In Him command a ruin'd world to live: O'er all created names His glories shine, His glorious hand shall hold a righteous sway— Fair as the tree of life the saints shall rise, Through endless years His glory shall extend, 109 CHAPTER VI. THE FINAL CONFLICT OF GOG AND MAGOG AT THE END THIS OF THE AGE TO COME. HIS is, perhaps, one of the most mysterious and unaccountable records of that far off prophetic future. And yet there seems to be no disputing, not only the possibility, but the certainty of its occurrence; "For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it "—" And His purpose shall stand, and He will do all His pleasure;" whether that pleasure is to decree and effect positive good, or to permit the occurrence of apparent evil, to subserve some great moral end. Anyway, here is a dark picture: the great pacific Empire of the Millennium shall close, like each dispensation which preceded it, in a condition of apostacy and conflict with evil. And the Gog and Magog who shared in the conflict and defeat of the pre- Millennial contest, will again, and finally, come into conflict; to meet this time with a still more signal and ignominious defeat, and learn by an act of the divine judgment how true it is—The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth —“I will do all My pleasure" (Isa. xlvi. 10).1 The record of this dark prediction demands careful consideration, though it is too plain to be mistaken; 1 66 Babylonianism," by Mr. Robert Brown, p. 44. and it must be true, because it is "written by the finger of God"-Carthago est delenda! Now who is this "Gog and Magog"? and are they truly the same as those referred to in Ezek. xxxviii. 1-14, 18, who will confront the Lord's ancient people, and be destroyed in the mountains of Israel? It is generally agreed that the Gog of Ezekiel is to be identified with Russia, and that Magog is the land of Gog; and therefore the Russians, or Slavonic territory. (The Hebrew word (rosh) is 'Pws in the Septuagint-Russia, rulers). Perhaps it is impossible to prove the identity, though it is probable they will be the same. But whoever they may be, they do not become manifest as insubordinate till after the release of Satan from his incarceration. The devil seems to be the exciting cause of their rebellion. Though it is strange how he should be able to seduce these nations "from the right ways of the Lord," when they have been under the rule and teaching of the Millennial Government and "kept in perfect peace, and their minds stayed on God for 1,000 years!" And yet it is not strange, if we remember how he seduced our first parents, even in paradise, to discredit the Word of God, and give credit to his own lie. For if he could do the latter he surely could do the former, if God should give any degree of free-will and personal choice in the age to come.2 The Scripture refers to the "corners of the earth,” as the regions whence these rebellious nations come. 1 "Sacred Calendar of Prophecy," Faber, Vol. iii., p. 339. Dr. Seiss thinks they may be the same as those in Ezekiel, and that they will be among the least civilized of the Millennial nations. This opinion, however, is perhaps rather questionable, because it is declared by the Lord that in the age to come "All shall know Him, from the least to the greatest." We are therefore compelled to dismiss, unanswered, both the question as to Who they will be, and also the still more vexed question as to how they will become disaffected and rebellious. On these points God has given no light, and speculation is hazardous and profane. To be wise above what God has written is to be guilty of great temerity. Suffice it, then, to note the result: this is recorded as a warning to any rebellious spirits, and as an exhibition of the divine glory! God's judgments are often very short and sharp, and the record of them correspondingly brief. And it is so here: one short, pregnant sentence tells the whole tale of conquest and death: "There came down fire out of the heaven and devoured them" (Rev. xx. 9). How signal and ignominious this defeat! But how many questions underlie these two verses?-"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison; and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured 1 See "Prophecies of Revelation," p. 620. them." Yet there is one sufficient answer to every question which may be asked; and that is-amidst it all-before man and devil, God proves the veracity, fidelity, and divinity, of His own character: "The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!" "The nations and kingdoms that will not serve Thee shall perish." And it is worthy of note that, in this case, there is no collision recorded between tribes or peoples; only that these seduced ones will make the daring attempt to besiege "the camp of the saints, and the beloved city." But we read of no record of any warlike preparations on the part of "the camp of the saints," either to repel the besiegers or challenge their forces. No, there is no time for all this. "The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," and He settles the whole matter in terrible and irresistible judgments, which neither cavalry nor infantry can resist. "The Lord is a Man of war," and He sits on a "white horse;" and when He goes forth it is "conquering and to conquer." And well may we add, to the glory of His name: "So let Thine enemies perish, O Lord;" "for the uttermost parts of the earth shall be His possession.' These choice lines of Martin Luther, though written in much obscurity of thought and dispensational truth, are yet suited to this time. "Great God, what do I see and hear, The end of things created; The Judge of mankind doth appear On clouds of glory seated. The trumpet sounds, the graves restore |
