THE PENDING ISLAMIC ATTACK ON ISRAEL

Long ago the prophet Ezekiel predicted that in the latter days the people of Israel would be invaded by a great confederacy of nations coming down from the north.  Those who will attack the people of Israel are identified in Ezekiel 38:2 - "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince (literally 'the prince of Rosh') of Meshech and Tubal."  Their identity:

1) MAGOG--this term was used to describe the region where the descendants of Magog lived.  Magog was a son of Japheth, Noah's son (Gen. 9:18, 27; 10:2).  Josephus, the Jewish historian, says that the descendants of Magog were "by the Greeks called Scythians" (Ant. i.6.1).  The Scythians  lived to the north of the Black Sea and the Caucasus Mountains.  This area was part of the Soviet Union, and today, it includes Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.  Afghanistan could also be part of this territory. All of these nations are dominated by Islam with a combined total population in excess of sixty million.

2) ROSH--Bible scholars differ on whether or not the name "Russia" is from "Rosh."  Nevertheless, the territory itself, is modern Russia and a section of Turkey according to Clyde Billington [Clyde E. Billington Jr., "The Rosh People in History and Prophecy (Part Three)," Michigan Theological Journal 4 (1993), 59, 61].

3) MESHECH was another son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2).  The descendants of this man lived for centuries in Asia Minor, and later were pushed northward by their enemies into the mountainous area southeast of the Black Sea.  Today this area borders on Russia.

4) TUBAL was another son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2).  The descendants of this man also lived in Asia Minor, not far from the Black Sea. The descendants of Tubal and Meshech probably lived close to each other, because in the Scriptures the two names are almost always found together.  Mark Hitchcock said the following about the identification of the locality of Tubal and Meshech:  "The preferred identification is that Meshech and Tubal are the ancient Moschoi and Tibarenoi in Greek writings or Tabal and Musku in Assyrian inscriptions. the ancient locations are in modern Turkey" [The Battle of Gog and Magog, by Mark Hitchcock (paper presented at the Pre-Trib. conference), p. 8].

GOG seems to be a man, the leader of this great invasion.  It seems evident that he is an individual because he is addressed directly by God (Ezek. 38:14; 39:1) and he is also called a prince (Ezek. 38:2; 39:1).

In addition, these nations are named:  "Persia (Iran), Ethiopia (Sudan), and Libya (Libya), with them; all of them with shield and helmet:  Gomer and...Togarmah (Turkey) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee" (Ezek. 38:5-6).