Ezekiel 38-39 Part III

Well! It has been a good while since I made another post. I haven't forgotten, but haven't had the time, either, and it has been bugging me that this has taken even this long. Last time I was only able to cover the condition of Israel at the time of the attack, and I showed that the requirements have been fulfilled. In fact, nearly EVERY requirement for the prophecy to be fulfilled has fallen into place, the latest being Turkey's new pro-Islamic stance and its increased rhetoric against Israel, when in modern times, Turkey has been Israel's closest Islamic friend.

The purpose of this prophecy is made clear several times in chapters 38 and 39. At least eight separate times, the text states that God will make Himself "known to many nations", and that He "shall be glorified". (38:16, :23, 39:6, :7, :13, :21, :22, :28) This leads me to believe that this event will precede the rapture, or the "Blessed Hope" as it is called in Scripture. (Titus 2:13) It would just seem characteristic of a loving God to use one final event to show that He is sill in complete control, and that His Word is true.

I am getting a bit ahead of myself, aren't I? It would help to examine the attack and the results to better understand what I meant in the past paragraph. Ezekiel 39 details the attack. Today I'm using my beloved old King James Bible.

1) Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Me-shech, and Tu-bal:

2) And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:

3) And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

4) Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give the unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

5) Thou shalt fall upon the open field, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.

6) And I will send a fire on Ma-gog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

7) So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel

8) Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

Well, THAT says a lot! The latter part of Ezekiel 38 makes it clear that no one will come to Israel's aid. That means literally no nation...not the EU, the UN...not even the United States. Not to stray of subject, but I believe this is why the US is not mentioned anywhere in prophecy. In Genesis 12:3, God states that He will "bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee". In spite of the evil that America has had in the last hundred years or so, this nation has still been blessed, and I believe it is because of our stance on Israel. However, even in the recent Obama-Netanyahu meeting, our relationship with Israel has severely soured, and I believe this prophecy will bring about the end of blessing for the United States.

Another major point is that this event will bring upon the end of radical Islam as we know it. Not completely, but as we know it currently, because God says He will send a firestorm on Magog (39:6) and "great hailstones, fire, and brimstone" (38:22) on Magog and her allies. A great earthquake will also occur in Israel (38:20) so that "all the men that are upon the face of the earth shall shake at My presence."

It seems clear that this event will spark a massive revival worldwide. Christians will become more convicted, and even among Israel, many will turn to Christ. Even more will turn back to the Old Testament ways, and Muslims will turn to Christ as they see the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob fulfill His Word and protect His people.

This leads to a very small part of 39:2 that is only translated in the King James Version: "And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee". It seems insignificant enough that all other English translations have left that part out, even the New King James Version, but I believe it is very important. It basically states that about 16.7% of the attackers will be left either at home or unharmed. I think the reasoning is fairly simple...one cannot have a revival in a nation if all the people are dead.

With that said, the bloodshed by this coalition will be great. 38:21 states that God will "call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother." In 39:9-16, details are given to the extent of the carnage. Even with the beasts of the fields and the birds scavenging, Israel's workers will take a full seven months just to bury the bodies. (39:12)

The end of the prophecy appears to bring about the New Covenant, as it says, "(39:28) Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and left none of them any more there. (:29) Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD." But...that is a discussion for another day.

If you have any questions that I haven't addressed, please comment, and I will try to answer.

Until next time,

Timothy

Ezekiel 38-39 Part II

So, where did I get last time? The list of attackers. Well, there are some other neat points here. For instance, there are two specific nations missing that have been enemies of Israel throughout her modern and Biblical history: Egypt and Iraq (Babylon). Why would these be missing? Did Ezekiel perhaps miss them in his vision? Through the ages, many have assumed this to be the case, but this compromises a core belief that the Bible is without err. As Joel Rosenberg states in Epicenter, we must treat this prophecy as an intercept direct from the mind of God, that we may not initially understand, but is true nonetheless. So, then, instead of trying to figure out if Egypt and Iraq will be involved or not, let's assume that they are not, and try to decode why. You may recall the 1979 Camp David Accords, in which Israel and Egypt struck on a peace treaty. It was begrudging, of course, but it has held nonetheless. It is definitely plausible that Egypt could sit out the next war on Israel. That still leaves Iraq still on the prowl. Someone had to disarm Iraq so that the nation couldn't be a threat. Ah...the United States did just that in 2003. Though I believe that Operation Iraqi Freedom is a very unjust war, and very dishonorable to what our nation is supposed to stand for, I believe it was prophetic.

In Ezekiel 38:11-13, several points are made on the condition of Israel at the time of this attack.

11) “You will say, 'I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates'--

12) “to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.

13) “Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, 'Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?'”'

Yes, here are yet a few more names...Sheba and Dedan refer to what is today Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf states. Tarshish refers to a merchant area of southwestern Spain, and in many eyes, represents the West as a whole in modern times. These nations are obviously not attackers, and point out the true reason for the coalition's aggression, but on the same token do nothing to stop it.

Now to look at the condition of Israel at the time of the attack. These verses are clear that Israel will be at peace, and very wealthy. You may think, "Peace?", but in fact, Israel is at its safest, most peaceful state since 1948. And wealth. In the Middle East, only one thing means wealth: black gold. Former Israeli PM once quipped, "Moses dragged us for forty years through the desert to bring us to the one place in the Middle East where there was no oil. However, several verses in Genesis, Deuteronomy, and elsewhere seemed to suggest otherwise, even giving rough locations of "blessings of the deep that lie beneath," and "oil from the flinty rock." In fact, several companies have sprouted up in the past few years such as Zion Oil & Gas and Givot Olam Oil, Ltd and have had incredible success, striking extremely large reserves of both oil and natural gas. Even without considering potential oil, look at this graph of some of the region's comparative GDPs.

Needless to say, these requirements for Israel's security and economic condition are complete. Israel is by far the wealthiest country in its region.

Well, I'd say that is all for tonight. I am worn out completely, and my bed is calling. Next time I will address the attack on Israel.

Until next time,

Timothy

Greater Vision - You're Not Forsaken

Two posts in one day? Wow. Well, I have "discovered" a newer Greater Vision song that has some of the most powerful lyrical content I've heard. Of course, there's about a half dozen other Southern Gospel songs that I would say that about, such as Gold City's Hide Me Behind The Cross, Michael Booth's The Secret Place, and Jim Brady's Don't Ever Miss The Chance. Each of those songs have brought me to tears on different occasions, and still do, but You're Not Forsaken, from Greater Vision's "You're Not Alone" album hit me hard today. Not surprisingly, it's penned by Rodney Griffin...it seems three songwriters always get to me the most: Rodney, Jim Brady, and the late Doug Riley. This song in particular includes such deep Biblical truths and concepts in four minutes thirty-eight seconds.

Verse 1:

Paul was writing to a people hurting

Who felt forsaken by God.

He said, "My children, the only One forsaken

Was the Savior on the cross."

Chorus

So child, rejoice, you're not forsaken!

You're resting safe in His arms.

Lift up your voice and sing His praises,

Then bring your burdens to the cross,

Where Jesus hung there,

For us forsaken, our separation

Now is gone.

Oh weary pilgrim

Your dawn is breaking,

You're gonna make it,

You're not alone! Alone.

Verse 2

So if you feel like God's not watching

And He's stopped caring

And you're on your own.

Remember Jesus

Was by the Father, rejected.

Friend, that's a feeling

You'll never know!

Chorus

So child, rejoice, you're not forsaken!

You're resting safe in His arms.

Lift up your voice and sing His praises,

Then bring your burdens to the cross,

Where Jesus hung there,

For us forsaken, our separation

Now is gone.

Oh weary pilgrim

Your dawn is breaking,

You're gonna make it,

You're not alone!

Lift up your voice and sing His praises,

You're gonna make it, you're not alone!

You're gonna make it, you're not alone!

You're not alone!

The part that really struck me when the words of the song sank in was in verse two. "Remember Jesus was by the Father rejected. Friend, that's a feeling you'll never know!" It reminded me once again that the crucifixion wasn't what really hurt Jesus. He did that by choice. It was the Father placing all His fury against sin on His only Son...His very own pride and joy...that hurt Jesus...but because He was so willing, we were granted salvation. Oh, what a Savior.

Ezekiel 38-39 Part I

Okay, so I've delayed a day...my apologies. I worked 1-9:30 (close) last night, and we only FINALLY got finished closing the Cafe` at 10:10...well, that's when I got to home. Another cashier and a cafe` associate got to finish up... Well, by the time I got home, I only had enough "awake" left in me to unlock the door, stumble through the house, and crawl into bed.

Okay. Maybe not that bad. At any rate, I only turned on the computer long enough to check my Facebook, email, etc., before hitting the sack. So, now I'm sitting here, and I figured it's as good a time as any to start a short (hopefully) study on Ezekiel 38-39, what is known to Biblical Scholars as the "War Of Gog and Magog".

Now, Ezekiel's War (yet ANOTHER name) is quite the cryptic passage. In the first few verses of 38, several names are listed that will boggle the mind if reading it for the first time...even the second time. In this post, I will simply cover these names, and who these nations are in modern times.

Ezekiel 38:1-6

1) Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2) "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3) "and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.
4) "I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.
5) "Persia, Ethiopia (Hebrew "Cush"), and Libya (Heb. "Put"), all of them with shield and helmet;
6) "Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops--many people are with you."

That section summarizes the list of attackers that will form a coalition in the end of days and attack Israel. No one will come to Israel's aide, but God will supernaturally intervene. More on that later. First, who are all these nations?

"Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal"

Believe it or not, this refers to a single country. "Gog" is not a nation, but a title, such as "Pharaoh", or "Czar". He rules over a territory called "Magog", and is also the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. Magog first appears in Genesis 10:2. "The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras." Ahhh...so, there are several names that we've already read, and they're all sons of Japheth, and that seems to link them into one big, rowdy bunch. According to Flavius Josephus, "Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians." The Scythians were a barbaric tribe of Iranian stock people, who eventually settled north of the Black and Caspian seas in what is today Russia, and the southern Ukraine. In fact, during Joel Rosenberg's 2004 research trip for his "Last Jihad" series political thrillers based on the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy, he and his father visited the Russian State Historical Museum. In his nonfiction book, Epicenter, he says, "Sure enough, as we spent several hours walking the floors of the enormous redbrick building facing Red Square, we found in glass case after glass case numerous Scythian artifacts, dug up by Russian archeologists and anthropologists and all on display in the Russian equivalent of our Smithsonian. Not only was Russia's Scythian heritage real, we learned, but the Russian government was proud to let the whole world know." (page 85, Epicenter)

So, now, who is Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, who "Gog" is prince over? A bit of research points to Russia, Moscow, and Tobolsk. "Rosh" in Hebrew can mean "chief", or "head", as in "chief prince", as the original 1611 King James Version translates it. However, the Septuagint and Masoretic Texts both use "Rosh" as a noun, not an adjective. Rosh is one of the multiple ancient names for Russia, which was also known as "Rus", and "Rhos".

Next, the Meshech/Moscow connection. According to Russian legend, Moscow (Russian Moskva), was named for King Mosokh (Meshech), son of Japheth, and his wife, Kva. Tubal refers to the Siberian city of Tobolsk, which lies on the Tobol river, and is the largest industrial city in Siberia.

Persia

The next name is an easy one. In 1935, Persia became Iran, and in 1979, the Islamic Republic Of Iran. It is interesting to note that the first two allies listed are Russia and Iran. Ezekiel's vision was penned over 2,500 years ago, long before Russia was a major power, and even longer before Russia and Iran truly established a military alliance in 2005 with the agreement to build the Bushehr reactor and upgrade Iranian fighter aircraft and air-defense systems.

Ethiopia and Libya (Cush and Put)

Here's one of those times that the maps in the back of your Bible will come in handy. In both cases, the nations not only include the modern-day countries, but the Biblical regions of the area south of Egypt (Ethiopia), and the area west of Egypt (Libya). I made a rough map to illustrate.

Gomer and Beth-Togarmah

Finally, Gomer and Beth-Togarmah, or the "house of Togarmah". Let's delay on Gomer a second, as it is possibly the most difficult to identify. Beth-Togarmah likely refers to the area in Turkey known as Cappadocia, but may go on to include parts of Central Asia, though this cannot be positively determined.

And now to tackle Gomer. Right up front, I think Gomer refers primarily to western Turkey, but many believe that it refers to Germany. The French writer Voltaire, though a self-proclaimed enemy of Christ, was fascinated by the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecy, He wrote, "It is incontestable that the inhabitants of Gaul and Spain are descended from Gomer." He wasn't far off, as one of Gomer's sons, Ashkenaz, did settle in the region, but didn't stop there. Ashkenaz moved farther up the Rhine valley and eventually settled in what is today Austria and southern Germany. In fact, in Israel, European Jews, especially those from Austria and Germany, are distinguished from Russian Jews as "Ashkenazis". However, Josephus traces the majority of the descendants of Gomer as being "those whom the Greeks now call Galatians", who settled on the western shores of Turkey. Thus, I do believe that Turkey is an aggressor. While I doubt that Germany will be a direct attacker, I wouldn't be surprised if the nation receives judgement for what happened during World War II and the Holocaust.

Next time, I'll look into the attack on Israel, and God's intervention.

Blessings until then,

Timothy

Second Attempt

Well, at this rate, I'll probably average a post a day, right? Maybe. We'll see. I was blessed to get to speak with my friend Phil for the first time via Skype. About an hour later, he interviewed me to post about my blog on his. Well...about thirty minutes ago, he sent me an IM with the link to his blog post, and to say the least, I'm very humbled an honored at what he said. Thank you again for the kind words, Phil.

After what he said, I see I now have quite a bit to live up to! As he said, I am very interested in eschatology, or the study of Biblical end-times prophecy. It is a very fascinating subject, and there are a remarkable number of prophecies that haven't been fulfilled, such as Ezekiel 38-39 and Daniel 9:24-27 just to name a couple. I am sure I will eventually get around to covering the subjects in full soon enough, most likely Ezekiel 38-39, as in the current geopolitical situation, I wouldn't be surprised if it is fulfilled by August. More on my reasoning of that later. At any rate, it is fascinating to see the Bible coming to life, more accurate than ever, and see how much more timely songs such as Gold City's Midnight Cry are becoming.

While it is still current, I had the privilege of seeing the new Gold City lineup for the first time this past Friday. I hadn't seen them since November 2009, and I was looking forward to hearing Joshua Cobb. I had a nice little startle before the concert even started...I was sitting second row far left, just visiting with some friends, when someone came up behind me and started tugging my ear. I turned around with the whole, "What the..." attitude, when I find Bruce Taliaferro standing over me. "Hey, Tim...haven't seen you in a while. Been missin' ya!" What a nice surprise!

They opened up with I Cast My Bread Upon The Water, quickly followed with After Awhile. Tim Riley pretty well tore down the house. Joshua did a magnificent job on Preach The Word, and I would definitely say that Gold City is back on top with this lineup. Naturally, Roy Webb does extremely well, and of course, he has his microphone stand over by the piano. Nothing new under the sun...

The guys performed performed the ever-more popular 1942 song Rainbow Of Love. LOTS of humor there, and after Roy dropped it down from C to Bb, Tim nailed that powerful G1. A young lady in the row in front of me and about five people to the right shot a nice video of the song. Pay close attention to the last ten to fifteen seconds...as Tim slides down to the Bb1, Bruce just loses it!

The concert was a wonderful blessing, and I am quite sure that this lineup of Gold City will be a lasting one. Another exciting part...I noticed two studio condenser mics on each side of the stage...turns out, Gold City is working on a new live album, and some of the audio from Springfield will be on it! Looking forward to it!

Thanks again for reading!

Until next time.

Timothy

First Try

So...I am just starting on this whole blogging thing. I've followed up on a few blogs, such as Joel Rosenberg's Flash Traffic blog, and a Southern Gospel blog that my friend, Phil Boles from Ireland writes. Other than that...not much blogging. But I am sure as with Facebook and Twitter, and possibly Google's new "Buzz", I am likely soon to be addicted. Even though on the subject of Buzz...I'm not too impressed. I've wound up using it out of pure bewilderment of why anyone would want to use something that duplicates Twitter's functions. Until, then I entered Digg's iPad-a-week contest on both my Twitter AND my Buzz. No iPad, though. Go figure. But on the subject of Buzz, unless Google opens up and makes it possible for someone without a Google account to access Buzz, as with Twitter , I don't see it going much of anywhere. Besides, there are SO many applications that support Twitter, and so far the only application I've seen for Buzz is the one for Google Chrome, but it doesn't let me post...I still have to go to my Gmail homepage to do that. Speaking of Google Chrome, I have wound up using it quite a bit lately. I'm a huge Opera fan, partially for the security, but it also runs very smoothly. I'm not sure how Chrome is security-wise, but the extensions that have been developed for it have really caught my attention. Of course, thanks to the Blogger extension, I now have a blog. Such is life.

Well, I suppose that's enough for now. Between my evening's distractions, this post has taken about two hours to make...it will likely take less than two minutes to read.

Timothy