Ezek. 38:5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
We are now given a list of those who align themselves with the army of Gog.
According to the research from the article at Harpazo (referenced in Post 1), which is in line with most of my research, these allies are:
- Persia = Modern day Iran (9/08) Jimmy DeYoung also pointed out that biblical Persia included the land area today known as Afghanistan and Pakistan.
- Ethiopia= “Cush,” the land south of Egypt that today would include “Black Africa.” Most of my research makes specific reference to Sudan, the land of the Nubians, in reference to biblical Ethiopia.
- Libya = “Put, a son of Ham, a Persian tribe.” Josephus identifies the descendants of Put as the Libyans (including Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco).
(9/06) I was doing some research the other day and ran across a statement by Arnold Fruchtenbaum in his article, “A Review of After the Empire by Mark Hitchcock.” He doesn’t agree that Libya is the correct translation in this passage. He states: “The major problem is identifying Put with Libya since the normal Hebrew word for that country is Lub. It would probably be wiser to connect Put with Somalia….Lub is indeed Libya and that is the correct identification in Daniel 11. However, the Put of Ezekiel 38-39 is not Libya, but Somalia.”
These allies are said to possess their own defensive equipment (shield and helmet); but interestingly enough, no mention is made of offensive weapons. This would seem to imply that Gog will be responsible for arming them.
Ezek. 38:6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
The list of Gog’s allies will include Gomer and all his bands and the house of Togarmah and all his bands. As noted previously, Jimmy DeYoung found a map in Turkey showing Gomer and Togarmah as part of ancient Turkey.
David Legge identifies these two as follows:
- Gomer - “Assyrian inscriptions refer to it as Tabal, West of Meshech in Eastern Anatolia [the Asian portion of Turkey]….It may be that Gomer is Germany, it may be that Gomer is a part of this little southern tip of Russia, it may also be that by Ezekiel's time Gomer correlates to the central part of Turkey - just round about here beside the Black Sea and beside the Caucasian mountains….”
- Togarmah – “this corresponds to southern Russia, it corresponds to the Cossacks and probably also Turkey - the rest of Turkey apart from that central part. Josephus identified it as the Phrygians who settled in Cappadocia, which is now Eastern Turkey.”
Jack Kelley at www.gracethrufaith.com states the following: “Gomer was a son of Japheth and brother to Magog. He inhabited the Rhine and Danube valleys and can be associated with Eastern Europe of today.
And the following from Bill Cooper in an article called “After the Flood” at www.ldolphin.org: Gomer “was the founder of the Cimmerians who settled originally on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Togarmah’s ‘earliest descendants’ settled in Armenia.”
At www.custance.org, Arthur Custance provides the following information in his Doorway Papers: “To judge from such ancient historians as Herodotus, Strabo and Plutarch, Gomer’s family settled first to the north of the Black Sea, giving their name in slightly modified form to that district known as Cimmeria later shortened to Crimea….Eusebius, in referring to Gomer, says, ‘whence the Cappadocians.’” He continues, “According to Josephus, the branch which returned to Asia Minor came to be known as the Galatians.”
The information I found as I researched was quite varied and revealed sources identifying Gomer with several European nations, including the Scandinavian nations, Ireland and Germany. However, it would seem that the preponderance of the evidence connects Gomer to Turkey. Togarmah seems to be universally accepted as comprising part of what is today known as Turkey.
I think it is interesting to note that most of the allies in Gog’s coalition are Muslim countries.
The Hebrew for the word bands is a reference to armies; in other words, it seems that the military of Turkey will add significant strength to this invasion. Gog will be accompanied by the specific allies listed along with “many people,” which in this day and age is probably a reference to other anti-Semites.
Following are several news articles that I think are quite interesting in connection with Gog, who I believe is the spirit controlling the ruler of Russia at the time of this attack, and his allies.
Consider: In the 1920’s Kemal Ataturk established Turkey as a secular country. It’s interesting to note that they elected an Islamic Prime Minister in 2002. Though it may have seemed highly improbable not that many years ago to think that Turkey would be part of Gog’s coalition, it is not so improbable now.
In August of 2001 Recep Tayyik Erdogan and Abdullah Gul founded the Islamist-rooted AKP (Justice and Development) Party in Turkey. Erdogan, who was elected prime minister in 2002, eventually became the first directly elected president of Turkey in 2007. He has ruled with an increasingly heavy hand since taking office. He is an advocate of conservative Islam and is methodically pushing the government in that direction. Following is information from an BBC article of July 2016: “In the decades before the AKP's rise to power, the military intervened in politics four times to curb Islamist influence….When he became prime minister in 2002 as head of the AKP, he asserted civilian supremacy over the army….On the international stage he has bitterly condemned Israel - previously a strong ally of Turkey - over its treatment of the Palestinians. Although there is now rapprochement, the policy not only galvanised his Islamic base, but also made him a hugely popular leader across the Middle East.”
Though the relationship between Turkey and Russia has hit several bumps in the the road along the way, following is a quote from sputniknews.com (12/20/16): “Turkey will not allow anyone to spoil relations with Russia, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday at the ceremony to unveil the Eurasia Tunnel in Istanbul.” And this quote (12/26/16) from Putin’s year-end press conference: “…we realize the importance of Russian-Turkish ties and will make every effort to deepen them.”
On 5/30/17 at chathamhouse.org, I found the following quote: “Russian involvement in the Libyan civil war has increased substantially since 2015. It provides political support and military assistance to General Khalifa Haftar, who controls the eastern part of Libya….Russian involvement in Libya is also part of its global power games with the West….demonstrating to Europe and the US that it is not ‘confined’ to Syria or Ukraine, and that it’s ‘success’ in Syria was not accidental.
The following was from an article by Elif Beyza Karaalioglu on 1/4/19 on middleeasteye.net: “Turkey and Russia are clearly developing their strategic relations, and the speed at which this is happening is important….it has become clear that Russia is Turkey’s primary focus for strengthening relations, with the US and EU lagging behind.”
And this quote on 3/12/19 from sudanvision.net: “For decades, Russia and Sudan have an international strong honest economic and political a strategic partnership due to their seriousness and willingness to working in one glove to meet their challenges, both countries now are exerting an efforts to strengthen their relationships in all aspects.”
This was a headline on 4/15/19 at horndiplomat.com: “Somalia, Russia Keen on Enhancing Bilateral Relations.”
On 5/8/19, the following quote was found at jewishpress.com: “The Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta on Monday cited a Kremlin diplomatic source saying Russia and Iran are showing unanimity only on a strategic level, but the two countries’ positions differ on many issues.
As these headlines show, the puzzle pieces are falling into place just as foretold by the prophet Ezekiel so long ago. To be sure, all is not smooth sailing between Russia and Iran; but they both have a vested interest in Syria in particular. I am reminded that Gog/Russia will be drawn into taking an action that he doesn’t necessarily want to take at that time. It wouldn’t surprise me that it is Iran that forces his hand.
Ezekiel 38:3–4 “And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth….”
Or maybe it will be the destruction of Damascus (see comments on next verse) as foretold by Isaiah—which I am surprised hasn’t already happened.
Isaiah 17:1 “The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.”
(to be continued…)
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