"And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelation 20:7-10

In Revelation 20, we see the armies of Gog and Magog join forces and set battle against "the beloved city". Notice who the occupants are in the city… "the saints". This is not people in sinful flesh and not a people who reject God by rejecting Christ as Messiah (Jews).

The fact is, this statement of Gog and Magog comes at the end of the story. Let's circle back and take a look at the time period of this event in prophecy.

"Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war." Revelation 19:11

As we know, there's a second coming of Christ and this coming will be for battle. He first came like a lamb and his second coming will be like a lion. He's coming for battle and we see the story of this start to play out in Revelation 19:11.

"And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army. 20 And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. 21 And the rest were slain by the sword that came from the mouth of him who was sitting on the horse, and all the birds were gorged with their flesh." Revelation 19:19-21

At the second coming of the Messiah, the two beasts will be destroyed and those who received the mark and worshipped the image will be thrown into the lake of fire.

"Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2 And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3 and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while." Revelation 20:1-3

When Christ comes, the beasts are cast into the lake of fire and satan cast into the bottomless pit. This is the start of the millennium talked about in the church.

"I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years." Revelation 20:4-6

We see the "first resurrection" happen when the world is destroyed. To avoid confusion of a possible "pre-tribulation rapture" God made sure to give us a clear word located in the timing of the second coming events so we wouldn't be confused - "This is the first resurrection" vs 5

Verse 5 tells us the "rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended". We understand, through the end of chapter 19, that all the inhabitants of the earth will be killed. There will be no people living during the thousand years that satan is in the bottomless pit and the saints are in heaven with God. Note that we are not even told that the remaining dead are cast into hell at this point. They just remain dead.

"And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 And they marched up over the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and consumed them, 10 and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." Revelation 20:7-10

Since verse 5 worded the "rest of the dead did not come to life until" after the thousand years, we must understand that the dead, who never had a relationship with God and Christ, will come back to life; but it's after the saints have been dwelling in the presence of God for a thousand years. Therefore, in verse 7 we see a picture of events happening after this thousand years. Satan is released and the sinful dead come back to life. Now the earth is inhabited again. Satan comes out "to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog". The term "nations" is not talking about countries. The earth has been desolate for a thousand years. The term nations is referring to all nationalities of people. Therefore, the different nationalities of people from the four corners of the earth will be deceived again and set war against… The NEW Jerusalem. They set war against the "beloved city", the New Jerusalem, which the saints, who have been with God for a thousand years, are residing in.

What's this Gog and Magog thing and all the hype about it?

The two names started with real people. Magog was the grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:1-2) and Gog was listed in the genealogy of Jacobs sons (1 Chronicles 5:4). These two people lived hundreds of years apart.

Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 reference Gog several times but mentions Magog only twice. The interesting thing is who or what they are referencing.

"The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." Ezekiel 38:1-3

This prophecy is toward a man call Gog, but they're not necessarily related to Jacob. This person called Gog is "of the land of Magog". Therefore, Magog is now being used to reference a nation and Gog is being used to reference its leader. The prophesy went on to say:

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it? 15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. 16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes." Ezekiel 28:14-16

God also says that He will bring Gog “to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed” for his attacks against God’s people (verse 22).

The next chapter, Ezekiel 39 continues to describe the destruction that will come to Gog and his forces when they make war and attack Israel. Verse 6 mentions Magog again: “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 lived during the time that Israel was exiled in Babylon due to their turning away from God. He assured Ezekiel that He would restore Israel when they turned back to Him and that Gog and its armies would attack a restored Israel but God would destroy Gog and preserve His people. This attack is not recorded anywhere in history but then again, He did mention "in the latter days" but what does this really mean?

As a note: Neither Ezekiel 38 or 39, nor Revelation 20 mentions a war at Armageddon or Megiddo. This link between these battles and God and Magog is completely made up.

There are similarities between the talk in Ezekiel and that in Revelation.

Both armies are vast and cover the earth (Ezekiel 38:9, 15, 16).
Both go out to destroy God’s people (Ezekiel 38:10-12)
Both are destroyed by fire and brimstone (Ezekiel 38:22).
Both are destroyed at a time of final judgment “in the latter days” (Ezekiel 38:16).
Both prophecies say that the nation of Magog will "know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 39:6)

We must remember that Revelation means "Revealing" and most of the writings in Revelation can be found throughout the Bible. The writings are symbolisms. Like the whore called Babylon (Revelation 17:3-5) and the woman called Jezebel (Revelation 2:20) these are names used to describe something but they don't represent the real thing. Babylon will never return and Jezebel is dead and in the grave; likewise, Gog and Magog is an analogy of what will be.

Remember that John was writing what he saw and trying to describe what he saw within the context of his knowledge. He likely pulled from the writings of Ezekiel to explain what he was seeing in his vision. The reason Gog and Magog are used is for symbols of the forces of Satan opposed to God and His people. It's a picture of a war between good and evil, sin and righteousness, God and Satan. And that is the main point concerning Gog and Magog based on what the Bible says.

Even if these were real countries and real armies setting a real battle against God's people, Revelation 19 and 20 make it clear that this war is not against the country of Israel as we know it today. Christ has not returned, the saints have not met Him in the air to live in Heaven for a thousand years, the inhabitants of the earth have not been killed, satan has not been cast into the abyss, nothing has happened that is supposed to happen before this battle is to begin.

I'm always preaching about context. Without context we end up distorting Scripture and believing things that just aren't true; and this is a PERFECT example.