Is Russia fulfilling the Prophetic War of Gog and Magog?
OR WAS IT FULFILLED “SHORTLY” IN THE EVENTS OF AD 67 – AD 70?
PART 1 – THE WAR OF ISAIAH 2-4 AND DANIEL 9; 12
Well, here we go again – the 1970’s and early 1980’s TV “prophecy experts” are calling and they want their “Russia,” “Russia,” “Russia” newspaper eschatology back front and center because Russia is invading Ukraine and since Russia kind of sort of sounds like the “Rosh” of the Gog and Magog war in Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 19-20 – there you have it! Even though John tells his first-century audience that Christ’s coming and this war were events that would “shortly” take place or “about to be” fulfilled (Rev. 1:1, 19YLT — 22:7, 10, 20) in the imminent war of the Romans and Jews, the religious con-artists can’t resist running the same scam again!
Islam, Talmudic Zionism, and Premillennial Zionism all believe this end time war is imminent and what is scarier, they are all interested in trying to make it happen or self-fulfill it if need be. This makes it very easy for the New World Order to start World War III by manipulating a religious war between Israel and the Muslim world – while at the same time making money off of the war and using it as a financial “reset” for a global digital currency.
I propose is that the Bible’s “last days” or “end of the age” war is referring to the last days of the Old Covenant age and has nothing to do with an end of world history war/event. This war has already been fulfilled in the historical events of AD 67 – AD 70 and has NOTHING to do with modern wars, nuclear war, WWIII, or modern nations gathering against the Rothschild Zionist project of modern “Israel” (but not OT or NT Israel).
Since the “last days” “time of the end” (not the end of time) war is taught in many passages outside the books of Ezekiel or Revelation, we will cover those as well and divide this into a two-part series. Part 1 will deal with how this war is described in Isaiah 2-4/Luke 23:28-30 and Daniel 9; 12/Luke 21:20-24. Then Part 2 will deal with how the book of Revelation describes this war and see how it harmonizes with the same themes and imminent first century time frame of the passages covered in Part 1.
I think it’s safe to say that many Christians and even non-Christians have been conditioned to think that the battle of Armageddon or Gog and Magog is predicted somewhere in the Bible and somehow Russia plays a part in it. So, let’s begin by answering the question so many Evangelicals are asking right now and trying to convince unbelievers of:
Isn’t Russia “Rosh” found in Ezekiel 38-39 and isn’t this war starting right before our eyes?
I think Gary DeMar destroys this sound-alike “Rosh” is “Russia” hermeneutic and Gogology nonsense when he points out,
“The Hebrew word ‘rosh’ (ראש) is not a reference to modern-day Russia. Russia in Hebrew is spelled Rusiyah (רוסיה). There’s one common letter (ר). ‘Rosh” means “head” or “chief” as in Rosh Hashana, the start or “head of the year.” Rosh appears 600 times in the OT and is mostly translated as “head,” “beginning,” or “top.” Daniel I. Block in his unsurpassed two-volume commentary on Ezekiel translates Ezekiel 38:3, “[Son of Man], set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince, chief of Meshech and Tubal.” The weapons: horses (not horsepower), chariots (not tanks), bows and arrows (not missiles and missile launchers) spears (not Javelin missiles), clubs, shields. The spoils: “to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to capture great spoils” (38:13). The same items brought back from the exile: “And every survivor, at whatever place he may live, the people of that place are to support him with silver and gold, with equipment and cattle, together with a voluntary offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.” (Ezra 1:4). Israel today is not living in “unwalled cities” (38:11; Esther 9:19 where the same Hebrew word (‘perazah’) is used). “Run, speak to that young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the multitude of men and cattle within it. For I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a wall of fire around her” (Zech. 2:4). The battle was an ancient one that’s been fulfilled.”[1]
Although these are accurate comments by Gary, if he now believes that the anti-type fulfillment of the Gog and Magog war was fulfilled between AD 67 – AD 70, then this necessitates a rough 40-year millennial period (AD 27 – AD 67), in that the battle of Gog and Magog comes after the thousands years (Rev. 20:7). Hopefully, Gary will clarify his millennial view in the near future.
If you asked most individuals where this same end-time or last days war was predicted in the OT (other than Ezekiel 38-39), and which of these OT texts Jesus uses to develop His eschatology for the Church, most would have no clue. So, let’s begin in the books of Daniel and Isaiah.
When did Jesus teach “the end” and or the “last days” war of Daniel 9:24-27; 12:7 and Isaiah 2-4 would be fulfilled?
Daniel 9:24-27
- “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.” And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation [the end], and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Dan. 9:26-27).
Daniel 12:7
- And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the stream; he raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven and swore by him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time [3 ½ years], and that when the shattering of the power [Israel’s old covenant – that made them the head or tail to the nations] of the holy people comes to an end all these things would be finished [fulfilled].”
Luke 21:20-22
- “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written [in the OT which obviously includes Dan. 9:24-27 and Dan. 12:1-7].”
Luke 21:24
- “They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles [the 3 ½ years of Daniel 12:7 and Revelation 11:1-2] are fulfilled” (Lk. 21:24).
The seventieth-seven or seventieth week of Daniel 9:24-27 is a seven-year period in which Messiah accomplishes redemption and judgment for Israel. It is divided up in half. The first 3 ½ years entails Jesus’ anointing, earthly ministry, and death (being “cut off”) by which He inaugurates the New Covenant — roughly from AD 27 – AD 30. Then there is a “this generation” (AD 30 – AD 70) period between His crucifixion (Lk. 17:25) and His days of vengeance and judgment in which He would come through the Roman armies and usher in the end of the age war (Lk. 21:22-32) lasting 3 ½ years — roughly from AD 67 – AD 70 which ends the Old Covenant age with the desolation of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Daniel 12:7 picks up the tail “end” of the seventy-sevens prophecy and describes this last 3 ½ years period of war to be when the “holy people” (Jews) would have their “power” (of the Old Covenant) “shattered.” In Daniel 12:1-7 Daniel asks when all these things would be fulfilled, and the angel links the tribulation, resurrection, and judgment “end” — “all these things” to be fulfilled during this 3 ½ years period of time.
Jesus in the Olivet Discourse taught that “all” of the eschatological events would be fulfilled within His contemporary “this generation” (AD 30 – AD 70) which included: 1) the signs 2) destruction of the temple 3) end of the old covenant age 4) His coming 5) the tribulation 6) the great commission 7) abomination of desolation / the war [armies surrounding Jerusalem] 8) resurrection / gathering of the elect and 9) the fulfillment of all OT prophecy, and 10) the arrival of the kingdom (cf. Mt. 24-25/Lk. 21).
Our focus here in this article is on the war of #7. Since the Jew in the first century understood the land of Israel to be a “holy place,”[2] there is perfect harmony between how Matthew 24:15 and Luke 21:22 describe the same event of Daniel 9 – the abomination of desolation. The Roman unclean armies (abomination) standing on the land (the holy place) would be the sign of Jerusalem’s imminent judgment/desolation and the end of the age war. This was a sign for the Christians to flee and they did to Pella where they were safe from the wrath of that prophetic 3 ½ years war of AD 67 – AD 70 that Christ unleashed upon apostate Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2—4 / Luke 23:28-30 and the “last days” “the war”
Isaiah 2-4 predicts Jerusalem’s “last days”, “in that day”, “Day of the Lord” coming by which Jerusalem’s “mighty” would “fall by the sword” and “in the war” (cf. Isa. 2:1 – 3:25). In that day or during this war, men are described as fleeing to the caves in the rocks and holes in the ground. At the time of this war, God would come in “majesty” and “shaking” Jerusalem’s “earth/land” or kingdom (2:10-19).
Jesus clearly identifies the time of this last day’s war for Jerusalem as the events leading up to AD 70 in Luke 23, where on his way to the cross He prophesies against Jerusalem, saying,
- “…Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us,’ and to the hills, ‘Cover us’” (Lk. 23:28-30).
Futurists who admit that this passage was fulfilled in AD 70 fail to look at the context of Isaiah 2-4 which necessitates that the “in that day”, “last days”, “Day of the Lord” (Isa. 2:9-21) “war” (Isa. 3:23) is what causes men and women to flee and to call to the mountains and hills to cover or hide them in the events during the Roman-Jewish War of AD 67 – AD 70. This war and context of Isaiah will be brought back up in the book of Revelation to be fulfilled “shortly” thus harmonizing with Jesus’ time frame.
In Isaiah we also learn that it is through this coming “war” and “Day of the Lord” judgment that God would forgive the remnant among Jerusalem for her sin of bloodguilt: “…when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodguilt from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning” (Isa. 4:4). Jesus once again connects this last day’s “war” with Jerusalem’s sin of bloodguilt when the vindication of the martyrs would be fulfilled–at His coming in judgment in the Pharisees’ contemporary “this generation” to make their “house” or temple desolate in AD 70 (cf. Mt. 23:31-39).
Conclusion:
Jesus in Luke 23:28-30 and Luke 21:20-32 places the “last days” “war” of Isaiah 2-4 and Daniel 9 and 12 to be fulfilled in His contemporary “this generation” (AD 30 – AD 70). If this “day of the Lord” was an “in an instant” and global burning event, then why are people told to flee Jerusalem and many go to the mountains and caves in order to hide? This war was local and the time indicators place it in the imminent “3 ½ years” events of AD 67 – AD 70.
Now proceed to Part 2 where we will examine how this same war is described in the book of Revelation–where we will once again find the same themes and imminent time frame of fulfillment.
[1] Gary’s concise response to a Futurist on Facebook and this is also from his books on the subject such as: IDENTIFYING THE GOG-MAGOG ALLIANCE WHY THE END OF THE WORLD IS NOT IN YOUR FUTURE, (Powder Springs, GA, American Vision Press, 2008).
[2] In the Apocrypha “the holy place” meant the whole area of the “holy land.” In 2 Maccabees 2 it said, “As he promised in the law, will shortly have mercy upon us, and gather us together out of every land under heaven into the holy place.” This included the city and the temple, all of which were looked on as “holy.” The land was called “holy” (2 Maccabees 1:7), and the city was called holy (2 Maccabees 3:1).
