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