Who are the players? Much has been written about Ezekiel's War or the Gog-Magog War as prophesied by God's prophet Ezekiel in Chapters 38 and 39. As we watch the events happening in Israel today carried out by her hostile Arab enemies and their Arab confederates as they unfold in the daily news reports around the world, one can easily see that this war is in the early planning stages as I write this.
No one really knows when this war will occur, but God's prophet Ezekiel gives us clues. Ezekiel tells us in Chapter 38 vs. 11 that Israel will be living in a land of "unwalled villages" and will be at rest and dwelling safely. "And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and have neither bars nor gates."Ezekiel 38: 11
Israel, at present is not living in a land of "unwalled villages" or dwelling safely in the land, as there is still fighting going on within the land of Israel with rockets being shot off into the Negev by Israel's hostile enemies.
UPDATE: August 13, 2010-Gilo Protective Wall In Southern Jerusalem Coming Down
However, because Ezekiel says that Israel has unwalled villages, without bars and gates, may denote a description that is consistent with the ancient walled cities of biblical Israel, and the present unfinished "wall" to keep out terror groups and suicide bombers in Israel may not be an issue at all insofar as the timing of this war.
The separation "wall" as shown in the photo above separates and protects the Jewish people from the many terror groups out to destroy Israel and terrorize the Jewish people via suicide bombers and include Hamas, Hizbol, islamic jihad, alQaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood out of Egypt and many others and prevent them from entering into the land of Israel; and this wall or fence is presently a major concern of the EU, the Quartet, (of which the United States of America and Russia are a part of), the UN and Israel's hostile Arab neighbors who all want this fence removed and have been pressuring Israel to take it down. It is quite possible the removal of this fence will become a part of the final confirmed covenant with many with Israel and her hostile Arab enemies, which is being negotiated as I write this.
Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto GOG, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?" Ezekiel 38:14
"And whe the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, ALSO THE PRINCE OF THE COVENANT."Daniel 11: 22
"And after THE LEAGUE MADE WITH HIM, HE SHALL WORK DECEIPTFULLY; for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people."Daniel 11: 23 The preceeding three verses seem to infer that this war will happen sometime after the "covenant with many" is confirmed.
"He shall enter "peacefully" even upon the fattest places of the province and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them prey, and spoil and riches, yea and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time."Daniel 11: 24
"Son on man, set thy face against GOG, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Me-shech and Tubal, and prophecy against HIM."Ezekiel 38: 2
WHO IS GOG?
Gog is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. He is, in my opinion an evil spiritual being and not a reference to a country as many have mistakenly referred to GOG as Russia; but as you can see, Ezekiel calls GOG "the chief prince" in verse 2, or a powerful ruler. It is quite possible that this GOG being is a figurative that denotes someone or some thing that is against Israel and is antichrist as all muslims are. 1 John 2:22-23. Daniel 10:13 depicts an evil spirit: when he writes about the evil prince of the kingdom of Persia, modern day Iran, in the below passage. The delay in Daniel's prayer had to do with the "prince of the Kingdom of Persia. This "prince" is a spirit of darkness, probably a fallen angel, assigned to this geographical area by satan or perhaps satan himself
The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia.
WHAT IS MESHECK? Ezekiel 38:2
From Strong's concordance = drawing out Son of Japheth, grandson of Noah and progenitor of peoples to the north of Israel; descendants of Mesech often mentioned in connection with Tubal, Magog and other northern nations including the Moschi, a people on the borders of Colchis and Armenia. Moschi was a people inhabiting the Moschian Mountains between the Black and Caspian Seas. The region of Meshech is now the country of Georgia which is located in the southern tip of Russia and is predominantly orthodox Christian according to the CIA World Fact Book. It sets on the northwest corner of Armenia and the northeast corner of Turkey, which is also predominantly muslim.
WHAT IS TUBAL? Ezekiel 38:2
Syria and northern Iraq, or Babylon. This very likely confirms this area as being a part of the same nations as an Islamic antichrist kingdom, which are muslim nations. 1 John 2:22-23.
***For years self proclaimed dispensationalist "prophecy teachers" have taught that Ezekiel's war would primarily be of a Russian lead invasion with its muslim confederates, but I do not think the Scriptures can substantiate that school of thought. Rather, the Bible does support a muslim lead confederacy of nations who are primarily enemies of Israel, and are antichrist, which we see today taking place in the Middle East.*** It is best to just let the Scriptures and the maps read as they do and the Bible will interpret itself. This is not meant to say that modern day Russia will not play a part in this great war as events taking place in the Middle East today suggest that Russia will indeed be highly involved considering Russia's weapons supply agreements with Syria and Iran.
WHAT IS PERSIA? Ezekiel 38:5
Modern day Iran
Persia, Ethiopia and Libya with them. Ezekiel 38:5
Daniel11:43 notes that Ethiopia and Libya are among those nations in an antichrist kingdom. 1 John 2:22-23.
He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon." Daniel 11:41
He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. Daniel 11:42
But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the preious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. Daniel 11:43. Edom was founded by Esau, Jacob's (renamed Israel) twin brother, and was located in a region southeast of Israel. It is shown in Genesis, Jeremiah. Amos, Isaiah and other places that God's favor did not fall upon Esau and Edom.
Moab is the ancient name for a mountainous strip of land located in present day Jordan that reachs towards the eastern coast of the Dead Sea.
WHAT IS GOMER? Ezekiel 38:6
"Gomer, and all his bands; the house of To-gar-mah of the north quarters, and all his bands and many people with thee."From Strong's concordance = Gomer was the eldest son of Japheth and the father of Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah. These people make up a large part of the muslim confederacy invasion of Israel during Ezekiel's War. Archeological evidence seems to indicate that these people of Gomer settled on the north of the Black Sea and expanded south and west of Europe. Genesis 10:3 mentions "Ashkenaz" as being a part of Gomer's clan. It is believed by many modern day Jews that this area is Germany. Josephus called the sons of Ashkenaz "the Rheginians," and a map of the ancient Roman empire shows them to be a part of modern day Poland, Czechoslovakia and Germany.
The Scriptures depicts a person called an "Assyrian" who God allows to come against Israel. Isaiah Chapter 10 reads:
"O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation. I will send him against an hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him charge, to take a spoil and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. vs. 5. Now compare the above verse from Isaiah 10:5 with Ezekiel 38:11-12:
And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them, dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, Ezekiel 38:11 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. Ezekiel 38:12
One can now see from Scriptures in Ezekiel, Danial and Isaiah, how this Gog being mentioned in Ezekiel's War can possibly be one and the same as the Assyrian, even though Ezekiel's War and all nations against Jerusalem are two distinct events; however Ezekiel's War I believe may very well lead up to the battle at Jerusalem in which the Lord return's to do battle. The Scriptures tells us precisely the individual nations who will partake in Ezekiels War against the Jewish people of Israel, while the battle at Jerusalem it will be all nations of the world going against Jerusalem at the Day of the Lord.
BEHOLD, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half of it toward the south. Zechariah 14:1-4
Ezekiel 39 tells us that these muslim enemies of God and the enemies of the Jewish people will be destroyed on the mountains of Israel:
Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee. vs. 4. And Isaiah Chapter 14 pretty much says the same thing, of the Assyrian:
Then I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot; and shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart off their shoulder. vs. 25
The mountains of the Lord's land of Israel are located in Judea and Samaria, or what is called "The West Bank". Jerusalem, God's Holy City is located in the Judean mountains.
See Related Updated Story: Russia-Georgia War: Preparing For Ezekiel's War? Addendum:
Here's a story that came out after I posted the above concerning Israel's Separation Wall>>>>Israel's Separation Wall To Come Down
Related Story:15,000 Strong Army Gathers To Take On Syria
Related Story: Showdown Between Turkey And Israel
Related Story: Are The Ten Kings Of Daniel About To Arise?
Related Story: Rabbis of Israel Say Gaza Flotilla Incident Prelude to Gog Magog War and Israel's Redemption
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Dear Toni,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the article and the research into the ancestries. I believe as you do, that anti-christ will be the assyrian and of arab decent. I also believe he will be at least part jewish from the tribe of Dan. Due to both ancestries (arab and jewish) a peace agreement might be agreeable to both parties coming from this deceiver. I am not sure that Ezekiels war will come before the peace agreement but you did make a good point about the walls being down before Israel is invaded. I will re-read your article and re-read the passages from the Bible. I do believe there will be at least war, the start of war or conflict for a seven year peace treaty to be put in place. The temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt either prior to this or after (the temple institute is already prepared to build the third temple, they believe the messiah himself will burn the red heifer and annoint the temple). I believe the anti-christ will be wondered at by the jews when this seven year peace treaty is put into place. They will start to say "peace and safety" around the 3.5 year mark, and that is when sudden destruction will come upon them, perhaps this is when your ezekiel war will take place. From my reading in Daniel and Revelation, there will be ten rulers, three will be struck down by the anti-christ, leaving seven rulers. Anti-christ will then become the eighth ruler of the remaining seven. My reading led me to believe that the passage you mentioned shows who the three leaders are who will be struck down. They would be Egypt, Ethiopia and Lybia. In reading the writings of the early church fathers, they confirmed this. (In particular the writings of Hyppolytus) I rely on scripture alone for the truth. Reading scripture alone while praying to the Father and receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit showed me the truth of the post-trib rapture and the deception of the pre-trib rapture. Later I looked up the disciples of John to see what their view on the rapture timing was, as they would have been taught directly by John who received the Revelation directly. They were post-trib. Polycarb was John's direct disciple, he taught Irenaeus, and Irenaeus taught Hyppolytus. In reading their writings, I have found that Hyppolytus says that the three rulers that anti-christ will destroy are Egypt, Ethiopia and Lybia. He says that after their destruction, anti-christ will be elevated in heart and will then announce himself as God (this would be at the 3.5 year mark)and then seek out to destroy people of the holy covenant.
I would like to say more and get your opinions.
Can you see my e-mail from my posting here or do I need to get it to you some other way??
Love in Christ,
Rachel
You have presented some very good insights, Rachel that I am inclined to agree am with. However, not studying any writings in particular of Hyppotytus or Polycarb, Irenaeus I really cannot comment on these, but I also am of the opinion the AC will be of Jewish/Arab descent for the reason you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI cannot see your email from your posting. You can send it to me at speak_to_toni@yahoo.com or post it on my blog and I will delete it afterward.
In His Service,
Toni
I am glad more are talking about there NOT being a pre-tribulation rapture; I do believe it will inpart be responsible for the falling-away of 2Thes2:..
ReplyDeleteI agree, Tony, the pre-trib false teachers and followers are a part-of the great falling away that the Apostle Paul speaks about. There are literally millions of them, who are not reading their Bibles, but accepting "man's" false teachings that "tickles their ears."
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you, my friend. Thank you for visiting here.
shalom Toni- I just read a post at:
ReplyDeletehttp://prophecypuzzle.blogspot.com/2012/02/look-at-psalm-83-in-light-of-current.html
Which I thought you may like.
Shalom In Yahshua.
Thank you for the link, Yuri
ReplyDeleteInteresting, that the ancient enemies of Israel are the same people groups and are the descendants of these same people groups that are the enemies of Israel today, not surprisingly, tho.
I am not completely in agreement with the writer when he says that Assyria is modern day Syria today. I think ancient Assyria comprises a much larger land mass than Syria. I will have to check my ancient biblical land map of Assyria.
I have been doing more research on the Psalm 83 war, and now I am not completely convinced that this will entail a separate Arab-Israeli war; I am now thinking that these same people groups mentioned in the Psalm 83 will now be completely wiped out for the most part when Israel and Iran go at it.
Time will tell.
Shalom,
-Toni
March 1, 2012