During the 1980’s I was a young man. Most of my misconceptions about bible prophecy took root during this time. The prophecy was used as a whipping post simply because Jesus is going to return any second, and I was living under a very legalistic lifestyle. The church I attended was entrenched in-laws that dictated what a Christian should be and how they should look. If you did not measure up you were not really saved. Salvation was something that Jesus provided, but these extra laws were required to stay saved. Needless to say I never truly felt saved, I only felt like I was a candidate for salvation. This is what legalism does.

Because of this, there was always a lingering question in the back of my mind that caused me to doubt my own salvation. Because I believed that Jesus would return any minute, I believed I was in constant Peril. So I had a deep interest in Biblical Prophecy. Books like 88 reasons why Jesus will come in 1988 did nothing to ease my fears. Many books that were written during the 20th century about bible prophecy had many flaws and misinterpretations. They contained a lot of untrue assumptions.

One of the themes of these assumptions was about Russia. According to many of these so-called prophecy experts, the very next biblical event to happen was that Russia is going to invade Israel. God would rise to Israel’s defense and Russia would lose. In the minds of many of these prophecy experts, This would be the only way that Communism would collapse and fall. Then the Antichrist would be revealed and the events in revelations would unfold. Their reasoning could be found in the misapplied chapters of Ezekiel 38 and 39. When communism collapsed during the 1990’s many of these flawed assumptions were proven wrong, but I have yet to see anyone address it.

This is exactly why people criticize bible prophecy! The so-called authorities in this field during the 20th century got many things wrong, but this does not make Biblical prophecy wrong. There are many people who misrepresent the bible. It does not make the bible wrong. It makes those people wrong. The problem is many of these flawed concepts have survived. They made their way into our day and time. Many people still believe many of the wrong concepts that originated and were taught in the 20th century.

Believe it or not, we have spent a great deal of time correcting misconceptions and laying a good foundation. We are now ready to look at Israel in more detail from a biblical prophecy perspective. We are now ready to talk about Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. I will start with this question.

Who is on Israel’s side? The United States claims to be. I guess it all depends on who is occupying the oval office. During the 6 day war, we stayed on the sidelines in spite of the fact that we promised to help protect Israel. This promise was given under Eisenhower. Our government claimed they could not find the paperwork during this 6-day conflict. We protected them while Reagan was in office, but after Bush was elected that changed. It was a Bush/Baker administration that changed the US policy towards Israel. It was Clinton and Rabin that started to divide the land and give land away for “Peace”. Later George W. Bush refused to work with Arafat, but still tried to go through the PLO as representatives for the Palestinian people. Obama then said that Israel should redraw its borders to the pre-1967 conflict. Donald Trump Moved the United States embassy to Israel and he is a strong supporter of it.

Britain stopped immigration to the holy land for all Jews paving the way for the Holocaust. They promised Israel land then later promised portions of the same land to the Arabs. After this, they pulled out of the region altogether leaving a big mess. All this prepares the way for an interesting scripture found in Zechariah chapter 1. Even though this scripture is talking about a future event, we may see the stage being set up for this event.

Zec 12:2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
Zec 12:3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.

God is not done with Israel! Many of the Old Testament prophets were led to predict the overthrow of Jerusalem. While Jerusalem was being overthrown and the people were led away captive, the same prophets predicted a future restoration of Israel. Their captivity will only be for a season and in the last days they will be restored. Let’s look at Jeremiah as an example.

Jeremiah is called to go preach in Jerusalem. God tells him you are going to go preach and they are not going to listen to you. God tells him to buy a new linen Garment. Then go wear it around town. After the people comment on it go and bury it under a rock for a while. Then go dig it up and wear it around town. By now this was a moldy, dirty, and smelly linen garment. God told Jeremiah to wear it around town. When the people comment on it tell them so has the Lord done to you, because you have hidden yourself from him you have become a filthy garment unto the lord. At the same time, there were false prophets saying everything is going well. You’re doing fine. God is going to give you victory.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah is in Jerusalem saying you stink just like this garment stinks. Now just how many would have gone to hear Jeremiah preach? We need to understand that Jeremiah was not a success by our standards. He started no great churches. He did not have massive amounts of people follow him, but he was faithful to do what God told him to do and that made him a success.

However, the king does not like the fact that Jeremiah has condemned the land. He does not like the things that Jeremiah says and he throws him in Jail for condemning the land. So now he is down in the hole. The jail had three layers of cells. The lowest level was the called the hole, aka the slime pit. It had a tiny bit of water dripping into it from an aqueduct that was constructed by Hezekiah. It was moist and had mildew. The sound of water could be heard as it flowed through the aqueduct.

While he was in Jail his cousin comes to him and tells him he wants to sell Jeremiah some property. Jeremiah was a man who was thrown into jail for condemning the land. And now his cousin wants him to buy the very land he condemns. His cousin must have been a used camel dealer. Jeremiah sends him away and God tells Jeremiah to buy the land, but buy it in the name of Israel and have two deeds drawn up. Jeremiah’s cousin comes back by the prompting of the Lord and he sells Jeremiah the land.

Now Jeremiah is sitting on his bunk in prison. There is a little window that goes up to the street. He can hear the huge rocks being launched into the city from the catapults. He can hear the people running up and down in the streets. He can hear boulders tearing apart tile roofs. He can hear screams of anguish. He is sitting on his little bunk looking at these two deeds of property he just bought and he is wondering why God told him to purchased the property. Now he is complaining to God

He starts to complain to God

Jer 32:24 Behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it; and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and, behold, thou seest it.
Jer 32:25 And thou hast said unto me, O Lord GOD, Buy thee the field for money, and take witnesses; for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.

God had called Jeremiah to do something crazy and Jeremiah could not see the purpose in it. So God begins to encourage him.

Jer 32:26 Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,
Jer 32:27 Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

God then begins to give a list of reasons why captivity has come to the Jews. Then after this, he says

Jer 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely:
Jer 32:38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God:
Jer 32:39 And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them:
Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.
Jer 32:41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.
Jer 32:42 For thus saith the LORD; Like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them.

You can read Jeremiah chapters 32 and 33 to get more of the details to this story, but God declares to Jeremiah that one day Israel will return to the land. Israel will come from every nation that they were driven to. Notice that this is different from the Babylonian captivity. In Jeremiah’s day, Jerusalem was held captive in Babylon. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were driven into all the nations after the 70 AD destruction of Jerusalem. Just about every prophet in the Old Testament that declared Israel’s destruction also declared Israel’s restoration. The book of Isaiah says,

Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Isa 11:12 and he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

Ezekiel is another prophet that prophesied the destruction of Israel. The first part of the book deals with this, but the last section of the book of Ezekiel is very interesting.

Eze 36:1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
Eze 36:2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:
Eze 36:3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:
Eze 36:4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;
Eze 36:5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
Eze 36:6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
Eze 36:7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
Eze 36:8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
Eze 36:9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
Eze 36:10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
Eze 36:11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

God goes on to explain why he is going to do this

Eze 36:21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
Eze 36:22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
Eze 36:23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

So God is restoring Israel for his Holy Name’s sake! What is also apparent is the land was operating under a curse until the Jews started to return to their home land. When the land was being divided up under Britain, the Arabs did not want the land at first. That’s why they gave it to the Jews in the first place. The Arabs wanted Iraq all the way down to Yemen. After the Jews returned to their land the curse was lifted, and the land started to become fruitful. Then the Arabs decided they wanted that land too. That’s what Transjordan was all about.

Mark Twain visited Israel in 1867. He published what he saw in Innocents Abroad. Here is what he had to say about the Holy Land back then.

“….. A desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds… a silent mournful expanse…. a desolation…. we never saw a human being on the whole route…. hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive tree and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”

This is what Mark Twain said about the temple mount

“The mighty Mosque of Omar, and the paved court around it, occupy a fourth part of Jerusalem. They are upon Mount Moriah, where King Solomon’s Temple stood. This Mosque is the holiest place the Mohammedan knows, outside of Mecca. Up to within a year or two past, no Christian could gain admission to it or its court for love or money. But the prohibition has been removed, and we entered freely for bucksheesh.”

http://zionismandisrael.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/mark-twain-in-the-holy-land/

When we get to Ezekiel chapter 37 we see the story of the valley of dry bones. God Declares he is going to restore Israel. Here are some highlights.

Eze 37:11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
Eze 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
Eze 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
Eze 37:14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

Then this theme is continued with more details

Eze 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
Eze 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
Eze 37:23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
Eze 37:24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
Eze 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
Eze 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
Eze 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Eze 37:28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

There are many other places in the bible that talk about a restoration of Israel, but I think I made my point. There are two main ways that people interpret Bible prophecy. This first way I know of is documented in many different books. I was always left confused after reading these type of books. This method is interpreting prophecy in an allegoric sense. In this way, everything means something else. Most prophecy is portrayed as actually having a spiritual meaning. No literal meaning is applied. For example, in this view prophecies concerning Israel could really mean the church. It should be noted I don’t believe this. My main point is anything could represent something else.

Then there is the literal way of interpretation. This means that real events are going to take place. Every scripture declares something that will come to pass in time. I have discovered that over time my view of biblical prophecy has changed. My mistakes have been based on not taking the bible literal enough.

That being said there is a balance of both views throughout scripture. Some scripture is allegoric and some scripture is literal. When the bible is talking about Israel becoming a nation again we can see that has a literal meaning. This will be an actual event. When the bible talks about a woman clothed with the Sun and the Moon under her feet and a crown of 12 stars we can see an allegoric meaning. This is why Isaiah says line upon line and precept upon precept.

So now we get to our main future event for this topic. This is found in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. Let’s read all of chapter 38.

Eze 38:1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
Eze 38:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
Eze 38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
Eze 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
Eze 38:6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
Eze 38:7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
Eze 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
Eze 38:9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
Eze 38:10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
Eze 38:11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
Eze 38:12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
Eze 38:13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
Eze 38:14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
Eze 38:15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
Eze 38:16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
Eze 38:17 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
Eze 38:18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
Eze 38:19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Eze 38:20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
Eze 38:21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
Eze 38:22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
Eze 38:23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Historically speaking where was Gog and Magog? Why does this prophecy start with all these strange names? Where did these names come from? I looked in bible commentaries and found that there is some debate over what Gog and Magog means. Some people believe Gog and Magog refer to the land of Russia or a geographical area of Russia. This is one idea carried over from the 20th century. The problem here is there are no ancient maps that outline an area that is called Magog. Here is what Mathew Henry’s commentary says.

“The critical expositors have enough to do here to enquire out Gog and Magog. We cannot pretend either to add to their observations or to determine their controversies. Gog seems to be the king and Magog the kingdom; so that Gog and Magog are like Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Some think they find them afar off, in Scythia, Tartary, and Russia. Others think they find them nearer the land of Israel, in Syria, and Asia the Less.”

So the question remains, Why does God use such strange names in this prophecy? The answer is really simple. These are not names of places. These are names of ancestors. In Russia, there was a city named Petrograd. Then the name changed to St Petersburg. Then it changed to Leningrad. Then the name became St Petersburg again. There was a city known as Byzantium. Constantine moved the capital of Rome there and renamed the city Constantinople. Later on, the city was renamed Istanbul. Mankind renames geographical locations. So sometimes when God issues a prophecy, instead of giving a name to a current or future geographical area, God uses the names of ancestors.

There was an empire known as Persia. Later on, parts of that empire became known as Parthia. Today we know this region as Iran. In Isaiah’s day, there was no Persia. So now God wants to talk about the Persia before the empire even exists. So he talks about the ancestors of Persia. In this case, Isaiah speaks about Elam the ancestor to Persia.

Isa 11:11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

Isa 21:2 A grievous vision is declared unto me; the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, and the spoiler spoileth. Go up, O Elam: besiege, O Media; all the sighing thereof have I made to cease.

Isa 22:6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

We can now clearly see that God is using the names of ancestors. Magog first appears in the Bible as a grandson of Noah.

Gen 10:2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
Gen 10:3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
Gen 10:4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

Now you can see that other names used in the Ezekiel passage appear in this genealogy. But let’s focus on Magog for now.

Hesiod was a Greek poet who lived around the 8th century BC. His poems were designed to entertain and teach. He lived around the same time frame as the Greek scholar Homer. Hesiod speaks of the Magogians by their Greek name, The Scythians. There is a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC. He is known for being the Father of history. His name is Herodotus. Numerous archeological findings have confirmed his works and his accounts of the Scythian people.

Philo of Alexandria is considered one of the greatest Jewish philosophers of his age. He lived around 20 B.C.–50 A.D. There was another man by the name of Flavius Josephus. He lived from 37 AD to 101 AD. He wrote about the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. He gives an eye-witness account of the 70 AD destruction. His original name was Joseph Ben Matthias. He made friends at the court in Rome. That is the reason for his name change to Flavius.

Josephus writes in Antiquities, 1.123 Magog founded by the Magogians, thus named after him, but were by the Greeks called Scythians. Philo and Josephus refer to the Magogians as Scythians. They both claim the Great Wall of China was built to keep them out. Both of them referred to these people as the “Ramparts of Gog and Magog”. These people wind up settling in Russia. History reveals the Scythians as ancestors of the Russian people. While I could write a book detailing this, I would suggest you just use Google and look into this history yourself. The Scythians are also mentioned in the New Testament. They were considered worse than Barbarians.

Col 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

That takes care of Gog and Magog. So what about the allies listed in this prophecy? If you read through all the ancient writings of the people I mentioned above in this post then you will get much more background. You can then trace the genealogy found in ancient writings and figure out who these people are, but for the sake of time I will break this down.

Persia= Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Tubal= Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Meshech= Eastern Anatolia (Turkey), Gomer: Cimmerians who settled along the Danube and the Rhine. The three sons of Gomer are Togarmah: Armenians, Turkey, and Turkestan. Ashkenaz: Germany, Riphath according to Josephus: parpghlagonians; which is Europe from Riphath?

So in conclusion, all the nations involved with this invasion and their modern names are Russia, (leader, organizer, and provider of the Invasion) Iran, Libya, Ethiopia, Turkey, Armenia, Turkestan, and Germany.

Ezekiel 38:7 declares Magog will organize the allies and they are spoken of as being the provider to all these nations as to the means for this invasion. Even if you did not know all of this, the prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 38 declares that Magog will launch its attack from the uttermost parts of the north. This is the area of Russia.

Ezekiel 38:8 uses the phrase in later years which refers to last days. The land that is brought back against the sword and gathered out of many Peoples is referencing Israel. In Ezekiel 38:9-12 it talks about these nations ascending like a cloud to cover the land, this may be a reference to air power or missiles. It was probably hard for Ezekiel to envisioned unwalled villages. This was not common in his day. Most villages had walls for defensive reasons.

Ezekiel 38:13 mentions two nations that protest as the raid into Israel goes forth. They are Sheba and Dedan. This is the area of Saudi Arabia. Most scholars will agree with this. They begin to protest and say these nations should not invade Israel. The merchants of Tarshish also protest. There is debate as to who these people are. I believe it is possible that they are Britain. I will explain in the next page why I believe this. They accuse these Nations of taking a spoil.

Ezekiel 38:14-18 Magog (or Russia in this case) will not know that Israel dwells safely in the land. Russia will come from the north as part of the invading force. Once again a cloud to cover the land might refer to air power or Missiles. When this invasion happens God’s fury will come up in his face. God is going to intervene on behalf of Israel! The question here is why does Russia think that Israel is vulnrable? The United States currently protects Israel. What series of events change this?

Ezekiel 38:19-22 When this happens there will be a great shaking or an earthquake in the land of Israel. But this is not a normal earthquake. This may be a natural disaster that unfolds or this may be the result of warheads that are about 25 megatons. Men will begin to turn on each other during this invasion and there will be a rain of fire and brimstone!

Ezekiel 38:23 says that God will be known in the eyes of many nations after this event, and they will know who the Lord is.

In Ezekiel chapter 39 it is clear that God fights on Israel’s behalf. There is a clean-up that happens after the war. This is the only place I know of in scripture that goes into great detail about the clean up after a major battle. This clean-up is the exact same procedures that are found in the United States manuals for Nuclear Biological and chemical warfare clean-up., aka NBC clean up. I will address all of this and post my observations on the next page. We will continue with the second half of this story.