Ezekiel
was of a priestly family, spent his early life in Jerusalem, and was taken with
other hostages by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon in 597BC. He was a contemporary
with Jeremiah and Daniel and prophesied for at least 22 years.
The
prophecies of chapter 38 follow the prophecies of a re-gathering of Israel in
the latter days in chapter 37. We are the generation that witnessed this
re-gathering and the rebirth of Israel in one day (Isa. 66:8). We are now
watching the fulfillment of Ezek. 37:14, when God puts His Spirit within them.
In
Ezekiel 38 we find the war of Gog of the land of Magog. As we watch in the
daily news, the hypothesis is that we are watching the formation of the land of
Magog, a territory that includes many of the Islamic kingdoms north of Israel. In
short Magog is most probably the Islamic Republics south of Russia and north of
Israel - (Ezekiel 38:1-7; 39:1-2). It is possible that the land of Magog includes
the nation of Russia itself.
If this hypothesis is correct, then we are
watching part of God’s plan coming together in our day. To pray correctly, we
need to pray consistent with the scriptures least we find ourselves praying
against God’s plan. Certainly we need to pray for the safety of God’s people
(both Christian and Jews) in these lands and that they will be used mightily in
spreading the Gospel and ministering to many. We can also pray to put the
leaders involved in God’s hands that God’s will be done and not ours so that
“Magog” does come into existence that the scriptures may be fulfilled.
Eze 38:2 "Son of man, set your face
toward Gog of the land of
Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him
In order to discover the identity of Magog today we must journey
back to the days of Noah. According to Genesis 10, all the present population
of the world was descended from Noah's three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and
their wives. The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal,
Meshech, and Tiras. Magog’s immediate descendants were known as the Magogites,
being later known to the Greeks as the Scythians, according to the testimony of
Josephus. Pliny (a noted Roman writer of early Christian Times)
writes that Hierapolis, taken by the Scythians, was afterward called Magog.
The Scythians are a principal
part of the people who make up modern southern Islamic Russia. The Scythians were members of a
nomadic people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to
southern Russia in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Centered
on what is now the Crimea, the Scythians founded a rich, powerful empire that
survived for several centuries before succumbing to the Sarmatians during the
4th century BC to the 2nd century AD.
Much of what is known of the history of the
Scythians comes from the account of them by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus,
who visited their territory. In modern times this record has been expanded
chiefly by the work of Russian anthropologists. The Scythians were feared and
admired for their prowess in war and, in particular, for their horsemanship.
They were among the earliest people to master the art of riding, and their
mobility astonished their neighbors. The migration of the Scythians from Asia eventually
brought them into the territory of the Cimmerians, who had traditionally
controlled the Caucasus and the plains north of the Black Sea. In a war that
lasted 30 years, the Scythians destroyed the Cimmerians
and set themselves up as rulers of an empire stretching from west Persia
through Syria and Judaea to the borders of Egypt. The Medes, who ruled Persia,
attacked them and drove them out of Anatolia, leaving them finally in control
of lands that stretched from the Persian border north through the Kuban and
into southern Russia.
Wilhelm Gesenius (a great Hebrew
scholar of the early nineteenth century) understood Meshech to be the founder
of the Moschi who dwelt in the Moschian Mountains. Tubal is the son of Rapheth, founder of the
Tibereni, a people dwelling on the Black Sea to the west of the Moschi. These people make up the modern southern
peoples of the Russian Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.). In short
Magog is most probably Russia and the Islamic Republics south of Russia and
north of Israel - (Ezekiel 38:1-7; 39:1-2).
Eze 38:3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,
"Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.
Gog, the chief Prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:2-3) is
probably a very high ranking fallen angel (a principality –Eph 6:12), perhaps
even Satan himself (Rev 20:8). Here we
see him working through human leaders of the land to the north of Israel. Referring
to him as the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal would be consistent with the
references to the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Greece as mentioned in the
book of Daniel (also probably fallen angels or “principalities”).
Eph 6:12 NKJV - For we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of
the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the
heavenly [places].
In Rev. 20:8, Gog appears to be the leader of
nations from the four corners of the earth who attack the Saints and the
beloved city (Jerusalem). These nations are referred to as Gog and Magog,
nations under control of Gog (Satan). After the defeat of these nations by God,
Gog (the devil) is thrown into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:7-10).
Rev
20:7 NKJV - Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released
from his prison
Rev
20:8 NKJV - and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose
number [is] as the sand of the sea.
Rev
20:9 NKJV - They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of
the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and
devoured them.
Rev
20:10 NKJV - The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone where the beast and the false prophet [are]. And they will be
tormented day and night forever and ever.
Eze 38:4 "I will turn you about and put
hooks into your jaws, and I
will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them
splendidly attired, a great company {with} buckler and shield, all of them
wielding swords;
It
is God who draws Gog’s army to war. God initiates this battle.
Eze 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them
{with} shield and helmet;
Eze 38:6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah {from} the
remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples with you.
Allies of Gog of the land of
Magog will include Persia (modern Iran, and Iraq and Syria if expanded to
include Medo-Persia), and Gomer and Togarmah (Asia Minor). Josephus placed this
legendary Gomer and the "Gomerites" in Anatolian Galatia (Antiquities
of the Jews, I:6) or generally Turkey of today. Togarmah
is regarded as the ancestor of the Turkic-speaking peoples.
Anatolia
Other
allies will include Ethiopia, which is a translation of the Hebrew word,
Cush. The land of Cush was adjacent to
an area near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Cushites were black men,
descendants of Ham, who migrated to the area south of Egypt. Many of the black African nations could be
included in those described as Cush or Ethiopia but today we would see this
“Ethiopia” as northern Sudan. Libya is a translation of the Hebrew word, Put,
the third son of Ham. These were people
who migrated to the land west of Egypt, i.e. the North African Arab nations
(Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco).
It is interesting to note that
Egypt is omitted from this list of allies of Gog. However, Egypt does play a
major role in the kingdom of the Antichrist and in the wars of Armageddon at
the end of the seven years of tribulation (Dan. 11:42-43).
Dan 11:42 NKJV - "He shall stretch
out his hand against the countries, and the land of Egypt shall not escape.
Dan 11:43 NKJV - "He shall have power
over the treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of
Egypt; also the Libyans and Ethiopians [shall follow] at his heels.
Eze 38:7 "Be prepared, and prepare
yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
Gog is to be a guard (from a Hebrew word taken here
to mean; to guard, watch over, rule over, command or lead) for the armies of
these nations. Ultimately, Satan is the real leader of these attacks on Israel.
Eze 38:8 "After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you
will come into the land
that is restored from the sword, {whose inhabitants} have been gathered from many nations
to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out
from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
This war (invasion) is to take place in the latter
years. They will invade a land restored from wars (the sword). The people of
this land have been gathered from many nations of the earth. They are now
living securely (in relative peace and safely compared to where they were and
what they have gone through).
The literal
story here is that Jews are being gathered from many nations to Israel. Israel
is a land that is being restored from ages of wars. They are living in cities
and villages that are un-walled. They are prosperous and militarily strong and,
at least compared to the past, they are living fairly securely. This “living
securely” may imply that they are living in a time where there is a pseudo
peace, perhaps established by some sort of a “peace treaty”. This places us “in
the latter years”
Isa 11:11 NASB - Then it
will happen on that day that the Lord Will again recover the second time with
His hand The remnant of His people, who will remain, From Assyria, Egypt,
Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, And from the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12 NASB - And He
will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of
Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the
earth.
Jer 8:11 NKJV - For they
have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, 'Peace,
peace!' When [there is] no peace.
1Th 5:1 NKJV - But
concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should
write to you.
1Th 5:2 NKJV - For you
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the
night.
1Th 5:3 NKJV - For when they
say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as
labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
1Th 5:4 NKJV - But you,
brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a
thief.
Eze 38:9 "You will go up, you will come like a storm;
you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many
peoples with you."
They
come up suddenly and in swarms.
Eze 38:10 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "It
will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil plan,
This
invasion is part of a great evil plan formulated by Satan to destroy Israel and
to establish his kingdom on earth
Eze 38:11 and you will say, 'I will go up
against the land of
unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living
without walls and having no bars or gates,
Today
Israel is a land of un-walled villages and the people are living in relative
security. Specifically, the securely
means having homes that are not walled in, gated or barred. That is Israel
today even though there is much danger from terrorists and their neighbor
enemies. When you visit Israel and walk the streets of its cities and villages
the feeling of “normalcy” is amazing given what is going on in and around the
nation. And, they do live in un-walled villages and in homes without bars or
gates.
Zec 2:4 NASB
- and said to him, "Run, speak to that young man, saying, 'Jerusalem will
be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within
it.
Eze 38:12 to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn
your hand against the waste places which are {now} inhabited, and against the people who are
gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the
world.'
In
the Bible and in Jewish thought, Israel and Jerusalem are the center of the
world.
Given the
modern day history of Israel, the wealth, prosperity, military strength is
quite amazing. Now we are seeing great natural gas resources off the Haifa
coast being discovered and developed (there is probably oil there also), and
the mineral wealth of the Dead Sea is being developed. They have also turned
the swamps of the Jezreel Valley, the highlands of the Golan, and the deserts
into fruitful farmlands. There is a “spoil” to be captured. Relative to
“cattle”, a recent news article calls Israel mike cows “the best in the world”.
The Israeli cow is the best in the world'
By SHARON UDASIN
09/27/2011 05:18
Through continuously improved research and practices, Israeli dairy cows have become particularly efficient milk producers.
09/27/2011 05:18
Through continuously improved research and practices, Israeli dairy cows have become particularly efficient milk producers.
Eze 38:13 "Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all
its villages (young lions thereof) will say to you, 'Have you come to
capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away
silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?'
'"
Sheba and Dedan represent the
nations of southern Arabia (Saudi Arabia). The merchants of Tarshish most
probably represent the sea faring trader nations of a distant part of the
Mediterranean Sea. The villages, literally translated young lions, of these
Mediterranean nations would be the “offspring” of these nations which could
lead us to speculate that these represent nations like the USA and Canada and
other colonies of western, Mediterranean Europe. What is important to note here
is that these nations, including Saudi Arabia, make only a weak, verbal protest
to this invasions of Israel.
Current
political events in the USA and Saudi Arabia make it clear why they are not significant
players in the dramatic events of Ezekiel 38.
Eze 38:14 "Therefore prophesy, son of man,
and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On that day when My people Israel are living securely,
will you not know {it?}
Here
we know for sure that the land invaded is Israel.
Eze 38:15 "You will come from your place out of the remote parts of
the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses,
a great assembly and a
mighty army;
Note
that Gog comes out from his place of the remote ( yĕrekah - flank, side, extreme parts, recesses, side, sides, or
recesses) parts
of the north. Remote may indicate the Gog and his land of Magog are from an
area even father north than the modern southern peoples of
the Russian Commonwealth of Independent States. However, Jer.16:14-15 and Zech. 2:5-7 tell us
that God draws His people (Jews) from the “Land of the North”. History shows us
that the greatest exodus of Jews in recent times came from Russia. In the last
battles the King of the North attacks the Antichrist. What we can conclude is that probably the King
of the North (Dan 11:40) represents northern Russia in the last days and Magog
represents the old USSR that includes the Islamic Nations north of Israel.
Watching current events in Russia and the Islamic nations of the Middle East,
the evidence is mounting to support these thoughts.
Dan 11:40 NKJV - "At the time of the end the king of the
South shall attack him; and the king of the North shall come against him like a
whirlwind, with chariots, horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter the
countries, overwhelm [them], and pass through.
Jer 16:14 NASB -
"Therefore behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when it
will no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel
out of the land of Egypt,'
Jer 16:15 NASB
- but, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of
the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.' For I will
restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers.
Eze 38:16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a
cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me
when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."
Again,
they come to attack Israel. The time is the last days. But note the purpose. It
is so that the nations will know that there is a God and that He is the God of
Israel as He supernaturally protects Israel from her enemies.
Psa 83:18
NASB - That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most
High over all the earth.
Eze 38:17 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Are you the one of whom I spoke
in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who
prophesied in those days for {many} years that I would bring you against them?
These prophecies can be found in
Isaiah, Joel, Zechariah, and the Psalms.
Eze 38:18 "It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land
of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger.
These
are days of God fury, anger, and wrath. Note the effect of the sixth seal on
the people of the earth.
Rev 6:16 NASB
- and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us
from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb;
Rev 6:17 NASB
- for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
Eze 38:19 "In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I
declare {that} on that day
there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
An
important key to when this will happen is that on that day there will be a very
great earthquake in the land of Israel. This may be a reference to the great
earthquake of the 6th seal of Revelation 6 or the great earthquake
of Rev 16:18 at the pouring out of the seventh bowl of wrath at the end of the
seven years of tribulation.
Rev 6:12 NASB
- I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and
the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like
blood;
Rev 16:18
NKJV - And there were noises and
thunderings and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and
great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth..
Psa 18:7 NASB
- Then the earth shook and quaked; And the foundations of the mountains were
trembling And were shaken, because He was angry.
Eze 38:20 "The fish of the sea, the birds
of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on
the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence; the
mountains also will be thrown down, the steep pathways will collapse and every
wall will fall to the ground.
It
is a very great earthquake centered in the land of Israel.
Eze 38:21 "I will call for a sword against him on all My
mountains," declares the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his brother.
When
this army attacks God will move against him (call for a sword against him). The
result will be that soldiers of the attacking armies will attack each other, probably
in an hour of great confusion and fear. In the OT this was a common way God
dealt with the enemies of Israel.
Jdg 7:22 NASB
- When they blew 300 trumpets, the LORD set the sword of one against another
even throughout the whole army; and the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward
Zererah, as far as the edge of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
1Sa 14:20
NASB - Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and came to the
battle; and behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was
very great confusion.
Eze 38:22 "With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment
with him; and I will rain
on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a
torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.
God’s
other weapons will be a torrential rainstorm with hailstones, and fire and
burning stone. These could be either weapons of war or natural phenomenon.
Again, God has used these “weapons”
before.
Isa 17:13
NASB - The nations rumble on like the rumbling of many waters, But He will
rebuke them and they will flee far away, And be chased like chaff in the
mountains before the wind, Or like whirling dust before a gale.
This is probably going to be a very
short war.
Isa 17:14
NASB - At evening time, behold, there is terror! Before morning they are no
more. Such will be the portion of those who plunder us And the lot of those who
pillage us.
Isaiah
tells us that the attack comes at evening time but that before the morning
Gog’s armies are destroyed.
Eze 38:23 "I will magnify Myself, sanctify Myself, and make Myself
known in the sight of many nations; and they will know that I am the
LORD.'"
Many
nations will come to know that there is a very real God and that He is the God
and defender of Israel.
