THE FOUR QUADRANTS
Dr. Stephen R. Phinney
The four quadrants
refer to the old city of Jerusalem, which is broken up into four quads. The primary four groups that I will be referencing are the Muslim, the Catholic, the Armenian, and Jewish religions.
It tells us in the book of Ezekiel Chapter 38, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I am against you, O Gog, chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out with your whole army…’”
There is going to be a great war
in the end times. Most people reference this as the Battle of Armageddon. Before we talk about the Battle, we need to take a look at some of the details of the characters within this passage. But first, read the full passage which I will be teaching.
It says in
Ezekiel 38:1-6
:
“The word of the Lord came to me; Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land Magog, the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal; prophesy against him and say: This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘I am against you, O Gog, chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with your whole army—your horsemen fully armed, and a great horde with large and small shields, all of them brandishing their swords. Persia, Cush, and Put will be with them, all with shields and helmets, also Gomer with all its troops, and Beth Togarmah from the far north with its troops—the many nations with you.’”
I think it would be an excellent time to review some of the up-to-date news and history regarding this Battle of “Gog of Magog.” Watch a little bit about some of the up-to-date news regarding the U.S. Troop Withdraw Amid Turkish invasion. This comes to us from CBN News. The gentleman that they are interviewing is Erick Stackelbeck. He is host to the television show The Watchman—hosted by TBN and FOX BUSINESS NETWORK.
Take a look at some of the details
and the characters that are in our passage. If you look to the far left of the chart, you will see an old map of the world as known to the Hebrews, according to the Mosaic account. You will notice the red box there that says, “Battle.” The arrow is pointed to where the final Battle of Armageddon is going to take place; it’s on the outskirts of Israel. In this old map, you’re going to see three primary areas that the Hebrew people divide the map. The North is considered the descendants of Japheth; the South is regarded as the descendants of Ham, and Shem’s descendants are the Hebrew people of Israel.
Here are our final players from Ezekiel 38.
Our first character.
In our passage where it references “Son of man,” that is Jesus, of course. He’s the one that picks the fight and starts the war.
The second character
introduced in this passage is Meshech (Gog, son of Japheth). His name means a dark leader.
Our third character
in this passage is Gog (Satan), the Prince of darkness. During this time, whenever the Battle does occur, Satan will represent Gog in modern times. He will be the Prince of darkness.
Our fourth character
is Tubal (Magog, son of Japheth). When the passage talks about “the land of Magog,” this is the land of the son of Japheth and all of his descendants. I’ll talk more about how all this pulls together in the final political and religious war that is going to take place.
In modern times during that time, Magog is considered the apocalyptic territory or land or domain. According to Hebrew history, it is located first, Lydia, which is now Turkey.
The passage also references Persia. Persia is located in South-Western, Asia. Today it’s called the Iran Plateau.
Our fifth character
referenced in this passage is Cush (eldest son of Ham). Cush represents Egypt in North Africa.
Our sixth character
referenced in this passage is Put (3rd son of Ham). Put represents the settlement of Libya in North Africa.
Our seventh character
referenced is Gomer (eldest son of Japheth). History tells us that Russia was built upon the descendants of Japheth.
Finally, our last character is Beth Togarmah (collective sons of Japheth), and they settled in Turkey.
Those of us who love studying eschatology can see the current world crisis taking place as a result of what is being revealed in Ezekiel Chapter 38. We have Jesus, who is our primary leader who starts the final war to end all things. We have Gog’s descendants coming from him and finally settling in Satan as the Prince of Darkness—the Gog of that time, and then we have Tubal (Magog), which is the land that the descendants of Japheth settled in. Magog, being the area of Turkey, so we need to watch Turkey very closely. Persia being Iran, so we need to be watching Iran closely. Cush being Egypt, so we need to be looking at this small country that is going to be partnering and joining forces with Libya. With Put, Russia, and Turkey, these become the leading players in our end times discussion.
As the scripture tells us
, the North will come down and push against Israel, and the South will come up pushing against Israel. This leaves us with the understanding that there is going to be some kind of alliance with the North and the South to come in together to attempt to crush Israel.
I talked about the seven characters that are mentioned in the book of Revelation, and as it turns out, six of those characters are going to turn on God’s people, God’s country, and the holy city of Jerusalem. Six of these seven characters will join with Satan in his last push against Israel. This force will include many different nations but will primarily be led by Islamic countries. Who are the descendants of Ismael?
Our Battle is really between Ishmael and Isaac—
Ishmael claiming his rights of his father, Abraham, and Isaac claiming his rights of his father, Abraham. These two characters are on the basis or the foundation of this final war that is going to take place.
When the king of the South (Egypt) joins with the king of the North (Russia), the change in events will become more horrific than anyone could ever imagine. The Beast and the False Messiah (False Prophet) will be the confederates (one of two or more people, groups, or nations that have allied for a common purpose). They will work as a team of perfection. It will give the appearance of a civil war; but it will be a holy war that will ultimately be empowered by the False Prophet, under the rule of Satan. This is very critical for us to understand as we watch the Middle East news daily.
I need to take a few moments to talk about the four quadrants
and how they are divided. Old Jerusalem was Old Jerusalem, and it has been Old Jerusalem for over 3,000 years - a holy hill. The Hebrew people had full control, although we must remember the endless battles they have been a part of in trying to protect this holy place. But Old Jerusalem is the sacred place for the descendants of Isaac. Now interesting enough, the leader during the time that Jesus was our Leader, Mohammed, evidently received his vision upon a rock that is on this holy hill. This rock was the same rock that Isaac was to be sacrificed on by his father, Abraham, in his obedience to God the Father. This place, this rock, became a holy place for the descendants of Ishmael. And, of course, the Old Jerusalem was the holy hill for the descendants of Isaac. And here we have our war. But why is the old city divided up into four quadrants? It’s a great question.
There are very few people today who study the Bible and take the time to explore the four quadrants of Old Jerusalem. There is a wall that is built all-around Old Jerusalem. You would think that the wall was created by the Hebrew people (Jewish people), but it was not; it was built by an Ottoman Emperor. He built this wall around Jerusalem, first, as a protection for the two primary groups that were taking ownership of it—the descendants of Ismael and the descendants of Isaac, and second, he wanted to have full control over who came in and who went out this walled city.
Other groups were staking claim to some of the places within Old Jerusalem. The
Muslims were given a quarter
, even though it is much larger than a quarter of the property. The second group was the
Christian Quarter
, which is not so Christian concerning authentic Christianity. The Muslim Quarter was owned by the Muslim Caliph. The Christian Quarter, which is usually called the Holy Sepulchre by the locals, is owned by the Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, and the Armenian Apostolic “Christians,” so it became known as the Christian Quarter even though this was not a friendly group to the born-again Christians spoken of in the Bible.
The third Quarter is called the
Armenian Quarter
. The Armenian Quarter, as known by the locals and by those who have done their homework regarding the Armenian people, is owned by the Jordanians who are required to give equal time to the Qur’an and the Bible - very dangerous. Even though the Armenians would call themselves “Christians,” there is such a pluralistic attitude amongst the Armenian Quarter regarding a Christianized Muslim foundation. We certainly cannot section this Quarter off as a Christian Quarter.
The final Quarter is the most important, and that’s the
Jewish Quarter
—owned by the bloodline Orthodox Jews themselves, and they even include us—authentic grafted in Christians—those of us who claim to be born-again and grafted into the body of Christ who, of course, was Jewish.
So there you have the four quarters—Muslim Quarter—owned by the Muslim Race; Christian Quarter—owned by the Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, and the Apostolic Armenians; Armenian Quarter—owned by Jordanian “Christian” Muslims; and, of course, our forefathers, spiritually anyway and that’s the Jewish Quarter—owned by the sons of David, and born-again Christians who have had the privilege of being grafted.
When we study the four quarters
of Old Jerusalem, we typically think of religious differences and beliefs, but there’s a great deal of politics that manages these four quarters. I am of the personal belief that it is these four groups who will set off a final world war—a war to end all wars, and that’s why I watch the activity of the Muslims. I watch the movement of the international, national underlining Catholics, and the Greek Orthodox, and the Armenians. I keep my eye on the news for these groups because I believe that in the end, when pressure is applied to the walls of this Old Jerusalem by the Lord Himself, there will be a holy war to fight.
A lot is going on with mapping out the book of Revelation. God has been mapping out this book for many years. Most of the time, the proof and the warning signs are right in front of us. It has always been a mystery to me, from when I was a young Christian until now as an old Christian, why true self-proclaimed indwelt believers have not taken the time to understand the geographical, psychological, spiritual, and political activities that surround ancient Jerusalem.
For some of you who are new to the eschatology
of the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem is going to come out of the sky supernaturally. It is a 1,500 square mile block city, and it will hover over Old Jerusalem—it will not touch the ground; it is too holy. But from this New Jerusalem is where the 1,000-year reign of Jesus Christ will occur, which will be the 1,000-years of judgment—past and present—there will be no future after that—but the past and present humans who walk the face of the earth will be judged. So New Jerusalem and Old Jerusalem are significant cities to our Lord.
We need to keep our spiritual eyes open. The characters associated with the Four Quadrants of War are spelled out for us. God is truly an organized God!
When Christ has triumphed over this Battle
that is soon to take place, all darkness, and every form of it, will be removed from the face of the earth—count on it. We can have our final and complete “good-bye” to the old, and fully embrace the NEW once this Battle is finished. After that, we are given a New Heaven, a New Earth, a New Jerusalem, and new nations. Everything will be new. It will be like a perfect spring day.
Many people debate when the Tribulation is going to take place; when the Rapture is going to take place when the 144,000 Jews get saved when Jesus comes back for this Battle; when we are ushered off to this New Heaven and Earth. Well, a lot of that is just only not our business. Scripture even tells us that Jesus Himself does not know the exact hour. There is some reason the Father is keeping this close to His blossom—we have to accept this. But there are precise details that He has given us through the book of Revelation and the news that you’ll be listening to tonight. We need to keep our spiritual eyes and ears open because those who have ears to hear should be listening.
