A Study of Revelation 20 and Other Related Passages
Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins.
George W. Bush
Having essentially answered our main question, not just according to their number but according to their natures, we need to finish reading Revelation 20 in light of this interpretation. Many promises remain for our encouragement. As we noted at the beginning of this study, many more important and interesting themes are written about here in this crucial chapter of the Bible. Many Christians turn to this chapter with one question in mind, “What is going to happen?” More specifically for this stage of our study, we need to ask, “What is going to happen just before and after the second resurrection?” The beginning of our answer is in Revelation 20:7-10.
Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number [is] as the sand of the sea. They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet [are.] And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20:7-10
Near the beginning of Christ’s millennial reign there was a cataclysmic battle which signified the reality of His heavenly authority. (Matthew 24:1-51) The sign of the Son of Man in Heaven was manifested to those who had pierced Him and these tribes of the land mourned. (Matthew 24:30; 26:64; Revelation 1:7) None were unaware of this judgment although they remained resistant to its message. (Revelation 6:12-17; 9:20-21) We should note the symmetry in that near the end of Christ’s millennial reign there is another cataclysmic battle which will also signify the totality and glory of God. The language used to describe this momentous event proves consistent with our interpretation of the first part of the chapter and draws on a variety of Old Testament images to give expression to God’s victory.
The nature of Satan’s imprisonment is amplified by the description of his release. When Satan is released from his prison, he goes forth to do one thing, “deceive the nations.” His imprisonment, therefore, describes God’s restraint upon Satan particularly in this area. Satan’s release is disconcerting to the Saints, but we are assured that this action on God’s part ensures Satan’s defeat. We may wonder at the wisdom of God in allowing Satan such opportunity but we are to trust God’s justice and goodness. Additionally, any question we may have about Satan’s persistence and end game fury parallels our consternation about the second resurrection. Why bodily raise the wicked dead only to then condemn them to eternal punishment? (Revelation 20:15) Again, this chapter presents to us what we are to receive by faith as a satisfying answer to these questions. God promises the saints that He will be victorious over evil and just in the punishment of the wicked.
Satan, in deceiving the nations, gathers a massive number of rebels from the four corners of the earth, inciting them to battle against the saints. This martial force is described as “Gog and Magog.” Similar language from Ezekiel 38-39 is used in Revelation 19:17-21 as well. The meaning of Gog and Magog must be determined in its original context before we can understand why John is using these terms metaphorically here. We find “Gog and Magog” in Ezekiel 38:1-6 and we should start our study there.
Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.
Ezekiel 38:1-6
Students of Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 19-20 might be surprised learn that Gog and Magog are identified with the Amalekites and their final assault on the Jews as recorded in the book of Esther. The connection between Ezekiel and Esther actually begin back in Numbers. It is a blessing to know that Scripture interprets Scripture. The Bible is its own hermeneutical ballast. Balaam prophesied in Numbers 24:7 of Israel’s Messiah and His exaltation over His enemies, even Amalek, “His king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted.” We remember that the king of the Amalekites is called “Agag” (1 Samuel 15:8). This is not his given name, but his title—even as Pharaoh is the title of Egypt’s king (Genesis 12:15; Exodus 1:11) and Abimelech is the title of the Philistine’s king (Genesis 20:1; 26:1). Agag (Gog) is king of the Amalekites. Recall that the Hebrew consonants “g_g” are constant. The vowel pointings were added later. This consonant construction is made evident by the Greek translation of Numbers 24:7.
When Numbers 24:7 was translated into the Greek in the LXX (the Septuagint), the title of “Agag” is translated as “Gog,” “There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased.” Although the LXX renders the direction of the verse in a novel way, the Jews translating “Agag” understood this to speak of “Gog”, and this would be the same of Ezekiel 38-39. These scribes of Alexandria were closer in time to the events of Esther than we are to the American War for Independence. They connected “Agag” and “Gog” naturally. Haman as an Agagite was also an Amalekite. Esther 3:1 After these things King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes who were with him. Haman, as an “Agagite” is a royal descendant of the Amalekite royal family. As such and in his elevated position in Persia, he represents all the Amalekites against whom God declared eternal war (Exodus 17:14-16). Agag, or Gog, is the head or chief of the enemies of God’s people. The term for “head/chief” in the Hebrew is transliterated in Ezekiel 38:2-3 as “Rosh.”
Such considerations help us understand God’s word concerning the Amalekites and their leader. Balaam again prophesies in Numbers 24:20 “Amalek [was] first among the nations, But [shall be] last until he perishes.”” In what way was Amalek first? Amelek goes way back as a nation. The Amelekites are called the Agagites or Gogites because they are the people of their king. “Ma-Gog” means “the land of Gog.” The Amalekites and their land were mentioned in Genesis’ table of nations in Genesis 10:2-5 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. They were among the first in the table of the nations, but they will be brought low by God’s judgment.
“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.” 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? “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 38:16-18
Many prophets spoke of Amelek and of the continued war in days former to those of Ezekiel. Over sixty references to Amalek and Agag can be found in the Old Testament. God calls attention to this fact in this passage so that the reader will connect Gog [Agag] with Amelek. His prophets have spoken at length concerning this enemy (Exodus 17:15-16; Deuteronomy 25:17-19). Furthermore, Haman the Agagite is referenced in Ezekiel 39:11, 15-16.
“It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. . . . The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.”
Ezekiel 39:11, 15-16
The translated spelling changes are not uncommon when pronouncing the same name in Hebrew and Aramaic. The phrase, “the valley of Hamon of Gog” would be equivalent to Haman of Agag (or “Haman the Agagite”). The name “Gog” signifies “high and eminent.” It denotes one in a very exalted role. Gog and Agag share the same root and idea. Gog is called the Chief Prince (Prince of Rosh: “Rosh” = “Head or Chief”). He is not a king, but the head of many princes. Haman had this very role in his planned assault upon the Jews (Ezekiel 38:1-3; 39:1; Esther 3:1).
There are several other connections between Ezekiel 38-39 and the book of Esther. We will look at these next time. It will be important for our interpretation of Revelation 20 to understand that the “Gog and Magog” prophecy has already been fulfilled in Redemptive History. John’s reference, therefore, to “Gog and Magog” in Revelation 20 does not communicate a promise yet to be fulfilled, but a pattern useful for consideration and encouragement.
