Relevance Of Ancient Bible Prophecy With Current Events

The nations of the world are all currently embroiled in great internal and external strife. Most of it is meaningless in terms of eternity and is always based on petty jealousies, envy and the same evil mentality that drove Cain to murder his brother Able and it only serves to obscure mankind from the advent of the greatest event in world history. As I write this Turkey is arising once again as a major political and military force in Central Asia. Turkish President Erdogan is moving his nation from a Secular Democracy to an Islamic Theocracy and attempting to assert political influence over the Euro-Asian world. He is intent on reestablishing the former Ottoman Empire and it’s control over Europe and Asia. The leadership of the European Union and Nato are ineffectual against hegemony by aggressive nations, the only effective deterrence at this time would normally be the United States which is embroiled in it’s own violent domestic affairs and may be the target of a nuclear strike by China and a number of other Rogue nations. It appears that the clock is ticking and time is right for all these things to take place.

 

It’s important to know the current names of nations mentioned in the following prophecy rather than by their ancient names in order for it to make sense. Also that the implements of warfare as described were common at the time of the prophesy, the reader should understand that Ezekiel was referring to a latter day event which thus far has not transpired and that the armies mentioned will have modern armaments and equipment.The names of the nations and states that will be arrayed against Israel are as follows:

 

Beth -Togarmah - Turkey

Gomer - Turkey

Tubal (Tubalu in Cappadocia) - Turkey

Meshech (Muschki and Musku in Cilicia and Cappadocia) - Turkey

Rosh (Sarmatians known as Rashu, Rasapu, Ros and Rus) - Russia

Magog (Scythians) - Islamic southern republics of the former Soviet Union in central Asia.

Persia - Iran

Cush - Sudan

Put - Libya

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords; Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togar′mah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes, many peoples are with you.

“Be ready and keep ready, you and all the hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be mustered; in the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land where people were gathered from many nations upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste; its people were brought out from the nations and now dwell securely, all of them. You will advance, coming on like a storm, you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

“Thus says the Lord God: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages; I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates’; to seize spoil and carry off plunder; to assail the waste places which are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth. Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its villages will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?’

“Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, you will bestir yourself and come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army; you will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 

(Ezekiel 38: 1-16)

                                                                                   

“Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them? But on that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, my wrath will be roused. For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. I will summon every kind of terror against Gog, says the Lord God; every man’s sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples that are with him, torrential rains and hailstones, fire and brimstone. So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 

(Ezekiel 38: 17-23)

Considering how fragile and unsettling the future looks for so many in various places throughout the world one would think that it might be prudent to make amends with the Lord and establish a permanent place on the right side of God in eternity. 

“When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.” (Matthew 25:31-33)

Take an inventory of your life and admit to God that you are a sinner and have fallen short of His perfection, ask Jesus to come into your life and forgive your sins and give you a new and eternal future. 

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

(Romans 10:9-13)

What Time Is It?

Early in the morning on the first day of the Jewish holiday Sukkot, Jerusalem experienced the highly unusual appearance of the “Blood Moon”. It is interesting to note that the last four sightings were on major Jewish holidays, Passover and Sukkot. This is no coincidence! In the early morning hours on the first day of Sukkot Sept 28, 2015, the Blood moon appeared fully over Jerusalem. 
The total lunar eclipse made the moon appear reddish in color, as the moon passed through the earth’s shadow reflecting the sun and appeared red.
In the past year and a half, there have been four blood moons each one fell on a major Jewish holiday, Passover and Sukkot. This is extremely rare because prior to the twentieth century, there were no such multiple occurrences in over three hundred years.

The first blood moon eclipse coincided with the Jewish holiday of Passover, a pivotal event that commemorates the ancient Israelites’ Exodus from slavery in Egypt when the first of the ten plagues was blood. Finally the Israelites were commanded by God to paint lamb’s blood on their doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over their homes and smite only the firstborn of the Egyptians.
Interestingly all four blood moons coincide with major Jewish holidays, first was Passover 2014, followed by the holiday of Sukkot 2014, then again on Passover 2015 and then again on Sukkot 2015. This has happened only eight times in all
of history! Major events significant to the Jewish people happened on each of the last three recorded times that these rare blood moons occurred. These were events that changed the course and direction of Jewish history for all time.
There was a blood moon in 1493, when Tomas de Torquemada, the first Spanish Inquisitor, began slaughtering Jews. There was a blood moon on the eve of Israel’s declaration of independence in 1948, following a bloody war that took place only a few years after the Holocaust. A blood moon coincided with the Six Day War in 1967, when Israel liberated Jerusalem and Jews were able to return to Jerusalem after 2000 years of Exile. (Thanks to insights of Rabbi Ari Enkin at United with Israel)

Anyone interested in things that have been foretold by the prophets of old should fix their sights on Israel and most especially Jerusalem which serves as God’s timepiece and the epicenter of coming world events. The entire world is quaking in anxious anticipation of something momentous that is about to happen. The nations are armed in fear and trembling, wondering who, when and how the greatest conflagration of all time will consume the planet. It’s no longer a matter of if, but when and how it all begins. Even now the enemies of Israel are surrounding God’s chosen people arrayed with incredible armaments, while Magog and Tubal (Moscow - Tobolsk Russia) is aligning itself with the military interests of Syria and the Arab states surrounding Israel as the nations of an unconcerned "free world" look away.

( Ezekiel 38: 1-9) The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords; Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togar′mah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes, many peoples are with you.
“Be ready and keep ready, you and all the hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. After many days you will be mustered; in the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land where people were gathered from many nations upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste; its people were brought out from the nations and now dwell securely, all of them. You will advance, coming on like a storm, you will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

Peter the Apostle of Christ spoke the words of the prophet Joel on Pentecost. 
(Acts 2: 17 - 21) following the resurrection of Jesus as the first half of Joel’s prophecy was taking place in verses 17 & 18. ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; yea, and on my menservants and my maidservants in those days I will pour out my Spirit; and they shall prophesy. 

Verses 19 - 21 are soon to be fulfilled. ‘And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and manifest day. And it shall be that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

(Ezekiel 38:18 - 23) “But on that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord God, my wrath will be roused. For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground. I will summon every kind of terror against Gog, says the Lord God; every man’s sword will be against his brother. With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples that are with him, torrential rains and hailstones, fire and brimstone. So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

We are living in the most tumultuous and exciting times on earth. I hope all who read this have considered that Jesus is indeed the Messiah and that you ask him into your life as Lord and Savior. The time is very short and your days are numbered!