William Miller

“ The struggle between the Protestants on the one part, and the Catholic league on the other, was, with the former, to destroy the power of this Gog, of whom we have been speaking, and to humble in the dust this Meshech and Tubal of modern times; while with the latter it was to retain power, which papal Rome had long exercised over the kings of the earth, and over the consciences, lives, and fortunes of her subjects. All the civil power was finally taken from her, and nothing remains but the bones, or principles of the carcass. ”

“ We can hardly read a chapter in any of the prophets, but we find this thing prophesied of, i.e., the captivity of Israel, the spoiling and robbing of them, both Israel and Judah, by these great kingdoms of the earth, which Ezekiel has called Gog in our text. It must and will be acknowledged, by every man conversant with his Bible, that the times of their captivity have, in every case, been prophesied of by the prophets of God. And, in general, the cases of captivity, which would end in the dispensation in which the prophet lived who prophesied these things, are given to us in plain language ”

“ Again, it would be very unnatural to suppose that there could actually be weapons of war enough collected, contiguous to many cities, to supply the inhabitants of them with fuel seven years. It appears unnatural to me in every view of the subject to understand these things as describing a literal battle, and yet not to be fulfilled; for it is evident that the people of God are meant, as one party. ”

“ I could not, upon the supposition of a moral battle only, account for this description of kings and captains, warriors and mighty men, horses and chariots, bond and free. If it is all to be understood in a moral sense, why are they called princes of the earth? ”

“ These nations, or kingdoms, have, each in their turn, ruled over the people of God, drawn them into idolatry, and persecuted them with a spirit of the old serpent, the devil, for more than 2500 years. Gog, then, has appeared and “drawn away” the holy people, and ruled over the world, made war with the saints, and opposed God. Gog, in my opinion, constitutes the wicked powers of the earth, and especially Antichrist, or Rome papal. ”

“ It is called a woman, because she claims to be the church of Christ; she is called the multitude, because she is the mother of more children than any other, or all others, on the earth; she is called Gog, because she is chief prince, and rules, or hath ruled, over the kings of the earth. ”

“ And the children of God in the new dispensation are called Israel, for the same reason that papal Rome is called Babylon under the new. For the law was a shadow of good things to come; it made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better covenant did perfect the comers thereunto. Now carry out this reasoning of Paul's, and what must Israel be in order to be made perfect? They cannot be made perfect without us Gentiles. ”

“ How a man can read the arguments of the apostle, and retain these judaizing sentiments of gathering the Jews, as Jews, to their own land, and building up their temple and city again, I cannot conceive. But another time is specified in our context. See verse 12: “And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.” See also verse 14. This transaction is in the last days of Gog's power, and probably under the last form which Gog may assume, and must mean Rome papal, which is the last head of abominations ”

“ As it respects personal power, it means the wicked and righteous. As far as principle may be involved in this prophecy, it would mean sin and holiness; but if men in a collective sense, then it must be understood to mean the kingdoms of this world in a worldly sense, and the kingdom of God in a spiritual sense. The places spoken of in these chapters, sometimes describe the world at large, at other times the particular places where the people or kingdoms have sway, spoken of in the prophecy. ”

“ Then, in my opinion, the captivity spoken of in verse 25th, is the subjection the people of God have been and will continue in to Gog, the principal kingdoms of the world, until Christ's second advent; when he will destroy all those kingdoms, conquer death, and let his people go free. III. I SHALL SHOW THE TIMES AND PERIODS GIVEN IN THIS CHAPTER. First. In the ninth verse, we are told, that they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall burn the weapons of their enemies “seven years.” ”

“ Some will tell you, that it means the ancient covenant people of God, the Jews; others will tell you that Israel means the “ten tribes” of the children of Israel which were separated from the Jews in the days of Jeroboam; but if you will suffer me to give my opinion, I shall say, that “Israel” means the whole household of faith, whether among Jews or Gentiles, whether under the law or gospel. And Paul has given us this rule in Rom. ix. 6 and 7: “For they are not all Israel that are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children ”

“ He, too, was one of the sons of Japheth. And Noah says of Japheth, Gen. ix. 27, “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.” This prophecy has been literally fulfilled, and the descendants of Japheth have actually covered the world with fruit, and for ages have dwelt in the tents of Shem, and have been chief prince over the nations of Ham. Tarshish is also mentioned in this prophecy; he also was a descendant of Japheth, and settled in Europe. This country lay upon the north side of the Mediterranean sea. ”

“ This shows us that the people of God would not be under the necessity of going forth into the open field of the world to find subjects, on which to operate by the fire of God's word, but they would find enough among themselves ”