Why will Yahuwah destroy Russia just before the return of Yahushua?
Why will Yahuwah destroy Russia just before the return of Yahushua?
Thus saith Yahuwah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. Ezekiel 38:3 ASV
In the opening verses of Ezekiel's tremendous prophecy of chapters 38 and 39, Father Yahuwah sends a chilling warning to Gog, the prince of Rosh. Such a dire warning has no other precedent in all Scripture. Never before in the history of the world has Yahuwah uttered such a stern warning to a nation's leader. So we should be keen to identify which country earned Yahuwah's wrath and foreboding and how they earned it.
Rosh does not appear in the KJV but in numerous other versions like the ASV. While the name Rosh can be taken as a title meaning "head" or "chief," such a rendering here introduces unnecessary confusion. In Ezekiel 38 and 39, Rosh must be taken as a proper name, a race name, especially by the presence of the names Meshech and Tubal, which precede and follow the word Rosh. Since these are names, Rosh must also be a name rather than a title.
A map showing clearly how Russia is the farthest northern country to Israel
Do not think for a moment that identifying Rosh as Russia today is because the two words sound alike. There are two main reasons for identifying ancient Rosh with Russia:
(1) Wilhelm Gesenius, considered by Hebrew scholars as one of the most outstanding scholars of the Hebrew language, unquestionably believed that Rosh in Ezekiel was a proper noun identifying Russia. In his ancient Hebrew lexicon. He stated that "Rosh was a designation for the tribes then north of the Taurus Mountains, dwelling in the neighborhood of the Volga"; also that Rosh in Ezekiel 38-39 is a: "northern nation, mentioned with Meshech and Tubal; undoubtedly the Russians, who are mentioned by the Byzantine writers of the tenth century, under the name the Ros, dwelling to the north of Taurus, as dwelling on the river Rha (Wolga)." We can't pass off such identification by Gesenius lightly. He had nothing to gain by making such an assertion. To him and without hesitation, Rush is Russia in Ezekiel 38-39.
(2) There is ample historical proof pointing to the fact that there was in ancient times a people called Rus/Ros who lived in areas occupied today by modern Russia. We can trace back such people to the Rosh in Ezekiel 38. After providing extensive evidence of the origin and early history of the Rosh people, Clyde E Billington Jr. concludes: "Historical, ethnological, and archaeological evidence all favor the conclusion that the Rosh people of Ezekiel 38-39 were the ancestors of the Rus/Ros people of Europe and Asia. The Rosh people who are mentioned in Ezekiel were well known to ancient and medieval writers by a variety of names which all derived from the names of Tiras and Rosh. Those Rosh people who lived to the north of the Black Sea in ancient and medieval times were called the Rus/Ros/Rox/Aorsi from very early times. From this mixture with Salvs and with the Varangian Rus in the 9th century, the Rosh people of the area north of the Black Sea formed the people known today as the Russians."
Erdogan in Turkey
Yahuwah foretells Ezekiel that Russia, in the last days of this age, will amass a military coalition to invade Israel just before establishing Yahuwah's eternal kingdom on Earth. The principal partners in this coalition will be Turkey, Iran, Sudan, and Libya. In this war, no other country will come to the aid of Israel. All that the world could do at that time would be to protest against this invasion. [Ezekiel 38:13]. The US and the collective West would not rush to the aid of Israel as customarily has been the case in the past when Israel was overwhelmed by the armies of the neighboring Arab nations in the 1973 war, the latest example of such support.
1300 Libyan soldiers trained by Turkey
Israel will not be helped this time because of the war of attrition that Russia is waging in Ukraine against Nato and the collective West. In this war, Russia is demilitarizing the US and NATO through the unprecedented military support they gave Ukraine unconditionally. When this war ends, not only will Ukraine will be wrecked, but the US and the West, who are the historic supporters of Israel, will have been almost wholly demilitarized so that they will not be in a position to come to the rescue of Israel when invaded by the Russian coalition of Ezekiel 38 & 39.
The Ukraine war will demilitarize NATO.
Why did Father Yahuwah ordain that no country could aid Israel when invaded by the Russian-led coalition?
We get clear-cut answers to this valid question from the mouth of Yahuwah. Directing his words to Gog, the Russian leader, Yahuwah, vows, "I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes." Ezekiel 38:16 When they see how He will destroy the invading armies, Yahuwah will be glorified and feared by all the world's inhabitants.
Sudanese leader
In Ezekiel 38 & 39, Yahuwah reveals the actions He will unleash against this unholy coalition of armies. First, He will cause a devasting earthquake.
"And it shall come to pass in that day when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith Yahuwah, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils. 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; so that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, 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." Ezekiel 38:18-21
This dreadful earthquake will trigger indescribable confusion in the ranks of the invading armies. Self-destruction will ensue.
"Every man's sword shall be against his brother.” Ezekiel 38:21.
Yahuwah will further exasperate the state of utter confusion by raining on the armies "an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." Ezekiel 38:22-23. 23
The net result of this divine retribution that Yahuwah will inflict on the invading armies of Gog will be the magnification of Yahuwah in the eyes of all nations. "And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am Yahuwah.' Ezekiel 38:23.
The support the Western countries gave Ukraine will trigger a significant economic and social dent in their citizens.
At this point, a natural question comes to mind: How will the intervention of Yahuwah on behalf of Israel impact the Israelites?
Yahuwah again declares that Israel [His People] will transform spiritually when He destroys Gog's invading armies. "So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahuwah, their God, from that day and forward." Ezekiel 39:22.
Now we understand the double purpose of why Yahuwah has ordained this war right before the return of Yahushua to establish Yahuwah's eternal kingdom on Earth. The first purpose is to bring His people to repent and accept Yahushua as their Messiah. This war is His means to soften the stony hearts of the Israelites, who until today are rejecting the risen and glorified Yahushua as their Messiah. Yahushua told the Jews that he would not return to Earth until they who turned their back on him were most eager to welcome him as their Messiah. "For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Matthew 23:39.
The defeat of the armies of Gog will lead the Israelites to accept the risen Yahushua as their Messiah and Saviour to pave the way for the establishment of Yahuwah's eternal kingdom on Earth, thus fulfilling the first purpose of the war in which Yahuwah "put hooks into [Gog's]" and drag him and his armies to the mountains of Israel and bring about the death of Gog and destruction of amassed armies.
Mountains of Israel
But we must address this relevant question: Why is Yahuwah so angry with Russia? Why is Russia singled out for such future humiliation and destruction?
"We have deposed the czars of earth. We shall now dethrone the Lord of heaven." - Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin
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The answer to these questions lies in one word: Atheism, which means denying the existence of Father Yahuwah. Russia is the only country in the world's history to have institutionalized 'atheism' and built its political and economic system on denying the existence of Yahuwah. There is no mortal sin a country can commit than the sin of 'atheism.'
A Russian leader named Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union for 30 years [from 1922-1952] and stated - “We have deposed the czars of earth. We shall now dethrone the Lord of heaven.” One reader may readily react that Stalin belonged to the Communistic era of Russia, and today it is different.
Many surveys have been carried out amongst Russians today. These surveys revealed that Stalin remains a revered historical figure and that many Russians harbor no ill feelings toward Stalin's policies or his working philosophy. Many in Russia today view Stalin with a high degree of respectability because they positively regard the atheistic-Soviet era.
To provide a further illustration of the kind of blasphemous utterances that permeated the Soviet era, which some Russians today nostalgically miss, we quote this statement which was aired on the Moscow radio back in December 1960:
"Our rocket has bypassed the moon. It is nearing the sun. We have not discovered God. We have turned lights out in heaven that no man can put on again. We are breaking the yoke of the gospel, the opium of the masses. Let us go forth, and Christ shall be relegated to mythology."
"Our rocket has bypassed the moon. It is nearing the sun. We have not discovered God. We have turned lights out in heaven that no man can put on again. We are breaking the yoke of the gospel, the opium of the masses. Let us go forth, and Christ shall be relegated to mythology."
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Not only did they work hard to negate the existence of Yahuwah in her citizens' minds, but they also aggravated their blasphemy by denying the Messiah. What more heinous and blasphemous statement can be uttered by mortals against Yahuwah and His Messiah? No other nation, ancient or modern, ever spoke such heretical utterances. Old countries like Babylon and Egypt were polytheistic. Their sin of polytheism violated the first two commandments of Yahuwah's Decalogue by introducing a diversity of gods. Yahuwah denounced polytheism. However, atheism did not exist in ancient times because they were closer to the creation event, and it was unfeasible to negate the existence of Father Yahuwah. However, in modern times, the Soviet Union singularly embarked on its atheistic experiment, and even today, in Russia, there has not been an official denunciation of its atheistic heritage, for which they will pay a horrible price. If only the Russians will heed these words and repent of the sin of atheism. 'Yahuwah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth... by no means clear the guilty." Exodus 34:6, 7. While Yahuwah will punish Russia corporately as a nation in the future war on the Mountains of Israel, He stands ready to forgive every Russian who repents individually for the corporate sin of atheism and does not revere the Soviet leaders who made atheism the foundational cornerstone of their Communistic system.
Furthermore, the fact that there is a resurgence in the fortunes of the Russian Orthodox Church in modern Russia will not absolve Russians from the corporate sin of atheism that was the modus operandi of the Soviet era. Only public repentance and denunciation of atheism by the Russian Orthodox Church and the political ruling class will free them from corporate accountability for the sin of atheism. Sadly, it does not look possible ever to take place. Ezekiel’s prophecy confirms this conclusion. A fateful reckoning awaits Gog, his armies, Russia, and all the nations joining this unholy coalition agaisnt Yahuwah's chosen people.