Are the Jews Really Jewish? Refuting the Khazar Theory

Are the Jews Really Jewish? Refuting the Khazar Theory

Rev. Fred Klett

I have heard, from time to time, the idea expressed that Jews, particularly Eastern European Jews (known as “Ashkenazim,” after “Ashkenaz” meaning Germany) are not really Jewish at all, but are descendants of the Khazar tribe, which converted to Judaism. Therefore, it is argued, since most Jews are Askenazi; the Jewish people of today have little relation with the ancient people of God. Is this true?

First, let's remember that there are also Sephardic Jews who were centered in Muslim countries and Spain. (“Sepharad” means Spain in ancient Hebrew.) Yemenite, Ethiopian, Cochin, and other Jewish groups have separate and distinct ancient origins different from the Ashkenazi community. Granted, most Jews are Ashkenazi, but the percentage of the Jewish people coming to Israel from other heritages is growing. In Israel today the more traditional Sephardis (who are less likely to use birth control) are multiplying at a faster rate than the Ashkenazis. So we can't simply ignore the Sephardic Jews and Jews of other origins, to begin with.

Second, is it true that most of the Ashkenazi Jews are descended from the Khazars? The evidence by no means leads to the conclusion that they are not descendants of Abraham because of the Khazari connection. Let's see what we can find out about the Khazars:

1. We know that the Khazars were a Turkish tribe living between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea in the eighth century. ¹

2. To what extent the Khazars converted to Judaism is open to debate. According to the scholar Robert M. Seltzer, “The Judaism of the Khazars has been much discussed but the historical evidence is very limited. Only the ruling class of the Khazars became Jews...”² Raphael Patai states: “For more than two centuries Judaism was the religion of the ruling class while other religions, notably Islam, but also Christianity, were extensively practiced among the people.”³

3. Abba Eban has written: “...the rulers of the Khazars apparently converted to Judaism at the end of the eighth century, although the majority of the population appears to have remained either Christian or Moslem.”⁴ According to Max Dimont, “In 969 Duke Sviatoslav defeated the Khazars and incorporated their territory into the new Russian state he was founding....And so it came about that the former Jewish kingdom of Khazar became part of Mother Russia, and its people made the sign of the cross to the Russian Orthodox formula Gospodi Pomiloy instead of bowing reverently to the Hebrew Shema Yisroel.”⁵  

4. Eban also wrote: “It is likely too that some Khazar progeny reached the various Slavic lands where they helped build the great Jewish centers of eastern Europe.”⁶

5. Many Jews from other lands emigrated to Khazaria both prior to and subsequent to the conversion of the Khazars.⁷

Conclusion: There were members of a tribe of Turkic people who converted to Judaism. Many of their people remained Christian or Muslim, and some of those who had converted to Judaism became Russian Orthodox when conquered by Russia. Some of their descendants probably survived to join the Eastern European Jewish community. This, in a nutshell, is what we know about the Khazars. Does this information lead to a conclusion that the Jewish people of today are not really Jewish at all and are not in fact the descendants of Abraham according to the flesh? Hardly!

What motivates those who argue this way? Some may simply have been convinced by speculative theories. Possibly anti-Semitism may motivate others, but I think we need to be careful with such a charge. Still others may be motivated by a more positive desire to affirm the truth that most ultimately the children of Abraham are those who believe in the Messiah and have by faith embraced the covenant. This is clearly taught by Romans 4 and Galatians 3. Romans 11 tells us that those who believe are grafted into the tree of the patriarchs, but there God also clearly tells us that He has a concern for the natural branches and is able to graft them in again to their own tree.

Not a Race: A “Community of Descent”

There is truth to the statement “the Jews are not a race.” The Jewish people are a “community of descent,” which differs from a “race.” Today's Jewish people are, by and large, the community of physical descent from Abraham and the patriarchs.

Let me illustrate this point. If I were to marry an Asian woman and father children who then married other Asians, these children would be my descendants. If that woman were to die and I were to marry an African woman and have children, and they were to marry others of African descent, they would also be my descendants. One set of descendants would be racially Asian and the other racially African, but they would both be my descendants! Today's Jewish people are, by and large, the community of physical descent from Abraham and the patriarchs, whatever their race. Race is not the issue. The issue is descent. Black Ethiopian Jews, blonde Jews from Scandinavia, and Cochin Jews from India are racially different but are all Jewish. Sure there has been intermarriage, rape, and conversion of Gentiles. Some non-Jews have entered into ethnic Jewry, and no doubt, many Khazars, but at the core, the Jewish community remains descended from patriarchal Israel. There is still a Jewish “community of descent.” Am Israel Chai!

Can it be refuted that Jews named Levi, Levitt, Levinson, Lewis, etc. trace their heritage to the tribe of Levi or that Jews named Cohen, Cohn, Cahn, Kaplan, Katz, etc., trace their ancestry to the Cohanim, the priestly descendants of Aaron? This knowledge has been preserved in part because of the special roles these descendants have had in the synagogue. You must know if you are a Priest or Levite in the synagogue. It has only been fifty generations since the first century. It doesn’t seem so difficult to believe that this sort of information could be passed on orally given the importance of it in synagogue life. Recent genetic studies have found a common genetic link, tracing back to a single ancestor, that connects Jewish males from all over the world claiming priestly heritage. Also, a very large percentage of Ashkenazi Jews all descend from four women of Middle Eastern origin. In general, genetic studies have shown Ashkenazi Jews in general have significant MiddleEastern genetic origins, which demonstrates non-Khazar ancestry. Granted, unless DNA studies are done on remains of certifiable Jewish ancestors, which yet may happen, these studies are not conclusive proof of descent from Abraham, but they do at least establish Askenazi Jews have Middle Eastern ancestry and they do refute the idea that all Ashkenazi Jews are simply Khazars. So what if there has been some influx of non-Jews? Non-Jews, like the Khazars, have married into the community of descent from Abraham. It is a most reasonable conclusiuon that most Jews today still share the ancient Israelites as their common ancestors.⁸ As a people, Jews are the community of Abraham's physical descendants.

A Providential Preservation

God has preserved the Jewish people against overwhelming odds. The great American theologian, Jonathan Edwards, said: “The Jews may be considered as a remarkable evidence of the truth of revealed religion, in that they were preserved so long a time a distinct nation from all others, even since their father Jacob's time, till this day; being neither destroyed, nor abolished, nor lost by mixing with other nations.”⁹ Edwards recognized God's amazing preservation of the Jewish people, a preservation motivated by grace and accomplished to God's own glory. When the Jewish people return to faith in their own Messiah, Jesus, it will be to His glory and praise. The ethnic children of Abraham will come back into the spiritual family of Abraham by faith, the New Covenant Community.

Truly, the promises of God and the election of God are only realized through faith in Messiah. Praise the God of Israel that He has opened a way for all people to become Abraham's spiritual children through Messiah, the ultimate seed of promise! As for the natural branches of Abraham's tree, God is still faithful to His promises. He has told us: “As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and His call are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:28-29) May those of Abraham’s natural descent soon return to the God of their fathers and soon join with all those of spiritual descent, that is, all who believe, so that a great blessing may be experienced by all and that the good news of Messiah will prosper in the world.

Notes:

1. My People, by Abba Eban, page 149, Behrman House/Random House, © 1968 by Author.

2. Jewish People, Jewish Thought, by Robert M. Seltzer, page 787 in note 7, Macmillan Pub. Co. NY, NY© 1980 by author.

3. Tents of Jacob, The Diaspora - Yesterday and Today, by Raphael Patai, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, © 1971

4. Eban, page 149.

5. Jews, God and History, by Max I. Dimont, pp. 198-199, Signet Books, NY, NY, © 1962 by author.

6. The Jews of Khazaria, pages 117-120 by Kevin Alan Brook, Jason Aronson Inc., Northvale, NJ/Jerusalem, © 1999 by Author. A newer edition incorporates genetic data and somewhat modifies Brooks earlier position.

7. Eban, page 150.

8. See the conclusion of Kevin Alan Brook, author of The Jews of Khazaria at www.khazaria.com/khazar-diaspora.html. Also see www.khazaria.com/mountainjews.htmland www.khazaria.com/genetics/abstracts.html

9. The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 2, p. 494, Jonathan Edwards, Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh 1976.

Rev. Klett is an evangelist to the Jewish people with the Presbyterian Church in America. He is director of the CHAIM ministry in Glenside, PA, a Reformed ministry to Jewish people, lectures at Westminster Seminary California and has been called to co-lead the Rock of Israel PCA congregational plant among Jews, Russian immigrants, Gentiles and Central Asians in Philadelphia.

Proper Transliteration of the Tetragrammaton YHVH

This is Brother Joseph Israel, a man I was privileged to meet.  He passed to his reward on March 2 of this year.  In the end, it's Yah and Yehovah, accent on the vah!

I am inclined to agree.  Tell us what you think.  

Yours in Truth,

Regan

Pyramid Calculations Corroborate The Bible Chronology

The Great Pyramid of Gizeh shows the following dates of significant Biblical events. They are an exact confirmation of the Bible's own chronology.

These dates are arrived at in numerous ways, the details of which can be read in the most definitive book on the subject, "Great Pyramid Passages" by John and Morton Edgar, from which this list was compiled. Many dates, such as Jesus' resurrection in A.D. 33, are shown in several different places. More dates could be given. This is a brief compilation in no particular order.

• Birth of the "man Jesus Christ" B.C. 2
• Baptism of Jesus A.D. 29
• Death and Resurrection of Jesus A.D. 33
• Giving of the Law at the date of the Exodus B.C. 1615
• Date of the Fall of Adam B.C. 4126
• Death of Jacob B.C. 1813
• WWI - End of Gentile Times A.D. 1914
• Return of Christ A.D. 1874
• End of the Jewish "Double" of disfavor A.D. 1878
• Resurrection of the Church begins A.D. 1878
• Date of the Flood of Noah B.C. 2473
• Marsiglio A.D. 1324
• Wycliffe A.D. 1378
• Luther A.D. 1521
• French Revolution A.D. 1789
• Jews enter Canaan B.C. 1575
• Jerusalem overthrown by Romans A.D. 69
• Birth of Isaac B.C. 2021
• Fall of the Kingdom of Israel B.C. 606
• Completion of Solomon's Temple B.C. 1028
• End of last Jubilee B.C. 626
• Nehemiah's commision B.C. 455
• End of the 70 Weeks A.D. 36
• End of the 2300 Days A.D. 1846
• Abomination of Desolation set up A.D. 539
• Overthrow of Papacy by Napolean A.D. 1799
• Millerite Movement A.D. 1829
  

Great Pyramid Facts

*Compared to the Great Pyramid, the Chicago Twin Towers are 4 ' 10" high without the space between floors.

*All the masonry to build a highway from San Fransisco to New York 8' wide and 6" thick - fits inside the Great Pyramid.

*Only a few places on earth could hold the weight of the Great Pyramid.

*The height of the Great Pyramid is equal to the average height of land on earth. 

*The Great Pyramid sits in the center of the longest land paralell and meridian, equally dividing all four quadrants of earth's land masses long before Columbus.

*The Great Pyramid was covered with mirror smooth casing stones, 20 tons each, with a smoothness "equal or better to that of your reading glasses." 

*There were 144,000 of them.

*It is the only structure that can be seen from space.

*The space between the stones is smaller than a human hair, or piece of tin foil, exact to the thousandth of an inch. Today's technology can move stones 10 to 20 tons each to within 1 or 2 inches of each other.

*The most accurate macro manipulator (precision movement of large objects) from NASA can move items only 1 and a half tons to within 50,000th of an inch, not 1 or 2 thousands as in the pyramid.

*In aiming toward True North, the Pyramid is off by 3 minutes of arc. The best modern science can achieve is 6 minutes off.

*Since the Pyramid was built, there has been a movement of the North Pole. At the time of its erection the Great Pyramid was only .001 off True North.

*The greatest scientist of all time, Sir Isaac Newton, broke the code of the Great Pyramid by discovering what he called "the Sacred Jewish Inch." 

*After studying the Great Pyramid, Newton dedicated the rest of his life to Bible study.

*The peripheri of the Great Pyramid is 36,524 inches. Moving the decimal reveals the exact lenght of the earth year.

*The Pyramid is the most heavily measured structure on earth, to within a thousandth of an inch through lazers, etc. 

*Measuring up the ascending passage to the year 33 a.d. one finds the start of the Grand Gallery, and the exact date of April 3, 33 a.d. Here is found "the Christ Triangle," incorporating the angle of the passages we find September 29, 2 b.c. as the birth of Christ. The third leg of the triangle points to the date Octover 14, 29 a.d. - the baptism. 

*Placing the triangle over a map of the area points to Bethlehem.

*The Pyramid points out 1914 - the start of World War I.

*The Ark of the Covenant dimensions are an even multiple of the dimensions of the King's Chamber. 

*The three granite plugs of the Pyramid are made from the same mount that the 10 commandments were carved in, being a unique red granite, (though not absolutely proveable, tests well against minerals.)

*Isaiah 19:19-20 points to two Egypts - upper and lower, the border of which goes right through the Pyramid. What a coincidence!

Where did all these facts come from? Russell? Smythe? Taylor? Edgar? Nope. This was all quoted directly from physicist John Sajak, appearing on the Art Bell radio broadcast only a couple years ago. It is all based in his own recent personal findings. On the show he was asked by a caller if he believed Jesus was the Son of God and Saviour of the World. He said he did, but was strictly making a scientific investigation.

When asked if the Great Pyramid could possibly have been built by extra-terrestrials, without the Supreme Being involved, he said: 

"Only if that extraterrestrial being had a desire to promote religion and at the same time had the ability to control events thousands of years in advance, then you'd be right. Then my only question is why is he promoting religion and why is he telling the whole world that these events will occur, at these particular times, and particularly the most significant one is the birth and crucifixion of Jesus Christ."

It was wonderful to see how God can use modern science to announce the Truth. Art Bell even defended his guest against a caller who was angry because there was no mention of Buddha, who was born before Christ.

"Well the mathmatics doesn't point to Buddha sir," Art said. "It points to Christ."

---

More Great Pyramid Facts

The Great, the Mighty God ...hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even unto this day. Jer 32:18-20

The architect of the Great Pyramid knew the exact length of the solar year, even to the tenth part of the second. This is shown in at least sixplaces, and by means of four units of length.

There is a second period known as the stellar year, or sidereal, year, about 20 minutes longer than the solar year. Thirdly there is another length called the orbital or anomalistic, year, which is in turn a few seconds longer still. And these two latter year lengths are also enshrined in the Great Pyramid. 

The "Precesssion of the Equinoxes", a period of 25,827.5 years, the time required for our solar system as a unit to make one revolution around its vastly greater sun, the Pleiades, is shown exactly in the pyramid in four places.
Other scientific truths enshrined in the pyramid:
1. The mean distance from the earth to the sun.
2. The weight of the earth.
3. The mean density of the earth.
4. The fact of the sphericity of the earth.
5. The polar diameter of the earth, or the exact length of earth's polar axis of rotation.
6. The earth's mean orbit and maximum variation.
7. The variation of the earth's ecliptic.
8. The earth's mean temperature (the average temperature of the air in the Kings chamber).
9. The exact inch, foot, yard, furlong and mile, including the true length of the Standard Geographical Mile, a measure of 2917.467+ Pyramid Cubits.
10. The exact grain, ounce, pound, stone, (English weight of 14 pounds) and ton. 11. The standard British (and American) measures of the pint, quart, gallon, bushel and "quarter."
12. The art of squaring the circle in theory and in practice.
13. The art of doubling the cube, likewise in practice as well as in theory.
14. The art of that extremely difficult mathematical feat of offering a practical solution to the baffling problem, the quadrature of the circle.
15. The direction of True North.
16. The Pi Proportion, Pi being the ratio of the diameter of a circle to its circumference, 3.14159+
17. The total land-area of the earth, the pyramid located in such a manner as to divide said land-area into four equal quarters, and in so doing to thus define both the earth's "master-meridian" of longitude, and "master-parallel" of latitude. In other words, the meridian passing over the Great Pyramid from north to south traverses more miles of land, and less of sea, than any other that can be drawn around the earth at any place, and that same distinction holds true of a parallel passing over the Pyramid's apex from east to west, or vice versa.

What about the Bible?

1. The cubic capacity of the Coffer in the King's Chamber is exactly the same as that of the famous Ark of the Covenant.
2. The Coffer's cubic capacity is also identical with that of the Jewish laver, and with that of the lavers, or baths, in the world-famous King Solomon's Temple, dedicated 1000 bc.
3. The "Golden Sea" of King Solomon's Temple had a capacity exactly equal to the cubic contents of the Coffer times 50.
4. Noah's Ark had a capacity identical with the cubic contents of the Coffer multiplied by 100,000.
The book of Job makes repeated mention of it. See 9:9, 19:24, 26:7 and 13, 28:7-9, 37:15-18, 38:4-36.
[Compiled from the book "Miracle of the Ages" by Worth Smith]

Yours in Truth,

Octaman

originally published 4/2/08

Do We Condone Everything Israel Does? NO! Read My LIST!

"D" Asks: Do we condone everything Israel does? This has always been a bit of a quandry for me. 

My Dear D,  Let me help you. The answer is absolutely not! "We", whether Bible Students or any honest and fair minded individual, cannot condone Israel’s actions when they:

• Allow their own citizens to be endlessly barraged by rockets and missiles without defending them at all
• Give fertile and productive Jewish land to their enemies so that the land can be used to launch rockets at their unprotected citizenry
• Enter into negotiations with an entity that instructs their children through the use of school books and cartoon characters that they must kill Jews.
• Brutally uproot Jewish families by force of arms from land that belongs to them in order to appease an enemy sworn to their annihilation.
• Offer to give their own capital city of Jerusalem, the very heart of the earth, to a gang of thugs with a murderous Anti-Semitic ideology.
• Coddle the existence of enemies like Yasser Arafat and Marwan Barghouti, who plan and executed the murder of thousands of Jews.
• Make plans to rip thousands of Jews from their God-given homeland of Judea and Samaria to give it to Arabs to launch a final assault on them.
• Negotiate "peace" with sworn terrorists like Holocaust denier Abu Mazen (Abbas) who planned the murder of the Israeli Olympic team in 1972.
• Arrest Jewish Israeli’s for peacefully protesting and holding them for days and weeks in prison, later to admit there was no cause for arrest.
• Squelch the free speech rights of it’s citizens, yanking the only conservative radio station’s broadcasting license.
• Restrain their military from defending their people for the sake of good relations with their western allies who really mean to destroy Israel.

On and on the list could go, D! I hope this helps you gain some perspective, as these thoughts are based on the facts on the ground, gleaned outside the mainstream left wing Jew-hating media.

While i fully believe that Israel belongs to the Jewish people, I don;t think they have always been fair and just to the Palestinian people.

I believe I can assist you here also. There ARE no "Palestinian" people. There are Arabs who moved to Israel because Jews had made the land prosperous. Then, in 1948 when Israel declared statehood, SEVEN ARAB ARMIES attacked the Jews from all sides, attempting to finish what Hitler began - the total elimination of the Jewish people.
The Arab governments told the Arabs living within Israel to leave for a time, and that they would be able to return after the Jews were dead and take what they wanted.
But Israel won the war! And in spite of their great efforts at humanitarian aid, the surrounding Arab nations have always intervened, with the help of the U.N., in order to keep the Arab squatters living in what they call "refugee camps." Some of these camps today have mansions - not shown on TV.
Jews uprooted from Gaza meanwhile live in trailers waiting for their own government to help them, but it is too busy helping the Arabs take over the Holy land.

Every surrounding Arab nation has strict laws against Jews even living within their borders. They have no Synagogues in those countries. Israel meanwhile is the only country in the Middle East where there is freedom of religion. Arabs are even elected to the Israeli Knesset and hold seats in government. That is not possible for a Jew living in Egypt or Syria or Jordan or Saudi Arabia. And no mention is ever made of the more than half million JEWISH REFUGEES created when the Arabs attacked Israel.

The "Palestinian people", wrongly so-called, are routinely polled in the media. 85% of them favor the continued murder of Jews, just like the machine gun assault on the Jewish Yeshiva some days ago. The rest of them don’t favor terrorism simply for political reasons, preferring to wait until the opportune time for another all-out war of extermination.

Even now, Abu Mazen, Palestinian Authority leader, is planning for 3 million Arabs to flood the borders of Israel on May 14, the anniversary of Israel’s independence. This is the man who controls the media where they are teaching their kids even now that Jews drink blood and burn children alive.

In the Holocaust, over 1.5 million Jewish children were gassed, starved, worked to death, shot, bayoneted, and burned alive. In the interest of not seeing this happen again, some of the more patriotic Jews have taken measures to protect themselves. The leftist, Jew-hating socialists and liberal media driven ideologues - all outright enemies of Israel - would like to see the Jews remove these safe-guarding measures, such as the security barrier and the checkpoints, that help keep Jewish families from being shot or blown to bits. Thankfully they do not go so far, as "we" certainly could not condone such a policy. Could we?

Also, I am nto convinced what they did in Lebanon was competely just.

You are correct. After the Hezbollah rockets began raining down on peaceful Israelis, the government did nothing. Then as the un-ending barrage continued and Jews began to die as a result, the Olmert government finally lifted a finger to defend the citizens. It was an unconscionable deraliction of duty.
The worst that happened was when Prime Minister Olmert, after a long delay in failing to listen to the urgent pleas from his own military leaders, launched a much belated ground offensive into Lebanon - then, just as the Israeli army was about to implement it’s plan, Olmert ordered a pull back aborting the mission, and pre-empted their own success. Many Israeli soldiers died as a result of Olmert’s foolish politically based decision and total incompetence.

So yes, you are correct. Israel made mistakes in Lebanon. And it was a great injustice to the Israeli people who were first attacked by Hezbollah.

Many innocent people have been killed by the Israeli army.
You may not realize this, but every single day, rockets are launched onto the heads of innocent Israeli civilians by cowardly terrorists who BRAG about their use of human shields, hiding behind their own women and children to attack Israel.

Perhaps this is what you refer to. However there are also many cowardly anti-Semitic media reports that are complete fabrications, often created by Arab journalists to cover for terrorist "work accidents". Arabs have a full time job: The incitement of their own people and others to kill Jews. It is too bad if anyone is fooled by their blatant manipulation of the media and distorting of the facts.
Bottom line: If the Arab terrorists would stop their murderous attacks, there would be peace tomorrow. Can you honestly think that if Israel were to stop defending it’s citizens, that the Arabs would cease all hostility toward Jews?

Do we condone everything Israel does? Or are they doing what they have to do to survive? What should I think about this?

I hope to have offered you some perspective. I truly hope you will think about it and adjust your view about 180 degrees.

Yours in Truth,

OCTAMAN

Originally published March 24 2008

Ezekiel 38 In Hindsight Explained Verse by Verse

Dear Friend,

Peace in the name of our Redeemer Yeshua the Messiah.

Below is a table I created in 2008 as an Ezekiel 38 study.  Keep in mind, as in my previous posting on this chapter, that I am no longer convinced Gog is Russia.  I've concluded that it's more of a worldwide globalist system of nearly all nations united against Israel.  Rather than a literal invasion of Israel, I submit that it has a mainly political antitype.

Since these comments were written I've studied more by Bro's. Russell and Johnson, and therefore my updated thoughts will be forthcoming on this, Lord willing.  Nevertheless, though some comments may be disregarded, much of the following is still valid and may be of interest to others.  It is with this hope that I post my thoughts, to the edification of all.  Feel free to share and comment.  Thank you.

Yours in Truth,

Regan Balman

Eze 38:1   The word of the LORD came to me:		Ezekiel LORD=Yahweh [Rotherham]
Eze 38:2   "Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him		This entire commentary is based on the common supposition that Russia is Gog. [RcB: For those reading since 2018, insert Globalist Elite instead of simply Russia.  However Russia still acts as an adversary to Israel at this time. 5/4/18] Meshech and Tubal=Moscow and Tiblisi (Jamieson, Fausett & Brown) Today's events [8/8/08] show Moscow heading toward possible full control of Tiblisi, in their aggressive moves against Georgia.  At very least they have exerted military control over southern Ossetia, away from Georgia, which may follow.
Eze 38:3   and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal;		"Finally Gog as the capitol of the eastern bloc, will rule over Great Russia, Armenia (Meshech) and Tubal (Caucasian Georgia, with its capitol Tbilisi), and will assemble alliances with Iran (Persia), Black Africa (Cush, not just Ethiopia), and North Africa (Phut: Libya to Mauritania), plus North Europe (Gomer, at the Black Sea and its northern tributaries, including Germans {Ashkenaz} and Slavs {Riphath} from Gen. 10:3) and the Turkic tribes (Togarmah). The pipeline for the western bloc will continue to be Israel—a prize too tempting for a resurgent Gog to resist (38:1-12)."  ["Ezekiel in Brief"  http://www.heraldmag.org/literature/proph_6.htm]  [RcB NOTE 5/4/18:  This writer is fond of Bro. Parkinson yet does not endorse his view nor do I reject it.  It was a useful study at the time, however the bloodline argument has been refined since.  See previous posting.]
Eze 38:4  and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company, all of them with buckler and             shield, wielding swords;		The Soviet military regime has a long history of always owning one of the largest standing armies and one of the largest standing navies, even prior to the Revolution.  Ever since they have celebrated militarism above all else, televised to the world with yearly dazzling displays before the politburo in stark red.  Horses and horsemen are philosophies (doctrines) and their promoters, who have trumpeted Anti-Semitism, the teaching that supports their military actions.
Eze 38:5   Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;		Persia=Iran, Cush=Ethiopia and North Africa, (left to right on the map:  Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt?) and Put=Libya - also Lebanon and Jordan (Ammon, Moab and Edom are the three parts of modern Jordan)
Eze 38:6   Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togar'mah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes--many peoples are with you.		Gomer=Black Sea area (Chechen Caucasus Mount Torgarmah = Turkey From my previous notes on Ezekiel 38... Gomer = N. Europe, Germans and Slavs.  Togarmah=Turkestan
Eze 38:7   "Be ready and keep ready, you and all the hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.		Russia was constantly ready for war all the time, and was the shield and supporter of the Arab nations.
Eze 38:8  After many days you will be mustered; in the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land where people were gathered from many nations upon the mountains of Israel, which had been             a continual waste; its people were brought out from the nations and now dwell securely, all of them.		"After many days" [nations under communist umbrella] "thou shalt be visited" [KJV] [Recompense: 1989?] "in the latter years" = possibly better translation:  "latter years OF the last days" "Restored from war" = Could it not refer to Israel after 1945?  They were not a state yet at that time, but after the  world war the nation of Israel was restored by very reason of the war itself.  The U.N. helped create the state of Israel, and in May of 1948 they had been restored to a nation.  The land of Israel itself was the target of Adolph Hitler and his Muslim cohorts during the war, and so after the important battles of World War II that stemmed the tide of Rommel's charge through Africa toward the Holy Land, it could be said that the land itself was "restored from war."  The nation of Israel was brought into being - again.  It was because of the war. "Brought" Strong's 7725 "Shuwb" [Shoab] meaning "to turn back, hence, away - to retreat, come again, consider, withdraw - see Strong's 935 "bow" [...bring against] See Ezekiel 39:27 reference to the Jews "brought back" from their enemies lands] See Jer. 27:16 "brought again from Babylon"
Eze 38:9  You will advance, coming on like a storm, you will be like a cloud covering the land you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.		Many people see this as happening all at once at the end of the world.  Perhaps.  It was a longstanding strategy of Saddam Hussein of Iraq to create a "million man army" that would cover Israel like a cloud all at once.  This is symbolic but also perhaps quite literal, however in a different way than most commentators view it.. A storm cloud may take weeks to muster, which could translate to years of symbolic political storm cloud gathering.  A storm cloud may sit and hover, as Israel's enemies always have, it may rain, pour, or just pass.... Could it not be that this is referring to the "demographics" issue that has taken center stage after many decades of Arab influx into the Holy Land?  This verse describes a growing danger, just like a slowly advancing weather storm.  The threat of Arabs one day outnumbering Jews within Israel has guided Israeli policy all along as             the issue of supreme importance in the Arab-Israel conflict.  The Arabs demand their "Right of Return" - the right to literally flood the land with alleged refugees from their own failed attempt at conquest.
Eze 38:10   "Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme		Anti-Semitism is the evil thought.  It may turn out that the Russian KGB, who recently were found to have issued an order to assassinate the Pope, is also responsible for the very plan that the Arabs have implemented against Israel; to use a fictitious "Palestinian" people to create a wedge in order to destroy Israel from the inside out. Other evil thoughts that enter the minds of nations may have to do with chemical, nuclear and biological weapons.
Eze 38:11  and say, 'I will go up against the land of unwalled villages; I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates';		"Unwalled villages" = Israel prior to statehood,  1947 Their plan was always the same, to attack Israel, kill the inhabitants all at once, and take their property and their land.  They tried it in 1948, they tried again in 1956, again in 1967 and again in 1973.  So there is no missing this fact for anyone who's lived through the last half of the 20th century, this was their plan all along, and it has not changed, but for the nuclear element.
Eze 38:12  to seize spoil and carry off plunder; to assail the waste places which are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.		to seize spoil and carry off plunder=                   to take the material wealth created by Jews to assail the waste places which are now inhabited, = Arabs routinely destroy Jewish property, holy sites, etc.  and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods are the target of this Grand Larceny  - the Jews themselves, and Jerusalem.  The goal is to kill the Jews, and take their land and possessions.   who dwell at the center of the earth.= the heart of the earth - Jerusalem.  Recent events [2008] show that the Olmert led government in Israel is negotiating the dividing of Jerusalem itself - long considered by many Bible students as THE SIGN of the immediacy of the final "last days"conflagration. Anti-Semites know the Bible story. Arabs and atheists alike are aware of the concept that "The Law shall go forth from Zion, and the Word of                 the Lord from Jerusalem".  This they hope to pre-empt at any price.  There are many examples of the fulfillment of this passage, none more blatant than May 1948, when seven Arab armies attacked to prevent Israel from becoming a state.  The Jews lived there in numbers, having gathered from the nations gradually since Herzl in the late 1800's, adding to the numbers of those who already dwelled there.
Eze 38:13  Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish             and all its villages will say to you, 'Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to seize great spoil?'		The NATO nations, the Capitalist Alliance, were always the direct opposer of all Soviet policies in the Middle East.  These policies shaped the very nature of the entire cold war.  Arab armies have always been supplied by Russia and still are today, while Israel is the traditional ally of the West.  In the verse, the words in quotes represent the war of words that characterized the cold war, where hardly a shot was fired in anger, but both sides constantly accused each other of bad motives and false pretenses.  This is diplomatic language. Tarshish= Celts in Westernmost Europe including Celitberians (sp?), Britons, Welsh, Irish, Scots, Belgians, Galicia (southern Poland), Galatia (central Turkey) Sheba, Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish can mean Yemen, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates - nations now aligned with NATO and under American influence.
Eze 38:14  "Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, you will bestir yourself		Many think Israel has never yet experienced "dwelling securely" and therefore they look for this to happen after a future war.  Could it not be that "dwelling safely" happened at the time of the creation of Israeli statehood? From the time of the Roman destruction in 69 AD they had not had any opportunity for "dwelling safely", not while living in the mostly anti-Semitic nations to which they were dispersed.  Now that the Holocaust had ended, they were returning to their own land and             establishing a state, finally standing on their own two feet as a nation.  May 1948. This is a sight that caused the communistic/atheistic forces to unite with Islamic opposition to Israel, forming an unholy alliance that has been at Israel's throat for decades without a moment of  peace.  Does this defeat the premise of "dwelling safely"?  Not when you consider that Israel's nuclear weapons program has kept their Arab neighbors and their Russian handlers at bay, thus "dwelling securely" indeed for many years now.
Eze 38:15  and come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army;		From up north (where it should be none of their business,) here the Russians, diplomatically and politically as well as militarily and physically,  have literally kept Israel surrounded by enemies and made sure those enemies were well "armed to the teeth" for going on 7 decades now.  Even last year, [2006], Russian leadership has endorsed Syria, Iran and the Hamas representatives of the "Palestinians" - the wedge to destroy Israel. Horses are doctrines or teachings, and here the teachings inspire immigration to Israel.  At the heart of the Arab plan to destroy Israel is the teaching of the "Right of Return" -  Arabs returning to lands lost in the 1948 attack on Israel.  Leftists and Socialists inside both Israel and in America only add to this army of those against Israel.
Eze 38:16  you will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.		These enemies are "against" Israel in an adversarial sense, not necessarily locational.  Since they are like a cloud covering the land, it appears that the enemies are actually found inside of Israel, or want to be inside Israel, and that is exactly the case as it stands today, even as Arabs vote with Knesset seats inside Israel's own government             which institutes policies that are anti-Jewish -  uprooting Jews from Jewish land in appeasement of their enemies. The last line of this verse is ongoing, and in the end the world will generally catch onto the fact that God exists.  They will see this through the visible and somewhat gradual defeat of this Russian/Arab alliance. There is nothing to prove that event must happen in mere moments or days.  I submit that is has been ongoing for the last 7 decades and is nearly complete. Upon completion, the world will see at last for instance that "Allah" is not "greater" than Yahweh, nor is atheism, communism, socialism, or any other doctrine that opposes God's Zionism of any effect. To coin a word that would summarize not only this entire chapter, but also the entire period of nearly 70 years  I would call it "Anti-Zionism."  It is near it's zenith now, and I believe it to be in it's death throes.  Whether or not it will take more than monetary bankruptcy to completely defeat Russia remains to be seen, but seems likely.
Eze 38:17  "Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?		Here the Bible student is directed to search the Scriptures, specifically the writings of the prophets, and Obadiah's story regarding "the Edomites" is parenthetical to the narrative of Ezekiel 38.
Eze 38:18   But on that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord GOD, my wrath will be roused.		I like the translation that says "will come up in my nostrils".*  God's spirit is opposed to Anti-Semitism.  The people who are opposed to Anti-Semitism are of God's spirit, while those who are Anti-Zionists oppose God's spirit, and often display the traits of the spirit of Satan. [*RcB 5/4/18 NOTE:  How about the social conditions of earth becoming putrid since the little flock left the scene?]
Eze 38:19   For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;		After so many centuries of "Allah is greater", I would think that jealousy is just on the part of the Almighty Yahweh.  The "fire" is not necessarily literal, but refers to the level of intensity of emotion our Creator must have in the protection of "the pupil of his eye", the Jewish nation.  The "shaking" is not literal either, though some expect an actual earthquake.  Every day in Israel there are political upheavals and shakings among the various political and religious classes in Israel, among both Jewish and Arab populations.  The point is that literal blazing and shaking, though they may be occurring, are not required to fulfill these events.
Eze 38:20  the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence,             and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the cliffs shall fall, and every wall shall tumble to the ground.		Some of the group categories are listed here.  The details will be for another time.  The men are the leaders of governments.  They "quake" at calamities near and imagined every day as this characterizes our day.  The "presence" is the parousia of the returned Messiah, from 1874 to today.  The mountains are governments, especially that oppose Israel, such as Iraq, Iran and Syria.  The cliffs are the high crags of society people hold onto such as banks and the various public trusts.  The walls are states that relied on the banks.  Perhaps.  This is just my view - but seems to be born out in recent days [2008] by the failure of several banks and government bailouts of public trusts.
Eze 38:21   I will summon every kind of             terror against Gog, says the Lord GOD; every man's sword will be against his brother.		Post 1914, Russia has suffered under the terror of  Revolution, World War, a second World War, mass starvation and oppression, plus the fear of nuclear annihilation from the West.  In 1989 they collapsed largely from within.   Today they experience terrorism from Chechen guerrillas.  (See "Beslan")   Beslan is in North Ossetia.  Today, Russia has attacked Georgian forces in South Ossetia.  Truly they are beset by terror as those territories that were once unified under the Soviet flag are now at war with one another.
Eze 38:22  With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples that are with him, torrential rains and hailstones, fire and brimstone.		In contrast with the freedom loving Western nations, the Eastern bloc has been mired in miserable circumstances as punishment for their stance regarding Israel.  They have traditionally suffered sickness and death from war at a much higher rate than western nations.  Pestilence and war have not convinced them of the error of their ways, therefore comes the torrential rains - the flow of information - that             will destroy their false teachings ("horses"), while hailstones represent hard truths that will destroy the crops sown by the evil seeds of anti-Semitism.  Fire and brimstone are symbolic of complete destruction, as the system of error is overthrown over a period of many years time. The literalness of this passage remains to be assessed.  However Israel has over 1,000 military advisers in Georgia prior to the war in S. Ossetia.  Georgian forces were being trained in Israeli military weapons and tactics, as Israel has oil interests there -  in the pipeline to the sea where they have planned shipping routes.  They offered Russia a stake in the enterprise and were rejected.  Now it is thought that Moscow may seek to punish Israel for their hand in the affairs of Georgia and South Ossetia.  See http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1358
Eze 38:23  So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in             the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.		When all is said and done people will see for themselves through the events of history the utter bankruptcy of the vain philosophies of Atheism, Communism, Socialism, Mohammedanism, all rooted in the poisonous idea of Anti-Semitism.  When the smoke finally clears, be it literal or symbolic, the masses of people will finally become aware of the presence of the Messiah, as He will, as Yahweh's vicegerent, begin noticeably overruling earth's affairs.