Chapter 22: The Great Supper

 

The Peace Angel not only declares peace, but is also an enforcer of the peace. Peace (that is, reconciliation) will be established one way or another. John hears the Peace Angel calling the birds of heaven to “the great supper of God” (Rev. 19:17). The metaphor paints a picture of a great battlefield, where vultures gather to feast on the dead bodies of those slain in battle.

This prophecy is taken directly from Ezekiel 39:17-20, which is the conclusion of the battle that destroys Gog and Magog after their invasion. Many have wondered why John does not mention the battle against Gog and Magog until Rev. 20:8, after the thousand years of the Kingdom. There are actually two battles against Gog and Magog, one before and another after the thousand years. Though John does not mention Gog and Magog by name in Revelation 19, he refers directly to the Gog prophecy, which identifies the enemies being destroyed.

In Rev. 19:17 it is the angel who speaks to the birds of heaven, but in Ezekiel 39:17-20, the prophet himself was told to speak to them:

¹⁷ And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, “Speak to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, ‘Assemble and come, gather from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. ¹⁸ You shall eat the flesh of mighty men, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. ¹⁹ So you will eat fat until you are glutted, and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. ²⁰ And you will be glutted at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,’ declares the Lord God.”

This is said to be God’s “sacrifice.” In the laws of sacrifice in Lev. 6:26, “the priest who offers it for sin [i.e., a sin offering] shall eat it.” But in the case of Gog and Magog, God’s sacrifice is for the birds of prey, which eat dead carcasses that still have blood in them. Such birds are unclean (Lev. 11:13-19) for that very reason, for God’s law forbids eating blood (Lev. 17:10-13).

God created unclean animals according to spiritual principles in order to show us prophetic things. We are not to eat blood, because we are not to be bloodthirsty. Yet because Gog and Magog have been bloodthirsty, God will bring judgment upon them in accordance with their own ways. It is the same as we see in the divine judgment against Mount Seir, or Edom. Ezekiel 35:6 gives the divine verdict: “since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you.”

The same verdict, then, is decreed against Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 39, pictured graphically as a call to the birds of prey to come and feast on the carcasses of the invaders.

Because the Peace Angel refers to the prophecy in Ezekiel 39, it is clear that the heavenly invasion is designed to put an end to Gog’s occupation of “the mountains of Israel.” No doubt this prophecy has a broader application, but the focus is upon a specific situation. So who are these invaders of the mountains of Israel?

The Invaders

Most prophecy teachers today teach that Magog is Russia and Gog are the Russians. Ezekiel 38:3 says, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.” Prophecy teachers usually teach that Rosh is Russia, Meshech is Moscow, and Tubal is Tobolsk, a city in Russia that was founded in 1587.

However, these biblical names go back much farther in history, for they are the names of the sons of Japheth in Gen. 10:2,

² The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meschech and Tiras.

We are then given the names of the family of Gomer in Gen. 10:3,

³ And the sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah.

Togarmah in particular is said to be Gog’s ally in Ezekiel 38:5, 6,

⁵ Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; ⁶ Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah [house of Togarmah] from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples with you.

The invaders, then, are identified as descendants of Japheth, with special emphasis given to the sons of Gomer, Japheth’s oldest son. The Rus (“Russians”), however, did not move north from the Mideast, but rather came south from Scandinavia. They were a Scandinavian branch originating in the dispersed House of Israel—not from Japheth.

In fact, while some of the invaders surely have come from Russia, this does not mean that they are Russians. The key is in looking at all of the names of the invaders as a whole. If they can be identified in actual history, then we will know the truth.

History of Togarmah

There are two battles with Gog and Magog in the book of Revelation, one before and the other after the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. In the first battle (Rev. 19:17, 18) the angel only refers to Gog and Magog indirectly by quoting Ezekiel 39:17-20. In the second battle, Gog and Magog are specifically named (Rev. 20:8).

The Peace Angel gives few details about the battle against Gog and Magog, other than to tell us of their defeat. We must rely upon Ezekiel to tell us of Gog’s invasion and occupation of Israel prior to their defeat. Furthermore, Ezekiel’s prophecy is crucial in understanding the identity of the nations actually involved in this invasion. Unfortunately, most prophecy teachers misunderstand it entirely, thinking that Russia will invade the Jewish state.

The key is found in Ezekiel 38:6, where the House of Togarmah is listed as a key invader. Togarmah is the nephew of Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, and Meshech—all of whom are listed as the invaders. History tells us specifically about Togarmah.

During the Middle Ages, from about 600 to 1200 A.D., there existed a kingdom north of the Black Sea that was known as Khazaria. It reached its peak about 960 A.D. and then slowly began to be conquered and absorbed by the Rus (Russians) from the north.

The Khazars, or Chazars, had converted to Judaism somewhere between 620 and 740 A.D. The precise date of their conversion is disputed, but no one disputes the fact that they were a Turkish-Mongolian tribe that had converted to Judaism.

The Jewish Encyclopedia itself says, under the heading “Chazars,”

“A people of Turkish origin whose life and history are interwoven with the very beginnings of the history of the Jews of Russia… Historical evidence points to the region of the Ural as the home of the Chazars.”

Later in the same article, The Jewish Encyclopedia tells how the Chazars decided to adopt Judaism as their religion:

“It was probably about that time that the chaghan [king] of the Chazars and his grandees, together with a large number of his heathen people, embraced the Jewish religion. According to A. Harkavy (‘Meassef Niddahim,’ i.), the conversion took place in 620; according to others, in 740. King Joseph, in his letter to Hasdai ibn Shaprut (about 960) gives the following account of the conversion…”

We read also in An Introduction to the History of Khazaria, by Kevin Alan Brook,

“Under the leadership of kings Bulan and Obadiah, the standard rabbinical form of the Jewish religion spread among the Khazars. Saint Cyril came to Khazaria in 860 in a Byzantine attempt to convert the Khazars to Christianity, but he was unsuccessful, because by that time the Khazars had already adopted a basic level of Judaism.”

Most of this history was unknown to the western world (and to prophecy teachers) until 1976, when a Jewish author named Arthur Koestler wrote about it in his book, The Thirteenth Tribe. He told the story how, in 960 A.D., a Jewish doctor for the Caliphate in Cordova, Spain, heard about a Jewish kingdom north of the Black Sea and wrote letters of inquiry to King Joseph of the Khazars. The Khazar king’s letter is quoted now by all of the historians who write about Khazar history. Koestler writes on page 72,

“Joseph then proceeds to provide a genealogy of his people. Though a fierce Jewish nationalist, proud of wielding the ‘Scepter of Judah,’ he cannot, and does not, claim for them Semitic descent; he traces their ancestry not to Shem, but to Noah’s third son, Japheth; or more precisely to Japheth’s grandson, Togarma, the ancestor of all Turkish tribes. ‘We have found in the family registers,’ Joseph asserts boldly, ‘that Togarma had ten sons, and the names of their offspring are as follows: Uigur, Dursu, Avars, Huns, Basilii, Tarniakh, Khazars, Zagora, Bulgars, Sabir. We are the sons of Khazar, the seventh…”

King Joseph’s letter, then, identifies the Jewish Khazars as being from the House of Togarmah, one of the invaders of the mountains of Israel in Ezekiel 38:8. They were not Russians by ethnicity. In fact, in later centuries, the Russians conquered them and absorbed them. The Khazars, then, became known as the Ashkenazi branch of world Jewry, originating in western Russia and in eastern Europe.

Take note also that Ashkenaz himself was the brother of Togarmah (Gen. 10:3), so it is not unusual for the people of Togarmah to be called by the name of his brother, for it is likely that they lived nearby or among the Khazars.

Statistics show that these eastern European Jews comprise 80-90% of the world’s Jews today, and after immigrating to the mountains of Israel, the House of Togarmah has become the dominant ethnic group in the Israeli state today.

The Invasion

Once we learn history, we are then able to obtain a better understanding of Ezekiel’s prophecy. The invasion of the mountains of Israel was mostly a conquest by immigration a century ago. The invasion of Gog from the land of Magog appears to be an invasion of Russian Jews, not an invasion of Russians themselves. With the invaders have come Jews from “Persia, Ethiopia, and Put” (Ezekiel 38:5), along with Jews from other parts of the world.

In other words, Ezekiel 38 and 39 prophesies of the Zionist movement, by which the mountains of Israel were conquered by Jews from Russia and backed by other Jews from around the world. This invasion was crowned with success in 1948 when the Jewish state was established.

When the House of Togarmah converted to Judaism, these people of Turkish origin became Jews. They had never been Israelites by ethnicity, but by adopting Old Covenant Judaism, they did become Jews in the same manner that so many have done in the past. I do not question their identity as Jews, but they had no right to call their state Israel. This subterfuge has served to hide the fulfillment of Ezekiel’s prophecy and to create the perception of danger from a Russian invasion. In fact, the invasion has already taken place, and all that remains is for the Zionist experiment to end in disaster.

The Peace Angel has already sent ambassadors to the Jewish state in the attempt to reconcile with Jesus Christ and to cease its hostility to Him (Lev. 26:40-42). To this day, the peace overtures have been rejected by most of the people and, more importantly, by their representatives in government.

For this reason, the Peace Angel calls for the birds to assemble “for the great supper of God” (Rev. 19:17). Ezekiel 39:17 pictures it as a divine “sacrifice,” where the birds of prey, instead of the priests, eat the sacrifice, “as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls” (Ezekiel 39:18).

There are many other aspects to this prophecy that one must know in order to understand the full picture, but we cannot cover all of them here. For further study, see my book, The Struggle for the Birthright, particularly chapter 15.

The Beast is Arrested

Revelation 19:19 says,

¹⁹ And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat upon the horse, and against His army.

In their fight against the crown rights of Jesus Christ, they refuse to submit to the rightful Heir to the throne of Israel and of the world itself. Blinded by hatred and unbelief, they do not realize that they cannot win this battle. Jesus prophesied in Matthew 21:44,

⁴⁴ And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.

This was a veiled warning to the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that they should not become part of the beast system (that is, the “feet and toes” of the image in Daniel 2), for if they should do so, they would be in danger when the “stone” arose to grind the image to powder. They did not heed Jesus’ warning. The Jewish Rothschilds worked hard to take control of the beast system in its final “banking” phase from 1815-2014. Their success only ensures their destruction when God judges the beast.

When the Zionist movement succeeded in establishing a Jewish state, a national entity emerged that served as a focal point for this judgment. For this reason, when the Peace Angel prophesies of the final battle that overthrows “the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies,” he refers to Ezekiel 39, which describes the Jewish state located in the old land. Jerusalem itself becomes liable for all the blood of the martyrs and prophets since the beginning of time. That city is liable because in the end it carries the authority of the beast systems.

Revelation 19:20, 21 continues,

²⁰ And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. ²¹ And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

The beast is seized when his allotted time to rule ends. As we have shown previously, the beast’s seven times of dominion ends progressively in 2014-2018. The “signs” that deceived men were first mentioned in Rev. 13:13, which were his healing from the fatal wound and the fire from heaven. The fatal wound was the papal wound that was healed in 1804, and later, in 1945, the fire from heaven manifested as nuclear bombs falling upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The western nations, along with the Israeli state, are strongholds of the beast system known as Babylon, the great harlot, Sodom, Egypt, and Jerusalem. This beast system deceives those with the mark of the beast—the lawless ones who are motivated by the love of money. But in the end, the main leaders of the beast system are arrested and judged by the fiery law of God.

“The rest were killed with the sword,” not a weapon in one’s hand, but a sword coming from His mouth. We have already shown that this “sword” is the word of God—in this case, a verdict or decree of divine judgment. The manner in which they are “killed” will depend upon the status of each individual and his/her circumstance.

As for “the great supper,” this is most likely a metaphor and will not be fulfilled literally. It is said to be a spiritual “sacrifice,” which is hardly literal. Under the Old Covenant, this might be fulfilled in a physical manner, complete with a battlefield and vultures. There may be a limited fulfillment of this in an Old Covenant manner, when applied to Old Covenant people, but yet for others it seems to describe the consuming of the flesh in a spiritual manner.

Being “crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20) is a graphic description, but we do not have to be literally crucified in order to put the old man of flesh to death. In my view, the purpose of God is not to destroy those who have been deceived by the beast’s lies and signs, but to enlighten them with the truth. The truth is the word of God, which comes from one’s mouth as a “sword.”

In the first battle against Gog and Magog, which comes at the start of the thousand-year reign of Christ, the great “sacrifice” will be mostly destructive, because Jerusalem itself must be cast out. The Old Covenant must be abolished for all to see, so that it can be replaced by a better covenant (New Jerusalem). The second battle against Gog and Magog may also be destructive, but it is soon followed by the general resurrection in which all of the dead will be raised for judgment.

At that time, the lake of fire will consume the flesh, and although the Age of Judgment will be long, it will have a positive effect upon all who have ever lived. Even those who fought consciously against Jesus Christ will learn righteousness, because the truth will then be known, and men will not be able to deny it.

Conclusion

This concludes the three-chapter section in the book of Revelation that prophesies of Babylon’s fall, the overthrow of human government, and the Kingdom’s takeover of land and territory on earth. Daniel 2:35 says that it will be like a stone that grows until it fills the whole earth. That means the territory of the Kingdom will start out small, and as nations join the Federation of Kingdom Nations, Christ’s rule will be extended to other parts of the earth.

At the end of the thousand years, there will still be portions of the earth that remain in “outer darkness,” but, as we will see, the takeover will be complete after the final battle against Gog and Magog.

Then will come the Great White Throne Judgment, and the great task of restoring all of humanity to full reconciliation with Christ will begin.