With the announcement that the US is going to pull out of Syria, the other players are scrambling to fill the void and seize the power shift. One of the players, Turkey, represents the area mentioned as the leader of a coalition against Israel in the Ezekiel 38 end time prophecy. That prophecy states that Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, will lead “Persia (iran), Ethiopia (Sudan) and Libya with them (verse 5)” against the mountains of Israel in a colossal end time battle. Magog, Meshech and Tubal are all ancient locations in Turkey. The meeting of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan aimed to broker alignment between Turkey, Syria, Iran and Russia.
Russia supports Iran. Syria is a vassal state of Iran. A 1998 agreement between Russia and Turkey, according to Bloomberg, “states that Syria won’t permit any activity on its territory that would jeopardize Turkey’s security.” Russia wants the government in Damascus to assert control over the Kurdish-held territory once US forces leave, which constitutes a “safe zone.” When the US withdraws, Turkey wants to attack the Kurds in Syria, which Erdogan believes pose a threat to Turkey’s national security. Putin is leveraging the 1998 agreement to say that Syria will take care of the Kurds in Syrian territory, hoping that Turkey will restore ties with Syria. Russia and Iran have helped keep Syria’s Bashar Assad in power.
The current focus of Turkey and Russia in Syria likely advances the prophecy clock. Turkey, obviously, is a primary player in establishing the stage of the end times. Russia is representing the interests of Turkey’s competitor Iran. Iran eventually submits to Turkey, if only long enough to invade Israel in the end of days. Syria is also a prophetic player as indicated by Isaiah 17:1 stating, “Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.” All these end time players are working together against Israel, while reluctantly sharing, giving, and taking power. But it is Turkey, where the ancient regions of Magog lay, and Pergamos, where Jesus says Satan’s seat is, that bears watching for the end of days.
In Daniel 8:19, Gabriel says, “Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. The ram which you saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia.” Strong’s Concordance interprets the word “Grecia” in Hebrew as “Yavan, a son of Japheth (the third son of Noah),” his descendants and their land. The Genesis 10 table of nations indicates this area was not only Greece (as Bible interpretations imply), but also the Eastern Mediterranean, including key parts of today’s Turkey. Other sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras-many settled in ancient areas of Turkey, which are mentioned in Ezekiel 38. This is why we need to keep an eye on Turkey when considering end time prophecy.
