Timing, Ramifications, and Conflicts
A Summary (of Sorts)
When will this event occur? As one could guess, this is a highly debated question. The favored time slots are: 1) it can happen any time now; 2) after the Rapture; 3) occur at the beginning of the Tribulation; 4) at the end of the Tribulation; 5) during the Millennial reign of Jesus; or 6) at the end of the Millennium (matching the account of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:7-10). Here is a basic breakdown of each time period, these are not exhaustive as it would be difficult to list every potential variation.
Time Slot No. 1
Since much of the prophecies in the book of Ezekiel appear to be presented in chronological order and this event is placed between the restoration and revival of Israel as a nation in Ezekiel 37 and a description of what is believed to be the Millennial Temple beginning with Ezekiel 40, that Ezekiel 38:1-39:24 can occur at any time between. Which would then move the restoration recorded in Ezekiel 39:25-29 to occur at the beginning of the Millennium instead of being part of the Gog and Magog conflict.
Time Slot No. 2
Jesus is to remove believers prior to the Tribulation worldwide, which would reveal the existence of God, so having God protect Israel from the Gog and Magog invasion would further reveal that He is the God of Israel. Now that the church at large is in heaven, God returns to His people in Israel and begins to restore them Spiritually.
Time Slot No. 3
This could be very close to the second time slot or it could be separated by several years. There is not much support for placing Gog and Magog here, other than a period of peace prior to the beginning of the Tribulation would help the people of Israel know as they would then prepare them for an intense seven-year period knowing that He is their God. But that seems counter to one of the main goals of the Tribulation, that of them to understand that they failed to recognize their Messiah and seek forgiveness.
Time Slot No. 4
At the end of the Tribulation Jesus returns with all of the believers who died or were raptured, and they face those who gathered to fight Him at Armageddon. While God is revealed as being real (much like the result of the Gog and Magog event), the events and details of the invasion do not match the description of the battle of Armageddon (especially the cleanup period), but could transition to the beginning of the Millennium (see next time slot).
Time Slot No. 5
At the beginning or anytime during the Millennium. After the Tribulation is over we know that some unbelievers and existing nations survived and they could create an army to attack Israel. If the last five verses of Ezekiel chapter 39 are connected to the Gog and Magog event, then this time slot seems to be the better scenario.
Time Slot No. 6
The book of Revelation mentions Gog and Magog shortly after announcing the release of Satan from the Abyss (see Revelation 20:8). There is not much detail regarding the conflict that Satan subsequently organizes, other than it is short lived and Satan is thrown into the lake of fire forever. Since that directly precedes the new earth and heaven, the seven-year clean-up period would be difficult to insert.
If this invasion occurred before the end of the Tribulation or the millennial kingdom (events that would clearly demonstrate the existence of God), then the outcome of this Gog and Magog event would be the first modern-day revealing of tangible existence of God (His glory seen). If God was revealed what would the ramifications be today? To begin with atheists would be forced to rethink their positions and believers of the vast number of alternate religions (including some Christian groups) would have their faith instantly destroyed. The result should be many coming to faith in Jesus and recognize that God is the God of Israel! Can we say “praise God!,” or should we concerned that many will come to Jesus just because they saw this proof, while others in the past that did not see this proof, died without faith in Jesus? To be blunt…that’s not our problem! God sees and knows everyone’s heart, His timing will always be perfect.
If the Gog and Magog invasion occurred after the Tribulation, or during the Millennium, then God would have already revealed Himself and there would not be any further ramifications regarding believing in Him. But then we need to ask what would be the motive to attack Israel? Wouldn’t that be against God’s desire? If He had been revealed, so would likely the fact that He is the God of Israel.
The invasion requires to some degree all of the nations listed to be in place and that there is some form of conflict with the people of Israel (such as a rise in antisemitism), and political intrigue (as seen in the interaction between countries). In addition, the specified cleanup process would require seven years to complete (as pointed out above, a potential conflict with eternity).
After reviewing the timing, the potential ramifications, and conflicts, there seems to be two potential scenarios depending on whether the last five verses apply to the Gog and Magog or a transition to the millennial reign of Jesus (essentially the beginning of chapter forty as there is no mention of Gog or Magog in these verses). But without further information we may not be able to determine.
In short, if the five verses do not apply to Gog and Magog, then the event could happen at any time now (time slot number one). Otherwise, the best fit for the invasion with all of the text of chapters 38 and 39 applying as written in the Bible, is time slot number five at the beginning or during the Millennium.