Eze. 39:2

2 And I will turn thee back [shuwb], and leave but the sixth part [shawshaw] of thee, and will cause thee to come up [`alah] from the north [tsaphown] parts [yarekah], and will bring [bow'] thee upon the mountains [har] of Israel [Yisra'el]: KJV-Interlinear

2 and I shall turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. NASB

Now we will return to Ezekiel, from our study in Zechariah. We started this study in Revelation a long time ago. From Revelation 19 we have been cruising the Old Testament chapters that are most applicable to the last great battle in history. And, more importantly the how s and why s that will lead humanity, as a whole, to this last and final near self destruction battle.

The how? Humanity ignored God, Christ, and doctrine. The why? Humanity was simply not interested in the truth of life. Mankind prefers to pursue his fantasies. Fantasies fed by his desires, his needs, his emotions, and so forth.

Humanity, which by the way includes you, tends to focus on the immediate, rather than on the distant future. Humanity tends to not look, beyond his senses, or his needs. Some folks are driven by their need for security. Others are driven by their lust for power, approbation, money or things. The world around us all becomes our only world, and we forget, or we ignore our spiritual self.

Our spiritual self is the greater portion of our existence, while our temporal self is the lessor portion of our life. Our temporal life is the hardest to tap into, what with the need for parents to raise us, an education to train us, employment to sustain us, and all of these are filled with endless sources of trouble.

The spiritual side of our life is the easiest to access, yet most people ignore it, and then it becomes our biggest obstacle toward success and fulfillment in life.

Gog is the leader of the Northern forces in the Tribulation. They are forces that have rejected God, Christ, and even Satan. Satan, you will recall will be indwelling the anti-christ at the end of the Tribulation, and will be trying to gain control and rule over the world.

The northern forces, the southern forces and the eastern forces will see things differently. None of them like each other, and they all hate God.

Israel will be the center of the world and it will be relative prosperous as far as the world goes. Therefore, it will be the envy of the rest of the world.

Israel is Gods nation. A nation is a collection of people with a national interest in common. Gods chosen people are all believers in Christ, therefore all Christians belong to Gods nation. But, as far as the world is concerned, the geographic Israel, in the Middle East, is Gods chosen nation, and so it becomes the target for possession.

By making Israel prosperous in the midst of the Tribulation, when all the world is in turmoil, God sets the trap for the destruction of all evil.

Now remember that when you fade away from your Bible study and turn your focus on life, to the things of this life, then you are setting yourself up for lots of misery and failure. Things cannot save you. Things cannot promote you to a permanent promotion. Things in life cannot sustain you. Only Bible doctrine can do that.

And, yes I know that when you read the Bible, all you get initially is, In the beginning , David the King, the babe in the manger. And so forth. How do these little stories surpass the things the activities the interactions of this life?

Because by doctrine, you learn, you gain understanding, you apply the principles of the Bible to your daily life, and you gain wisdom. You see how life really is, and not how the world wants you to think it is. You see life through the eyes of God, and you are not restricted to the eyes of the world.

When people reject God, then God, sooner or later, allows them to drive onward through life fueled by their false ideas. We see this example fulfilled by suicide murderers around the world. They are so filled up with their false religion, and believe it so deeply, that no amount of truth will change their minds. God allows them to slip away into their own delusion.

God gives everyone ample opportunity to escape the delusions of the world, but, again, sooner or later, He will withdraw His guidance from your life, and when that happens, your life is toast. Worse than toast, actually.

The northern forces, in our verse will be so negative, and so lustful for the wealth of the Middle East, that God will allow their own lusts to drive them into battle. This, despite all of the warnings of prophecy against them. And, as we saw the other day, the forces, the leadership of the Northern forces, will be well aware of these prophecies against them, and yet they will ignore them.

Now, in your life, you have numerous prophecies against your bad choices. We call them warnings. Smoke cigarettes and you ll get cancer. Be to loose with your sex and some disease will get you. These are just simple examples of warnings of life that people tend to ignore. Booze, drugs, and other things can be used as examples.

But, the real threat in your life is your indifference toward God, Christ and doctrine. Ignore your spiritual life and you will be a loser in life, guaranteed. You will be nothing more than historical filler.

Pursue your daily Bible studies, with a legitimate study ethic, not some emotional drive that is here today and gone tomorrow, and your life will be a guaranteed success, both in time and in eternity.

Like those Northern forces, people think that they can ignore God and their spiritual life, and they can live a good and successful life based on their own merit, based on their own hustle, based on their own good intentions.

Folks with this idea never acknowledge the truth until it is too late. Once you are dead, you cannot undo all of the stupid decisions that you have made during your life.

So, don t wait until then. Open your eyes and get into a daily study habit. Never make up excuses to skip your studies. It s too late. I m too busy. I m too tired. I ll catch up tomorrow. I don t agree with what he said.

If your interest is truly genuine, then excuses won exist. You will make your spiritual growth the most important thing in your life. Time, patience and commitment will carry you to the highest experience in your life, ever. What God has waiting specifically for you, you will not be able to match on your own. But, God is not a genie. So don t be like the Pharisees expecting signs and wonders everyday of your life. God has better than that for you.

Now is the time to post a prayer.