Russia Begins Military Operations In Syria: Fulfillment of Ezekiel 38-39?
See: http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=35415
"Russia says the Syrian government must be incorporated into a shared global fight against Islamic State, the Islamist group that has taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq. The United States and Assad’s regional foes see him as part of the problem."
Russia is apparently taking some action to support the present government of Syria against what is above called the Islamic State, or ISIS.
Dispensationalists, especially Hal Lindsey, have interpreted Ezekiel 38 as being a Russian attack upon the nation of Israel. They say that Gog in Ezekiel 38: 2 is Russia.
"Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3. And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6. Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee." Ezekiel 38: 2-9
C. I. Scofield claimed that "Not one instance exists of a 'spiritual' or figurative fulfilment of prophecy... Jerusalem is always Jerusalem, Israel is always Israel, Zion is always Zion... Prophecies may never be spiritualised, but are always literal." C.I. Scofield, Scofield Bible Correspondence Course (Chicago, Moody Bible Institute), pp. 45-46.
Lewis S. Chafer, a follower of Scofield and founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, says "The outstanding characteristic of the dispensationalist is... That he believes every statement of the Bible and gives to it the plain, natural meaning its words imply." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936), 410, 417.
And Chafer says dispensationalism or Christian Zionism "...has changed the Bible from being a mass of more or less conflicting writings into a classified and easily assimilated revelation of both the earthly and heavenly purposes of God, which purposes reach on into eternity to come." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936) pp. 446-447. Quoted in Daniel P. Fuller, Gospel and Law, Contrast or Continuum? The Hermeneutic of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans, 1980), pp. 24-25
Chafer means that Christian Zionism has changed the understanding of the Bible, which means this tradition of men has changed some of the doctrines from the Bible. And it has changed some basic doctrines so that Christian Zionism becomes another Gospel (II Corinthians 11: 4, Galatians 1: 6-9)
James Lloyd talks about "the paradigm of the Rapture Cult and its myriad of dispensational tentacles..." meaning that dispensationalism - Christian Zionism - has many influences throughout the churches now in 2015. One of these tentacles is the insistence that end time Bible prophecy must be interpreted in a literal way, and not in a metaphoric way.
The text of Ezekiel 38-39 can also be seen as metaphoric, and though it appears to talk about armies, bucklers and shields (Ezekiel 38: 4), it is first of all about a spiritual conflict in the end time. Look at Ezekiel 38: 17, "Thus saith the Lord God: Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?" The next verse, Ezekiel 38: 18, says that when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, that God''s fury will come up. Under the New Covenant, Israel would not be God's people as a physical nation in the Middle East claiming to still be the chosen people under the Old Covenant. It would be the born again Christians who "Gog" is coming against. And these born again Christians are not concentrated in any one country, but are all over the world. Remember "He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." Hebrews 10: 9 and "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. " Haggai 2: 9
See: http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=35415
"Russia says the Syrian government must be incorporated into a shared global fight against Islamic State, the Islamist group that has taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq. The United States and Assad’s regional foes see him as part of the problem."
Russia is apparently taking some action to support the present government of Syria against what is above called the Islamic State, or ISIS.
Dispensationalists, especially Hal Lindsey, have interpreted Ezekiel 38 as being a Russian attack upon the nation of Israel. They say that Gog in Ezekiel 38: 2 is Russia.
"Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3. And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4. And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5. Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6. Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8. After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee." Ezekiel 38: 2-9
C. I. Scofield claimed that "Not one instance exists of a 'spiritual' or figurative fulfilment of prophecy... Jerusalem is always Jerusalem, Israel is always Israel, Zion is always Zion... Prophecies may never be spiritualised, but are always literal." C.I. Scofield, Scofield Bible Correspondence Course (Chicago, Moody Bible Institute), pp. 45-46.
Lewis S. Chafer, a follower of Scofield and founder of Dallas Theological Seminary, says "The outstanding characteristic of the dispensationalist is... That he believes every statement of the Bible and gives to it the plain, natural meaning its words imply." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936), 410, 417.
And Chafer says dispensationalism or Christian Zionism "...has changed the Bible from being a mass of more or less conflicting writings into a classified and easily assimilated revelation of both the earthly and heavenly purposes of God, which purposes reach on into eternity to come." L. S. Chafer, 'Dispensationalism,' Bibliotheca Sacra, 93 (October 1936) pp. 446-447. Quoted in Daniel P. Fuller, Gospel and Law, Contrast or Continuum? The Hermeneutic of Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans, 1980), pp. 24-25
Chafer means that Christian Zionism has changed the understanding of the Bible, which means this tradition of men has changed some of the doctrines from the Bible. And it has changed some basic doctrines so that Christian Zionism becomes another Gospel (II Corinthians 11: 4, Galatians 1: 6-9)
James Lloyd talks about "the paradigm of the Rapture Cult and its myriad of dispensational tentacles..." meaning that dispensationalism - Christian Zionism - has many influences throughout the churches now in 2015. One of these tentacles is the insistence that end time Bible prophecy must be interpreted in a literal way, and not in a metaphoric way.
The text of Ezekiel 38-39 can also be seen as metaphoric, and though it appears to talk about armies, bucklers and shields (Ezekiel 38: 4), it is first of all about a spiritual conflict in the end time. Look at Ezekiel 38: 17, "Thus saith the Lord God: Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?" The next verse, Ezekiel 38: 18, says that when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, that God''s fury will come up. Under the New Covenant, Israel would not be God's people as a physical nation in the Middle East claiming to still be the chosen people under the Old Covenant. It would be the born again Christians who "Gog" is coming against. And these born again Christians are not concentrated in any one country, but are all over the world. Remember "He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second." Hebrews 10: 9 and "The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former. " Haggai 2: 9
