There continues to be a great deal of conjecture about whether the current Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, is Gog, the evil person who will lead the Gog-Magog attack against Israel as prophesied by Ezekiel in chapters 38 and 39.
Mr. Putin certainly seems to fit the profile in many ways. While the world of Bible prophecy watchers looks intensively at the current Russian leader, fishing to understand if he, Putin, is indeed that biblically foretold character, it is absolutely assured that God’s Word says He has what it will take to deal with whoever Gog turns out to be.
Here is what the Lord says:
And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: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: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet. (Ezekiel 38:1–5)
So God Himself will go fishing at exactly the right time for this voracious would-be destroyer of God’s chosen nation, Israel. He will “hook” this barracuda-like leader of Rosh (Russia) in his jaw. The Lord will jerk Gog back into the direction He wants this Satan-spawned leader to go. The Lord will be in total control at all times during this attack on Israel–just as He is always totally in control.
We who observe and seek to understand these times so obviously near the Rapture of the Church can’t know for certain who this big, prophetic fish named Gog is. I believe the Church will be in Heaven, called into the clouds of Glory by God the Son–the Lord Jesus—before that great Gog-Magog battle is launched.
The Gog leader is apparently called so because “Gog” is the designation for a demon spirit that will inhabit the Russian leader at the time God puts the “hook” into the jaws. So it is, to me, at least, not possible to say for certain who Gog will be in terms of his given name.
Again, Vladimir Putin seems to have many of the characteristics attributed to the one who will be Gog.
Here is what Joel Rosenberg, a well-known Christian-Jewish writer, has to say in the matter:
Over the years, people have asked me if Putin might be the Russian dictator referred to as “Gog” in the Biblical prophecies of “Gog and Magog” in Ezekiel 38—39…. Here’s my quick answer: It’s too soon to draw such a conclusion. There’s much more that would have to happen to indicate that Putin was the “Gog” of Bible prophecy. But there’s no question in my mind that Putin is Gog-esque. He is dangerous, and both Israel and the West should keep a close and wary eye on him, especially given all that Putin has done to build a strategic alliance between Russia and Iran and the other countries mentioned in the ‘Gog and Magog’ prophecies.
The Lord has always seemed to have a special interest in fishing. He started building His Church on the concept of fishing. Remember the earliest signs used by Christians in expressing their relationship to Christ was the symbol of a fish.
Jesus first called men from the shores of Galilee while they were fishing. He told them He would make them “fishers of men.”
He certainly did so. And we can be assured that God will follow up by putting the “hook” in the jaw of the one He calls Gog, whether it’s Mr. Putin or some other Russian leader.
But, as my great friend Chuck Missler used to say: “We will be watching from the Heavenly mezzanine.”
Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Terry James Prophecy Line 
While I pray we won’t be here to see the Gog Magog invasion, however I’m not confident in projected layout of events now. It seems we have a general idea of how things will play out, but God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts.
I do know we will be raptured before the start of the Tribulation, but I don’t know that we will not be here to see terrible wars and disruptions before then. (Many Believers during WW1 and WW2 thought they were on the edge of Armageddon and that wasn’t correct.) Granted, today isn’t like those times. Today we have a convergence of all the promised signs that Jesus told us to watch for, like never before in human history. And God is holding everything together (no matter how precarious things get) for His timing, of that I’m certain. But how it unfolds is going to hold “surprises” for us as long as we are here. The one thing we can be sure of is the Lord will keep all of His promises, in His way and timing.
I say these things so we (I) don’t become discouraged if things don’t go the way we have predetermined they will.
Meanwhile, it is interesting to hear and see all the public conversations that increasingly include Jesus in them. Sports, entertainment and political figures across the spectrum. The most recent is from Biden who said “If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race, I’d get out of the race.” Biden said a couple of days ago in an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “But the Lord Almighty is not coming down.” Hearing about that, I thought, I wonder if he is being flippant about Jesus’s return, or if God put those words in his mouth, as another warning?!
Surely, Joe Biden is delusional enough that he might believe he will go with Jesus when He returns. After all, even Manasseh, the most wicked ruler of Judah was finally redeemed. But that evil man publicly repented and then spent his last days doing everything he could to undo all the damage he caused. We see absolutely no signs of that with Mr. Biden. Since Joe is a Catholic and believes 1-he can buy his way out of every sin 2-believes in purgatory allowing him to suffer for a time and yet become redeemed after death, 3-gets the pope’s approval and absolution whenever they meet, 4-Catholic’s do not believe in the Rapture of the Church, I tend to think God opened his mouth with those words.
Since only God is the judge, we don’t know who might be redeemed. Lately I have great hope for President Trump and his family. Lord knows he has millions of people (including me) praying for his protection and redemption. It would be a wonderful surprise and testament to have the Rapture take place, and Trump disappearing with us in the clouds, whether before or after the election. Then the whole world would understand no man can deliver them from the destruction we see happening. That would open a giant hole for the Antichrist to step in, and it could also open the hearts and minds of multitudes worldwide to turn to Jesus. Pure speculation on my part of course.
God’s plans are the best and the only perfect plans. Maranatha!
Hi, Robin.
To be sure, we are on the verge of our departure and the stage-setting for the the last events of this age are well underway. Even the secularists seem to be sensing that things are just “way off.”
As for Joe Biden, I don’t think he gives any credence to the Rapture, because, as you say, it is something else Roman Catholic teachings don’t accept. His works certainly don’t display respect for the moral standards the Bible clearly sets forth, either. Jesus did say a tree is known by its fruit.
Of course, none of us can perfectly mean God’s standards of perfection, and this is why Jesus came – to take the hit we all deserve, provided we acknowledge that he is exactly who he says he is – a truth the Bible clearly illustrates. Our works are not to get saved but are a result of being saved and should be in accordance with this.
To me, this means that we will not arrogantly and willfully produce works contrary to what the Bible teaches. Joe endorses such anti-biblical things such as homosexual lifestyles, “gender identity,” betraying Israel with his schizophrenic foreign policies, and he allegedly has no problem with aiding and abetting corrupt business dealings within his own family.
I see Donald Trump as a kind of modern-day Cyrus. As Terry James has said so well, President Trump may not have been a godly man but he was God’s man for America just as Cyrus was for the Judeans. Maybe he will be back.
Much better still, maybe we will be gone before then!
We will just have to wait and see.
Just as I think that Satan has always had someone on hand to step into the Antichrist role, I would not be surprised if the same applies, not only to Gog, but to every ruler which tried to destroy Israel. The main objective here, other than to lead people astray across the centuries, has been to short-circuit God’s plan to ultimately overcome him.
Just as Antiochus IV and Hitler prefigured the coming man of sin, so did Lenin, Marx, and Stalin, prefigure Gog. The thing is, for Lenin and Marx, Israel did not exist so they couldn’t possibly walk into the Gog role, but the devil is not omniscient and could never know when it would happen – only that it would because he is not ignorant of prophecy which said this must happen. So, he made sure he had someone be in place whenever it did.
Stalin, died in 1953, five years after Israel became a nation again and which made him a possible contender, along with his successors, perhaps Mikhail Gorbachev being an exception. Putin might end up being that man, but if not, you can be assured that someone will come along who will be.