Putin Rising: Is He Gog?

Just at the time that we are seeing violent attacks quickly rising in Israel and the fascinating developments of the revived Roman Empire, not to mention the rise of China as a world power, the increasing earthquakes around the world, along with the world's financial crisis, famine, pestilence, and all of the other generational signs - we can often forget about Russia and their end times leader, Gog.

Joel Rosenberg has an interesting review of Putin, who is once again consolidating his power base (I would argue that he never lost his power base, as he basically just changed his title at the time of their political 'transition').

Putin Rising: But is he Gog?

After keeping a relatively low profile for the last several years, Vladimir Putin is rising. In recent weeks, the Russian leader — currently serving as his country’s prime minister — once again has been making headlines, stoking controversy, and seeming to position himself to run for president of Russia again in March 2012. Consider the latest:

Below are just three of the main points listed:

- Putin is talking of creating a Eurasian economic union in Central Asia, similar politically and economically to the European Union but likely dominated by the Kremlin.(link).

- Putin is drawing criticism from Mikhail Gorbachev who says Putin’s political party is a bad copy of the Soviet Communist Party — anti-freedom and corrupt.(link)

- Meanwhile, Putin is fueling speculation that is he is planning to run for president again in 2012 , though he hasn’t officially announced.(link).

A lot can happen between now and then, so it’s by no means certain Putin will return to full power. But should Putin come back, it will not bode well for Israel, the U.S., or Europe. Putin is a power-hungry, greedy, authoritarian, Czar wannabe.

Again, one could argue that Putin doesn't need to run for president, as his current position of Prime Minister holds as much power as he so chooses anyway. Perhaps he prefers the title of president.

To close, Mr Rosenberg focuses his attention to the original question:

Over the years, people have asked me if Putin might be the Russian dictator referred to as “Gog” in the Biblical prophecies of “Gog and Magog” in Ezekiel 38-39. I suspect as Putin continues to re-emerge, those questions will begin to be asked again.

Here’s my quick answer: It’s too soon to draw such a conclusion. There’s much more that would have to happen to indicate that Putin was the “Gog” of Bible prophecy.

But there’s no question in my mind that Putin is Gog-esque.

He is dangerous, and both Israel and the West should keep a close and wary eye on him, especially given all that Putin has done to build a strategic alliance between Russia and Iran and the other countries mentioned in the “Gog and Magog” prophecies.

So in the midst of watching the signs around us, we can't forget that the epic battle of Gog-MaGog still looms on the horizon.

The array of signs around us make it clear that the time for the rise of the antichrist can't be too far away and this fact receives a lot of attention. But the same signs inform us that Gog's time is almost upon us as well.