They just posted the Simplified August 2015 Study Watchtower on JW.org.
Paragraph 11 of the "Expectation!" Article says this:
"So even if we feel that we have been waiting a long time, this does not mean that the end is far away or that it is not coming in our lifetime." Whose lifetime? An 80-year-old Witness' lifetime or a 40-year-old's? 10-year-old's? How do they know? Seems like I heard this before? "Millions now living will never die!" (circa 1925)
Can these people get anything right the first time. It has long been a wonder to me how anyone in their right mind could put trust in an organization that just cannot get its story right. About anything. No, it's not just that the "light is getting brighter." They are scraping old explanations left and right and giving us new ones which, undoubtedly, they will also scrap and come up with even newer ones.
Who is Gog of Magog mentioned in the book of Ezekiel?
For a number of years, our
publications have explained that Gog of Magog is the name given to Satan
the Devil after his ouster from heaven. This explanation was based on
the fact that the book of Revelation identifies Satan the Devil as the
leader of the worldwide attack on God’s people. (Rev. 12:1-17) So it was thought that Gog must be another prophetic name for Satan.
However, that explanation raised some
important questions. Why so? Consider this: When referring to the time
that Gog is defeated, Jehovah says regarding Gog: “I will give you as
food to all kinds of birds of prey and the wild beasts of the field.” (Ezek. 39:4)
Then Jehovah adds: “On that day I will give Gog a burial place there in
Israel . . . That is where they will bury Gog and all his hordes.” (Ezek. 39:11)
But how could a spirit creature be eaten by “birds of prey and the wild
beasts of the field”? How could Satan be given “a burial place” on
earth? The Bible clearly shows that Satan will be abyssed for 1,000
years, not eaten or buried.—Rev. 20:1, 2.
We are told that at the end of the
1,000 years, Satan will be released from the abyss, and “he will go out
to mislead those nations in the four corners of the earth, Gog and
Magog, to gather them together for the war.” (Rev. 20:8)
But how can Satan mislead Gog if he himself is Gog? Therefore, “Gog”
does not refer to Satan in either Ezekiel’s prophecy or the book of
Revelation.
Who, then, is Gog of Magog? To answer
that question, we need to search the Scriptures to find out who attacks
God’s people. The Bible speaks not only of the attack by ‘Gog of Magog’
but also of the attack by “the king of the north” and of the attack by
“the kings of the earth.” (Ezek. 38:2, 10-13; Dan. 11:40, 44, 45; Rev. 17:14; 19:19)
Do these represent separate attacks? Not likely. The Bible is no doubt
referring to the same attack under different names. Why can we draw that
conclusion? Because the Scriptures tell us that all the nations of the
earth will be involved in this final attack that prompts the war of
Armageddon.—Rev. 16:14, 16.
When
we compare all these Scriptural references about the final attack on
God’s people, it becomes evident that the name Gog of Magog refers, not
to Satan, but to a coalition of nations. Will this coalition be led by
the figurative “king of the north”? We cannot say with any certainty.
But this thought does seem to be in harmony with what Jehovah says about
Gog: “You will come from your place, from the remotest parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly, a vast army.”—Ezek. 38:6, 15.
Similarly, the prophet Daniel, who
was a contemporary of Ezekiel, says of the king of the north: “Reports
out of the east and out of the north will disturb him, and he will go
out in a great rage to annihilate and to devote many to destruction. And
he will plant his royal tents between the grand sea and the holy
mountain of Decoration; and he will come all the way to his end, and
there will be no helper for him.” (Dan. 11:44, 45) This clearly parallels what the book of Ezekiel says about Gog’s activities.—Ezek. 38:8-12, 16.
What occurs next as a result of this
final attack? Daniel tells us: “During that time Michael [Jesus Christ]
will stand up [at Armageddon], the great prince who is standing [since
1914] in behalf of your people. And there will occur a time of distress
[the great tribulation] such as has not occurred since there came to be a
nation until that time. And during that time your people will escape,
everyone who is found written down in the book.” (Dan. 12:1) This action on the part of God’s representative Jesus is also described at Revelation 19:11-21.
But who is referred to as “Gog and Magog” at Revelation 20:8?
During the final test at the end of the 1,000 years, those who rebel
against Jehovah will manifest the same murderous attitude as ‘Gog of
Magog,’ those nations that attack God’s people at the end of the great
tribulation. And the outcome for both groups will be exactly the same—everlasting death! (Rev. 19:20, 21; 20:9) It seems fitting, then, that all those rebels at the end of the Millennium be called “Gog and Magog.”
As keen students of God’s Word, we
wait with eager anticipation to see who in the near future will assume
the role of “the king of the north.” But no matter who may take the lead
in this coalition of nations, we are certain of two things: (1) Gog of
Magog and his armies will be defeated and destroyed; and (2) our
reigning King, Jesus Christ, will save God’s people and usher them into a
new world of peace and true security.—Rev. 7:14-17.
