Bible Technology

There has been a story in the news the last week or two that caught my attention.   And that story is the civil unrest in Sudan.  I had one of those literal “Oh My God” moments that I’d like to share with you.   And because the title of this website contains the words “Tech Blog” I’ll focus on some aspects of Bible Technology.

Ezekiel

Ezekiel was a Hebrew prophet who wrote the Book Of Ezekiel.   He was taken to Babylon during the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.   In Ezekiel 38 there is a war referred to as the Gog Magog War.   As a Christian this conflict has fascinated me because quite frankly you can literally see the pieces falling into place.   And this civil unrest in Sudan fills in one of those pieces.  It is what inspired me to write this at 1AM in the morning.   That in itself is weird.  I felt kind of compelled to write this in the middle of the night.

Ezekiel 38

The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of^[a]Meshek and Tubal; prophesy against him ³ and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of^[b]Meshek and Tubal. ⁴ I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. ⁵ Persia, Cush^[c] and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, ⁶ also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with all its troops—the many nations with you.

The Players

Gog is most likely a person.   And it is important to note the country names are actually names of grandson’s of Noah. The countries mentioned in Ezekiel 38 that invade Israel in the Gog Magog war are:

• Magog means the Prince of Rosh (Russia)
• Meshek is Moscow
• Tubal is in Siberia (Russia)
• Persia is modern day Iran
• CUSH – Sudan and part of modern Ethiopia 
• Put is Libya
• Gomer is Central Turkey
• Beth Togarmah is Eastern Turkey

I’ve listed these to the best of my knowledge and understanding.  If you google around a bunch you’ll see some minor differences on where some of the countries listed above are at.

You’ll also note that I put Cush in bold letters.   As soon as I made the connection that Cush is modern day Sudan I immediately began looking for a connection with the other players in Gog Magog.  Sure enough, one side of the Sudan conflict is called the Rapid Support Forces or RSF.  Both Russia and Iran have been supplying them arms and other items.   Connection made.

Later in Ezekiel there are a couple of bystander counties. Sheba and Dedan.  Sheba is Arabia or more accurately Saudi Arabia and Dedan is also part of Saudi Arabia.  It is important to note that Saudi Arabia and Iran just signed a treaty to restore relations between the two countries.

See this coming together?

Some Timelines

Imagine you were a priest teaching your flock about Bible Prophecy in the early 1940’s or earlier.   A Gog Magog war in Israel seems IMPOSSIBLE because there hasn’t been a Nation of Israel for about 2000 years.   Israel became a Nation in 1948 in a single day.  (This is also a Bible prophecy).

So as a preacher, you are good right?  Yep,  right up until the late 1980’s when the Soviet Union collapsed.   Russian can’t invade Israel if there is no Russia, right?  But then suddenly in the early 21st century the pieces begin to fall into place.   Alliances begin to form between Muslim countries that hate Israel. How many of you knew that Russia has the largest population of Muslims in Europe, and that about 8% of the country practices Islam?

Imagine a book written around 2500 years ago that accurately predicts military alliances against  Israel.   Especially considering that around 600 years later Israel ceases to exist as a Nation and stays that way for about 2000 years.

What nation can you name that gets destroyed, its inhabitants scattered around the globe, its language dies as well………and then it all comes back together in a single day, 2000 years later?

Onto Bible Technology

The whole point of this blog is about the technical aspect of the Gog Magog war.  But I had to set it up a little bit first.

I want to focus on two key elements of the Technology.  The first is a weapon that provides power to the citizens in the towns in Israel for SEVEN YEARS.

Technology Aspect #1

⁹ “‘Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. ¹⁰ They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel.

Wow! A captured weapon that provides heat and fuel for SEVEN YEARS.  Do we have such weapons technology capable of producing energy?  Yes we do.  Again, a 2500 year old book nails something entirely possible in this day and age.  Imagine studying Ezekiel in Biblical times almost up to modern times.  You’d think Ezekiel was certifiably crazy to suggest that captured weapons could produce power for SEVEN YEARS.

Technology Aspect #2

Contamination.  There are so many bodies that it takes SEVEN MONTHS to bury them.  But then they began to put markers by the bones they find so that others can collect them and bury them near Hamonah to “cleanse the land”.  So apparently some of these bodies locations are marked and left for the professionals to come and clean up.

This is also a possible aspect of modern warfare.

But it shouldn’t be lost on anyone that God himself defeats this invasion.  Maybe their own weapons end up being turned against them.  God sends FIRE on Magog.

39 “Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of^[a]Meshek and Tubal. ² I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. ⁴ On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. ⁵ You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. ⁶ I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the Lord.

What an interesting study of Bible Technology.

Summary

I’m aware that I left some gaping holes untold in the story of the Gog Magog war.   But I just wanted to relate the fact that there is high technology in the Bible.  And for the first time in the history of mankind, the technology I’ve mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39 IS POSSIBLE.

The Cush (Sudan) piece is falling into place and it reminds me that the Bible is the true word of God.  What he says is going to happen……..happens.   Imagine reading a book about the future written 2500 years ago and then watching it come true.  What an amazing time we live in.

I personally believe this war is a ways off and I’m not trying to scare anyone straight.   The reason I think it is a bit in the future is because the attack hits an Israel which is safe and without walls or gates.  That certainly isn’t the current geo-political state of Israel.   But, you can see the slow build on this coming war.

How fascinating though that the weapons used in the war are collected and used for fuel and heat for SEVEN YEARS.  How fascinating that some bodies have to be marked and left for a later clean up.   These are all highly technological aspects that simply were not possible 2500 years ago.  In fact I’d say none of it has ever been possible with the exception of the last 75 years or so since we entered the atomic age of warfare.

That timeline also roughly corresponds to the restoration of the Nation of Israel.   Hmmmmmm.

Rabbit Hole

If you want to go down the Bible Technology rabbit hole a little further the whole Gog Magog war is predicated on theft. The alliance goes into Israel to plunder and to “take a spoil”.  What does Israel have that Russia might want?  The answer to that question could be Natural Gas.  Russia lost their Nord Stream pipeline and dropped sales of gas to Europe considerably.

Israel found a massive deposit of natural gas and is selling it, via Egypt, to Europe for roughly 1/3rd the cost of Russian gas.   Anyway, that is just a guess.  It could also be for agriculture as Israel is about the only country in the region that has wide spread agriculture.   You can go down that rabbit hole as well.  100 years ago Israel was a desert.  The fact that it bears fruit is also a prophecy.

Anyway, natural gas is also an aspect of Bible Technology if that turns out to be the plundered item.

And finally, I will get back to writing about modern technology soon!  Bible Technology is crazy accurate though.

Addendum

I can’t get this out of my mind.  Just some thoughts to ponder:

The Book Of Ezekiel was written between 592 – 570 B.C.

Israel ceased to be a nation in 568 B.C when the Assyrians invaded and took over Israel.   That goofy Ezekiel sure was wrong, wasn’t he?  2 years after finishing his prophetic book Ezekiel’s prophecy falls apart.  Not only that but Ezekiels prophecies are CRAZY.  Weapons that burn for 7 years, contaminated battlefields that take ages to clear.   God, himself defeating Gog with some earthquake and fire action.

If you were a fan of Ezekiel, you’d think he was nuts.  Until about 2020 or so and then you’d rethink your position.  Drastically.

In 539 B.C. the Edict of King Cyrus restores Israel.  This was also prophetic as someone showed Cyrus what the prophet Isaiah wrote about him doing just that.  So in 29 years good old Ezekiel has a shot at being right again.

That is until 70 A.D when the Romans destroyed Israel and that was the last we see of them until 1948.  There are more than a few wars against Israel from 1948 until present day.  In most of them they were big time outnumbered and had inferior technology.  And each time there was a miraculous victory.   In the Yom Kippur War in 1973 Ariel Sharon, who would later become Prime Minister of Israel, defies orders and heads for Cairo where his choke hold ends the war.  Israel was all but defeated.  Study that conflict if you want to see a miraculous military victory.  One that should not have happened.

Ezekiel Is Right In The End

So, Ezekiel once again has a shot at being right.  How many times in the last 2500 years was all of this IMPOSSIBLE?  The last thing I will add is that surprisingly there are some countries that you would expect to be in this list of Magog players that are conspicuously absent.  Syria comes to mind.  But another Bible Technology prophecy has Damascus Syria, the longest inhabited city on earth becoming uninhabitable.  Not defeated, not torn up…….uninhabitable.  Again, do we possess the technology currently to make a city not fit for occupancy?

We sure do.  It is fascinating to see the Bible accurately predicts modern technology.

A Simple Test

Go into your office or study and write a story.   Then shelf it for 2500 years.  In 2500 years will it accurately predict modern technology and will it accurately name geo-political and military alliances?

If I wrote that Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio would go to war with Tennessee and that flying cars would kill people with sound powered weapons……..would it be an accurate representation?

Either Ezekiel is the luckiest science fiction writer in history, or he was a prophet of God who is showing future events.  I know which one he is.  Do you?