Turkey and prophetic fulfillment

The story on Turkey continues to fascinate. It seems relatively clear from Ezekiel 38-39 (aka "Gog-MaGog" invasion of Israel) that the two main countries involved are Iran and Russia, as stated so many times on this blog. Russia is seen multiple times, in multiple ways, and Iran is easy because it was called "Persia" until the 1930's. The next country (or region, more appropriately) is the region of Turkey, identified in the scriptures as "Beth-Togarmah" and "Gomer".

This seemed unlikely for years, as Turkey seemed a key candidate to enter the EU, and they had reasonably good relations with the U.S. and Israel. Prophecy watchers have been watching Turkey very closely for years, for this very fact.

Over the past several years we have seen Turkey, upon the news that EU acceptance was remote (mainly because of its vast radical muslim ties), we have witnessed Turkey and Russia making an array of treaties and economic/trade alliances. It seemed clear that Turkey determined to make alliances with Russia as the EU became more and more remote.

Over the past several months, the anti-Israeli rhetoric has become more and more frequent and intense.

Joel Rosenberg has an excellent summary of this situation (below) link here:



TURKEY TURNS ON ISRAEL


Are the intensifying Turkish-Israeli tensions prophetic?

Turkey is a beautiful, wonderful and fascinating country.

The Apostle Paul wrote much of the New Testament either in Turkey (then “Asia Minor”), or to the churches located throughout that remarkable land. The Apostle John saw in Turkey the startling vision of the End Times that became the Book of Revelation. The country later became the seat of the Ottoman Islamic empire. Later it became a modern democracy, a NATO ally, a friend of Israel, and the original “Reformer” country. I have been there numerous times and shot part of the Inside The Revolution documentary film there last year.

But something is amiss. Just back from a family vacation abroad, I have come home to find the international news media filled with stories about escalating tensions between Turkey and Israel. Over the past 10 days or so:

Turkey has canceled a NATO military exercise because Israel was invited to participate
Turkey has aired a drama on state-run TV portraying an Israeli soldier walking up to a Palestinian child and barbarically shooting her point-blank
Turkey has made moves to draw closer to Iran and Syria, including choosing to engage in military exercises with Syria instead of Israel
Turkey has made moves to draw closer to Russia
These are troublesome developments on two levels.

First, they indicate that Turkey is not simply turning against Israel but doing so, in part, to curry favor with an emerging Russia-Iranian-Syrian alliance.

Second, these developments are consistent with Bible prophecies found in Ezekiel 38-39 which indicate that in the “last days” Turkey (identified in the prophecies as “Gomer” and part of “Beth Togarmah”) will join a Russian-Iranian alliance against Israel. While it remains too early to draw any conclusions on whether the Ezekiel 38-39 prophecies will come to pass in our lifetime, much less soon, it is not to early to be concerned about the pivot Turkey is making away from Israel and toward her enemies, and ours.

Please pray for the leaders of Turkey to resist the temptation so many other world leaders are having to turn against Israel. Please pray, too, for the gospel to spread throughout all of Turkey and that many in that country find the amazing love and grace and forgiveness found in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Finally, please pray for the leaders of Israel to have the wisdom to know how best to handle the current tensions with Turkey