BBD 08.15.06 What If?
Posted by: wrather <wrather@...>
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08.15.06
What if?
When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares
the Sovereign LORD. In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time
there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the
sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that
moves along the ground, and all the people on the face of the earth will
tremble at my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will
crumble and every wall will fall to the ground. I will summon a sword
against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign LORD. Every man's
sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with
plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and
burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
And so I will show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make myself
known in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the
LORD.' - Ezekiel 38:18b-23.
This passage in Ezekiel refers to what is known as Ezekiel's War or the
Battle of Gog and Magog. It describes an attack upon Israel and the
intervention of God to protect Israel. Although the nations primarily
affected by the destruction will be those attacking Israel, it appears that
there will be some worldwide effects. There will be a "great earthquake."
Every creature and all the people on earth will "tremble" as a result of
that earthquake. In addition, mountains will be "overturned," cliffs will
"crumble," and every wall "will fall."
The question for us and for Bible scholars of the ages is and has been when
will this event of Ezekiel's War occur? Many scholars simply ignore the
issue; however, with Israel being reborn as a nation in 1948 and the
continued events of the Middle East the timing of this event is very
important to us.
Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins in their "Left Behind" series present the
Battle of Gog and Magog as taking place three and one-half years prior to
the beginning of the seven years of Tribulation. Joel Rosenberg, author of
"Ezekiel's Option," also presents this battle as taking place prior to the
Tribulation period. LaHaye, Jenkins, and Rosenberg also present the
prophetic timeline as having the Battle of Gog and Magog precede the Rapture
of the Church. According to this timeline, we who are Christians will still
be around to see the intervention of God and the destruction of the
attacking enemies of Israel. According to this timeline, we will also be
present to experience the effects of an earthquake that make the entire
world "tremble."
I am not an expert on prophecy but what if? What if Rosenberg, LaHaye, and
Jenkins are right? What if we wake up in the middle of the night to the
shaking of our houses and when we turn on the television we see right there
on CNN (or Fox, or MSNBC) fire and brimstone, giant hailstones raining
destruction on the armies attacking Israel? Shocking? That would be a great
understatement, wouldn't it? Terrifying, might be a better word.
Now since we have considered that scenario how about this one? Perhaps this
is not some event that will take place far in the future but instead it is
rapidly approaching. No one knows for sure - but what if? What if this event
were to occur during your lifetime? How would you cope with it? How would
your family cope with it? Would you survive it? If you did survive it, what
would you do next?
Considering that this supernatural intervention of God and fulfillment of
prophecy would take place before the entire world it would then present a
great opportunity for evangelization of those around us. It could be that
there will be a great spiritual awakening prior to the Rapture. What if.?
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