Flotilla Does Not Start Gog and Magog Fulfillment

Jerusalem

Some, even from Jewish sources, are suggesting that the flotilla issue with Israel and Hamas is part of the fulfillment of certain prophecies in Ezekiel:

Rabbis: Flotilla Clash Similar to Gog and Magog Prophecy

Israel National News – June 3, 2010

The Rabbinical Council of Judea and Samaria issued a statement Thursday in which it said that the results of the incident in which Israel intercepted a flotilla trying to break the naval blockade of Gaza seem like the Biblical description of “the beginning of the Gog and Magog process where the world is against us, but which ends with the third and final redemption.”…

‘Gog and Magog’ is a reference is to chapters 38 and 39 in the book of Ezekiel, a part of which is read on the intermediate Sabbath of Sukkot (Tabernacles). These chapters describe a vision of a war where the world is united against Israel that will precede the final redemption of Israel and the world. The prophecy’s symbolism involves a prince called Gog of Magog, leader of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, who leads a coalition that includes Persia (Iran), Cush, Phut, Gomer, and Beit Togarmah against Israel. There are various opinions regarding the modern identity of these nations…

The dramatic flotilla incident and the international reactions to it have sparked intense emotion… http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137869

While there likely are prophetic ramifications to this flotilla issue, the connection to the Gog and Magog prophecies is not really one of them.

In the Bible, many link Rosh and Meshech with Russia and Moscow and then to Gog and Magog.

Three times the Old Testament uses the expression “the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal” (Ezekiel 38:2,3;39:1). Here is one of them that also mentions Gog and Magog:

Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:2).

The late Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:

“Gog” in the land of “Magog” is the vast regions of the U.S.S.R. in northern Eurasia extending from the Baltic to the Pacific. “Meshech” is Moscow, “Tubal” is Tobol ‘sk (Armstrong HW. Why Russia Will Not Attack the United States, reprint 1980, p. 8).

So, the COG position has long tended to link Gog and Magog with Russia.

The same reprint booklet states:

Rosh is the ancient Hebrew name for the Russ (“blonds”) who settled in the plains of Eastern Europe in the ninth century A.D. They gave their name to the Russian nation. The people of Rosh are among the White Russians of Byelorussia today. Living next to the people of Rosh are Meshech and Tubal…Josephus calls them the Moschevi and Thobelites…Together, the Caucasian branches of Meshech and Tubal form the two distinct branches of the Great Russians of today (pp. 10,11).

It may be of interest to note that the official names of the Russian federation is Rossiyskaya Federatsiya and hence bears a similarity to the Hebrew word Rosh.

Hally’s Bible Handbook teaches:

Rosh is thought by some to mean Russia…Meshech is thought to mean Moscow; or Muscovy…Whatever may be the exact identification of these peoples, (Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer and Rosh) Ezekiel speaks of them as dwelling in ‘the uttermost parts of the north’ (38:6, 15; 39:2), and there can be little doubt that he means nations beyond the Caucasus (mountains). A glance at the map makes it plain that he has in mind that part of the world known as Russia (Halley H.H. Halley’s Bible Handbook, 23rd edition. Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids (MI), 1962, p. 333).

Interestingly, notice the following news link from The Hal Lindsey Report website:

Gaza Aid Ship Intercepted

Posted Sat Jun 5, 2010

Israel has intercepted the latest aid ship attempting to break its blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The above is in reference to a second ship that Israel just intercepted. Now, while I did not watch The Hal Lindsey Report last night, in the past, Hal Lindsey has indicated that Russia and her allies (Magog and Gog) would soon invade Israel. This is simply not the case. While Hal Lindsey now correctly teaches that the Beast will be a European power, he still seems to suggest that the King of the North will be a Russian led confederation.,

The late SDA scholar Samuele Bacchiochi wrote the following in his article titled LINDSEY’S PROPHETIC JIGSAW PUZZLE:

Immediately after the profanation of the Temple by the Roman Antichrist, an Arab-African confederacy headed by Egypt (the King of the South of Daniel 11:40a) will launch an invasion of Israel.16 Russia and her allies (the King of the North of Daniel 11:40b and Ezekiel 38) will counterattack by sweeping over Arab countries as well as the State of Israel through an amphibious and land invasion of the Middle East.

Europe, not Russia, will be the final King of the North AND that this is not really related to Ezekiel 38.

Ewiak Ryszard also believes Russia is the King of the North. Here is something that he wrote in an essay:

Daniel 11:44,45
Russia again will attack Israel.

Now, this is a biblical problem.

Why?

Because Daniel 11:44 teaches the following about the King of the North:

But news from the east and the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go out with great fury to destroy and annihilate many (Daniel 11:44, NKJV).

Notice that the King of the North is troubled by news from the east and the north. Thus, it would appear that Russia cannot be the King of the North as there are no nations that are north of Russia. But as Russia is north of Europe, Europe geographically better fits Daniel 11:44.

Furthermore, as Israel is also not east nor north of Russia (it is south and slightly west), Ewiak Ryszard’s assertions about it and Daniel 11:44-45 are in error.

Here is another passage from Ewiak Ryszard’s essay:

Ezekiel wrote that after “Gog’s” last attack he will fall and then be buried by the people. (Ez.39:4,11)

But that does not square with scripture. Notice that the Bible shows that the last time Gog attempts to attack is after the 1000 year millennium (which happens after there is no King of the North):

7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea. 9 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them (Revelation 20:7-9).

In another place, Ewiak Ryszard’s essay correctly shows the millennium coming after the King of the North’s attacks and after Armageddon.

Also notice what happens in Ezekiel 39:

39:1 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; 2 and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord GOD. 6 And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD (Ezekiel 39:1-6).

Thus asserting that Ezekiel 38 and 39 refers to the King of the North is in error. The tie to Revelation 20, after the 1000 year millennium, makes much more sense.

In Ewiak Ryszard’s essay he also claims:

Ezekiel Chapter 38 and 39 = Daniel 11:45 …

But Daniel 11:45 states this about the King of the North:

And he shall plant the tents of his palace between the seas and the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and no one will help him (Daniel 11:45).

The description in Daniel 11:45 is not the same as what is in Ezekiel 38 and 39. In Ezekiel 38 and 39 Gog/Magog is helped by “many” (Ezekiel 38:6,15) “peoples” (Ezekiel 39:4), which is not the case of the King of the North in Daniel 11:45.

Despite what Jewish rabbis or Protestant scholars may teach, the flotilla problems are not really related to the prophecies in Ezekiel. The flotillas and interceptions by Israel has inflamed Muslims (especially Turkey). The interceptions may be be pointed to by the one who will become the final King of the South as part of the reason that Muslim unity is desirable.

Muslim outrages and Israel’s need for its own security will likely give the Europeans and others reasons to become involved in a peace deal with Israel (Daniel 9:26-27) and this deal will ultimately involve Israel becoming invaded.

But again, by a European, not Russian, led King of the North.

For information about Israel and the King of the North, as well as Gog and Magog, please check out the following articles:

Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel What will happen to the nation known as Israel? Are the Americans, Canadians, British, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo-Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first?
Who is the King of the North? Is there one? Do biblical and Roman Catholic prophecies point to the same leader? Should he be followed? Who will be the King of the North discussed in Daniel 11? Is a nuclear attack prophesied to happen to the English-speaking peoples of the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand? When do the 1335 days, 1290 days, and 1260 days (the time, times, and half a time) of Daniel 12 begin? When does the Bible show that economic collapse will affect the United States?
Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe?
Is There A Future King of the South? Some no longer believe there needs to be. Might Egypt, Islam, Iran, Arabs, or Ethiopia be involved? Might this King be called the Mahdi? What does the Bible say?
Russia: Its Origins and Prophesied Future Where do the Russians come from? What about those in the Ukraine? What is prophesied for Russia and its allies? What will they do to the Europeans that supported the Beast in the end?
Is Russia the King of the North? Some claim it is. But what does the Bible teach?