Ezekiel 38:16

16 and thou as a cloud shalt ascend on my people Israel, that thou cover the earth? Thou shalt be in the last days, and I shall bring thee on my land, that my folks know, when I shall be hallowed in thee, thou Gog, before the eyes of them. (and thou shalt ascend against my people Israel, and like a cloud thou shalt cover the earth. It shall be in the latter days, and I shall bring thee against my land, so that the peoples, or the nations, can know me, when I shall be shown to be holy, by what I shall do through thee, O Gog, before their eyes.)

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 thou, son of man; and thou shalt say to Gog, The Lord God saith these things, Whether not in that day, when my people Israel shall dwell trustily, thou shalt know; (And so prophesy thou, son of man; and thou shalt say to Gog, The Lord God saith these things, On that day, when my people Israel shall live in trust, thou shalt know about it;)

15 and (thou) shalt come from thy place, from the sides of the north, thou, and many peoples with thee, all (the) riders of horses, a great company, and an huge host (and a large army);

16 and thou as a cloud shalt ascend on my people Israel, that thou cover the earth? Thou shalt be in the last days, and I shall bring thee on my land, that my folks know, when I shall be hallowed in thee, thou Gog, before the eyes of them. (and thou shalt ascend against my people Israel, and like a cloud thou shalt cover the earth. It shall be in the latter days, and I shall bring thee against my land, so that the peoples, or the nations, can know me, when I shall be shown to be holy, by what I shall do through thee, O Gog, before their eyes.)

17 The Lord God saith these things, Therefore thou art he of whom I spake in eld days, in the hand of my servants, prophets of Israel, that prophesied in the days of those times, that I should bring thee on them. (The Lord God saith these things, And so thou art he of whom I spoke in the old days, or long ago, by my servants, the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in the days of those times, that I would bring thee against them.)

18 And it shall be, in that day, in the day of the coming of Gog on the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, mine indignation shall ascend in my strong vengeance, (And it shall be, on that day, on the day of the coming of Gog against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, my indignation shall ascend in my strong vengeance,)