<p>20:8 <i>And shall come to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog-</i> The similarities with Ez. 38/9 are so strong; an unsuccessful invasion of God's land when His people are in &quot;peace and safety&quot; (a phrase elsewhere used about the Kingdom), and destruction by fire. According to the usual view of Rev. 20, this similarity means absolutely nothing. This cannot be correct exposition. There must be a connection; surely this must refer to the same invasion? It would be the scenario of Psalm 2, where the nations of the land come against the Lord and His people in Jerusalem, after the type of the Assyrians surrounding Hezekiah in Jerusalem. Gog in Ezekiel 38 refers to an individual, not a nation. Is this man Gog to lead an attack against Jerusalem at the beginning <i>and </i>end of a 1,000 year reign?</p><p><i>&quot;</i>Shall come to&quot; should be as AV: &quot;Shall go out&quot;- implying the bottomless pit is a geographical area? Satan deceives the &quot;nations&quot; but 21:1 says that when the Kingdom is established, there will be no more sea, no more nations. Therefore this must be appropriate to the beginning of the Kingdom. During the setting up period, the nations come up to worship Christ, as often prophesied in the O.T.;&nbsp;however, they are described as entering into the city (21:24-27), i.e. attaining immortality through their faith and obedience. The dragon &quot;will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth/ land&quot; (RSV). The Gog / Magog invasion comes from those dwelling in the &quot;isles&quot; (Ez. 39:6); but this Greek phrase often means Gentile areas on the borders of the land (Is. 41:5; Jer. 47:4; and &quot;the isles&quot; in Ezekiel refer to lands bordering the land of promise). Abraham was from the sides of the land of Israel (Is. 41:8,9), the margins of the land of promise- from where the final invasion will come. There is triple emphasis on his deception (:3,8,10). He continues the work of the false prophet, after the false prophet is put into the lake of fire. The dragon carries on his work; the false prophet is Babylon (19:20), who also deceived (18:23). The bottomless pit, where the rebellion comes from, is therefore at the borders of the land. The Kingdom of God is fundamentally based upon the land of Israel.</p><p>The dragon was a deceiver back in 12:9, and still is, as Jezebel in the early church deceived (2:20). The dragon of chapter 12 is cast down at Christ's return; the description of the dragon being cast into the pit is an amplification of this. When the dragon is thrown down in chapter 12, he persecutes those of the land (natural Israel?) and the sea (the nations?) for &quot;a short time&quot; (12:12)- the &quot;little season&quot; of 20:3? The dragon is cast out of heaven in 12:9- meaning that he is thrown out of the 'heavens' of the land of Israel (or the temple specifically), into the earth / world.&nbsp;</p><div align=center><table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p><b>Rev. 12</b></p>            </td>            <td width=96 valign=top>            <p><b>Rev. 20</b></p>            </td>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p><b>Comment</b></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>The dragon persecutes the woman for 3&frac12; years</p>            </td>            <td width=96 valign=top>                        </td>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>The tribulation before Christ's coming</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>Thrown out of the temple / land of Israel   (heaven) to the earth / rest of the world</p>            </td>            <td width=96 valign=top>            <p>Dragon cast to the abyss</p>            </td>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>Christ comes to throw the man of sin out of his   place in 'heaven' (2 Thess. 2)</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>There for a while until he realizes he has a   short time</p>            </td>            <td width=96 valign=top>            <p>Chained</p>            </td>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>Setting up of the Kingdom</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>Makes war with the saints for another 3&frac12; years,   replicating the holocaust, also involving suffering for the sea (nations) and   the land-dwellers (natural Israel?)</p>            </td>            <td width=96 valign=top>            <p>Makes war with the saints; aims&nbsp;for   Jerusalem.</p>            </td>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>Rebellion; the invasion of Ez. 38 and maybe Joel   3; the desire for the temple in Joel 3 would then be another similarity   between the rebellion and the invasion prior to Christ's return.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td width=231 valign=top>                        </td>            <td width=96 valign=top>            <p>Destroyed by fire</p>            </td>            <td width=231 valign=top>            <p>The Ez. 38/39 invasion is destroyed in two   stages; five sixths are destroyed first, then the final sixth- by fire.</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p><i>To gather them together to the war. The number of them is as the sand of the sea</i>- They are gathered to &quot;<i>the</i> battle&quot; (RV)- the final battle which the OT prophets so often mention. They are a false seed of Abraham, as the sand of the sea. Jihadists claim to be the true seed of Abraham, and Jews and Christians are the false seed.</p>