Ezekiel 38:1 - Meaning and Application

Bible scholars have had enough to do trying to identify Gog and Magog. We should not claim to settle their debates. Gog seems to be the king, and Magog the kingdom, much like Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Some place them far away in Scythia, Tartary, and Russia. Others think they are closer to Israel, in Syria and Asia Minor.

Ezekiel is told to prophesy against Gog and to say that God is against him too (Ezekiel 38:2, 38:3). God not only sees the enemies of his church now and sets himself against them. He also sees those who will become enemies later and warns them through his word. Even then, he may still use them to carry out his own purposes for his glory, because surely their anger will praise him, and what remains of it he will restrain (Psalm 76:10).

Notice the confusion God planned to bring on this enemy. It is striking that this comes first in the prophecy. Before Ezekiel tells of Gog coming against Israel, he says God will put hooks in Gog’s jaws and turn him back (Ezekiel 38:4). In this way, the people would be assured of their rescue before they even heard the danger described. God is tender toward his people’s comfort, and careful not to frighten them. Even before the trouble begins, he tells them it will end well.

Next, consider the campaign God planned to draw Gog into, so that he would be defeated and disappointed. The nations joining this attack against Israel are many, great, and powerful (Ezekiel 38:5, 38:6), including Persia and Ethiopia. Antiochus, a persecuting king, had an army made up of the nations named here and many others. These peoples had often been at odds with one another, yet they joined together against Israel. How many enemies are stirred up against God’s people!

They are also well supplied with weapons. They bring horses and horsemen into the field, armed with shields, bucklers, and swords (Ezekiel 38:4). Orders are given to make every possible preparation for the expedition (Ezekiel 38:7). Gog is told to prepare, and to keep preparing. He must review what he already has and then add more. As commander in chief, he is to act as a guard for the rest of the alliance, promising their safety and protecting them. Leaders should not recklessly expose their soldiers and throw away their lives on hopeless ventures. They should try to guard them whenever they send them into danger. This command to prepare sounds ironical, as if God is saying, “Do your worst, but I will turn you back,” like the warning in Isaiah 8:9: “Gird yourselves, and you will be broken in pieces.”

Their target is the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 38:8), the land that has been delivered from war. Not long before, it had been battered by the sword. It had long been worn down by one judgment after another. It had only recently been gathered from many peoples and brought out from among the nations. It had enjoyed only a short time of peace and had scarcely regained strength after war and captivity. For that reason, its neighbors had no reason to fear it. And for that same reason, it was cruel to attack it so soon.

This is a people who live safely, all of them, in unwalled villages, with no bars or gates (Ezekiel 38:11). Their lack of defenses shows they mean no harm to their neighbors, because they do not fear harm from them. Those who do not defend themselves are hardly likely to attack others, and that makes the invaders’ sin worse. It is shameful and cruel to plot evil against a neighbor who lives securely beside you and does not suspect you (Proverbs 3:29). Yet see how troubles return in this world, one after another, and how little reason we ever have to feel fully secure until we come to heaven. Israel had only recently been delivered from one enemy’s sword, and now another sword is drawn against it. Past troubles do not exempt us from future ones. When we think we have put off our armor for a while, a fresh alarm may call us to put it on again. So we must never boast or let down our guard.

What the enemy wants from this scheme is wealth, not land. He wants to spoil, plunder, and take the country’s goods. At the same time that God is bringing this matter about, evil thoughts come into the enemy’s mind, and he thinks wicked plans (Ezekiel 38:10). All the harm people do, especially harm done to God’s church, begins with evil thoughts. These may be ambitious thoughts, greedy thoughts, or hateful thoughts against the godly because they are godly.

It came into Antiochus’s mind that these religious Jews were a peculiar people, and that their worship condemned the idol worship of their neighbors. Out of hatred for their religion, he meant to trouble them. It also came into his mind that they were wealthy, with cattle and goods in the midst of the land (Ezekiel 38:12). He saw how weak they were, how little resistance they could offer, and how easy it would be to carry off their goods. He also thought how much honor he could win by this robbery. As one evil thought led to another, he finally settled on this plan (Ezekiel 38:11, 38:12): “I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will take them for myself. I will disturb people who are at rest, without warning them.” He had no real excuse for war, no claim that they were growing too powerful, insulting, or guilty of wrongs against him. He meant only to take spoil and seize prey (Ezekiel 38:12), openly violating justice, like a highwayman who kills a traveler to get his money.

These were the thoughts of that wicked prince, and God knew them. More than that, he knew them before they ever entered the prince’s mind, because he understands our thoughts from far away (Psalm 139:2).

According to this plan, Gog will throw all his force against the land of Israel, and he will find others ready to help him with the same hopes (Ezekiel 38:9). He will come up like a storm, with all the force, rage, and fierceness possible. He will be like a cloud that covers the land, darkens it, and threatens it, not only with all his own bands, all the troops he can bring into the field, but with many people with him too (Ezekiel 38:13).

These other peoples include Sheba and Dedan, the Arabians and the Edomites, and the merchants of Tarshish, Tyre, Sidon, and other sea towns, along with their young lions, that is, their greedy allies who live by plunder. They will say, “Have you come to take the spoil of this land?” In one sense, they are asking because they want him to succeed. In another sense, they may be jealous of him, or resent that success would go to him and not them.

They may also be mocking him, because they know God is on Israel’s side and expect his attack to fail. They foresee that he will be disappointed and will not get the prey he promised himself. Or, if he comes for plunder, they may join him and strengthen his army. When Lysias, the commander of Antiochus’s army, came against the Jews, the nearby nations joined him (1 Macc. 3:41), sharing in the guilt in hopes of sharing in the spoil. “When you saw a thief, then you consented with him.”