The slaughter by the Lord as He defends Israel against Gog and his hoards will be so great and significant that the biblical text spends ten verses talking about the clean up and burial process following the battle (Ezek. 39:11–20). What was meant to result in the physical death of the nation of Israel by Gog is turned around by God in such a way that it will provide an opportunity for spiritual life for Israel (Ezek. 39:25–39)...
Having completed an examination and overview of Ezekiel 38–39:20, I now turn to the issue of when this event will or has taken place in history. What are the various views relating to the timing of when this campaign takes place? There are at least seven different views concerning the time of the fulfillment of the battle of Gog and Magog...
This passage spends an inordinate amount of verbiage on the clean up aspects following the battle where God wipes out Gog (Ezek. 39:9–20). "The first instructions deal with the disposal of the weapons (verses 9–10), which are to be burned. . . . The next instructions (Ezekiel 39:11–20) deal with the proper disposal of the slain soldiers of the Gog army." ...
The second past fulfillment or preterist view of this passage believes that the prophecy "was fulfilled in the 2nd century B.C. at the defeat of the Assyrian invaders of Palestine by Judas Maccabeus." [1] A preterist said that this is the most widely held view by preterists of the Gog prophecy, yet I searched my library and more importantly the preterist web sites and could hardly find any preterist who has written about what this prophecy means...
Support for the Gog and Magog invasion occurring after the rapture but before the tribulation can be seen from the fact that the invasion is said to take place "after many days" and "in the latter years" (Ezek. 38:8), and "in the last days" (Ezek. 38:16). These are time indicators that place these events near the end of history because it is an absolute phrase referring to the span of history. The term "latter years" is only used in this passage in the entire Old Testament, however, since "last days" is used in verse 16 describing the same event, it is safe to conclude that the more frequently used phrase "last days" is synonymous with "latter years." ...