Gog Rising - Syria Opens Ezekiel 38

Gog, the leader of an invasion of Israel prophesied to occur near the end of this age. An event that in time will bring about the repentance of Israel, their recognition of the Messiah, and the wrath of God against the nations who opposed her. Ezekiel 38, Daniel 7, 8 and 11 all point to the coming of this blasphemous foe who will arise in the north from the lands of Japeth. Only the land of Syria, guarded by world powers, has stood between him and Israel. But in an amazing turn of events, the resistance was flooded away, and a resurrecting empire begins to breathe while the passion of its leader turns towards Jerusalem. 

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Gog, the leader of an invasion of Israel prophesied to occur near the end of this age. An event that in time will bring about the repentance of Israel, their recognition of the Messiah, and the wrath of God against the nations who opposed her. Ezekiel 38, Daniel 7, 8 and 11 all point to the coming of this blasphemous foe who will arise in the north from the lands of Japeth. Only the land of Syria, guarded by world powers, has stood between him and Israel. But in an amazing turn of events in December, the resistance was flooded away, and a resurrecting empire begins to breathe while the passion of its leader turns towards Jerusalem. 

Welcome to West Clouds Rising, a podcast that examines the mysteries of the end of this age and reveals how believers can overcome the events coming upon the earth. I am Joel Michael. And today, I am going to talk about the rise of Gog, the end-times leader who will set his heart against Jerusalem and conquer the land of Israel and how recent events have ripped open this prophecy and set a path in motion that will ultimately lead to the fulfillment of this 2,600 year old prophecy.

1. Gog, the invader of Israel in Ezekiel 38, is one of many Old Testament names associated with the Antichrist. He is an invader from the north, from the land of Magog, Meschech (MEH-shek), Tubal, all part of modern-day Turkey and perhaps extending into the northern border of Syria. If Gog is the Antichrist, then the Antichrist will arguably arise in Turkey. 
2. Israel has noticed. Recent events have led Israel to recognize that a monumental shift in power is taking place in the middle east and the government even released a report that it must prepare for a potential attack from Turkey. But amazingly, all of this is detailed in Biblical prophecy. 
3. The fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria is another significant prophetic step forward in Biblical prophecy. Since Syria shares its southern border with Israel, any northern invader must cross through Syria to reach Israel’s northern border. Syria is key to prophecies in Ezekiel and Daniel related to the Beast and its mouthpiece, the Antichrist. 
4. According to prophecy, a number of events must occur in the end times. What is amazing about the fall of Assad is that the events of recent days play right into those prophecies.
5. I’m going to highlight three prophetic themes in Ezekiel and Daniel that are amazingly taking place before our eyes.
   1. Turkey will overtake Iran as the dominant player in the Middle East (Ezek 38, Daniel 7, Daniel 8 (the fourth beast resurrected)
   2. From Turkey will arise Gog, the A/C who must overtake three other leaders or countries, likely including Syria.
   3. Turkey, led by Gog, and a host of surrounding nations will invade Isreal.
6. So, what do we know about Gog. Strangely, he is not mentioned much. Gog is the name given to a son or grandson of Joel, but that is all that is written about him. Whether this Gog has anything to do with Gog in Ezekiel is unknown. Perhaps Gog had a rebellious nature or trait that is lost to history. 
   1. The Septuagint actually uses the name Gog in Amos 7 to describe an invasion of locusts that destroy Israel’s crops, and Gog is named as the caterpillar king over the locusts. The Septuagint comes from a Greek translation of an older Jewish text that precedes the test from which modern translations are derived by 700-1000 years. The modern translations just mention a king. So it appears that Gog is a name used to describe an invader of Israel that is lost in modern translations.  
   2. This makes me wonder if Gog, the king over the swarms of locusts, could be connected to the beast that comes out of the abyss and leads a swarm of demonic locusts against mankind in Rev 9? It’s an interesting correlation.
   3. In any case, it is likely that Ezekiel knew of Amos’ use of Gog, as Amos preceded Ezekiel by roughly 150 years. Perhaps he used this term because it is contained in the word Magog, the land from which this invader comes. Of course, the primary reason Ezekiel used this name is that God spoke it to him.
   4. Magog is one of the sons of Japeth, a son of Noah. Noah has three sons on the ark, Shem, Ham, and Japeth. Genesis 10 tells us the sons of Japeth were “Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim.
   5. Many of these names can be found in Ezekiel 38 - Magog, Tubal and Meshech are directly under Gog’s rule. And Ezekiel also mentions Gomer and Beth-togarmah.
   6. So the lands described by Ezekiel are all part of the area Japeth settled. Nearly every Bible almanac shows these lands in Asia Minor, covering modern-day Turkey. 
   7. As I discussed in the last podcast, some stretch these lands up into Russia, arguing that the word Rosh in Ezekiel is referring to modern-day Russia. Some Bible translations even use the term “prince of Rosh,” to favor this interpretation of the text. But this seems irresponsible for the translators to do this. Rosh simply means “chief” in Hebrew; Rosh is not a place. So the Jewish text simply states that Gog is the chief prince of Meshaech and Tubal, not the prince of Rosh, Mesaech and Tubal. 
      1. The KJ translation and New English translation translate this term rosh literally as “chief” and the NASB translation, which is generally a very literal translation, formerly used “prince of Rosh” but was recently updated in 2022 with the wording “chief prince”. The Septuagint also favors this translation stating “Rhos prince of Mesoch and Thobel”
   8. The argument for including Russia in this group of nations is thin—not nonexistent, but thin. I think it has gained favor because of Russia’s involvement in the Middle East, particularly Syria. The notes to the NET state, “See D. I. Block. As Block demonstrates, attempts by some popular writers to identify these proper names with later geographical sites in Russia are anachronistic,” meaning out of sync with history.
   9. I strongly favor the position that Russia is not one of the nations described by Ezekiel; however, in today’s intertangled alliances, it is possible, if not likely, that Russia will have some hand in this, even if only through the provision of weapons.
7. So getting back to modern times, Ezekiel 38 shows us that Turkey, not Iran will be the driving force behind the invasion of Israel. Today, Iran is the most visible attacker of Israel, but Turkey is as well but does so in less direct ways.
   1. Besides its financial backing of Hamas, which is significant, one could say that Turkey is in the process of a soft invasion of Jerusalem spreading its influence throughout the city. 
      1. From Jerusalem Post, Ran Ichay, a team leader at the Jerusalem Center for Applied Policy (J-CAP)  “They operate in Jerusalem in the classic Muslim Brotherhood method,” he explained. “They set up supposed projects for welfare, education, financial aid, help to the needy, and more, all in an aim to penetrate society and introduce their extreme ideologies through social and religious activities.”
      2. These projects, Ichay stressed, are carried out either directly by the Turkish Consulate or the Turkish aid agency TIKA or through local associations, including the Islamic Movement in Israel. Their involvemen may seem altruistic but it is intended to spread Turkish influence in Jerusalem. “They give scholarships for education, computers, especially for those who are interested in learning Turkish,” he added. “They also offer business assistance and even support for home renovations in the Old City. Many times, we find that they do this while conditioning those who benefit from the projects to hang a Turkish flag in their homes or businesses, which is why many of those can be found, especially in the Old City.”
      3. Ankara has already established its presence and influence in Syria, Iraq, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Somalia, Sudan and Libya, and Yemen. Note that Sudan and Libya are Ez 38 participants.
   2. But Turkey’s rhetoric is far more obvious. Turkish President Recep Erdogan has made many aggressive statements hinting at his aspirations to invade Jerusalem, a city once under the territory of the Ottoman Empire. 
      1. Erdogan sees Jerusalem as an Ottoman city. Addressing Parliament in 2020 he stated “In this city, which we had to leave in tears during the First World War, it is still possible to come across traces of the Ottoman resistance. So Jerusalem is our city, a city from us,”.
      2. He went on to say that “the current appearance of the Old City, which is the heart of Jerusalem, was built by Suleiman the Magnificent”.
      3. Erdoğan has made his intentions clear that has Jesusalem in his sights. During a speech in June 2015, Erdogan stated, “Unfortunately we the Muslims lost our aim to head towards Jerusalem . The water of our eyes froze making us blind, and our heart that was destined to beat for Jerusalem is now instead conditioned for rivalry being in a state of war with each other.”
      4. Make no mistake, Erdogon still see the nations of today that were once part of the Ottomon Empire as belonging to the Ottomans. In 2018 Erdogan clearly stated his intentions for lands the Ottomans once held, saying “Those who thought we/ve forgotten all about these lands after withdrawing in tears a century ago better realize now that they are wrong against Turkey.” “We say at every opportunity we have, that in Syria, Iraq, and other places on the map are no different from our own homeland. We are struggling so that a foreign flag will not be waved anywhere where adhan (Islamic call to prayer) is recited.”
      5. He has continued to reveal his intentions. In 2020,  Erdogan described the conversion of the Hagia Sophia, orignally,  a sixth century Orthodox-church in Istabul, from a museum back into a mosque. And described this as paving the way for the “liberation” of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque.
      6.  In July of this year, Erdoǧan even appeared to threaten an invasion of Israel in response to fighting in Gaza. At a party speech he stated “We must be very strong so that Israel can’t do these things to Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do. Only we must be strong.” 
         1. Erdogan is referencing the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020. Turkey spent years building up the Azerbaijan army and during the conflict with Armenia, he sent military advisors and weapons into the warzone.
         2. IN Libya, Turkey began deploying troops including Syrian mercenaries from the SNA, the Syrian National Army to western Libya in 2019, even flying the Turkish flag over their bases. Today approximately 3,000 Turkish personnel are currently deployed on Libyan soil.
         3. Turkey has already been supplying Hamas with weapons and providing a safe haven for their leadership. But Erdogan’s reference to  Nagorno-Karabakh and Libya implies direct intervention in the Israel/Hamas was by Turkish military personnel.
      7. And most recently, in September, after the death of an anti-Israeli activist with U.S. and Turkish citizenship during a protest in Samaria, Erdoğan, called for Islamic countries to unite against Israel. Which sure sound like a precursor to the Ezekiel 38 invasion of Israel by the surrounding Islamic countries.
   3. So when you think of the war of God and Magog, think not as if this is some Russian-driven invasion through an alliance with Iran and Turkey, rather a Turkish-lead invasion of Israel with the backing of Iran and several other Islamic nations. 
   4. And surely we have just witnessed this shift of power in the middle east away from Russia and Iran and into Turkey. We’ll talk more about this current shift later in this episode.
   5. But Ezekiel is not the only And according to the prophecies in Daniel, Turkey is a major end-times player. 
8. Let’s start with Daniel 8, Daniel’s prophetic vision of a ram and a goat. So this prophecy is special for a number of reasons.
   1. First, after the vision, the angel Gabriel interprets it for Daniel, so we don’t have to speculate about which nations and powers this prophecy refers to. 
   2. Second, Gabriel tells Daniel that this prophecy is related to the end times.
   3. Lastly, much of the prophecy was fulfilled before Christ came in the flesh, so Daniel 8 is one of those prophecies that forms a historical paradigm from which we can understand the times to come. 
   4. In this prophecy, Daniel has a vision of a ram while he was in the Elam, or modern day Iran. He see this ram butting his head to the west, north, and south, and it states that “no other beasts could stand before him nor was there anyone to rescue from his power, but he did as he pleased and magnified himself”
      1. Once Gabriel explains this vision to Daniel, he explains that the ram is Media Persia, again, the area of modern-day Iran. While much time has passed since this vision, the angelic principality over that region would be assumed to be the same, that is the prince of Persia.
      2. Looking at Iran today, the country has acted with impunity, backing Islamic terrorist groups and spreading its influence to the west in Iraq, Lebanon and Israel and south into Yemen. Though it has not attacked to the north it has grown strong relations with Russia and is supplying weapons and drones to Russia to fight Ukraine. 
   5. Getting back to the vision, Daniel sees a male goat that comes from the west “over the surface of the whole earth without touching the ground.” this goat rushes at the ram with mighty wrath and shatters his horns. 
      1. In the Bible, a horn is a symbol of authority and power
      2. The goat has a conspicuous horn on its head representing a mighty king, but that horn is shattered and from it arise four horns or kings. 
      3. The angel reveals to Daniel that this goat represents Greece. This horn is attributed to Alexander the Great. This horn is then shattered and four come up in its place. These four are attributed to four of Alexander’s generals who took the largest swaths of his territory. Two two largest are the Seleucid empire and the Ptolmic empire. 
      4. But then a little horn arises from these four horns, and in its fulfillment,the little horn, the Antichrist figure, arose from the Selucid empire, which included Turkey and its capital was in Antioch, right on the border of Syria and Turkey . And the words to describe this little horn are antichrist-type terms. This small horn grows exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the Beautiful Land, which is Israel. In Antichrist fashion this horn magnifies itself to be equal with the Commander of the host (meaning Jesus); and it removed the regular sacrifice from Him, and the place of His sanctuary was thrown down. 
      5. This is the event known as the abomination of desolation, a term used in Daniel where an antichrist figure desecrates the temple bringing desolation to Jerusalem. The Selucid king, Antochus Epiphanes fulfilled this prophecy, sacrificing a pig to Zues on the altar of the Holy of Holies. 
      6. So was this prophecy fulfilled? Yes. But there was is more. Gabriel specifically tells Daniel that this prophecy relates to the “time of the end.”
      7. When is the time of the end? Gabriel also gives a timeline for how long the desolation will last; 2300 evenings and mornings.This puzzled me for a long time. Now in Bible prophecy time periods like days and weeks may not mean what it means to use. For example in Daniel 9, Gabriel uses the term weeks to refer to a week of years; a 7-year period.
      8. I struggle with this 2300 days because it didn;t seem to match up with any other prophecy. Then I saw a proposed solution from Dr. Ken Johnson [add 2300 year calculation]
      9. Now the word used for Greece in this prophecy is not the Greece that we know today. The word used for this is Yavan, Javan and name given to one of the sons of Japeth, whose family occupied Asia Minor in modern-day Turkey. Javan is shown on many Bible atlases on the western coast of Turkey. 
      10. Though we haven’t seen Turkey attack Iran, as was the case with Alexander, through the recent events in Syria, Turkey has strategically supplanted Iran as the dominant Islamic player in the region. It was Israel that shattered Iran’s power, decimating Hamas and Hezbollah, and shattering military assets in Syria and Iran, including missile sites and antiaircraft missiles. 
      11. So what aspects of this prophecy relates to the end times? Should we expect Turkey to conquer Iran as Greece had conquered Persia? 
      12. That’s not clear to me in the prophecy. Gabriel tells Daniel, “I am going to let you know what will occur at the final period of the indignation, for it pertains to the appointed time of the end.
      13. Gabriel identifies the countries but starts off with a future time, not the time of the conflict. He states “In the latter period of their rule, When the transgressors have run their course, A king will arise.” He then goes on to prophecy about an Antichrist.
      14. So first notice that Gabriel states in the latter period of “their” rule, which seems to convey that both countries will still exist in the latter times. And both countries will be transgressors. 
      15. In Gabriel’s explanation of how Daniel’s vision pertains to the time of the end, he skips over the description of a confrontation between Javan and Persia and jumps into the rise of a little horn, the Antichrist figure. So it is unclear to say whether there will be a clash between the two countries like the prior fulfillment. However, we can put much more assurance of a recurrence of the rising of the little horn. 
      16. So while it is unclear if the first part of Daniel’s vision plays out with a clash between modern-day Turkey and Iran, it is clear that as in the days of Antiochus, this little horn will arise at the time of the end.
   6.  Now let’s look at Daniel 7, a vision of the end times that Daniel experienced about two years before the vision of the ram and the goat. In Daniel 7, Daniel sees a vision of the four winds of heaven stirring the seas and out come four beasts, representing four empires to come. This fourth empire is one that will be the final empire before Christ comes to destroy this beast and establish His kingdom of the saints.
      1. As most of you know, most end times commentators have historically attributed these four beasts and Babyon, Media-Persia, Greece, and Rome. But as you may have heard me mention before, Rome simply does not meet the description of the fourth beast. Rome could certainly be described as a beast, and while it decimated Jerusalem (using troops from places now in modern-day Turkey and Syria), it did not trample down the other beasts of the Middle East, such as Babylon and Persia. So it cannot be the fourth beast in Daniel’s vision. 
      2. But an empire arises after this time that meets the description in the vision: the Islamic empire or caliphate. And the Islamic caliphate that conquered all these lands together is the Ottoman Empire, based in Turkey.   
      3. And we learn more about this beast in Revelation. In Revelation 17, an angel explains to the apostle John his vision of the end-times beast. The angel states that the Beast has seven heads. These heads are mountains, or empires, angelic princes or kings some had passed and some yet to come. The angel explains the mystery behind these empires  like this ‘five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction.”
      4. These mountains are the mountains that have troubled Israel over the centuries. The five that had fallen are presumed to be Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Greece. The one that is was Rome, which was the dominant empire over Israel at the time. The one that was to come could only be the Islamic Caliphate represented by the Ottoman Empire. But this empire is also a eighth head, because it was eliminated, slain but revived. For Revelation 13 states “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed.” So the Islamic Caliphate, the Ottoman Empire will return. 
      5. Turkish President Erdogan is fixated on restoring the Ottoman Empire to its former glory. His government has pushed an Ottoman agenda on the public with entertainment like TV shows centered on the Ottomans. He has also increased Ottoman visibility in Jerusalem with Ottoman museums. 
   7. But there is more to the prophecy. Daniel 7 tells us that the “king” that will arise in the empire will take over three other kings. Like the beast of revelation, and Stan, the dragon on Rev 12, the beast of Daniel has ten horns. It states “a little one,[horn]  came up among them, and three of the first horns were pulled out by the roots before it; and behold, this horn possessed eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth uttering great boasts.” The angel confirms this interpretation with Daniel telling him that the king will subdue three other kings. I strongly suspect, one of these kings will be Syria. We’ll get to that later.
   8. And all these indications of the Islamic Ottoman empire are further confirmed by Ezekiel 38, which points directly to Turkey as the leader of the invasion of Israel. 
9. So with this prophetic background, let’s turn to recent events in the Middle East.
10. On December 8th, the Assad regime fell as Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other Syrian rebel forces captured four major cities in under 24 hours and closed in on the capital of Damascus. Assad officially fled Syria and was granted asylum in Russia.
11. How did this happen so quickly after over 13 years of Civil War? The primary reason was that Assad’s main supporters, Russia, Iran, and by extension Hezbollah have directed their focus to their own wars.
12.  Israel's response to the October 7th Hamas invasion and attacks on its land from Hezbollah and Iran decimated Hezbollah and weakened Iran, eliminating key support for Assad. And Russia, embroiled in its war with Ukraine and by proxy, NATO, could not provide the additional assistance needed. 
13. On the eve of the collapse, Qatar hosted Turkey, Iran and Russia to discuss the future of Syria. The parties knew that supporting Assad would be costly and bloody. Turkey, who had been supporting Syrian rebel forces, had a lot to gain. Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told local TV channel NTV that Turkey played a key role in making sure that Assad's allies, Russia and Iran, did not intervene in the taking of Damascus. Fidan described Turkey's role in the development and training of Syria's rebels and its eventual role in helping ensure the fall of Bashar Assad's regime.
14. After their forum, the parties called Assad and Russia granted him asylum.
15. This is a significant power shift in the Middle East that has implications for the countries that the Bible highlights in the end times - Syria, Turkey, Iran, Lebanon, and of course, Israel.
16. Keep in mind that Assad was evil but secular, an Arab nationalist and Syria is now controlled by an Islamic extremist army with many factions in the mix, including Al-Qaeda and ISIS. 
    1. HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Jawlani is a terrorist with a $10M reward on his head by the US government. He was inspired the 9/11 attackers, calling them "exceptional," and idolized Osama bin Laden. He joined ( a   group) Saraya al-Mujahideen, which later joined al-Qaeda. He was also known to be a terrorist in the Islamic State in Iraq.  
    2. He founded the al-Nusra Front, or Jabhat al-Nusra, as an al-Qaeda affiliate in part with the help of Islamic State founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The al-Nusra Front committed acts of violence against the Kurds and Druze. According to the UN, HTS "and its components still maintain contact with Al-Qaeda leadership," .
    3. al-Jawlani is stating that he will start a government inclusive of the diversity of groups in Syria, but even if that is true, jihad is in the blood of these fighters. This is but a step in their never ending war against the non-Muslims they call infidels. 
17. After the taking of Damascus, a video was posted to X of an rebel spokesman surrounded by a group of gunmen vowing to march on Jerusalem.
    1. “This is the land of Islam, this is Damascus, the Muslim stronghold. From here to Jerusalem. We’re coming for Jerusalem. Patience, people of Gaza, patience,” as the gunmen cried out “Allahu akbar! (“Allah is greater” in Arabic).
    2. According to Dr. Kedar is a senior lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and the vice president of NEWSRAEL, the name Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham means the liberation of all of Western Asia. This includes Lebanon, Israel, and the western part of Jordan. They also intend to liberate ‘Palestine’ from the Jewish ‘Occupation.’”
18. Though not by design, Israel’s actions contributed heavily to the success of the Syrian rebels. Israel’s power moves against Hezbollah, and Iran had a significant role in the Syrian shift of power. After thousands of rockets and missiles had been fired at Isreal from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, the Houthis and even Iran, and despite objections from the weak US administration, Israel went after these aggressors and boldly attacked their infrastructure. Israel decimated Hezbollah’s leadership and weaponry and exposed Iran’s vulnerability, destroying missile sites, Russian made anti-aircraft and missile defenses. These moves removed key support for Assad.
19. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the fall of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria and argued that it was a "direct result" of Israeli attacks on Iran and Hezbollah.
    1. And Israel took immediate action. To avoid Syrian military assets falling into the hands of Islamic extremists, the Israeli Israel Air Force targeted the majority of the strategic weapons stockpiles within Syria, carrying out some 350 strikes in the first night. Israel destroyed aircraft, ships, missiles, air defenses, and a variety of other heavy weapons.
    2. Israeli Navy missile ships struck two Syrian Navy facilities simultaneously where 15 Syrian naval vessels were docked, effectively eliminating Syria’s Navy.
    3. While its air force bombed multiple airfields and hangers, effectively eliminating Syria’s air force. 
    4. Israel destroyed cruise missiles, surface-to-sea missiles, UAVs, fighter jets, radars, tanks, and attack helicopters, and other military assets. 
    5. These moves were intended to keep Assad’s military assets from falling into the hands of the Islamic rebel forces.
20. Israel also took immediate action to gain a stronger defensive foothold along border zones. Simultaneous to the air and sea attacks, the IDF mobilized tanks and infantry across the border to establish a buffer zone. They also seized a Syrian base at the peak of Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in the region. These territories are positions not held by Israel since the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
    1. So the October 7th Hamas invasion of Israel was a significant turning point in the region. If not for that event, Israel would not have taken the steps it did against its enemies. In a twist of fate, Iran’s moves against Israel by its proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah, resulted in a significant waning of its position in the Middle East.
21. So as I mentioned earlier in this episode, One of the key takeaways from Daniel 7, 8 and Ezekiel 38 is that Iran’s power will wane while Turkey’s will rise to become the major power against Israel. This is happening right before our eyes.
22. Let’s look at Iran.Iran has been managing its apocalyptic intended terrorism through proxies primarily against Israel. It had significant strongholds in Lebanon, Gaza and Iraq and could freely move assets through Syria under Assad. 
23. After the regime change, a Hezbollah spokesman, Naim Qassem, admitted that Hezbollah lost its most important supply route from Iran through Syria with the fall of Assad. Hezbollah and Iran backed Assad against the rebels and now that the rebels won,at the surface, it appears that the largely Sunni rebels will work with the Shites who opposed them.  Whether the emerging government of Syria will allow the weapons trade routes from Iran to Lebanon through Syria remains to be seen.
24. In the media, Iranian officials called HTS's victory a plot by Western powers to weaken the "axis of resistance" touted by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. One official told the Telegraph that “The resistance project almost no longer exists.” And one official stated “You don’t need to be an expert to see that we are in our weakest and most vulnerable position in a decade,  and many acknowledge that here”.
25. So like the prophetic undertones of Daniel and Ezekiel, Iran’s power has weakened and it will take second seed to the emerging Ottoman power, Turkey.
26. It’s also worth mentioning Russia, which many (mistakenly) believe is Gog of Ezekiel 38.Syria was Russia’s closest ally in the Middle East.  Like Iran, Russia has lost influence in the Middle East with Assad’s defeat. Russia also backed Assad against the Syrian rebels. 
    1. Upon Assad’s withdrawal, Russia hastily withdrew its ships and transported leftover weapons by air from its bases in Syria. Its military withdrew its warships from the Tartus naval base, which Assad had previously handed over to Moscow in exchange for security. It also pulled its military back from the front lines in northern Syria and from posts in the Alawite Mountains but for now left two main bases in the country.
    2. Russia is also attributing some of the rebels' success to the intervention of Ukraine. The Kyiv Post (a reliable source according toNewsGuard Internet Trust Tool) ran story entitled "Ukrainian Trained, Turkish Sponsored Syrian Rebels Lead Assault on Aleppo" It claimed that special forces troops from the Khimik group of Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate provided operation training to Islamic fundamentalist rebel groups. The training focused on tactics developed during the war in Ukraine, including on the use of drones."
    3. Of course, a lot of the money from Ukraine would have come from US funding. 
27. If there is any one country that stands to gain from Assad’s fall, it’s Turkey. Remember, Gog of Turkey will need to cross Syria to enter Israel.
28. Turkey, led by Recip Erdogan, is a Sunni leader and strong supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, who openly backs terrorist groups like Hamas. Turkey played a major role in the Syrian civil war, invading various parts of northern Syria and using former Syrian rebel groups as proxies as part of what is called the Syrian National Army. Turkey armed and supported the rebel groups in Syria more than any other country.
29. For Turkey to one day invade Israel, it would need the motivation, the assets, and the access to Israel. Erdogan had cleary stated his motivation for entering Israel and the Palestinian war with Israel further drives his passion. The fall of Assad may give Turkey access it never had, which I will get into later, but first let’s discuss if it has the assets; the weapons and people to drive an invasion.
    1. In the early 2000s, Turkey relied on NATO and the US to provide its weapons. All of its machines of war had to be imported. But that has dramatically changed. 
    2. In just two decades, Turkey has grown its defence industry and become a prominent arms exporter of both naval and ground systems. Four Turkish defence companies are now ranked in the top 100 global defense firms. 2004s exports are expected to surpass $7 billion, making Turkey the leading Muslim arms exporter in the world.
    3. Today, Turkey relies on US F-16 for its air defence, but the government-owned Turkish Aerospace Industries has been developing a manned stealth fighter named the Kaan, reading ruler or king. They recently conducted the first test flight of this vehicle to replace the US F-16’s and cut its reliance on US aircraft. 
    4. Turkish defence company Bayraktar has developed a first-of-its-kind unmanned combat aircraft multi-purpose UAV named the Kizilelmaa, or red apple. This is a stealth jet drone that they plan to expand to supersonic capabilities. 
    5. 1/7/25 - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Turkey is developing ballistic missiles capable of reaching a range of 2,000 kilometers (about 1243 Miles), (distance from Turkey to Israel is about 655 flying km)
    6. On the land, Turkey holds 700 modern battle tanks, more than Germany and France combined, and 1,500 older tanks that have been modernized. And just last year Turkey started mass production of its Altay heavy battle tanks.
    7. Turkey is also expanding its naval production. Last year, the Turkish navy launched the Anadolu, an amphibious assault ship and drone carrier. On 1/3/25, Turkey announced a further expansion of its navy, including the acquisition of an additional submarine, a destroyer equipped with anti-aircraft missiles (learning from Russian losses) and even a new aircraft carrier capable of carrying 50 planes. This move will enable Turkey to strengthen its control over the eastern Mediterranean Sea, including its vast gas fields, and access Israel’s shores.
    8. If there are any doubts about Erdogan’s control over the military, remember, after the attempted coup in 2016, Erdogan purged the military of detractors and installed those loyal to him. 
30. So how could Erdogan leverage the sudden shift in power to gain land access to Israel?
    1. Erdogan did not waste time. Just as Israel moved in quickly to establish defensive positions, a move condemned by Turkey, Turkey went on the offensive. 
    2. Erdogan has constantly infringed on Syria’s sovereignty to ethnically cleanse it of the Kurds. Remember, Turkey, the Ottoman Empire committed genocide against the Armenians, indiscriminately killing as many as 1.2M people. Turkey uses the terrorism card to justify its actions. It has been fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party, a designated terrorist group known as the PKK for years, but it is extremely liberal in deciding what Kurds belong to the PKK. It seems that Turkey sees Kurds as a whole as guilty by association and broadly attacks their forces and civilians. 
    3. Turkey has invaded and controlled significant portions of Syria along its border. As Assad’s government fell, Turkey took advantage of the vacuum of power and ordered militias to attack the Syrian Democratic Forces, a mostly Kurdish group that was backed by the US in the fight against ISIS. 
    4.  Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar expressed opposition to Turkey’s attack on the Kurdish people, while Turkey, in its usual hypocritical stance on Israel, strongly condemned Israel for creating buffer zones along the border. The Turkish foreign ministry said.  “Israel is once again displaying its occupation mentality.” Turkey’s hypocrisy is staggering considering its years long occupation in northern Syria..
    5. And in a recent address to his party, Erdogan stated “Starting with Israel, the forces attacking Syrian territories must immediately put an end to their aggressive actions. Otherwise, the consequences will have a negative impact on everyone." He then went on to accuse Israel of genocide and massacres. Again, incredibly hypocritical for a country that committed genocide against the Armeneans. 
    6.  As Turkey was the main supporter of the Syrian rebels, it will likely have broader access to Syria than at any time since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey has a great opportunity in front of it. The new Syrian government has few military assets after Israel destroyed them, so they will need a benefactor, and Turkey stands in the best position to take that role. According to Reuters, Syria’s new president Ahmed al-Sharaa and Erdogan met in early February and were expected to discuss a defense agreement and potential new Turkish bases in central Syria.
    7. However this plays out, based on Biblical prophecy we know that Turkey will have a significant influence in Syria. Turkey’s Ottoman ambitions to occupy Jerusalem are well aligned with the Sunni jihadists, who want to (as they say) “free Palestine” which in essence means eradicating Jewish presence from Israel.
31. Israel is taking the Turkish threat seriously. On 1/6/25 - A committee, established by the Israeli government, known as the Nagel Committee warned that Turkey’s ambitions to restore its Ottoman-era influence could lead to heightened tensions with Israel, possibly escalating into conflict.
32. The Committee conveyed that Israel must prepare for a direct confrontation with Turkey. 
33. It stated that “The threat from Syria could evolve into something even more dangerous than the Iranian threat.” The report warned that "The problem will escalate if Syrian forces effectively become a 'Turkish proxy,' as part of Turkey's ambition to restore Ottoman-era influence. The presence of Turkish forces or their proxies in Syria could heighten the risk of a direct Israel-Turkey confrontation."
34. Netanyahu responded to the report and said, “We are witnessing fundamental changes in the Middle East. Iran has long been our greatest threat, but new forces are entering the arena, and we must be prepared for the unexpected. This report provides us with a roadmap to secure Israel’s future.”
35.   So here it is. Gog is rising. The recent events in Syria represent one of the biggest singular steps towards Biblical prophecy in the end times that we have seen to date.
36. Is Edgogan Gog? Is he the Antichrist? Perhaps. Whether Erdogan is Gog or another merely a predecessor who opens the door for Gog to rise up and invade remains to be seen. But scripture is clear, that the leader from the region of modern-day Turkey will lead an invasion with other Islamic countries into Israel. 
37. One day we may look back on this time as the beginning of the end and the start of the fulfillment of prophecies believers have sought to understand for millennia. And we will be witnesses to the events God spoke of to the most faithful prophets.
38. When we look back from the future years, I believe we will see 2024 as a year of transition. This was the word God gave me at the beginning of the year 2024. I believe 2025 could be a year that clarifies for many that we are truly in the end times, and not just in the end times, but on the brink of the great tribulation.