Research On The Identity of Gog And Magog In Ezekiel 38 and 39 - Raw Data
(for a series of seven bible studies on Gog and Magog, in PDF ebook format click here)
In response to a question on the nations involved in the battle in Israel described in Ezekiel 39 and 39 which ends with a plague that destroys the invading armies from Gog and Magog. Some are interested in this and the correlation between it, modern events and biological warfare.
Sources: WebBible Encyclopedia, Answers In Genesis and numerous websites and bible dictionaries. I think many sources use Easton's Bible Dictionary which is quite old. My other sources are more cautions but all place the names in the descendants of Japeth in the area of the Caspian and Black Seas and the steppes of southern Russia, the Caucasus and the Central Asian Republics - all now Muslim areas. The meanings of some are in dispute and Rosh may simply mean Prince or Head (its literal meaning in Hebrew) rather than a nation. The following is mainly a cut and paste of the data from various sources as acknowledged.
Please note - these are NOT my opinions but the opinions of those who hold the respective theories.
I have come across four varying theories:
Hashemite Kingdom -Middle-East/ Islamic nations theory that puts the invasion as Iraqi or Jordanian or Turkish led.
Caucasus
Theory - that goes back to Alexander the Great who is supposed to have
built a wall to stop invasions from that area and when that wall collapses
Gog and Magog will come forth and the world will end. Apparently Caucasus
literally means "Fort of God". For a fascinating read try this very
skeptical secular source that takes this line read:
http://www.iras.ucalgary.ca/~volk/sylvia/GogAndMagog.htm
Russian Theory - most common but seems to be based on some pretty poor identification of words but is "sort of credible" I would go with southern Russia (the Muslim area) joining in with the various Islamic republics.
All Europe Theory - sees Gog and Magog as sons of Japeth and thus the originators of the European races therefore indicates all Europe.
My tentative conclusion: The Gog and Magog invasion is an invasion by Indo-European nations descended mainly from Japeth and from "the land of the north" - which would be Russia, the Caucasus, Iraq, and the Islamic republics of Central Asia. There is no mention of nations from the "west" so I do not think Western Europe is involved and that so the B.I. all-Europe option weakens. Historically the Caucasus/Turkey has been "where Satan's throne is" and wild, lawless and anti-Christian. The long dwelling spirit of anti-Christ in their midst will move them to this action. My guess - an Arab or Russian Islamic leader leads a "jihad" coalition of Arab nations and Muslim republics,a plus Georgia and southern Russia and the Black Sea area into Israel out of sheer spite and hubris and is vanquished when his own biological or nuclear weapons go wrong and destroy him and his army. But this is only a guess
THE SOURCES
The seven
sons of Japheth (From Answers In Genesis site)
Genesis 10:1-2 reads:
'Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth:
and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer,
and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.'
The first of Noah's grandsons mentioned is Gomer. Ezekiel locates the early
descendants of Gomer, along with Togarmah (a son of Gomer), in the north quarters
(Ezekiel 38:6). In modern Turkey is an area which in New Testament times was
called Galatia. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus records that the people
who were called Galatians or Gauls in his day (c. AD 93) were previously called
Gomerites.1
They migrated westward to what are now called France and Spain. For many centuries
France was called Gaul, after the descendants of Gomer. North-west Spain is
called Galicia to this day.
Some of the Gomerites migrated further to what is now called Wales. The Welsh
historian, Davis, records a traditional Welsh belief that the descendants
of Gomer 'landed on the Isle of Britain from France, about three hundred years
after the flood'.2 He also records that the Welsh language is called Gomeraeg
(after their ancestor Gomer).
Other members of their clan settled along the way, including in Armenia. The
sons of Gomer were 'Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah' (Genesis 10:3). Encyclopaedia
Britannica says that the Armenians traditionally claim to be descended from
Togarmah and Ashkenaz.3 Ancient Armenia reached into Turkey. The name Turkey
probably comes from Togarmah. Others of them migrated to Germany. Ashkenaz
is the Hebrew word for Germany.
The next grandson mentioned is Magog. According to Ezekiel, Magog lived in
the north parts (Ezekiel 38:15, 39:2). Josephus records that those whom he
called Magogites, the Greeks called Scythians.1 According to Encyclopedia
Britannica, the ancient name for the region which now includes part of Romania
and the Ukraine was Scythia.4
The next grandson is Madai. Along with Shem's son Elam, Madai is the ancestor
of our modern-day Iranians. Josephus says that the descendants of Madai were
called Medes by the Greeks.1 Every time the Medes are mentioned in the Old
Testament, the word used is the Hebrew word Madai (maday). After the time
of Cyrus, the Medes are always (with one exception) mentioned along with the
Persians. They became one kingdom with one law - 'the law of the Medes and
Persians' (Daniel 6:8, 12, 15). Later they were simply called Persians. Since
1935 they have called their country Iran. The Medes also 'settled India'.5
The name of the next grandson, Javan, is the Hebrew word for Greece. Greece,
Grecia, or Grecians appears five times in the Old Testament, and is always
the Hebrew word Javan. Daniel refers to 'the king of Grecia' (Daniel 8:21),
literally 'the king of Javan'. Javan's sons were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim,
and Dodanim (Genesis 10:4), all of whom have connections with the Greek people.
The Elysians (an ancient Greek people) obviously received their name from
Elishah. Tarshish or Tarsus was located in the region of Cilicia (modern Turkey).
Encyclopedia Britannica says that Kittim is the biblical name for Cyprus.6
The Greeks worshipped Jupiter under the name of Jupiter Dodanaeus, possibly
a reference to the fourth son of Javan, with Jupiter a derivative of Japheth.
His oracle was at Dodena.
Next is Tubal. Ezekiel mentions him along with Gog and Meshech (Ezekiel 39:1).
Tiglath-pileser I, king of Assyria in about 1100 BC, refers to the descendants
of Tubal as the Tabali. Josephus recorded their name as the Thobelites, who
were later known as Iberes.1
'Their land, in Josephus' day, was called by the Romans Iberia, and covered
what is now (the former Soviet State of) Georgia whose capital to this day
bears the name Tubal as Tbilisi. From here, having crossed the Caucasus mountains,
this people migrated due north-east, giving their tribal name to the river
Tobol, and hence to the famous city of Tobolsk.'7
Meshech, the name of the next grandson, is the ancient name for Moscow. Moscow
is both the capital of Russia, and the region that surrounds the city. To
this day, one section, the Meschera Lowland, still carries the name of Meshech,
virtually unchanged by the ages.
According to Josephus, the descendants of grandson Tiras were called Thirasians.
The Greeks changed their name to Thracians.1 Thrace reached from Macedonia
on the south to the Danube River on the north to the Black Sea on the east.
It took in much of what became Yugoslavia. World Book Encyclopedia says: 'The
people of Thrace were savage Indo-Europeans, who liked warfare and looting.'8
Tiras was worshipped by his descendants as Thuras, or Thor, the god of thunder.
Arab Nations/ Hashemite Kingdom theory
THE NATIONS
OF EZEKIEL 38
To demonstrate the truth of that, the nations of Ezekiel 38 must also
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.
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.
Daniels' prophecy concerns the final days of the Jews, and their holy city
Jerusalem. The story is very complete, as it starts you out by developing
the land area on which the drama is going to play out, along with the information
of who the spiritual influences are that are over those lands. He brings us
to the end time days, and describes a new kingdom growing up in that very
same land, with the very same capital, and the king that sits upon the throne
in that kingdom becomes possessed by one of those spiritual influences.
Revelations 13 and 17 directs you at who the spiritual leader is. [Read the
Beast behind Antichrist]
But the point of this story is to demonstrate that by taking the territory
of Magog, for where it has always been, and right where it still is today,
and leave it there, then Daniels' whole story is as clear as a bell, just
as God said it would be in it's time. The circumstances evolving in the lands
of the Bible on today's stage of history are playing out Daniels' story to
the letter.
The following
is taken from the work of Carl Ludwigson:
Ezekiel's Gog / Antichrist is the enemy from the north. In the Old Testament,
the king of the north has reference to the areas of Syria, Turkey, and Iraq.
The word north is used of Syria or the Old Seleucid Empire six times, of Babylon
sixteen times, of Assyria one time, and of Iran one time. These are the lands
once occupied by Magog, Gomer, Togarmah, Meshech and Tubal.
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 is appalling. Meshech is NOT Moscow; Moscow just had its 850th birthday.
Some have interpreted the Hebrew word 'rosh' in Ezekiel 38:3, which is translated
'chief', to be a reference to Russia. 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 word 'rosh',
or chief, is prepositive and does not mark the tone syllable. See Kautsch
and Cowley's *Grammar*, page 61 item 9.
The word 'nish' or prince has the accent Zaqeph-gadol which is disjunctive
and indicates a pause. See Kautsch and Cowley's *Grammar*, page 60 item 4b.
So Ezekiel 38:3 should be read as follows: "Behold, I am against thee,
O Gog, the prince, {pause} chief of Meshech and Tubal:" Rosh is not Russia.
The Hebrew word 'rosh' is translated head or chief 423 times in the Old Testament.
Again, it is absolutely appalling how some scholars can equate the English
cognate 'rosh' with Russia. Rosh is not Russia.
Thank you Carl Ludwigson for that lesson.
All atlases of the Bible printed before the 1940's [and the Russian scare]
show the land of Magog to be in the Northern part of modern day Iraq, just
north of Baghdad.
Meshech and Tubal are in the area that today is Turkey and portions of northern
Syria as well as northern Iraq.
It is clear that the leader, Gog / Antichrist, will be from Iraq and that
he will become the chief prince of that portion of Turkey and the northern
part of Syria along with Iraq, which is a good part of the Old Hashemite Kingdom.
The Hashemite Kingdom is the Kingdom of Muhammad, the prophet of Allah, the
other side of the regions spiritual coin. The direct descendent of Muhammad,
and the present ruling king of a pseudo Hashemite Kingdom, has vowed to regain
his ancestral land, since it was stolen from him in a military junta in 1958.
His present puny little kingdom was a gift from the British to his Grandfather
in payment for the aid given to Lawrence of Arabia in 1916. At the time, the
land was called TransJordan and belonged to the Palestinians.
The Kingdoms whole story is told in our feature article "The Hashemite
Kingdom", and the story of the Muslim Empire is a feature article by
the same name. Read them, and fill in the blanks from this story.
The present Hashemite King fits Daniels' 'little horn' character to a tee.
As a king he is insignificant, his kingdom is poor, under constant threat
from his neighbors, pushed around by everyone, and dependent on everyone.
On the other hand, his religious royalty position entitles him to great respect.
He is considered an honorable man, one who can be trusted. He holds the keys
to the temple mount in Jerusalem by treaty, and has recently exercised the
power that it brings, when he confronted the PLO leader, who had to be reminded
of who was in charge.
His rise to being hailed by friends and foe alike as 'The Peacemaker' in the
region is largely due to two things. First his religious royalty status, and
second, his powerful western friends. The West is behind him with whatever
it takes to get a peace settlement in that part of the world, and bring security
to Israel and stability to the oil.
The terms of the peace agreement must allow for the rebuilding of the temple,
on temple mount, in Jerusalem. Also, the peace and security for Israel. He
is working overtime in bringing this about.
The people of Israel in the meantime state, that anyone who does these two
things, brings peace and security, and rebuilds the temple, will be hailed
as their Messiah, no matter if he is Jew or Gentile.
This is what blinds the Jews into accepting a false deliverer.
Gog, from Magog will become Gog when the false deliverer has risen to his
power position, and as Daniel puts it, he becomes the eighth ruler out of
the seventh kingdom in the succession of kingdoms who had authority over the
Jews, and flowed through Babylon. The kingdoms were; Egypt, Assyria, Babylon,
Medo-Persia, Grecia, Rome, Hashemite [the seventh, modern day kingdom] and
out of it, the eighth ruler ascends the throne, but as the possessor of the
little horn, seventh king, who is the Hashemite King.
The peacemaker is already on the scene, and he's making peace, but getting
ready for war. His pals the US just sent him $100 million worth of arms, with
another $200 million on the way. I find it strange that he needs all those
weapons in the midst of peace, but don't forget, there is a little uprooting
that has to be done, to save the peace, once it's signed, and announced.
When the Muslim people find out that they are going to build a temple on temple
mount, there will be opposition to say the least, and the opposition will
be stopped with those weapons, and the rest of the weapons of the leaders
of the world who want peace, and they will come running just as fast as they
did when Bush called to stop Saddam from getting control of the oil.
In his peacemaking efforts, the king just saved the process, by showing up
at Arafat's camp in the middle of the night, and spent seven hours convincing
him to move forward on the Hebron agreement.
I really would have liked to have been a fly on the ceiling in that room during
those conversations. I could speculate, but no need. The events are happening
very fast now.
I think they will have this well on the way to peace within the next couple
of years. But remember, the Christians will not see the peace, only the events
leading up to it.
Keep your eye on the peacemaker. Look for him to do other significant things
that bring them closer to peace, because the closer the peace, the closer
the catching away.
All of the things I have pointed out are happening on today's stage of history.
When you don't look to Russia to find the territory of Magog, the events of
present history come into focus and point out just who the characters in the
drama are and how they fit into Daniels Prophecy. And, it all fits perfectly,
without trying to force any part of the actual history of it into the prophecy,
or visa versa.
Caucasus Region Theory
Meshech
Meaning: drawing out
the sixth son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2), the founder of a tribe (1 Chr. 1:5;
Ezek. 27:13; 38:2,3). They were in all probability the Moschi, a people inhabiting the Moschian
Mountains, between the Black and the Caspian Seas. In Ps. 120:5 the name occurs
as simply a synonym for foreigners or barbarians. "During the ascendency
of the Babylonians and Persians in Western Asia, the Moschi were subdued;
but it seems probable that a large number of them crossed the Caucasus range
and spread over the northern steppes, mingling with the Scythians. There they
became known as Muscovs, and gave that name to the Russian nation and its
ancient capital by which they are still generally known throughout the East"
Tubal
(1.) The fifth son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2).
(2.) A nation, probably descended from the son of Japheth. It is mentioned
by Isaiah (66:19), along with Javan, and by Ezekiel (27:13), along with Meshech,
among the traders with Tyre, also among the confederates of Gog (Ezek. 38:2,
3; 39:1), and with Meshech among the nations which were to be destroyed (32:26).
This nation was probably the Tiberini of the Greek historian Herodotus, a
people of the Asiatic highland west of the Upper Euphrates, the southern range
of the Caucasus, on the east of the Black Sea.
.) A Reubenite (1 Chr. 5:4), the father of Shimei.
(2.) The name of the leader of the hostile party described in Ezek. 38,39,
as coming from the "north country" and assailing the people of Israel
to their own destruction. This prophecy has been regarded as fulfilled in
the conflicts of the Maccabees with Antiochus, the invasion and overthrow
of the Chaldeans, and the temporary successes and destined overthrow of the
Turks. But "all these interpretations are unsatisfactory and inadequate.
The vision respecting Gog and Magog in the Apocalypse (Rev. 20:8) is in substance
a reannouncement of this prophecy of Ezekiel. But while Ezekiel contemplates
the great conflict in a more general light as what was certainly to be connected
with the times of the Messiah, and should come then to its last decisive issues,
John, on the other hand, writing from the commencement of the Messiah's times,
describes there the last struggles and victories of the cause of Christ. In
both cases alike the vision describes the final workings of the world's evil
and its results in connection with the kingdom of God, only the starting-point
is placed further in advance in the one case than in the other."
It has been supposed to be the name of a district in the wild northeast steppes
of Central Asia, north of the Hindu-Kush, now a part of Turkestan, a region
about 2,000 miles northeast of Nineveh.
Magog
Meaning: region of Gog
the second of the "sons" of Japheth (Gen. 10:2; 1 Chr. 1:5). In
Ezekiel (38:2; 39:6) it is the name of a nation, probably some Scythian or
Tartar tribe descended from Japheth
They are described as skilled horsemen, and expert in the use of the bow.
The Latin father Jerome says that this word denotes "Scythian nations,
fierce and innumerable, who live beyond the Caucasus and the Lake Maeotis,
and near the Caspian Sea, and spread out even onward to India." Perhaps
the name "represents the Assyrian Mat Gugi, or 'country of Gugu,' the
Gyges of the Greeks" (Sayce's Races, etc.).
Togarmah
(1.) A son of Gomer, and grandson of Japheth (Gen. 10:3).
(2.) A nation which traded in horses and mules at the fairs of Tyre (Ezek.
27:14; 38:6); probably an Armenian or a Scythian race; descendants of (1).
Gomer
Meaning: complete; vanishing
(1.) The daughter of Diblaim, who (probably in vision only) became the wife
of Hosea (1:3).
(2.) The eldest son of Japheth, and father of Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah
(Gen. 10:2, 3), whose descendants formed the principal branch of the population
of Southeastern Europe. He is generally regarded as the ancestor of the Celtae
and the Cimmerii, who in early times settled to the north of the Black Sea,
and gave their name to the Crimea, the ancient Chersonesus Taurica. Traces
of their presence are found in the names Cimmerian Bosphorus, Cimmerian Isthmus,
etc. In the seventh century B.C. they were driven out of their original seat
by the Scythians, and overran western Asia Minor, whence they were afterwards
expelled. They subsequently reappear in the times of the Romans as the Cimbri
of the north and west of Europe, whence they crossed to the British Isles,
where their descendants are still found in the Gaels and Cymry. Thus the whole
Celtic race may be regarded as descended from Gomer.
Rosh
(Ezek. 38:2, 3; 39:1)
Rosh is rendered "chief" in the Authorized Version. It is left untranslated
as a proper name in the Revised Version. Some have supposed that the Russians
are here meant, as one of the three Scythian tribes of whom Magog was the
prince. They invaded the land of Judah in the days of Josiah. Herodotus, the
Greek historian, says: "For twenty-eight years the Scythians ruled over
Asia, and things were turned upside down by their violence and contempt."
(See BETHSHEAN
Russian Theory
Ezekiel
38 & 39
European-Russian-Islamic Invasion of Israel By Walid
Why is Russia and Islam the only candidate?
We have a biblical confirmation that the "north country" is indeed Russia: Jeremiah 23:8 But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land. (KJV)
Jeremiah 31:8 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth, [and] with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travaileth with child together: a great company shall return thither. (KJV)
Isa 43:6 "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;" (AV) Since the largest immigration of Jews in history ever past was from Russia we have a confirmation that Russia is "the land of the uttermost north" "north country".
Indeed the very Moscow is straight north of Israel.
Drawing a straight line north of Jerusalem on the map almost hits Moscow.
The invaders are primarily the children of Japheth (Indo-Europe) and Hem's Cush and Put (Muslim)
So it's the entire house of Gomer (Ashkenaz, Riphath, Togarmah)., the entire house of Magog, the entire house of Tubal, and the entire house of Meshech.
Rosh: The Hebrew lexicon of Brown, Driver, and Briggs indicates that Rosh here is the proper name of a people, and a country "Russia" "Russians". "Rosh" was the name of the tribe dwelling in the area of the Volga. And "Rosh" is the word for "Russia" today in some languages of the world. In Belgium and Holland it is "Rus." Here, abbreviated, it's "Russ," The name 'Russia' dates only from the seventeenth century and was formed from the ancient name 'Russ.'
Arno C. Gaebelein in 1890 wrote regarding Ezekiel 38: "This is Russia, Moscow, and Tobolsk."
Josephus. In Book I, Chapter VI of his work, this historian who lived almost two thousand years ago stated that the Scythians were called Magogites by the Greeks. Why is that important? The Scythians populated Russia. Rosh: Professor G. Rawlinson also identifies them with modern Russia. Secular history also trace the Scythians, who lived in the northern regions above the Caucasus Mountains, as forerunners of modern Russia. The Bible confirms this conclusion by giving the location three times calling it "the uttermost north" (38:6, 15; 39;2; KJV).
The Hebrew lexicon of Brown, Driver, and Briggs indicates that Rosh here is the proper name of a people, and a country "Russia" "Russians". Arabic writers confirm that the great wall of China is called the wall of Magog (Hait Al-Ma'ajooj), to protect China from the invading Russians. Dr. Louis Bauman wrote in Russian Events in the Light of Biblical Prophesy, p. 24, that "Our Lord's own Bible, the Septuagint, speaks of `Gog' as `the prince of Rosh.' If modern lexicographers are consulted as to what nation now represents `Rosh,' nearly all of them, together with most expositors, say, Russia.''
They were a nomadic people who lived in the northern central part of the Eurasian steppes (located in Eastern Europe).
The Revised Standard version of the Bible translates this verse as: "Set thy face against Gog of the land of Magog, of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.'' In this case, the name `Rosh' is a proper name and is the root word from which we get the word Russia. William Kelly, in Notes on Ezekiel (pp. 192-193), says: "It is true that `Rosh,' when the context requires it to be a common appellative, means `head,' or `chief.' But it is this sense which in the present instance brings in confusion.
There can be no doubt therefore that it must be taken as a proper name, and here not as a man as in Genesis 26:2, if the common reading stands, but as a race. This at once furnishes a suitable sense, which is strengthened by the term which precedes it as well as by those that follow. Meshech and Tubal fix Rosh as meaning a Gentile name Rosh.
In the Talmud (L. Gensburg, 1889/58), Magog is the country of the White Huns (or southern Russia).
The majority of the scholars on Bible prophecy identify Russia with these names before Russia became a super power. C. I. Scofield in 1909, and before Russia had any significance in world power during the Czars of Russia commented; "That the primary reference is to the northern (European) powers, headed up by Russia, all agree....The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification. Russia and the northern powers have been the latest persecutors of dispersed Israel.".
Meshech: the Assyrians, for example, mentioning the Tabal and Musku, whilst Herodotus also writes of the Tiberanoi and Moschoi. A very much earlier reference to the posterity of Mesbech is an inscription of c.1200 BC which tells us how they overran the Hittite kingdom; and an inscription of Tiglath-Pileser I c. 1100 BC, who tells us that, in his own day, the Muska-a-ia were able to put an army of 20,000 men into the field. The activities of this same people are also subsequently reported by Tukul-ti-ninurta II, Ashurnasirpal II, Sargon and Shalmaneser III, who refers to them as the Mushki. Josephus knew them as the Mosochenu (LXX. Mosoch), whom, he says were known in his days as the Cappadocians (but see 34). He also points out that their chief city was known to his contemporaries as Mazaca, which was also once the name of the entire nation.
Some later writers have pointed out that the name is preserved in the old tribal name of the Muscovites of Russia, who gave their name in turn to the city of Moscow. Such an identification, it must be said, is not at all unlikely, especially when we consider the subsequent history of their historically close associates, the people of Tubal, and the fact that the name of the city is still today rendered in the Russian tongue as Moskva - an exceedingly close, not to say identical relationship to the Assyrian Musku. Intriguingly, we read in the book of Ezekiel 38:2 of 'Gog of the land of Magug' (see 6), the prince of Rosh, (Rosh is the name under which the modern Israelis know Russia), Meshech and Tabal. All these, with the armies of Gomer (see 2), Togarma (see 5), Persia (modern Iran), Ethiopia and Libya, are to come against the restored land of Israel in the last days. In view of this prophecy, the present-day political stance of these various nations is instructive and immensely sobering (see Map 1).
Magog: Magog: Jerome says that this word denotes "Scythian nations, fierce and innumerable, who live beyond the Caucasus and the Lake Maeotis, and near the Caspian Sea, and spread out even onward to India. " His immediate descendants were known as the Magogites, being later known to the Greeks as the Scythians.
The Scythians came from central Asia, from the regions known today as Azerbezian, Kazakstan, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Kirghistan, and Turkmenistan. They moved westward and conquered what is today southern Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and the Caucasus. Mostly Muslim.
Interestingly, Caucasus literally means "Gog's Fort."
The territory of the Scythians apparently extended to the far reaches of the north, where the winters were exceedingly harsh. All of these territories were until recently portions of the USSR, and in fact are still heavily influenced by "mother" Russia
Gomer: whose descendants formed the principal branch of the population of South-eastern Europe (Gaul, or Gallic). These are the people, interestingly enough, to whom the New Testament Epistle to the Galatians is written. The Galatians were Gauls. Most of us have a Gallic or Celtic (or Keltic) ancestry, and the Gauls and Celts (or Kelts) were descendants of Gomer. They migrated to the north and settled in Spain, France and in Britain. From these Gauls come most of the early families of Western Europe and, consequently, The earliest archaeological evidence associated with the Celts places them in what is now France and western Germany in the late Bronze Age, around 1200 BC of the Americas as well. .
Herodotus (2:33) confirms this, the Franks, or the Gauls, all of whom were closely related. Thus the whole Celtic race may be regarded as descended from Gomer.
Ashkenaz: according to old Roman maps, place them around the area of Poland, Czechoslovakia and East Germany to the banks of the Danube.
The next ally mentioned is Gomer. In the Babylonian Talmud the Biblical Gomer, the father of Ashkenaz (father of the Scythian peoples), who is rendered "Germania." Gomer (Aryans, from Southern Russia). It is interesting to note that Afghanistan is called Ariana (Aryans) in ancient times and is known historically to be Arian people. Hitler landed his planes in Afghanistan without any resistance and the Afghans assisted him because of their heritage to the Arian nation.
Today we use the term Ashkenazi-Jew for Jews from Germany and Eastern Europe. Gomer is also associated with the Cimmerians who eventually established themselves in the Rhine and Danube valleys. So Gomer covers present day Germany and Austria.
Riphat: His descendants gave their name to the Riphaean mountains, which early cosmographers thought of as constituting the then northernmost boundary of the earth. Pliny, Melo and Solinus record the name of Riphath as that of the Riphaci, Riphaces and Piphlataci who were later known to history as the Paphlagonians, the descent and identification of which is confirmed by Josephus (see Map 1). (Refs: 1DB 4:100. JA 1.vi.1. P 1:26)
Put: Put, the next ally of Magog in Ezekiel 38. Put was the third son of Ham, the son of Noah. Josephus identifies him as the founder of Libya, whose inhabitants were called Putites. Put is associated with North Africa, populated by the Berbers and tribes distinct from Cush. Put encompassed the area from present day Libya to Mauritania and the Mahgreb: Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. So we have Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco.
Persia: Obviously Iran and Afghanistan
An interesting article in the Insight magazine reports; "Fundamentalist Islam, looking to Iran for inspiration and support, is spreading across the Middle East and North Africa...Shimon Peres recently stated: "Since the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union, we consider Khomeinism the greatest danger the Middle East is facing...It has many of the characters of communism. It is fanatic, it is ideological, it is religious and claims, like communism, that the end justifies the means. Most of all, it has the same inclination to export its ideas. It does not respect national borders. The Iranian example already has spread to Sudan ...Algeria...Tunisia...Palestinians. The overall aim of these efforts apparently is to create an Islamic belt stretching from Iran through the Middle East to North Africa. Ironically, many Arabs attribute their defeats in wars with Israel to religion: While Israel was built upon religion." (Insight magazine, 9, 6, 1993).
Cush (ETHIOPIA) mostly Muslim. Some consider that other surrounding areas, such as the Sudan (Muslim killed 1.5 million Christians) or Eritrea, could also be included. Cush is associated with the peoples of Southern Arabia and Ethiopia. Ethiopians still trace their ancestry back to Cush.
All European Nations Theory (from a source that may be British Israelite)
It is instructive
to compare Nennius' Table of European Nations (as I like to call it) with
Appendix 3 of this book, the genealogy of the nations of Japheth as recorded
in Genesis. Nennius' source and Genesis are in remarkable agreement with one
another, yet Nennius adds details that are not included in Genesis, for the
natural and obvious reason that the Genesis account is necessarily brief.
Gomer (1), for example, is merely cited by Nennius as being the ancestor of
the Gauls, Nennius omitting entirely the names of Gomer's three immediate
descendants, Ashchenaz, Riphath and Togarmah that are included in Genesis.
(Would he have omitted these if he were merely copying straight from Genesis
itself?) He cites Magog (2) as the ancestor of both the Scythians and the
Goths, and Madai (3) as the founder of the Medes. So far so good. But it is
from this point that the document from which Nennius was working, shows one
or two tell-tale signs of the (albeit remarkably little) distortion that it
has suffered in transmission, whether oral or written.
For example, and as we shall note in Appendix 3, Tubal (4) was the father
of a people known to the Assyrians as the Tabali, whose land, Tabal, (present-day
Georgia in what used to be the USSR, whose modern capital Tblisi perpetuates
the name of Tubal), lay adjacent to that of the biblical Togarmah, (Assyr.
Tegarama). From Nennius, however, comes the added detail that from Tubal came
the Iberian, the Spanish and the Italian races. And this receives at least
partial support from Josephus, who wrote some seven hundred years before Nennius,
that Tubal was the father of the Thobelites, known. as Iberians in his own
day. (5) And as Josephus makes no mention of either the Spanish or Italian
races, nor yet the: descent of the Goths from Magog, Nennius was clearly not
copying from him.
Likewise, Nennius' source cites Meshech (5) as the father of the Cappadocians
(see Appendix 1:10 and 2:18 -- the Caphtorim), an error that also appears
in Josephus. It is doubtful though that Josephus originated these errors,
simply because he was himself working from much older sources. The confusion,
however, was easily brought about, for the name of the Semitic people of Mash
in Genesis, is alternately rendered Meshech in 1 Chronicles. Clearly the two,
the Semitic people of Meshech and the Japhetic people of Meshech, were confused
with one another even in classical times, and it was upon the records of the
classical world that both Josephus and Nennius relied rather than upon any
mere copying of the Genesis record.
Other examples of distortion (albeit still of a minor nature) are seen in
that the Goths are shown to have been descended from both Magog (2), the biblical
patriarch, and from Armenon, the son of Alanus. Armenon himself is stated
to have had five sons, yet only four are named. (Five nations are later shown
to have descended from him.) Similarly, Negue is stated to have three sons,
yet four nations derive from him. The significance of all this is that Nennius
could easily have edited out or corrected these points, thereby enhancing
his own credibility, yet he chose to simply leave them as they are. And it
is this that, almost paradoxically, enhances his standing as a trustworthy
and reliable historian, and it further assures us that we are reading these
exceedingly ancient documents exactly as Nennius read them.
Another
Theory - The Mongols
The Mongol invasion of Europe and the Middle East under Genghis Khan
happened in the 1200's and which ruled some parts of Europe (such as Russia)
for hundreds of years. Hebrew is written in consonants which would make Genghis
very similar to Gog, and Mongol very similar to Magog. The Mongols ocupied
Russia, Central Asia and the Arab nations, only being stopped in Israel at
Ain Jalut (Eye of Goliath) near Nazareth. However no plague is mentioned and
it was not known as Israel or inhabited by Jews or Christians at that time,
and the defeat was not "on the mountains of Isreal". This would
also make it a past event, not a future event. Perhaps a "type"
of the future event?
CONCLUSION
The Gog and Magog invasion is an invasion by Indo-European nations descended
mainly from Japeth and from "the land of the north" - which would
be Russia, the Caucasus, Iraq, and the Islamic republics of Central Asia.
There is no mention of nations from the "west" so I do not think
Western Europe is involved and that so the B.I. all-Europe option weakens.
Historically the Caucasus/Turkey has been "where Satan's throne is"
and wild, lawless and anti-Christian. The long dwelling spirit of anti-Christ
in their midst will move them to this action.My
guess - an Arab or Russian Islamic leader leads a "jihad" coalition
of Arab nations and Muslim republics,a plus Georgia and southern Russia and
the Black Sea area into Israel out of sheer spite and hubris and is vanquished
when his own biological or nuclear weapons go wrong and destroy him and his
army. But this
is only a guess.
Its an interesting
area and may have direct relevance to current events. I hope this article
has helped your own research.
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