"Gog" is revealed to be from the "far north"1 as the prince of "Rosh,2 Meschech, and Tubal."3 The attempt has been made to identify these three names with Russia, Moscow, and Tobolsk4 respectively. Russia is to the far North of Israel, and it is believed that they will fulfill this prophecy---considering their prominence in the world. Some think this attempt will transpire just before or during that future period called Daniel's 70th "week."5 However important it is to accurately identify Gog,6 it is not as important as the purpose of God in this attempt--which will also locate its place in the scheme of prophetic events.
The revealed purpose for this attempted invasion is to magnify God and to make Him known before all nations.7 This is inseparable from His special relationship with the nation of Israel. God will be magnified and made known when He brings Gog against Israel and destroys him and his armies in the mountains of Israel: "Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know I am the Lord."8
If God is allowing this attempt to magnify His name and to make it known, then how is that accomplished if this invasion happens near the beginning of Daniel's 70th week--a little before or a little after--or near the midpoint of that period, just prior to the abomination of desolation which begins the great tribulation?9 The persecution of Israel during the great tribulation by the Antichrist would show God's purpose had failed. God would be magnified by the security of His elect people of Israel.
Ezekiel speaks of when Israel is back in their land in the latter days, dwelling in safety. This is when Gog will seek to invade: "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 long have been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely."10
Some see a partial fulfillment of this Scripture by saying that the regathering of Israel from the nations is a gradual process which has already begun, though in unbelief.11 This view and the association of Russia with Gog affect their placing of the event. However, this verse along with chapters 36 through 48 of Ezekiel speak of a future restored state of the nation by the terms of the new covenant:12 "For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all the countries, and bring you into your own land. . I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you . . . I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes . . . Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God."13 These words clearly do not apply to the present state of the nation in Palestine, yet it may be correct to see the reference in 38.8--"you [Gog] will come into the land...which long had been desolate"--as referring to the result of the gradual return of Jews to Palestine and restoring the land, but the complete fulfillment of Ezekiel has not happened yet with Israel.
Ezekiel clearly points to a restored state of Israel. Israel, to the glory of God, will some day dwell safely in prosperity--which lures Gog to seek to plunder them: "You [Gog] will say, "I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates--to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land."14 The references to Israel's wealth at that time are evident of Divine restoration. Zechariah says: "Judah also will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be gathered together: gold, silver, and apparel in great abundance."15 The situation pictured in Ezekiel must be the early restored state of Israel following the second coming, and maybe prior to the other nations being completely brought under the "law"16 of Christ.
Many Bible students would have a problem with this view because they do not believe such an attempt could take place during the Millennium;17 yet, there must be a transitional time for such a kingdom to be established. Some time will transpire between the Second Coming of Christ and the completion of judgment and setting up of the kingdom. The fact that Gog is destroyed before he can harm Israel shows God's election and protection of Israel as His people. Arno C. Gaebelein held that Gog's attempt is some time after the judgment of the Beast's empire.18 Ezekiel speaks of when Israel is God's restored people in the early transitional stages of the millennium before all nations have been subdued. It is the "latter days."19 The "latter days" is a phrase that includes the early stages of the kingdom.20 The Iron rule of Christ will involve a transitional time for subduing all nations, but Israel will be restored first.
Though Gog may involve Russia, the main issue, involving Gog, is the purpose of God to magnify Himself and to be made known in the eyes of all nations. God allows this attempted attack on Israel, in the millennium, to show His election of Israel and to bring fear on all nations concerning His authority. This will magnify and make Him known in the eyes of all nations, for He will protect His people in His land.21
Endnotes
1 Ezekiel 38.14-16
2 "Rosh" is the transliteration of the Hebrew into English. It is a common noun for "head" and "chief"--to name the most frequent usages. Some translate Rosh as a proper noun, possibly thinking it is an early form for Russia. Some think it is a common noun which should modify "prince" as "chief prince."
3 Ez 38.2-3
4 An etymological appeal is made for the similar sounds between "Rosh" and Russia, "Meschech" and Moscow, and "Tubal" and Tobolsk--a town in West Soviet Union (former). Such identifications are not certain.
5 Daniel 9.27: A "week" is a period of seven, in this case, of seven years. It is the seven last years till the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem according to God's purpose, Daniel 9.24-27. Dwight Pentecost in his book Things To Come suggests that the invasion of Gog takes place in the middle of the "week," pages 350, 353.
6 "Gog" must identify one of a particular character or capacity since it is used again in Revelation 20.8 in reference to a rebellion at the end of the Millennium.
7 Ez 38.16
8 Ez 38.23
9 Matthew 24.15-21: Jeremiah 30.7.
10 Ez 36.8
11 Dwight Pentecost gives this interpretation concerning the vision of the dry bones in Ez 37. 1-14 in his Things To Come, page 343. It can be admitted that Israel has experienced a regathering and some restoration of the land, and this may seem to fit Ez 38.8, but Israel and the land will again suffer from the great tribulation and the Day of the Lord. Israel's present state is far from attaining that which Ezekiel speaks. Israel' present partial return will again result in a scattering to some extent during "Jacob's trouble," Jer 30.7.
12 The new covenant speaks of salvation by the remission of sins and regeneration. For Israel, it includes a heightened practical holiness: "I will . . . cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them" Ez 36.27. It speaks of salvation corporately, and for Israel geographically.
13 Ez 36.24, 26, 27, 28.
14 Ez 38.11, 12
15 Zechariah 14.14
16 Micah 4.1-5
17 The "Millennium" is the reign of Christ on earth for a thousand years, following His coming to earth in glory. (Revelation 20.4)
18 Dwight Pentecost, Things To Come, (Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan, 1964), 348.
19 Ez 38.16: "Latter Days" identify the first coming of Christ which continues into the Millennial age, Heb 1.2; Micah 4.1. With Christ's first coming, there was an anticipation of the passing away of the old covenant to establish the new covenant. Christ's death and resurrection has made the old "obsolete" now, and the church is the corporate people of God under the salvific terms of the new, but the new is yet to be fulfilled in geographical Israel in the Millennium; therefore, the latter days continues into the Millennium until Israel is established under the terms of the new, Hebrews 8.7-13; Micah 4.1-5.
20 Micah 4.1: "Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it."
21 Ez 38.16: "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, 0 Gog, before their eyes."
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