There are many urgent Signs happening now, concerning when more than 2,500 years ago, Ezekiel prophesied of an invasion of Israel by Russia (called “Magog”) & Iran (called “Persia”) that would occur during the last days. Strong Signs are pointing toward fulfillment of this major prophecy event that fills two chapters of the book and paves the way for end-time events.

The prophecy begins in Ezekiel 38 with, “Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you. Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them.”

And Ezekiel 38 goes on to foretell how these will attack Israel in the last days: “In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel…You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops… On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, … to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against … a people gathered from the nations… Then you will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army…. And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face… Then they shall know that I am the Lord.”

Research of scholar’s descriptions of the ancient identity of Magog shows that in Genesis 10 he was the second son of Japheth the son of Noah, and Tubal and Meshech were the fifth and sixth sons of Japheth. And from him came descendants who became a dominant tribe known as Magogites, who later became known as Scythians by the ancient Greeks, but from which also comes the leader name of Gog. And their descendants settled in the land of Magog in what today lies around and above the Black Sea including the Caucasus region and adjoining steppes, which lies in the “far north”, the northern fringe or roof of the world, which today is Russia, with Moscow its capital being near due north of Jerusalem.

Research also shows that the name Gog was originally derived from a phrase that meant high, like a high mountain, and then came to mean an exalted strong leader and was a title like a Czar. He is also referred to in Ezekiel 38 as a prince of the ancestors of the Russian people who settled in the lands of Magog/Russia. So Gog is the symbolic name of a strong leader of Magog, which represents Russia and a strong Russian Leader who rises up to lead and command his people in the last days.

And this prophecy describes where there will be an invasion of Israel in the latter years (a phrase denoting the end times) led by Russia. Ezekiel had described Israel as having been scattered to all the nations, where she had suffered greatly, but then in the last days, she has been stood up back to life such as from a valley of dry bones and been regathered as a people from the nations again to her land. After having returned, she has become a strong and prosperous nation who is secure from confidence in her strength. This has been fulfilled in recent history with the rebirth of the nation of Israel and with them having fought and won major wars against the Arabs so that they dwell securely with confidence to protect themselves.

Then afterwards the prophecy tells how the powerful Russian ruler Gog is turned around and led as it were by a hook in his jaw; which conveys that as if against his better judgment and thinking he finds himself at the head of this Islamic alliance with Persia at the forefront, where he is not only preparing and leading Russia but also supplying and being a guard for those in his Islamic alliance. Then Ezekiel describes how this leader of Russia has thoughts to arise in his mind and he devises an evil plan against God’s people Israel. How he will ascend on the mountains of Israel, coming like a storm with the troops he leads in a massive surprise attack to take plunder and to take booty.

The prophecy shows that when Russia attacks Israel it leads a coalition of countries from geographical areas that are Islamic, and has Persia or Iran as major partner. The Persian Empire was centrally positioned in the land we know today as Iran. Actually, Iran was called Persia until 1935, and then renamed to Iran; then in its 1979 Revolution it became called the Islamic Republic of Iran.

One thing Russia fears is radical Islam within and near her borders. Their difficulties with the Islamic revolt of small separatist Chechnya and its related terrorism proved painful and unpredictable. As Magog they need to dominate and control, and have great concern that there geostrategic sphere which is heavily populated by Islamists could catch the fundamentalist fever and present them serious problems.

They view Iran as an important ally to prevent this and also as a geostrategic ally to counterbalance western influence from the United States and western allies; and to help provide position and leverage in the Middle East. This is why Russian-Iranian cooperation agreements, also militarily, have recently been expanding with an unprecedented intensity with Russia providing Iran with what it wants.

And of great prophetical importance, Russia and Iran in recent secret meetings in Moscow forged a new military alliance between them in the Middle East where they jointly planned the Russian military move into Syria to takeover military bases there. Then Russia surprised the world with the rapid deployment into Syria of a Russian expeditionary military force where Russia with Iran, who poured thousands of Iranian forces into Syria, established and expanded operating military bases in Syria.

This was a historic development and change in Iranian military doctrine, for the first time since the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s; Iranian units are participating in the expeditionary force, fighting instead of only advising. This came to light with the news of Iranian generals being wounded or killed in action in the fighting in Syria along with their troops.

Russian Iranian Forces in Syria

This has now led to a developed environment for a Russian-Iranian-Islamic alliance just as the prophecy said, that has moved forward to where today Russian, Iranian, and other accumulating Islamic forces are on the ground fighting together in Iraq and Syria, right on the borders of Israel, and also along where Syria and Israel share a disputed border in the Golan Heights.

Already, the Israelis are concerned that Russian troops will be operating in the Golan Heights along with Iranian, Assad-Syrian, and other allied Islamic forces as Hezbollah and other Shia militias. The Russian President even recently said that Russia is concerned with Israel’s attacks on Syria. The Israelis are also concerned that Iran and Hezbollah will get equipment/support from Russia that would change the balance in the Golan Heights. For example, the Russians have just agreed to sell $21 billion of aircraft and satellite equipment to Iran, one of the largest military transactions in Russian history and a transaction made possible through the U.S. lifting of sanctions.

The Ezekiel prophecy in chapter 38 says that this strong Russian leader is pulled into this aggression against Israel as noted by the scripture. Iran is the sworn enemy of Israel who has sworn to wipe Israel off the map. Iran’s Ayatollahs and Presidents along with other Iranian leaders believe they are to bring in the End of Days so that their Shia messiah will appear to establish a global Islamic kingdom known as the caliphate. They believe the way to hasten the coming of their Twelfth Imam is to annihilate Israel (which they call the “Little Satan”), and the United States (which they call the “Great Satan”). Iranian national leadership and policy is driven by this Shia eschatology.

Iran knows that now it has been presented with a unique window of opportunity by the U.S. Administration with its de facto withdrawal from the Middle East, deferment to Iran, and distancing from Israel; realized in recent actions as complete withdrawal from Iraq that relinquished it to Iran; meaningless red line bluster and then little action in Syria relinquishing it to Iran also; distancing from Israel with diminishing support; and funding Iran by providing it 55 billion dollars in a recent bad nuclear deal.

Now for the first time Iran has direct ingress to Israel through Iraq and Syria along with an active military alliance on the ground with Russia in progress there. And now Israel finds the armies of Gog of Magog and Persia together at its border at a time it is alone with the U.S. having become silent and withdrawn and with a world that views the Jewish state as a problem in achieving Middle East peace. There are so many significant prophetic signs of the times in this that were seemingly unthinkable previously.

Iran’s important goal now, after convincing Russia to basically invade Syria with their help – which for Iran is a go-forward model for Middle East aggression since U.S. regression, is to convince Russian leadership to agree that Israel is the problem in Middle Eastern issues and “hook” them into invading Israel as they did Syria. They know Russia already has a historical track record of supporting the Islamic Arab countries in attacking Israel serving as the “guard” for them in several previous Arab-Israeli wars. The ultimate goal of Iran, just as for Turkey and other Islamist countries, is to establish again the Islamic Caliphate. But they also want to destroy Israel and completely take Jerusalem. Everything they do revolves around this goal, and they plan to invade Israel with Russia leading the way.

And as the Russian leader Gog is considering the attack on Israel his Islamic alliance wants from him so badly, then thoughts arise in his mind of an evil plan where he can ascend on the mountains of Israel coming like a storm with the alliance army so that he can plunder and to take booty from God’s people Israel. Amazingly, right now at the same time as Magog and Persia are moving into Syria at Israel’s borders, an Israeli exploration group reports that Israel has found new huge gas fields off Israel’s Mediterranean coast; and additionally, Israeli Afek Oil and Gas announced that game changing massive oil reserves have been located in the Golan Heights, close to the country’s disputed border with Syria – reasons for Gog to plunder and take booty.

This desire to gain wealth is no doubt facilitated by the economic crisis which also threatens Russia now. And the tempting situation with Israel looking like an easy target for a sudden invasion, one which could help solve Russia’s economic problems, could play into Gog’s thinking. Additionally, by leveraging Israel’s world-wide unpopularity, Gog could claim to come as a liberation force for the Palestinians and to solve the Israel problem once and for all. With the widespread support of Islamic nations and opposed only by a weak diplomatic protest from the United States and Western Allies, Gog of Russia will calculate that they can get away with it.

Given the number of factors at play and different forces involved in Syria near Israel, and who they are, the ulterior goals and what’s at stake, along with the absence of rules of engagement or communication channels, one can easily see the potential for conflict in the mountains of Israel as the Golan Heights. A large surprise armored attack especially with modern Russian air force support on an unsuspecting Israel could break through the Golan Heights and would give Russia and Iran the high-ground position in the mountain highlands in Northern Israel over the lower-lying regions of the coastal plains and Jordan Valley.

Even right now, there is a current Russian-led offensive in the far south of Syria around Daraa, adjacent to the disputed Israeli border in the Golan Heights, and Tehran is saying that the Russian participation in that newly energized campaign around Daraa is meant as a warning to Israel!! The armies of Gog of Magog with Persia are at the borders and threatening Israel!

But then God said…. that when Gog comes against the land of Israel, that his fury will show in his face… and they shall know that He is the Lord. In a one day war, the Lord God Himself intervenes when Russia and Iran attack Israel, and He destroys Gog and his alliance armies supernaturally and they fall upon the mountains of Israel.

The effect of this judgment of destruction by God upon these armies of Russia, Iran and its Islamic coalition, is that Israel and the nations know again that Jehovah is Lord and there is a Holy One in Israel. And it can pave the way as the entrance ramp for the end-time events of the tribulation to be fulfilled. For the devastation of Russia and the Islamic countries will cause a huge power vacuum in Eurasia. One that can be filled by a prophesied one world political and religious government system that leads the world into the Great Tribulation.

The signs of the times are telling us that the participants for the Gog of Magog attack on Israel are in place, and the stage is being set for fulfillment of the prophecy that can have major ramifications for the end-time.