WWIII-RUSSIA
and the ALLIED ISLAMIC NATIONS WAR: COULD THIS BE NEXT ON THE
PROPHETIC CALENDER?
[Ezekiel
38-39] reveals a fascinating and detailed prophecy about a future war
campaign against Israel. This war is known as the "Gog and Magog
War"
As
mentioned earlier, Ezekiel's prophecy shows us that Russia will
govern the former Soviet states to the south at the time of the war,
represented by Meshech and Tubal. In other words, before this
prophecy takes place, Russia will either re-conquer the southern
territories, or they will submit to Russian rule again. Gomer
represents the western states, and Ezekiel's prophecy shows that they
join Russia in the conflict. With that said, it is interesting that
Russia has recently flexed their muscle invading Georgia in 2008 and
recognizing South Ossetia as an independent state, and invading
Ukraine in 2014, with Crimea breaking away and aligning with Russia.
The
governments of Russia and some of the former Soviet states are
predominately atheistic. The common denominator in the other
countries that join Russia is they are all Muslim nations. This is
interesting, because the more fundamental sects of Islam believe that
Israel does not have a right to exist. Many Muslims believe Allah has
called them to destroy the Jews and re-take the Holy Land.
Persia,
[IRAN] Ethiopia [or Cush], and Libya [or Put] are with them, all of
them with shield and helmet;
Gomer
[Eastern Europe] and all its troops; the house of [Beth] Togarmah
[Turkey] from the far north and all its troops - many people are with
you.
[Ezekiel
38:1-3] Now the word of the LORD came to me,
saying "Son of man, set your face against 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, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal."
[Ezekiel
38:4] 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.
[Ezekiel
38:5-6] Persia, Ethiopia [or Cush], and Libya [or Put] are
with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its
troops; the house of [Beth] Togarmah from the far north and all its
troops - many people are with you.
[Ezekiel
38:7-9] "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your
companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.
After
many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into
the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many
people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they
were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.
You
will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you
and all your troops and many peoples with you."
[Ezekiel
38:10-12] Thus says the Lord GOD: "On that day it shall
come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make
an evil plan:
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' -
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.
[Ezekiel
38:13]
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?"
Bible
teacher Jack Kelley makes an interesting case for identifying
Tarshish:"Tarshish was a son of Javan, who settled the area
of Southern Greece. Some see his name as a reference to ancient
Tartessus, a seaport in southern Spain, near Gibraltar. Others recall
the sea-going navies of the Phoenicians who sailed "the Ships of
Tarshish" out of nearby Cadiz as far north as England for tin, a
metal used in the making of bronze and other alloys, which they mined
in Cornwall.Some believe that the name Britannia is actually derived
from a Phoenician word meaning "source of tin." If so,
since the ships of Tarshish brought tin to the ancient world, this
reference could be to Great Britain making the "lions"
(KJV) or "villages"(NIV) of Tarshish Great Britain's
colonies, of which the US is the most prominent today. The fact that
the Lion is a symbol of the British Empire lends support to this
view."
[Ezekiel
38:14-16] "Therefore, son of
man, prophesy and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On that
day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?
Then
you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many
peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a
mighty army.
You
will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the
land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My
land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O
Gog, before their eyes."
[Ezekiel
38:17]
Thus says the Lord GOD: "Are you he of whom I have spoken in
former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for
years in those days that I would bring you against them?"
[Ezekiel
38:18-23] "And
it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the
land of Israel," says the Lord GOD, "that My fury will show
in My face.
For
in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: 'Surely in
that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel,
so
that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the
field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who
are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The
mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and
every wall shall fall to the ground.'
I
will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,"
says the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his
brother.
And
I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will
rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with
him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
Thus
I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the
eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD."
[Ezekiel
39:1]
"And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, 'Thus says
the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of
Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.
[Ezekiel
39:2-8] "and
I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far
north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.
Then
I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to
fall out of your right hand.
You
shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and
the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of
every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
You
shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken," says the Lord
GOD.
"And
I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the
coast-lands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
So
I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and
I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations
shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
Surely
it is coming, and it shall be done," says the Lord GOD. "This
is the day of which I have spoken."
[Ezekiel
39:9-10] "Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel
will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields
and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they
will make fires with them for seven years.
They
will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests,
because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder
those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,"
says the Lord GOD.
[Ezekiel
39:11-16] "It
will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place
there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and
it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all
his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.
For
seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to
cleanse the land.
Indeed
all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown
for it on the day that I am glorified," says the Lord GOD.
"They
will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search
party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on
the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they
will make a search.
The
search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man's
bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it
in the Valley of Hamon Gog.
The
name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the
land."
[Ezekiel]
"And
as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every sort
of bird and to every beast of the field: "Assemble yourselves
and come; Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which
I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrificial meal on the mountains
of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink blood.
You
shall eat the flesh of the might, Drink the blood of the princes of
the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them
fatlings of Bashan.
You
shall eat fat till you are full, And drink blood till you are drunk,
At My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you.
You
shall be filled at My table With horses and riders, With mighty men
And with all the men of war,"' says the Lord GOD."
[Ezekiel
39:21-24] "I will set My
glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which
I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.
So
the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that
day forward.
The
Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for
their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid
My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and
they all fell by the sword.
According
to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have
dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.
[Ezekiel
39:25-29] "Therefore thus
says the Lord GOD: 'Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob
(ISRAEL), and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be
jealous for My holy name -
after
they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which
they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land
and no one made them afraid.
When
I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of
their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many
nations,
then
they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into
captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their
land, and left none of them captive any longer.
And
I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured
out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord GOD."
