And the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. And I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops– many peoples with you.”’ Ezekiel 38:1-6
We live in amazing times! Bible prophecy is being played out on the news channels every day. We serve the author of history who shows His power by declaring what is to come.
All of the countries that the Lord mentions in Ezekiel 38 seem to be gathering together against Israel. Let’s look at who they are:
- Gog: this is simply a leadership term akin to President, Czar or Prime Minister. He is described as a military and political leader and a coalition builder. In Ezekiel 38:10 we are told that he devises an evil plan against Israel.
- Magog: In The Antiquities of the Jews, first century Roman historian, Flavius Josephus, indicated that the people of Magog are the people whom the Greeks referred to as ‘Scythians.’ They migrated from the Middle East northward and settled north of the Black and Caspian Seas in the region we now call Russia and the former Soviet Republics.
- Perisa: Until 1935, Persia was the legal name of what we now refer to as Iran.
- Ethiopia/Cush: This is the Upper Nile region we now know as Sudan which is a hotbed of radical Islam.
- Put: Josephus calls this “ancient Lybios” or what we refer to as the nations of Libya and Algeria, both of which are also hotbeds of militant Islam.
- Gomer: This is the nation of Turkey. For the last 80 years, Turkey has been very pro US, Israel and EU. However, in the last few years the government has swung away from the West and toward Russia and Iran, while expressing growing hostility toward Israel.
- Beth Togarmah: It is hard to know what modern nations precisely make up this part of the alliance. This region is made up of Turkic-speaking peoples flowing out from Turkey across the Caucasus and central Asian regions. This area is comprised almost completely of Muslim nations that have close ties to Russia and Iran.
Who is not mentioned in this alliance?
- Syria and Lebanon are not named in Ezekiel’s prophecy. However, Ezekiel tells us that this military force will attack from the north, meaning that it will have permission from these two nations to move their forces toward Israel’s borders.
- Egypt is missing from the prophecy as well. This is most likely because of the existing peace treaty that was signed with Israel in 1979. While there have been threats from the new regime to nullify this treaty, it seems that, at least for now, they are going to honor it.
- Iraq is also missing from this alliance. Most likely, this is because of their fragile state since their liberation in 2003.
These are the nations to keep an eye on. Ezekiel makes it clear that their alliance will result in military action against Israel. But, the God of Israel will intervene in an extraordinary way! More on that is to come. Stay tuned!