Current events demand that we understand what the Bible says in its prophetic passages. Many Christians are entertaining the idea that we are in the time of Ezekiel 38-39. Is that the case? Is Gog rising upon the earth? I don’t believe so as I will explain below.
The war of Gog and Magog is sometimes confused with the Battle of Armageddon. These two events are different for several reasons.
First, the war of Gog and Magog has a very focused theater of operations, namely Israel. The assembled armies come against Israel specifically and are destroyed by Yahweh Himself. Conversely, the battle of Armageddon is a worldwide conflict of the nations of the world assembled against Jesus Christ.
The war of Gog and Magog will occur in the vicinity of Jerusalem, as it is the prize the invading nations seek. The Battle of Armageddon occurs likely in the plains of Megiddo, approximately sixty miles north of Jerusalem.
Revelation 16:12-16 describes the sixth bowl judgment and mentions Armageddon as the place where this battle will be fought. Revelation 19:11-20 is a description of what happens in that battle – a swift and complete destruction of this world army by Jesus Christ.
We have lots of questions to answer. We also have lots of misunderstandings to clear up and even some “golden calves” to slay. Let’s begin our examination of the text.
Ezekiel 38:1 begins as so many other chapters in the book of Ezekiel begin. We read the familiar statement that “the word of the LORD came to me saying.” Here we understand a new vision and prophecy has come to Ezekiel, but one that is related to the previous chapters dealing with the restoration of Israel as a people and nation.
This chapter has four messages distinguished by Yahweh’s command to Ezekiel to prophecy just as He has spoken: “Thus says the LORD GOD (38:3, 10, 14, 17). We find another three messages in Ezekiel 39 with the same statement (39:1, 17, 25). Together, they relate to what Yahweh will do for Israel against her enemies.
The content of the vision and prophecy follow in verses 2-7. Here we find named a confederation of armies, peoples, and nations which will rise up against Israel. What are we to make of this prince named Gog from the land of Magog who commands the people of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal?
One of the first difficulties we find is in the word Gog. Is Gog a name or a title? Bill Salus, in his book Psalm 83: The Missing Prophecy Revealed, says this:
Some scholars debate whether or not Gog is an individual or a location within the greater territory of Magog…Gog represents a title of an individual, rather than a specific name or place. Gog, would be likened to a Caesar from ancient Rome, or a Czar from the former Soviet Union, or the Kaiser from Germany, prior to the Nazi era.[1]
Derek and Sharon Gilbert write in their book Veneration, that Gog was seen more as a supernatural figure to the Jews of Ezekiel’s day and his use of Gog and the fact that he was drawn by Yahweh from the north is ample evidence that there is more being said here than meets the modern eye.
While human actors will be involved, the true identity of Gog, leader of the Magog coalition, is found in the spirit realm. Ezekiel spelled it out for us by pointing to Isaiah 14. He may have even added a subtle clue in this verse:
You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you. (Ezekiel 38:9, emphasis added)
By naming yarkete tsaphon (my note – this is “heights of the north” or as the NASB reads in Ezek 38:6 “the remote parts of the north”) as the point of origin for the armies of Gog, Ezekiel identified the mountain of the storm-god, Baal, which was the mount of assembly of the divine rebel from Eden, Satan.
Does this mean Gog is Satan? No, Gog is the Old Testament Antichrist figure. John the Revelator clearly distinguishes between the Antichrist (the beast) and Satan (the dragon). Identifying Gog as the Antichrist is not a new idea. Our Jewish brothers and sisters have been aware of Gog’s starring role in the end times for a long, long time.[2]
Seeing Gog as a spiritual entity closely related to the Antichrist seems to be what the Jews of Jesus’ day also believed. Dr. Mike Heiser adds this detail to our understanding:
The prophetic description in Ezekiel 38-39 of the invasion of “Gog, of the land of Magog” (Ezek 38:1-3, 14-15) is well known and the subject of much interpretive dispute, both scholarly and fanciful. One of the secure points is that Gog will come from the “heights of the north” (38:15; 39:2). While many scholars have focused on the literal geographic aspects of this phrasing, few have given serious thought to its mythological associations in Ugaritic/Canaanite religion with Baal, lord of the dead.
An ancient reader would have looked for an invasion from the north, but would have cast that invasion in a supernatural context. In other words, the language of Ezekiel is not simply about a human invader or human armies. An ancient reader would also have noticed that this invasion would come at a time when the tribes had been united and dwelt in peace and safety within the promised land – in other words, once the period of exile had ended.
The battle of Gog and Magog would be something expected after the initiation of Yahweh’s plan to reclaim the nations and, therefore, draw His children, Jew or Gentile, from those nations. The Gog invasion would be the response of supernatural evil against messiah and his kingdom. This is in fact precisely how it is portrayed in Revelation 20:7-10.
Gog would have been perceived as either a figure empowered by supernatural evil or an evil quasi-divine figure from the supernatural world bent on the destruction of God’s people. For this reason, Gog is regarded by many biblical scholars as a template for the New Testament antichrist figure.[3]
In addition to this, it must be pointed out that Rus and Russia are from the Indo-European family of words, while the Hebrew language is of course, from the Semitic family of languages. This means that Rosh being an equivalent to Russia is not a possibility linguistically. The etymology does not support this meaning.
What all of this is saying is that Gog is best understood as a title for the end times prince who will oppose Yahweh and His people living in the land. While this doesn’t seem to mean anything significant to us today, I believe when this end times figure arises, the title or name Gog will have much significance for those who dwell on the earth.
A second difficulty with this chapter is that NASB states that Gog from the land of Magog is a prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. The NIV, ESV, and KJV read that Gog of Magog is prince over Meshech and Tubal. Rosh is not mentioned. What are we to make of this?
Dr. Paul Tanner, in an article in the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society raises important questions that have bearing on interpreting Ezekiel 38-39 accurately.
The battle described in Ezekiel 38-39 involves numerous nations, but the chief antagonist appears to be Gog. This is apparent not only from the fact that Gog is mentioned first in the list but also that the invading force is subsequently referred to summarily as Gog (e.g. 38:14, 16, 18). According to 38:2, Gog is said to be from the land of Magog. Is this a cryptic reference to Russia? To answer the question we must examine the associated place names and the geographical reference “from the remote parts of the north.”
- “Rosh” as a place name. The remainder of 38:2 is beset with translational difficulties. The NASB adds that Gog is the “prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.” The NIV, on the other hand, translates the same phrase as the “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” (cf. also RSV). Hence the question arises as to whether “Rosh” is a place name or a descriptive adjective modifying “prince.” The question is quite relevant, because if “Rosh” is not a place name then the etymological connection with Russia is eliminated.
The primary difficulty with the reading of “Rosh” is that we do not know of any place so named in Biblical antiquity. To what would Ezekiel have referred if he meant Rosh? Probably not modern-day Russia, for Edwin Yamauchi has pointed out that “the name Rus was first brought into the region of Kiev by the Vikings in the Middle Ages.”
… Thus the name “Russia” has a rather late association with the modern-day state and would certainly not have been the intention of Ezekiel writing in the sixth century BC.
… 2. Magog, Meshech and Tubal. Very little is known of Gog except that he is “of the land of Magog” and is “the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.” Comparing the genealogies of Genesis 10, we readily see that several of these place names are connected with Noah’s son Japheth. In fact Gomer, Magog, Tubal and Meshech were sons of Japheth along with Madai, Javan and Tiras. According to 10:5, their settlements were “the coastlands of the nations” in contrast to the African and Semitic cultures. In summary, the sons of Japheth settled in the regions bordering on the northern Mediterranean (cf. Ezek 27:12-15). Any identification of Meshech with Moscow and Tubal with Tobolsk is quite unfounded. Yamauchi states: “Since the late nineteenth century, Assyrian texts have been available which locate Meshech (Mushku) and Tubal (Tabal) in central and eastern Anatolia respectively.” These would be located in what is today modern Turkey. For Ezekiel, Meshech and Tubal were not Russian cities but ancient ethnic groups that carried on trade with Tyre (27:13). According to Yamauchi, the Mushki of central Anatolia eventually merged with the Phrygians from the west.[4]
Missler adds that:
Meshech and Tubal, identified with the people named Sarmatians and Mushovites who lived in the ancient province of Pontus in Northern Asia Minor [Herodotus, Histories IV]. Muscovy and the Thobelites were founded by Meshesch and Tubal [Josephus, Antiquities I.6].[5]
This then, is adequate information for us to dispel the popular notion that Gog of the land of Magog is Russia. Magog was one of six grandsons of Noah through his son Japheth. Other grandsons are all associated with modern day Turkey. Gog of the land of Magog, prince of Meshech and Tubal speaks of modern-day Turkey. This understanding fits linguistically and geographically.
Because Gog is a title and not a name, we can also say that Vladimir Putin or any other world leader that makes threats toward Israel today, is not Gog, regardless of how many prophecy experts want to float that idea. Bear in mind that nearly all biblical scholars believe that this event occurs during the Tribulation period. We are not in the Tribulation period and even if we were suddenly thrust into it, Turkey’s President for life, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is a more likely candidate.
When we consider how the Jewish people that received this prophecy would have thought of these names and the invading armies from the “remote parts of the north,” we can understand that a supernatural interpretation alongside of a physical interpretation is warranted. The supernatural enemies of Yahweh were thought of as residing in the remote north.
This explanation best fits the data available to us, even if this means prophecy experts have to redo their charts.
Dr. Mike Spaulding
Image by ErikaWittlieb from Pixabay
[1] Bill Salus, Psalm 83: The Missing Prophecy Revealed, (La Quinta, CA: Prophecy Depot Ministries, 2013), p. 263.
[2] Sharon K. and Derek P. Gilbert, Veneration: Unveiling the Ancient Realms of Demonic Kings and Satan’s Battle Plan for Armageddon, (Crane, MO: Defender Publishing, 2019), pp. 277-278.
[3] Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2015), pp. 364-365.
[4] J. Paul Tanner, “Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society,” 39/1 (March 1996), pp. 30-32.
[5] Chuck Missler, Revelation, (Coeur d’ Alene, ID: Koinonia House, 2020), p.250.
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