WILL RUSSIA AND HER ALLIES TRY TO ATTACK ISRAEL

SEVEN FULL YEARS BEFORE THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON?

The Lord declares to Russia: "... I will turn thee back ..." (Ezek. 39:2)

"Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel ... I will give thee

unto the ravenous birds ..." (Ezek. 39:4)

Consider this amazing chain of facts:

The future 'tribulation' period lasts seven years. (Dan. 9:24-27)

It will take seven years to burn the Soviet weapons. (Ezek. 39:9,10)

The people of Israel will have to bury dead enemy soldiers for

seven months. (Ezek. 39:12)

"... In the seventh month, in the first day of the month,

shall ye have a Sabbath ..." (Lev. 23:24)

The Jewish Day of Atonement Is the seventh month and the 10th day. (Lev. 23:27)

Seven months and ten days added to 2300 days equals seven years.

(Dan. 8:13,14)

In scripture, the number 'seven' is supernaturally woven

inseparably into the entire under-lying structure of the Hebrew text.

The Number Seven

The number seven has played a crucial

part in Jewish history and

will continue to do so:

7th day .................... the weekly day of Sabbath

7th week after Passover ............ then, Pentecost

7th year ............... Sabbath of rest unto the land

7 x 7 years .......................... the year of Jubilee

70 years ....... release from Babylonian captivity

7 x 70 years ............ determined upon the Jewish

people in order to fulfill prophecy

Through recorded time historians have observed that in the annals of Israel, as well as in the archives of the gentiles, history has a tendency to repeat itself!

With this tendency-written-above in mind, recognizing that the New Testament instructs us that the things of the Old Testament were written for examples for the purpose of admonishing us, let us look at some scriptures, just glancing briefly at them, noting the reoccurring theme of the "seventh month" and the "sanctification" which takes place at that time-- a sanctification which is by fire, and which by law precedes the offering of sacrifices:

"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. (Ezek. 39:11-16)

"He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days...

... Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord ..." (Num. 19:11,13)

The bones of dead men defile holy places:

"And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. ... And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it according to the word of the Lord ..." (2 Kings 23:14,16)

Purging the land:

"And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem." "... in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shapan ... to repair the house of the Lord his God." (2 Chron. 34:5,8)

"His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day ... that the land be not defiled ..." (Deut. 21:23)

"And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land." (Ezek. 39:12)

The seventh month:

"... In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a Sabbath ..." (Lev. 23:24)

Re-commitment of the Jewish people in the seventh month:

"And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation ... upon the first day of the seventh month. And he read therein ... and the ears of the people were attentive ..." (Neh. 8:2,3)

Dedication of the new temple in the seventh month:

"And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto King Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim which is the seventh month."

"And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, ... So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord." (I Kings 8:2,63)

Sanctification of the priests in the seventh month:

"Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto the king in the feast which was in the seventh month." "... all the priests that were present were sanctified ..." (2 Chron. 5:3,11)

Re-institution of animal sacrifices in the seventh month:

"From the first day of the seventh month began they to offer burnt offerings unto the Lord. ..." (Ezra 3:6)

The Day of Atonement in the seventh month:

"Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement ..." (Lev. 23:27)

Seven year 'tribulation':

"And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease ..." (Dan. 9:27)

Seven year burning of weapons:

"And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God." (Ezek. 39:9,10)

Burning implements as sacrificial wood:

"... Oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood." (2 Sam. 24:22) "... and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen ... then he arose and went after Elijah ..." (I Kings 19:21)

Purging the land by burning:

"And they burned the city with fire, and all that was therein: only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord." "And Joshua did unto them as the Lord bade him: he houghed their horses, and burnt their chariots with fire." (Josh. 6:24; 11:9)

The 2300 days prophecy:

"... How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot? And he said unto me. Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed. (Dan. 8:13,14)

In other words, the future length of time that daily animal sacrifices will be offered, added to the future length of time in which those sacrifices shall be removed and instead the abomination of desolation set up for the duration in the holy place equals a total of 2300 days. (See also: Dan 12:11; 2 Thess. 2:4)

*********************************************************

Seven months and ten days equal 220 days.

Seven years in Jewish time = (7 x 360) = 2,520.

*********************************************************

***Excuse me; The above diagram should say "Burial of dead soldiers PLUS ten days of self-examination leading up to the Day of Atonement = 220"

Ezek.39:14 - "And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. 16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land."

The removal of the dead is a ceremonial cleansing which begins the seven-year tribulation period. The unsaved Jew sees religion and spirituality as being the same. But to be truly cleansed by the Word of God, one must repent of dead religious works and trust in the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, for salvation. At the end of the tribulation will be the restitution of all things, in which the ultimate spiritual cleansing of the land and temple occurs as Christ appears at Armageddon:

"... Jesus Christ ... Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things ..." (Acts 3:20,21)

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy." (Dan. 9:24)

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness." (Zech. 13:1)

SUMMARY

The evidence that the Russian armies will attempt to attack Israel and that these armies will be nearly destroyed by the Lord exactly seven years before Armageddon is overwhelming. However, there is one simple statistic that by itself alone, easily leads me to that conclusion:

All armies at Armageddon are to be killed, but in Ezekiel, only five-sixths of the armies are killed; the two wars are not the same. The same logic works regarding the war that happens after the millennial reign [Rev. 20:7-9].

Bible scholars generally accept Daniel's 'seventieth week' as a literal seven years, but they have spiritualized the seven years in Ezekiel as being figurative for the following reason:

The Russians attack when Israel 'dwells 'safely'. Many writers believe that the anti-christ is the "white horse" of Revelation Chapter Six who brings a false peace and safety at the beginning of the seven-year tribulation. They also believe that the southward advance of the Russian forces follows that particular peace many months or years later. If so, Russia's move would happen substantially less than a full seven years before the end.

NO! The 'white horse' seal in the book of Revelation is the hand of God, spreading the Gospel, not the work of Satan. The color "white" in the Scriptures always refers to the things of God. Yes, the demons disguise themselves as angels of light, but we are talking about a vision that the Lord gave to John. John saw in the SPIRIT that the horse was white, not DARKNESS masquerading as LIGHT (WHITE). The peace at the beginning of the tribulation is due to the miraculous awe caused by the decisive crushing of Russia and her allies clearly supernaturally by the hand of Almighty God. That is why the Jews will be allowed gladly by the whole anti-Semitic world to begin sacrifices. The Bible makes it clear that all these end time judgments are from God. Yes, God uses the Devil as a pawn in God's Master Plan. (But the devil would like to take all the credit. Don't let him!) The white horse goes forth with a bow conquering, but notice that he does NOT kill. The following "red horse" goes with a sword, ending peace and killing.

In reality, a FULL seven years before Armageddon, God brings a temporary fear of the Lord by crushing the Russian attack with fire and brimstone from heaven. One-sixth of the soldiers will live to testify what God hath done. There will be a short-lived respect for the Jews, whom the anti-christ will befriend for a season.

With the blessings of the other nations, the Jews will exclaim with rejoicing, "At last we are free to re-build our sanctuary and to offer sacrifices to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob!"

The burying of the vast army of enemy soldiers will be both practical and religious. The orthodox Jew believes that he is defiled by touching Gentiles; he believes he is defiled by touching the dead; he is defiled by touching another Jew who has touched the dead, and by touching anything that has touched the dead. Even a garment which has touched an object , which in turn has touched the dead is defiled! Can you imagine the concern of the Jewish people toward burying millions of fallen Gentiles, before the holy Day of Atonement!! The priests and people would be barely able to twitch an eyebrow without becoming unclean ceremonially. After cleansing the land for seven months or 210 days, the priests can legally offer peace offerings, but not sin offerings. The remaining ten days until the Day of Atonement allow for the seven days required by law to sanctify the priests, and also conveniently allow for three days of fasting.

--Then the atonement for sin can be offered.

The burning of weapons also has practical and religious significance. The spoiling of the enemy's possessions is a victory celebration. Burning the adversary's property is a way to help insure total separation from the pollution of the world in order to be set apart for the Lord. The wood from the weapons will be used to kindle the animal sacrifices, since the people will not cut wood from the forest for seven years. The destruction of enemy weapons prevents those same armaments from being turned against the conqueror later on.

Lucifer says in Isaiah 14:13,14--

I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

The goal of Satan, who throughout history has incited a succession of various 'kings of the north' to attack Israel, is to control the world, and especially, Israel, the apple of God's eye.

The Jews, on the other hand, only want to worship the Lord in their God-given Holy Land without fear.

These two opposing desires will undoubtedly clash in the near future. I believe that the question, "When?" has been satisfactorily answered by the Bible.

True prophecy edifies, exhorts, and comforts. Jesus said,

"... Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars."

Right now we have wars and rumours of wars. Then He said, "See that ye be not troubled." --We also have a lot of troubled Christians in this world. Among believers this turmoil consists not so much from fear, but from inordinate excitement. Christians are talking about the 'rapture' and speculating about 'The Battle of Armageddon'.

In answer to the rapture question: the Bible says that the tares must grow with the wheat until harvest-time which is the end. [Mat. 13:30,39,40] Only then is the separation made, and the wicked shall be thrown into the fires of Hell, not just tribulation. There simply is no pre-tribulation 'rapture', or mid-tribulation 'rapture', for we shall be changed at the LAST trump. [1 Cor. 15:52]

Since there are trumpets in the Book of Revelation, the Bible does not allow for the pre-tribulation rapture at all. Heaven must receive Jesus until the RESTITUTION of all things [Ac. 3:21]. War causes destruction, NOT restitution. Jesus will remain in Heaven until He enforces peace with the sword of His mouth at Armageddon.

As to the future Ezekiel Thirty-Eight War: Russia must first come against the Holy Land when Israel perceives herself to be safe. There must be a calm before the storm. After the Lord stops the enemy forces, there will come another short peace. Afterward, "nation shall rise against nation," and "kingdom against kingdom".

When the 'beast' sets up his graven image in the Holy of Holies, many orthodox Jews will instantly realize to their amazement that they have been cruelly deceived.

Because of the desecration of their new sanctuary, many disillusioned Jews will be heart-broken. They will seek the face of God with a pure heart. Only two groups will not bow down to the evil idol: Some orthodox Jews, and the 'born-again' Christians.

In the face of certain death, the stand of the Christians when the command is decreed,

"BOW DOWN OR DIE !! "

will awaken these Jews to repentance unto salvation. They will know in that hour that the only atonement for sin is the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the Messiah! HALLELUJAH!!!!

EPILOGUE:

"And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass." [Gen. 41:31]

This verse tells us that we should pay close heed when the Lord doubles a prophetic word. Prophecy tells us of two parallel seven-month periods, and two parallel seven-year periods (see page one). The two parallels are really one, not two, just as the four gospels tell of the life of one Jesus, not four. God is saying that the seven years and the inclusive seven months are established and will come to pass. The 2300 day prophecy illustrates the fact that this seven year period is in the future, not the past; and these 2300 days are literal days, not figurative. Therefore, the seven years, which include the 2300 days, are also literal, not figurative, and the three-and-a-half year halves of the tribulation are consecutive, not being halfway fulfilled in past history.

What major military event can you expect next on God's prophetic time-table?

In order for Russia to attack Israel in a time of peace, there must be another conflict in the Middle East before the Russian war, in other words, substantially more than seven years before Armageddon.

Israel easily defeated her foes in 1948 and in 1967. Will she do the same again in the coming years that there may be a 'peace' before Russia and its allies ever make their move? Would concessions at the "peace table" give her this false "peace". Not likely. How this peace will come about we don't know, but it WILL happen more than seven years before the end.

RUSSIA WILL ATTACK ISRAEL SEVEN YEARS BEFORE ARMAGEDDON

See also: "Terrorism" | "Seven Reasons Palestine Belongs to Israel"

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