Synopsis: The book of
Revelation identifies “Gog and Magog” - The nations from the four corners of
the Earth – Revelation 20:7-10.
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By Jack Stapleton on Unsplash |
Two main arguments are used to support the proposition.
- The perceived similarity of sound and spelling between rosh” and ‘Rus,’ the ancient name of a Medieval principality based in the city of Kiev.
- Ezekiel referred to a nation from the “far north,” and Russia lies to the north of Israel.
There are
three main problems with this interpretation. First, the linguistic evidence
demonstrates that any similarity in spelling or pronunciation is superficial,
at best. ‘Rosh’ is the common Hebrew noun for “head” and is so used over
three dozen times in the book of Ezekiel.
Second, due
to geographic and climatic conditions, invasions of ancient Palestine,
historically, came from a northerly direction as armies marched through the Fertile Crescent
to reach the area, regardless of their point of origin. For example,
Mesopotamia lies to the east of Israel, yet invaders from it followed the Euphrates
or Tigris River to
a point north of Palestine, then turned south to invade the region along
the Mediterranean coast. Of course, Russia is not the only nation located to
the north of Israel.
Third and
most decisive, the book of Revelation applies the prophecy from Ezekiel
to a global effort by all nations to annihilate the “saints” worldwide in
the last days, and it identifies this force by name - “Gog and Magog” (Revelation20:7-10).
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By Timo Wielink on Unsplash |
“Rosh”
occurs over six hundred times in the Hebrew Bible and,
most often, means “head.” Derivative usages include
“chief,” “top,” “sum,” “first,” and “principal.” All the derivative meanings
come from the literal sense of “head” (rô'sh – Strong’s #H7218).
“Rosh”
is not a proper name in the Old Testament, with the possible exception of Genesis
46:21 (“Rosh,” a son of Benjamin). Nowhere does the Hebrew Old
Testament mention a nation, people, territory, or city named “rosh,” with
the possible exception of the “rosh” mentioned in Ezekiel chapters
38 and 39.
“Rosh”
is the same noun used to designate the commencement of a new year or rosh
ha-shanah, the “head of the year,” and, likewise, the start of a
new month (rosh chodesh).
Other examples include “chief” of tribes, “chief
priest,” and the “chief prince.” In at least
one verse, the book of Ezekiel also refers to the “head
of the year,” that is, to rosh ha-shanah (Deuteronomy 1:15, 5:23,
2 Kings 25:18, 1 Chronicles 7:40, Ezekiel 40:1).
“Rosh”
occurs thirty-eight times in the book of Ezekiel, always with
the sense “head,” again, with the possible exceptions in Ezekiel
chapters 38 and 39. For example, the “heads” of the
living creatures. On one occasion, the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to shave
his “head.” In Chapter 17, “rosh” refers to the “top”
of a branch. In Chapter 27, we find the “rosh” or “chief
of all spices.” And so on (Ezekiel 1:22, 5:1, 17:4, 17:22, 27:22).
In the
Hebrew clause from Chapter 38, “rosh” or “chief” follows the Hebrew
noun for “prince” (nasi). This is the normal word order
in a Hebrew clause where one substantive modifies another (the so-called ‘construct state’).
In this case, “chief” modifies “prince.” Although the clause may
not disallow the translation “prince of Rosh,” the more natural sense of
the Hebrew clause is “chief prince” (Ezekiel 38:2).
Elsewhere
in Ezekiel and the Hebrew Bible, “Meshech
and Tubal”
are paired consistently and with no mention of “rosh,” although often
they are listed alongside “Javan"
(Greece). The pairing is based on geography - Both nations were in Asia Minor
to the northwest of Israel (Genesis 10:2, 1 Chronicles 1:5, Ezekiel 27:13,
32:36).
The
nations listed in Ezekiel Chapter 38 were known to ancient Israel.
Besides “Tubal and Meshech,” the list includes Persia, Ethiopia, Libya,
Gomer,
and Togarmah,
all regional peoples with which Israel had contact. For example, each is included
in Ezekiel’s pronouncement against Tyre and Egypt (Ezekiel
27:26, 29:10, 30:4-5).
In Chapter
27 of Ezekiel, the trading partners of Tyre are listed from west to east,
beginning from Spain (Tarshish),
then Greece (Javan), Asia Minor (Tubal, Meschech, Togmarah), and
the Aegean Islands, then nations are listed from south to north. Finally,
Arabia and parts of Mesopotamia are named. Nowhere is any entity
called “Rosh” included among the nations surrounding Israel (Ezekiel 27:12-24).
“Gomer”
is not mentioned before Chapter 38 of Ezekiel but, very probably, it is
identical with the “Gammadim” in Chapter 27, a Hebrew rendering of the “Gimirra”
peoples that were known to Assyria, as well as the “Cimmerians” from
ancient Greek literature, a nomadic people from eastern Asia Minor, also
to the north of Israel. Elsewhere, “Gomer” is included
with “Magog” in lists of descendants of Japheth (Genesis 10:2, 1
Chronicles 1:5, Ezekiel 27:11).
All the nations listed are known from other biblical passages and ancient documents, and all were known to ancient Israel, with the possible exception “Rosh.” For that matter, no kingdom known by the name Russia or ‘Rus’ existed in the sixth century B.C., whether in the immediate or more distant regions north of Israel. Therefore, no such nation was known to the prophet Ezekiel or Israel.
Similarities
in spelling and pronunciation are offered as primary evidence for “rosh”
being a reference to Russia. However, the similarities are more apparent than
real. “Rosh” (ראשׁ) is written with three Hebrew
consonants, Resh (ר), Aleph (א),
and Shin (ש). In earlier times, only with Resh and Shin
are used (רשׁ). The Aleph was added later to mark the long
vowel sound or ‘ô’ (the consonant Aleph is not pronounced when so
used). The single-letter Shin (ש) provides the ‘sh’ final sound
in ‘rosh.’
The kingdom of Rus did
not exist prior to the ninth or the late eighth-century A.D., over fifteen
hundred years after the time of Ezekiel. The name ‘Rus’ does not appear
anywhere in the Hebrew Bible.
Since the
ninth century A.D., ‘Rus’ has been transliterated into Hebrew
as רוס, using the consonants Resh (ר), Vav (ו)
and Samech (ס), not Resh (ר), Aleph (א)
and Shin (ש). The letter Vav in this
word marks a long vowel sound or ‘ū.’ The consonant vav is not
pronounced. Samech is a different letter than Shin,
one more akin to ‘s’ than the ‘sh’ of the letter shin.
Thus, the
only sound in common between “rosh” and ‘rus’ is the initial ‘r’ sound.
Likewise, in spelling, the only letter in common between “rosh” and ‘rus’
is the initial Resh (ר). The alleged linguistic connection between
the two words is quite tenuous.
Moreover,
the nations listed in Ezekiel are not just from the north. The list
includes nations located east and south of Israel. “Gog” leads
this alliance to invade Israel from the direction of its home territory to the
north of Palestine.
Due to the
geography and climate of the region, invading armies typically entered Palestine from
a northerly direction, after following routes through the Fertile Crescent that
could sustain an army with food and water. The Old Testament speaks of
several hostile nations that attacked Israel out of the north,
including Aram (Syria), Assyria, and Babylon. Such references are too
common to determine a nation’s identity by the compass direction of its attack (Isaiah
8:4-7, Jeremiah 1:13-15, 25:9-10).
The Book of Revelation
The
decisive factor in identifying “Gog and Magog” is how the book of
Revelation interprets and applies the prophecy, which it alludes to in three passages. The
first reference is brief. The sixth bowl of wrath was to--:
“PREPARE
THE WAY for the kings of the east.” Unclean
spirits “GATHERED THE KINGS OF THE WHOLE HABITABLE EARTH to
the great day of God the Almighty…And he GATHERED them
unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue MOUNTAIN of Megiddo.”
- (Revelation16:12-16).
The vision
of the sixth bowl of wrath applies language from the 38th
chapter of Ezekiel--:
“Be PREPARED,
you and all your companies that are assembled unto you…in the latter years you
shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword that is GATHERED
OUT OF MANY PEOPLES UPON THE MOUNTAINS of Israel”(Ezekiel 38:1-9).
The linguistic
borrowing from Ezekiel becomes more apparent in the second instance:
An angel
cries to “THE BIRDS OF THE AIR TO COME AND GATHER YOURSELVES TO THE
SUPPER of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the
flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of
them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small
and great. And I saw the beast, and THE KINGS OF THE EARTH AND THEIR
ARMIES GATHERED TO THE WAR against him that sat on the horse.” -
(Revelation 19:17-21).
Note the
parallel descriptions from the above in Ezekiel:
(Ezekiel 39:17-19)
- “Speak to EVERY FEATHERED BIRD and to every beast
of the field, GATHER YOURSELVES ON EVERY SIDE TO MY SACRIFICE that
I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the
mountains of Israel THAT YE MAY EAT FLESH, and drink blood.
Ye shall EAT THE FLESH OF THE MIGHTY and drink the blood of
the princes of the earth.”
The use of
Ezekiel’s prophecy becomes explicit in the third instance:
Satan
deceives the “nations from the four corners of the earth, GOG AND
MAGOG, TO GATHER THEM TO THE WAR: the number of whom is as the sand of
the sea. And THEY ASCENDED OVER THE BREADTH OF THE EARTH and
encompassed the camp of the saints and the beloved city.” - (Revelation 20:8-9).
Common to
all three passages is the transformation of the regional nations from Ezekiel
into the “kings of the whole earth and their armies,” the nations
from every “corner” of the earth that are “gathered to the war,”
singular. The same event is in view in all three passages.
Rather
than descend from the north, this force “ascends” over the entire earth
to attack the “saints” of God worldwide, not the nation of Israel in the Middle East. “Saint” in the book of Revelation refers to men and
women from every nation that follow the Lamb (Revelation 5:8, 8:3, 11:18, 13:7).
Conclusions
The
decisive factor is how the book of Revelation interprets the invading
force, “Gog and Magog,” not perceived similarities in pronunciation or spelling
between the terms “rosh” and ‘rus,’ and, certainly not contemporary
geopolitical perceptions and realities.
Russia may
participate in this final assault, however, only in the same manner as the
other countries that make up “all the nations” of the earth at the time
of the attack. Presumably, this will also include the nations of Canada, Germany, South
Africa, and the United States of America, among many others. In Revelation,
“all” means ALL. That is, all the governments of the world
unite under the “Beast” in a final attempt to annihilate God’s people
across the globe.
What the book
of Revelation does is apply the prophecy from Ezekiel to the final effort
by Satan to destroy the followers of the Lamb at the end of history. The “war” - singular - refers to the worldwide persecution of men and women who follow the
Lamb, not to conventional battles between armies and nation-states.
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