What is Gog and Magog?

Who are the countries mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39, in modern day terms?
Ezekiel 38:1-6 (NKJV)
1 Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh,[a] Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 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 bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia,[b] and Libya[c] are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.

In verse 2 we see the first names mentioned, and they are Gog, Magog, Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. Some will be easier to identify than others.
Gog – This is an extremely difficult one to figure out but with a little research maybe I can get an idea. Gog seems to be a person rather than a place simply by seeing the the passage say “Gog, of the land of Magog”. If Magog is the Land or Country mentioned then it seems to reason that Gog is something else. Gog is used in 1 Chr. 5:4 as a proper name, the son of Joel. Gog is also used in the Septuagint for names such as Agag in Num. 24:7(likely meaning Prince or Supreme one) and Og in Deut.3:1. This leads some to speculate that though it was used as a proper name, it became to be used as a title. I believe it means Prince, Ruler, Leader, or something like that.
Magog – In Gen. 10:1-2 Magog is a descendant of Noah through Japheth. Josephus said "Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians of the far north,” So who are the Scythians?

According to this map I found the Scythians were a people that occupy Southern Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and northern Iran. I do not think this map is completely accurate since Josephus says far north, but it does give us a general idea of where these people were. I think it is safe to say Ezekiel is talking about modern day Russia.
Prince of Rosh – This again is not a place but rather a title. Rosh in the Hebrew Old Testament is an adjective chief, often used to reference Chief Preist. So a proper reading would be Chief Prince of Meshech, and Tubal. It is saying that Gog or the ruler of Magog is also the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
Meshech – The son of Japheth, who is the son of Noah. (Gen. 10:2), the founder of a tribe (1 Chr. 1:5; Ezek. 27:13; 38:2,3) Mushki (MŠK) of central and western Asia Minor, known today as Turkey, seems to be the logical choice since these people were well known to Ezekiel.
Tubal - This nation was probably the Tiberini of the Greek historian Herodotus, a people of the Asiatic highland west of the Upper Euphrates, the southern range of the Caucasus, on the east of the Black Sea. Like Meshech, Tubal is also in the Asia Minor area, known today as Turkey and southern Russia.
Persia – This is modern day Iran and an easy one to figure out.
Ethiopia – This is also one of the easy ones to identify, however it should be noted that Ethiopia during Ezekiel’s time was an area that also included part of Sudan.
Libya – This is the same country that we know today as modern Libya.
Gomer - The oldest son of Japheth. This area is also thought to be in the regions of western Turkey and Armenia.
Togarmah - Son of Gomer, grandson of Japheth, and great grandson of Noah. Most likely eastern Turkey and Northern Syria.

So in a nutshell we are talking about an alliance forming between: Russia, Iran, Turkey, Libya, Ethiopia, and possibly Syria and Sudan. Just in the past 10 days Turkey has broken long standing friendship with Israel and formed new alliances with Russia and Syria. Russia for the first time in history is aligned with Iran and is supplying them with atomic technology. Russia has threatened Israel if they attack Iran and their nuclear threat. Russia in the past year has signed arms deals with Libya and Ethiopia. Here are some recent headlines.
Turkey Tightens Syrian-Iranian Axis after Snubbing Israel
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133843
Italy, Russia, Turkey sign pipeline deal
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Italy-Russia-Turkey-sign-apf-931257830.html?x=0&.v=1
Russia set to boost military-technical ties with Iran
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=108016§ionid=351020101
Russia has 5 arms deals with Libya – Rosoboronexport
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20091007/156383869.html
Moscow to host international conference on Sudan October 6-7
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20091002/156326929.html

Just about every headline I come across I see Russia or “Gog in the land of Magog” at the head of everything. I cannot stress this enough. Time is short my friends and the hour to repent and turn to God is now. We are not guaranteed another minute before Christ returns. Do not wait until its too late. Give your life to Christ while there is still time.

More to come on this, so stay tuned……