These authors and scholars are far from alone in their assessment. Many, many more well-respected scholars, pastors, commentators, and popular Bible teachers could be cited who believe Ezekiel 38 refers to Russia and its allies. Of course, their support for this view doesn’t prove it’s correct, but it should demonstrate that this is not a fringe, fanatical view.
Contemporary writers aren’t the only ones who believe Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 refer to Russia. This view has a long line of support. I make this point because one repeated objection to identifying Magog or Rosh with Russia is that this is nothing more than “sensationalistic end-time speculation” based on the current headlines.[36] While there is certainly unwarranted speculation and newspaper exegesis by some prophecy teachers, contemporary scholars are not alone in their appraisal that Rosh and Magog in Ezekiel 38 refer to Russia.
Here’s a brief list of scholars from previous generations who identified Rosh or Magog with Russia:
• Matthew Henry, in his famous commentary written in the early 1700s, was aware of some who identified Russia with Ezekiel 38. He says, “Some think they find them afar off, in Scythia, Tartary, and Russia.”[37] Henry doesn’t say he agrees with the view, but his awareness of it demonstrates that it at least was not uncommon.
• Patrick Fairbairn, a Scottish Presbyterian preacher, in his 1842 commentary on Ezekiel, notes that Rosh is a reference to Russia.[38]
• Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, commenting on Rosh in Ezekiel 38 in 1871, says, “The Scythian Tauri in the Crimea were so called. The Araxes also was called ‘Rhos.’ The modern Russians may have hence assumed their name” (emphasis added).[39]
• William Kelly, a Plymouth Brethren scholar, writing in 1876, identifies Gog (the leader of the invasion in Ezekiel 38) by noting, “He is autocrat of all the Russias, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.”[40] He writes, “Next follow two chapters which contain a prediction of God’s judgment to fall in the last days, when Israel is restored, on a great north-eastern chief with his vast array of satellites and allies on the mountains of the Holy Land…. Who can deny that the rapid and immense development of the Russian empire bears its unmistakable witness to the judgment that is coming, as here declared so long before?”[41]
• Arno Gaebelein, writing in the early twentieth century, says, “The leader is the prince of Rosh…. And here we call attention to the prince, this northern leader, or king, who is the head of all these nations. He is the prince of Rosh. Careful research has established the fact that the progenitor of Rosh was Tiraz [Genesis 10:2], and that Rosh is Russia. All students of prophecy are agreed that this is the correct meaning of Rosh. The prince of Rosh, means, therefore, the prince or king of the Russian empire.”[42]
Studying the Word of God, not current events or headlines, formed the views of these scholars. We seek to follow their example. God’s Word must be our guide. The fact that current events are aligning with what Scripture says does not render this view sensationalism. Rather, it demonstrates the truth of Scripture and points toward the coming of Christ.
Ezekiel 38 reveals that Russia will rise in the last days as a formidable global power. Whether or not one sees Rosh or Magog as Russia, the far northern geographical notation is clear. The rise of Russia today is no coincidence; it’s divine providence. Events happening in Russia today strikingly foreshadow Ezekiel’s ancient prophecy. Russian tentacles reach around the world. The buildup toward a Middle East war is accelerating. The Bear is rising to take its place among the cast of characters in the final drama of the ages. But Russia will not rise alone. Ezekiel lists a group of allies who will conspire with Russia’s leader for a final push into the Middle East—into the land of Israel. These nations dominate today’s headlines and are presently forming alliances with Russia.
Who are these allies?
The Who’s Who of Middle Eastern bad actors.
Chapter 4: Ezekiel’s Prophetic Intelligence Briefing
YOU WILL COME FROM YOUR HOMELAND IN THE DISTANT NORTH WITH YOUR VAST CAVALRY AND YOUR MIGHTY ARMY.
As we saw in the last chapter, when we carefully examine the text of Ezekiel 38, we can see that in the end times a Russian leader will spearhead an attack on Israel. But Ezekiel 38 also reveals that Russia will not mount this attack alone. Who will join them? Ezekiel “provides us extraordinarily precise intelligence,” Joel Rosenberg writes. “Though he wrote more than 2,500 years ago, the Hebrew prophet was able to tell us what to watch for.”[1] Incredibly, all the way back in 586 BC, Ezekiel peered into the future and gave us an intelligence briefing for who will join Russia in their anti-Israel assault.
The first thing Ezekiel does is give a detailed list of the participants in the Russian-led coalition:
1. Gog
2. Magog
3. Rosh
4. Meshech
5. Tubal
6. Persia
7. Ethiopia (Cush)
8. Libya (Put)
9. Gomer
10. Beth-togarmah
Pause for a moment and read these verses to get the context in view:
This is another message that came to me from the LORD: “Son of man, turn and face Gog of the land of Magog, the prince who rules over[2] the nations of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: Gog, I am your enemy! I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws to lead you out with your whole army—your horses and charioteers in full armor and a great horde armed with shields and swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya will join you, too, with all their weapons. Gomer and all its armies will also join you, along with the armies of Beth-togarmah from the distant north, and many others.
“Get ready; be prepared! Keep all the armies around you mobilized, and take command of them.”
Before we examine the location names listed in Ezekiel 38:1-6, I want to briefly comment on the principle of interpretation we’ll employ. More and more scholars and commentators today opt for a general or even spiritualizing approach to the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and many other prophetic Scriptures.[3] Interestingly, those who adopt this approach usually take the geographical references in Ezekiel 1–32 to refer to literal places and people, yet when they come to the final chapters of Ezekiel, they shift to a spiritualizing approach, claiming that these chapters are “apocalyptic” and justify a shift in interpretive method. Much could be said about this practice, but at the very least it’s inconsistent. Nothing in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 signals these chapters are to be understood in any way other than literal. The method of interpretation is the same for the whole book of Ezekiel. Charles Feinberg spotlights an important interpretive guideline:
Some suggest a “generally literal” interpretation where the details are not necessarily so. The writer cannot allow himself such liberties in interpreting the plain statements of the prophetic Scriptures. It is either the grammatical, literal, historical interpretation or we are adrift on an uncharted sea with every man the norm for himself. There is not a syllable at the beginning of this chapter to alert us to explain the passage in any other than the literal method.[4]
36
See, for example, Hank Hanegraaff,
37
Matthew Henry, “Complete Commentary on Ezekiel 38:4,”
38
Patrick Fairbairn, “The Assault of Gog and His Destruction” in
39
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown,
42
Arno Clemens Gaebelein, “Commentary on Ezekiel 38:4,”
1
Joel C. Rosenberg,
2
The New Living Translation translates the Hebrew
3
Christopher J. H. Wright,
4
Charles Lee Feinberg,