There are many
various interpretations of who are the nations and people who will usher in
Armageddon, the final battle between “good and evil” where God will intervene,
destroy Satan and the demons in a ‘lake of fire’ and restore Israel to
unsurpassed glory and preeminence. To set all of this in motion will be a
series of global events, not the least of which will be an invasion against the
Jewish people by a coalition of the damned/doomed, led by one called Gog,
prince of Magog. Although I am not entirely sure which tribal nations make up
this military offensive first-strike, which for them will be MAD (“Mutually
Assured Destruction”), still these groups are comprised of Indo-European
descendants of Noah’s son, Japheth.
JAPHETH- The
progenitor of the Indo-European peoples who lived to the farthest north and
west of Israel.
(GENESIS
10: 2-8)
JAPHETH
(Gomer-Magog-Madai-Javan-Tubal-Meshech-Tiras).
GOMER
(Ashkenaz-Ripath-Togarmah)
JAVAN
(Elishah-Tarshish-Kittim and Rodanium )
NOTE: The sons of Japheth are the maritime
or seafaring people.
Gomer-
Cimmerians/Indo-European people from southern Russia who settled in Cappadocia
in Asia Minor [Turkey]. He was the father of the Scythians who
dispossessed the ‘Cimmerians’ from their home in Russia.
-Cappadocia- south of Pontus about 300
miles from Galatia eastward toward “Armenia” (land of ‘Ararat’), with Cilicia
and the Taurus Mountains to the south. Today the region is in central Turkey,
which is 98% Muslim.
-Scythians- Nomadic, Indo-European
people, speaking an Iranian (Persian) dialect.
-Armenia- Is
referred to as the “land of Ararat” (‘Urartu’) of which modern Turkey, Iran,
and Soviet Armenia occupy parts of this ancient land area.
Madai- Ancestor of
the Medians or “Medes” (Iranians/Persians); the region south and southwest of
the Caspian Sea on the Zagros mountains, inhabited by an ‘Aryan people’ from
the north and west. It is north of Elam and west of Assyria.
Javan- The original
ancestor of Greek people.
Tubal- Ancestor of a people, likely of
Cappadocia or Cilicia in Asia Minor [Turkey].
Meshech- A people of Asia Minor
frequently associated with ‘Tubal.’ (Cp.
Ezekiel 32: 26; 38: 1 – 40).
Tiras- Possibly
thought to be the “Etruscans” of Italy.
Ashkenaz- Ancestry
of a people usually associated with the Scythians (Nomadic,
Indo-European people, speaking an Iranian (Persian) dialect).
Riphath- Ancestor
of an ‘Anatolian’ tribe [Turkey].
Togarmah- The name
of a region of Asia Minor and is likely modern ‘Gurun’ 70 miles west of
Malatya, or an area in “Armenia” (land of ‘Ararat’).
Elishah- Island of Cyprus
mainland of Greece (“Mycenean culture”) and Phoenician trade route.
Tarshish- Ancestor
of the Aegean people, most likely of Tartessus at the southern tip of Spain,
but possibly Tarsus of Cilicia [home of the apostle Paul in Turkey].
Kittim- Tribal name
for the island of Cyprus [Elishah].
Rodanium/Dodanium-
Identified with a Greek-speaking people.
NOTE: Reference-Holman Illustrated
Bible Dictionary, Holman Bible Publishers, 2003, Nashville, TN.
Ezekiel 38: 1-2a,
5-6
The word of the
LORD came to me: “Son of Man, set your face against Gog, of the land of
Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Persia, Cush and Put will be
with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth
Togarmah from the far north with all its troops- the many nations with
you.
Ezekiel 38: 8b,
11-12a, 18-19, 22b
In future years you will invade a land that has
recovered from war, whose people were gathered from the nations to the
mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out
from the nations and now all of them dwell in safety. You will say, “”I will
invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting
people- all of them living without gates and bars. This is what will happen in
that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, My hot anger will be aroused,
declares the Sovereign LORD. In My zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that
time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. I will pour
down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops
and on the many nations with him.
Ezekiel 39: 6, 9,
12-13, 25, 27
I will send fire on
Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know
that I am the LORD. Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and
use the weapons for fuel and burn them up- the small and large shields, the
bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use
them for fuel. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them
in order to cleanse the land. And the people of the land will bury them, and
the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign
LORD. Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob
back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel,
and I will be zealous for My holy name. When I have brought them back from the
nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies. I will
gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind.
Revelation 20: 7-10
When the thousand
years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and go out to deceive
the nations in the four corners of the earth- Gog and Magog- to gather
them together for the battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore.
They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s
people, the city He loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur,
where the beast and false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day
and night forever and ever.
COMMENTARY: The nationalities of seafaring
peoples descended from Noah’s son Japheth consists of those from southern
Russia, Armenians (“land of Ararat”), Scythians and Medes (Iranians/Persians or
Aryan speaking people), Greeks (Aegeans, people of Cyprus), and Etruscans
(Italy). It does seem that the leader of the invading forces against Israel in
the Last Days will be a coalition led by Greek states, along with Persia
(Iran), Cush (southwestern limits of Persian power or land south of
Egypt-Sudan), Put (Libya; a region of Africa bordering Egypt), and Beth Togarmah (Armenia /”land of Ararat”).
It seems quite plausible that with the disintegration of the former Soviet
Union, some of the independent Balkan states might be home to radical Muslim
extremists who hate Israel. With unrest in Chechnya, as well as political and
economic instability in Bosnia, Croatia, and other countries [Eastern Europe, Africa,
Central Asia, Middle East, etc.,], including Pakistan and bordering nations,
the one thing many of them have in common is their feelings about the State of Israel.
With the ever-present threat from al-Qaida in these regions and elsewhere, Biblical
prophesies just might come true in such a dramatic fashion that one can only
conclude the END is not only nigh, but it is here at last!
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St.
#B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
October 20, 2013
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
