CFBC Wed Study | 11-29-23 | Israel, Prophecy and the Middle East | Session 5

Dr. Chuck Herring | Ezekiel 38:1-9

Without a doubt, this is the time to study Ezekiel 36-39.  Tonight, Jewish families are still dealing with the brutal and evil attack that took place on October 7th.  Many are mourning the deaths of loved ones.  Others are nursing physical and emotional wounds that have left them devastated.  The IDF has moved into Gaza searching for Hamas terrorists while at the same time giving innocent Palestinians multiple warnings and opportunities to move their families to safety.  Even now, Israel has agreed to a cease fire and Palestinian prisoners are being swapped for innocent captives.  

Russia, Iran, and Turkey seem to be forming a new axis of evil.  All three of them literally hate Israel.  In fact, a new wave of antisemitism is sweeping through America, Europe, and the world.  Israel has a target on its back and the Middle East appears to be a ticking time bomb that could detonate at any moment.

John F. Walvoord commented…

If Ezekiel 38-39 is studied carefully, it reveals a future invasion of the land of Israel by the armies of Russia (and its allies).  Though sometimes confused with the battle of Armageddon, which will be a world conflict before the second coming, this war will be distinct in its objectives, its character, and its outcome.  According to Scripture, the invaders will be completely destroyed.  Undoubtedly this will have an effect on the world power struggle in which Russia is now a major factor.  As this prophecy was written over 2500 years ago, the question remains whether this has ever been fulfilled in the past.  A search of history finds no such battle or outcome….Though it may leave some questions unanswered, the study of these two chapters supplies an important segment of prophecy as it relates to the end-time period leading up to the second coming of Christ.[1]

What did God reveal to Ezekiel about Israel and the nations in the last days?  Here are a few prophecies that we’ve already discovered and discussed.  

§  God’s plan for the nation of Israel in the last days

§  The restoration of the nation of Israel (May 14, 1948)

§  God will make His name known to Israel and the nations in the last days

§  The Gog and Magog war with Israel that is sure to come

This war will occur at some point between Israel becoming a nation again and the second coming of Jesus.  As we shall see, the nations involved in this war are seriously moving into postion right now.  Okay, let’s get into the text itself…

Ezekiel 38:1–2… And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.

These first six verses lay out the players in this end-time prophetic drama.  Let’s examine these unusual names and see if we can identify exactly who these players are in today’s terms…

Gog

In all likelihood, this is not a personal name.  It is more likely a title, like czar or prince.  In the future, we should not expect a man named Gog to suddenly rise to prominence as a world leader.  Whoever is leading Magog at the time of the invasion will be this 'Gog'. He is addressed several times in Ezekiel 38-39 such as 38:2, 38:14, 39:1.

Magog

First, let’s look at the Geographical Evidence.  What does the Scripture reveal about the location of this “land?”  

Ezekiel 38:14–15… “Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? 15 “You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army…”

A quick check of a world map shows that there are only 5 countries that are due north of Israel.  These include Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia.  The one farthest north is Russia.  This is the geographical evidence for assuming that the major player in this last days war will probably be Russia and the leader of Russia will be one spoken of here as Gog.  

Now, let’s take a close look at the Historical Evidence.  Let’s go back to the time of Noah and his descendants.

Genesis 10:1–2… Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. 

You can see from verse 2 that Magog, mentioned in Ezekiel, was the second son of Japheth, the son of Noah.  So, he was the grandson of Noah. You see Tubal and Meshech mentioned, they are the fifth and the sixth sons of Japheth.

§  Josephus, the first century AD historian and scholar, assures us that the descendants of Magog migrated to an area north of Palestine.  Even before Josephus wrote those words, the famous Greek historian spoke about this matter…

§  Herodotus in the fifth century BC, wrote that Meshech's descendants settled north of Palestine.  

§  Jerome, who was an early Church Father, a prominent leader from AD 345 to AD 420, declared that Magog was located north of the Caucasus Mountains—that's the Caucasian Mountains that we know are in Russia.

In my research, I discovered that Voltaire (an avowed atheist) was intrigued with solving this mystery of Gog and Magog.  Through his own research he became convinced that Magog was Russia, and this was 150 years before Russia rose to the level of being a major world power.  In The Philosophical Dictionary, he wrote…

There is a genealogical tree of events of the world….It is incontestable that the inhabitants of Gaul and Spain are descended from Gomer, and the Russians from Magog, his younger brother.  Voltaire, The Portable Voltaire (paperback), ed. Ben Ray Redman (New York: Viking Penguin, 1977), 101.

Here’s what’s fascinating.  Voltaire studied Noah’s genealogy.  He then compared it to the histories of these different continents to determine where each of Noah’s descendants finally settled.  Joel C. Rosenberg, Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle Eat Will Change Your Future. p. 84

Finally, let’s consider The Linguistic Evidence.  William Gesenius, the father of modern Hebrew lexicography, concluded that the Rosh to which Ezekiel refers is a proper name.  He also concluded that Rosh is “undoubtedly the Russians, who are mentioned by the Byzantine writers of the tenth century, under the name Ros, dwelling to the north of Taurus [in Turkey].”  William Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament (Boston, [n.d.]), quoted in Tim LaHaye, The Coming Peace in the Middle East (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 123.

Joel Rosenberg concluded…

Based ...