Ezekiel 38 and 39
Chapter 38: And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 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 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. 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; 5 Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you. 7 “Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 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. 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.” 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, 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, 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.’ 13 Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages 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?’”’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? 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; 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.” 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?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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.”’
Chapter 39
Israel Restored
25 Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name. 26 They will forget their disgrace and all their treachery which they perpetrated against Me, when they live securely on their own land with no one to make them afraid. 27 When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them from the lands of their enemies, then I shall be sanctified through them in the sight of the many nations. 28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God because I made them go into exile among the nations, and then gathered them again to their own land; and I will leave none of them there any longer. 29 I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.
Introduction
The million dollar question is: Are the events currently unfolding in Syria the beginning of a fulfillment of this ancient prophecy, given by Ezekiel over 2,600 years ago? The short answer is, possibly. This article will delve more deeply into Ezekiel’s prophecy to shed further light on this important question.
God Gathers His people from Distant Lands
The events of these two chapters occur after God gathers Jews from all over the world into the tiny nation of Israel. This is described in detail in chapter 37 of Ezekiel—the story of the ‘dry bones.’ At the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy, the Jews were being deported from their homeland into Babylon. This was the beginning of their worldwide dispersion. Several world empires arose over subsequent years. The Roman Empire became the world superpower during the life of Jesus Christ. Its military boot stepped down hard on the Jews living in Israel. Ultimately, it killed millions and deported the remaining Jews out of their homeland. They were scattered to far-away places while under intense persecution. The Jews have been in their worldwide Diaspora since that time—for more than 2,000 years.
Ezekiel repeatedly prophesied 2,600 years ago that God would gather His sheep from their dispersion in countries all over the world. He would bring them into their promised land, Israel. God fulfilled this prophecy after World War 2, when He gathered the Jews from their horrific persecution in Europe. He collected Jews from Russia, America, Africa and beyond into the land of Israel. They declared themselves a nation among the nations of the world in 1948. All the surrounding Arab nations immediately attacked, and God went before them in battle. Israel prevailed against all odds and increased their territory. They continued their success in subsequent wars with Arab neighbors for the next 6 decades. The events of chapter 37 are in ‘the last days’, so it is established the ‘end times’ prophetic clock is ticking. God’s gathering of Jews back to their promised land started the prophetic clock. God has continued to gather Jews from all over the world and brought them to the land of Israel. The Scriptures of Ezekiel chapters 38-39 repeatedly emphasize God’s gathering of the Jews, who are now dwelling securely in unwalled cities (Ezek. 38: 8-11, 14; 39: 26-28).
Timing of Ezekiel Chapters 38-39
Many have written commentaries about these two chapters in Ezekiel, and there are conflicting opinions. First of all, the timing of this great event is in dispute. The reason is a comparable event using similar names is also described in the Book of Revelation 20: 7-10. But the enemies of God’s people described in Revelation come from all corners of the earth, not just the north as described in Ezek. chapters 38-39. The event described in the Rev. 20 occurs at the end of the 1,000-year Millennial Kingdom. From the description of events in Ezekiel, many believe this account describes a different attack on God’s people. Most scholars place it in a pre-millennial time frame. Some theologians opine this great battle described by Ezekiel occurs at the end of the great tribulation, and is the same as the final battle in the great valley of Armageddon. If that were true, the leader, Gog, would be the antichrist. However, when reviewing the details described in Rev.19: 11-21, it is easy to discern the enemies described there are from different locations and the outcome of this great battle is also different. Many prophetic scholars believe the Ezekiel event is pre-tribulational or an early tribulation event. This is because of the reference to the burning of weapons (Ezek. 39:9) for a seven-year period—likely indicating the time of the tribulation. Finally, some assign this great event in Ezekiel to the mid-point of the seven year tribulation period, when the antichrist breaks his peace treaty with Israel, entering the temple and creating the abomination of desolation, noted in Daniel chapter 9: 27 and 11:31. The current activities in Syria could support any of the last three scenarios.
The Identity of Gog and the Enemies He Commands
Another dispute revolves around the identity of Gog, the prince, and the invading armies he commands. Of course, there are no countries named Magog, Gomer, Togarmah, Put, or Persia today. Nearly all prophecy scholars believe these are ancient countries named after their original founders millennia ago, following God’s judgment and dispersion of peoples from the Tower of Babel. These countries were named after descendants of Noah (specifically his son Japheth), and are listed in Genesis chapter 10. The boundaries of several nations were still relatively intact during Ezekiel’s life, and he would therefore have been familiar with those countries in his day. It is particularly relevant that these countries represent Japheth’s descendants. Only Put (Libya) and Cush (Ethiopia) are exceptions. The latter countries include descendants from Noah’s son, Ham, and they settled the named countries of northern Africa (see map). The boundaries of the original countries do not correspond to the borders of current nations today. Therefore, they represent regions of the prophesied conflict.
Gog is the name attributed to the ruler of the northern lands. The word Rosh in 38:2 is a Hebrew adjective meaning chief. Therefore, Gog is the chief prince of the northern land, as noted in verse 2. It is interesting the name, Rosh, sounds like the beginning of the word, Russia, to many readers. This may be relevant, but the word Rosh was never used to describe a land in ancient times. Let us now identify the nations recorded in Ezekiel chapter 38.
Persia
The easiest modern country to assign to the list of invaders noted in early chapter 38 is Persia. Most everyone recognizes this as present-day Iran, as it was called Persia until recent times. It is very interesting that Iran is heavily involved in the current conflict in Syria and is rapidly deploying troops and military hardware to the battlefront in this country. Syria abuts the northern border of Israel and the Golan Heights. The battles raging in Syria are merely several miles from Israel’s northern border.
The above map depicts the dispersion of mankind from Babylon and nations that resulted from this dispersion. Ancient Persia (present day Iran) overlies the region of Madai and Elam on this map.
next map demonstrates the ancient nations mentioned in the chapters of Ezekiel under discussion. As you can see on the maps, there is some dispute regarding the original boundaries of Gomer, as well as the exact borders of these other countries. However, the maps clearly portray the areas of Magog, Togarmah, Meshech, Tubal, and Gomer overlie the present country of Russia. The current map of Russia is also shown below. Noah’s family tree is demonstrated, which reveals the grandsons and great-grandsons who gave their names to the nations pictured on these maps. Genesis 10 records this ancient genealogy. Ancient historians, including Herodotus and Flavius Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews, tell us where most of these families ultimately settled.
Magog
There are over 130 historical references connecting Magog to the ancient Scythians. Paul names the Scythians in Colossians 3:11. Strong’s concordance identifies Scythians as inhabitants of modern day Russia. The Great Wall of China was known as the “Ramparts of Magog” in ancient times. It was constructed to protect China from Magog. Magog was a son of Japheth who inhabited central Asia. The Scythians are his descendants and ancestors of today’s Russians.
Jewish Scholarship regarding Magog:
The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus wrote a definitive history of the Jewish people called the Antiquities of the Jews. He identified Magog as follows. “Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians.”[1] Most Jewish scholars have concurred with Josephus.
Jewish scholars have taught that when the Russian navy passes through the Bosporus it will be time to put on Sabbath clothes (in anticipation of the coming Messiah.).[2] This is an oral tradition passed down from the Vilna Gaon. The Bosporus is the narrow Turkish strait linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea through the Dardanelles strait. Jewish sages warned the generation witnessing Russian preparations to invade Israel to prepare their hearts because the coming of the Messiah was nigh.
Christian Scholarship Identifies Magog as Russia:
Dr. R. Young, Erdmann’s Handbook to the Bible, Dwight Pentecost, and many other Christian scholars have written the descendants of Magog were the Scythians. They have also recorded Magog, Mesheh, Tubal and Gomer gave their names to Indo-European peoples who inhabited the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions, as well as the Caucasus and areas further north.
“Magog” was a real nation occupying a territory known to Ezekiel and his Jewish readers in the fifth century before Christ. The evidence supports the conclusion that Magog refers to the territory currently occupied by Russia.
Meshech and Tubal
These two brothers of Magog settled the same general region, but may have connections with the Turkic people. Josephus associated Meshech with Cappadocia, home of the ancient Hittite Empire in Eastern Turkey. Meshech and Tubal were the originators of the ancient Mushki and Tubali peoples. Modern day scholars feel the modern cities of Moscow and Tubolosk in Russia represent these ancient peoples. Rabbi Chisdai Ibn Shaprut wrote to the ancient king of Khazaria (a Caucasian kingdom in southern Russia which converted to Judaism in the eighth century A.D.). His salutation addressed the king as ‘prince, leader of Meshech and Tubal.’
Cush and Put
These were sons of Ham and brothers to Mizraim (Egypt) and Canaan. Narrowly they are called Ethiopia (Cush) and Libya (Put), but both possessed much larger territories in the past. Put describes a region including Libya, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, and Morocco. Ezekiel’s prophecy does not specify “all of Put” would join Russia’s alliance. Several of these countries are rabidly opposed to Israel today. Many of Cush’s descendants also migrated eastward into the Indian subcontinent. The name of their forefather Cush is still on the “Hindu Kush” mountains along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The Hindu Kush region is where Al Qaeda had its infamous terrorist training camps and where the Taliban reside. Pakistan and Afghanistan are comprised of many people descending from Cush. It remains to be seen which of these descendants will align with the Russian confederation Ezekiel describes. Note all are sons of Ham, and therefore not Semitic. The Arabs are Semitic (descended from Shem). The common denominator is their religion (Islam)—not their race (Arab).
Gomer
Gomer is another son of Japheth and brother to Magog. Gomer inhabited the Rhine and Danube valleys, which is associated with Eastern Europe of today. Gomer also represents the nation of Armenia. But descendants from Gomer also settled the Crimean peninsula, which was recently wrested from Ukraine by Russia.
Beth Togarmah
Beth means house in Hebrew. Togarmah was a son of Gomer. The Armenians of today also identify themselves as the ‘House of Togarmah.’ The ancient land of Togarmah was located in today’s northeastern Turkey, encompassing present day Armenia. Prior to 1915, Armenia encompassed the eastern half of Turkey.
Sheba and Dedan
These two are named as grandsons of Cush in Genesis 10:7. Later, in Genesis 25:3, two grandsons of Abraham are also named Sheba and Dedan, Their father was Jokshan, a son of Abraham and his second wife, Keturah. It is not clear which pair of grandsons Ezekiel refers to, but scholars today identify them as representing the nations of the Arabian Peninsula, particularly Saudi Arabia. Archaeologists W. F. Albright and Wendell Phillips, note that Sheba was on the southwestern edge of the Arabian Peninsula across the Red Sea from present-day Ethiopia. Sheba was known as Saba in Southern Arabia. The Sabaeans traded spices with nations of the ancient world. Dedan was probably the location of the Arabs on the northern part of the Arabian Desert, which is modern-day Saudi Arabia. The ancient capital of Saudi Arabia was Dedan.
Tarshish
Tarshish was a son of Javan, who settled the area of Southern Greece. Many believe Ezekiel’s reference connects to ancient Tartessus, a seaport in southern Spain, near Gibraltar. Others connect Tashish with the sea going navies of the Phoenicians, who operated ships of Tarshish out of nearby Cadiz and sailed as far north as England. The descendants of Tarshish in today’s world could represent people from Spain, America, Great Britain and the Commonwealth.
The Coming Russian-Iran Invasion of Israel
Like David’s miraculous victory over Goliath, God supernaturally intervened to allow a weak Israel to survive and defeat her Arab enemies against incredible odds on multiple occasions since 1948. Ezekiel’s amazing vision describes a far greater victory over armies from the northern lands. Twenty-six hundred years ago, Ezekiel prophesied an invasion by Russia and her allies would occur during the last days (Ezek. 38: 8). He recorded this would follow Israel’s rebirth as a nation. Russia and her allies would violently attack Israel in an attempt to completely annihilate the Jewish state. Naturally, Ezekiel did not identify the present nations of Russia, Syria, and Iraq by their modern names. Rather, he referred to them by the names of the ancient tribes that occupied the geographical territories at the time of his writing. The prophecies found in Ezekiel, chapter 38 and 39, describe this massive, future Russian/Persian/Islamic invasion of Israel and their spectacular defeat by a supernatural act of God.
In Ezekiel 38:7 the prophet foretells Russia will supply the military arms for all these nations. It is fascinating the armories of these nations currently are stocked with Russian AK-47 assault rifles, SAM missiles, RPG7 anti-tank weapons and various other Russian-manufactured arms, exactly as the Bible foretold thousands of years ago. The prophet described an invasion like a “storm” or “cloud covering the land” (Ezek. 38 9).
Ezekiel predicted this leader would say, “I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates” (Ezekiel 38:11). From Ezekiel through 1900 A.D., virtually all villages and cities in the Middle East had strong walls for defense. Ezekiel had never seen a city without defensive walls. Yet, in our day, Israel is truly a “land of unwalled villages.” This is because modern techniques of warfare (bombs, tanks, and missiles) make city walls irrelevant for defense. This information also suggests Ezekiel’s prophecy refers to modern times.
When this Russian-Iranian alliance attacks Israel, the prophet declared God will intervene with supernatural earthquakes, hail, and pestilence to defeat the invading forces. God will destroy them. These prophetic events will pave the way for the rise of Antichrist to rule the earth. He will make a seven-year peace treaty with Israel. This treaty will initiate a countdown to the Messiah’s return at the Battle of Armageddon.
How large is Israel compared to her Islamic neighbors? The state of Israel is less than one-tenth of 1 percent the size of the thirty-five Islamic states surrounding her. These thirty-five Islamic states possess 8,879,548 square miles of territory and a combined population of 804,500,000. To put this in perspective, the tiny nation of Israel is only 8,020 square miles in size with a population of less than five million people. This means the surrounding Islamic nations are 1,107 times larger than the Jewish state of Israel. Islam is the major religion in thirty-five nations, or 22 percent of the 159 member-states of the United Nations. Judaism is the major religion in only one nation on earth, the state of Israel.
When the “Gog/Magog” invasion occurs, it appears the only response from the Western democracies will be a diplomatic protest. Ezekiel 38:13 says that “Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish” and “the young lions thereof, [probably Saudi Arabia, Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Commonwealth nations] shall say unto thee, “Art thou come to take a spoil?” Tarshish, Sheba, and Dedan were ancient trading nations and are believed by many Bible scholars to refer to Spain or Britain and their former colonies (“the young lions thereof”). Western democracies will not respond to this attack. The superpower who intervenes on Israel’s behalf in its greatest hour of need will be the God of Abraham. God declares He alone will defeat Russia and its allies in a magnificent demonstration of His omnipotence (Ezek. 39: 2-6). God will annihilate the Russian-Iranian army on the mountains of Israel. The Lord will trigger the greatest earthquake experienced thus far in history (Ezek. 38: 19-20), in the mountains of Israel. It will affect cities around the earth. In addition, this supernatural destruction will be accompanied by God’s additional judgments: “pestilence, overflowing rain, great hailstones, fire, brimstone” (Ezek.38:22). The Lord will send such confusion and chaos upon the enemy that “every man’s sword shall be against his brother” (verse 21). The devastation and loss of human life will be so great that “for seven months the house of Israel shall be burying them” (Ezekiel 39:12). The captured weapons and fuel supplies will provide fuel for the towns and villages of Israel for seven years following the supernatural victory (Ezek. 39: 9).
Many Russian weapons are now manufactured using a new material known as lignostone. Prepared from a compressed wood-product, this material was developed in Holland to be used as fuel. However, the Soviet weapons laboratories discovered lignostone is as strong as steel, light, pliable, and almost invisible to radar. These unique characteristics encouraged the Russian military to use this material in military vehicles and weapons. Lignostone burns at very high temperatures and can be readily used as an alternative fuel. Russian military units also carry large amounts of fuel (in containers 100 yards across) for their tanks and helicopters. This information may explain Ezekiel’s prophecy that God’s defeat of this army will provide ample fuel in Israel for seven years.
Ezekiel 38:21 and 39:2122 indicates God’s purpose in His extraordinary intervention is to glorify and sanctify His Holy Name before Israel and the Gentile nations. God’s destruction will extend beyond the battle theater. God declared, “And I will send a fire upon Magog, and those who inhabit the coast lands in safety; and they will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 39:6). God’s wrath will devastate Russia (Magog) as well as nations with coast lands—perhaps from a tsunami precipitated by the great earthquake.
Russia has prepositioned massive military supplies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Egypt in preparation for the coming invasion of Israel. It is easier and more efficient for Russia to airlift huge numbers of lightly armed men into Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon than to airlift the military supplies with the troops. Military equipment often weighs ten times the weight of the soldier who will use that equipment. The troops will pick up previously positioned weapons upon arriving at their destination.
God set an appointment more than twenty-six hundred years ago to destroy Gog and Magog on the mountains of Israel: ‘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? ” (Ezekiel 38:17).
Conclusion
The original question posed in this article was” could present day events in Syria be related to the prophecies given in these two chapters of Ezekiel? Once again, the answer is ‘possibly.’ The situation will need close monitoring by believers. Russia and Iran have never been this close to Israel in such large numbers. Only several miles separate them from the heartland of Israel. Sentiment towards Israel has never been so low among the nations of the world. Leaders of Iran repeatedly threaten to wipe Israel off the face of the map and claim they will accomplish this task in several short years. Israel is terrified Iran will develop a nuclear weapon that they will unleash on the Jewish nation. One bomb would likely accomplish the dreams of the Islamic world. If Israel decides to preemptively strike Iran to prevent this catastrophe, the chain of subsequent events would likely mirror the prophecies noted in these chapters of Ezekiel. Russia and Iran have a treaty that would unite them in war against a common foe. It appears their fear of the United States and the western nations is rapidly diminishing.
We live in the last days of this world. Soon our world will be forever changed. The prophetic time clock is ticking once again. God has gathered Jews from all over the world into their promised land. The time of Jacob’s trouble is at hand. The time of God’s wrath is upon us. The opportunity to bear the testimony of Jesus Christ has never been greater than these current days. Jesus said, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws near“(Luke 21:28).
Works Cited & Bibliography
[1] Josephus Antiquites of the Jews 1.6.1. pp. 30-31
[2] Chevlei Mashaiach BiZemaneinu, p. 134.
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