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Magog's invasion and its outcome

Religious Zionists today are confident that they will win a war with Iran for the same reason that the original leaders of Judah thought that they would defeat Babylon. The same is true for the Judean leaders in 70 A.D. when Rome destroyed the nation, Jerusalem, and the temple. In all these cases they expected divine deliverance at the last minute. In each case, they were wrong.

Christian Zionists operate on a similar delusion, based on a misinterpretation of Ezekiel 38, 39, which speaks of an invasion by Gog and Magog. They still expect to see this invasion in the near future, and they interpret this as being an invasion by Russia. More recently, they have added China, Turkey, and Iran to the invaders, although none of these are mentioned in Ezekiel.

The invaders joining the Magog coalition in Ezekiel 38:5, 6 are from:

Persia (broadly corresponds to modern Iran).

Cush (ancient Nubia, generally Sudan / Ethiopia region).

Put (usually identified with Libya or North Africa).

Gomer (sometimes linked with peoples in Anatolia (Turkey) from the Black Sea area).

Beth-togarmah from the north quarters (Ukraine).

Many peoples with you (suggests a broader group).

The dominant family comprising this invasion is set forth in Genesis 10:2, 3,

² The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.

Many of these families originally settled in the area of today’s Turkey, but as time passed, many emigrated north of the Black Sea or northeast along the Caspian Sea. One group in particular became very powerful and established the Khazar Empire (or Chazars), centered in what is now Ukraine. In 740 A.D. these converted to Judaism, and in 960 A.D. King Joseph of the Khazars wrote a letter (now in the Spanish Museum) identifying the Khazars as the descendants of Togarmah.

The Jewish Encylopedia (online) reads:

It was probably about that time that the chaghan of the Chazars and his grandees, together with a large number of his heathen people, embraced the Jewish religion. According to A. Harkavy ("Meassef Niddaḥim," i.), the conversion took place in 620; according to others, in 740. King Joseph, in his letter to Ḥasdai ibn Shaprut (about 960), gives the following account of the conversion:

(see Harkavy, "Soobshchenija o Chazarakh," in "Yevreiskaya Biblioteka," vii. 153)

"Some centuries ago King Bulan reigned over the Chazars. To him God appeared in a dream and promised him might and glory. Encouraged by this dream, Bulan went by the road of Darlan to the country of Ardebil, where he gained great victories [over the Arabs]. The Byzantine emperor and the calif of the Ishmaelites sent to him envoys with presents, and sages to convert him to their respective religions. Bulan invited also wise men of Israel, and proceeded to examine them all. As each of the champions believed his religion to be the best, Bulan separately questioned the Mohammedans and the Christians as to which of the other two religions they considered the better. When both gave preference to that of the Jews, that king perceived that it must be the true religion. He therefore adopted it".

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/4279-chazars

Who were these Jewish converts? King Joseph’s letter is described by the Jewish author, Arthur Koestler in his book, The Thirteenth Tribe, page 72,

"Joseph then proceeds to provide a genealogy of his people. Though a fierce Jewish nationalist, proud of wielding the 'Sceptre of Judah', he cannot, and does not, claim for them Semitic descent; he traces their ancestry not to Shem, but to Noah's third son, Japheth; or more precisely to Japheth's grandson, Togarma, the ancestor of all Turkish tribes. 'We have found in the family registers of our fathers,' Joseph asserts boldly, 'that Togarma had ten sons, and the names of their offspring are as follows: Uigur, Dursu, Avars, Huns, Basilii, Tarniakh, Khazars, Zagora, Bulgars, Sabir. We are the sons of Khazar, the seventh'..."

I discussed this thoroughly in my book, The Struggle for the Birthright, chapter 15.

https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/the-struggle-for-the-birthright/chapter-15-gogs-invasion/

The point is that the Khazars, who converted to Judaism around 740 A.D. are of the family of Togarmah, one of the invaders of “the mountains of Israel” in Ezekiel 38. The Khazars were later conquered and absorbed into the territory of Russia, but this does not make them ethnic Russians. They are Jews from Russia, which are known today as the Ashkenazim.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashkenazi_Jews

Recall that Ashkenaz was the brother of Togarmah (Genesis 10:3) and the nephew of Magog.

So I conclude that the invasion of the mountains of Israel was led by Ashkenai Jews with the participation of Jews from Persia, Libya, and other nations where Jews had settled. Today, Libya is a failed state. No one would expect Libya as a nation to invade the Zionist state. Yet many Jews invaded Palestine by immigration, along with Jews from Persia, Iran, and many other countries.

In other words, the invasion took place more than a century ago under the banner of Zionism. Prophecy teachers missed it because the invasion did not come by conventional warfare or by uniformed troops. It was conquest by immigration—the same type of conquest taking place today with the Israeli settler movement in the West Bank.

I myself knew nothing of this history prior to the publication of Koestler’s book, The Thirteenth Tribe. Koestler himself was killed shortly after writing this book. Yet he was not the only historian to write about this. I once compiled a list of about three dozen history books dealing with this topic. I had many in my personal library until the library was burned in a house fire in 1983.

Christian Zionists today are largely unfamiliar with this history. Apparently, they don’t read The Jewish Encyclopedia, because it conflicts with their preconceived notions of Zionism.

With this in mind, the meaning of Ezekiel 38, 39 is shown to be the opposite of what the Christian Zionists are telling us. The Zionists are the ones who will be destroyed at the end of the age—NOT the Palestinians, NOT the Iranians, NOT the Russians, NOT the Chinese. Simply by identifying the players listed in Ezekiel 38, along with a brief knowledge of history, our understanding of prophecy is flipped on its head.

Christian Zionists who urge the Israelis to bring in Armageddon are actually luring them into utter disaster. They think Jesus will be forced to return to save the day, when, in fact, Ezekiel makes it clear that the Zionists are the invaders who are doomed to destruction. When the Israeli is destroyed, along with Jerusalem (“Ariel”) itself, as Isaiah 29:1-4 prophesies, it will fulfill the end of Ezekiel’s prophecy of the fall of Magog, Togarmah, and Ashkenaz.

Because Judah had violated God’s covenant, Jeremiah 27:4 told the people that God had raised up “Nebuchadnezzar My servant” to put Judah into a 70-year captivity. He told them to submit to this captivity in Jeremiah 29:1-7. Later, Daniel was told that this captivity would be extended to Persia, Greece, and Rome as well. The people, therefore, were to submit to those empires too.

Judah decided to fight Nebuchadnezzar, and many were killed. Again, in 70 A.D. the Judeans decided to revolt against Rome and suffered the same result. In each case, they believed that God would save them at the last minute, but they were wrong. They had misread prophecy.

Today they face a similar situation. Zionism arose when certain Jews decided that they could no longer wait for the Messiah. They used terrorism to force Britain to give them independence in 1948. God allowed this on account of His promise to Esau-Edom, which the Zionists represent. World Jewry has three branches: the remnant of Judah, Edom, and Togarmah. These have formed the invading army. But in the end, as we read in Malachi 1:4, what they build will be destroyed.

When this final destruction occurs, what will the Christian Zionists do? Will they lose faith in the Scriptures? Will they lose faith in Christ? Will they insist that America takes revenge on Iran or Russia? Will they turn on their leaders for deceiving them? Will they hang John Hagee?

Whatever they do, it is up to us to bear witness to the truth. Prepare now by studying these matters, so that you can be part of the solution, rather than the problem.