I’ve been pretty interested lately in the failure of US foreign policy with regard to Syria and the Islamic State, and in the movements of Russia to build up military resources in Syria (see the above linked National Post commentary for an insightful analysis of these current events). It does seem like the famous Gog prophecy in Ezekiel 38 might be getting closer. Reading about Russia moving troops, tanks, planes and other equipment into Syria brought an image to mind of Ezekiel’s “Gog”, Israel’s last-days nemesis, taking the first couple of halting steps in its predicted southward march. That prophecy seems to be parallel in some respects to a prophecy at the end of Daniel 11, in which Ezekiel’s “Gog” might be the bad guy in Daniel 11:40-45.
In 2011 I published a post on this blog, outlining a few major events to watch for if Russia really is the so-called, “King of the North” in Daniel 11:40-45:
The original post is here if you care to refer to it.
- Watch for Russia to dominate much of the Middle East, but not most of the Kingdom of Jordan (see the link above for my reasoning on this).
- Watch next for Russia to gain control of oil/natural gas resources throughout the region, including North Africa (Egypt & Libya in the prophecy) and either Iran or Sudan (Cush in the prophecy).
- Watch after that for Russia to establish some kind of embassy between Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea (possibly in Gaza).
The point of these observations is not to predict what will happen, but rather to throw out some things that can be watched for that would confirm the accuracy of this way of interpreting these biblical prophecies. If they don’t happen, then my interpretation of these prophecies in Daniel 11 is incorrect.
Joe,
Nice post. Thanks for taking the time to outline the big picture, and watching for details. A lot of folks have speculated on what the hooks in the jaw will be; usually gas/oil discoveries, but it now appears that the overflowing of peoples (mass emigration) from the Middle East and atrocities committed by ISIS could very well be it. When GOG does come for spoil, it may be to cover the cost of military expenditures while under severe economic sanctions. That is of course, if Russia is Gog.
I still lean towards Cachemaille’s explanation of the pope being Gog, as evidenced by Ber GOG lio calling for military action against Isis late last year, and then Obama started air raids the next week- and his deal with “Palestine” (I’m still
searching for the full text of the treaty, but to no avail…why the secrecy- have the plans for planting his tabernacles between the seas been laid out in secret?)
I hope to God that your reading of Daniel 11 is correct (at least in terms of being yet unfulfilled) as that will give us an accurate point of reference as the details are unsealed. As the Jews in Jerusalem could look for the surrounding of Jerusalem by Roman armies as a definitive sign, this generation too needs
a definitive sign; in order to endure the 3 years, 8 months and 15 days of unprecedented distress (which should include the divine judgement upon Babylon the Great) preceding the Millennium.
God bless you and your family,
Joe Diaz
Thanks Joe.
I see the 1335 days on the historicist “day-for-a-year” scale as fulfilled in 1335 years in real history. Historicist commentators are virtually unanimous on that point. Placing those two periods in Daniel 12, however, with a fulfillment in history is pretty difficult. One suggestion is to start from the 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 2:1), when the “times of the Gentiles” dominating Judah began, but specifically from the vision of the Gentiles’ statue of four empires. That 1290 years runs out in the year 687AD, when Omar was building the Dome of the Rock on top of an ancient Byzantine church (a recent discovery: http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Was-the-Aksa-Mosque-built-over-the-remains-of-a-Byzantine-church). The 1335 years could possibly run from that date. I haven’t written anything (yet) on those specific timeframes using normal “solar” years (our years). But I have a chart here that can serve to start your thinking along these lines: http://www.historicism.com/Haynes/Jerusalem-chart.pdf
I’ve now finished a 6-month study in Daniel for a sermon series we just completed last Sunday at our church. The sermons can be found at http://www.beaconcommunities.ca/sermons and by navigating to the series, “The Book of Daniel: What if this is the end?”
I learned a lot during this project. As a result I have made a lot of progress in my understanding especially of Daniel 8 and Daniel 11-12. So don’t take my old articles to seriously when they touch on those chapters. Instead have a look at the sermon series. I’ll get around to writing something on all of that for the website and blog soon.