Magog in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is said by Hal Lindsey and others to be Russia.

on http://aoreport.com/mag/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=270&Itemid=64 they say:

"The central or main reason for holding to the view that Russia is

Magog is the claim that the Hebrew word in Ezekiel 38:2 for "chief prince" is the word "Rosh" in part because it is similar in phonetic

sound to Russia...To further buttress the Russia theory, Lindsey has promoted the notion that the Hebrew word "meschech" is a phonetic

reference to "Moscow" and Tubal is the phonetic rendering for the

Russian city of Tobalsk while others claim it is for the Georgian

city of Tblisi."

Hebrew is a different language than English or other European

languages. The Hebrew word "rosh" meaning chief in Strong's

Exhaustive Concordance is number 7218, wich Strong's defines

as "from an unusual root apparently meaning to shake; the head

whether it be literally or figuratively - band, captain, chief,

first, forefront, head...ruler."

Prince is Strong's number 5387, nasi, an exalted one, i.e. as a

king or sheik...captain, chief

In order to show that the Hebrew word rosh contains meanings that suggest the nation of Russia, a scholar would have to have evidence for this. Hal Lindsey or whoever he got the idea from that rosh is

Russia demonstrated little scholarship in making this connection.

Because the Hebrew word rosh sounds a little like Russia does

not mean there is a connection between rosh and Russia. Even within a language there are words that sound much the same but have very different meanings. Rosh provides no evidence that Magog is Russia. And because the area north of the Black Sea or the Caucasus region where the Indo-Europeans supposedly started from was in the Soviet Union does not mean that Russia is Magog.

Then who are Gog and Magog?

At http://www.prophecyupdate.com/gog_and_magog_identified.htm

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus says that the Scythians are descended from Magog. He says

"Magog founded the Magogians, thus named

after him, but who were by the Greeks called Scythians."

Herodotus, known as the Father of

History also writes of the savage practices of the descendents of Magog known as the Scythians.

On http://www.christiananswers.net/dictionary/magog.html

it states that Jerome, the Catholic Church Father, said that Magog "...denotes 'Scythian nations, fierce and innumerable, who live beyond the Caucasus and the Lake Maeotis, and near the Caspian Sea, and spread out even onward to India."

On http://www.khouse.org/articles/2002/427/ they say

"The Cimmerians are the oldest of the European tribes living north of the Black Sea and Danube, and whom we know by the name they used for themselves. The Cimmerian period in the history of southern Ukraine began in the late 11th century B.C. The Cimmerians were the first specialized horse-nomads to make their name in history. The earliest osteological evidence of the domestication of the horse occurs south of Kiev about 2500 B.C.1 Their nomadic lifestyle, including mounted warriors, fully developed between the 10th and 8th centuries."

"We know the descendants of Magog by their Greek designation as the Scythians...Herodotus describes them living in Scythia (i.e., the territory north of the Black Sea). He describes Scythia as a square, 20 days journey (360 miles) on a side. It encompassed the lower reaches of the Dniester, Bug, Dnieper, and Don Rivers where they flow into the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov... In the 7th century B.C. the Scythians swept across the area, displacing the Cimmerians from the steppes of the Ukraine east of Dnieper River, who fled from them across the Caucasus. It is provocative that even the name "Caucasus" appears to have been derived from Gog-hasan, or "Gog's Fort."

The Scythians occupied the area north of the Black Sea that had been the land of the Cimmerians and the two peoples might have intermarried.

The Indo-Europeans or Caucasians -  the Scythian-Cimmerians - migrated into Europe and then into England and Ireland. The Anglo-Saxons mixed to some extent with the British Celts and so the English as well as the Scotch, Welsh and Irish may have a Scythian-Cimmerian identity. The Germanic peoples may also be related to the historical Magog of Genesis 10.

According to the Lord Mayor of London, the giants Gog and Magog are traditional guardians of the City of London, and images of them have been carried in the Lord Mayor's Show since the days of King Henry V. There may be a Niphilim connection of Genesis 6 to these giants called Gog and Magog.

Monmouth's 12th century Historia Regum Britanniae and the Lebor Gabála Érenn (the Book of Invasions) claim the British Celts and Irish are descendants of Magog. This all gets murky in mythology, but in part the identity of the Indo-European peoples as Magog may have some truth.

Though the identity of Magog began from a real historical ancestor found in Genesis 10: 2, that identity may have shifted to a spiritual one.

The web site http://timothyministries.org/TheologicalDictionary/references.aspx?theword=Gog%20and%20Magog

has this to say about the Jewish tradition on Gog and Magog: "In terms of extra-biblical Jewish tradition, Gog the 'prince' has been

explained being one of the 70 national angels of whom all except

one, Michael (the guardian angel of Israel), are fallen angels..."

According to this interpretation, Gog is the angel of a nation called Magog.

The number 70 in regard to Magog gets another twist in the

writings of the Jewish Kabbalist Rabbi Issac Luria (Safed, Israel 1534-1572). According to the web site http://www.israelforum.com/board/archive/index.php/t-9864.html Luria is said to have taught that Magog has the numerical value of 70. Somehow Luria and his followers decided that there are essentially 70 non-Jewish nations in the world. In addition, the web site given above claims "This alludes to the fact that Gog from Mogog is the head of the super power which dominates the 70 nations of the world. The Ari has thus clearly and unequivocally identified Mogog as the super-power of the world. He has uncovered the mystery. Mogog is none other then this blessed country of ours, the United States of America, and "Gog" is its president." The "Ari" is apparently Rabbi Luria.

Although the Jewish tradition about Gog and Magog may not shed more light than do Flavius Josephus, Herodotus and Jerome on who these guys are, its interesting that Jews may consider the United States as Magog.

Lets look at a Scripture from Ezekiel 38. Ezekiel 38: 3- 4 says "This saith the Lord God; behold, I am against thee, o Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy

jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and

horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great

company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:"

"I will turn thee back" could be saying that Gog has started to go in

one direction, but has hooks put in his jaws and made to go in a

different direction, or way. It may be important here that only Gog is mentioned as having hooks put in his jaw.

Some agency may be acting to manipulate Gog, Meshech and Tubal, and to cause them do do something they did not originally intend to do. We have Scripture here saying that Gog and company have hooks put in their jaw to do something. The text says in Ezekiel 38: 8 that they will come into the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel. We need to study what is said here, because theologians may have jumped to conclusions about what this war is about, and who is "invaded." One scenario is that

Gog and company invade the nation of Israel rather than send missiles and/or weapons of mass destruction against them. Invasion by infantry and tanks would be a suicide mission for those in the invasion. Another scenario is that it is some kind of military attack upon the United States. Or, it might be metaphoric, describing not a physical war of nation against nation, but an attack upon some group of Christians.

If its a war of nation against nation, Gog is made a puppet nation by the master nation of Magog, though Gog would not willingly become the

puppet of a super power nation. The super power nation, not Russia, would be the master mind behind the scenes to put hooks in the jaw of Gog and company.

Ezekiel 39: 6 says "And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD." The Hebrew word translated as isles can also be translated as coast lines. A fire could be several things. It could be a nuclear strike upon Magog only, since Gog is not mentioned here. Magog in one scenario is the mastermind nation that puts hooks in the jaw of Gog and company to do something. It could be something else, also probably not good for Magog. Bernard