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Russia - Ukraine. Gog and Magog?

Are the winds of war blowing between Russia and Ukraine the beginning of the Gog and Magog war?

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Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu

Adar I 12 5782
Are the winds of war blowing between Russia and Ukraine the beginning of the Gog and Magog war? Doesn’t the involvement of the US and Europe make this a third world war? And in general, are we already after Gog and Magog or should we be afraid of it, a war in which all Nations will gather on Jerusalem, and half the people will go into exile, etc.

This question was asked of my father Maran Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu of blessed and righteous memory, and he said that as we see it, Gog and Magog does not have to be, and certainly not in the way the prophets prophesied. We have a rule that a prophecy of calamity does not have to come true. That is why the prophesy about the exile in Egypt which will last 400 years did not come true, due to the heaviness of the oppression. Hashem calculated the exile from the birth of Isaac and so we left Egypt 210 years after entering.

This is a sign that all exiles can end on one of two dates. One "B’itah", in its time, and one "Achishna", hastened. One at the appointed time and one earlier. And so the prophecy about Gog and Magog can also unfold in a different way. And so it should be after the Gentiles have enslaved us throughout exile in the cruelest way possible. Therefore this prophecy of calamity will not come upon us.

About 15 years ago, Rabbi Eliyahu obr"m, said that the prophecy about the Gentiles rotting where they stand does not have to happen when they are in Jerusalem. Hashem can bring them a virus that will harm the whole world, and wipe out the wicked even when they are in their own lands.

This plague will make them realize that they are not God. They are human beings who were created and should behave in the world of God as guests who respect the rules of the Creator. In grace and mercy - not in cruelty, domination or exploitation.

They must understand that the world was not created by itself. That man was created in the image of God and not of the ape. That we are all the handiwork of Hashem, and should all unite as one - not fight and shed blood. "And all that was made will fear You, and all created will bow to You, and all will unite as one to do Your will with a whole heart".

We also pray and hope and yearn that we will live to see: "Reign upon the whole world in Your honor, and rise upon the land in Your glory, and appear in the splendor of Your majestic might over all who dwell upon Your earth; and everything that has been made will know that You have made it, and all that was formed will understand You have formed it, and everyone who has breath in him will say: Hashem, God of Israel is King, and His Kingdom rules over all."
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