Daniel and Revelation
Chapter 11
Ezekiel 39 - Armageddon

Previously, we looked at Ezekiel 38 and argued that Ezekiel 38 and 39 are two separate visions of two different battles.  Thus, Ezekiel 38 occurs just before the week of the covenant whereas Ezekiel 39 occurs just after the week of the covenant.  At this point, we need to look at Ezekiel 39 to see why this vision must be Armageddon, which occurs just after the week of the covenant.

Ezekiel 39:7 ESV "And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

How can Ezekiel 39 be pre-tribulation if the antichrist later profanes the name of the Lord?  One of the most central and repeated prophecies about the antichrist is his boastful words against God.  And naturally those who follow this global leader will be doing likewise.

Daniel 7:11 NIV "Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire.

Daniel 11:36 NIV "The king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every god and will say unheard-of things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been determined must take place.

2 Thessalonians 2:4 NIVHe will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

Revelation 13:5-7 A mouth speaking great things and blasphemy was given to him. Authority to make war for forty-two months was given to him.  (6) He opened his mouth for blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his dwelling , those who dwell in heaven.  (7) It was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them. Authority over every tribe, people, language, and nation was given to him.

Another major point for Ezekiel 39 being Armageddon is this verse:

Ezekiel 39:4 ESV You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured .

This seems to be the Old Testament verse that Jesus alludes to in the following.  

Matthew 24:28-29a ESV Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.  (29)  "Immediately after the tribulation of those days...

This reference to the vultures is a clear allusion to Armageddon.  Also, we have a much more detailed description of Armageddon in Revelation 19.

Revelation 19:17-18 ESV  Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly directly overhead, "Come, gather for the great supper of God,  (18)  to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men , both free and slave, both small and great."

These connections clearly equate Ezekiel 39 with Armageddon.  Back in Ezekiel 39 we read:

Ezekiel 39:17-20 ESV "As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field, 'Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood.  (18)  You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth--of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan.  (19) And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you.  (20) And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors ,' declares the Lord GOD.

At this point, it becomes impossible to separate Ezekiel 39 from Armageddon.  The very next verse in Ezekiel, and the rest of the chapter, seems to speak of a final point when Christ sets up his earthly kingdom and rules over all the nations.

Ezekiel 39:21-29 I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.   (22) So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward.  (23)  The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword.  (24) According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid my face from them.   (25) Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel ; and I will be jealous for my holy name.  (26)  They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid;  (27) when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.  (28)  They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there;  (29) neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.

This is conclusive evidence that Ezekiel 39 is Armageddon, which is after the great tribulation.

The next chapter is titled, "Daniel 12:1-3 - The Resurrection and the Millennial Reign."  Chronologically speaking, Armageddon is between the resurrection and the millennial reign.  But the resurrection and the millennial reign really need to be discussed together as one topic.  So instead of trying to split the resurrection, Armageddon, and the millennial reign into three topics, I decided to include the resurrection with the last topic in this sequence of events.