OK, so the bible also has "prophecies". To me, no one of the prophets "saw" any future. They did talk what they thought in their mind and what they wished to happen later on. If their words were inspired by a god, well, that is irrelevant for the following humble review. Ezekiel 38: 1-6 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of[a] Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshek and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole armyyour horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush[c] and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troopsthe many nations with you. After the defeat of those armies, the following will happen. Ezekiel 39: 9-10 Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them. 10 They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, declares the Lord God. Many interpreters of the bible state that this is a prophecy which will be fulfilled in a near future, and that it goes in accord with the following prophecy. Revelation 20: 7-9 And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven, and devoured them Very well. What this prophecy given by Ezekiel is assuming: that in the future the armies won't fight anymore with guns, rifles, tanks, airplanes dropping bombs, but that the armies will fight using shields, bucklers, bows and arrows? Notice that "wood" is not found in war armament like guns, rifles, tanks, airplanes dropping bombs, etc. So, how in the world, in the future, people from Israel will set fire using the wood used to fabricate the enemy's arms when wood is absent or minimum like 2% or less? There is something wrong in this picture. Or, this is a never fulfilled prophecy made by Ezekiel and that its expiration date has disregarded it as valid. Or, it did happen but the records of that event have vanished. Or, as this prophecy failed, a new prophecy was necessary to make it valid, you know, a second chance... Definitively, even when both prophecies appear to be close related, the prophecy of Ezekiel is not in accord with today's technology. There is no way to make fire to cook food and warm yourself in winter by "burning metal" from guns and tanks. If we are talking of "figurative language" where the words in Ezekiel's prophecy are just expressions, then we also can interpret the mentioned names of peoples and lands as figurative and not so the real names of those peoples and places. Prophecies are known as not to be taken "literally" but that they have a meaning to be found inside them. So, what exactly Ezekiel and John are trying to say? If the words arrows and bows are not to be taken with literal meaning, then the word armies might also are not to be taken literally. Then, what the prophecies might mean? I guess that a new worldwide agreement in the future will state that all the countries of the world must rid off their nuclear arsenals, war airplanes, war tanks, guns and more. And that the only accepted weapons will be shields, bucklers, bows and arrows... in an attempt to make Ezekiel right at last.
