The Coming War: Who Is Gog?
Posted by David Ketter on May 1, 2006
The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of
the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against
him and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I 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 clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield,
wielding swords. – Ezekiel 38:1-4, ESV
The prophet Ezekiel, a priest in exile received some of the most amazing visions ever given to prophets. Isaiah stood before the throne, an eyewitness to the majesty of God while Ezekiel, upon the banks of the Babylonian rivers, saw visions of God’s great power – the raising up of Israel and the reunion of its people (fulfilled in part in 1948), the final temple of God (not yet built) and the Kingdom of the Prince (not yet fulfilled). Yet, it is not for these that Ezekiel is most well-known, but for his prophecy against Gog. Who is Gog? From the information given, there is no solid answer save to say that he is the “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.” Yet, it is obvious we can identify certain things about his location and position.
The first term is the “land of Magog.” In the entire Bible there are five references in total to Magog. Of these, two are in Ezekiel. The others are Genesis 10:2, 1 Chronicles 1:5, and Revelation 20:7-8 (ESV):
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.
In the first two references, information is given that Magog is a son of Japheth – the forefather of one of the “seventy nations” of the earth according to Hebrew tradition (a quick count of the genealogies will demonstrate that there are, indeed, seventy groups represented). Josephus, in his Antiquities, details the Hebrew traditions:
For Gomer founded those whom the Greeks now call Galatians, [France/Belgium] but were then called Gomerites. Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians. Now as to Javan and Madai, the sons of Japhet; from Madai came the Madeans, who are called Medes, by the Greeks; but from Javan, Ionia, and all the Grecians, are derived. Thobel founded the Thobelites, who are now called Iberes [Spain/Portugal]; and the Mosocheni were founded by Mosoch; now they are Cappadocians. There is also a mark of their ancient denomination still to be shown; for there is even now among them a city called Mazaca, which may inform those that are able to understand, that so was the entire nation once called. Thiras also called those whom he ruled over Thirasians; but the Greeks changed the name into Thracians. And so many were the countries that had the children of Japhet for their inhabitants.
Now, on a few points, I certainly disagree with Josephus – for quite a few reasons. For one thing, critical Biblical scholarship has noted that other nations (most notably the Egyptians and Assyrians) have made the following correlations:
- Gomer – Cimmerians, originally inhabited the area around the Caspian Sea and later driven out by the Elamites (Persians) to “the uppermost parts of the north.”
- Magog – Magogites, originally denominated separately but with the Scythian hordes constantly marauding the borders, any northern tribe soon earned the distinction of being a Scythian.
- Javan – Greeks
- Tubal – The Iberes of the Caucasus (modern-day Georgia), founders of the city of Tobolsk
- Meshech – The forefathers of the Moscovites of later Russia.
- Tiras – Tyrsenoi, originally inhabited the coasts of Asia Minor (Troas), later moved westward to become the forefathers of the Etruscans.
Note, however, the location of Magog – to the north of the Levant. Only one great land stands there: Russia. Bible scholars are near universally agreed that the only nation to which Magog could apply is Russia. God has sworn to Russia that He will “put hooks” in its jaw and pull it out – with its large army – for war. Such a war as that they have pulled every single man of their army and readied it. What nation, then, would require such a force?
Matt A. said
Great post David! I definetly agree about Russia and as I pointed out in a post at my blog, this is all setting up perfectly for this all to happen.
Simon Templar said
interesting, I’ve not encountered too many other people who view this war of magog in ezekiel as an event preceeding the end game. Most identifiy it as post millenial.
You are correct though, in my opinion. I have long been of the opinion that it is what begins the lead up to the final 7 years.
a note on the people of Gomer. Josephus says that the descendants of Gomer were the galatians, and you appear to take issue with this (or am I misreading?) based on the idea that the Gomerites were actuall the cimmerians.
IF (and its a sizable if) the scholars are correct and the cimmerians became the celtic peoples who settled in western europe then they are in agreement with Josephus.. Galatians were celts. The term Galatia is from the same root as Gaul
The area of Galatia was so called because it was settled by Gaulish (celtic) mercenaries from Thrace who had been working for the Greeks.–>
vjp2 said
I think if you look at the issue scientifically Magog is cognate with
Magyar and Mongol and Gog with Hungar and Uyghur.
Basically, at that time there was a “Horde” of wild people between the
IndoEuropeans and the Chinese. They were all steambathers and reindeer
herders. The first we see of them are the Scyths who where a barbarian branch
of the Persians. Now, the Mongol Ural-Altaic language is today found in
Finland, Hungary, Turkey, Korea, Japan, NW China and Mongolia. But it is of
some controversy whether they might be connected to the IndoEuropean via the
Scyths and Persians. But look at their people: they absorbed characteristics
of every race they came into contact with.
Russians are interesting because, they, too, began in the Caucasus Mts
(where the Noah/Deucalion Ark landed on Mt Ararat after the Atlantis/Pangaia
parting of the continents). (Major incongruity: physicists put the event
seventy million years ago but human legends at six to nine thousand years
ago. Consider they may be both right if there is something about their time
scale which is nonlinear.) They got pushed by the Mongols, but they also
mixed with htem. In fact, their anti-commercial, communisitc and
anti-democratic ways originated more after they were subject to the Mongols
than before.
If you are aware the fish is considered especially pure by the Jews (eg
Pareve at Tisha B’Av, and by Chrisitians during Lent) because they escaped
destruction during Noah’s flood. Maybe the Magog are the reverse of this -
maybe they got holed up in the Steppes and avoided the flood too and
preserved the old evil nature, which is now the core of the Clash of
Civilisations.
Bill Stuckey said
I’M not as “history minded” as most of the readers posted here. But I would like to say this; To say that a civilization survived the flood is not only foolish, it is blasphemous. Genesis 7:21-22, “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, AND EVERY MAN (caps mine). All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died.” I want to think that no one who seems to be as educated as you all seem to be could doubt the Holy Scriptures. I hope I was in gross misunderstanding of what you were trying to say. God Bless You and your work in Christ Jesus.