Ancient prophecy may be linked to Egypt violence

The civil strife in Egypt seems to be coming to an end. CBS News reported on Saturday that the curfew for civilians would be shortened from 11 hours per night to nine. The Islamist former president of the country, Mohammed Morsi, is in jail along with many leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Over a thousand pro-Morsi demonstrators have been killed by security forces according to a New York Times report. The crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood may have pre-empted Egyptian involvement a soon-to-come regional war against Israel and helped to fulfill a 2,000 year old prophecy.

In Ezekiel 38-39, an ancient Hebrew prophet foretold a future war in which a large Islamic army marched against a reconstituted Israel. Although many of the names of the participating nations are unfamiliar to modern ears, the identities of many can be determined by Biblical scholars. Ironically, Egypt, one of Israel’s largest and most powerful neighbors, is not mentioned in the prophecy even though its modern name is the same as it was in Ezekiel’s day.

Joel Rosenberg, a prominent scholar and insider of both American and Israeli politics, believes that the prophecy of an Arab coalition led by Iran (Persia) and Russia (Rosh and Magog) may be on the verge of being fulfilled. Rosenberg’s 2006 book, “Epicenter,” [Joel Rosenberg’s blog is Flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com and his podcast is available on iTunes] detailed how Vladimir Putin’s Russia and Iran under the Ayatollah Khamenei are be colluding on an Iranian nuclear weapons program that will eventually threaten Israel. Israel’s relations with Turkey (referred to as Beth-Togarmah, Gomer, and Meschech in the prophecy) have traditionally been friendly, but have become chilly since the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid in which several Turks died while attempting to smuggle supplies past the Israeli blockade of Gaza. In the book, Rosenberg pointed out that Egypt and Israel had signed a peace treaty in 1979 that had secured peace between the two nations for more than 30 years.

The victory of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood in the 2012 Egyptian election threatened to change all that. Even before the election, the Muslim Brotherhood had called for a review of the treaty. In 2012, the deputy head of the Brotherhood’s political wing told a London-based Arab newspaper, “We never promised that we would honor the peace treaty with Israel. The treaty is not sacred and we can and should make changes in it.” Israel Hayom also quotes another senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood who said the party’s position “is not to recognize the Zionist entity and not to recognize peace agreements with hostile entities.” It is likely that Morsi would have ignored or renounced the peace treaty with Israel had he remained in power.

The Egyptian military did not depose President Morsi because he threatened war with Israel. Morsi had angered many Egyptians by throwing out the country’s constitution and claiming sweeping new executive powers. Twenty-two million Egyptians signed a petition demanding that Morsi step down according to France 24. The army removed Morsi to prevent the Muslim Brotherhood from consolidating power and transforming Egypt into an Islamist state. Eventually the army used force to disperse pro-Morsi demonstrators and cracked down on Muslim Brotherhood members throughout the country. The provisional military government is considering banning the Muslim Brotherhood according to the Associated Press.

With a series of disastrous wars against Israel still in the memory of military leaders, the army may well have also wanted to prevent the nation from being dragged into another conflict by the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact, Turkey’s Islamist prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, claimed that Israel was behind the coup. The Financial Times noted that since the coup the Egyptian military had stepped up cooperation with Israel to fight Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula. Although the Egyptian generals probably never considered Bible prophecy, their action against the Muslim Brotherhood they may have inadvertently helped to fulfill the prophecy that Egypt would not be part of the coalition against Israel.

The Bible does contain other prophecies of Egypt as well. Daniel 11, Ezekiel 29-30, and Isaiah 19 are all prophecies that deal with the judgment of Egypt. Daniel 11 describes wars between the King of the South, widely believed to be Ptolemy, a Greek ruler of Egypt, who lived 300 years after Daniel. Ezekiel spoke of Nebuchadnezzar’s victory over Egypt. This prophecy was fulfilled by the Babylonian victory over the Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 B.C. and subsequent conquest of parts of Egypt. Isaiah 19 tells of God’s judgment on Egypt and their eventual repentance and worship of the Hebrew God. This prophecy has apparently not been fulfilled in total.

Most Bible scholars believe that the coalition of Ezekiel 38-39, often called the War of Gog of Magog, will occur before the end-time events described later in Daniel, by Jesus in his Mount Olivet Discourse, and by the Apostle John in the Revelation. In 2011, a group of Israeli rabbis said that they believed that the Arab Spring uprisings might be setting the stage for the Magog war. A number of Christian preachers have also suggested that Ezekiel’s prophecy may be nearing fulfillment. Also in 2011, the Iranian government released a film that indicated that the Mahdi, a Shia Muslim version of the Messiah, is will appear soon to lead his followers on a military conquest.

Israeli officials have had little to say about the unrest in Egypt except to denounce Erdogan’s charges of instigating the coup. Reuters reported on August 15 that Prime Minister Netanyahu had instructed his cabinet to avoid public comment about the fighting in Egypt.

 

originally published on Atlanta Conservative Examiner

My prophetic evolution

My understanding of Bible end-time prophecy has undergone an evolution over the years. I’ve always been interested in the Revelation and what might happen at the end of time. I suppose that this can be traced to a comic book.

When I was young, we had a number of issues of Spire Christian comics. Some of these comic books were adaptations of Christian classics that I read later in life. We had a comic version of “God’s Smuggler” by Brother Andrew, “the Hiding Place” by Corrie Ten Boom, “the Cross and the Switchblade” by David Wilkerson, and “Born Again” by Chuck Colson. There were stories of people like Dallas Cowboy coach Tom Landry, the appropriately named Nate Saint, a missionary bush pilot killed by South American natives, Mitsuo Fuchida, a pilot in the Japanese navy who led the attack on Pearl Harbor, and Johnny Cash. There were also adaptations of Bible stories set in modern (1970s) day. I would love to find some of these for my kids to read today.

The one that is most memorable was an adaptation of Hal Lindsey’s “There’s a New World Coming” (you can read the whole thing online here). For a child, this was an intriguing comic. It was also more than a little scary. Fortunately, I was certain that the end of the world was many years into the future.

I also remember reading a short book based on the Revelation at a young age. I think that it was called “Out of Time” or something similar. A brief Google search didn’t turn up this book, but it was a short prototype of “Tribulation Force.” Again, it was a bit scary for me at the time.

Fast forward about 20 years. Pat Robertson’s “the End of the Age” (1995) was more intriguing than scary. So were the “Left Behind” (1995-2007) novels by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. It was these books that probably really inspired me to start reading commentaries and guides to Revelation. It was around this time that I remember praying for enlightenment and understanding for these Bible prophecies.

It was slow in coming, but I think that God did lead me to more understanding. Years later, after watching the September 11 attacks and the Iraq War unfold, I began to realize that there were many similarities between radical Muslims and the forces of the Antichrist in the Revelation. I wrote my first blog, “Islam and Revelation,” and created captainkudzu.com on October 26, 2007.

About the same time, my brother told me about a book called “Epicenter” by Joel Rosenberg. Rosenberg made me realize that to understand what is to come, you have to look at other prophecies throughout the Bible. Rosenberg’s book, which centers on Ezekiel 38-39, was the subject of my second blog post.

As I looked through the Bible, I found many more passages that described the end of the world as we know it outside of Revelation. There were passages in Daniel, Joel, Thessalonians, Timothy, and Peter that also addressed eschatology, as the study of the end-times is formally known. Jesus himself talked about the end of the age in the Mount Olivet discourse that is described in three of the four Gospels. I took much of this information and put it into another early blog post, “Signs of the Times.”

Rosenberg’s book made me think about America. America is the best friend that Israel has in the world. Sometimes America seems to be Israel’s only friend. Ezekiel 38-39 describes a multinational coalition that is assembled against Israel and that is subsequently destroyed by divine intervention. The coalition is led by Gog of Magog, a figure that many speculate is Vladimir Putin.

I wondered how a coalition could be assembled against Israel under America’s watch. The U.S. typically vetoes anti-Israel resolutions in the United Nations and aids Israel in its wars. If a coalition were assembled against Israel, wouldn’t the U.S. intervene? There is no indication in the Bible that it does. That leaves two possibilities for the U.S. Either America becomes anti-Israel at some point or it ceases to be a player on the world stage.

About the same time, the authors of “Left Behind” released the nonfiction, “Are We Living in the End-times?” I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in prophecy. It is very readable and has good explanations and descriptions of figures and events in Biblical end-time prophecy. It does focus primarily on the events in The Revelation however.

As the Great Recession deepened and Barack Obama came into office, I began to wonder if the two events were not related to prophecy. Barack Obama is the most anti-Israel president that the U.S. has had since Israel was reborn as a country. Obama may have inherited the recession, but his policies prevented a recovery and, with his reelection, will lead to an economic lost decade. While he is in office, he is rolling back American power abroad. The Obama Administration seems to fit perfectly with the theory that America will cease to be Israel’s ally or will cease to a military and diplomatic power. A blog, “Why is this Happening?” on Feb. 28, 2009, describes this in more detail.

Along with the decline of America, the construction of a new Jewish temple in Israel is also required before the events of Revelation can be fulfilled. The aftermath of the War of Gog of Magog might pave the way for the rebuilding of the temple. The Temple Mount is now occupied by the Islamic Dome of the Rock mosque. The Israeli government protects the mosque from Jews who would like to clear the mountain and rebuild the temple. For the Jews to destroy the mosque would undoubtedly spark a major war. However, if the mosque were destroyed in the Magog war, it would be easy for the Jewish temple to be built on its site.

A chance meeting led to more understanding about the Jewish temple. In 2010, while traveling home from work on an airline, I met a Jewish woman in the Newark airport. We were eating lunch and I had been at a table by myself. There were no other open tables so she asked to sit at mine. I rarely strike up conversations in airports, but we started talking.

Somehow, the conversation turned to a blog that I had written a few weeks earlier, “the Khazar conspiracy.” This post was inspired by some Ron Paul supporters who espoused the theory that modern Israelis were not Jews. Instead, they claimed that they were Khazars, descendents of an ancient Eastern European nation that had converted to Judaism over a thousand years ago. This theory was easily disproved by modern genetic studies which verified that Jews who migrated to Europe remained genetically distinct from their host populations and that they had originated in the Middle East. Written two years ago, the Khazar article remains one of the most read articles on my blog.

The woman mentioned the Cohen gene, something that I had never of. Upon investigation, I learned that the Cohen gene was a genetic marker that identified the priestly line of Aaron. Not only had God kept his chosen people separate from the gentiles after a Diaspora lasting 2,500 years, he had kept the family of priests separate from Jewish laity. When the Jewish temple is rebuilt, it will be simple for the new priests to be identified from the Aaronic line.

In the years of the first Obama Administration, I saw many signs that my worldview was correct. There began a movement among the Russians and Chinese to replace the dollar with a new world currency. I became more aware of the apocalyptic nature of the Iranian government. In 2011, the Iranians even released a film that said that the arrival of the Mahdi, a Shia Islam version of the Messiah, was imminent. The Arab Spring uprisings swept radical Islamists into power in many Arab countries and destabilized others, a development that prominent Israeli rabbis said may signal the coming of the Messiah. In America, there was apostasy in the church and unprecedented attacks on freedom of religion and the freedom of speech of religious believers. For the first time, voters approved same-sex marriage laws and President Obama publicly pushed “marriage equality.”

As the 2012 election approached, I felt that President Obama would surely be turned out of office. Reelecting him would be like reelecting Jimmy Carter or Herbert Hoover (although Americans did elect Franklin Roosevelt, a similarly disastrous president, to an unprecedented three terms). I felt that if Obama won the election that it would almost have to represent God moving his plan for America’s judgment forward. In September 2012, I wrote “the Biblical prophecy case for Obama’s second term,” which described how Obama might have to remain in office in order for prophecies regarding Israel to be fulfilled.

In the weeks leading up to the election, I felt certain that Mitt Romney would win after his strong performance in the debates and President Obama’s obfuscations in the wake of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. In the end, less than a week before the election, Hurricane Sandy ravaged the east coast from Washington, D.C. to New York City. Obama’s performance in the wake of the storm, particularly his bipartisan appearances with New Jersey governor Chris Christie, shifted the polls enough to allow Obama to eke out a victory. In any case, the reelection of Obama represented a rejection of Christian principles and teachings by a majority of Americans.

It seemed that the path of the storm may have represented divine intervention. In Parade magazine, Marilyn Vos Savant explained the unusual confluence of factors that steered Sandy toward New York: “On Sandy’s way north, it ran into a vast high-pressure system over Canada, which prevented it from continuing in that direction, as hurricanes normally do, and forced it to turn west. Then, because it traveled about 300 miles over open water before making landfall, it piled up an unusually large storm surge. An infrequent jet-stream reversal helped maintain and fuel the storm. As if all that weren’t bad enough, a full moon was occurring, so the moon, the earth, and the sun were in a straight line, increasing the moon’s and sun’s gravitational effects on the tides, thus lifting the high tide even higher. Add to this that the wind and water, though not quite at hurricane levels, struck an area rarely hit by storms of this magnitude so the structures were more vulnerable and a disaster occurred.”

While researching my article on Hurricane Sandy, “’Divine wind’ swept Obama to second term,” I was led to my most recent revelation. I discovered “the Harbinger” by Jonathan Cahn. I was honored to have Cahn respond to several questions that I had emailed him while working on a review of his book.

While I had suspected that America was on the verge of divine judgment, Cahn’s book pointed to specifics. Cahn found hidden but precise parallels between the fall of ancient Israel and the calamities that have befallen America since 2001. In addition to the removal of divine protection that led to the September 11 attacks, the U.S. underwent two financial crashes that occurred on the same day of the Hebrew calendar, a day that called for the cancellation of debts according to Jewish law. American politicians had uttered exactly the same words of defiance to God’s judgment that the ancient Israelites had proclaimed. The American response to the 9/11 attacks led directly to the financial crash, a relationship that even secular observers have noted.

I have come to realize that the Bible is more than life’s instruction book. It is the story of Israel, God’s chosen people. It contains their history and their future. The Bible is, among other things, the story of Israel’s rejection of God and ultimate restoration. It was not until Israel rejected the Messiah that God extended the offer of repentance and salvation to the gentile world.

For that story to be complete, the U.S. must undergo radical changes. It is likely that these changes will happen soon or are already occurring. The process began when Israel was reconstituted as a nation in 1948. In his Mount Olivet discourse, Jesus spoke of a blooming fig tree that is widely believed to refer to a reborn Israel. Jesus says that the generation that sees “these things” will “not pass away” until the end-time events he describes have happened. Obviously this means that the America must cease to be a powerful ally of Israel first.

America may cease to be an ally of Israel as pro-Muslim politicians like Barack Obama become increasingly powerful. It might cease to be powerful. The growth of government and the federal debt might strangle the economy to the point where the U.S. cannot support a standing army of sufficient size to protect its interests and allies around the world. This is already happening to many European nations.

A more catastrophic scenario, and one that I fear may come to pass, is that the U.S. might suffer a military defeat. A “nuclear 9/11” could destroy the American economy. A nuclear attack with an electromagnetic pulse weapon could wipe out the entire American electrical grid and cause mass starvation. Such an attack might be a prelude to a second wave of nuclear strikes or conventional attacks.

Interpretation of prophecy is not a certain thing. Often the realization that a prophecy has been fulfilled can only take place in hindsight. The prudent thing to do is to be prepared. Even if there is no large scale disaster from an EMP attack, we are still subject to local disasters from hurricanes, tornados, floods, riots or even a small scale terrorist attack. The experience of the L.A. riots, Hurricane Katrina, and Hurricane Sandy underscore the importance of preparedness and being able to fend for yourself for at least a little while.

No one can say exactly what lies ahead for America. What can be said with certainty is that if America continues down its current path it will not only face economic stagnation, but it is increasingly likely that there will be more examples of divine “shakings” and judgment. We should all be prepared for disasters and be ready to protect ourselves in an emergency. We should also be spiritually prepared. As Jonathan Cahn told me, “The time to repent, to be saved, and to get right with God . . . is now.”

The Biblical prophecy case for Obama’s second term

It is difficult to imagine how President Obama could be reelected. The U.S. economy is in the midst of one of the worst recessions (or slowest recoveries) in memory. Unemployment has been above eight percent for his entire term in office. Nearly half of Americans receive some sort of entitlement payment from the federal government. This has caused the federal debt to increase by almost six trillion dollars under his watch, a 50 percent increase in less than four years. At the same time, America’s poverty rate has increased in each year of his administration.

Whether or not there is an economic case to be made for his reelection, President Obama is considered the favorite to win the election in November. A possible explanation for this may be found in one of the world’s oldest and best-selling books.

Over the past several years, similarities have been noted between modern Islamic radicals and clues about end-times theology found in the Bible. In his best-selling 2006 book, “Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future,” Joel Rosenberg presented his theory that Russia and Iran are forming an unholy alliance to attack Israel with nuclear weapons. Rosenberg believes that this looming confrontation was foretold by the Biblical prophet Ezekiel thousands of years ago.

The passage, found in chapters 38-39 of the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, describes an international coalition of Arab nations led by Persia, now called Iran, and a mysterious figure called Gog of Magog. Rosenberg traces historical clues that point to Russia as the modern location of ancient Magog. Ezekiel describes how the coalition will be supernaturally destroyed as they try to attack Israel. Theologians believe that the war of Gog of Magog will usher in the end-time events described by Jesus in the Mount Olivet discourse (found in Matthew 24:25, Mark 13, and Luke 21), the Biblical book of Daniel (chapters 9-12), the Biblical book of Revelation, and other parts of the Bible.

Rosenberg is not the only person who has developed a similar theory of divine intervention to explain as well as predict world events. In 2011, a group of Jewish rabbis stated their belief that the Arab Spring uprisings were paving the way for the Messiah. A few months later, the Iranian government produced a film that described their belief that the arrival of the Mahdi, an end-time figure in Shia Muslim theology, was imminent.

Where does the reelection of Barack Obama fit into this picture? Obama is the most anti-Israel and pro-Muslim president in our history. Since the reconstitution of the Jewish state in 1947, America and Israel have had a special relationship. The United States was the first nation to recognize Israeli independence and is its largest trading partner. The U.S. and Israel have close military ties. On numerous occasions, the U.S. has used its veto power in the United Nations to quash anti-Israeli resolutions.

Since Barack Obama became president, U.S.-Israeli relations have become much more strained. President Obama opposed Israeli settlements in territory captured from the Arabs in the Six Day War of 1967. In fact, Obama proposed in 2011 that Israel return to its largely indefensible pre-1967 borders.

Obama has also restrained Israel from attacking Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons program. On August 30, 2012 Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Guardian, “I don't want to be complicit if they [Israel] choose to do it [attack Iran].” Dempsey stated his belief that an attack would “clearly delay but probably not destroy Iran's nuclear program.” Even more recently, last week the White House announced that President Obama would not meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the United States this month.

While Obama has distanced himself from Israel, he has reached out to Muslim nations. In 2009, he offered “a new beginning” to Muslims in a much-hyped speech in Cairo. That same year, he sent greetings to Iran on Nowruz, the beginning of the Persian new year, in which he said that his administration was “committed to diplomacy” and not “threats.” Since then, the Obama Administration has voiced opposition to Iran’s nuclear weapons program and pursued sanctions while it simultaneously issues waivers for the sanctions and resists setting deadlines for Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program.

In the past two weeks, Obama’s Islamic détente has crumbled. Beginning on the eleventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks, radical Muslims began attacking American embassies throughout the Middle East. The attacks, timed to coincide with the release of a film about Mohammed, began in Cairo. A few hours later, the U.S. Ambassador to Libya was killed in Benghazi along with three other Americans. There have also been attacks and violent protests on U.S. embassies and consular offices in Tunisia, Yemen, Lebanon, Iran, Morocco, and Sudan. There were even Muslim protests at the U.S. embassy in London.

President Obama is uniquely qualified to enable to the Iranians to attack Israel in two ways. First, he prevents Israel from attacking the Iranians before they have a fully capable nuclear weapons system. Likewise, the chance that the U.S. will intervene militarily to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability is almost nil as long as Obama is president. In general, the Muslim world neither respects nor fears the United States under President Obama.

Second, President Obama’s economic policies are weakening the United States to the point where the nation is financially unable to support an army that will intimidate rogue nations and terrorist groups. In the European social democracies that he seeks to emulate, social welfare spending is crowding out defense spending. In the past, Europe could do this because of U.S. military aid and assistance. As the U.S. defense budget shrinks, both Europe and North America, along with much of the rest of the world, could be left defenseless. President Obama’s policy has been to reduce America’s preeminence in world affairs. The events of September 11, 2012 reflect that diminished role.

While war with Iran in the Middle East is likely in either case, Obama’s restraint makes the Ezekiel scenario more likely. If Mitt Romney is elected president, it is much more likely that either the U.S., Israel, or both will launch a preemptive strike to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability before it is completed.

If President Obama is reelected, it is more likely that the U.S. will do nothing and will prevent Israel from doing anything until Iran is ready to launch a nuclear strike. In addition to Israel, that strike is likely to target the United States, possibly with a devastating electromagnetic pulse attack that could destroy much of America’s electrical grid. This would almost totally destroy the U.S. economy and lead to the starvation of millions of Americans. In 2009, President Obama canceled the construction of missile interceptor bases in Poland and the Czech Republic that would have defended against an Iranian missile attack.

With the United States economically and militarily impotent, it would also leave Israel alone in the world. The Jewish state would be isolated in a hostile corner of an uncaring world. To assure the continued flow of cheap oil, most countries in the world would not object to allowing the Muslim nations, led by Iran, to destroy their hated enemy.

Why does God care so much about a tiny country in an isolated corner of the world? It may never be understood fully why God loves Israel and Jerusalem so much, but it is clear from the Bible that he does. There are a multitude of verses about Jerusalem and Israel. In Matthew 23:37, Jesus laments, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing.” Likewise, Psalm 122:6 instructs, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.” As far back as Genesis (12:2-3), God promised Abraham, “I will make of you a great nation…. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse….” Spiritually speaking, Jerusalem, held sacred by the world’s three largest religions, is the center of the Earth.

War with Iran is almost certain no matter who wins the presidential election. The Iranians and other radical Muslims are determined to destroy Israel and the United States. The question is whether it will be on our terms or Iran’s. If Barack Obama is reelected, the war will probably be on Iran’s terms and it will set the stage perfectly for the confrontation foretold by Ezekiel more than 500 years before the time of Christ.

 

Originally published on Examiner.com:
http://www.examiner.com/article/a-prophetic-case-for-obama-s-second-term

Why Is This Happening?

Much has been written over the past several months about the causes of the financial crisis. Estimates of blame have ranged from government interference with mortgage markets to lack of oversight by federal regulators to old-fashioned greed run amok. Fewer have looked deeper, however, to explore just why the financial crisis struck when it did, as our nation faced an external threat from a loose alliance of Islamic radicals who aim to spread their religion around the world as well as an election in which the country was asked to choose between a traditional moderate and a charismatic newcomer who aimed to remake America in the image of the European social democracies.

A key to understanding the full significance of the challenge before us is to look beyond the economic and geopolitical realities that are all that most people ever see. Author Joel Rosenberg refers to this as looking through a “third lens,” one that allows us to see the world in terms of scriptural and prophetic realities. The fact that these realities are not as readily apparent as economic and political concerns does not make them any less real.

Without full awareness of the fact, I have been looking through the third lens for most of my life. I was raised in a Christian family where discussions of faith were neither pressured nor discouraged. As I grew older, I did question the validity of the Bible and was able to confirm its authenticity to my satisfaction through books such as Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ and Werner Keller’s The Bible As History among others. The fundamental truths of the Bible, such as the fact that there is an unseen war between good and evil that rages around us, are not in doubt for me.

My study of the Bible included a look at Biblical prophecies, since, if the prophecies were inaccurate, I reasoned, the Bible’s validity would be suspect. In the course of reading the prophetic books of the Bible, I read the Revelation, the last book of the Bible. To me, it seemed that the book was nearly incomprehensible as it was filled with apocryphal (symbolic) language. In effect, much of the Revelation was written in code. As I read other books on the subject, I learned that much of the code could be broken by reading other parts of the Bible. Along the way, I prayed for enlightenment.

Over the past few years, I have incorporated much of what I have learned into my blog articles. As I studied, it seemed that many of the prophecies of Revelation, as well as other books of the Bible, seemed to be on the cusp of being fulfilled. A key prophecy was given by Jesus Himself in Matthew 24:34 when seemed to say that the generation that saw the rebirth of the nation of Israel would see the end of the age (http://captainkudzu.blogspot.com/2007/12/signs-of-times.html). I also noticed that many of the Bible’s prophecies of the end-times seemed to point toward a prominent Muslim role in the latter days (http://captainkudzu.blogspot.com/2007/10/islam-and-revelation.html).

About the same time, I became aware of Joel Rosenberg. Rosenberg wrote a series of novels, beginning with The Last Jihad that contained remarkably accurate predictions of events that happened in the real world almost simultaneously with the publication of his books. His predictions had included a terrorist attack on the US using hijacked airplanes, the death of Yasir Arafat, and a second war with Iraq. Rosenberg soon published a nonfiction book, Epicenter: How the Rumblings in the Middle East Affect Your Future that detailed where he got the inspiration for his fictional works (http://captainkudzu.blogspot.com/2007/10/joel-c.html).

It turned out that Rosenberg’s inspiration was a little known prophecy from the book of Ezekiel. In chapters 38-39 of Ezekiel, the Bible foretells a future war against Israel by a coalition led by Magog and Persia. While the identity of Persia is certainly Iran, most theologians believe that Magog is Russia (http://captainkudzu.blogspot.com/2008/11/who-is-gog-of-magog.html).

Over the past few years, we have seen the pieces for the Magog war fall into place. A few years ago, Russia was written off as a second-rate power. Now it is resurgent as military and economic power. Vladimir Putin has strengthened his control over the country and is now a de facto dictator, if not a latter day tsar, ruling from the behind the scenes. Russia’s desire for imperial expansion can be seen in its recent dealings with the Ukraine and its 2008 invasion of Georgia.

Iran has been in the news as well. Iran’s nuclear ambitions have been a source of international concern for years now. In February 2009, the UN acknowledged that Iran probably has enough uranium to create a nuclear weapon. Additionally, Iran has tested rockets capable of boosting satellites, or nuclear warheads, into orbit. Iran’s rulers have left little doubt that, if they acquire a nuclear weapon, their goal would be to eliminate Israel and the United States. Their belief in the Twelfth Imam calls for them to create chaos in order to have the Mahdi appear to usher in a worldwide Islamic caliphate.

The two nations have already begun forging ties. Russia is supplying reactors for Iran’s nuclear program as well as sophisticated air defense systems to protect them from Israeli or American attack. Russia has also used its position on the UN Security Council to prevent meaningful UN action against Iran.

The list of nations that Ezekiel tells us will join the coalition against Israel is long, but there are two notable absences: Iraq and Egypt. Both nations have taken part in the other major wars against Israel, but both have legitimate reasons for opting out of this future conflict. Egypt and Israel have been at peace since Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin signed the Camp David Accords in 1979. On the other hand, Iraq is still hostile to Israel, but its military was destroyed in the 2003 US invasion. It is currently more concerned with internal security than with liberating Jerusalem. Incidentally, Babylon, mentioned in Revelation as the seat of power of a demonic world ruler, is in Iraq and is currently being rebuilt.

Other factors that may point toward a prophetic event include a spiritual awakening occurring in Muslim countries in which people who have never heard of Jesus experience supernatural dreams and visions that convince them that Isa, the Arabic name for Jesus, is the Son of God (http://captainkudzu.blogspot.com/2008/10/visions-of-isa-muslim-converts-to.html). Although missionaries have preached the Gospel to Muslims for hundreds of years, it is only in the last twenty to thirty years that Christianity has seen explosive growth in these countries.

More circumstantial is the fact that the Magog prophecy is sandwiched between prophecies of the rebirth of Israel (Ezekiel 37) and the construction of a new Jewish temple (Ezekiel 40-48). There is currently no Jewish temple because its traditional site is located on the same spot as the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem. To dismantle this mosque would touch off a holy war of worldwide proportions. If, however, the mosque faced divine destruction, the path would open for the Jews to rebuild their temple. Though Israel has controlled Jerusalem since 1967, the Temple Mount remains in Arab hands. A group of Israeli Jews, the Temple Mount Faithful, believes this will change one day soon and is prepared to start construction on a new temple in short order.

As I watched Rosenberg’s books come true in the pages of the newspaper, I made a few predictions of my own. Well before the Democratic primary was settled, I predicted that Barack Obama would become president, that the US economy would soon be in severe trouble, and that Iraq would become relatively peaceful and stable with the help of US troops, which would remain well into Obama’s presidency (http://captainkudzu.blogspot.com/2008/03/speculating-on-end-of-world-as-we-know.html). The basis for these predictions was a spiritual worldview that seemed to indicate that the stage was being set for a fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy. (To be fair, I also believed that either Israel or the US would attack Iran before Obama took office. I based this prediction on an assessment of George W. Bush’s character, rather than scripture, however) (http://captainkudzu.blogspot.com/2008/08/coming-war-with-iran.html).

My predictions were based on the belief that it was possible that God was preparing for fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy. Ezekiel indicates that Israel will stand alone against the coalition in order to show His power to the world (Ezekiel 38:22). The question then became one of what would prevent the United States, Israel’s most trusted ally, from either taking action in the United Nations to halt the attack or from providing military aid. The most likely answers were a shift in the US position to one that was less favorable to Israel or the possibility that the US was pre-occupied with some other problem.

In recent years, the public mood of the US has started to shift away from Israel, especially on the left. For example, news reports focus on the accidental deaths of Arab civilians while all but ignoring the terror bombings and a steady stream of rocket attacks that kill and maim Israelis, both Jewish and Muslim. This shift culminated in the election of Barack Obama, who claimed during the campaign to support Israel’s right to defend herself, but who nevertheless is rumored to have strongly pro-Arab sympathies and who is unlikely to commit more US troops to defend Israel in another Middle East war.

Additionally, the current deteriorating state of the financial system of the US and the world makes it likely that the US would be too inwardly focused to respond to a rapidly escalating crisis in Israel. The situation is similar to how the US focus on the Great Depression distracted us from the rise of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. With federal deficit ballooning under emergency stimulus spending, cuts in the defense budget are likely under Democratic rule. When the crisis comes, the US may have little support left to give.

An additional reason to believe that the United States has a difficult future is that we, as a nation, have been courting God’s judgment for years. The Bible says to flee from sexual immorality (I Corinthians 6:18), but in America we have embraced almost every sexual perversion imaginable from pornography to infidelity to homosexuality. Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven belongs to the little children (Matthew 19:14), yet in America we kill hundreds of thousands of unborn babies each year. In many ways, modern abortion is akin to the ancient practice of sacrificing children in the fires of pagan gods. Finally, even though statistics show that a majority of Americans believe in some sort of God, we allow a vocal minority to force the removal of nearly all aspects of Christianity and God from public life. This is tantamount to a national rejection of God.

Throughout our history, Americans have typically believed that God was instrumental in our founding and that God had a special plan for the United States. From our nation’s inception, we saw ourselves as the possessors of a manifest destiny to spread the gospels of Christ and democracy around the world. Because of our special national relationship with God, many fail to believe that God will punish our nation. Such beliefs fly in the face of history. The ancient Jews of Israel and Judah believed that since they were God’s chosen people, the nation that watched over His temple, that they were immune from God’s judgment. In the end, however, both nations were annihilated by pagan powers, Israel by the Assyrians in 720 BC and Judah by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Israel then ceased to exist as a nation until AD 1947. The Bible repeats that God is slow to anger, but also states that He is unable to ignore sin and rebellion indefinitely (Numbers 14:18). As someone once said, if God fails to judge America, He owes Sodom and Gomorra an apology.

While it is by no means certain that my theories about God’s judgment on America and the fulfillment of the Magog prophecy are accurate, many of the details seem to fit together extremely well. Coincidences do happen, but at some point, it takes more faith to believe in coincidence than in God’s divine plan coming to fruition. With prophecies and signs from all three of the world’s major religions pointing toward a worldwide upheaval, the notion of a string of coincidences becomes harder to accept. If the theory of prophetic judgment is correct, what action should we take?

First, I do believe that God is forgiving. A passage of scripture that has become popular in recent years is 2 Chronicles 7:14 which states that “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

This belief is supported by the story of Josiah, one of the last godly kings of Judah. During Josiah’s reign, a lost copy of the scriptures was discovered in the temple (2 Kings 22-23). When Josiah read the scripture, he learned that much of what he thought he knew was wrong. He inquired of the Lord through a prophetess and learned that destruction of his country was imminent. Josiah went about removing the pagan cults from Judah and returning his people to worship of God. In the end, Josiah was successful in staving off God’s judgment temporarily. Tragically, after Josiah’s death, Judah returned to its idolatrous and evil ways.

On an individual basis, the most important thing is to entrust your life to Jesus Christ. Whether judgment comes tonight or a thousand years from now, we all must answer for our sins. My life has not been bad by human standards. I don’t have a history of crime, drug abuse, or some other sordid past like many who testify to how Christ changed their lives. However, in God’s eyes, even little sins are punishable by death if we do not choose to accept His forgiveness.

Additionally, another change that I have made as I realized the possibility of dramatic changes to come, is to move to a church that is more interested in evangelical outreach than my former church. (Incidentally, I don’t believe that I’ve heard my pastor preach on end-time prophecies at all. Hear his sermons on your Ipod at http://peachtreecc.org/). Regardless of whether we are living in the last days or not, people in this country and around the world can benefit from a relationship with Jesus Christ. The fact is that one of the few commandments that Christians face is the Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” given by Jesus Himself (Matthew 28:19-20). This doesn’t mean to go out and beat people over the head with a Bible. It does mean to share the Gospel and what it means to us so that they can make their own decision.

If fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy does come to pass, the Russian-Iranian coalition will be destroyed as God intervenes to save Israel from certain destruction (Ezekiel 38:19-23). Following a great earthquake, fire and hailstones from heaven will destroy the attacking army. It will be apparent to the entire world that God not only exists, but is in total control. I hope that people reading this who choose not to accept Christ will remember reading this and remember that the entire event was written down almost three thousand years ago by a prophet of God.

2/27/09
Scottsdale AZ

Who Is Gog of Magog?

2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4
Ezek 38:2-4 (NKJV)

Ezekiel prophesied of Gog, of the land of Magog, a future leader who will one day lead a coalition of nations against Israel. The Bible tells us that Gog will be destroyed by divine intervention just before the moment of his triumph. Magog is not found on any modern map, so how will this prophecy be fulfilled?

A clue to the whereabouts of the land of Magog can be found in the story of Noah in Genesis. In Genesis 10:2, Magog is listed as a grandson of Noah (and a son of Noah’s son, Japheth). Meshech and Tubal, whose names were also mentioned by Ezekiel, have the same lineage.

Scholars believe that Magog and his descendents moved north and eventually settled in what is now Russia. According to the historian Josephus, Magog’s descendents eventually became known as the Scythians. The Scythians were a warlike people who were one of the first groups to master horseback riding and the use of horse drawn wagons. The Tartars, another warlike Asian people who settled in modern Russia, may also be descended from Magog.

Similarly, Meshech is believed to have founded northern peoples. Ethnic Georgian tradition is that Georgia was founded by descendents of Meshech. The Russians believe that the city of Moscow (Moskva) was founded by King Mosokh, another descendent of Meshech. They believe that the name of the city is a combination of Mosokh’s name and that of his wife, Kwa.

Tubal is the third son of Japheth identified by Ezekiel. Tubal’s tribe is believed to have settled south of the Black Sea and eventually moved further into Asia. The city of Tobolsk, situated on the Tobol River in Siberia, is believed to refer to Tubal.

Two other grandsons of Noah are also listed by Ezekiel. Gomer, another son of Japheth, was progenitor of the Cimmerians, a people who settled north of the Black Sea. The Cimmerians are believed to have been ancestors of the Celts. Togarmah (Genesis 10:3) is a son of Gomer. Ezekiel refers to Togarmah “from the far north” (38:6).

Likewise, Ezekiel 38:15 says that Gog will come “out of the far north.” When Ezekiel speaks of the north, he uses Israel, and more specifically Jerusalem, as a reference point. One far northern country would be Turkey, and some scholars do believe that Ezekiel’s references do point there. However, beyond Turkey, Moscow lies the far north of Israel and Jerusalem. Given Soviet support for Israel’s enemies over the past few decades, as well as Russia’s support of Iran today, Russia seems to be a much more likely candidate for the country of Gog.

The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) refers to “Rhos” instead of “Rosh” (Ezekiel 38:2). A tribe of Scythians in Crimea used this name, and the inhabitants of Russia may have taken their name from them. Additionally, the Araxes River, which flows through Turkey, Iran, and Azerbaijan, has also been called the Rhos. An alternative explanation for “Rosh” is that it refers to the Hebrew word for leader and is thus a title.

Finally, the meaning of the word “Gog” remains mysterious. Gog may refer to the name of an individual who will lead the latter days Russian army against Israel. Another possibility is that Gog is a title bestowed upon such a leader. One suggestion is that it may be a contraction of “Chakan,” a Northern Asiatic term for a king.

The clues that the Bible gives about the leader of the coalition can be viewed in terms of modern geopolitics. Two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia is once again resurgent. Oil wealth has provided Russia with the means to revitalize its military.

Vladimir Putin, a former official of the KGB and the FSB (Federal Security Bureau), succeeded Boris Yeltsin as Russia’s president in 2000. He was reelected in 2004, but had to step down in 2008 due to term limits. His handpicked successor, Dmitri Medvedev, immediately named Putin as his prime minister, where he continues to wield considerable power.

Putin’s administration has been characterized by crackdowns on democracy and murders of dissidents. Putin strengthened the power of the Russian executive during his time in office. He has also made numerous veiled and blatant threats against former Soviet republics and, in 2008, was instrumental in Russia’s invasion of Georgia.

Under Putin, Russia and Iran have grown closer. Russia is supplying Iran with nuclear reactors and modern air defense systems. Russia has also interfered with UN and NATO efforts to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Russia and Iran have formed an economic alliance and are very close militarily as well, for the first time in history. Iran, of course, was traditionally known as Persia.

Vladimir Putin may or may not eventually prove to be Gog of Magog. Currently, he is a likely candidate as the de facto ruler of Russia. His entreaties toward Iran, a traditional enemy of Israel, also match Ezekiel’s prophecy and give him a motive to lead a joint attack on Israel at some point in the future.

Sources:
Epicenter: How the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future, Joel C. Rosenberg
Schofield’s Study Notes, Bible Explorer 4.0, Wordsearch, 2004.
Jamieson-Faussett-Brown Bible Commentary, Bible Explorer 4.0, Wordsearch, 2004.
http://www.truthnet.org/islam/Islam-Bible/12Gog-Magog-Russia/Gog-Magog-Russia.htm
http://www.biblicalstudies.com/bstudy/eschatology/ezekiel.htm
http://www.lost-civilizations.net/scythians.html
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0847927.html
http://www.moscow-city.ru/download/source/zima_Guide_engl.pdf/Engl_13.pdf
http://www.answers.com/topic/vladimir-putin
http://www.meepas.com/russiairanfpaanalysis.htm

"Epicenter" Book Review

Joel C. Rosenberg is a fiction author who became famous in 2001 when he predicted in a novel that terrorists would attack the United States using a hijacked aircraft with a crew of suicidal jihadists in his novel, The Last Jihad. Shortly afterward, he predicted the death of Yasir Arafat and an attack on a US diplomatic convoy in Gaza in his second novel, The Last Days (2003). In 2005, his novel, The Ezekiel Option, foreshadowed the rise of a dictatorial Russian leader who would form an alliance with Iran.

In three consecutive books, Rosenberg has been eerily prescient in his fictional works. Is this simply a case of life imitating art, or does Rosenberg have some special insights into world politics?

Joel C. Rosenberg has impressive credentials in international politics. He worked on Steve Forbes unsuccessful presidential campaign. He has also worked closely with former Israeli deputy prime minister Natan Sharansky, former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and, last but not least, conservative talk radio host, Rush Limbaugh.

But there are many people with even more impressive credentials who are considerably less successful in predicting the future of the Middle East. What makes Rosenberg's books so "ripped from today's headlines"?

In Epicenter: Why The Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future, Rosenberg reveals that his muse is none other than the Bible. Specifically, Rosenberg bases his novels on chapters 38 and 39 of the book Ezekiel.

Ezekiel was an Old Testament prophet who wrote from six years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC until about sixteen years later. Chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel are prophecies that describe a war led by "Gog, of the land of Magog" and Persia. Rosenberg dissects the passage and shows evidence that Magog is Russia and that Persia is Iran. Many other nations are also identified as being part of the anti-Israeli alliance.
The focus of Gog's war is Israel. Rosenberg points out that Israel is a traditional foe of Iran. This is borne out by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric about how Israel will soon be erased from the map.

It has been more recently, however, that Russia became directly antagonistic toward the Jewish state. Even though Arab forces supported by the Soviet Union fought several wars with Israel, Russian forces were never committed. Arab forces used Soviet equipment and, it has been recently revealed, Soviet battle plans.

A major crux of Epicenter is that Russia and Iran have never before in recorded history had a military alliance as they now do. Russia and Iran already have numerous economic ties worth billions of dollars. Russia resists UN sanctions against Iran and is even building Iran's nuclear facility at Bushehr. Russia is even supplying the Iranians with air defense systems that may one day be used to defend that facility.

So what does Rosenberg believe is in store in the Middle East?

One prediction is the discovery of oil reserves in Palestine. Huge amounts of oil might provide the motive for a Russian war against Israel. Iran already has ample religious motivations for war with Israel.

Another is the rise of a dictatorial regime in Russia. Vladimir Putin, Russia's president, has already announced that he will not leave government when his last term expires in 2008. He is prohibited from serving another term as president and will instead step into the office of Prime Minister. Vladimir Zhirinovsky is another possibility. Zhirinovsky is a candidate for president in 2008 and has already written a book, The Last March to the South, advocates a Russian invasion of nations to the south.

And how will Gog's war end? According to Ezekiel's prophecy, in the best tradition of the cavalry riding to rescue when all hope is lost and the destruction of Israel is imminent, Ezekiel writes that Gog and his entire army will be struck down and that fire from Heaven will devastate the nation of Magog.

Epicenter is an easy and quick read, and is packed with well-researched information. It contains a wealth of information that will not be found in the mainstream media, especially relating to the spread of Christianity throughout the modern day fundamentalist Islamic countries. Whether you agree with Rosenberg's assessment or not, Epicenter is definitely worth your time if you are interested in the Middle East.