are destroyed as the entire human society of God-ignoring people is annihilated.

47. In what sense will Jehovah sanctify himself before the eyes of all the nations, and before their destruction what will they know?

⁴⁷ Before the eyes of all the nations under Gog of Magog Jehovah will thus magnify himself, displaying himself as the Greatest in all the realm of the living. He will sanctify himself, proving that He is holy and not in sympathy with any part of this unholy system of things. He will make himself known otherwise than just on the pages of the Holy Bible. The stubborn-minded nations under Gog will be forced to see that such a world catastrophe could come from only the One who foretold it and warned of doing it. Facing destruction at His hand, they will, just before they go down into it, know what He said, “know that I am Jehovah.”

Chapter 20

Land of Magog No More to Threaten Mankind

1. After the defeat of Gog’s attack on Jehovah’s worshipers, what “land” must come in for attention, and what might persons who could get sucked in with that attack well do now?

THE unseen base of operations from which Gog launches his attack upon the spiritual “Israel of God” is the “land of Magog.” This “land” must come in for attention after Gog’s militant forces on earth have been crushed in defeat. Thus the unseen inhabitants of the “land of Magog” must witness first the disastrous defeat of the devilish campaign against the spiritually prosperous worshipers of Jehovah. The nations and peoples whom Gog allies with himself in the campaign gain, not glory, but only undying shame, out of this impious campaign. All persons who might yet get sucked into that coming campaign against Jehovah’s Christian witnesses would now do well to consider what He says by Ezekiel to the Gog by whom they might get recruited:

2. From where would Jehovah cause Gog to come, what would He do to Gog’s weapons, and what would He do with Gog’s fallen peoples?

² “And as regards you, O son of man, prophesy against Gog, and you must say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah has said: “Here I am against you, O Gog, you head chieftain of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you around and lead you on and cause you to come up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you in upon the mountains of Israel. And I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and your arrows I shall cause to fall out of your own right hand. On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your bands and the peoples that will be with you. To birds of prey, birds of every sort of wing, and the wild beasts of the field I will give you for food.”’”—Ezekiel 39:1-4.

3. Why has Jehovah good reason to be against Gog, for what that will openly justify him in taking action on Gog does He wait, and how will his slain hordes be disposed of?

³ Jehovah has good reason to be against Gog of Magog because of that one’s hostile attitude against Jehovah’s faithful worshipers coupled with his constant readiness to despoil such worshipers. Gog deserves destruction, and at the due time Jehovah seeks an overt act on Gog’s part, an act that will be glaringly manifest to heaven and earth, that all may agree that Jehovah has just cause for destroying Gog. Jehovah catches him right on the spot, engaged in his outrageous depredations, and knocks his means of warfare out of his power. No decent burial with military honors is promised for the slain hordes under Gog as their “head chieftain.” For carrion birds and beasts they will lie exposed for food. With reference to their inglorious outcome we read further: “‘Upon the surface of the field you will fall, for I myself have spoken,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.” (Ezekiel 39:5) Gog’s fallen hordes will never return home in triumph!

4. Where is the “land of Magog,” and what does it constitute for earth’s inhabitants?

⁴ What, though, about the location where this vicious God-defying attack on Jehovah’s restored people was conceived, up there in “the remotest parts of the north”? This is the invisible realm of Satan the Devil and his demons at the earth since their being ousted from heaven after being defeated in the war in heaven. This debased location at the earth is a menace, a continuous threat to mankind and a source of woe to earth and sea, and it must be done away with. Jehovah will wipe out this threat to the peace and security of earth’s inhabitants, for he goes on to say:

5. How does Jehovah say that he will wipe out that threat to earth’s peace and security?

⁵ “And I will send fire upon Magog and upon those who are inhabiting the islands in security; and people will have to know that I am Jehovah. And my holy name I shall make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I shall no more let my holy name be profaned; and the nations will have to know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One in Israel.”—Ezekiel 39:6, 7.

6. Will any place be too remote to feel the execution of Jehovah’s judgments, and how will he consume the land of Magog by sending “fire on Magog”?

⁶ No place will be too isolated, for instance, islands, so as not to feel the execution of Jehovah’s judgments for having any part or any sympathy with the antichristian attack by Gog of the land of Magog. No, not even the most remote location, “the land of Magog” itself. How will Jehovah consume this locality by sending “fire upon Magog”? By ridding this invisible place of restraint at the earth of its occupants, namely, of Satan the Devil and the demons over which he is the “head chieftain.” This riddance follows the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon, foretold in Revelation 16:14, 16; 19:11-21, and is described in Revelation 20:1-3, as follows: “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven with the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he seized the dragon, the original serpent, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. And he hurled him [away from his place of detention at the earth] into the abyss and shut it and sealed it over him, that he might not mislead the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After these things he must be let loose for a little while.”

7. Why will the people no longer be in position to profane Jehovah’s name regarding spiritual Israel, and in what knowledge will his taking action result?

⁷ This wiping out finally of the symbolic “land of Magog” will mean a sweeping victory for Jehovah, and those persons who will not have taken their stand for His Messianic kingdom will be made to realize that they are on the side that is resisting and fighting against the Sovereign Lord of the universe. By having His judicial decisions executed upon them such people “will have to know that I am Jehovah,” as he has declared. No more will they be in position to profane Jehovah’s name by asserting that He is too weak to protect his people from worldly attack and to defend his earthly interests with success. By his preserving and delivering his Christian witnesses during the final assault by Gog of Magog, Jehovah will as never before make his name known in the midst of spiritual Israel that has suffered international reproach. As the last relics of this ungodly system of things go down into destruction the effect is bound to be just as He has decreed: “The nations will have to know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One in Israel.”—Ezekiel 39:7.

8. When Gog’s forces are defeated, for whom will it be a “great day”?

⁸ That will be an unforgettable “great day” for this Holy One of Israel when he defeats the innumerable hordes that make up the earthly attack forces of Gog, their “guard” and “head chieftain.”

DISPOSAL OF WAR EQUIPMENT AND DEAD BODIES

9. How does Jehovah indicate the vast quantity of war equipment used by Gog’s hordes on earth, and how will Jehovah’s people use the war relics?

⁹ Some idea of the vast war equipment that these hordes of people will have can be gained from how long it will take for the combustible parts of them to be disposed of. The long time needed for this Jehovah sets out in his next words: “‘Look! It must come and it must be brought to be,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah. ‘This is the day of which I have spoken. And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel will certainly go forth and burn and build fires with the armor and bucklers and large shields,—with the bows and with the arrows and with the handstaves and with the lances; and with them they will have to light fires seven years. And they will not carry sticks of wood from the field, nor will they gather firewood out of the forests, for with the armor they will light fires.’” (Ezekiel 39:8-10) After Jehovah’s victory his people will adapt the materials of any remaining war relics of the nations to useful purposes.

10. With what intent do Gog’s hordes attack the God-given spiritual estate, but how do matters turn out?

¹⁰ The innumerable hordes under Gog of Magog attacked the spiritual estate of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses with the intent to despoil them, but it proves to be just the opposite: “‘And they will certainly make spoil of those who had been making spoil of them, and plunder those who had been plundering them,’ is the utterance of the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”—Ezekiel 39:10.

11, 12. What questions arise as to disposal of the bodies of “those slain by Jehovah,” and what arrangement does Jehovah say that he will make regarding Gog’s crowd?

¹¹ As it were, the attack forces under Gog of Magog dig their own graves by attacking the God-given estate of Jehovah’s Christian witnesses on earth. But how will comparatively few survivors of the “war of the great day of God the Almighty” at Har–Magedon be able to bury “those slain by Jehovah” who will lie “in that