Ezekiel’s Gog-Magog prophecy continues to form before the eyes of a world of geopoliticians and media, who are, for the most part, oblivious to just how seriously should be taken matters concerning the oil riches of the Middle East. Central to present day exigencies, relative to those Ezekiel 38 and 39 prophecies, is the complete lack of belief or understanding that ALL of the region given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob remains now and forever the land of Israel. This refusal by the nations of the world to accept that this land belong to , in God’s Holy View, His people, the Jews, will be the catalyst that will ultimately bring about the Gog-Magog attack, and, as a matter-of-fact, the war called Armageddon.

The scriptures I would like to examine for the moment are the following:

“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. “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. Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.” (Ezek. 38: 8-12)

God was foretelling, through his prophet, that this leader from the north of Jerusalem—Gog—would lead a coalition of tremendous numbers against God’s chosen people, the Jews of Israel. Now, the important thing to see, for our purposes in this brief essay, is the designation “the land”.

God has Ezekiel prophesy that the people of the land of Rosh (Russia) will be led by this end time general into “the land”. God also calls it “the mountains of Israel”.

You see, this is All—every bit—the land of Israel, in the View of the Creator of all things. Likewise, the ”great spoil” this end time general called “Gog” will think an evil thought to “take,” belongs to Israel—every bit—according to the land Grant God gave Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

This tells us that Gog is coming to take the riches of the Middle East, which we know to be, primarily, the vast oil reserves of the area.

I’m quite aware that Israel presently possesses very little of the oil reserves. How could it, as that land is presently configured, contain much of the oil of the region? Currently, it is but a few dozen miles long, and a few miles wide. But, this is not God’s view of Israel. Remember –Israel is ALL of that vast region outlined in His land grant. And, Gog, and his hordes will—I think it has become obvious—want the oil that pools beneath the whole region.

Today there are indications that the leader of the land of Rosh—Vladimir Putin at present—is eyeing the region God considers “the mountains of Israel. The Russian president is leading his nation to form relationships that might, in the not-too-distant future, become tempting beyond his, and the others of his kind’s capability to resist. Oil just might be the fuel that fires up the prophesied ambitions of the Gog-Magog juggernaut.

On-going news accounts present constant reminders of Putin’s ambitions for the region and beyond. Energy is the topic, and dynamic rearrangements are swiftly taking place. The Russian bear is taking a hard look at where to go next to satiate its voracious appetites. Likewise, China will be a major force in the Mid-East invasion toward Armageddon, I’m convinced, according to the kings of the east prophecy found in Revelation, chapters 9 and 16. It is an oil-thirsty behemoth, with it’s burgeoning industrial base and ambitions. Russia wants to be at the center of controlling its own destiny, in regard to securing fuel for its own ambitions. Vladimir Putin now seems permanently ensconced in the Kremlin, with no internal opposition to thwart his megalomania.

One thing sure, a future leader from the land called in ancient times, “Rosh,” will look southward and think to garner for himself the grand prize of oil reserves. Whether it will be Putin, or a successor, who will get that “evil thought,” oil seems the ingredient for the latter times that will fuel Gog’s ambition.