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Here is a copy of an email I received from a good friend of mine. I thought you might find this informative if you are interested in prophecy (this is the "short" study):
Who is "the king of the north"?
Some insightful Bible students noticed, the proof lies in the obvious identity that exists between Daniel's "the king of the north" in the last days and Ezekiel's "Gog" of the latter days. By comparing what is said about each of them in the two prophecies, it is manifest that they can only be different titles for the same being.
Ezekiel Chapter 38 and 39 = Daniel 11:45
1. Their geographical position is the same. "Gog's" country is in the north part in relation to the Holy Land; as it is written, "Thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts". "Gog" is therefore "the king of the north", his place or country being there.
2. Both of them are adversaries of Israel and invaders of the Holy Land. The eleventh chapter of Daniel abundantly proves this in relation to "the king of the north"; and of "Gog", Yahoueh said: "Thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land".
3. The time they invade the land is the same. "The king of the north" invades in the last days. Of "Gog" it is said: "It shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land".
4. The same peoples are named as components of their armies. The Libyans and Ethiopians are allies with "the king of the north"; and in the enumeration of Gog's forces, it says, "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them".
Who is "Gog"? Which land is the land of "MaGog"?
Some people think that "Gog" is the Devil. But does the context support this idea?
Ezekiel wrote that after "Gog's" last attack he will fall and then be buried by the people. (Ez.39:4,11) So there is no need to prove that "Gog" represents the Devil as we know that the devil does not have a body of flesh and bone and has no need for a grave. Thus, in actuality, whom does "Gog" symbolize?
"Gog" is the chief prince of Meschech and Tubal.
"Meshech, the sixth son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2) is the founder of a tribe (1 Chronicles 1:5; Ezekiel 27:13; 38:2,3). They were in all probability the Moschi people, inhabiting the Moschian Mountains, between the Black and the Caspian Seas. In Psalms 120:5 the name occurs simply as a synonym for foreigners or barbarians. "During the ascendancy of the Babylonians and Persians in Western Asia, the Moschi were subdued; but it seems probable that a large number of them crossed the Caucasus range and spread over the northern steppes, mingling with the Scythians. There they became known as Muscovs and gave this name to the Russian nation and its ancient capital by which they are still generally known throughout the East" (Easton's Bible Dictionary).
Many ancient sources have clearly identified "MaGog" as referring to the "Scythians".
One of the earliest references to MaGog was made by Hesiod, "the father of Greek didactic poetry" who identified MaGog with the Scythians and southern Russia in the 7th century B.C. Hesiod was a contemporary of Ezekiel.
Josephus Flavius clearly identified MaGog. "MaGog founded the MaGogians, thus named after him, but who were by the Greeks called Scythians". (Josephus, Antiquities, 1.123; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel 38:2)
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that in the fifth century B.C. the Scythians ruled from the Don River, in present southern Russia, to the Carpathian Mountains in central Europe.
Philo, is another historian in the first century A.D. who identified "MaGog" with southern Russia.
Ancient authorities clearly identified the Scythians as the ancestors of the present day Russians.
However, even without that information, the identity of "MaGog" is not too difficult to figure out. In Ezekiel 38:15, it says: "And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee". The "north parts" is literally the "extreme or uttermost" parts of the north.
Who are "the kings of the north" and "south"?
Who are the "kings" of this chapter?
Daniel 11:2
Since the Prophecy was given in the third year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1), the three kings that were to "stand up yet", that is, "after him", were Cambyses II, Smerdis the Magian imposter, Darius I Hystaspes.
The fourth king, Xerxes I, stirred up Persia against Greece, which he invaded in 480 B.C. but failed to conquer. Since prophecy touches only upon important events and characters, the remaining kings of Persia are omitted, and the prophecy jumps over nearly 150 years to the time of Alexander the Great 336-323 B.C.E.
Daniel 11:3,4
"A valiant king", Alexander the Great, whose kingdom after his death was divided into four parts.
1) Seleucus I - who began the Seleucid (Syrian) empire, from Turkey to India.
2) Cassander - who took over Macedonia (Greece).
3) Lysimachus - who took Thracia (between Greece and Turkey).
4) Ptolemy I - who ruled over Egypt.
Daniel 11:5
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., the throne of Egypt fell to Ptolemy I Soter, the son of Lagus, the king of the south.
"One of his princes", Seleucus I, Nicator ["the king of the north"] also rose to power, and took over the region of Syria. He eventually became more powerful than his former Egyptian ruler.
Daniel 11:6
"The daughter of the king of the south" = Berenice II, daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
"The king of the north" = Antiochus II Theos.
Two years after the marriage, Berenice's father (Ptolemy Philadelphus) died.
Antiochus restored Laodice and put away Berenice.
He was then poisoned by Laodice.
Berenice fled with her children to Daphne where she was killed.
Daniel 11:7-9
A "branch of her roots" will come with an army. This was Berenice's brother, Ptolemy III Euregetes, "the king of the south".
"The king of the north" is Seleucus II Kallinikos, son of Laodice who was defeated in a later invasion of Egypt. He lost most of Asia Minor along with losing to the military expansion of Ptolemy III who put his mother, Laodice, to death.
Verse 9: "And [the king of the north] will enter into the kingdom of the king of the south, but will return to his own land". (literal translation)
Seleucus II, son of the deceased Laodice, sought revenge for the vengeance taken by Ptolemy III. "Justin says that he fitted out a great fleet, which was destroyed by a violent storm; and after this he raised a great army to recover his dominion, but was defeated by Ptolemy, and fled in great terror and trembling to Antioch" (Gill's Commentary).
Who is "the king of the north"?
Some insightful Bible students noticed, the proof lies in the obvious identity that exists between Daniel's "the king of the north" in the last days and Ezekiel's "Gog" of the latter days. By comparing what is said about each of them in the two prophecies, it is manifest that they can only be different titles for the same being.
Ezekiel Chapter 38 and 39 = Daniel 11:45
1. Their geographical position is the same. "Gog's" country is in the north part in relation to the Holy Land; as it is written, "Thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts". "Gog" is therefore "the king of the north", his place or country being there.
2. Both of them are adversaries of Israel and invaders of the Holy Land. The eleventh chapter of Daniel abundantly proves this in relation to "the king of the north"; and of "Gog", Yahoueh said: "Thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land".
3. The time they invade the land is the same. "The king of the north" invades in the last days. Of "Gog" it is said: "It shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land".
4. The same peoples are named as components of their armies. The Libyans and Ethiopians are allies with "the king of the north"; and in the enumeration of Gog's forces, it says, "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them".
Who is "Gog"? Which land is the land of "MaGog"?
Some people think that "Gog" is the Devil. But does the context support this idea?
Ezekiel wrote that after "Gog's" last attack he will fall and then be buried by the people. (Ez.39:4,11) So there is no need to prove that "Gog" represents the Devil as we know that the devil does not have a body of flesh and bone and has no need for a grave. Thus, in actuality, whom does "Gog" symbolize?
"Gog" is the chief prince of Meschech and Tubal.
"Meshech, the sixth son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2) is the founder of a tribe (1 Chronicles 1:5; Ezekiel 27:13; 38:2,3). They were in all probability the Moschi people, inhabiting the Moschian Mountains, between the Black and the Caspian Seas. In Psalms 120:5 the name occurs simply as a synonym for foreigners or barbarians. "During the ascendancy of the Babylonians and Persians in Western Asia, the Moschi were subdued; but it seems probable that a large number of them crossed the Caucasus range and spread over the northern steppes, mingling with the Scythians. There they became known as Muscovs and gave this name to the Russian nation and its ancient capital by which they are still generally known throughout the East" (Easton's Bible Dictionary).
Many ancient sources have clearly identified "MaGog" as referring to the "Scythians".
One of the earliest references to MaGog was made by Hesiod, "the father of Greek didactic poetry" who identified MaGog with the Scythians and southern Russia in the 7th century B.C. Hesiod was a contemporary of Ezekiel.
Josephus Flavius clearly identified MaGog. "MaGog founded the MaGogians, thus named after him, but who were by the Greeks called Scythians". (Josephus, Antiquities, 1.123; Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel 38:2)
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that in the fifth century B.C. the Scythians ruled from the Don River, in present southern Russia, to the Carpathian Mountains in central Europe.
Philo, is another historian in the first century A.D. who identified "MaGog" with southern Russia.
Ancient authorities clearly identified the Scythians as the ancestors of the present day Russians.
However, even without that information, the identity of "MaGog" is not too difficult to figure out. In Ezekiel 38:15, it says: "And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee". The "north parts" is literally the "extreme or uttermost" parts of the north.
Who are "the kings of the north" and "south"?
Who are the "kings" of this chapter?
Daniel 11:2
Since the Prophecy was given in the third year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1), the three kings that were to "stand up yet", that is, "after him", were Cambyses II, Smerdis the Magian imposter, Darius I Hystaspes.
The fourth king, Xerxes I, stirred up Persia against Greece, which he invaded in 480 B.C. but failed to conquer. Since prophecy touches only upon important events and characters, the remaining kings of Persia are omitted, and the prophecy jumps over nearly 150 years to the time of Alexander the Great 336-323 B.C.E.
Daniel 11:3,4
"A valiant king", Alexander the Great, whose kingdom after his death was divided into four parts.
1) Seleucus I - who began the Seleucid (Syrian) empire, from Turkey to India.
2) Cassander - who took over Macedonia (Greece).
3) Lysimachus - who took Thracia (between Greece and Turkey).
4) Ptolemy I - who ruled over Egypt.
Daniel 11:5
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C., the throne of Egypt fell to Ptolemy I Soter, the son of Lagus, the king of the south.
"One of his princes", Seleucus I, Nicator ["the king of the north"] also rose to power, and took over the region of Syria. He eventually became more powerful than his former Egyptian ruler.
Daniel 11:6
"The daughter of the king of the south" = Berenice II, daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
"The king of the north" = Antiochus II Theos.
Two years after the marriage, Berenice's father (Ptolemy Philadelphus) died.
Antiochus restored Laodice and put away Berenice.
He was then poisoned by Laodice.
Berenice fled with her children to Daphne where she was killed.
Daniel 11:7-9
A "branch of her roots" will come with an army. This was Berenice's brother, Ptolemy III Euregetes, "the king of the south".
"The king of the north" is Seleucus II Kallinikos, son of Laodice who was defeated in a later invasion of Egypt. He lost most of Asia Minor along with losing to the military expansion of Ptolemy III who put his mother, Laodice, to death.
Verse 9: "And [the king of the north] will enter into the kingdom of the king of the south, but will return to his own land". (literal translation)
Seleucus II, son of the deceased Laodice, sought revenge for the vengeance taken by Ptolemy III. "Justin says that he fitted out a great fleet, which was destroyed by a violent storm; and after this he raised a great army to recover his dominion, but was defeated by Ptolemy, and fled in great terror and trembling to Antioch" (Gill's Commentary).