Ezekiel 38 - 39 . . .
The Bible warns Iran (Persia), with
Russia ('Magog'),
and a coalition of allies (including Turkey and Sudan) will go to war,
and will attack and will
invade Israel. In Ezekiel 38-39 the Bible warns this coming war between
Iran (Persia) and Israel will take place sometime
after Israel has been re-gathered into Her land as a nation
(which was fulfilled on May 14, 1948) ...
this prophetic war has never yet taken place ... the only time in
history Persia (Iran) has ever gone to war against Israel was to
help Israel throw off the yoke
of the Byzantine Empire around 614 AD. The Bible warns the US will
NOT defend Israel. According to the Bible, Israel must stand
alone ... with God. For when this
coming war does
finally start,
the United States (for reasons yet unknown) will be unable or unwilling to
help Israel defend herself. Although the Bible warns the invading
armies will be ultimately destroyed by God, it will be a
devastating war for both
Israel and the whole world. Bible scholars are divided as to whether
this coming war is part of the prophetic battle of Armageddon or will just
precede the battle of Armageddon in order to prepare the path for the coming
Antichrist (a coming 'world leader' who will enforce a 'peace plan' upon
Israel). All people of the world should be sitting on the edge
of their seats with white knuckles watching this terrible prophecy slowly
start to unfold ... while believing Christians (followers ... both Jew and
Gentile ... of Jesus (Yeshua), the promised Messiah) are told to "examine"
themselves in the Word and in faith to insure they are not just 'almost'
Christians (Matthew 7:21-23) who are "lukewarm" in their faith in God's Word (Revelation 3:14-16) ... for Jesus (Yeshua) the
Messiah warns all to, "Watch, therefore, and
pray always (not just sometimes), that you will be counted worthy
(through His
worthiness) to
escape all these things (the
terrible events of the coming 'Apocalypse') that
will come to pass" ... (Luke
21:36) ... for He also warns that never in the history of
Mankind has there been (or will there be) anything as terrible as the
coming "Apocalypse" (also called the "Great Tribulation"... Matthew
24:21 ... and "the time of Jacob's (Israel's) trouble"... Jeremiah
30:7) and only a small remnant of the world will survive ... yet, the Bible promises believing Christians (faithful and
sincere believers in
Jesus
Christ (Yeshua Ha'Mashiach in Hebrew) who
are alive at that time and have endured in their faith in God's Word are
not "appointed" to this coming time of "God's wrath" that will be
"poured out" upon the "whole world"... (1
Thessalonians 1:10 ... 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)
Ezekiel 38:1-10 . . .
"Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
‘Son of man, set your face against Gog (a powerful leader),
of the land of Magog (translated 'Scythia' in Greek ...
the area of modern day Russia),
the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, (Meshech and
Tubal are in and around Turkey)
and prophesy against him, and say,
Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Behold, I am against you, O Gog (a powerful human or dark-angelic
leader),
the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. (Turkey)
I will turn you around,
put hooks into your jaws (perhaps from greed, a mutual defense
treaty, or a UN resolution)
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 (weapons). (The Russian army will
march again)
Persia (Iran), (Iran is listed first, meaning it will be the
'lead' ally)
Ethiopia
(Sudan ..."Cush"), and Libya (northern Africa) are with them,
all of them with shield and helmet.
Gomer
and all its troops; (Germany-France, eastern Europe, or "Galatia"-
Turkey)
the
house of Togarmah
(Armenia) from the far north
and all its troops -
many people are with you. (NATO member Turkey will join
this coalition)
Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are
gathered about you;
and be a guard for them. (Russia will act as a
"guard" ... and supplier of weapons)
After many days you will be visited.
(Meaning, this would happen far from Ezekiel's time)
In the latter years you (Russia-Iran)
will come into the land of those brought back from the sword
(Israel!)
and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel,
which had long been desolate
(this war will take place after Israel became a nation in
1948)
they (the children of Israel) were brought
out of the nations,
and now all of them dwell safely.
You will ascend, coming like a storm, (they may attack from the air,
or from the south, or both)
covering the land (of Israel) like a cloud,
you and all your troops and many peoples with you."
(Ezekiel 38:1-10)
The Bible
warns Russia will also act as a GUARD (including weapons) for Iran and their
allies ...
"Prepare yourself
(Russia - "Magog")
and be ready,
you
(Russia)
and all your
companies (allies) that are gathered about you;
and be a
GUARD for them." ("Them" is Iran ("Persia") and the other
allies listed)
(Ezekiel 38:7)
A "GUARD" protects, defends, blocks threats of "international sanctions"...
and provides weapons, technology, intelligence, command, and control.
Ezekiel 38:11-17 . . .
‘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
(the one who leads Russia) will say,
‘I will go
up against a land of unwalled villages; (the cities in
Israel are no longer 'walled')
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, (look at Israel today)
and against a people gathered from the nations, (this
will take place after 1948!)
who
have acquired livestock and goods,
who
dwell in the midst of the land.
Sheba (Saudi Arabia), Dedan (Kuwait),
(Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will not join this invasion)
the
merchants of Tarshish (may be England),
and
all their young lions (may be former
colonies like Canada, Australia, and the US)
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?’”’
“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,
(check you maps and globes ... Russia is 'far north' of Israel)
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 (God's) people Israel
like a cloud, to cover
the land.
It will be in the latter days
that I will bring you against My Land (Israel), (we are now
living in 'the latter days')
so
that the nations may know Me,
when
I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.”
Thus
says the Lord GOD:
“Are you
(Gog) he
of whom I have spoken in former days (prophesy
fulfilled)
by
My servants the prophets of Israel,
who
prophesied for years in those days
that
I would bring you against them?"
(Ezekiel 38:11-17)
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.”’ (The invading coalition of
armies will be destroyed ...)
(Ezekiel 38:18-23)
We are not exactly sure when this attack/invasion
will take place ... but, from current news headlines, it looks as
though it is now getting very close. As noted above, if you
study your history books you will find the only time in history Iran
(Persia) has invaded Israel was in 614 AD, and this invasion was to
help Israel break the yoke of the Byzantine Empire. The
current threats of war Iran is making against Israel represent
the first time in history the world has seen the imminent
fulfillment of this prophecy. Add the fact Russia is fully
backing Iran, Turkey is quickly turning away from the US and against
Israel (Mein Kampf is currently a best seller in Turkey), and all
of these nations either are, or soon will be, armed with nuclear weapons, you will
find the world may soon be facing this terrible prophetic war
. . .
Israel WINS . . . the invading armies will be utterly
destroyed . . . by GOD!!!
In
Ezekiel 39 the Bible goes on to warn the invading armies will be utterly destroyed ... by
God! Also in Ezekiel 39 there are hints this coming war may go nuclear because Israel
will wait months to enter the
battlefield after the battle, they will "set apart men
regularly employed" (professionals) to bury the dead, and later
if a bone is spotted it is to be "marked" for the professionals to
bury (exactly the same procedures that are
now found in our military nuclear/biological/chemical "battlefield
cleanup" manuals today) ... the aftermath of this invasion will
be very, very gruesome.
Some
scholars feel it must be part of, or the beginning of 'The Battle of Armageddon'
(because of some of the terminology used) and others believe it must happen sometime before Armageddon
and will set the stage for the rise of Europe/Rome and the
'Antichrist' as they fill the world power vacuum that will be left
after this coming war ... and for some yet unknown reason the
United States will be 'neutralized' sometime before this attack and
will be unwilling or unable to help defend Israel.
More
importantly, most good prophetic Bible scholars agree that the
strange prophetic event called "The Rapture" must take place
sometime before this coming battle ...
Please do not ignore these Bible prophecies . . .
Many people will
simply yawn and ignore these Bible prophecies and the
headlines we are now seeing ... yet,
God does NOT fulfill His prophecies or prophetic warnings in secret,
but so all the world can see. For instance, for many years a number of Bible prophecy
teachers and scholars have been warning the one piece of the puzzle missing
was for TURKEY (a NATO ally-nation) to turn toward Russia and Iran
and against Israel (as this
prophecy predicts.) The world has waited over 2,500 years to
see the headlines we are now seeing. This prophetic war between Iran and Israel
has never yet taken place ... and it is very much a part of the
coming "Apocalypse" and Armageddon scenario. God has been warning and
preparing this generation for this coming war for well over 10
years ... and the headlines concerning this coming war can now be found almost
daily all around the world. God is trying to get our attention and to
draw those who are His back to Him before it is too late. With
open arms and with tears of joy God promises to welcome and to shelter and comfort
ALL
who will come to Him before these events take place (or before their
earthly bodies
die) ... yet, the Bible warns God will not mourn, nor have mercy, on those who reject and ignore and
mock His Word and His warnings.
The Identity of "Magog - Scythia" . . .
From the Roman-Jewish
historian Josephus Flavius . . .
A major
source on ancient Jewish-Roman history is Josephus Flavius, a
Jewish-Roman historian who wrote of the Roman wars and witnessed the
Roman siege on Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Josephus identified Magog
in his ancient writings as he wrote ...
"Magog founded the Magogians, thus named after him, but who were
by the Greeks called 'Scythians.'"
(Josephus, Antiquities, 1.123)
From
the Wikipedia Encyclopedia - Scythia (Magog
in Hebrew) comprised an area in Eurasia inhabited in ancient times
by Iranian nomadic peoples, speaking Iranian languages and known as
the Scythians or Scyths. The location and extent of
Scythia varied over time, from the Altay Mountains region where
Mongolia, China, Russia, and Kazakhstan come together, across
southern Ukraine to the lower Danube river area, Bulgaria and
Georgia. The Chinese knew the
Saka (Asian Scythians) as
Sai. The Scythians first
appear in Assyrian annals as Ishkuzai, reported as pouring in
from the north some time around 700 BC and settling in
Ascania and modern Azerbaijan as
far as to the southeast of Lake Urmia. Archaeological remains
of the Scythians include elaborate tombs containing gold, silk,
horses and human sacrifices. Mummification techniques
and permafrost have aided in the relative preservation of some
remains.
From 'Encyclopedia.com -
Scythia (Magog in Hebrew),
ancient region of Eurasia, extending from the Danube river on the
west to the borders of China on the east. The Scythians
flourished from the 8th to the 4th cent. BC They spoke an
Indo-Iranian language but had no system of writing. They were
nomadic conquerors and skilled horsemen. They seem to be related to
the Saka, another nomadic tribe that roamed the steppes of central
Asia at about the same time. The so-called Royal Scyths established
a kingdom in the E Crimea before the 9th cent. BC They seem to have
maintained themselves as a ruling class while others (probably
native inhabitants) worked the grain fields. The Scythians are
traditionally associated with the area between the Danube and the
Don, but modern excavations in the Altai Mts., particularly at the
site of Pazyryk, suggest that their origins were in Western Siberia
(Russia) before
they moved east into Southern Russia in the early 1st millennium BC. Scythian
power was maintained in the 8th cent. BC in obscure warfare with the
Cimmerians. The Scythians, considered barbarians by the Greeks,
traded (7th cent. BC) grain and their service as mercenaries for
Greek wine and luxury items. They invaded (7th cent. BC) upper
Mesopotamia and Syria. They threatened Judah but never actually
occupied Palestine. They also made incursions into the Balkan
Peninsula, and a century later the mysterious campaign of Darius I
against them (c.512 BC) may have checked their expansion, although
it was no conquest. They destroyed (c.325 BC) an expedition sent
against them by Alexander the Great. After 300 BC they were driven
out of the Balkans by the invading Celts. In South Russia they were
displaced (2nd or 1st century BC) by the related Sarmatians.
From Chuck Missler's 'Koinonia
House' Research and Article - Magog-Scythia . . .
(http://www.khouse.org/articles/2002/427/)
We know
the descendants of Magog by their Greek designation as the Scythians
(depicted in their legends as descending from Scythes , the
youngest of the three sons of Heracles, from sleeping with a half
viper and half woman). The name Scythian designates a number of
nomadic tribes from the Russian steppes, one group of which invaded
the Near East in the 8th and 7th centuries B.C. After being repulsed
from Media, many of the later Scyths settled in the fertile area of
the Ukraine north of the Black Sea. Other related tribes occupied
the area to the east of the Caspian Sea.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus (5th
century B.C) describes them living in Scythia (i.e., the
territory north of the Black Sea). He describes Scythia as a square,
20 days journey (360 miles) on a side. It encompassed the lower
reaches of the Dniester, Bug, Dnieper, and Don Rivers where they
flow into the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
The Scythian language belonged to the Iranian
family of the Indo-European languages. The Ossetian dialect of
central Caucasus appears to be a survivor. The original area in
which Iranian was spoken extended from the mid-Volga and the Don
regions to the northern Urals and beyond. From here,
Iranian-speaking tribes colonized Media, Parthia, Persia, Central
Asia, and as far as the Chinese border.
In the 7th century B.C. the Scythians swept
across the area, displacing the Cimmerians from the steppes of the
Ukraine east of Dnieper River, who fled from them across the
Caucasus. It is provocative that even the name "Caucasus" appears
to have been derived from Gog-hasan, or "Gog's Fort."
The hippomolgoi ("mare-milkers")
mentioned in Homer's Iliad were equestrian nomads of the northern
steppes and several authorities also identified these with the
Scythians. (One of the delicacies I (Chuck Missler) was presented
with when I was being hosted by the Deputy Chairman of the Soviet
Union was fermented horse milk! These traditions may have a deep
history, indeed.) (http://www.khouse.org/articles/2002/427/)