From The Prophecy That Is Shaping History
Ezekiel Chapter 38:1 evaluates the major interpretive options of the Gog prophecy and demonstrates that a fairly literal interpretation best fits the evidence, viz., that in the future a coalition of identifiable nations from all points of the compass—though principally from the “farthest parts of the north”—will invade a Land of Israel to which the people of Israel have been recently regathered. The data show that, apart from Magog, all nations on Ezekiel’s list have clear referents in the area—particularly Rosh. One important finding is that Ezekiel’s Rosh clearly lent its name to the modern state of Russia. Despite the popular American acceptance of Russia’s End Time destiny as they believed Ezekiel foretold it, most modern biblical scholarship generally views this scenario as an absurdity. However, President Reagan’s view of Ezekiel’s prophecy was not limited, however, to shaping America’s relations with Russia; it also influenced his relationship with other nations. Apparently represented by the nations of “Paras, Cush and Put” (Ezekiel 38:5). J. Simons, Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1959), ad loc. He believed, for example, that the Arab nations of the Middle East would participate in the End Time invasion of Israel. On this basis he also correctly predicted the fall of Ethiopia26 into the orbit of Communism. Moreover, the same prophecy may have shaped the President’s relations with Libya—a nation he saw (in Ezekiel 38:5, under the name “Put”) allied with Ezekiel’s Rosh against Israel. In April, 1986, American and British aircraft attacked Benghazi and Tripoli (almost killing Libyan President Ghadafi) [Which we now know that he was later killed] in retaliation for the deaths of several American military personnel killed in the bombing of a discotheque in Germany by Libyan terrorists. Also Robertson remains convinced that Ezekiel 38-39 will be fulfilled by the invasion of Israel by Russia.
Just two verses after the passage being debated, Ezekiel lists three nations, and the list follows the same pattern as “Rosh [no AND] Meshech AND Tubal,” above: “Paras [no AND] Cush, AND Put” (38:5). Ezekiel 27 substantiates the fact that these names were real nations whose identity could be traced far into the future—that is, toward the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy. This list, which portrays commercial activity in the 6th century BCE, includes five of the names on the war list in Ezekiel 38 (Paras, Put, Meshech, Tubal, and Beth Togarmah).
The astonishing rise of pandemic Islamic fundamentalism, with its anti-Semitism and a hatred of the restored Land of Israel as central tenets, has already linked remote countries in coordinated action, as the Muslim invasions and attempted invasions of Israel in 1948, 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982, and 2000 to the present, demonstrate. Today, the nations occupying the territories of Ezekiel’s prophecy (Paras, Cush, and Put) are, respectively, Iran,57 Sudan, and Libya—precisely the “peripheral” nations that commentators insisted could not be associated. Significantly, these three Arab nations are on record as being the most vociferously anti-Zionist of the Arab world. They also represent the most aggressive Islamic states in their training and export of terrorism worldwide. Iran (Ezekiel’s Paras/Persia) underwent an Islamic revolution at the end of the 1970s that reoriented the country against the West—whom Arabs call “the Crusaders”—and against Israel.82 Libya (Ezekiel’s Put) follows the radical Islamic agenda of its leader, Mu‛mmar Qadhafi, [Now overthrown and dead] and represents a major player within Islamic extremism.83 These days, the Islamic government of (northern) Sudan (Ezekiel’s Cush) is waging a brutal war against the Christian and animist Sudanese in the southern part of the country, killing them by the tens and hundreds of thousands a year, selling prisoners into slavery, and compelling young girls to marry Muslim men, thereby forcing their conversion and genital mutilation. So we now see a remarkable and intimate association of three radical Islamic states which are committed to one goal: the annihilation of Israel, and are the very countries Ezekiel said would ultimately strive mightily toward this purpose (cf. Psalm 83:1-8a). In both ancient and modern Hebrew, Paras is the name of Iran/Persia. This alone should put a stop to argument. However, Ezekiel himself describes an earlier alliance of Paras, Lud (Lydia) and Put (North Africa) in 27:10. Moreover, There is no alternative nation known from this period that could assume the name, “Paras,” and, the location of Paras as Persia in the east, preserves the image of allied nations attacking Israel from every possible direction.
The HAMAS Charter cites the Hadith [official book of Islamic doctrine] on the Day of Judgment in the following terms: “The Last Hour would not come until Muslims fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them, and until the Jews would hide themselves
behind a stone or a tree, and a stone or a tree would say, ‘Muslim, oh Servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me—come and kill him!’” Certainly, the other invading nations—Paras (today’s Iran, whose name in modern Hebrew remains Paras), Cush (now northern, Muslim Sudan, just south of modern Egypt on the Nile), and Put (associated with modern Libya)—represent the other three limited “four corners” of the then-known earth, if, indeed, that was the intent of the passage. In today’s small world, these nations are hardly out of Israel’s neighborhood. The Nations Involved: The Gog prophecy begins with God calling
Ezekiel to express an oracle against a specific list of nations which we have already identified in the previous chapters: the northern nations, Gog of the land of Magog, Rosh, Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, Togarmah—all from the north—[after the Russian takeover of Syria] with other nations which perhaps represent the other three areas of the earth: Persia (the area of Iran) in the east, Cush (northern, Muslim Sudan) from the south, and Put (the area of Libya) from the west—all indicating a globally-based invasion. Still other nations, that seem to agree with the invasion, or at least do not oppose it, are similarly located: Sheba (Yemen), Dedan (area of Saudi Arabia), and Tarshish (far west) with all its “merchants” (Heb. socharey Tarshish)—an “economic union”). All of these will be driven by greed and envy (38:12,13; 39:10).
The Intended Victim: The People of the Lord in the Land of Israel