Sunday go to meeting BUN! A study in Ezekiel 38…
. . . Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and
prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal. There is much discussion about this passage as to the identity of Gog, in the land of Magog. Where is Magog? Some modern commentators, like Chuck Smith, Chuck Missler,
and Hal Lindsey agree that Magog is a name for the people who lived in the area north of the Caucasus and descended from the ancient Scythians.1 This corresponds to the modern state of Russia. However there are also other interpretations that place this area in what is now Turkey. It is important to note that later in the text verse 15 refers to “the north parts.” If one looks at a map of Israel and goes north, one finds the modern nation of Turkey. North of that is the nation of Russia. What is of interest is that Russia is presently sending arms to Iran.2 Iran, or Persia (as it was called until modern times), is the second nation in the list of nations that goes up against a land of “unwalled villages,” (Israel).
Ezekiel 38:5-6
Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee.
Another group of nations are listed here; Persia, as I mentioned, is the country of Iran. Ethiopia and Libya have the same modern names as stated in the prophecy. Gomer is Eastern Germany and Poland, while Togarmah could correspond to Turkey, Yugoslavia, and Romania—the Balkan states. What is interesting about this passage is that Iraq is not mentioned, nor is Saudi Arabia nor Jordan. If we were to have discussed this several years ago, while Saddam Hussein were still in power, most of us would have wondered why the nation of Iraq was not amongst those listed in the assault. Especially in light of the Gulf War, in which Hussein launched scores of Scud missiles into Israel, so there was no mistaking his intentions of ill-will towards Israel. Yet Iraq is not mentioned in the text. However, as I previously stated, Iran takes the second “billing” on the list, Gog and Magog being first, and, of course, with all the recent saber rattling by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his malicious intentions toward the state of Israel have become apparent. For example, in his comments to Iran’s
Holocaust Conference on December 12, 2006, Ahmadinejad said, “Thanks to people’s wishes and God’s will, the trend for the existence of the Zionist regime is downwards, and this is what God has promised and what all nations want . . . Just as the Soviet Union was wiped out and today does not exist, so will the Zionist regime soon be wiped out.”3 A few decades ago, Iran was under the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran. He brought about a measure of “Western” ideas to the country, which were overthrown by a religious coup in 1979. The Ayatollah Khomeini, exiled in
France for fourteen years, returned triumphantly and promptly created an Islamic state, returning the country to Sharia law (fourteenth century Islamic jurisprudence). Thousands fled in fear of persecution and death at the hands of the radicals. A quote taken from Oil & Islam by Farid A. Khavari bolsters the point I am trying to make: “Shortly after Khomeini came to power, the Iranian people began to have their regrets. On the walls throughout the country appeared these words: Marg bar mar, ke goftim mar bar shah! Which translates—Death to us, that we said ‘death to the Shah!’”4
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AUTHOR’S SIDEBAR
Presently, we have the Iranian government actively seeking nuclear power: a weapon.5 This has been the source of endless talks in the anemic United Nations. Ahmadinejad has stated openly that he wishes to “wipe Israel off the map.”6 With venom such as this, the Ezekiel prophecy is especially poignant at this juncture in history. Following is another one of Ahmadinejad’s more recent comments:
CONTINUE
