Still another question is raised, and this one in connection with the judgment of the nations, as revealed by our Lord in Matthew xxv:31, etc. After the Lord has returned He will receive His own throne and begin to judge the nations He finds then upon the earth. That this is not what has been termed the final—universal judgment of the quick and the dead—must be apparent to all who divide the Word of Truth rightly. It is the judgment of the living nations. Now the question is asked, if the Lord judges at once all living nations when He comes, how is it that these nations can invade the land? Why were they not also consigned to the place of eternal punishment? Why are they still unjudged?
We do not believe that the judgment of the living nations takes place on a single day. Such a judgment of necessity covers a longer period of time. Nation after nation will have to come up for judgment. This will consume considerable time. There is no question the millennial reign of our Lord will have two sides. There is first the Davidic aspect. He will begin to reign first as David did; His people are with Him and blessed, but all their enemies are not yet subdued and overcome. He will have to rule first with a rod of iron. And then when this final enemy is dealt with, He begins to reign as Prince of Peace, foreshadowed in the Solomonic reign. Gog and Magog, etc., complete and end the judgment of the nations. They are the last enemies to disappear.
After we have ascertained the time when this prophecy concerning Gog and Magog will be accomplished, we inquire next who this final enemy is. "And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of Man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them thoroughly equipped, a great assemblage with targets and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Cush, and Phut with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his bands; the house of Togormah from the uttermost north, and all his bands—many peoples with thee." Here then we have a confederacy of nations. The leader is the Prince of Rosh (not as the authorized version has it "the chief prince"), of Meshech and Tubal. This prince is the head of the confederacy, and with him allied are Persia, Cush, Phut, Gomer and Togormah. They come out of the north, or, as it is in Hebrews, "out of the uttermost north" (verse 15). Inasmuch as the Prince of Rosh is addressed in verse 3 as Gog, we take it that Gog is the name given to this prince and leader of these nations. His dwelling place is in the land of Magog. We know from Genesis x:2 that Magog was the second son of Japheth. Gomer, Tubal and Meshech were also sons of Japheth; Togormah was a grandson of Japheth, being the third son of Gomer. Magog's land, was located in, what is called today, the Caucasus and the adjoining steppes. And the three Rosh, Meshech and Tubal were called by the ancients Scythians. They roamed as nomads in the country around and north of the Black and the Caspian Seas, and were known as the wildest barbarians. We learn from this that the invading forces, which fall into Israel's land in the future, when Israel has been regathered, come from a territory north of Palestine, which today is in the hands of Russia. And here we call attention to the prince, this northern leader, or king, who is the head of all these nations. He is the prince of Rosh. Careful research has established the fact that the progenitor of Rosh was Tiraz (Gen. x:2) and that Rosh is Russia. All students of Prophecy are agreed that this is the correct meaning of Rosh. The prince of Rosh, means, therefore, the prince or king of the Russian empire. But he also is in control of Meshech and Tubal, which are reproduced in the modern Moscow and Tobolsk.[33] Russia, we may well conclude from this, will furnish the man who will lead this confederacy of nations. We write this at a time when Russia is passing through horrors upon horrors. A revolution changed the autocratic government into a democracy and that given way to anarchy, produced by the satanic treachery of Germany. From what is written in this chapter we learn that Russia will ultimately return to the old regime and will once more become a monarchy to fulfill her final destiny as made known in this sublime prophecy. Well known it is that Russia has been in the past the most pronounced and bitterest enemy of the Jewish people. What she passes through today is but a fulfillment of what the Lord has spoken: "I will curse them that curse thee." Today the Jews in Russian may have bright hopes of getting their rights and complete emancipation at last. For a time this may come to pass, but ultimately Russia will turn against them and like Pharaoh did, when Israel had left his domain, so this coming King of the North, the prince of Rosh, when Israel is back in the land, will turn against them.
With him come the other nations. Persia, which is even now in part occupied by Russia, will finally be a vassal to this prince of Rosh. Ethiopia and Phut are also in this confederacy. There also is Gomer and all its bands. Gomer, says Delitsch, "is most probably the tribe of the Cimmerians, who dwell, according to Herodotus, on the Maeotis, in the Taurian Chersonesus, and from whom are descended the Cumri or Cymry in Wales and Britain, whose relation to the Germanic Cimbri is still in obscurity." Valuable information is given in the Talmud; Gomer is there stated to be the Germani, the Germans. That the descendants of the Gomer moved northward and established themselves in parts of Germany seems to be an established fact. All this is of much interest. Germany did not belong to the Roman empire, at least the greater part of Germany was never conquered by Rome. She will therefore not participate in the Western confederacy. Will she then become united to Russia and march under the prince of Rosh into the land of Israel? We cannot be sure about all these things. This, however, we know, that a powerful confederacy of nations, under the leadership of the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, will come up against Immanuel's land, when Israel has been restored and dwells safely.
II. The Disastrous Defeat of the Invaders.
Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto God, Thus saith the Lord God: In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it? And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army: And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes. Thus saith the Lord God: Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against them? And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel: So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord (verses 14-23).
The awful fate of the invaders is now prophetically announced. The prophet is commanded to address Gog. They know that Israel dwelleth safely and they come to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, cattle and goods and a great spoil (verse 13). The Lord permits it all so that He might be sanctified and magnified by the manifestation of His power in judgment, so that through this judgment the nations might know Him (verses 16, 23). When they come into the land then His fury will come into His face. "For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel." The next chapter gives the prophecy of the judgment upon Gog in detail.
THE DEFEAT OF THE INVADERS.
Chapter xxxix.
Once more the prophet is commanded to prophesy against this final invader of Israel's land and to describe the judgment which falls upon the Northern army. This chapter concludes the prophecy of the last enemy of Israel; the concluding chapters of this book mention no longer enemies, nor Israel's apostasy. They are taken up with the glory of the restoration of the nation and the great millennial temple, the construction, the order of worship, etc.
I. The Judgment and Destruction of Invading Gog.