The Magog Connection: Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish - Gregory Supple - gps.pleadtheblood@gmail.com
Dear Family, This Russian-Persian invasion of Israel is fore-told to us over 2500 years ago, so we have no excuse not to-be prepared for its assault. We know the Battle of Magog is in the 'Latter Days' (v.16) when Israel is restored as a Nation - in 1948 A.D. - the most significant fulfillment of end-times prophecy other than the Second Advent of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ itself. I believe that Gog is a supernatural being (showing up in the battle of Ezekiel 38, and the final battle at the end of the Millennium - Rev. 20:8) perhaps Satan's counterpart to Michael the Archangel.
There is an obscure reference in the Septuagint translation of the Book of Amos in 7:1 ~ to a 'Gog, King of the Locusts,' for what that's worth (we find in Rev. 9 - locusts coming out the abyss W/O a doubt demonic beings. You won't find any hint of this in translations rendered into English from Hebrew. You can only get there from the Greek (Septuagint) translation, so there's good reason to believe that Gog is a non-human demonic character, one of Satan's own. But can we put a face upon Gog? Dictators have always been Satan's tools of the trade when tormenting mankind, and his hierarchy has always influenced specific regions of earth (like the prince of Persia and Greece-Dan.10), so I surmise that Gog is the demonic influence of the land of Magog in the far North. verse 14 ~ "Therefore, son of man, prophecy and say to Gog: Thus says the Lord God, In that day when My people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice? Then you will come from your place in the far North....."
There are over 130 historical references tying Magog to the ancient Scythians (they defeated Saul at the battle of Beth Shean and nailed his body to the gate of the city). The Great Wall of China was known as the "Ramparts of Magog" in ancient times and was built to protect China from Magog invasion. Magog was a grandson of Noah and inhabited central Asia. His children, the Scythians, are the ancestors of today's Russian people in the far North. Who today are recapturing the lands of Magog in and around the Black Sea, namely in 2008 20% of the Nation of Georgia's prime real estate, and now in 2014 the Crimea Peninsula of Ukraine. Could the face of Gog be none other than Vladimir Putin?
According to traditional translations of verse 2 of Chapter 38, Gog is the "chief prince of Meshech and Tuval", ancient kingdoms also near the Black Sea. But the term used for "chief prince" in Hebrew is "nesi rosh" : Nesi could also mean "ruler" or "president", and some scholars believe that "rosh" is not an adjective, at all, but a proper noun denoting the name of yet another nation that will enter the fray. So Gog is the prince of Rosh, or the President of Rosh, or, with a little bit of modern help, the demonically influenced President of Russia. That the ties of Russia and Persia are at a all-time high, and the other nations listed are coming into alignment against Israel? Two and two=four. On a small twist of the ol' saying: if the face fits?
Ezekiel 38:13 "Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you: Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered you army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?"
But what about Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish - with their young lions. In the prophecy of Ezekiel 38 there are two groupings of invading nations laid out; a northern group and a southern group. The northern group is based in the uttermost parts of the north -Magog- Prince of Rosh, Meschech, & Tubal; we have identified these, as a Russian led latter-day superpower with Persia and friends (a grouping of Middle-Eastern/North African nations with them); namely, Persia or Iran, Ethiopia (Cush) and Libya with Gomer and the house of Togarmath. While God is "against Gog" and destroys him utterly {Ezekiel 39:11 ~ "It will come to pass on that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, (in) the valley of those who pass east of the sea. And it shall (stop the noses of passengers) obstruct travelers - because there they will bury Gog and all his multitudes. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog."} The prophecy does not use --however-- the same final fate Gog and company faces -- with the merchant powers of Sheba, Dedan and Tarshish. It would therefore follow that they are objecting to the invasion - perhaps not whole heartedly -but objecting none the less. In fact, another prophecy in Psalm 72 presents these nations as being some of the first to submit to the rule of Christ when He establishes His millennium kingdom in the land of Israel and even the whole earth: Psalm 72:8~11 (NIV) "HE (the Royal Son of God - KING of kings) will rule from sea-to-sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. The desert tribes will bow before HIM, and HIS enemies will lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores (isles) will bring tribute to HIM; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present HIM gifts. ALL kings will bow-down too HIM, and ALL nations will serve HIM."
So, it would seem fairly clearly then that the merchant powers of Tarshish together with Sheba/Dedan are in objection to the invasion from the north, but for whatever reason, they are unable or unwilling to do anything concrete to put a stop to the invasion. What of Sheba and Dedan? Which latter-day nations do they refer to? Making things a little more complicated is the fact that there is more than one "Sheba and Dedan" in the Bible. There are in fact three possible Shebas in the Hebrew Scriptures who may have given their names to the nation, however there are only two who are coupled with "Dedan". One is in Genesis 10:7, where "Sheba and Dedan" are the descendants of Cush. The other Sheba and Dedan is in Genesis 25:1-4, they are descendants of Abraham the patriarch and his concubine wife Keturah. It is quite evident that the Sheba and Dedan of Ezekiel 38 originate from Keturah as they are in opposition to Ethiopia or Cush who is with the northern invader. It would not make sense for Sheba and Dedan to be the children of Cush, when the nation named after him is part of the northern confederacy. No, the Sheba and Dedan nations must be the descendants of Keturah. The lexicographer Genesis identifies Sheba with the Sabaeans, a nation and region of Arabia. He supposes there were two Arabian tribes, Sheba and Dedan, one in southern Arabia and one based in northern Arabia. Smith in his Bible Dictionary identifies Sheba with the great south Arabian kingdom and the peoples which composed it. Werner Keller in "The Bible as History" identifies Sheba with the ancient kingdom of Sheba based in southern Arabia, which was a merchant power who did business with the Kingdom of Israel under Solomon - when the queen of Sheba came to visit him. It is quite certain then that Sheba and Dedan in Ezekiel 38 are the tribes and kingdoms of the Arabian Desert, which is modern day Saudi Arabia, Yemen and we could include the other nations of the Arabian Peninsula as well. The United Arab Emirates: Qatar, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia: The Arabian culture began with a long journey eastward. Genesis 25:6 "But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the concubines which Abraham had, and while he was still living sent them eastward, away from his son Isaac, too country of the East." They became expert at surviving in the desert, as nomadic traders whose lives were built around a few village oases that were sprinkled across trackless wastes. They lived by the sword, defending their trade routes and caravans from competing tribes. To this day, that is their mentality. They are shrewd traders who twist the truth, when necessary to complete a business deal.
The concluding book of the Holy Bible makes it plain that the Tribulation begins with a war, just as described in Ezekiel, with Israel as the focal point. The sixth chapter of Revelation features the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," they bring war, famine, economic collapse, and a deathly plague. Taken together, they are typical of a world war, in which there is a total breakdown of societal restraint, law, and infra-structure. Here we have invading nations from the North (Gog of Magog/Persia), nations out of the East - namely the Arabian Peninsula - voicing their objections; then we have the merchants of Tarshish objecting along with the Arabians. So who are the merchants of Tarshish-with their young Lions? The West of course. Included in the nations giving tribute to the Lord's millenial reign in Psalm 72:10 (NLT) ~
"The western kings of Tarshish and the islands shall bring Him tribute; the eastern kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts." Biblical Tarshish may be Tartessus, a Phoenician colony, an important outpost in a string of colonies that extended as far north as the tin islands of Britain. The Phoenicinas trade route are legendary: The trade routes of Tarshish brought them all together. Down through the years, the old and established trade routes expanded and strengthened. Many times, they changed hands, but have remained the same, right down to the present era. The wooden ships of the Dutch East India Company followed the very sea lanes habituated by the Phoenicians. In the era of the worldwide British Empire, their ships reigned supreme along the same, identical routes. As sailing skills improved, traders and men of war took to the high seas. Wooden ships were replaced by iron steamers. Today, millions of shipping containers are taken from truck beds and placed aboard trains and diesel cargo vessels, where they cross the same sea routes established by the ships of Tarshish. Note that Ezekiel refers not just to Tarshish, but to "the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages" (NASB) or "Tarshish, with all its young lions" (KJV). This phrase is a Hebrew idiom meaning nations that have come out of Tarshish.
The young lions of Tarshish are a reference to the colonies that emerged from Britain and Europe - including the USA. Out of the Merchants of Tarshish came the colonial Empires. The most successful of these was Great Britain. The symbol of Great Britain is a lion. That symbol exists to this day and no other empire had more young lions than Great Britain. The present young lions are the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Commonwealth. These young lion nations that came out of the British Empire have generally been pro-Israel. herefore, 'the young lions of Tarshish' describes the USA in the last days joining in with her European and Saudi allies to lodge a formal protest against the Russian-Islamic aggressors. Looking at the Regathering of Israel in the last days, Isaiah said: "Surely the isles shall wait for Me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your sons from far . . . And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister to you" (Isaiah 60:9-10).
It is a fact of history that the Zionist movement only became a reality when the Government of the British Isles championed its cause. British kings first threw the weight of empire behind Theodore Herzl's lonely cry in Europe that the Jews be given a national home in Palestine. Although Britain's subsequent mandate over Palestine had many failings she did much to rebuild the country and prepare it for the day when the Jews, having won their Independence, could give birth to the State of Israel in 1948. Isaiah's prophecy is of interest, therefore, because it hints at the identity of prophetic Tarshish. Britain, and later the United States, first helped make the Zionist dream a reality. As historic Tarshish took in the mainland of Europe, reached to Britain and on to the new world, so prophetic Tarshish probably does the same. Thus "Tarshish, with its young lions" points to Europe and her former colonies, especially in the Americas. Tarshish is a prophetic reference to the western world.
Therefore, the young lions who act with Tarshish to oppose verbally Gog's invasion are the present-day western democracies. Unfortunately, these objections are purely for greed purposes: Have you come to take our spoils? But when Christ returns we'll all shout for joy because finally peace on earth! Whether you take these young lions of Tarshish to refer to the United States or just as a reference to the western powers of the last days, the scenario that is developed in Ezekiel 38 fits the present world political situation precisely. As students of Bible prophecy we are then watching for a divided Middle East. At the time of the return of Christ to the earth we expect there to be a grouping of Middle Eastern nations allied with Russia: Iran, Ethiopia and Libya. And a group with the merchant powers: Saudi Arabia, Yemen and others. It is with some interest that we saw this headline recently in the Globe and Mail newspaper: "Iranian Nuclear Threat puts Israel, Saudi Arabia on the Same Side" Beloved: we are close>look-up for our redemption draws near.
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