Ezekiel 38 and the Stage

The coalition

“Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush, and Put will accompany them, all with shields and helmets, as well as Gomer with all its troops, and Beth-togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you. Ezekiel 38:2-6

Premillennials believe this is the battle before, or somewhere near the beginning of, the tribulation, something that will then lead into the millennium. Often they believe the rapture happens either before or after this. As I said in The Three Major Views, the names Gog and Magog show up in more than one place, and we believe this is a different event from Revelation 20.

The names on a map

• Magog. Josephus tells us Magog is the Scythians, to the north. That takes in lands of Ukraine, southern parts of Russia, and central Asia. Most of the time people say Russia. It can be Russia, and it seems like it especially at this point, but it could also be central Asia, depending on which map you look at.
• Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah. Up in Turkey.
• Persia. Iran. Between Turkey and Iran, there are arguments about whether Syria and Iraq are included.
• Cush. Down in modern-day Sudan.
• Put. West of Egypt, Libya.

Josephus: ‘Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians.’ Josephus, Antiquities 1.123

The geopolitics, as of June 2026

Here is a quick overview of the current situation, as of when I preached this.

• Turkey is hostile to Israel. So is Iran.
• Libya is in internal conflict, and most of it is hostile to Israel.
• Sudan joined the Abraham Accords, but then went into civil war, and most of it is hostile to Israel.

That is a pretty good map of exactly who is hostile to Israel, and those are the places that, with Russia, will attack. And Russia has good and growing relationships with all of them.

Who did Ezekiel not mention? Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia actually have pretty good relationships with Israel. They are not the best of friends, but they have peace treaties or working relations. Iraq and Syria are the only ones in question, and they might actually be included, depending on where you draw the borders. Iraq is hostile to Israel. Syria is borderline, close to an agreement with Israel, so we are not sure.

So if you are looking for a stage set, this is it.

Dwelling securely

Ezekiel 38 also requires Israel to be living in some kind of peace.

After a long time you will be summoned. In the latter years you will enter a land that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate. They had been brought out from the nations, and all now dwell securely. Ezekiel 38:8

With the conflict with Iran very likely ending soon, through either force or treaty, Israel is likely to be in the most peace it has had in a long, long time, if not ever.

And no one is really there for Israel in Ezekiel 38. Europe has not been there for Israel. Africa and the rest of Asia, definitely not, and China is there with Russia. The United States, which has always supported Israel a lot, has been moving toward isolationism, and the polls are generally going that way. People do not want to be out anywhere; they want to be here. With all that, you basically have the perfect storm for Ezekiel 38.

Maybe not, but the stage is set

The more you look at it, the more you see the stage is set. Maybe it does not actually happen now. But the stage is set.

I decided to have a little fun and asked AI what it thought, without putting any of the prophecy in. I just asked about the geopolitics and what was likely to happen. It said pretty much everything was very likely. The only thing it said was not very likely was Russia attacking. So the last step is the only thing that is not likely at this point. Not certain, but there is a chance.

You can make an argument that within the next ten years Russia will hit a point where they run out of time to do things like attack Ukraine or other opportunities to get resources. They are having an age problem, like we do; their people are getting too old. If they do not act, they would have to wait decades for their army to come back. So you can very easily see a window closing that they would see as their only opportunity.

Next: Watching Without a Date.