“And it will come to pass on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, that My blazing indignation will flame in My nostrils.” (Ezekiel 38:18)

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There are signs, both in current events and in Jewish tradition, that point to the possibility that the War of Gog and Magog, prophesied in the Books of Ezekiel and Zechariah, will happen this year on the Jewish holiday of Sukkot (Festival of Tabernacles).

As has been widely reported, the final Blood Moon of the most recent tetrad occurred on the first night of Sukkot, September 28, 2015. Each time a Blood Moon tetrad has fallen on Jewish holidays in the past 500 years, there has been a significant Messianic advancement. Is the War of Gog and Magog connected to the Blood Moon?

Parallel to the final Blood Moon, Iranian and Russian troops are moving into Syria. US troops are heading into the Sinai. Israel is being surrounded by foreign troops to the north and south. The End of Days blogger Tomer Devorah suggests, “It really looks to me like the set-up for the Gog uMagog invasion!”

The apocalyptic War of Gog and Magog, the final war that is part of the Messianic process, is mentioned in two places in the Bible – in the Book of Ezekiel, starting in chapter 38, and in the Book of Zechariah, beginning in chapter 12.

The connection between the War of Gog and Magog and Sukkot is made explicit in Zechariah 14:16, which discusses the annual celebration in Jerusalem on Sukkot, following the War of Gog and Magog.

“And it will come to pass that everyone left of the nations who came up against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to prostrate himself to the King, the Lord of Hosts, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.” (Zechariah 14:16)

In a recent lecture given by popular speaker Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi, there are three other connections between the holiday of Sukkot and the War of Gog and Magog.

First, the numerical value of the Hebrew term “Gog uMagog” (גוג ומגוג) is 70. According to Mizrachi, this is an allusion to the 70 nations that make up the world. When the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, 70 oxen were sacrificed during the week of Sukkot. Each of these 70 oxen represented one of the original 70 nations.

Second, on the Sabbath that falls during the week of Sukkot, the section of the Books of Prophets that is read in synagogues all across the world comes from the Book of Ezekiel (38:18-39:16). This passage discusses the war of Gog and Magog which is predicted to come before the Final Redemption of the Jewish people.

Third, Mizrachi states that the only reference to Gog and Magog in the Talmud, Judaism’s enormous reservoir of rabbinic teachings, is in the tractate named Sukkot. Amidst a discussion of the death of the Yetzer Hara (Evil Inclination) in Messianic times, the Talmud speaks of the mourning that will accompany the death of Moshiach ben Yosef (the first Messiah from the Tribe of Joseph) who will be killed in the War of Gog and Magog.

Mizrachi puts these pieces together and emphasizes that, based on the mystical tradition of Judaism known as Kabbalah, the rabbis of the Talmud understood, “that the time that has the highest chance to have this war is Sukkot, and especially this year, when it is the end of Shmittah.”

“The Gemara (Talmud) says that in the end of shvyit (the seventh year, which is a Shmittah year), Moshiach ben David (Messiah, son of David) [will] come,” Mizrachi told Breaking Israel News, emphasizing that “all the signs that the Gemara gave [for the era preceding the Messiah] already happened.”