To those who have a fairly good background in the hard sciences: Maybe Ezekiel really did mean horses and ancient armor........ The Swords of Ezekiel accepts the plain teaching of the text that the Magog raiders wield weapons from the generation before the Gunpowder Revolution and use horses for transportation.
Consequently, the narrative that emerges is a dramatic departure from the generally accepted modern weapons teaching of present-day scholars. In this alternative understanding, the two chapters are complementary descriptions of the same series of events. i.e. One has details that the other does not have. The chronological narrative emerges when the two segments are properly aligned like a spline gear on a drive shaft.
Thoroughly referenced, this is the book to read for a better understanding of the relationship between natural science, European history, legend as guide to history, art as secular prophet, archaeology outside the Near East and Bible prophecy. The primary motives for the raid are anti-Israel resentment, jealousy and near starvation levels of crop-failure hunger. The absence of modern weapons is explained as a combination of industrial collapse and an as-yet unobserved destabilization of nitrate-based propellants and explosives. The merchants of Tarshish are identified as the British Commonwealth based on cultural heritage, mineral resources, geography and geopolitics. The Swords of Ezekiel also suggests a location for these events on the prophetic timeline.