Do the dates given in the account of Noah and the flood provide us with a clue about when the Gog/Magog war in Ezekiel 38/39 might begin?
A hypothesis
Matthew 24:37-39 “But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
Luke 17: 26-27 “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”
These two sets of scripture were written by Matthew and Luke to record Yeshua’s answer. The two chapters which these verses come from are filled with information He gives to us about what to watch for as His return nears. Specifically in the verses noted above, He admonishes us to be watchful for the lifestyle and culture of the world to be similar to that which occurred during the time of Noah. This is reflected in His words “as it was in the DAYS of Noah”. Therefore, we have been watchful to see the correlation of the eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage of Noah’s day to our day and age.
Yet…there is much more about the account of Noah that correlates and gives us further clues to be watchful for. Take a look at these two verses again. As already noted, Yeshua begins by speaking about “the DAYS of Noah” which is a reference to the age that Noah lived in and implies the lifestyle and culture of that time. Then, Yeshua becomes very specific when He states “until the DAY Noah entered the ark”. This is a very special clue which Yeshua has given to us.
And it is very intriguing. There must be something about “the DAY Noah entered the ark” that we are to check out. Is there something specifically mentioned about this day? Let’s check out the account of Noah and the flood in the book of Genesis.
The account begins in Genesis 6, but we will fast forward to Genesis 7 which details the start of the flood. In Genesis 7:11-13, it reads: “ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.”
Yeshua used the language of the Torah’s account of Noah as part of His teaching to tell us to look at this account to discover there is a specific date mentioned: ‘the seventeenth day of the second month’.
In Noah’s time, the counting of the months began with the creation month. This is well understood to be the month of Tishri in which Yom Teruah (Feast of Trumpets), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) takes place. The new moon on Tishri begins Yom Teruah and begins the Hebraic civil calendar. Therefore, in this capacity, Tishri is the first month. The second month that follows Tishri is Cheshvan.
Therefore, we can determine that the flood began on the 17th day of the month of Cheshvan. When we apply that to our current Gregorian calendars, Cheshvan 17 falls in the months of October/November. The following chart should make this clearer. It is interesting to note that the events of the flood were held off until AFTER the dates for the fall festival season. Keep that in mind as we look at all this from the prophetic angle further in this hypothesis.
This date of the second month on the 17th day appears only in one other book titled “The Book of Jubilees” specifically in Jubiliees 3:17. This verse speaks about the account of Adam and Eve who are visited by hasatan on the 2nd month on the 17th day. It is on this day that the Book of Jubilees says they succumbed to his influence by choosing to eat the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (see “A Game-Changer Anomoly about our Understanding of the Original Sin”).
Could it be that Elohim has another day on his calendar (that’s separate from the seven festivals) which He has set aside for a special purpose? On the same day that man sinned in the Garden of Eden and the same day that the judgment started with the flood, could this same day also pertain to the start the final end-time portion of His plan for mankind?
It is clear that Yeshua wants us to know this date of Cheshvan 17. As noted in the chart above, Cheshvan happens during the Gregorian months of October/November. This date and season are important to remember as we proceed through the rest of this hypothesis pertaining to the connection of the dates of Noah’s flood to the Gog/Magog War in Ezekiel 38-39.
Having the date of Cheshvan 17 is one part, but in order to understand a more complete correlation between Noah and Ezekiel 38/39, we will also need to gather clues from other prophetic scriptures such as Daniel 11. This is the account of the multiple battles between the king of the south with the king of the north throughout history. What’s interesting for this hypothesis is the climax of Daniel 11 which details the king of the north winning the final war against the king of the south and then eventually moving upon The Land (Israel) to shut down the altar and set up the abominations (v31). Yes, you read that right…it is the king of the north (aka, the prince of the people, the beast, etc.) who shuts down the altar and sets up abominations. This verse and other scriptures** provide the clues we have already come to understand as the trigger of the great tribulation and the start of the greater exodus. The most significant of these clues is the shutting down of the altar and the setting up of the abominations.
Knowing that the king of the north** shuts down the altar (the daily sacrifices), that means there must first be an altar that is operational and performing these daily sacrifices. At present, there is no such event taking place on the Temple Mount since the area is controlled by the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf under Jordanian custodianship. To have an altar built, dedicated and operational with daily sacrifices can only be accomplished with the Temple Mount in the control of Israel. Sacrifices done anywhere else do not qualify.
How will Israel regain control of the Temple Mount? It is well understood that the Gog/Magog War in Ezekiel 38 and 39 describes the event that will lead to Israel regaining control of the Temple Mount. Elohim Himself says He will draw Gog/Magog to The Land and destroy them. With this accomplished, He gives His people clear access to worship Him at the place where He has placed His name.
Though it’s not mentioned, we can conclude that the Gog/Magog War described in Ezekiel 38/39 brings about the ability for the setting up of the altar and starting of the daily sacrifices in Jerusalem. And that later on, it is another war that happens between the king of the north and the king of the south that results in the shutting down of the altar and sacrifices.
How does a flood with water correlate with an invasion of Israel?
The usage of the word ‘flood’ can be metaphoric as well as literal. There are multiple scriptures throughout that use this term metaphorically to refer to an army coming against The Land. In the Noah’s Ark account, we are seeing the literal usage of the word.
In Genesis 7:17 the word for ‘flood’ is the Hebrew word mabbuwl [Strong’s H3999] whose root word is yabal [Strong’s 2986] which gives the meaning of “to flow, to bear along, etc.” We have many recent news reports of major floods happening all over the world that confirm this description. A flood is devastating and brings annihilation as it moves across the land.
Whether it is water or an army, both have the attributes ‘to flow’ and ‘bear along’. With a read through the scriptures of Ezekiel 38 and 39, we find references to the attributes of a flood in relation to how an invasion operates.
Yeshua speaks about the flood during Noah’s time in Matthew 24:37-39. We know that all scripture has layers of understanding which is called the PaRDeS. Yeshua is giving us the literal reference to the flood of water, but could He also be giving us a Remez (hint) about an army that will flood into The Land? Since we already know that the Gog/Magog War in Ezekiel 38/39 may well take place to enable Israel to finally set up the altar and the daily sacrifice and begin building the Third Temple; the description of how the Gog/Magog war plays out adds a further level of certainty about this happening. The Gog/Magog War is described with language that is ‘flood-like’. as being like a storm. Here is the verse:
“And you shall go up, coming like a storm (or flood), covering the land like a cloud, you and all your bands and many peoples with you.” Ezekiel 38:9
The word “storm” is Strongs 7722, “sho” and it means tempest or devastation The word “cloud” is Strongs 6051, “anan” and it means, “as covering the sky” The word “covering” is Strongs 3680, “kacah” and it means, “to plump, to fill up the hollows, to cover for clothing or secrecy.
Interestingly, the Hebrew root word for storm means “to rush over”, which is exactly what a flood does.
We get a picture that in the same way the waters of the flood covered the whole earth, a band of nations will come against Israel, like a SUDDEN STORM, a TEMPEST, with plans of devastation. Their bands and troops of men will cover the entire land of Israel just as water covers dry land.
For added emphasis that this will be a sudden storm, Elohim (through Ezekiel) gives us two scriptures as evidence that the war will erupt quickly. Ezekiel 38:4 say this; “I [Elohim] will turn you [Gog/Magog] about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords;”
And again in Ezekiel 39:2 “and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.”
What could be the hooks that Elohim uses? Ezekiel 38:10 to 13 gives us a hint. ‘This is what the Lord God says: “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan, 11 and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, who live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates, 12 to capture spoils and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who live at the center of the world.’ 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoils? Have you assembled your contingent to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to capture great spoils?’”’
The purpose is to quickly capture spoils and seize plunder. What could it be that Israel has and Gog/Magog might want so desperately that they would devise an evil plan and enact it quickly? Natural resources, specifically oil and natural gas, which Israel has in abundance in the maritime oil and gas fields off their coastline. Currently, there are three oil and gas fields under Israeli control called the Levianthan, the Tamar and the Karish fields, which began full extraction operations in 2019. The northern Karish field required diplomatic agreements with Turkey and Lebanon which were settled in 2022.
Europe is forecasting that it will be a struggle to acquire oil and natural gas in 2023 as their reserves deplete to critical levels and will not be sufficient for the 2023/2024 winter according to an IEA article of November, 2022. With Russian supplies sharply cut due to its war with Ukraine and China increasing its demand for supplies as it comes out of pandemic lockdowns, there will be less oil and gas available on the market. Europe is growing increasingly anxious of its ability to keep its economy going if its supply levels are not maintained. The Leviathan Basin oil and gas off Israel’s coast are considered to be rich deposits and will provide oil and gas for years.
In September 2022, Israel indicated it will be able to supply about 10% of what would have been received from Russia according to Reuters News. Will that satisfy Europe? Apparently not. According to scripture, thoughts will come into their heads and they will devise an evil plan against Israel. And they will come against Israel like a storm “that rushes over” and covers like a cloud as mentioned in verse 9 of Ezekiel 38. Again, that is flood-like language.
So now we have determined two pieces of evidence that correlates the flood that happened in Noah’s day with the Gog/Magog war. When God/Magog comes as a flood upon The Land to destroy Israel, Elohim turns it around and destroys them. The people of Israel are then free to build the Third Temple and to dedicate and start up an altar on the Temple Mount and begin the daily sacrifices (so that it will be shut down in the future). It has been determined that the probable day and time frame for this Gog/Magog invasion could take place on Cheshvan 17 and that 40 days later (Kislev 27) is the start of the daily sacrifices.
Translating that to Gregorian calendar dates, we could see the Gog/Magog war happen in October 31/November 1, 2023, based on the one clue given in Ezekiel 39:9 about 7 years of using the spoils of war. This can only be done as a time of peace and plenty. A seven year time of plenty?! That is reminiscent of the account of Joseph with the 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. Interestingly, Amos 8:11 states there will be a time of famine (of the hearing of the word of Elohim) as we progress into the end times.
So, this indicates there will be a repeat of what happened with Joseph. Let's break it down into dates. The quick explanation is this: in 1967 on the Shavuot just days after the Six Day War, the 70 Week's prophecy of Daniel 9 began. Count forward 70 Shavuot's (one Shavuot per year) and we arrive at 2037 (which is when the altar is shut down and the 3.5 year tribulation begins). To discover when the Gog/Magog war starts within the 70 Weeks, we count backward 7 years to 2030 (time of famine) and then a further 7 years back (time of plenty). This brings us to 2023. And as already stated in this article, it will probably happen as a repeat of the day of the start of Noah's flood.
Therefore it is clear that Cheshvan 17 which is October 31/November 1, 2023 is the start of the Gog/Magog war followed by 40 days to Kislev 27 (December 5/6, 2023) which will be the starting up of the altar in the Temple Mount and the building of the Third Temple.
The graphic above details the timing points of the period from the start of the 70 weeks/years prophecy to the completion of the 1335 days after the start of the tribulation. Clearly, Cheshvan 17 plays a significant role as a day which Elohim uses for Their plan.
Let this mind be in you that is in Messiah Yeshua.