Is Putin Gog of Magog?

Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?
 The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
 “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.
 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,
And distress them in His deep displeasure:
 “Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.”

Psalm 2: 1-6

Just a few hours after I published my last blog post, Russia invaded Ukraine, on the 24th of February, 2022. Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, apparently thought his armies would take control of Ukraine in a matter of days, even telling his soldiers that the Ukrainians would welcome them as liberators. Instead, the Ukrainians are fighting back with all their heart and soul, and this war is now in its 26th day. Russia apparently miscalculated the determination and loyalties of the Ukrainian people. Nevertheless the Russians are making slow but steady progress towards the capital Kyiv* using their brutal and barbaric tactic of surrounding cities and towns, and subjecting them to a deadly and destructive barrage of rockets and missiles. They have shelled hospitals, churches, schools and residential buildings in order to bring the civilian population to the point of surrender. They have cut off humanitarian aid and escape routes. They have attacked fleeing civilians without mercy. What other atrocities are they willing to commit? Will they unleash their chemical, biological or nuclear weapons?

No one knows how many Ukrainians, or Russian soldiers, have been killed or wounded, but over 3.5 million Ukrainians have already fled across the borders and even more are internally displaced. Neighboring countries have generously opened their borders and are scrambling to take care of the refugees, most of whom fled at a moments notice with nothing but the clothes on their backs. How long will they be able to take in all these people, and will the nations of the world be willing to absorb and care for all these destitute and traumatized refugees?

The Western nations have failed to take up arms to help the Ukrainians, for fear of an escalation which could lead to World War III. By not stepping in to help Ukraine in the field of war, the West has been exposed as morally bankrupt , politically weak, and militarily paralyzed, an image that only nurtures and encourages those like Putin who have expansionist dreams. The failure to confront Russia in Ukraine may well lead to World War III in any case. Meanwhile, Ukraine has been left to fight alone. It has held out far longer than anyone could have expected, but can it win against the massive and well-equipped fighting machine of Russia?

No doubt we are all following the unfolding of events. We have no choice as our news outlets are reporting almost nothing else (here, the massive floods in Australia did not even get a mention). Reading the reports, one cannot help wonder what it is that is motivating Putin. Many have said that he is just a madman who has lost his sanity. Not so. The Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, met with Putin on the Shabbat of the 4th of March, and came home claiming that Putin was totally rational according to his (Putin’s) understanding and world view. So, what is it, this world view of Putin’s?

I came across an article (1) about Putin’s link with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and it reveals a deep spiritual motivation in launching this war against Ukraine. If you, like me, are fairly ignorant of Russian history and the Russian Orthodox Church, this article should be required reading. It puts the war in a wholly different light. Putin is not just an egotistical psychopath , but rather he sees himself as a Messiah-like figure restoring the historical Holy Russia – a restored Russian empire with the Russian Orthodox Church at its core- and saving Christianity from the depravation of the post-Christian West.

Vladimir Putin was born in 1952 during the Soviet Era when the ROC was severely proscribed and Christians persecuted, and his mother risked much by having him secretly baptized. It is also interesting that he was named Vladimir. In the year 988 the Viking Prince Woldemar, converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and changed his name to Vladimir. According to the now-dominant view of Russian history, Saint Vladimir was the founding father of the first Russian state, the Kievan Rus’, and the Russian Orthodox Church. This marriage of church and state formed the core of Russian civilization. The capital of Vladimir’s State of Rus’ and the center of the Russian Orthodox Church was Kiev (2).

Having been brought up and indoctrinated in this view of Russian history it seems to me that Putin sees himself as the new ‘Vladimir’ who will restore the symbiosis of state and church leading to a restored Holy Russia. This Holy Russia will preserve Christianity, as he understands it, and protect it from the degenerate Western post- Christian influence. Obviously there is no place for the westernized, secular, democratic state of Ukraine in his world view. Putin sees Ukraine and Kyiv as the very physical and spiritual heart of his restored Russian Empire. This explains why Putin is so horrified by Ukraine’s overtures to the EU and NATO. In his understanding, Ukraine, and especially Kyiv (Kiev) is the heart not only of Russia the State but also of Russian Orthodoxy and true Christianity.

This also explains why the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, has not spoken out against Putin’s humanitarian atrocities and the war. Just hours before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill gave a speech praising Russian military personnel, saying, “We live in peacetime, but we know that even in peacetime there are threats. Unfortunately, even at the moment there are threats – everyone is familiar with what is happening on the borders of our Fatherland. Therefore, I think that our military personnel cannot have any doubts that they have chosen a very correct path in their lives. Because by following this path, you are protecting the people even without any military action.” (3).

When Russia invaded Ukraine, Patriarch Kirill, a close friend of Putin, gave a sermon in which he emphasized the God-given unity of Ukraine and Russia, and denounced the “evil forces” in Ukraine that are out to destroy this unity. In a later sermon, on March 6th, he invoked the intercession of Saint Vladimir and Sergei of Radonezh (another of the ROC’s most venerated saints), and he called on God to “prohibit and overturn the designs of the foreign pagans who want war and are gathering troops against Holy Russia” (1). He then called on God to bless the Russian soldiers sent to protect Russian Orthodox Christians in the Donbass region (Eastern Ukraine) who he claimed have been suffering oppression and persecution for eight years. He (Kirill) appears to believe that “Holy Russia is engaged in an apocalyptical struggle with the Godless West about the future of mankind” (1). Putin, strongly influenced by the ROC and the Patriarch Kirill, believes he is embarking on a God-sanctioned holy war to save Christendom. This makes him far more dangerous than a mere madman. Driven by such an ideology he will not be open to compromise or retreat.

It should be noted that the Patriarch Kirill does not have the support of all the ROC leadership and according to the Reuters analyst, Philip Pullella, the “Russian Patriarch Kirill’s full-throated blessing for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine has splintered the worldwide Orthodox Church and unleashed an internal rebellion that experts say is unprecedented” (4). It has also driven a deeper wedge between the ROC and the Roman Catholic Church, and the Pope has openly attacked Kirill’s stance and the Russian invasion.

You may be wondering where Israel stands in all this? It’s standing on a tightrope. Ksenia Svetlova, director of the Israel and the Middle East program at the Mitvim Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, and a prominent commentator in the Hebrew media on the progress of the war, put it this way:

… Israel is walking on thin ice. It still tries not to anger the Russians, but at the same time to indicate to the West that it’s still part of the collective West. From the position that Israel is taking, it’s actually unclear where we are….

Israel cannot afford to anger Russia. We have Russian weapons and troops right on our border in Syria. We depend upon Russian cooperation in carrying out attacks against Iranian arms shipments to Hezbollah forces in Syria and Lebanon. Israel is also home to large numbers of both Russian and Ukrainian immigrants, many of whom still have close ties and family members in those countries. There are also still a very large number of Jews living in both Ukraine and Russia. Israel therefore is attempting to remain neutral and is even trying to act as an intermediary between the sides, in the hope of bringing an end to this senseless war.

Israel has taken in about 10,000 Ukrainian refugees including around 8000 non-Jews (5) and is preparing for up to 100,000 Jewish immigrants from both the Ukraine and Russia. We are a small, already overcrowded country with a dire shortage of housing. There is a limit to how many people we can absorb. There is a hot debate occurring around our immigration policies. On one hand Israel wants to preserve the predominantly Jewish demographic, but it also wants to welcome and show compassion to the non-Jewish refugees, especially those who have family members living here already. It’s a difficult dilemma.

Israel has been criticized severely, especially by the Ukrainian President and the Ukrainian Ambassador to Israel, for not providing military assistance and weapons systems, especially defensive anti-missile batteries. Yesterday (20 March) the Ukrainian President Zelensky, in a scathing speech (6) live streamed on Israeli media, drew a parallel between what is happening in Ukraine and the Holocaust in an effort to shame Israel into sending them more weapons. Such a comparison did not go down well here. HIs speech may well have been a misstep but nevertheless most Israelis support the people of the Ukraine and are determined to help as much as possible, but without jeopardizing our own security. Israel simply cannot afford to send Ukraine weapons, as we may very soon need them ourselves. I am not sure why Ukraine even expects this of Israel, as surely there are other countries far better able to provide military support.

Just 4 days after the invasion, on the 28th of February, Israel shipped 100 tons of humanitarian aid to the Ukraine in just one day. This shipment included 17 tons of medical equipment and medicine, water purification systems intended to supply 200,000 people, emergency water supply kits to supply 100,000 people, winter tents to house 3,000, 15,000 blankets, 3,000 sleeping bags, and 2,700 winter coats (7). Israel is in the process of setting up a $6.4 million field hospital in Western Ukraine (8), a venture it has coordinated with Moscow providing its coordinates so that it will not come under attack (9).

IS PUTIN GOG OF MAGOG?

in view of these events many Christians are asking, ” Is this the beginning of the War of Gog of Magog as prophesied in Ezekiel 38-39, and is Putin Gog?”.

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying,  “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,  and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.  I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords.  Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;  Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.

 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.  After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely.  You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”

Ezekiel 38: 1-9

Many have tried to interpret this prophecy and determine the time of its fulfillment. One of the mistakes many have made is to confuse this war with the war mentioned in Revelation 20: 7-10.

Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison  and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.  They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them.  The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

The war in Revelation 20 comes at the end of the Messiah’s thousand year reign (the Millenium) and is a war of all the nations which will come up against Jerusalem immediately prior to the Final Judgement. Here, ‘God and Magog’ is not necessarily to be taken literally. It may be a metaphor. It will be a war like the war of Gog and Magog, but involving a different cast of nations and occurring at a different time. Notice the grammatical difference between the ‘Gog and Magog’ in Revelation and ‘Gog of the land of Magog’ as is written in Ezekiel.

The Ezekiel prophecy tells that the war in which Gog of the land of Magog and a confederacy of nations attack the regathered people of Israel, living in peace and dwelling safely, and which will occur ‘in the latter years‘, but it does not give a specific time in relation to other end time events. Clearly it speaks of the regathering of the people of Israel and we are living in that time, but are we living in peace and dwelling safely? You could say we are not since all around us there are those who want to destroy us, but on the other hand, we are living normal lives in unwalled villages and cities as if we had peace.

The other question remains the identity of Gog of the land of Magog. Where is the land of Magog? There are many theories but the majority of commentators seem to identify it as Russia, because Gog is also described as the Prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and the armies of Gog come from the far north (Ezekiel 38:15). The similarity of the word Rosh and Rus’ (the ancient name of Russia) lends strength to this theory, however The ‘Prince of Rosh’ could also be correctly translated as the Chief Prince, as in some translations, because in Hebrew “rosh” means “head”.

At this time it is impossible to say if this current war in Ukraine is the beginning of the war of Ezekiel 38, but it seems possible, even probable, that is a step in that direction. Putin has great dreams of a restored Russia that would ultimately include all the states of the former USSR. He has already established his hegemony over Belarus, and the Crimea, and he is now trying to conquer Ukraine. What country will be next?

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-countries-made-up-the-former-soviet-union-ussr.html

If Rosh is Russia, then what are Meshech and Tubal and the other nations mentioned in the confederacy? The map below (10) identifies the confederate nations as Meshech and Tubal as being in southern Russia, Gomer is Ukraine and Eastern Europe, Togarmah is Turkey, Persia is Iran, Put is Libya and Cush is Ethiopia and the Sudan.

This confederation does not yet exist but it is possibly in the making. Russia is not only invading Ukraine but simultaneously it is developing deep military and economic ties with Iran and Turkey. Eritrea (northern Ethiopia) voted in favor of Russia in the recent UN vote concerning the invasion of Ukraine, as did Syria. Russia has strong economic ties with Libya and the Russian-backed private military force, Wagner, already has a strong presence there (11, 12).  

Another confederation appears to exist in the Ezekiel prophecy, that of Israel together with Sheba, Dedan and Tarshish (Ezekiel 38: 13), which are modern day Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States. In recent times Israel has already formed an alliance with some of these states, and is in the process of doing so with others.

In summary, I would not claim that Putin is Gog, but I would say that the nations are making alliances that may be aligning the nations in preparation for such a war as described in Ezekiel 38 and 39.

MEANWHILE IN IRAN

While the world is preoccupied with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, talks are continuing between the USA and Iran in an effort to reinstate the 2015 nuclear deal. There is much concern in the Middle East about the outcome of these talks. Even if nothing is ever signed, the talks are buying the Iranians time to develop their nuclear weapons.

Today (21/03) Israeli Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi (UAE), Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in Sharm-e-Sheik in Egypt. Apparently this meeting was prompted by the news that the USA may remove Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from its list of terrorist organizations in return for promises not to harm American citizens. The Revolutionary Guards are the largest and most powerful terrorist organization in the world, and Iran’s promises are not worth the paper they are written on. The USA has already removed the Iran-backed Houthis, the rebel force in Yemen, from their list of terror organizations, and both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have been repeatedly targeted by the Houthis in recent months.

PRAYER POINTS

It is always difficult to know how to pray in times of war. Does God take sides? What is His plan and what is He accomplishing? We do not want to pray in opposition to His plans but here are some ways we can always pray:

1. Pray for the going forth of the gospel and that many will turn to God.
2. Pray for the local believers, for their protection and sustenance and that they will keep the faith and shine as lights to their neighbors. Pray especially for the pastors and leaders, who have a heavy responsibility in such times.
3. Pray for the leaders of the nations that they will do the will of God and make righteous and wise decisions.
4. Pray for the civilians and soldiers on all sides. They are all human beings who need salvation. God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9)
5. Pray for God’s guidance concerning ways we personally can help those in need.
6. Pray for our enemies, as Yeshua (Jesus) taught us (Matthew 5: 44-45). Pray they will repent and be saved.

• Kiev or Kyiv? Have you been wondering why the media are calling what used to be Kiev, Kyiv, and why it is no longer in THE Ukraine but just Ukraine? Apparently Kiev ( key-ev with the emphasis on the ‘ev’) is the transliteration from the Russian, while Kyiv (kyiv – one syllable, short i, with emphasis on the beginning of the word) is the transliteration from Ukranian. Also ‘the’ indicates a region of a larger country whereas just plain Ukraine indicates a nation. So now it is PC to say Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine (unless you support Putin that is?) rather than Kiev the capital of The Ukraine.

References:

1. https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2022/03/09/missing-piece-about-putin-and-ukraine
2. http://countrystudies.us/russia/38.htm
3. On February 23, 2022, on Defender of the Fatherland Day, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia laid a wreath at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden near the walls of the Moscow Kremlin. http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5903402.html
4. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-invasion-splits-orthodox-church-isolates-russian-patriarch-2022-03-14/
5. https://www.timesofisrael.com/ukraine-russia-targeting-jewish-sites-what-else-must-happen-for-israel-to-help/
6. https://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-ukraine-president-zelenskys-speech-to-israeli-lawmakers/
7. https://www.timesofisrael.com/100-tons-of-humanitarian-aid-en-route-from-israel-to-ukraine/
8. https://forward.com/fast-forward/483999/israel-field-hospital-in-ukraine-named-after-golda-meir/
9. https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/ukraine-conflict/1647581674-report-israel-coordinated-field-hospital-in-ukraine-with-russia
10. https://cccbucks.org/sermons/prophecy-update-israel-the-world-gods-plan/
11. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/29/what-next-for-world-powers-in-war-torn-libya
12. https://edition.cnn.com/2021/01/22/africa/libya-trench-russia-intl/index.html