JOEL RICHARDSON: GOG IS NOT THE ANTICHRIST

Gog and Magog: Gospel of the Skull Crusher Bible Study 34

Joel Richardson presents himself as a prophecy expert, yet his material raises significant concerns. This post isolates his handling of Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38–39. As noted previously, Richardson’s effort to identify Gog with the Antichrist is exegetically untenable.

In this video, Richardson's attempt to merge Agag and Gog in Numbers 24:7 is not serious exegesis; it is a contrivance. 

How lovely are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel! They spread out like palm groves, like gardens beside a stream, like aloes the LORD has planted, like cedars beside the waters.Water will flow from his buckets, and his seed will have abundant water. His king will be greater than Agag, and his kingdom will be exalted. God brought him out of Egypt with strength like a wild ox, to devour hostile nations and crush their bones, to pierce them with arrows. He crouches, he lies down like a lion, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? Blessed are those who bless you and cursed are those who curse you.” (Numbers 24:5-9).

Brenton Septuagint translation: There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased. (Numbers 24:7).

The Septuagint (LXX) is a Jewish translation of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek (3rd–2nd century BC). Its purpose was accessibility, not strict one‑to‑one lexical reproduction. The LXX sometimes reflects different Hebrew source traditions or uses interpretive renderings rather than literal ones. The Agag > Gog shift in Numbers 24:7 is linguistic speculation and a translation variant, not a theological identification. The divergence does not establish a theological identity between Agag and Gog. 

Agag is not another name for Gog in the Hebrew Bible. The two names are etymologically distinct, refer to different figures, and belong to different historical–theological contexts. Agag (אגג) and Gog (גוג) are different roots. The similarity in consonants is insufficient to claim identity. A few later interpreters conflate them, but the biblical text itself does not. The Hebrew text still reads Agag.

 

“Agag” was the title carried by Amalekite kings (1 Samuel 15:8). Amalek stood for opposition to God’s people (Exodus 17:16). Predicting a king “greater than Agag” means Israel’s future ruler will decisively outclass every hostile monarch.

Pulpit Commentary: "The name Agag (אַגַג, the fiery one) does not occur again except as the name of the king of Amalek whom Saul conquered and Samuel slew (1 Samuel 15.); yet it may safely be assumed that it was the official title of all the kings of Amalek, resembling in this 'Abimelech' and 'Pharaoh'."1 

Below, in brief, are three additional defects in Richardson’s Islamic‑Antichrist thesis. A full rebuttal has already been set out in detail in my earlier analyses.*

* And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. (Daniel 9:26)

Daniel 9:26 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple in 70 AD. As such, "the prince who is to come” is widely viewed as being the Antichrist. Since it was the Romans who destroyed the city and the Temple, it is commonly believed that the Antichrist will, in some sense, be of Roman derivation and will come from a revived Roman Empire.

* “Thus says the Lord God: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ (Ezekiel 38:10-11).

Gog will come against the land of unwalled villages etc. This description certainly does not describe Israel or Jerusalem, either now or at any time before the end of the age, no matter how Richardson tries to spin it. 

* You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God..  On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. (Ezekiel 39:4-5,11).

And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who in its presence had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur. (Revelation 19:20).

A clear inconsistency emerges in Richardson’s construction. Ezekiel identifies Gog as a figure who is killed and buried in the Valley of the Travelers within Israel (Ezekiel 39:4–11), whereas Revelation states that the beast—the Antichrist—is seized and thrown alive into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20). The two destinies are irreconcilable.

Joel Richardson reports receiving a “prophetic endorsement” in 1992 from Paul Cain—a central figure in the Latter Rain movement whose so‑called personal prophecies once operated as a fast‑track to platform visibility within charismatic networks. In light of the documented exposure of Cain’s fraud by John Collins (Leaving the Message) and others, that boast now functions as a liability rather than a credential. Richardson’s subsequent associations have likewise involved a long list of demonstrably unreliable teachers and platforms, including Glenn Beck, Jim Bakker, Sid Roth, Mike Bickle, Walid Shoebat, Paul Wilbur, TBN, the 700 Club, CBN News, Joel Rosenberg (listed 2009), IHOP, Jonathan Cahn, Mark Biltz, Chuck Missler, Daystar TV, Vlad Savchuk, Chris Reed, and Dalton Thomas. Richardson's further doctrinal errors include Identificational Repentance and the Metatron heresy.

* WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING: FALSE PROPHETS AND BIBLE TEACHERS IN THE LAST DAYS: Joel Richardson

1. Numbers 24:7 Commentaries: "Water will flow from his buckets, And his seed will be by many waters, And his king shall be higher than Agag, And his kingdom shall be exalted.

The Islamic Antichrist Debunked - Gog as the Antichrist

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