The Gog-Magog War Alliance is busy forming- May 2023

THE GOG-MAGOG WAR ALLIANCE IS BUSY FORMING


Ezekiel 38/39 predicts a war, of nations who form a coalition with Russia in the “latter years” (Ez 38:8). There are several verses that make it clear that their enemy is the land of Israel: “the mountains of Israel” (Ez 38:8), “the people that are gathered out of the nations (Ez 38:12), the “land of Israel” (Ez 38:16) etc.


The first part of Ez 38 identifies the nations that shall form part of this coalition, as follows.


RUSSIA (Rosh, so called in the ASV in Ez 38:2. The “chief prince of Meschech” is believed by scholars to refer to the political head of Moscow, called “Gog” in the KJB). It is clear that Russia will be the leader of this coalition of nations.

UKRAINE, KAZAKSTAN, UZBEKISTAN, TURKMENISTAN, AFGHANISTAN (Magog)
With the exception of Afghanistan all the countries here were part of the Soviet Union (USSR). Afghanistan is an interesting one. With American troops occupying the country for two decades until 2021, one would never have thought that it would support Russia. However, with the final withdrawal of American troops, the Russian-backed Taliban quickly took control. China has also claimed interest in the country by aligning with the Taliban. This will give them access to Afghani resources, and prevent the USA from gaining a future foothold in the country.


TURKEY (Tubal, Gomer, Beth-Tomargah).
Turkey has been a Western ally and still is a member of NATO. As such it also came as a surprise to many that the country has switched sides. In 2015 Turkey, under pres. Erdogan, shot down a Russian jet near the Syrian-Turkey border. At the time many feared that this could spark a war with Russia. In 2016 there was a coup-d’etat (either real or perhaps staged) to get pres. Erdogan out. However, Erdogan survived the coup, which consolidated his position. With Turkish elections in 2023 the West is clamouring to get Erdogan out. This has pushed Erdogan over to the Russian side.


IRAN (Persia)
Iran, especially under Shah Reza, was an ally of the USA and the West. For the first time, however, Iran has created military and economic ties with Russia. Russia is particularly eyeing Iranian natural gas, and the two countries have agreed to create an alternative to OPEC, and also to create and interbank payment system. Gas-fields off the coast of Iran will supply fossil fuels to Russia, and Russian money will flow into Iran.


Recently Russia, Turkey and Iran were openly meeting in Moscow. It begs the question- why? What all three these countries have in common is that all of them have military assets in Syria. Syria borders Israel, and most missile and rocket attacks into Israel have come from Syria. Syria has an ongoing civil war, and pres. Bashar al-Assad has basically been holding onto power due to Russian support. He therefore feels he owes loyalty to Russia.


Of course all of these countries are north of Israel. Ez 38:6 talks about the “north quarters” and Ez 38:15 “out of the north parts.” Ez 38:16 “…it shall be in the latter days” Ez 38:9 says they shall “ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud” with “many people with thee.” With drones becoming more and more popular in modern warfare this could very well refer to the Russian coalition attacking Israel, not only with soldiers and weaponry, but with drones coming in like “a cloud.” Their purpose will be “to take a spoil, and to take a prey” (Ez 38:12). These coalition nations have long eyed Israel’s abundant natural, God-given resources (the land of milk and honey), and this will be one of their objectives. It goes without saying that countries such as Syria, Iran, Turkey, Libya etc. are also Muslim countries, which have all hated Israel ever since its formation in May 1948.


LIBYA (Put)
Russia has a foothold in the country mainly due to the presence of the unofficial mercenary force, Wagner, which is said to be controlled by pres. Vladimir Putin. Wagner supports a rogue general, Khalifa Hafter, against the state. CNN (London) wrote that Wagner in Africa helps to “prop up Moscow’s growing influence”


SUDAN (Cush)
In 2023 it came as a surprise to many that Russia also started fighting the Sudanese Army via Wagner’s support for the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, an anti-governmental group led by one Mohamed Hamdan Dagab.


The civil unrest in all of these countries: Syria, Libya and now Sudan, are flamed by Russian objectives via the Wagner Group.


ETHIOPIA (Cush)
On July 12, 2021 Russia signed a military agreement with Ethiopia, one of Africa’s most populous nations. It will be interesting to see if any civil unrest, flamed by Wagner, develops in Ethiopia.


It is also interesting to note that ever since the South-African Defence Force (SADF) was handed over to the ANC at the end of Apartheid, many highly trained South-African soldiers who fought in the South-African border-war, were recruited by mercenary groups such as Executive Outcomes and Wagner. News24 reported on Feb 3, 2022 that the New York based Soufan Center intelligence and security think-tank, said, that South-African mercenaries have become an established norm in Africa.


This is how the US Institute of Peace described the Wagner Group:
“Wagner brings not simply private soldiers, but political operatives, mining and business specialists and even social media producers— all to build influence and profits for itself and the Kremlin. Its effect in Africa is to strengthen rule by force rather than by democracy and law; to promote corruption over transparency; to drain, rather than bolster, local business and government revenues; and to parasitically keep authoritarian regimes dependent on Wagner’s presence. “ (April 6, 2023)


This Gog-Magog alliance will come against Israel, but God promises that “in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel. In Ez 38:19-23 we read that “every man’s sword shall be against his brother.” This makes me believe that the coalition nations will somehow turn against each other and start attacking each other, just like God had often done in the Old Testament with nations who attacked Israel. Ez 38:22 mentions hailstones, fire and brimstone. This is how God will defeat this coalition. To me it sounds like a nuclear explosion of some sort, but it could also be a purely supernatural Act of God. Either way God will show this coalition that He is on the side of His people, the Jews. The explosion will however only be localised, and not affect the whole world, since Ez 39:7 says that the Israelis will burn up the coalition’s weapons of war for seven years (is this the same seven years as the Great Tribulation?). Ez 39:11,12 also says that it will take them seven months to bury all the dead. With today’s modern technology this is a long time, which shows that there will be many who die in this battle. The end will be God’s victory. He will be “known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD” (Ez 38:23)


God is faithful to His Word. His Word is true. Never before have these nations worked together, but now we see them all coming together, just as God’s Word predicted! We can trust the Bible and can know that this is a sign of the times coming true in our day!