Isaiah 57:20 is an end-times prophecy discussing world conditions just prior to the return of Jesus to set up His millennial kingdom on earth. Isaiah wrote: “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.”
Just prior to the return of Jesus, the world will be in a constant state of turmoil and unrest. The Magog war has just happened and the unleashing of nuclear weapons has horrified the world community. The condition of mankind shortly after World War II was a populace sick to death of war and reflected an insatiable desperation for peace….peace at any price. The former Secretary General of NATO, Paul Spaak said: “What we want is a man of sufficient stature to hold the allegiance of all people and to lift us out of the morass into which we are sinking. Send us such a man, be he God or the Devil, and we will receive him!” So the world is ready for peace, even if it comes from the devil himself. The Magog war has only intensified these desperate feelings for world peace and safety.
We are told that from this “troubled sea,” one will arise whom the world is so desperately seeking. John the revelator writes of him, “Then as I stood on the sands of the sea, I saw a beast rising up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns.” [1]
Indeed, it will be this person who will establish a momentary time of peace for our troubled world. But when they are finally able to say, “Ah, peace and safety, “then sudden destruction shall come upon them and they will not escape.”
I Thessalonians 5:3
To seek world peace is a noble thing; the problem is we want peace of our own making and not God’s. God Who is allows us our own desires, simply steps back and says, “Ok little man, do your own thing, I will not hinder you.” Man doing his own thing and ignoring God in the process, can only lead to disaster and this will be disaster on a global scale. Billions will die as the result of mankind doing his “own thing.”
The Hebrew people have always known about the Old Testament prophecies that tell them a regal king will one day arise during their hour of greatest need and deliver them from their enemies. They didn’t recognize Christ as their Messiah because He wasn’t born with any kind of royal pedigree. No, to the contrary, Jesus was born in a stable and to impoverished parents to boot. He did not make any attempt to deliver them from the hated Roman Empire, to the contrary, He told them to pay their taxes[2] to Caesar. This of course further alienated them from His teachings and they rejected Him outright.
But how could it be that they didn’t recognize Him? Their fathers wrote the Old Testament, indeed they were keepers of the Word of God! Why couldn’t they see the prophecy that foretold of His humble state, “Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey.” This prophecy given by Zechariah 9:9 was fulfilled as Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. John 12:14,15. Their hour had come but they missed it.
Knowing they would totally reject Him, Jesus warned, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; If another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” John 5:43. Jesus is here referring to the coming of the antichrist whom the Jews will accept….for a short period of time as their Messiah.
As you’ve already read in the account of the “Magog War,” Russia and her Muslim allies will shortly attack Israel and they will die on the mountains of Israel. It is this war, I predict, from which Israel will believe their Messiah will come forth as a rider on a white horse[3] in their hour of need and miraculously deliver them from overwhelming odds. Unfortunately, they will once again miss the hand of God that crushes Magog and her allies. Again, John the revelator wrote concerning this moment in time: “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him
and he went out conquering and to conquer.”
Revelation 6:2. Some Christians believe this rider to be symbolic of the Lord coming back to earth for the battle of Armageddon. Notice that the description of this rider is vague and somewhat obscure. He has a bow but no arrows. He was given a crown, but by whom? Keep in mind that Jesus was with the Father before the beginning of time (John 17:5), and has always been a King (Psalm 24:10), therefore Jesus has no need of anyone giving Him a crown; He has always had one! Revelation 6:2.
Some Christians believe this rider to be symbolic of the Lord coming back to earth for the battle of Armageddon. Notice that the description of this rider is vague and somewhat obscure. He has a bow but no arrows. He was given a crown, but by whom? Keep in mind that Jesus was with the Father before the beginning of time (John 17:5), and has always been a King (Psalm 24:10), therefore Jesus has no need of anyone giving Him a crown; He has always had one!
The battle of Armageddon will end all wars. But it is evident by the following verse, that such is not the case with this guy. Indeed, war, strife and death are just the beginning of what he is bringing to planet earth. The white horse symbolizes world peace for a short period. A bow with no arrows illustrates his deceptive intentions.
John continues his account as he sees: “Another horse, fiery red went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.” I believe this is symbolic of Red China with its 200 million man army marching into the Middle East. This invasion, as mentioned in the last article (The Magog War), will be discussed in a later article.
Back to the question: who is the guy on the white horse that comes to Israel: “in his own name,” and how will he be established as the deliverer in the eyes of the Jewish people?
First, we know the guy will have to be a Jew as they (the Jews) would never accept a Gentile as their messiah. This is also alluded to in the book of Daniel while talking about the Antichrist, “He shall enter peaceably, even into the richest places of the province; and he shall do what his fathers have not done, nor his forefathers. Daniel 11:24
Presently, no one knows who the Antichrist is right now and one can only speculate. Having said that, I can tell you there is presently a person who I believe to be the top candidate for the job! Whether I’m right or not, will be determined as time goes by.
First and foremost this person must be a Jew. Secondly, he and his family must be of a stately pedigree and be a very powerful person in his own right. Third, Moses became such a person, it was he, if you remember who was second in the kingdom of Egypt under Pharaoh. When Pharaoh finally moved his hand against the Hebrew people, Moses turned against him and the end result was total destruction of Pharaoh’s army.
Enter Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Russia; born in 1965 in Leningrad, USSR. Medvedev, is highly educated receiving a Ph.D in law from the University of Leningrad
where he also taught law for several years before being brought to Moscow by his former colleague and friend, Vladimir Putin, the current President of Russia. It appears that Putin has handpicked Medvedev to eventually succeed him in that office.
The intriguing thing about PM Medvedev are the rumors that have been circulating in the news that he is of Jewish origin, a claim that Medvedev denies. The Prime Minister
staunchly claims his ancestry hails from Adana, which is in western Armenia, part of present day Turkey.
Regardless of his ancestry, what is known about the Medvedev family is that his mother’s maiden name was Shaposhnikov which is usually a Russian name, but throughout Europe there are also some Jewish families with the same name. His mother also regularly attends services at the Main Synagogue in Moscow and his maternal grandfather had the distinctive name of Benjamin.
is also known that PM Medvedev maintains close ties to the Jewish sections of Russia and most recently met with Chief Rabbi of Russia, Berel Lazar and Russia’s Education Minister Andrei Fursenko and leaders of Jewish higher education with the primary goal of furthering the establishment of more Jewish run schools in the Russian Federation.
At any rate, whether Medvedev is a Jew or not, the scenario fits the prophetical picture given us by the ancient prophets. Daniel, for example, tells us that the Antichrist will come from a northern country. (Daniel 11:14 – 16). I personally find Daniel’s prophetical writings to be quite interesting where, in chapter 11:38 while discussing the Antichrist, Daniel wrote: “….he shall honor a god of fortresses; and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver….”
“….he shall honor a god of fortresses….” The Hebrew word used here for “fortresses” is “moaz” which means “stronghold,” but not like a fortified position but rather “control over a country’s energy sources.” It is also worthy to note that Medvedev was the director general of Gazprom, the world’s largest supplier of natural gas and the vice president of Eastern Oil Company. Medvedev is presently involved with other large petroleum suppliers such as Gazprom’s opaque intermediaries: RosUkrEnergo, Centrex Group and YugoRosGaz.
Presently PM Medvedev is gaining much experience in controlling a country simply by providing and/or withholding its supply of energy as we are witnessing in the events unfolding in the Ukraine where, according to Gazprom, the Ukrainian government owes them 2.5 billion dollars. Since their demand on the Ukraine for payment in full, Gazprom has more than doubled the price of natural gas going to the Ukraine to $485 per 1,000 cubic meters. But, the good ole’ USA recently pledged to give the Ukraine $50 million to help them pay down the debt they owe Russia. Now whose pocket are these American dollars really going into?
However, as of this writing, all is not easy sailing for Medvedve. Nikolai Bondarik, who heads the St. Petersburg branch of the nationalist Russian Party, told the Moscow Times, “we are categorically against him [Medvedev] because he is an ethnic Jew and does not conceal his sympathies toward Judaism.” He also charged that with Medvedev in power, foreigners and Jews would plunder Russia’s natural resources saying, “tens of thousands of Israelis would be given key positions in bodies such as the police, army, and secret services; and Russia’s relations with the Arab world would be destroyed.” Be that as it may. In Russia, when one goes against the President, in this case Vladimir Putin, they sometimes disappear and are never heard from again.
My scenario would unfold something like this: Russia (Magog) and her Muslim allies attack Israel. Just prior to the attack, something happens to President Putin. He gets sick, dies, or is somehow disposed of and Medvedev takes the reigns of leadership. Try to imagine what consternation this will cause in the Russian military with its Muslim conscripts and allies. A Jew will now be their Commander! We all know perfectly well….this ain’t gonna fly and a civil war breaks out amongst them. Muslims will be turning on their ethnic Russian counterparts and vice versa.
If you remember the Magog prophecy, God uses this very thing to bring about total destruction of Magog and her allies: “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.”
And there on the mountains of Israel, Magog and all her bands will die!
After the smoke clears, who do you think will step forward, coming in his own name and taking full credit for saving Israel from her enemies? And indeed he may very well have, unintentional as it may be, played an important role in Magog’s destruction, Israel’s savior has arrived at last!
*** Don Koppp *** is an author, theologian and State Representative in the South Dakota Legislature
