Gog And Magog

THE WAR OF GOG AND MAGOG

Revelation 20:8 (KJV)

8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Today, as we study this, most of the Bible's many prophecies have already been fulfilled. these foretold all of the various dispersions and early regatherings of Israel back into their promised land, the 333 details of the Messiah's first appearance as the Lamb of God, the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the more than 1,900-year scattering of the Jews to all parts of the world, and finally their regathering in the 19th and 20th century climaxed by the nation's resurrection as modern Israel in 1948--these are all uncontestable facts of the historical record.

But there are two prophecies of major importance to these Last Days that still have yet to happen. I speak now of the two great major wars that will serve to glorify God, the two wars the Bible tells us will precede the return of Jesus Christ to planet Earth when he will set up His 1,000-year rule as King of kings and Lord of Lords.

One of these wars has been written about so much and so often, and has been the focus of so many books and motion pictures, that it has by now become a universal symbol of mass destruction and catastrophe. Its name is Armageddon and it will involve hundreds of millions of soldiers who will come into the Middle East to destroy Israel at the end of the Tribulation period.

But the second of these two wars has received much less attention. Yet, in its own way, it is almost as decisive in the scenario of these Last Days as its better known counnterpart. The Bible calls this war the "Battle of Gog and Magog," Ezekiel Chapter 38, verses 1 through 9, prophecies about this war in these words--" And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: and I will turn thee about, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with thee.

"Be thou prepared, yea, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy companies that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them. And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy hordes, and many peoples with thee."

Using the names by which these nations were known during Biblical times, today we know these countries as Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Turkey and the Moslem Republics known as Magog. These will form a confederation to invade Israel and the Middle East, for the specific purpose of conquering the Jews and destroying their country. Theirs will be a religious crusade, what in Islam is called Jihad, with the sole motive of proving that the prophet Mohammed and his god Allah are superior to Moses and his God Jehovah.

Some expositors believe that the references to "Rosh, Meshech and Tubal" in Ezekiel 38 refers to Russia, Moscow and Tobolsk, two of Russia's major cities. Respected sources like Dwight Pentecost and John Walvoord believe that Russia will lead this invasion of Moslem nations. There is a certain degree of geo-political logic to bolster their view. Russia has for many years coveted a warm water port in the Middle East, and if she can take over the oil wells of the Arabian Peninsula, at one stroke the Bear can regain her status as a world superpower to whom the western world must plead on bended knees for the energy needs so vital to modern industrialized economies.

But there is contrary evidence that limits the invading nations to a strictly Moslem confederacy. Research has found that in Bible times, the terms "Rosh, Meshech and Tubal" described tribes that occupied the land mass just north of the Caucusus Mountain range. And the Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, citing ancient Assyrian writings, places the location of Magog in the land mass between ancient Armenia and Media--in short, the Republics south of Russia and north of Israel, comprised of Azerbajian, Afghanistan, Turkestan, Chechnya, Turkey, Iran and Dagestan--significantly all of them Moslem nations.