eschatology

Do Not Fear The Red Heifer

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There has been a lot of speculation lately about the end times and the red heifer. Of course, there is always something to speculate about with the end times people.

The story is that a ranch in Texas has bred a number of red heifers that could fulfil the requirements of purity to be the sacrifices. While the Biblical significance of this is unclear, Jewish tradition requires that the grounds of the temple will be cleansed by the red heifer sacrifice before the temple can be rebuilt. Therefore, it is argued, we have the red heifers so now the temple can be rebuilt and bring on the rapture.

According to a recent article in “Charisma”, they have found a potential candidate to perform the ceremony. This is a young man who was born at home and has never set foot in a hospital or a cemetery where he could inadvertently touch a dead body and therefore be unclean.

I don’t like to be the wet blanket in the end times party, but this is total rubbish.

When I got my drivers’ licence I did not assume this meant that God must soon provide me with a car. The licence was a necessary condition, but many things had to happen before I was able to own my first car. Just because you have a red heifer does not mean the temple can be rebuilt.

As christians we don’t follow Jewish tradition. Yes, the Jewish traditions can inform our reading of scripture, but it is the Bible that is the source of our doctrine, not tradition. That was what the Reformation was all about. Yet we now have end times preachers building their doctrines on Jewish tradition.

So what does the Bible tell us about the red heifer? In Numbers 19:1-13, we read:

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron:‘This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. While he watches, the heifer is to be burned – its hide, flesh, blood and intestines The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.

 ‘A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them.

 ‘Whoever touches a human corpse will be unclean for seven days. They must purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; then they will be clean. But if they do not purify themselves on the third and seventh days, they will not be clean. If they fail to purify themselves after touching a human corpse, they defile the Lord’s tabernacle. They must be cut off from Israel. Because the water of cleansing has not been sprinkled on them, they are unclean; their uncleanness remains on them.

So, to summarise, a red heifer without defect or blemish was to be sacrificed outside the camp. The heifer was to be burned and the ashes stored in a special place outside the camp. Then the ashes were to be mixed with water to purify people from sin and to cleanse those who have touched a dead body.

There is nothing there about the end times or the new temple. Jewish rabbis can make their own pronouncements about the necessary rituals to rebuild the temple, but this has nothing to do with christians.

Like many of the requirements of the Old Testament Law, the red heifer sacrifice is an illustration of Christ’s sacrifice.

  • He was sacrificed outside the city
  • His blood was shed in sight of the Temple (equivalent to the tent of meeting)
  • His body and blood cleanse us from sin and remove from us all impurity

The writer of Hebrews tells us that we have a better sacrifice, one that is suitable for all sins. Unlike the red heifer sacrifice which had to be repeated, Christ’s sacrifice is complete.

“But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.” Hebrews 9:26

“For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14

“And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.” Hebrews 10:18

The red heifer sacrifice may be necessary to inaugurate the Jewish Temple, but Christ’s sacrifice inaugurated the new Temple, the people of God.

Instead of getting excited about the production of perfect red heifers, let’s press in to Christ, the one whom the heifers point to. He alone is the author and finisher of our faith, the Beginning and the End, the Alpha and Omega.

Gary Demar: The Eschatological Craziness Continues

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The Eschatological Craziness Continues

 BY GARY DEMAR
The Eschatological Craziness Continues

The Red Heifers have arrived in Israel! So says the May 22, 2023, article “Prophetic Anticipation Builds: Unblemished Red Heifers for Temple Ceremony Soon Come of Age.” The claim is, based on Numbers 19, the heifers need to be at least 3 years old for priestly purification purposes. For that you need priests, animal sacrifices, and a physical temple, all of which passed away when the temple was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. None of this has anything to do with Bible prophecy as I pointed out in a previous article.

Anyone making anything of this is going back to the rituals of the Old Covenant that Jesus fulfilled. When Jesus said, “It’s finished,” He meant it. I can understand why some religious Jews believe that heifers are important but not Christians, and yet many Christians get excited about red heifers and calls to rebuild the temple as if it has anything to do with Bible prophecy. Read the book of Hebrews.

 

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things having come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made by hands, that is, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all time, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (9:11-14)

 

Jesus is the endpoint of its fulfillment. End of story. But it seems it’s never the end.

Did you know that AI, Artificial Intelligence is found in the Bible? No? Neither did I. But there it is, big as day. The city of Ai. That’s right! It’s been there all the time. Here’s how it goes:

 

[M]ight there be a biblical connection to AI? The answer is yes, according to a popular author known for illuminating Scriptures. “Ai is actually mentioned in the Bible,” says Joe Kovacs, author of the best-selling “Reaching God Speed: Unlocking the Secret Broadcast Revealing the Mystery of Everything.”

“No, it’s not an abbreviation for artificial intelligence. It’s a single word spelled A-i, and can be pronounced like each of its letters, as in ‘a’ and ‘i.’

“It’s the name of an ancient Canaanite city, and it packs an incredible significance for today when we examine Ai on the spirit or metaphor level. “This was a real, historical place, but it carries an additional parable meaning as well, since Jesus only spoke to people in parables, and ‘did not say anything to them without using a parable’ (Matthew 13:34). He, of course, is still speaking to everyone through every word in the Bible.”

Kovacs explains the first key to unlocking the mystery is to understand the meaning of the word ‘Ai,’ which can be translated as ‘Ruin’ or ‘a heap of ruins.’ “That’s big hint No. 1, the fact that Ai actually means ruin or a heap of ruins, coming from a Hebrew verb meaning to bend, twist, pervert and distort, all leading to ruin,” Kovacs explains.

“God says He’s ‘declaring the end from the beginning’ (Isaiah 46:10), so right from the start of something, He’s broadcasting the end result, its future conclusion.” Interestingly, the author notes, the ancient town of Ai happened to be located “beside Bethaven, on the east side of Bethel.” (Joshua 7:2)

“When we learn the meanings of these places, it provides even more clues,” says Kovacs. “Bethel means ‘house of God’ and Bethaven means ‘house of vanity (nothingness)’ or ‘house of plenty of trouble.’

“So Ai, the place of ruin, was closely associated with the house of vanity, nothingness, and plenty of trouble. That sounds a whole lot like our world today.

 

The article goes on to make “metaphorical” associations to what’s happening today and ends with, “God may be using this ancient event as a divine hint, a physical example of what today’s AI may bring if artificial intelligence twists, distorts and perverts the truth.”

There’s nothing wrong with comparing events in Scripture to what’s taking place in our day but linking the city of Ai to Artificial Intelligence in anyway is Scripture Twisting like the way the Hebrew word rosh in Ezekiel 38-39 is said to refer to modern-day Russia. There are no linguistic, etymological, or historical correlations. It’s fulfilled prophecy. 

 

Read the rest of this article at American Vision

Gary DeMar: Stay Away from Red Heifer Mythology

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Gary DeMar writes:

Stay Away from Red Heifer Mythology

The red heifer story is back in the news. “The delivery of five red heifers to Israel has sparked a worldwide debate about its significance in biblical prophecy, particularly among Christians who believe a third temple will be built during the End Times,”[1] of which the New Testament says nothing. You will search the New Testament with a fine-tooth comb, and you won’t find any mention of another temple being built or the necessity for animal sacrifices to be performed.

The red heifer claim isn’t new. Here’s a story from 2018:

Last week in Jerusalem a baby cow was born. Watch the adorable infant scamper around her mother in a short video released on YouTube by the Temple of Israel, below. Why is this worth your attention? Because—according to some Jewish and Christian scholars—this tiny red calf may be ushering in the end of the world.

The reddish-coloured female calf was reportedly born in Israel on August 28 [2018] and is being raised in accordance with the Jewish laws of the Torah, according to the Temple Institute. (CBN)

This is more about Jewish mythology than biblical theology. Even CBN News, a network that is heavily invested in end-time speculation, ended its article on the topic with this comment: “Meanwhile, there’s a verse about that heifer and purification in the New Testament of the Bible, and it’s all about salvation.” The author then quotes Hebrews 9:13-14. The sacrifice of the red heifer is about Jesus, and Jesus is the endpoint of its fulfilment. Christian interest in the red heifer sacrifice is an affront to the finished redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

The Bible mentions the details of the red heifer in Numbers 19. An “unblemished” red heifer, that is, a cow of a reddish colour, with “no defect” that had never worn a yoke was to be taken outside the camp and sacrificed. Water was added to the ashes and applied to anyone who had contact with a dead body. This sacrifice required a cow, a female, to point out the life-giving element in the sacrifice.

The red heifer sacrifice is like one of the oldest food laws in the Bible, the command against boiling “a kid in its mother’s milk” (Ex. 23:19; 34:26; Deut. 14:21). A kid could be boiled in the milk of another mother but not in its own mother’s milk. This is not a health regulation or a food regulation whereby meat and dairy can’t be mixed. It has deep theological significance. James B. Jordan writes in his book The Law and the Covenant:

How awful if the mother uses her own milk to destroy her own seed!… Jerusalem is the mother of the seed (Ps. 87:5; Gal. 4:26ff.). When Jerusalem crucified Jesus Christ, her Seed, she was boiling her kid in her own milk. In Revelation 17, the apostate Jerusalem has been devouring her faithful children: “And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.” Her punishment, under the Law of Equivalence, is to be devoured by the gentile kings who supported her (v. 17).[2]

These laws point to Jesus and His redemptive work and the end of the Old Covenant that was in full display when Jerusalem was sacked by the Romans in AD 70 and the temple system destroyed.

Don Preston makes an interesting observation of some of the other elements related to the red heifer sacrifice and how they point directly to Jesus and not to some end-time temple:

Jesus’ passion prayer occurred in Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30) [where the red heifer sacrifice took place]. The entire heifer was to be consumed. Jesus gave himself completely in sacrifice. The ashes of the heifer were to be collected by one that was clean and stored in a clean place. Joseph of Arimathea, a devout man, collected Jesus’ body and placed it in a new tomb, one that had never been defiled (John 19:41). The heifer’s ashes were to be stored outside the city; Jesus’ body was laid in the tomb outside the city.

There are other elements involved in the sacrifice, but nothing is said about how the red heifer is a prophecy about the return of the Messiah. The sacrifice of the red heifer, like all the animal sacrifices, point to Jesus as their fulfilment. It’s not a prophecy; it’s a “type of Christ” with Jesus as the “antitype,” the fulfilment. As Jesus said, “It is finished.”

Here’s the most important part of how the sacrifice of the red heifer points to Jesus: It is the only sacrifice that took place “outside the camp” (Num. 19:3, 9). Like the red heifer, Jesus was slain “outside the gate” (Heb. 13:12), that is, “outside the camp” (13:13).

They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha (John 19:17).

James Jordan comments:

The heifer took upon itself the future uncleannesses caused by corpse contamination. Thus the heifer and its ashes became powerfully unclean, and are fountains of uncleanness. Yet, the sacrifice did not become effective until it was sprinkled upon an unclean person. Just so, Jesus was “made sin” for us, yet His sacrifice does not become effective until we are sprinkled with it (by faith, and symbolically by baptism). The only difference is that Jesus completed the task, and thus ceased to be unclean, while the heifer’s task was never done, and so the ashes remained unclean. (Studies in Food and Faith)

Consider how the book of Hebrews relates all animal sacrifices, including that of the red heifer, to the finished work of Jesus as the Messiah:

For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? For this reason, He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:13-15).

The Bible couldn’t be any clearer. Jesus is the fulfilment of the red heifer sacrifice. In fact, all the Old Covenant was in anticipation of Jesus as He Himself stated:

  • Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, [Jesus] explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Luke 24:27).
  • Now [Jesus] said to His disciples], “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44; cp. 21:22).

Notice that all sacrificial animals were to be “unblemished” and “without defect.” This requirement is not unique to the red heifer sacrifice:

Whatever has a defect, you shall not offer, for it will not be accepted for you. When a man offers a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord to fulfill a special vow or for a freewill offering, of the herd or of the flock, it must be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no defect in it (Lev. 22:20-21; also, Deut. 15:21; 17:1; Mal. 1:8, 14; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 1:19).

Like so much of rabbinic oral tradition (Mark 7:1-13), several additional requirements have been added to the red heifer biblical inspection:

  • The heifer must be three years old and perfect in its redness. Even its hooves must be red.
  • The presence of even two hairs of any other colour will render it invalid.

These requirements are not found in Numbers 19.

Read the rest of the article here

Gary DeMar: The Beast of Revelation

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Gary DeMar writes:

The following is the Foreword I wrote for J.D. King’s book The Beast of Revelation: Unraveling the Mystery. There’s a major shift taking place in eschatology in the broader Christian community. If the shift takes hold, we could see a major change in the way Christians understand eschatology. The Beast of Revelation will help get the message out to those often unreached by Reformed Theology. –Gary DeMar

________________________________

If there’s one thing we can count on it’s predictions about end-time events. The second thing we can count on is that most of them (maybe all of them) have not stood the test of time. There is a long history of prophetic speculation. Some prophecy writers were very specific by pointing out the year when Jesus would return to wrap up things in a spectacular way. Edgar C. Whisenant claimed he had found 88 reasons why the “rapture” would be in September of 1988. When I debated him in early September of 1988, he told me that if he was wrong it meant the Bible was wrong. Ouch!

As a result of an admitted “miscalculation,” Whisenant revised his prophetic calendar by one year. His new book assured us that the “rapture” would take place in 1989. The fact that you are reading The Beast of Revelation: Unraveling the Mystery by J.D. King is prima facie evidence that Mr. Whisenant was very wrong.

Harold Camping assured us that some form of an eschatological end would take place in 1994. Hal Lindsey described the 1980s as the “terminal generation.” He argued in his 1970 bestseller The Late Great Planet Earth that the “rapture” would take place within 40 years of Israel becoming a nation again in 1948. The late Chuck Smith held a similar view.

It was in 1926 that Oswald J. Smith wrote Is the Antichrist at Hand? The following copy appeared on the cover: “The fact that this book has run swiftly into a number of large editions bears convincing testimony to its intrinsic worth. There are here portrayed startling indications of the approaching end of the present age from the spheres of demonology, politics, and religion. No one can read this book without being impressed with the importance of the momentous days in which we are living.”

Remember, this was 1926 and the prophesied antichrist was Benito Mussolini. Mussolini was later captured, tried, and executed by firing squad with his mistress, Clara Petacci on April 28, 1945. There has been a parade of antichrist candidates before and after Smith wrote his book all claiming the Bible for their certainty. This has worked to keep Christians on the edge of prophetic anticipation. Like so many before him, history had proved Smith wrong. But Smith did something few prophecy writers ever do. He admitted he was wrong. John Warwick Montgomery writes that “Smith himself tried to buy up all the remaining copies of the book to destroy them.”[1]

William Edgar, a professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary, recounts the time in the 1960s he spent studying in L’Abri, Switzerland, under the tutelage of Christian apologist Francis A. Schaeffer (1912–1984):[2]

I can remember coming down the mountain from L’Abri and expecting the stock market to cave in, a priestly elite to take over American government, and enemies to poison the drinking water. I was almost disappointed when these things did not happen.[3]

I could recount hundreds of examples of well-intentioned Bible teachers through the centuries whose articles and books no longer hold up given the passage of time. Unfortunately, many Christians aren’t aware of this history. Those who are aware of prophetic speculation often argue that “this time it’s different.”

When trying to interpret the Bible, the first principle to follow is a simple one: What does the text say? J.D. King makes this point by listing the verses that use the term “antichrist.” Reading these four passages is an eye-opener for many people. For many, it’s the first time they encountered the biblical definition of “antichrist,” that there were many of them alive in John’s day, and their existence was evidence that it was the “last hour” of John’s time, most likely the lead up to the destruction of the temple and judgment of Jerusalem that took place before their generation passed away (see Matt. 24:1–3, 34; Luke 21:20, 24; 17:22–37).

When I speak on the topic of Bible prophecy, I often ask the audience this question: Which book of the Bible uses the word “antichrist” more than any other New Testament book? Most people say, “the book of Revelation.” While Revelation does not use the word “antichrist,” John points out that there were antichrists persecuting Christians of that time (Rev. 2:9; 3:9).

There were also beast-like beings. Often the description of a “beast” in the Bible is related to power, either religious or political, and most often a combination of both. Daniel mentions “four great beasts” (7:1–8). Following the description of these beasts, the reign of the Ancient of Days is described (7:9–28). This shows that these beasts were nothing when compared to the overruling authority and power of God. These conquered beasts and their kingdoms no longer exist. God’s kingdom is “forever” (Ps. 145:13; Dan. 4:3; 7:14, 27).

The apostle Paul mentions “savage wolves” (Acts 20:29) that would enter the church at Ephesus. These were beaten back by faithful church leaders who were “to shepherd the church of God” (21:28). This approach is no different for today’s churches. The beasts of Revelation 13 were neutralized by “the lamb” who was “standing on Mount Zion” (14:1). It’s time we stop fixing our attention on antichrists and beasts and place our faith in “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Yes, the lowly lamb defeats all beasts!

Are there beasts today? Most certainly. What’s the remedy? Certainly not cowering in the corner and waiting for an eschatological rescue. We should always be on the lookout for religious and political beasts and act accordingly. James writes, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). Such resisting requires an active faith and confidence that God is in the Satan-crushing, beast-busting business (Rom. 16:20), and that includes any beast that might be roaming around today. Today’s beasts—religious and civil—must be confronted in obedience to God’s revealed will and the application of God’s Word to every area of life.

Read the rest of the article here

J. Lee Grady: Instead of Spreading Last-Days Fever, Let’s Share Jesus

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John Lee Grady exhorts us to focus on Jesus rather than obsessing with last days madness,

As if the COVID-19 pandemic weren’t enough to spark fears of the end of the world, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poured gasoline on this fire. Everywhere I go Christians ask me if we are on the verge of World War III. And most of them don’t like my answer: I don’t know. But I’m not worried. I’m keeping my eyes on Jesus no matter what happens!

Ever since I began seriously following Jesus in the 1970s, Christians have been spreading last-days fever. They love to speculate on who the Antichrist is, when the rapture will happen and what our government is doing secretly to stamp us all with the mark of the beast. During the pandemic, people spread rumors that the COVID-19 vaccine is a satanic plot; now Vladimir Putin’s war is supposedly the precursor to Armageddon.

If I suggest that Jesus wants to pour out the Holy Spirit in a fresh way in the midst of these challenging times, some people get angry. They want God to hurry up and judge America!

Why so much pessimism? It’s partly because many people have exchanged their passion for God for a misguided fascination with doomsday eschatology. They latch onto Bible prophecy “experts” who make a living speculating about things nobody knows for sure. This sky-is-falling mindset never produces good fruit. Here are four reasons we should avoid an unhealthy overemphasis on the end times:

Read the full article here

Russia And The End Times

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Russia And The End Times

The recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia has generated a lot of excitement among end times enthusiasts. Could this be the start of the stirring of God and Magog? Could Israel be next on Russia’s agenda?

A lot of the speculation has its roots in the end times hysteria of the 1970’s when the then Soviet Union was incorrectly labelled by the likes of Hal Lindsey (“Late Great Planet Earth”) as the “rush” and the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel 38-39. These chapters describe an attempt to destroy the Jewish people, an attempt that the Lord thwarts and turns back on Gog and Magog.

Some people have argued that there is no historical record of such an event given in Scripture or even in subsequent history. They argue that it must therefore refer to the end times.

So let us take a closer look at where we might find help with understanding these matters.

“Rush” is Not Russia

In Ezekiel 38:2, the Lord says to Ezekiel “Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”

The Hebrew word rushtranslated in the NIV as “chief” literally means chief or head. Everywhere it appears in the Old Testament it is translated with that meaning.

However, some prophetic writers have taught that it means, in this passage only, “Russia” on the basis of the sounds of the word. They say the passage should be translated as something like “… the prince of Russia, of Meshech and Tubal.”

It is odd that in dozens of uses in Scripture this word means “chief” but at this place, we are meant to see it as a reference to Russia.

In modern Hebrew, the nation of Russia is written not as “rush” but as “russiya”.

To equate “rush” with Russia is the same sort of ignorance which might lead a person to expect the land of Turkey to be the home of the bird of the same name.

Proponents of the Russia theory claim that they are vindicated by Ezekiel 39:2 where Gog is dragged from “the far north”. Look at a map, they say. Where else could it be but Russia?

But if we read the text, it describes Gog as “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” in both 38:2 and 39:2, not of Russia. These regions were actually to the north of Israel! We might not think of them as “the far north” with our global perspective, but to the Israelites they would have been considered that way.

Who Is Gog?

Ezekiel prophesied from about 593 BC to about 571 BC. Just before this period, in 597 BC, Nebuchadnezzar had captured Jerusalem and taken many of the leaders and skilled workers into captivity in Babylon. In 539, Cyrus of Persia conquered Babylon.

About 50 years later the Book of Esther tells of a plot by Haman to kill all of the Jews throughout the Persian Empire. At that time King Xerxes ruled over 127 provinces stretching from India to Ethiopia (Esther 1:1).

In Esther 3:1, we read, “After these events, King Xerxes honoured Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, elevating him and giving him honour higher than that of all the other nobles.”

As the story of Esther unfolds, Haman tricks Xerxes into issuing a decree that cannot be cancelled. This decree says that on a particular date, every Jew was to be killed and their goods plundered. Esther and her uncle Mordecai persuade Xerxes to issue another edict granting the Jews the right to defend themselves and to kill anyone who attacked them. Haman is hanged on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai, and Mordecai is promoted to the position previously held by Haman.

Haman is described as an Agagite, that is a descendant of Amalek, one of the most persistent and troublesome of Israel’s enemies. Interestingly, there are ancient manuscripts of the book of Esther where the word “Agagite” is written as “Gogite” because the words are nearly identical when written in Hebrew.

In Ezekiel 39:11 and 15, the place where the army of Gog will be buried is the valley of Hamon-Gog and the nearby city will be called Hamonah. Both these place names come from the same root word as Haman.

When we see that Haman is a “chief prince” who gathers an armed force from across the Persian Empire (virtually the whole of the known world) in order to destroy the people of Israel, the identity of Haman in Esther with Gog in Ezekiel becomes apparent.

Conclusion

People who try to identify prophetic events with current geopolitical upheavals always make the mistake of allowing the newspapers to determine their understanding of the Bible. It should be the other way around: we interpret world events, politics and our own lifestyles through the instructions of the Bible.

At various times the identity of Gog and Magog have been seen as the Goths, the Huns, the Islamic Empire, the Turks, Native Americans and most lately the former USSR and present day Russia. There is a tendency to identify the geopolitical “bad boys”of the current age as Gog.

When Ezekiel was prophesying, he was not talking about the last days of planet Earth. No, he was referring to events that would threaten God’s people in the next generation.

We should be no more impressed by this prophetic fulfilment that occurred within decades of Ezekiel’s death than we would be by some fulfilment two thousand years later. The fact is that God is the Lord of history, and that should give us great hope as we face the uncertain days in front of us.

In order to understand difficult passages such as Ezekiel 38-39, we need to have a solid biblical understanding, allowing the Bible to interpret the Bible.

If you want to read a far more detailed account of this interpretation of Ezekiel 38-39, I recommend Gary Demar’s book “Why The End Of the World Is Not In Your Future” available from americanvision.org