Eze. 38:1-2

1 And the word [dabar] of the LORD [Yahovah] came unto me, saying ['amar],

2 Son [ben] of man ['adam], set [suwm] thy face [paniym] against Gog [Gowg], the land ['erets] of Magog [Magowg], the chief [ro'sh] prince [nasiy'] of Meshech [Meshek] and Tubal [Tuwbal], and prophesy [naba'] against him, KJV-Interlinear

1 And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2 Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, NASB

In these opening verses, Ezekiel identifies nations or regions, which are located to the north, east and south of Judah.

Ezekiel lived at the time of the last few kings of Judah, just prior to the invasion from Babylon. Here, Judah was to be over run, but people were to take heart in that though this invasion will be successful, there will come a time in the distant future when the invasion from these three directions (north, east, and south) will end up in total failure.

Gog is a title. It represents the leader of a broad region. Magog is descriptive of the regions to the north of Israel. Magog was a descendent of Japheth, one of the three sons of Noah. Likewise, Meshech and Tubal are descendents of Japheth and they resided in the northerly and easterly directions from Jerusalem.

Note, by the way, that all of these references are to post flood (Noah s flood) people or regions. None of these refer to pre-flood identities. The pre-flood civilization had its history, and it was wiped out. Now we live in the post-flood era, and our history is ongoing.

Japheth s descendents are generally credited with settling in the regions to the north and east of Israel.

This chapter begins a prophecy of judgment against all of the lands surrounding Jerusalem. These lands, to the north, east and south, will be the source of a massive invasion into the Middle East, in the Tribulation. Although the lands to the west will not be perfect by any means, they will not be charged with invasion plans. At least not initially.

Even the western powers that will exist in the Tribulation will get caught up in all of the violence and reduce themselves to the extermination of the residents of Jerusalem.

Just a few decades ago, this northern power would have been identified as the Soviet Union. But today that huge power has disintegrated somewhat due to the break up of the Soviet Union back in the Reagan era.

But in the Tribulation, if not before, that power will again raise its head with some form of unity.

Our purpose here is not to attempt to identify the specific powers that will do battle at Armageddon, but only to know that these general directions from Jerusalem, will be the source and origins of the invading powers in that future time.

Then as now, man s purpose is supposed to heed Gods instruction and His warnings, pray for Gods blessings, and fear Gods cursing. When we get our act together within our spiritual lives we should come to understand this rather quickly. Or, at least we should learn it rather quickly in life.

When you understand that everything in life has some guidance from Gods hand, then you should quickly realize that whatever happens to you, whether good or bad, whether you perceive it as being good or bad, then God sits back to see your response or reaction to His plan for your life.

Either you learn by your experiences or you don t. You either reject Gods hand, and pursue your own revenge or solution to your problems, or you sit back and wonder if perhaps all of this (whatever it is) that is happening to you, is not some form of test or punishment. And whether or not you need to change something in your life in order to get back into the blessing category of Gods plan for your life.

The powers that be in the world, will reject Gods hand in their collective destinies and they will pay the ultimate price. It is not just a person or two, nor even a nation or two who will be judged, but an entire continent of nations and peoples who will be judged. People will die by the hundreds of millions (perhaps billions) when that future battle comes.

Now is the time to post a prayer.