S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

Historically speaking, Magog was a grandson of Noah (Genesis 10:2). The descendants of Magog settled to the far north of Israel, likely in Europe and northern Asia (Ezekiel 38:2). Magog seems to be...

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July 01 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Kenneth Heck

Ezek 38-9 is a unique prophecy not alluded to again in the Old Testament. Who are Gog, Magog, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Togarmah actually? We have no real evidence, since Persia, Ethiopia and Libya today would be regarded as Muslims, therefore of the line of Ishmael. Those of the north quarters, Gomer and Togarmah, would be Christians. In the Bible all these names would be indicative of specific ethnic religions and spirituality, in addition to their ethnic genealogy. All these nations are not described as traditional enemies of Israel, such as the Philistines were. They were physically too distant to interact with Israel.

Of course, it is the spirit that is important, the flesh profits nothing (John 6:63). Also, “If you were children of Abraham," said Jesus, "you would do the works of Abraham” (John 8:39). Physical genealogy doesn’t really apply in this prophecy. It is a question of spirituality.

It is likely Gog is a high angel, similar to the Prince of Persia and the Prince of Grecia mentioned in Daniel 10:20. Those of Meshech, Tubal and Magog would his followers, wherever they are physically located. When Satan is released to deceive the nations (Rev 20:8), then Gog will be active, who might simply be Satan underneath. We do not know what he will do to resuscitate the religions or spirituality of these groups, but we can understand it will be so effective as to deceive almost everyone, similar to the deception under the antichrist we are expecting according to scripture for our time period.
There are a few problems with placing this prophecy within the end times of our age.

1) Does Israel have the "silver, and gold,...cattle and goods" of Ezek 38:13? The answer is no - obviously there are next to no cattle in Israel, let alone large amounts of gold and silver.

2) How can the military weapons of the end of our age be burned as described in Ezek 39:9 since almost everything is made of metal? We have no technological way of burning metal for heat as indicated in the verse.

3) Is Israel a land of unwalled villages (Ezek 38:11)? Not at this time - in fact Israel has built a long high wall to protect itself from Palestinian attacks.

4) Are there any battles of Israel fought in the New Testament that are not found in the Old Testament? This notion of Magog and Gog fighting twice in New Testament times with only one battle mentioned in the Old is puzzling. The Old Testament prophets saw all the big battles Israel would be involved in for the far distant future and their favorable outcome. This is why Old Testament prophecy works out to be highly reliable and encouraging for Israel. There are no surprises.

In 1 John 2:18 John declared that "Little children, it is the last time:" How could it be that the last days were at the time of John? In fact, for the Jews, only the Jews, it really was the last days, since the Romans would come and completely destroy their way of life. 

Now, as Christians, we know we are in the last days for Christianity, but does this mean that Ezek 38-9 must also conform to today's Christian religion? The answer again is no. The "latter years" or "latter days" of Ezek 38:8, 16 could refer to after the 1000 years of the Kingdom of God under Christ, the "little season" of Rev 20:3. 

For these reasons, I believe the identification of Gog and Magog with our end times era has not yet been truly established.

September 15 2015 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report