A Texas pastor likened Russian President Vladimir Putin to Germany's Adolf Hitler and the biblical figure in Ezekiel 38, Gog, for being a very evil person.
The Christian Post reported that Trinity Fellowship Church Founder Jimmy Evans made the statements during a March 13 guesting in Fellowship Church-Grapevine Campus. The 66-year-old Evans, who is senior pastor at the church's DFW Metroplex branch, discussed the possibility of the End Times prophecy being fulfilled.
"Today, I would say that Vladimir Putin is Gog. Now, if this is going to happen years in the future, Gog could be somewhere else. But now we have a leader in Russia who is a very evil man," Evans said.
"(Putin) is bombing women and children, bombing nursing homes, bombed a mosque this week and killed the people in it that were hiding there," he added.
Fellowship Church-Grapevine Campus Pastor Ed Young uploaded Evan's discourse entitled, "What In The World Is Going On?" Accordingly, Evan's guesting is the last in a four-part series on the End Times prophecy.
Young, in the video's notes, explained the intent of the series. Young said people are left with more questions after watching global news on economic volatility, natural disasters, famines, plagues, and wars. He raised the question people had on the coronavirus being the mark that begins the end times. He also echoed the question of people wondering about the significance of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
More importantly, Young highlighted the common question people have in their hearts on how to navigate through life in the face of so much uncertainty. Young acknowledged things may be unsettling but people don't need to be confused and frightened. He stressed Evans would help them better understand what is going on through the Holy Scripture.
In the video, Evans expressed his belief that Putin wants to rebuild the Soviet Union since it has fallen apart in 1991. He raised that Putin does not plan to end his game in Ukraine and went on to compare him with Hitler.
"This is a new Hitler on a rampage. This is the most aggressive military action that has been taken since World War II," Evans continued.
Evans cited Ezekiel 38:1-6 where the Bible mentions Israel being attacked by the military out of politics. Evans presented his point by using a map to show that Ukraine is north of Israel and to the left of Russia. He said the Rosh mentioned in the said verses pertain to Russia, which could be seen at the top of the map.
The pastor went on to say that, if you analyze the Bible, Ukraine could be part of Rosh because East Ukraine belonged to Russia historically. This, he stressed, makes Ukraine part of Ezekiel 38's Magog.
Using this comparison, Evans claimed that Magog is today's Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. While Gomer, Meshech, Togarmah, Tubal are today's Turkey. He estimated that Put or Lybia could be Algeria, particularly parts of Tunisia or northern Africa. Sudan, on the other hand, was once Ethiopia and Iran previously Persia. All these nations he said were mentioned in Ezekiel.
Evans remarked that the commonality of these nations is being an ally of Russia. He stressed that all of them hated Israel. Except for Russia, all the nations he mentioned were Muslim nations. Russia, he said, is furious with Israel now. He pointed out that the Prophet Ezekiel has prophesied these exact things in happening 2,600 years ago. He reiterated that these nations are "politically and militarily aligned" for hating Israel. He alleged that these nations would attack Israel "in a heartbeat if they could."
Evans calculated, based on Psalm 90, that the end times will happen six years from now since modern Israel would be turning 74 this May. He said that the Bible predicted the End Times will be signalled by the modern founding of Israel.
"The Bible tells us exactly what's going to happen in the End Times, and it is happening right before our very eyes. Just about every generation of Christians since Jesus has believed they were living in the End Times," Evans concluded.
