Ezekiel 38 vs. Ezekiel 27

Submitted by Michael S (United States), Jan 24, 2018 at 05:22

Hi, Tovey

I think we've cross-posted a little. You said you concur with what I said about faith; but since then, I posted about the Turkish attack on Afrin. I would be surprized if you concurred with me completely on that.

About an hour ago, I had to compose an email response to a brother in Christ. He, and another whom I addressed it to, had been preaching about the Trinity doctrine, about how those who don't accept it must be rejected, and about how the Jews are condemned because they do not recognize Jesus as God.

I have no idea where you stand on these matters, except to say that I am very much in the minority in Christianity, and I would not expect you to be with me on these matters. I have made it a policy, over the years, to avoid vain discussions about such things; but I have now found myself in something of an inquisition to induce in me an auto da fe - type recanting of my faith.

This is the backdrop of my post. I live in a country in which actors, newspapers and politicians are all crying "Armageddon!" with every passing, or lack of passing, of some legislation or directive; in a world that has completely gone off its nut, in a religious milieu filled with discord and avarice. What a fitting setting this is, for you and I to discuss prophetic implications of the Middle East situation!

Something that might shine some light on Ezekiel 38-39, is Ezekiel 27, which I read today. Many of the nations mentioned in the former passage are also mentioned in the latter: "Lud" is mentioned in 27, but "Gog" in 38 in a similar context -- alongside "Persia" and "Phut" in both -- which, together with "Cush" in 38, are listed as nations that fought as mercenaries in countries like Phoenicia. The other countries of the area, some of them listed in 38 as well as 27, are called "merchants": Tarshish, Dedan, Sheba, Syria and Israel.

I believe the Tyre prophecy was fulfilled long ago; and the nature of those "merchant" and "military" nations described the situation in Ezekiel's own time in 500-600 BCE. This is also the situation today: Turkey is backing Islamist rebels in Syria, and leading assaults against Syria and Iraq; Sudan is providing a mercenary army for Saudi Arabia in Yemen; Iran is sending special forces to Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen; and LIbya has supplied thousands of jihadis and tons of weapons to the conflictes in the ME.

The saying that comes to mind is, "The more things change, the more they stay the same".

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