With almost no warning Russia joins the Arab nations in sending an enormous army to attack Israel in the final solution to get rid of the Jews once and for all. God intervenes supernaturally to protect His chosen people by destroying the vast Russian-Arab army just as it is about to annihilate Israel. So says Ezekiel's prophecies detailed in chapters 38 and 39. 

Without going into a lot of detail, scholars have traced Magog and Meshec to modern-day Russia, Tubal as southern Russia to the Caucasus Moutains and Caspian Sea, Togahmah to the Central Asian countries between the Caspian Sea and China, Persia as modern Iran, Iraq and Syria, Cush as modern Ethiopia and perhaps Saudi Arabia, and Put as modern Libya.

Fueled by Tim LaHaye's and Jerry Jenkins' immensely popular Left Behind series and events obviously now spiraling towards prophetic fulfillment in Israel, there has been much speculation that we will also see the fulfillment of the Russian attack on Israel as detailed by Ezekiel. Many, if not the majority, of prophetic scholars believe the need for a peace covenant with Israel as outlined in Daniel 9:27 is created by this attack by Russia and her Arab allies on Israel. In other words, the peace covenant of Daniel 9:27, which starts the last seven years of Daniel's seventy weeks of years and the seven year tribulation, is preceded by the fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy of Russia's invasion of Israel. 

The problem with using prophecy to define world events is that they rarely are correct. The hype of the last half of the twentieth century that the European Union was going to be the ten horns of Daniel 7 and Revelation 13 and 17 is but a case in point. It is extremely unlikely now that the EU itself will make up the ten horns. Far more likely is that the world will be divided into ten economic-military regions modeled after the EU, as is happening today. 

The question then becomes, 'Is Russia likely to invade Israel soon?' For the answer to be affirmative, Russia must be fully mobilized or nearly fully mobilized to do this in the near future. Long time members of Discerning the Times Digest remember that the November, 1999 issue of the Digest, and regularly since then, strongly suggested that Russia was indeed mobilized and had every intention of launching a military campaign into Azerbaijan. There were even indications that they would keep right on going into the Persian Gulf and Israel, along with their Arab allies.

However, since the mid-May agreement reached between Presidents Putin and Clinton in which Clinton gave the oil-strategic Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Middle Asian republics to Russia, Putin has been demobilizing its troops in Dagestan and is refocusing its efforts to address its economic problems. As explained in the June, August and September issues of Discerning the Times (DTT) Digest Putin forced Clinton to give in economic and military control over the former Soviet republics which then has permitted Russia to undertake massive cutbacks to its military and demobilize the 300,000 + troops it had amassed in Southern Russia. 

While the de-mobilization in Southern Russia could be quickly reversed, Russia now seems to be clearly focused on developing its economy and the oil resources of the Caspian Sea. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that it would join forces with the Arab nations to attack Israel in the near future, thereby fulfilling Ezekiel 38-39. But that doesn’t mean that the covenant of Daniel 9:27 cannot be fulfilled in the very near future. 

There is nothing in the Bible that suggests that the prophecies of Ezekiel 38 and 39 have to be fulfilled before the peace covenant of Daniel 9:27 is signed as is portrayed by LaHaye, Jenkins and many other popular prophecy authors. In fact, there is strong evidence that the attack will not occur until the middle of Daniel's seventieth week in Daniel 9:27, or what Christians call the seven-year tribulation. 

Ezekiel 38:10-12 says that God will put an evil idea into the mind of Gog (Russia, see map on page 12) to attack the "land of unwalled villages...that are at rest, that dwell safely,... having neither bars nor gates" that are inhabited "by the people that are gathered out of the nations" (Israel, see verse 14) to "take a spoil." This strongly suggests that Israel will be at relative peace with its Arab neighbors and the Palestinians within, which will not happen until after the peace covenant of Daniel 9:27 is signed. This agrees with Revelation 6:2 and the first seal in which a world leader (the Christian Church popularizes him with the name of Antichrist, but that is only one name used in the Bible) creates peace and prosperity in the world at the point of a gun. 

What would be the "spoil" referred to in Ezekiel 38:12? As described in the August issue of DTT Digest, Russia has just endured several years of intrigue and deception by the West to steal what Russia considers its Caspian oil. Russia has finally won this "war that never was." Russia has learned the hard way just how important oil is in the game of global power politics and that it must have absolute control over that oil to have this power.

It highly unlikely that it has escaped Russia’s attention that if it also controlled the Persian Gulf oil, it would control nearly two-thirds of the world's readily available oil. It would have a near monopoly on the global supply of oil, and would have the West by its economic throat. Continuing the intrigue of the past several years, it would fit Russian strategy to form an alliance with the Muslim Arab nations, ostensibly to attack Israel, but in reality to position the Russian army as a Trojan House within the much weaker Arab armies to quickly destroy them "from within." Russia would believe that once these armies are destroyed, it would be free to take over the Persian Gulf oil fields. This may be the "hooks" that God will set in Gog’s mind.

But why would the Arabs be willing to form such a dangerous alliance with Russia? After the emergency Arab Council Summit in Cairo on October 21-22, it is now known that the Arab nations are unable to fight a war with Israel right now. Yet, the Arab people are demanding a war. At the same time, Arafat and the Palestinians are totally outgunned by Israel, so they are likely to escalate the violence until the international community of the Western powers (the old Roman Empire) forces a peace settlement and signs a covenant with Israel, fulfilling Daniel 9:27, and perhaps starting the seven year tribulation.

But the international solution will not give the Arabs what they want, which is total elimination of Israel. So the peace agreement festers. And, while the Arab nations mobilize their militaries for war, past wars with Israel tell them they still cannot win this war either, so they sign an agreement with Russia to help them. If this is what happens, the stage will have been set, God will have put the hooks in the mouths of all the players.

The November 1999 issue of DTT Digest provides evidence that Russia is indeed working on developing an alliance with Syria, Iraq and Iran to destroy Israel once and for all. Russia has just put into motion a plan to rebuild its army over the next several years for regional conflicts.

While all of this could come together within a few months, it is highly unlikely. It is far more likely that Russia and her Arab allies would be ready for such an attack in 3 to 5 years. If (and it is a big IF) the peace covenant of Daniel 9:27 is signed and enforced within the next couple of years, this attack would indeed be in the middle of the seven year tribulation. 

Needless to say, the prince of this world (the Antichrist) would not allow this rebellion to go unchallenged. He would launch an all-out counter-attack, possibly creating the war of the second seal of Revelation 6:3-4 and the subsequent famine and death described in the third and fourth seals. If so, it would involve over one-quarter of the earth as described in Revelation 6:5-8. Never mind that Ezekiel clearly states that God will destroy the Russian-Arab army supernaturally. The world prince will somehow claim he did it and will still attack the homes of these armies with a vengeance to "punish" them for their rebellion. The destruction of the Russian federation and the Arab confederation may even account for the three kingdoms the little horn (Antichrist) subdues in Daniel 7:24.

Be prepared

In any event, we live in very interesting times. Christians must be careful not to read too much into world events as they relate to prophecy, but to ignore prophecy as it relates to world events is to permit ourselves to be caught off guard and not be spiritually prepared. The greatest tragedy of all is to be spiritually blindsided by prophetic events as they happen as we are warned will happen in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition..."

Too many Christians believe they will be taken out of end-time troubles by the rapture before they come. But that day, we are told in 2 Thessalonians, will not come until there first comes a falling away. The rapture, whenever it comes, will come as a thief in the night and will not spare the Church from the persecution of men. Heed Christ’s warning, "...be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Be prepared! V mc