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Ezekiel 38 and 39--Who are the Invaders?

In my frequent studies on Zionism, I have focused mainly on two aspects: (1) the evil figs of Judah; and (2) Edom, or Idumea's absorption into Judah in 126 B.C. But there is a third prophetic stream that is equally important, if we intend to understand the prophetic significance of Zionism.

One of the most ingrained ideas of modern prophecy is that Russia will soon invade the Israeli state. This idea is based primarily upon Ezekiel 38 and 39, where it is assumed that the invaders from "Gog and Magog," led by "the prince of Rosh," are Russians. This is not quite true. Let us look at this more closely in Ezekiel 38:2 and 3.

² Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, ³ and say, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.

First of all, to get the context of this, the invasion involves other countries as well, as we read in verses 5 and 6,

⁵ Persia, Ethiopia, and Put [Libya] with them, all of them with shield and helmet; ⁶ Gomer with all its troops; Beth-Togarmah [House of Togarmah] from the remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples with you.

It is usually assumed that Russia will have allies in this invasion, including Persia (Iran), Ethiopia (south of Egypt), and Libya. Gomer is often incorrectly identified with Germany, because the prophecy does not distinguish between the two Gomers. There is Gomer, son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2), and Gomer, Hosea's wife (Hosea 1:3). Hosea's wife was prophetic of the lost House of Israel. The surrounding nations actually called Israel by the name Gomer (or Ghomri, Gimirri, or Khumri). See my book, Who is an Israelite?

The Israelites, known as Gomer/Ghomri immigrated from the land of their captivity into Europe, and many settled in Germany. But these were not from Gomer, the son of Japheth. And since Ezekiel's prophecy concerns the children of Japheth, we must look for some nation other than Germany.

By the way, Germany got its name from the Latin historians in later history. The Scythians, identified on the tomb of Darius as Sakka ("Saxons" in Latin), had immigrated from Assyria into the area now known as Rumania and Hungary. Later, the Sarmatians moved to Scythia and pushed the real Scythians north to the present land of Germany. The Latin historians then had to distinguish between the current occupants of Scythia from the REAL Scythians who were pushed out of the land of Scythia. So they called the real ones Germanus, which means "Genuine" in Latin.

I know. . . it's all so confusing to those who have not studied these things. But my point today is that Ezekiel's "Gomer" is not Germany. Germany is part of the Israelite migration from Assyria into Europe from Gomer/Ghomri the "lost" tribes of Israel.

As for the Gomer in Ezekiel 38, all we really know is that the prophet was referring to the sons of Japheth listed in Genesis 10. These names are no longer independent nations or even cohesive tribal units in today's world. Ezekiel says that Togarmah in particular was located in "the remote parts of the north." This would place them somewhere north of the Black Sea.

Rosh itself means head, first, or prominent. It actually has no linguistic relationship to Russia. The word Russi actually means "dew." Russians are the People of the Dew. The only connection withRosh is the prophetic similarity of the name, because, as Ron would say, God is "hooked on phonics."

Rosh has a double meaning as well. It means "head," and it also refers to the prominent head of a poppy plant. (See Strong's Concordance #7219.) This is the spirit behind the Prince of Rosh. It has to do with poppies and opium (mistranslated "wormwood" in Scripture). It is applied spiritually to false religion that treats symptoms and masks the pain instead of finding the cure. Jer. 8:11 says,

¹¹ And they heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, saying, "Peace, Peace," but there is no peace.

For this reason God gives them "water of rosh" to drink (Jer. 8:14; 9:15). It is liquid opium from the head of the poppy plant (rosh). And so, when Ezekiel 38 says that the Prince of Rosh will come against the land of Israel, it has to do with the false religious practices that were a problem even in the days of Jeremiah.

Some of the invaders come from the South (Ethiopia), East (Persia), and the West (Libya).

But what is this invasion? The key is found in Ezekiel 38:6 where we read of Beth-Togarmah, or "House of Togarmah." Togarmah is identified in Gen. 10:3, "And the sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah."

Togarmah, then, is a son of Gomer and part of the family of Japheth. His brother is Ashkenaz. Jews love to identify Germany as Ashkenaz, when in fact, most Jews themselves are called Ashkenazim, or People of Ashkenaz. These are the Jews of southern Russia and Poland. They are distinct from the Sephardim, or "Spanish" Jews.

Most Christians are never told about the Jewish Kingdom of Khazaria that flourished for nearly a thousand years in southern Russia, providing a buffer between the Christian West and the Muslim East.

http://www.khazaria.com/khazar-history.html

In 960 A.D., the Jewish doctor in the Spanish Court at Cordova, Spain, heard of this Jewish Kingdom and wrote to the king to find out more details. He received a response from King Joseph of the Khazars, who wrote,

"We have found in the family registers of our fathers that Togarmahad ten sons . . . we are the sons of Khazar the seventh."

This letter is discussed more fully by Jewish author, Arthur Koestler, in his 1976 book, The Thirteenth Tribe. He writes on page 72,

"Joseph then proceeds to provide a genealogy of his people. Though a fierce Jewish nationalist, proud of wielding the 'Sceptre of Judah,' he cannot and does not claim for them Semitic descent; he traces their ancestry not to Shem but to Noah's third son, Japheth; or more precisely to Japheth's grandson, Togarma, the ancestor of all Turkish tribes."

So if most of the Eastern European Jews, known as Ashkenazim, are descended (as Joseph says) from Togarma, the brother of Ashkenaz, and if these converted to Judaism many centuries after Christ, as all historians acknowledge, then we have properly identified one of the main invaders of the land of Israel.

The House of Togarmah was converted to Judaism and later became known as Ashkenazi Jews, who then proceeded to invade the old land of Israel through a political movement known as ZIONISM.

We need not await a future Russian invasion of Israel. The land has already been invaded. They conquered it by Jewish immigration from Russia, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, and other countries. These nations themselves did not invade the land of Israel. It was Jewish Zionists coming from all of those countries under the headship of the Prince of Rosh.

Because modern prophecy preachers have misidentified Togarmah, assuming that the Jews were Israelites, Ezekiel's prophecy has been fulfilled under their very noses, and they have not seen it.