In the prophecy of Ezekiel Chapter 38 we have a parallel to that part of the prophecy of Daniel Ch 2 that deals with the 'Latter Days'.

The time Setting of the prophecy
In Ezekiel 38 and verse 8 we have the time in which we should look for the fulfilment of the prophecy. We read in v. 8.
"After many days thou shalt be visited; IN THE LATTER years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them."
Again in v. 16. "And thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in THE LATTER DAYS."

Clearly the subject of the vision is the same as described in Daniel when God would intervene in the affairs of men. Of this we are left in no doubt as God describes his fury at these nation that invade his land in verses 18.19, and v. 20 describes the outcome when "the nations shall shake at MY PRESENCE", leading to the revelation that v. 23 "I will be know in the eyes of many nations, and they SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD GOD."

But verse 8 in particular leaves us in no doubt about the time he is speaking of as he gives many indicators, which point to our day.

They are at a time when;
1. There would be a nation called Israel. Even in the time of Jesus the land was know as Judea, and it has only been since the modern nation of Israel was established in 1948 that this prophecy could be fulfilled.
2. The people are described as being 'brought back from the sword'. It is well know that the major impetus for the return of the Jews was the persecution that they suffered in Europe, especially under the Nazi's when 6 million perished in the concentration camps.
3. The land is described as 'having been waste'. This indicates 2 things, first that prior to there return to the land was not productive, and secondly that once they returned they would bring the land back to productivity. This is clearly seen in what has been described as the modern miracle of Israeli agriculture, where they turned a barren land to a productive one. So great has been the Israeli success at doing this they have exported their dry land farming techniques to other countries.
4. The people would be 'brought forth out of the nations.' The number of countries from which the Jews have returned from exceeds 150, with such a diversity of cultures, that Israel is the most 'multicultural nation' on earth.
5.v. 8 and v. 11 describe Israel as 'dwelling safely'. the Hebrew has more the idea of "securely, confidently" (margin v. 11) while there are troubles in Israel, the people dwell as a nation, 'securely, and confidently' as they see no threat from the nations around them. We could confidently predict that the present troubles will be greatly diminished in the days to come.
At no time in history prior to the creation of the modern state of Israel in 1948 have these conditions been met, as they have since, and consequently we should look for the fulfilment of the prophecy in our times.

Who are these Nations?
In verse 2, God directs our attention to the power that is the subject of this prophecy, when he direct "the Son of man" (a title of Christ) to "set his face against Gog, the land of Magog, Rosh the prince of Meshech and Tubal".
When God gave this prophecy to Ezekiel he used the name that he and his contemporaries were familiar with, that they, as well as our selves might understand this prophecy. To understand what these names indicate, we must go back in history to see which nations were called by the names listed in this chapter.

Gog. is not the name of a nations but a title. In the Hebrew it means, "to be elevated, to rise up". (Gesenius Hebrew & Chaldee  Lexicon) when used of an individual it has been likened to the modern 'Dictator'.
Gog is said by the prophet to be "the ruler of the land of Magog, the Prince of Rosh" (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament). That is while the undisputed ruler of Rosh he is also the ruler over the land of Magog.

Rosh (AV Chief, which is what it means). Most modern translation differ from the AV in rendering 'chief' as Rosh, as in the Hebrew it is a name (Proper Noun) not an adjective.
1.      The celebrated historian Bochardt in his "Sacred Geography", stated that Ros is the most ancient name under which history makes mention of  the name of Russia. It is credible that from Rhos and Mesech (that is the Rossi and the Moschi) of whom Ezekiel speaks, descended the Russians, and the Muscovites".
2.      Further to this the Historian Gibbon in his "Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire" (Vol 7 p. 80) states, "that among the Greeks, the national appellation (for the Russians) had a singular Ros."
3.      Gesenius, says the word relates, "undoubtedly to the Russians, who were mentioned by Byzantine writers of the 10 century under the name of Ros dwelling north of the Taurus."

Meshech. (see note 1. Bochardt) Moscow area.
1.      Gesenius "The Greeks 'Moschi' is derived from the Hebrew, Meshech, which is the source of the name Moscow."

Tubal. in the Hebrew is either 'Thobal' or 'Thubal' and can be identified with the Siberian City of "Tobolsk" situated on the River "Tubal". This city was the former Czarist Capital of Siberia, which has in recent years become more important as a major centre of the Russian petrochemical industry.
From this we can see that this prophecy is directed the ruler of 'all the Russia's' who is himself the supreme and undisputed ruler of his own land. The other countries which he will dominate are as follows.

Land of Magog. 
1.      Josephus in his Antiquities (1:6:1) Identifies Magog with the Sythians. He says, "Japhet, the son of Noah had 7 sons that inhabited the north, so that beginning from the mountains of Taurus and Amanas, they proceeded along Asia, as far as the River Tanus (or Don) and along Europe to Cadiz (Spain), and settling themselves on the land they light upon, which none had inhabited before. they called the nations by their own names, for  , but were then called Gomerites, Magog founded those that were from him were named Magogites, but whom the Greeks called Sythians".
2.      The Sythians according to Herodotus (BC 300), Dion Casius (BC 200) and Diodorus Siculus (BC 100) were those dwelling from the shores of the Baltic to the River Don.

Therefore the land of Magog is Central Europe covered by Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Holland.

Gomer.   
1.      See above "Gomer founded those from whom the Greek call Galatians (Romans Gaul)".
2.      Isador (AD 600) identifies "Gomer, from whom proceeded the Galatae, that is the Gauls".
3.      Diodorus Siculus, identifies the Galatae, as those "between the ocean and the Hercynian Mountains."
Gomer thus identifies the nations of western Europe comprising of France, Belgium and Switzerland.
These ancient names of nations is summarized as set out in the following chart
 

Hebrew	Greek	Latin	Today
Rosh	Ros	Rossi	Russia
Mesheck	Moshike	Moschi	Moscow
Tubal	Tibarreni	-	Tobolsk
Gomer	Celti	Gallia	France
Magog	Sythia	Germania	Germany

In short Russia will unite all Europe under his banner for the invasion of the Middle East described in Ezekiel 38, and shown on the map below.

Other Nations who will be part of this confederacy are listed in Ezekiel 38:5

Persia        Changed its name in 1935 to Iran,

Ethiopia   Has not changed its name in the last 3,000 years although it comprised a greater area in ancient times

Libya        Like Ethiopia, Libya's name has remained unchanged.

Togarmah   
1.      Josephus says the 'Greeks called them the Phrygians'. Antiquities1:6:1. Phygia is in modern Turkey.
2.      Dr Joseph Wolff, in "Travels and Adventures" met  a people in Turkey who called themselves the 'Children of Togarmah'.

This confederacy of nation will not go unchallenged by those nations who will be opposed to what they are seeking to do.

The Opposing Nations
"Merchants of Tarshish".
In Ezekiel 27:12, we are told that the Phoenicians traded with Tarshish an one of the chief commodity they sought was Tin.

It has been claimed by some that the name Britain comes from the Phoenician 'Baratanac', which is said to mean "the Isles or Land of Tin". While this is not universally agreed too, we can see that there is a high probability of the correctness of this interpretation as there is a metal called, "Britannia" (which is also called "Britannia Metal) which is an alloy of TIN, copper and antimony.

The importance of Britain to the Phoenicians trade and the importance of tin is seen in the following extract from Richards Topical Encyclopaedia, where it states.....
"Phoenician traders sailed out through the straits of Gibraltar and discovered the English tin mines, long before the Egyptians or the Babylonians even knew that there was such a place as Britain.
England comes into the light of history much earlier than many of the modern European countries, such as Germany.
This is because the British had valuable tin mines. Phoenician traders, used to visit England to get tin, many centuries before Christ. They tried to keep the location of the tin mines a great secret in order that no other nation should discover the deposits of the useful and costly metal. But other people did find out about the island, and a Greek geographer mentioned it in his writings as early as BC 350".

"Merchants of"
This is a further indicator of the power that opposes the Russian confederacy. Britain is one of the premier trading nations of the world. In an article in Time Magazine for May 21st 1990, headed "THE NEW ELIZABETHANS", the writer saw a parallel between "the reign of Elizabeth 1st .. "when Britain became famous for its merchant adventurers" ... and the 1980's when "BRITAIN'S ENTREPRENEURS AND INVESTORS HAVE RE-WON AN EMPIRE UPON WHICH THE SUN NEVER SETS,  and restored the kingdom to its position as a major international creditor and provider of capital."
For example it is a little know fact that Britain is the largest single investor in the US.

"Young Lions thereof"
This is a further pointer to Tarshish as it states the 'young lions' had their origins in her. If the countries that can trace their ancestry to Tarshish and are the young lions, then Tarshish must be the 'old lion'. The lion is a well know symbol of Britain as the following old posters and cartoon indicate.
1.The poster at top left proclaims, "Helped by the YOUNG LIONS the OLD LION defies his foe". Their emphasis
2. Top right. The poster at the door states, "10 Downing St, ALL YOUNG LIONS are WELCOME".
3. Bottom Left. Those lions said to be 'responding to the call' are named. They include Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and India.

The young lions not only include those countries listed, but countries such as the USA, which also had its origins in Britain.

Sheba and Dedan
These are the nations that settled in the Saudi Arabian Peninsular, and can be identified with modern Saudi Arabia, and the gulf states of United Arab Emirates etc. Oman, and the 2  Yemenis'.

Response
Britain/Tarshish is indicated as the country that is taking the lead in opposing Russian/European designs in the Middle East. their response is, "Art thou come to take a spoil?" v. 13. This what we would say today as a diplomatic response, as this and other prophecies indicate that The Russian confederacy will not be stopped by the nations that oppose them and will only be defeated by Divine intervention v.18-23.
 

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