However, the military advancement of Russia into the Holy Land and her complete destruction by God on the hillsides of Israel is just as supernatural as the outcome of Armageddon.
The holy Scriptures even locate and name the vast new cemetery that will develop solely as a place of burial of the Russian Army and her allies. So many soldiers will die that it will take the Israelis seven months to bury them.
The stench of decaying men will cause people to hold their noses when they pass by. You could well ask on what basis are such incredible statements made. Does such talk come from a world premier mystery movie or a futuristic horror paperback? No, these predictions are in the Bible.
The Book of Ezekiel, chapters 38 and 39 talk about a country named ROSH, and her subsequent destruction. The King James Version does not name ROSH but others, such as the New English Bible and the Amplified Bible, do.
These two chapters state that Rosh (Russia) and her allies will invade Israel when that little country is “at rest” (38:11) to “take a spoil” (v. 13).
When they get into the land, they “shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your bands, and the people that are with you” (39:4); that is, Russia’s allies. Many Bible scholars agree that ancient Rosh is now Russia.
Therefore Gomer, Magog, Tubal, and Meshech, who are named in Genesis, chapter 10, as the sons of Japeth, the son of Noah, turn up in Ezekiel as names of places “in the uttermost parts of the north” (38:6).
Moscow is nearly 1,500 miles due north of Jerusalem.
But is there a mighty Russia today? We all remember when that gigantic country, covering one-sixth of the earth, fell apart.
The world press said on Thursday, Dec. 26, 1991: “The [Soviet] union heaved its last breath in December, 1991, stripped of ideology, dismembered, bankrupt, and hungry —but awe-inspiring even in its fall.”
Nonetheless, Russia is a significant country now and will be strong enough at the end to rally other countries with her to attack Israel.
Not only does Russia prepare to launch a land attack “with chariots, and with horsemen,” but also she is poised for attack from the Mediterranean Sea “with many ships,” aircraft carriers, and probably submarines.
Probably millions of soldiers will “enter also into the glorious land” carrying many tons of supplies and equipment. Just as the Russians are poised to deal a colossal and devastating blow against little Israel, supernatural, unexplainable things begin to happen against them.
In their consternation, the Russians even turn and begin to fight each other, reminiscent of the confusion of the Midianites hundreds of years earlier (Judges 7:22).
Ezekiel describes the providential intervention against Russia as follows: “Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel ... every man’s sword shall be against his brother.
“And I will plead against him [Russia] with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
“Thus will I magnify myself ... and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord” (38:19-23).
Can you imagine how foul the air will be when millions of human bodies begin to decay? The Bible takes time to tell us about it.
Joel says, “Its stench shall come up ... and its foul odor shall come up” (2:20), while Ezekiel comments, “it shall stop the noses of the passengers” (39:11).
After these millions “... fall [dead] upon the mountains of Israel” (39:4), the Israelis will set aside a massive cemetery over by the Dead Sea and will name it the Valley of Hamongog (v. 11).
Collecting and bringing bodies to the Valley of Hamongog burial grounds will be a national ecological project. For seven months, “all the people of the land shall bury them” (v. 13).
After that “they shall sever out men of continual employment” (v. 14) to bury those that remain. Whenever a skeleton is found, a marker will be placed by it, so that the burying crew may find it and take it to the graveyard near the Dead Sea. Thus the people will cleanse the land.
When the destruction is over and the dead are buried, God himself states the lasting results: “And I will set my glory among the heathen and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that have laid upon them.
“So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward” (Ezekiel 39:21, 22).
It appears this great intervention of God for Israel will cause many people to believe that Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings.
