Banning of religion

[SueFrog]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44410597

Did anyone read this on the BBC news website. I wondered if it was another step closer to the banning of religion?

[SUNRAY]

Yes..my husband read this to me this morning..very interesting!😀

[Greg Dent]

same old a religion that thinks it can dictate policy to a government that doesn't think they have the right. Will be very interesting. What business do turkish politicians have trying to solicit foreign countries though a religion? DO it through diplomatic channels not with your Imams! They are not thinking smart rather the same old garbage turned a different colour.

[skipdaflip]

Some news media like to stir this topic into an extreme way. If you search for this news item, then you'll find out that it's only about 7 mosks and several extremist imams.

The topic makes you believe all mosks will be closed. But that seems not to be the truth. 

 

But it could always be a start. 

[Brother_Bliss]

And remember, JEHOVAH himself will use the United Nation to destroy false religion, and these little nations will jump on the bandwagon.

[Brandon]

On 6/9/2018 at 10:59 AM, Dismal_Bliss said:

will use the United Nation

I think that's been changed and now it's Gog of Magog, is our understanding. 

[trottigy]

No, it's the U.N. that attacks FALSE religion AFTER there is a PAUSE and THEN this is when we will see the KoN/ Gog attack GOD'S people.

 

Quote

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

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2015364#h=6

 

 

Edited June 10, 2018 by trottigy

[Shawnster]

What's the difference between the UN and a coalition of nations?  Isn't that what the UN is? 

 

All countries are members of the UN, aren't they?  Are there any countries not members? 

[Wanda Hill]

I was curious too, so I googled it..lol..

 

Are all countries in the UN?

According to the U.N., there are 195 Sovereign States. ... There are six other countries that are not members of the U.N. but are recognized by at least one country that is a U.N. member. These countries are Taiwan, Western Sahara, Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Northern Cyprus.

[trottigy]

15 hours ago, Shawnster said:

What's the difference between the UN and a coalition of nations?  Isn't that what the UN is? 

 

All countries are members of the UN, aren't they?  Are there any countries not members? 

 

Yes, the UN is a coalition of nations. But, tt seems to me the biggest difference between the UN and the coalition of nations that make up Gog/ KotN is the number of nations. This is kind of like all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares - just because the UN is A coalition - it doesn't mean it is THE coalition.

 

For example a coalition could be just Russia, China and a few smaller countries. This could easily be considered Gog of Magog and King of the North. 

 

Where the UN would have almost all nations (minus 6 countries). This would include both the King of the North AND South.

Edited June 11, 2018 by trottigy

[Brother_Bliss]

On 6/10/2018 at 1:52 PM, Brandon said:

I think that's been changed and now it's Gog of Magog, is our understanding. 

No, it's still the United Nations.

 

“And the ten horns [smaller kingdoms] that you saw and the wild beast [the United Nations], these will hate the prostitute [false religion] and will make her devastated and naked, and they will eat up her flesh and completely burn her with fire [total annihilation]. For God put it into their hearts to carry out his thought, yes, to carry out their one thought by giving their kingdom to the wild beast, until the words of God will have been accomplished.” - Revelation 17:16, 17
 

Gog of Magog refers to a coalition of nations (compare Revelation 20:7-8). 

 

On 6/10/2018 at 5:39 PM, Shawnster said:

What's the difference between the UN and a coalition of nations?  Isn't that what the UN is? 

 

Maybe not much. However, Gog of Magog is a more generic term while the United Nations is quite specific. Revelation 20:7-8 speaks of another Gog of Magog at the end of the 1000-year reign. This may be a coalition of "nations" but certainly not another United Nations, as this image of the beast is destroyed at armageddon. Jehovah uses the UN to execute judgment on false religion, and then Satan tries to do the same thing by using the kings of the earth to attack Jehovah's people. Satan's efforts may not necessarily be a UN mandate.

 

“And I saw three unclean inspired expressions that looked like frogs [satanic propaganda] come out of the mouth of the dragon [Satan] and out of the mouth of the wild beast [satan's political system] and out of the mouth of the false prophet [the anglo-american power]. They are, in fact, expressions inspired by demons and they perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the entire inhabited earth, to gather them together to the war of the great day of God the Almighty.” - Revelation 16:13, 14
 

^ It would appear that this is the original wild beast (Satan's political system) and not the image of the beast (the UN) that became scarlet-colored when it came to life.

 

12 hours ago, trottigy said:

Yes, the UN is a coalition of nations. But, tt seems to me the biggest difference between the UN and the coalition of nations that make up Gog/ KotN is the number of nations. This is kind of like all squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares - just because the UN is A coalition - it doesn't mean it is THE coalition.

 

I agree with this, although Gog is not synonymous with the King of the North. Gog may likely include nations that are also part of the King of the North. However, since Revelation 16:13-14 shows that the King of the South is in on this too, we're better of sticking to the slave's definition of Gog, namely, "a coalition of nations".

[trottigy]

On 6/11/2018 at 7:14 PM, Dismal_Bliss said:

I agree with this, although Gog is not synonymous with the King of the North. Gog may likely include nations that are also part of the King of the North. However, since Revelation 16:13-14 shows that the King of the South is in on this too, we're better of sticking to the slave's definition of Gog, namely, "a coalition of nations".

 

Actually our recent publications say,

 

Quote

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.

https://wol.jw.org/en/wol/d/r1/lp-e/2015364#h=6

 

It looks like the attack by Gog is led by the King of the North. He "heads-up" the "coalition of nations". When we finally learn who is the KotN - we can look at Gog to see the answer.

 

This is why trying to figure out who is the KotN BEFORE the GT starts doesn't much matter - as he doesn't really appear to do anything again until AFTER the GT starts (in fact, at the END of it - just before Armageddon starts).

Edited June 13, 2018 by trottigy

[Brother_Bliss]

Quote

Will this coalition be led by the figurative “king of the north”? We cannot say with any certainty.

The slave makes a distinction between Gog of Magog and the KOTN.

 

I had said....

 

On 6/11/2018 at 10:14 PM, Dismal_Bliss said:

I agree with this, although Gog is not synonymous with the King of the North. Gog may likely include nations that are also part of the King of the North. However, since Revelation 16:13-14 shows that the King of the South is in on this too, we're better of sticking to the slave's definition of Gog, namely, "a coalition of nations".

 

It seems to me that my original statement didn't need correcting.

 

The comment that spurred my answer was whether Gog attacks false religion instead of the United Nations. Revelation is clear that the United Nations is instrumental in false religions demise. However, the UN as an organization might not be directly involved in armageddon, as the bible doesn't specify. Revelation does say "the kings of the earth" and "the wild beast" (political system) is involved. Naturally, this would include both the king of the north and the king of the south of Daniel's prophecy, as well as Gog of Magog.

 

Gog of Magog may Ezekiel's way of referring to "the kings of the earth" in general, including the KOTN and the KOTS. Or, Gog of Magog may be a reference to a coalition of nations that doesn't necessarily include every single nation. Gog of Magog may be *led by* the King of the North, but "we cannot say with any certainty" says the slave.