Tuesday, Jul 28, 2009

7-28 Who is Gog?

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“It’s just a piece of paper.” We were sitting under the canopy in sweltering 98 degree weather after I performed a wedding in the direct sunlight. “It’s meaningless and you don’t need a piece of paper to prove you love somebody.” Bob – not his real name – is one of those many people who don’t see the point of marriage. OK. Let’s say that YOU are on the spot! I want to hear your best response! We are in a culture war, and the culture is minimizing marriage. We have to have better arguments than they have! I can think of a few. Marriage is instituted by God, thus, sacred… everything else is sin. People who won’t make a contractual / covenant commitment can’t be depended on in the long run. Statistics show that people who live together outside of marriage have more problems – domestic abuse, substance abuse, etc. What’s your best argument? Let me know.

Today's Scripture reading is 1 Kings 7:27-51; Zechariah 9; Luke 16
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Today’s thought comes from Ezekiel 38:1 ¶ Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 "and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 "I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 "Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you. 7 "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. 8 "After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely. 9 "You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you."

Who’s Gog? And how about Magog? And Rosh, Meshec, Tubal, Gomer or Togarmah? Whoever they are, God is against them! There is a hostile prophecy in Ezekiel 38 about these folks. The first thing we should recognize about all these kingdoms is that while the names of countries change and their borders shift, ethnicity does not. A Gog is a Gog whether his country’s name is Russia or Big Mac. Like many Americans, I’m somewhat of a Heinz 57 kind of guy, yet I can trace my heritage dominantly to Germany. So we can pinpoint the ethnicity of some of these people with accuracy, based on geography and the Table of Nations listed in Genesis 10. Let’s begin with the easy ones – Persia = Iran. Ethiopia and Libya are easily recognizable. It seems that Gog, Magog, Rosh, Mesheck, Tuba,l Gomer and Togarmah are identified by many linguists and historians with a block of nations in the north we call the Russian coalition. How interesting that, among the nations that have a huge interest in Israel for economic, political or religious reasons, Russia, Libya and Iran are in the top ten! I did a quick check of Allied and NATO nations and they essentially comprise the United States plus the EU (European Union). That’s where we’d expect the Antichrist to come from. But NATO states that they have no intention of including the Russian Confederation as one of their allies! They want peaceful relations with them, but no partnership. And of course Russia has her own agenda, an agenda that will one day mean gathering the troops and arming them to storm the foothills of the nation of Israel. The storm is brewing.

Dear Father. I see the storm clouds on the horizon. I pray for peace and yet, knowing human nature, and knowing prophecy, I realize that wars and rumors of wars are a reality. Help me to be a messenger of the peace of God in trying times, I pray.

All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 9:32 AM |  MAKE A COMMENT  

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