Ezekiel 38:3-13

3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.
4 "I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will 1bring you out, and all your army, 2horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords;
5 3Persia, 4Ethiopia and 5Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 6Gomer with all its troops; 7Beth-togarmah * from the remote parts of the north with all its troops -many peoples with you.
7 "8Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your companies that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
8 "9After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come into the land that is restored from the sword, whose inhabitants have been 10gathered from many nations to the 11mountains of Israel which had been a continual waste; but its people were brought out from the nations, and they are 12living securely, all of them.
9 "You will go up, you will come 13like a storm; you will be like a 14cloud covering the land, you and all your troops, and many peoples with you."
10 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "It will come about on that day, that thoughts will come into your mind and you will 15devise an evil plan,
11 and you will say, 'I will go up against the land of 16unwalled villages. I will go against those who are 17at rest, that live securely, all of them living without walls and having no bars or gates,
12 to 18capture spoil and to seize plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered from the nations, who have acquired cattle and goods, who live at the center of the world.'
13 "19Sheba and 20Dedan and the merchants of 21Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, 'Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great 22spoil?' "'

Ezekiel 38:3-13 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 38

This chapter gives an account of an enemy of the Jews, under the name of Gog, that shall invade their land, and disturb their peace, after they are settled in it; who is described by the countries over which he rules; and against whom the prophet is bid to set his face, and prophesy of him, the Lord being against him; and who would cause him to return from Judea unsuccessful, Eze 38:1-4, the number of his confederates, their warlike accoutrements and preparations for the invasion of the land of Israel, are foretold, Eze 38:4-9, his wicked designs and intentions to spoil and plunder the inhabitants of it, Eze 38:10-12, the notice taken of his projects by the merchants of Tarshish and others, Eze 38:13,14, his coming up to invade the land is again observed for the certainty of it; and the place from whence, and the time when he should come, are mentioned, as well as God's design in it, and which had been before predicted by his prophets, Eze 38:14-17, and the chapter is concluded with a denunciation of divine wrath, which shall be terrible to all the inhabitants of the earth, and to all creatures in heaven, earth, and sea; when he and his forces shall be destroyed by the sword, by pestilence, and by dreadful storms and tempests, Eze 38:18-23, of which destruction a fuller account is given in the next chapter.

the preceding prophecy did, as the copulative and shows; which predicts the restoration and conversion of the Jews; the union of their tribes under the King Messiah; and their settlement in their own land: and this respects some disturbance they should meet with upon it, for a short time, by a powerful enemy hereafter described:

\\saying\\; as follows:

29385-Eze38.2

Cross References 22

  • 1. Isaiah 43:17
  • 2. Ezekiel 38:15; Daniel 11:40
  • 3. 2 Chronicles 36:20; Ezra 1:1; Ezekiel 27:10; Daniel 8:20
  • 4. Genesis 10:6-8; Ezekiel 30:4, 5
  • 5. Ezekiel 27:10; Ezekiel 30:5
  • 6. Genesis 10:2, 3
  • 7. Genesis 10:3; Ezekiel 27:14
  • 8. Isaiah 8:9
  • 9. Isaiah 24:22
  • 10. Isaiah 11:11; Ezekiel 36:24; Ezekiel 37:21; Ezekiel 38:12; Ezekiel 39:27, 28
  • 11. Ezekiel 34:13; Ezekiel 36:1-8
  • 12. Ezekiel 38:11, 14; Ezekiel 39:26
  • 13. Isaiah 5:28; Isaiah 21:1; Isaiah 25:4; Isaiah 28:2; Jeremiah 4:13
  • 14. Ezekiel 30:18; Ezekiel 38:16; Joel 2:2
  • 15. Psalms 36:4; Micah 2:1
  • 16. Zechariah 2:4
  • 17. Jeremiah 49:31
  • 18. Isaiah 10:6; Ezekiel 29:19
  • 19. Ezekiel 27:22, 23
  • 20. Ezekiel 25:13; Ezekiel 27:15, 20
  • 21. Ezekiel 27:12
  • 22. Isaiah 10:6; Isaiah 33:23; Jeremiah 15:13

Footnotes 11

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.