Gog of the Land of Magog

 

One thing that all of us need to do when approaching the Bible is to always try to find the context of what we are reading. Which means, who is God speaking to, what is He saying to them, and how it applies to them and to us. So that we may understand what God is saying to them and how we can learn from it. If we do this, we won’t get turned around and try to make passages of the Bible fit into a place it does not belong. Keep it’s context

The Bible is almost completely Israel centric. As you study the Bible, you realize that Jerusalem is the center of the world, and everything revolves around Israel. All the nations that we find mentioned in the Bible are near or around Israel in a very real sense. They are not far away from the land that God gave to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Only the north eastern part of Africa is mentioned, and in Europe only the countries around the Mediterranean sea are mentioned, in the middle east only the nations as far as Persia (todays Iran) are mentioned. In the north, the nations in Asia Minor are mentioned. All the nations mentioned in the Bible are around Israel.

 For all these nations the Bible mentions, the names would be according to what they knew them to be at that time, not the names we call them today. If we look at Genesis chapter 10, we find where Noah’s sons went after the flood, his son Ham went into the land of Canaan and Northeast Africa, and his son Shem went into Arabia and Japheth went into the area of Asia Minor and Mesopotamia.

Now the sons of Japheth have the same names as those listed in Ezekiel 38,39. Ezekiel 38 and 39 talk about an army coming out of the far north. At the time that was written, Ezekiel would’ve been aware of popular stories that were passed down through generations, by word-of-mouth. (Every culture passed down their knowledge by word of mouth.) And the far north to them would have most likely been the land of turkey where Japheth sons settled. If we look at maps that have come from archaeological digs, we find the maps are correct in where Japheth and his sons settled in Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, which is now turkey. 

Many people today look at what Ezekiel says, when he speaks of the far north and think that he is speaking about Russia, I too believed that in the past. But I was leaving out one thing “context”. I was looking at today’s map and not considering a Biblical map. There is no proof that people knew about Russia in that day, but they did know about Asia Minor and Mesopotamia and where Japheth sons went and what their names were.

Today Russia has a big  influence in the Middle East, but that does not mean Ezekiel was talking about the furthest north of Israel when he says “the far north”. Since the names that are mentioned in Ezekiel 38:1-6 are in ancient Asia Minor and Mesopotamia. Look at old maps that are showing the ancient Middle East and you will find that this is true. Persia, Cush, and Put are other countries that will be in this invasion of Israel and they all surround Israel in their location.

Ezekiel 38:1-6 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)

1. The word of the Lord came to me: 2. “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3. and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4. And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. 5. Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6. Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.

 Persia, Cush, and Put are not from the far north but are involved in the attack on Israel. But most of these are included in the ancient maps. Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, is our concern here, which could mean that, that is the far north of Israel that Ezekiel was referring to when speaking to Gog of the land of Magog. I’m inclined to believe that the modern nation of Turkey is actually the Gog of Magog instead of Russia. If you do an Internet search on Gog and Magog you will find a plethora of knowledge about it, some right, some wrong.

Since we are now living in the last days, and we see the alignment of nations and what their political philosophies are or religious beliefs, it is easy to see how turkey could fulfill this prophecy. It is very true that Russia is providing arms, weapons, intelligence, and the like to these nation, and it is very possible that part of the Russian army could be involved in this attack against Israel. But the Biblical evidence points to turkey as being the Gog of the land of Magog that Ezekiel is referring to.

Context means everything when reading the Bible. If we don’t keep the context, we can make it mean whatever we want it to mean. Like 38:2 which says “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal”, some modern commentators and authors have tried to link these two names to two cities in Russia, one of them is Moscow and the other is Tobolsk. Now to be fair, Russia is to the very far north of Israel but the Biblical evidence does not take us to Russia, it takes us to Asia Minor and Mesopotamia, which is now turkey. God wants us to rightly divide the word of truth. Of course, time will tell us when this prophecy comes to pass, what country’s are truly involved in this attack against Israel.

God will come and save his people and destroy all those nations that come against Israel on that day. Every nation on earth will have deserted the nation of Israel. God will do this because He says “that the nations may know Me”. He is God and there is no other.

Ezekiel 38:16 (ESV) (Please read the whole chapter)

16. You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.