LF: Magog Made Easy!

Title: Magog Made Easy!
Source: [None]
URL Source: http://hightimetoawake.com/magog-made-easy/
Published: Sep 21, 2013
Author: Craig C. White
Post Date: 2013-09-21 21:17:07 by A K A Stone
Keywords: None
Views: 5197
Comments: 3

The battle of Gog and Magog is the major bible prophecy of our day. In other words I think that we will see the Magog invasion begin very soon. Magog was a man. He was one of Noah’s grandsons. There are several places in the bible that talk about an invasion against Israel that are led by Magog. I don’t think that there is only one battle of Gog and Magog. I think that the bible references three separate invasions. All of these invasions are led by Magog the leader of Turkey! Ezekiel chapter 38 describes the first battle of Gog and Magog. All of the people described in Ezekiel chapter 38 are now in place for this battle to begin!

The battle of Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel chapter 38 is a loud wake up call announcing that the end of the church age is near, and that the time of Tribulation for Israel and the whole earth is at hand.

Bible prophecy teachers say that Magog in the Ezekiel 38 prophecy refers to Russia. But from my house I can’t see Russia! That view of the Magog prophecy came about by transcribing “chief” (or the Hebrew “rosh”) to mean Russia. Transposing Hebrew words into English phonetic equivalents is not proper bible prophecy interpretation technique. That technique is not used elsewhere to interpret bible prophecy. Rosh means first or primary. Magog is a man who settled in the land of modern day Turkey.

Eze 38:1-6 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

We scratch our heads over this section of bible prophecy because so many of these names are unfamiliar. Please note that we are talking about the land of Magog in verse two. As we will see Magog is a man. Notice that there are three names that are very familiar. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya. They are today’s Iran, Ethiopia (includes Sudan), and Libya. Wow, we are half way done!

This isn’t the first passage where Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Togarmah are found. Let’s look at Genesis 10:1-3.

Jeepers, all those weird names are listed in that short passage! Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Togarmah are people. As a matter of fact they are relatives. Magog, Meshech, Tubal and Gomer are brothers. Togarmah is Gomer’s son. They are among the first families to resettle the world after the devastation of Noah’s flood. They all settled together in today’s Turkey. See the “Map of Gog” below.

Eze 38:1-3 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:

Verse 2 tells us that Gog is the LAND of Magog. Magog is the “chief prince” (or most prominent) of his brothers, Meshech and Tubal. So Noah had a son named Japheth who had a son named Magog who settled Turkey. Gog is a shortened version of Magog. Gog is the LAND where Magog and his brothers settled. You now know more than your pastor!

Eze 38:4-6 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Map of Gog: The land and cities of Magog and his brothers. It may be a little difficult to find all these names, but they are there. I found Gog, Magog, Mesech (Meshech), Thubal (Tubal), Gomer, Ashkenaz, Riphath, Togarma (Togarmah), and Thiras (or Tiras) west of Istanbul. I also found Tarsus (perhaps Tarshish) on the southeastern coast. The generations of Noah are also listed in 1Chronicles 1:5-6

Just as we were getting to know these guys we learn that they are going to lead an attack on Israel (Eze 38:8 & 16). God himself is going to pull them into battle array. In today’s terms we understand that Turkey will initiate a battle against Israel. This is the battle of Gog and Magog.

Turkey will be joined by Iran, Ethiopia (Cush, includes Sudan), and Libya. Remember: Gomer and Togarmah are among the families who settled in Turkey. They lived in the LAND of Gog along with Magog.

Eze 38:13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?

Sheba and Dedan are brothers descended from Noah through Ham’s son Cush (Ethiopia/Sudan). They settled the area of the Persian Gulf. Sheba and Dedan specifically refer to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. It is widely taught by prophecy buffs that “Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof” refers to European countries. Some prophecy students think that the merchants of Tarshish sailed from Asia Minor (Turkey) to Spain. They may have sailed there but I’m not so sure that Europe is represented here. Tarsus (perhaps Tarshish) can be found on the “Map of Gog”. Tarsus is still a town today! There are several biblical references to Tarshish. Tarshish was the nephew of Magog and his brothers (1Ch 1:7). Tarshish was a seaport far from Israel (2Ch 9:21). Tarshish is contrasted with Saudi Arabia as being opposite shipping directions (Psa 72:10-11). Tarshish is listed among other provinces of Asia Minor (Isa 66:19). If you ask me, Tarshish is the southeastern coastal region of Turkey. Notice that “Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions (neighboring villages) thereof” aren’t joined in the battle in Eze 38:13. Instead, they are incessantly asking what kind of riches the Magog marauders intend to take from Israel?! It may be that the invading nations are amassed in southeastern coastal Turkey and also in Saudi Arabia to launch their attack. Saudi Arabia is a possible pre-battle staging encampment for Ethiopian and Libyan forces. Southeastern coastal Turkey is a possible pre-battle staging encampment for Turkish and Iranian forces. That is only a guess. We can a least know that Saudi Arabia and other nations will make the comment about the Magog Marauders, “Art thou come to take a spoil?”. Today every nation described in Ezekiel 38:5 are all fighting in Syria. It may be that the Magog invasion comes from there!

Notice that God calls “for a sword against him (Magog) throughout all my mountains” (Eze 38:21). The major mountainous regions in Israel are across the northern part of the nation, also along the northern center half (Judea and Samaria), and in the Southern District in the Negev desert (see topographic map below).

Eze 38:19-22 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

The major mountainous regions in Israel are across the northern part of the nation, also along the northern center half (Judea and Samaria), and in the Southern District in the Negev desert. God often refers to the mountains around Judea and Samaria as his mountains. Map credit: Sadalmelik

Happily these armies are not successful in their attack on Israel. As a matter of fact they are systematically undone. God causes every man’s sword to be against his brother. God uses the forces of nature against these armies; such as an enormous earthquake, pestilence and blood, and overflowing rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. This battle may occur prior to “the Great Tribulation”. It may be that the supernatural derision that these armies encounter prompts a “peace” agreement. The signing of a seven year “peace” contract with Israel marks the beginning of “the seven year “Tribulation” (Dan 9:27).

God “pleads” with the armies. He is trying to show them that the god of Israel is the one true God. Perhaps even at this dark hour some will look up and glorify God and be saved. Some of Ezekiel 38 may pertain to the battle of Armageddon in the valley of Jehoshaphat (lit. means Jehovah Judged; also called the valley of Jezreel), because it happens in the mountains of Israel (Eze 38:21). The blood will flow into the valley of Megiddo down to the Dead Sea. My leaning though is that the first battle of Gog and Magog will happen soon. I think that the second battle of Gog and Magog described in Ezekiel chapter 39 is in fact the same as the battle of Armageddon.

I think that the battle of “Gog and Magog” described in Ezekiel chapter 38 is a battle that happens before the tribulation. It also happens before the battle of Armageddon. The way that world events are unfolding leads me to think that the battle of “Gog and Magog” may start very soon. Turkey will lead Iran, Libya, and Ethiopia-Sudan in an invasion into Israel. Do not worry! God will fight for Israel! He will plead with the invading nations using the forces of nature.

Ezekiel chapter 38 describes a battle that happens before the seven year Tribulation period. Ezekiel chapter 39 describes a battle that happens at the end of the Tribulation period. Revelation describes another battle of Gog and Magog. This battle is similar to the original battle called “Gog and Magog”. It happens at the end of Jesus’ first 1000 year reign on earth. So the battles are separated by 1000 years. Bible prophecy often refers to two similar but distinct events. They are usually separated by time.

Rev 20:7-10 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Revelation’s battle is called “Gog and Magog” because it is like the first battles.

Now you are ready to read Ezekiel 38-39 with great understanding. In Ezekiel 39:11, Hamongog means the “multitude of Gog”. In Ezekiel 39:16, Hamonah means simply “multitude”. So Read it already! God bless you. (2 images)

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Friday, September 6, 2013 Intervening (in Syria) Like It's The End of the World?

Syria no doubt appears to many Americans as simply yet another foreign, Islamic land which the POTUS (this time Democrat, for a change) wants to bomb and/or invade despite (or even perhaps because of) the natives’ penchant for scimitar-wielding, jihad-waging and mass killing—like Afghanistan, Libya or Iraq. While perhaps necessary, this view is woefully insufficient to do justice to the importance of Syria in Islamic history and eschatology. And any understanding of apocalyptic Islam in the modern Syrian fitnah, or “civil strife,” is impossible without, first, a basic grasp of the historical and eschatological background to that crucial region. So put away your video poker games and pay attention!
Afghanistan, with apologies to our (shrinking list of) Muslim allies there, has always been a backwards periphery of the Islamic world vis-à-vis the Arab Middle Eastern heartland. It did have some eschatological resonance, however, stemming from the ancient traditions—enshrined in hadith, alleged sayings of Islam’s founder, Muhammad—that “black banners from the East” would come to Syria and Iraq and (re)establish true Islamic rule after a period of Islamic devolution. This trope was, indeed, exploited early on in Islamic history when the fomenters of the Abbasid revolution (and eventual caliphate) invaded from Khurasan (eastern Iran/western Afghanistan) and overthrew the extant Umayyad Caliphate, centered in Damascus. But Afghanistan has never been a major locus of Islamic learning or power since then, and its eschatological utility has been as a mere staging area, not a center of action.

Jabhat al-Nusra's Black Banner, emblazoned with the Shahadah.

As for Libya, after the Islamic conquest it was little more than a barely-Islamized Berber frontier between Egypt and the more powerful and sophisticated polities to its west, and even after the Ottomans came “Cyrenaica” was of little import in any Islamic equations before the Sanusi Sufi jihad against the occupying Italians in the 20th century. In terms of eschatological significance, Libya had and has none. Iraq has always been more more critical to Islamic history than far-eastern Afghanistan or thinly-populated North African Libya—albeit less so than Syria. Iraq was on the fault-line between Western and “Eastern” civilizations, going back to Roman and Byzantine times, when it was a contested buffer zone between those empires and the various Persian ones. The region of Iraq itself was divided, after the coming of Islam, into Sunni and Shi`i sections—the former often under Ottoman Turkish rule, the latter in the orbit of (or at least doctrinally sympathetic to) the Safavid , and subsequent other Shi`i, Iranian states. To this day, especially post-American occupation (which empowered the Twelver Shi`i Iraqi majority to take power), Iraq is religiously and even eschatologically important for the Twelvers of the world primarily because six of the twelve Imams’ tombs are there and, after his reappearance, the returned 12th Imam al-Mahdi will rule from Kufa, Iraq. However, despite Baghdad’s undeniable importance as a political and intellectual center from its founding in 750 AD to its demise at the hands of the Mongols in 1258, Iraq pales in importance next to Syria for the majority Sunni Muslims, particularly Arab ones. Syria was the first area outside the Arabian peninsula to be conquered, and not only was it wrenched away from the superpower al-Rum (the Byzantine Christian Empire), but al-Sham, “Greater Syria” centered on Damascus included Jerusalem, the capture of which “proved” Islamic superiority to the other, corrupted monotheistic religions: Judaism and Christianity. This fervent triumphalism only intensified after the hated Crusaders were expelled from their 88-year occupation by the Syrian Kurd Salah al-Din in 1187, and the “Zionist occupation” of al-Quds (“The Holy” [city], Jerusalem) since 1948 is seen by many Arab (and other) Muslims are merely a temporary setback, which the Mahdi and Jesus will rectify—perhaps soon. Thus many hadiths predict eschatological events transpiring in what the French and Brits used to call “the Levant,” the most important among them including: al-Sufyani, (a “type” of the Muslim antichrist, al-Dajjal, “the Deceiver”) will emerge from Syria; Christians will (re)conquer Syria; the Mahdi will reveal himself; the Dajjal himself appear; Jesus will return by descending into Damascus; the armies of the Mahdi and the Sufyani will battle; and Jesus will kill the Dajjal in or near Jerusalem. After all this the Mahdi and Jesus will jointly rule over a Muslim planet, and eventually both will pass away. The true end of history, and the Final Judgement, will not come for some years after that. Interestingly, the Sunni Mahdi and the Twelver Shi`i one perform virtually the same role, the major differences being 1) the former will step onto the stage of history for the first time, whereas the latter will return from a millennium-old mystical ghaybah, or “occultation;” and 2) Sunni eschatologists prognosticate that the person whom Shi`is believe to be their 12th Imam will actually be the Dajjal—and Shi`is say the same about the Sunni Mahdi! Thus, Syria is the most important eschatological venue of Islam, bar none. Quoting sayings of some of their twelve Imams, at least one Iranian government official has superimposed eschatological themes on the Syrian conflict—Hujjat al-Islam (or “Hujjatollah,” a cleric ranking below Ayatollah) Ruhollah Husayniyan, who claims that the strife in Syria is the prelude to the Imam al-Mahdi’s coming and revolution. (This sort of “newspaper exegesis” has been going on for years in Tehran and Qom, actually.) And Twelver Shi`is in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon are not only enthused about this idea, but have been motivated by Mahdism to go join the fight for Bashar al-Asad and the Alawi regime over against its Sunni opponents! As I pointed out in a recent article on Syria, the Twelver Shi`i Islamic Republic of Iran has supported the Syrian Alawi-Ba`athist rulers for decades, despite the latters’ heterodox, at best, quasi-Muslim (Alawi) beliefs and official Arab secular-socialist (Ba`athist) political affiliation. Why? Because the ayatollahs have geopolitical and economic concerns that override mere doctrinal differences between Twelver Shi`ism and its offshoot sect Alawism: access to their non-state proxy Hizbullah in Lebanon, giving them a salient against Israel; an Arab state ally in Damascus; and potential access to the Mediterranean for any oil and gas pipelines, via Iraq. Sunnis, particularly Salafi-jihadist ones, find it far harder to dismiss Alawi religious aberrations, considering that the intellectual “godfather” of modern Sunni fundamentalism, Ibn Taymiyah (d. 1328) issued fatwas against the Alawis some 700 years ago, and those condemnations—which make Alawis legally killable for Sunnis—have recently been reiterated by Salafi clerics. There are credible reports that both the leadership and many members of Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl al-Sham min Mujahidin al-Sham fi Sahat al-Jihad (“The Front of Support to the People of Syria from the the Holy Warriors of Syria in the Battlefields of Jihad”), the most formidable opposition fighting force, and one of the most vociferous Salafi-jihadist ones—as its name clearly indicates—“believe that the Syrian revolution provides a golden opportunity for them to work towards the realisation of this prophecy, and they work in the hope that they may become the people mentioned in these hadiths.” JaN also advocates re-establishment of the caliphate, imposition of shari`a to include relegation of Christians to second-class dhimmi status, and killing of Alawis. All of these views are also present, to varying degrees, in the other major Islam-based opposition groups, which in toto comprise about half of the Syrian regime’s opponents (and a majority in the north and east of the country): Ahrar al-Sham, “Free Men of Syria;” Kata’ib al-Faruq, “Battalions of Faruq” (a name for the second caliph of Islam); Liwa al-Tawhid, “Banner of Unity” (meaning strict monotheism—an implicit critique of Christian Trinitarianism;) Suqur al-Sham (“Falcons of Syria”); Ansar al-Islam, “Protectors of Islam;” Ahfad al-Rasul , “Descendants of the Messenger [Muhammad]; and Ghuraba, “Strangers” or “Expatriates.”

Ahfad al-Rasul's crest. The scimitar is mightier--or at least longer--than the rifle.

The Faruq Battalions were initially part of the Free Syrian Army, the largest opposition group, composed mainly of Syrians and military units that had deserted the Syrian Alawi-dominated military. The FSA has been trying to downplay connection to the KaF, since one of the latter’s members was filmed eating the heart of a dead regime soldier. Even “moderate Islamists” like those in Suqur al-Sham [SaS] favor imposing the jizyah tax on Syria’s million of Christian, should they overthrow al-Asa. No doubt the eschatological fervor varies across groups, as well—but is almost certainly extant, to some extent, in all of them, not just the ones deemed “extremist.” As evidence thereof, I shall adduce Syrian Sunni Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqubi, a highly- and Western-educated Islamic scholar and preacher who supports the opposition—and also believes that the eschatological end game of Islam is playing out in Syria, with the Mahdi and the Sufyani soon to appear. Al-Yaqubi, it should be noted, is also a Sufi, an Islamic mytic of the Shadhili order. Islamic apocalyptic thought and praxis have often been connected to Sufism, and I have warned in numerous posts and articles about the threat posed by a confluence of mystical and Salafi-jihadist thought. Now, this appears to be happening in Syria—as well as, it should be noted, in neighboring Iraq, where the Naqshbandi Sufis have waged jihad against not just the former American occupiers but Baghdad government forces.

"Did I behead six infidels, or only five? In all the excitement, I kinda forgot myself." Wonderful art by Ahat al-Ghareb.

Eschatology is making both sides in the Levant—Sunni and Shi`i—more violent and zealous. The quasi-Shi`i Alawi regime (backed by its Twelver Shi`i patron) may have used chemical weapons; but some of the Sunni groups it is fighting are increasingly employing the equally-horrific practice of decapitation--which may have now passed from the mundane Qur'anic-based register of just deserts for infidels into a macabre realm of sacrifices to Allah intended to "hotwire the apocalypse." While certain writers in the US obsess about Evangelical Christians trying to fit the Syrian Islamic civil war into a Christian eschatological blueprint, the truth is that they have no significant political power (and the ones I know are adamantly against President Obama’s proposed strikes on the al-Asad military)—they just like to opine, talk, and sell books. The true believers in the Mahdi, the Sufyani and the return of the Islamic Jesus—who comprise hundred of millions of Muslims, according to polling data—should be the real focus of concern, most especially those of their ranks putting their beliefs into practice in Aleppo, Dayr al-Zur and Idlib. The Obama Administration would do well to consider the apocalyptic aspects of the Syrian civil war before committing our forces to helping those of the Mahdi (if we back the Sunni jihadist "opposition" via air strikes) or the 12th Imam (if we do nothing, and tacitly assist al-Asad and his Twelver Shi`i allies).

5:19 pm edt

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