Did the Bible predict the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
According to Pastor David Jeremiah of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, Ezekiel “predicted specific events that will occur in Russia’s future.”
“In recent years, Russian President Vladimir Putin has aggressively pursued reunification of the Soviet bloc. He has annexed Crimea, crept into the Republic of Georgia, and invaded Ukraine,” wrote Jeremiah, the author of multiple books and a columnist for the Jerusalem Post Christian World portal. “Not only is he provoking the people of Eurasia, but his strong-armed policies are also causing concern around the world.”
A recently released Gallup poll showed that Russia is one of the countries that American citizens consider to be the United States’ greatest enemy, only second to China in some years.
“Newsfeeds swirl with questions about his [Putin's] intentions, but perhaps we should ask ourselves this question: What does the Bible say about modern Russia?” Jeremiah said.
While the word “Russia” does not exist in the Bible, Jeremiah said that the reference to “Rosh” in Ezekiel 38:2 is a shortened version of the word Russia.
“This can be determined linguistically and geographically,” Jeremiah explained. “The Bible describes Rosh as being far to the north of Israel, which was the reference point for Ezekiel’s original audience.”
In both Ezekiel and the Book of Daniel, the end-times aggressor is described as coming from the north: “King of the North” in Daniel and “from the far north” in Ezekiel.
“Russia is the only modern nation to match this description,” Jeremiah said.
Russia is also linked to the final battle of Gog and Magog, which according to the Bible will be a massive military attack against Israel and usher in the messianic era.
“Gog is the prince of Rosh, or we would say the leader of Russia. Some scholars believe Gog is a title rather than a personal name,” Jeremiah wrote.
“Gog is from the land of Magog (verse 2). Magog was also the name of one of Noah’s grandsons (Genesis 10:2; 1 Chronicles 1:5), and many scholars believe his descendants settled around the Black and Caspian Seas on Russia’s southern border,” writes Jeremiah. “In the Jeremiah Study Bible, I identify this region as the former ‘-stan’ countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and perhaps Afghanistan), all former constituents of the Soviet Union.
“What unites the sixty million residents of this region today is their religion: Islam.”
The Bible also mentions Meshech and Tubal, grandsons of Noah, whose descendants established cities with the same names and that have been identified either as Moscow and Tobolks or as modern-day Turkey.
Persia (modern day Iran) and ancient Ethiopia (modern day Sudan) are mentioned too.
“Russia and Turkey will lead from the north. Iran will join from the east. Sudan and Libya will press in from the south and possibly Germany from the west,” Jeremiah said.
But he said that for the battle to occur, certain criteria must be met: Israel must be present in her land; the country must be prosperous and must be at peace.
Israel returned to its land in 1948 and, today, the country has a thriving economy, ranked among the most innovative in the world.
However, Israel is constantly on alert and under attack by its neighbors.
“When Russia attacks Israel, the nation will be disarmed,” said Jeremiah. “That is difficult to imagine.
“The north’s invasion of Israel is not going to happen in the immediate future,” he continued, “but perhaps sooner than we think.”