The Battle of Gog and Magog

Ezekiel 38–39.

In Ezekiel 38:8; 14–16, 18–22; 39:1–12 the battle that is to occur prior to the Savior’s visit. The Lord is saying that in the latter days he will free His people and all His power will be known. His works will testify of Him and "Thus will I magnify myself, and ^asanctify myself; and I will be^bknown in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that Iam the Lord."(38:23) It is through His actions that the nations will know Him. 

 The people are "brought back" to Israel "from the sword"(38:8). The Lord says that "it shall be in the ^blatter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the ^cheathen may know me"(38:16) 

Read the institute student manual Enrichment I, “Armageddon: The Participants” (pg. 292), and describe those who will be involved with this battle. 

Ezekiel named Gog of the land of Magog, the

prince of Meshech and Tubal, as the leader of the forces that would come against Israel (see Ezekiel 38:1–3). Magog, Meshech, and Tubal were ancient peoples in the northern part of Asia Minor (see Notes and Commentary on Ezekiel 38:2–6). Gog is a symbolic name for the leader or leaders of this great evil power that will arise in the last days.

Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and Togarmah as being in alliance with Gog 

• Gog
• Magog
• Meshech
• Tubal
•  Persia
• Ethophia
• Libya
• Gomer
• Togarmah

Jeremiah’s Lamentations

Lamentations 1–5. 

(a) In Lamentations 1:1–11 Jeremiah spoke for himself, while in verses 12–22 he spoke as if he were the whole country of Judah. Read Jeremiah 1:1–11 and list four phrases from Jeremiah’s words that explain why he “lamented.” 

• 3 Judah is gone into ^acaptivity
• 4 "none come to the^bsolemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness."
• 6 Zion all her ^abeauty is departed: her 
• 8 ^aJerusalem hath grievously sinned

Read Jeremiah 1:12–22  11 ¶Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what ^aseest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.

 12 Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it.

 13 And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a ^aseething ^bpot; and the face thereof is toward the north.

 14 Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the ^anorth an evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.

 15 For, lo, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord; and they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at the entering of the ^agates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of Judah.

 16 And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, who have ^aforsaken me, and have burned incense unto other ^bgods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.

 17 ¶Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.

 18 For, behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the ^aprinces thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the land.

 19 And they shall ^afight against thee; but they shall not ^bprevailagainst thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.

Lamentations is about how the people will fall if they do not repent of their sins and then to physical captivity as well. The story of Mormon is similar but his people have already fallen. 

Mormon 6:17–22  17 ^aO ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could ye have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you!

 18 Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I ^amourn your loss.

 19 O ye ^afair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have^bfallen!

 20 But behold, ye are gone, and my sorrows cannot bring your return.

 21 And the day soon cometh that your mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become ^aincorruptible bodies; and then ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, to be judged according to your works; and if it so be that ye are righteous, then are ye blessed with your fathers who have gone before you.

 22 O that ye had repented before this great ^adestruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, ^bknoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his ^cjustice and ^dmercy.

They are similar in that they both preach that if they are better God will have mercy upon the people. The people both need to repent in order for their salvation here on earth.  

(b) Read the chapter summaries for Lamentations 2–5 and make note of the reason for the suffering and destruction of the kingdom of Judah. 

Misery prevails because they do not repent. 

How does Alma 41:10  10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, ^awickedness never was ^bhappiness.

This verse applies to these stories because it again reiterates that sin never has good consequences. 

(c) Read Lamentations 5:15–22

• gratitude for the Lord
• recognizing "that we have sinned"
• acknowledging God's power and divinity
• turning to the Lord for help in all things
• understanding when we do things wrong

Hope for Those in Sin

Jeremiah 29-30

a. 

Read Jeremiah 29:11–14;

 11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith theLord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected^aend.

 12 Then shall ye ^acall upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will ^bhearken unto you.

 13 And ye shall ^aseek me, and find me, when ye shall ^bsearch for me with all your ^cheart.

 14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will ^agather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.

Deuteronomy 4:29–31

29 But if from thence thou shalt ^aseek the Lord thy God, thou shalt ^bfind him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

 30 When thou art in ^atribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the ^blatter days, if thou ^cturn to the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice;

 31 (For the Lord thy God is a ^amerciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the ^bcovenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

This message to the Jews, captive in Babylon, could be used as a message of hope to someone today who is in the captivity of sin. It is so strong when the Lord says "I will turn away your captivity" He is the only way for us to be free from our captivity. And sin really is captivity! When ever we seek Him we will find Him. And He will always free us from our pain and sin. Just like with the Jews and their captivity there will always be hope for those who believe in Jesus Christ. 

b.

Jeremiah 30:9; But they shall serve the Lord their God, and ^aDavid their king, whom I will raise up unto them.

Jeremiah 33:15–18. 15 ¶In those days, and at that time, will I cause the ^aBranch of righteousness to grow up unto ^bDavid; and he shall ^cexecute judgment and righteousness in the ^dland.

 16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, TheLord our righteousness.

 17 ¶For thus saith the Lord; David shall never ^awant a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel;

 18 Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually.

These verses say that in some future time Israel will not “want” (lack or need) a man to sit and rule on David’s throne, nor will they “want” men to perform sacrifices. 

Six ways in which Jesus Christ eternally fulfilled the roles of king, priest, and sacrifice for His people. 

     see in:

Jeremiah 23:4–6; 

•  ^ashepherds over them which shall feed them

Luke 1:32–33; 

• he shall ^areign over the house of Jacob for ever; 
• and of his kingdom there shall be no ^bend.

John 18:36–37; 

• ut now is my kingdom not from hence.
• for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the ^dtruth.

3 Nephi 9:19–20;

•  ye shall offer for a ^asacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit
•  him will I ^bbaptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost

The Lord’s Thoughts and Ways

Isaiah 55:8–11. 

 8 ¶For my ^athoughts are not ^byour thoughts, neither are your^cways my ^dways, saith the Lord.

 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ^aways^bhigher than your ways, and my ^cthoughts than your thoughts.

 10 For as the ^arain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and ^bbread to the eater:

 11 So shall my ^aword be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Jacob 4:8;  8 Behold, great and marvelous are the ^aworks of the Lord. How^bunsearchable are the depths of the ^cmysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man^dknoweth of his ^eways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the ^frevelations of God.

1 Corinthians 2:14–16; 14 But the ^anatural man ^breceiveth not the things of the ^cSpirit of God: for they are ^dfoolishness unto him: neither can he ^eknowthem, because they are ^fspiritually ^gdiscerned.

 15 But he that is spiritual ^ajudgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.

 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may^ainstruct him? But we have the ^bmind of Christ.

• The message of these verses are of comfort. They tell us that God knows all, and gives us His word for our benefit  and that it when He speaks to us it is His sole purpose to build. We are His creations and He knows what He's doing. Having someone all knowing speaking to us brings a feeling of purpose and value to the heart. 

• We can come to better understand God’s thoughts and ways through these verses. The simple fact that God always has things on His mind that are higher than our thoughts is intriguing  We are able to have some pretty great thoughts, God has more intricate ones. 

• An example of when I have observed a clear example of God’s ways being higher than man’s ways is with parenting. We mess up. As humans we are prone to fall. I wish that I could always have God's patients and heart with my daughter. He is the ultimate parent. He allows us to make mistakes and forgives us when we do with open arms. As parents we need to be able to allow our children to also make mistakes even when it can be hard.