Global Tensions in Light of Biblical Prophecy – Program 4

By: Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, Dr. Elwood McQuaid, Dr. Renald Showers; ©1999

How is Russia becoming involved in the Middle East conflict? What does the Bible say about Russia and Israel in the end times?

Contents

Russia and the Middle East in Light of Biblical Prophecy

Introduction

Ankerberg: The eyes of the world have been focused on Boris Yeltsin’s failing health and the future of Russia. Political leaders wonder who will take over when Yeltsin dies. Others wonder, how will changing events in Russia affect the rest of the world? What does the Bible predict will take place between the nations of the earth in the future? What does it say about the people living to the far north of Israel? Does the Bible predict that Russia will someday come down from the north and invade the nation of Israel? Answering these questions today will be international journalist Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, presently living and reporting from Jerusalem, Israel; Dr. Renald Showers, Professor of Biblical Prophecy; and Dr. Elwood McQuaid, Director of Friends of Israel. He is an expert on the issues dividing Israel, Islam, and the Western World. Join us for this edition of The John Ankerberg Show.

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Ankerberg: Welcome! We’re glad that you’ve joined us and we’re talking with three experts on biblical prophecy under the topic of “Global Events in Light of Biblical Prophecy.” My guests are Dr. Jimmy DeYoung, international journalist presently living and reporting from Jerusalem, Israel; Dr. Elwood McQuaid, Executive Director of the Friends of Israel—he’s an expert on the issues dividing Islam, Israel and the Western World; and Professor Renald Showers who has taught biblical prophecy for over 38 years.

And Rennie, we’re going to start with you on this topic tonight of Russia and the Middle East. Does the Bible have something to say, does it predict that the Soviet Union or the old Soviet Union, if you want, the states that are around Russia, are going to be involved in the Middle East? Does the Bible talk about them being tied to some of the countries that are around Israel? Is any of this in Scripture and if so, where is it?

Showers: John, we are convinced that it is in Scripture and that’s found in the revelation that God gave to the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel some 2500 years ago. It is contained in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39. And there God foretold the fact that in the end times there would be a whole cluster of nations that would bring their military forces jointly against the tiny state of Israel in the Middle East. One of those nations seems to be singled out as the leader of this massive military attack against Israel in the future and God gives several identification marks of that leader. I want to point out just two of them here this evening.

First, the name of the leader. Ezekiel 38:2 God said to the prophet, “Son of man, set your face against Gog and the land of Magog.” According to the best scholarship that’s available to us today, the ancient land of Magog to which God here referred was located up between the Black and the Caspian Seas. In other words, in the southern part of what we have known historically as the Soviet Union or Russia.

The second identification mark is the geographical location of this leader. Beginning in verse 14 of Ezekiel 38, God said to Ezekiel, “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God, in that day when my people of Israel dwell safely shall you not know it? And you shall come from your place out of the north parts, you and many people with you, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, a mighty army, and you shall come up against my people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land.”

The Hebrew of verse 15 literally says, “from the remotest or farthest parts of the north.” Ezekiel was a Hebrew prophet, and when he would refer to geographic locations, obviously, he would refer to them from the vantage point of his own land of Israel. This would indicate, then, that the leader of this future attack will come from the farthest parts directly north of the nation of Israel. If you were to lay hold of a good world atlas, place a finger on the state of Israel in the Middle East, move that finger straight north and go as far north as you can and still be in land mass, you would end up in the heartland of what we have known historically as Russia or the Soviet Union.

Both of these identification marks seem to point in the same direction, namely, that Russia will lead this multi-national attack against Israel.

In chapter 38 of Ezekiel, verses 5 and 6, God revealed five nations as they were known in Ezekiel’s day who would be allied with Russia in bringing in their armed forces against Israel at this time in the future. The first nation named in verse 5 is Persia. That’s what that nation was known as in Ezekiel’s day. The modern-day Persia is the nation of Iran. God was saying Iran is going to bring military power against Israel in the future.

The second nation named in verse 5 is Ethiopia. Some translations say Cush. I point out that the Ethiopia in Ezekiel’s day is not the same nation as Ethiopia today. The modern account of ancient Ethiopia today is the nation of Sudan directly south of the nation of Egypt there in North Africa. And God was indicating that Sudan was going to send military force against Israel in the future.

The third nation named in verse 5 is Libya. Some translations say Put, but it is the same nation that is known as Libya today, due west of Egypt in North Africa.

And then the fourth nation named is Gomer and all his bands, verse 6. Again, according to the best scholarship we have available today, Gomer in Ezekiel’s day was a tribal group of people who lived in the central part of the nation we know today as Turkey.

And then the [fifth] nation named in verse 6 is the house of Togarmah of the north quarters and all his band. Again, according to the best scholarship we have available today, Togarmah was another tribal group of people who lived in Ezekiel’s day in the eastern part of what we know today as the nation of Turkey. So both Gomer and Togarmah seem to be implied that Turkey will be sending military force against Israel in the future as well.

I would point out to you that all of these nations named in verses 5 and 6—Iran, Sudan, Libya, and Turkey—today are Islamic nations; and all of those right now, except Turkey at the present time, are ruled over by radical militant Muslims who want to see Israel totally annihilated. Turkey right now officially has a totally secular government, but secular news services and intelligence services indicate that government is in increasing trouble with the population of Turkey and there is a radical militant Muslim political party that is gaining favor and getting into positions of government and even secular sources say they are wondering if Turkey in the near future will not become another Iran. And if that’s the case, then it will be ruled over by militant Muslim forces as well which will want to see Israel totally annihilated from the face of the earth.

Ankerberg: Why is Russia important, Rennie? Follow it up, okay? God says this is going to happen. Go on further. What’s going to happen with Russia in terms of Israel?

Showers: Well, an interesting thing, John, and intelligence services indicate that right now. Here is the current thinking of officers of the Russian military. They are saying that in spite of how the Soviet Union has been falling apart at the seam since August of 1991, that Russia, even without Communism, if need be, can still have superpower status in the world if it will ally itself with the Islamic nations of the world against Israel. There is a totally secular non-government intelligence service in Great Britain aligned with intelligence service reports they get daily is announcing that. Other secular news services say that is the current thinking of the Russian military leaders.

And they’ve been allying themselves with these nations. For example, when the Soviet Union began falling apart in August of ‘91, Iran hired approximately 9,000 top Soviet nuclear and missile scientists to come to Iran and help Iran develop nuclear warheads and missiles with a range with which they could drop nuclear warheads upon enemies. According to intelligence services and secular news services, the projection is that by next year, 1999, Iran will have—with Russian scientific aid—will have a missile with enough long-range capability to drop nuclear warheads on the state of Israel in the Middle East. Russia, as we’ve already heard, has been giving military hardware to other Islamic nations there in the Middle East that they know eventually—at least the planning is—it will be used against Israel. They want to have control as much as they can of the Middle East. Russia does. They historically have wanted a warm water seaport from which they can send their ships out unhindered by frozen waters in their northern seaports in the winter. They also would like to have complete control of the largest oil deposits in the world that are among Islamic nations there in the Middle East. So these are some of the things that would motivate them very strongly.

Ankerberg: Jimmy, what’s going to happen in Russia and the Soviet Union when Boris Yeltsin dies? We all know he’s hanging by a thread right now. Who’s going to take over his position and how does this relate to biblical prophecy?

DeYoung: Well, if he doesn’t die—and by the way, he’s in and out of hospitals all the time or sanitariums or whatever—by the year 2000, there’s another election, a presidential election. Should he die, of course, they would have to go to a presidential election immediately. There are a lot of candidates spoken of, but there are probably three main candidates. One would be the mayor of Moscow himself, who is a guy named Yuri Luzhkov. And this man is very popular in Moscow and among the major large cities of Russia. He has a connection, by the way, to the Russian mafia, who have a powerful capability of controlling most all of Russia, all of the industry, all of business, etc., but he’s not too popular in the out regions.

Then there’s the Communist leader, Zyuganov who controls basically the Duma, which is their parliament. He has the largest bloc in the political body politick, but he would be going back to the old ways, although some say, “Hey, let’s go back. At least we were eating under Communism.”

I think, though, the number one candidate for the opportunity to become president of Russia would be a man named Alexander Lebed. He’s a forward general in the Russian military. Boris Yeltsin in the last presidential election had him come on to his team after Alexander Lebed came in number three in the presidential sweepstakes and made him his security chief. Kept him in that position for a couple of months and then fired him because he was becoming too popular. Alexander Lebed went out to the farthest of the regions of Russia to the area of Siberia, ran for governor, and defeated the incumbent governor out there. What’s interesting, his brother is the governor of the region right next to him where all the nuclear power is located.

And Alexander Lebed, you know, you’ve heard about maybe a man named Vladimir Zhirinovsky who with a claw of a hand wants to destroy all of those nations—doesn’t like Turkey; wants to come down, go into Israel; he’s written a book, The Last Thrust South, which is basically Ezekiel 38 and 39. Wants to take over that part of the world. Have the oil deposits. Have all the riches of the Middle East in his control.

But Alexander Lebed is a felt glove compared to Vladimir Zhirinovsky. He’s the same philosophy. He’s a nationalist. He wants to get rid of all the Christians in all of Russia. He wants to make Russia the mighty empire, the super power that they one time were. And he is capable of doing it. He won the war in Afghanistan. He won many, many scrimmages. He’s a very, very intelligent man and I believe he is the frontrunner to be elected president if Boris Yeltsin should die or by the year 2000.

Ankerberg: Alright, we’re going to take a break and when we come back, I want to talk about, what are some of the agreements, what are some of the deals that Russia has made with some of the Islamic states, and where is that taking us in the future? Remember, we’re talking about the world that we live in right now! Stick with us. We’ll be right back.

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Ankerberg: Alright, we’re back, and we’re talking about “Global Events in Light of Biblical Prophecy.” And, Elwood, we want to come to you. We’re talking also about Russia and the Middle East. What does the Bible have to say? And we see that Ezekiel 38 and 39 talk about Russia coming down and someday invading Israel with a host of kind of allies and those allies today happen to be some of the Islamic states that are surrounding Israel.

What I’d like to ask you is, what are the deals, what are some of the agreements that you know of that the Soviet Union has made or old Russia had made with some of the states that exist right now?

McQuaid: Before the fall of the Soviet Union, the Soviets were the chief arms supplier and military equipped of every radical Islamic nation and Arab nation around Israel. They were the sponsors of Yasser Arafat, the PLO. They supported the great terrorist movements. They supported Syria. So they were very much involved. Agreements that were made, first of all, mutual security agreements; mutual arms agreements. They even made agreements that if Israel attacks you, we will guarantee your security by coming in force into the Middle East and attacking them.

Now, today we see, after the fall of the Soviet Union, much less formalized agreements but agreements nonetheless. Where the Iranians are receiving from the Russians military hardware, missiles that will be long-range ballistic missiles. They have, as Rennie mentioned, over 9,000 technicians there in Iraq. Last Christmas, when the airport in Iraq had been closed since the embargo against the Iraqis after the Gulf War, a plane load of Soviet politicians flew into Russia, landed at the airport, the first large plane to land there since the end of the Gulf War. They brought medicines, but they brought greetings. Warm accolades of support for the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein and came there to say, “We are your friend,” which fuses with all that’s been said here.

One other point we have to make, because this is tremendously important. In the book of Ezekiel, chapter 38 that we’ve heard talked about, there’s a phrase in verse 12 that we’re familiar with. They come down “to take a spoil, to take a prey.” Well, we know that Israel today is becoming the “silicone valley” of the Middle East. They’re exporting—Jimmy talked about 65% of the agricultural exports that go into Europe. So that’s one thing. But it goes on to say something that most of us miss and that is, they come “to turn a hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited and upon the people who are gathered out of the nations” —that is, this 108 nations. And I think that plays also to the fact that today one million, nearly one million—800,000 Jews have left the former Soviet Union and gone back to Israel and as a result, Russia’s brain has moved to the Middle East and to Israel. So when you talk about a motivation for persecuting these people, it is to turn a hand against the people, anti-Semitism reflects this larger program and struggle between God and Satan ultimately.

Ankerberg: Jimmy, we haven’t heard a whole lot about the Prime Minister Primakov and yet you’ve heard a lot about him in Israel. Tell us a little bit about him.

DeYoung: A former member of the KGB. He was the foreign minister prior to being promoted up into the prime ministership. He was in Iraq during the Gulf Crisis back in 1991 doing everything he could to defuse that coalition of nations that had come together to try to shut down Saddam Hussein back in 1991. But Primakov is continuing his old policies and as has been said already by these two men, they are—I’m talking about Russia now—are the arms suppliers and meeting every need that the Arab world has; but in addition to that, they’re doing refurbishing of all military hardware that’s available. Just recently the Russian technicians came into Syria. Syria has the largest tank force in all of the world, and especially in the Middle East, right there perched on the northern border of Israel. And the Russian technicians helped them refurbish every tank so they’re in top shape ready to attack. They have also given them the capability of understanding how to produce chemicals. Built a chemical plant for them and they now have a capability of a chemical warhead, putting it on those SCUDs that are in the Baca Valley just north of Israel to be able to attack Israel.

You go over to Egypt. The officials from Russia went in and said, “We’re going to supply all of your arms needs. Don’t worry about. Every munitions need that you have.”

Iran. I mean, Elwood talked about Iran. Those technicians have gone in there, given them the capability to have a nuclear power, and, of course, they have the mid-range and the long-range missiles that can now reach, as we speak, from Tehran they can fire those missiles with either a nuclear, a chemical, or a biological warhead on it, and it’ll go right into Jerusalem. Ezekiel 38. That stage is set for these nations supplied by the Russian technology and brain power to come against Israel in these days.

Ankerberg: Rennie, we actually believe that the Bible is teaching that Ezekiel 38 and 39 is going to take place sometime during the Tribulation time period. So these events that are shaping up around us right now are actually heading us toward the events the Bible talks about in the Tribulation. And we believe that before the Tribulation that the Lord is going to come back and take all Christians from planet Earth in the Rapture. Talk and pinpoint a little bit further why you think this invasion of Russia that you’re talking about from Ezekiel 38 and 39 is actually going to take place in the Tribulation and exactly when do you think it’s going to take place?

Showers: Well, John, if you begin with verse 8 of Ezekiel 38 and read on down through verse 12, God makes it very clear this invasion will take place, first of all, after Jews have been gathered out of the nations back to their homeland. And that started in 1948, 50 years ago.

But then God goes on to say there will also come when the people of Israel feel so safe and so secure in their land that they have no walled villages. In other words, they’ve let down their own defenses militarily. That certainly is not true of Israel right now. Israel right now is loaded to the hilt with some of the most sophisticated military hardware ever devised by mankind. But is there a time between now and the Second Coming of Christ the whole way back to earth after the seven-year Tribulation Period when Israel will feel so safe and secure in its homeland it will let down its guard militarily? I believe so. Jimmy referred in an earlier session that, according to Daniel 9:27, Antichrist, the head of the future European revived Roman Empire, at the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation Period is going to confirm a seven-year covenant with the nation of Israel in which he will guarantee Israel’s national security.

It seems to me that during the first half, then, of the seven-year Tribulation Period, Israel is going to feel very safe and secure because of that ironclad guarantee from the Antichrist. But according to Daniel 9:27, in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation Period, Antichrist is going to turn against Israel and decimate it tremendously so it’s only during that first three and a half years of this seven-year Tribulation Period that Israel will feel so safe and so secure. That forces me to conclude, this attack will come during the first half of the Tribulation Period, perhaps right before the middle of the seven-year Tribulation Period.

Ankerberg: Jimmy, we can see these events just kind of transpiring all around us if we read our Bible. What would you offer to people that are listening? What does God want us to do in light of this information?

DeYoung: God’s Word tells us that we must be prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ. He promised He was going to go away, prepare a place for us, come back to receive a prepared people. It’s easy to be prepared to meet Jesus Christ. It’s as simple as ABC. A – you admit you’re a sinner before a pure, perfect, holy God. B – you believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ and that He will save you. And C – you call upon Him to come into your heart and life and save you.

So we must be prepared! My exhortation to all listening to what we’re saying, be prepared for the soon coming of Jesus Christ. It could be even today.

But secondly, as Christians, we need to be pure. Remember what Paul wrote to Titus? He said, “Lay aside ungodliness and worldly lusts. Live soberly, godly and righteously.” Now, how do you lay aside that which is evil? How do you live that which is right? Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ! That’s the exhortation from Paul to Titus and as well to us. We need to be pure.

But then, of course, in light of the purity in which we live and the fact that Christ is coming back, we need to be productive. What you’ve seen on these television programs, what you’ve heard us say, you need to go tell others about it and be those missionaries to the world who need to hear this message before it’s eternally too late.

Read Part 5