Ralph Porter

© 2002 by Ralph Porter

All rights reserved

    As I was thinking through this week’s message, my mind went back to the last several times that I have preached concerning Russia’s role in God’s plan for the future. It occurred to me that each time we have considered Russia’s role, their current situation was completely different than it had been the previous time we preached on this topic. These preaching opportunities have been about five years apart, during which interval their place in history has changed.

    Before World War II, it was difficult to imagine Russia having a significant place in world history. During the "cold war" we always thought of them primarily as "those nasty commies!" Any thought that they might become the objects of God’s wrath was welcomed. During the nuclear age, their role as one of the major super-powers allowed them to develop numerous alliances that looked intriguingly similar to those mentioned in Ezekiel’s prophecy. The demise of Russia’s super-power status has made them much friendlier to our country and has made it more difficult to envision how they might fulfill the role introduced by the prophet. Have we misunderstood their place in history? Or, will we have to wait for some of those prophesied conditions to develop again?

    One of the main biblical passages dealing with Russia’s role in God’s plan is Ezekiel 38-39. The prophet writes to God’s people before God’s judgment strikes Jerusalem in A.D. 586. They have become accustomed to having God around and stopped taking Him seriously. They are serving other pagan gods and disobeying God’s revealed standards. Ezekiel writes to warn them that you can’t play games with God and walk away unharmed, without paying the consequences. "If you play with fire, you’re going to get burned." So the prophet warns them of impending judgment, in order to motivate God’s people to repent and turn back to Him. The theme of his message is repeated over and over in God’s affirmation: "They will know that I am the Lord!" When God is through dealing with them they will know Whom they’ve been playing with!

    The book hinges on the fall of Jerusalem, announced in 33:21. The prophecies issued before the fall of Jerusalem are revealed in chapters 1-32. The prophecies issued after the fall of Jerusalem are found in chapters 33-48. The first thirty-two chapters are a warning that judgment is coming. The prophecies in the last sixteen chapters promise that God is not finished with Israel; He has a plan to restore them again. The second part of the book is laid out as follows:

    The prophecy concerning Gog and Magog (38-39) interests us this morning, as we introduce God’s plan to restore Russia to a significant role in His program for the future. This prophecy is introduced as an outgrowth of God’s restoration of Israel to the land (36-37). It is also depicted as part of the process God uses in preparation for the establishment of the millennial kingdom on earth (38-39).

    As this prophecy begins, Israel has just been restored to their land. They are enjoying a time of peace and security in the land. This announcement would have been an encouragement to the people in captivity, since Jerusalem was being attacked by invaders who wanted to destroy her. They are thus assured that they will be around to see another day, when God will restore her to a state of blessing. The announcement informs them that God is going to destroy the invaders and liberate their country forever, at some future date. In the meantime, however, God unites the final opponents to His people for one last conflict.

    God draws the nations to the far north of Israel, together with the southern nations, to unite in one great alliance to attack Israel (38:1-7). The invader is identified as "Gog," who resides in the land of "Magog." He is sovereign over Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Many evidences identify these areas with modern Russia. The invasion force draws near to attack the nation God has reunited from out of all the nations, and that is living securely in towns without walls 38:8-9 (11)

    The invading armies rush in with great power. They are anticipating a surprise attack and an easy victory. They expect to take a great treasure away from their unsuspecting and defenseless victims.

    They don't realize that God has drawn them there to destroy them! God permits this attack against His own people because He wants to glorify His own name before the nations that don't want to recognize Him. They are about to discover Who is God, by means of His judgments.

    When the invading armies come up against Israel, God will do a work which will distinguish Him from all other gods! The nations will see the difference and recognize that He is God.

    God will intervene to destroy the attacking nations. Throughout the passage God directs their attention to the fact that HE is the One who does this. God does it all this time. Israel doesn't even have to defend herself.

    When God sees them coming, He will become angry and will fight them mightily. The earth and every living creature will tremble before Him. He will create such confusion among the enemy that the will kill one another. It will rain hail, fire and brimstone on them. Then they will know Who is God. That great and mighty army will be undone by God. God will glorify His name before the nations that thought they would eliminate Israel.

    God attracts them to the mountains of Israel where they are destroyed. Their rebellion will be squashed and their countries destroyed (39:1-8). Again it’s affirmed that the nations will acknowledge Who is God. Those who live in the cities of Israel will go out to where God has caused this destruction to clean up the remains of the judgment (39:9-16). There will be no damage in the cities of Israel.

    God invites the wild beasts to come and enjoy the remains left behind, as if this were a great banquet for them. They will be privileged to dine on the flesh of mighty men of war, and to drink the blood of princes. This explains how they will be able to continue the cleanup operation for 7 months. Only the bones remain.

    From that day on, Israel will recognize Yahweh as their God (39:20-22). The nations will recognize God's purpose in allowing Israel to suffer (39:23-24). They were not conquered because of the weakness of Israel's God. Nor was it so that the other nations could take advantage of her. The fall of Israel was sent by God because of their sin, in order to correct them.

    Israel will be established in the land and they will be in proper relationship with God (39:25-29). When the period of discipline is fulfilled, God returns to them. His Name will be glorified and His relationship with His people reconfirmed. Then they will know that Yahweh is their God. God hadn't forgotten His promises to them. He would fulfill them totally. He was in control of everything and would yet return to them.

Several key observations help to identify the time of the judgment:

    The context describes Israel’s restoration (36-37, 40-48).

    The time is described as the last days, after their return to the land (38:8).

    Israel is enjoying peace; confident this peace is going to last (38:8, 11).

    The cleanup after the judgment is going to take some time.

The spoils provide fuel to make fires for seven years afterwards.

    It takes seven months to bury all the bodies (39:9-16).

    Even with help from the animals that come to "the banquet" (39:17-20).

    Result of this judgment: all the nations recognize God’s glory (38:16, 23; 39:7, 21).

    Israel responds by recognizing God and receiving His Spirit (39:22-29).

    Various suggestions have been presented as to when this conflict occurs. The most likely option is that the attack is launched just before the middle of the tribulation. The principal evidence in support of that view is the description of their lifestyle in Israel previous to the attack, combined with the immediate consequences following God’s intervention as depicted in chapters 40-48.

    The fact that Israel is "living securely" (38:8) in the land can only correspond to conditions under the protective covenant the Antichrist makes with them in Dan. 9:27 or during the millennium. It is certainly a major change from their present lifestyle! It is also similar to the picture described in 1 Thessalonians 5:3 which indicates the people will say, "Peace and safety!" when there is no security of lasting peace . This false perspective on peace and safety, combined with a surprise enemy attack couldn’t happen during the millennium. Further, at the conclusion of this conflict, the millennium immediately follows and appears to be an eventual result of God’s response to the attack.

    This conclusion as to the timing of the attack corresponds to events surrounding the signing of a peace treaty announced in Dan. 9:27. The only logical way to move from the present insecurity concerning the future of Israel to the peaceful security depicted in this passage is if someone guarantees to protect them from enemy aggression as Daniel predicts. This understanding of the passage also corresponds to the general conditions described. It's the only interpretation that fits the circumstances. Within the context of Ezekiel 36-48, it is located in a passage that appears to be chronological and it fits into the chronological position where it belongs. It also fits well with the "package" of events described in Daniel 11 and Ezekiel 38-39.

    Daniel 11:36-39 introduces a king who "does as he pleases." He is a proud king that does whatever he wants to do; nobody tells him what he has to do! This is a key descriptive phrase in Daniel. Several such kings are introduced in Daniel. The final climactic king who "does as he pleases" is the Antichrist, introduced in these verses.

    In recent modern history instead of a conflict between north and south, as depicted throughout Daniel, on the basis of the historical struggle between the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Syria, which affected Israel from the time following the death of Alexander the Great until the arrival of the Roman Empire, there has been an alliance between north and south against Israel. Although recent events introduce the possibility that Iraq could change the present alignment of powers in the region, it’s easy to envision that the northern powers might unite with those from the south to attack Israel. This is the parallel painted in Ezekiel 38-39.

    So what happens next? World events since the gulf war have left some of the modern pieces less certain than they seemed to be a few years ago. As we saw last week, Iraq is likely to be part of any long term developments in the region, whether or not Saddam Hussein survives to establish the revived Babylonian Empire he envisions. Similarly Ezekiel 38-39 requires the resurrection of Russia to a renewed position of influence in affairs in the Middle East. Unforeseen events may have to occur en route to the "lasting" sense of peace in Israel and the formation of this alliance between northern and southern kingdoms. Only God knows for sure how He intends to move history toward the fulfillment of these prophecies. Stay tuned! Keep your eyes focused on this aspect of the Middle East crisis. The specific pieces don't seem to be clearly in place yet.

    The peace that brings security to Israel might be explainable on the basis of their confidence in a king who signs a treaty to protect them (Dan. 9:27). The description of the northern enemy in Ezekiel 38-39 indicates that he has come from remote parts of the north (38:6, 15; 39:2). Josephus indicated that the descendants of Magog (Gen. 10:2) were identified in his day with the Scythians who lived north of the Black Sea in what would be modern Russian territory.

    The consonantal similarity between the Hebrew names given and modern names found in the region are notable:

    Rosh => Russia Meshech => Moscow Tubal => Tobolsk

    The parallel statements used seem to imply that Rosh should be considered the name of another pagan place, just as Meshech and Tubal were. Although some scholars deny that Rosh should be considered a place, because there are no other references to such a place outside of this passage, Hebrew lexicons identify the word with modern Russia also. The evidence is somewhat debatable, but that's their best suggestion as to how we should understand this reference. The Septuagint considers it to be a place and some Greek texts include it in Isaiah 66:19 also.

    When you compare the geographic indications with the table of nations in Genesis 10:2, you discover that all these places are identified together by a common family of origin. They are all to the north of Israel:

    Meshech => identified with Lydia and Cappadocia Tubal => identified with Cilicia and Armenia

    Togarmah => identified with Armenia and Turkey Magog => Caucasus and northern Armenia

    There seems to be plenty of evidence in favor of the conclusion that Magog was an ancestor of the Scythians and Slavic peoples, which are now a strong component of the Russian population. It should also be observed that Meshech is written in some old Assyrian inscriptions as Mushku and in Greek as Moschoi.

    The parallels between Ezekiel and Daniel 11 would seem to indicate that there are three powers: the northern and southern forces form an alliance to oppose the king who does as he pleases, who is committed to protecting Israel because of his peace treaty with them. The alliance centers in Russia for the reasons already noted:

                                                  Turkey

Put => Libya

Gomer => frequently identified with Germany

    The alliance of northern and southern kingdoms attack Israel as announced in Ezekiel 38-39. Then God intervenes and destroys in invading forces. Once that happens, the forces from the west, descendants of the Roman Empire, move in to establish their own throne. The treaty is no longer necessary, and no longer serves their leader’s purposes, so he discards it and establishes his own authority over Israel.

    The account presented in Revelation goes on to predict that forces from the east will arise and cross the Euphrates to oppose the authority of the west. Before they can attack each other, Christ comes. These two forces unite and turn together to fight Him. Ultimately the human armies are destroyed by Christ and His celestial armies.

    These developments correspond to the rest of Ezekiel’s prophecy. He continues to affirm that this conflict occurs prior to the millennium. It's the first step in a process that eventually leads into the establishment of Christ’s kingdom and His thousand year reign on earth.

    As we look at these prophecies, we realize that many of the specific pieces which must come to pass along the way are not presently clear to us. A few years ago, it appeared that we could identify many details in the plan. Since that time, many of these temporary conditions have changed. God continues to remind us that He’s in charge; not us! While local conditions may demonstrate ways that God might choose to develop His plan in the world, He is not obligated to use those events in the ways we might suppose. We can be sure of those events which God has revealed in His Word. The rest of the circumstances are continually changing, but all under His control. Thus we can’t be sure about how all the remaining pieces will come together to accomplish God’s purpose on earth. But, we do know Who wins!!! "They will know that I am the Lord!!!"

    This passage makes clear that there are three alternatives that people may choose in the light of God’s plan to glorify Himself. The first alternative is the choice of those people who acknowledge God as their Lord. They see His hand at work in the world and submit to His authority over all creation and over their own lives.

    The second alternative is chosen by people who reject God. They grasp for any excuse that will allow them to deny that there is a God. Or, if there is a God, they want nothing to do with Him! They want Him out of their life! Don’t even talk about Him! They continue to seek freedom from religion!

    The third alternative is that of people who say there’s a God, but who live for self. When it comes to the way they live, they are their own God. They are practical atheists. Just because they believe there is a God doesn’t mean that they want to submit to Him and live their lives for His glory. They are more interested in satisfying their own desires. They live for their money, for possessions, power, prestige, or pleasure. Personal comfort is their God. In the light of God’s plan for the world and it’s ultimate outcome, which of these alternatives should we pursue?

    Another lesson we ought to learn from Ezekiel 38-39 is that Genesis 12:1-3 is still true–and still affects the destiny of nations! An attack against God's people Israel is an attack against Him. These nations are really in rebellion against the God of Israel (Rev. 12:13-17; Ps. 2). God sits in heaven and watches their futile attempts to break loose from His control, and He laughs! What then should OUR attitude be toward Him, and toward Israel today?

    God still controls history! Even in international politics and in the midst of powerful pagan nations–however bad things may look! God is still in charge! Does He know our future? Does He care about the details of our life? What difference should this knowledge make in our life?

    Finally, the most significant lesson to learn from this passage is how we ought to respond to God’s control of history and of our lives. As we consider the full story we see how each of the participants responds to the revelation of God’s work in this conflict:

    Pagan nations acknowledge that Yahweh is the Lord!

    Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Jesus is Lord! Phil. 2:10-11

    God will be glorified on earth! All people will know that He is Lord!

    And US? How will WE respond to Him?