Shock! The Ezekiel war will not be a Russian-led coalition of nations
The Russian-led coalition of nations that will attack Israel in the last days is a myth. The Bible prophecy teachers, scholars, and professors who promote this myth have made a fundamental error in order to come to their conclusion. See this article on the Russian Theory, to understand what errors they make. So, it is not a Russian-led coalition that will attack Israel in the last days, before the return of Christ.
Russia has become the fearful “monster under the bed” for prophecy students. Everyone has their eyes and ears glued to Russia for fear that at any moment they will begin raining bombs and missiles on Israel. The Syrian civil war has only increased the fears of the coming Russian-led coalition.
As I pointed out in the above-linked article, ancient and even recent Bible atlases point to the region of Turkey. Turkey currently controls the region where ancient Magog, Meshech, and Tubal were located. Russia has no connection to the original geographical region that the prophet pointed to. Modern scholars insist that people from the Middle East region migrated to Russia. That is how the Russian-led coalition idea sprang to life. Scythians of old are the Russians of today. So you have the Russian conspiracy.
Ezekiel 38:1 Is it Russian-led or Turkish-led?
“And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying.”
This is a direct message from God to the prophet Ezekiel. It’s a forward-looking prophecy that reaches thousands of years into the future. There is nothing recorded in history that matches the specifics of this prophesied invasion of Israel. Well, a careful Bible student should expect that anyway, because the Lord specifies that this prophecy is an end-times event.
Ezekiel 38:8
After many days thou shalt be visited. In the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste. But it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
There’s no need to look for a historical match to this invasion. Dual-fulfillment prophecies are common. But this one has no such duality.
Many of the Old Testament prophets received messages and visions that affected their current situations. And at other times, their visions pertained to hundreds of years into the future. Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapters thirty-eight and thirty-nine is different. The Jewish rabbis from centuries past as well as today’s Jewish scholarship consistently look at this as a prophecy that will occur in the final days.
And many Christian and Jewish scholars think we are near the time when this long-awaited prophecy will see its fulfillment.
Are they correct? Probably.
But this prophecy has long been described as a Russian-led invasion of Israel. That’s not correct. I say that because the ancient nations mentioned by Ezekiel were not in Russia. None of them were. You could fudge and say some were in the southern-most portion of Russia.
Ezekiel 38:2
“Son of man set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.”
“Son of Man” is a title the Lord used for Ezekiel. He was gifted with great vision and spiritual insights but he was just a regular human like the rest of us. As the saying goes, he put his pants on one leg at a time as we all do. But still, God used him.
Gog
God told Ezekiel, “set your face against Gog.” He will be a key player in the end-times scenarios. And I’ll just go ahead and spill the beans as to who I believe the scripture reveals him as. I believe this is the Antichrist and this battle is part of the ongoing wars he will fight against many nations. Pay attention to the plain reading of the verse. There are three times in this little verse that the person is alluded to. First, his title Gog is mentioned. Then he is called a chief prince. And lastly, Ezekiel is told to prophesy against him.
His name, Gog, is probably a title. He will reside, for a time at least, in the land of Magog and he is the chief prince over at least two regions.
Is there more than one Gog?
The name is found in a couple of locations in the Bible. We see it in 1 Chronicles 5:4. There, it’s the name of a member of the Tribe of Reuben. Some scholars suggest the title Gog was derived from the name of the country Magog. The name appears again in the last book of the Bible. And the appearance in Revelation 20:8 of the name just adds to the confusion as to the identity of the person. In the Revelation verse, the leader Gog will appear after the 1,000-year millennial reign of Christ. And he’ll lead a final rebellion against Christ and his followers.
That confuses a lot of people, and for good reason, but I’ll leave that discussion for another article.
Now on to Magog.
We first find the name Magog in Genesis 10:2. The second son of Japheth was named Magog. But with Ezekiel’s use of the name, it signifies a country over which Gog ruled as a prince.
Magog (This excerpt is taken from the Matthew Poole Bible commentary
Magog is at least part of Scythia and comprehends Syria, in which was Hierapolis, taken by the Scythians, and called of them Scythopolis. It is then that country which now is in subjection to the Turks, and may be extended through Asia Minor, the countries of Sarmatia, &c., from those parts under more than one in succession of time, and in the last times under someone particular active, undertaking, and daring prince, enemy of Israel; all their power will be stirred up against Christ and Christians.
The Ottoman Empire
The above quote was written during the 1600s. During that time, the Ottoman Empire was very strong. Asia Minor was the base of the power of the Empire. The nation of Turkey fills the geographic region that was once called Asia Minor. In the quote above, you’ll see that the Turks controlled the region of Magog. That wasn’t true during the time Ezekiel received this prophecy. Alexander the Great hadn’t yet marched through Asia Minor on his way to domination of the Middle East and beyond. And it wasn’t until after the fall of the Roman Empire in approx. In 500 AD a new power could rise. Remember, in Daniel’s dreams of four Empires, the fourth one has two parts. The first part is the legs of iron. The second phase comes out of the legs and is described as toes of iron and clay.
Daniel saw a fearful beast in some of his visions. The beast represented the final phase of the fourth empire. I believe the Ottoman Empire will rise again. If they do, expect them to become the dreadful beast that Daniel saw.
The following map was stolen without permission (sorry Joel) from Joel Richardson’s website. It’s a great site, by the way. He’s a storehouse of Bible insight.
(I need to learn to make my own media.)
Joel is a bit of an atlas geek, as he likes to say. In his collection of atlases, he’s found many maps like the one below. In this one, we see the locations of the ancient tribes and nations. This map shows several of the names in Ezekiel’s prophecy inside the borders of the Nation of Turkey.
Mapping the Russian-led idea:
Ezekiel 38:3
“And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”
This verse serves as a warning to Gog who will lead an assault against Israel. That act of war will turn out to be one of the final acts of war of the tribulation period. As you can guess, it’s my opinion that the Gog and Magog war is the same as the battle of Armageddon. God will stop the final effort to destroy the Jewish nation. If Gog were to succeed in destroying Israel, important prophecies would fail. God will not allow that.
Ezekiel 38:4
“And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords”
It’s important to remind Bible students to read the text several times and use different translations if you have those available. Since you’re online, there are a plethora of available resources for you. Read what the various translators concluded regarding the meaning of each verse. One of your last steps should be a look at Bible commentaries. In this verse, we see that the Lord is and always will be in control. The proud leader of attacking armies will think he is in control. But it’s the Lord who actually does the directing. He pulls him, as with hooks in his jaw, into the fight against Israel.
It’s as if God brings the greatest collection of military might against Israel to prove a point. Now on the Satanic side, the devil truly wants to annihilate every Jew. But God won’t let him succeed.
Don’t be fooled by the Russian-led idea.
Don’t let the reference to horses, bucklers, and swords fool you. The best weapons and fighters of the modern era will come against Israel. But if this is indeed the battle of Armageddon, then this will be the last of many intense wars. Jesus said the final days will have numerous wars.
Will the powerful nations of China, Russia, The United States, and England be included? They may sit out part of this last battle. The reason for that may have to do with the seal and trumpet judgments found in the Book of Revelation. But the finest weapons from each of those nations will be in this final battle. You can thank the politicians and war-mongers for that.
Ezekiel 38:5
“Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet.”
Here Ezekiel names three other nations. They will join the invasion. Persia is modern-day Iran. The current leadership of Iran has the stated goal of wiping out Israel as a nation-state. But, we also see that the strength of Iran is subservient to Gog. Many Bible prophecy teachers think Russia will be the leader and Iran the second in command. I disagree. It appears to me, according to scripture, that Iran will fade in power and give way to a stronger nation of Turkey. As of this writing, 2019, that is slowly taking place. It will take several years to finish that shift in power.
If we research more of these ancient names we find a scary truth. The attacking armies surround Israel. Persia or Iran comes from the East. Look at Ezekiel 27:10. Ethiopia, Ezekiel 30:5 or Cush Genesis 10:6 will attack from the south. And then Libya will arrive from Northern Africa.
Ezekiel 38:6
“Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.”
Here’s another good map that shows Gomer along with many of the others in the supposed Russian-led coalition.
Link courtesy of Bill’s blog
So, in closing, the Russia theory had a good run. But nowhere in the Bible is the nation mentioned. We have to fudge to find it. But Turkey stands out prominently. What we struggle with is understanding how Russia, the U.S., China, and the other powerful nations appear weaker than Turkey.
I’ll discuss that in another series of articles.
What do you think? Tell me why you think it has to be a Russian-led coalition.
What if this young man was the key to stopping the enemy’s war against God?
Would he awake in time to make a difference? Find out here.
Let me know what you think.