If Russia has designs on Israel ... as à la Gog in Ezekiel 38 and 39,

a path through Georgia to Turkey, and then through Turkey to Syria,

this path may be much closer at hand?


Ezekiel 38:1 - 39:29

"1 ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set
thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech
and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech
and Tubal: 4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,
and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen,
all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company
[with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: 5 Persia,
Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6
Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters,
and all his bands: [and] many people with thee. 7 Be thou prepared,
and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled
unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 8 After many days thou shalt
be visited:

in the latter years

thou shalt come into the land [that is] brought back from the sword,
[and is] gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel,
which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the
nations,

and they shall dwell safely all of them. 9 Thou shalt ascend and come
like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and
all thy bands, and many people with thee. 10 Thus saith the Lord GOD;

It shall also come to pass, [that] at the same time shall things come
into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: 11 And thou shalt
say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them
that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without
walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 To take a spoil, and to
take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places [that are
now] inhabited, and upon the people [that are] gathered out of the
nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst
of the land. 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with
all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to
take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry
away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great
spoil?"

"14 ¶ Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the
Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt
thou not know [it]? 15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the
north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon
horses, a great company, and a mighty army: 16 And thou shalt come up
against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land;

it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land,
that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O
Gog, before their eyes.

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?

18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come
against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, [that] my fury shall
come up in my face. 19 For in my jealousy [and] in the fire of my
wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking
in the land of Israel;

20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the
beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the
earth, and all the men that [are] upon the face of the earth, shall
shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the
steep places shall fall,

and every wall shall fall to the ground.

(Like caused by that greatest of earthquakes in
Revelation 16:17-21
17  And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there
came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne,
saying, It is done.
18  And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was
a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so
mighty an earthquake, and so great.
19  And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of
the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to
give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
20  And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found.)


21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains,
saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother. 22
And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I
will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that
[are] with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and
brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I
will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I
[am] the LORD."

"39:1 ¶ Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say,
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief
prince of Meshech and Tubal: 2 And I will turn thee back,

and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up
from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of
Israel:

 3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine
arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 4 Thou shalt fall upon the
mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that [is]
with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and
[to] the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 Thou shalt fall upon
the open field: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.

6 And I will send a fire on Magog,

and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles:

and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.

7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel;
and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the
heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, the Holy One in Israel."

"8 ¶ Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this [is]
the day whereof I have spoken. 9 And they that dwell in the cities of
Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons,
both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the
handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven
years: 10 So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither
cut down [any] out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons
with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those
that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD. 11 And it shall come to pass in
that day, [that] I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in
Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it
shall stop the [noses] of the passengers: and there shall they bury
Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call [it] The valley of
Hamongog. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of
them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the
land shall bury [them]; and it shall be to them a renown the day that
I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. 14 And they shall sever out
men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the
passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse
it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 And the
passengers [that] pass through the land, when [any] seeth a man's
bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried
it in the valley of Hamongog. 16 And also the name of the city [shall
be] Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 And, thou son of
man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to
every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather
yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you,
[even] a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat
flesh, and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and
drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of
goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall
eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my
sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 Thus ye shall be filled
at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all
men of war, saith the Lord GOD. 21 And I will set my glory among the
heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have
executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

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

"23 ¶ And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into
captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me,
therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of
their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. 24 According to their
uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto
them, and hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD;
Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the
whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; 26 After
that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby
they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land,
and none made [them] afraid. 27 When I have brought them again from
the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am
sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; 28 Then shall they
know that I [am] the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into
captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own
land, and have left none of them any more there.

29 Neither will I hide my face any more from them:
for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel,
saith the Lord GOD.