Battles of Gog and the Great God

The Last Battles of the Little Season at the End of the Earth

What happens after the thousand years of millennial peace when Jesus Christ reigns upon the earth? Revelation 20 gives a sobering answer. Satan will be released from the bottomless pit with his host of unembodied spirit sons of perdition for a “little season” (Rev 20:7). These evil spirits will deceive the nations and gather mortal sons of perdition to fight against telestial-worthy “saints” in a war called the battle of Gog and Magog (Rev 20:8). This last conflict is more than just a war between mortal armies. It includes the final spiritual battle between Michael and Satan called the battle of the great God (D&C 88:114).

The little season is much more than a tragic return to wickedness and warfare after millennium. The Lord’s godly purpose is to save all telestial-worthy people who repent after they suffer the wrath of God and to justifiably condemn the mortal sons of perdition who do not repent.

Two Battles, One Final Conflict

The little season will end when the mortal sons of perdition, called the armies of Gog and Magog, surround “the camp of the saints” and “the beloved city” of Jerusalem in Revelation 20:9. These saints of the little season are not celestial or terrestrial persons. These groups resurrect and are taken from the earth before the little season begins. The saints of the little season are telestial-worthy mortals who acknowledge Christ and repent after they suffer the wrath of God. They are saints when compared to the sons of perdition who defy God and refuse to repent when subjected to the same wrath of God on earth.

As the battle of Gog and Magog rages onward, another battle unfolds beyond mortal sight. Michael, the archangel, and his hosts of heaven fight Satan and his unembodied spirit sons of perdition. This battle is the end to the war that began in heaven (Rev 12:7-9). Doctrine and Covenants 88:112-114 calls this last spiritual battle of this earth the “battle of the great God.” It is distinct from the physical battle of Gog and Magog. They are two battles in different dimensions, but both are part of the same final conflict of this earth.

The Saints Are Gathered at the End

The end of the battle of Gog and Magog takes place at “the beloved city” of Old Jerusalem. The remnant of telestial-worthy saints gather here as the Nephites gathered to Cumorah for their last stand in 385 AD. However, instead of destruction, the saints are suddenly resurrected to telestial glory in the twinkling of an eye as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 43:31-32, which states: “Satan shall be bound, and when he is loosed again he shall only reign for a little season, and then cometh the end of the earth. And he that liveth in righteousness shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, and the earth shall pass away so as by fire.” This is the morning of the first resurrection when all telestial-worthy people‒both the living and the dead‒shall resurrect and be gathered like wheat before fire burns the mortal sons of perdition like tares at the end of the earth. (Jacob 5:77)

The final physical battle of Gog and Magog will end when fire comes down from heaven like Sodom and Gomorrah. Simultaneously, Michael and his host will prevail over Satan and his unembodied spirit sons of perdition, who are cast into the lake of fire as their own place (D&C 88:114; Rev 20:10). For more details about these battles at the end of the earth, check out my podcasts from November 8 and 10, 2026.

November 8, 2026 — Podcast

November 10, 2026 — Podcast