Thread: new interpretation of identities of Bible's Gog and Magog

New spin of Ezekiel's wheel: Russia will not invade Israel

Prophecy author has new interpretation of identities of Bible's Gog and Magog

Posted: September 06, 2009
8:53 pm Eastern
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

The author of a best-selling Bible prophecy book has a new spin on the old interpretation of two chapters of Ezekiel that most pre-millennial scholars believe suggests a last-days invasion of Israel and the Middle East by a coalition of nations led by Russia.

Joel Richardson, author of "The Islamic Antichrist," says Ezekiel 38 and 39 have been misinterpreted to point a finger at Russia – a notion widely popularized during the Cold War days of the old Soviet Union.

"Gog is not a present or future leader from Russia," writes Richardson in a commentary today in WND. "Russia is not spoken of in biblical prophecy. Despite all of the hype and discussion that has been devoted in recent years to casting Russia as the leader of a soon-coming invasion of Israel, the Bible nowhere expresses any such thing. No doubt, I will not make very many friends in my own community by doing so. I may even get a few e-mails accusing me of secretly working for Vladimir Putin himself. But my calling involves the exposition and teaching of what the Bible teaches, not what the consensus is among my contemporary colleagues."

Understand the significance of the Muslim's Mahdi 'messiah' in Joel Richardson's new book, "The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth about the Real Nature of the Beast," autographed by the author at WND. Note: The book is also available in electronic form at reduced price through Scribd.

On many points, Richardson agrees with conventional Christian thinking on the endtimes. Like other prophecy teachers, he agrees that the Bible clearly predicts just prior to the return of Christ that the nation of Israel will enter into a comprehensive peace treaty or "covenant" with surrounding nations. He agrees that the covenant will be mediated by the man who Christians call "the Antichrist." The result, he says, will be a false sense of peace and security for the Jewish nation. Three and a half years after this peace treaty is established, the Beast of Revelation will violate the treaty and invade the land of Israel, Richardson writes. Jesus will return during Israel's darkest hour – "the time of Jacob's trouble" – to save the nation and re-establish the throne of King David on Mount. Zion, ruling over the world with "a rod of iron," he agrees.

But most pre-millennial prophecy teachers have held that Israel will be invaded by another powerful enemy some years before these climactic events. They interpret passages from Ezekiel 38 and 39 as describing this separate war led by a leader known as "Gog from the land of Magog."

Richardson, however, says this invasion is the very same war known as "the battle of Armageddon" and "Gog" is simply another name for the Antichrist.

"But here’s the kicker: God Himself directly addresses 'Gog,'" he writes. "And speaking to Gog, God says that he is the same evil last days invader that all of the former prophets spoke about. In fact, it would have been difficult for God to be any clearer."

That passage is Ezekiel 38:17: "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 many years that I would bring thee against them?"

"So here's the question that needs to be asked: If Gog is Russia, and if all of the former prophets spoke about Russia, then why is there not one single passage anywhere in the Bible that speaks about Russia?" Richardson asks rhetorically. "In fact, I challenge anyone who teaches that Gog is Russia to come forth with a single verse outside of Ezekiel that speaks of Russia. And although I am no prophet myself, I can confidently predict that no one will rise to the challenge, simply because there are no passages to bring forward."

Further, Richardson points out, that following the defeat of Gog and Magog, Ezekiel 39:22 predicts, from that day forward, Israel will turn to God and know Him – an event most other pre-millennialists agree happens only after the defeat of the Antichrist.

"So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward."

Again, Richardson asks: "If these events take place a few years before the emergence of the Antichrist, then how could God say that His name would no longer be profaned? The Bible is clear, after all, that the Antichrist will be the leader of the greatest and most blasphemous religious movement that the world has ever or will ever know."

Richardson's book is turning the prophecy world upside down.

The first edition of his book has sold out and is now into its second printing after release only one month after its release, where it debuted at the top of the top of the religious charts at Amazon and among all books at Scribd – an online e-booker retailer.

The student of Islam and the Middle East says that after decades of reading popular prophecy books and even best-selling fiction like the "Left Behind" series, millions of evangelical Christians around the world are expecting the Antichrist to emerge from a revived Roman Empire, which many have assumed is associated with the Roman Catholic Church and the European Union.

Not so, argues Richardson. His book makes the case that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran's Muslim Mahdi.

"The Bible abounds with proofs that the Antichrist's empire will consist only of nations that are, today, Islamic," says Richardson. "Despite the numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of a revived European Roman empire as the Antichrist's power base, the specific nations the Bible identifies as comprising his empire are today all Muslim."

Richardson believes the key error of many previous prophecy scholars involves the misinterpretation of a prediction by Daniel to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel describes the rise and fall of empires of the future, leading to the endtimes. Western Christians have viewed one of those empires as Rome, when, claims Richardson, Rome never actually conquered Babylon and was thus disqualified as a possibility.

It had to be another empire that rose and fell and rose again that would lead to rule of this "man of sin," described in the Bible. That empire, he says, is the Islamic Empire, which did conquer Babylon and, in fact, rules over it even today.

Many evangelical Christians believe the Bible predicts a charismatic ruler, the Antichrist, will arise in the last days, before the return of Jesus. The Quran also predicts that a man, called the Mahdi, will rise up to lead the nations, pledging to usher in an era of peace. Richardson makes the case these two men are, in fact, one in the same.

Richardson is the co-author with Walid Shoebat of "God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible" and co-editor of "Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out." "The Islamic Antichrist" is published by WND Books and is available autographed in the WND Superstore.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=108899

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