Thanks, Blondie. Isn’t it amazing that the Jehovah's Witnesses never use words like “probably” or “most likely.” I also never recall them saying “possibly.” It seems to be their propensity to make false assumptions and then build on them level after level and then have to apologize, revise or deny later that they were wrong.
Regarding Gog, we know that Ezekiel records Yahweh as saying, “ After many days...in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people.” This is obviously Judah, who in the last days will be gathered out of all nations. Isaiah writes: “ And [Yahweh] shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. ” (Isa. 11:12)
And Gog shall be brought “against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. ” (Ezek. 38:8)
By committing themselves too quickly, before the gathering of Judah, the Society got themselves plum stuck in the hooey because now they can’t get out of it, and they’re caught in teaching a monumental falsehood. And to later try to get out of it would be like stepping on a hand grenade! No amount of “new light” can make things right. To do that, it would mean accepting the prophecies regarding the gathering of Judah, and the Society is too far down the road to backtrack!
Paul, speaking of Gog/Beast/Antichrist writes: “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” (2 Thessalonians 2:4) What temple is this? The temple that Ezekiel foretells and, in fact, gives the directions for building. John, too, speaks of it in Revelation 11:1-2): “And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.” It’s the court that is given unto Gog to occupy for three and a half years.
So the Jehovah's Witnesses must find themselves in these prophecies somehow, and this they cannot do. Gog is a threat to the Jews in Jerusalem, not to the Governing Body and the Society. (Unless they happen to be touring Israel at the time.)
Joel Richardson, author of The Islamic Antichrist (a great book, BTW) writes:
Actually, in order to estimate who Gog is, all one must really do is take a look at who the Antichrist is. The Antichrist, quite simply, is the devil incarnate—or at least the closet thing to it. Some passages of Scripture actually shift from speaking of Satan to speaking of the Antichrist seamlessly as if they are one and the same (for instance, see Isaiah 14). And as we have seen, Satan will share his worship with the Antichrist. Simply stated, Antichrist is the puppet that Satan will use to attack Jerusalem. And, at least in the Book of Revelation, Gog is also Satan’s puppet, and he will serve the very same purpose. In terms of both role and function, the Antichrist and the Gog of Revelation are essentially the same. Even as Satan will raise up a man to carry out his work in the days to come, so will Satan also raise up a man to carry out his final rebellion against God one more time at the end of the Millennium.”
Richardson, Joel, The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast, p. 84.
But how do we know that there are two battles of Gog and Magog. Richardson points to Ezekiel 38:17: “ Thus saith the Lord God ; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? ” Richardson concludes:
The question must be asked then—if Gog and Magog are spoken of by Israel’s former prophets prior to Ezekiel, then where are all of these references? We will be hard pressed to find any unless we do some serious stretching of the Scriptures. But if we take the position that Gog is the Antichrist, then it is very easy to find numerous passages about the Antichrist and his invading army throughout the prophets.
In the American South, people still revere the Confederate battle flag. In some future dispute, if feelings are running high, then the flag might be used by those sympathetic with the Southern cause. Eastern Europeans, for example, used the Confederate flag when the Berlin Wall fell to symbolize its rebellion against communism. In similar fashion, those rebelling against Yahweh at the end of the Millennium most likely will use the same name as the battle before the thousand year period.


The future Jewish temple and the outer courts, which will be occupied by Gog's armies.