In our last few studies, we have learned some important facts about the Magog War of Ezekiel 38-39. We have learned that the Magog War would occur:
1. When the Jews returned to their land (Ezekiel 4:1-6; 28:25; 34:13; 36:24; Isaiah 11:10-11). This began to be fulfilled long before the First Coming (536; 457; 444 B.C.), but looked forward to the 1948 reestablishment of the Jewish homeland.
2. After the Messiah was reigning (Ezekiel 34:11-131; 37:24).
3. After the New Testament had been established (Ezekiel 16:60-62; 20:37; 34:25; Ezekiel 37:26).
4. After the Jewish people would repent and be forgiven (Ezekiel 36:24, 32-33; 37:23).
5. After the Holy Spirit had been given (Ezekiel 36:27).
6. After the time of the latter days had begun (Ezekiel 38:8, 16).
7. After the nations of Russia and Iran have made peace (Ezekiel 38:5).
8. After the people of Israel had been living peacefully and securely in their land (Ezekiel 38:11).
The identification of the nations of the Magog War have been examined, but I will provide a summary here:
• Magog (Russia)
• Rome
• Meshech, Tubal, Mt. Tsaphon (Turkey).
• Persia (Iran)
• Ethiopia
• Libya
• Gomer (Germany And France)
• House Of Togarmah (China And Russia)
• Sheba and Dan (Saudi Arabia)
• Tarshish And Her Whelps (America And Britain)
In this study, we are going to notice some other important facts about the Magog War. The text of Ezekiel 38-39 makes it clear that the armies of the Magog War are supernaturally empowered by demonic forces.
Let’s notice some of these evidences.
The Mighty (Gibbor)
The text tells us:
Ezekiel 39:18-You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan.
Notice the phrase translated here as “the mighty.” It is the same Hebrew phrase used in Genesis to refer to the half-human/half-angelic begins known as the Nephilim.
Genesis 6:4-There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
While there are many who deny that the “sons of God” who brought forth these giants were actually fallen angels, the Old Testament is very clear that this was the case. The phrase “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-4 was only found in literature of that time to refer to angels (cf. Job 1:6; 2:1-2; 38:4-7). It was the unanimous conviction of the Jewish people, and of the Christians for four hundred years, that the “sons of God” in Genesis 6:1-4 were indeed fallen angels.
“This strange passage describes the bizarre circumstances that led to the cataclysmic disaster of the famous Flood of Noah. The Hebrew term translated “sons of God” is , B’nai HaElohim, a term consistently used in the Old Testament for angels.224 When the Hebrew Torah, which of course includes the book of Genesis, was translated into Greek in the third century before Christ (giving us what is known as the Septuagint translation), this expression was translated angels.225 With the benefit of the best experts at that time behind it, this translation carries great weight and it was the one most widely quoted by the writers of the New Testament. The Book of Enoch also clearly treats these strange events as involving angels.226 Although this book was not considered a part of the “inspired” canon, the Book of Enoch was venerated by both rabbinical and early Christian authorities from about 200 B.C. through about A.D. 200 and is useful to authenticate the lexicological usage and confirm the accepted beliefs of the period. The Biblical passage refers to supernatural beings intruding upon the planet Earth….The “angel” view of this classic Genesis text is well documented in both ancient Jewish rabbinical literature and Early Church writings. In addition to the Septuagint translation, the venerated (although non-canonical) Book of Enoch, the Syriac Version of the Old Testament, as well as the Testimony of the 12 Patriarchs234 and the Little Genesis,235 confirm the lexicological usage and the extant beliefs of ancient Jewish scholars. Clearly the learned Philo Judaeus understood the passage as relating to angels.236 Josephus Flavius also represents this view: “They made God their enemy; for many angels of God accompanied with women, and begat sons that proved unjust, and despisers of all that was good, on account of the confidence they had in their own strength, for the tradition is that these men did what resembled the acts of those whom the Grecians call giants.”237 In accordance with the ancient interpretation, the Early Church fathers understood the expression “sons of God” as designating angels. These included Justin Martyr,238 Irenaeus,239 Athenagoras,240 Pseudo-Clementine,241 Clement of Alexandria,242 Tertullian,243 Commodianus,244 and Lactantius,245 to list a few. This interpretation was also espoused by Luther and many more modern exegetes including Koppen, Twesten, Dreschler, Hofmann, Baumgarten, Delitzsch, W Kelly, A. C. Gaebelein, and others.” (Chuck Missler & Mark Eastman, Alien Encounters: The Secret Behind The UFO Phenomenon, 205-208 (Kindle Edition); Coeur d’Alene, ID; Koinonia House)
The same phrase used to describe the Nephilim (Hebrew, gibbor) is used in Ezekiel to refer to the armies that would be involved in the Magog War. The fact that this same word is used earlier in Ezekiel to refer to the spirits of these dead warriors is powerful evidence that these armies include supernatural beings.
Ezekiel 32:21-The strong among the mighty Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell With those who help him: ‘They have gone down, They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.’
Gilbert has noted:
“First, note the description of the army of Gog: “The mighty” is Hebrew gibborim, a word used in Genesis 6:4 to describe the Nephilim of the distant past….The imagery Ezekiel employed in his prophecy of the cataclysmic war of Gog and Magog are so intriguing that many of us have overlooked clues that the prophet salted throughout the preceding chapters. For example, if we turn back to chapter 32, we find that the prophet helpfully offered some information about just who the gibborim are. This is a long section, but trust me—it’s worth reading….The phrase translated “mighty chiefs” in verse 21 is ’ēlê gibbôrîm, literally, “rulers of the Gibborim.” The verse echoes Isaiah 14:9–11, where “the shades”—the Rephaim—were “stirred up” to welcome the rebel from Eden when he was cast down….“Back to Ezekiel 39. Did you notice in verse 18 that the rams, lambs, and he-goats representing the princes of the earth are described as “fat beasts of Bashan?” Remember, Bashan was considered an evil place, the literal entrance to the underworld. It belonged to the god Rapi’u, who, according to some scholars, was believed by the Amorites to be the founder of the Ditanu/ Tidanu, the ancient tribe that produced their kings and gave its name to the old gods of the Greeks. By linking the princes of the earth to Bashan, Ezekiel again made a theological point: The warriors fighting for Gog will be sold out to the god of Bashan, whether his name is Rapi’u, El, Dagan, Kronos, or Baal Hammon. Remember Psalm 22 and the prophecy of the “strong bulls of Bashan” we discussed earlier? As we noted, those bulls were not cattle; they were the Gibborim of Ezekiel 32, demonic warriors of Satan/ Baal.” (Derek P. Gilbert, Last Clash of the Titans: The Second Coming of Hercules, Leviathan, and the Prophesied War Between Jesus Christ and the Gods of Antiquity, 3405-3460 (Kindle Edition); Crane, MO; Defender Publishing)
Mount Tsaphon In The Bible
Another indicator that these armies are supernatural is drawn from the fact that they are said to hail from Mount Tsaphon.
Ezekiel 39:2-and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.
The phrase translated here as “from the north” is literally Mount Tsaphon, a mountain in Turkey. We are told in Isaiah that this was the mountain that Lucifer sought to make his base of operations in the world (Isaiah 14:11-15).
“The phrase in Ezekiel 38: 6, which is repeated in 38: 15 and 39: 2, is one we mentioned earlier in this book: yerekah tsaphon. It is used only two other places in the entire Old Testament….You have to read between the lines, but this passage (Psalm 48, M.T.) is a polemic against Baal. As mentioned earlier, everyone in the ancient world knew that Mount Zaphon, the modern Jebel al-Aqra, was the home of Baal’s palace. In the 48th Psalm, Yahweh’s mount of assembly (Zion) is compared to Baal’s (Zaphon) through of clever wordplay: har Tsiyyon yerekah Tsaphon…Isaiah 14: 13 is key. The rebel from Eden wants to establish his mount of assembly, Zaphon, as supreme above that of Yahweh, Zion. A few English translations reflect this desire: I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. (NIV) You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. (Good News Translation) I will rule on the mountain of assembly on the remote slopes of Zaphon. (NET Bible) Even the ESV offers this alternate translation for the last part of verse 13: “in the remote parts of Zaphon.”…The supernatural war is for control of the mount of assembly, the har môʿēd. Isaiah 14 and Psalm 48 point to Baal’s mount of assembly, Mount Zaphon. That’s Jebel al-Aqra, on the Mediterranean shore in Turkey, just across the border from Syria…..By naming yerekah tsaphon as the point of origin for the armies of Gog, Ezekiel pointed to the mountain of the storm-god, Baal, the mount of assembly of the divine rebel from Eden, Helel ben Shachar, AKA Lucifer.” (Derek Gilbert, The Last Clash Of The Titans: The Second Coming Of Hercules, Leviathan, & The Prophesied War Between Jesus Christ & The Gods Of Antiquity, 2751-2839 (Kindle Edition); Crane, MO: Defender Publishing)
Interestingly enough, the Book of Revelation further reminds us that this area is where Satan himself has his thrown in the world:
Revelation 2:13- “I know where you live. You live where Satan has his throne, but you are true to me. You did not refuse to tell about your faith in me even during the time of Antipas. Antipas was my faithful witness who was killed in your city, the city where Satan lives.”
These words from John were addressed to the church in Pergamos (also known as Pergamum), which is in modern day Turkey.
It is also worth noting that there is another potential connection in the Bible between Tsaphon and the end of time. The Prophet Joel declared:
Joel 2:20-But I will remove far from you the northern army, And will drive him away into a barren and desolate land, With his face toward the eastern sea And his back toward the western sea; His stench will come up, And his foul odor will rise, Because he has done monstrous things.”
The phrase “northern” is the same root as the word Tsaphon.
“Did you get that? God destroys Joel’s Army. This verse is Yahweh’s prophecy of what will happen on the Day of the Lord, the day when God judges the unbelieving nations of the world. At the end of Joel 2, God promises Israel that He will take pity on His people and put an end to the invasion by “the northerner.” The Hebrew word there, tsephoni, is from the same root as Zaphon. It’s easy to immediately see the connection between Joel’s Army and the mountain of Satan/ Baal. Some English translations translate the word “northern army” or “northern horde,” which is the multitude that follows Gog into battle against Israel. Even Joel’s prophecy of the destruction of “the northerner” matches Ezekiel 39. The Valley of the Travelers, in the desert east of Jordan River, is indeed “a parched and desolate land.” Ezekiel calls the burial place of Gog and his army the Valley of Hamon-Gog, which means “multitude of Gog.” A multitude of dead. Stench and foul smell, indeed.” (Derek P. Gilbert, Last Clash of the Titans: The Second Coming of Hercules, Leviathan, and the Prophesied War Between Jesus Christ and the Gods of Antiquity, 3375-3387 (Kindle Edition); Crane, MO; Defender Publishing)
Interestingly enough, the Apostle John draws upon this text in Revelation 9 to describe the demonic spirits descending from Hades on the world during the Christian Age, and which are pictured as “locusts.” All of this goes to suggest that there is a connection between the demonic forces of Magog and the locust invasion of Joel.
Indeed, there is still another powerful connection in the Book of Amos between these demonic forces and Magog.
Amos 7:1-Thus the Lord GOD showed me: Behold, He formed locust swarms at the beginning of the late crop; indeed it was the late crop after the king’s mowings.
Missler has pointed out about this passage:
“Sometimes the Dead Sea Scrolls have been able to address misunderstandings caused by a copyist error in either or both the LXX and the MT, and sometimes the LXX clarifies confusion found in the MT. Here is an example. I was doing some research in Ezekiel 38, and I happened to stumble into Amos 7: 1. Amos 7: 1 in the King James reads as follows: Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings. What does that mean? I have no idea. It makes absolutely no sense to me as it stands. In the Septuagint, Amos 7: 1 looks very different. It says: Thus the Lord showed me; and behold, a swarm of locusts were coming from the east; and, behold, one of the young devastating locusts was Gog the king. Let me back up. According to Proverbs 30: 27, “The locusts have no king…” Normal locusts that swarm across the earth do so without the leadership of a locust king. Yet, we find something very interesting in Revelation. Revelation 9: 3-11 speaks of a plague of terrible locusts upon the earth, and these brutal locusts do have a king over them-the angel of the bottomless pit. This locust king’s name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, and in the Greek tongue his name is Apollyon, both of which mean “destruction” or “destroyer.” Proverbs states that the locusts have no king, yet Revelation 9: 11 tells us that these particular locusts do. Proverbs 30: 27 helps us understand that the locusts in Revelation 9 are not literal natural locusts; they’re demons of some kind, and “locusts” is being used as a figure of speech. This makes Amos 7: 1 in the Septuagint particularly interesting when it says: Thus the Lord showed me; and behold, a swarm of locusts were coming from the east; and, behold, one of the young devastating locusts was Gog the king. The Greek version makes it clear that Amos is talking about the demonic locusts, because Gog is their king. I was very excited as I kept researching this, because Gog shows up in Ezekiel 38 and 39. Both Gog and Magog make their appearance there, with no background, no linkage. It’s very strange in the Bible to find an important person without a family line or historical explanation.”
(Chuck Missler, How We Got Our Bible by Chuck Missler, 675-699 (Kindle Edition); Coeur d’Alene, ID; Koinonia House)
Bashan
The text in Ezekiel provides another clue as to the supernatural nature of this army, from the connection to Bashan.
Ezekiel 39:18-You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan.
Throughout the Old Testament, the area of Bashan was considered a gateway to Hell and the afterlife. The angelic rebellion recorded in Genesis 6:1-4 is elaborated upon in the book of First Enoch (which is not an inspired book, but which the Bible refers to over 100 times). There, we are told that the place where the fallen angels took an oath to rebel against God was on the mountain known as Mount Heron, which is located in Bashan.
Second, the Old Testament reminds us that the area of Bashan was associated with the Nephilim. Heiser reminds us:
“Joshua 13:11–12, 30–31 describes Og’s general kingdom as the region of Bashan, which encompassed sixty cities. In the Ugaritic language, the location of Ashtaroth and Edrei was not spelled Bashan but was pronounced and spelled Bathan . The linguistic note is intriguing since Bashan/Bathan both also mean “serpent” so that the region of Bashan was “the place of the serpent.” On this point, Ugaritic scholar Gregorio del Olmo Lete observes: “This place ʿštrt is also treated in [tablets] KTU 1.100:41 ; 1.107:17 ; and RS 86.2235:17 as the abode of the god mlk , the eponym of the mlkm , the deified kings, synonym of the rpum . For the ‘Canaanites’ of Ugarit, the Bashan region, or a part of it, clearly represented ‘Hell’, the celestial and infernal abode of their deified dead kings, Olympus and Hades at the same time. It is possible that this localization of the Canaanite Hell is linked to the ancient tradition of the place as the ancestral home of their dynasty, the rpum ” (del Olmo Lete, “Bashan,” DDD 162 ). See also James H. Charlesworth, “ Bashan, Symbology, Haplography, and Theology in Psalm 68 ,” in David and Zion: Biblical Studies in Honor of J. J. M. Roberts , ed. Bernard Frank Batto and Kathryn L. Roberts (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2004), 351–72 . Further, Ashtaroth and Edrei appear together in the Ugaritic text KTU 1.108 as the seat of the chthonic deity Rapiu. Hermann writes, “Dietrich and Loretz have shown that Baal is called rpu in his capacity as leader of the rpum , the Rephaim (1980:171–82) . They find the epithet in KTU 1.108:1–2 and guess KTU 1.113 belongs to the same category of texts. The Rāpiʾūma (Hebrew rĕpāʾîm ) are the ghosts of the deceased ancestors, more especially of the royal family. Baal is their lord in the realm of the dead, as shown by the circumlocution zbl bʿl arṣ (‘prince, lord of the underworld’).” See W. Hermann, “Baal,” DDD 139 .” (Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 10943-10960 (Kindle Edition); Bellingham, WA; Lexham Press)
This all makes perfect sense when we consider that Bashan was associated during the Old Testament times with supernatural evil.
Notice another interesting connection to Bashan:
Psalm 22:12-Many bulls have surrounded Me; Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled Me.
The 22nd Psalm is a Messianic prophecy, looking forward to the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary. The Psalmist says that there were “strong bulls of Bashan” present. These “strong bulls” referred to demonic spirits which emanated from the land of Bashan:
“But the psalmist wasn’t shown a vision of angry bulls from the Golan Heights surrounding Christ on the cross. He was given a glimpse into the future at spirits from Bashan, demonic entities represented by bulls, who surrounded the cross to celebrate what they thought was their victory over the Messiah. Confirming this interpretation of Psalm 22: 12, Old Testament scholar Dr. Robert D. Miller II recently used archaeological and climatological evidence to prove that “the phrase Bulls of Bashan refers not to the bovine but to the divine, [and] moreover that Iron Age Bashan would have been a terrible land for grazing and the last place to be famous for beef or dairy cattle.” (Derek P. Gilbert, Last Clash of the Titans: The Second Coming of Hercules, Leviathan, and the Prophesied War Between Jesus Christ and the Gods of Antiquity, 1764-1769 (Kindle Edition); Crane, MO; Defender Publishing)
This also provides powerful insight into yet another Old Testament passage.
Amos 4:1-Hear this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, Who oppress the poor, Who crush the needy, Who say to your husbands, “Bring wine, let us drink!”
Heiser has pointed out:
“Since the “cows of Bashan” are said to speak to their “husbands,” scholars are universally agreed that Amos is specifically addressing upper-class women of northern Israel who were idolaters of the golden calves of Bashan. I wouldn’t disagree with that necessarily, but there’s more to the wording than that. Amos could be targeting temple priestesses who served the gods along with male priests. It is also quite possible that the cows of Bashan are the deities themselves in the form of the idols. This possibility is strengthened by noticing their crimes: “oppressing the poor [ dallim ]” and “crushing the needy [ ebyonim ].” These same two Hebrew words are used in Psalm 82 , where the corrupt elohim are accused of exactly these same crimes ( Psa 82:3–4 ). 3 For our purposes, what we know for sure about Bashan is that it has secure associations with demonic powers….“The implication is that Jesus, at the moment of agony and death, was surrounded by the “bulls of Bashan”—demonic elohim who had been the foes of Yahweh and his children for millennia.” (Michael S. Heiser, The Unseen Realm: Recovering the Supernatural Worldview of the Bible, 5302-5316 (Kindle Edition); Bellingham, WA; Lexham Press)
The Valley Of The Travelers
There is yet another fascinating evidence from Ezekiel which leads us to the conclusion that the armies enlisted in the Magog War are aided by supernatural demonic forces. Notice Ezekiel’s reference to the “Valley Of The Travelers.”
Ezekiel 39:11-“It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.
Ezekiel 39:11 (CEV)-After Gog has been destroyed, I will bury him and his army in Israel, in Travelers’ Valley, east of the Dead Sea. That graveyard will be so large that it will block the way of anyone who tries to walk through the valley, which will then be known as “The Valley of Gog’s Army.”
The Valley of the Travelers is mentioned earlier in the Bible.
Deuteronomy 32:49-50-“Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession; 50 and die on the mountain which you ascend, and be gathered to your people, just as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people;
Deuteronomy 34:5-6-So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD. 6 And He buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth Peor; but no one knows his grave to this day.
When we look to the Old Testament background of this “valley of the travelers,” it becomes very clear that there are specific connections to the afterlife:
“The Hebrew word rendered “traveler” is ōbĕrîm, a plural form of the verb ʿbr, which means “to pass from one side to the other.”[ 102] In this context, then, a Traveler is a spirit that passes from one plane of existence to another, in the same sense that the ancient Greeks believed the dead had to travel across the River Styx to reach or return from the underworld. It is interesting that this was the very place, just northeast of the Dead Sea, where Israel camped before crossing the Jordan to begin the conquest of Canaan. How do we know this? Because places where Israel stopped after the Exodus refer to the dead, and specifically to the Travelers. And the people of Israel set out and camped in Oboth. And they set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness that is opposite Moab, toward the sunrise. (Numbers 21: 10–11) Oboth has the same sense as ōbĕrîm, although it’s more specific. Oboth derives from ʾôb, which refers to necromancy, the practice of summoning and consulting with spirits of the dead.[ 103] ʾÔb, in turn, is related to the Hebrew word ʾab, which means “father.” In the Old Testament, the word “fathers” most often refers to one’s dead ancestors. For example: And when the time drew near that Israel must die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, “If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and promise to deal kindly and truly with me. Do not bury me in Egypt, but let me lie with my fathers [ăbōṯ]”. (Genesis 47: 29–30) Oboth, then, means “Spirits of the Dead.”[ 104] And, you’ve probably already noticed that the second half of the compound name Iye-abarim is very similar to ōbĕrîm. Excellent work! Iye-abarim means “heaps (or ruins) of the Travelers.”[ 105]… Get this: Even the place where Moses died was called the Mountain of the Travelers….Here’s a thought: Moses was buried in the valley of the Travelers, a place where the Rephaim spirits were believed to cross over to the land of the living. Is that why Satan, lord of the dead, thought he had a claim to Moses’ body after his death?[…Yes, the Canaanites believed the entrance to the underworld was at Bashan. But both Molech (or Milcom) and Chemosh, the national gods of Ammon and Moab, which controlled most of the land east of the Jordan from the Dead Sea to Mount Hermon, demanded child sacrifice. Veneration of the dead and appeasing the gods of the dead through human sacrifice appear to have been the norm in this region east of the Dead Sea. This was also the general location of Sodom and Gomorrah. Now, we try not to put too much stock in the influence of territorial spirits. After all, God created us with free will. But you have to admit this is an awful lot of evil concentrated in a small area.(Sharon K. Gilbert & Derek P. Gilbert, Veneration: Unveiling the Ancient Realms of Demonic Kings and Satan’s Battle Plan for Armageddon, 1175-1306 (Kindle Edition): Defender Publishing)
Scholar Michael Heiser agrees with the etymology of the Valley Of The Travelers:
“3. “Spirits” ( ʾôb ; plural: ʾōbôt , also ʿōbĕrîm [“those who have passed over”]) Some of the terminology for these fearful spirits derives from place names. For example, the geographical area that includes Oboth and Abarim in the Transjordan (Num 21:10–11; 33:43–48) was associated with ancient cults of the dead. These two place names mean, respectively, “spirits of the dead” and “those who have passed over [to the Netherworld].” 32 The Hebrew root ʿ-b-r , behind the name Abarim, means “to cross over [from one side to another],” so the Qal participle ʿōbĕrîm means “those who cross over.” Spronk notes that this participle “seems to have a special meaning in the context of the cult of the dead, denoting the spirits of the dead crossing the border between the land of the living and the world of the dead.” 33 The Ugaritic parallels make this association clearly. The Ugaritic cognate of ʿōbĕrîm is ʿbrm found in KTU 2 1.22 i:15 . In the Ugaritic text KTU 2 1.22 describing a necromantic session, the king invokes the spirits of the dead (Rephaim) and celebrates a feast, probably the New Year Festival, with them. It is told that they came over traveling by horse-drawn chariots. As they are taking part in the meal served for them, they are explicitly called “those who came over.” 34 The geographical associations with ʿōbĕrîm are evident in Ezekiel 39:11, which indicates the “Valley of the Travelers [ ʿōbĕrîm ]” is “east of the sea” ( ESV ). According to Spronk, the sea “is probably the Dead Sea. So it was part of Transjordan. This is a region which shows many traces of ancient cults of the dead, such as the megalithic monuments called dolmens and place names referring to the dead and the netherworld, viz. Obot, Peor, and Abarim.” 35 The Hebrew term “Oboth” ( ʾōbôt ) likewise has an otherworldly overtone and is associated with the spirits of the dead and those who worked to communicate with those departed spirits. Tropper explains that ʾôb is now more commonly understood to refer to the spirits of the dead, deriving the meaning from the Arabic cognate ʾâba , “return.” 36”. (Michael S. Heiser, Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness, 399-425 (Kindle Edition): Bellingham, WA; Lexham Press)
According to other texts outside of the Bible, the Rephaim (another term used to describe the Nephilim-see Deuteronomy 2:20; 3:13; Joshua 15:8; Isaiah 17:5) were able to cross over between the world of the living and the world of the dead in certain areas.
“—Equally important is the two-fold parts of the Genesis 6 story: 1) Mature women were used (changed/ altered?) to become fit extensions or acceptable hosts for the Watchers. Is this what was happening in Genesis 10 concerning Nimrod when “… he began [khaw-lal (a word study here is enlightening as the verb indicates the ‘beginning’ of profaning oneself or defiling oneself either sexually or ritually—exactly what some scholars believe the Watchers did to humans and animals in the lead up to Nephilim)] to be [become] a mighty [Gibbowr (of which we derive Gibborim / Nephilim)] one in the earth.”? This text could be read, “Nimrod began to become a Nephilim” or “a child of the Nephilim.” Is this a record of a mature human agreeing to be altered at the genetic level?; 2) The offspring of this genetic alteration was ‘resurrected’ dead Nephilim. Note the rendering, “… afterward [after the flood] when the benei Elohim came in to the daughters of Adam, and they bore to them—they [the newly born Nephilim] were Powerful Ones which existed from ancient times [pre-existed or were alive once before the flood], the men of name” [emphasis added] (Gen. 6.4, Interlinear Hebrew Bible). The most enlightening, corresponding evidence of the assertion above, is found in the historical relationship between the Nephilim and the Rephaim, or spirits of dead Nephilim. Rephaimcarries with it the meaning ‘to heal’ or to be ‘healed’ as in a ‘resurrection’. In the Ras Shamra texts, the Rephaim are described as both human and divine beings who worshipped the Amorite god Ba’al, the ruler of the underworld, where the Rephaim served as his acolyte assembly of lesser gods, kings, heroes, and rulers. These beings were believed to have power to return from the dead through incarnation in bodily form as gods or ‘Nephilim’. The book of Job elucidates this idea in relation to the Nephilim when it says, “Dead things are formed from under the waters…” (Job 26.5). The dead in this text are Rapha and the phrase are formed is from ‘Chuwl’, meaning to twist or whirl (as in a double helix coil or genetic manufacturing). When combined with something my good friend Steve Quayle once wrote, the word ‘Chuwl’ takes on added meaning: When the Greek Septuagint was created, the Hebrew word Nephilim was translated into Greek as “gegenes”. This is the same word used in Greek mythology for the “Titans”, creatures created through the interbreeding of the Greek gods and human beings. The English words “genes” and “genetics” are built around the same root word as gegenes; genea meaning “breed” or “kind”. Thus, the choice of this word again suggests a genetic component to the creation of these giants. (Quayle 128.) The idea that the spirits of dead giants inhabit the underworld is also supported in the following texts:—“ They’re segregated from the heroes, the old time giants who entered [hell] in full battle dress…” (Ezekiel 32.27, The Message Version).—“ And he did not know that giants are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell” (Proverbs 9.18, Douay-Rheims Version).—“ A man that shall wander out of the way of doctrine, shall abide in the company of the giants” (Proverbs 21.16, Douay-Rheims Version).—“ Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it stirred up the giants for thee” (Isaiah 14.9, Douay-Rheims Version).—“ Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again…” (Isaiah 26.14, Douay-Rheims Version). This last reference above is very important to the remainder of this book as it actually reflects a prayer from the prophet, a petition to God not to allow the giants to incarnate again. As we shall see later, I believe Isaiah prayed this way because he knew something about the future, something related to portals… and the giants who are prophesied to come through them at the end of time.” (Thomas Horn, Nephilim Stargates: The Year 2012 and the Return of the Watchers, 1814-1827 (Kindle Edition); Anomalos Publishing Gresham)
Notice also the connections here between identifying the Nephilim with the Greek Titans (another issue made clear in the Greek Old Testament, and corroborated by the use of the word Tartarus in 2 Peter 2:4. Tartarus in Greek mythology was the place where the Titans-half divine and half human beings-were confined. This is the same place Peter says the fallen angels who sinned through fornication were committed-cf. Jude 6-7).
Conclusion
The Magog War will include armies of human beings empowered by evil supernatural forces. This should not surprise us since Ezekiel 38-39 is describing the final battle that will occur at the end of time. Notice how John makes this clear:
Ezekiel 39:17-20- “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: “Assemble yourselves and come; Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 You shall eat fat till you are full, And drink blood till you are drunk, At My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you. 20 You shall be filled at My table With horses and riders, With mighty men And with all the men of war,” says the Lord GOD.
Revelation 19:17-18-Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.”
The question is: are you ready for that great and terrible day of the Lord? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for your sins on the Cross of Calvary, was buried, and arose from the dead on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:1-8). He invites believers to come to Him to be saved (Matthew 11:28-30). Having believed in Jesus, will you not repent of your sins and be baptized into Him today (Acts 2:38)?
Acts 22;16-And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.’
If you are a child of God who needs to return to the Lord in repentance and prayer (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:9), why not do so today? Your Christian family is here to pray with you and encourage you in every way.
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
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