Editing Gog and Magog (section)

==Modern apocalypticism==
In the early 19th century, some [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidic]] [[rabbi]]s identified the [[French invasion of Russia]] under [[Napoleon]] as "The War of Gog and Magog".{{sfn|Wessels|2013|p=205}} But as the century progressed, apocalyptic expectations receded as the populace in Europe began to adopt an increasingly secular worldview.{{sfn|Kyle|2012|pp=34–35}} This has not been the case in the United States, where a 2002 poll indicated that 59% of Americans believed the events predicted in the Book of Revelation would come to pass.{{sfn|Filiu|2011|p=196}} During the [[Cold War]] the idea that [[Soviet Union|Soviet Russia]] had the role of Gog gained popularity, since Ezekiel's words describing him as "prince of Meshek" – ''rosh meshek'' in Hebrew – sounded suspiciously like Russia and Moscow.{{sfn|Blenkinsopp|1996|p=178}} [[Ronald Reagan]] also took up the idea.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyer |first=Paul|title=When Time Shall Be No More: Prophecy Belief in Modern Culture |publisher=Belknap Press |year=1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FyTeW7vQ8K4C&pg=PR1|isbn=9780674028616 |page=162}}</ref>

Some post-Cold War [[millennialist]]s still identify Gog with Russia, but they now tend to stress its allies among Islamic nations, especially [[Iran]].{{sfn|Kyle|2012|p=171}} For the most fervent, the countdown to [[Armageddon]] began with the [[Aliyah|return of the Jews to Israel]], followed quickly by further signs pointing to the nearness of the final battle – nuclear weapons, [[European integration]], the [[Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem]] in the [[Six-Day War]] in 1967, and America's wars in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]] and the [[Persian Gulf]].{{sfn|Kyle|2012|p=4}}

In the Islamic apocalyptic tradition, the end of the world would be preceded by the release of Gog and Magog, whose destruction by God in a single night would usher in the Day of Resurrection.{{sfn|Cook|2005|pp=8, 10}} Reinterpretation did not generally continue after Classical times, but the needs of the modern world have produced a new body of apocalyptic literature in which Gog and Magog are identified as Communist Russia and China.{{sfn|Cook|2005|pp=12, 47, 206}} One problem these writers have had to confront is the barrier holding Gog and Magog back, which is not to be found in the modern world: the answer varies, some writers saying that Gog and Magog were the Mongols and that the wall is now gone, others that both the wall and Gog and Magog are invisible.{{sfn|Cook|2005|pp=205–206}}