The Islamic Antichrist (14 page)

While there are several more very good arguments to support this view, I will assume that this is enough and move on. Gog and the Antichrist are one and the same. Now let’s take a look at which specific nations will make up Gog’s coalition.

ROSH

Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him… (Ezekiel 38:2)

Some Bible translations differ on how to interpret the portion of this verse that says “the chief prince of.” In Hebrew, the word translated as “chief prince” is
rosh
. The problem is that while rosh most probably means “prince” or “head,” some argue that it should be treated as a proper noun, referring to
the name of a place. Those who feel as though it is a place use the word
Rosh
to find Russia here as one of the nations. The basis for doing so of course is due primarily to the similar sound of the two words. This opinion is also supported by the fact that Ezekiel specifically says that Gog would come from the north. While Russia indeed sits perfectly north of Israel, the actual interpretation of the word
rosh
, however, is based on a bogus principle. One cannot simply take a word from an ancient Semitic language (in this case Hebrew) and find a correlation to a modern name from a drastically different language (in this case an early form of Scandinavian) simply because the two words “sound the same.”

The Hebrew word
rosh
is used well over five hundred times in the Bible and each time is interpreted as meaning “head, chief, top, best” or something similar. It is the same rosh that we find in
Rosh Hashana
—“the chief day of the year”—the Jewish New Year. Also consider this: of the eight nations mentioned, all except one represent grandsons of Noah. The other is Persia. Persia, however, was a very well known nation in Ezekiel’s day, having formerly been the head of the Medo-Persian empire that ruled the entire Middle East. Now juxtapose this to Russia, which did not even exist in Ezekiel’s day. To simply attempt to toss Rosh into the mix, an alleged name meaning neither a descendant of Noah nor a well-known nation of that day, certainly seems out of place. As Bible scholar Dr. Merrill F. Unger admits, “Linguistic evidence for the equation [of Rosh with Russia] is confessedly only presumptive.”
¹

During the Cold War, of course, this opinion was a popular one. Many reasoned that, because Russia led the great communist (read: atheist) Soviet Union, surely such an anti-God empire fulfilled Bible prophecy. But we must not read our assumptions or modern events into Scripture. We must allow Scripture to speak for itself. Unfortunately, many Bible teachers still seem to cling to this interpretation. The notion that Ezekiel
specifically mentioned Russia is a strong, if not irresponsible, stretch—mere speculation built on a very weak foundation.

SATAN’S COALITION OF THE WILLING

Now let’s identify the nations. Of the eight nations mentioned—Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Togarmah—seven are mentioned in the Book of Genesis as descendants of Noah and his three sons. Bible scholars and historians can trace the names of Noah’s sons to certain people groups and regions and thus identify them with modern nations. While the identification of some of these people groups is somewhat debatable, there is a general measure of agreement among Bible scholars as to their identification.

MESHECH AND TUBAL

Regarding Meshech and Tubal, here again we find some prophecy teachers assigning a Russian identification. Many very well known prophecy teachers base their opinions primarily on the fact that the
Scofield Study Bible
identifies these two “nations” as correlating to the modern Russian cities of Moscow and Tobolsk. The problem again is that the basis of this interpretation comes primarily from the similar sound of the words: Meshech—Moscow, and Tubal—Tobolsk. While this may convince some, we have already discussed the weakness of this reasoning. Again, unless one can legitimately trace the roots of a particular word back to its Hebrew origin, then the argument stands on very weak evidence. It is a forcing of the puzzle piece where it doesn’t naturally fit.

Mark Hitchcock, a well known Bible teacher, accurately points out that Ezekiel 27:13 describes Meshech and Tubal as trading partners with ancient Tyre, in what is today Lebanon. “It is highly doubtful,” says Hitchcock, “that ancient Tyre was trading with people as far north as Moscow and Tobolsk.” In
fact, it is questionable whether or not these areas were even very well populated in Ezekiel’s day. Hitchcock concludes that:

A closer study of these names reveals that Meschech and Tubal are the ancient Moschi/Mushki and Tubalu/Tibareni peoples who dwelled in the area around, primarily south of, the Black and Caspian Seas in Ezekiel’s day. These nations today are in the modern country of Turkey, possibly parts of southern Russia and northern Iran.
²

Meshech was located near what was known as Phrygia, in central and western Asia Minor, while Tubal was located in eastern Asia Minor. So Meshech and Tubal form portions of modern Turkey. Today this region is predominantly Islamic. While modern Turkey has undergone a drastic secularization in the last century, within the past few years Turkey has also seen some quiet, though very strong, trends toward a return to a stronger Islamic identification.
³

MAGOG

Regarding the identity of Magog, there is some difference of opinion among Bible teachers and historians. Referring to the Magogites, the
Matthew Henry Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible
speaks of this diversity of opinion:

Some think they find them [Gog and Magog] afar off, in Scythia, Tartary, and [southern] Russia. Others think they find them nearer the land of Israel, in Syria, and Asia the Less [Turkey].
⁴

Those who argue for a Scythian connection find their best argument in a reference from the ancient Jewish historian Josephus who wrote, “Magog founded the Magogians, thus named after him, but who by the Greeks are called Sythians.” Hitchcock says of the Sythians:

The ancient Sythians were a great nomadic tribe who inhabited the ancient territory from central Asia all across the southern part of ancient Russia. The descendants of Magog were the original inhabitants of the plateau of central Asia. Today the land of Magog is inhabited by the former Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and possibly even northern parts of modern Afghanistan.
⁵

Former Muslim Walid Shoebat agrees. Shoebat points out that:

The Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge
, citing ancient Assyrian writings, places the location of Magog in the land mass between ancient Armenia and Media—in short, the republics south of Russia and north of Israel, comprised of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Turkestan, Chechnya, Turkey, Iran, and Dagestan. Significantly, all of them are Muslim nations.
⁶

Thus, while the specific nations that comprise Magog may be partially in question, the same general area is agreed upon. We are dealing with Asia Minor, and possibly parts of central Asia—some of the southern regions of the former Soviet Union. Today, Islam dominates this entire region.

What if we take the alternative interpretation made by some Bible scholars—that Magog is Syria? Even if this were the case, we still have an Islamic nation.

But here is the real key to identifying Magog:
identifying Meshech and Tubal
, which we have already done. The reason for this is the wording of Ezekiel: “Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief [or head] of Meshech and Tubal.” Magog is the “head” of the land of Meshech and Tubal. We have already seen that Meschech and Tubal are located in modern-day Turkey. Thus it would be foolish to assume that Magog as their “head” is in some other distant region or nation. While it seems more likely that Magog is either a portion of Turkey or a conglomerate of the former Soviet Turkic “-istans,” whether it be these or Syria, we have an Islamic entity.

This point is essential. Because we know that Gog—the Antichrist—will come from the land of Magog, definitely an
Islamic region, it seems very unlikely that he will be a non-Muslim. While I suppose that anything is possible, particularly in the distant future, it is very hard to imagine a non-Muslim ruling over any one of these nations, at least not anyone who doesn’t outwardly pose as a Muslim. Now, let’s move on to identify the remaining member states of the Antichrist’s coalition.

PERSIA

Persia is very easy to identify. Essentially, Persia is modern-day Iran. Many Iranians in America, if asked where they are from, will say they are from Persia. In fact, Iran was called Persia until 1935. Obviously Iran is a predominantly Muslim nation. While there are some wonderful signs of change in Iran, due to a growing dissatisfaction with Islam among Iran’s massive youth population, it does not seem likely that a majority of Iranians will leave behind its Islamic roots anytime soon.
⁷

CUSH

Cush is also relatively easy to identify. Some Bible translations merely interpret Cush as Ethiopia, though this is not accurate. The Cush of Ezekiel’s day sat far more northwest than the Ethiopia of today. Scripture often associated Cush with Egypt, which bordered it:

Egypt will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that I am the LORD. Because you said, “The Nile is mine; I made it,” therefore I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt a ruin and a desolate waste from Migdol [northern Egypt] to Aswan [today in southern Egypt],
as far as the border of Cush
. (Ezekiel 29:9–10, emphasis mine)

Another of Cush’s defining characteristics was its rivers (Isaiah 18:1). Because Cush bordered Egypt, the rivers were most likely the five rivers that feed the Nile. Of course, the context of Ezekiel is the best context by which to interpret the
area to which Isaiah referred. If we look at a map, the Nile River flows directly into the southern border of Egypt from the modern nation of Sudan. In the nation of Sudan, five rivers merge to feed the Nile to the north. The only legitimate identification of Cush, then, is modern Sudan, known officially since 1989 as the Islamic Republic of Sudan. The Sudanese government is Islamist to its core and an absolute cesspool of Islamic oppression toward Sudan’s Christian minority. As Mark Hitchcock accurately says, “One would be hard pressed to find a more rabid enemy of Israel and the West today than Sudan.”

PUT

Biblically, Put (or Phut) is the region west of Egypt. Today this is the nation of Libya. The Septuagint translates the word
Put
here as
Libue
. Most modern scholars seem to agree with this interpretation. Shoebat, however, includes Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia along with Libya. Either way, we have another entirely Islamic region or nation.

GOMER

Gomer, scholars seem to almost universally agree, “refers to the Celtic Cimmerians of Crim-Tartary.”
⁸
Regarding the identification of Gomer, Baptist pastor Fred Zaspel accurately points out that:

Gomer is well known to the ancient world as Gimarrai of north central Asia Minor [Cappadocia]. These people are also known as the Cimmerians. This seems to be the simplest, most obvious interpretation.
⁹

So Gomer is Gimarra is Cimmeria is Cappadocia. Cappadocia is simply central Turkey, another Islamic region.

TOGARMAH

Zaspel sums up the identity of Togarmah quite well:

Togarmah was a descendant of Noah through Japheth then Gomer (Genesis 10:1–3). He is known to Assyrian records as Tilgarimmu.… Tilgarimmu was a city state in Eastern Anatolia [Asia Minor, modern Turkey] more specifically, as Ryrie states, “the southeastern part of Turkey near the Syrian border.” This identification is generally acknowledged by all.
¹⁰

Once more, we have a region in present-day Turkey.

ASSESSING THE EIGHT NATIONS

Thus, in the final assessment, five of the eight nations mentioned by Ezekiel occupy modern Turkey and possibly some of the southern Russian regions near the Caucasus Mountains, as well as some of the Turkic nations of central Asia. Obviously, the Lord directed Ezekiel to significantly highlight Turkey. The other three nations mentioned—Libya, Sudan, and Iran—together with Turkey form a perfect circle around Israel. Turkey covers Israel’s entire northern horizon, while Iran lies to the east of Israel, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Israel finds herself surrounded on all four sides by the Islamic nations of the Antichrist’s empire.

While many Bible teachers have for years prophesied a coming invasion of Israel headed by Russia, we see that the Bible simply does not substantiate this position. In fact, it is fair to say that the entire argument for a primary Russian involvement is based on weak scholarship and actually requires a violation of basic linguistic norms. Instead, I see an Islamic invasion of Israel, most likely led by Turkey and involving, minimally, three or more other Islamic nations. While there is always the temptation to read one’s enemies into Scripture, we should instead simply take the Bible for what it says. While presently there is not any pressing reason to see Turkey as the leader of an imminent world empire, this is nevertheless what Ezekiel prophesied. And as we are about to see, this is confirmed through other portions of Scripture as well.