The Testimony, March 2003 85

EDITOR: Nigel Bernard, 8 Front Street, Pembroke Dock, SA72 Watchman 6JX. Tel. 01646 685893; e-mail: [email protected]

Germany—Gomer, not ? Nigel Bernard

N REVELATION 17 a great beast is described: Another way in which insight can be gained “So he carried me away in the spirit into the about the role of Germany at the time of the end Iwilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a is to discern how it fits into the prophecy of scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blas- 38. In verse 2 it is written: “Son of man, phemy, having seven heads and ten horns” set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the (v. 3). This beast represents Catholic Europe, chief prince of and , and proph- consisting of several countries joined in a way esy against him”. reminiscent of the Holy Roman Empire. These Traditionally, many Christadelphians have countries include France and Germany. At the identified Germany, along with other countries, time of the end the countries which make up the as being the land of Magog. Magog was one beast will be united: “These have one mind, and of the sons of : “The sons of Japheth; shall give their power and strength unto the , and Magog, and , and , and beast” (v. 13). Tubal, and Meshech, and ” (Gen. 10:2). The In January of this year France and Germany first of these sons, Gomer, is also mentioned held a joint meeting of their parliaments in Ver- in : “Gomer, and all his bands; the sailles to mark forty years of ‘official’ friendship. house of of the north quarters, and all Their show of unity, a sign that the conditions his bands: and many people with thee” (v. 6). In prophesied in Revelation 17 are coming to pass, this article we will examine how Germany fits was underpinned with proposals to bring their into Ezekiel 38. As will be shown, it is more countries even closer together. As one commen- accurate to link Germany with Gomer than with tator stated: Magog. “The French President, Jacques Chirac, and the German Chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, Brethren’s views announced a series of symbolic and practical Amongst Christadelphian writers, even those measures to allow the two former enemies to who share essentially the same views about Bi- act in a range of areas—from economics to ble prophecy, there is a broad approach to iden- diplomacy to sport—as if they were a single tifying which country or countries Magog relates state. There was even talk of allowing, at an to at the time of the end. unspecified time, all French and German peo- In Elpis Israel Brother Thomas said the follow- ple to claim citizenship of the other coun- ing: “We have seen that Magogue is the region try”.1 extending from the Ros, or Russia, to the Rhine, It might seem far-fetched to expect the citi- comprehending Wallachia, Transylvania, Hun- zens of these countries to share joint citizenship. gary, and Germany”.2 In 1859 he gave a much However, whatever may happen in the short- broader view of Magog: “The settlements of term, for Germany and France, and the other the Magog extended to the Baltic; and are known countries which give support to the beast, their in history as the , Mongols, Tartars, ultimate end will be destruction: “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he 1. Lichfield, J. (2003), “France and Germany celebrate deceived them that had received the mark of the 40-year axis that drives EU”, Independent, 23 Jan., p. beast, and them that worshipped his image. These 11. both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning 2. Thomas, J. (1924, 11th edition), Elpis Israel, Birming- with brimstone” (19:20). , p. 429. 86 The Testimony, March 2003

Sarmatians, Germans, Scandinavians, and so This quotation is actually difficult to identify in forth”.3 In Eureka he seems to opt primarily for the writings of Herodotus, even using word Germany, but ends up including a large number searches on computerised copies on the Internet. of other countries: “‘Without the City’ there is Quotations such as these were often not prop- Germany, in its largest sense, styled by Ezekiel erly referenced in the writings of Brother Tho- ‘Magog’ . . . This Magog, or land of Gog, will mas. It is true that the Scythians reached the include Prussia, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Danube, or Ister, as Herodotus called it; how- Norway, Russia, and Poland”.4 ever, they did not spread along its banks as far Recent writings in the Brotherhood also sug- as Germany. Brother Thomas even gives the gest a broad spread of countries relating to impression that Herodotus claimed that the Magog. For example, one writer states: “. . . the Scythians actually originated in Europe but then land of Magog includes territory stretching across “turned back upon the European seats of their Russia to the Ukraine, Poland, Czechoslovakia, fathers, and established themselves in Asia”.10 A Rumania, Hungary and as far as Germany”.5 On consideration of the original text of Herodotus, the other hand, another writer opts for more albeit in translation, in fact provides a slightly emphasis on Russia: “We identify the power different emphasis from what is often assumed [Gog] with Russia because she is the modern by brethren. power which, with her confederate Independent Herodotus lists eight rivers from west to east States, occupies today the territories of the an- which ran through Scythia. The first is the Ister: cient Scythians—the Magog known to Ezekiel”.6 “The Ister is of all the rivers with which we are Given the wide range of countries that appear to acquainted the mightiest. It never varies in height, be possible candidates for Magog, it is perhaps but continues at the same level summer and understandable that Brother H. P. Mansfield winter. Counting from the west it is the first of opted for the following interpretation: “In Ezek- the Scythian rivers . . .”.11 The Danube, then, was iel 38, Magog is a general name for the northern on the western edge of Scythia. The eastern edge nations, and Gog is their prince”.7 was marked by the eighth river identified by Herodotus: “The eighth river is the Tanais . . .”.12 The Tanais, as Brother Thomas indicates, is A key piece of historical evidence for identifying known today as the Don. So far, the quotations Gomer and Magog is this passage from Jose- made from Herodotus might seem to fit in with phus: what Brother Thomas wrote concerning the “. . . for Gomer founded those whom the Scythians. However, when we consider more of now call Galatians, (Galls,) but were what Herodotus said about the Danube a dif- then called Gomerites. Magog founded those ferent picture emerges from that presented by that from him were named Magogites, but Brother Thomas. who are by the Greeks called Scythians”.8 In this article it will be assumed that Josephus is 3. Thomas, J. (1859), “Gog of the Land of Magog”, Her- correct in identifying the Gomerites with the ald of the Kingdom and Age to Come, Vol. 9, No. 8, pp. ‘Galls’ (), or , and the Magogites with 184-8. the Scythians. We will now discuss the location 4. Thomas, J. (1921), Eureka, Birmingham, Vol. 3, p. of the lands of the Celts and Scythians, with 436. special reference to Germany. 5. Billington, P. (1996), United Europe: From the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains of Russia, Prince George, Herodotus The Bible Magazine, p. 20. 6. Allfree, J. (1999), Ezekiel, Hawthorndene, Christadel- In Elpis Israel Brother Thomas uses as his pri- phian Scripture Study Service, p. 395. mary source for identifying the Scythians the 7. Mansfield, H. P. (1980), The Book of Revelation, West writings of Herodotus: Beach, Logos Publications, p. 238. “Herodotus, the most ancient Greek writer 8. Josephus, , Book I.VI.1, in accessible, acquaints us ‘that the name Scythæ Whiston, W. (trans.) (1898), The works of Flavius Jose- was a name given by the Greeks to an ancient phus, London, Routledge, p. 33. 9. Op. cit., p. 426. and widely extended people of Europe, who 10. Ibid. had spread themselves from the river Tanais, 11. Herodotus (1996), Histories, Ware, Wordsworth Edi- or Don, westward along the banks of the Ister, tions Limited, Book Four, 48, p. 321. or Danube’”.9 12. Ibid., Book Four, 57, p. 324. The Testimony, March 2003 87

Herodotus wrote: the upper Danube during the fifth century BC “For the Ister flows through the whole extent with the name Celt”.18 He goes on to warn, how- of Europe, rising in the country of the Celts ever, that “Herodotus provides no information (the most westerly of all the nations of Eu- about his concept of ethnicity, the basis of his rope, excepting the Cynetians), and thence ascription or boundaries between Celts and other running across the continent till it reaches groups”. However, whilst Herodotus cannot be Scythia, whereof it washes the flanks”.13 used to establish precise identities of an area Scythia, according to Herodotus, did not extend which was far away from where he lived and to far along the Danube. The Danube had to run which he certainly never travelled, he provides “across the continent” of Europe before it reached an overall world view from a Greek perspective. Scythia. What is even more significant, however, Wells takes hold of this world view and seeks to is that the source of the Danube was in “the determine how the specific identity of the Ger- country of the Celts”. The source of the Danube mans emerged. He writes: is in Germany, the ‘official’ source being a pool “From the time of Herodotus, Greek and in a place called Donaueschingen.14 Roman writers referred to peoples of western The archaeologist Lloyd Laing wrote of how and central Europe as Celts or Gauls. Caesar the Celts came from, amongst other places, the was the first to write extensively about the area covered by modern Germany: “The first peoples he called Germans and to distinguish civilized victims of Celtic expansion were the them from Celts . . . northern Etruscans in Italy who, in the fifth cen- “Germans lived east of the Rhine, while tury BC witnessed their towns sacked by Celts the Celts lived west of it, for the most part. In from eastern France, Germany and Switzer- the prevailing Greek cultural-geographical land”.15 The Times Atlas of World History says model of Europe to their north, the Celts oc- the following: “From their heartland on the cupied the lands to the west, the Scythians to Rhine and Upper Danube, Celtic groups spread the east. In Caesar’s portrayal, the Germans to [modern] France and Czechoslovakia by inhabited a zone between these two”.19 the 6th century; by the 3rd century they had Applying Wells’ analysis in a Biblical perspec- replaced the Scythians in the Middle Danube tive, Gomer (the Celts) is to the west and Magog . . .”.16 (Scythia) is in the east. The Germans are seen as Notice how this statement acknowledges that being a subset of the Celts, that is, they should Scythian influence did spread to the middle Dan- be regarded as being one of the countries re- ube. As Talbot Rice, in her classic book about the ferred to by the term Gomer. Scythians, states: “Scythian influence first made Wells provides evidence from Strabo and Dio its mark in Hungary round about the year 500 to strengthen this claim: B.C., when the foremost wave of Scythians pen- “The Greek geographer Strabo considered the etrated to the area”.17 However, the upper Dan- Germans not as a distinct people, but as part ube was, if anything, Celtic, not Scythian. This is of the larger group known as Celts. And the not to say that Germany is devoid of Scythian Greek historian of Rome Cassius Dio, writing influence. As Talbot Rice shows, evidence of around AD 200, used the geographical term Scythian and kindred nomad burials, for exam- Keltica to designate the region that Romans ple, have been found in Germany at Plohmühlen called Germania”.20 and Vettersfeld. Nevertheless, there was no sig- nificant Scythian influx into what is today mod- ern Germany. 13. Ibid., Book Four, 49, p. 322. 14. Bolwell, L. (1985), A Journey Down the Danube, Hove, Wayland. German identity 15. Laing, L. (1981), Celtic Britain, London, Paladin, An anthropologist, Peter Wells, has written a p. 19. book entitled Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythi- 16. Barraclough, G. (editor) (1986), The Times Atlas of ans, which provides a very helpful insight into World History, London, Times Books, p. 84. the relationship between these three peoples. 17. Talbot Rice, T. (1958), The Scythians, London, Thames and Hudson, p. 189. From the outset we need to heed his warning 18. Wells, P. S. (2001), Beyond Celts, Germans and Scythi- that Herodotus’ use of the term ‘Celt’ is ambigu- ans, London, Duckworth, p. 77. ous. He writes that “archaeologists have used 19. Ibid., p. 115. Herodotus’ assertion to link the peoples around 20. Ibid., pp. 116-7. 88 The Testimony, March 2003

The thesis of Wells is that it was the action of Scythia, the land of Magog, is what we would Caesar that led to a distinct German identity call Ukraine and southern Russia. Indeed, some emerging from amongst the Celtic people: “In think that the descendants of the Scythians can this sense, we can understand Caesar’s repre- still be identified in this area today: “Yet, schol- senting the groups he called Germans, not as a ars say, a remnant of the Scythians endures in people ethnically distinct from the Gauls, but as the 700,000 Ossetians, whose homeland today is groups very like the Gauls whose situation had a two-part enclave straddling the Caucasus changed drastically because of his actions”.21 As Mountains. North Ossetia, the larger part, lies he further writes: “Neither the linguistic nor the within Russia, while South Ossetia intrudes into archaeological evidence supports the distinction . The Ossetians declare that their ances- that Caesar made between Gauls west of the tors were the Alans, a tribe in which survived Rhine and Germans, as a distinct people, east of the genes of both Scythians and Sarmatians, who the river”.22 came after them from the Asian steppe”.27 This interpretation, which plays down the eth- In Daniel 7 the destruction of the beast at the nic distinctiveness of the Germans, is in some return of Christ is described, just as it is in Rev- ways a reaction against the alternative views elation. However, there will be other powers expressed by nationalistic German historians which will not be destroyed: from the latter half of the nineteenth century “I beheld then because of the voice of the through to the Nazi era in the twentieth century, great words which the horn spake: I beheld when claims were made that the German race even till the beast was slain, and his body could be traced back many thousands of years.23 destroyed, and given to the burning flame. Malcolm Todd, in a book about the early history As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had of the Germans, warns against these two ex- their dominion taken away: yet their lives tremes. For his part, he accepts that ancestors of were prolonged for a season and time” (vv. the people who eventually became the Germans 11,12). can be traced back to roughly the mid-first mil- One of the powers which will not be destroyed lennium B.C., when the so-called Jastorf culture is typified in Revelation as the dragon. This rep- existed in the north German plain, but “the Ger- resents the Russian power, which invades south mans were first certainly distinguished from the and will occupy a position similar to that of the other peoples of northern Europe in the early Eastern Roman Empire. This power will be pun- first century BC, or possibly late in the fourth ished with fire: “And I will send a fire on Magog” century”.24 Todd acknowledges that early Ger- (Ezek. 39:6); but it will not be destroyed. Instead mans had contact with Scythians. Talbot Rice it will be constrained: “And he laid hold on the also wrote of archaeological evidence showing dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and that “the western Scyths and eastern Celts were in some sort of touch with one another”.25 But Todd makes no claim that the land of the Ger- 21. Ibid., p. 118. 22. Ibid., p. 117. mans was once the land of the Scythians. 23. The tendency of nationalistic historians to overem- There is a passage in Josephus where he men- phasise the longevity and indigenous nature of their tions both Germans and Scythians: “At the very respective peoples finds an interesting parallel in same time with the fore-mentioned revolt of the current historical thought in Israel. According to Dr Germans did the bold attempt of the Scythians David Rohl, in a public lecture given in Solihull on 5 against the Romans occur; for those Scythians October 2002, many Israeli historians reject the ac- who are called Sarmatians, being a very numer- count of the patriarchs coming to Israel and the ac- count of the Exodus, preferring instead to argue that ous people, transported themselves over the the Jews were an indigenous people who had been 26 Danube into Mysia . . .”. This passage is quoted in the land just as long as the Canaanites. This sup- because we see that Josephus regarded the Ger- posedly strengthens the Jewish claim to it being their mans and Scythians as separate peoples. Jose- land! phus regarded the Scythians, not the Germans, 24. Todd, M. (1995), The Early Germans, Oxford, Black- as Magogites. well, p. 10. 25. Op. cit., p. 189. 26. Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book VII.IV.3, op. cit., p. Conclusion 664. It seems to the present writer that the identifica- 27. Edwards, M. (1996), “Searching for the Scythians”, tion of Magog with Germany cannot be sustained. National Geographic, Vol. 190, No. 3, pp. 54-79. The Testimony, March 2003 89

Satan, and bound him a thousand years” (Rev. “their dominion taken away” but their lives pro- 20:2; cf. Ps. 2:3). At the end of the thousand years longed. In this regard we see, then, a distinction this power will have its constraints removed: between Magog and the Germanic European “And when the thousand years are expired, Sa- beast, something which is consistent with what tan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go has been shown in the rest of this article. out to deceive the nations which are in the four So should we identify Germany with Gomer? quarters of the earth, , to gather There is no doubt that Gomer relates to France. them together to battle: the number of whom is Is it really correct to say that this name relates to as the sand of the sea” (vv. 7,8). So Gog and both France and Germany in Bible prophecy? Magog are not completely destroyed at the re- Are the French and Germans all really Gomerites? turn of Christ. At the end of the thousand years Maybe joint citizenship is not such a far-fetched they will be still in existence, the beasts who had idea after all.

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1234 1234 EDITOR: John Nicholls, 17 Upper Trinity Road, Halstead, 1234

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1234 Essex, CO9 1EE. Tel. 01787 473089;

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1234 Reviews e-mail: [email protected]

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1234 “Hast thou considered My servant Job . . . ?”* Geoff Henstock

OB HOLDS a fascination for many Bible read- Brother David Baird’s new book The Educa- ers. The drama of the story, the literary form tion of Job acknowledges the work of those who Jused and the lofty themes can combine to have gone before, and builds on it. Clearly the intimidate, enthral and intrigue at the same time. product of many years of study, this book of 312 There seems to be a myriad of views on a great pages provides a comprehensive analysis of all many questions relating to the book; the identity parts of the book. It does not shy away from of Satan, the character of Job’s friends, the role of difficult questions, nor does it pretend to have Elihu in the record have all provided fertile ter- all the answers. Even though it is a detailed ritory for expositors and students. exposition, it is remarkably readable, the read- In our community a number of writers have ability enhanced by the limited use of quite ap- ventured to expound all or part of the book. propriate humour. It gives equal attention to all Brother C. C. Walker’s pamphlet Job was fol- forty-two chapters of the book. Valuable exhor- lowed in the 1950s by Brother Ralph Lovelock’s tational points are incorporated throughout the more detailed study, also entitled simply Job. In book. It is particularly strong in drawing out more recent times Brother Cyril Tennant’s The how the principles discussed in the book relate Book of Job has complemented these works. to the Lord Jesus Christ and his atoning work. Brother L. G. Sargent also wrote several chapters Brother Baird’s discussion of leviathan is par- on Job which are published in his Ecclesiastes and ticularly good in this regard. Other Studies. In addition there have been study notes prepared by a number of brethren, includ- ing Brother Don Styles, Brother Ted Russell and * The Education of Job, David Baird, published by Brother Klaus Papowski, and articles in several the Christadelphian Scripture Study Service and of our magazines. It is not surprising that each of available from CSSS agents. In the UK avail- these works differs in its approach to and inter- able from Brother Peter Talbot, 6 Ridge Lane, pretation of certain key elements of the record. A Radcliffe-on-Trent, NG12 1BD, tel./fax 0115- book like Job is not susceptible to simple an- 933-3683, email [email protected], price £9.25 per swers. copy plus postage (£2.71 for a single copy).