Posted: 28 March 2012
In Part One of this series I looked at the various nations mentioned in Ezekiel 38. The nations identified were a part of two separate groups. The first group, which invades Israel, is composed of Gog, Magog, Meshech, Tubal, Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and Togarmah. These represent the modern countries of Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Persia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania, Germany, the Baltic countries, Turkey, and Armenia. The second group, which protests the invasion, consists of Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, "with all the young lions thereof." These appear to be the modern nations of Great Britain, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, France, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and possibly India and the countries of South and Central America.
Now, in Part Two, I want to reexamine Ezekiel 38 to see who is not mentioned. Not just any nation or people not mentioned but, rather, those who we would expect to be mentioned but who are not. Samoa, Fiji, and Vanuatu, for instance, are not mentioned but, then, I would not really expect them to be. Nor would I expect Guam or Papua New Guinea. I would expect, however, to see the nations and peoples that bordered Israel and Judea in Ezekiel's day.
When we look at the various nations and peoples mentioned in Ezekiel 38, it is important to note that none of them actually border Israel. You would expect that at least one of the countries touches Israel, but none do. Those who did border Israel in Ezekiel's day, starting in the north and going clockwise, were: Lebanon (Phoenicia), Syria, Ammon, Moab, Edom (Idumea), Amalek, and Philistia. It is very strange that none of these countries are mentioned in Ezekiel 38. Even stranger is that that the prominent countries of Egypt and Babylon are not mentioned either. Why that is we will explore in Part Three, but for now we will concentrate on what present day nations these unmentioned countries represent.
Ancient Lebanon, also known as Phoenicia, was located north of Israel along the Mediterranean Sea. It included the ancient city states of Tyre and Sidon. Lebanon and the Phoenicians were closely allied with Israel during the time of King David and King Solomon. Lebanon corresponds generally to the present nation of the same name, although present day Lebanon includes parts of ancient Israel that once belonged to Asher and Naphtali.
Syria is also easy to identify today. Ancient Syria was part of an area known as Aram located north of Israel and east of Lebanon. Today, Syria occupies much the same area but also includes part of Mesopotamia and the northwestern portion of ancient Israel. The area of ancient Israel now occupied by Syria once belonged to Manasseh and includes both the southwestern tip of Syria, between Lebanon and Jordan, and the Golan Heights, which Israel regained in 1967 as a result of the Six-Day War.
Next we come to Ammon, Moab, and Edom. Generally speaking, these ancient nations are represented by present day Jordan, which is located east of Israel between Syria and Saudi Arabia. Jordan was originally a part of a planned Jewish homeland to be established in British controlled Palestine following World War One. In 1922, the eastern portion of the planned Jewish homeland, about three-fourths of it, was broken off to form the Emirate of Transjordan in a failed land for peace deal with the Arab interests of British Palestine. Transjordan later became the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan in 1946 and later, after capturing the West Bank area of Israel in the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War, it changed its name to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
Jordan today occupies much of the land that belonged to ancient Israel. The northern part of Jordan covers ancient Ammon, the central part covers Moab, and the southern part covers part of Edom. These three peoples vexed ancient Israel throughout most of its existence, despite Israel's initial attempt to pass by or through their lands peaceably on their way to the Promised Land. In fact, Deuteronomy chapter 2 details how God specifically forbade Israel from attacking Ammon (Judges 2:19), Moab (Judges 2:9), and Edom (Judges 2:4-5). However, due to repeated attacks and incursions against Israel, God allowed much of Moab and Edom, and parts of Ammon to fall into Jewish possession or control.
Most of the area of ancient Israel that is under the control of Jordan today was once the possession of the tribes of Manasseh, Gad, and Rueben. Also, the West Bank territories that Jordan seized from Israel in the 1948-1949 Arab-Israeli War included much of the heart of Israel, including Bethlehem, Shiloh, Bethel, Hebron, and East Jerusalem. These areas belonged to Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh. Israel regained the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Edom, also known as Idumea, stretched from the Dead Sea in the north to the Red Sea's Gulf of Aqaba in the south. Edom was conquered by King David in 2 Samuel 8:14 but today remains divided between Israel on the west and Jordan on the east.
Moving eastward from Edom we come to Amalek. Amalek encompassed an area between Israel on the north, Edom on the east, and Egypt on the southwest. According to Genesis 36:12 and 36:16, the Amalekites, like the Edomites, were descendants of Esau. The Amalekites were subject to Israel under King David (2 Samuel 8:11-12) and finally eliminated during the reign of King Hezekiah by members of the tribe of Simeon (1 Chronicles 4:41-43). Amalek today is divided between Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.
North of Amalek, between the Mediterranean Sea and southwestern Israel was Philistia. Philistia, also known in the Bible as Palestina (Isaiah 14:29,31) or Palestine (Joel 3:4), was the home of Israel's ancient enemies, the Philistines. Much of Philistia was conquered or controlled by Israel at various times and occupied by the Jewish tribe of Judah. However, the Philistines appear to have ceased to be a distinct people after their principle city of Gaza was destroyed by Alexander the Great and the Greeks. Later, when the Romans drove the Jews out of their homeland after crushing Bar Kokhba revolt in 135 AD, their name was resurrected by the Romans and applied to the Jewish homeland as an insult to the Jews. The Gaza Strip, along the southwestern Mediterranean coast of Israel, bordered by Egypt on the southwest, represents the remnant of Philistia today.
That leaves us with the two other notable nations not mentioned in Ezekiel 38: Egypt and Babylon. Babylon is best represented today by Iraq and present day Egypt is essentially the same as ancient Egypt, with the addition of the Sinai Peninsula. Ezekiel certainly would not have missed them or forgotten them when recording the prophecy of a coming invasion of Israel. They were too important and influential to be left out accidentally so they must have been left out of the narrative on purpose. Just why they, and the other nations we have been talking about in this article, were left out is a subject that we will explore in Part Three of this series.
--Pastor Al Davis
Bible Baptist Church, Richfield, Ohio
The Pre-Ezekiel 38 Battle - Part Two: Who Is Not Mentioned in the Invasion of Israel?
[Video Presentation]
[Posted: 28 Apr 12]