1. Chapter 3 The Future Northern, Southern, and Eastern Powers Described in the Bible

2. The Northern power is pretty clearly the one occupying the territory known in recent history as Russia (Ezekiel 38:1-16). For some reason this superpower comes from the North and attacks Israel. Ezekiel writes: And the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you (Ezekiel 38:1-6)... You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army; and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog (Ezekiel 38:15-16). The Powerful Nation “From the Remote Parts of the North”

3. Gog and Magog are probably a general reference to a leader and his people. Magog is mentioned in Genesis 10:2 as one of the sons of Japheth, a fact repeated in 1 Chronicles 1:5. Tubal (Ezekiel 38:2) is also a Japhethite according to Genesis 10:2. The descendents of Japheth were generally the northern Caucasians (The words Gog and Magog are also in Revelation 20:8 where the only thing they have in common is that they represent a Gentile force opposing God). Magog was identified by Josephus as the land of the Scythians, the region north and north east of the Black Sea and east of the Caspian Sea. This is the area occupied today by Russia, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan.

4. Rosh, Meshech and Tubal are very hard to identify. Some say Rosh has the root consonants which represent Russia, but that seems hard to prove. More likely, this is an area of modern Turkey. The author probably using these names because they represent the people of the far north. This northern power is joined by Persia (modern Iran), Ethiopia (northern Sudan), Put (Lybia), Gomer (probably the eastern part of Turkey and the Ukraine), and Bith-togamah (the part of Turkey near the Syrian border) [Ryrie Study Bible, p. 1323].

5. In the battle described in Ezekiel 38, a northern super power unites with Iran (Persia) and what is now the Arab world (Ethiopia and Put/Libya) in a battle against Israel. This battle includes a mighty army with magnificent weapons and seemingly using horses and horsemen. It is unclear precisely when this battle takes place, but Ezekiel says it is … in the last days. And it is not one of Israel’s Old Testament enemies. This describes a military superpower from the remote parts of the north.

6. To summarize, we can conclude: God is against this land of the remote north, so they must be a godless nation, or confederacy, seemingly filled with pride and military power. God will bring them out of the north to do battle with Israel so that He can defeat them. These seem to be Japhethites, who are the white-skinned northern people of Genesis 10:2. These particular people were from northeast of the Black Sea and east of the Caspian Sea, the area occupied today by Russia, the Ukraine, and Kazakhstan. These remote northern people do not seem to mingle with the Roman/European nations of the antichrist, but seem to be their own independent power. This northern power attacks Israel with the cooperation of other nations to the east and south of Israel This is a militarily powerful northern power whose weapons are described in non-industrial age terms, such as: horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords, and all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army.

7. The southern power is in the area south of Israel centered in North Africa. We have already read in Ezekiel that the northern super power will enlist the support of some North African countries (Ethiopia and Put – Ezekiel 38:5) and Saudi Arabia (Sheba and Dedan – Ezekiel 38:13). So there is something uniting these countries against Israel and making them powerful enough to be a factor in joining with the northern power to come against My people Israel (Ezekiel 38:16). “The King of the South”

8. Since these countries are Arab nations (the descendents of Ishmael), it is relevant to remember what the Bible says about them. Moreover, the angel of the LORD said to her [Hagar, the mother of Ishmael], “I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be too many to count.” The angel of the LORD said to her further, “Behold, you are with child, And you will bear a son; And you shall call his name Ishmael, Because the LORD has given heed to your affliction. He will be a wild donkey of a man, His hand will be against everyone, And everyone’s hand will be against him; And he will live to the east of all his brothers” (Genesis 16:10-12). Later, God told Abraham: As for Ishmael … behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall become the father of twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation (Genesis 17:20). Hagar + Abraham + Sarah Arabs IshmaelIsaac Jews

9. After Daniel described the Inter-Testament conflict in chapter 11, most literalists believe Daniel extends his prophecy to the end times and writes this about the antichrist: At the end time the king of the South will collide with him [the antichrist], and the king of the North will storm against him with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships; and he will enter countries, overflow them and pass through. He will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand: Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon. Then he will stretch out his hand against other countries, and the land of Egypt will not escape. But he will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopians will follow at his heels (Daniel 11:40-43). Edom Moab Ammon Egypt

10. The southern kingdom sounds less power- ful than that of the north; nonetheless, it is a wealthy area and a force to be reckoned with. In this passage at the end time the king of the South goes to war with (anyway, he will collide with) the antichrist and once again the northern superpower come along side their southern partners with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships. It appears that the antichrist at some point will defeat these two powers along with the others in the region, except those related to Israel, (Edom, Moab, and Ammon). The antichrist will gain control over the hidden treasures of gold and silver and over all the precious things of Egypt; and Libyans and Ethiopian. Antichrist King of the South Northern Superpower

11. To summarize, we can conclude: There will be a significant southern confederacy of nations located generally to the south of Israel, which will be hostile to Israel. These southern nations will be wealthy in hidden treasures of gold and silver and… all the precious things. The southern confederacy will be allied with the powerful king of the North. This southern power will be conquered and controlled by the antichrist. Some end times world situation (such as terrorism) will cause the false prophet who serves the antichrist to install a global identification system in order to buy and sell. The conflict seems to include non-industrial age equipment, such as: with chariots, with horsemen and with many ships.

12. The eastern power is some large nation, or conglomerate of nations, east of the Euphrates River. Daniel says concerning the antichrist: rumors from the East and from the North will disturb him (Daniel 11:44). John writes: The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty. The Kings from the East (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-magedon (Revelation 16:12-16).

13. Of course kings east of the Euphrates could be anywhere from Iran to China. But in Revelation 9 John writes: Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, “Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates. And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind. The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them. And this is how I saw in the vision the horses and those who sat on them: the riders had breastplates the color of fire and of hyacinth and of brimstone; and the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone. A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone which proceeded out of their mouths. For the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails; for their tails are like serpents and have heads, and with them they do harm. (Revelation 9:13-19).

14. If this army in Revelation 9 is the same group as the one described in Daniel 11 and Revelation 16, then we have an eastern army of 200,000,000 soldiers crossing the Euphrates River from The East. What compels us to think they are the same, or at least that they both describe an eastern army, is that they both mention crossing the great river Euphrates. It is interesting that the Apostle John observes this prophecy in the 90s A.D. Some estimate there were only a total of about two hundred million people on the earth at that time. [Which pretty well eliminates the idea that the Apocalypse describes the suffering of Christians in the first few centuries.] The first Greek word means twenty thousand, but the second word can mean ten thousand or it can mean countless, or innumerable, or myriads as it does in Hebrews 12:22 when speaking of the number of angels. One argument in favor of the number being 200 million is the next phrase where John says: I heard the number of them. This sounds more like John heard a specific number. Some suggest these are angels not human solders. That is certainly possible since angels and demons are involved in both Revelation 9 and 16. Those holding these to be angels generally point to the logistical problem of moving such a large army from somewhere in the east across the Euphrates River to Israel. Some say the number itself is not necessarily 200 million. Lowe and Nida say: Though it is possible to understand in Re 9:16 as meaning ‘two hundred million’ (literally ‘twenty thousand times ten thousand’), the evident intent of the text is to emphasize the extreme number rather than to specify some large quantity.

15. But the dramatic effect, and the devastation which follows (A third of mankind was killed), seems to be the point of these passages. Also, in chapter 9, the kings of the east join the kings of the whole world in the battle of Armageddon (Har-magedon). These sound like human kings from the east joining other earthly kings in battle. We have no other description like this of angels fighting with humans or demons. The battle sounds more like human technical warfare (the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone). The staggering number of soldiers may also account for a literal fulfillment of passages like Revelation 14:20 (And the wine press was trodden outside the city, and blood came out from the wine press, up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles [322 km]). All in all, it sounds like there is an extremely large future army of some eastern nation, or confederacy or nations. This army, it seems, comes across the Euphrates River and proceeds on to the land of Israel during the future Tribulation period shortly before the Second Coming of Christ. Jerusalem 200 Miles (322 km) Har-magedon

16. To summarize, we can conclude: At the time of the antichrist takeover, shortly before the Second Coming of Christ, there will be rumors from the East of a significant power which will disturb the antichrist. God has prepared this eastern power for this particular hour and day and month and year. The army of the east will kill a third of mankind. The army of the east will number two hundred million, or some innumerable size. The weapons of this eastern end times army are described with ancient terms. But they sound like advanced technological, but post-industrial warfare – the heads of the horses are like the heads of lions; and out of their mouths proceed fire and smoke and brimstone.