Gog of the land of Magog

With reference to Ezekiel 38:22,23—There is a tradition among papists, that within two years or so, Antichrist will appear, and try to destroy their church. When the true Christ comes, his mission is in part to destroy the Papacy and the Roman Prophet at the head of it. All, therefore, who acknowledge that the Pope is the real Vicar of the true Christ, will be sure to regard the Arabian of Teman as the Anti christ;(*) being assured that the true Christ would not seek to destroy his own Vicar. The Frog power, which has taken the Papacy into its special keeping, and has set itself up as the champion of Latinism in the East, would doubtless in its working upon the Dragon, Beast, and False Prophet, urge upon them all, the necessity of providing, by a concerted action, for their common interest; and against a danger that threatens all the states and institu-tions of Europe. Persuaded of this, an unclean daemon spirit would go forth from the Mouth, or government of each to all the kings of the earth, and of the whole habitable, to gather them together for a general crusade against the Arabian Antichrist; and for the deliverance of jerusalem and the Holy Shrines out of the hands of the infidels. By this time, probably, Russia will have made a movement against Constantinople; and being in the forefront of the line of march from Europe, and extending its dominion far into the north and east, it would be prepared to take the lead in the great movement of the west. As the Gog of the land of Magog, the Autocrat of nations will be prepared to marshal under his banner the forces of Persia, Cushistan, Phut, Gomer, and Togarmah of the north quarters, in addition to those of his hereditary domain of "all the Russias".

Such will be the formidable coalition developed through the agency of the unclean spirits like Frogs. "Tidings out of the East," from Jerusalem, Arabia, and Hindostan; "and out of the north," or, Britain; "shall trouble him" (Dan. 11:44)(t): "things that come into his mind and cause him to conceive a mischievous purpose: saying, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; to take a spoil and to take a prey; to turn my hand upon the desolate places now inhabited, and upon the people gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land" (Ezek. 38:10-12). This will not be an idle threat. "They came out," saith the Spirit, "like a whirlwind to scatter ME, their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly" (Hab. 3:14).

But Gog does not go forth with the consent of the power under the shadow of whose wings the Tenth in the midst of the land has flourished in security and comfort. It sends forth its forces to meet the invader, who "goes forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many:" for "Sheba and Dedan, and the Merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say to him, Art thou come to take a spoil? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? To carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?" These inquiries are equivalent to a declaration from the protecting power, that such a spoliation would not be permitted. It occupies Edom, Moab, and part of Ammon, and Egypt; and we may suppose Jerusalem in strong force. But, the forces of the East are compelled to fall back, and evacuate Egypt; for "he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt". He now pours in upon the land of Israel like a flood; or, as Ezekiel expresses it, "he ascends and comes like a storm, like a cloud to cover the land;" with the exception of Edom, Moab and the chief of Ammon, which escape the storm. The headquarters of this storm cloud invasion from the north are between the Sea of Sodom and the Jordan on the east side, and the Mediterranean on the west; and surrounding Jerusalem; as indicated in Dan. 11:45, to wit, "he shall pitch the tents of his entrenched camp between the seas in the mountain of the glory of the Holy". In other words, he shall besiege Jerusalem; and to do this, he must occupy the Valley of Jehoshaphat, a narrow glen which runs from north to south, between the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and Mount Moriah, and through which flows the Kidron. Of this valley, it is said in Joel 3:2,12, "Yahweh will gather all the nations (that is, the forces of the nations) into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there". Yehoshaphat, in Hebrew, signifies the judgment of Yah. Joel also styles the glen, the Valley of Threshing: "Multitudes, multitudes," says he, "in the Valley of Threshing: for the Day of Yahweh is near in the Valley of Threshing". Apocalyptically, the same locality is styled ARMAGEDDON "And he gathered them together in a place called Hebraistically, Armageddon". Yahweh gathered them together without their perceiving the Hand that led them on to the slaughter -"I will," saith he, "gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle". Various derivations have been given of this mystical name; for such it is, inasmuch as there is no such name of a place in the land of Israel. Micah says, "Yahweh shall gather many nations as sheaves into the floor, that the Daughter of Zion may arise and thresh them" (ch. 4:11-13). The floor of threshing of which they are to be made the chaff (Dan. 2:35) is this Valley of Jehoshaphat. Under this aspect of things, they are a heap of sheaves, upon the threshingfloor; and this idea is represented by the word, Armah, the first two syllables of the name: the third indicates where this heap is to be, namely, in the gai valley; and the last syllable, for what purpose the heap is there, namely, for duwn judgment - Armagaidon, which in a Greek dress, is, Armageddon. The reason why the text states, that the place, or valley, is "Hebraistically" called, is to give us to understand in what country the place is situated - in the country to wit, the native language of which is the Hebrew tongue.