We must look back to Genesis in order to see which people groups God is referring to in His exposition of these passages. God always uses the same names throughout the Scriptures that have been presented in earlier genealogies of mankind. When Noah, his wife and three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth left the ark after it landed on Mount Ararat after the worldwide flood they began to migrate to different directions. The identification of Magog, Rosh, Meshech and Tubal is determined from Japheth’s progeny that populated the ancient world in the areas of modern day Russia. Magog, Meshech and Tubal were located between the Black and Caspian Seas, which today is Southern Russia. It also includes part of Iran and turkey. According to some, the tribes of Meshech and Tubal later gave names to cities that today bear the names of Moscow, the capital, and Tobolsk, a major city in the Urals in Siberia. Rosh was in what is now Northern Russia. The name Rosh is the basis for the modern name Russia. These names, then, cover the modern territories of northern and southern Russia in Europe and Siberia to the east in Asia. The modern nation of Russia encompasses all these areas of Ezekiel. As if to avoid any possible doubt, verse six adds that these come from the uttermost parts of the north. This is repeated in 38:15 and 39:2. From Israel the uttermost parts of the north is Russia, with Moscow being almost a straight line due north from Jerusalem. Therefore, Russia is the leader of the northern confederacy, with Gog as the leader of Russia. This has also been the rabbinic view. |
