Ever since Russia made its invasion of the Ukraine, pastors, preachers and evangelists all over the world have been quick to get on their proverbial "soap box" and claim that this is the fulfillment of the prophecy found in Ezekiel 38. And for a time, I also believed this was the prophecy of Ezekiel coming to pass. But the Lord would not let me stop researching this prophecy when I associated Russia with Magog. Instead, the Lord spoke to me to dig deeper. God simply would not let me let this go at just what I found initially. At the time, it seemed as if I had all the facts and information I needed, still, I just couldn't let it go. So, I dug deeper, as the Lord instructed me too. And I made discoveries that changed my opinion, blew my mind and made me a firm believer that the popular opinion of the Church is one hundred percent wrong!
Let's look at Ezekiel 38:1-23, first in whole, then we'll break it down a little bit at a time. "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company 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, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee. Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: 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, 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. Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil? 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? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
The first thing I want to point out here is the word "Rosh" is not found in the King James Version of the Bible. Why is this so important? Because, most preachers and evangelists today are associating this word with Russia. It is their contention that the word "Rosh" is the ancient ancestorial name of Russia. However, after much research and exploration of this prophecy, I have discovered that the word "Rosh", as I said, is not found in this chapter in the King James Version of the Bible, and it is certainly NOT the name of a place, let alone a country or a nation. In fact, "Rosh", being a Hebrew word, is defined as meaning "chief" or "foremost". In other words, "Rosh" is not a place, nor is it a name, but an adjective of a title. In America, we have a President and a Vice President. But only one of them can be referred to as the "Rosh" leader of this country. Why? Because the Vice President is not the foremost leader of our country, right? The President is. So, we can refer to the President as the "Rosh" of the United States, because he is the supreme leader of our country. That's what "Rosh" means. The supreme leader of a country or nation. So, when the Lord tells Ezekiel to speak to the "chief ruler" of Magog, he is referring to the supreme leader of that land!
The fact that "Rosh" is found in many other translations of the Bible, namely the NKJV, only means that whoever authored this version of the Scriptures made a serious error in the translation of this passage of Scripture! But that's what a lot of preachers and pastors are using as their reason for believing that Russia is Magog. They read these newer translations of the Bible, they see this word "Rosh", and are automatically convinced that this is the ancient name of Russia. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
These preachers also believe that the 2 cities, Meshech and Tubal are the ancient names of Moscow and Tobolsk. This also, is not true. In fact, archeologists and geographers have recently discovered that not only are Meshech and Tubal not Moscow and Tobolsk, but they have also found that neither of them are in Russia at all! In fact, they have found these 2 cities are in fact in another country and still known by these names to this day! That country is Asia Minor, known today as, Turkey!
If you look at the prophecy given to Ezekiel, you'll find there are 4 cities in particular that are all in Turkey. Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Togarmah. All of these cities are in Turkey. Think about this, where are the 7 churches of the book of Revelation? Turkey. Where is Pergamos, where the seat of Satan is? Turkey. Where will the Anti-Christ come from? Turkey. All fingers and scriptures point to Turkey! Not Russia!
Not only that, but there are 3 other countries that will align with Magog. Persia (modern-day Iran), Ethiopia, and Lybia. All of these countries, along with Turkey, are Islamic countries! We've heard for years how there will be a one-world religion. I believe that religion will be Islam. Why? Because Christianity, the Jewish people, and Israel are the sworn enemies of Islam! Think about all the wars we've had recently. Think about the terrorist attacks on our country. What's the one common denominator in these enemies of America? They were all Islamic! 9/11, perpetrated by Islamics! Isis, Islamics! Saddam Hussein, Islamic! Bin-Laden, Islamic! Desert Storm, the Middle East conflict that lasted ever since 9/11, all have the Islamic ring of familiarity to them.
Islamics have their own religious city as well. Mecca, located in Saudi Arabia, is the holy city of the Islamic faith and Muslims all over the world. Every year, Muslims and those of the Islamic faith gather for what they call, "The Haaj". It's an event where they gather together at Mecca, march around what they call the "Kabba Stone" and worship a meteorite that feel to earth in the days of the Bible. They believe this meteorite is the image of their pagan goddess, "Diana". This goddess is known by many names in different countries.
In Egypt, she is known as Isis. In Assyria, Ishtar. In Babylon, Belit. In Persia, now known as Iran, she is called Anahita. In Greece, Artemis. In Rome, Diana. But throughout the Bible, she is mainly known as Ashteroth. Some of you may know her as Semiramis, Nimrod's wife. But more than that, she was also his mother!
This insidious harlot is the source of what is known as the Mother/Child cult. A false religion that worships her as the Queen of Heaven. Semiramis had a son named, Tamis. Semiramis believed that this was the promised Messiah. She would have virgins come and worship, fast and pray over her son. Those virgins are now known as Nuns. Hello Catholic Church!
Semiramis is the source of all the false religions in the world today! They all started with her! Including Islam. Islam has grown to be one of the largest religions in the world today. But why are they the ones to be the one world religion in the tribulation? Of all the false religions in the world, Islam is the only one that is the mirror image of the Christian faith!
And if you look closely, there is one symbol that ties all these false religions together. The crescent and the star. This symbol was first noticed on the head piece of Pharoah in Egypt. And on that symbol was the image of a serpent! We next find this symbol on the golden calf the children of Israel made when Moses was on Mount Sinai fellowshipping with the Lord. This symbol is crucial to identifying the enemies of God because THIS is the true symbol of Satan himself! Not the pentagram, as the world would have you believe. You'll also find this symbol embedded in the flags of all the Islamic countries. Russia also bears this symbol in their flag, but they are not fully Islamic. Not yet anyway. There are Christians in Russia. I know that for a fact because I know a couple who lived there for many years as missionaries. However, I believe it's only a matter of time before Russia turns fully Islamic.
Putin's invasion of the Ukraine has one objective and one objective only, to reform the Soviet Union! And if he is successful, which I believe he will be, Putin will re-establish the USSR! The Ukraine at one time was part of that alliance. And I find it most interesting that the Ukraine is reported to have more Christian churches than any other country. Is Russia Magog? Absolutely not! But I do believe Russia WILL play a significant role in the forming of the beast described in the book of Revelation. I believe Russia will be one of the countries that will align with the true Magog and invade Israel. But there is no way that Russia is Magog itself.
The belief that Russia is Magog can be traced back to a small group of 18th and 19th century theologians who wrote long before the primary evidence from the ancient Assyrian records was discovered, translated and made available to the public. Instead, they based their assertions on secondary sources, historical works written over 500 years after the time of Ezekiel, and to make matters worse some of these sources had come to be deliberately altered. These altered references include statements attributed to the first century AD Jewish historian Josephus, and first century AD Roman historian, Pliny.
In his book, "The Antiquity of the Jews", Josephus says that the Greeks called the "Magogites" the "Scythians" despite the fact that the Greeks did not call the Magogites the Scythians. In this same passage there are other errors in the identification of other ancient nations of Asia Minor. This passage shows that the author did not understand that Ashkenaz is the Hebrew word for the Scythians. (Interestingly, the Assyrian word for the Scythians, Ishkuza or Ashguza is similar to the Hebrew word for the Scythians – Ashkenaz.) This passage also comes into conflict with what the ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, who after living with each group wrote about the Scythians and the Lydians in his book, "The History". Since Josephus used Herodotus' book as a reference, one can only speculate how and why these obviously wrong statements are in Josephus' book. Were these inaccurate statements the products of Josephus' imagination, or were they the result of alterations to the few copies of Josephus' work that existed in medieval times? (Jews did not preserve the writings of Josephus because they considered him to be a traitor.)
Beginning in the 11th century these surviving manuscripts were copied by Catholic monks, and obviously altered in some places to suit prevailing beliefs. Ecclesiastical acceptance of the so-called connection between Magog and the Scythians traces back to Saint Jerome of the late fourth century AD. Unfortunately, the often-quoted statement that has Josephus connecting Magog with the Scythians is an act of document forgery!
Coincedentally, the often-quoted statement that has the ancient Roman historian, Pliny, in his work, "The Natural History", that connects Magog with the Scythians is another forgery. Nineteenth century Scottish Reverend, John Cumming, is credited as being a leading promoter of the Bible interpretation that calls for Russia invading Israel. In his book, "The Destiny of Nations", Cumming quotes a passage from Pliny's book about Magog which he intentionally altered!
Reverend Cumming wrote: "Pliny says 'Hierapolis taken by the Scythians was afterwards called Magog.'"
Pliny actually wrote: "Bambyx (a part of Lydia) the other name of which is Hierapolis, but by the Syrians called Magog."
Pliny's statement has been misquoted by Cumming in a way that makes it seem that Magog was related to the Scythians rather than the Lydians. Unfortunately, this same misquote of Pliny has been carried forward in time and appears in Hal Lindsey's book, "The Late Great Planet Earth". This alteration is easily verified by going to a copy of Pliny's book and seeing how key words were changed and switched around. It's difficult to believe that none of the many authors of books that discuss Ezekiel 38/39 and the war of Gog and Magog have not discovered this sleight of hand and exposed the deception. (While many contemporary Evangelicals gave Cumming's books on prophecy favorable reviews, an article in the Westminster Review in 1855 about Cumming attacked him for his "intellectual dishonesty, anti-Catholic bigotry, and moral and spiritual perversion.")
The correct identification of Magog with Lydia and not Scythia is consistent with the ancient texts of the Assyrians, who at various times were either the allies or the foes of the Scythians, but had peaceful dealings with the Lydians, who they also referred to as "Magog." Within academia today, no professional archeologists, historians or serious Bible researchers associate Magog with the Scythians. The truth is that modern scholars have unequivocally documented that a group of Scandinavian Viking traders called the Rus began the Russian state during the mid-AD 800's and gave their name to Russia. Therefore, there is no historical or factual basis for any connection of Russia to Magog.
Another reason I believe Magog is not Russia is the fact that if you look at a globe, you'll find that Russia is not straight north of Israel. And you cannot get from Russia to Israel without going through Turkey. In case most of you didn't know, Russia and Turkey are not exactly Bosom Buddies these days! In fact, they don't like each other at all! But Turkey has been driven to obliterate Israel for so long and so hard, they are more focused on that than they are on Russia. But I will say this, I seriously doubt Turkey is just going to stand by and let Russia come into Israel and wipe them out. If anything, Turkey is so determined to destroy Israel, they would sooner defend Israel against a Russian invasion than support it. Why? Because Turkey wants to be the one to destroy Israel. And they want that so bad, they couldn't possibly stand by and allow another country to do what they have always wanted to do. That's how obsessed they are with the destruction of Israel! They don't want anyone else to come in and do what they want to do themselves. They will put a stop to that mess in a hurry!
In 2018, Perry Stone released this statement on Facebook, he said, "For some time I, along with other prophetic ministers, have been telling people that based upon historic documentation and Biblical references in Ezekiel 38 and 39, that the enemy from the north will be an Islamic army headed up by Turkey (and not Russia as has been taught). As Turkey will be the 'king of the north.' Recently, the president of Turkey announced he was putting together a 5-million-man army from Islamic nations to stand against Israel and the Jews. This man is a dictator on the same line as Saddam Hussein, and this is aligned with what will one day become 200 million soldiers marching across a dried up Euphrates River toward the valley of Jezreel!
The Jewish Voice, a well-known publication posted this article on their website back in 2019.
"In December of 2017, the state-run Turkish newspaper Yeni Safak ran an article calling for a united “army of Islam” to invade Israel. More recently, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has also emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of President Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the undisputed capital of the Jewish State and has even said that Muslims should embrace the cause of Jerusalem “to the death.”
By all accounts, Turkey has now emerged as one of the primary antagonists of Israel in the Middle East, which may come as a surprise to many people. Historically, Turkey has been an ally of Israel and the U.S., and one of the more “moderate” Muslim nations in the world, with a western-style democracy.
Turkey’s friendlier posture towards Israel began to shift in the late 1990s and early 2000s. At this time, the Islamic factions in Turkey gained a firmer foothold in Turkish politics, which eventually led to the election of now President Erdogan to the Prime Minister’s office in 2002. Erdogan is a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim through and through. He disdains democracy. One of his primary goals is to re-establish Turkey as the leader of a revived Ottoman Islamic Empire. Since coming to power, Erdogan has systematically silenced, jailed, or executed most of his opponents in the military, media, business sector and in academia.
Many of these recent developments in Turkey are a bit unsettling. Nevertheless, it is still important to recognize that the rise of Turkey as a global power does harmonize with certain key Bible prophecies related to what will take place in the Middle East before the return of Yeshua. In Ezekiel 38-39 Ezekiel specifically predicted that Turkey would become one of the primary geopolitical enemies of Israel in the last days.
Many people are familiar with Ezekiel 38-39. They know this prophecy speaks of a military invasion of Israel led by a figure known as “Gog of the land of Magog.” Unfortunately however, many prophecy teachers today erroneously connect Gog to Russia. Part of the reason for this is because in both the New American Standard and New King James versions of the Bible, “Gog” is not only said to come from “the land of Magog,” but is also further described as “the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal” (Ez. 38:2). Because the word “Rosh” sounds similar to Russia, and because “Meshech and Tubal” sound similar to the Russian cities Moscow and Tobolsk, it has often been assumed in conservative prophecy circles that Gog must be a Russian.
In reality however, most scholars now recognize that Ezekiel 38:2 actually describes Gog as the “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,” not the “prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.” In other words, the Hebrew term Rosh, which means, “head, chief, or foremost,” is modifying Gog’s title as a prince (nasi). It is not the name of a particular place, which in turn, rules out any possible association between Gog and Russia. The idea that Gog is actually the “chief (rosh) prince (nasi) of Meshech and Tubal” is found in the ESV, NIV, HCSB, TLV and JPS translations of the Bible.
Now that the association between Gog and Russia has mostly fallen out of favor among scholars, there is near unanimous agreement in scholarly Bible commentaries and Bible atlases that in Ezekiel’s day, Magog, Meshech and Tubal were all located in what is now modern Turkey.
For example:
The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary states, “Magog (possibly meaning “the land of Gog”) was no doubt located in Asia Minor [Turkey] and may refer to Lydia.”
Historian Edwin Yamauchi has also written, “Since the late nineteenth century, Assyrian texts have been available which locate Meshech (Mushku) and Tubal (Tabal) in central and eastern Anatolia [Turkey] respectively.”
This critical prophecy in Ezekiel 38-39 may explain why Turkey has recently become one of the primary enemies of Israel on the world stage. Now of course, we do not want to jump to conclusions and say that Erdogan must be Gog! However, those of us with an interest in the signs of the times should definitely keep a close eye on Turkey. Based on Ezekiel’s prophecy, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that key prophetic events will transpire in Turkey in the days ahead."
Point, we need to dig deeper into the Scriptures and seek the help of the Holy Spirit to show us what the Word is telling us about what's coming. We need to stop being so quick to assume anything as far as bible prophecy is concerned. This has been happening for way too long and it's time for it to stop! The minute a war breaks out or an attack takes place, people are quick to grab their bibles and rely on their own understanding to interpret why this is happening. What they are failing to do is seek the Holy Spirit. Seek out God and have Him give you the wisdom to interpret the Scriptures correctly and not so frantically, as most pastors and preachers seem to be doing. Ask the Lord to show you what the Bible means by its words. Ask the Lord what He is telling you. He'll do it. If you focus on Him, you will hear Him.
The bible says, "My sheep know My voice and a stranger's they will not follow". Don't be so quick to assume anything when it comes to Bible prophecy, let alone the Word of God. Not everything is a literal as you may believe. They are deeper truths to be found in the Scriptures.
What we have heard about this invasion is really nothing new. We've heard this before. People at one time were saying that Ronald Regan was the Anti-Christ because all 3 of his names each had six letters, Ronald Wilson Reagan. Many people said that Mikhail Gorbachev was the Anti-Christ because of the birthmark on his forehead! How paranoid can you get?!
There's no reason for any of us to be concerned about the Gog/Magog war, Saints. This war will not happen until halfway through the tribulation. How do I know that? Ezekiel 38:8, "After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them."
God plainly says here that this invasion will happen in the latter years, which means it will happen in the future. He also mentions that Israel will dwell safely. Let me tell you something, Israel will NEVER feel more at peace and safe from its enemies than it will when Turkey signs that peace treaty after the Anti-Christ has come to power! It will be at this time that Turkey will betray Israel, break the treaty and invade Israel. Why? There will be a severe famine during the tribulation.
Revelation 8:6-11, "And the seven angels which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound.
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up. And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter."
Trees, grass, this would include plants and bushes will be burned up to a crisp! Our produce, fruits and vegetables come from these plants, trees and gardens. Waters will be turned to blood. Anyone want a glass of blood? The fish of the sea will be destroyed. Cod, shrimp, catfish, all destroyed in just a third of the seas of this world! Other waters will be made bitter. There's going to be a famine in the Tribulation. That's why Turkey will invade Israel. Because they know God protects them and delivers them from such plagues. Just as in the days of Egypt, the world will be stricken, but Israel will remain untouched. And her enemies will mount up against her and invade her to take food, valuables, livestock, oil, whatever they can take to replenish what they will surely lose!
But God has promised in this prophecy that He Himself will rise up and defend Israel and her enemies will be destroyed before their eyes and all will recognize that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is the Great I Am! And every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD OF ALL!!! LIFT UP A SHOUT OF PRAISE FOR THE KING OF KINGS TODAY!!! HALLELUJAH TO THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY!!!!
