GOG AND MAGOG

HOW SOON WILL IT HAPPEN?

compiled by Dee Finney


 

Here is a little something to chew on.
 
In this dream, I am visited by my aunt Doris who is deceased many years. I don't think I've ever dreamed about her before.
 
1-14-07 - DREAM -  I was in the living room of a house. We were each sitting at a desk and working on taxes.  A lawyer came in to help Joe with the taxes.  He was wearing a yellow shirt and light tan suit. It came to me that he hadn't changed clothes in 4 days, so I tried to nail my little blue calculator to the desk so he wouldn't steal it.
 
Just then, my aunt Doris came in.  I was really excited to see her. I wanted to tell her about my Mom and how well she is doing. (She is also deceased- a year now)
 
She said, "Let's go into the kitchen so we can talk."  I was so anxious to tell her about my Mom, I jumped up and followed her to the kitchen.
 
The kitchen was a mess. I obviously hadn't cleaned recently, and I grabbed a rag from the counter and got it wet and started to wipe off the kitchen table.
 
Aunt Doris sat down at the clean end of the table, while I was still wiping up food crumbs and said, "Next week is the start of Gog - Ma Gog.  My church doesn't know exactly which day, but they wanted you to know because they think you are the best psychic they have ever seen."
 
I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know she went to church or which church if she did attend church.
 
She continued speaking, and said something about a Mr. Steuben being involved.She may have given me his first name also but if she did, I didn't catch it.
 
I noticed then, there was a row of about 12 black stick-pens laying side by side on the table. I didn't move them but wiped the table around them.
 
I started to tell her the dream I had right before she came to the house, but it came to me that the dream was not understandable to me, and it wouldn't interest her, so I let myself wake up in mid-sentence.
 
End of dream

 
 
 
The name Doris is probably used for a reason as is Mr. Steuben.
 
Doris: 
Greek   a dorian woman, of the sea  , A Sharp Knife; Region of Ancient Greece ,

DORIAN masculine form of DORIS or short form of ISIDORE or possibly form of DARIUS. The name was first used by writer Oscar Wilde.

DORIS "of Doris" (Greek). Doris was a region of ancient Greece where the Dorian tribe settled. Doris was also the name of a minor Greek goddess of the sea

Doris was a sea goddess in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys (who were also sea gods/goddesses). Doris had many, many sisters. She was the wife of the sea god Nereus, her half-brother. She had fifty daughters, called the Nereids. Doris was not one of the goddesses who lived on Mt. Olympus.

STEUBEN

I noticed that a von Steuben signed the Declaration of Independence and that fits the dream scenario as well.
 
This info on Gog Magog is from Godlike Productions posting board:
 
Re: Israel is Gog  

You see you right, almost about the location. But you don't realize one thing about it. The Khazars who converted to Judism and became the Ashkenazi Jews who make up 95 percent of the Jews today. They sat in the lands of Gog and Magog and latter after holding out against the Monguls where finally pushed north by the Muslims into the lands of Poland, Germany and Russia later to flee to the United States and what is now Israel. 5 million in Israel and 6 million in the United States. This is how these Jews are Gog and Magog.

This is from Jewish sources.

Jewish sources
A letter in Hebrew dated AM 4746 (985–986) refers to "our lord David, the Khazar prince" who lived in Taman. The letter said that this David was visited by envoys from Kievan Rus to ask about religious matters — this could be connected to the Vladimir conversion which took place during the same time period. Taman was a principality of Kievan Rus around 988, so this successor state (if that is what it was) may have been conquered altogether. The authenticity of this letter, the Mandgelis Document, has however been questioned by such scholars as D. M. Dunlop.

Abraham ibn Daud, a twelfth-century Spanish rabbi, reported meeting Khazar rabbinical students in Toledo, and that they informed him that the "remnant of them is of the rabbinic faith." This reference indicates that some Khazars maintained ethnic, if not political, autonomy at least two centuries after the sack of Atil.

Petachiah of Ratisbon, a thirteenth-century rabbi and traveler, reported traveling through "Khazaria", though he gave few details of its inhabitants except to say that they lived amidst desolation in perpetual mourning.

He further related:

Whilst at Baghdad saw ambassadors from the kings of Meshech, for Magog (medieval Christian writers said that the Khazars lived in the land of Gog and Magog) is about ten days' journey from thence. The land extends as far as the Mountains of Darkness (a term often used to describe the Caucasus). Beyond the Mountains of Darkness are the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab (an official in the court of King Josiah of Judah). To the seven kings of Meshech an angel appeared in a dream, bidding them to give up the laws and statutes, and to embrace the laws of Moses, son of Amram. If not, he threatened to lay waste their country. However, they delayed until the angel commenced to lay waste their country, when the kings of Meshech and all the inhabitants of their countries became proselytes, and they sent to the head of the academy (i.e., the Gaon of Sura or Pumbedita) a request to send them some disciples of the wise. Every disciple that is poor goes there to teach them the law and Babylonian Talmud. From the land of Egypt the disciples go there to study. He saw the ambassadors visit the grave of [the prophet] Ezekiel…"

The account of the conversion of the "seven kings of Meshech" is extremely similar to the accounts of the Khazar conversion given in the Kuzari, and in King Joseph's Reply. It is possible that Meshech refers to the Khazars, or to some Judaized polity influenced by them. Arguments against this possibility include the reference to "seven kings" (though this, in turn, could refer to seven successor tribes or state micropolities).
 
 
The battle of Gog and Ma Gog: -  Gog is Israel, and Ma Gog is a gentile  nation to the north.
 
  Rev 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
 
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Rev/20/8.htmlhttp://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/c.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=8&version=KJV#8http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/popup.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=8&version=KJV#8
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/images.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=8&version=KJV#8http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/versions.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=8&version=KJV#8http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/d.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=8&version=KJV#8
 		 Rev 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom [is] as the sand of the sea.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Rev/20/9.htmlhttp://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/c.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=9&version=KJV#9http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/popup.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=9&version=KJV#9
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/versions.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=9&version=KJV#9http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/d.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=9&version=KJV#9
 		 Rev 20:9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tsk_b/Rev/20/10.htmlhttp://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/c.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=10&version=KJV#10http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/popup.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=10&version=KJV#10
http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/versions.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=10&version=KJV#10http://www.blueletterbible.org/cgi-bin/d.pl?book=Rev&chapter=20&verse=10&version=KJV#10
 		 Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet [are], and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever

E-mail from a reader:

 
Off the top of my head-
 
12 pens = 12 tribes of Israel
 
I also found this:
 
"Revelations tells of the end of the world, when Gog and Magog are let loose.  Saint Augustine describes it in his book  City of God as: "And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed from his prison, and shall go out to seduce the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, and shall draw them to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea." This, then, is his purpose in seducing them, to draw them to this battle. For even before this he was wont to use as many and various seductions as he could continue. And the words "he shall go out" mean, he shall burst forth from lurking hatred into open persecution. For this persecution, occurring while the final judgment is imminent, shall be the last which shall be endured by the holy Church throughout the world, the whole city of Christ being assailed by the whole city of the devil, as each exists on earth. For these nations which he names Gog and Magog are not to be understood of some barbarous nations in some part of the world, whether the Getae and Massagetae, as some conclude from the initial letters, or some other foreign nations not under the Roman government. For John marks that they are spread over the whole earth, when he says, "The nations which are in the four corners of the earth," and he added that these are Gog and Magog. The meaning of these names we find to be, Gog, (a roof), Magog, (from a roof )- a house, as it were, and he who comes out of the house. They are therefore the nations in which we found that the devil was shut up as in an abyss, and the devil himself coming out from them and going forth, so that they are the roof, he from the roof. "
 
and I also found this.....
 
Dor·is    (dôrs, dr-, dr-
An ancient region of central Greece. It was the traditional homeland of the Dorians.
 
and I was thinking- what if Steuben is a misnomer for some
Middle East dictator- maybe it's "ben" something-
(and as an afterthought- Steuben is a German name)
 
Love & Light
 
Mary

 

The Jewish calendar has 12 months of 30 days each.  As represented by the camp positions of the 12 tribes in Numbers 2, it is a reflection of the Zodiac. The basic idea is to make things on earth like those in Heaven. The New Jerusalem is based on the same pattern as expressed in Revelation 21.

The New Jerusalem

Rev 21:12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

Rev 21:13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Rev 21:15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

Rev 21:16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

Rev 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Rev 21:18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

Rev 21:19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

Rev 21:20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

Rev 21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

Rev 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

Rev 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Rev 21:25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

Rev 21:26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

Lost Tribes Of Israel Study Maps
4 Volume Set (paper), 35,000 Word Text
by Daniel R. Walsh
 
Volume I: The Pre-Exodus Flights

This volume examines the Zarahite reign in Egypt; they were known as Hyksos, which means the Shepherd Kings. It covers the flights of this Zarah Branch of Judah and the sailing Tribe of Dan to Greece, Troy, Spain, Britain, Ireland, etc. Particular attention is paid to the Hebrew voyages of Danaus, Cadmus, Chalcol, Darda, Brutus and Corineus, and the Danaans. Source material includes the ancient histories and legends of Egypt, Greece, Ireland, and Britain. The reader will learn that the greatest Grecian stories, such as Jason and the Argonauts and the famous Trojan War, actually involved descendants of these first groups of Israelites that left Egypt prior to the Exodus. This volume also contains a basic history of Jacob's Pillar, which is the Stone of Destiny used in British coronations.

Volume II: Deportations By Assyria

This volume introduces the reader to the House of Judah and the House of Israel. It examines the House of Israel's deportations to the Assyrian buffer zones. It covers their war with Urartu, their break away from the buffers, their conquests in Phrygia and Lydia, their arrival at Arsareth, Moesia, and Scythia, and their migrations to Scandinavia and Western Europe. Special attention is given to their changing names as discovered in the archives of Assyria, on the monuments of Persia, and in the writings of the ancient Greeks. Their names include Beth Khumri, Ghomri, Gimira, Cimmerians, Celts, Isaac, Isaaca, Iskuza, Sacae, Skuthae, Scythians, Germani, and Saxons.

Volume III: Jeremiah's Journey

Volume III examines the history of the House of Judah with King David's perpetual throne. It traces Jeremiah's journey to plant the Hebrew Princess Tea Tephi in Ireland, as found in Irish tales. It also takes a detailed look at the Hebrew Milesians that were in Egypt during the reigns of Pharoahs Psamtik I and Hophra. The reader will follow Gallam the Milesian from Scythia to Egypt, where he acquired the Hebrew Princess Scota; Gallam and Scota's voyage from Egypt to Spain; and the Milesian invasion of Ireland from Spain. The evidence will show that King David's dynasty survives today in Britain, with Jacob's Pillar.

Volume IV: The Christian Connection

This Volume examines Christ's connection to the divorced House of Israel. Using the histories and legends recorded in Southern France and Britain, the miracle voyage of Joseph of Arimathea, Mary Magdalene, Lazarus, etc. is traced from Caesarea in Palestine to the Lost Tribes living in Gaul. Joseph's journey to Glastonbury in England is shown on the map. The reader will also learn data on the Hebrew kings Bran, Caractacus, and Arviragus in the days when these famous Silures fought the Romans for control of Britain. The Apostle Paul's connection to the Silurian royal house of Caractacus, Claudia, and Linus is examined, along with Paul's mission and letters (Biblical Epistles) to the Lost Tribes. Paul's trip to Spain, Britain, Belgae, Helvetia, and Mount Julius is traced using clues found in the Sonnini Manuscript, which is a document known as the Lost Chapter of Acts.

FROM; http://www.angelfire.com/biz/celtica/losttribes.html

The 12 tribes of Israel were seeded into the DNA of the genome of all human creations. Is-Ra-El is not Hebrew. It is the knowing bestowed to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as: Is = The I Am Presence, Ra = the Greater Light, and El = the conversion of Light into matter.

Numbers 24:2 - And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him.  

24:3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:

24:4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling [into a trance], but having his eyes open:

 24:5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, [and] thy tabernacles, O Israel!

24:14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come [therefore, and] I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

24:15 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said:

24:16 He hath said, which heard the words of God, and knew the knowledge of the most High, [which] saw the vision of the Almighty, falling [into a trance], but having his eyes open:

24:17 I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

24:18 - And Edom shall be a possession, Seir also shall be a possession for his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.  

24:19 - Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city. 


Specific names given in the Bible had cryptic meanings and the fact that she was known as the Tender Twig in the Bible, and as Tea Tephi in the Annals of the Irish Masters, signifies TT - connected with the Twin pillars of Moses - the Ark of the Covenant and Freemasonry. She was the young 'twig' of the vine of the House of David.  [note: Moses was Ahkenaten; See: http://www.greatdreams.com/moses.htm  ]

 
In the Bible the sister is not named, only mentioned as a princess; also in the Annals of the Irish Masters, she is not named.  However, Scota, as mentioned earlier above, was the mother-in-law of Princess Tea Tephi Mor.
 
Scota's son, Heremon/Eochaid/Heber, was of the tribe of Dan - the Tuatha de Danaan.  There are many gods and goddesses of this tribe, bound up in Irish mythology, including the children of Don/Dan who were regarded as deities in the sky.  Another of the gods of Dan, was Odin who is also Thor in Scandanavian mythology. 'Dan' in Danmark (Denmark) and Scandan... prescribe to where the tribe of Dan left their mark as they traveled towards the British Isles.


Gog and Magog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gog_and_Magog

Magog in Genesis

The first occurrence of "Magog" in the Bible is in the "Table of Nations" in Genesis 10, where Magog is the eponymous ancestor of a people or nation (without any accompanying apocalyptic symbolism, or mention of Gog, although "Magog" may mean "the land of Gog"):

2. The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras

3. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. (Genesis 10:2-3)
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Gog and Magog in the Book of Revelation

Gog and Magog are mentioned again in Revelation 20:7-8:

7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

8. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. (KJV)

Here, Gog and Magog are identified as the nations in the four corners of the earth, and their attack is represented as an eschatological crisis after the Millennium, to be vanquished by divine intervention. The language of Gog and Magog's destruction is very similar to that of their mention in Ezekiel.
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In terms of extra-biblical Jewish tradition, Gog the 'prince' has been explained being one of the 70 national angels — of whom all except one, Michael (the guardian angel of Israel), are fallen angels. According to this interpretation, Gog is the angel of a nation called Magog (literally meaning "of Gog" or "from Gog"). Gog in this view represents an apocalyptic coalition of nations arrayed against Israel.
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Josephus identifies Magog with the Scythians, but this name seems to have been used generically in antiquity for a number of peoples north of the Black Sea.

According to one modern theory of dispensationalist Biblical hermeneutics, Gog and Magog are supposed to represent Russia. The Scofield Reference Bible's notes to Ezekiel claim that "Meshech" is a Hebrew form of Moscow, and that "Tubal" represents the Siberian capital Tobolsk. During the Cold War this identification led Hal Lindsey to claim that the Soviet Union would play a major role in the End Times.
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Some legends of Hungarians and certain Celtic peoples say they are descendants of Magog. Poseidonius, for example, mentions that the Cimmerians, considered to be the original ancestors in Celtic traditions, were derived from gug and guas.
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This stopped Gog and Magog from threatening them. Contemporary scholars believe that this wall might be in the Caucasus Mountains at Dariel Pass.[4]

Gog and Magog are also mentioned in the sayings of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, as the sign of the nearness of the Doomsday, and that they will destroy the civilizations (The Books of Sahih Al Bukhari and Sahih Al Muslim). These reflect the Qur'anic prophecies:

“ But when Gog and Magog are let loose and they rush headlong down every height (or advantage). Then will the True Promise shall draw near - (Qur'an 21:96-97)
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Gog and Magog as Ashkenazi Jews
Islamic scholar Ibn Kathir, in his historical work, Al-Bidayah wa'l-Nihayah (The Beginning and the End) located the tribes of Gog and Magog between the Black Sea and the Caspian, stating that they refer to the Khazars.
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According to the Lord Mayor, the giants Gog and Magog are traditional guardians of the City of London, and images of them have been carried in the Lord Mayor's Show since the days of King Henry V.
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Gog Magog Hills
The Gog Magog Hills are about three miles south of Cambridge, said to be the metamorphosis of the giant after being rejected by the nymph Granta (i.e. the River Cam).
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Gog and Magog in Ireland
Works of Irish mythology, including the Lebor Gabála Érenn (the Book of Invasions), expand on the Genesis account of Magog as the son of Japheth and make him the ancestor to the Irish. His three sons were Baath, Jobhath, and Fathochta. Magog is regarded as the father of the Irish race, and the progenitor of the Scythians, as well as of numerous other races across Europe and Central Asia.

Partholon, leader of the first group to colonize Ireland after the Deluge, was a descendant of Magog. The Milesians, or people of the 5th invasion of Ireland, were also descendants of Magog.

The Coming War of Gog and Magog, an Islamic Invasion?

by Jennifer Rast

 

Contender Ministries   
 

Ezekiel 38 through 39 tells of a future invasion of Israel by a vast coalition of nations that surround it.  As we read the headlines in the newspapers of today, and witness the conflict in the Middle East, it's not hard to imagine that this invasion prophesied over 2600 years ago, could be fulfilled in our lifetime.  Ezekiel 36-37 predicts a gathering of the Jews to the nation of Israel, which will be followed by this massive invasion.  For 19 centuries the Jewish people were scattered throughout the world, and until May 14, 1948 there was no nation of Israel to invade.  With the nation of Israel now a reality, the stage seems set for the war that will usher in the tribulation and the rise of the Antichrist; a war that will end with the destruction of Israel's enemies by God Himself, and lead to the signing of a peace treaty with the Antichrist.

As you read Ezekiel 38 and 39, it isn't just the creation of the nation of Israel that makes this prophecy seem likely to be fulfilled in the near future.  The nations that God tells us will form this coalition against Israel seem more likely now than perhaps ever before to form just such an alliance.  To understand the prophecies of Ezekiel about this future invasion, it's important to understand who the players will be.  

There are many theories as to who will join in this future invasion of Israel.  Before going through a list of the individual nations, I'll list some of the more common theories you'll hear when studying the prophecies from Ezekiel 38. 

Ezekiel 38:1-6  The word of the Lord came to me; Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.  I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army - your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords.  Persia, Cush and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops - the many nations with you.'

1.  Hashemite Kingdom Theory:  The Islamic Nations will come against Israel either by an Iraqi-led, Jordanian led, or Turkish led coalition.  The enemy from the north refers to the areas of Syria, Turkey, and Iraq.  These Islamic nations make up the lands occupied by Magog, Gomer, Togarmah, Meshech and Tubal.

2.  Caucus Theory:  Gog and Magog are the Arab nations in an alliance with the Muslim republics of the former Soviet Union.  This theory leaves out most of Russia, and includes only the southern part.

3.  All Europe theory:  Gog and Magog are the sons of Japeth thus the originators of the European races.  Gog and Magog therefore indicates all of Europe.  This is not a widely held theory and I could find little support for it.

4.  Russian Theory:  The Hebrew word 'rosh' in verse 3 is identified with Russia, 'Tubal' with Tiblisi or Tobolsk and 'Meshech' with Moscow, therefore Gog and Magog refers to Russia.  This is one of the most commonly held views and is based on a different interpretation of the Hebrew word Rosh (used as a noun rather than adjective), similarities in the pronunciation of words, and the Greek translation of Rosh referring to a tribe of people found in what is now Russia.

5.  Indo-European Theory:  Gog and Magog include the nations descending from Japheth: Russia, the Caucasus(Turkey), Iraq, and the Islamic republics of Central Asia.  The coalition is an alliance of Arab nations, Muslim republics, Georgia, southern Russia and the Black sea area.

These are some of the theories you will find if you do any research into the prophecies of Ezekiel 38.  You may also find interpretations that are a combination of these, and in fact, I tend to find more evidence for a version of the Indo-European and Caucacus Theory. 

Before looking at the participants of this invasion in more detail, it's important to understand that the war described in Ezekiel 38 is not the same as the war that will come at the end of the tribulation when Jesus returns to defeat the Antichrist and establish his millennial kingdom.  How do we know this?  The war at the end of the tribulation, known as Armageddon, is a world war.  Revelation tells us that this battle will involve all nations.  The war described in Ezekiel includes specific nations that invade Israel.  Also, Armageddon is at the climax of the tribulation, while the war described in Ezekiel comes well before then.

Ezekiel 38:1-7 gives 10 names as participants in the invasion of Israel that will follow the regathering of the Jews to their homeland.  First mentioned, is the land of Magog.  The most common identity for Magog is in Central Asia.  The Jewish historian Josephus said, "Magog founded the Magogians, called Scythians by the Greeks.  Scythians were a nomadic tribe who inhabited the ancient territory from Central Asia across the southern part of ancient Russia."  Today this area is inhabited by the former Soviet Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and possibly northern parts of Afghanistan.  All of these nations that make up the land of Magog have one thing in common - Islam.  Militant Islam has been on the rise in these countries since the fall of the Soviet Union, when Islam no longer had to be practiced secretly.  Radical Islamic groups such as the Islamic Renaissance Party, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, and Hizb ut-Tahrir al-Islam are working to reunite central Asian nations and ultimately the entire Muslim world.  It is from this part of the world that a leader will arise to bring together a great coalition of nations to invade Israel.

Probably the most debated verse is Ezekiel 38:3.  There are two main views on the identity of the Nations God is referring to in this verse.  I'll list both here, and let the reader decide which sounds most reasonable.

Rosh as Russia

Some versions of the Bible translate the Hebrew word 'rosh' in verse 3 as a noun referring to a place in Russia.  The least credible support for this view is that Rosh sounds like the modern-day name Russia and Meshech sounds like Moscow.  In this translation they treat rosh as a proper name.  The Greek translation translates Rosh as the proper name Ros.  Because the ancient Sarmations were known as the Ras, Rashu, and Rus and inhabited Rasapu which is now Southern Russia, some feel this verse points to Russia as the prince of Rosh.  Another support sited for this view is that verse 6 and 15 say the invasion will come from remote parts of the north, and Russia is more remote.

Rosh as chief

Other versions of the Bible translate 'rosh' as an adjective.  The argument here is that in the Massoretic text the words 'chief prince' carry the accents Tiphha and Zaqeph-gadol.  The Tiphha appears under the resh of the Hebrew word 'rosh'; the Zaqeph-gadol appears on top of the sin of the Hebrew word 'nish'.  The Tiphha to the right, underneath the initial consonant of the world 'rosh', or chief, is prepositive and does not mark the tone syllable.  The world 'nish' or prince has the accent Zaqeph-gadol which is disjunctive and indicates a pause.  So, verse three would read:

"Behold, I am against thee, o Gog, the prince, {pause} chief of Meshech and Tubal"

Rather than:

"Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal."

Here 'rosh' is translated head or chief as it is 423 other times in the Old Testament.

In short, if you believe 'rosh' should be translated as a proper noun you may find the interpretation that Russia will be a part of this coalition more reasonable.  If you believe 'rosh' should be an adjective here, you need only concern yourself with who Meshech and Tubal are.  I tend to have a problem with the "it sounds like Russia" theory, and find the translation of rosh as an adjective more believable, but to each his own.

Meshech and Tubal in verses 2 and 6, were the names of the 6th and 5th sons of Japheth, the son of Noah (Gen. 10:2).  Ezekiel 27:13 also mentions Meshech and Tubal as trading partners with Tyre (Modern Lebanon).  It's likely that Meshech and Tubal refer to the ancient Moshi/Mushki and Tubalu/Tibareni who dwelled in the area around, primarily south of, the Black and Caspian Sea in Ezekiel's day.  Today these nations would be in the modern country of Turkey, parts of Southern Russia and Northern Iran.  All areas with a Muslim majority.

Verse 6 adds Gomer and Beth-Togarmah to the coalition.  "Gomer" was the first son of Japheth.  The Gomerites were the ancient Cimmerians, expelled in 700 B.C. from the southern steppes of Russia into what is today Turkey.  "Togarmah" is the 3rd son of Gomer and beth at the beginning of the name is the Hebrew word for 'house' or 'place of'.  In Ezekiel's time there was a city in Cappodocia (Modern Turkey) known as Tegarma, Tagarma, Til-garimmu, and Takarama. 

The possibility that four of the names mentioned in Ezekiel are now in Turkey makes a pretty strong argument for Turkey being a part of the invasion of Israel.  Current circumstances in that country also lend this view some credibility.  Since the break-up of the Soviet Union, Turkey has been gaining inroads into Central Asia (Magog).  It is also linked to Central Asia both ethnically and linguistically, and has a growing number of political parties that support opposition to Israel, establishment of a Turkish Islamic Republic, and the worldwide rule of Islam.

Verse 5 brings three more names into the mix.  God tells us that "Persia, Cush and Put will be with them". 

Persia is a pretty easy one.  In 539 B.C. the Persians conquered the city of Babylon.  You only need look at a map of the ancient Persian Empire to see that it was centered in the nation known today as Iran.  In fact Iran was called Persia until 1935 when it was changed to Iran and then to the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979 during the Iranian Revolution.  It's no secret that Iran is an archenemy of Israel and the West, and a supporter of the Palestinians.  They are actively working to get other Arab countries to change camps in their cooperation with the U.S. and Israel.

The ancient kingdom of Cush in Ezekiels time was the land just south of Egypt on the Nile River.  Today this land is occupied by Sudan.  Sudan is home to the National Islamic Front, is ruled by an Islamic military dictatorship, a strong supporter of Iraq, home to Osama bin Landen from 1991-1996, and harbors countless Islamic terrorist groups.  Sudan would easily fit into the coalition as it is already close allies with Iran, trading military supplies for docking rights on the Red Sea shipping routes.

Ancient Put was the land just west of Egypt, or what is today Libya.  Libya is another sponsor of terrorism, and openly refuses to recognize Israel's right to even exist.  When the coalition against Israel is formed, Libya won't have to be asked twice to join.

Verse 6 adds "and many people with you."  The nations listed specifically are all somewhat distant from Israel.  By adding "and many people with you", God may have been indicating that those nations and peoples in closer proximity to Israel will join the Jihad.  Other nations that might join the alliance are Iraq, Syria, Jordon, and Egypt.  All of them are Islamic nations, and all of them would not hesitate to support the destruction of Israel were the opportunity to join such a vast coalition presented to them.

Below is a list of the nations that are listed in Ezekiel as Israel's last-days enemies:

ANCIENT NAME

MODERN NATION

EXPLANATION

Rosh

Russia or Chief

Ancient Sarmatians known as Rashu, Rasapu, Ros, and Rus.

OR

Translated as the adjective Chief.

Magog

Central Asia

Ancient Scythians - Islamic southern republics of the former Soviet Union with a population of 60 million Muslims.  This territory could include modern Afghanistan.

Meshech

Turkey

Ancient Muschki and Musku in Cilicia and Cappadocia.

Tubal

Turkey (also southern Russia and Iran)

Ancient Tubalu in Cappadocia.

Persia

Iran

Name changed from Persia to Iran in 1935.

Ethiopia (Cush)

Sudan

Ancient Cush, south of Egypt.

Put

Libya

Ancient Put, west of Egypt.

Gomer

Turkey

Ancient Cimmerians - from the seventh century to first century B.C. in central/western Anatolia.

Beth-togarmah

Turkey

Til-garimmu - between ancient Carchemish and Haran (southern Turkey).

Many peoples with you

Other Islamic nations

Possibly Iraq, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt

The reasons God gives us for the enemies' invasion of Israel are further proof that the attack will be an Islamic invasion.

The first reason God gives for the invasion in Ezekiel 38 is a desire by the coalition to cover the Jewish land and wipe them off the face of the earth.  Urged on by a hatred of the Jewish people they will seek to destroy them and the nation of Israel.  This is the stated goal today of almost every Islamic nation in the Middle East.  The only nations not currently in a declared state of war with Israel are Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan, yet they would certainly be glad to see Israel eliminated if presented with a willing leader and an opportunity to rid the Middle East of Islam's archenemy.

God tells us that they also come to "seize plunder…and to capture great spoil".  Many verses in the Quran advocated plundering for the benefit of Islam and there are several instances of this war tactic throughout the history of Muhammad's life.  In fact, it is a common theme in his teachings.

This invasion of Israel and attack on the Jewish people will indeed be a Jihad, but it will also be the final Jihad.

Ezekiel 38:13  "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?'"

As this invasion develops, a few countries will make a lame protest.  This isn't hard to believe when you look at the indifference most nations display as Israel is repeatedly attacked by terrorists.

The specific nations who question Gog's actions are "Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish".  Sheba and Dedan are not hard to identify.  These were ancient names for what is known today as Saudi Arabia.

Tarshish is most commonly agreed to be ancient Tartessus or the area of present day Spain in Western Europe.  In Ezekiels day, Tarshish was in the farthest west regions of the known world.  By referring to Tarshish and all her merchants, Ezekiel could have been indicating that Western Europe will join with Saudi Arabia in denouncing the invasion.  Interestingly, Saudi Arabia is the only Arab nation to consistently side with the West against radical Islamic elements around the world.  The royals of Saudi Arabia mostly side with the West out of an interest in self preservation, and at times oppose us behind the scenes, but they would most probably put on a show of opposition to radical Islam in order to maintain the support of western governments.

A similar alliance has been seen once before during the Gulf War of the early 1990's.  The U.S., Western Europe, and Saudi Arabia were allied against Iraq, while Russia, Iran, Sudan, Libya, and most other Middle East nations either aligned with Iraq, or against the U.S. either by directly opposing it, or by remaining neutral. 

The good news is that God wins.  God will come against the invaders Himself and destroy them.  Verses 19-20 say that there will be an earthquake so great that people all over the world will tremble.  In the ensuing chaos, nations will begin to turn on each other.  The confusion will lead to the largest case of death by friendly fire ever seen.

Verse 22 of Ezekiel tells us that there will be plagues, torrents of rain, hailstones, and burning sulfur.  Just as God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, he will destroy these invading forces.  Once again, God will make it known to all the nations that He is the Lord.  He will give the nations proof that He is the Holy One in Israel.

This war against Israel will pave the way for the Antichrist's military rule over the world and his demand that the world worship him as God.  With Islam defeated and the Christian Church raptured, opposition to worshipping a man as God will be greatly reduced.  Those who are left would have no army with which to mount much of a protest.

So, how should Christians respond to this prophecy?  In Ezekiel 39:6,7, and 28 God says that this end-times battle will happen that "they will know that I am the Lord".  This message that God's purpose is to cause Israel and the other nations to know He is Lord is repeated over 60 times in Ezekiel.  By learning about prophecy and teaching it to others, people will be able to see the glory, majesty, and sovereignty of God in the fulfillment of His divine word.  By knowing our Bible and teaching it to others, they will be able to see that there is a divine creator, and a plan for them.  Through Jesus Christ and the salvation he offers us freely, there is victory and an eternity more glorious than they can imagine.
 
FROM: http://www.contenderministries.org/prophecy/gogmagog.php


 
 
Chamish - War Of Gog And Magog Coming
By Barry Chamish
 
chamish@netvision.net.il
 
9-13-01
 
A terrifying scenario of an upcoming Middle East war is being discussed in Israeli political circles. As the American terror death toll may surpass that of Hiroshima, the consensus among public opinion and top ranks of the military, untouched by the ruling illuminati caste, will be to strike back at Islam where it hurts the most.

Background

Three days ago, someone (that will do until he chooses to accept credit) left over a thousand sensitive documents concerning the Rabin murder at my home.

I called the economics writer Yaacov Verker and asked him to drive by and look at the material. He would have arrived the next day but it was too tragic for both of us. The day after the bombings in New York and Washington, he speed-read the material and discovered the smoking gun.

It is the results of tests on Yigal Amir's hands, a half hour after he supposedly shot Yitzhak Rabin. Inspector Arieh Moshe, of the Israel Police Crime Laboratory, conducted a Feroprint test of Amir's hands to measure the amount of gunpowder on them and compare the composition of the gunpowder with that of the bullet casings. He found that, "The results of the testing were insignificant." NO GUNPOWDER WAS ON AMIR'S HANDS. This is an impossibility if he shot Rabin with real bullets. After almost six years, we had the proof that Amir did not murder Rabin.

Yaacov phoned Knesset Member, Michael Kleiner and told him the stunning news. Mr. Kleiner is head of the Herut Movement, for most of Israel's history, the country's most powerful opposition party. Today, it has been neutralized by forces led by Ariel Sharon. The next day, Mr. Kleiner's secretary called and requested that I meet MK Kleiner at a gathering of Herut Party members in Tel Aviv.

I just returned from the meeting with Mr. Kleiner and numerous party leaders. A few told me that those behind the slaughter in America were the same people who brought us the Oslo "peace" process and the Rabin murder. They described the next stage of the Hell to be brought upon this planet.

The Scenario

1. America will demand proper retaliation for the grotesque loss of its citizens, for the wrecking of its economy and for the destruction of its most potent monolithic symbols. Only the bombing of Islam's most potent symbol, the Kaabah in Mecca, will satisfy the calls for equivalent justice.

2. Saudi Arabia will be taken over, its oilfields will repay America's losses, and rebuild the twin towers, as well as the wrecked economy. (Which may have been the real motive of the destruction of the buildings. Somebody was behind the theft of trillions of dollars from the American economy in the last few years. No one will ever know who after this week).

3. The American public will not allow the oil companies to exploit them and the Saudi profits will go directly to rebuilding lower Manhattan and then straight into the people's pockets.

4. Naturally, most Moslems will object to the American takeover and that will slowly lead to the destruction of Islam. But not before the world is engulfed in violence comparable to that of World War II.

Request

After the grief and shock subside a tiny bit, in November, I want to come to New York. I want to speak to those victims, Jewish and gentile, of the tragedy and tell them a side of their misery no one else will; why Israelis and Americans are dying to ignite a war to change the ruling status quo of the planet. And why the Rabin murder may hold the key to exposing and defeating these evil forces.

If any organization or group, no matter how small, will be willing to sponsor me, I'll come. If there is no budget, I'll cover the expenses. If you think I should be heard where the bombs struck, please contact me.
 
http://www.rense.com
 

Taken from the cache copy of an article that is no longer on the internet:
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml

Date: 18/11/2005
A latter-day Gogand Magog
By Aryeh Dayan

A strange meeting was held two weeks ago in the office of Israel Prison Service ?(IPS?) Commissioner Yaakov Ganot. His two guests − the director of the Israel Antiquities Authority ?(IAA?), Shuka Dorfman, and the authority's archaeologist in the northern district, Dror Barshad − had already paid him several visits during the past year. But the latest meeting was different than the earlier ones, particularly because the pleasant, calm atmosphere that characterized them was replaced this time by a feeling of tension.

Nine months ago, when the Israel Defense Forces transferred authority for the prison located at the Megiddo junction to the IPS, the latter decided to build permanent structures to replace the tents in which the army had housed the prisoners. The prison authorities called in the IAA, as required by law, to carry out archaeological excavations to confirm that construction on the prison grounds was permissible from an archaeological perspective. In all their previous meetings, the senior officials from the IAA reported to the commissioner on the archaeological artifacts they had discovered, and then announced the "release" of an additional section of the site for construction. But their tidings were different this time.
They told Ganot that they had uncovered a mosaic floor in the southwest corner of the prison compound. Their initial assessment: The floor was from a Christian church that dated back to the middle of the third century or beginning of the forth century C.E. This is a discovery of enormous importance, they explained, because it is the first time the remains of such an ancient Christian church have been found in Israel.

This has great historic-scientific significance, they explained, as well as importance with respect to tourism. Tens of thousands of Christian tourists and pilgrims will be interested in coming to see the mosaic. This discovery, they announced, obligates the IAA to continue digging in the area in an attempt to uncover additional important findings, and prevents the authority from approving any construction there.
Ganot congratulated his guests on the scientific achievement, but as their conversation continued, signs of confrontation became apparent − a confrontation that will likely intensify during the coming months. While IAA officials spoke about the tremendous scientific importance of the mosaic floor, the commissioner spoke about the IPS's shortage of space and reminded them that only four of 10 planned cell blocks had been built and that the construction of the others is being delayed, mainly due to the excavations. When Dorfman and Barshad said that the discovery will garner international publicity for Israel, Ganot reminded them that the IPS has already invested tens of millions of shekels in building the Megiddo prison, which plays a central role in the service's expansion plan. At the end of the meeting, it was nonetheless decided that for now, the IPS would continue to cooperate with the IAA, but it was also clear that the two sides are conflicted over the future of the site where the floor was discovered.

"The Megiddo junction is not an appropriate place to locate a prison," the deputy director of the IPS, Dr. Uzi Dahari, told Haaretz. "To the west of the intersection is Tel Megiddo, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO this year, and to the east we have now uncovered the new site. This is a place where tourism should be developed. The prison needs to be moved from there."

"The prison could be moved to another place and its wall could be moved so that the mosaic would remain outside the jail. But the mosaic could also be moved to another place," the prison commander, Sharon Shoan, says in response. "These three options exist, and it all comes down to a question of money. It must not be forgotten that the security establishment is desperate for more prison cells."

The IPS commissioner himself has refrained from personally commenting on this issue at this stage. According to his office: "We'll carry out any decision the state makes" and "if the Finance Ministry provides the money to move the prison, then we'll move the prison."

If other archaeologists do not contradict the initial assessment by the IAA, the floor uncovered at Megiddo by one of the authority's archaeologists, Yotam Tefer, will be categorized as one of the most important findings discovered in Israel in recent decades. Its importance derives not only from the fact that it is part of the oldest church ever discovered here, but also because it dates back to the period in which Christian rituals still were conducted in secret.

"The images and writing on the floor, and the pottery and ceramics found adjacent to it, lead us to the conclusion that we uncovered a floor of a public structure that served ritual purposes," Tefer says. "We are not entirely sure that we can call this a church, because we have never uncovered a church in Israel that was built before the year 325 and we simply do not know how churches built here at that time looked."
The year 325 is when Christianity was declared the official religion in the Roman Empire. Until then, the Christians in Palestine, as in the rest of the empire, were compelled to carry out the rituals of their religion in secret.
Fish and tables
There are four pictures and three Greek inscriptions on the floor discovered at Megiddo. Based on these findings, IAA archaeologists assume that these are the remains of a church that dates back before the year 325. Prof. Leah Di Segni, an expert on ancient inscriptions from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who deciphered and translated the texts found at Megiddo, supports their assumption, but also stated that a more precise dating could only be done after additional remains are uncovered.

Additional artifacts are apparently buried under the stratum where the floor was found. Di Segni has determined that the formulation of the inscriptions and the form of their letters testify to the fact that they were written prior to the declaration of Christianity as a legitimate religion in the Roman Empire.

According to the IAA, one of the inscriptions mentions the name of a woman: "Akeptus, the devout, dedicated the table to God, Jesus Christ, as a memorial." IAA officials explain that the fact that the inscription mentions a "table" and not an "altar" indicates that it was written when Christianity operated "underground" and conducted its rituals around simple tables rather than altars, as was customary thereafter. The fact that fish are pictured on the floor and not crosses also testifies to its antiquity: At the beginning of the fourth century, fish were still used as the main symbol of Christianity.

"The crossroads at Megiddo was considered during that period to be one of the most important intersections in Palestine, if not the most important," says Dahari, the deputy director of the IAA and a lecturer in archaeology at the University of Haifa, who wrote his doctoral thesis on ancient Christianity. The route leading from Caesarea in the west to Beit Shean in the east merged at Megiddo with the road that connected Be'er Sheva and Hebron − via Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Nablus, Jenin and Megiddo − with Acre, Tyre and Sidon in the north. "Megiddo is a high point," Tefer explains, "from which it is possible to look to the north toward Nazareth and to the east toward the Jezreel Valley and Mount Tabor."

The large military base that served the Roman legions during the third century was located to the west of today's Megiddo junction, and was evacuated at the end of that century. The civilian population in the Megiddo area, according to Dahari, was composed of Christians, Jews, Samaritans and pagans. The religious mixture changed during the fourth century: The Jewish population assimilated within the Christian population, and the Jewish village Othnai located adjacent to Megiddo was replaced by a large Byzantine city,

Maximianopolis. Dahari says that this city became an important Christian center, headed by a bishop. Before the ancient mosaic floor was discovered, IAA excavators working at the Megiddo prison found a
number of items that originated in that city.
Possible confrontation
Several days after the discovery of the mosaic was first reported on Channel 2, there were still many people milling about in the tent that has been built over it. Dozens of reporters and television crews from all over the world arrived at the site that morning. Many of them said that their editors had expressed great interest in what was perceived to be a discovery that could shed light on ancient Christianity. During the afternoon, one could see additional groups of visitors arriving one after another to look at the floor that has survived for nearly 1,700 years. They mingled with workers from the IAA, with the prisoners that assisted them, with wardens − until the place looked much more like a museum than a prison.

Alongside a group of IPS officials, who peered at what had been hidden under the concrete floor where the beds of thousands of Palestinian administrative detainees had been for decades, was a group of archaeologists from several universities and research institutes. The IAA had invited them to come to hear their views on the significance of the findings and the best way to preserve them. Along with an economist representing the Government Tourist Corporation, who came to make an initial assessment of the economic potential of the discovery, there were senior staff from the Israel Nature & National Parks Protection Authority, who came to check the possibility of linking the new site to Tel Megiddo − an archaeological site it manages on the western side of the intersection.

Amid the tumult they created, there was also a photographer roaming around, equipped with cameras and sophisticated lighting tripods, who photographed the mosaic from every possible angle. President Moshe Katsav is due to give the pictures that were taken to Pope Benedict XVI in Rome this week. The Vatican's ambassador in Israel, Pietro Sambi, was one of the first to take interest in the discovery, shortly after the initial report was broadcast.

The main question that occupies everyone, and will continue to do so during the coming months, is what to do with the ancient and important floor: leave it within the walls of the prison, move it for display elsewhere, or leave it in situ and move the prison to another location. This is a thorny question whose answer many parties will seek to
influence, but only the government will cast the deciding vote here.

According to the Christian faith, Mount Megiddo, called Armageddon in the New Testament, is the site where the apocalyptic war of Gog and Magog will take place; following this war, Jesus is supposed to rise again and bring redemption to the world. To judge by the current rumblings, three statutory bodies have already begun to plan for a miniature war of Gog and Magog here: the IAA, which will seek to extend its jurisdiction over the important findings, the parks authority, which will seek to annex it to Tel Megiddo, and the IPS, which will not want to give up the premises of the facility where the discoveries were made.
Meanwhile, the IAA has decided to transfer the mosaic to its laboratories to conduct vital maintenance and preservation work, but they made a point of emphasizing that this was only a temporary move and that the floor would be returned to its original spot after this work is completed.
IPS officials, meanwhile, are saying: "We are elated about the value of the mosaic, just as much as the IAA's officials." But they make a point of emphasizing the extreme shortage of prison space and the fact that they had already invested a large sum in expanding the Megiddo Prison prior to the discovery.

The decision concerning whether to turn the Megiddo area into an international tourist site or to keep the prison there will ultimately be made by the government. But the members of that government are currently preoccupied with much more pressing issues.

The tourism minister, Abraham Hirchson, was quick to declare, already at the beginning of last week: "The prison should be moved to another spot and Megiddo should be developed into a tourist site that will attract hundreds of thousands of tourists." However, it is doubtful whether any of his colleagues, who are currently busy securing their political futures, have given any thought to the future of the ancient Christian church at Megiddo. The fate of the mosaic will apparently be decided by the next government, whenever it is formed.

Posted on Sat, Sep. 23, 2000
 

WORLD STAGE | Rumors of the ultimate war

Armageddon: Soon?

The crises in the Middle East have some saying the end times are near.

By HELEN T. GRAY
The Kansas City Star

“Israel cannot allow Iran to be nuclear, and America cannot allow Iran to be nuclear.”

JOHN HAGEE
 

John Hagee and Stephen J. Stein are of completely different minds when it comes to predicting whether the world is fast approaching the biblical “last days.”

Hagee, an author of 21 books and a San Antonio pastor with a worldwide radio and television ministry, is convinced recent armed conflict in the Middle East and the specter of Iran are proof that the apocalyptic battle of Armageddon — the war to end all wars to be fought in Israel — is not far off.

“The end of the world as we know it is rapidly approaching,” Hagee writes in Jerusalem Countdown, the latest of his six books on the end times.

Stein, on the other hand, is an Indiana University emeritus professor who has made a study of the apocalyptic predictions held by people like Hagee, and to date, he contends, they’ve all been wrong.

“There have been evangelical preachers in America talking about the end times for more than 2 1/2 centuries,” said Stein, author of The Continuum History of Apocalypticism. And the end has yet to come.

Historically the volume of talk of “end times” prophecies, of the “final days” and of Armageddon increases when armed conflict breaks out in the Middle East, such as the recent war between Israel and Hezbollah. And now, for Hagee in particular, the standoff involving the United States, Israel and Iran is a sign of biblical prophecy.

To arrive at these predictions, conservative Christian pastors like Hagee and the Rev. Jerry Falwell interpret sections of the Old Testament, particularly the books of Ezekiel and Daniel, as prophecy, or predictions, of coming events.

Falwell recently said that “the present-day events in the Holy Land may very well serve as a prelude or forerunner to the future battle of Armageddon and the glorious return of Jesus Christ.”

Christians who subscribe to this biblical interpretation generally come from the conservative Protestant wing of Christendom. Other branches of Christianity, such as Roman Catholics and many mainline Protestant denominations, express little interest in end-times discussions. Among those who believe certain world events point back to biblical prophecy, not all agree about how it will come or when.

Is Iran Magog?

Earlier this week President Bush and Iran’s president spoke separately to the United Nations. One issue on which the men disagreed is whether Iran should be allowed to develop its nuclear energy program, with the possibility it could build a nuclear weapon.

Iran plays a major role in how Hagee sees Old Testament prophecy playing out in the present.

“Israel cannot allow Iran to be nuclear,” he said in an interview, “and America cannot allow Iran to be nuclear.” Stopping Iran could mean some kind of conflict.

“Just before us is a nuclear countdown with Iran,” he wrote in Jerusalem Countdown, which came out earlier this year, “followed by Ezekiel’s war (as described in Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39), and then the final battle — the battle of Armageddon.”

To Craig Koester, however, Hagee and others are reading too much into the Bible. That approach, said the author of Revelation and the End of All Things, “generally involves arranging verses from the Bible in different ways to create scenarios of the future.”

“Sometimes,” said Koester, who teaches New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minn., “they try to link specific verses with events happening in the news today.”

Hagee, however, is not the only author who sees Iran having a major role in the final days. Best-selling Christian author Joel C. Rosenberg, whose novels deal with Bible prophecies, said the next war on the prophetic timetable will be what Bible scholars call the war of Gog and Magog.

Rosenberg foresees this fight “involving a military alliance between Russia, Iran and a group of other Mideast countries who try to wipe Israel off the map. Russia and Iran have never had a military alliance in the 2,500 years since the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel wrote that prophecy, but they are forming one today.”

Armageddon

To the keepers of the Countdown to Armageddon Web site ( www.countdown.org), Armageddon is actually a battle “where God finally comes in and takes over the world and rules it the way it should have been ruled all along.”

In his book The Shadow of the Apocalypse, Paul Crouch, co-founder of the conservative Christian-oriented Trinity Broadcast Network, writes, “Jesus Christ … will rescue Israel, avenge those who have suffered in his name, punish the wicked, redeem the earth, imprison Satan and reign victorious over the earth.”

The name Armageddon is found in Revelation 16:16. It is part of a vision of the Apostle John in which kings from the East gather to oppose God. The name in Hebrew means Mount of Megiddo.

“Since Megiddo was a place where various armies were defeated (in history),” Koester said, “the name Armageddon is suitable for the battle at which the forces of evil are defeated at the end of time.”

The battle represents the final showdown between the forces of good and evil, said Cathy N. Gutierrez, religion professor at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, who writes on religion topics.

“While all three major monotheisms — Judaism, Christianity and Islam — believe in some version of an ultimate conflict between these forces, the use of the word Armageddon itself usually denotes a Christian understanding of these events,” she said.

“The second half of the Book of Daniel (chapters 7-12) is the original Judaic source for an apocalypse, or the final confrontation,” she said. “The Book of Revelation in the New Testament relies heavily on the predictions in Daniel, and many people have tried to use the two in conjunction to predict the arrival of the end time.”

In addition to Revelation 16:16, the chapters of Isaiah 63, Joel 3 and Zechariah 14 also speak of the final victory of God, Koester said.

“The battle itself is pictured in Revelation 19:11-21, where Christ appears as a rider on a white horse,” he said. “Literalistic interpreters generally focus on the devastation of the battle and link it to modern military technology, though they usually have to ignore the fact that the people in the vision are riding on horses.

“Interpreters who read Revelation literalistically will argue that armies will gather at the site of the ancient town of Megiddo,” Koester said. “… Other interpreters point out that the Old Testament names used in Revelation frequently have a symbolic meaning.”

Signs

During the recent fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, author Rosenberg told CNN that he sees Bible prophecy unfolding bit by bit in the Middle East right now. He has put forth his theories of events leading to the last days in novels such as The Ezekiel Option and The Copper Scroll and an upcoming nonfiction book, Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future.

“There’s no question that we’re living in what the Bible calls the last days,” he said.

But Gutierrez said that throughout history the end-times prophecy passages have been interpreted to relate to many different times and events.

“In the 20th century the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union were seen as signs,” she said. “With the uncertainty in the world and particularly with any crisis in the Middle East, people reach to the idea of Armageddon in order to explain contemporary suffering and to fit scary events firmly into a divine plan so that history at least does not seem random or out of control.”

Stein added, “Some Christians have talked about the re-establishment of the state of Israel, the rebuilding of the temple in Israel, the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, etc., as signs of the times that precede the final struggle,” he said. “Others have identified the defeat of secular forces as the result of the battle. Any opponent or enemy can be linked to the evil side.”

Koester said he doesn’t think the Bible gives a step-by-step description of events that will take place at the end of time.

“Biblical prophecies give Christians the confident hope that God will defeat evil in the end,” he said. “… The Scriptures call Christians to put their faith in God rather than in their abilities to know where we are on God’s time line.”

But Hagee is unwavering in his faith that his assessment that Ezekiel’s prophecy is coming to life today.

“Following Ezekiel 38, Russia will give military leadership to the radical Islamics who want to destroy the state of Israel and control Jerusalem,” he said. “That is the battle of Gog and Magog. And God himself will destroy the Russian-Arab coalition. The world will see God defending Israel as it hasn’t seen since Pharaoh.”

Statement: Events such as the rebirth of the state of Israel, wars and instability in the Middle East, recent earthquakes and the tsunami in Asia are evidence that we are living in what the Bible calls the last days.

NEWS


Israeli Nuclear Strike On Iran Turned Back

By William Thomas
Jan 18th 2007
www.willthomas.net

A recent strike by nuclear-armed Israeli Air Force fighter-bombers bound for targets in Iran was turned back after being intercepted by U.S. fighters over Iraq, this reporter has learned.

Two sources have independently confirmed the encounter, which took place on January 7, 2007. Though the first informant offered few details beyond an initial tip, a second source long-known by this reporter to have well-placed U.S. and “non-U.S.” military and government contacts provided specific information regarding the raid, which was aimed at the radical religious ayatollahs holding ultimate power in Iran.

Israeli nuclear strikes are not unprecedented. Soon after Desert Storm, U.S. Navy pilots told this reporter in Kuwait how in late 1990 Israel made good on its pledge to respond in kind to WMD attacks by launching nuclear-armed aircraft against Baghdad following a lethal assault on Tel Aviv by Scud missiles tipped with chemical warheads. That air strike was called off when the Americans refused to provide the vital IFF codes needed to fly through U.S.-controlled airspace.

When questioned concerning the “Identification Friend or Foe” transponder codes needed to overfly Iraq today, this source said that allied Israeli aircraft are routinely provided “squawk codes” when flying missions aimed at acquiring the characteristics of air defence radars triggered by their approach to Syrian, Jordanian, Iranian and U.S.-controlled Iraqi airspace.

This source added that visiting IAF warplanes are routinely “topped off” by American aerial refueling tankers, but only on condition that the Israeli jets fly a “racetrack” holding pattern—and do not continue “downtown” toward Iran.

The designated turn back point is the “160 station”—a clearly charted tapline road located 160 kilometers from Baghdad. Any aircraft proceeding beyond this point must declare its intentions. Otherwise, a USAF F-15 will take position off its wingtip. After waggling its own wings to attract attention, if the interloper fails to turn back, the American Eagle “drops behind and gets tone” by locking a Sidewinder anti-aircraft missile onto the offending plane.

According to this very reliable source, on two previous occasions Israeli fighter-bombers armed with nuclear bombs have headed “downtown” before being turned back over Iraq.

The January 7th mission, which trespassed beyond 160 station before being recalled by Israeli authorities, comprised three IAF F-16s. Each carried conventional munitions—as well as a single 20-kiloton nuclear bomb.

The atomic detonation that razed the city of Hiroshima and killed 140,000 people outright was a 13-kiloton blast. [Agence France-Presse Aug 6/05]

DEADLY DEFENCES
This report of an attempted nuclear strike contradicts military analysts who have long maintained that Israel would deploy as many as 25 I-model F-15 fighter-bombers from the 69th Squadron based at Hatzerim Air Base in the northern Negev, about 50 miles south of Tel Aviv. Any Israeli Air Force attack, it is believed, must first suppress Iranian air defenses, while ensuring that enough conventionally-armed F-15s get through to set back that country’s widely dispersed nuclear program for many years.

The latest model F-15 can carry as much ordnance as a neighborhood-flattening World War II B-17 heavy bomber. As the independent think tank Strategic Forecasting points out, the IAF “has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to conduct long-range strikes”—including the 1976 raid on Entebbe, 2,600 miles from Israel, and a 1985 attack on the PLO headquarters in Tunis, 1,500 miles away. [www.stratfor.com]

But Iran’s air defenses are far more formidable than any the Israeli Air Force has yet faced. Manufactured at the KBM factory near Moscow, Russian-supplied SA-18 Igla-S mobile missile batteries are said to be highly effective against low-flying jets. According to Russian intelligence sources known as DEBKA, the Igla’s mobility “makes them difficult to target and limits the maneuverability of Israeli planes.”

DEBKA has also revealed that Russian advisers from the Raduga OKB engineering group based in Dubna near Moscow have completed installing two advanced radar systems around the Bushehr nuclear reactor on the Persian Gulf. Codenamed “Tin Shield”, the mobile 36D6 systems are modified to protect Iran’s Russian-supplied nuclear facilities from American or Israeli aircraft, stand-off missiles, and cruise missile attacks. On January 12, 2006, Tin Shields also went operational around the uranium enrichment plants at Isfahan in central Iran.

Other air defenses supplied by Moscow to Syria—and most likely Iran—include advanced mobile SS-26 Iskander-E surface to surface missiles carrying a 1,000-pound multiple warhead capable of dodging air defense radars and electronic jamming, as well as surface-to-air SA-10 “Grumble” missiles capable of engaging several targets simultaneously at various altitudes, and SA-18 “Grouse” shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles fitted with a 4.5-pound high-explosive warhead. The SA-18 has a maximum range of 5.2 kilometers and a maximum altitude of 3.5 kilometers.

Another major worry for Israeli pilots is Iran’s first satellite. Carried into orbit by a Russian booster in October 2005, the Sinah-1 can provide a “look down” capability to spot low-flying aircraft long before they intrude Iranian airspace.

“The Iranians’ space programme is a matter of deep concern to us,” said an Israeli defence source at the time. “If and when we launch an attack on several Iranian targets, the last thing we need is Iranian early warning received by satellite.”

Moscow has also supplied an estimated $1 billion worth of advanced Tor-M1 anti-missile systems capable of destroying guided missiles and laser-guided bombs dropped from high-flying aircraft. “Once the Iranians get the Tor-M1, it will make our life much more difficult,” worried an Israeli air force source. “We can’t waste time on this one.” [www.envirosagainstwar.org; Sunday Times Dec 11/05; WorldNetDaily.com Dec 11/05]

OSIRIK, THE SEQUEL
According to DEBKA, Moscow intends to secure its investment at Bushehr “against the fate of the Saddam Hussein’s French-built Tamuz nuclear center, which the Israeli air force bombed out existence 24 years ago.”

Fitted with modified drop tanks to extend their range, a trio of smaller, more agile F-16s presents a much more difficult challenge to Iran’s defenders than a larger force of twin-engine F-15s. Renowned for their ability to “tweak” American-supplied weapons, the Israelis have, according to my inside source, managed to reduce the F-16’s radar profile “to the size of a kid’s tricycle.”

As he described it, “We fuel ‘em up and they go off the reservation, hit afterburners, hit the deck, and vanish...”
Demonstrating his insider knowledge, he further noted that the Israelis have modified the original drop tanks supplied by the Americans to simultaneously feed the F-16’s single engine, thereby avoiding the fuel management distractions required to keep the fighter in balance using the one-tank-at-a-time U.S. system.

Also unlike their USAF counterparts, Israeli F-16s can simultaneously jettison their spent underwing fuel tanks without the risk of a tumbling drop tank striking live ordnance suspended under the fighter’s wings.

ONE-WAY MISSION
But even fitted with drop-tanks, unless assisted by USAF tankers or allowed to land in Iraq, low-flying F-16’s will burn too much fuel to return. Unless they receive a message in flight to turn back, this source said, Israeli pilots “have already been told before they get into the plane they are not coming back.” He added that volunteer pilots are prepared to fly their nuclear bombs “into their targets” if necessary.

On January 7, after crossing into Iranian airspace, the three ground-hugging nuclear-armed Israeli F-16s would