Unleashing the Beast

170 / U NLEASHING THE B EAST

This unique verse of prophecy shows that after this battle, it will take Israel seven years to destroy all of the weapons of the enemy. Israel has been involved in five different wars—in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973 and 1981. Scattered throughout modern Israel are rusty remains of jeeps, tanks and vehicles—silent monuments of past war victories. In Ezekiel's time, it would take months to destroy weapons made of wood, including bows, arrows and handles of spears. In this future conflict, it will indeed take seven years to destroy and burn the weapons of war. W HO IS M ISSING IN THE L IST OF N ATIONS ? It is possible that there will be a war prior to this one. It is interesting to note the nations missing from the Ezekiel list. Egypt, for example, is not mentioned. Egypt has fought Israel in four of the past five wars, and is amassing a huge arsenal; yet, this country is not listed. Syria fought Israel in four of the past five wars and is pressuring Israel to give back the Golan Heights. Yet, Syria is missing from Ezekiel's mix of nations. This has led scholars to speculate that something has happened in these nations prior to the attack on Israel by their Islamic brothers. The three theories are: (1) Egypt and Syria have been involved in a war prior to Ezekiel 38, 39 and are in a defeated condition; therefore, they do not join the coalition. (2) Egypt and Syria sit back while the other nations get involved, waiting to see the outcome. This is