HISTORICAL EVIDENCE SUPPORTING INTERPRETATION OF EZEKIEL 38 Notes researched & collected by Peter A. Schwartzkopff 1 | P a g e Contents WHAT THE PROPHECY IS ABOUT ....................................................................................................................................................................3 IDENTIFICATION OF THE NATIONS OF EZEKIEL 38 ...........................................................................................................................4 A critical rule of interpretation. ........................................................................................................................................................................4 SUMMARY .................................................................................................................................................................................................................6 THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE..............................................................................................................................................................................7 MAGOG ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................7 Conclusion : ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 ROSH ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 20 MESHECH & TUBAL ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 24 Conclusion: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 28 PERSIA (IRAN) ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 Conclusion: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 30 PHUT (OR ‘LIBYA’) .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Conclusion: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 CUSH (‘ETHIOPIA’) ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 33 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 33 GOMER .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Timeline .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 38 TOGARMAH .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Conclusion : ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 41 SHEBA ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Conclusion: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43 DEDAN .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 44 Conclusion: ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 44 TARSHISH .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 45 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 46 ULTIMATE SUMMARY........................................................................................................................................................................................... 47 2 | P a g e WHAT THE PROPHECY IS ABOUT This prophecy is in many respects very simple. It says that a leader called Gog who is from the land of Magog and who has influence over Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal and who has alliances with Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and the House of Togarmah, is called to invade the land of Israel. This invasion will result in his destruction but God’s glory and praise in the sight of all the world. This invasion occurs: • In the last days • When a persecuted people have been brought back to the mountains of Israel • When those people occupy the mountains of Israel • When those people are living peacefully and confidently in the land • When these people are living in the navel of the earth Gog is weakly opposed at the time by the merchants of Tarshish and their young lions who are somewhere near Israel. They are allies with Sheba and Dedan. They all say to Gog “why have you come?” Gog and his armies are destroyed and buried in the holy land. Israel is restored back to God, and God is worshipped throughout the world. So these notes are an obvious need. These notes attempt to identify the main players in this end time drama. This same event is described at the end of Daniel Chapter 11 as the table below shows: 3 | P a g e IDENTIFICATION OF THE NATIONS OF EZEKIEL 38 Back in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union I wrote an article for the Christadelphian. The aim was to encourage the brotherhood to not throw out the Russian connection with the prophecy and to encourage accurate interpretation of that prophecy. This I hoped would allow the making of accurate predictions of key events and developments in our time using the prophecy. After considering the 2 possible modes of interpretation I concluded that: 1) The nations spoken of by Ezekiel would refer to the peoples who in the last days would inhabit the territory occupied by the nations named in the prophecy at the time Ezekiel was given the prophecy1. 2) The modern nation that would be derived would come from the territories into which then ancient nations mentioned have migrated by the time of the last days. Given the huge and complex movements of people since the sixth xentury BC, I concluded that the former rule of thumb was the one to use. Doing this brings me at times into conflict with some of Dr Thomas’2 writings. A critical rule of interpretation. Some of my identifications are at odds with those in Elpis Israel. That is not a bad thing as after all we are in the game of searching for truth not upholding dogma. However it must be recognised that there has been a lot of historical scholarship since his times which have brought a lot more light onto the issue. Another thing that has to be recognised is that some of the historical research by our brotherhood has been very sloppy. For example, the assertion that Meshech and Tubal represent Moscow and Tobolski is simply that – an assertion. There is no historical evidence whatsoever to support the idea. Not only that when we use that idea we lose sight of the fact that the prophecy relates to nations in the Caucasus and their relationships with Russia. We may as a result miss significant developments in this regiontherefore missing important signs of the Lord’s return. 1 It appears that the prophecy in Ezekiel