Torah Class: Day 26 - Genesis 10 and Gog and Magog

Basis for our Studies this Year:

The Bible tells us that the “End (of the world) is declared from the “beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). Certainly, this means that the early Biblical record of human history bears End-time prophetic significance. But, it’s actually even more specific than that. The original Hebrew word translated as “beginning” in Isaiah 46:10 is תישאר (rê’shı̂yth). This is the root of Bereshith, which is the Hebrew name of the first Book of the Bible, “Genesis”. In other words, prophecies of the End of the World are found in the Book of Genesis.

The Torah is one of the five keys for unlocking End-time Prophecy… Prophecy is unlocked through the Statutes!

Genesis 10 and the Prophetic Table of Nations - the Amorites:

Scripture tells us that Genesis is a prophetic template

·       Isaiah 46:10 – “The end is declared from the Beginning (Genesis)”

·       Genesis 10:2 -  The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 

Bible Prophecy foretells conflict and war between nations – of a global magnitude:

Matthew 24:3 foretells events that are specific Signs of the End, one of which is war:

·       Matthew 24:6-7 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.” 

The Prophecy of the Great War – Ezekiel 38:

Ezekiel 38:1-2

“And the word of Yahweh came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.” 

·       Gog is listed as the leader of the allied powers that come against the Mountains of Israel.

·       Gog is described as being in the land of Magog?

·       So, who and where is this?

o   Gog – the word – is connected with “mountain” – not a literal name, but a leader

Ezekiel 38:3

“And say, Thus saith Yahweh GOD; Behold, I Am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.” 

Ezekiel 38:4

“And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.” 

Ezekiel 38:5-6

“Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.” 

Ezekiel 38:8-9

“After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel… Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.” 

Who are the Mountains of Israel? – The Mountains of Israel are the Target of Attack

In Bible prophecy Mountains represent “cities” / “heads” (leaders)…

·       Daniel 9:16 “O Yahweh, according to all Thy Righteousness, I beseech thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain: because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and thy people are become a reproach to all that are about us.”

·       Revelation 17:9 “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” 

Who is the City of Jerusalem (aka Mount Zion) in Prophecy? The City of Jerusalem, in positive End-time Prophecy, is God’s saved people.

•        Isaiah 51:16-17 “And I have put My Words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of Mine Hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art My people. Awake, awake, stand up, O Jerusalem...”

•        Zechariah 2:1-2 “…And behold a man with a measuring line in his hand. Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.” 

End-time Prophecy usually is fulfilled in both a literal and a figurative way…  So, if it follows this pattern, literal Israel (the land) could be the target AND also spiritual Israel (being believers/Commandment-keepers) could be the target.

Magog – Russia

To fully identify Magog, we need to see it’s animal representation, which is given in Daniel 7. Let’s take a look and then we’ll see how Daniel 7 connects with Ezekiel 38-39.

·       Daniel 7:5 - "And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth 

of it between the teeth of it: and they 

said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.”

·       Russia identifies itself as “the bear” – and has since the 19^th century…

·       It is a power that has already devoured “much flesh”…  Lenin and Stalin…

So Daniel 7 is referring to the bear power as Russia… Does that have a connection with Ezekiel 38?

Magog is referred to by the Jewish historian Josephus who identified them as the “Scythians”, or the people north of the Caucasus Mountains. Josephus records that the Magogians were called “Scythians” by the Greeks.

Flavius Josephus: “(Magog is) a mountainous region around the Black and Caspians Seas.” (Joseph Alexandar says “this position for Magog is generally accepted.”

The Scythians are the ancestors of modern Russia.

Philo, is another in the 1st century who identifies Magog with southern Russia. The Scythians were well known for barbaric destructiveness in warfare. The term Magog is also a comprehensive term which means “the northern barbarians.” The people of Magog were infamous for their technical skills in the art of warfare.

Note by Dr. David Jeremiah: “The word (Magog) is not found anywhere except in the Bible, and… if you trace it back in history, you will notice that Magog is a land surrounding Russia… The “Stan” nations – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Usbekistan, Turkmenistan, even Afghanistan. These are all… nations that used to be part of the Soviet Union.”

In the Bible, Meshech or Mosoch (Hebrew: מֶ֫שֶׁך‎ Mešeḵ "price" or "precious") is named as a son of Japheth in Genesis 10:2 and 1 Chronicles 1:5.

identified by Flavius Josephus with the Cappadocian "Mosocheni" and their capital Mazaca. in the Kievan Synopsis (1674), Moscow (Moskva) was founded by King Mosokh son of Japheth (i.e. Meshech), and was named for him and his wife, Kva. In this legend, they are also said to have had a son, Ya, and daughter, Vuza, who gave their names to the nearby Yauza River.

like the rest of Ezekiel’s Gog invasion alliance members were descendants of Japheth. The name is sometimes also written as Moschi or Moschoi, which translates as Moscow.

The term Tubal is also handed down from the table of nations in Genesis chapter 10, and refers to a northern city-state that traded in goods and developed military alliances with the ancient cities of Tyre and Tarshish. Although many of the names from Genesis ten have become lost in the shadows of history, Tubal is probably representative of the peoples that lived in the Cappadocian region north and east of the modern state of Turkey.

Those invading Israel in the prophecy of Ezekiel are:

Modern name (Biblical name):

·       Russia (Magog)

·       Iran (Persia)

·       Meshech (Currently the southern part of Russia that reaches Turkey and Iran)

·       Tubal (The area of land east and north of Iran. Currently, five nations with “stan” at the end of their names. These nations include Afghanistan. The United States giving the country back to terrorists is probably a step in fulfilling this prophecy)

·       Ukraine (Gomer)

·       Turkey (Togarmah)

·       Ethiopia and Libya still have their Biblical names

From the wording of the passage, we can see that several things will likely happen before all the pieces of this invasion fall into place.

·       Russia is the clear leader, the one calling the shots, in the coming attack. Ukraine will likely either be allied with Russia or under Russian control to engage in an invasion with her. Therefore, any soon coming overthrow of Ukraine by Russia would satisfy that piece of the puzzle.