kunming, Yunnan, China
This was from Dr. Babayev's paper, published four months before:
Since he was coming from Azerbaijan, Dr. Babayev might not be completely Russian, but he has collaborated with Dr. Vladimir Obridko, who very much is:
Potential effects of solar and geomagnetic variability on terrestrial biological systems
The second symposium that he refers to, was focused on Universal Heliophysical Processes and occurred in September, 2008, in Ionnina, Greece. This is where he heard Bulgarian researcher Dr. Svetla Dimitrova give this lecture:
Possible heliogeophysical effects on human physiological state
The graph that Dr. Shibata showed in his presentation also appears in this 2006 paper published by Dr. Dimitrova:
Relationship between human physiological parameters and geomagnetic variations of solar origin
This is important to note because the Bible also mentions the biological effects of Ezekiel's Fire. You can find a verse that directly refers to this, here:
In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
– Zechariah 12:4 (NKJV)
In my chapter on Zechariah, I focus on what happens to the 'horses'. But, the biophysical effects of this solar event will result in the 'madness' of those riding them. We will not only SEE the increase in brightness from the sun, but we'll also FEEL the coronal mass ejection (CME) when it races past earth. And for some reason, it will drive us mad.
Then, near the end of his lecture, he makes some vital points that we will need to reference later. Before his study on superflares, no one believed that stars like our sun could produce them. So, in the Fall of 2010, he got five 1st year undergrad students to search the data coming from the Kepler Space Telescope. These students didn't know astronomy, so they were completely free of bias. In that first year, they found 365 superflares from 148 solar-type stars. These superflares increased the brightness of these stars by 1% to 10%. And, using statistical analysis, they found that a superflare 1000 times more powerful than the Carrington Event would occur once every 5000 years.
Unfortunately, for those of us trying to figure out what Isaiah 30:26 is talking about, an increase in brightness by even 10% is not nearly enough. Isaiah says that the sun will be as bright as SEVEN DAYS. That's 700% of normal output, not an additional 10%. But, we'll talk about that, later.
The main point to take away from this lecture is:
We've only known about superflares from our sun for less than a decade.
What ELSE have we missed?
I believe that the Bible tells us that they've missed a lot. And, one of the things that they've missed is the small nova event described by Isaiah. However, a micronova like this is rare, hard to detect and even harder to study.
Oh, and even if this is 'just' a superflare......when it hits earth, all electrical systems all over the world will be destroyed.
ALL. OF. THEM.
Not a single electrical grid or power station will be generating electricity, anywhere. For a very, very long time. Later on, we'll see some videos that give a far more optimistic view, but there's no way that something a thousand times greater than the Carrington Event could leave ANYTHING running unless it was protected by something like a Faraday Cage. And, anything that survives that solar event will be crushed by the earthquake.
A few months after that 2019 video, Dr. Shibata received the George Ellery Hale Prize in February of 2020, which is the Solar Physics prize handed out every year by the American Astronomical Society. And, I'm disgusted that he didn't get something better than this. It appears to me to be an "oh, you're retiring, so let's give you a prize." He's not just one of the best solar physicists on the planet. He's the most important solar physicist in 50 years.
His discovery that our sun shoots out flares that can be ten thousand times bigger than the Carrington Event, should have caused a sea change in astrophysics. All the space agencies around the world should have stopped what they were doing and started looking for stars like our own that emit superflares. But, because they're morons, they didn't.
Here is the talk that Dr. Shibata gave, in June of 2020:
AAS 236: Session 300. Solar Physics Division (SPD) Hale Prize Lecture: From Jets to Superflares
(The discussion about superflares begins at 36:40)
By that time, Dr. Shibata had already retired, but he still had important things to say. And, the core point that you should take away from that talk is that our sun is highly magnetic in a very complex way. And, it is magnetic energy that is the source of the massive solar flares that we are concerned about.
If you want to know more about what Dr. Shibata is saying, look into solar "magnetic plasma" and "magnetic reconnection". Those two subjects are at the heart of Ezekiel's Fire because it will probably be multiple magnetic reconnection events that will involve magnetic plasmas, all of which will explode so massively - with such brightness - that the outer shell of the sun will be blasted out into the solar system. And, for a moment in time, the Sun will be as bright as seven days (Isaiah 30:26). But, we're getting a little ahead of ourselves.
The reason why Dr. Shibata and his graduate students have been able to understand superflares, is due to Dr. Shibata's focus on jets - not airplanes, but massive streams of energy ejected out into the universe by black holes, neutron stars and protostars. He thought that these jets were caused by gravitational forces, but to make sure, he looked at our sun. That's when he saw something different - magnetism.
In the 1980s, they discovered spinning jets coming from our sun. Only magnetism could cause these jets of energy to twist like that. So, Dr. Shibata started looking more closely at how magnetism was the key component to these astrophysical jets. The problem is that it has taken decades for physicists to come around to this idea. But, that didn't keep him from being drawn towards looking at the jets of energy exploding out from the sun - especially solar flares.
Up to the early 2000s, many astrophysicists were unwilling to accept magnetism as the reason for what was happening on the sun. Then, solar satellites were launched that could see more clearly how solar flares occurred. Magnetism was proven correct in every way.
Then the Kepler Space Telescope was launched in 2009, and a stream of data started flowing in - describing events on and around stars that were like our own. And, Dr. Shibata wondered if they could find evidence of flares on these stars, too. No one else was looking for this evidence, so he and his students started looking in the fall of 2010.
Their results?
365 superflares on 148 Solar-type stars
Then they did a statistical analysis to try and understand how often such flares would occur on our own sun, and at what strength. Here was what they discovered:
Superflares 100 times larger than the Carrington Event, occur every 500 years.
(Meaning, we're toast, the next time that happens.)
Furthermore, we have evidence from 8th century tree rings in Japan and even historical Japanese documents from the 6th century, that we had one of those superflares. Yet, at the same time, we still have astrophysicists who are unable to accept the evidence of superflare activity in the past, and the surety that a superflare will happen in the future. In fact, it will probably take decades for the scientific community to accept that such solar events are possible.
By that time, a superflare will probably have already taken down our civilization.
Unfortunately, it's actually a lot worse than that. Much worse - because we haven't even looked at small nova events. As bad as a superflare would be, a nova event would be worse. And, we have evidence that these rare events are occurring in our galaxy.
Here's another, much shorter video that does a good job of summarizing some of what we know about superflares in under three minutes:
Superflares Could Be A Threat To Earth
How ironic that no mention was made of the more comprehensive study done by Dr. Shibata and his team. People just aren't paying attention. But, also notice what they say about superflares:
200 years ago, we wouldn't have noticed.
Except for an increase in auroras, we wouldn't have noticed a thing. We would have been completely unaffected.
However, there's a problem with the claiming that Ezekiel's Fire is a superflare. I used to make that claim, until I realized that superflares don't emit enough visible light to conform to Isaiah 30:26. Any superflare that makes the sun as bright as seven days would probably kill us. That much directed energy wouldn't just fry everyone on the side of earth facing the sun, but it would also strip away a lot of our atmosphere. And, we have some observations that clarify this.
With even the largest known solar flares, the flash of light is never visible to the naked eye. You would need to be looking at the sun through a special telescope to actually see the increase in brightness.
The largest solar flare and CME event ever recorded occurred just before noon on September 1st, 1859. Amateur astronomers, Richard Carrington and Richard Hodgson, both had telescopes pointed at the sun. They were recording the shape and size of the sun spots that they were seeing, when they suddenly saw a flash of light. Just 17 hours and 36 minutes later, a Coronal Mass Ejection hit Earth, causing telegraph lines to burn and huge auroras to light up the night sky.
We call this the Carrington Event, because Richard Carrington was better able to explain what had occurred - in addition to maybe having more friends in the Royal Astronomical Society than Richard Hodgson. Remember that if you want your name in the history books, who you know is more important that what you know.
Here's a fun discussion of solar flares and the Carrington Event:
Could Solar Storms Destroy Civilization? Solar Flares & Coronal Mass Ejections
However, notice the optimism. The narrator assumes that our power grids are well managed and that damage can be prevented. Unfortunately, I don't think that we'd get off so easily. But, Kurzgesagt has a sense of humor, so they get a pass.
Here's a little more history of that Carrington Event:
The Carrington Event: Earth's Electronic Apocalypse
Simon Whistler lays out more of the history of the Carrington Event. He even mentions poor Richard Hodgson who also witnessed the same flash from the sun, but barely got an honorable mention. Simon also asks us to think about what would happen when the power goes out. However, I think that he and many others are missing something important.
When complex systems break, rebuilding them only works when the 'replacement parts' are nearby and stockpiled. Big parts that are meticulously hand built for 18 months on the other side of the planet, might not ever arrive. And, I'm describing the big transformers that are only made in Asia and are used by every power station on the planet.
What if the power grids of both Asia AND North America were burned out?
Who would build the replacement transformers?
How would they get to North America?
The Carrington Event was classified as an X45 class solar flare. If another such flare would hit Earth, trillions of dollars in damage would result and untold loss of life. It would be absolutely terrible, and we had a close call on July 23rd, 2012, when the CME of a similar sized solar flare missed Earth by nine days. But, as with all other recorded solar flares, you could not have seen them without the aid of a telescope.
But, what if the flare was 10,000 times stronger?
Well, if an X450,000 class solar flare hit us, we'd be dead.
The Kepler Space Telescope has recorded such superflares emitted from stars just like our own. But, there's a problem with thinking of Ezekiel's Fire as a superflare.
Why?
Because if our sun shot an X450,000 superflare at us, we would only see the sun as being 30% brighter and not seven times brighter, and that doesn't fit Isaiah 30:26.
Worse, we're not sure how much of Earth could survive such a superflare. It would do more than just knock out all electricity and wipe out our civilization. It would scorch a big part of Earth and even rip away some of our atmosphere. It also might kill so many plants and animals that it's hard to see how anyone would survive. Of course, surviving a superflare would depend on a number of factors, so we're in the area of conjecture here.
The irony is that the movie Knowing (starring Nicholas Cage), made such a superflare event the central premise of the movie. That movie came out in 2009 and critics at the time, thought that such surperflares were impossible. But, a couple of years later, Kazunari Shibata proved such a superflare isn't just possible, but inevitable.
But, is the Bible describing a superflare?
No.
Even an Earth-killing superflare would not produce enough light to make the sun seven times brighter and the moon as bright as the sun. The Book of Isaiah isn't talking about a flash of light, but a sustained brightness of at least minutes or hours. But, there is a way for the sun to appear seven times brighter without killing everyone on earth - by launching most of the energy in many other directions than just earth.
This is where we go beyond the current boundaries of science, since no prominent astrophysicist believes that our sun can blow off its outer shell in a nova event - at least, not until after it becomes a red giant. Of course, you already know that prominent astrophysicists thought the same thing about superflares. And now, we don't. So, we should look at novae (plural of nova), especially since we are completely out of other possibilities.
Astronomers currently recognize only two types of novae:
Nova - a white dwarf star grabs hydrogen from a companion star until the stolen hydrogen ignites and explodes
Supernova - a star that uses up most of its hydrogen, which causes it to expand into a Red Giant, which then becomes unstable and destroys itself in a ginormous explosion - sometimes leaving behind a neutron star.
Yes, they have sub-classifications, but those are just variations on a theme. But, there is more in the universe than is explained by their theolog... err ...science. And, it is all about the one thing that we really don't understand about the sun and stars:
Magnetism
Solar flares are caused by magnetism that gets tangled up before exploding. Superflares are caused by similar kinds of magnetism - just bigger ones. Also a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that usually happens along with a solar flare, is also magnetic. The heliosphere that surrounds and protects our solar system is completely magnetic. And, none of that should surprise us, since the sun is the biggest kitchen magnet in our solar system.
In fact, take a look at how magnetic the sun is:
The Dynamic Solar Magnetic Field with Introduction
And then, there's some extra proof that solar flares are magnetic and that we don't understand why - although, this time with a very Scottish accent:
Solar Flares - How the Sun Relaxes
(And, if you come away from that video with a Glasgow accent
bouncing around in your head, don't say that I didn't warn you. )
Now, think carefully about what Dr. Flectcher said. Magnetic fields get tangled and twisted. Those tangles and twists cause energy to build up in the sun, and the more tangled and twisted they are, the more energy held in those magnetic fields. And, if there are enough of them scattered across the surface of the sun... and if they all let go at once... you could see how the outer shell of our sun would blast outwards into the solar system. In other words....
A nova.
However, it wouldn't be like the standard novae and supernovae that we've seen in our telescopes. In fact, this nova might only last for hours. A magnetic nova would also cause our sun to disappear to those looking at us from other stars - assuming that anyone believes in aliens.
Why would the sun disappear?
Because that outer shell would blast out into space, before cooling into a fine dust - blocking the sun's light.
Of course, this is where we're having to work extra hard to connect Bible prophecy with the science, but I think that we're still on pretty firm ground. Up to this point we've been talking about individual solar flares and superflares blasting out small parts of the sun's outer atmosphere - the corona. But, a massive buildup of magnetic energy across the sun's surface would do far more than that.
Think of a solar flare as a stick of dynamite. If you drill a hole in the side of a limestone cliff, and set off that one stick of dynamite, you'll get a big bang and some dust. But, if you drill multiple holes and set off multiple sticks of dynamite, the whole face of the cliff would come down. And, we would expect the same thing to happen on our sun.
So, this small nova event, this magnetic micronova would happen when...
Multiple magnetic fields all around the sun, twist, tangle and gather energy before blowing up all at once.
To refresh your memory, here's what the Bible says about that moment in time:
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
- Isaiah 30:26 (NKJV)
Those of you who have been reading When Gog Comes, will know that Isaiah 30 is talking about the same moment in time as Ezekiel 38 and 39. The same as Ezekiel 12 and 13. But, it also looks exactly like this verse:
12 I looked when He opened the sixth seal, and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. 13 And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. 14 Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
- Revelation 6:12-14 (NKJV)
And yes, I know how hard it is to get your head around that. So, if you have trouble accepting that, it's okay. But for the moment, just focus on the 'sky receding like a scroll when it is rolled up'.
That 'rolling up' of the sky, is that massive shell of dust spreading outwards into the solar system, obscuring the stars in a line, as it races by earth. It would look like someone was wiping the stars away. It would be like one of those massive storm fronts rolling through at night - like the ones that you get in Midwest America. It will be like someone pulling a blanket across the sky - on the one side a vast canopy of stars, on the other: shadow and nothingness. Of course all of that is what you'd see at night. During the day, you'd see something different.
The interesting thing is that we are seeing more and more evidence of this in our galaxy.
Early in 2020, we saw the light from Betelgeuse drop by 70%, and after much shouting and arm waving, scientists concluded that it had ejected a massive cloud of dust. This cloud was so big that it obscured part of our view of that star for several months. We also noticed that the star brightened just before that eruption of dust. And, while Betelgeuse is a lot different from our own sun, it gives us a possible explanation for the stars that have been disappearing - and why Isaiah 30 and Revelation 6 have a sound, scientific basis. So, we'll need to look for disappearing stars, and just like our discovery of superflares, they're looking for these stars for all the wrong reasons.
Over 700 Stars Mysteriously Vanished In The Last 70 Years, But Why?
On July 12th, 1950, the Palomar Observatory was photographing the night sky. Two of those pictures overlapped each other and were taken half an hour apart. In the second picture, nine stars had disappeared, and have not been seen since. And, we still don't know why they're gone.
Fast forward 70 years, and we now have the VASCO Project - aka, Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations Project. Launched by Dr. Beatriz Villarroel of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics (NORDITA), they are looking for stars that have been around a while and then disappear. As of late 2020, they identified 713 stars that have disappeared, and they want to know why. (Although, they want the reason to be aliens.)
No, really. They're looking for aliens. And, they think that really smart aliens would build gigantic structures around stars to harvest energy. But, that's crazy 'cuz aliens don't exist. (sorry)
As with Betelgeuse, the most likely explanation for the disappearance of these stars is a massive ejection of dust that obscures our ability to see that star. The reason for this vast amount of dust could be anything from a superflare, up to a small nova event. But, there's a problem with that explanation.
Astrophysicists don't know how this could occur on main sequence stars like our own, and what scientists cannot explain, they tend to ignore - just like they ignored the data that showed stars like our own sun can eject massive superflares. Dr. Shibata was the first to talk about magnetism being the cause, but they are doing their best to ignore him since they don't understand what he's said. So, I have a question:
If a buildup of magnetism could cause something that scientists thought was impossible...
...then why not a magnetism-induced nova event, also?
Our Sun is a great big ball of magnetic energy, and that magnetism is not as stable as we would like. More importantly, we are seeing a lot of stars that are also highly magnetic and not very stable. And, we are seeing too many stars flash brightly and then disappear behind a cloud of dust.
Unless someone can come along with a better explanation, it appears that Isaiah and Revelation are describing a nova event. Some might claim that this could be a kind of 'solar volcano' that would eject a massive amount of dust out into the solar system, and I'd be happy with that explanation were it not for other passages in the Bible that describe a massive, civilization destroying EMP effect and a global earthquake that knocks down every tall building around the world.
Looking for stars that disappear is a fairly new thing for astronomers. It takes a lot of effort and big budgets, but it seems that they are trying to get a grasp on which stars do this, and why. (Again, they want to find aliens.) But, until they discover some other reason, I will use this term:
Micronova
I didn't coin the term, and I certainly wasn't the first to raise the possibility of a small nova event occurring in our future. The guy who gave us this term is Doug Vogt. Ben Davidson picked up on his theories and expanded them. Doug and Ben are not scientists, but they have noticed evidence indicating that something really big happened a few thousand years ago. They think that it was a nova small enough to be called a micro nova. And, when I look at what the Bible says, I think that they're right. So, until better evidence comes along, 'micronova' it is.
So, how would such a micronova occur?
Most scientists claim that gravity or the buildup of dust on the surface of a star as the only way to create a nova event, and they shake their head at the sheer impossibility of a magnetically induced nova event happening. Astronomers have had their heads stuck in 'gravity' for so long that their brains got mushed. But, a few solar physicists understand magnetism and plasma physics. So, there's some hope that we'll eventually get a coherent and scientific explanation of how this could happen.
Just as solar flares are caused by loops of magnetic energy on the surface of our sun, lots and lots of loops of such magnetic energy could cause a micronova. It would need to be a ginormous amount of energy, and it would need to be over a vast area of the Sun's surface. And, we would probably see it happening.
Gigantic sunspots covering a vast part of the sun, might make the sun look like 'sackcloth of hair'.
As this magnetic energy accumulated, the sun's surface would become more and more distorted until the energy could not be contained any longer. Think of it like a spring that gets wound tighter and tighter, until it explodes outward in a flash of energy and dust.
Great loops of magnetism and plasma will grow out of the sun's surface. They will get bigger and multiply around the sun. Then, one of those loops will suffer a magnetic reconnection, causing a cascade of eruptions rippling around the sun in seconds. The sun will increase in brightness to 700% of normal, and a shell of solar dust will billow outwards.
Ben Davidson also believes that this will either be a 'magnetic event', or the result of our sun moving through an interstellar dust cloud. He points to the geologic record, evidence on the moon and historical records to show that this has already happened, and will do so again. He believes that the main trigger will be something that he calls the 'Galactic Current Sheet', which astronomers call the Galactic Magnetic Field, or GMF.
Will the interaction between our sun's magnetic field and the GMF trigger a nova event?
That's hard to say. The magnetic field of our galaxy doesn't seem strong enough to cause our sun to initiate a small nova, but since there's a lot about our star's magnetism that we do not understand, it's hard to discount what Ben is saying. But, the initial trigger doesn't matter.
What matters is that God will cause this explosion on the Sun. We will always have more questions than answers over how this event occurs, but there cannot be any question over why and Who.
Then, we have one tiny bit of evidence of a previous solar event that was so powerful that it melted part of the surface of the moon, turning it into glass. Unfortunately, this evidence is obscured by glass formed by lava flows on the moon and the impact heating from meteor strikes. Furthermore, we have only spent a very, very small amount of time on the moon, and were only able to cover a tiny area where the Apollo missions landed.
The one bit of evidence that we have comes from a report on the Apollo 11 mission by Dr. Thomas Gold, who was the director of the Center for Radio-Physics and Space Research, at Cornell University. He had proposed a special camera for the astronauts to use, for taking closeup images of lunar soil. Seventeen pictures were taken with this special camera, and one (or more) of them immediately grabbed Dr. Gold's attention:
"One of those is outstanding in being wholly unexpected and possibly of consequence not only to lunar geology but also to aspects of the study of the Sun, the Earth, and other bodies of the solar system."
That quote and the ones that follow come from "Apollo 11 Observations of a Remarkable Glazing Phenomenon on the Lunar Surface" pages 193-197, the Apollo 11 Preliminary Science Report (NASA SP-214). Dr. Gold went on to describe five possible reasons for how the glass in that photograph was formed. But, the most logical reason was the most chilling:
"Among the interpretations discussed here, only radiative heating seems to be able to account for the major observational data; and it accounts well for both the distribution over the ground and the detailed geometrical arrangements in which the glazing is found, for it is in just those places that the temperature would be expected to be at a maximum. We must therefore seek clues as to the nature of such a flash of radiation.
The time of occurrence of the flash heating would have to have been sufficiently recent for micrometeorites not to have destroyed the glaze, nor for the mechanisms that redistribute the lunar soil to have blanketed the objects. Estimates of the micrometeorite rate at the present time vary considerably, but it seems very unlikely that the glaze could be maintained on the surface for as much as 100000 yr and probably not for more than 30000. The event in question would thus have to have taken place within this geologically very recent past. Several possibilities have to be discussed."
He then looks into what kind of 'radiative' heating could explain what was in that picture.
"The flash heating, if it originated from the Sun, overhead at the time in the lunar region in flared up for a period of between 10 and 100 sec to a luminosity of more than 100 times its present value. What could be the origin of such a flareup?
Solar flares, as they are known at the present time, only reach a total energy output of less than 1033 ergs. The quantity we are discussing here is at least 4 X 1036 ergs for an isotropic source, or 2 X 1036 ergs for a localized source on the Sun that radiates into a hemisphere only. While it cannot be ruled out completely that flares of such an intensity could occur, we have no evidence in this regard, although some earlier speculations exist (ref. 9-2).
The phenomenon may not be in the nature of a flare, but in the nature of a very minor novalike outburst of the Sun. The nova phenomenon among the stars is not understood, but it is normally concerned with a different class of star, and the intensity of the outburst, up to 100 times the normal luminosity, for a period of only tens of seconds every few tens of thousands of years, would be a phenomenon that would not have been recognized astronomically among stars of the solar type. One can therefore not completely rule out the possibility that stars like the Sun do have occasional instabilities of internal origin, but very much weaker than the novae."
I find it ironic that 40 years later, Dr. Shibata would have discovered that our sun actually does emit superflares stronger than 2 X 1036 ergs. Unfortunately, scientists at the time didn't think that such flaring could occur on our sun, and this is probably part of the reason why Dr. Gold's observations were shouted down. Dr. Gold died in 2004, eight years before a study would be published, showing that such solar events are inevitable.
I'm betting that if we sent probes to the moon, looking for evidence of a nova event from our sun, we'd find it. But, I'm afraid that scientists are more interested in finding aliens or building lunar bases. They do not want to look for evidence of civilization-destroying solar events. But, they might find them by accident.
To me, the evidence is conclusive. Science and the Bible both point to an event in our future that will knock down what we think of as 'modern civilization'. It will be the biggest solar event since The Great Flood, and life will never be the same again - at least for those who survive.
Eventually, civilization will return. A global economy will reform, and the Beast System that we currently live in, will be resurrected by a Man of Fierce Countenance that the Bible calls the Antichrist.
However, we're not done yet. We've only covered what the sun will do. We now have to look at what will happen on earth, and our next step will be to look at what happens when a Solar Electromagnetic Pulse takes out all of our electric and electronic technology.
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As fantastic as this solar event will be, we're really concerned with what we will experience and whether we will survive it. And, there are two areas that put your survival in doubt:
Electromagnetic Pulse
Earthquakes
When our sun increases in brightness to seven times normal, it will also blow off the outer layer of its surface. It will be a gigantic, expanding sphere of charged particles racing outwards in every direction, into the Solar System. Our sun usually sends out much smaller bits of its outer shell during a solar flare.
We call this explosion of 'bits of outer shell' from the sun a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). However, this CME will be so big, so vast that those of us who survive will probably call it something else - assuming that astrophysics survives. We'll see this expanding outer shell of our sun, with our own eyes, and it will be nothing like we have ever seen.
Then, as this explosion of particles and dust reach Earth, 15-20 hours later, everything electric and electronic will cease to work. Transformers will explode. Power lines will melt. Massive lightening storms will bombard us. Cars will stop running. Planes will fall out of the sky. Satellites will be swept away. And, every major building around the world will collapse in the biggest earthquake since The Great Flood.
In the first editions of this book, I had not seen the inevitability of earthquakes and even tidal waves. I was so focused on the effects on our electrical infrastructure that I did not see what the Bible said would happen to buildings and cities around the world. And, it took my book, When Gog Comes, for me to see it so clearly. But, before getting to that earthquake, let's talk about this pulse of electromagnetism that will come from our sun.
As I have said before, most solar flares do not cause the same level of damage that an EMP weapon would cause. Most solar flares only cause damage to radio communications, electricity generation and electricity distribution. But, Ezekiel's Fire will be so much greater than any solar flare that we have ever seen, that we would do well to compare its effects with that of nuclear EMP weapons. Please also remember that the description in Zechariah 12:4 is stunningly similar to the effects of nuclear electromagnetic pulse weapons. Here is that verse again:
In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
– Zechariah 12:4 (KJV)
Even if we ignore the above verse and limit our thinking to the possibility that Ezekiel's Fire would only destroy electricity generation - that alone, would cause massive death and destruction. Our modern civilization cannot live without electricity. If electricity generation and distribution is destroyed across a continent - or more than one - it would be years before it came back on. And, that means no food or water - for months, or years.
Are you ready for that?
Remember that you can't live without water for more than three days, and you'll starve to death in 30. So, even a more 'standard' kind of solar flare, like the X45 Carrington Event would cause great destruction. And, most experts are concerned about just such a recurrence of that 1859 solar flare. But, Ezekiel's Fire will be so far beyond anything like that... it would be like comparing a cannon to a pop-gun. No one and nothing would ever be the same again - at least, for those who survive.
Again, I cannot stress enough the need to understand the description found in Zechariah:
...every horse with astonishment ... every horse of the people with blindness.
I will be getting into other Bible passages that verify the coming of Ezekiel's Fire, later. But for now, just understand that Ezekiel's Fire will act just like a really massive nuclear EMP attack, destroying electricity distribution and all unshielded electronics - even those found in cars and trucks.
So, let's talk about what an electromagnetic pulse is, and what it would do to our way of life. And, a little history is a great starting point:
What is an EMP? The 60 second answer
YouTube shortlink: https://youtu.be/D5rtQz-hLYM
That was short, quick and to-the-point - but, a little too short and too quick.
Here's a discussion that goes a bit longer and talks a little bit more about EMP. It also gives an interesting demonstration of an EMP attack at work:
EMP - Electro Magnetic Pulse Bomb
YouTube shortlink: https://youtu.be/kxi1DJUDxtQ
The EMP demonstration begins at the halfway point:
https://youtu.be/kxi1DJUDxtQ?t=417
Notice what happens to your car when a strong ElectroMagnetic Pulse hits. It stops running. Then, think about what General Wayne Downing infers about EMP. If an electromagnetic pulse happened over the battlefield, he said:
..."we'd have to dust off our lensatic compasses and our maps. And that's why, when we train today, you still got to train under conditions without your technology."
That sounds an awful lot like the verse that I quoted to you:
In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
- Zechariah 12:4 (KJV)
Now, the above video engages in some hysteria. Getting a nuclear weapon 300 miles above the earth isn't as easy as you would think. Nukes are heavy, and they would need a big rocket to get it where they want it to go. Furthermore, power grid operators in the US and elsewhere have learned how to resist the effects of most electromagnetic assaults, such as lightning. But, Ezekiel's Fire isn't lots of lightning.
Here's what happens when your car is struck by lightning:
What happens when you're struck by lightning in a car? | Top Gear
Shortlink: https://youtu.be/GZxgYNnkBd0
A lightning strike is a lot like an EMP. And, as you can see in the video, your car is designed to shrug off such a catastrophic event. They even have a term for the EMP effects of a lightning strike - Lightning Electromagnetic Pulse (LEMP).
Some have used such examples of modern day lightning protections to claim that EMP isn't much of a problem. But, LEMP isn't the same as a Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse (NEMP) or High Altitude Electromagnetic Pulse (HEMP). And, it will NOT be like the pulse that Ezekiel's Fire will hit the earth with. And, there's one company that specializes in using EMP technology to disable vehicles from a distance:
RF Safe Stop - Target Deactivation across Land, Sea and Air
Shortlink: https://youtu.be/m9zn_Nxg_Tw
That's a marketing presentation from Teledyne e2v. And, whoever chose the background sound effects for that video needs to have their head examined. But, it does demonstrate something very important:
Your car might survive a lightning strike, but not an EMP.
Here's a good discussion of EMP weapons by Simon Whistler at Today I Found Out:
Do Real EMP Weapons Actually Exist, or Are They Only a Thing in Movies?
Notice what he says in this video repeatedly:
All of the first nuclear electromagnetic pulse tests "exceeded expectations."
In fact, this is probably the most common scientific comment that we could make in our investigations of the dangers of EMP and solar storms. Our expectations are constantly being exceeded by reality, and we can't seem to grasp the magnitude of what is coming. Take the most recent almost-catastrophe as an example.
On July 23rd, 2012, the Sun unleashed the biggest solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) that we had seen in more than 150 years. It flew by Earth's orbit just 18 hours later, and would have done fantastic damage to our civilization, if it had happened a few days earlier. And, the only reason that we know about it, was due to a satellite launched six years earlier to examine our sun - STEREO-A.
NASA called it a 'near miss', and some people took notice. That's why there was a meeting of scientists, government officials and emergency planners in 2014 to talk about what might have happened if that solar flare and CME had hit us. The following video was published a couple weeks after that meeting was held in Boulder, Colorado:
ScienceCasts: Carrington-class CME Narrowly Misses Earth
Youtube Shortlink: https://youtu.be/7ukQhycKOFw
The NASA write up is is here:
Near Miss: The Solar Superstorm of July 2012
https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/
The slide presentation by Daniel Baker at that 2014 meeting is unsettling. It demonstrates just how vulnerable we are to such Carrington-class solar storms. You can see the slides of his presentation, here:
A Major Solar Eruptive Event in July 2012: Defining Extreme Space Weather Scenarios
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sites/default/files/images/u33/Baker_July2012_SWW.pdf
Yet, at the same time, we have persons-of-uncertain-parentage writing and recording videos that minimize the dangers of such solar flares. As Einstein has been reported as saying:
There are two things that are infinite - the Universe and human stupidity.
(and he wasn't so sure about the Universe)
And, if you forgot our discussion of the Carrington Event of 1859 from the previous chapter, here's another look:
Powerful Solar Storm Happened Once, See What It Caused
Again, we don't know when the next civilization-killing solar flare will hit us. However, it appears that the sun hits us about once every 100 to 150 years. And, notice the difference between a direct hit and a miss. They aren't the same. These gigantic flares hit us every century, and we aren't paying attention.
Yes, we have an early warning satellite that will give us a few hours notice of any solar flare headed our way. Power companies have said that they are putting in new technology that will protect us from the next solar superstorm.
But, will any of that be enough?
Of course not.
Remember what Simon Whistler said in the video in the previous chapter?
That video mentioned EMP tests run by the US and the Soviets. They all exceeded expectations. By a lot. And, we proved that scientists have repeatedly underestimated the sun's capacity for mayhem. Most continue to claim that the Sun can't emit solar flares much stronger than the Carrington event. So, when it eventually happens, we will be completely and utterly unprepared.
Even if the prophesies that we talk about later were to be delayed a thousand years, there is still a 100% chance that a gigantic solar flare will knock out our electricity and bring down our civilization. We are long overdue for this event to happen, and we aren't ready.
However, God's prophecies are ALWAYS on time, and on target. So, we should pay attention to everything that God says about what's coming. And, there's one thing that we haven't talked very much about:
A gigantic, global earthquake that will destroy every city, across the globe.
So far, we've destroyed electricity generation all over the planet. Water has stopped flowing from faucets. Farm irrigation has halted. Hospitals have run out of power. Sanitation has completely broken down, and sewage flows freely. Government no longer functions. The Police and the Fire Departments are completely neutralized. Streetlights no longer work. Cars and trucks are immobilized. And, if any did continue working, fuel would become completely unavailable within hours.
Nothing would work, and people would very quickly die of thirst, starvation, disease and violence.
But unfortunately, it gets worse.
Billions of people could die from just the destruction of electricity distribution and the frying of all electronic components. But, over a decade or so, we could recover what was lost. As long as the buildings and roads still stood, we could slowly rewire everything and replace what could not be fixed. It would be awful, but most of us would survive.
But, what if the buildings and roads didn't survive?
What if every building taller than two stories was crushed into mangled rubble?
What if every underground pipe was smashed and every bridge destroyed?
Ezekiel's Fire isn't just about the destruction of the power grid, transportation and every other part of our modern way of life. We're also talking about a global earthquake of a size that hasn't been seen since the Great Flood, more than four thousand years ago. And yeah, we have evidence that this great deluge was caused by the same kind of nova event and earthquake.
The Bible describes the massive earthquake that's coming, like this:
There will be on every high mountain And on every high hill Rivers and streams of waters, In the day of the great slaughter, When the towers fall.
- Isaiah 30:25 (NKJV)
Notice where that verse is coming from. That's right, it's just before this one:
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:26 (KJV)
And, those two verses are directly connected to the coming of Gog and Magog, and Ezekiel describes the result, here:
so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’
– Ezekiel 38:20 (NKJV)
Micah 5 also talks about the same moment in time and describes the cataclysm in this way:
10 “And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will cut off your horses from your midst
And destroy your chariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
– Micah 5:10-11 (NKJV)
14 I will pluck your wooden images from your midst;
Thus I will destroy your cities.
15 And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury
On the nations that have not heard.”
– Micah 5:14-15 (NKJV)
And then, to top it all off, we have Revelation 6:
Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place.
– Revelation 6:14 (NKJV)
I describe why Seal Six of Revelation 6 is the coming of Gog and Magog, here:
The Seven Seals Of Revelation
https://whengogcomes.com/16-the-seven-seals-of-revelation.html
I fought hard to avoid saying that Seal Six corresponds with Gog and Magog and Ezekiel's Fire. I did not want to believe that, and have asked everyone - anyone - to prove me wrong. So far, no one has done so. It was only when I was putting the pieces together, that I realized that I could not escape the connection to the Seven Seals of Revelation. But, let's get back to the point about the global earthquake.
Again, here are the words that the Bible uses to describe this event:
That is a global earthquake so big that every city around the world will be destroyed. Every building, especially the big ones. And, there is a scientific reason for why this would happen.
We have also seen a connection between large solar flares and large earthquakes:
Deadly Earthquakes Could Be Caused by Solar Activity
In this video, Anton Petrov points to the piezoelectric effect. When you put physical pressure on certain materials, an electric charge will be produced. We've noticed this happening before and during earthquakes, as rock is compressed an electric charge is often detected. And, the reverse also happens.
In the 'reverse piezoelectric effect', an electric charge causes rock or crystal to move. Unfortunately, it is hard to prove that this is what's happening underneath the earth's surface during a strong solar flare. But, it would seem to explain why we are more susceptible to earthquakes during strong solar storms.
Those interested in doing their own research, can start with these two research papers:
On the impact of the geospace environment on lithospheric processes
https://arxiv.org/abs/2108.13788
On the correlation between solar activity and large earthquakes worldwide
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67860-3
Those were two papers referenced in the above video and should be a good starting point in your own attempts to look at this phenomenon.
Then, there's this video by Ben Davidson at Suspicious 0bservers:
Electroquake | Electric Earthquakes are Real
Ben is a lot more emphatic about the solar connection to large earthquakes, and I can't disagree - especially since so many scientific papers confirm this point. Then, a little over two years later, he revisits the topic with more confirmation:
I think that we can answer the question about the sun's connection to earthquakes. There is a strong correlation between big solar events and big earthquakes. And, when the biggest solar storm since The Great Flood occurs, the biggest earthquake since The Great Flood will follow. And, every city of any size will be completely destroyed.
We could almost stop there, but there's one more thing. We have evidence that during the The Great Flood, the crust of the earth didn't just break up and spread out east and west. It also shifted dramatically north and south. Trees that we found in fossils at the equator have also been found in the Arctic, the Norwegian part of it. And, before you think that everywhere on earth was tropical, don't be so sure. In fact, don't be sure at all.
Fossilized Tropical Forest Found — in Arctic Norway
https://www.livescience.com/52868-fossil-forests-norway.html
Our planet is a ball of liquid metal and rock. And deep inside, it spins fast enough to generate a magnetic field that protects us from cosmic radiation. At the surface of this ball of spinning liquid is a thin crust of earth that we all live on. And, it wouldn't take a lot of force to get it wobbling. In fact, it looks ready to do some serious wobbling already.
If you are a pilot, you know that Earth's North Pole has been moving around, a lot. In fact, it left Canada in the 1990s without a visa and is heading straight towards Russia. And, it's movement is accelerating. So much so, that one newspaper a couple years ago said:
Magnetic north pole racing towards Russia risking havoc for planes, ships and smartphones
That was a little too much hysteria. Here's a more lighthearted discussion:
Russia is 'stealing' magnetic north from Canada
The write-up is here:
Russia is 'stealing' the north magnetic pole from Canada
https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/russia-is-stealing-the-north-magnetic-pole-from-canada
The point is that the interior of Earth is wobbling. Most scientists claim to be mystified by this wobble, but then again... most scientists seem to be puzzled by magnetism. And, a magnetic field that wobbles, will wobble a LOT, if a really strong magnetic field interacts with it. And, that is exactly what the passages about Ezekiel's Fire appear to describe.
When Ezekiel's Fire happens, an intense magnetic field will follow the shock wave racing out into the solar system. When that magnetic field interacts with Earth's dynamo, its wobble will turn into a lurch. And, that 'lurch' will cause the crust of the Earth to shift. That's part of what Revelation 6:14 means when it says that 'every mountain and island was moved out of its place'. And, I would dearly love for that verse to occur after the Antichrist. But, I'm afraid that this is not the case, and cannot be.
Anyway, this 'shift' in the earth's surface will knock everything down, create massive tidal waves and change the topography and geography of our planet. Nothing will be the same after that. The only question is about how big this 'shift' will be. Some speculate that it will be a complete flip of the north and south poles, Others say that it will merely be an 'excursion' - where the poles rapidly move back and forth. Either way, it'll be really bad.
When you see Gog and Magog coming down to attack Israel, get out of any big buildings. In fact, go camping. You do NOT want to be caught by this earthquake and the tremendous devastation that will follow.
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Now that I've dragged you through all that science, you are probably thinking that what I've showed you is great evidence. And, you would not be alone in thinking that. Our society spends far more time worshiping science than praising the One who created all things. In fact, we Christians often look to science to prove that the Bible is true, rather than the other way around. And, I'm a little guilty of this as well.
So, let me make something really, really clear:
Science is NOT good evidence.
However, God can use a little science to nudge us into seeing something that we should have understood a long time ago. And, I must confess to more than a little embarrassment over how many decades it has taken for me to understand what was happening in Revelation 6, Isaiah 30 and even Zechariah 12. And, it took a tiny bit of science to break the mental log jam that was keeping me from realizing that those chapters were all talking about the same moment in time. And yeah, that's embarrassing.
Seriously, if you need science to help you understand the Bible, you have a problem. And, I did. Maybe I still do. But, I am happy to confess to being a flawed Christian. I haven't met one who isn't.
But wait...
...why is science a problem?
Well, science itself isn't a problem. Science is just a process - a way of confirming that what you think is true, really is. The problem occurs when flawed scientists twist the process to claim that certain things are true, when they aren't. But, even if we didn't have flawed scientists, we still wouldn't be able to trust science for very much of what we see in the Bible.
Why?
Because science can only prove what can be repeatedly tested.
The process that science is supposed to follow is:
Observation ⇨ Hypothesis ⇨ Testing ⇨ Observation ⇨ Hypothesis ⇨ Testing...
(repeat until grant money runs out)
Without the ability to directly test what you think that you are seeing, you cannot apply science to what you see. A statistical analysis of what we are observing can come close to science, but it isn't science. And, we've proven to have lost sight of that by claiming evolution to be fact, believing that humans caused global warming and thinking that mRNA gene therapy is superior to natural immunity.
In short, we've created a priesthood of flawed scientists and paid them to do flawed science. And, I am truly disgusted with what we've done. Once upon a time, a good scientist knew who God is, and glorified Him as the Creator of the Universe. Now, it's hard to find very many Christians doing good science.
Worse, we've allowed flawed science to corrupt our view of the Bible. The idea that we would have 'Old Earth Creationism' is horrifying, since it allows flawed science to tell us what the Bible actually says. Yes, there are stars that are billions of light years away. Yes, certain radiometric dating methods appear to show that this or that is millions of years old. And, I certainly agree that there are some bizarre fossils out there that don't make a lot of sense. But, Old Earth Creationists don't stop and ask themselves if there aren't some very, very flawed assumptions being made.
Stars billions of light years away?
Sure. God not only made them that way, but created their light to be hitting earth at the same time.
Carbon dating claims that something is millions of years old?
Yeah, right. The number of assumptions that they have to make about radiometric dating is so huge, that I have to wonder at their willingness to keep using it.
Bizarre fossils?
You should see my cat. Talk about bizarre...
And don't get me started on the Theory of Evolution. What a comical and ludicrous theory, based upon so many flawed assumptions that we'd be here all day just talking about THAT. But, scientists accept that stupid idea because otherwise, you'd have to believe in God, and they just don't want that.
Is it any wonder that the atheists are turning to a belief that we are living inside a big computer and participating in a simulation?
The more that science proves the existence of God, the more that scientists will want to believe that something else is responsible. The whole panspermia theory is a reaction to our inability to find any process that could lead to evolution. As Atheism crumbles, scientists will claim Aliens or The Great Computer. The last thing that they want to believe is that God is real and exactly who He says He is.
Are you starting to see how irrational, insane and unreasonable our 'science' often is?
Well, that's scientists. They're also grumpy, argumentative, petty and stubborn, especially in groups of more than three. It's one of the reasons why Max Planck is reported to have said that 'science advances one funeral at a time'. That's a paraphrase. What he actually said was:
"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
- Max Planck, Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers
One of the many reasons why I have focused so hard on Dr. Kazunari Shibata, is that he is the perfect example of how bad our science is. Not Dr. Shibata himself, but those who have refused to listen to anything that he has said. We could fill many books with accounts of good science being rejected by bad scientists who were in positions of power.
Seriously, spend some time researching the history of science. It's not pretty. In fact, it's downright stupid. But, there is one thing that we can say about 'good science':
It has its foundations in Christianity.
The reason why science and a belief in an objective reality took hold in Europe and North America was due to the knowledge that God created the universe. And if God was the Creator, then the universe must be orderly. It meant that there were laws. All other religions believed in a disordered universe that was not dependable in any way.
You've heard the term 'magical thinking'?
Yeah, that's what pagans did and still do.
The problem is that the further our society moves away from God and His principles, the more our society embraces 'magical thinking' and chaos. If you want to stop the madness sweeping our world, our culture must turn back to God and repent of our self-indulgent sinfulness.
As of this writing, I've lived and worked in Asia for 26 years. Next year will be 27. And, I have seen every kind of insanity under the sun, and some that don't come out until night arives. And, it has become completely and absolutely clear to me that sanity is rare among humans. Worse, it's becoming rare among Christians.
This corruption of Christianity has me more concerned about our future than anything else you'll read in this book. In fact, this book is actually an attempt to push back against one part of the madness that grips the church. If you can accept that the common narrative about the Last Days is flawed, then maybe there is a chance for you to see the other narratives that afflict us are flawed too. Maybe you too will write a book.
To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, I fear what's coming, because I know that God is Just, and that there is a limit to how long His judgment will wait. Unfortunately, too few of our brothers and sisters are listening. We have forgotten that sin has consequences and that judgment comes first to the House of God.
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I love science. Every part of the study of God's Creation is wonderful and wondrous - from the tiniest subatomic particle to the biggest objects in the universe, it's all fantastic. And, when I went to college, I sought a degree in physics with a goal towards getting a Ph.D. However, God had other, better plans for me, but I never lost my fascination with His creation. What a truly amazing universe our Lord created.
However, as I said at the end of the previous section, our science is flawed, since it relies on human perception to increase knowledge and understanding. And, we humans have a terrible history of using corrupt thinking to distort and even obscure what we see. And, that's why we should always trust the Bible more than science.
Unfortunately, we often bring corrupt thinking to our view of the Bible. There are hundreds of Christian denominations. Maybe thousands. Yet, there is only one Bible.
Why?
Why are there so many denominations?
Sin and rebellion.
Our churches and seminaries are full of it. And, our sinfulness and disobedience has caused churches to split and split again. Instead of loving each other and submitting to God, we have corrupted the truth with foolish notions. And, it's so very, very easy to do.
This is why I have been very careful to follow this rule:
“Whom will he teach knowledge?
And whom will he make to understand the message?
Those just weaned from milk?
Those just drawn from the breasts?
For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little.”
- Isaiah 28:9-10 (NKJV)
Since our churches and seminaries don't do that anymore, we now have utter chaos. And, God has this to say to those who will not listen:
To whom He said, “This is the rest with which
You may cause the weary to rest,”
And, “This is the refreshing”;
Yet they would not hear.
But the word of the Lord was to them,
“Precept upon precept, precept upon precept,
Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,”
That they might go and fall backward, and be broken
And snared and caught.
- Isaiah 28:12-13 (NKJV)
Since we have refused to hear, we have fallen backward and have been broken, snared and caught. It will only get worse, as we move deeper and deeper into these Last Days.
So, here is my rule for determining what is evidence:
If the Bible says it, it must be considered as fact.
We might not understand that fact. That fact might even be a little disturbing. We might not want to accept that fact. But, it's still a fact, no matter what we might think or want. The Last Days were always going to be awful, no matter what we would have liked them to be.
Then, there's a corollary:
If the Bible doesn't say it, you can't claim it as fact.
We have a long history of adding things to the Bible, that aren't there, and then teaching what we've added, as if it was fact. We have done this for thousands of years. The Roman Catholic Church did it. The Orthodox Church did it. Protestants did it. Baptists, Charismatics, Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, and everyone else that I forgot to mention, have all been doing it. But, there comes a time when we need to stop.
God has been patient with us for two millennia. He has allowed us to rush about with our foolish notions, but the time for that is over. The Last Days have begun, and time is running out. If we continue to rebel against the facts of the Bible, we will pay a price for that.
One of those facts, is the timing of Gog and Magog. I wrote When Gog Comes, in part because I wasn't completely sure that I had the facts right. And now that I've proven as fact that Gog and Magog will come long before the Antichrist, it's time for all of us to accept that fact as well.
If you don't, you will not be ready when Ezekiel's Fire comes.
You won't even be ready for what comes between now and then. Hundreds of millions - even billions - will suffer and die in the coming years due to violence, war and famine. Our governments have set us on a course for war, and violence will sweep the world as food scarcity tears apart the most vulnerable among us. And, at some point, after the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have begun their ride, a man the Bible calls Gog will gather an alliance and descend upon the Middle East.
Worse, I have yet to find a single pastor or theologian who can speak about this with any authority. They can't prove me wrong, and their own explanations for what is coming are just the tattered shadows of wishful thinking. And, their reluctance to speak about these things has left you unprepared for what's coming.
So, what is it that the Bible actually says about Ezekiel's Fire?
We've already mentioned quite a few things:
Isaiah, Ezekiel and Zechariah all mention this, so we accept it as fact. What we don't know is why.
Why do all these things happen?
What is the context?
When will they happen?
If you've already gone through When Gog Comes, you'll know that all of this happens when Gog and Magog invade Israel. And, the context is the Return of Jacob to God. And, for those of us who have been watching the ride of the Four Horsemen, I believe that all of this comes a lot sooner than we would like.
In the next chapter, we will expand on the core reason and context of why Ezekiel's Fire must happen in the way that is described. It's about the Return of Jacob to God. For 2000 years, Jacob's descendants have refused to acknowledge their Messiah.
God will use this great calamity to fulfill a promise made to His friend, Abraham. The people who rejected Him, will return and be His people, once again.
After Ezekiel, we'll turn to Isaiah - specifically chapters 30, 13, 14 and 17. Those passages describe what will also happen when the sun becomes as bright as seven days, and the moon as bright as the sun.
God will bind up the bruise of His people and heal the stroke of their wound. Israelis will reject 2000 years of idolatry. Iran will destroy the Sunni heartland of Iraq, where the ruins of ancient Babylon still sit. The rainfall patterns will shift bringing more rain to southern Israel, and Damascus will cease from being a city.
Those who read When Gog Comes will recognize some of what we will go through in Jeremiah and Micah - but not Zephaniah. We will prove yet again, that Jacob's Trouble is NOT The Great Tribulation. I wish that I was wrong about this, since I do not relish the thought of going through what is described. But, we don't have a choice. The Bible clearly ties Jeremiah 30 together with Isaiah 30, as well as Micah 5 and Zephaniah 3.
Catastrophe and reconciliation are the theme of these prophets, as well as judgment upon those who mistreated Israel while they were in exile. Some will want to call this the final judgment before the Millennium, but it isn't. God's wrath has happened many times in the past. But, never have our sins been so great as they are now. Judgment comes first to the House of the Lord, and it will be global.
In Zechariah 12 and 13, we bring all that we know about the Return of Jacob to God, connect it to the coming of Gog and Magog and the vast, global Electromagnetic Pulse from the sun that will knock our high tech civilization back to the stone age. And, it is only in our current age, that we could have understood how terrifying all of this will be.
All who need running water and food transported from far away... all of them, will die. All. Every water pump will cease to work. All the trucks that carry our food will no longer function. This alone will cause billions to die. And, those who survive will suffer unimaginable violence as those without enough to eat, take from those who have what they want.
In one sense we are already seeing a foreshadow of this with Russia's awful invasion of Ukraine. Russia wants what Ukraine has, and chose to use violence to get it. And, this will repeat as strong powers seek to dominate those who are weak.
Then, to tie everything together, we bring in Revelation 6 and what was proven in When Gog Comes. They say that timing is everything, and in this case, it's true. As we race towards our rendezvous with prophecy, we have been looking the wrong direction - precisely because we had the timeline of the Last Days all mixed up. That needs to change.
Understanding the true timing of when Gog and Magog invade, will upend our foolish notions and put us on the right course for understanding what's coming. Every mainstream theory that we have about the Last Days will be turned upside down, and we will finally understand the order of events of Revelation, as well as what the prophets have said about the coming of the Antichrist and the Return of Jesus Christ.
We have indulged ourselves with fables for long enough. A difficult future has arrived, and it is time that we faced that.
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As I have said before, the term Ezekiel's Fire comes from this verse:
“And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
- Ezekiel 39:6 (NKJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The NKJV gets 'coastlands' wrong. The Hebrew word איים means islands.
The context of that 'fire' is Ezekiel 39 and the coming of Gog and Magog. However, this prophecy doesn't begin in Ezekiel 39. It begins in Ezekiel 38. The chapter division was not put there by God. But, it's actually more complicated than that.
Ezekiel 39 doesn't just talk about this massive invasion of Israel. It also says this:
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.
- Ezekiel 39:22 (NKJV)
That's salvation. That's the Return of Jacob to God. You literally cannot see this any other way. It also means that every passage that speaks of the Return of the Children of Jacob to God, are all connected to the coming of Gog and Magog and Ezekiel's Fire. This directly connects Ezekiel 36 and 37 to Ezekiel 38 and 39.
This was not an accident.
If you read Ezekiel 36-39 in one sitting, one thing stands out. All four chapters are deeply connected by a single moment in time. Yes, they talk about different aspects of this occurrence. They certainly seem to be different from each other, especially as you go from 37 to 38. But, Ezekiel 36, 37, 38 and 39 are deeply tied together by a single astonishing event:
The Return of Israel to God
In fact, I believe that these four chapters exist to specifically illuminate this moment and help us understand how close we are to its occurrence.
It’s such a big, earth-shaking event that it takes four chapters to talk about it – four chapters focusing on the where, how, and when of the salvation of Israel. Think of it as a unit in four parts.
Normally, when you have a unit of four parts, you call it something. Readers call a series of four books surrounding a single plot to be a quadrilogy. Publishers refer to such a four-book unit as a tetralogy. But, these are chapters in Ezekiel and not books. Musicians call a group of four performers a quartet, and that has a good sound to it, except for the fact that we aren’t singing anything.
However, mathematicians have an interesting word for a unit with four parts. They call it a tetrad. And, since math is so closely integrated with our way of thinking and speaking, it is not illogical to borrow from that branch of science to label what must be one of the most important unit-of-four-chapters in the bible:
The Ezekiel Tetrad
And, the importance of this tetrad is highlighted by how much time the rest of the Old Testament (Tanakh) spends discussing the event and the events surrounding it. I have already mentioned passages in Isaiah and Zechariah, but there are a massive number of them talking about this from many other prophets.
I just wish that it wasn't going to also be a time of suffering and death. But, we have become exceedingly sinful, so it is only right that we experience this time of difficulty. The good thing is that we won't see much of that in these four chapters.
The Ezekiel Tetrad comes in two parts. The first part, Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 37 speak of God's love for the Land of Israel, and His intention to bring the people of Israel back to the land where they belong - and save them.
Chapter 36 is the beginning of the Ezekiel Tetrad, and it is the most general. It also encompasses the largest amount of time, and it is only when we get to verse 31 that we see Israel saved. This chapter also allows us to see our own position within the time frame of this prophecy, and even how close we are to its fulfillment.
As we tackle this chapter and then chapters 37, 38 and 39, you will see greater and greater detail surrounding the events that lead to Israel's salvation and Ezekiel's Fire.
Let’s start.
“And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord!
- Ezekiel 36:1 (NKJV)
This bit is interesting. God speaks to the Mountains of Israel, expressing an irrevocable relationship between the Land of Israel, the Geography of Israel and God.
I'm going to skip over verses two through seven, except that I will say that BECAUSE the enemies of Israel have claimed that they own the ancient places of the Land of Israel, God says, “Enough! You will no longer consider this place as your own. It belongs to someone else.”
In fact, everyone who is involved with the Land of Israel should be careful to remember who owns the land, and what purpose the Owner has for that land. Trying to claim God’s property for yourself is a very unhealthy activity.
But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come.
- Ezekiel 36:8 (NKJV)
God says that He will cause the land to prepare itself for the coming of the Jews. Before the Jews, the Land of Israel was a malaria-infested, barren land – a truly horrific place to live. After the Jews came, the land became a paradise – but only in the areas where the Jews settled.
People don't realize that before the Jews came to the Land of Israel, nine out of ten children died of malaria. Now, no one in the Land of Israel dies of malaria. Before the Jews came, the Land of Israel was one of the most wretched places on Earth. Soldiers stationed there, often became ill within a month and had to be rotated out. The hills were barren. And, the population was sick, malnourished, uneducated and desperately poor. Now, it is completely the reverse, for both Arab and Jew.
Even more telling, the Arabs sold the Jews the worst of the Land of Israel, and the Jews turned those awful parcels of land into the best of the Land of Israel – to the envy and consternation of the Arabs.
Then God - through Ezekiel - says that the land will be better than it has EVER been in verses nine through fifteen. I lived in Israel for a decade and a half, and I can tell you that Israel's land is more green and supports more people than it ever has - more than at any other time in human history.
Now, God begins to illustrate the past and to mention what happened before the Jews came into their land, and the recalling of that is painful to read. It is a litany of terrible sin and terrible suffering. And, that recollection continues until verse 26.
Just remember two things as we read this. First, when Israel returns to the Land of Israel, all of that awfulness is no longer a part of their future. Second, God does not wash their sin from them until AFTER they are in the Land of Israel. I really hope that you understand that point.
I really am surprised at the foolish thinking of many who claim to be Christian. It should be clear to everyone who reads Ezekiel 36 that the people of Israel are saved AFTER they enter the Land of Israel. Yet, there are deeply unwise people who claim that Israel must be righteous and holy before they enter the Land. How foolish.
To rephrase what the Bible says:
God will bring the People of Israel into the Land of Israel, while they are still sinful and in rebellion against God.
You will need to reject the Bible, to say otherwise.
The second thing to remember is that the story of Israel’s transgression is also a story of our own transgression. What happened to Israel - because of her sins - will also come upon us, because of OUR sins. And yes, we really have sinned greatly before God.
Our churches throughout the world are following in ancient Israel’s footsteps and committing the same kinds of sins that Israel committed. And, we can expect the same kinds of judgement that Israel also received. When you look at the statistics for abortion, pornography, divorce, infidelity and sex outside of marriage, you will find very few differences between Christians and non-Christians. And THAT is an abomination.
Well, the children of Israel did the very same thing that we are doing, and they paid an awful price for it. And, I’m afraid that we Christians are creating the same future for ourselves. And, God lays out all of Israel's sins in verses sixteen through 23.
Now, this is where I get to speak specifically to those who claim to be Christian, yet deny that God is at work in the Land of Israel and the People of Israel:
24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
- Ezekiel 36:24-27 (NKJV)
I hope that you were reading carefully because God spoke of a specific order to this prophecy:
I truly hope that people understand the order to this prophecy, because it is clear that God has been following that order. And, there are other passages - like Zechariah 12 and 13 - that emphasize this.
God will fill Israel with an understanding of their uncleanness - a self-loathing that we all needed to go through when we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We all needed to see ourselves as full of sin and filthiness, so that we could turn to Jesus and ask Him to rescue us from our sinfulness.
Israel will do the same, calling out for redemption. And, Our Lord will respond to their cry, as He responded to ours, and make her His own again.
28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
- Ezekiel 36:28-31 (NKJV)
What was begun, will be completed. Israel will wake up to see what they’ve been and the mistakes that they’ve made. Israel will return to the Lord and will be finally, and forever, in a true relationship with God.
And, of course, that is what we call the Salvation of Israel. And, to my Jewish friends who may be reading this, this is the point in which we will finally settle the question of who is right and who is wrong.
The Jews will finally acknowledge that Jesus really is the M'shiach.
Of course, Ezekiel 36 isn’t done yet. God goes on to warn those that He has saved, reminding them that He doesn’t do this because the Jewish people are somehow special. No, He tells Israel that He does this for a different reason altogether.
Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
- Ezekiel 36:32 (NKJV)
God again repeats that He is NOT doing this because the Jews are somehow better than anyone else. No, God is doing this for His own honor - for His own reputation.
God is also saying that the Jews do not deserve what they will receive. Of course, we Christians say the same thing about ourselves. We very clearly do NOT deserve the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins. Those who like to point out the sins of the Jews had better spend more time looking in the mirror.
Then, God goes on to describe what Israel will be like AFTER they are saved:
33 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by. 35 So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’
- Ezekiel 36:33-35 (NKJV)
Now, some people look at Israel now and see that much of Israel has been cultivated and the cities of Israel are bursting at the seams. And, they say that this part of the prophecy has been fulfilled. And, I am prepared to agree with that idea to a certain point. But, God speaks of physical changes to Israel's geography in Isaiah 30:
There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
- Isaiah 30:25 (NKJV)
The giant earthquake that will shake the world will also change the system of underground lakes and rivers in the Middle East - rerouting them. This will be the primary way that Isaiah 17 - the elimination of Damascus - will be fulfilled. The underground stream that feeds the Barada River will be redirected away from Syria, causing Damascus to lose its water supply. Also, these massive earthquakes might affect mountains in Europe in such a way that more rain is funneled into Israel and not into Syria. And yes, the mountains in Europe DO have a significant impact on how and when Israel gets rain.
Do you remember the 'King of the South' in Daniel 11?
The actual name for this king is King of the Negev. And, it points to the wilderness areas of Israel - the Negev - getting more rain and becoming rich in agriculture - so much so that the political center of Israel shifts southwards, to the Negev.
Will Be'er Sheva become Israel's political center?
I don't know, but something like that seems likely from what the Bible says.
Now, the interesting thing is how the rest of the world will be forced to acknowledge God's hand in all of this:
Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.”
- Ezekiel 36:36 (NKJV)
Interesting. God says:
the nations that are left
meaning:
those nations that survive all that happens
So, those nations that survive the cataclysmic events described here will acknowledge that God has done all of this. They may not WANT to acknowledge it, but they won't have any choice.
37 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38 Like a flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
- Ezekiel 36:37-38 (NKJV)
Take a moment to think about this statement. God is giving us a word picture to help us understand how crowded with people the Land of Israel will become. Imagine the number of sheep that would be required every time a high holy day arrived. That is an enormous number of sheep. The Lord is saying that He will PACK Israel FULL of His people. And, He will bless them, and will do it for Israel.
Now, let me ask you:
Does this sound like something that happens immediately before the Tribulation?
Does this sound like something that happens DURING the Tribulation?
No. Of course not.
And no, it does NOT sound like something that happens during the Millennium. There are plenty of verses that talk about the events during the Millennium, and verses 37 and 38 are NOT Millennium verses.
So, this means that Ezekiel's Fire will occur quite a few years BEFORE the start of the coming of the Antichrist and the Tribulation. I laid out why that must be so in When Gog Comes. So, everyone who says that the Antichrist is about to come...
...well, you've got some waiting to do.
The imagery of this chapter is unsettling. In fact, some believe that this passage indicates the coming of yet another holocaust. But, I disagree.
Let’s go through the chapter and see what it says.
The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
- Ezekiel 37:1-3 (NKJV)
The word picture here is powerful. Dry, sterile death. Hopelessness. Utter and absolute destruction, except for one thing…
There are at least bones, and these bones are not broken. Something remains of what once was, a form that still continues on. And God is going to use what is there (those dry bones) to build again.
Furthermore, to believe that this passage indicates a kind of holocaust would require us to throw out so much that is positive about the return of Israel to her land. Yes, it is true that Zechariah 13:8-9 speaks of two thirds of Israel dying, but it is 'only' two thirds. A third survive. And, as I pointed out in When Gog Comes, it won't be just two thirds of people in Israel... it may very well be two thirds of everyone in the world. With all the devastation that Ezekiel's Fire will bring, it's hard to believe that more than a third of the world's current population of eight billion could possibly survive.
Furthermore, in this valley of 'dry bones', there are no survivors. There is no life. And, it should be clear that God is communicating to us with allegorical imagery.
4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
- Ezekiel 37:4-6 (NKJV)
God is going to take what was almost eliminated and make something new. God is going to reanimate what was lifeless and scattered. And, He speaks to the lifeless, even though they cannot hear.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
- Ezekiel 37:7-8 (NKJV)
Now, after Ezekiel speaks, we see the bones transformed. They are now recognizable as people. They are no longer dry and sterile. If we were looking out through Ezekiel’s eyes, they’d probably seem to be asleep.
Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ”
- Ezekiel 37:9 (NKJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The word for 'breath' in verse nine is actually 'spirit' - רוח (pronounced roo-ach, 'ch' as in Bach).
In verses ten through thirteen, God continues with this metaphor of salvation. But, the verse that we are most interested in, is this one:
I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”
- Ezekiel 37:14 (NKJV)
What is this 'My Spirit' that is referred to here?
The Holy Spirit.
You do not get the Holy Spirit, if you are not saved. And, you are not saved, if you don't have Him. He is the seal of your eternal life (Ephesians 1:13). Furthermore, this verse is more proof that we are talking about unsaved people becoming saved.
If you can read THAT and believe that all the references to Israel in Ezekiel are to THE CHURCH... well ...I can only assume that you have lost your mind.
Can these references to Israel be more plain?
This is NOT a prophecy about how The Body of Christ dies and is then brought back to spiritual life. Yet, there are those who proclaim that every reference to Israel in Old Testament prophecy is about The Church. What utter madness.
Seriously folks, get a grip and actually read what the Bible says.
Let’s continue with the rest of the chapter.
Now, this is where God talks about the removal of the tribal identity of the Israelis so that they identify themselves with just one tribe:
Judah (i.e., Yehudah).
Every Levite - those with the last name Cohen or Levi - calls himself a Jew (i.e., from Yehudah). Cohen and Levi are family names that are specifically of the tribe of Levi. Those names cannot be of any other tribe. Yet, every Cohen or Levi will say that they are Jewish, and therefore of the tribe of Judah. Paul in Romans 11:1 and Philippians 3:5 speaks of himself as being of the tribe of Benjamin - yet, throughout his letters, he calls himself a Jew.
Do you find that to be interesting?
I do. What's more, it is a fulfillment of prophecy.
Here is how God describes this:
15 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 16 “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.
18 “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— 19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ 20 And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
- Ezekiel 37:15-22 (NKJV)
There are few things more upsetting to me than someone who claims to be a brother or sister in Christ - while they refuse to submit to the precious words of God.
Do you understand that the above passage describes the removal of the tribal identifiers from those of the tribe of Reuven, Naftali, Efraim, etc.?
God is saying that all tribal identity will be handed over to Judah. God will know the tribe that each Israeli belongs to, but we won't. Every Israeli will call himself a Jew.
It really is that simple.
When the ten tribes where grabbed by the Assyrians, many Israelis lost their tribal identities. Some still held on to them, like Paul's family - of the tribe of Benjamin. But, most had their specific, tribal connections obliterated. After all, it's hard to hold on to something like that, when you are suffering under terrible conditions. The only thing that they probably kept was the knowledge that they were from Israel.
We could go on endlessly about how this might have happened. But, it's not necessary. We only need to take what God said. That should be enough proof for anyone.
Then, from verses twenty three until the end of the chapter, God emphasizes Israel's purity and salvation. Never again will they sin against God. However, we also know that the period of time covered by 'never again' ends with the return of Jesus.
In the final analysis, I love these chapters in Ezekiel because they are filled with such good news about the future. It shows us that one day, the Jews and the Christians will once again be one family. I look forward to that.
I just do not relish the devastation that comes before it.
This is where we get to the 'nuts and bolts' of Israel's salvation, the specific details. Ezekiel 36 and 37 gave the overview. Ezekiel 38 and 39 give the how and when - and Ezekiel's Fire. I covered a lot of this in When Gog Comes, but our focus here will be different.
For those who want a more detailed look at the characteristics and timing of Gog and Magog, I recommend that you go here:
Ezekiel 38
https://whengogcomes.com/06-ezekiel-38.html
Ezekiel 39
https://whengogcomes.com/07-ezekiel-39.html
Here, we are more focused on connecting the salvation of Israel to the invasion of Gog and Magog. Once that connection has been made, we'll be able to connect Ezekiel's Fire to all the other passages that refer to the Return of Jacob to God. For those of you who don't know, the original title of When Gog Comes was When Jacob Returns. But, let's get back to our main discussion.
Up to now, it has all been peace and roses. Ezekiel 36 and 37 did not dwell on the difficulty surrounding the salvation of Israel. What comes next will be terrible destruction.
The first seven verses of Ezekiel 38 specifically deal with someone named Gog, who rules a land called Magog. Gog forms a vast military alliance of nations that are drawn down to attack Israel. God puts hooks in the jaws of Gog causing him to do something that he wouldn't normally have done on his own.
I discussed the identity of Gog and the nations that join together to attack Israel. And, there is one thing that is very, very clear:
Gog Is NOT The Antichrist – And Why It’s So Important
It just isn't possible for Gog to be the Antichrist. Almost every 'expert' on eschatology tries to claim that he is the Antichrist, and they are forced into this position because of their belief in when the Rapture happens. And, that is the absolutely worst way to interpret the Bible.
The timing of the Rapture should never be the 'base case' for anyone trying to understand the Last Days. But, because theologians have done that, they are unable to see the disaster that is rolling down on all of us. Furthermore, they violate an important principle:
Salvation through faith in Jesus Christ
From the very first verse of the Bible until the last, that is the core principle. Yet, when we look at end times prophecy, we seem to be willing to throw this fundamental truth out the window. So, let's make something extremely and absolutely clear:
The Children of Jacob will be saved just like you and I were saved - by faith.
That should be completely and absolutely obvious, and I'm sure that you feel the same way. But, some might need extra proof. And, that's one of the reasons why I wrote When Gog Comes - because if Gog is not the Antichrist, he must come BEFORE the Antichrist. Years before. And, that means that the salvation of Israel happens long before the Antichrist arrives.
However, it also means that Ezekiel's Fire happens long before the Antichrist arrives.
Furthermore, if you look carefully at governments around the world, it seems that our civilization needs to be knocked down to prepare the way for the Antichrist to rise. And, I believe that the deadly wound received by the Beast in Revelation 13, is Ezekiel's Fire. Our high tech civilization gets crushed, and the dragon resurrects it. Brings it back to life. But before that happens, newly Christian Israelis will be given the chance to mature spiritually so that they will be able to persevere during the great persecution of the Antichrist that will come.
Unfortunately, the idea of Gog of attacking Israel without any real opposition is supremely disturbing just by itself. It means that America has been neutralized, since they do nothing to stop this invasion. I do not look forward to seeing that.
Then, we get to verse eight. And, that's where we get to start comparing chapter 36 with chapter 38, when God says to Gog:
After many days you [Gog] will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.
- Ezekiel 38:8 (NKJV)
Notice the language here. Let's compare portions of that verse with what we see in Ezekiel 36.
Ezekiel 38 says:
...gathered from many people
Ezekiel 36 says:
For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
- Ezekiel 36:24 (NKJV)
That's a match, so let's keep going.
Ezekiel 38 says:
...on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate
Ezekiel 36 says:
therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and mockery to the rest of the nations all around—
- Ezekiel 36:4 (NKJV)
That is ALSO a match. So, let's look at a third possible match.
Ezekiel 38 says:
...and now all of them dwell safely
Ezekiel 36 says:
Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
- Ezekiel 36:28 (NKJV)
Any group of people that God refers to as 'my people' and that He will be their God... well ...you will live VERY securely. In fact, all of Ezekiel 36 speaks of a prosperity that can only come from security. However, this ultimate security and prosperity will not come until after the terrible events that occur during Gog and Magog.
Okay, I think that you see the picture. The question in my mind is whether Israel dwells securely, right now. I guess that it depends on how you define securely.
If 'securely' means confidently without worry about threats to their existence, then I think that the answer is yes. They certainly DO live confidently, right now. The only threat to their existence - right now - is Iran. And that threat is somewhat theoretical, at the moment. And, they believe that they can deal with that threat, when the time comes.
If 'securely' means without the need to maintain a standing army and without threat of terrorism, then the answer is no. If things continue the way that they are, right now, Israel will need her army for quite some time, and there is always a threat of terrorism.
As long as Islam holds sway in the hearts of most Arabs, there will ALWAYS be a threat of terrorism against Israel. And, that leads me to believe that maybe the threat of terrorism shouldn't be a part of our consideration.
After all, terrorism isn't a threat to national security. It's more like crime - a threat to the peace and safety of individuals. For instance, traffic accidents have killed more Israelis than all the wars and terrorism that Israel has suffered. But, the psychological impact is utterly profound. I have felt it myself, while living in Jerusalem.
Frankly, Islam will be a threat to EVERYONE until the Lord returns. Just look at the makeup of Gog and Magog. That army appears to come from Muslim countries of Iran, Central Asia, Africa and Turkey. This Muslim connection gives credibility to the idea that Russia is the Land of Magog, especially since Vladimir Putin has publicly supported Islam and has used government funds to help build mosques. Russia is about 10% Muslim, and some claim that Russia will see 30% of her population being Muslim by 2035. So, the connection between Russia and Islam is growing.
Anyway, I personally believe that we can say that Israel lives securely, even though there is a threat of terrorism. At the very least, I think that we should consider that Israel may have enough security right now, to fulfill the 'requirement' of verse eight. But if not, we'll see it soon.
One of the reasons why I believe that we need to see Gog and Magog in the rather near future, is due to the nature of this attack:
You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”
- Ezekiel 38:9 (NKJV)
To my mind, the speed of this invasion implies a technologically advanced army that is able to mobilize quickly. And, it will take technology and skill to supply such an army over land.
Furthermore, the fact that this invasion happens quickly, leads me wonder if we will have much of a warning. Once this army gathers together, we might not know that the invasion has begun until long after it has started. And, once it begins, I do not know if we will have very many hours before Ezekiel's Fire.
Now, the next four verses talk about WHY this alliance of Gog and Magog comes down to try and destroy Israel - Ezekiel 38:10-13. Greed will be their motivation.
But, what would they be trying to capture?
The only thing that I can think of is:
Oil and natural gas.
You have undoubtedly noticed what's happening in Syria. All of that is due to a natural gas pipeline that Russia wanted to build from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, to the Mediterranean Sea. America and the Persian Gulf Arabs did NOT want to see that pipeline built and wanted a different one constructed.
The other possible reason for this invasion is that Israel is a key entry point for the Middle East. Capturing Israel would give Gog access to the Arabian Peninsula, Africa and eventually, the rest of Asia.
It is uncertain to me that Israel's discovery of oil and natural gas would be sufficient to lure Gog and Magog to attack Israel. Since their discoveries are in the Mediterranean, an attack by land would not seem to be logical. Furthermore, Israel is currently having trouble selling that natural gas to Europe. A pipeline to Europe will be impossible, unless it goes through Turkey.
However, if Israel and Egypt are able to build Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) export terminals, with enough LNG tankers, it is possible for Israel to sell quite a lot of natural gas to Europe. Unfortunately, these facilities take time to build and cost billions of dollars. So, we'll need to wait and see what develops.
Let's continue with verse fourteen:
“Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?
- Ezekiel 38:14 (NKJV)
They'll see a confident and defenseless Israel, and won't be able to hold themselves back from attacking.
Then, they attack:
15 Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. 16 You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”
- Ezekiel 38:15-16 (NKJV)
God is going to lure this vast army down, so that God can demonstrate His power. And, I believe that demonstration of power is important, if we believe that we live in the Last Days.
Doesn't God always give a warning?
Doesn't He give people a chance to see Him - and to repent - before judgment comes?
God is going to use this opportunity to proclaim Himself to the world, so that they will be without excuse, when they reject God and eventually turn towards the Antichrist. And, all who chose to follow foolish theories will know that they were wrong, and hopefully repent. Hopefully.
Let's continue with the next verse:
Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?
- Ezekiel 38:17 (NKJV)
Ezekiel isn't the only prophet to speak of this moment in time. Although, none of them have gone as far as to mention the names 'Gog' and 'Magog'.
“And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face.
- Ezekiel 38:18 (NKJV)
Gog will come down, and then…
19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’
- Ezekiel 38:19-20 (NKJV)
There will be a titanic earthquake and EVERYTHING will fall down. EVERYTHING. And, it's not limited to Israel and the Middle East. Everyone on earth will shake.
So, wherever you are in the world, when you see a huge army come down, an army that looks like what we’re talking about… when you see them start to get close…
Get out of the house and stay out of the house!
Go camping.
EVERYTHING standing is going to fall down. EVERYTHING.
And, this is where we bring in Isaiah 30:
25 There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:25-26 (NKJV)
Both Ezekiel 38:19-20 and Isaiah 30:25-26 speak about the exact same moment in time, and EVERYTHING will be knocked down.
And then, Ezekiel's Fire will come, and we will look at that in Ezekiel 39. But, let's finish Ezekiel 38, first:
I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
- Ezekiel 38:21 (NKJV)
There is a reason why this army will start to turn on each other. And, I believe that the reason lies with the next verse:
And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
- Ezekiel 38:22 (NKJV)
This will terrify this massive army, and they will try to run away. Of course, when a massive group like that starts running away, the better word to use would be stampede. And, such stampedes are mindless and full of fear.
Think about the individual soldiers involved. They will be terrified and pushing their vehicles (if they work) to their maximum, driving too fast, having flat tires, traffic accidents, etc. Very quickly, there will be blockages - even if vehicles no longer work.
What happens when a stampede hits a big enough blockage?
It stops. Violently.
Just because movement has stopped, the feelings of terror haven't. If you thought road rage during rush hour was bad, this will be a million times worse.
What happens to people when they are terrified and desperately running away, and then run smack-dab into a blockage that keeps them from escaping what they consider to be certain death?
They get really, REALLY upset.
What happens when someone THAT upset has a gun?
They try to use the gun to unblock the way out.
What happens if the people you are shooting at also have guns and are really upset?
They shoot back.
And... on ...and on.
They will literally kill each other, and the survivors will die of disease. It will be horrendous.
Let me also add one more twist to this story.
What do you think would happen when Ezekiel's Fire lights up the sky?
They might know (or have been told) that their vehicles might stop working within a VERY short amount of time - since the most dangerous part of Ezekiel's Fire will be the CME, or Coronal Mass Ejection, which would arrive hours AFTER this nova event begins. Anyone who understands the danger would immediately turn around and try to get home as fast as possible - and shoot ANYONE who gets in the way.
One other point to mention is that a large part of this army looks like it will be destroyed in or around the Golan Heights. In fact, I would venture to say that they are STUCK on the Golan Heights.
The Golan is chock full of dormant volcanoes. If you walk around the Golan and places nearby, you’ll see lots of dark, volcanic rock, and many of the ancient buildings we've uncovered have been made with it. The Jerusalem hills have no such volcanic rock.
This means that the Golan is going to blow up, and take a huge part of this massive army with it.
Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’
- Ezekiel 38:23 (NKJV)
In the process of all this… because it will happen in the exact way that the Lord describes here …God will be glorified.
My hope is that you will have prepared for all this and survive Ezekiel's Fire and the incredible destruction that follows in its wake.
Here is the finale grande for this Ezekiel Tetrad, and it massively reinforces what Ezekiel 38 said. In Ezekiel 39 we get even MORE detail, as well as a more detailed description of what leads up to Ezekiel 36:31. Remember, this is God’s objective:
Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
- Ezekiel 36:31 (NKJV)
So, let's get into this chapter, which is a continuation of chapter 38. As I said before, the chapter divisions are not God-inspired. And, they were only done a few hundred years ago. And, one of the reasons why we know that chapter 38 and 39 are actually one chapter, is due to the Hebrew character that begins Ezekiel 39:
ו - vav, which means 'and'.
Here are the first three verses:
“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; 2 and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.
- Ezekiel 39:1-3 (NKJV)
Now, let me ask you an important question:
Does the army of Gog and Magog survive the events of Ezekiel 38?
Yeah. I don't think so, either. In addition to the fact that the chapter division between Ezekiel 38 and 39 is artificial, you also need to ask yourself if Gog would send in ANOTHER army after it was miraculously destroyed by God. Furthermore, the destruction in Ezekiel 38, is exactly like that of chapter 39.
So, why did God repeat some of what He said in chapter 38?
Emphasis.
Throughout the Bible, repetition is a way of emphasizing the strength of something. Furthermore, Hebrew itself uses repetition for emphasis. Something that is 'good good' is 'best'. Something that is 'bad bad' is 'worst'. But, when you look at verse three:
...I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand.
That is EXACTLY what we would expect from Ezekiel's Fire.
Remember our discussion about that Solar EMP that was a part of Ezekiel's Fire. We talked about it here. That is exactly how a 'bow' - missile launcher - would be knocked out of Gog's left hand and how the arrows - missiles - would fall out of his right hand.
Well, we have a verse from Zechariah 12 that also reinforces this point:
In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
– Zechariah 12:4 (NKJV)
And, since we know that Zechariah 12 is talking about the same time that Ezekiel 36, 37 and 38 are talking about...
That's right. This is a solar EMP. The electronics of the missiles will be destroyed by Electromagnetic Pulse - or, EMP - induced by this massive solar event. Yes, I know that most solar storms would not normally produce an EMP that would knock out vehicles, but this will be far from normal, as we have already established.
Now, let me ask you another question:
Do you see a kind of reluctance to do this invasion in verse 2?
Yeah, me too. I don’t think that these guys really want to do this, but they will feel like they have no other choice.
Interesting thought, no?
Then, in verses four and five, this whole army is destroyed.
Now, here is where we get to Ezekiel's Fire:
“And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.
- Ezekiel 39:6 (NKJV)
(Again, the word 'coastlands' is actually 'islands'.)
Remember the connection between that verse and this:
25 There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:25-26 (NKJV)
THAT is an unimaginably bright solar event that can only be a micronova of some kind.
There really is no other explanation. I would love to think that this is a strike from space by lots and lots of rocks - or merely lots of lightening. But, that would not make the Moon as bright as the Sun. Only a small nova would do that.
And, the effects of this solar event will provide Israel with enough breathing room to grow spiritually - unhindered by the corrupting influence of the rest of the world. That corrupting influence will return, but only years later - after the world has struggled back from the devastation of this nova.
And frankly, I believe that the spiritual corruption within our churches is begging for such a calamity. We have truly sinned against God, and this nova event would be an appropriate consequence for those sins.
So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
- Ezekiel 39:7 (NKJV)
After a miraculously huge solar event like THAT, people will know that God is who He says He is, especially when it comes to Israel:
I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel
So basically, Ezekiel 39:7 is just a retelling of this verse:
Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
- Ezekiel 36:31 (NKJV)
Again, if that wasn't your experience when you were saved, then I would have to ask if your salvation was real. If you have not recognized your sins and confessed them before God and were not sorry for them... then I have to believe that your conversion was not sincere.
My true hope is that you have acknowledged your sins, repented and accepted the sacrifice of Jesus for you.
Now, let's move on with the next verse in Ezekiel 39:
Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord God. “This is the day of which I have spoken.
- Ezekiel 39:8 (NKJV)
God isn’t going to take no for an answer. This really is going to happen.
Now, the next two verses make an important point:
9 “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. 10 They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says the Lord God.
- Ezekiel 39:9-10 (NKJV)
This army that is destroyed will be so big that Israel will be using up the supplies that came with it for seven years. SEVEN YEARS.
Is there SEVEN YEARS between the return of Jesus and the Millennium?
No.
Is there SEVEN YEARS between the end of the Millennium and the New Heaven and New Earth?
No.
And, as Israel recovers from the effects of this super solar event, all the steel from the tanks and armored vehicles will be used for scrap - as well as everything else that would have been used to support this army.
Verses eleven through twenty go into more detail about the cleanup effort. It will be big, and the description of this effort demonstrates the difference between Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20. In Revelation 20, no cleanup is needed, because God takes it ALL away and creates a new heaven and a new Earth.
However, there is one point to be made from verse eleven:
...there they will bury Gog and all his multitude...
In Ezekiel, Gog is buried. The leader of this vast army will have a grave in a place called 'Hamon Gog'. But, the Antichrist does NOT have a burial place. He's thrown directly into the Lake of Fire (Revelation 19:20). So, that makes one thing really clear:
(When Gog Comes makes that extra clear.)
Then, notice this verse:
“I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.
- Ezekiel 39:21 (NKJV)
Now, the last few words in that verse are interesting.
...My hand which I have laid on them
His hand upon... THEM.
Which them?
Israel?
Nope. The subject of that statement is NOT Israel. It's the nations - or as the King James Version puts it - the Gentiles. That, my friends, is us - you and me. And yes, we really deserve this solar event that is coming - this hand of the Lord that will be laid upon us.
And WE - all of us - will see it. God will be glorified and it will be AWESOME – at least for those of us who were smart enough to stay out of big cities, in a safe location.
But, that's less important than the next verse:
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.
- Ezekiel 39:22 (NKJV)
All of us and everyone will know EXACTLY what the truth is, at that moment. All the world will realize - at least for a moment in time - that Yehovah is God, and that the Bible is true. But, God says that Israel will know it for more than just a short time. No, Israel will know it from that day FORWARD. Again, that day will be the same day that Isaiah 30:26 talks about:
Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:26 (NKJV)
We are concentrating on the nova event that Isaiah talks about. But, God's focus is on healing the spiritual wounds of His people. And, God finishes the rest of Ezekiel 39 with a summary of all four chapters, leaving no doubt about what He was doing:
23 The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.” ’
25 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name— 26 after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, 28 then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”
- Ezekiel 39:23-29 (NKJV)
And, those last words in Ezekiel 39 demonstrate something vital:
...I will not hide My face from them anymore;
for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel...
That is salvation, the same kind of salvation described in Ezekiel 36. The same kind of salvation in Isaiah 30 and Zechariah 12 and 13. It is the same moment in time, and it is the same salvation that you and I have received.
Furthermore, this will be an incredible moment in time. Great joy will be mixed with terrible sorrow. The world will be devastated, but God will be glorified. It will give a deadly wound to the Beast (Revelation 13:3), and the Antichrist system that is rising. It will be a MASSIVE setback for Satan and a gigantic victory for God and His people.
My hope is that you will survive this event and prosper.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/09-isaiah-ef.mp3
Isaiah confirms that Ezekiel's Fire is a nova event.
In this chapter, we will look at Isaiah 30, 13, 14 and 17 - along with references to Isaiah 41, 43 and 51. All of those references will describe:
That last one should look awfully familiar, since we have clearly seen it several times already. Binding up the bruise and healing wounds is the kind of wording that is central to salvation.
We've also seen elements of the other points, but not quite like this. Isaiah 30 gives us a snapshot of something global and earth shattering. This planet-wide catastrophe will leave no one unaffected and knock everything down. And the discussion about the utter destruction of Babylon at the hands of Iran should make us realize that awful times will arrive even before Ezekiel's Fire. So, let's start with the chapter that describes the Day of Slaughter, when the Towers Fall.
Again, the key reason why we are looking at the events of Isaiah 30, is due to these words:
...In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:26 (NKJV)
Everything that happens in the context of those words, will be a part of Ezekiel's Fire. Everything. So, let's take a look at what Isaiah 30 says.
The first seventeen verses of Isaiah 30 are a painful indictment of Israel's rejection of God. The irony is that we Christians have also rebelled against God in similar ways. When I read Isaiah 30:1-17, I am reminded of many churches with the same spiritual problems. I can hardly believe some of the spiritual and moral corruptions that our pastors and seminaries have led us into.
We MUST repent of our sins so that God will return His hand of protection to us.
It's time for your church to pray that God will reveal the corruption in your midst. I was in a church once, that did that. We came together to pray that God would reveal sin in our church, and just days later, we discovered that the assistant pastor had been committing adultery. But, moving on...
So, up to verse 17, Isaiah 30 was talking about the past – for Israel. But, God does not leave His people in the past without a promise. And that is what happens in verse 18:
Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; And therefore He will be exalted, that He may have mercy on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; Blessed are all those who wait for Him.
– Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV)
When we become rebellious, God reaches out and gives us a thump - to teach us that our rebellion is futile. God has done that with Israel. For two thousand years – and more – the Lord has demonstrated to the children of Jacob that they could not save themselves by their own might and power – that they needed the Lord. And, the only way that you can have the Lord is by faith and obedience.
God promised that He would wait. That is a two thousand year long sentence. And, God knew that it had to be that long. We would have preferred that it would be a shorter period of time, but God was at work around the world, making His glorious name known to every tongue and people. And, our Lord knows the exact day of Jacob's Return. So, let's move on to the core of that promise.
Again, this is a physical people, at a physical place, at a specific point in time. I know that some are surprised by my need to stress this, but there are lots of Christians who are confused about this issue.
For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem; You shall weep no more. He will be very gracious to you at the sound of your cry; When He hears it, He will answer you.
And though the Lord gives you The bread of adversity and the water of affliction, Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore, But your eyes shall see your teachers.
– Isaiah 30:19-20 (NKJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The words 'though' and 'yet' are NOT in the original Hebrew.
This is salvation and spiritual transformation. It's the Return of Jacob to God. But, it includes something that none of us would be looking for:
The bread of adversity and the water of affliction
And, I believe that this points to what God said in Zechariah 13:
I will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
- Zechariah 13:9 (NKJV)
It appears that - when God refines the Children of Jacob - that He will cause them to suffer great hardship. Jerusalem and the rest of Israel will be devastated. Transportation networks will be destroyed. Electricity will be out. No cars or trucks will run. Large buildings will have been turned into rubble. For those buildings that survive, there will be no water running in the pipes. It will take months - if not years - for Jerusalem to recover and thrive again.
The suffering will be terrible. But, it will be suffering that has a purpose. The next verse in Isaiah 30 describes this eloquently:
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand Or whenever you turn to the left.
– Isaiah 30:21 (NKJV)
THAT is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
There is nothing in this world that is more precious than eternal salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. That is worth any amount of suffering. But, my heart is heavy at the thought of what they will go through.
And, how will God grant them eternal salvation and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?
When Peter spoke of Jesus to the Sanhedrin in Acts 4, he said this:
Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- Acts 4:12 (NKJV)
There is literally no other way to salvation and the Holy Spirit, except through Christ. And, there is no other way to Christ, except through faith. And, faith is...
...the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)
You should read all of Hebrews 11. It's the most powerful chapter on faith in the Bible. It demonstrates conclusively that salvation is impossible without faith.
In verse 22, we see the result of their changed heart:
You will also defile the covering of your images of silver, And the ornament of your molded images of gold. You will throw them away as an unclean thing; You will say to them, “Get away!”
– Isaiah 30:22 (NKJV)
These new Christians in Israel will no longer study the Talmud. They will no longer worship their rabbis, or their gold and silver plated Torah scrolls. They will no longer look to their traditions and their customs as their source of purity and righteousness. They will no longer wrestle with God, but will submit to Him, through exactly the same faith in Jesus Christ that saved us.
Then, there will be a moment when the time of trial will be over. The next two verses describe the blessing that Israel will receive after this time of difficulty:
23 Then He will give the rain for your seed with which you sow the ground, and bread of the increase of the earth; It will be fat and plentiful. In that day your cattle will feed In large pastures. 24 Likewise the oxen and the young donkeys that work the ground will eat cured fodder, which has been winnowed with the shovel and fan.
– Isaiah 30:23-24 (NKJV)
Notice how this parallels exactly with what God promised to do for Israel in Ezekiel 36 and Ezekiel 37. And, in one sense, this blessing has already begun in the Land of Israel. Before the Jews came, it was barren and disease-ridden. After the Jews returned to their land, it became a lush, productive paradise. But, as good as it is now, it will be even better.
This is where we get to the main point.
Now, these next two verses demonstrate that prophecies flip back and forth between the event being prophesied and the results of that event. Verses 23 and 24 describe the end result of verses 18 to 22. And, the next two verses flip back to the catastrophe that brings the children of Jacob back to God:
25 There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:25-26 (NKJV)
In the day of great slaughter?
Who is being slaughtered?
Well, we know, from Ezekiel that the army of Gog and Magog gets slaughtered. In fact, they will turn on each other as they run away. But, Zechariah also speaks of a terrible number of people dying in the Land of Israel. Two thirds will die. That's close to ten million people being killed. But, 'the great slaughter' won't be limited to just Israel.
This will be a global catastrophe. This is why I believe that it will be our job, as Christians, to warn everyone to get out of their buildings when Gog and Magog comes, even if you are living in Zap, North Dakota.
However, it is vital that we focus on the key timing point:
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people And heals the stroke of their wound.
THAT is salvation. You cannot interpret that phrase in any other way, unless you twist the context of the chapter, itself. Therefore, every passage in the Bible that talks about the salvation of Israel… must also be directly talking about the same moment in time. It is this salvation narrative that links the core prophecies together.
So, as we collect each description of the salvation of Israel, and combine them together, it becomes clear that a nova event is coming. Again, the salvation of the children of Jacob is directly connected to:
...the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, And the light of the sun will be sevenfold, As the light of seven days,
I know that I'm repeating myself, but the implications of Isaiah 30:26 are truly horrifying. For a moment in time, the Sun will expand in brightness by seven times, (definitely a nova event) and it will bring our civilization to its knees.
What do OTHER passages say about this moment in time?
Well, Ezekiel says this:
And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
– Ezekiel 39:6 (ASV)
When Isaiah 30:25 says:
In the day of the great slaughter
And when Zechariah 13:8 says:
in all the land,” Says the Lord, “That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
If you want to know how most of these people will be killed, it's probably an earthquake. And, I must confess that it took years for me to see the connection to Zechariah 13:8, when Isaiah 30:25 says:
...when the towers fall.
Ezekiel 38 confirms that here:
19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’
...
23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’
– Ezekiel 38:19-20,23 (NKJV)
This will be the biggest earthquake since the Great Flood. Everyone, everywhere, all over the world, will be affected by this literally earth shattering quake. And, it's clear that 'the day of great slaughter' is directly connected to the earthquake that makes 'the towers fall'. The only question is whether more people will die from the collapse of buildings, or from lack of water, food and sanitation that would come afterwards.
Now, the focus of Isaiah is on the Land of Israel, but the nova event and subsequent earthquake will be completely global. And, this brings me to an important point that we'll cover in more detail when we get to Zechariah. But, I want to raise it here.
If two thirds of everyone living in the land of Israel die (at least in part) from this fantastic earthquake...
...how much of the rest of the world dies from this earthquake?
I'm not looking forward to the answer to that question.
Now, I could go on. But, since the chapter divisions were NOT God-inspired, this is a good place to stop. Stephen Langton, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury was the one who set the chapter divisions for the Bible, so we should not feel bound by them. Having said that, someone needed to make these chapter divisions happen. Trying to keep track of everything in the Bible without chapter divisions would be extremely difficult, so Langton probably did more good than harm. Just understand that chapter divisions should be treated with the same amount of suspicion that you have for the Pope.
Now, we started this chapter with Isaiah 30, which gave us an absolutely vital bit of information that will help us understand Ezekiel's Fire. The rest of Isaiah has much to say about all this, especially chapter 13 and chapter 14.
Since we have already established in my previous book, the timing of When Gog Comes, this means that the Return of Jacob must happen years (probably decades) before the Antichrist. Therefore, this passage must also happen years/decades before the Antichrist:
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.
- Isaiah 14:1 (NKJV)
Having 'mercy on Jacob' and 'choosing Israel' are salvation phrases. But, that verse begins with an important word:
For
TRANSLATION NOTE: the actual word in the Hebrew is כי (pronounced kee). It literally means 'because'.
This means that Isaiah 13 and 14 are actually a single chapter. More importantly, the events of chapter 13 occur because of the purpose described in chapter 14. And, here is the key event of Isaiah 13:
9 Behold, the day of the Lord comes,
Cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger,
To lay the land desolate;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 “I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in the day of His fierce anger.
- Isaiah 13:9-13 (NKJV)
Again, this happens because God will 'have mercy on Jacob' and 'choose Israel'. That is the purpose of the terrible events of those five verses.
Now, many will want to say that this is the Second Coming of Christ. That is a reasonable assumption, but it is deeply incorrect.
Why?
Because the Medes - Iran - are used to punish Babylon.
Wait... WHAT?
Oh, I forgot to mention that Isaiah 13 begins this way:
1 The burden against Babylon which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw.
- Isaiah 13:1 (NKJV)
And, Babylon is destroyed, here:
17 “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them,
Who will not regard silver;
And as for gold, they will not delight in it.
18 Also their bows will dash the young men to pieces,
And they will have no pity on the fruit of the womb;
Their eye will not spare children.
19 And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
The beauty of the Chaldeans’ pride,
Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
- Isaiah 13:17-19 (NKJV)
This. Has. Never. Happened. Before.
And no, this is NOT Revelation 17, which says that Mystery Babylon is destroyed by the Ten Horns. The Medes are NOT the Ten Horns of Revelation 17. 'Mystery Babylon' is not a Chaldean city.
Many false teachers claimed the opposite and encouraged people to buy Iraqi dinars. That was a very bad move. And, lots of Christians lost a lot of money doing that.
For a city in Iraq to become this:
And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.”
- Revelation 17:18 (NKJV)
For this to be a city in Iraq which rises to rule over the kings of the earth, it would mean that the world would have to have been turned upside down. And then, when you look at Isaiah 13, you actually see that Babylon must be permanently destroyed long before we get to Revelation 17. So, unless we are missing something, this great city that rules cannot be the physical Babylon that was built by Nebuchadnezzar.
Then, in the opposite direction, some have tried to claim that Isaiah 13 has already been fulfilled. So, let me repeat that This. Has. Never. Happened. Before. The permanent desolation of the area described in verses 20-22 did not happen at ANY of the times when Babylon was captured by a foreign army. In fact, the area in and around Babylon is still inhabited today. Arabs still pitch their tents there. Shepherds still have sheepfolds there. Here is what those verses say:20 It will never be inhabited,
Nor will it be settled from generation to generation;
Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there,
Nor will the shepherds make their sheepfolds there.
21 But wild beasts of the desert will lie there,
And their houses will be full of owls;
Ostriches will dwell there,
And wild goats will caper there.
22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged.”
- Isaiah 13:17-19 (NKJV)
Please fix this firmly in your mind. The Chaldean city of Babylon was never destroyed. Not once. Not ever. It was abandoned after Alexander the Great captured it. Not destroyed. Not burned down. Abandoned. So those three verses are for the future, even though the phrase 'Her time is near to come' is hard to understand, since this final destruction has been delayed by more than 2500 years.
As a case in point, think back to when General Gubaru (who the Bible calls Darius the Mede) conquered Babylon. It was almost a bloodless takeover. (Remember the hand writing on the wall?) It seems that Belshazzar was one of the few to die, when Babylon fell. His father, Nabonidus, had been captured earlier by the Persians and eventually died in captivity.
The point that needs to be remembered about these two chapters is this... At the time of the Return of Jacob to God, these three things happen:
"The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine."
"[God] will make a mortal more rare than fine gold"
"[God] will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,"
That's verse 10, verse 12, and verse 13 of Isaiah 13, and that's Ezekiel's Fire and not the Second Coming. And again, the reason why is this verse:
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.
Having 'mercy on Jacob' and 'choosing Israel' is salvation. The Return of Jacob. And, we know the timing of that event, which means that Isaiah 13 includes Ezekiel's Fire. In fact, this gives us a hint about what happens before the coming of Gog and Magog - a massive war in Iraq.
Gog and Magog doesn't just come against Israel, but the whole Middle East. And, this war against the Middle East will be a fight over natural gas and oil - the most energy dense material on earth, in its raw form. As civilization crumbles due to a lack of energy resources, a military alliance from Central Asia will seek to capture the area of the world that produces the most energy - Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula.And, it looks like they will start with Iraq.
Even before the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, Europe and East Asia were struggling to acquire enough coal, oil and natural gas to keep homes warm and factories running. Fertilizer plants were shutting down due to a lack of natural gas, which meant that the growing season in 2022 was always going to be bad.
We'll see what happens over the coming months and years, but it's becoming easier and easier to see the following three events happening:
US and NATO withdraw completely from the Middle East.
Israel and Arab countries band together to block the threat from Iran, creating a loose confederation of Sunni Arab countries that covers the Arabian peninsula and Egypt.
The rest of Africa, Iran and Central Asia band together to invade Iraq from the North, West, East and South. Once they succeed in obliterating Iraq, they move into Syria and invade Israel.
I wrote the above three points in late 2021, before the invasion of Ukraine. Now that Russia has committed itself to military conquest, it will now be forced to militarize its economy. But, it will need allies, to pursue its goals. So, we will need to add a fourth event:
Russia restarts massive weapons production, and strengthens already strong ties with Iran and Africa.
Turkey leaves NATO and joins the Russo-Shiite axis.
As of this writing, Turkey's neo-Ottoman ambitions have gotten louder with a proclaimed need to further invade the Kurdish areas of Syria and Iraq. They have also taken a neutral stance over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. So, it would seem that Turkish objectives are compatible with Russian and Iranian efforts in the Middle East. We'll see.
The details of what actually happens could be different. I'm hardly a prophet. But, from our current vantage point, this seems to be the most logical path forward for these countries. But, let's not stop there. Isaiah has more connections to make between Ezekiel's Fire and the Return of Jacob.
Isaiah also describes the same moment in chapter 17. However this time, he refers to Damascus. And, the key verse that makes the connection that we are looking for is this one:
In that day a man will look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 17:7 (NKJV)
As I said before, this is the thread that weaves all of these prophecies together. The recognition of God by the world and the spiritual salvation of Israel are the purpose and focus of Ezekiel's Fire. There will be revival amidst the death and destruction, but participating in this revival will be impossible for those who die. We want to avoid that, so let's get into why chapter 17 is important.
To start off, I need to admit to a little embarrassment. It has taken years for me to understand how and why Damascus ceases to exist. Part of the problem lies in how we normally think of 'the Fall of Damascus'. For thousands of years, we have assumed that the capital city of Syria will be destroyed in war. But, that's not what the Bible says:
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
– Isaiah 17:1-2 (KJV)
The KJV translates those two verses better than the NKJV. The original Hebrew for 'taken away' is מוסר (moo-sar), and it's something far more permanent than merely being destroyed. It means that it will no longer be able to be a city. No, worse than that... the area where Damascus sits right now will no longer be able to support a group of people of any significant size. And, there's something very important about that. Furthermore, like in Isaiah 13...
This has never happened. Ever.
Like Babylon, Damascus has never suffered permanent annihilation. Every time it was conquered, the battle damage was repaired and city life resumed. No one ever completely destroyed Damascus, ever - mainly because no one wanted to.
Damascus has always been the perfect place for a regional capital, which is why everyone chose to rule the eastern shores of the Mediterranean from Damascus, instead of Tyre, Sidon, Yaffo or Jerusalem. There was water. It was easy to defend. It was at a key location to control vital trade routes. It was perfect.
So perfect, that every empire ruled this part of the Middle East from Damascus. The Babylonians, Persians, Hellenes, Seleucids, Romans and all the Muslim empires – they all made Damascus the regional capital for that part of the Middle East.
In fact, do this search:
“oldest continuously inhabited cities”
Damascus is on almost every list that you will find in that search, but Isaiah 17 indicates it will one day join a different kind of list:
How do cities become 'ghost towns' or 'lost cities'?
For some of those cities, their purpose for existing ended. Gold towns ran out of gold. Oil towns ran out of oil. Farm towns run out of farms. But, the most common reason is...
...WATER.
And, here's why Damascus will run out of water:
There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
– Isaiah 30:25 (NKJV)
There will be an earthquake so big, that everything will be knocked down - including Damascus. The earthquake will turn it into a 'ruinous heap'. But, when you look at history, cities that are destroyed are always rebuilt in the same place, as long as there isn't something stopping them. But, I focused on the last part of that verse.
For Damascus, the key will actually be the first part:
There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
It took me way too long to see that connection, until I looked up the source of water for Damascus. This is how Damascus gets its water:
That's the Barada River, running through Damascus. But, the main source is here:
That's the Fijah Spring. The other source of the Barada is further upstream at the Barada Spring - which they call 'Barada Lake'. (That's a lake? I've seen bigger ponds.) The only other source of water for Damascus is a stream called the Awaj River, that is to the south. And, the Awaj isn't much more than a muddy ditch.
Our focus has been on the massive, global earthquake because we have an interest in personal survival. But, when this earthquake does this:
There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
It means that the flow of water underneath the ground will be changed - radically. Underground aquifers will be rearranged or destroyed. Water that flowed to one place, will flow somewhere else. And, the most important change will be in Israel. But, let's keep our focus on Damascus for a moment, and the one thing that you cannot ignore is...
You can’t have a city, if you don’t have water.
Yes, I know that we could think of other reasons why Damascus would be permanently ruined, and why Syria would cease from being a country. But, even the most horrendous nuclear, chemical and biological weapons would eventually allow people to return to places nearby. And again, the destruction of Damascus is not described in the same way that Babylon is destroyed - like that of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Now, water is a complex subject, because there are a lot of factors involved in how you get the water that you drink. And, the biggest factor of all is geography. So, let's look at the geography of Damascus:
Google Earth map of Damascus, Syria
The reason why the areas along the Mediterranean coast are green, while further inland the area is brown - has everything to do with air flow and mountains. Basically, as clouds bump up against the mountains, they dump their water. If the mountains are low enough, rain clouds can get over them and discharge on the other side. And, it seems like Damascus has low enough mountains to the west, for some of the rain to make it into the Barada Awaj Basin.
The rain that makes it over the mountains, collects in the underground aquifers that feed the springs that then feed the Barada and Awaj rivers. So, to permanently stop the flow of water to Damascus, at least one of the following would need to happen:
Raise the height of the mountains to the west.
Damage the underground structure of the aquifers around Damascus.
Change the movement of winter rain clouds.
(or all the above)
Consider what Ezekiel says will happen to the Gog and Magog invasion: fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22). When the volcanoes underneath the Golan blow up, we might want to consider what the result will be - aside from the clouds of ash and lava.
What would happen to the height of the Lebanese mountains?
What would happen to the underground structure of the aquifers of the Barada Awaj Basin in and around Damascus?
Then there's the third element:
The change in the movement of rain clouds
If you live in Jerusalem long enough, you eventually give up on using an umbrella. Rain happens only in the winter, and it comes in... sideways. And, it's freezing. Nothing seems colder than a Jerusalem winter.
But, what if the winter rains shift southwards?
What if they come more often in the south?
Here's a passage from Isaiah 43 that gives us a clue about the change in rain patterns that will happen:
19 Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
20 The beast of the field will honor Me,
The jackals and the ostriches,
Because I give waters in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert,
To give drink to My people, My chosen.
21 This people I have formed for Myself;
They shall declare My praise.
- Isaiah 43:19-21 (NKJV)
Also, Isaiah 41:17-20 and Isaiah 51:3. They too describe the deserts and wastelands becoming well watered and fruitful.
I've been through the Judean desert multiple times. It's called the Negev, and there are few places more 'waste howling wilderness' (Deut 32:10) than the Negev. South of Beersheva, it's a blasted moonscape of ridges and ravines without a drop of water in sight. But, it seems like that will change.
Remember what we talked about in When Gog Comes, in this chapter:
The King of the North is the Antichrist. (He actually can't be anyone else, because of what happens in Daniel 12.)
Who does the King of the North attack?
The King of the Negev.
Most Bible translations say 'King of the South', but the word for 'south' in Daniel 11 is 'Negev'. Of course, the Bible sometimes uses 'negev' to indicate a southern direction. But, the word 'negev' doesn't mean 'south'. It literally means ‘dry’. Nagav is the root of a verb that means ‘to dry’. I always 'nagav' my clothes after they've been in the washer. (Although, 'yavesh' would be a better word to use.)
So, does God change the rainfall patterns in southern Israel?
Would this change in rainfall cause Damascus to lose access to water?
It sounds like the answer is 'yes' to both of those questions. This means that after the earthquake that knocks down Damascus, it won't be rebuilt because there won't be enough water to support a city at that location. The mountains, aquifers and rainfall patterns will change, making it impossible to support a population of any size.
Furthermore, all of this is credible proof that Isaiah 17 happens at the same time that the coming of Gog and Magog occurs. And, we get confirmation of this as we move deeper into this chapter. So, let's look at the next two verses:
3 The fortress also will cease from Ephraim,
The kingdom from Damascus,
And the remnant of Syria;
They will be as the glory of the children of Israel,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
4 “In that day it shall come to pass
That the glory of Jacob will wane,
And the fatness of his flesh grow lean.
– Isaiah 17:3-4 (NKJV)
Without Damascus, the country of Syria will collapse into a hodge podge of Sunni tribes. The Alawite towns and villages near the Mediterranean will survive because they have mountains between them and the Sunni cities of Aleppo, Idlib, Hamah and Homs. Although, I wonder about how many of those Sunni tribes will survive the massive Gog and Magog invasion that will sweep through Iraq and into Syria, before attacking Israel. And, if the rain patterns really do shift southwards, that will depopulate Syria even further.
Furthermore, when it says that 'The Fortress also will cease from Ephraim', the word for 'cease' is not the same as for Damascus. It's נשבת (neesh-baht). Whenever you see שבת (sheh-vet or shah-baht) or שב (shev) in a Hebrew word, it points to a 'ceasing'. But in this case, it's the kind of 'ceasing' because you are sitting down. You've stopped working. You are resting.
So, my interpretation is that these 'fortresses' in northern Israel will no longer be needed. Israel will no longer fear an invasion of Israel by Syria. And, if the rains shift southwards, that might explain how the 'glory of Jacob' will 'wane' in the northern areas of Israel.
However, I'm speculating. Feel free to claim that נשבת points to a different understanding. I've been wrong before.
Verses five and six continue the description of the desolation that we see in verse four. And, this follows the pattern laid out by Zechariah. When God speaks of refining Israel in the same way that gold and silver are refined, it will not be a pleasant process. But, the result in verse seven will be worth it:
7 In that day a man will look to his Maker,
And his eyes will have respect for the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will not look to the altars,
The work of his hands;
He will not respect what his fingers have made,
Nor the wooden images nor the incense altars.
9 In that day his strong cities will be as a forsaken bough
And an uppermost branch,
Which they left because of the children of Israel;
And there will be desolation.
- Isaiah 17:7-9 (NKJV)
In verses ten and eleven, God mentions the reason why they will suffer this desolation:
"Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation,"
And, the price for turning their back on God is eloquently described in the second half of verse eleven:
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
- Isaiah 17:11 (NKJV)
Then, God turns away from the judgment of Damascus and Israel, and speaks to the rest of the world:
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 Then behold, at eventide, trouble!
And before the morning, he is no more.
This is the portion of those who plunder us,
And the lot of those who rob us.
- Isaiah 17:12-14 (NKJV)
That's Gog and Magog, along with their defeat at the hands of God. That's Ezekiel's Fire and the global earthquake that knocks everything down.
We could dig even deeper into the Book of Isaiah, but we don't really need to. It's enough to establish that the following happens at the same moment in time:
Again, the key is the Return of Jacob to God. That's the central point that ties all these events together. However, it's also the moment in time in which cities around the world are destroyed and life as we know it is changed for a very long time.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/10-jeremiah-micah-zephaniah-ef.mp3
We will now look at one chapter each from Jeremiah, Micah and Zephaniah:
Jeremiah 30
Micah 5
Zephaniah 3
As we bring all these prophecies of Ezekiel's Fire together, the Return of Jacob is the focus, and we see that in this verse:
‘You shall be My people,
And I will be your God.’ ”
- Jeremiah 30:22 (NKJV)
And here:
“At the same time,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.”
- Jeremiah 31:1 (NKJV)
(In fact, all of Jeremiah 31 demonstrates the purpose of Ezekiel's Fire. The chapter division is artificial and not inspired by God.)
But, let's start at the beginning...
Jeremiah lived after the Assyrians took the ten tribes of Israel captive, and he was a witness to the destruction of Judah, Levi and what remained of the other tribes that had fled to Jerusalem. Jeremiah tried to warn them of what was coming - and that they should repent and turn back to God. They didn't listen, and the rest is history.
Unfortunately, many of us are in same position as Jeremiah. We are trying to warn our brothers and sisters in Christ that the same fate is coming for all of us, but... well ...it feels like we are in the same boat as poor Jeremiah. No one is paying attention. No one wants to repent of their sins, and doom is on its way. Some will listen and do what they can to heed the warning. Most will not.
However, Jeremiah does find a hopeful message from God, and he shares it with us in chapter 30.
1 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 “Thus speaks the Lord God of Israel, saying: ‘Write in a book for yourself all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’ ”
- Jeremiah 30:1-3 (NKJV)
Okay, this begs the question:
Did this happen at all before 1948?
After the Babylonian captivity there was a kind of return.
But, was it The Return that is spoken of here?
No.
Except for a brief period under the Hasmonean Kings (which were NOT of the line of King David) Israel never had full sovereignty in her own land. But, even under the Hasmoneans, they only controlled a small part of what is called the Land of Israel.
In fact, I think that it’s pretty clear that not even 1948 could be seen as The Return. The Israelis only controlled a part of the Land of Israel, and did not control Jerusalem. To see Israel in full control, we need to fast-forward to June of 1967, when Jerusalem was captured by Israeli forces during the ‘Six Day War’. Only with the taking of Jerusalem along with the territories of Judea, Samaria and the Golan, could Israel be considered to have ‘Returned’.
And, it was the capture of Jerusalem by the Jewish people that was described by Jesus as part of the Last Days. Here is the verse:
And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
- Luke 21:24 (NKJV)
The times of the Gentiles... fulfilled?
Such a note of finality is more than a little disturbing. It means that there is point when our time is over. Finished. It's understandable that so many have not wanted to accept such finality - since it means that we must diminish, and they must increase. And since Luke 21:24 was so decisive, theologians made up stories about how the Rapture would happen when the Jews retook Jerusalem.
My first Bible teacher got the shock of his life, when his car radio blared out the news that Jerusalem had been captured, while on his way to work on Wednesday, June 7th, 1967. He was still here on earth, and when he got to his office... no one answered the phone. Those theologians got their stories wrong, but they did get the importance of Jerusalem right.
Jerusalem is at the center of everything.
Here's another point that Jesus makes:
25 “And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
- Luke 21:25-26 (NKJV)
I bet that sounds familiar, since that's very similar to what we've been talking about. The problem is that we've been assuming that the period of time encompassed by those two verses is short - that this must be the 'Great Tribulation'. After all, the next verse is this one:
Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
- Luke 21:27 (NKJV)
That's definitely the Second Coming, and it's definitely when the First Resurrection happens. No question. So, there is some logic to trying to cram all of this into The Great Tribulation. The problem is that they have their time scale and time line wrong. We're talking about decades of time:
31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.
- Luke 21:31-32 (NKJV)
That verse alone shows that we have decades of time being described. However, I have a question:
When do we mark the beginning of this generation?
Is it the capture of Jerusalem?
Or, is it the signs in the sun and moon, with the sea and waves roaring?
Oh, and how long is this generation?
The challenge is in figuring out what Jesus meant by the word 'generation'. I've certainly been wrong about what that means in the past. I have assumed that the use of the word γενεὰ (genea) is in reference to a period of time in which a 'generation' would live.
We've had several generations since 1967. The Greatest Generation fought in World War II. The Silent Generation fought in Korea. The Baby Boomers fought in Vietnam. Generation X fought in the first Gulf War. Millennials fought in Iraq. And, Generation Z recently evacuated from Afghanistan.
Which one of those generations was Jesus referring to?
Or, are we looking at 'generation' in the wrong way?
Having said that, this point is still absolutely true:
...the times of the Gentiles have been fulfilled.
And, when we look at the horrifying sins that have taken over the world since 1967, I can only conclude that there is something very, very significant to the Jews recovering Jerusalem.
Whatever your interpretation of the words of Jesus, horrendous trouble is coming. We can see that, as we continue on with Jeremiah 30:
4 Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah.
5 “For thus says the Lord:
‘We have heard a voice of trembling,
Of fear, and not of peace.
6 Ask now, and see,
Whether a man is ever in labor with child?
So why do I see every man with his hands on his loins
Like a woman in labor,
And all faces turned pale?
7 Alas! For that day is great,
So that none is like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble,
But he shall be saved out of it.
- Jeremiah 30:4-7 (NKJV)
Unfortunately, there are many who do not understand WHEN Jacob's trouble arrives. And, because they don't know when it arrives, they will be caught by the massive destruction that comes along with it.
And no, Jacob's Trouble is NOT the Great Tribulation, as many like to claim. Jacob's Trouble is the coming of Gog and Magog, along with Ezekiel's Fire. THAT is Jacob's Trouble. I explained all that in my book, When Gog Comes. And, we will see that this is about the Return of Jacob to God, in verse nine.
Again, other passages speak about this same moment in time:8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
- Zechariah 13:8-9a (NKJV)
THAT will be horrifying and unimaginable. I would do anything to spare Israel from going through this. Unfortunately, this death and destruction will not be limited to Israel. It will be worldwide.
However, I left out the second half of verse nine from the above passage. That 'second half' indicates that something fantastic will happen in Israel as a result of all that death and suffering:
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
- Zechariah 13:9b (NKJV)
A tragedy as terrible as Jacob's Trouble... well ...it's worth going through, if the ending results in salvation. Being a child of God is worth all of that and more. However, that doesn't change my desire to spare the Jewish people and the rest of the world.
Here's where we see Jacob's Return in Jeremiah 30:
8 ‘For it shall come to pass in that day,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
‘That I will break his yoke from your neck,
And will burst your bonds;
Foreigners shall no more enslave them.
9 But they shall serve the Lord their God,
And David their king,
Whom I will raise up for them.
- Jeremiah 30:8-9 (NKJV)
Those two verses coincide with the second half of Zechariah 13:9. The Jews will finally, after two thousand years, serve Yehovah their God, the one who sits on the throne of David - Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Let's continue with the next verse:
‘Therefore do not fear, O My servant Jacob,’ says the Lord,
‘Nor be dismayed, O Israel;
For behold, I will save you from afar,
And your seed from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return, have rest and be quiet,
And no one shall make him afraid.
- Jeremiah 30:10 (NKJV)
Okay, part of this verse has happened. Jews throughout the world HAVE been leaving their homes and returning to Israel. But, they are not quiet and at ease. They still have enemies that make them uneasy, such as Iran. (Although, they might be confident that they can destroy Iran, if they need to.)
Also, not all of the Jews have returned to Israel. Many are still living in Asia, Europe and the Americas. My hope is that the survivors of that Diaspora will turn to Christ as Israel will, and join Israel in the Land of Israel.
Now, the next verse in Jeremiah 30 strikes a particularly ominous note for all of us:
For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.
- Jeremiah 30:11 (ASV)
(ASV has the more accurate translation)
Everywhere that the Jews have been scattered to...
...will be destroyed.
I am going to skip the next four verses (12 to 15) that talk about God's affliction of Israel, because verses 16 and 17 clarify what was said in verse 11:
16 ‘Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
Those who plunder you shall become plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will make a prey.
17 For I will restore health to you
And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord,
‘Because they called you an outcast saying:
“This is Zion;
No one seeks her.” ’
- Jeremiah 30:16-17 (NKJV)
Those two verses tell us that:
And, for those who have claimed that Jerusalem is nothing, and of no importance...
And yes, there are prominent 'Christian' leaders who are anti-Zionism. One of those 'prominent' men wrote in his supreme arrogance to tell me so. Others have made it clear in their public pronouncements.
As I look out over the world, these are the places that have done terrible harm to the Jewish people:
The exceptions to the above are:
Unfortunately, we probably also need to include the United States. Most do not know that before World War II, lots of Americans allied themselves with Hitler in the extermination of the Jews. It was IBM that knowingly helped Hitler to track and exterminate the Jews. It was Franklin Roosevelt that closed the doors to the Jewish people that were trying to flee Hitler's Germany. Ford supplied Hitler with trucks and engines. Americans provided almost everything Hitler needed to fight World War II and murder the Jews.
If you need more information on what America did to the Jews and the rest of the world, watch this:
JFK to 9/11 – Everything Is A Rich Man’s Trick (High Quality) Full Documentary
THAT is three and a half hours of mind-blowing documentary. And, it answers far too many questions that I've had over the years.
Oh, and notice where most of the nations that God will destroy are located?
The Northern Hemisphere.
Furthermore, obscene murders of Jews have happened throughout America, and American Jews have always suffered discrimination. But, there have been many Americans who supported and defended the Jews. So, maybe the US might be spared the worst of what is coming. Without the support of American Christians, demanding that the US government help Israel, it's hard to see how the Jewish State could have survived.
Who else might be spared?
Will these areas be safe places to be, when Ezekiel's Fire comes?
I don't know, but it IS something to think about. I have seen for myself the love for the Jews - and Israel - among the Korean and Chinese Christians. And, that gives me some hope that East Asia will have a better chance of surviving what is coming.
Jeremiah 30:18-22 goes on to speak of what Israel will be like after they are brought back to God, as well as God's compassion for them. I won't go into all of that, so I will leave it to you to read about it, for yourself. But, the last two verses are... interesting.
The last two verses of Jeremiah 30 recount the vast calamity that is coming, and then says that we will understand it in the Last Days:
23 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord
Goes forth with fury,
A continuing whirlwind;
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not return until He has done it,
And until He has performed the intents of His heart.
In the latter days you will consider it.
- Jeremiah 30:23-24 (NKJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The word 'consider' is actually 'understand' in the original Hebrew. The Hebrew word is תתבוננו (teet-bone-noo), and it means 'you will understand'. The word 'consider' is not correct.
Since those two verses are spoken of in context with the salvation of Israel, it would be wrong to shift the interpretation of those verses onto the 'catchall' of the final Wrath of God, as described in Revelation.
Even more importantly, that phrase 'in the latter days you will understand it' should cause us to be careful. There's a reason why we will understand this tempest that is going to fall upon the wicked. I've been hoping that our scientific understanding will help unlock what the Bible has been saying, but I'm afraid that very few of us are paying attention.
I'm starting to believe a far more pessimistic interpretation:
We will experience the devastation of Ezekiel's Fire, and then we will understand what the prophets have been saying.
I hate the thought of this, but we have a long history of believing nonsense, when it comes to the Last Days. And, I completely understand why, since I've had my own history of mistakes. But, this will be the first time in 2000 years that the price for believing in nonsense will be so high.
Ezekiel's Fire will wipe away all the nonsense that we believed about the Last Days.
After billions have died.
Now, for those of us who do survive, there will be a time of great blessing. Just read Jeremiah 31, to see what I'm talking about.
I address this chapter of Micah in much more detail, here:
Micah 5
https://whengogcomes.com/15-micah-5.html
The core of this chapter is this phrase...
...You shall no more worship the work of your hands;
- Micah 5:13b (NKJV)
And these three verses:
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
3 Therefore He shall give them up,
Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;
Then the remnant of His brethren
Shall return to the children of Israel.
4 And He shall stand and feed His flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the majesty of the name of the Lord His God;
And they shall abide,
For now He shall be great
To the ends of the earth
- Micah 5:2-4 (NKJV)
That's the salvation of the Children of Jacob. And, for those who don't know who The One in verse two is... that's Jesus - the Son of God who came to save those who were lost. And for two thousand years, Jacob has been 'given up' until the time will come for them to be born again.
And we...
...you and I...
...are the remnant of His brethren.
Then, verses five through nine introduce Assyria, seven shepherds and eight princely men. And war. Lots of it. And Israel is victorious in these wars.
TRANSLATION NOTE: When your Bible says 'The Assyrian', that's not what the original Hebrew says. It just says אשור (ah-shure), and that just means 'Assyria'. Not 'The Assyrian'.
So, Assyria invades Israel, and the Israelis defeat them. Israel then goes on to aggressively defeat all who oppose her. I'm just not sure what God means by Assyria, the shepherds and the 'princely men'.
But then, he says this:
10 “And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will cut off your horses from your midst
And destroy your chariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
- Micah 5:10-11 (NKJV)
Let's see... horses and chariots don't work... cities destroyed... strongholds fall... Ah, yes. Ezekiel's Fire. And, that description is just like:
...and every wall shall fall to the ground.’
- Ezekiel 38:20b (NKJV)
These verses:
...and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
– Zechariah 12:4b (NKJV)
and:
...when the towers fall.
– Isaiah 30:25b (NKJV)
So, Micah 5:10-11 is describing the effects of Ezekiel's Fire - exactly. And, God goes on to describe what He will do AFTER Ezekiel's Fire:
And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thy hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: and I will cut off thy graven images and thy pillars out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thy hands; and I will pluck up thine Asherim out of the midst of thee; and I will destroy thy cities.
- Micah 5:12-14 (ASV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: Many translations make a key error in the last words of verse 14. It's not 'thus' or 'so'. It's 'and'. As in... 'and I will destroy thy cities'.
This is what God will do, to sanctify Israel. The idols of Judaism will be destroyed. The Babylonian mysticism of Kabbalah will be eliminated. But, the cost will be enormous.
This tells us that we are in the time frame of Ezekiel 39:6, Isaiah 30:26 and Zechariah 12:4. And, the verses from Isaiah and Zechariah mirror Micah 5:10-11. They are exactly like what we have been talking about:
I think that we have a perfect match here. But, I am forgetting the verse that should fill us with dread:
And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
- Micah 5:15 (KJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The last words of that verse - אשר לא שמעו (ah-share lo shah-meh-oo) - literally means 'that not they heard'. That's pretty cryptic, but this vengeance does not sound like it is happening because they did not hear - like most translations indicate. No, it appears that these events will be so vast and incredible that they've never heard anything like this before. Oh, and the word 'heathen' is actually just 'nations'.
That last verse in Micah 5 should worry everyone. It certainly worries me, because most of our brothers and sisters in Christ aren't paying attention. This is the kind of confirmation that I did not want to see. It confirms that Ezekiel's Fire will blast the nations of the world, and they will suffer vengeance in anger and wrath.
All of Zephaniah, up to verse eight in chapter three, is about the past. And, it's proof that not every time that it says 'Day of the Lord', that it's the judgment of the earth at the Second Coming. There have been many times in which the 'Day of the Lord' has happened.
But, let's look at the first verse in Zephaniah that is about the future:
“Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
- Zephaniah 3:8 (NKJV)
That... um ...is a VERY unsettling statement, to say the least. Very unsettling. And no, this is NOT the Wrath of God as described in Revelation. I wish that it was. I really do.
Why do I say that this is not the Wrath of God in Revelation?
Because the verses AFTER Zephaniah 3:8 speak about the salvation of Israel. THAT is the context of the above verse, and it is also the same context as Ezekiel 39:6 and Isaiah 30:26. It even SOUNDS like those verses. So, let's keep going.
God is going to assemble the gentiles and judge them for their sins - as He has done many times in the past. But this time, when He does that…
“For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language,
That they all may call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him with one accord.
- Zephaniah 3:9 (NKJV)
God says the fateful words 'for then'. This indicates that verse nine will happen AFTER verse eight. And, THAT means global catastrophe.
What kind of catastrophe?
Ezekiel's Fire.
AND, a people of a pure language will call on the name of the Lord, and Hebrew is the purest of all the languages on Earth. Its form and syntax has been preserved in the Bible, and was kept so that it could be used today. If you speak and understand modern Hebrew, you can read and understand the Tanach (Old Testament).
From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia
My worshipers,
The daughter of My dispersed ones,
Shall bring My offering.
- Zephaniah 3:10 (NKJV)
And yes, the Jews of Ethiopia have come from beyond the rivers of Ethiopia. Of course, some mean-spirited people want to claim that the Ethiopian Jews aren't Jews. But, these racists have failed to look at the traditions and religion that these Ethiopian Jews held on to. They are about as Jewish as you can possibly get - more so than most of the Rabbis. But, since they didn't follow all the Talmudic traditions... they were forced to go through a 'conversion' process when they came to Israel.
When you examine the details, it should be clear that the Ethiopian Jews are:
the daughter of my dispersed ones
Then, we move deeper into the description of the salvation that God will bring to Israel:
In that day you shall not be shamed for any of your deeds
In which you transgress against Me;
For then I will take away from your midst
Those who rejoice in your pride,
And you shall no longer be haughty
In My holy mountain.
- Zephaniah 3:11 (NKJV)
When God says that He will take away from your midst those who rejoice in your pride, think about how that would happen. Remember that two thirds of everyone in the Land of Israel - and probably the world - will be cut off and die (Zech 13:8-9). Think this scenario through with me.
When the army of Gog and Magog begins to form, getting ready to invade Israel, Christians in Israel and around the world will (I hope) warn people to stay out of large buildings and prepare for Ezekiel's Fire. Those who do not follow their warnings die. Those who do, survive. I consider this to be one of those 'ultimate tests'. Those who listen will survive, and those who don't, won't. The proud and haughty have a very poor history of listening to the words of God.
However, the best explanation is this one:
For those whom God intends to preserve, He will put in their hearts the desire to get away from places of danger.
Our Lord has done this in the past, so it should not be a surprise that He would do this here. God knows how to preserve those who were chosen before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1).
Furthermore, God is going cleanse them from their sins and make them whole again. He is going to remove the 'proudly religious' from them. He is going to save them. And, there is only one way that this can be done:
Accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior - and obeying Him.
THAT is a very, VERY big deal. Unfortunately, the next verse adds an ominous note to all of this:
I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
- Zephaniah 3:12 (KJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: Unfortunately, the NKJV gets this verse wrong, and the KJV gets it right. The word for 'afflicted' is עני (ah-nee), which brings with it the idea of the miserable, lowly, humble in position - as in the misery of being poor. The word 'poor' in that verse is דל (dahl), which indicates being lean, sparse, meager. The irony is that both words (עני and דל) are synonyms of being poor, but reflecting different aspects of what that means.
I am something of a coward when it comes to being afflicted and poor. I hate suffering with a passion, so it doesn't make me feel good to know that affliction is coming for the people of Israel, or for any of us. However, it coincides with Zechariah 13:8-9, which we have talked about.
Here's the verse again:
And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith Jehovah, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part into the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, Jehovah is my God.
- Zechariah 13:8-9 (ASV)
Those who survive that will suffer terrible affliction. This is going to be really, really bad. REALLY Bad. And, it's hard to bear the thought of it. This is why so many try to turn that verse into some kind of symbolic death.
Okay, all of this is proof of something really important. So much so that I will give it a shout, so I hope that you are sitting down:
THIS IS NOT THE MILLENNIUM!!!
Notice the use of three - count 'em, THREE - exclamation marks. That's generally forbidden when writing books, except in very, very serious situations that require loud yelling. This is one of those situations.
During the Millennium...
...will God's people living in the Land of Israel be afflicted and poor?
OF COURSE NOT!
Therefore, if the people in the Land of Israel are not afflicted and poor during the Millennium, this is not the Millennium. This also means that you need to be ready for when this comes, if you are going to survive and thrive - so that you can continue serving God.
Most Christians do NOT want to see what's coming, so they cling to their rosy, pollyanna ideas about the future. But, as I tell everyone...
False hope is NOT a strategy.
Then, as Israel goes through the process of recovery, this will be the result:
The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness
And speak no lies,
Nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;
For they shall feed their flocks and lie down,
And no one shall make them afraid.”
- Zephaniah 3:13 (NKJV)
THAT is salvation. It will also be a time of peace and security, as the rest of the world also tries to recover from the horrific devastation. Remember that head of The Beast that suffered the deadly wound (Revelation 13). I can't think of a deadlier wound that the flattening of our civilization.
And then, we hear of the rejoicing in the Lord that Israel will experience:
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The Lord has taken away your judgments,
He has cast out your enemy.
The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
You shall see disaster no more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
17 The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
18 “I will gather those who sorrow over the appointed assembly,
Who are among you,
To whom its reproach is a burden.
- Zephaniah 3:14-18 (NKJV)
It will be an awesome time, and this next verse is yet another clue about what and where God will concentrate His wrath:
Behold, at that time
I will deal with all who afflict you;
I will save the lame,
And gather those who were driven out;
I will appoint them for praise and fame
In every land where they were put to shame.
- Zephaniah 3:19 (NKJV)
All those that persecuted the Jews will be destroyed. That means Europe, Russia, Iran, the Middle East and North Africa. The cities will be destroyed. People who depend upon electric water pumps will die of thirst when the electricity goes out. People will die of starvation because farmers won't be able to harvest their crops or bring the harvest to market. Violence, starvation and death will engulf the world until everything stabilizes - which would take years. More likely, decades.
But, forget that for a moment and rejoice in this last verse of the Book of Zephaniah:
At that time I will bring you back,
Even at the time I gather you;
For I will give you fame and praise
Among all the peoples of the earth,
When I return your captives before your eyes,”
Says the Lord.
- Zephaniah 3:20 (NKJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The word for 'fame' there is not quite correct. The Hebrew says שם (shem), which means 'name'. Yes, it can kinda mean 'fame', but there's something significant about giving someone a 'name'. Remember that God said that He would give Jerusalem - and them - a new name (Isaiah 62:2)
Just understand that, before all of this:
... all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
- Zephaniah 3:8 (NKJV)
THAT, my friends, is Ezekiel's Fire.
Please. Be ready for this.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/11-zechariah-ef.mp3
Zechariah confirms that Ezekiel's Fire is a solar event of unimaginable magnitude.
Why?
Because of this verse:
4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
- Zechariah 12:4 (NKJV)
This is exactly what we would expect to happen when Isaiah says this:
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:25-26 (NKJV)
That much electromagnetic energy hitting earth would fry all of the electronics in our cars and trucks. Electricity lines would burn. The hand-made transformers in our power plants would explode. Everything that requires electricity would cease to work. Everything. And...
Zechariah confirms it.
Furthermore, Zechariah also confirms that this is the coming of Gog and Magog, because this happens:
...They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
- Zechariah 13:9b (NKJV)
That is the Return of Jacob. That's the salvation of Israel. And, that only happens when Gog and Magog come against Israel. And yes, we also see a massive army coming down to attack Israel.
NOTE: Zechariah 12 and 13 are a single vision. Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury (1207-1228), was very foolish to put this vision into two chapters. And, putting that artificial break in the middle made it harder to see that Zechariah 14 is not connected at all to chapters 12 and 13.
However, there are a lot of important details to add to this, so let's start at the beginning with Zechariah 12.
1 The burden of the word of the Lord upon Israel, saith the Lord, which spread the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of poison unto all the people round about: and also with Judah will he be in the siege against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem an heavy stone for all people: all that lift it up, shall be torn, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
- Zechariah 12:1-3 (GNV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: For verse two, most translations say 'cup of trembling' (KJV) or 'cup of reeling' (ASV). However, the 1599 Geneva Bible actually gets it right. The word is 'poison' (רעל, pronounced: rah-ahl), and it also means 'venom' or 'toxin'. Yes, a poison, venom or toxin can give you symptoms of 'drunkenness' or make you 'reel', but translators should stick to the original word and not corrupt our interpretation of the Bible with bad wording.
In verse three, the words, 'lift it up' is עמסיה (pronounced: ohm-sey-ha), and it means 'burden' or 'load'. If you want to load something onto a truck, you use a cognate of that word: עומס. The idea is that they want to carry it or even control it.
Also in verse three, there is a lesser issue. The word 'against' is עליה (pronounced: ah-leh-yah). It means to go up to. Yes, in the context of the verse, it means 'against', but translators should not be making these kinds of decisions for us. It's less egregious in its error, but it's still a misrepresentation of the word.
When God talks about Israel, His primary focus is Jerusalem. Zion. It's why it is entirely appropriate to call anyone who is pro-Israel, a Zionist. You simply do not have an 'Israel' without a 'Zion'. Zion - Jerusalem - is the center and focus of Israel. It's the center and focus of God. And, THAT is why I say that God is a Zionist.
And, if God is a Zionist...
...you should be one, too.
He will one day rule from Zion, and He has made it abundantly clear that the tiny patch of ground where King David's city stood, is more important than any other place on Earth.
In fact, God says in verses two and three that He will claw apart anyone and everyone that causes trouble for Jerusalem and for Israel. If you mess with Zion, God will crush you. You will be damaged so thoroughly, that you will deeply regret ever thinking even negative thoughts about the Jewish ownership of Jerusalem.
And, in this next verse we see the Solar Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) that I referred to previously:
4 In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
- Zechariah 12:4 (NKJV)
Now, think carefully about what this means. Horses will be confused and blind. Riders - humans - will be driven mad. Some might think of this as supernatural, and I'm sure that it will seem like that. But, we have scientific evidence that this really should be considered a natural phenomena from a single event - even though it is caused by God directly.
Let's assume that God really is talking about horses.
How is it that horses could be struck with confusion or even blindness?
How could human beings be struck with madness by such a powerful solar flare?
Over the years, those who pay attention to solar flare activity have noticed that big solar flares tend to correspond with outbreaks of psychosis. And, if there was a really, Really, REALLY big solar flare or micronova, we could safely assume that there would be an even larger outbreak of psychotic events - i.e., madness.
Would horses be struck with confusion?
Well, I would assume that horses could get confused, in the same way that humans can be struck mad. But, blindness is another thing altogether.
Are these horses really being struck blind?
Or, maybe we should ask this question:
Are these really horses?
I strongly doubt it. Very strongly. And, you would to, if you realized how bad things would need to be if these were really horses. It would mean the collapse of our civilization to a level that means we no longer have planes, trains, cars, trucks or motorcycles. It would mean that tractors no longer exist, and that we would have been thrown back to the kind of agriculture that we haven't seen in 200 years.
If these really are horses, our civilization would already be dead.
If these really are horses, medical care, entertainment, news media, and education would only exist at an early 19th century level. There would be no electricity. There would be little running water - if any. Big cities would collapse. Governments would shrink and fracture. Diseases would sweep through our societies. The suffering would be terrible - even before we got to Zechariah 12.
If these really are horses, we would not only lose the resources to create and maintain the machines and tools that our current civilization needs. We would also lose the knowledge of how to create those machines.
It would be a lot like the Dark Ages that Europe went through after the fall of the Roman Empire. That's how bad the situation will be, if Zechariah is talking about real, honest-to-goodness horses. And, the thought of all that is just as horrifying as the sudden calamity that I believe that we will all experience.
So, if these really are horses that Zechariah is talking about, get ready for the death of more that just a billion people. A collapse of civilization this hard will mean the death of most of the world's population. More would die from this, than would die from Ezekiel's Fire.
No matter how you interpret this, death and destruction is coming for billions of people.
Again, God uses metaphors in prophecy. A quick read of the Book of Daniel would quickly demonstrate that our Lord does this many times. So, let's look at the thought that the reference to horses is metaphorical. And, let's start by talking about WHY God would use metaphor.
So, why did God refer to horses?
People at the time of Zechariah could not have imagined any other form of transportation. Therefore, God referred to horses because that was what Zechariah – and everyone else living before the 1800s – could understand.
Imagine the confusion if God had described people riding inside wheeled, metal and glass boxes run by a powerful black goo that came from deep underground. It would be incomprehensible.
Which might be the point. God told Daniel to seal up the vision, and it has truly been sealed - since very few seem able to understand it.
The bottom line is that we are forced to accept the fact that the mention of horses here is almost surely metaphorical. If it isn't, we are in so much trouble that you had better start preparing for something worse than Ezekiel's Fire - a long, terrible collapse of everything.
So, if the mention of horses is symbolic...
...what does it mean to strike them with blindness?
Let’s think a bit about what the Lord is trying to say to us here. When you strike a horse with blindness, you aren't killing the horse. However, you would be keeping it from ever doing anything useful.
Think of it this way. A blind horse won’t start. It won’t go anywhere on its own. Everything on the outside will appear fine, except that the horse just won’t work.
You turn the ignition and nothing happens. Everything looks okay, except for the fact that the car/tank/truck won’t go.
Do we have any examples of something like this?
We do.
In the 1960s, the Soviet Union exploded a nuclear weapon at extremely high altitude. When they did this, they found that the starters were burnt out in all the cars within a certain radius around the test site. The same kind of thing happened when America detonated a nuclear bomb at high altitude over the Pacific Ocean. We call this phenomenon a nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse, or a nuclear EMP.
An EMP can come in many different forms. It can be man-made, caused by a nuclear weapon detonated at high altitude. It could be a short-range weapon, used to knock out nearby electronics. Or, it could come in the form of a massive solar event like Ezekiel’s Fire:
And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
– Ezekiel 39:6 ASV
When Ezekiel’s Fire comes, your horses – planes, trains and automobiles – will go blind. They won’t start. They will cease to operate. They will look fine on the outside, but God will have turned them into useless hunks of metal and plastic that will quietly sit in your driveway or on your street - immobile. Forever.
Even worse will be the elimination of electricity networks across the globe. Everything electrical that was not directly destroyed by this EMP, will cease to work, because all the gigantic, custom-built transformers at every power station will be destroyed. This means that water will stop being distributed to buildings and homes.
In just a few days after this event, vast numbers of people will die - if they do not have access to free-standing, drinkable water. And, that's due to the fact that electric water pumps are the number one way that water is distributed throughout the developed world, and even the less-developed world. A billion people could die of thirst alone, when Ezekiel's Fire strikes.
There might be places in the world where the effects of such a solar EMP would be reduced. Some have said that countries near the earth's equator will suffer fewer effects than those farther north or south. This is due to the nature of Geomagnetically Induced Current (GIC), which is weaker near the equator, during solar storms. However, Ezekiel's Fire will be so tremendous that it's hard to think of any place that would truly be safe. And, let's not forget the global earthquake.
Whatever your location, you need to ask yourself this question:
Can you survive without electricity, running water and transportation?
If you cannot, then you had better start working on an alternative. You can live three days without water and thirty days without food.
Think about it.
So, we've killed billions of people in just the first four verses of Zechariah 12. Let's look at the next two verses:
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in the Lord of hosts, their God.’ 6 In that day I will make the governors of Judah like a firepan in the woodpile, and like a fiery torch in the sheaves; they shall devour all the surrounding peoples on the right hand and on the left, but Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place—Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 12:5-6 (NKJV)
TRANSLATION NOTE: The word for 'governor' in that verse is actually 'general' or 'military leader' - אלוף (pronounced: ah-loof). It actually comes from the word אלף (pronounced: eh-lef), meaning thousand - the implication being that a general in ancient times was a leader of a thousand soldiers. But, NOT a governor. Why the translators chose 'governor' is a mystery.
Verses five and six mean that the Israeli military, called the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), will be fighting in the countryside around Jerusalem, and south of Jerusalem. The Palestinians will be attempting to kill the Jews, and the IDF will be doing its best to defend the settlements like Gush Etzion, Efrat, Har Adar, Giv'at Ze'ev, Ma'ale Adumim and a host of others.
Including the Jerusalem neighborhood that I lived in for years - Gilo.
At the same time, Israel will be attacked from the north, by the forces of Gog and Magog. And, just as in 1967, the only soldiers defending Jerusalem itself will be reserve units, made up of Jerusalem residents. When it says 'the inhabitants of Jerusalem' in verse five, it means that the situation will be so bad that everyone will be issued some kind of weapon and asked to defend the city. When we get to chapter 13 of Zechariah, we'll see that it will be a desperate time in which two thirds of everyone in the land of Israel will die. Most will die from the earthquake (Isaiah 30), but at least some will die in the fighting.
Furthermore, I am dismayed by the reference to the 'generals of Judah' and not the 'generals of Israel'. If so much of the IDF has been destroyed that only IDF Southern Command survives as an organized force... well ...that's bad. Really bad.
But, the next verse injects a bitter and ironic point:
7 “The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall not become greater than that of Judah.
- Zechariah 12:7 (NKJV)
God hates pride with a passion, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem have a history of incredible hubris. God is going to make sure that Jerusalem cannot claim the glory that she does not deserve. I really wish that we human beings were not so awful. But, we are, and it's a very sad thing.
Now, notice a striking difference between verse seven and the result of the Battle of Armageddon. We've already looked at Zechariah 14, so consider this:
In Zechariah 14, Jerusalem becomes the center of the world.
In Zechariah 12:7, God makes sure that Jerusalem is NOT.
In Zechariah 14, God saves Jerusalem first.
In Zechariah 12:7, Jerusalem is saved LAST.
That's a HUGE difference, but we aren't done yet. This next verse is where we see the average citizen engaged in fighting:
8 In that day the Lord will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; the one who is feeble among them in that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, like the Angel of the Lord before them.
- Zechariah 12:8 (NKJV)
This is where some might want to jump in and say that Jesus returns with His armies and defends Jerusalem. But, that's not what Zechariah says here. This verse clearly says that God will give strength to each inhabitant of Jerusalem, and that these inhabitants will fight and overcome their enemies.
In Zechariah 14, we see the opposite - with Jesus standing on the Mount of Olives and splitting it in two. We will also see the armies of heaven in that chapter. But, we see none of that here, and it would be wrong to inject Zechariah 14 into this verse.
In Zechariah 14, Jerusalem is conquered, the women raped and half the city flees into exile.
In Zechariah 12:8, the inhabitants of Jerusalem successfully defend the city, with even the weakest being so incredibly strong that they will slay all their enemies, just like David did.
In Zechariah 14, Jerusalem is rescued by God Himself.
In Zechariah 12:8, God gives the inhabitants of Jerusalem the supernatural strength and ability to defend themselves.
These are profound differences that we should NOT ignore. Gog and Magog is clearly NOT the time of the Antichrist. You could argue that God waits until Jerusalem is conquered before giving the citizens of Jerusalem the power to fight back, but that's not how Zechariah and Ezekiel describe this event.
And, the next verse shows us Ezekiel's Fire and Gog and Magog:
It shall be in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Those nations are the ones in the Gog and Magog alliance that attack Israel. And, as you look at the history of Israel for the last century, the target has ALWAYS been Jerusalem - which makes no sense from a secular point of view. Jerusalem doesn't sit on any well-traveled route. It's hard to get to. No one would want Jerusalem - except that God placed His name there.
Then, the nations that come against Israel and Jerusalem are destroyed. That's Ezekiel's Fire. That's the micronova that knocks down our civilization and throws us back to the pre-industrial era. Having said that, this gives me some hope that maybe... just maybe ...those nations not in this alliance will suffer less damage.
Now, why can I be so confident that this is the coming of Gog and Magog?
Remember what we saw in Ezekiel 38 and 39, which directly describes Gog and Magog. The last nine verses includes this:
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.
Then, compare that verse with the last five verses of Zechariah 12, which are just a more detailed retelling of what Ezekiel 39:22 says:
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
TRANSLATION NOTE: The word for 'look' in verse 10 is הביט (pronounced: hee-beet), and it's not the same as 'see' רואה (pronounced: roh-eh). The word 'look' (הביט) would be more accurately translated as 'regard' or 'consider'. It's a seeing from the heart, not the eyes. The word for 'see' (רואה) is about the eyes, and you don't find that here.
In Zechariah 14, the Lord will be visible. They will see Him with their eyes. In chapter 12, God is pouring out his Holy Spirit upon them. Seeing with the eyes and regarding via the Holy Spirit are two very different things. Yet, that doesn't stop false teachers from claiming that they are the same thing.
What is happening here, in Zechariah 12, is salvation through faith. Most of you should know the following passage:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
- Ephesians 2:8-9 (NKJV)
I could quote verse after verse about salvation coming through faith in Jesus Christ. If there was any other way, God would have told us. And, it is clear to me that salvation through faith and the indwelling - and baptism - of the Holy Spirit is what is happening here.
In Zechariah 12:10-14, we see the realization that the one that they had been rejecting for 2000 years, was (and is) the Messiah that they were looking for. The veil on their heart that Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 3:16 will be torn away, and they will see the truth clearly - as you and I see it.
When you and I came to Christ, it was a deeply personal moment in time. We asked God to forgive us of our sins and accept us as His children. We turned from sinful ways and embraced the salvation that can only come through Jesus Christ. We accepted the perfect gift of Jesus and entered into the kingdom of God.
The Israelis will do the same thing.
But, that acceptance will bring with it a crushing realization that all of their culture... all of their yearning and learning was in rebellion to God. They will discover that their rabbis and sages were worse than just wrong. They will realize that their great teachers had deceived and blinded them. And, they will understand that their proud deceptions sent all their ancestors into the eternal suffering and condemnation of Hell.
This will be a crushing realization. But, their days of mourning will be only for a moment, as their joy in the Lord overflows. To paraphrase Charles Dickens in the Tale of Two Cities:
It will be the best of times.
It will be the worst of times.
Those of us who survive that moment will be glad that we did, but it will be a very, very hard time. In fact, I believe that it will be the most difficult period of time since the Great Flood.
And, this vision given to Zechariah continues into chapter 13.
(Remember that the chapter divisions were NOT given to us by God.)
In chapter 13 God reinforces the idea that the children of Jacob will be saved from their sins in the exact same way that we have been saved from ours. Just as each of us turned from our wicked ways and accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior - through faith - they too will do the same. And, some very important points are made in this chapter that will help us understand that chapter 14 is very different.
Here's the first verse of Zechariah 13 that verifies that this is a continuation of chapter 12:
“In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
- Zechariah 13:1 (NKJV)
When you see words like 'in that day' in the first verse of a chapter, it's clear that this chapter is directly connected to the previous chapter. It means that we are still speaking of the same prophecy that began in chapter 12.
But, how long is the 'day' in the phrase 'in that day'?
Those of you who have been reading your Bible for long enough know the answer to that.
...'that day' could last for years.
THAT DAY will only end, when the events described are complete. Days, weeks, months and years could go by, and THAT DAY will not be complete until all has been accomplished. Verse two continues with what will happen:
“It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land.
- Zechariah 13:2 (NKJV)
During the next four verses (3-6), God describes the passion with which Israel will embrace Christ. They will go so far as to use physical violence when their own child prophesies falsely. All of that is a part of the operation of God, where He takes away the heart of stone, and replaces it with a living heart. This is a spiritual transformation from the inside out. It's the kind of transformation that you and I have gone through. The verses that describe the Millennium don't say this.And, I devoted an entire chapter to this in my other book, When Gog Comes:
Why Israel Must Be Saved BEFORE The Great Tribulation
https://whengogcomes.com/10-why-israel-saved-before-great-tribulation.html
But, we aren't done. There are three verses left in this prophecy, and the next one was quoted by Jesus:
“Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd,
Against the Man who is My Companion,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
“Strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered;
Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
- Zechariah 13:7 (NKJV)
Jesus quoted Zechariah, here:
Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:
‘I will strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
- Matthew 26:31 (NKJV)
Jesus was referring to His arrest and trial, and the scattering of His disciples. Yet, the context seems to be more than just Messiah, because of the rest of Zechariah 13. But, this isn't the only time that God throws in a Messianic verse that appears in an unusual place.
Just look at Isaiah 7:14-17. That passage talks about the virgin birth of Christ, even though the context is the coming destruction of Israel's northern kingdom. It seems completely out of place. But, we know that Jesus was born of a virgin, and we know that the northern kingdom was destroyed. So, we shouldn't stumble over a verse that talks about Messiah, even though that verse appears in an unusual way.
However, I do not mind admitting that I don't quite understand why verse seven appears in the middle of a prophecy that is about something completely different. We could speculate over a possible dual nature to this verse. However, the words 'dual prophecy' are usually just an excuse to be lazy and engage in wishful thinking. If you want to believe that this also refers to the destruction of Israel's leadership, that's fine. But, do NOT take away from the core meaning of this verse - the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Since Jesus quoted this verse, then we must believe what He was saying.
Then, we come to the last two verses that fill me with dread:
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
But one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third through the fire,
Will refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
- Zechariah 13:8-9 (NKJV)
The fact that two thirds of Israel will be killed is horrifying.
I know that there are many who claim that this doesn’t mean physical death, and I understand why they want to say that. The thought of two thirds of Israelis dying through violence and earthquake is just too much for many of us to think about. But, the Hebrew speaks for itself.
The Hebrew word for die, in the above passage is יגועו (pronounced: yig-va-oo). It means 'they will die'. And, the root word is גוע (pronounced: gah-va). It literally means to physically expire. In fact, a variation of that word includes agony in that death. The word does NOT indicate a spiritual death in any way.
Also, those who advocate the ‘spiritual death theory’ aren’t thinking this through. The people of Israel were ALREADY spiritually dead. Someone who was never spiritually alive, cannot spiritually die. You cannot kill someone spiritually until after someone is made spiritually alive. Israel is not spiritually alive today, so to spiritually kill two thirds of Israel is completely impossible. So, please discard this 'spiritual death' theory, if you hold it.
But, the physical death of so many... it will be a terrible thing to see.
Having said that, Ezekiel's Fire will likely kill two thirds of the world's population, also. Every tall building around the world will be knocked down. Power plants will be permanently destroyed. Water distribution will collapse. Farmers will be unable to plant, harvest or transport food. Our civilization will die.
It will be terrible.
All over the world.
Accepting the sheer horror of this event is one of the reasons why I finally understood that Jacob’s Trouble really is about Gog and Magog and the Return of Jacob. This is the core verse:
Alas! For that day is great,
So that none is like it;
And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble,
But he shall be saved out of it.
- Jeremiah 30:7 (NKJV)
As I have already proven, there is literally no other way to look at Jeremiah 30. This really is talking about the time of the coming of Gog and Magog. It cannot be any other time, and I am not looking forward to this.
This death and destruction - coupled with spiritual salvation - is a bittersweet note for Zechariah 13 to end on. All the survivors of this great tragedy, in Israel, will accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but it will also mean a tremendous amount of terrible difficulty and suffering.
As Zechariah says, there will be a refining process, and it should be clear that it will be very, very hard. In fact, I am sure that many will wish that they had died, instead of going through what will come after.
Many of you have experienced moments in time when you wished that you had died, instead of surviving. The time is coming in which it will be Israel’s turn. And, I hate the thought of it, but this is the will of God. And He really knows that this is the best way. So, we must accept this as necessary – and prepare for it, if we can. To do otherwise would be rebellion against God.
I compare Zechariah 14 with chapters 12 and 13, in When Gog Comes, here:
The Army Of The Antichrist
https://whengogcomes.com/04-the-army-of-the-antichrist.html
There is just no way that Zechariah 14 is connected to Gog and Magog and the Return of Jacob. It's just not possible, but I couldn't see it until I looked carefully at the details. So, I don't blame you, if you struggle to see it.
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I remember wondering about where the coming of Gog and Magog was in the Book of Revelation. I now know that answer, but it took far too many years to figure it out. It was almost as if I had a mental block, keeping me from seeing it. That 'mental block' is gone, and I can confidently say that there are two places in the Book of Revelation that point to where the coming of Gog and Magog fits in the Book of Revelation:
The Sixth Seal, opens in Revelation 6:12 and the events of Seal Six do not finish until the end of Revelation 7. A lot of things happen in those 23 verses. Most of it is utterly incredible. But, the most important part, in terms of our discussion, is the sealing of the 144,000.
Why?
Because it means that the salvation of Israel - the Return of Jacob - must happen long before the first man is sealed.
This situation is even clearer for Revelation 12. When the Dragon attacks the woman, she escapes into the wilderness, where she is protected for three and a half years. That 'woman' is Israel, and it's clear that she is in a covenant relationship with God before she flees. That also means that Israel must have become a follower of Jesus Christ long before that moment in time. And, the prophets are clear about what must happen before Revelation 12:13:
There's literally no other way to look at this, unless you want to toss out all the prophets in the Old Testament. So, let's keep the prophets in mind as we look at the Sixth Seal and Revelation 12.
Big earthquake?
The sun turns black?
The moon becomes red as blood?
The stars fall to the earth?
The sky rolls up like a scroll?
That sounded more like something we see later in Revelation, like in chapter 16, when the bowls are poured out before the Battle of Armageddon. But, there was a problem with that, since the Book of Revelation shows the order of events this way:
They happen in that order. The Trumpets don't sound until the Seven Seals have all been opened. The bowls aren't poured out until the last trumpet has finished. There can be no doubt about this. But, Seal Six sounded so fantastic that you naturally wanted to put it somewhere else in Revelation.
Does the Book of Revelation jump back and forth between the Seals, the Trumpets and the Bowls?
No, it does not.
Please be very careful here. Twisting the Book of Revelation is extremely dangerous, because of these two verses:
18 For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;
19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
- Revelation 22:18-19 (NKJV)
If you add to the Book of Revelation, you suffer in this life - terribly. But, if you TAKE AWAY anything from the Book of Revelation, you suffer for eternity.
That scares me, and it should scare you.
Playing around with the interpretation of Revelation is deadly. Don't do it. Not even a little. And, that's why I would put a question mark over Revelation 6 and 7, and moved on. And, since I read my Bible all the way through, every year, I would hit that question mark again and again and again - every December.
But then, in 2019, I started writing When Gog Comes.
As I worked my way through the evidence of the timing of Gog and Magog, I came to the realization that this great invasion of Israel must happen at Revelation 6:12. Ezekiel's Fire fit perfectly within Revelation 6:12-17. It couldn't happen afterwards, and there's no room (or not much) for it to happen before. So, it must happen at verse 12.
Why do I say 'must'?
If God had left out chapter 7, from the Book of Revelation, I would not have been able to say 'must'. But, since Revelation 7 is about 144,000 Israelis being sealed by God... It means that the Return of Jacob had happened before we get to chapter 7. And, since Revelation 7:1 begins with "After these things...", Israel's salvation must happen somewhere in Revelation 6. But, I couldn't get past what happened in Seal Six. It was too confusing.
All of that changed when I realized what Isaiah 30:26 was describing:
Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
- Isaiah 30:26 (KJV)
At first, I thought that it was just a really big solar flare. Then, when I did more research, I started saying that it was a superflare - a word that few scientists talked about. But, when I realized that this had to be a nova event, I finally was able to understand what happened when Seal Six was opened.
I finally came to this conclusion while I was writing When Gog Comes. It was so obvious to me that I immediately put it into chapter 16 of that book.
However bizarre this must sound...
...when you put the coming of Gog and Magog and Ezekiel's Fire into Revelation 6:12-17...
...our understanding of the Book of Revelation increases dramatically.
It removes the question mark over Seal Six and confirms the chronological order of the Book of Revelation. It even helps us understand the Deadly Wound suffered by seventh head of The Beast. Ezekiel's Fire causes that 'deadly wound'. Ezekiel's Fire knocks out our civilization (The Seventh Head), and the Dragon will bring it back to life, turning it into the Eighth Head (Revelation 17:11).
To put it another way:
After our civilization is destroyed...
...The Antichrist turns the lights back on.
Anyone who could bring civilization back like that, would earn the undying devotion of the world. People would do anything, worship anyone, if it meant having enough food to eat, a cellphone and an Internet that works again, and most of all... prosperity. Latin Americans are pouring across the southern border of the United States for exactly this reason. Africans and Asians are flooding into Europe for this reason. People will do almost anything, take any risk, to be secure and to prosper. And, all that the Antichrist will require is that you worship him.
What a deal.
NOTE: Notice that after the Seven Seals are opened, the stars are back in the night sky in Chapter Eight. That's additional proof that this is a nova event. The vast cloud of dust thrown out in the the Solar System from our sun dissipates, bringing the stars back to our night sky.
Unfortunately, we have a little problem. For two hundred years, everyone has been assuming that Gog is the Antichrist. And, they have to make this assumption because if he isn't, their belief about the order of events of the Last Days is wrong.
If Gog is not the Antichrist...
...there is no pre-tribulation rapture.
...there will be no Third Temple.
...we can stop hyperventilating about the Antichrist - for now.
...the Return of Jacob to God must happen years, even decades, before the Antichrist.
For those who've made a name for themselves as 'End Times Experts', that means tearing up everything that they've written and starting over. That's hard, so they won't even consider the evidence that I present in When Gog Comes. It's too much for them.
For those of you who haven't backed yourselves into a corner like other 'experts' in eschatology, here's a quick summary of what I discovered as I was attempting to pin down the timing of when Gog and Magog descend upon Israel.
The three biggest reasons are these:The invasion of Israel by Gog and Magog is not at all like the invasion of the Antichrist.
The events surrounding Gog and Magog are not at all like the events surrounding the Antichrist.
The salvation of Israel happens years BEFORE the coming of the Antichrist…
…while the Bible that the Return of Jacob must happen AFTER Gog and Magog.
(Lots people seem to have trouble with the distinction between BEFORE and AFTER.)
Those three reasons, by themselves, are enough to prove completely that Gog is NOT the Antichrist, and that Gog and Magog are coming long before the Antichrist arrives. It also proves that you MUST prepare for a great catastrophe that will also come, when Gog leads his military alliance against Israel. But, let’s look at the full list.
There are five invasions of Israel by the Antichrist
(Gog is described as invading once)
The Israel at the time of the Antichrist will not look like the Israel of today
(What Daniel 11 indicates is deeply disturbing. Israel will have suffered heavy damage, long before the Antichrist rises.)
The Antichrist comes during a time of war.
(Gog comes during a time of peace.)
The Antichrist has opposition – lots of it
(That realization was a new one for me – the ‘lots of it’ part.)
The Antichrist captures Jerusalem.
(Gog does NOT capture Jerusalem.)
Israelis need to run away from the Antichrist
(Israelis do not need to run away from Gog)
The Antichrist will not be buried, but he and his false prophet will be thrown alive into Hell
(Gog will be buried and will have a grave in a valley called Hamon Gog.)
The Antichrist assembles ALL NATIONS
(Gog assembles a specific set of nations to invade Israel.)
There are merely hours or maybe days between the destruction of the Antichrist and the Millennium
(After Gog is destroyed, there must be enough time for
Israeli Christians to reach spiritual maturity and to seal the 144
thousand.)
Daniel 9 is about Jesus and NOT about the Antichrist
(Seriously kids, stop the false teaching about Daniel’s 70th Week. Not one verse in Daniel 9 is about the Antichrist.)
Daniel 8 and 11 are about the Antichrist – NOT Antiochus Epiphanes
(That’s right. BOTH. You need to get that.)
The King of the South is actually the King of the Negev
(Could Be’er Sheva be this king’s capital?)
Israel accepts Christ and is Christian BEFORE the Antichrist rises
(Ezekiel and Zechariah say that the salvation of Israel is AFTER Gog is destroyed)
The Antichrist rules all the world
(Gog’s influence is over only part of the world)
Hooks are not in the mouth of the Antichrist, to invade Israel and Jerusalem
(But, Gog has those hooks in his jaws – not a strong argument, but worth keeping in mind)
The Antichrist is cast alive into Hell (Revelation 19:20)
(Gog is not. Gog is buried in the Valley of Hamon Gog.)
This is where we see Ezekiel mention the fire that is sent upon Magog and upon those who dwell carelessly – Ezekiel’s Fire.
When the Antichrist comes, the wrath of God will be absolute – few will survive
(When Gog comes, God’s wrath will be more limited. Many will die, but billions will survive.)
The Antichrist is NOT reluctant to invade Israel and does so several times
(Gog doesn’t want to invade, and requires hooks to force him to attack Israel)
The Return of Jacob must happen BEFORE the Antichrist invades Israel
(Only after Gog is destroyed, will Israel be saved.)
Planes, Trains and Automobiles are knocked out. And this is also where we compare and contrast Zechariah 12 and 13 (Gog and Magog) with the chapter about Armageddon and the Millennium – Zechariah 14.
In Zechariah 14, Jerusalem becomes the center of the world
(In Zechariah 12, God makes sure that Jerusalem is NOT.)
In Zechariah 14, God saves Jerusalem first
(In Zechariah 12, Jerusalem comes second.)
In Zechariah 14, Jerusalem is conquered, the women raped and half the city flees into the wilderness
(In Zechariah 12, the inhabitants of Jerusalem successfully
defend the city, with even the weakest being so incredibly strong that
they will slay all their enemies, just like David did.)
In Zechariah 14, Jerusalem is rescued by God Himself
(In Zechariah 12, God gives the inhabitants of Jerusalem supernatural strength and the ability to defend themselves.)
In Zechariah 14, God PHYSICALLY saves Jerusalem and Israel
(In Zechariah 12 and 13, God SPIRITUALLY saves them. And,
there’s no description in chapter 14 of Israel needing spiritual salvation.
Israel will already be Christian, when Jesus returns. After all,
there’s a reason why the people of Jerusalem are fleeing the
Antichrist.)
In this chapter, we don’t see the names of 'Gog' and 'Magog', but Isaiah 30 ties itself directly to them when it talks about:
That last point is salvation and can only be salvation. But, that salvation comes after the great slaughter that we see in Zechariah 13. Two thirds of everyone will die - in the Land of Israel and even the rest of the world. But, the third of Israel that survives will accept Jesus as their Savior.
However, this discussion in Isaiah 30 brought up some interesting thoughts.
When does God send fire upon Magog and the other nations in Ezekiel 39?
AFTER the invasion of Gog and Magog has begun.
When does the fourth angel pour out his bowl upon the Sun in Revelation 16?
BEFORE the invasion of The Kings of the East and the battle of Armageddon.
Again, people seem to have trouble with the words 'before' and 'after'. And, the events of Ezekiel 39 are not at all like the events of Revelation 16. You can only say that they are the same, by ignoring everything that the Bible says. And, it means that Gog cannot be the Antichrist.
But wait... there's more.
I started this chapter by talking about Revelation 6 and 7. Seal Six had been very confusing until I realized that it matched what we have been talking about in Ezekiel's Fire. And, Revelation 12 makes an important confirmation of what we are talking about:
Israel must be saved long before the Antichrist comes to power.
In chapter 12, Israel gives birth to Messiah. Then after a war in heaven, Satan is cast down to the earth and begins persecuting Israel and other Christians. Israel flees into a place of safety in the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, times and a half of a time.
In terms of our discussion about timing, the most important verse is this one:
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 12:17 (NKJV)
OOPS.
This is a huge problem for those who believe in a pre-tribulation rapture - because there are lots of Christians running around when the Antichrist comes. It also means that this cannot be the invasion of Israel by Gog and Magog.
Remember that Israel successfully defends herself - with God's intervention - When Gog Comes. But, when the Antichrist comes, Israel doesn't fight but runs away. This means that Gog and the Antichrist are not the same, and that Gog must come many years before Revelation 12.
Remember what the Old Testament prophets said about Israel's salvation:
Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
– Ezekiel 36:31 (NKJV)
So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel.
– Ezekiel 39:7 (NKJV)
So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.
– Ezekiel 39:22 (NKJV)
And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”
– Ezekiel 39:29 (NKJV)
...In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
– Isaiah 30:26 (NKJV)
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
– Zechariah 12:10 (NKJV)
..They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
– Zechariah 13:9 (NKJV)
All of those verses are AFTER Gog and Magog. Not before. This means that these salvation verses are not a part of Israel's flight into the wilderness when the Antichrist arrives.
For those of you who have already read When Gog Comes, what was it that the Bible says about the Antichrist in Daniel 11?
Here’s verse 30 again:
For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
– Daniel 11:30 (KJV)
The KJV uses the word ‘indignation’, but the Hebrew word is much stronger than that. It’s זעם (zah-am), and it means ‘wrath’ or ‘rage’. Also, the word ‘intelligence’ is also a little bit incorrect. The word is יבן (yah-ven), and it’s a part of the same root as the Hebrew word for ‘understanding’ – מבין (mah-veen).
So, when the ships of Chittim block his invasion, he flies into a rage and starts conspiring with those who are apostates. And, these apostates have forsaken…
Wait…
…The Holy Covenant.
There’s a Holy Covenant in Israel BEFORE the Antichrist?
BEFORE the Antichrist rises, there will be a Holy Covenant. That means there are followers of God in Israel, who are obedient in every way.
Again, this is BEFORE the Antichrist.
And no, this will NOT be Judaism. Judaism is a synthetic religion formulated after the fall of the second temple as a way to get around the inability to properly sacrifice, AND to keep Jewish men and women from becoming Christian. Judaism is NOT holy and is not a 'covenant'. If you live in Israel long enough, you'll figure this out.
Is it possible to have a holy covenant that is different than the one paid for by Jesus on the cross, and sanctified by His Blood?
Let me make this point as clearly as possible:
JESUS IS THE ONLY COVENANT!!!
If you think that there is any other way to salvation, except through faith and obedience in Jesus Christ, you are not a Christian. There is only one eternal sacrifice that paid for the sins of the world. That covenant was made in His blood and sacrifice. Adding the blood of bulls and goats to this would be blasphemy.
Therefore, the Holy Covenant in Daniel 11:30 is faith in Christ.
That’s right, Christians. These are followers of Christ, like you and me. Israeli Christians that are faithfully worshiping God in the area of the Middle East where the Antichrist will run around in. These Israeli Christians do not begin their Life in Christ after the Antichrist. They begin their Life in Christ BEFORE the Antichrist. And, I can’t help but point out here that Ezekiel 38 and 39 show that Israel doesn’t join the Holy Covenant until AFTER Gog and Magog has been destroyed. Not before.
Again, because some have trouble with understanding the difference between 'before' and 'after', let me say again:
Gog and Magog is destroyed.
After that, Israel accepts Christ as their Lord and Savior.
It’s that simple, and it is absolute and undeniable proof that:
Gog is NOT the Antichrist.
There is literally no other way to interpret what the Bible has said here. But, let's get back to Revelation 12.
Let's look at how and where Daniel 11, Revelation 12, Zechariah 14 and Matthew 24 begin to connect. When talking about the Antichrist, Daniel says this:
Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.
– Daniel 11:31 (NASB)
NOTE: The word 'sacrifice' doesn't mean the burnt offering of animals. Daniel 11:31 uses the word התמיד (ha-tah-meed), which just means 'always' or 'continual'. The word for the sacrifice that you make on an altar is זבח (zeh-vach, 'ch' as in Bach) - which indicates the killing of an animal.
So, these forces will come from the Antichrist, defile the building of the holy place, stop the continual worship services in Jerusalem and then set up the Abomination of Desolation. And, this isn’t the Antichrist doing it directly. It is these ‘forces’, plural that are doing it.Hebrew is specific when it comes to word agreement. Plural nouns have plural verbs. Singular nouns have singular verbs. So, this isn’t the Antichrist (singular) doing this. It’s these arms (plural) that are setting up the Abomination of Desolation.
Now, notice that phrase, Abomination of Desolation. The Hebrew is this:
השקוץ משומם (ha-shee-koots meh-sho-mem)
Where did we hear of this before?
Right here:
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
– Matthew 24:15-18 (ESV)
And, right here:
Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?”
– Daniel 8:13 (ESV)
Here’s Daniel 11:31 again:
Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation.
– Daniel 11:31 (NASB)
It’s clear that Daniel 11 and Matthew 24 are talking about the same moment in time. And, Daniel 8 is so close that you need to assume that it is also the same moment in time. The only difference for Daniel 8:13 is that Gabriel says ‘transgression’ instead of ‘abomination’. But, abomination is always transgression, and transgression is always an abomination.
This is where the Christians in Jerusalem run away into the wilderness. In Zechariah 14, we discover that about half of them escape (i.e., go into exile). Most translations get Zechariah 14:2 wrong. Especially, the KJV. When it says 'half the city goes into captivity', it actually means 'exile'. And that 'exile' just means 'they run away' - which is exactly what Jesus told them to do.
So, when we get to Daniel 11:31, we see the events of Revelation 12:13-16. But, there's one more verse in Revelation 12. Daniel 11:33-39 describes what happens before that last verse.
Here's what Revelation 12:17 says:
And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
- Revelation 12:17 (NKJV)
Daniel 11:40-45 has a lot more detail to offer, and as we read this passage, remember that the King of the North is the Antichrist:
40 “At the time of the end the king of the South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the countries, overwhelm them, and pass through. 41 He shall also enter the Glorious Land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon. 42 He shall stretch out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 He shall have power over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians shall follow at his heels. 44 But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many. 45 And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him.
- Daniel 11:40-45 (NKJV)
Again, the King of the North is the Antichrist, and the King of the South is someone who rules over the South.
Wait. What 'south' is this?
Well it's not the south. It's actually, the Negev, which is the dry wilderness area in southern Judea. The word for 'south', in this passage is נגב (Negev) and not the word that we would normally use for south, דרום (dah-rome).
So, the ruler of southern Israel attacks the Antichrist and gets beaten badly. The Antichrist goes on to capture Egypt and a large part of Africa.
Why Egypt?
Because it will be Christian.
If you want to know how Egypt becomes a follower of Christ, go here:
Isaiah 17 and 19
https://whengogcomes.com/13-isaiah-17-and-19.html
The Antichrist invades Egypt because they refuse to obey him. That sounds like something that a Christian country would do, and it confirms that the fulfillment of Isaiah 19 happens BEFORE the rise of the Antichrist. Very interesting.
Oh, and notice something from that passage that we just read from Daniel 11:
"...but these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon..."
Here's the core passage that we've been talking about in Revelation 12:
13 Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child. 14 But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth.
- Revelation 12:13-16 (NKJV)
Daniel 11 doesn't mention the flood, but the fact that the Antichrist cannot get to Edom, Moab and Ammon is quite interesting. In fact, it shows a very strong connection. If you want to know where these Christian Israelis flee to, visit the Kingdom of Jordan. I've been there quite a few times. Petra is fascinating.
Revelation 6 and 7 point us directly at Ezekiel's Fire and the coming of Gog and Magog. It falls right in with Ezekiel 38 and 39, Zechariah 12 and 13, Micah 5, and Isaiah 30. Theologians for the past two centuries have tried to tell us something different, but they've been deeply incorrect.
Then Revelation 12, removes any doubt that we might have by proving that Gog and Magog comes long before the Antichrist, and that Israel has already accepted Christ as their Lord and savior before they must flee into the wilderness. There's just no other way to look at this, unless you want to do damage to the book of Revelation, which is a very, very dangerous thing to do.
Remember that you suffer in this life if you add to Revelation what is not true, but you suffer for eternity if you take away from that book.
I do not wish to be a part of any of those errors, and I'm sure that you don't either. So, let's do our best to be careful to not twist what Revelation actually says.
Unfortunately, this means that we will suffer hardship when the Antichrist comes. I understand the desire to avoid such suffering. I'm not a fan of it myself, and I'll try to dodge as much of it as I can. But, you can't avoid difficulty by ignoring it. That never works.
If you want to dig deeper into Israel's repentance and faith in Christ, go here:
Why Israel Must Be Saved BEFORE The Great Tribulation
https://whengogcomes.com/10-why-israel-saved-before-great-tribulation.html
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/13-prepare-ef.mp3
Surviving Ezekiel's Fire will be a challenge, but such things are not difficult for God. And, there is much that we can do to improve our chances of surviving so that we can continue to serve God. And yes, I truly believe that God requires us to take steps to prepare for catastrophe. And, there are a few things that might help, if you can do them:
Devote Your Life To Serving God - I don't know why anyone would expect God to rescue them from calamity, if they weren't willing to serve Him. God didn't send His Only Son to suffer and die for us so that we would be Christians just once a week.
Find Good Neighbors - The biggest threat to your safety will always be those who live closest to you. If you cannot trust your neighbors when everything falls apart, it's time to get new ones. And yes, that means moving.
Escape the City - Few buildings - if any - will survive. So, do not expect ANY city to survive. Those city dwellers who survive the earthquakes will most likely die from violence, thirst, starvation and disease.
Live Near Food And Water - Electricity will not work. Nor will transportation. So, if you do not have easy access to water and good farmland, you'll die of thirst and starvation.
Prepare To Help Others - The Light of Christ shines brightest during the darkest times. If you are serious about being a follower of Jesus Christ, this moment will be a wonderful opportunity to show what it means to be a Christian. Remember that we do not stop being Christians when disaster strikes.
Expect Good Things - The hardest preparation of all will be the challenge of looking forward to the good that will come out of this. I struggle with this myself, but I know that there will goodness in the midst of this awful time. If nothing else, we will rejoice that the Children of Jacob have Returned to their Lord and Savior.
I'm no expert on preparation, and that isn't a comprehensive list. There are many who would make that list longer, but I think that those are some pretty good ideas to start out with. However, there are some details that you should pay attention to.
I will never understand why a Christian would know that Jesus suffered and died for them, yet only practice their faith on Sundays. I'm not saying that you need to volunteer for the mission field or teach Sunday School. But, I am saying that every day of your life should be dedicated to God - at work, at home and everywhere else.
Can you...
...forgive and seek the blessing for those who have done terrible things to you?
...share the gospel with those who do not deserve it, especially when it could cost you everything?
...love God more than anything or anyone on this planet?
...obey God, no matter the cost?
Those are hard, so you might need start with this.
Can you...
...read your Bible?
And no, I do not mean a couple psalms and a proverb. I mean all of the Bible. Cover-to-cover. All year. Every year. Over and over and over. It takes just about 71 hours to read all of your Bible. That's less than 15 minutes a day. That's such a small amount of time that I'd be embarrassed to admit that this would be a burden.
How can a Christian find it hard to spend just 15 minutes a day reading the precious words of God?
Jesus suffered terribly for our sins and gave His life on the cross. He received the punishment that we were supposed to get, yet some of us are so ungrateful that we can barely open our Bible on a Sunday.
There's a verse in Hosea that seems to fit our moment in time:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
- Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)
It is time to fix our lack of knowledge by reading the Bible. And, the easiest way to do that is with the One Year Bible. And, if reading is too difficult - and for some, it is - there are free audio versions of the Bible that you can download and listen to. It is so easy to get started, that it would be criminal not to.
Just remember this, that you cannot expect God to preserve you in the dark days ahead, if you have not submitted to God with all your heart. Because our churches are full of wickedness and disobedience, judgment is coming for us. Yes, there will be punishment for those outside the Body of Christ, but the Lord always starts with His own people who have sinned against Him.
Oh, and one more thing:
We do not stop being Christians when disaster strikes.
In fact, our job isn't to survive. Our job is to continue serving God to the best of our ability, even if it means dying. Remember this verse about how we have victory over Satan:
And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.
- Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)
Our job is to follow Christ. He is our life, so we should not hesitate to give ours - if that is what we are called to do. In fact, you might want to think of it this way:
We should be more afraid of disobeying God, than suffering Ezekiel's Fire.
There is very little that scares me, but I can tell you that I am truly afraid of disobeying God. It doesn't mean that I'm good at obedience to God, but it does mean that I do my best. And, I hope that this is as true for you, as it is for me. Fear isn't our guiding principle, but it does help to keep us from going against what God wishes for us.
We love God, but we also need to fear Him.
So, as you prepare for the worst, make sure that you are doing so to serve God, not to prolong a worthless life.
Once you have your spiritual life on track, it's time to think about the most dangerous threat that you will face, immediately after Ezekiel's Fire occurs:
You neighbors.
As long as Joe Sixpack next door has a steady supply of Budweiser, he probably won't be much of a threat. It's only when he can't get enough food to eat, that he'll come for what you have. And, it won't matter how good you've been to him in the past. He'll still come and take what you have, and anything else of value - including your life.
When Ezekiel's Fire hits, law and order will disappear, and when food and water cease to be available, law and order will disappear faster. Members of the police will retreat to their homes and communities to defend them from the rampaging Joe Sixpacks. Those communities that do not have police officers living among them, will need to quickly organize their own security forces. Those who do not act fast enough will disintegrate completely in an orgy of violence, murder and mayhem.
Take the example of the Siege of Sarajevo. It was a modern, prosperous city one day. The next day, it was destruction and death. Suddenly, people without any survival skills were forced to learn them the hard way. Those without family and friends died quickly. Neighborhoods that did not pull together, also died quickly. Death became routine. Life was cheap, and ammunition was expensive. Mothers sold themselves for cans of food to feed their starving children. Water became undrinkable. And, the only food that anyone could get, came from supply drops via airplane.
Unfortunately, when Ezekiel's Fire happens, you won't get any of those 'supply drops'. No one on the 'outside' will be there to help you through your hell on earth. You and all you care about will be alone in a sea of violence, destruction and death unless you have neighbors who will stand with you - that you can depend upon to watch your back, as you watch theirs.
If you remain unconvinced, read what Selco Begovic says about what the Seige of Sarajevo was like, and the lessons that he shares:
Category Archives for Selco
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/category/preppers/selco/
SELCO: The Brutal Truth About Violence When the SHTF
https://www.shtfplan.com/headline-news/selco-the-brutal-truth-about-violence-when-the-shtf
The Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival: The Brutal Truth About Violence, Death, & Mayhem You Must Know to Survive
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Secrets-SHTF-Survival-Violence-ebook/dp/B087N92QDT
SHTF School
https://shtfschool.com/
Now, I'm not advocating that you take his advice. As followers of Christ, there are limits to what we are allowed to do, to save our own lives. But, what I want you to do is learn what it took to survive, and make sure that you never, ever have to be in that situation. Or, if you know that you will be in such a situation, that you are willing to die rather than sin against God.
Here, let me make the point more clear:
When the choice is between sin and death, our job as Christians is to die.
There literally can be no question about this. None. We are required by God to sacrifice ANYTHING to avoid sin. This means preparing ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically before any Stuff Hits The Fan (SHTF). We will all stand before God one day, and answer for what we chose not to do, that led us to the sins that we chose to commit.
Oh, and just in case you think that our dear leaders will ride to the rescue:
The US government has its own plans for personal survival, and you aren't included.
All 'Continuity Of Government' (COG) plans are for their own survival. Once the dust settles, they'll come out of their holes to try and resume their control over your life. And if they succeed, it will be a far more brutal tyranny than anything that we have ever seen. But, that's for a different kind of discussion.
So, let's say that you positioned yourself properly. Good location. Good neighbors. Strong community...
...are you ready to help refugees?
Unfortunately, those communities that organize quickly will soon suffer a deluge of refugees fleeing the violence of their neighborhoods. Food will quickly disappear and the local leadership will be faced with tough moral choices. Moral leadership will be slow to resort to violence against those in search of food. Immoral leadership will quickly choose to take what you have by force, along with the lives of any who resist. And, the kind of leadership a community has will depend on how moral it is.
And yes, immoral leaders can make moral judgments, if a moral community forces them to.
Oh, and morality has everything to do with the faith in and fear of God. Without God, there can be no true morality. Without God, leadership will always do what is best for themselves, and not for the community. So, think carefully about the morality of the community in which you live.
For those living in the US, states in the Bible Belt will offer a greater chance of finding a community with stronger codes of morality:
North and South Carolina have the most religious cities, but Mississippi is the most religious state. But, finding a good church that won't fall apart when catastrophe hits, will be your most important consideration. And no, there aren't a lot of those, and there are fewer and fewer of them every year.
Remember that part of the reason why all of this is happening, is precisely due to the corruption in our churches. We have sinned before God, and it is only right that we suffer for that.
If you think carefully about what I've written in this book, it should be clear that this will be a judgment upon cities. They are the places with the highest concentration of evil. They are also the foundation of wealth and world power. Destroying the cities will be the deadly wound that will kill the Beast System. Only when the Antichrist arises, will The Beast revive.
Cities will also be where most of the death and destruction happens. Those who are not killed by falling buildings, will die of violence, thirst, starvation and disease. Those who flee the cities in search of safety, water and food, will run right into those communities that have organized themselves to keep them from getting it.
Think of this wave of refugees as something like a zombie apocalypse. In fact, advanced starvation will create the kinds of behaviors depicted in zombie apocalypse thrillers. And, these refugees will flee outwards along highways and roads looking for anything that would help them and their children survive. And, there will be nothing that they will not do for survival. And, if you are caught in a city when Ezekiel's Fire happens, there is not much chance that you will live through it.
If you live just outside of a city, you will still be in grave danger because refugees will loot and pillage each town and village they come to. This will add more refugees to the swarm moving towards you. The only thing that will stop them is physical distance, geographical obstructions and the weather. In the north, the first winter will kill anyone who hasn't found shelter. Rivers and mountains will also act as barriers. But, the most dependable safety measure of all will be distance.
The farther away from a city you are, the safer you will be. And years ago, Ken Jorgustin of modernsurvivalblog.com created an excellent map showing the most dangerous areas to be when cities collapse:
Danger Zones in the US
In the above image, it’s difficult to see the danger zones properly, so be sure to take a good hard look at the full size image, here:
https://www.ezekielsfire.com/images/300-mile-danger-zones-usa.jpg
That image comes from this excellent article:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/retreat-living/safer-survival-distance-from-usa-city-hordes/
And, he has a companion article here:
https://modernsurvivalblog.com/retreat-living/survival-retreat-population-density/
Now, Ken made that image based upon the average range of most civilian vehicles. Should there be any vehicles that still run, they probably wouldn't get farther than the 150 mile mark. Those on foot will usually walk at a rate of 3 miles per hour and probably get no farther than 25 miles in a day - especially those in poor health. So, it would take six days for a normal city dweller to walk 150 miles.
Would you still be safe, 75 miles from a city?
Probably.
Just remember that our goal would be to try and avoid killing people who are doing their best to survive. And, I consider this kind of cold-blooded calculation to be absolutely horrifying. It makes me sick to think that we would need to stay as far away from people in such desperate need, so that they would not threaten us as they die. But, I don't know how to help people who have placed themselves in such a terrible situation - other than to do our best to provide as much food and water as we can.
I don't want ANYONE to choose to suffer and die.
But, I can't stop people from making this decision.
Again, remember the most important point. Our job in this life is not survival, but serving God. If God called you to serve Him in a big city, that's what you must do. But, it might be good to have a place to get to, when you see Gog and Magog about to invade Israel.
Okay, so now that you understand the need for security, you still have a problem - if you don't have access to food and water. Dying of thirst or starvation is a bad way to go. This means living near surface water, or a well that is shallow enough to be manually pumped. It also means living near farms that don't require irrigation or industrial fertilizers. Also agricultural areas will need all the help that they can get to keep producing food, so they might be glad to have you around. When the tractors no longer work, things need to be done by hand.
This lack of tractors is going to be a worldwide killer. Those who did not die by earthquakes, thirst or starvation, would still die when farmers can't use their tractors to plant and harvest what the world needs. The only thing that can replace the tractor is the horse-drawn plow and harvester. And, we don't have many of those right now, which means that it will take a while to switch over.
However, this question might have been answered by the time that we get to this point. I believe that Seal Three (Revelation 6:5-6) happens due to a lack of fuel for tractors and natural gas to manufacture fertilizer. An oil crisis is coming as global oil production collapses, as has been predicted by petroleum geologists. The only debate on this issue is the timing. And, without oil and other hydrocarbons, it will be very expensive to run farm tractors, and our ability to make fertilizer will collapse along with oil.
For those who who don't know how the cost of fuel would drive up the price of fertilizer, take a moment to read up on how fertilizer is made:
How Fertilizers Are Made
https://www.fertilizerseurope.com/fertilizers-in-europe/how-fertilizers-are-made/
How Products Are Made: Fertilizer
http://www.madehow.com/Volume-3/Fertilizer.html
Those are extremely good summaries of the process, and it shows how much oil and natural gas are needed to make it. The nitrogen component of fertilizer requires natural gas. Phosphorus is obtained by mining phosphate rock, which requires oil-based fuel to mine and transport. And, almost all of America's potassium comes from potash mined in Canada, which also requires oil-based fuel to mine and transport. And, without Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium, you literally cannot have fertilizer. And without fertilizer, the amount of food that we can grow will collapse.
This is why the cost of food will become so very expensive that you will work all day for barely enough to eat - Seal Three. To put it another way, the invention and industrial production of fertilizer was the key to why the world's population grew from two billion in 1927 to almost eight billion today. Fertilizer manufacturing and oil powered farm tractors were the number one reason why we have been able to feed so many people. When manufactured fertilizer and the tractor go away, at least five billion people will die.
The only question is when these five billion die.
Unfortunately, as I update this book, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia has actually provided something of an answer. The dying begins this year, and some are projecting that a billion people will die from famine over the coming years. And, I think that this is more than a little optimistic.
Nature and history tell us that populations of anything - deer, rabbits, wolves, people etc. - always overshoot the carrying capacity of the area in which they live, if given the chance. And in the same manner, die-offs also always overshoot. Whole areas of the world will be depopulated as billions die of violence and starvation.
Remember that Seal One is conquest, Seal Two is global violence, and Seal Three is famine. And, as a final blow, Seal Four will bring death.
So, don't wait for the coming of Gog and Magog before relocating to a place that has naturally abundant food and water.
Just make sure that your purpose in relocating is to serve God. If God has put you in a certain place, for a specific reason, you are not allowed to leave until that purpose has been fulfilled.
As a Christian, you should already understand that helping others is at the core of who we are. It is literally impossible to be a Christian and not seek to be a blessing to everyone you meet. It doesn't always mean that you CAN be a blessing, but you will want to be.
So, preparing for this catastrophe also means preparing to be God's blessing to those who survive. If you prepare only for yourself, then I would have to wonder at where you will wind up, after this life is over. Think of this as a test of whether you really are a true follower of Christ. He sacrificed His life for you, and He has asked you to do the same for others.
How else will people know that you have the gospel of salvation?
Our job on this earth is to reflect the light of Christ into a dark and dying world. And, as these great catastrophes roll down upon us, this will be our chance to not just share who Jesus is, but to demonstrate it in ways that they cannot ignore.
Can there be a more powerful demonstration of faith and truth, than to save the physical lives of those who are dying and pointing them to the way of eternal life?
Seriously, think that through. 99.99% of all 'prepper' websites preach the purest form of selfishness. They tell you to prepare for yourself and your family, with a few 'extra' bags of rice for those who didn't. If that's you, a spiritual heart transplant is needed because the one that you have is dead.
This will be the most desperate time in four millennia. It will be our job to do something about that, if it isn't already too late.
Because of how many will suffer and die, it's hard to think about the good that will come of this. I certainly struggle with this myself, so this is as much an admonition for me as it is for you.
Good things will happen. Souls will be saved for eternity. The Body of Christ will be purified from the wickedness in our midst. The foul and evil sins that have taken over our world will be pushed back. The Light of Christ will shine brightly, and you will have a part of that - if you prepare for it.
Remember that your life is absolutely meaningless, if it isn't about serving God. It's our purpose and our mission. We are nothing without it. And in the immortal words of Christ to Peter:
15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep."
- John 21:15-17 (NKJV)
If you love Jesus, you will seek His sheep and feed them. And, I know of one place where you will be guaranteed to find them:
The Land of Israel.
Millions of Israeli Jews will come to Christ when Gog and Magog comes and the Sixth Seal is opened. Yes, two thirds of everyone in the Land will die, but those who survive will join themselves to our Lord and Savior.
Will there be a revival in the rest of the world?
I believe so. The Bible speaks of nations joining themselves to Christ, but we won't be able to serve in this great revival if we aren't ready for it. It is not enough for us to survive what is coming. We must thrive, so that we can proclaim the precious good news that Jesus the Son of God, died for the sins of the world, that whomsoever comes to Him can receive everlasting life.
May God bless this hope that we have.
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Audio Link: https://ezekielsfire.com/audio/14-conclusion-ef.mp3
Our civilization is doomed.
Spend any time reading your Bible and you will see this loudly and clearly. The only question is HOW our civilization will fall - and WHEN. Oh, and while we are asking questions, we'll want to know WHAT will be our downfall.
Like you, I spent most of my life in grim anticipation of the Antichrist. I knew that he was coming, and I knew that he would try to kill and destroy anything and everything that glorified God.
However, as I began to understand how our civilization worked, I realized that this Antichrist would not rise in a time of peace. Something would need to happen to create the right conditions for his ascendance to world power.
I didn't know WHAT that something would be, but I knew that it would be big. And, I knew that it would be painful. In fact, I realized that only something uniquely terrifying would cause the powerful people of this world to give up their power in favor of someone else.
No one gives up power willingly, and the Antichrist will demand absolute and complete authority. Nothing will be allowed to defy him. And, this absolute power will be global.
How could this possibly occur?
America would never allow someone like this to take control of the world. Neither would Russia, Europe or China. Not to mention, India, Africa and the Middle East. No one would ever stand aside as such a person rose to power.
But, what if their ability to 'never allow' was taken from them?
Over the years, I've struggled to understand how it could be possible. But, I struggle no longer. I now know why the nations of the world will be powerless to resist the Antichrist.
Ezekiel's Fire will knock down our civilization...
...and the Antichrist will turn the lights back on.
He will probably be considered a 'savior' of civilization, the hero who brought back a modern way of life - offering comfort and modernity to all who worship him. He might even be the one who ends the chaos and violence that will rule the world in the aftermath of this massive solar event.
All of that and more is possible.
Of course, I'm just speculating. You and I want to do as little of that as possible. So, this book has stuck to as many certainties as possible, and I truly wish that I could be less confident in what will happen.
When God spoke to Ezekiel of a fire that would descend upon the world, He wasn't talking about volcanoes, earthquakes, tsunamis, or a really bad hail storm. All of that will probably happen, but God spoke of Fire. Coming down.
That fire can only be a solar nova event or something very much like it.
Isaiah confirms this by passing on to us the message that the Sun will become seven times brighter and that the Moon will shine as brightly as the Sun. Only a nova event could do that - a micronova.
And, astronomers have already seen civilization-killing superflares from stars that are exactly like our own.
Unfortunately, the nova event that is coming will make those superflares look like a popgun.
Zechariah confirms this by speaking of effects that are remarkably similar to those of an EMP. But, this ElectroMagnetic Pulse comes from God. And, as we look at the other prophets who speak of the time that we live in, they too offer a chilling confirmation.
Furthermore, a vast, global earthquake will destroy cities across the world. Very few buildings will be left standing. I doubt that very many city-dwellers will survive. I hope that I'm wrong about this, but the prophets have spoken and there is science that agrees.
Unfortunately, lots of teachers have risen to scratch our itching ears with tales of how we will escape the need to worry about what is coming. These stories have been circulating among us for two hundred years. They've twisted our Bibles and corrupted our understanding of God's word.
I know that what I have said is horrifying and something that you would like to ignore. It is normal to avoid thinking about such terrible news, but avoiding the truth will not save you. To put it another way:
You can ignore the truth...
...but you cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring the truth.
Unfortunately, Ezekiel's Fire is only that last act in a series of events that will destroy our way of life. I talk about this nova event as killing billions, but many will have died long before this, as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride through our lives. They have already begun to move, and the suffering has already started. But, that's a topic for another time.
Let's take a moment to review the science that lies behind the prophecies that we've discussed.
A determined solar physicist, Dr. Kazunari Shibata, has made it clear to anyone paying attention that our sun will one day knock down our civilization. The explosions of light coming from stars just like our own is proof that our sun is going to knock out electricity generation around the world. And, there's no way that we are ready for this.
Just a repeat of the 1859 Carrington Event would be bad enough, but our sun will one day hit us with something thousands of times more powerful than that. And, it has everything to do with solar magnetism.
Our sun is a gigantic magnet that generates magnetic fields that cover our solar system and that protect us from cosmic radiation. Unfortunately, these magnetic fields get twisted before exploding into sometimes massive solar flares. And, we don't really understand all of that.
Yes, we have theories about how the sun generates magnetic fields. We also have theories about how those fields get bent out of shape. But, those theories are not able to help us predict what is coming. They can only try to explain the events that have already happened.
Take the Carrington Event. It was an X45 class solar flare that dumped a massive amount of electromagnetic energy on earth. It melted telegraph wires and set telegraph stations on fire. If an X45 solar flare hit us today, electricity would go out - everywhere in the world - and maybe a billion people would die as a result. But, we also know that an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) can do far, far more damage than that.
We know about EMPs, because we discovered what they could do in the '60s, when we exploded nuclear weapons high up in our atmosphere and in low earth orbit. We discovered that an EMP can do more than just destroy electricity generation. It can also permanently damage sensitive electronics. Computers, cars, trucks, planes and trains will no longer operate, when hit with a sufficiently strong EMP. And, Ezekiel's Fire will be more than sufficient.
Just as bad will be the global earthquake that knocks everything down when our sun turns seven times bright. And, there is some science behind that as well - the Reverse Piezoelectric Effect. It's what happens when you dump lots of electromagnetic energy into a rock, making it expand and move. When enough rock under the earth's surface moves, there will be an earthquake. And, those earthquakes will destroy every city on the planet.
Unfortunately, science is not able to tell the whole story. Part of the reason is that the scientific method can only prove what can be tested, and it has been thousands of years since we had something like Ezekiel's Fire. The other problem is scientists.
Scientists are people, with all the foibles and foolishness that indicates. Because our scientists did not think that our sun could produce superflares, we did not look for them on stars like our own sun. It took a maverick Japanese scientist, working with young students to discover that our sun can do what our scientists refused to believe. The evidence is conclusive, but solar physicists are still refusing to accept the obvious.
Even if the Bible did not prophesy our destruction, billions of dollars in telescope equipment are telling us that the sun will knock us down at some time in the future. And, they're saying that we are overdue for a really, really big one.
The good thing, is that we have something far, far better than flawed science. We have the Bible, and it also speaks doom for our future.
Their primary focus wasn't to warn us of this event. This seems to be an afterthought. Even the Book of Revelation gives more space to the salvation of Israel (Revelation 7), than to the terrible destruction that happens at the same time. And, as much as I dread the coming of Ezekiel's Fire, I am definitely looking forward to the Children of Jacob returning to God.
God wants His people to return to Him and thrive in the years that follow Ezekiel's Fire. If you also wish to flourish and prosper in the aftermath of Ezekiel's Fire, you need to take this warning seriously. Some of us will not survive this event, no matter what we do, but that's okay - as long as we continue to serve the Lord to the last possible moment. And, THAT is the point - serving the Lord. It would be a waste of time to try and preserve a self-indulgent, carnal and foolish life.
If you don't serve the Lord to the best of your ability, every day, then I need to ask you about your purpose in life.
Do you know that you will stand before God, when this life is over?
I find it strange that most people do not think about that very much. Our job is all about eternity, for ourselves and for others. There can literally be no other purpose of any value. So, as you think of preparing for Ezekiel's Fire, make sure that your heart is towards God and that your purpose is eternal life in Christ for yourself and everyone around you. But, before we talk about preparation, let's summarize what we've seen so far in the Bible.
This is the verse that launched my thoughts on this subject:
And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
– Ezekiel 39:6 (ASV)
I did not understand that verse, until I saw the connection with this one:
Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
- Isaiah 30:26 (NKJV)
Of course, I had read that verse many times and didn't understand it, until I started researching the idea of a Solar Electromagnetic Pulse - for completely different reasons.
Once I saw the connection, I saw how God would do this to Gog and Magog, when they come down to attack Israel:
Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand
- Ezekiel 39:3 (NKJV)
A nova event like Ezekiel's Fire would certainly cause the bow (missile launcher) to fall out of your left hand and the arrows (missiles) out of your right.
And then, this became clear:
In that day,” says the Lord, “I will strike every horse with confusion, and its rider with madness; I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will strike every horse of the peoples with blindness.
- Zechariah 12:4 (NKJV)
We've never seen a solar event as big as Ezekiel's Fire, but we've seen stars like our own sun produce superflares that would do just as much damage as Ezekiel's Fire. And, we know what an EMP can do. If your car (aka, horse) is within range of an EMP weapon when it explodes... well ...that horse (car) will go blind.
In fact, it won't even start.
Isaiah 30:26 introduced us to the idea of a nova event. Four verses later, we see the devouring fire:
The Lord will cause His glorious voice to be heard,
And show the descent of His arm,
With the indignation of His anger
And the flame of a devouring fire,
With scattering, tempest, and hailstones.
- Isaiah 30:30 (NKJV)
A nova event like Ezekiel's Fire would certainly burn down our civilization, and I bet that parts of the earth would be more than a little scorched.
Then, God adds a gigantic, cataclysmic earthquake, bigger than anything since the Great Flood:
19 For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’
- Ezekiel 38:19-20 (NKJV)
Astrophysicists are beginning to see how solar flares can influence earthquakes, and this will be a gigantic example of that connection.
Isaiah also makes the same connection that Ezekiel does:
25 There will be on every high mountain
And on every high hill
Rivers and streams of waters,
In the day of the great slaughter,
When the towers fall.
26 Moreover the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun,
And the light of the sun will be sevenfold,
As the light of seven days,
In the day that the Lord binds up the bruise of His people
And heals the stroke of their wound.
- Isaiah 30:25-26 (NKJV)
My hope is that you've gotten the picture - that you see Ezekiel, Isaiah and Zechariah tied together around a single event:
Ezekiel's Fire and the salvation of Israel.
However, we aren't done yet.
There are more prophecies, and this one talks about the aftermath of Ezekiel's Fire:
10 For the stars of heaven and their constellations
Will not give their light;
The sun will be darkened in its going forth,
And the moon will not cause its light to shine.
11 “I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a mortal more rare than fine gold,
A man more than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens,
And the earth will move out of her place,
In the wrath of the Lord of hosts
And in the day of His fierce anger.
- Isaiah 13:10-13 (NKJV)
This solar nova event, will kick out a massive cloud of dust out into our solar system. That dust will cool quickly, as it races past earth, and all that dust will darken our view of the sun and moon and then darken the stars. This cloud of dust will eventually dissipate, but for months and maybe years we will be unable to see the stars in the sky.
The world will have indeed been punished, and so many will die... that a man will be more rare than fine gold.
And, what is it that ties this passage to Ezekiel's Fire?
This verse, here:
For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose Israel, and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them, and they will cling to the house of Jacob.
- Isaiah 14:1 (NKJV)
Isaiah 14:1 is a continuation of the prophecy that began in Isaiah 13. And, this is clearly the salvation of Israel.
I laid out the timing for all of this in When Gog Comes, and I truly wish that I was wrong. There is just no way that this happens during the Tribulation or after. And, we have to stop twisting the Bible.
It's a sin to distort the Bible like our teachers have been doing for two hundred years. For the sake of Israel and the Body of Christ, we must repent of this and listen to what God is actually telling us. But, let's keep going.
Jeremiah 30 also talks about the moment when Israel is saved, but adds a particularly ominous note for all of us:
For I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to save thee: for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have scattered thee, but I will not make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure, and will in no wise leave thee unpunished.
- Jeremiah 30:11 (ASV)
Everywhere that the Jews have been scattered to…
…will be destroyed.
And then, God reemphasizes this in verses 16 and 17::
16 ‘Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
Those who plunder you shall become plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will make a prey.
17 For I will restore health to you
And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord,
‘Because they called you an outcast saying:
“This is Zion;
No one seeks her.” ’
- Jeremiah 30:16-17 (NKJV)
That, I'm afraid, will be Ezekiel's Fire. And yes, because we turned our back on Zion and persecuted the Jews all of this will happen as God describes.
What should catch our attention the most are the last two verses of chapter 30:
Behold, the tempest of Jehovah, even his wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping tempest: it shall burst upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of Jehovah shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall understand it.
- Jeremiah 30:23-24 (ASV)
Many want to say that this is the aftermath of the Great Tribulation. But, even though this sounds a lot like the judgment described by God in the latter part of Revelation, it actually fits with Revelation 6, which occurs before the Antichrist. And yes, that is discussed in my other book, When Gog Comes.
Then, there's that phrase ‘in the latter days ye shall understand it’. THAT should make you stop and think. It means that something about the Last Days will help you understand what is coming. Either that, or the Holy Spirit holds back our understanding of this moment in time until the Last Days begin - or both. (Feel free to vote for both.)
We KNOW what Ezekiel’s Fire is. And, we KNOW what it will do to our technological society. Therefore, I think that this is a big reason for why we will understand what God is saying to us through Jeremiah.
...in the latter days ye shall understand it.
Just a hundred years ago, no one would have had a clue about the dangers of this incredible moment in time. Now, we do. But if we do not get it until afterwards, we'll certain understand then.
Micah says this:
10 “And it shall be in that day,” says the Lord,
“That I will cut off your horses from your midst
And destroy your chariots.
11 I will cut off the cities of your land
And throw down all your strongholds.
- Micah 5:10-11 (NKJV)
Let's see... horses and chariots don't work... cities destroyed... strongholds fall... Ah, yes. Ezekiel's Fire. Then, four verses later, it says this:
And I will execute vengeance in anger and fury upon the heathen, such as they have not heard.
- Micah 5:15 (KJV)
Again:
The sanctification and salvation of Israel.
So, the vengeance, anger and wrath that God pours out upon the nations will be Ezekiel's Fire. And, Ezekiel's Fire will destroy the 'horses' (cars and motorcycles) and chariots (tanks and APCs). It will also destroy cities and military installations.
Then comes Zephaniah 3.
The book of Zephaniah starts off with a litany of Israel's many, many transgressions, but makes an abrupt change with this verse:
“Therefore wait for Me,” says the Lord,
“Until the day I rise up for plunder;
My determination is to gather the nations
To My assembly of kingdoms,
To pour on them My indignation,
All My fierce anger;
All the earth shall be devoured
With the fire of My jealousy.
- Zephaniah 3:8 (NKJV)
That… um …is a VERY unsettling statement, to say the least. Very unsettling. Again, this is NOT the Wrath of God as described in Revelation. I wish that it was. I really do.
What does Zephaniah 3 talk about?
The salvation of Israel, and NOT the wrath of God that occurs when Jesus Returns.
You can twist any one of these verses that I've shown you, and make them say something else. But, you cannot do that to all of these verses, when you look at them together. The context of every one of these verses is the salvation of Israel. Every one of them. And, this means that when Israel returns to God, our civilization as we know it, will be destroyed. And, I proved the timing of this in my book, When Gog Comes.
All of this must come before the Antichrist, and it's pretty clear that Ezekiel's Fire is the deadly wound of Revelation 13. Remember that The Beast that rises out of the sea appears to be a combination of the empires that rose and fell for the past millennia, much like Nebuchadnezzar's image. But, one of the heads of this seven-headed Beast has a deadly wound that needs to be healed and that becomes the eighth head.
Someone brings back our high tech civilization, and it looks like the Antichrist is the one who makes it happen - or, at least that red dragon. This is my interpretation of Revelation, but it fits the other prophecies - far better than the ones that claim that the Antichrist is assassinated and brought back to life. Daniel 11 does not refer to such an 'assassination'.
So, now that you know what's coming, you can do something to prepare. It should not be your biggest reason, but it can certainly be a part of our service to God. And, some of our preparations will be valuable for the time that has now begun - the Ride of the Four Horsemen of Revelation 6.
And, the most important preparation of all, will be a daily investment in your life in Christ. If we aren't reading our Bible and seeking to obey what we read, there's very little hope for us. It is literally the least that we can do for the One who came, died and rose again - so that we could have eternal life.
May the Lord God of heaven and earth, guide and protect you in the difficult days ahead.
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John accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior almost 50 years ago. He’s been passionate about his commitment to God, even passionately wrong sometimes. He now hopes to share some of the insights gleaned from time spent in the Bible and 26 years in Asia.
John’s career began in the computer industry in Indiana, before working in financial services for an investment firm in Jerusalem. After a couple years writing about price-to-earnings ratios and the Hang Seng index, he went on to write for a Texas-based computer company, in Tel Aviv, and then a software company, in Jerusalem. When the dot-com bubble burst, he wound up in a small company in Kfar Saba, followed by a tiny encrypted email communications firm in Givat Ram. Back in Indiana, he wrote for a state government IT department.
In 2010, John went back to Asia, to do evangelism. He’s not very good at it, but it’s the attempt that counts.
And an MBA? Oh yeah, he has one of those too. He keeps it in the closet somewhere.
John is married to the most beautiful woman on the planet, and he tells everyone that she’s the second-best thing that ever happened to him. This gives him a chance to talk about the First-Best. Everyone who knows him, has lots of sympathy for Mrs. Little.
Right now, John lives in Taiwan. The southern part. It’s hot there.
You can also find lots of his writing here:
Now, if John can get back to writing in the first person, he’d appreciate it.
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© 2022 John Little. All rights reserved.
May God preserve the words that are true
and cast away those that are not.
Timing is everything. We say that a lot, but we seem to be out of sync with the order of events of the Last Days.
When do Gog and Magog descend upon Israel?
When will the Children of Jacob Return to God?
Unfortunately, our thoughts are shackled by centuries-old commentaries and Bibles with inaccurate translations. This has made it difficult to see what the prophets actually said and see a correct timeline of the Last Days.
How do we correct the timeline of the Last Days?
By examining the incredible moment in time in which a man called Gog, will gather a vast military alliance that invades the Middle East and then Israel.
Since that moment occurs at the time of the Return of Jacob to God, this allows us to bring many prophetic passages together and correct the timeline of the Last Days.