Christian Living

---

Ezekiel 38 part 1 - Who Is Gog?
In the Vision concerning Gog, God reveals the the prophet Ezekiel that in the 'latter-days' Isreal will be invaded by a massive army lead by Gog, or the 'chief prince' of the next modern day Persia. In the vision, it appears that the attack has already taken place, Isreal is occupied, and God is telling Gog that God's will has been set against Gog, and He is going to pull them out of Isreal.

Ezekiel 38 1-3 1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him 3 and say: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal
Who exactly is Gog, this mighty king who will attack Israel with a mighty army in the 'latter days'?

Gog is first mentioned in I Chronicles 5:4 as a descendant of Joel, son of Shemaiah. We know that Gog is also the 'chief prince' of Meshech and Tubal. Meshech and Tubal describe the people of ancient Anatolia which now is modern day Turkey.

The word given for 'chief prince' is ro'sh or 'head' and is used as an adjective (chief) in the passage. Some however relate the word 'ro'sh' as a reference to a country known as Rashu (or Reshu) which was an ancient land along the Tigris river. Other's have identified ro'sh as a people known as the Rus who lived in the region of the Taurus Mountains in present-day Turkey. The reference to Russia comes only through resemblance in spelling or sound.

In verses 1-3 of Ezekiel's vision, God reveals that he is against Gog.

Ezekiel 38:4-7 4 I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. 5 Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, 6 also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. 7 " 'Get ready; be prepared, you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take command of them.
Here in verse 4, God tells Gog that he is going to turn him around as a horse is lead with a bit in it's mouth and pull him out of Isreal.

The Ally's of Gog:

Put - Phut or Put (Hebrew: פוט pûṭ; Septuagint Greek Φουδ Phoud) is the third son of Ham (one of the sons of Noah), in the biblical Table of Nations (Genesis 10:6; cf. 1 Chronicles 1:8). Put or Phut) is associated with r Phut) is associated with Ancient Libya by many early writers.

Cush - The existence of the historical Kingdom of Kush in what is now areas of southern Egypt, and Sudan cannot be reasonably questioned, although the term may later have been employed with some latitude. In addition, the modern Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family spoken by various populations in the Horn of Africa, is named after the Biblical Cush.

Persia - the empire included the modern territories of Iran,Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace and Macedonia, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon,Syria, and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya.

Gomer - According to tractate Yoma, in the Talmud, Gomer is identified as the ancestor of the Gomermians, modern Germans.

Beth-Togarmah - In the Midrash compilation Genesis Rabbah, Rabbi Berechiah mentions Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah as German tribes or as German lands. (Wiki)

Ezekiel 38:8 - 8 After many days you will be called to arms. In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.

'In future years you will invade a land that has recovered from war', God reveals the state of Isreal before the attack. First Gog will invade a land that has recovered from war, which means that the attack will come when Isreal as settled and at peace. 'whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and now all of them live in safety.' The attack will come after Israeli has been restored. It is believed that a mass pilgrimage to Israel will take place sometime before or immediately after the Rapture. I believe it may occur once the Israeli/Arab peace treaty is signed. At no point in History have the Jews lived in relative safety as they do now.

The NIV (New International Version Bible) has 'In future years' and the KJV (King James Version) has 'in the latter years'. The prophecy concerning Gog was written sometime during 593 B.C and history shows that Gog, sometime between 670 and 570 B.C, was an ally of the people of Gomer (Cimmerians) and warred in Northwest Asia during this period.

Read more of Aaron's Nelson's articles on christian topics or inspirational and romantic poems featured on Helium.com's.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE