EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part 17

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part XVII by Thomas Ice
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? And it 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. And in My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.”
—Ezekiel 38:17–19
As we move into a new section in the prophecy, the Lord once again speaks to Ezekiel about God’s future victory over Gog and his allies (38:17–23). For the fifth and final time in chapter 38, the prophecy is said to be the word of the Lord. “Seven times in Ezekiel 38—39 we read the same words, ‘Thus says the Lord God’ (38:2, 10, 14, 17; 39:1, 17, 25),” notes Mark Hitchcock. “Another eight times the refrain, ‘declares the Lord God,’ appears. Obviously, God doesn’t want us to miss the point—this is His Word.”1 This prophecy begins with the Lord asking a question to Gog. This question stems from the previous verse (38:16) and is about how God will sanctify Himself in the eyes of Gog and the nations.
WHAT’S THE QUESTION?
It is as if God is taunting Gog with this question that reveals God’s absolute confidence in the outcome of this encounter. In this section (38:17–23), God answers the questions of “what” and “how.” First, the question “what” is answered in verses 17 and 18, while the question of “how” in verses 19 through 23. The question that God confronts Gog with is as follows: “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?” The Hebrew grammar causes the reader to expect an affirmative answer.2 So where are the other Old Testament prophecies that the Lord is referring to in this passage? Randall Price answers that question as follows:
The opening statement of this defeat (verse 17) seems to imply a there has been prior prediction in other prophets of Gog’s invasion. However, the ambiguity in the expression “are you the one” (even though Gog is understood from verse 16) spoken of by God in the distant past reveals that the reference is open to representative “Gogs” whose actions against Israel have invited a divine demonstration. Gog’s army will be a multi-national force and some of these nations have had prophecies specifically directed against them by former Israelite prophets: Cush/Ethiopia (Isaiah 18:1-7), Arabia (Isaiah 21:13-17). However, no direct reference to Gog in any of the former prophets is necessary, since all previous invaders have been types leading to Gog and his allies as the antitype.3
The Lord continues the “what” in verse 18 in relation to Gog’s invasion of the land of Israel, by noting that His “fury will mount up in My anger.” The Lord uses three
-2-
Hebrew words to describe His reaction to Gog’s invasion of the land of Israel. In the order in which they appear in the Hebrew text, the first word is the common verb ‘alah, which occurs over 1,200 times in the Hebrew Old Testament4 and means to “go up, ascend, or climb,”5 is translated “will mount up.”
Second, the Hebrew noun chemah, which means “heat, poison or venom (of animals), rage, wrath,”6 is translated “fury” in this passage. This word is used 120 times in the
7 Hebrew Bible and most of the usage relates to human or Divine wrath (110 times). The
use of chemah to refer to human wrath only occurs 25 times, while it is used 85 times to 8
reference Divine wrath with the most occurrences found in Ezekiel (31 times). Thus, we see the righteous anger of the Lord that builds up and is released as His wrath in history .
Third, the final Hebrew word is the noun ‘af, which means “nose, anger, nostrils”9 is used 155 times in the Hebrew Old Testament10 and is translated in the passage as “My anger.” Hebrew nouns not only occur in the singular and plural modes, but also have a dual use. “When the reference is to the nose, the singular form is used, while the dual form is used for either the face or nostrils.”11 Here the Lord’s anger is expressed with in the dual mode, thus, emphasizing the nostrils, which is seen in some animals when they get upset they start breathing through the nostrils like a snorting anger. Then chemah and ‘af are grouped together in reference to God, as occurs here, the expression denotes the strongest kind of anger by God that leads to action. Keil describes this as an “anthropopathetic expression, ‘my wrath ascends in my nose,’ . . . The outburst of wrath shows itself in the vehement breath which the wrathful man inhales and exhales through his nose.”12 The clear message of the passage is that God has reached the limit of His patience and He will now spring forth in wrathful action against Gog and his allies.
HOW IT WILL HAPPEN?
The final section in chapter 38 (verses 19–23) begins with the Lord revealing His
attitude with which He will defend His people Israel. The first part of verse 19 says,
“And in My zeal and in My blazing wrath . . .” Once again, this phrase contains three
important Hebrew words demonstrating that the lexicon was not exhausted in the
previous verse when it comes to describing God’s great anger toward Gog and the other
Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’” (Ezek. 36:5–6, italics added)
invaders. First, the noun translated “zeal” is qinah, which occurs 17 times in the 13
Hebrew Old Testament and it is found the most times in Ezekiel (7 times). The basic meaning is that of “zeal” for something (in this case God’s zeal for His prized earthly possession Israel) and the “jealousy” and “wrath” that is exhibited when another attempts to move in and take away that possession.14 We gain insight into the Lord’s attitude toward His people and His land—the land of Israel—two chapters earlier in Ezekiel that reads as follows:
-3-
The same jealousy that God expressed in chapter 36 is carried into 38:19 concerning the wife of Jehovah—Israel. “God’s patience would be exhausted with the repeated attempts of Israel’s enemies to annihilate her,” declares Charles Feinberg. “The Lord Himself will undertake the destruction of Israel’s enemies, choosing to use no secondary agent, for this is to be a final and irrecoverable judgment.”15
The second noun we find in this passage is the Hebrew word ‘esh, which means “fire” and in this verse is translated as “blazing.”16 The third word in the Hebrew text is ‘evra, which is translated “wrath”17 in verse 19 and in construct relationship to blazing. Taken together they produce the strongest possible statement about the wrath of God— it is blazing, it is on fire. “These words express the intensity of God’s display of
18 vengeance against the invaders of His Land (‘My mountains,’ 38:21).”
So what does the burning zeal of the Lord cause Him to declare? God will “declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.” “That day” refers to the day in which Gog and his gang will invade the land of Israel. Then God will counterstrike the outsiders by inflicting a great earthquake upon the land of Israel. Price tells us:
According to verses 19b-21 a divinely appointed earthquake will be so severe as to disorient Gog’s multi-national forces and cause them in the confusion to fight each other. The earthquake will apparently set off volcanic deposits in the region, bringing down on Gog’s army a hail of molten rock and burning sulfur (volcanic ash) with the result that the enemy troops are utterly destroyed before they can strike a blow against Israel (verse 22).19
Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 Mark Hitchcock, After The Empire: Bible Prophecy in Light of the Fall of the Soviet Union (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers 1994), p. 174.
2 C. F. Keil, Ezekiel, Daniel, Commentary on the Old Testament, trans. James Martin (Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), p. 168.
3 Randall Price, Unpublished Notes on The Prophecies of Ezekiel, (2007), p. 42.
4 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.
5 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (London: Oxford, 1907), electronic edition.
6 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
7 G. Johannes Botterweck, & Helmer Ringgren, editors, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, vol. IV (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980), p. 462.
8 Botterweck & Ringgren, Theological Dictionary, vol. IV, p. 464.
9 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
10 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.
11 Willem A. VanGemeren, gen. editor, New International Dictionary of Old Testament Theology & Exegesis, 5 vols., (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1997), vol. 1, p. 463.
-4-
12 Keil, Ezekiel, p. 169.
13 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.
14 Definition derived from Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
15 Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), p. 225.
16 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
17 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
18 Randall Price, “Ezekiel” in Tim LaHaye & Ed Hindson, editors, The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2007), p. 193.
19 Price, Unpublished Notes on Ezekiel, p. 42.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part 16

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part XVI by Thomas Ice
“Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its villages, will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’ 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? And you 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; and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It will come about in the last days that I shall bring you against My land, in order that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.”’
—Ezekiel 38:13–16
It appears that Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish are clearly a trading community that is not involved in the invasion and from the sidelines ask the motives of the invaders. “Have you come to capture spoil?” “Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?” Even though these are questions, they also clearly reveal in them the intent of the invaders, which were also stated in verse 12.
PURPOSE OF THE INVADERS
Since most of the terminology of the invaders is stated in verse 12, it is clear that the human motive of the invaders is to steal the wealth of Israel. Many expositors have speculated over the years what it is about Israel that the invaders have their eye on. Some have said that it is the mineral wealth of the Dead Sea, which is the richest on earth. However, as Arnold Fruchtenbaum notes, “Russia could also obtain the Dead Sea by invading Jordan.”1 Whatever the specifics, the cumulative description of verses 12 and 13 make it clear that Israel has wealth and they invade her in order to gain that wealth.
There is no doubt that Israel is by far the richest country in the region. Today she has developed a productive economy via research and development in the area of technology. Also, she is perhaps the most productive country per capita in the world agriculturally. Israel has long controlled the diamond business and is the world leader in generic pharmaceuticals. Wikipedia says, “Israel is considered one of the most advanced countries in the Southwest Asia in economic and industrial development. . . . It has the second-largest number of startup companies in the world (after the United States) and the largest number of NASDAQ-listed companies outside North America.”2 Regardless of the specific enticements, this passage is clear that Israel is invaded for the purpose of stealing her wealth.
PROPHECY AGAINST GOG
-2-
A new section begins with verses 14–16. “Son of man” is a common term used 93 times by God in this book to refer to Ezekiel.3 As C. F. Keil says, it “denotes man according to his natural condition . . . denoting the weakness and fragility of man in opposition to God.”4 The rest of this verse is a repeat of phrases already analyzed, except the last one: “will you not know it?” This phrase in the English translates two Hebrew words. The word for “not” appears at the beginning of the phrase “On that day when My people . . .” Even though “not” appears in the middle of the passage, it relates grammatically to and negates the final word in the verse, which is the Hebrew verb “to know.” Keil rightly explains: “thou wilt know, or perceive, sc. that Israel dwells securely, not expecting any hostile invasion.”5 Rabbi Fisch echoes Keil and says, “the state of Israel’s peace and confidence which has led to his unpreparedness, so that thou wilt choose him for thy victim.”6 Charles Feinberg notes Israel’s “imagined security” and says, “The question is doubtless a rhetorical one. The Lord knew full well that Gog will have already acquainted himself with the fact of Israel’s political
7 condition in order to be sure of his attack.”
The Lord continues to speak to Gog and says, “you will come from your place.” Where is Gog’s place? Gog’s place is said, as in verse 6, to be “the remote parts of the north.” This phrase was dealt with in verse 6 and is the exact same Hebrew expression in both places, except verse 15 has the prepositional stem “from,” while it is implied in verse 6. This phrase will also be used again in 39:2. So three times the text emphasizes that Gog will come from the remotest parts of the North. “It is intriguing that a tribe of ‘Mescherians,’ whose territory included the area of the modern city of Moscow,” observes Jon Ruthven, “the capital of the traditional ‘Rus’,’ lies due north of Israel.” If one draws a line from Jerusalem north to the North Pole, it will come very close to modern Moscow. In fact, the only possible country that is to the extreme north of Israel is Russia. The country of Russia begins north of the Black Sea in Southern Russia and is the only country north of the Black Sea. Since we do not have many choices, one out of one, it is clear that Gog is Russia, which fits the other information gleaned thus far from Ezekiel 38.
The rest of verse 15 speaks of the fact that Gog will come with a huge army, including many allies with her. I have dealt with this terminology already in earlier verses in the passage.
WHY ME LORD?
Verse 16 concludes the section in which God explains “why” He will sovereignly work in history to bring about Gog’s invasion of Israel. This verse makes it clear that the Lord God of Israel sees the Gog lead invasion as a direct attack upon Him. Gog will “come up against My people Israel;” “I shall bring you against My land;” and “that the nations may know Me” (italics added). Gog will descend upon God’s real estate “like a cloud to cover the land.” Charles Dyer suggests, “This awesome army will overrun all
9
obstacles as effortlessly as a cloud sailing across the sky.” This is true, until God
decides to intervene on behalf of His people and land.
Regardless of what the world thinks and the news media will say about Israel in that
day, the Lord God says that that the people who will be invaded are “My people Israel.” As Paul says of Israel in the New Testament, “God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew” (Rom. 11:2). On what basis can Paul say this? He can say it because “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom. 11:28). Yet, too many in our day suffer under the false illusion of replacement theology that God has replace “My people Israel” with the church. It is true that the church made up of elect Jews and
8
-3-
Gentiles during the current age are also the people of God. However, God is not finished with national or ethnic Israel and will focus upon them after the rapture.
The Lord also calls the land of Israel “My land.” In other words, His people Israel are living in His land, which is also called Israel, in the last days when Gog and his hordes come down to attack them. Thus, this passage makes it very clear that an attack on God’s people and land is an attack upon God Himself. This is why, even though Israel is not ready for this attack God will step in to defend her. Why will He defend His people and land? He will defend them “in order that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog” (38:16).
This section concludes with God’s purpose, which is the ultimate and overriding purpose, for bringing Gog against His people "in the last days" (38:14). Gog’s purpose from the human perspective was noted earlier (38:10–13), but the utmost purpose is to teach the nations to acknowledge the Lord. They would do this when God used Gog to demonstrate His holiness before them as the whole world watches. God will mobilize Gog as He had raised up Pharaoh at the Exodus to demonstrate His power and holiness when He subsequently puts him down. “Though the purpose of Gog’s campaign is said to be lust for destruction and spoil,” declares Fisch, “it is an act designed in God’s wisdom to bring mankind to the realization that He is King of the universe.”10 Thus, God’s intent through all of this is to demonstrate who He is and what He values in this world. He is a holy God who has given Israel her land and He knows how to protect His people. O, that we would all learn this lesson. Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, [1982] 2003), p. 111.
2 Wikipedia, accessed May 13, 2008.
3 From a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.
4 C. F. Keil, Ezekiel, Daniel, Commentary on the Old Testament, trans. James Martin (Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), p. 47.
5 Keil, Ezekiel, p. 167.
6 S. Fisch, Ezekiel: Hebrew Text & English translation with an Introduction and Commentary (London: The
Soncino Press, 1950), p. 256.
7 Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), p. 224.
8 Jon Mark Ruthven, The Prophecy That Is Shaping History: New Research on Ezekiel’s Vision of the End (Fairfax, VA: Xulon Press, 2003), p. 39.
9 Charles H. Dyer, “Ezekiel,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament, ed. John F. Walvoord and Roy B. Zuck (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor Books, 1985), p. 1301.
10 Fisch, Ezekiel, p. 257.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part 15

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part XV
by Thomas Ice
“’to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’ Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its villages, will say to you, ‘Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?’”’
—Ezekiel 38:12–13
Twice Israel and Jerusalem are said in Ezekiel to dwell at the center of the earth. “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her’” (Ezek. 5:5). Rabbi Fisch says, “Following Ezekiel, Dante places Jerusalem at the centre of the world, with the Ganges as the extreme east and the pillars of Hercules as the extreme west.”1 Israel and its chief city Jerusalem was created by God and placed in the center of the earth so that she could be a light to the nations as the Lord desired to use her to spread His message across the globe. Rabbi Fisch notes, “Jerusalem intended to be the radiating centre of the knowledge of God for all peoples.”2 It is within such a context that Ezekiel 38:12 notes that the nation of Israel is “at the center of the world.”
ISRAEL: CENTER OF THE WORLD
The Hebrew word translated “world” in the New American Standard translation that I use is really the Hebrew term for “earth.” Ha’aretz is used over 2,500 times in the Hebrew Old Testament3 and is used in five basic ways: 1) ground, earth; 2) a specific piece of ground; 3) a territory or country; 4) the whole of the land, the earth; 5) depths of the earth or the underworld.4 In this context it clearly is a reference to the entire earth. It is important to note that “earth” instead of “world” is used in the original, since world could denote the people and not the land. The emphasis here is upon being in the center of the earth’s land—the geographical naval. The Hebrew word for “center” is literally “the naval,”5 “as the naval is in the centre of the body.”6
Why is Israel’s location mentioned at this point in the passage? I agree with Rabbi Fisch’s opinion: “This is mentioned to stress the viciousness of Gog’s plan. He dwelt in the far north, a great distance from the Land of Israel; so the people of the latter could have hand no aggressive designs upon him.”7 C. F. Keil echoes Rabbi Fisch’s view and describes it as one of their two motives for invasion in the following:
This figurative expression is to be explained from ch. v. 5; “Jerusalem in the midst of the nations.” The navel is not a figure denoting the high land, but signifies the land situated in the middle of the earth, and therefore the land most glorious and most richly blessed; so that they who dwell there occupy the most exalted position among the nations. A covetous desire for the possessions of the people of god, and envy at his exalted position in the centre of the world, are therefore the motives by which Gog is impelled to
-2-
enter upon his predatory expedition against the people living in the depth of peace.8
Belief in Israel’s special status and global location explains the famous rabbinical statement derived from these two passages in Ezekiel:
As the navel is set in the centre of the human body, so is the land of Israel the navel of the world . . . situated in the centre of the world, and Jerusalem in the centre of the land of Israel, and the sanctuary in the centre of Jerusalem, and the holy place in the centre of the sanctuary, and the ark in the centre of the holy place, and the foundation stone before the holy place, because from it the world was founded.9
Many commentators on this passage only stress the economic gain as the single motive for Gog’s invasion from the human perspective. However, this final phrase in verse 12 makes it clear that they also invade out of envy of Israel’s special status with God and her resulting geographic location.
SHEBA AND DEDAN
Who are Sheba and Dedan? “Sheba and Dedan are not difficult to identify. They 10
are located in the modern country of Saudi Arabia.” “Sheba and Dedan are counties in northern Arabia,” notes Arnold Fruchtenbaum.11 As indicated in the context, they were known for their commercial trading, thus, their interest in the Gog invasion of nearby Israel in order to take spoil. Randall Price locates Sheba as modern Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula and Dedan as Saudi Arabia.12 Regardless of their precise location on the Arabian peninsula, there appears to be no doubt that it is a reference to Saudi Arabia and perhaps some of the other Arab nations currently occupying that peninsula.
TARSHISH
Sheba and Dedan are said to be in alignment with “the merchants of Tarshish, with all its villages.” What does the phrase “the merchants of Tarshish” mean? Like those in Sheba and Dedan, they are said to be merchants or traders. But where is Tarshish located?
Tarshish appears to be a wealthy trading community on the extremity of the Mediterranean world. “Tarshish is ancient Tartessus in the present-day nation of Spain.”13 This view is supported by standard Hebrew language reference books.14 For example, Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner in their Hebrew Lexicon say, “these point to Spain with its rich mineral resources. [Tarshish] could be a town the territory of which is in the region of the mouth of the Guadalquivir. With some variation this is probably the most widely accepted view today”15 “We read often in the OT of ‘ships of Tarshish’ which were large, oceangoing vessels (Ezk 27:25) that carried all sorts of precious cargo, especially metals such as silver and gold (I Kgs 10:22; 22:48; II Chr 9:21; Isa 60:9; Jer 10:9; Ezk 38:13) as well as iron, tin, and lead (Ezk 27:12).”16
Harvard Professor, Barry Fell, has done extensive study on these matters and their relation to activities in pre-Columbus America. Dr. Barry Fell says:
From the Bible we learn that the ships of Tarshish were the largest seagoing vessels known to the Semitic world, and the name was eventually
-3-
applied to any large ocean-going vessel. . . . the ships of Tarshish became proverbial as an expression of sea power. . . .
it is not unlikely that the merchants of Tarshish may have been associated with the trans-Atlantic migration of the Celts who came to America. Indeed James Whittall, with whom I have discussed the decipherment of Tartessian inscriptions here in America, thinks that the American Celts were deliberately brought here by Phoenicians, who wanted mining communities to exploit American natural resources, and with whom they could then trade. If this hypothesis is correct, then Tartessian vessels would surely have played a major role in the Celtic migration to New England.17
There does appear to be a significant basis to support the notion that the merchants of Tarshish are connected with the seafaring Phoenicians of 3,000 years ago. These merchants naturally established trading posts scattered along their various routes. Dr. Stuart McBirnie may well be right when he concludes:
Only in the past half-dozen years has much light been thrown on the historic location of ancient Tarshish. Books and articles in learned archaeological journals written before that time now seem to have rather limited value. In some instances, they are more confusing than helpful, despite the prestige of their authors. The reasons for certainty of identification are found in recent archaeological discoveries which confirm that ancient authorities were right all along in their identification of Tarshish as a Western European colonizing power based in Spain.18
Thus, the merchants of Tarshish appear to refer to the Phoenician maritime and trading community located in Spain during the general time of King Solomon, 3,000 years ago. The merchants of Tarshish, during the last 500 years, developed into the modern mercantile nations of Western Europe like Spain, Holland, and Britain. Hitchcock concludes: “Tarshish, or modern Spain, could be used by Ezekiel to represent all of the western nations which Saudi Arabia will join with in denouncing this invasion. . . . It is highly probable that Ezekiel used the far western colony of Tarshish to represent the end-time empire of the Antichrist.”19 Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 S. Fisch, Ezekiel: Hebrew Text & English translation with an Introduction and Commentary (London: The Soncino Press, 1950), p. 25.
2 Fisch, Ezekiel, p. 25.
3 From a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.
4 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
5 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version. 6 Fisch, Ezekiel, p. 25.
7 Fisch, Ezekiel, p. 25.

-4-
8 C. F. Keil, Ezekiel, Daniel, Commentary on the Old Testament, trans. James Martin (Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), p. 166.
9 Midrash Tanchuma, Qedoshim.
10 Mark Hitchcock, After The Empire: Bible Prophecy in Light of the Fall of the Soviet Union (Wheaton, IL:
Tyndale House Publishers 1994), p. 100.
11 Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, [1982] 2003), p. 111.
12 Randall Price, “Ezekiel” in Tim LaHaye & Ed Hindson, editors, The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2007), p. 191.
13 Hitchcock, After the Empire, pp. 100–101.
14See Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, eds., The New Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew—Lexicon of the Old Testament, (New York: Oxford University Press, rev. ed, 1977) p. 1076-77;Wilhelm Gesenius, Gesenius’ Hebrew & Chaldee Lexicon (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1949), p. 875.
15 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
16R. Laird Harris, Gleason J. Archer, Jr., Bruce K. Waltke, eds., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 2
Vols., (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), II:981.
17Barry Fell, America B. C., (New York: Pocket Books, 1976, [1989]), pp. 93-94. 18W. S. McBirnie, Antichrist (Dallas: Acclaimed Books, 1978), p. 62.
19 Hitchcock, After the Empire, p. 101.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 part 14

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part XIV by Thomas Ice
Thus says the Lord GOD, “It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan, and you will say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will go against those who are at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls, and having no bars or gates, to capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.’”
—Ezekiel 38:10–12
Verses 10 through 13 records the intentions of the invaders. It is no problem for the God of the Bible to know the thoughts and intentions of one’s mind and heart (Heb. 4:12–13) and thus reveal to us what one’s motives are. Even though the Lord “put hooks in their jaws” (38:4) in order to bring the invaders down, the human thought process is revealed in this section.
BAD INTENTIONS
1
“The Lord God” is a term that denotes “the sovereign Lord of the nations,” which is
certainly on display in this passage. “On that day” is a reference to the preceding section when Israel is again settled in the land and the time when the invasion will take place. It is on that day that “thoughts will come into your mind.” The Hebrew word translated “thoughts” is a common noun dabar, which is usually translated “word,” “speech” or “thing”2 depending on the context. In this context, the best rendering is “not words, but things which come into his mind. What things these are, we learn from verses 11 and 12.”3 The Hebrew language does not have a word for “mind,” even though it is used in the New American Standard translation from which I have quoted throughout this series. That is surely the sense of the word, but it is translated “mind”
4
and is the Hebrew labeb that has the basic meaning of “inner man” or “heart.” Thus,
inner activity like thinking was assigned to the “heart.” In this context, the passage speaks of the things that will take place in the inner man, which would be “thoughts.”
Verse 10 concludes with the line, “you will devise an evil plan.” This phrase is made up of three Hebrew words. “You will devise” is the Hebrew verb hasabat, which has the idea of “to weave,” and in relation to the heart or mind it would convey the idea of weaving, scheming or devising a plan.5 The noun is from the same exact root as the verb. Thus, a literal translation would convey the idea of thinking thoughts. But since the third word is an adjective meaning “evil,”6 it is clear that the sense of this passage refers to an evil plan against God’s chosen people, Israel. Therefore, this verse appears to be telling us that even though the general idea to attack Israel is the result of God’s sovereign plan (38:4), the details are conceived and developed within the mind of Rosh and his band will invaders. Because it is characterized as a manmade scheme or plan, Rosh and his fellow attackers are held responsible.
THE PLAN REVEALED
-2-
The evil scheme is disclosed in verse eleven. The evil thoughts are those of Rosh and say, “I will go up against the land of unwalled villages.” Verse 11 describes Rosh’s perception of a regathered Israel at this time in history. There is no reason to think that Rosh’s description is inaccurate. The verb “go up” is a very common Hebrew expression that means “to ascend, go up.” It is commonly used of anyone going to the land of Israel or Jerusalem from outside the country. There is no military overtone in this verb.7 The land of Israel is described in this passage in the following four ways: 1) the land of unwalled villages; 2) those who are at rest; 3) that live securely; and 4) all of them living without walls, and having no bars or gates.
The first characterization of Israel as a land of unwalled villages means that they will not build walls around their villages for protection as in ancient times. Randall Price notes: “only the Old City of Jerusalem has a wall and the modern city since the late 1800’s has existed outside these walls.”8 This probably means that the nation will lack protection from invasion since that was the purpose of building walls in ancient times. Rabbi Fisch says, “Israel will have made no preparations against attack by building walls around his cities.”9
The second phrase tells of a people who are at rest. The Hebrew participle saqat 10
describes a people who are “quiet, undisturbed, and at rest.” This verb is used
frequently in Joshua and Judges to note the quiet or rest that resulted from Israel’s
11 military victories over the Canaanites as they conquered the Land under Joshua. This
term refers to quiet or rest from military conflict. The third term is betah and was used in verse 8. We saw that it refers to Israel living in security, which means confidence.12
The fourth characterization is all of them living without walls, and having no bars or gates. We have seen earlier that living without walls would literally mean that none of their cities or towns will have walls that the ancients had in order to hold off an invading army. This picture is reinforced by the note that they will not have bars or gates, presumably in walls that they do not have. Bars and gates were important points of defense in ancient city walls.
What does this mean in relation to the invasion? First, this passage is the perspective of Gog, who thinks that Israel is not properly defended and thus vulnerable to a surprise attack. Second, Price points out that, “Israel’s security is based on the strength of its military, which is acknowledged as one of the best in the world and which has defended the country against overwhelming odds in numerous past invasions.”13 Third, these conditions were never true at any time in Israel’s past, thus it must refer to a future time as already noted by the phrases “after many days” and “in the latter years” (38:8). Keil says, “This description of Israel’s mode of life also points
14 beyond the times succeeding the Babylonian captivity.”
FOLLOW THE MONEY
Two reasons are revealed by God in verse 12 as Gog’s motive for the future invasion of Israel. These reasons are indicated by a pair of infinitival phrases and are first, “to capture spoil” and second, “to seize plunder.” In both instances the Hebrew text uses the same word twice, a verb as an infinitive followed by the noun in construct to the verb to describe Gog’s motive for the invasion.
The first phrase, “to capture spoil,” comes from the Hebrew root word shalal and means “to congregate, assemble together in order to rob.”15 Thus, since both the verb and the noun are from the same Hebrew root, it would mean something like “to spoil spoil.” However, that is not good English. The Hebrew idem is better rendered “to
-3-
capture spoil,” even though the fact that both words are from the same root is lost in translation.
The second idem, “to size plunder” comes from the Hebrew root baz and means “to plunder, spoil, take booty, rob.”16 Thus, it would have the sense in Hebrew of “spoiling spoil.” This word carries with it the idea of dividing up the spoil or bounty captured in a raid or military conquest. Thus, the clear motive for invasion is to gain material wealth. Charles Feinberg notes, “The enemy, greedy of Israel’s wealth, will embark on a campaign of conquest for gain.”17
The rest of verse 12 reinforces the two opening declarations concerning Gog’s motive for invasion. A third infinitive declares that Gog desires “to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods.” The notion of “turning one’s hand against” pictures one doing a 180 degree turn around from the direction they were headed in order to attack another. This is described in verse 10 as Gog devising an evil plan, but must be seen as the human means to an overall process originally initiated by God Himself (38:2–4). To make matters worse concerning Gog’s evil thoughts is the picture painted by the last part of verse 12, which speaks of Israel returning to her land which had become a waste place in her absence, then turning it into a wealth producing land, that Gog and his attackers now want to invade in order to take this wealth for themselves. Israel has survived over 2,000 years of dispersion among the nations and God brings them back to her land in which they become highly productive and wealthy, only to have Gog and his allies attack them to take away her newly gained wealth. Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Commentary on The Old Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, [1981] 2002), p. 1578.
2 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (London: Oxford, 1907), electronic edition.
3 C. F. Keil, Ezekiel, Daniel, Commentary on the Old Testament, trans. James Martin (Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), p. 164.
4 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic edition.
5 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament,
electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
6 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic edition.
7 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
8 Randall Price, Unpublished Notes on The Prophecies of Ezekiel, (2007), p. 40.
9 S. Fisch, Ezekiel: Hebrew Text & English translation with an Introduction and Commentary (London: The Soncino Press, 1950), p. 255.
10 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic edition.
11 See Joshua 11:23; 14:15; Judges 3:11, 30; 5:31; 8:28.
12 See Thomas Ice, “Ezekiel 38 and 39, Part XIII,” Pre-Trib Perspectives (Feb. 2008), pp. 6–7. 13 Price, Ezekiel, pp. 40–41.
14 Keil, Ezekiel, p. 165.

-4-
15 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
16 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic edition.
17 Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), p. 222.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part 13

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part XIII by Thomas Ice
After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them. And you will go up, you will come like a storm; you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.
—Ezekiel 38:8–9
The final two of seven descriptive phrases in verse 8 will now be examined. These phrases provide a framework for determining when this invasion will take place.
GATHERED FROM THE NATIONS
The sixth descriptive phrase of verse 8 says, “but its people were brought out from the nations.” The disjunctive waw at the beginning of this construction indicates that this phrase stands in contrast and is related to the previous phrase: “whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste.” The subject “it” “is feminine in the Hebrew, can only refer to the land.”1 The sense is as follows: the land of Israel’s people (i.e., the Jews). Such a sense provides a strong polemic that the people God believes belong in the land of Israel are the Jews.
The Hebrew verb yasah is used over a thousand times in the Old Testament and means to “come out” or “go forth.”2 However, in this instance it is in the hophal stem, which gives it a causative passive sense and means that the Jewish people “were brought out” from the nations by someone other than themselves. Who would that “someone” reference? The implication can only refer to God as the One who will cause the Jews to be brought back to the land of Israel. The verb “brought out” in this instance serves to support the overall notion of God’s sovereign control over all nations—Israel and the Gentiles. The Gentiles were noted at the beginning of verse 8 as they are “summoned” to invade Israel. Israel is emphasized in this phrase since it is God who is in reality bringing them back to their Promised Land.
There are only three Hebrew words in this phrase and it literally says, “but it is brought forth out of the peoples.”3 Reading this in context, as should always be done with any passage, the “it” refers to the last half of the preceding phrase “the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste.” Thus, how can the land of Israel be brought back from the peoples or nations? This can only occur if the people are brought back to the land, which explains why most translators add “people” in an effort to clarify the sense of the Hebrew.
LIVING SECURELY
The final construct says, “and they are living securely, all of them.” This phrase is also composed of three Hebrew words and completes this long sentence. The verb jasab is used over a thousand times in the Old Testament and has the general meaning of “sit,
-2-
remain, or dwell.”4 Therefore, it is translated “living” in many English translations since that is the nuance of what one does when they stay for a period of time on a certain piece of land, as opposed to one who is just visiting.
The next Hebrew word is the noun betah that is translated “securely.” There has been a lot of discussion about just what this word means in this context. The Hebrew lexicons tell us that the general meaning is “security” or “confidence” and is similar to our English word “trust” in range of meaning.5 It is often used in construct form with the verb “to dwell,” as is the case here and occurs 160 times in the Hebrew Bible.6 It is used in Leviticus and Deuteronomy as a promise from the Lord that He will cause the nation to dwell securely in the Land if they obey his law (Lev. 25:18, 19; 26:5; Deut. 12:10). This term is used throughout the historical and prophetic Old Testament books as a comment whether or not Israel is dwelling securely in the land. In fact, this phrase is used in Jeremiah 49:31 in a similar invasion context as we see in Ezekiel 38. It says: “’Arise, go up against a nation which is at ease, which lives securely,’ declares the LORD. ‘It has no gates or bars; they dwell alone.’” This is how it is used in Ezekiel 38:8. “However, quite often this general meaning has a negative ring . . . to indicate a false security.”7 The context supports the false security connotation in this instance, because of the impending invasion. On the other hand, since God miraculously delivers the nation, maybe it is not misplaced after all.
Some have tried to equate the notion of “living securely” with the “living peacefully.” It is said that what is described in this passage is a situation where Israel is at peace with all their neighbors and no one is a treat to them. This is not supported by the word betah or the context. “Nowhere in the entire text does it speak of Israel as living in peace. Rather, Israel is merely living in security, which means ‘confidence,’ regardless of whether it is during a state of war or peace,” notes Arnold Fruchtenbaum. “There is nothing in the various descriptions of Israel given in this passage that is not true of Israel today.”8
The final Hebrew word is translated by the English phrase “all of them.” To whom does this refer? It can only refer to all of those living securely in the land of Israel. All of those who have returned to the mountains of Israel are dwelling in security. Charles Feinberg concludes, “Finally, they were viewed as living securely, all of them, without fear of invasion or deportation.”9 This sets the stage for the comments in the next verse where God again addresses God and his invading force.
GOG GOES UP
We see that the action of verse 9 will take place when the conditions of verse 8 are all
in place. “Just when least expected and without the slightest warning, the enemy will
10
swoop down on the returned exiles, as an unheralded storm.” The Hebrew verb “go
up” is very common and becomes idiomatic when used in a military context where one goes up to battle or in reference to the land of Israel, one goes up, regardless of the direction of one’s movement.
A CLOUDY STORM
A couple of similes are used to describe how Gog’s invasion will take place. The
first one “will come like a storm.” One Hebrew lexicon said that the use of “storm” in
11
this passage “really means ‘a storm that breaks out violently and suddenly.’” Thus,
the Gog invasion of Israel will be suddenly and unexpected like a thunderstorm that gathers quickly and then unleashes its fury with an outburst that catches many unprepared.
-3-
The second simile describes the extent and vastness of the size of the invading army. The Hebrew verb kassot is only used eleven times in the Hebrew Bible and has the connotation of not just “to cover,” but to cover some thing for the purpose of concealing it.12 So we see that the Gog invading forces will be so massive in number that their troops will cover the land so completely that one will not be able to see the land upon which they move.
The final phrase of the verse says, “you and all your troops, and many peoples with you.” “You” is a reference to Gog himself. Gog will be coming with all of his troops as described earlier in the chapter. Gog will not be alone, he will with him the many different people groups as mentioned above as their alliance invades God’s land of Israel. Rabbi Fisch notes that the same description is used in Jeremiah 4:13, which says, “Behold, he goes up like clouds, and his chariots like the whirlwind; His horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to us, for we are ruined!” Fisch concludes that the Ezekiel passage is “a figure for the strength and terrifying appearance of Gog’s approaching armies.”13 “The land will be covered and smothered by the vast multitude of Gog’s followers, just as a cloud blankets a land below it,” says Feinberg. “Gog will see to it that he has plenty of allies and enough mercenaries to carry through his satanic scheme.”14 Israel may be caught off guard but not the Lord God of Israel Who never sleeps nor slumbers. He is standing guard and will fight for Israel when this great northern invasion suddenly breaks forth in history. After all, the Lord God of Israel is the one who initiates these yet future events. Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 (italics original) Rabbi Dr. S. Fisch, Ezekiel: Hebrew Text & English Translation With An Introduction and Commentary (London: The Soncino Press, 1950), pp. 254–55.
2 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
3 Fisch, Ezekiel, p. 254.
4 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (London:
Oxford, 1907), electronic edition.
5 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic edition; and Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew
Lexicon, electronic version.
6 From a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.
7 G. Johannes Botterweck, & Helmer Ringgren, editors, Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, vol. II (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1977), p. 89.
8 Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Footsteps of the Messiah: A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events (Tustin, CA: Ariel Press, [1982] 2003), p. 117.
9 Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), p. 222.
10 Feinberg, Ezekiel, p. 222.
11 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
12 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic edition; and Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
13 Fisch, Ezekiel, p. 255.
14 Feinberg, Ezekiel, p. 222.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part12

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part XII
by Thomas Ice
After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
—Ezekiel 38:8
Verse 8 is one of the longest verses in Ezekiel 38—39 and describes when this invasion of the land of Israel will take place. There are a total of seven descriptive phrases used in verse 8 to tell us when this event will occur. We have already examined the first three and have seen that the invasion will take place “after many days,” “in the latter years,” and when the land of Israel “is restored from the sword.” We must keep in mind that this event will unfold when all seven indicators are in place at the same time.
FULFILLED IN THE DAYS OF ESTHER?
Preterist Gary DeMar proposes a bizarre interpretation of when the invasion of Gog would be take place. He contends that the battle described in Ezekiel 38—39 has already been fulfilled through the events of Esther 9 in about 473 B.C. in the days of Queen Esther of Persia.1 DeMar states that the parallels between the battles in Ezekiel 38—39 and Esther are “unmistakable.”2 There are a multitude of problems with such a view, the least of which is not the seven phrases provided in Ezekiel 38:8. It is not the couple of similarities that are determinative when comparing the prophecy with Esther but the multitude of differences that render DeMar’s view as impossible. The only possible motive for advocating such a view appears to be DeMar’s obsessive desire to avoid any future prophecy relating to the nation of Israel. Such an obsession blinds him to the clear meaning of the text.
Here are a few of the more apparent and problematic inconsistencies.
EZEKIEL 38—39 ESTHER 9
The land of Israel is invaded (38:16) by multiple armies. The enemies fall on the mountains of Israel (39:4). Gog, the leader of the invasion, is buried in Israel (39:11).
The Jews bury the dead bodies over a period of seven months to cleanse the land of Israel (39:12).
The invaders are destroyed by a massive earthquake in the land of Israel, infighting, plagues, and fire from heaven (38:19–22). God destroys the enemies supernaturally.
Jews are attacked in cities throughout the Persian empire (127 provinces, 9:30) by apparent gangs of people, not armies, and defend themselves (9:2). The enemies die throughout the Persian empire.
No need to cleanse the land because the dead bodies aren’t in Israel.
Attackers are killed by the Jewish people themselves, assisted by local government leaders (9:3-5).
-2-
Invaders are from as far west as ancient Put (modern Libya) (Ezek. 38:5) and as far north as Magog, the land of the Scythians.
God even sends fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands (39:6).
The Persian empire did not include these areas. It only extended as far west as Cush (modern Sudan) (Esther 8:9) and a far north as the bottom part of the Black and Caspian Seas.
There is nothing even close to this in Esther 9.
One important question we might ask at this point is the following: If Ezekiel 38—39 was literally fulfilled in the events of Esther 9, why did this escape the notice of everyone in Esther’s day? Why isn’t there any mention in Esther of this great fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy? The answer is quite clear. Esther 9 did not fulfill Ezekiel 38—39. In fact, an important Jewish holiday developed out of the Esther event called Purim (9:20-32). This is a joyous annual holiday to celebrate God’s deliverance from the hand of Israel’s enemies. Purim’s celebration includes the public reading of the book of Esther, but no tradition has developed or even been heard of in which the Jews read Ezekiel 38—39 in connection with this observance. If Ezekiel 38—39 had been a fulfillment of Esther, then no doubt a tradition of reading that passage would have arisen in conjunction with the celebration.
Further, why aren’t there any Jewish scholars down through history that have recognized this fulfillment? The consensus of Jewish commentators has always seen the Gog prophecy as an end of days event. In fact, this battle is the focus of their view of end-times prophecy that will be fulfilled right before the coming of Messiah. Contemporary Rabbi Rafael Eisenberg summarizes Jewish tradition on the battle of Ezekiel’s Gog as follows:
Our prophets and sages have foretold that prior to the arrival of the Messiah, the Wicked Empire, Rome (which as we have already shown, is modern Russia), will regain its former greatness. In those pre-Messianic days, Russia will expand over and conquer the entire globe, and her ruler, “who will be as wicked as Haman,” will arise and lead the nations of the world to Jerusalem in order to exterminate Yisrael. . . . At that time, the overt miracles which will bring about the great retribution against Yisrael’s enemies and the final destruction of the Wicked Empire, will convince the world that God, alone, is the Judge and Ruler of the Universe.3
Another simple reason we can know that this invasion is still future is because nothing even remotely similar to the events in Ezekiel 38—39 have ever occurred in the past. Just think about it! When has Israel ever been invaded by all these nations listed in Ezekiel 38:1–6? Or when did God ever destroy an invading army like this with fire and brimstone from heaven, plagues, earthquakes, and infighting among the invaders (Ezek. 38:19–22)?
The answer? Never. That’s because Ezekiel is describing an invasion that is still future even in our day. Now we will investigate the final four indicators of verse 8.
GATHERED FROM MANY NATIONS
-3-
The fourth phrase says, “whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel.” The phrase “whose inhabitants have been gathered” is a rendering of the single Hebrew verb for “gather.” This verb is the common word for collecting something like agricultural products at harvest time. “Gather” is used in this passage as a pual4 participle, which implies by ellipsis in this context that the ones gathered are the “inhabitants” of the mountains of Israel. The implication of the pual participle in this context is that God is the One who has gathered the inhabitants back to the land of Israel. From where has He gathered them?
God has gathered them from many nations. The word translated “nations” is simply the common Hebrew word am that is used almost 3,000 times5 in the Old Testament and simply means “people, peoples, nation, or nations.”6 This gathering is not from just a few nations, but said to be from “many” nations. “This cannot refer to the Babylonian captivity but to worldwide dispersion,”7 notes Charles Feinberg. C. F. Keil agrees and says, “gathered out of many peoples, points also beyond the Babylonian captivity to the dispersion of Israel in all the world, which did not take place till the second destruction of Jerusalem.”8 These returnees will come “to the mountains of Israel.” Jerusalem is a city set within the mountains of Israel. Thus, since 1967 the modern state of Israel has been in control of the old city known as Jerusalem.
A CONTINUAL WASTE
The fifth phrase says, “which had been a continual waste.” What had been a continual waste? This phrase speaks of the land of Israel which had been a continual waste.” The Hebrew noun for “waste” is used 50 times in the Old Testament,9 primarily in the prophets to speak of the ruins of Jerusalem, Israel and sometimes Egypt as a result of God’s judgment. The adverbial participle “continual” modifies the noun “waste,” and speaks “of going on without interruption, continuously.”10 Rabbi Fisch says that “continual” “here signifies ‘for a long time,’ meaning the period of the exile.”11 But which exile? Does it refer to the 70 year Babylonian exile or the almost 2,000 year global exile that much of modern Jewry is still experiencing? Feinberg says, “This had in view a period of time longer than that of the seventy year in Babylon.”12 Keil also notes that “continual” in this text “denotes a much long devastation of the land than the Chaldean devastation was.”13
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 Gary DeMar, End Times Fiction: A Biblical Consideration of The Left Behind Theology (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), pp. 12-15.
2 DeMar, End Times Fiction, p. 13.
3 Rafael Eisenberg, A Matter of Return: A Penetrating Analysis of Yisrael’s Afflictions and Their Alternatives (Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 1980), p. 155, as cited in Randall Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy: A Definitive Look at Its Past, Present, and Future (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2005), p. 459. For an overview of Jewish beliefs about the Gog’s invasion of Israel in Ezekiel 38—39 see Price, The Temple and Bible Prophecy, pp. 458–61.
4 The pual verb stem in Hebrew denotes an intensive passive form of a verb.
5 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.

-4-
6 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
7 Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), p. 222.
8 C. F. Keil, Ezekiel, Daniel, Commentary on the Old Testament, trans. James Martin (Reprint; Grand Rapids:
Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), p. 164.
9 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.4.2.
10 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (London: Oxford, 1907), electronic edition.
11 Rabbi Dr. S. Fisch, Ezekiel: Hebrew Text & English Translation With An Introduction and Commentary (London: The Soncino Press, 1950), p. 254.
12 Feinberg, Ezekiel, p. 222. 13 Keil, Ezekiel, p. 164.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part 11

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part XI
by Thomas Ice
Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are living securely, all of them.
—Ezekiel 38:7–8
The first six verses of Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapter 38 outlined “who” would be involved in an invasion of Israel, while verses 7–9 tell us “where” and “when” these events will take place. This new section (verses 7–9) begins with a taunt from God for Gog and his coalition to make sure that they are really ready for their invasion of Israel.
GOD TAUNTS GOG
Verse 7 begins with the same verb used two times, back-to-back. The reason why the verb “prepare” is arranged this way is to intensify their meaning. In other words, God is telling Gog and his allies that they better make sure that they are prepared to the utmost for their attack on Israel, because in essence it is an attack on God, which is something that humans can never really prepare for. “With consummate and telling irony,” notes Charles Feinberg, “Ezekiel urged Gog to be fully prepared for the encounter, and to see to it that all was in readiness as far as his confederates were concerned.”1
The final phrase of verse 7 says, “be a guard for them.” The Hebrew noun for “guard” means “watch” or “lookout” and in this context has the connotation of “to maintain vigilance, post a strong watch” and “to stand at the ready.”2 The Lord is further taunting Gog as He challenges him, as the leader of the coalition, to make sure that he guards or watches over this assembled company so that he may protect them against any evil that could befall them. This is a sarcastic warning to Gog and his group that even though their gathering is for the purpose of wiping out Israel, it is their company that will be destroyed.
AFTER MANY DAYS
The sovereignty of God continues to be a major theme of this prophecy as Ezekiel begins verse 8 by saying, “After many days you will be summoned.” This entire operation is ultimately God’s idea and He will “put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out,” (verse 4) against Israel. Now Ezekiel says that God is summoning Gog and his coalition to attack Israel to accomplish the Lord’s purpose. “The mind of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps” (Prov. 16:9).
The exact Hebrew phrase “after many days” is found only one other place in the Old Testament. “Now it came about after many days, when the LORD had given rest to Israel from all their enemies on every side, and Joshua was old, advanced in years,” (Josh. 23:1). Since context governs the length of time intended for a temporal phrase, it is clear in Joshua that many days referred to a few years because “many days” all took
-2-
place within the lifetime of Joshua. A similar Hebrew phrase is used four times in the Old Testament (1 Kings 18:1; Eccl. 11:1; Isa. 24:22; Jer. 13:6). Three of these four occurrences are similar to the Joshua 23:1 uses, however, Isaiah 24:22 is used in an eschatological context. “So it will happen in that day, that the LORD will punish the host of heaven, on high, and the kings of the earth, on earth. And they will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison; and after many days they will be punished. Then the moon will be abashed and the sun ashamed, for the LORD of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and His glory will be before His elders” (Isa. 24:21–23). C. F. Keil, writing in the nineteenth century says, “The first clause reminds so strongly of Isa. xxiv. 22, that the play upon this passage cannot possibly be mistaken; so that Ezekiel uses the words in the same sense as Isaiah.”3 This context is clearly referencing something that is future and has not yet occurred. “After many days” in verse 22 is likely a reference to the thousand-year time period revealed in Revelation 20:2–7.
The length of time indicated by the phrase “after many days” is determined by factors in the context, which are clearly longer than the lifespan of a human. We will soon see as I examine the other time statements in this context that “the text is emphatic that the invasion and its consequences have been foreseen long before.”4 Keil says, “after many days, i.e., after a long time . . . signifies merely the lapse of a lengthened period; . . . is the end of day, the last time, not the future generally, but the final future, the Messianic time of the completing of the kingdom of God.”5 Feinberg declares, “the notion of time indicated that the attack of the enemy would not take place for a long time. The events here predicted were not to be expected in the lifetime of Ezekiel or his contemporaries.”6
IN THE LATTER YEARS
“After many days” is not the only time indicator of when this invasion will take place. “After many days” is immediately followed in the Hebrew text by the phrase “in the latter years.” These two phrases must refer to the same time period. Like the previous phrase, since it is not qualified by something like the latter years of a person’s life, etc., it is an absolute phrase referring to the span of history. An almost identical phrase is used in verse 16 and says, “It will come about in the last day that I shall bring you against My land.” The term “latter years” is only used in this passage in the entire Old Testament, however, since “last days” is used in verse 16 describing the same event, it is safe to conclude that the more frequently used phrase “last days” is synonymous with “latter years.” Such a conclusion is supported by the fact that “after many days” and “in the latter years” are used in tandem in verse 8. Feinberg says, “the time element was distinctly stated as ‘in the latter years,’ which is equivalent to ‘the latter days’ of verse 16.”7
When we search the Old Testament for the use of terminology similar to “the latter years” of Ezekiel 38:8 we find three other phrases that are parallel.8 I have selected only the uses of these three phrases that have a future, prophetic meaning. The first term is “latter days” (Deut. 4:30; 31:29; Jer. 30:24; 48:47; Dan. 2:28; 10:14), the second is “last days” (Isa. 2:2; Jer. 23:20; 49:39; Eze. 38:16; Hosea 3:5; Mic. 4:1), while the final phrase is “the time of the end” (Dan. 8:17, 19; 11:27, 35, 40; 12:4, 9, 13). The fact that Ezekiel uses three phrases (“after many days,” “in the latter years,” and “in the last days) provides strong support that this battle will take place during a yet future time. Randall Price tells us, “while the expression "latter days" may refer to the Tribulation period, it is not a technical term for such, since its contextual settings and varieties of usages allow it to
-3-
be employed in different ways.”9 Thus, references to the latter days phrases include the 70th week of Daniel or the tribulation period, the millennial kingdom and could also include some events that might take place shortly before the tribulation, like the Gog and Magog invasion. Mark Hitchcock notes, “These phrases are used a total of fifteen times in the Old Testament. They are always used to refer to either the Tribulation period (Deut. 4:30; 31:29) or the Millennium (Isa. 2:2; Mic. 4:1). While these phrases do not specifically identify the time of the invasion, they do clearly indicate that the general time period is future even from our day.”10
RESTORED FROM THE SWORD
The next phrase tells us, “you will come into the land that is restored from the sword.” The land into which Gog will lead his coalition of invaders is without a doubt the land of Israel. Interestingly the land of Israel is described as a land that has been restored from the sword. The Hebrew word for “restored” is the common word meaning “to turn around” or “repent.”11 Therefore, the sense in which “repent” is used here is of a people who once were in the land of Israel, then they were removed from the land, and now they have been brought back to the land from which they originated. Thus, they were turned or returned to the land of Israel. The Jews are said to be the only group of people in the known history of the world who were removed from their homeland, dispersed among most all of the nations, and have returned to their original homeland. This explains why my English translation (NASB) renders this Hebrew word with a meaning of restore. In other words, the Jews are returning to their land when this event happened. Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 Charles Lee Feinberg, The Prophecy of Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), p. 221.
2 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
3 C. F. Keil, Ezekiel, Daniel, Commentary on the Old Testament, trans. James Martin (Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), p. 162.
4 Jon Mark Ruthven, The Prophecy That Is Shaping History: New Research on Ezekiel’s Vision of the End (Fairfax, VA: Xulon Press, 2003), p. 123.
5 Keil, Ezekiel, p. 163.
6 Feinberg, Ezekiel, p. 221.
7 Feinberg, Ezekiel, p. 221.
8 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3.
9 Randall Price, Unpublished Notes on The Prophecies of Ezekiel, (2007), p. 40.
10 Mark Hitchcock, After The Empire: Bible Prophecy in Light of the Fall of the Soviet Union (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1994), p. 126.
11 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.

EZEKIEL 38 an 39 Part 10

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part X
by Thomas Ice
Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.
—Ezekiel 38:6
There is one final entity listed as among those going down to attack Israel with Gog. Beth-togarmah is the last nation listed.
BETH-TOGARMAH
Beth-togarmah is the English transliteration of two words from the Hebrew text. Beth is the common Hebrew word for “house” or “place of” that is used over two thousand times in the Hebrew Bible.1 Togarmah is a noun used four times in the Hebrew Bible.2 Twice it is uses in a genealogy in which Togarmah is said to be a son of Gomer (Gen. 10:3; 1 Chron. 1:6). The final two occurrences are in Ezekiel (27:14; 38:6). The prefix “Beth” occurs only in the two uses in Ezekiel, thus rendering the compound as “house of Togarmah.” Ezekiel 27:14 refers to their trade and says: “Those from Beth- togarmah gave horses and war horses and mules for your wares.” In fact, “Herodotus mentions [Togarmah] as famed for its horses and mules.”3
“Most Bible scholars and scholars of ancient history relate biblical Togarmah to the ancient Hittite city of Tegarma,” notes Mark Hitchcock, “an important city in eastern Cappadocia (modern Turkey).”4 Jon Mark Ruthven agrees: “elements of the ‘house of Togarmah” may have been part of the great 2nd and 1st millennium BCE Japhetic movements far to the north, and assimilated into modern Russia and Turkey.”5 Hitchcock traces the migration of Togarmah as follows:
Togarmah was both the name of a district and a city in the border of Tubal in eastern Cappadocia. Togarmah was known variously in history as Tegarma, Tagarma, and Takarama. The ancient Assyrians referred to this city as Til- garimmu. One of the maps of the Cambridge Ancient History locates Til- garimmu on the northeast border of Tubal in the northeast part of modern Turkey. Gesenius, the Hebrew scholar, identified Togarmah as a northern nation abounding in horses and mules, located in ancient Armenia. The ancient area of Armenia is located in the modern nation of Turkey.6
“But while scholars have differed slightly on the exact location of ancient Togarmah,” concludes Hitchcock, “it is always associated with a city or district within the boundaries of the modern nation of Turkey.”7
It is interesting to note that none of the nations that will go down into Israel with Russia are Arab nations. However, all of the Russian allies are Islamic nations. Iran is not an Arab nation, but instead they are Persian.
THE REMOTE PARTS OF THE NORTH
In this passage Beth-togarmah is said to come from “the remote parts of the north.” This Hebrew phrase is composed of two words. The word for north means what it says, while the word for “remote parts” has the sense of the extreme, “far part,” or most distant part of whatever is being referred to in the context.8 When these two words are
-2-
combined in a phrase, it is used five times in the Hebrew Bible (Psa. 48:3; Isa. 14:13; Ezek. 38:6, 15; 39:2). The Isaiah use is found in one of the five “I wills” uttered by Satan in his revolt against God. “But you said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north.” The Psalmist says of Jerusalem: “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great King.” Mount Zion was on the Northern edge of ancient Jerusalem. The other three uses are found in Ezekiel 38 and 39. The other two references in Ezekiel 38 and 39 refer to Gog and say: “And you 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” (Ezek. 38:15). “And I shall turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel” (Ezek. 39:2). Therefore, Beth-togarmah is said to come from the remote parts of the north as will Gog who is Russia.
“Doesn’t this statement mean that Togarmah must come from the former Soviet Union since Russia is the farthest geographical point north of Israel,” asks Hitchcock? He says in his answer: “The answer to this question is no. Forcing a geographical location upon Togarmah that is totally inconsistent with the clear witness of ancient history would be grossly twisting the evidence. Moreover, modern Turkey fits the description given because it is clearly to the far north parts of the Promised Land.”9
WITH ALL ITS TROOPS
The last part of verse 6 says that Beth-togarmah will come from the north parts “with all its troops—many peoples with you.” The Hebrew word for “troops” is only used six times in the Hebrew Old Testament and all of them are found in Ezekiel (12:14; 17:21; 38:6, 9, 22; 39:4).10 All but two uses appear in Ezekiel 38 and 39. Some scholars say that this word is related to a “wing” or “parameter,”11 but it clearly is a reference military troops in these contexts. Some suggest that it may connote the troops on the flank or wings of a military unit and would be a Hebrew idem for all of one’s forces. The point would be that if one brings his troops on the wing,12 then those would include all the forces one could muster. The translation of troops (i.e., military) is the clear meaning of this word.
The final phrase in verse six is clear that the sum total of the house of Togarmah will include many peoples with him. This phrase is found two other times in the Hebrew Bible, both of them in Ezekiel 38 (verses 9 and 15). Verse 9 refers to the entire coalition that will attack Israel, while verse 15 the many peoples refers to the coalition members that are led by Gog. The use of “many peoples with you” in verses 9 and 15 differ slightly from verse 6 since their constructions are prefaced with the use of the “and” conjunction. The use of the phrase in verse 6 does not have a conjunction, which means that the phrase “many peoples with you” is in apposition to the preceding phrase “with all its troops.” Thus, the text is saying that the “many peoples with you” is descriptive of the troops that Beth-togarmah will bring with them in their attack on Israel.
TALKING TURKEY
Having now completed a study of the list of nations that will join the Russian led attack against Israel, we see that four of those names refer to descendants that make up the modern nation of Turkey. Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah all strongly point to modern Turkey as a member of the diabolical coalition. But, does Turkey’s involvement seem possible given the alignment of the nations today?
-3-
Currently Turkey is not aliened with Russia and Iran since it technically became a secular state with a Muslim heritage after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. Turkey has long been a member of NATO and has desired to identify with Europe rather than Asia, most likely for economic reasons. Turkey is a nation in which a small part of it is in Europe while most of it is in Asia. Turkey has applied for membership in the European Union, however, since membership in the EU would mean that anyone within the Union are able to move freely to any other part of it. The rest of the EU is concerned that if they admit Turkey then it will be a conduit through which Muslims would be able to flood into the rest of Europe. Even though they are still going through the motions of application, it is certain that the EU will eventually reject Turkey’s admittance. Once they are rejected, Turkey will seek alignment with Russia and their Islamic brethren.
The last few years has seen an Islamic majority emerge in Turkey’s Parliament and an Islamic Prime Minister is now in place. The breakup of the former Soviet Union included the independence of five Islamic republics: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizia, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. Hitchcock notes that “Turkey has clearly been drawn to these former Soviet republics for economic reasons, Turkey also shares strong linguistic and ethnic ties with these nations. All of these nations speak Turkic languages with the exception of Tajikistan, where the language is similar to Iranian Farsi.”13 Turkey sees itself as the economic developer of the vast natural resources like gold, silver, uranium, oil, coal, and natural gas that are found in these five new states. Once Turkey is spurned by Europe, she will have motive enough to enter into league with Russia and their Islamic brethren which will set the stage for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 2,047 times according to a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3.
2 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3.
3 S. Fisch, Ezekiel: Hebrew Text & English translation with an Introduction and Commentary (London: The Soncino Press, 1950), p. 182.
4 Mark Hitchcock, After The Empire: Bible Prophecy in Light of the Fall of the Soviet Union (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1994), p. 63.
5 Jon Mark Ruthven, The Prophecy That Is Shaping History: New Research on Ezekiel’s Vision of the End (Fairfax, VA: Xulon Press, 2003), p. 102.
6 Hitchcock, After The Empire, pp. 63–64.
7 Hitchcock, After The Empire, p. 64.
8 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament, electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
9 Hitchcock, After The Empire, pp. 64–65.
10 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3.
11 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon.
12 C. F. Keil, Ezekiel, Daniel, Commentary on the Old Testament, trans. James Martin (Reprint; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), p. 161.
13 Hitchcock, After The Empire, p. 66.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part 9

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part IX
by Thomas Ice
Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.
—Ezekiel 38:5–6
Verses five and six complete the allies that will attack Israel with their leader Gog. The identity of the first ally appears to be very clear since its ancient name is widely known down through history, even in our own day. Persia refers to the Persian people who make up a majority of the modern country of Iran. There is consensus among futurists that historic Persia clearly refers to modern Iran. “The name Persia, which was written all over the pages of ancient history, was changed to Iran in foreign usage in March 1935,”1 notes Mark Hitchcock.
IRAN AND RUSSIA
Anyone following the news headlines the last few years certainly are aware of the warm relationship between Russia and Iran. Russia has been a supplier of many of the elements Iran wants in order to develop a nuclear bomb. It is clear that Iran aspires to control the entire Middle East so that they can spread their view of Islam in order to reunite the Muslim world under a single authority, an Iranian rule. We have all heard that their President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said on multiple occasions that he aspires to wipe Israel off of the map. For the last fifteen years, every Israeli administration has repeatedly said that Iran is Israel’s greatest threat. Today many wonder if Israel will be moved to act preemptively, perhaps with the help of the United States, to take out Iran’s nuclear capability before it is fully realized. We will certainly know the answer before President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009, since it is unlikely that a new President would be involved in such an adventure.
Iran very likely could be the key ally in the Russian led invasion of Israel in the last days. Perhaps Iran will take advantage of the new bellicose posture of Russian President Valdimir Putin is reinstalling toward the West, especially the United States. No matter how these future events unfold there is no doubt that Russian and Iran are developing the type of relationship that could easily lead to just such an invasion of Israel as the prophet Ezekiel has foretold.2
ETHIOPIA
The New American Standard translation which I use translates the Hebrew word Cush as Ethiopia. Many English translations have transliterated it from the Hebrew into the English word “Cush.” Cush occurs 29 times in the Hebrew Bible.3 Genesis 2:13 refers to an antediluvian land named Cush. Three times in the table of nations it refers to Cush who is a descendant of Ham. Most of the other uses occur in Isaiah and Ezekiel (13 times) and refer to the same region mentioned in Ezekiel 28:5. One Hebrew lexicon says that Cush refers to “the lands of the Nile in southern Egypt, meaning Nubia and Northern Sudan, the country bordering the southern Red Sea.”4 Another tells us that Cush “refers to the region immediately south and east of Egypt, including modern Nubia, the Sudan, and the Ethiopia of classical writers.”5 Thus, the Bible clearly locates Cush just south of Egypt in what is the modern nation of Sudan.
-2-
Today Sudan is one of the most militant Islamic nations in the world. Hitchcock notes, “that the modern nation of Sudan is one of only three Muslim nation in the world with a militant Islamic government.”6 I was surprised to also learn that “Sudan is the largest nation in territory on the African continent and has a population of 26 million.” It is interesting to realize that Iran and Sudan have become the closest of allies during the last twenty years. They have entered into trade agreements, militaries alliances, and Iran also operates terrorist training bases in Sudan.7 Sudan also is the place that protected Osama bin Laden from 1991 to 1996 until he went to Afghanistan.8 Based upon current alignment of nations that we see today it is not at all surprising to think that Sudan will be a Southern ally that descends upon the land of Israel in the last days with Russia, Iran and others.
PUT
Put is another transliteration from the Hebrew and occurs only seven times in the Old Testament.9 Twice it is used in a genealogy that says that Put is a descendant of Ham (Gen. 10:6; 1 Chron. 1:8). The other five times it is used in the Prophets to refer to Put as a nation, usually in a military context as we have in Ezekiel 38. A Hebrew lexicon says, “probably not the same as Put but Libya.”10 “From the ancient Babylon Chronicle it appears that Putu was the ‘distant’ land to the west of Egypt, which would be modern day Libya.”11 “In the invasion,” notes Randall Price, “these countries will be joined by other nations (38:5) that represent the other three directions of the compass: Persia (modern Iran) from the east, Cush (northern Sudan) from the south, and Put (modern Libya) from the west.”12
Just like Iran and Sudan, Libya is a radical Islamic nation headed by strong man Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gadhafi. Like Iran, Gadhafi has tried to develop nuclear weapons in the past, but claims to have given up all attempts to produce them. “Ever since the rise of Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gadhafi to power in 1969,” notes Hitchcock. “The nation of Libya has been a constant source of trouble and terrorism for both the West and Israel. Libya would certainly jump at the chance to join forces with the Sudan, Iran, Turkey, and the former Muslim republics of the Soviet Union to crush the Jewish state.”13
DRESSED TO KILL
Verse five ends with the statement: “all of them with shield and helmet.” We saw in verse four that the Hebrew word for “shield” (sinna) refers to a “large shield covering the whole body.”14 In verse four it said, “a great company with buckler and shield,” however, in verse five it says, “with shield and helmet.” The Hebrew word for helmet is (koba’) and refers to a “helmet,” usually made of bronze.15 All six uses16 of this word in the Hebrew Old Testament refer to a metal helmet worn by a solider for military conflict. Thus, this passage emphasizes the fact that “all” of the invaders are well outfitted in military attire for their invasion into the land of Israel. Price says that this passage paints a picture where, “Israel will be defenseless and ‘surrounded’ on all sides by its enemies.”17
GOMER
The transliterated name Gomer occurs five times in the Hebrew Old Testament,18 not counting those that refer to the wayward wife of Hosea. Every use except the one in Ezekiel occurs in a genealogy (Gen. 10:2, 3; 1 Chron. 1:5, 6). Gomer is said to be a son of Japheth in the table of nations (Gen. 10:2; 1 Chron. 1:5). The issue is where do the
-3-
modern day descendants of Gomer now reside? “His descendants are usually identified as the Cimmerians who moved onto the stage of history from the area north of the Black Sea in the eighth century B.C.”19 Jon Ruthven has a map in which he places Gomer and his descendants as having settled in the area north of the Black and Caspian Seas.20 However, the descendants of Gomer were pushed out of that area and into “the area of Cappadocia, which today is in central and north-central Turkey. Josephus identified the people of Galatia with Gomer. He says that the people the Greeks called the Galatians were the Gomerites.”21 Today these “Gomerites” live in the west-central part of Turkey. Therefore, the descendants of Gomer along with some other peoples we have yet to consider indicate that modern Turkey will be part of those who invade the land of Israel.
The passage says, “Gomer with all its troops.” It is already clear from prior statements in this prophecy that many nations will be coming down on Israel and the descendants of Gomer will be with them. Maranatha!
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 Mark Hitchcock, After The Empire: Bible Prophecy in Light of the Fall of the Soviet Union (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 1994), p. 72.
2 For a couple of more recent books that focus on the current events of the Gog and Magog invasion see Mark Hitchcock, Iran The Coming Crisis: Radical Islam, Oil, And The Nuclear Threat (Sisters, OR: Multnomah, 2006), and Joel C. Rosenberg, Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings in The Middle East Will Change Your Future (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006).
3 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3.
4 Ludwig Koehler and Walter Baumgartner, The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament,
electronic version (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill, 2000).
5 R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer, Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, editors, Theological Wordbook of the Old
Testament, 2 vols. (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), vol. 1, p. 435.
6 Hitchcock, After The Empire, p. 79. At least that was the case in 1994.
7 Hitchcock, After The Empire, pp. 79–83.
8 Hitchcock, Iran The Coming Crisis, p. 185.
9 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3.
10 Koehler and Baumgartner, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic version.
11 Hitchcock, Iran The Coming Crisis, p. 185.
12 Randall Price, “Ezekiel,” in Tim LaHaye & Ed Hindson, editors, The Popular Bible Prophecy Commentary: Understanding the Meaning of Every Prophetic Passage (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2006), p. 191.
13 Hitchcock, After The Empire, pp. 85–86.
14 Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and C. A. Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (London: Oxford, 1907), electronic edition.
15 Brown, Driver, and Briggs, Hebrew Lexicon, electronic edition.
16 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3. 17 Price, “Ezekiel,” p. 191.
18 Based upon a search conducted by the computer program Accordance, version 7.3. 19 Harris, Archer, and Waltke, Theological Wordbook, vol. 1, p. 168.
20 Jon Mark Ruthven, The Prophecy That Is Shaping History: New Research on Ezekiel’s Vision of the End (Fairfax, VA: Xulon Press, 2003), p. 81.

-4-
21 Hitchcock, After The Empire, p. 62.

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39 Part 8

EZEKIEL 38 AND 39
Part VIII
by Thomas Ice
“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 splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords;’”
—Ezekiel 38:4
As we continue to look at the description of the weapons and mode of transportation that will be used by Gog and his invading force, we must let the text tell us what it means. “A vivid picture is given of the actual attack of the Russian forces,” declares William Hull. “Great tanks, mechanized troop carriers, huge guns and all the latest in war equipment move as a mighty wave across the land,” he says. Hull concludes: “Ezekiel describes this as: All of them riding upon horses. Here again Bible students have been lead astray by placing the emphasis upon what they are to be mounted on, rather than the fact that they are to be mounted.”1 Randall Price notes that some, “see these terms as ‘prophetically anachronistic’ (or phenomenological), since Ezekiel had no frame of reference to describe the weapons of this future age.”2 This is a view I once held, as I will note later.
Gary DeMar criticizes such an approach when he says, “If someone like Tim LaHaye is true to his claim of literalism, then the Russian attack he and Jerry Jenkins describe in Left Behind should be a literal representation of the actual battle events as they are depicted in Ezekiel 38 and 39.”3 DeMar continues, “How do Hitchcock, Ice, and LaHaye know that this is what the Holy Spirit really means when the text is clear enough without any modern-day embellishment?”4 This may surprise some, but I think DeMar is basically right in his criticism of us on this point, even though he is demonstrably wrong about so many other items he addresses in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39.
LITERAL INTERPRETATION
Bernard Ramm, who would not be sympathetic to our view of Bible prophecy quotes Webster and defines literal as “the natural or usual construction and implication of a writing or expression; following the ordinary and apparent sense of words; not allegorical or metaphorical.”5 Charles Ryrie formulates an extensive definition of literal interpretation when he states the following:
This is sometimes called the principle of grammatical-historical interpretation since the meaning of each word is determined by grammatical and historical considerations. The principle might also be called normal interpretation since the literal meaning of words is the normal approach to their understanding in all languages. It might also be designated plain interpretation so that no one receives the mistaken notion that the literal principle rules out figures of speech. Symbols, figures of speech and types are all interpreted plainly in this method and they are in no way contrary to literal interpretation. After all, the very existence of any meaning for a figure of speech depends on the reality of the literal meaning of the terms involved. Figures often make the meaning plainer, but it is the literal, normal, or plain meaning that they convey to the reader.6
-2-
“The literalist (so called) is not one who denies that figurative language, that symbols, are used in prophecy,” notes commentator E. R. Craven. “Nor does he deny that great spiritual truths are set forth therein; his position is, simply, that the prophecies are to be normally interpreted (i.e., according to received laws of language) as any other utterances are interpreted—that which is manifestly figurative being so regarded.”7
David Cooper provides a classic statement of the literal hermeneutical principle in his “Golden Rule of Interpretation,” which says: “When the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense; therefore, take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of the immediate context, studied in the light of related passages and axiomatic and fundamental truths, indicate clearly otherwise.”8 In other words, there must be a literary basis in the text of any statement that a word or phrase should not be taken literally, unless one can explain that a figure of speech or metaphor makes more sense in a given context than the plain, literal meaning. In other words, Cooper’s dictum says that a word or phrase should be taken literally unless there is a reason in the text of the passage to take it as a figure of speech or a metaphor. Matthew Waymeyer provides a helpful rule of thumb when he says: “In order to be considered symbolic, the language in question must possess (a) some degree of absurdity when taken literally and (b) some degree of clarity when taken symbolically.”9
THE LITERAL MEANING
Since there does not appear to be demonstrable figures of speech or symbols in this passage for “army,” “horses and horsemen,” “buckler and shield,” and “swords,” then consistency requires that this battle will be fought with these items. These weapons of war cannot be similes for modern weapons since there are not textual indicators such as “like” or “as.” There does not appear to be any figures of speech that sometimes occur without using a “like” or “as.” For example, Jesus said, “I am the door,” “I am the bread of life,” etc. While these are not figures of speech in and of themselves, in their contexts it is clear that Jesus was speaking metaphorically. However, there is nothing in the context of Ezekiel 38 which would indicate that Ezekiel is seeing modern weapons yet using known terminology of his day.
As I have thought more critically about literal interpretation and this passage while doing this series, I have come to disagree with a statement made by Mark Hitchcock and I where we said: “Ezekiel spoke in language that the people of his day could understand. If he had spoken of MIG-29s, laser-fired missiles, tanks, and assault rifles, this text would have been nonsensical to everyone until the twentieth century.”10 Instead, I have come to agree with DeMar who says: “A lot has to be read into the Bible in order to make Ezekiel 38 and 39 fit modern-day military realities that include jet planes, ‘missiles,’ and ‘atomic and explosive’ weaponry.”11 Even though I think DeMar is right on this one point, it does not mean that his conclusion is correct. He says, “The weapons are ancient because the battle is ancient.”12 True, these were weapons that were used in ancient times, but some are still used today. Also, DeMar either ignores many textual facts or does not take literally timing statements like “after many days” (Ezek. 38:8), but especially “latter years” (Ezek. 38:8) and “last days” (Ezek. 38:16), which I will deal with later.
I think futurist Paul Lee Tan has framed the issue well as follows:
-3-
There are some prophecies which, in describing eschatological warfares, predict that the weapons to be used then will be bows and arrows, chariots and horses, spears and shields. Are these to be taken literally? If we adhere strictly to the proper view of prophetic form, we must consider these weapons the same as that which will be used in eschatology. They must not be equated with vastly different modern war devices, as the H-bomb or the supersonic jet fighter. Interestingly, these prophesied military instruments though centuries old have not been made obsolete. The horse, for instance, is still used in warfare on certain kinds of terrain.13
Without intending to be dogmatic on this issue, the view I think that makes the most sense is one I heard pastor Charles Clough14 teach on an audiotape in the late 60s or early 70s. Clough was at the time a trained and experienced meteorologist who thought the events of the tribulation could likely degrade modern weapons systems so as to render them unusable. Later, Clough would go on to work for about 25 years as a meteorologist for the U. S. Army where he studied the impact of weather on weapons systems. He still holds the same view today. Price explains as follows:
However, there is no reason why these basic weapons might not be used in a future battle, if the conditions or the stage of battle prevent the use of the more advanced technology. Wars fought in certain rugged Middle Eastern terrains such as the mountainous region of Afghanistan (cf. 39:2-4) have required modern armies to use horses, and bows and arrows continue to be employed in various combat arenas. In addition, if the battle takes place in the Tribulation period, the conditions predicted for that time, such as seismic activity, meteor showers, increased solar effects, and other cosmic and terrestrial catastrophes (Matthew 24:7; Revelation 6:12-14; 8:7-12; 16:8-9, 18- 21) would so disrupt the environment that present technology depending on satellite and computer-guided systems as well as meteorological stability would utterly fail. Under such conditions most of our modern weapons would be useless and more basic weapons would have to be substituted. At any rate, there is no reason to relegate the text to the past on the basis of supposedly anachronistic language.15
(To Be Continued . . .)
ENDNOTES
1 William L. Hull, Israel: Key to Prophecy (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1957), pp. 35–36. (emphasis original) 2 Randall Price, Unpublished Notes on The Prophecies of Ezekiel, (2007), p. 42.
3 Gary DeMar, “Ezekiel’s Magog Invasion: Future or Fulfilled?” Biblical Worldview Magazine, vol. 22 (December, 2006), p. 4.
4 DeMar, “Ezekiel’s Magog Invasion,” p. 6. (italics original)
5 Bernard Ramm, Protestant Biblical Interpretation, third edition (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1970), p. 119.
6 Charles C. Ryrie, Dispensationalism (Chicago: Moody, [1965], 1995), pp. 80–81. (italics original)
7 E. R. Craven and J. P. Lange, ed., Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: Revelation (New York: Scribner, 1872), p. 98. (italics original)
8 David L. Cooper, The World 's Greatest Library Graphically Illustrated (Los Angeles: Biblical Research

-4-
Society, [1942], 1970), p. 11.
9 Matthew Waymeyer, Revelation 20 and the Millennial Debate (The Woodlands, TX: Kress Christian Publications, 2004), p. 50. (italics original)
10 Mark Hitchcock and Thomas Ice, The Truth Behind Left Behind: A Biblical View of the End Times (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Press, 2004), p. 47.
11 DeMar, “Ezekiel’s Magog Invasion,” p. 4.
12 DeMar, “Ezekiel’s Magog Invasion,” p. 6.
13 Paul Lee Tan, The Interpretation of Prophecy (Winona Lake, IN: Assurance Publishers, 1974), p. 223.
14 At the time, Charles A. Clough was pastor of Lubbock Bible Church in Lubbock, Texas.
15 Price, Unpublished Notes on Ezekiel, p. 42.