The book of Ezekiel 38:1-9 clearly tells us there is an invasion of Israel in the last days involving these groups or nations:
Magog (central Asia)
Rosh (Russia)
Meshech Turkey)
Tubal (Turkey)
Persia (Iran)
Put (Libya)
Cush (Sudan)
Gomer (Turkey
Togarmah (Turkey)
Sheba (Saudi Arabia)
Dedan (Saudi Arabia or Yemen)
Tarshish (Spain)
Merchants of Tarshish (a conglomeration of western powers including Europe)
Ezekiel 38:13 says...
Sheba and Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions (villages) will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’
There seem to be three groups that protest about this invasion of Israel and speak up against it, even though they don’t do anything to stop it or appear to help. Kind of like how Russia has gone into Ukraine and no one is really doing a lot to stop that. The same sort of thing is going to happen here where the invaders come against the land of Israel and there are three groups that will speak up in a lame protest. When you look up Sheba and Dedan on a modern-day map they are part of the Gulf States right next to Dubai or the United Arab Emirates and are now called Saudi Arabia. When this invasion happens, Saudi Arabia isn’t going to like it and will speak up and voice their protest which is what Ezekiel the prophet spoke about 2,600 years ago.
This explains why now, which is interesting when we look at headlines, why we are seeing Saudi Arabia being non-cooperative with these other nations.
One such headline reads...
SAUDI PRINCE: “I’LL SIDE WITH ISRAEL AGAINST PALESTINIAN UP-RISING [AND] IRAN”
And another headline reads...
SAUDI ARABIA INTERCEPTS SECOND YEMEN MISSILE IN A MONTH...SAUDI ARABIA ON THURSDAY INTERCEPTED AND DESTROYED A BALLISTIC MISSILE FIRED FROM WAR-TORN YEMEN, THE SECOND ATTACK THIS MONTH BY IRAN-BACKED HUTHI REBELS
So here is one of Iran’s proxies firing weapons and here is Saudi Arabia disrupting that process. When you see things like this you have to go back to Ezekiel 38:13 which is what Ezekiel is predicting.
The biggest thing that has happened in the last few years is the Abraham Accords, which is a little tricky because they were largely brokered by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. They’re not really peace treaties with Israel, a common misconception, because the countries entering into the Abraham Accords are tiny countries and they were never at war with Israel, (a lot of them in The Gulf State, right next door to Saudi Arabia). The UAE has entered into the Abraham Accords and it is said Saudi Arabia will follow.
What these Abraham Accords really are are ‘normalization agreements’ whereby Israel (which doesn’t even show up on most Islamic maps), says to these little States,...”All you’ve got to do is recognize our existence and we will open up to you the four T’s... Trade, Travel, Tourism, and Technology. So relationships between these countries that enter into the Abraham Accords prosper both Israel and them.
The belief is that Abraham is ‘the tie that binds’ right? Abraham is recognized in Judaism and Islam as some sort of ecumenical figure that’s picked for the purpose of getting these nations to enter into these agreements.
In the last couple of years, it has been surprising that all of this has happened so fast because we always knew Saudi would be a protestor but we just didn’t know why, and all of a sudden the Abraham Accords came into existence and now we have an answer.
Take politics out of it for a moment because it’s not partisan, this is about prophecy. God is using key figures to set the stage for His end-time program. Every specific thing the Bible talks about will happen.
Jesus Christ walked into a script that was written about Him hundreds and thousands of years in advance. Specific things about him, Where He would be born, how He would die, and all of these prophecies have happened exactly as God said. The Abraham Accords were put into existence at the right time for a purpose and Sheba and Dedan (Saudi Arabia) are benefiting economically because of the four T’s from Israel because of the agreements. So of course they will protest.
The Abraham Accords are setting the stage for Ezekiel 38:13. Not only does Saudi Arabia protest this invasion of Israel from the north but the ‘Merchants of Tarshish” don’t like it either. It is one of those prophecies that you read and wonders how this could come about. Well, the Abraham Accords coming into existence have done something further and clarified the meaning of this.
Charles Feinberg, a Jewish Christian, in his book ‘The Prophecy of Ezekiel,’ writes that it is not just Tarshish protesting, it is the money men, the people of Commerce, the business people, banking people of Tarshish who are going to voice opposition to this invasion from the North. Again, the Abraham Accords furnish an explanation as to why the Merchants of Tarshish would protest.
The very last nation to have entered into the Abraham Accords is Morocco, which is right under Spain, (Tarshish), and is in a trading relationship with them. The United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and The Gulf State have entered into these Accords and now everyone is waiting for Saudi Arabia to do like-wise. The Abraham Accords are helping Morocco become wealthy, and so are the Merchants of Spain. So just like that, you have an explanation of why the Merchants of Tarshish would voice opposition to this coalition that is coming against Israel.
We are literally living in Messianic times where we’re seeing all these things come together on the world stage that prior generations have not seen before. That’s how close we are to the end. So if things happened exactly like God said they would why would God switch horses in mid-stream and these prophecies not happen literally as some Preterists and Evangelicals suggest?
God is moving His hand in history to set everything up, so that even the tiniest specifics of his Word will be fulfilled, because God, at the end of the day cannot lie. God will move Heaven and Earth to see that His Word will be fulfilled.
World leaders think they are in charge, that they are calling the shots but it is God using their ideas in their minds to set the stage for His end-time program.
Judas probably thought it was all his own idea to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, and in acting on it he fulfilled a prophecy that had been written about him 500 years before it happened! And God is doing the exact same thing right now in this very exciting era of Biblical prophecy.
Something else that’s very interesting about Ezekiel 38:13 is describing the protest of Sheba and Dedan, and then the Merchants of Tarshish. Ezekiel 38:12..... “to capture spoils and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the ruins that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who live at the center of the world.”
Israel must have become very wealthy for this to say what it did here. In fact, Israel HAS become wealthy, her gross domestic product has outstripped that of her neighbors, and there are trillions of dollars in mineral deposits in the Dead Sea. Israel has also discovered natural gas and oil in her land. For those who argue that Israel has no gold or silver today, this prophecy might be about to literally happen.
Bill Perkins of Compass International has put some books out and has an article called ‘Israel’s Coming Mind-Blowing Gold Riches' and says...
In the Solomonic Empire, with Solomon, the last King of the United Kingdom, Israel reached its last levels of prosperity and its greatest border expansion under his reign. 1 Kings and Chronicles mentions gold and silver everywhere, particularly gold, on the eve of the Babylonian captivity and in the genealogies as recorded in the Book of Ezra and Nehemiah. There is a description there of things Israel brought back with them from captivity and mentions silver and gold but doesn’t mention the volume of silver and gold that existed in the time of Solomon.
So the question is what happened to the silver and gold? Well, Bill Perkins's contention is that the Israelis at that point in history, (because they knew the Babylonian captivity was inevitable), took the silver and gold and hid it. In fact, hid it so well that the next generation didn’t know where it was hidden.
How does Bill reach this conclusion? By looking at all the passages that talk about silver and gold taken INTO captivity and then brought back with them OUT of captivity, this amount was slim pickings compared with all the gold and silver Solomon owned. The Israelis didn’t want Nebuchadnezzar to have it so they hid it, and if it’s hidden then it’s still there, and it is just a matter of time according to this thinking that Israel will come upon a tremendous discovery of gold and silver.
The invaders will come against Israel, not just for the wealth they already have but because of this gold and silver. With its natural gas, oil, and mineral deposits, it would not surprise us to hear of its massive discovery of gold and silver. It’s just a theory but it is how God works.
If it happens, if gold and silver are discovered in Israel we will all step back and say, “Wow, look at what God did to see that even the myopic details of His Word should be fulfilled. Praise be to our amazing, wonderful, faithful God!
Sources
Andy Woods
Bill Perkins