38-39

GOG & : RUSSIA AND THE MIDDLE EAST David Rountree

The Future Russian/Islamic Invasion of Israel: -39 (an unknown internet article):

At some time during the end of this present age, there will be a massive invasion involving Islamic nations aligned with the country which today is called Russia. The attack will be against the nation Israel and the goal will be to annihilate God's chosen nation. Before this goal can be accomplished the invading army will be supernaturally destroyed in a remarkable way that will bring glory to Jehovah. The details of this invasion are clearly revealed by the prophet Ezekiel in chapters 38-39.

Those who will attack the people of Israel are identified in Ezekiel 38:2: Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince (literally "the prince of Rosh") of and . Let us consider these names one by one so that we might iden- tify this vast multitude of people who have come to attack and annihilate Israel:

1) MAGOG--this term was used to describe the region where the descendants of Magog lived. According to Genesis 10:2, Magog was one of the sons of . Japheth was one of the sons of (see Genesis 9:18,27). Josephus, the Jewish historian, says that the descendants of Magog were “by the Greeks called Scythians” (Ant. i.6.1). According to the Encyclopedia Britannica (1957) and The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, the Scythian people lived to the north of the and north of the Mountains. This area today is part of Russia. Gesenius, the Hebrew scholar, says that the descendants of Magog were “a great and powerful people, inhabiting the extreme recesses of the north.”

2) ROSH--some Bible scholars, such as Gesenius, believe that the modern name of “Russia” is derived from this ancient place name “Rosh,” because of the similarity of sounds, and also because certain Greek writers of the 10th century (A.D.) described people living in the area later called Russia by the word “Rōs.” Other Bible students take the position of Old Testament scholar Merrill F. Unger who says that the word Russia was not derived from Rosh, “although the general area was that now occupied by Russia and Turkey.”

3) MESHECH was another son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2). The descendants of this man lived for centuries in Asia Minor (probably in Cappadocia), and later were pushed northward by their enemies into the moun- tainous area southeast of the Black Sea. Today this area borders on Russia.

4) TUBAL was another son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2). The descendants of this man also lived in Asia Mi- nor, not far from the Black Sea. The descendants of Tubal and Meshech probably lived close to each other, because in the Scriptures the two names are almost always found together.

Where Will This Massive Army Come From? North (Ezekiel 38:15; :2). The Hebrew expression for "north part," in both of these verses literally means "the extreme parts of the north" or “the remote parts of the north" (NASB) or "the far north" (NIV) or "the uttermost parts of the north"(RSV).

Examine a world map or a globe. What is the nation located to the extreme north of Israel? Russia.

Russia today is not an Islamic nation, but it has an Islamic population that is growing very rapidly, and this is causing concerns among those in Russia who are not Islamic. The average Islamic family in Russia is bearing more children than the average non-Islamic Russian family, and this means that the Is- lamic population in Russia is growing larger all the time. It is possible that in the future Islamic Russians will be in the majority.

1 The Identification of the Other Nations Who Will Participate in This Invasion These nations are listed in Ezekiel 38:5-6, "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: , and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee."

As we identify these other nations that will join with Russia, we discover that all of them are Is- lamic nations: Persia - Today this is the nation known as Iran. Ethiopia - Do not confuse this with modern day Ethiopia. The Ethiopia described by Ezekiel was located directly south of Egypt and would correspond to the modern country of Sudan. Libya - It is remarkable that the ancient country of Libya corresponds to the modern country of Libya. We would think the country would change names after more than 2500 years, but it has not. Gomer and Togarmah - These ancient names found their location in what today is the country of Turkey. Thus, the four countries which will align themselves with Russia to invade Israel are these: Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Turkey.

Every year countries change politically and in many other ways, and in a year from now our de- scriptions of these countries may be out of date. However, as you think about these four countries, ask yourself these questions: Are these countries Islamic? Are these countries controlled by radical Islamic groups? Are these countries enemies of Israel today? Do these countries desire to wipe Israel off the face of the map? Are these countries aligned in any way with Russia? Do they receive military aid and weap- onry from Russia?

EZEKIEL 38-39: THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT 1. Does the text truly refer to a soon coming war between Russia and Israel? 2. Many say Rosh in Hebrew means “Russia” Israel’s enemy from the north. 3. “Buck was stunned when he read Ezekiel 38 and 39 about a great enemy from the north in- vading Israel with the help of Persia, Libya, and Ethiopia. More stark was that the Scriptures foretold of weapons of war used as fire fuel and enemy soldiers eaten by birds or buried in a common grave” (p.14). Furthermore, the invasion will include jet planes, “exploding mis- siles, and atomic and explosive” devices (p.14). Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth’s Last Days (Wheaton, Il: Tyndale, 1995).

THE BATTLE IS ANCIENT WITH ANCIENT WEAPONS 1. The soldiers are riding horses (38:4, 15; 39:20). 2. They are wielding swords (38:4), carrying “bows, arrows, clubs, spears” (39:3,9). 3. The weapons are made of wood (39:10) and when abandoned this wood serves as fuel for seven years (39:9). 4. Certainly weapons can be used symbolically (see Eph6:17 or Ps.127:5)

ETYMOLOGY IS NOT TAUGHT IN THE BIBLE AS THE WAY TO INTERPRET THE BIBLE 1. The KJV translation translates rosh the way it is used throughout the Bible and thus 38:2 is,

2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”

2. The Rosh = Russia interpretation was made popular to a large audience through the publica- tion of the Scofield Reference Bible in 1917. Scofield says, “the reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification (i.e., with Russia) (883n).

3. Hebrew Word: Transliteration: rō’sh according to Strong’s Concordance (KJV): head 349, chief 91, top 73, beginning 14, company 12, captain 10, sum 9, first 6, prin- cipal 5, chapiters 4, rulers 2, misc 23, [Total Count: 598]

4. Not once does the Bible use the term “Rosh” as referring to a geographical location. For ex- ample, priests in Israel are sometimes described as “chief priests.” The word for “chief” is rosh (2Kgs.25:18; 1Chron.27:5; 2Chron.19:11; 24:6; 26:20; 31:10; Ezra 7:5; Jer.52:24). The Jews mark the beginning of their year with the term Rosh Hashanah and it is the chief or head holy day of the year.

BUT RUSSIA IS FROM THE NORTH 1. Ezekiel 38:6, 15; 39:2 speaks of an enemy north of Israel coming against Israel. 2. The fulfillment of Ezekiel 38:11-12 is believed to be possible only after Israel became a na- tion in 1945. 3. Jeremiah describes the disaster upon Israel as coming from the northern country of Babylon (Jer.1:13-15; 3:18; 6:1, 22; 10:22; see also Zech.2:6-7). The Assyrians are also described as north (Zeph.2:13) who were in power before the Persians who were also in the north (Isa.41:25; Jer.50:3).

A LITERAL INTERPRETATION VS. A SYMBOLICAL INTERPRETATION 1. During the days of Esther, the Persian Empire was in control and they came to Israel from the

3 north. In Esther 9:5 we read that “the Jews struck all their enemies with the sword killing and destroying.” Notice that those who give reasons for Ezek.38-39 referring to a modern battle involving Russia, fail to state why the battle couldn’t have already occurred. The land that we now know as Turkey, Syria, Iran, Iraq and Russia were occupied when Persia was in power in the second-century B.C. So why would Ezekiel use ancient names like Persia, , Meshech and Tubal if he meant for the war to be a modern war and the names would then need to be adjusted to modern names? 2. Ezekiel 38:5-6 describes these enemies as coming from Persia, Ethiopia and … from the north …” Everyone listed is well within the realm of the Persian Empire of the day (See Esther 8:9 to see the Persian Empire extended from India to Ethiopia and included 127 prov- inces). 3. Both books, Ezekiel and Esther refer to the same time frame and to the same very explicit war of Israel being attacked from all the provinces of Persia. Why would we want to ignore something as plain as this? 4. If this view is correct, then the chronology would work as follows: -37 would be describing the first return of the exiles under Zerubbabel and implies the rebuilding of the physical Temple. Remember that Esther’s story took place during the reign of Darius, king of Persia after the initial rebuilding of the Temple under Zerubbabel and shortly before the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah. Ezekiel 38-39 then describes the attack of Gog (who could be Haman—chief of Magog) and his confederates against the Jews. This leaves -48 describing in figurative language the result of the work of Nehemiah.

EZEKIEL 38-39 IS A “LATTER DAYS” TEXT 1. When Jeremiah used the term “latter days” (Jer.30:24) he was referring to the seventy years of Babylonian captivity (Jer.29:10; Dan.9:2) and after that the fortunes of Moab were to be restored “in the last days” (Jer.48:47) and the fortunes of Elam were to be restored “in the last days” (Jer.49:39). 2. Thus the prophecy of Ezekiel has been fulfilled. It is not talking about a modern war with Russia.

CONCLUDING REMARKS 1. Please be careful to interpret God’s word accurately and to always check scripture with scrip- ture (See Acts 17:11). 2. Remember the “sounds like” people say the Aramaic name for Barak Obama “sounds like” Satan.

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