Ezekiel 38:16

16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may ¹know Me when I am ²sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."

Ezekiel 38:16 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 38:16

And thou shall come up against my people of Israel
Which is repeated for the certainty of it; and not for his comfort, but his ruin; not to the terror of Israel, but for the glory of God: as a cloud to cover the land;
the land of Israel, so great should be his army; (See Gill on Ezekiel 38:9), it shall be in the latter days;
of the Gospel state, or kingdom of the Messiah, when the Jews shall be converted, and are returned to their own land, ( Hosea 3:5 ) : and I will bring thee against my land;
not to possess it, nor to hurt it, or to any injury to the people of it: but that the Heathen may know me;
the Pagan kingdoms of China, and others; who by God's judgments on the Turks will come to the knowledge of the true God, and acknowledge him, and will become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ, ( Revelation 11:15 ) ( 16:12 ) : when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes;
that is, when God shall appear to be a holy and just God, in inflicting deserved punishment on the enemies of his people; when his omniscience and omnipotence, his power and faithfulness, and other perfections of his will be displayed, in fulfilling those prophecies concerning Gog or the Turks; infidels will be convinced of the truth of divine revelation; of the God of Israel being the true God; of Jesus being the Messiah; and of the Christian religion being of God, and shall profess the same. The, Targum is,

``that the people may know the vengeance of my power, when I shall be sanctified in thee, who shall see thy vengeance, O Gog.''

Ezekiel 38:16 In-Context

14 "Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?

15 "You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army;

16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."

17 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days through My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?

18 "It will come about on that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel," declares the Lord GOD, "that My fury will mount up in My anger.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 83:18; Ezekiel 36:23; Ezekiel 38:23
• 2. Isaiah 5:16; Isaiah 8:13; Isaiah 29:23; Ezekiel 28:22