Author’s note: This article was written a week earlier, so I didn’t include my thinking on the most recent sabotage of the Nord Stream Pipelines that carry gas from Russia to Europe. This action adds further to the things shaping for the Gog-Magog prophecy as presented in this commentary.

Gaslighting” is considered a form of psychological abuse whereby a person or group manipulates one or more people into questioning their sanity and perception of reality. People who gaslight may intentionally or unintentionally use this form of abuse to exert power or control over others, with the goal being to manipulate them.

The above is the precise definition I got from the Internet. Certainly, “gaslighting” is a term used to paint those who do it in a bad…well…a bad light. We often hear it used in politics when one side accuses the other of gaslighting through fear or intimidation—in order to gain advantage over an opponent.

Manipulation is itself an unattractive thing in most cases, as it implies twisting in a deceptive way in order to get one’s way. But in the case of this commentary, I believe “gaslighting” and “manipulation” are absolutely righteous things. That is because that is exactly how I see our God is positioning one of Bible prophecy’s most heinous actors yet future in order to achieve the desired goal of that character’s judgment.

Of course, I use the term sort of tongue-in-cheek because the Gog-Magog assault described in Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 involves the force led by the leader possessed by the Gog spirit. And, I and others believe the spoil Ezekiel says Gog will seek with the invasion into Israel might be well in view at this very moment.

That spoil the invaders will want might well be oil–petroleum. And, of course, natural gas–thus the perhaps not-so-clever title of this article.

The Lord Himself will manipulate—will gaslight—the leader we believe will be from the land of Rosh (Russia). God will, according to the prophet Ezekiel, make manifest Gog’s evil intention.

“And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords” (Ezekiel 38:3–4).

God’s Word predicts further:

“Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought: And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land” (Ezekiel 38:10–12).

Amidst all of the phenomenal things we see developing in regard to stage-setting for prophetic fulfillment, God’s gaslighting the Gog-Magog forces gathered above Israel today is most significant in my view. The fact that most all nations of Europe are facing a winter without sufficient fuel to heat homes and even to power electrical necessities is nothing short of profound in figuring all of this, prophetically speaking.

And, while our God hasn’t caused this stage-setting for one of history’s most focal, end-times judgments, His omniscience has certainly controlled mankind’s sinful proclivities to the point it might be called heavenly manipulation.

Russia has all but cut off Europe from critical natural gas supplies, knowing the winters are brutal and European leaders are at his mercy. Or so Mr. Putin must think…

But God’s chosen nation (although they most often act as anything but these days), Israel, is also being used in a supernatural “gaslighting” way, if I might use the term again.

Israel, it appears, is now on the threshold of being able to fulfill all of Europe’s needs in this regard. As of this moment, there are still matters to be manipulated and worked out. But one can almost tangibly feel the setting-up of the situation that might–and I believe will—bring about that enraged attack from Israel’s north.

Israel is cutting into Vladimir Putin’s money-making—power-grabbing—business. My question, of course: Will this be primary in acting as the “hooks in the jaw” of whoever will lead that Magog force over the mountains of Israel?

Here are brief excerpts of developments in the matters involving Israel and European fuel needs.

“Israel is not part of Europe, the theme of this issue of in FOCUS. But Israel’s trade, political and social relations to the continent are central to its thinking – and to that of Europe. As European countries – particularly Poland and Ukraine – worry about their reliance on Russian gas during frigid winters, Israel has forged an energy future that may challenge Russian leverage over European policy.

“Amidst the almost unbroken gloom and doom (mostly well-justified) about just about everything in our fracturing world, it is a pleasure, for a change, to write about a development that is almost entirely good news. Israel, for the first 50 years of its existence, was almost totally devoid of natural resources, with the exception of some potash exports from the Dead Sea area. This was the basis of the joke that God promised the Israelites that he would lead them to a land of milk and honey, but he neglected to mention that all the oil and gas would go to others.

“Finally, in 1999, Noble Energy of the United States and the Delek Group of Israel began to plan and then carry out exploration and development of natural gas reserves off the coast of Israel. Ten years later, the Tamar commercially-viable gas field was discovered, and development began. Two years later, the massive Leviathan field was also discovered and is now in the course of development. (Natural Gas: What it Means for Israel and Europe, Norman A. Bailey, PhD, professor of economic statecraft at The Institute of World Politics, 2018)

“One of Israel’s major concessions when it signed the Camp David peace agreement with Egypt was giving up the Alma oil field in the Sinai Peninsula. Discovered and developed by Israel, the field seemed to be Israel’s only hope of becoming energy-independent.

“Rather than becoming independent, Israel depended on other countries like Egypt, Russia, and Azerbaijan for oil.

“Since then, Israel was known as one of the only countries in the Middle East with no natural resources. But that all changed in 2009 when a large natural gas reserve of 311 billion cubic meters (BCM) was discovered off the coast of Israel.

“Today, Israel’s gas reserves are so rich that they can supply not only Israel but Europe as well. And that’s precisely what happened on Wednesday when Israel and the European Union signed a natural gas agreement. The agreement was forged in Cairo in Egypt, as the gas will flow via Egypt’s pipelines. Signing this trilateral agreement is Europe’s solution for replacing the Russian gas imports it has relied on for decades.

“Western Europe is trying to distance itself from Russia, including economic boycotts. This phenomenon provided Israel with a rare opportunity to provide natural gas once provided by the Kremlin.

“Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, said in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem on Tuesday: “With the beginning of this war and the attempt of Russia to blackmail us through energy, by deliberately cutting off the energy supplies, we decided to cut off and to get rid of the dependency on Russian fossil fuels, and to move away from Russia and diversify to trustworthy suppliers,” adding that “It is an outstanding step bringing our energy cooperation to the next level.” (“Israel to supply natural gas to Europe and its connection to a blessing from Deuteronomy,” David Sidman, June 16, 2022, Biblical News)

There seems no other prophecy we can see developing in clearer fashion than the Gog-Magog attack. There are differing views of when it will occur. Some believe it will take place before the Rapture of the Church, some after, and some simultaneously with that great home-going. But to the truly attuned Bible prophecy observer, preparations for that assault are shaping dramatically day by day, even hour by hour, proving, to my way of belief, that this world is on the brink of the Tribulation.

Before that most terrible time of history, Jesus will step onto the clouds of glory and call His bride, the Church, to Himself so His judgment and wrath can fall on the rebels of planet Earth.

If you want to be part of that glorious leap from the planet when Christ calls, to be taken out of harm’s way, here is how.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9–10).