Twenty six hundred years ago, the prophet Ezekiel predicted that a powerful army would rise up north of Israel. Ezekiel called the leader of this power, Gog of the land of Magog. The prophecy of Ezekiel 38 and 39 have been very puzzling to prophecy students over the centuries. Thanks to archaeology and good scholarship the task of identifying who is represented by these names, Gog and Magog, has become very easy in recent years. Today their names can be found in the back of many Bibles in the map section. If your Bible has a map of resettlement of people after the flood of Noah, you will be able to find the names Gog and Magog in the region we now know as the former Soviet Union.

The problem arose in the fact that the prophecy in verse 2 names the "prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal". Identity of the these names have been very difficult until our century because there were no names in former history to relate these names to. However, we have today two cities that look and sound very much like these two names. In the case of "Meshech", Moscow. In the case of "Tubal", Tobolsk. And in the case of "Rosh", Russia. There are many scholars today who feel that these are accurate transliterations of these names. Identification of these three names is further strengthened by the fact that Eze. 38:15 states the geographic location of them -- the land of the north. If one takes a world map and draws a line north starting at Jerusalem, the line will proceed straight through Moscow.

Also very significant is the fact that this prophecy of Ezekiel 38 uses the specific name of this northern commander to come against Israel in the latter years. The name of this commander that will attack Israel is the "prince of Rosh" in verse two. It doesn't call for the Soviet Union, but 'Rosh". I believe this prophetic stage was set when the "iron curtain" came down and the Soviet empire started to collapse. The Soviet Union was forced to give up many of its satellite countries and the Soviet Union ceased to exist. What is left today is the motherland, Russia and it is Russia, "Rosh" that is predicted to come against Israel, not the Soviet Union! The prophetic stage is perfectly set now as far as this name is concerned.

Also significant in understanding this prophecy is understanding the long history of anti-Semitism that has existed in Russia. Hatred of the Jew has long been a reality inside the Russian borders. However, reading current newspaper articles will verify a new wave of anti-Semitism sweeping through Russia. This has served as incentive for the thousands of the sons and daughters of Israel to leave Russia in the last few years and return to the land of Israel, fulfilling Bible prophecy (Jer. 31:8 and many others). Hatred of the Jew will be one of the incentives the Russians will have for attacking Israel. Today we see this hatred building as a new Russian leader is emerging. His name is Vladimir Zhirinovsky.

Before making a point about this emerging Russian leader, let's return to the text of Ezekiel 38:15 & 16 and we see there that this Russian leader will come from his place out of the north. He will bring a mighty army against the land of Israel and this action according to verse 18 will stir the fury of God. The remainder of the chapter and the following chapter, chapter 39, down through verse 11 says that this Russian leader and his army will die at the hand of the Lord there in Israel. This will truly be a miraculous intervention and will be the Russian army's last march for verse 11 says that Israel will become a burial ground for this army after God destroys them.

What is truly amazing concerning this Bible prophecy is that this new emerging leader in Russia, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, is one who is very likely to be the leader who could fulfill this prophecy in the not too distant future. He is very popular as he has received the largest number of votes in the 1993 parliamentary elections. He is scheduled to run in the 1996 presidential election in Russia. He is supported by the Russian military, is very anti-Semitic, and he has written a very interesting book in keeping with the interest of this article. A quotation from that book is as follows:

"Let Russia successfully accomplish its last 'dash' to the south. I see Russian soldiers gathering for this last southern campaign ... I see planes at air bases in the southern districts of Russia. I see submarines surfacing off the shores of the Indian Ocean and landing crafts approaching shores where soldiers of the Russian Army are already marching.... Infantry combat vehicles are advancing and vast numbers of tanks are on the move. Russia is at last accomplishing its final military campaign."

Very alarming, but interesting in the light of Ezekiel 38 & 39, is to now note the title of this new book from Zhirinovsky, "The Last Dash to the South". Could this rising Russian leader be the one whom God foresaw to fulfill these prophecies of Ezekiel? Could this be the Russian leader God named the prince of Rosh in Eze. 38 & 39? Time will tell we believe, in the not too distant future! I wonder if Vladimir Zhirinovsky would care if he knew that God had predicted twenty six hundred years ago that this "dash to the south" would prophetically be in his own words, "the last".

Something to be considered: When this prophecy was given twenty six hundred years ago, Russia didn't even exist, but we can see the words of God's prophet coming true. Today, in spite of the fact that most people think that Russia is disarming, she continues to be a major military power. She still has a large cavalry, a large infantry, and many tanks and other armaments. Moscow is still in control of those 34 Red October style nuclear submarines. Each one is armed with 200 nuclear weapons and each weapon is capable of ionizing a major city. If one multiplies 200 (the number of weapons) by 34 (the number of submarines that carry them) the destructive power still available to the Russians just in these submarines is very evident. Does anybody know where these submarines are today? Do we ever hear the press report of their whereabouts? Have we heard about them being disarmed?

Outside of Russia, the former Soviet republic, Kazakhstan, has enough nuclear missiles inside its borders to be considered the fifth leading nuclear power in the world. Significant to note and not surprising, Russia is still very much in cooperation with the government of Kazakhstan, which is mostly Muslim and very anti Israel. Because of being mostly Muslim and anti Israel, it is logical to conclude that this nation would be in alignment with the anti Israel policies of the other Muslim countries mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and verse 5.

Also interesting in the development of this prophecy is the recent Russian Iranian agreement to sign, later this year, a contract for forty Iranian specialists to train in Russia for nuclear operations and plans for a 40 megawatt reactor are in the works. Interesting to note here that in Ezekiel 38:5, Persia (Iran) will be aligned with Russia when Russia makes her move against Israel.

Finally we can see the fulfillment of the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 & 39 close at hand which should serve for us as testimonial of two principles. One, all of the things predicted in the Word of God will be literally fulfilled. Two, the close possible fulfillment of this particular prophecy speaks of the lateness of the hour in which we live and should serve as an incentive for all of us to get right with the Lord through repentance while there is time (II Cor. 6:2) and stay right with Him until we see Him face to face! Because of these prophecies being fulfilled it will more than likely be very soon!