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How does Gog and Magog relate to Armageddon?
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Many are discussing an upcoming, final world war, even if they are unbelievers in Christ. How does the biblically predicted battle of Gog and Magog fit into this scenario?
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Definitions:
First of all, it appears that the battle of Gog and Magog is NOT the battle of Armageddon (the final war of nations).
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Armageddon – attack first from the east, and then an attack by the entire world. They come to one place:
Rev 16:12 the kings east of the Euphrates come.
Rev 16: 14 the kings of the earth and the whole world come (this would include Gog and Magog)
*** I personally think that the “whole world” is not literal. I think it means all those who are personally against Israel, or the Antichrist. If current attitudes prevail at that time, the “whole world” will be represented by those who have an interest in the region, the power that would go with it, and the willingness to fight.
Certain countries, especially Europe, have demonstrated such a cowardice and passivity to terrorism, and other real threats, that they would choose to allow the enemies to invade their countries, rather than fight back. It would be hard to imagine tiny neutral countries, like Iceland and the Philippines, to be involved at all.
I think this passage refers to such a massive amount of troops, that it seems like the “whole world” is involved. But maybe I am wrong.
Rev 16: 16 they all gather in the valley of Armageddon. (Har Megiddo)
*** the Battle of Armedeggon is also described in Zechariah 12-14, where “all nations” come against Jerusalem. The Messiah comes at this point to the Mount of Olives, an earthquake occurs, and Israel is delivered from her enemies, who are destroyed. The Lord strikes the enemies with a plague, and their flesh dissolves.
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Gog and Magog – Attack from the north only, which covers the land:
Eze 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy,
Eze 38:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
***Gog, Magog, Meshech and Tubal are associated in some way. The English translation adds “against him” after the word “prophesy,” but the Hebrew does not say this. These could be 4 separate, but geographically close, regions with their own rulers. Originally, in ancient times, they were all associated with the Middle eastern countries, especially Turkey. Also remember that the Ottoman empire used to control the region.
Gog’s alliance with certain countries only
Eze 38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all your 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:
***think about who, in modern times, would use swords in battle.
***notice he is using horses. The fall of Babylon is associated with a battle using horses (Rev. 14:20).
Why would modern forces use horses?????
Has a missile defense system knocked out the power, and reduced the area to the 19th century conditions?
Eze 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet
***Persia is Iran. Ethiopia and Libya are in North Africa.
Eze 38:6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee.
***Gomer – descendent of Japheth, son of Noah. Gomerites were found in Galatia, which is in modern Turkey. Togarmath is a descendent of Gomer. With general migration of population, many interpret Gomer as Europe. Some interpret Magog as “north” but the bible does not give a location.
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Gog’s attack against Israel and his defeat
Eze 38:15 And thou [Gog] shall come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
***Notice Gog is north of Israel. Many believe that Russia is also involved as descendents of Japeth, and because Russia is also north, with cities named after ancient origins.
Eze 38:18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord GOD, [that] my fury shall come up in my face.
Eze 39:4 Thou shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that [is] with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and [to] the beasts of the field to be devoured.
***Gog gets destroyed in the mountains, not a valley like Megiddo, and becomes bird food.
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Magog is destroyed by fire
Eze 39:6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.
Eze 39:9 And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the hand staves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:
*** there are islands close to Magog. There are islands in the Red Sea near Ethiopia, one of Gog’s allies. Also, there are numerous small islands in the Persian Gulf.
*** what kind of weapons take 7 years to burn? This is one possibility: http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/South/08/09/anniston.chemical.burn/index.html
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The general evil nature of Gog and Magog will persist until the very end when Satan is loosed once more after 1000 years for a final battle.
Rev 20:8 And [Satan] 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.
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Gog and Magog today
The nations of Ezekiel 38 must be taken literally. When that is the case, you find that Magog, the place where Antichrist comes from, is right in the heart of the territory that Satan has always controlled. Ezekiel’s Gog is the enemy from the north (Ezechiel 38:15). In the Old Testament, the king of the north has reference to the areas of Syria, Turkey, and Iraq (Babylon).
****Iran is to the north east, and is involved. Persia (Iran) is mentioned in the attack as an ally.
**** also an ally are 2 kings from the south in this battle – Ethiopia and Libya.
That territory has come down through history in the hands of many nations: Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, Rome, Muslim and Hashemite. Those are the Empires and Kingdoms that have occupied the land of the Bible.
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Possible Location # 1 of Gog and Magog
Meshech, Tubal, Togarmah, Dedan and Syria traded with Tyre six centuries before Christ [Ezek.27:13-16]. These lands clearly define the north. The fact that some scholars equate the names of ancient Middle East cities with modern English cognates seems wrong. Meshech is NOT Moscow; Moscow just had its 850th birthday. The Hebrew word ‘rosh’ is translated head or chief 423 times in the Old Testament. Rosh is not Russia. Although it may be involved in end time events, the kings of the north have historically acted against Israel, whether Russia helped or not.
All atlases of the Bible printed before the 1940′s [and the Russian scare] show the land of Gog to be in Turkey, and Magog to be in the Northern part of modern day Iraq, just north of Bagdadd. Meshech and Tubal are in the area that today is Turkey and portions of northern Syria as well as northern Iraq. This is the center of the former Ottoman empire, which could re-form.
However, if the view is correct that these groups have spread out over time, and went “more north,” then the following maps might represent the Gog and Magog areas.
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Possible Location # 2 of Magog
Jewish Talmudic studies however, identify the regions of southern Iran, Afghanistan, and all of Pakistan as the “land of Magog.” Magog is Germania/Germaya/Gitya, which is a province in Persia. (Jerusalemite Talmud, tractate Megila, chapter 1, Halacha 9, page 10A). According to Josephus, Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians. (Antiquities 6:1) The Scythians were an Iranian nomadic people who spoke Iranian language, but their origins is unknown. The Sakas are considered to be a branch of Scythians by most scholars. Saka is the usual Persian term, while Scythian is a Greek term. (i.e. Saka in Persian is Scythian in Greek).
Further studies have identified the overall current region named Baluchistan as the old Magog/Gitya, and it is actually divided today between three countries: Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. In western Pakistan, there’s also a province names Baluchistan, next to the Iranian Baluchistan. They have also concluded that Gog, is not from Magog, but that Gog and Magog are 2 different nations, and that there will be a war between the 2 of them.
***It looks like Gog is from Turkey and Magog is from Iran/Pakistan/Afganistan. There may be a battle still between Sunni and Shiite Muslims or regions over whose leader will be their final Mahdi. The winner takes the territory over. There is a passage in Daniel 7 where it describes the “little horn” taking over 3 regions. Maybe if there is a battle between Gog and Magog, it is related to the battle waged by the little horn. If so, then the players (Gog and Magog) will be better identified.
Gog is the president of one of the nations, whom Rabbenu Saadia Gaon compared to the Moslem Caliph in his days, because Gog will also rule many peoples. Gogana used to be the name of a port city on the Persian Gulf, which is today called Bandar-e Kangan, in Iran. Therefore Gog, in this view, represents Iran, and Magog represents the Baluchistan regions of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Magog, in this viewpoint, covers the territory that al Qaeda occupies. 
Short term consequence of the defeat
Since Gog and its allies will experience a major defeat, this weakens them to conflicts with neighboring nations. Possibly, a Shitte nation like Iran (Persia), an ally of Gog, would be weakened to such a point that it could be overcome by neighboring Sunni countries. This could allow the Mahdi, if a Sunni, to consolidate his kingdom, or empire.
A united Arab world under a Mahdi
It is possible, from either Location #1 or #2, that the next Islamic leader (Gog) will be from Iran or Iraq/Turkey, and that he will become the chief prince. He would rule Turkey and the northern part of Syria along with Iran/Iraq, which is a good part of the Old Hashemite Kingdom [currently only represented by Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, which pays due to Jordan].
Note that the areas that make up the “head” on the map below of the ancient Grecian “empire map.” This is the general area predicted by Daniel the prophet to produce the last ruler that opposes Israel.
An effort to make a reasonable evaluation of this
This is the Muslim world now, which includes the areas under discussion
Only the dark green area is Shiite. The rest of the Muslim area (light green) is Sunni. It would be reasonable to assume that if Islam had a ruler who would unite the Arab world, it would NOT be a Shiite, but a Sunni. The Shiites have a more elaborate anticipation of the Mahdi, but sheer numbers indicate that the Sunni world will not follow a Shitte leader. As much as the Shiites think otherwise, it appears more reasonable that Iran and its Shiite satellite groups would eventually integrate into the Sunnis to be under one leader. However, I could be wrong. Sometimes a smaller, but more determined group can win against a larger, more passive enemy.
Where would the Mahdi live?
The book of Daniel indicates the ruler and empire that would be most active against Israel will be from the area of the ancient Grecian empire. This narrows the location of the Mahdi. Also, it would be a Sunni area. From other Biblical prophesies (Rev 16), I would also expect the leader to be from a region that is close to the Euphrates River. This narrows it down again.
Conclusion
This area of origin for the Mahdi (area of united Gog/Magog) would be Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, and the other surrounding areas. Notice the primary Shiite area, Iran, is not near the Euphrates. It is fed by the Tigris River instead. So, it is my opinion that the Mahdi, to the disappointment of Ahmadinejad, will not be from Iran. But time will tell if I am right or wrong.
Islams’ view of Gog – just to make this more interesting.
“Muhammad has foretold the return of Jesus (Isa in Arabic), who will materialize when a false claimant to divinity (the Dajjal-Christians) will attempt to misguide humanity into worshiping him.
Jesus will descend from the heavens in Damascus, pray behind Imam Mahdi, pursue and kill the Dajjal (Christians), destroy the savage and unbelieving armies of Gog and Magog and bring peace and brotherhood to the world. Christians will recognize the truth, and accept him only as a Messenger of God; the religion of God (Islam) will justly rule the world.”
Curious Note:
It is so odd to me, that the Christians think of the Muslims as unbelievers, and the Muslims think of Christians as the unbelievers. It amazes me that the Muslims think that Jesus would destroy the Christians, his own followers. I will be glad when Jesus gets here to straighten all this out. It is strange to me as a Christian, that the Muslims think they will be fighting the “unbelieving armies of Gog and Magog,” when, from all biblical definitions, THEY ARE Gog and Magog.
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