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Ezekiel 38: The Coming of Gog

God summons Gog of Magog and his vast army against a peaceful Israel, only to magnify himself and make his holiness known to the nations.

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Ezekiel 38 (WEB)

1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

4 and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;

5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.

7 Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them.

8 After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.

9 You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.

10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:

11 and you shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;

12 to take the plunder and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, Have you come to take the plunder? have you assembled your company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it?

15 You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army;

16 and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you against them?

18 It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.

19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;

20 so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

21 I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains, says the Lord Yahweh: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

22 With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur.

23 I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Summary

Yahweh tells Ezekiel to set his face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and to prophesy against him. God declares that he himself will turn Gog around, put hooks in his jaws, and bring him out with a great assembled army drawn from Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and the house of Togarmah from the far north. In the latter years this horde will come like a storm against a land restored from the sword, whose people now dwell securely in unwalled villages. Gog will scheme to seize plunder and spoil from a people gathered out of the nations, while merchant peoples look on. Yet the whole movement serves God's purpose: he brings Gog against his land so that the nations may know him when he shows himself holy in Gog before their eyes. When Gog comes against Israel, God's wrath blazes; a great shaking convulses the land, and pestilence, blood, flooding rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur fall on the invader. The chapter ends with God's declared aim: he will magnify and sanctify himself and make himself known in the eyes of many nations, so they will know that he is Yahweh. Even the most menacing enemy is ultimately on a hook in the hand of the sovereign God.

Key Figures

  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The sovereign God who summons and defeats Gog, magnifying and sanctifying himself so the nations will know that he is the Holy One.
  • Gog of Magog — The chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, leader of a vast coalition from the far north, who schemes against Israel but is drawn by God to judgment.
  • Gog’s allied hordes — Peoples such as Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and Togarmah, a great company of armies gathered to plunder God’s restored and peaceful people.
  • Israel dwelling securely — The restored people living in unwalled villages without bars or gates, an apparently defenseless flock whom God himself will defend.

Key Verse

Ezekiel 38:23 (WEB)

I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Lessons Learned

  • Even the most fearsome enemy is on a hook in the hand of the sovereign God, who turns him as he wills.
  • God can use the schemes of the wicked to display his own holiness before the watching nations.
  • A people dwelling securely are not safe because of walls but because the Lord himself defends them.
  • God's ultimate purpose in judgment is that the nations would know that he is Yahweh.
  • God is sovereign over his enemies. “I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out” (Ezekiel 38:4, WEB); even the invader moves only as God directs.
  • The Lord defends a defenseless people. Israel dwells “without walls, and having neither bars nor gates” (Ezekiel 38:11, WEB), yet God himself stands as their guard against the storm.
  • Human plots serve God’s purposes. Gog devises “an evil device” (Ezekiel 38:10, WEB), but God has long appointed that the nations would know him through this very assault.
  • God acts for the honor of his name. His goal is to “magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and…make myself known” (Ezekiel 38:23, WEB) so that many nations confess that he is Yahweh.
  1. God repeatedly says he himself will bring Gog out and turn him around (38:4, 16). How does this reshape the way we read threats to God's people?
  2. Israel is pictured dwelling securely without walls or gates. Where does true security come from in this chapter?
  3. Gog devises an evil scheme, yet God says he brings Gog against the land for his own purposes. How do these two truths fit together?
  4. Three times the chapter says the nations will “know” the Lord. Why is God so concerned that the nations know him?
  5. What enemy or threat looms large in your life right now, and how does it help to know that even Gog is on God's hook?
  1. By insisting that he turns Gog around, God reframes every menacing power as a creature he controls. Help the group rest in the truth that no hostile force, however vast, escapes the hand or the purposes of the sovereign Lord.
  2. Israel's security comes not from defenses but from the Lord who declares himself their protector. Encourage the group to locate their safety in God's presence and promises rather than in visible walls.
  3. Gog is genuinely guilty for his evil intent, yet God overrules it for his glory, much as with Joseph's brothers (Genesis 50:20) and the cross. God's sovereignty never excuses sin, but it never loses control of it either.
  4. God's holiness and glory are the highest good in the universe; for the nations to know him is for them to encounter reality and have the chance to live. His concern for his name is also mercy toward the peoples.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Invite members to name a fear or opponent and to picture it on a hook in God's hand. As leader, steer the group toward worship of the sovereign, holy God rather than mere reassurance.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.