Gog, Magog and the Armies of Satan

Is Gog's Invasion of Israel Imminent?

I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from my mouth and warn them for me.

~ Ezekiel 33:7

(Updated July 2024)

The biblical narrative of Gog and Magog, found in Genesis, 1 Chronicles, and Ezekiel in the Old Testament and in Revelation in the New Testament, lends itself to various, and sometimes convenient, interpretations. The narrative often is shoehorned to fit popular exigencies of the times.

While literal interpretations of the Gog and Magog texts abound, symbolic interpretations that engender contemporary insight are also common. In this piece, we shall take a closer look at these interpretations.

Recently, I’ve noticed in both Substack and the mainstream press frequent mentions of the enigmatic term Gog and Magog. Of particular interest to me are the attempts to identify Gog, the leader of the land called Magog, and to locate Magog on modern maps (see the graphic at the conclusion of this article).

In the Hebrew Bible, Gog, Magog, and their war are mentioned in the book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39. According to this prophecy, Gog, leader of the armies of Magog, will lead a coalition of nations in an attack against Israel. This attack will occur "in the latter days," a biblical phrase meaning the ‘end times.’

According to this prophecy, God will intervene at the last moment to save Israel, resulting in the devastating defeat of Gog and his armies. The prophetic context further suggests that God's decisive intervention will be miraculous.

Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken, says the Lord God.

Ezekiel 39:3-5

In the New Testament, Gog and Magog appear in the book of Revelation, specifically in chapter 20, verses 7–10. In this eschatological context, Gog and Magog represent nations deceived by Satan into attacking the camp of the saints, but fire from heaven consumes them, and Satan is then thrown into a lake of fire.

Eschatology is the branch of theology concerned with the study of the ‘end time’ events in monotheistic religions. In Islam’s Quran, Gog and Magog (known as Ya'juj and Ma'juj) are also apocalyptic entities. They are described in Islamic tradition as barbaric tribes that will wreak havoc across the Earth in the end times.

Ya'juj and Ma'juj (Gog and Magog) are introduced in the Quran in the chapter titled ‘Al-Kahf’ (The Cave) and also appear in various Hadiths, the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad.

Eschatology and Geopolitics

But in any case, it is clear that anyone who ignores eschatology will not understand modern geopolitics. And not just in the Middle East, although it is most evident there.

Alexander Dugin (source)

Within Christian Evangelical Dispensational Premillennialism circles, the Gog and Magog prophecy is interpreted literally. This war is considered to be a significant end time event, predicted to occur (depending on the group) either before or after an event known as the Rapture and midway through the Tribulation period, leading to the “thousand-year reign of Christ.”

As Russian philosopher Alexander Dugin noted above, whether these concepts are interpreted literally or symbolically, they exert significant influence on current geopolitical analyses of the Middle East. Read more about Dugin and Russia’s role in the end times, here.

In the symbolic realm, as opposed to the literal, the person of Gog can be understood as multiple antichrist figures representing the enemies of God. These figures, through their disbelief, atheism, agnosticism, or sheer indifference, set themselves against the Divine.

Rather than being a factual place name, Magog, continuing along our line of symbolic thought, encapsulates those persons, armies, or countries who either knowingly or unwittingly align themselves with the evil cohort led by Gog. That being said, the land of Magog can indeed be identified, as we shall see.

As we previously outlined in Spiritual Warfare: No Escape from Agonia:

Regardless of prior sins, recriminations, poor judgments or innumerable back stories from both sides [Israel and Hamas], which sow doubt and confusion, the 1987 Hamas charter, founding document of the group whose attack on Saturday October 7, 2023, plunged Israelis and Palestinians into their current inferno, made no attempt to mitigate Hamas’ ultimate objective:

The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight Jews and kill them. Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out: ‘O Moslem, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.’

We must acknowledge that the middle ground is both a dangerous illusion and unacceptable convenience. Apathy and indecision in matters spiritual put one in precarious company with unbelievers. We cannot opt out of this cosmic struggle: spiritual neutrality is an ill-afforded luxury.

Spiritual Israel, far from simply symbolizing the Jewish homeland, symbolizes the multinational ‘People of God’ and therefore extends, metaphysically, to all who profess belief in transcendent reality. To "stand with spiritual Israel and the Jewish people" is not merely a geopolitical slogan but a spiritual imperative for Christians.

Standing with Israel is to “Stand with the Lord” of the Christians and Jews, and with the whole House of Israel. This does not imply that Zionist Israel (the nation-state) is above legitimate criticism. Far from it. Nor does it assume that Zionism today, like many Western institutions, has not been captured and corrupted by the globalist Cabal. We believe that it has.

As the Apostle Paul taught, Gentiles were grafted onto the vine that is spiritual Israel. This concept emphasizes the expansion of God's people beyond the Jewish community to include everyone spiritually aligned with Judeo-Christian tradition. Muhammad’s flight from Mecca to Medina in 622, known as the Hijrah, marked the beginning of the Islamic era.

As the 'Age of the Gentiles' draws to a close and the process of ‘grafting-on’ has been fulfilled, a new unity among those who acknowledge transcendent reality, regardless of religious or ethnic background, will be established. This could well implicate a new religion in the coming age, a type of Prisca Theologia.¹

If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

Romans 11:17-24

Ezekiel's Vision of Dry Bones

The imagery of Ezekiel's dry bones breathes new life into our symbolic overview. As Ezekiel 37:11 states:

Then He said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’

These 'dry bones' can be interpreted as the spiritually dead or indifferent, though they still can be restored to spiritual life. This includes many residents of the nation-state of Israel, which is surprisingly mostly secular (hilonim). The clarion call, therefore, is for these souls to awaken unto themselves and align (or realign) with God, however they envision him. Obsessing over doctrinal minutiae at the expense of a living relationship with God is problematic.

What is important, and even crucial, is that we do not allow our hearts to harden, but rather rise above petty biases and stubbornness. A holistic picture of the world requires viewing it first and foremost through a spiritual lens.

Will ‘Gog’ invade Israel from ‘the far north?’

While it is always wise to exercise caution when fusing scriptural prophecy to current events, it is correspondingly unwise to ignore the theological underpinnings that inform many modern-day conflicts. As tensions in the current Middle East conflict escalate along Israel's northern border, revisiting these ancient texts, which shape contemporary religious and political views, proves both instructive and enlightening.

The Gog-Magog prophecy:

You will come from your place in the far north, you and many nations with you, all of them riding on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring you against my land, so that the nations may know me when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.

Ezekiel 38:15,16

Here the prophet speaks of a great satanic invasion by a coalition of nations led by a figure identified as Gog, who hails from northern lands identified as Magog. Given today’s events, it’s important to become familiar with these prophecies.

Ezekiel 38:8-9 states that Gog will come into the land of Israel, which has been restored from war and where the people live in safety. The text emphasizes that Gog will ascend like a storm, covering the land like a cloud. This indicates that the offensive action is initiated by Gog and his allies, not by Israel.

Paul reminds us to keep ourselves informed:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:13

The prophet Ezekiel further states that God will allow this invasion to happen as a means to make himself known to lost souls — the ‘dry bones’ alluded to in the previous section. I believe this admonishment from God is particularly directed toward Zionists of all stripes. The prophet’s call, consequently, is for a global spiritual awakening; for the dry bones of the spiritually vexed to return to life, sustained by a holy vision that eclipses sectarian and secular divides.

Ezekiel, my favorite Old Testament prophet, appears to have honed in on today’s world while held captive in Babylon over 2,500 years ago. His prophetic writings occurred over the course of ~22 years beginning around 593 BCE.

Given that the previous (and inaccurate) association between Magog and Russia has now fallen out of favor among scholars, there is near-unanimous agreement among scholarly exegetists that in Ezekiel’s day, Magog, Meshech, and Tubal (see graphic below) were all located in what today is Turkey — not in Russia.

The nations joining the coalition to be led by Turkey against Israel are listed on the right side of the graphic. This list includes key players that have been identified through scholarly analysis, although the list is not all inclusive.

Israel, July 28, 2024 — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan [recently] appeared to threaten to invade Israel in support of the Palestinians, and to put an end to the nearly 10-month-old war Israel is fighting against Hamas in Gaza.

Turkey must be “very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to the Palestinians,” the Turkish leader said of the war. “Just as we entered [Nagorno-]Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we can’t do. We must only be strong.”²

Israeli Foreign Minister Katz retorted, “Erdogan should remember how things ended for Saddam Hussein.”

1. Prisca theologia, also known as ancient theology, is a doctrine that asserts the existence of a single, true theology that runs through all religions. According to this belief, God imparted this ancient wisdom to humanity in the distant past. It suggests that there is a common thread connecting various religious traditions, and this universal truth was revealed to ancient philosophers.

2. Turkey’s Erdogan appears to issue open threat to invade Israel over war in Gaza (article)