THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL REVEALED!

By

Steven Haukdahl

For years I remember reading the book of Ezekiel pondering what the phrase “Mountains of Israel” meant. Thinking, “What did God mean when inspiring Ezekiel to use this uncommon phrase...If only one could figure out what [the Mountains of Israel] was referring to, more than half the battle of understanding this prophecy could be solved!”.

Thē key component to understanding the prophecies of Gog and Magog are dependent upon knowing whose land and what peoples these hordes bring their invasion upon. The revelation of that mysterious prophetic phrase opens the door to much prophecy for our day. Please stick with the beginning as a basis is built for the interpretation being espoused. Most Christians today automatically look to the Middle East for prophecy since that’s where OT Israel resided and prophecy was fulfilled. But what if God said we in NT times should be looking elsewhere? After giving the matter much thought, I am convinced that indeed He did.

This article presents some of the highlights of the author's forthcoming book Massive Deceptions in Christianity taken from Part 4, “The Present Day Invasion of Gog & Magog” focusing on the proper understanding of Ezekiel's “mountains of Israel.” The first part of this article prepares the reader for a very different than mainstream paradigm, then builds the argument, so please stick with it. The second part helps connect the dots and open your eyes. Just past the halfway mark gives you the climatic meaning of this long concealed phrase and continues to support that meaning, with a final summary of what was discussed to remind the reader of important key points.

Here are 3 instances in which Ezekiel uses the mysterious phrase “Mountains of Israel”:

Ezekiel 36:1 “And thou, son of man, prophesy unto the “mountains of Israel”, and say, Ye “mountains of Israel”, hear the word of Jehovah.

Ezekiel 38:8, “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the "mountains of Israel", which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.”

Ezekiel 39:4, “Thou shalt fall upon the "mountains of Israel", thou, and all thy hordes, and the peoples that are with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.” (ASV)

The lexeme "mountains” may refer to kingdoms of men and nations. There are places in scripture where "mountain" does in fact reference the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, e.g. Micah 4:1. Below are two verses in Revelation in which John shows the target of these Gog and Magog armies as the “Camp of the Saints and the Beloved City”, the same group of peoples and place of residence Ezekiel calls the “Mountains of Israel”. Note he directly ties them to the Gog and Magog scenario and the invasion (encompassing) that ensues in these verses:

Rev 20:8 “and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.”

Rev 20:9 “And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them.”

Did you notice there’s no other way to correctly interpret this passage than this invasion occurs after the thousand years; also when Gog & Magog begin to transpire Christ’s millennial reign has ended?

The Sometimes Unrealized Relation of Ezekiel 38-39 to Revelation 20

Some are promoting that Ezekiel 38, 39 & Revelation 20 are not synonymous events, there is no biblical basis for that assertion and I would like to point out scripture that counters that myth. They're confused as separate events because of a commonly misunderstood perception of the millennial reign, but there is only one Gog and Magog invasion prophesied in the Bible. After sharing and scrutinizing this interpretation for years without any good counter argument, I see chronologically that the commonly referred to NT “last days” was a 1^st century fulfillment, which happened before the millennium (pre-millenial); and is what is often confused with Ezekiel's “latter years” after the millennium (post-millenial). The following are reasons why Ezekiel 38, 39 & Revelation 20 correlate to warrant as the same post millennium event:

1. Both books point to a future time in which a great many nations attack the people of God. For Ezekiel, these people are the restored house of Israel. For John, they are the camp of the saints and beloved city (v.9); the followers of Christ. Ezekiel states it's for “the latter years” not in his time but a future prophecy, likewise Revelation 20 “when the thousand(s) years is expired”.

2. Although most Christians have yet to grasp this point, Armageddon should not be viewed as something that is to occur in the future, but as God's first-century vengeance upon the Old Covenant Jews for their failure to acknowledge Christ as their promised Messiah culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD70. Ezekiel's latter years are NOT the commonly understood “last days (of the old Jewish covenant) event”, two totally different events. Ezekiel's “latter years” event, is the vengeance of Yahweh God (instead of Christ) and He does just the opposite of the last days event, because in this event Jerusalem, camp of the saints in Rev. 20:9, on the mountains of Israel are not destroyed like the 1^st century Armageddon event, but in complete contrast Yahweh God destroys their attackers and saves Jerusalem!

3. While it doesn't appear Ezekiel mentions the millennial reign of Christ directly like Revelation 20 does, he does in Ezekiel 37:26-28 & 38, 39 place great emphasis on the peaceful situation the mountains of Israel are found in for a long period of time. This must be attributed to Christ's heavenly reign over the earth (Revelation 5:10, 20:6) during this “thousand(s) [chilioi] years” (in this case about 2,000 yrs.) having an effect upon the earth up until about the 20^th century. Then, the following verse indicates this long period of time will elapse in Ezekiel 38:8 “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.”

4. Incidentally, Zechariah 14:6-11 parallels a portion of time in the millennial kingdom (v.11) and brings up the same situation in which the mountains of Israel find themselves in Ezekiel 28:26, 38:8 "dwelling safely and confidently" using the same Hebrew language and words:

Zechariah 14:11 And men shall dwell therein, and there shall be no more curse; but Jerusalem shall "dwell safely". Zechariah (a full exposition of chapters 12 – 14) for the first time known is explained from a future and preterist perspective in the book! Sound like a contradiction in terms? See how it is not.

5. Revelation 20 speaks of the nations encompassed, comprising Gog and Magog as coming from the “four corners of the earth” (v.8) while Ezekiel 38, 39 emphasizes that the enemies of “my people Israel” come from “the uttermost parts of the north” (38:6, 15; 39:2). It is a mistake to assume that the difference in the description of the geographical origin of those who attack God's people means that different sets of events are in view. The four corners of the earth (ehrets Hebrew word means land) in Revelation 20:8 as an ancient metaphor has strong indication as a reference to the cardinal points of the compass: N, S, E, W. Chuck Missler has argued these are different locations spoken of in these passages therefore are different events. However Ezekiel 38:5-6 speaks of the bands, hordes and other peoples with them, that originally migrated (and are actually still coming) from this biblical "four corners of the land" that correlates well with Revelation 20:8. Ezekiel's description in 39:2b "And I will bring you up from the recesses of the north, and will bring you on the mountains of Israel." speaks of the direction they are lured into this land they are invading as opposed to where these hordes originated, so there is no problem with either correlation as Chuck Missler wrongly asserts.

6. There’s a progression of events in both books that coincide and have a biblical basis too involved and consistent in history to be coincidence. In our book you will learn how this satan (better translated as “adversary”) has been let out of his prison for a little season (Rev 20:7-8) and how the events of Gog and Magog biblically had to immediately succeed, and according to the succession of recent events are on the world scene!

7. Ezekiel spoke of a time (before this invasion occurs) in which he was to prophesy to this malevolent Gog in Ezekiel 38:14b “Shall you not know in that day when My people Israel dwells securely?" indicating that millennial time (thousand(s) is used as a great expanse and often not literal) of peace for Israel in comparison to times of old. God's people were in that peaceful state of confidence right before the events of Rev 20:7 broke out!

8. John in Revelation 20 did not bring up Gog and Magog by coincidence, nor was he just drawing a comparison using ancient names as some assert, but was talking about that time Ezekiel spoke of when it would be fulfilled and identifies the perpetrators.

9. Ezekiel’s “latter years” (one passage in Ezekiel specified as “latter days” 38:16 can be described as “the latter days of the latter years”) which the YLT emphasizes well in Ezekiel 38:8 "After many days thou art appointed, In the latter end of the years... ".

A Faulty Premise in Mainstream Biblical Interpretation

There is a widespread tendency among readers of the Bible—including many who are considered to be authorities—to presume when Ezekiel refers to “the mountains of Israel” he's referring to modern day Israel/Palestine today. This presumption may seem feasible to some, but it is mistaken. Given that the events foretold in Ezekiel 38-39 correspond to those of Revelation 20:7-10, the traditional interpretation of these passages of Scripture are incorrect in at least these areas:

1. Christians that go along with these traditional assumptions are ignoring that this event is supposed to be after “the millennial reign of Jesus Christ”.

2. They misidentify Gog (not Russia).

3. They misidentify Israel. So it's not just the “land” and “people groups” they have wrong, but their chronological order as well.

If God was referring to “old covenant Israel” when He mentions “Mountains of Israel” in this Ezekiel prophecy, then why does He not just refer to them as just plain “Israel”, “my people Israel”, “children of Israel”, “House of Israel” as He did elsewhere in the OT? This is not to say God does not ever use the phrase “House of Israel” again, but usually more in a memorial sense for NT purposes.

1. In similar fashion, if the Apostle Paul was referring to old covenant Israel when naming new believers in the NT “Israel of God” why didn't he refer to them as just “Israel”?

2. Only modern day Israeli Jews have returned, not the combined 12 tribes as required: chapters 36 & 37 to fulfill this prophecy, they are only the House of Judah 2 southern tribes i.e. Jews.

3. Ezekiel 36:33-36 states that “in the day” (not at a later time after they possess the cities) these cities become inhabited their iniquities are cleansed. This cannot mean anti-Christ Jews, this is talking about a broad place and people with a new heart and God gives them His Spirit Eze 36:25-28. That He would be their God and them His people, this is NT Christian language.

God would have used the usual names and phrases for His people like “House of Israel” for this prophecy to be consistent with the past unless He was speaking of His people during a different time in a different place. God does not just use nebulous phrases to confuse us; He is not the author of confusion. In Gal 6:16 Paul is referring to the Israel of God who are of the new covenant, a “new creation (Christians)” who walk by the rule of the Christ and did not follow after the rudiments (elements of the temple, the law, etc. of the old heaven and earth) that were passing away in his (Paul's) day that consisted only of "vain genealogies (verse below), physical descendants". He was not speaking of “old covenant Israel” but he was talking about Christianity.

Tit 3:9, "But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain."

In the same manner as the Bible admonishes “vain and unprofitable genealogies” Jesus told the Pharisee's their lineage would not help them gain salvation. Not because they were Esau's lineage (still a son of Abraham) instead of Jacob's either, to those Israel identity groups out there. He meant ANY physical, fleshly lineage did NOT give them special status with God anymore. It seems clear from this perspective that the phrase “Israel of God” Paul used would then be synonymous with the often used NT phrase “Church or assembly of God” which no-one would likely argue is not referring to Christian's (1 Cor. 1:2, 10:32, 11:22, 15:9, 2 Cor. 1:1, Gal. 1:13, 1 Ti 3:5, Acts 20:28). Israel was “called out and sanctified” as the ecclesia.

Besides in Ezekiel, the Phrase “Mountains of Israel” absent elsewhere
in the Bible except in one questionable passage

Intriguingly, with few exceptions among translations of the Bible, the phrase “mountains of Israel” is found only in Ezekiel. After a lexicon search for the terms "Mountains of Israel" as a phrase, one will discover that the KJV, LITV and Websters are the few out of many translations that do use this particular phrase elsewhere, but in these two verses only:

(KJV) Jos 11:16a Thus Joshua took all this land: the mountain country, all the South, all the land of Goshen, the lowland, and the Jordan plain—the mountains of Israel and its lowlands,.....

Jos 11:21a And at that time came Joshua, and cut off the Anakims from the mountains, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the mountains of Judah, and from all the mountains of Israel:.. (Notice mountains of Israel and Judah are distinct here?)

IF the above translations are correct because the Hebrew words seem to be the same (seem to be, because there are instances where the original language has used the wrong Greek or Hebrew word and the YLT has caught it) could it be because this was one of the few times in history in which God was conquering His enemies for Israel (all 12 tribes) in which He was giving them the promise land and they would finally be living in it in peace (as America)? Keep in mind also it is Mountains (plural). These things could be, but the contention here is that the YLT has caught another error (in the Hebrew) and corrected it. Where are the original languages wrongly copied you say? Here's one example:

Most will clamor; I thought the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts were inerrant?! Actually only the original manuscripts which we don't have (except for a few such as the dead sea scrolls) are wholly Holy Inspired. The assertion is the original Greek and Hebrew are more correct than English translations, but apparently man has had some biased corruption that entered even into the original languages... (condensed for purposes of this article, but full exposition in my book)….

When these two verses in the book of Joshua are examined from many other translations they do not use the phrase "Mountains of Israel"....(the following condensed for purposes of this article)…

(ASV) Jos 11:16, 21 So Joshua took all that land, the hill-country....

(YLT) Jos 11:16, 21 And Joshua taketh all this land: the hill-country, and all the south....

Notice it's not there in the ASV or the YLT?! Keep in mind that these translations (the ASV and YLT) that "do NOT" use the phrase "Mountains of Israel" in the above two verses, "do" use the phrase in the book of Ezekiel. Why is this phrase so absent except for in the book of Ezekiel?

We are getting closer to the meaning of this important prophetic phrase!

If “the Mountains of Israel” are not present day
Palestine/Israel then What and Where could it be referring to?

In the Bible and incidentally in our political and religious world today, the name Israel is often taken for granted by Christian’s because in the Bible it is used in various manners:

• "Israel" is usually a people; seldom a 'land'

• Jacob was called Israel by God in the OT

• Israel as 10 northern tribes after Solomon's death and the 2 southern tribes then identified as the “House of Judah”

• The 12 tribes scattered abroad (mentioned in James 1:1)

• Israel of God in the NT has a different meaning than most strongly consider in their paradigm. Israel has an ultimate meaning once we get to the revelation of this peculiar phrase.

• "Mountains of Israel" may refer to the “nations” where the people of Israel live – wherever that may be (it does not have to be designated to Palestine where OT Israel lived, like most assume).

• Israel was not called “Israel as a nation” since the days of King David and shortly thereafter when all 12 tribes (before their tribal splits) were together living in peace. Yet the Jews today (only 2 tribes) have the audacity to call their alleged nation Israel. This would not be swallowed by so many if Christians had at least a decent working knowledge of OT Bible events.

Has the United States of America Become Thē “Mountain of Israel”?

Thē with a long sounding “e” for definitive article was purposely used in the subtitle above because America is thē primary Christian nation. Also, “Mountain” singular instead of the commonly used plural form of the word because there are other mountains plural, of Christianity besides America, but America is primary from this perspective. The NT Israel of OT prophets cannot be equated to the modern state of Israel, though there seems to be no shortage of people who want to make such a claim. The enemies of Christianity [thoroughly explained in Pt.2 entitled Master of Deception vol.1 of book], not the only adversary of Christianity helped enact the open immigration law of 1965 to make the USA a multicultural nation warring within its borders destroying what was the greatest nation of Christianity at that time, and they have not let up since. Why was not their focus south Africa or Western Europe? There are plenty of Christians that God loves in those nations as well. They knew America was the threat and therefore was their target. They had to try and stop America from surpassing their nation and status as a people. The Death of America was enacted in 1965 with the signing of the Open Immigration Law and the results have been clear. Since the massive Third World immigration that Zionist Jews were instrumental in deceiving the country into accepting, our culture has become divisive and can no longer practice the freedom it once could. The recent attack of our govt. with their lawsuits against AZ demonstrates this. The settlers’ culture our founding fathers instituted is just another interest group that must now lobby in Washington for its share of the "spoils". We have no precedence over, like other nations have for "their own people", we are called racist for that.

America is called the melting pot for having so many diverse cultures and peoples E pluribus unum, Latin for "Out of many One" was founded in 1776 as the Seal of the United States. This phrase was never meant to imply that the United States was a melting pot when that phrase was instated. The truth is, the greatest immigration (the fruits of the European immigration cannot be compared to the fruits of illegal immigration which is really an invasion, or any immigration for that matter today) of Caucasian settlers from many areas became one people, inspired by their Christian faith (and the fruits of their labor proved this); made the world‘s greatest infrastructure in the greatest Christian nation the world would ever see. The late Dr. D. James Kennedy would often remind us that God made America the greatest Christian Nation or she never could have been as such. Before the current invasion we are experiencing, our primarily Caucasian nation, after what many called providential victories fought on our homeland in the mid-eighteen hundreds had dwelt safely or confidently because of a state of peace as the verses in Ezekiel purport. The reference (Ezekiel 38:8) “the land that is brought back from the sword” may refer to the last civil wars fought on our homeland in the mid-eighteen hundreds.

Nonetheless, that's the way it was in America, before it was invaded by foreigners. The modern day nation of Israel does not fit this prophetic invasion; America does for many reasons (not just a few) throughout this prophecy. Many already believe Christian America is being overrun by such an invasion in our day. Pat Buchanan (as others, but I just happen to have a quote from him) is noted as stating in interviews that America is being invaded by the whole world: “America’s being invaded by millions of illegal immigrants every year, and it threatens the future of the country.” He addresses this issue of immigration in his brand new... it's called "State of Emergency: The Third Word Invasion, The Conquest of America." Amazingly many still do not see this invasion and naively believe there is no way our land could ever be invaded. Just a note here, this does not insinuate that law abiding non-Caucasians that contribute to society in a positive manner are any less Americans. This prophecy does not seem to be targeted against individuals, but towards groups or hordes perpetrating unlawful (criminal) acts upon God‘s people in the latter years.

Another reason the United States is poised for this future military (in addition to the current civilian army, in some places already military invasion) attack by all these Magog nations described is the relationship existing between the USA and modern Israel. U.S. Zionist have always and will continue to support the nation of modern day Israel, despite their many atrocities and deceit, because many wrongly believe these Zionist Jews are God's chosen people or a good democratic nation. Those with dispensational theology believe God could bless and support deceit and injustice in what they call modern day Israel, just because of their wrong eschatological beliefs. Christians cannot turn a blind eye to injustices of such proportions. The rest of the world obviously does not see things their way, so these deceptions make the U.S. a sitting duck for such a military attack by these Magog countries.

More evidence these prophecies are speaking of America referred to as “Mountains of Israel” and the identity of the invading hordes upon America are cross-referencing Ezekiel and Revelation passages we see much of the same people groups of invaders Ezekiel as Gog and Magog coming from ancient names and lands traced to what is described in this book as being in and closely around “the resistance belt”, which would include Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and southern parts of Russia. The mid and northern parts of Russia do not fit the ancient geographical regions of the tribal areas. The 10/40 window or resistant belt, covers the region that has the least amount of Christians located between 10° & 40° N of the equator. Most Muslim, Hindu, Communists, Buddhist people reside in this region. Revelation 20 identifies these same foreign Invaders from the same areas described as “the four corners of the land”. Discover in the book how the wording of this invasion fits perfectly with the invasion into America.

The Revelation of this Phrase “Mountains of Israel” Exposes Errors in
Different Eschatological Paradigms

The meaning of this obscure phrase “Mountains of Israel” has some profound implications we need to think about, for some prominent groups in Christianity today. For both dispensational futurists and for those with a preterist perspective on eschatology like myself (there is a proper form of preterism that does work and will be demonstrated, the following do not).

1. For the pre-millennial dispensationalist which believes Jesus has some future “second advent or coming” this phrase indicates (as we shall see) this Gog and Magog invasion can not be upon the Jews or the House of Judah (in the land of modern day Palestine/Israel today) as they so adamantly hold to because of the description of the route, besides Jews are not the House of Israel that the promise went to. A Jew “inwardly” is a Christian. The "House of Israel" in OT times (the 10 northern tribes after the split, they are confusing with the Jews—the 2 southern tribes) lost the Kingdom permanently since they were kicked out of the covenant with Yahweh God way back circa 726BC, and would only be promised a Christian kingdom for the future, not a restored old covenant type kingdom. The House of Judah ultimately lost their kingdom when they rejected Christ, culminating with the war that destroyed their city and temple circa AD70 and they would never get it back. Even though the “House of Judah's (Jews, NOT Israel)” back in the land today (a prophecy entirely different than what 99.99% think it is, explained in Pt.2 of subtitle Master of Deception) it's not what Christians think. Pre-millennial dispensationalists need to seriously rethink their eschatology. Let that sink in.

2. For the “Full and Hyper Preterist” that holds to “all things were fulfilled in 70AD” this Gog and Magog prophecy either could not have happened yet, is still to happen or IS happening now. It can't be a first century fulfillment as they assert because these Magog nations never came against the House of Judah while they still had the kingdom which Preterists well know did ultimately lose when they rejected Jesus Christ circa AD70. Besides that they were not the whole 12 tribe House “in the land” as required. Their house of cards falls when they try to put this between 30-70AD or even before. We will soon reveal that this has to be a post Christian phrase and event, when Christians would be “in their own land” as a people and a nation (Ezekiel 36:24, 28, 34-36, 37:22, 38:8, 16, 18, 39:26, 28 and other places). That's “Christian's in their own land” (specificity), not old covenant Israel in their own land. This was for a time when the shadow of Christianity would become the reality after the Kingdom of Christ had been established and satan better translated adversary (the unbelieving Jews, adversary of Christianity) had been crushed and bound [not completely destroyed] (Rom. 16:20), post 70AD. Also, to the Preterist that tries to squeeze the millennium between 30-70AD, the term thousand(s) is always used in the Bible as a huge (not a small generational 40 year term) stretch of quantity or time, it is not used otherwise when it is not used as a literal thousand; and in this case it's a “plural of uncertain affinity or thousands”. So full and hyper preterists have to satisfactorily answer to these issues or show their paradigm as fatally flawed.

3. “For the Partial Preterist” that holds to “Jesus has some second advent or coming”, when Ezekiel penned that phrase "Mountains of Israel" he said it would be in the "latter years" not for his time and not within the time frame of the old covenant as we shall soon see. In Ezekiel's day Israel whom the promise was to had already lost their kingdom and status with Yahweh God for over a century and would not get it back until Messiah which they already did anyway, so this has to be a post old covenant fulfillment (Gen 49:10, Hos 1:11, Ezekiel 37:14ff) since it's for a Christian people in their own land. The “Reign of Christ” had to be established in order for this phrase “Mountains of Israel” to have any significance, since there could not be anyone living that would be anti-Christ after their (the partial preterists) idea of a millennium. Their idea of a millennium (much like the dispensationalist) is basically “paradise restored” since Christ is reigning on earth according to them. If they say otherwise, that there can be sinful human beings during the millennium as asserted here, then this position works also; Christ does not have to be here physically to reign over the Earth.

All of these prominent Christian groups, in light of this prophetic phrase alone have had their “people groups”, their “chronological sequence of events”, and their “location of events” mixed up and now need to have answers to these dilemmas in their eschatology!!

“The Mountains of Israel” as a Metaphoric Phrase

It sounds ambiguous but the fact is the Bible does use metaphors; therefore in a sense the naming is sometimes non-literal but the thought conveyed is literal. The Apostle John uses the apt metaphor “Sodom & Egypt” in a similar fashion in the sense that he calls different places by different names to describe the spiritual condition of latter-day Jerusalem (Rev. 11:8, cp. Gal. 4:25). Likewise Ezekiel uses this cryptic phrase "Mountains of Israel" to describe a different people and places then most Christians are accustomed to thinking of when they hear the word Israel.

The Apostle John's metaphor is to be understood quite literally. If the reader has a decent working knowledge of the OT, the reader understands the similarity of sin between Sodom & Egypt and Jerusalem in the 1^st century. That is the context; the context is not identifying names of ancient countries and cities with their historical names. If someone says it is raining cats and dogs, even though the words are allegorical, the concept is to be taken “literally” that there is a torrential downpour outside; this would not mean they are a non-literalist.

Here Peter describes these scattered Gentiles of Israelite believers as a holy nation:

1Pe 2:9, “But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:”

Let's consider this phrase as literal for a moment. The Huachuca Mountains are just north of the Mexican Border and often used as a passage route for illegal aliens (Of different nationalities sometimes posing as Mexican after learning key words and dialects of the language!). The Huachuca Mountains are directly west of the city of Sierra Vista, AZ. These mountains range in elevation from 3,934 feet… To look at this phrase literally would mean God destroys the invading armies "upon the mountains of Israel" as stated in Ezekiel 39:4 above. Even the mass of this mountain range does not seem to support the vast amount of hordes from many nations this prophecy seems to purport. There are other mountain ranges surrounding the US but Arizona has been the main gateway for these invaders up until now and fits the description of the route of this invasion and final military attack where God decimates these armies. Maybe this scenario is part of the scheme of things, but still does not negate the metaphoric emphasis elsewhere this prophetic phrase is used.

We are getting to the climatic meaning of this important prophetic phrase!

The Ultimate Meaning of Israel

In the following four verses we see the correlation of Gods' righteousness, the terms Kingdom, Nations and His Holy City (God, His people in their place of dwelling) to the metaphor "Mountains."

Psa 36:6a “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains;”.. is a great attestation to NT Christians, Christ being our righteousness. In the next 3 verses we see more of the correlation between God's Holy City, and His righteousness with "Mountains."

Jer 31:23b, "Jehovah bless thee, O habitation of righteousness, O mountain of holiness."

Dan 9:16a, "O Lord, I pray to You, according to all Your righteousness, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain." (Jerusalem not a literal mountain)

Psa 48:1, "A Song and Psalm for the sons of Korah. Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness." (City of our God, a metaphoric mountain of Holiness)

Jesus Christ is not only our righteousness (righteousness a metaphor for "mountains"), but our spiritual life support (the vine, we are the branches). He's the head and calls the followers/Christians His body. Jesus is "The King Sheppard of Israel" He said He came not but for the "lost sheep of the house of Israel". Without Him there is no Israel today because He is the Kinsman Redeemer of Israel. Those lost sheep became gentiles or “people of the nations” from which many again would become God’s people through the Christ, Hosea and other passages.

Now, in Galatians, Paul spoke of the “seed” in a singular fashion not plural as the Pharisees thought when they shouted “we are of Abraham’s seed,” but singular meaning "The Shepherd":

Gal 3:16, “But the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his Seed (it does not say, And to seeds, as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' which is Christ" [Genesis 3:15; 21:12; 22:18, Rom. 9:6; Heb. 11:18]).

The same emphasis when speaking of Israel is put on the Christ, which also puts the emphasis on Christians, hence the "Mountains of Israel" becomes "Kingdom of Christ” includes Christianity!! There you have it! Here's more biblical emphasis on Jesus Christ as the epitome of the fulfillment of Israel to further back up the revelation of this phrase:

Isa 49:3, “and said to Me, You are My servant, Israel, You in whom I shall be glorified.”

John 5:39, “Ye search the scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me;” (ASV)

Jesus Christ is indeed the Israel of scripture. Mountains representing Kingdoms brings us to the conclusion the terms “Mountains of Israel”, denotes the “Kingdom of Christ” and/or “Nation of Christendom” in light of 1 Pet 2:9 and other passages. As Christians we cannot honestly ignore the obvious metaphoric manner in which this phrase was purposely devised by God for us to figure out.

Now that we have unveiled the meaning of this important phrase let's again compare Ezekiel to Revelation 20 which speaks of the nations encompassed by the wording Gog & Magog coming from the “four corners of the earth (land of EurAsia)” (v.8) Ezekiel 38,39 emphasize that the enemies of my people Israel (38:14,16) come from the uttermost parts of the north (peoples that came from the lands of Europe-Asia....(condensed for article)...Discover in the book why these descriptions in Revelation 20 & Ezekiel 38, 39 all coincide perfectly to the invasion of our homeland USA!

More proof from the book of Daniel

Dan 2:35 “Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were together broken to pieces, and they became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away so that no place was found for them. And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.”

The stone that struck this image described in the verse we just read was written to symbolically be the representative of what would become the 5th kingdom. This 5th kingdom was none other than the Kingdom of Christ which began, circa 70AD, when the Kingdom was taken away from the House of Judah. Matt 21:43 Jesus refers to the Jews (NOT the House of Israel dispersed among the nations then) and their city and temple was destroyed signifying that end of the old Jewish covenant with God.

Hence we have the Kingdom which the God of Heaven set up representing "the Mountains of Israel (Christianity)". Remember, in Ezekiel's day Israel had already lost their kingdom and status with Yahweh God for over a century! And it cannot be referring to the "House of Judah (Jews)" since these Magog nations never came against them before God took away their kingdom circa AD70. The only one left after that is "the Kingdom of Christ & Christianity”!

Dan 2:44 “And in the days of these kings, the God of Heaven shall set up a kingdom (not a man-made kingdom) which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.”

A CONCLUDING WORD

In light of what was just discussed, this mysterious phrase God inspired Ezekiel to write we now know was to be what He had planned or foresaw for a far future prophecy when the shadow of His plan would become the reality (in the latter years Ezekiel 38:8) which was the reality of Christianity. You've seen the documented motives of our enemies by the open immigration laws imposed upon us to destroy what had become the world's greatest Christian Nation. Why “Mountains of Israel” can be a metaphoric phrase, seldom if ever literal mountains and not the old covenant people. We've built an argument for America as the proper interpretation as a “Nation of Christendom” also fitting biblical metaphoric vernacular. We've also established with this once concealed phrase why Dispensational Futurists and Preterists need to change their views, whether they agree with final conclusions or not. The phrase “Mountains of Israel” made sense to God then (maybe not to His people, if any of them understood it at the time Ezekiel penned it), and should mean the same thing to us today that God understood it to mean way back then, in the following manner.

Mountains of Israel = Kingdom of Christ = Righteousness of Christianity (mountain is a metaphor for righteousness and Christ is our righteousness) = Reign (Kingdom) of Anointed One(s) (Christ and Christians) = Camp of the Saints and the Beloved City (Rev. 20:9) = Kingdom of Christianity = Nation of Christendom

Any way you slice it the results of this metaphoric phrase (from scripture) are clear!!

correspondences for the book: shauk100@gmail.com or 262.763.3220

© 2012 Steven Haukdahl - All Rights Reserved