The War of Gog and Magog: Ezekiel 38-39

Israel is currently under attack, but its greatest threat is yet to come. In the not-too-distant future, a coalition of overwhelming forces will soon be arrayed against it. Only God can save Israel from total annihilation. In this revealing broadcast, Carl identifies each nation seeking Israel’s destruction. Who exactly are Gog and Magog? Are they leaders, nations, or spiritual entities? Will Russia be involved in this notorious battle? The timing of this battle has been hotly debated down the years, and no-one really knows precisely when it will take place. Join Carl now for this timely broadcast…

Here is a complete transcript of the broadcast (below)…

Friend, there’s a war soon coming in the Middle East that will cause God himself to rain down hailstones and fire upon the invading armies who’ve come to take spoil from God’s beloved Israel and a great earthquake that will annihilate them in their tracks. And what if I were to tell you there are preparations being made right now for this future conflict? But as I’ve said before, we the church will never see it come to pass because this war of ‘Gog and Magog’ fits the prophetic timeline only when the church or restrainer has been removed from the earth prior to the seven year tribulation period. Yet even today, the nations are ready; the pieces on the chess board are being moved into place, causing a chain reaction that will hurl like minded nations headlong into direct conflict with Israel.

Let me now share the source text with you. I’m of course talking about the infamous War of Gog and Magog, spoken of in chapters 38-39 from the prophetic Book of Ezekiel which many of you are familiar with I’m sure. Friend, what are these terms Gog and Magog exactly and what do they represent? What on earth is a Gog and what is a Magog exactly?! Well, they are first and foremost spiritual entities not physical representatives in my opinion. I believe this war is conceived in the spiritual realm firstly and we see the manifestation of its conception in the natural realm. Remember the spiritual realm is the causal realm and the natural realm is the effectual realm. But what’s interesting, is that in my old town of London, England each year there’s a Lord Mayor’s parade ever since the reign of Henry V, in which Gog and Magog, the so called protectors of the city of London are paraded around in effigy. This tradition continues year after year.

In Revelation 20:8, Gog and Magog are identified as they fight on the side of Satan in the very final battle against God. But if you look at the text, they are sent out into the earth to gather nations after the millennial reign of Christ for one last battle just before Satan is cast into the lake of fire. So, I sincerely believe these two names represent spiritual entities that impact physical leaders on this earth and Gog and Magog are akin to the ruling principalities that perhaps the prophet Daniel encountered during his prayer time whilst in Babylonian exile.

In scripture, Gog is mentioned as the leader and Magog is a people. Gog is the ruler of a people called Magog and the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. One day this Gog will lead a coalition of nations arrayed against Israel and God will destroy them all in the process for their rebellious arrogance and misplaced allegiance. Few realize that Ezekiel’s prophecy of this coming invasion from the North of Israel was written 2500 years ago and is yet to come to pass friend, it is still a future event.

This leader Gog will lead a force from the land of Magog. So where is Magog exactly? Well, he’s mentioned in Gen 10:2 as one of the sons of Japheth and again in 1 Chronicles 1:5. Charles Ryrie notes that and I quote, “Magog was identified as the land of the Scythian’s now occupied by Russia, the Ukraine and Kazakhstan.”

Now according to Mark Hitchcock the renowned end time biblical scholar, he spent time investigating historical texts, and notable commentators like Flavius Josephus who described the ancient Scythian’s as coming from the land of Magog. The Scythian’s were mentioned in the NT in Col 3:11 and were a barbaric race which inhabited the steps of Russia. Today Magog would basically cover the ‘Stan’ nations i.e. Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and finally Afghanistan, which is another territory that Russia has sought to, conquer in recent memory.

In addition, Charles Ryrie, Arnold Fruchtenbaum and the Scofield Reference Bible, declare Magog to be the land of modern day Russia and we should not doubt their extensive research. Now most scholars conclude that Rosh is the old name for Russia. Mark Hitchcock also discovered that, the term Rosh was used in the time of the Egyptians and referenced a nation to the far north of Egypt, so people would have been very familiar with Rosh as a nation in the time of Ezekiel and knew exactly what he was talking about.

As I said, many believe and I do too, that Rosh is the old name for present day Russia which will lead several armies in coalition against Israel. Regarding the term Gog, Mark goes on to explain that Gog is more likely a title like Pharaoh, rather than a direct name of someone, but this Gog is not to be confused with the Antichrist, he is separate and distinct from him. Let’s not forget friend that the Antichrist will eventually lead a Western coalition of forces but this Gog is leading an army from the north along with Magog in direct opposition to God himself, so the Antichrist and Gog are two separate leaders and not to be confused with each other.

So, I’m going to list for you now, all the nations that will come against Israel in these last days as part of this coalition of forces coming down from the North, described in Ezekiel chapters 38-39. I will give you the old name for the nation and the equivalent modern day version. Starting with Gog the leader of Magog (representing Ukraine and western Russia) along with Rosh, which is Russia, then Meschech and Tubal which comprises of Modern day Turkey, then Persia, also known as Iran, then Ethiopia and Cush which would be Sudan, then Put which is Libya, then Gomer which is likely Turkey or modern day Germany, and finally Beth Togarmah, which manly believe to be Turkey as well.

So to summarize, the nations that will invade Israel in the coming tribulation period from the North will be, Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran, Ethiopia, Sudan, and possibly Somalia too, Libya, and finally Germany. But why? Why would they even consider doing such a thing? Well one thing is for certain, Russia has had a long history of antisemitism along with the other nations I just listed for you. They all have historically harbored a supernatural hatred for Israel and that’s why Germany is included on that list as a potential invader in coalition.

Regarding Russia, have you noticed this nation has been on the rise of late? Russia has flexed its muscles recently on the world stage for sure. Firstly, Russia meddled with Georgia in 2008, then again in Crimea in 2014 where it annexed that nation and testing the boundaries of the old Soviet Union. Russia then backed separatists in 2014 in Eastern Ukraine and Russia has also been linked with the deaths of 298 people based upon a Dutch inquiry into the disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines flight over the Ukraine, three years ago. Based on cell phone records and eye witness accounts as part of the investigation, a powerful SA-11 surface to air missile was used to shoot down this plane, much to everyone’s horror.

Then in 2015, Russia sent some armed forces to Iran and then into Syria to assist the Syrian leader Bashar al Assad’s crumbling regime. To top that, for the first time, Russia has finally attained the warm water port of Tarsus in the Mediterranean Sea, which it has yearned for down the centuries. Friend, Russia has a large presence in Syria right now, taking advantage of the nation’s instability and using it to potentially establish a beachhead for further advancement in the Middle East at a time of its choosing. The trouble is Russia now has a military presence situated directly North of Israel for the first time and this is prophetically significant. If you run a straight line from Israel on any globe you will see that Moscow is directly north of it, along with Turkey which will be one of the invading nations also.

Now, some believe this war of Gog and Magog will take place in the first half of the tribulation period, while others believe it to be merely another account of the battle of Armageddon. Yet I personally believe it will occur prior to Armageddon and within the tribulation because it occurs in a time of peace when the peace treaty with Israel is in full effect. Ezekiel chapter 38 describes a time when Israel is at peace with its surrounding neighbors and this coming conflict fits the prophetic timeline of occurring during the tribulation period, once this future peace treaty is in effect.

Now one of the most intriguing aspects of this coming war in verse 4 of Ezekiel 38, is the fact that the army is riding from the north on horseback! Yes horseback! These horsemen have shields, swords and helmets. But of course today no army would fight like that. This intriguing statement infers that perhaps, due to the cataclysmic incidents in the tribulation period, man will revert back to ancient weaponry. Others believe it suggests the usage of an Electro Magnetic Pulse prior to this war, in which some of the modern weaponry would be rendered useless, leaving only ancient weaponry as the means for attack. Or could these terms simply be metaphors for modern weapons? In Ezekiel 39:9-10 it mentions that it will take seven years for the weapons to be gathered and used as fuel. Could this time frame of seven years be coincidental with the time it takes for the effects of radiation to dissipate?…We shall see.

Remember, Israel is described as a land of un-walled villages at this time, a land without walls where Israel dwells safely, without gates or bars. As you know Israel today has walls in place and some built recently for its protection against occasional terror attacks from the Palestinian territory. Based on this scripture we know this War of Gog and Magog is a future event and the walls that currently stand in Israel will be somehow removed and Israel will be living peacefully prior to this Northern invasion.

Now, in verses 12 and 13, it states that these invading marauders have come to take a ‘spoil.’ But what spoil are they talking about? Having worked in the oil industry for nearly 20 years I may have more insight into this than most. In the past few years Israel has gone from a nation with very few oil and gas resources into one that could eventually rival Russia as an exporter of natural gas to Europe. Russia benefits greatly from its export of gas west to Europe topping the list of nations having the most natural gas reserves. But Israel recently discovered the Leviathan gas field 50 kilometers offshore having 22 TCF of gas and scheduled to come online in 2019. Then it has Tamar gas field holding 9 TCF in gas reserves. These discoveries have been described as game changers by those in the oil industry. Their discovery alongside another recent oil field having 1.4 billion barrels of oil has caused a stir on the geopolitical scene. As I’ve said, for the first time, Israel could become a competitor with Russia, vying to service the winter energy supply of the European continent. This is significant. Israel is also abundant in food, technology and other natural resources.

Could it be that Russia and the forces it’s allied with come to strip Israel of its oil and gas resources? You see, Russia is rich in gas but has hard to recover oil that’s only economic at higher oil prices. Did you also know that despite being the biggest country in the world in terms of landmass, Russia has a relatively small population of close to 150 million, yet it imports 40% of its food supply, meaning that it cannot currently produce enough food for its own people? In Ezekiel 38:4 it says that God himself will put hooks in the jaws of the invaders from the North. So friend, what do we do with our jaw primarily? We chew food…I sincerely believe that one of the spoils mentioned in Ezekiel’s passage is food and during the tribulation period crops will no doubt fail throughout Russia which is already reliant upon other countries to feed its population, and will resort to looking for food down south.

Another reason for this hook could well be the desire for Islamic Nations headed up by Russia to wipe Israel off the map. If you review the nations I mentioned earlier they are all largely Islamic and harbor an intense distrust and even hatred for Israel. Could it be that the peace treaty that the Antichrist initiatives with Israel, be thwarted by the Islamic nations at the last minute or perhaps Russia is in such dire need to ensure the survival of its people they need food so badly, justifying an invasion to the south?

Friend, we can debate all day long about what is to come in the near future but by observing Russia’s increasing presence in the Middle East, alarm bells should be going off for us, showing that we are very close to the return of Jesus Christ. The rapture my friend is imminent, meaning it could happen at any time and there are no remaining signs that need to be fulfilled in order for it to transpire. Behold our Lord comes quickly. Get ready my friend and look up, for your redemption draws nigh…

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