Prophetic Pulpit: The Hook

                                                   An Evil Thought

Ezekiel 38:4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with buckler and shields, all of them handling swords. 

In Ezekiel 38 the prophet Ezekiel tells us that in the last days God will cause Russia and its Islamic allies to invade Israel (see What is the Gog, Magog war?). God is the instigator of this coming war. In describing the origin of this war, the Lord uses interesting terminology. He says I will put hooks in your jaws and drag you into the land of Israel for invasion. A hook is a tool used to force an animal to go somewhere or do something it does not want to do. The Lord is saying to this Russian leader, This invasion will go against your better judgment, but you are not going to be able to resist. I am going to put something before you that you will find irresistible. 

Ezekiel 38:10 Thus says the Lord, God, On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts shall arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan. So God is going to place a thought into this Russian leader's mind that will get stuck there. He will not be able to shake it. It will become so formulated and entrenched in his mind, it will cause him to invade Israel though he knows it goes beyond his better judgment. 

So, what is "this thought?" What is "this hook" that is going to drag him and his Islamic allies into the land of Israel, bent on her destruction? 

Vs. 13 Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say, "Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take loot, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?" 

Without going into all the details, this verse tells us there will be nations that protest Russia's invasion of Israel but will not intervene. Russia and its Islamic allies are too powerful so there will be strong objection but no resistance. Though they will not interfere, these nations see through all the lies. They see through all the political reasonings this Russian leader gives to justify his invasion. They know very well he is invading to plunder Israel's great wealth. 

So, what is the hook? What will God use to drag Russia's army into the land of Israel? 

Israel's wealth! To be more exact, 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas off the coast of Israel.

Ten years ago if we were to ask, what does Israel have that would propel Russia into such a huge invasion, there is really not a good answer. Israel did not have anything so valuable it would provoke such an attack. But eight years ago Israel discovered two gas fields in their Mediterranean coast. 32 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. 

So, why is this so important?

Europe buys 1/3 of its natural gas from Russia. The Nord Stream pipeline was built from Russia to Germany to supply Germany and Europe with natural gas. Germany has now shut it down because of Russia's invasion of the Ukraine. That cost Russia trillions of dollars. 

Also the United States was buying one hundred billion dollars of oil a day from Russia until the Biden administration shut it down. 

Russia's number one economic resource is energy and now they are losing trillions of dollars.          Right now Israel is Russia's number one competitor. Nations are now lining up to buy gas from Israel. Even now as we speak, we can be sure the Russian regime has its eyes on Israel's natural gas.

Also, Russian leaders are furious because Israel has finally denounced Russia's invasion of the Ukraine. In retaliation, Putin has declared that Russia does not recognize Israel's ownership of the Golan Heights. This means if Syria decides to attack Israel, the Russian regime will support them. Right now both Russia and Iran have a strong military presence on Israel's northern border. 

So the hook is being set even as we speak. Israel is robbing Russia of trillions of dollars in natural gas. For a man bent on restoring Russia to its former glory, Putin must be incensed by it all. There is no doubt thoughts are beginning to fill his mind of what Israel's gas reserves would mean to Russia. With those gas fields, he would lock up the market on natural gas in that entire area of the world. If he is not plotting (which I am pretty sure in the back of his mind he is), very soon he will be pouring over a map the way Hitler did when he and his Generals planned their blitzkrieg raid on Poland. 

So Tim, are you saying 'Putin is Gog?!" Not positively, but there is a strong possibility. 

The way things are already lined up in the Middle East, this Russian-Islamic invasion will happen very soon. Putin's greed and Iran's hatred of Israel is too strong to be suppressed much longer. 

Right now there are many things that could propel Russia and the Islamic nations to attack Israel.          All it is going to take is just for one of these things to ignite. It is like standing next to a keg full of gunpowder while holding a bunch of matches in your hand. It only takes one and the entire keg will blow up.   

So Tim, is there any good news in all of this? Definitely! It's just one more sign declaring to God's people, "Look up! Jesus is coming at any time!" 

As the people of God, we should be looking up in expectation because Christ can come for His Bride at any moment. As we watch how everything is playing out in the Middle East, we should be sensing the witness of the Holy Spirit that anytime our citizenship on this earth will be over. The Bridegroom is ready to receive that Bride who love His appearing (2 Timothy 4:8).  

P.S. There is something more I would really like to add here.

The Russian and Iranian people are very precious to the Lord. Right now Iran is experiencing a tremendous revival. God is so mercifully pouring out His love and grace upon the people and so many Iranians are being saved. God desires the same for the Russian people. Even now as I write this blog I know missionaries who are laboring in the fields of Russia and many people are being saved because of their faithfulness. So please hear me when I say that the Russian, Iranian people are not evil; their regimes are evil. The people in power are evil. One day these regimes, in their greed and hatred of Israel, will attack the Jewish state and God will deal with them in judgment. But until that day comes, we continue to pray for them.