“I am against you Gog, Prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal”.
In Scripture there are only two personalities actually named in a prophetic context in advance of their arrival. The first of these is Cyrus (Hebrew Koresh) and the second is Gog. Cyrus was the king of the vast Persian Empire, the superpower of its day. Under his administration Jews were encouraged to return to Israel and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and its temple. Cyrus restored to the Jews the artifacts stolen by Nebuchadnezzar. He used money and his influence to support the repatriation of Jewish culture to the homeland. Some Jews under the leadership of Ezra the scribe and later Nehemiah made the trek back to The Land of Israel. In Isaiah 44:28 God calls Cyrus “my shepherd” and in Isaiah 45:1-6 His Mashiach/Messiah, “the anointed one”, whom He will take by the right hand to accomplish His divine will. Though Cyrus does not know Him, Yahweh will glorify His own Name. Blessings and honor will flow to Cyrus. His legacy endures to this day.
It is noteworthy that two US presidents saw their own political actions being in the spirit of Cyrus the Great when they supported the creation of a modern Jewish state. I refer here to Woodrow Wilson and Harry Truman. Wilson supported the Balfour declaration which only cleared the British government when American support was privately assured. Wilson immediately went public in his own endorsement. Likewise Harry Truman provided critical political support in 1947 for the UN resolution which authorized the state of Israel. In 1953 he was introduced at a meeting of the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC as “The man who helped create the state of Israel”. Truman responded “What do you mean helped to create? I am Cyrus, I am Cyrus!” Truman understood the role of the king of Persia in the restoration of the Jews to their homeland. As head of the most powerful nation on the earth in 1947 Truman’s support for Israel was equally critical to that of Cyrus. It is noteworthy that Cyrus began many of his inscriptions, including the plaque on his own mausoleum, by the introductory phrase “I am Cyrus”. Both Wilson and Truman had strong Christian upbringings. They both understood clearly what was unfolding in their time… the literal fulfillment of prophecy with the restoration of the Jews to Palestine.
The second individual named in prophecy (Ezek 38:1) is Gog, “prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal” who leads a latter day army into Israel with an evil scheme. Like Cyrus, Gog is an actual personal name in the Bible (see 1 Chron 5:4 “Gog his son”) In Hebrew “rosh” means chief or head, and prince (in Hebrew “nasi”) means president. Later in Ezekiel 38 there is a listing of nations who are part of the “coalition”. It is not immediately obvious if the references to Meshech and Tubal are place names (there were cities in Asia Minor at the time of Ezekiel that correspond to these names) or if the Hebrew is used as modifiers. TBL means “world, earth, whole earth S8398”, also “perversion S8397”, in addition to the name of a person and city. Likewise MSH means “drew, drag away, follow, lead, pulled S4900”, and “possession S4901”, in addition to the name of a person and city. In light of the narrative that immediately follows about “hooks in the jaw” it is reasonable to see the phrase “Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshaech and Tubal” as “Gog, chief president, leader of the world/superpower”.
With this in mind let us turn to the Bush Scroll, a document prepared for President George Bush on the occasion of his visiting Jerusalem January 2008 by the Sanhedrin group in Israel led by Rabbi Steinshaltz. The first page of this document states “Esteemed Mr. George W. Bush, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal (Ezekiel 38:1), leader of the West. Upon your arrival in Jerusalem you have the ability to make a declaration, as did Cyrus, King of Persia-whose memory is honored- who in the year 538BCE returned the exiled nations to their lands and recognized the full rights of the Jewish people to reestablish their Holy temple, the “house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7) and called upon them to return to their land.” It is noteworthy that Gog in many eastern languages is actually the equivalent of George in English. So coming off the high adrenalin rush of the Annapolis agreement of November 2007 which the world witnessed as an historic agreement to form a Palestinian state, I think President Bush blinked. He decided not to proceed with a forced settlement of the Arab/Israeli conflict. The thrust of the Sanhedrin message to President Bush is quite simple. They asked him to choose wisely. Support the Jewish state and in turn earn God’s blessing…or defy the God of Israel and bring down divine wrath! Cyrus or Gog…your choice. I find it very interesting that the Sanhedrin, populated with the most scholarly rabbis and Hebrew linguistic experts in Israel saw no problem in postulating that George Bush could be Gog and fulfill Ezekiel’s prophecy. Yet many/most Christians in America continue to believe that Gog is some Russian prince connected with Moscow and Tobolsk.
We know that Cyrus is called “shepherd” and “messiah/anointed one”. What does the name Gog mean? I did a quick Strong’s search for words starting with gimmel-vav and found the following three letter Hebrew words clustered around the name Gog: Gob- swarm; Gud-attack,invade; Gewah-pride,arrogance; Guz-drove in; Goy-nations,gentiles; Gawa-perish, die; Gur-conspire,attack,fear. All of these words inform us as to the root meaning of Gog.
Ok so we have two US presidents playing the modern role of Cyrus the Great at key points, Wilson in 1917 and Truman in 1947/48. More recently US presidents have lined up more with Gog, remove the people from the ancestral Mountains of Israel to form a Palestinian state in the West Bank. President Obama in my opinion is no friend of Israel at all. He is about to receive later this week the highest award possible in Israel from the hand of the President Shimon Peres for his outstanding commitment to and support of the state of Israel. This will happen on the 10th of Nisan, the day that Yeshua entered Jerusalem and was proclaimed messiah. There is talk of President Obama visiting Temple Mount that same day. Perhaps he will be found “standing in” the holy place, reconciling all factions to himself as a latter day messiah figure. The timing could not have been better suited. Arrival in Israel almost at the exact hour of the spring equinox (a big deal with the pagan community) then celebrated by the upper crust of Israeli society. Repeatedly we are told that there is no plan to announce, no deal to implement. We have been told the president will listen and consult. Folks when I hear for the umpteenth time that there is no plan…rest assured there is a very detailed plan!!! Sometime very soon troops are going to arrive in Israel and draw equipment from the base I have mentioned so many times before. Then they are going to spread out quickly across the countryside. Fortunately for President Obama, he now has in Chuck Hagel a Secretary of Defense who recommended this very action a short time ago. That is my prediction folks. Should that occur and the plan proceed to remove Jewish settlements to birth a Jew-free PA state, rest assured that the mother of all earthquakes is coming soon…and fire to a “coastland” near you. It should be a very interesting spring/summer. I don’t personally think things will drag on much longer. Everyone “knows” where this piece/peace deal is headed.
On a recent trip to Israel an Orthodox Jewish guide informed me that in Ezekiel 38:1 if you start with the last letter in nasi (president) and skip seven letters repeatedly you get O-B-A-M-A in Hebrew. So I went and dug out the Hebrew text and sure enough that is there. A few months ago I read an article that called on President Obama to get on with the solution to the Arab/Israeli “problem”. The author said what the president should do is announce a deal and appoint some worthy ex-president to implement the thing. The person he had in mind was Bill Clinton. Now Bill has been “called on” a lot over the last few years. But I do hope that the individual chosen for this dirty work is not former president George Bush. Maybe hooks will be needed to drag some leader into Israel. Pray if asked that he have the good sense to duck the assignment.
Here is a sober fact folks. In Exodus we learn that even after nine heavy plagues hitting Egypt, the Egyptian people and officials held Moses in high esteem. But that did not save their firstborn children in the last plague. God held the head man pharaoh accountable for the whole nation. Not surprising then that the officials turn on pharaoh and claim he has ruined the country. Today there are millions of moral biblical believers in America who love Israel and support that little country as the apple of God’s eye. But none of that will matter if the Rosh nasi “chief president” Obama decides to upset the divine plan. The Sanhedrin in 2008 ended their scroll by advising President Bush to “choose life” based on Deuteronomy 30:19. The choice is still before us all….
PS Shimon Peres last name means "vulture" in Hebrew...a bird of prey that "divides", which is what PRS means in Hebrew...recall the handwriting on the wall. How ironic that the man is president of Israel and trying really hard to divide it up!!! I am not making this stuff up folks!
Hal