As Bible students, Christadelphians, do not engage in the current Politics of this age, but we do eagerly watch them, together with the world events that are relevant to Bible prophecy.

We long for the personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth, when he will become King and Lord of the whole earth, reigning from Jerusalem as the centre of the world. And in the mean time we live our lives appropriately, in anticipation of being chosen to help him establish his kingdom of justice, mercy and righteousness in this earth.

We long for peace, a time of righteous and just laws in this world, and so we sympathise with all humans that suffer as a result of war and persecution.

We believe the Ukraine forms part of a powerful Northern confederacy, that will soon invade Israel and the middle east in what the bible terms the "Time of the End", prior to the Master's announcement to the world that he has returned to the earth.

The prophet Ezekiel foretold the return of the Jews, a people who will be "drawn back from the sword", to their own land after a long period of captivity, Ezekiel 38:8. The Jewish nation was led into captivity by the Romans in AD70 after a Jewish revolt against the authority of Rome. It was in 1948 that Israel again became a nation, in its ancient land, and has made it to flourish in so many ways, given it was desolate under the rule of the Turkish empire, and is now thriving agriculturally, commercially, and economically. Ezekiel 38v11-12 describes the land as dwelling in peace, with unwalled villages, which the prophecy says will happen before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to the world. And so we anticipate Israel not only becoming more prosperous, but that it will live safely and peacefully with its neighbours, so much so that the current fence and wall defences will be removed. And perhaps the recent Abrahamic accords are a prelude to this.

The prophecy however then tells of a Northern confederacy invading the land, unprovoked, in order to take Israel's wealth. In Ezekiel 38:2-6 the Northern confederacy is identified for us. v2 "Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal" (RV). So the name of the confederacy's leader is Gog, who will be the combined prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.

Various historians, such as Samuel Bochart (1646), the London Museum, and Wikipedia, help us identify, Magog with Germany, Rosh with Russia, Meshech with the Moscovites, and Tubal the Tobolskites. Areas which include the Ukraine.

The other nations who join the Northern confederacy are identified in Ezekiel 38:5-6, "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah". Persia was renamed Iran in 1979, whilst Ethiopia and Libya are well know territories. Gomer aligns well with France, and Togarmah with Turkey.

The invasion is criticised, v13 by a southern confederacy, "Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish; with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thy company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil".

Sheba and Dedan are aligned with the Arabian peninsular, and so includes Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yeman. Whilst Tarshish refers to the trading powers of Britain and India, and their young lions are aligned with the commonwealth countries.

And so in the last days we understand the Northern confederacy, including the Ukraine, will descend on Israel, and then be challenged by a southern confederacy that it will push aside. Israel will however then be rescued and delivered by the Lord Jesus Christ and his saints, as explained in Ezekiel 38v18.

So as Bible students we find the current world events relating to Russia, the Ukraine, and Israel fascinating. We have seen Israel and the two confederacy's starting to take shape over the last few decades, in the way that this prophecy suggests, and we anticipate and watch for world events that may lead to and bring about the finality of this prophecy.

We are not told how each event might lead to another, or the order of world events, but God has revealed prophecies which we believe will eventually be fulfilled. The centre piece being the recovery of Israel as the principle nation in God's Kingdom, which the Lord Jesus Christ will rule, together with his glorified saints, for a 1000 years in peace and safety.

And in order to become to part of the people who join the Lord Jesus Christ, who rescue Israel from the Northern confederacy, and help him establish his world wide kingdom, we live the life and hope revealed in the Bible, whilst eagerly anticipating the return of the Master to his household before the invasion.

If you are interested to learn more of other related prophecies, or indeed the hope that the Bible invites everyone to share, contact us for further information using our Contact page.