Certain conditions will be in existence at the end of days when certain other things happen. In this way, we can look at the end and work backward to the present. For example, Ezekiel tells us that when the Gog-Magog battle occurs, Israel will be dwelling securely with no walls or gates, she will be at peace, she will be seen to have an exceedingly great army, she will dwell in the midst of the land, and she will be extremely wealthy. (Ezekiel 38:11-12b). Many people believe that for this to be in place it means that the Psalm 83 battle will have already taken place, and Israel will have defeated the Palestinians, Jordanians, Sinai Egyptians, Lebanese, and Saudi Arabians. She will not need borders because she will have defeated all her neighboring enemies.
An interesting note is that the verse describing Israel dwelling in the midst of the land means they would be dwelling in land with borders that God outlined to Abraham in Genesis 15:18. It would mean that in Israel’s defeat of the enemy confederacy that Israel would reclaim all that land as originally intended for her to have. (Read Obadiah 1 for context). (Note- map below outlines the Land given to Abraham and to Abraham’s descendants, known as the Abrahamic Covenant) The map below that is the same map using modern nations as a reference. It’s almost completely aligned correctly with the borders given in Genesis, except the actual red line on the eastern border should go all the way over to the Euphrates. But otherwise it’s pretty close.)
In Ezekiel 38:12 God is talking and speaking out loud the dastardly plot that Israel’s enemies are fomenting in secret thoughts. He says they will say, “I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.” The Hebrew words in the verse for cattle and goods actually say “have acquired cattle and goods” or “which have gotten cattle and goods.” The verse speaks of spoils and plunder and booty, typically things that are acquired in war. The verse doesn’t say “Israel has goods and cattle,” it says they have acquired it. It is logical to think that after the Psalm 83 war Israel reclaims the land God originally gave her, along with all the things in and on that land, like livestock and goods.
Taking this a step further, Israel would indeed be extremely wealthy if she has not only the wealth she recently produced herself, not only has the wealth that she is soon to enjoy due to the discovery of the huge natural gas and enormous oil reserves in her land and just off shore, not only wealthy beyond imagining from having acquired all of Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Jordan’s and Egypt’s wealth, but there is another possible wealth just off the horizon.
The Copper Scroll.
“The Copper Scroll is one of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Cave 3 near Khirbet Qumran, but differs significantly from the others. Whereas the other scrolls are written on parchment or papyrus, this scroll is written on metal: copper mixed with about 1 percent tin. Unlike the others, it is not a literary work, but a list of locations at which various items of gold and silver are buried or hidden.” [Wikipedia] It is thought that the silver and gold mentioned in the Copper Scroll ‘treasure map’ were from the Temple before the Romans came to destroy it.
“Have you come to plunder? Have you gathered your hordes to loot, to carry off silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods and to seize much plunder?”’(Ez 38:13b)
A recent CBN article reports: “In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd wandered the hills of Qumran in search of a missing sheep. He threw a stone into a cave, hoping to drive the lost animal outside. Instead, the sound of shattered pottery drew the shepherd inside the cave. There he stumbled on the greatest archaeological find of the 20th century: the Dead Sea Scrolls. In the years that followed, archaeologists found eleven caves and more than 900 documents here at Qumran. But one scroll was different from all the rest. Instead of leather or parchment, it was made entirely of copper, and it could be the greatest treasure map in history.”
Hmmm. With paper currencies declining like they are and silver and gold values reaching record highs, it wouldn’t take much for a greedy and desperate army to gather and lick their lips, salivating over all that ‘silver and gold.’ Silver and gold are finite assets. Unlike paper currency that we print more of when we need it, silver and gold can’t be manufactured. It remains steady in value or increases. The monetary value of the gold and silver mentioned in the Scroll is estimated at 3 billion dollars- and that was an estimate given years ago. Gold and silver are now reaching record highs with no end in sight.
The only problem is, since the discovery, no one has been able to understand what the Scroll says. From the Copper Scroll Project: “So begins the most intriguing and baffling of the scrolls to be found among the collection known as the Dead Sea Scrolls, the metal document called the Copper Scroll. Baffling because it has never before been understood and intriguing because of the vast amount of buried treasures listed in the incredible text.”
“Possibilities are high that the Copper Scroll could lead to a discovery that would make any other archaeological find seem insignificant in scale. If the book of II Maccabbees is considered accurate, then the odds of such an unprecedented find tilt the scales of history even further to the side of a magnificent archaeological discovery, a recognizable possibility that stirs the juices of the imagination well beyond the scope of wishful thinking into the realm of tangible possibility.”
That language, ‘stirs the imagination’ echoes the language in Ezekiel, ‘thoughts arise in your mind…I will make an evil plan”…
The bible says, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind,(Gog-Magog enemies of Israel) and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’(Ez 38:10-13)
Yes, having livestock is a boon but armies don’t go to war over cows, hungry as they may be. They would be interested in the oil and gas but it takes time to re-route gas lines and get refineries going to match the grade of Israel’s. But silver and gold, 3 billion-plus dollars’ worth? Now, THAT is a booty they can exploit immediately.
I can imagine the thoughts that the Gog-Magog confederacy are brought to mind. Turkey, Iran, Russia, Armenia, Libya, Northern Africa will all be gnashing their teeth at Israel’s success in the Psalm 83 war. They will be looking longingly at the gas, the oil, the livestock, the wealth of land Israel possesses in that near-future moment. Their ancient hatred of Israel will inflame their passions. IF (and I say IF, because I don’t know if it will ever be discovered) the Copper Scroll does reveal caches of gold and silver beyond description, it would be (and I say would be, because I don’t know) the last straw.
Wouldn’t it be just like the LORD to allow translation and interpretation of the Copper Scroll and recovery of the silver and gold just at a time when the other prophetic pieces for Psalm 83 and Gog-Magog are coming together in such alignment? The LORD is great. This season of watching prophecy unfold leaves me nothing but breathless at His ways.
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