The Prophecy That Is Shaping History

184 Pages·2008·6.89 MB·English

The Prophecy
That Is
Shaping History:

New Research on
Ezekiel’s Vision
of the End

Jon Mark Ruthven, PhD

Ihab Griess, PhD

Xulon Press
11350 Random Hills Drive #800
Fairfax, Virginia 22030

Copyright Jon Mark Ruthven © 2003
In memoriam

Pamela Jessie Ruthven
PhD, LCSW

26 March 1952 – 9 April 2001

Wife, mother, and faithful friend

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Preface

Great events in history often gather momentum and power long before they are
recognized by the experts and commentators on world affairs. Easily one of the most
neglected but powerfully galvanizing forces shaping history in the world today is the
prophecy of Gog and Magog from the 38th and 39th chapters of the book of Ezekiel.
This prophecy from the Jewish-Christian Bible has molded geo-politics, not only with-
in the United States and the West but also, to an amazing degree, in the Muslim world
as well. It seems that, millennia ago, Ezekiel’s vision actually named the nation which
millions today believe plays the major role in this prophecy: the nation of Russia.
Many modern scholars have dismissed Ezekiel’s Gog and Magog prophecy as a
mystical apocalypse written to vindicate the ancient claims of a minor country’s deity.
The very notion of such a prediction—that semi-mythical and unrelated nations that
dwelt on the fringes of Israel’s geographical consciousness 2,500 years ago would, “in
the latter days,” suddenly coalesce into a tidal wave of opposition to a newly regathered
state of Jews—seems utterly incredible to a modern mentality. Such a scenario, the
experts say, belongs only to the fundamentalist “pop religion” of The Late, Great
Planet Earth and of TV evangelists.
But are the experts missing something? Why is Planet Earth the single best-
selling book in English ever, beside the Bible? Why is this theme well received by a
huge proportion of the American people? Why is Ezekiel’s prophecy the basis for
many best-selling books in the Muslim world today? Could it be that this impossibly
odd apocalypse in fact resonates with the deep spiritual instincts of the masses world-
wide? Is Ezekiel’s prophecy not only predicting history, but shaping it?
A thorough, scholarly investigation into both the locations and the foretold desti-
nies of the key nations in Ezekiel’s Gog prophecy has never heretofore been produced
at this level of detail. Hence, this work is a fairly technical essay intended primarily for
the advanced reader and scholar, who have become so because they can judiciously
follow evidence wherever it leads. We trust that this present study will lead the discus-
sion to a significantly higher level of discourse on this controversial subject.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Ihab Griess for his persistence as a motivator and an inde-
fatigable researcher, without whom this project would not have come to completion.
I also own many thanks to Anelia Nikolova and Olga Khomchuk, and Vasilios
“Bill” Kallis, for their assistance in covering Russian and Greek material.
I am also indebted to Dr. M. G. Robertson for his valuable input during the
early stages of this project; to my longtime friend, Douglas Detert, for his kind,
careful, and very helpful reading of the earlier manuscript; and particularly to
N’omi Orr and her husband, Joel, for their extensive editorial work and labor of
love. Any errors encountered in the book, however, are my own.

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Overview of Contents

While the prophetic vision recorded in Ezekiel’s chapters 36-39—particularly chapters
38 and 39—is having a considerable and world-wide impact on human affairs, the focus of
my efforts draws attention to the important problem of correctly identifying the nations
involved in that prophecy. These nations had a date with prophetic destiny in the late 6th
century BCE, when they were foretold to someday demolish international security. As the
time of this prophetic fulfillment draws near we need to be able to identify these nations
with some certainty. The Prophecy That Is Shaping History is arranged in the following
sections.

Introduction. The Impact of Ezekiel’s Prophecy on Contemporary Events outlines the
significance and impact of the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel mentioned in Ezekiel’s
prophecy. This prophecy underlies the two best-selling books in the English- and Arab-
speaking worlds today, and is shaping geo-politics in profound ways generally overlooked
both by historians and by the news media. This chapter also outlines the flow of biblical and
historical scholarship regarding the identity of the nations within the Gog prophecy.

Chapter 1. The Interpretations of Ezekiel 38-39 examines two key interpretive issues
that have bedeviled expositors since the first interpretation of the Gog prophecy. First, the
chapter examines a problem in translation of the name of a key player in world events: Do
these verses refer only to a prince who is a “rosh” or “chief”? Or is a prince of a nation
named Rosh to be understood in 38:2-3 and 39:1? Second, Chapter 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.

Chapter 2. Ezekiel’s Northern Nations: Ancient Near Eastern Texts records the results
of a thorough search of topographical texts from six empires of the Ancient Near East. This
chapter and the next break new ground in locating plausible candidates for the invading
nations of Ezekiel’s vision. The data show that, apart from Magog, all nations on Ezekiel’s
list have clear referents in the area—particularly Rosh.

Chapter 3. Ezekiel’s Northern Nations and Russia traces the migrations and destinies
of these nations from Ezekiel’s time to the present. The conclusions may be considered
controversial by some, but the evidence represents a significant advance in the scholarship
on this topic. One important finding is that Ezekiel’s Rosh clearly lent its name to the
modern state of Russia.

Chapter 4. What Is, and What Is to Come, based on the foregoing material, highlights
a number of key themes in the eerily contemporary Gog prophecy of Ezekiel. This chapter
also offers a checklist that allows the reader to see more clearly the application of the key
elements of the Gog prophecy.

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Table of Contents

Preface, Overview of Contents, Acknowledgements ………. iii-vii

Introduction: The Impact of Ezekiel’s Prophecy
on Contemporary Events ………………. 1
I. Historical Roots ……………………………………………………………2

II. Review of Scholarship on the Identification of Ezekiel’s Rosh ……….. 6
A. Biblical Theology …………………………………………………….. 7
B. Russian Historiography ………………………………………………...8

Chapter 1: The Interpretations of Ezekiel 38 And 39 …………... 21
I. Rosh: An Adjective or a Proper Noun? ……………………………….. 21
A. The Grammatical Argument ………………………………………… 21
B. The Philological Argument …………………………………………. 24
II. The “Fulfillment” of the Gog Prophecy:
Symbolic, Literal or Irrelevant? ……………………. 25
A. The Critical Hermeneutic …………………………………………… 26
B. The Mythical/Symbolic Hermeneutic ………………………………. 28
C. The Contemporary/Literal Hermeneutic ……………………………. 30
D. The Futurist/Literal Hermeneutic …………………………………… 32
1. The fact of the modern State of Israel …………………………… 35
2. Cities without walls ……………………………………………… 36
3. Israel regathered from “many nations” …………………………… 36
4. Israel regathered to a “land that has been a continual waste” ……. 36
5. The unique alignment of nations against Israel ………………….. 38
6. The location of the northern nations that will come from
the “farthest part of the north” …………………………………. 39
7. The historicity of Ezekiel’s Rosh
and the other northern invaders ………………………………… 40
8. The effect of the nature of national names
on applying Ezekiel’s Rosh to possible candidates ……………. 40

Chapter 2: Ezekiel’s Northern Nations:
Ancient Near Eastern Texts ………………….. 55
I. Biblical Evidence …………………………………………………………56

A. Historical Background ……………………………………………….. 56

B. Candidates for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nations ……………….. 56
1. Ezekiel 38-39 …………………………………………………….. 56
2. Jeremiah 25:23-26 ………………………………………………… 57
3. Isaiah 66:19 ……………………………………………………….. 58

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II. Egyptian Sources ………………………………………………………… 59
A. Historical Background ………………………………………………… 59
B. Candidate for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nation, Rosh ……………. 59
III. Ugaritic Sources …………………………………………………………. 60
A. Historical Background ………………………………………………… 60
B. Candidate for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nation, Rosh ……………. 61
IV. Hittite Sources …………………………………………………………… 62
A. Historical Background ………………………………………………… 62
B. Candidates for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nations …………………. 62
1. Rosh …………………………………………………………………. 62
2. Tubal ………………………………………………………………… 63
V. Urartian Sources ………………………………………………………… 63
A. Historical Background ………………………………………………… 63
B. Candidate for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nation, Rosh …………….. 64
Excursus: The Urartian Dynasty of Rusas and Ezekiel’s Rosh ……… 64
VI. Assyrian Sources …………………………………………………………. 65
A. Historical Background ………………………………………………….65

B. Candidates for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nations …………………. 65
1. Rosh ………………………………………………………………….. 65
a. The Eastern Locale …..…………………………………………... 65
b. The North-Central Locale ….……………………………………..66

c. The Western Locale ….…………………………………………... 66

2. Meshech ……………………………………………………………...67

3. Tubal ………………………………………………………………… 68

4. Gomer ……………………………………………………………….. 69
VII. Babylonian Sources ……………………………………………………… 70
A. Historical Background ………………………………………………… 70
B. Candidate for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nation, Rosh …………….. 70
VIII. Greek Sources ……………………………………………………………. 70
A. Historical Background ………………………………………………… 70
B. Candidates for Identification with Ezekiel’s Nations …………………. 71
1. Rosh ………………………………………………………………….. 71
2. Meshech and Tubal ……………………………………………………71

3. Gomer …………………………………………………………………71

Conclusions …………………………………………………………………….. 71

Chapter 3: Ezekiel’s Northern Nations and Russia ……………….79

I. The Ethnology of Russia’s Origins ……………………………………… 79
A. The Cimmerians: circa 1150 BCE – 750 CE …………………………. 81
B. The Skythians: 750 BCE – 250 CE ……………………………………82

C. The Sarmatians: circa 250 BCE – 250 CE …………………………….83

D. The Slavs versus the “North-men” as the Origin of the Rus’ …………. 83
1. The Normanist theory …………………………………………………84

2. The Anti-Normanist argument ….……………………………………. 85
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II. Toponymic Indications for Rōs/Rus’ …………………………………… 88
III. Traditional Attribution of Ezekiel’s Prophecy to the Northern Nations …. 90
Excursus: The Rōs as “Tauro-Skythians” ……………………………….. 92
IV. Migrations and Destinies of Ezekiel’s Other Northern Nations ………. 97
A. Gog and Magog ………………………………………………………... 97
B. Meshech ……………………………………………………………….. 98
C. Tubal …………………………………………………………………. 100
D. Gomer (Cimmerians) ………………………………………………… 102
E. Togarmah …………………………………………………………….. 102
Conclusions …………………………………………………………………. 103

Chapter 4: What Is, And What Is to Come ……………………….. 117
I. Summary of the Research ……………………………………………… 117
II. The Gog Prophecy: Summary and Key Themes …………………….. 118
A. Outline of the Gog Prophecy: Ezekiel 38-39 ………………………… 119
B. Summary of the Gog Prophecy ………………………………………. 119
1. The nations involved ………………………………………………... 119
2. The intended victim: The people of the Lord in the Land of Israel …. 119
3. The universal onslaught against Israel ……………………………… 120
4. The Lord’s actions against the invaders …………………………….. 120
5. The “sacrificial” disposal of the invaders …………………………… 120

6. The Lord’s interpretation of the action ………………………………121

C. Key Themes of the Gog Prophecy ……………………………………122

1. History is Shaped by the Lord Beyond Natural or Social Factors … 122
2. The Existence of Modern Israel in its Own Land is Central
to God’s Plan ………………………………………………………. 124
3. The Invaders are Identifiable Nations with the Potential
to Fulfill Ezekiel’s Prophecy ………………………………………. 126

D. The Criteria for Fulfillment: What Is, and What Is to Come ………... 127
III. Implications of This Study ……………………………………………... 129

Appendix: Maps
Figure 1: Locations of Ezekiel’s Northern Nations …………………….. 57
Figure 2: Ethnic Positions and Movements circa 1200 to 200 BCE ….…81

Map 1: Earliest Migrations of Ezekiel’s Northern Nations ………….. 135

Map 2: Ezekiel’s Nations in the Ancient Near East …………………. 136
Map 3: Candidates for Rosh and Others in the Early Christian Era ….137

Bibliography …………………..…………………………………………….. 139

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