Day 253 - Ezekiel 20-43

ONE-YEAR JOURNEY OF THE BIBLE
Day 253 - Ezekiel 20-43 (News Flash: Russia Attacks Israel!)
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'"Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, "Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.  I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops--many people are with you."' (Ezekiel 38:1-6)

Most Bible scholars agree that Rosh, which means chief, is a reference to modern Russia which also means chief.  

             "the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal (Eze 38:2)",

Meshech is the ancient name for Moscow, Tubal of Tobolsk, the Russian cities.  

              "Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you (Eze                  38:15)",

In order to erase any doubt that God was referring to Russia, He explicitly mentions Rosh as the country from the far north.  I just looked at Google Map and found that the only country to the farthest north of Israel is Russia and Moscow is a striaght line to the north of Israel.  "So what," you may say.  Well, I would agree that it wouldn't be such a huge deal were it not for God declaring in our Scripture text above that Russia will attack Israel along with other nations.

              "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its                 troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops (Eze 38:5,6)"

Persia, we all know is Iran but back then included Iraq, which country has not had any military ties with Russia until just a few years ago and expressly for the purpose of preparing for war against Israel.  Ethiopia and Libya have kept their names up to the present day.  Gomer is Germany, but mainly eastern Germany and Poland. Torgamah are the Balkan States: Turkey, former Yugoslavia (now seven independent States) and Romania.

There is a lot in this whole passage concerning the prophecy about Russia and its allies attacking Israel that I thought it would be appropriate for this post to put the highlights in bullet points below:

> God entices Russia, along with her allies including Iran, to attack Israel - I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army (Eze 38:4)

> Israel becomes a nation again since the Babylonian exile around 600 BC (Fulfilled in May 14, 1948) - In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely (Eze 38:8).

> Israel will become a wealthy nation (which she is today) - Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, "Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?" (Eze 38:13)

> God's purpose in bringing Russia against Israel is to hollow His name - You will come up against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes (Eze 38:6).

>God's other purpose in bringing Russia and its allies against Israel is to judge them - I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains," says the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his brother.  And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.  Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD (Eze 38:21-23).

> The Israelis will use their enemies weapons for fuel for seven years - Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years (Eze 39:9).

> The Israelis will take seven months to cleanse the land of their enemies corpses - For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified," says the Lord GOD. "They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search.  The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man's bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog.  The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land (Eze 39:12-16).

 > God will restore Israel as His own special people and pour our His Holy Spirit upon many Jews -Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name--after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.  When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.  And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord GOD (Eze 39:25-29).

Ezekiel's prophecy about Russia and its allies attacking Israel is a huge thing because it will usher in God's restoration of Israel and of the return of the Messiah, Yeshua Ha-Mashiach.  It is an even bigger thing because the stage is all set for this world-changing event to take place any time now: Israel is once again a nation; she is very wealthy with her new-found gas and oil reserves; Iran wants to see her disappear; Russia backs Iran's goal to destroy Israel; Russia's allies mentioned in Ezekiel's prophecy all have stakes in wanting Israel annihilated; and most of all, the world will self-destuct with its arsenal of nuclear arms unless the Messiah returns soon.  The real question is:  Are you ready for Christ's return?