• The bulk of this Russian-Iranian military coalition will come against the mountains of Israel from the north (Ezekiel 38:8-12, 15; 39:1-2). This indicates either that the governments of Lebanon and Syria will be actively engaged in the “evil plan” to wipe the Jews off the map and seize Jewish wealth or that they will have been overrun by Russian and Iranian forces. Curiously, Russia has accelerated its efforts to develop a stronger military alliance with Syria in recent years, selling billions of dollars’ worth of weapons to Damascus and even building a massive new port for the Russian Navy on the Syrian coast. Hezbollah, meanwhile, continues to maintain strong ties to Iran and Syria.
• Egypt, one of Israel’s most fearsome historic enemies, is never mentioned in Ezekiel 38–39, suggesting that this great power does not play an active role in these prophecies. This is particularly intriguing given that Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. It is a cold peace, to be sure, but it is peace nonetheless, meaning that we are living in the first sliver of time in some five thousand years that Egypt is not likely to go to war against the Jews in the near future.
• Iraq, another major enemy of Israel throughout history and the Saddam era, is also not mentioned in Ezekiel 38–39, not by any of its ancient names, including Babel, Babylon, Babylonia, Mesopotamia, or Shinar. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein and the rise of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani, Iraq has posed no strategic threat to Israel at all. The Iraqi government has shown little interest in making a formal peace treaty with Israel to date. But Iraq currently has too many internal troubles and weaknesses to launch a war or join a war against the Jewish state any time soon. This is significant in that not once in the 2,500-plus years since Ezekiel wrote down the prophecies have both Egypt and Iraq not been an immediate strategic threat to the Jewish people.
• Ezekiel tells us that all of these events “shall come about in the last days” (Ezekiel 38:16).
Let me be clear: As I wrote in Epicenter, I have no idea whether this prophetic war—known to Bible scholars as the “War of Gog and Magog”—will come to pass in our lifetime, much less soon. Nevertheless, the trajectory of events over the past ten years or so has been curious, to say the least. What’s more, we have seen most of the prophecies in Ezekiel 36 and 37 (the rebirth of Israel and the return of Jews to the Holy Land) come true since 1948. This raises the distinct possibility that Ezekiel 38 and 39 could come to complete fulfillment in our lifetime as well. In my view, we certainly cannot rule it out.620
What are the implications of the War of Gog and Magog for the people of the Middle East?
First, the bad news. The War of Gog and Magog will be unlike any other war in human history. Ezekiel clearly indicates that no country comes to the aid of Israel as she finds herself surrounded by the Russian-Iranian-Libyan alliance. Rather, Ezekiel explains that the God of the Bible will actually go to war on behalf of Israel and against her enemies, with supernatural and devastating results. Ezekiel 38:18-20 indicates that “on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel” the Lord God says, “My fury will mount up in My anger. In My zeal and in My blazing wrath I declare that on that day there will surely be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all the creeping things that creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the face of the earth will shake at My presence.” The earthquake will be epicentered in Israel, but its shock waves will be felt around the world.
This massive earthquake, however, is only the beginning. “I shall call for a sword against him on all My mountains,” declares the Lord God in Ezekiel 38:21. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.” In other words, in the ensuing chaos, the enemy forces arrayed against Israel will begin fighting one another. The war will begin all right, but Russian and Muslim forces will be firing at one another, not at the Jews.“With pestilence and with blood I will enter into judgment with him,” the Lord God continues in Ezekiel 38:22, referring to the Russian dictator known as Gog. “And I will rain on him and on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, a torrential rain, with hailstones, fire and brimstone.”
This will be the most terrifying sequence of events in human history to date. On the heels of a terrifying supernatural global earthquake that will undoubtedly take many lives will come a cascading series of other disasters. Pandemic diseases, for example, will sweep through the troops of the Russian coalition as well as through “the many peoples” who support these troops in their war of annihilation against Israel. And the attackers will face other judgments such as have rarely been seen since the cataclysmic showdown in Egypt between Moses and Pharaoh (Exodus 7–11). Deadly and devastating hailstorms will hit these enemy forces and their supporters (reminiscent of Exodus 9). So, too, will apocalyptic firestorms that will call to mind both the terrible judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19) and the most frightening of Hollywood’s long list of disaster films. But such events will be neither ancient history nor fiction. They will be all too immediate, real, and tragic.
The firestorms will be geographically widespread and exceptionally deadly. In Ezekiel 39:6, the Lord says, “I will rain down fire on Magog and on all your allies who live safely on the coasts. Then they will know that I am the LORD” (NLT). This suggests that targets throughout Russia and the former Soviet Union, as well as Russia’s allies, will be supernaturally struck on this day of judgment and partially or completely consumed. These could be limited to nuclear missile silos, military bases, radar installations, defense ministries, intelligence headquarters, and other government buildings of various kinds. But other targets could very well include religious centers, such as mosques, madrasses, Islamic schools and universities, and other facilities where hatred against Jews and Christians is preached and where calls for the destruction of Israel are sounded. Either way, we will have to expect extensive collateral damage; many civilians will be at severe risk.
Ezekiel 39:12 tells us that the devastation will be so immense that it will take seven full months for Israel to bury all the bodies of the enemies in her midst, to say nothing of the dead and wounded back in the coalition countries. What’s more, the process would actually take much longer except that scores of bodies will be devoured by carnivorous birds and beasts that will be drawn to the battlefields like moths to a flame. “Call all the birds and wild animals,” the Lord God tells His prophet in Ezekiel 39:17-19 (NLT). “Say to them: Gather together for my great sacrificial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel, and there eat flesh and drink blood! Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of princes as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls. . . . Gorge yourselves with flesh until you are glutted; drink blood until you are drunk. This is the sacrificial feast I have prepared for you.”
A more gruesome sight is hard to imagine, but again, this is not the stuff of fiction. Ezekiel is giving us an intelligence report of the future, a future that is steadily approaching.
Is there any good news that will come out of the War of Gog and Magog?
Fortunately, there is some good news.
First, while none of us wishes these events would happen at all, at least God in His love and mercy has chosen to give the whole world advance warning of what is coming. Through the Bible, God is urging people to repent and become followers of Jesus Christ before these terrible events come to pass.
Second, in Ezekiel 39:21, God says, “I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment.” In Ezekiel 39:29, He says that He will pour out the Holy Spirit on His chosen people.
What does this tell us? It certainly tells us that these events will be a judgment of God’s enemies in keeping with Genesis 12:1-3, where God says He will bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel.
But it also says that the War of Gog and Magog will be a key moment in a great spiritual awakening that will sweep through the epicenter and the entire world. The God of the Bible will
literally and metaphorically shake people out of spiritual apathy and lethargy to help them realize that there is a God in heaven who loves them and has a wonderful plan for their lives if they will repent, turn from their wicked ways, and follow His ways. When God pours out His Holy Spirit, many will suddenly realize that the only way to find peace with God—and peace with their neighbors—is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Moreover, God will shake both those who are nominal Christians and those who are born-again followers of Christ but have not been particularly serious about or devoted to their faith. He will awaken them spiritually. He will revive them and cause them to live their lives wholly and completely to please Jesus Christ and to make disciples of all nations, just as He commanded.
True, the lead-up to this prophetic war, the war itself, and its immediate aftermath will be very dark days for the people of Russia, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Turkey, and their Muslim allies. But the Bible tells us that this will also be a new birth of freedom for all the people of the region, an opportunity to actually see for themselves the glory of the living God.
What else does the Bible tell us about the future of Iran?
We learn more about God’s ultimate plan for Iran (sometimes referred to in the Old Testament as “Elam”) from the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah 49:34-39 says:
That which came as the word of the LORD to Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, at the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:
“Thus says the LORD of hosts,
‘Behold, I am going to break the bow of Elam,
The finest of their might.
I will bring upon Elam the four winds
From the four ends of heaven,
And will scatter them to all these winds;
And there will be no nation
To which the outcasts of Elam will not go.
So I will shatter Elam before their enemies
And before those who seek their lives;
And I will bring calamity upon them,
Even My fierce anger,’ declares the LORD,
‘And I will send out the sword after them
Until I have consumed them.
Then I will set My throne in Elam
And destroy out of it king and princes,’
Declares the LORD.
‘But it will come about in the last days
That I will restore the fortunes of Elam,’
Declares the LORD.”
Allow me to draw out several key points from this passage:
• Verse 39 is important because it tells us that these events are going to happen in “the last days.”
• The passage tells us that in the last days, God will scatter the people of Iran all over the earth (verse 36). This actually happened in 1979. For the first time in history, Iranians have been scattered all over the globe. An estimated 5 million Iranians now live outside of their home country.
• God says He is going to “break” the current structure of Iran (verse 35).
• God says that He will “shatter Elam [Iran] before their enemies” (verse 37).
• God says He will bring His “fierce anger” against the leaders of Iran (verse 37).
• God says, “I will send out the sword after them until I have consumed them” (verse 37).
• God says He will specifically “destroy” Iran’s “king and princes” (verse 38).
• Despite all this terrible judgment, God specifically promises to “set My throne in Elam”—that is, be the God and King of the people of Iran (verse 38).
• God also promises to “restore the fortunes of Elam” (verse 39).
One view of the promise in verse 39 to “restore the fortunes” of Iran is that after judging Iran’s leaders and military, God will allow the people of Iran to become politically peaceful and economically prosperous. I, however, lean toward the view held by many Iranian Revivalists who believe that God specifically means He will bless the people of Iran spiritually.
Iranian Christians believe that God is going to pour out His love and forgiveness and His Holy Spirit on the people of Iran, open the eyes of their hearts, and help them to see clearly that Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world and that through faith in Him they can know and experience God’s love and plan for their lives. They also believe that Iran will then become a “sending country,” a base camp, as it were, from which thousands—perhaps tens of thousands—of Iranian followers of Christ will fan out throughout the epicenter, preaching the gospel, making disciples, and planting churches.
What does the Bible tell us about the future of Iraq?
As I wrote in the first edition of Epicenter back in 2006—during the height of the terrorist insurgency in Iraq—a careful study of Bible prophecy indicates that in time Iraq will form a strong, stable, and decisive central government. Iraq’s military and internal security forces will be well trained, well equipped, and increasingly effective. The insurgency will be crushed, support for it will evaporate, and foreign terrorists will stop flowing into the country.
As the situation stabilizes, Iraqi roads and airports will become safe, and people will finally be able to move freely about the country. Tourists will come in droves to visit the country’s many ancient archeological sites and national treasures. Business leaders will pour into the country, as will foreign investment, particularly to get Iraq’s oil fields, refineries, and shipping facilities up to twenty-first-century standards.
Once these things happen, Iraq will emerge as an oil superpower rivaling Saudi Arabia. Trillions of petrodollars will flood the country, making Iraq a magnet for banks and multinational corporations that will set up their regional and international headquarters in the country. High-rise office buildings, luxury apartments, and single-family homes will be constructed. Theaters, concert halls, parks, and malls will be built. The ancient city of Babylon will emerge virtually overnight like a phoenix rising from the ashes to become one of the modern wonders of the world.
Iraq is about to see a political and economic renaissance unparalleled in the history of the world. The people of Iraq are about to experience a level of personal and national wealth and power they have never dreamed possible. The pundits who have written the country off to failure and chaos will be absolutely stunned by such a dramatic turn of events, much as those who said the Berlin Wall would never come down and the Soviet empire would never collapse found themselves scratching their heads in disbelief just a few years later.
How can I be so sure? By studying Bible prophecy.
Iraq is described by the Hebrew prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel, as well as by the apostle John in the book of Revelation, as a center of unprecedented wealth and power in the last days before the return of Christ. The Bible teaches that the city of Babylon will be resurrected from the dead in the last days. In Revelation 18 (NLT), Babylon is described as “a great city” and a center of “extravagant luxury.” What’s more, Iraq is described as one of the world’s great commercial hubs, where “the merchants of the world” come to trade “great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls” along with all kinds of other “expensive” goods and services that entice “the kings of the world” and draw ships from everywhere on the planet. When the people of the world think about the great wealth of Iraq’s future capital, they will ask themselves and each other, “Where is there another city as great as this?”
We also learn from the book of Revelation that Iraq will eventually become a center of great evil as well as wealth and at the end of history will face a judgment similar to the War of Gog and Magog. But before that, the Scriptures are clear: Iraq will be rich and powerful.
What’s more, the judgment of Russia, Iran, and other Middle Eastern countries will work to Iraq’s advantage. Oil and gas exports from those countries will be slowed or halted altogether because of the terrible destruction described by Ezekiel. Iraq, meanwhile, as one of the few Middle Eastern countries not having participated in the attack on Israel, will be one of
the few oil powers left intact when the smoke clears. As oil and gas prices skyrocket due to severe shortages, the world will become increasingly dependent upon Iraq for energy, and money will pour into the country’s coffers like never before.
Before Iraq can be so wealthy, however, the nation must become stable, peaceful, and free. Only then can the physical and financial infrastructure necessary for such dramatic economic growth be set in place. Only then will international oil companies invest heavily in refurbishing Iraq’s drilling, refining, and export equipment and facilities. Only then will the merchants of the world begin establishing headquarters in Iraq, dramatically increasing the level of trade done in and through Iraq.
In my view, we are seeing the early stages of these biblical prophecies come to pass right now in Iraq. Tremendous—almost miraculous—military, political, and economic progress has been made in Iraq since 2006. It has not been easy to get through the birth pangs. It has not been painless. It has not been without mistakes, some tragic and costly.
But a new Iraq has been born. It is now growing, developing, and moving in the right direction. I have seen it with my own eyes, and it is quite the sight to behold. The U.S. and our Coalition allies have played a critical—and I would say heroic—role in making such progress possible. Real credit is also due to Reformers such as President Talabani and Prime Minister Maliki and their staff and advisors. The U.S. and European naysayers who said the “surge” would not work in Iraq were wrong. Those who said al Qaeda and the Mahdi Army could not be defeated were wrong. Those who said Talabani and Maliki could not help move their country forward were wrong. Iraq is a success story now, and it will be even more so in the days ahead.
That said, if you really want to know what Iraq will look like in the not-too-distant future, allow me to recommend that you do what I did in the fall of 2008: visit Dubai, the high-tech, high-finance city in the United Arab Emirates, on the southern shores of the Persian Gulf. I was absolutely blown away when I visited the city in 2008. Twenty years ago, the city was almost entirely a desert. Today, it is a metropolis that boasts some of the most expensive and elite malls, hotels, office buildings, banks, and resorts in the world. It has designer islands built from scratch, holding some of the most expensive homes in the region. Private jets and private yachts frequent the city constantly. High-priced American and European designer clothing shops and jewelry stores and car dealers are everywhere. Starbucks is ubiquitous. Dubai even has an indoor ski resort that operates year-round despite outdoor temperatures often averaging well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Its motto: “The coolest thing to do in Dubai.”
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