Transcript

Today's Bible Translation

Bible translation used in today's episode: Ch. 37-41 GNT, Ch. 42 NKJV

Podcast Introduction

Today is Prophecy Friday. We’ll read Ezekiel 37-42. I’m calling the episode “End Times.”

Design: Jason Paschall | Photo: Dmitrii Zhodzishskii on Unsplash

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Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin have been in the news over the last year quite a lot because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I’m not going to comment on that war because that isn’t what the Lifespring! One Year Bible is about. But some people have the opinion that Russia will play an important role in the end times. So let’s look at that, shall we?

1And the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2“Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. 4I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; 5Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.”

Ezekiel 38;1-6

Now, before I talk about the things we can know from these chapters, I’d like to share something written by Bible commentator Warren Wiersbe. He wrote, “It’s tempting to identify Rosh with Russia and therefore Meschech with Moscow and Tubal with Tobolsk, both cities in Russia; but we would have a hard time defending this on linguistic grounds. This doesn’t rule out the participation of modern Russia, since it is located in the north (vv. 6, 15; 39:2), but neither does it demand it.” 

So from the scriptures, we cannot know for sure that modern Russia is the land spoken of in these scriptures. 

Let’s look at what we can know:

14“Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it? 15You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; 16and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”

17‘Thus says the Lord God, “Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? 18It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” declares the Lord God, “that My fury will mount up in My anger.

Ezekiel 14-18 NASB

From verse 16, we know that this will happen in the last days. I have said many times on the show that I believe we are in the last days. I have also said that I am not dogmatic about that, but so many things have happened in the world since Israel again became a nation in 1948 that it is hard to avoid the thought that we are living in the closing days of history. We don't have time here to list all of the events. Entire books have been written on the subject. This is an area that has a myriad of rabbit holes into which one could invest a lot of time.

I'll just give you a list of what we can glean from chapters 38 and 39:

38:1-6: Gog, a leader from the north of Israel, will lead an alliance of nations to attack Israel. Those nations include Persia, Ethiopia, Put, Gomer, Beth-togarmah and many peoples. These lands encompass modern Iran, Turkey, Libya, Ethiopia, and possibly Armenia and Germany.

38:10: His motivation will be twofold - his own evil desires and God's compulsion. Yes,