Bush And Bible Prophecy
Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 6:00AM 
I will just admit it and get it behind me. Bush was a terrible president-one of the worst ever. But even with this as a granted position, I have trouble believing a lot of the things that are said about him. For example, I have never believed that Bush let his view of Bible prophecy affect his policies. I have been wrong:
In 2003 while lobbying leaders to put together the Coalition of the Willing, President Bush spoke to France's President Jacques Chirac. Bush wove a story about how the Biblical creatures Gog and Magog were at work in the Middle East and how they must be defeated.
I still have a problem thinking this is true, but unfortunately for me it is now confirmed by Chirac:
The story has now been confirmed by Chirac himself in a new book, published in France in March, by journalist Jean Claude Maurice. Chirac is said to have been stupefied and disturbed by Bush's invocation of Biblical prophesy (sic) to justify the war in Iraq and "wondered how someone could be so superficial and fanatical in their beliefs".
Those of you who know me know that I have no trouble having something to say. But I was struck dumb when I read this. First, the God and Magog prophecies really do not have anything to do with Iraq. In the Pop Theology way, it is often interpreted as Russia invading Israel. If this prophetic scenario is correct, then you would not want any troops in Iraq as that would prevent the Russians from attacking. The way Pop Theology gets the Russians in this prophecy is to mangle Hebrew. The word for head or leader in Hebrew is ro'sh, and the prophecy in Ezekiel 38 that mentions Gog and Magog mentions the leader, the “rosh.” Which sort of sounds like “Russia.” Or not. One of my pet peeves in addition to Pop Theology is Pop Etymology.
The whole point of the prophecy is that God directly intervenes. There is no need for American troops. Here is the reference in Revelation 20:
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog—and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
The reference in Ezekiel 38 is similar:
18 This is what will happen in that day: When Gog attacks the land of Israel, my hot anger will be aroused, declares the Sovereign LORD. 19 In my zeal and fiery wrath I declare that at that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. ... 22 I will execute judgment on him with plague and bloodshed; I will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.
How either of these can be used to support a war in Iraq is beyond me. In an interesting twist, some Jewish rabbis, using their own version of pop theology, declared Bush to be the ro'sh of Gog. This actually makes a little more sense.
In a weird coincidence, all Skull and Bones members (the secret society many presidents have belonged to) are given special names:
The name Magog is traditionally assigned to the incoming Bonesman deemed to have had the most sexual experience, and Gog goes to the new member with the least sexual experience. William Howard Taft and Robert Taft were Magogs. So, interestingly, was George Bush.
George W. Bush's name was "Temporary" since they never got around to giving him a nickname. I wish he had been temporary, but his policies continue in president Obama.
Reader Comments (1)
From other comments Bush has made, I very much doubt that he knows enough about the Bible to know what he was suggesting when he invoked Gog and Magog. And I suspect those relating the conversations know even less about the Bible, and hence even less understanding of what Bush was talking about than Bush.
Was this a theme that Hagee was pushing at that time? Did Bush pick it up from him, or one of his followers? It's all quite a muddle.