Читать онлайн "Russia Rising: Tracking the Bear in Bible Prophecy" - Hitchcock Mark - RuLit

What is interesting to me about this assessment is that it was written in 1846, long before the Communist revolution or the subsequent rise of the Soviet Union as a nuclear superpower. In this case, Gesenius was not using a political or economic lens to reach his conclusions. He was using only the third lens of Scripture, and the evidence pointed him to Russia more than 160 years ago.[18]

The compelling evidence from biblical scholarship concerning the grammar and language of Ezekiel 38:2 indicates that rosh be understood as a proper name, the name of a specific geographic area. Rosh refers to Russia.

The Group of People

One of the arguments against equating Rosh with Russia is that no ancient nation named Rosh existed. However, a growing body of evidence points toward a group of people in the sixth century BC identified as “Rash,” “Reshu,” or “Ros,” who inhabited territory that today is in southern Russia.[19] While the word has a variety of forms and spellings, it is clear that the same people are in view.

Egyptian inscriptions indicate that Rosh existed as early as 2600 BC. A place called Reshu, located north of Egypt, is mentioned in an Egyptian inscription from around 1500 BC.[20] Many other ancient documents mention the place-name Rosh in upwards of twenty instances.[21] Rosh was apparently a well-known place in Ezekiel’s day. In the sixth century BC, when Ezekiel wrote his prophecy, many of the Rosh people lived in a region north of the Black Sea. After providing extensive evidence of the origin and early history of the Rosh people and then tracing them through the centuries, Clyde Billington concludes,

As early as 438 A.D., Byzantine Christians placed Gog, Magog, Meshech, Tubal and Ros peoples to the north of Greece in the area that today is Russia…. Historical, ethnological, and archaeological evidence all favor the conclusion that the Rosh people of Ezekiel 38–39 were the ancestors of the Rus/Ros people of Europe and Asia…. The Rosh people who are mentioned in Ezekiel 38–39 were well-known to ancient and medieval writers by a variety of names which all derived from the names of Tiras and Rosh…. Those Rosh people who lived to the north of the Black Sea in ancient and medieval times were called the Rus/Ros/Rox/Aorsi from very early times…. From this mixture with Slavs and with the Varangian Rus in the 9^th century, the Rosh people of the area north of the Black Sea formed the people known today as the Russians.[22]

All agree that there is no geographical place today named Rosh. Our task is to identify where the Rosh people lived in Ezekiel’s day and then determine what nation occupies that territory today. Arnold Fruchtenbaum writes, “While the names of these geographical areas have changed over the centuries… and may change again, the geography itself remains intact. Regardless of what names they may carry at the time of this invasion, it is these very geographical areas that are involved. Although the leading nation may have once been called the Soviet Union, and more recently the Commonwealth of Independent States, and traditionally Russia, it is this territory—by whatever name it may be called at that time—that will lead this invasion.”[23]

The Geography

The third main line of evidence for identifying Rosh as Russia is based on location. Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 emphasize repeatedly that at least part of this last-days’ invading force will come “from the distant north” (38:6, 15; 39:2). Biblical directions are usually given in reference to Israel, which on God’s compass is the “center” (or “navel”) of the earth (see Ezekiel 38:12, NASB). This valuable textual clue points to Russia. If you draw a line directly north from Israel on a map, only five nations are in line: Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Russia. But the one farthest north is Russia.[24] John Walvoord says, “One cannot escape Russia if he goes north of the Holy Land. On the basis of geography alone, it seems quite clear that the only nation which could possibly be referred to as coming from the far north would be the nation Russia.”[25]

Paul Enns notes, “These enemies come from the ‘remote parts of the north’ (vv. 6, 15), modern Turkey and southern Russia—the nations surrounding the Black and Caspian Seas.”[26]

Walter Kaiser is unsure if Rosh in Ezekiel 38 is Russia, but he sees the geographical reference to the far north as unmistakable. “They are depicted by Ezekiel as ‘coming from [their] place in the far north’ (15). The allusion to the ‘far north’ also points to a Russian-led confederation, for Moscow is almost directly north of Jerusalem on a modern map.”[27]

Based on geography, Scripture indicates Russia will be the leader of the northern coalition of the end times.

THE BEAR NECESSITY

To further support the presence of Russia in Ezekiel 38, I thought it would be helpful to briefly quote a few other reliable sources who have studied this issue extensively. Charles Dyer and Mark Tobey say, “Most Bible students with even cursory understanding of biblical prophecy suspect that Russia will play some strategic role in end-time events.”[28] Charles Dyer, in his commentary on Ezekiel, is even more specific: “Some of the countries named by Ezekiel were located in what is now Russia.”[29] Speaking of Ezekiel 38, Lamar Cooper says, “The geographical area would today include… southern provinces of Russia.”[30] Theologian Charles Ryrie says, “The land of Russia looms large and menacing in Ezekiel’s prophetic picture.”[31] Dr. David Jeremiah writes, “Approximately twenty-five hundred years ago, Ezekiel predicted Russia’s return to power in the latter days.”[32]

Popular Bible teacher J. Vernon McGee describes how he came to his view:

When I first entered the ministry, I took the position that these two chapters of Ezekiel could not possibly speak of the modern nation of Russia under any circumstances. Even when I began seminary work on my Th.M. and Th.D., I did not accept that interpretation. I began to study on my own and attempt to arrive at a decision—whether or not this could possibly be Russia. Now I am convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that chapters 38 and 39 refer to Russia.[33]

J. Dwight Pentecost, a preeminent prophecy scholar, authored his classic work Things to Come in 1958 and noted, “The identification of Rosh as modern Russia would seem to be well authenticated and generally accepted.”[34] Joel Rosenberg concludes,

The words Russia, Moscow, Soviet Union, and czar never appear in these passages [Ezekiel 38–39]. Nor do they appear anywhere in the book of Ezekiel. Nor are they ever mentioned anywhere in the Bible. But there is no doubt that the ancient prophet was referring to the nation we now know as Russia…. Based on the textual, linguistic, and historical evidence, we can… conclude with a high degree of confidence that Ezekiel is speaking of Russia and the former Soviet Union in chapters 38 and 39.[35]