Ezekiel 38

1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

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

3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.

4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them thoroughly equipped, a great assemblage with targets and shields, all of them handling swords:

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

6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah from the uttermost north, and all his bands; -- many peoples with thee.

7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself thou, and all thine assemblage that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

8 After many days shalt thou be visited; at the end of years thou shalt come into the land brought back from the sword [and] gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel which have been a perpetual waste: but it is brought forth out from the peoples, and they shall all of them be dwelling in safety.

9 And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many peoples with thee.

10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall even come to pass in that day that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought;

11 and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will come to them that are in quiet, that dwell in safety, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

12 to seize a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are [now] inhabited, and against a people gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the land.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to seize a spoil? hast thou gathered thine assemblage to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to seize a great spoil?

14 Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth in safety, shalt thou not know [it]?

15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost north, thou and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great assemblage and a mighty army.

16 And thou shalt come up against my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land -- it shall be at the end of days -- and I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be hallowed in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

17 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou not he of whom I have spoken in old time through my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days, for [many] years, that I would bring thee against them?

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, in the day when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, [that] my fury shall come up in my face;

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

20 so that the fish of the sea, and the fowl of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things which creep upon the earth, and all mankind that are upon the face 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 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

22 And I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many peoples that are with him, overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.

23 And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

Ezekiel 38 Commentary

Chapter 38

The army and malice of Gog. (1-13) God's judgments. (14-23)

Verses 1-13 These events will be in the latter days. It is supposed these enemies will come together to invade the land of Judea, and God will defeat them. God not only sees who are now the enemies of his church, but he foresees who will be so, and lets them know by his word that he is against them; though they join together, the wicked shall not be unpunished.

Verses 14-23 The enemy should make a formidable descent upon the land of Israel. When Israel dwell safely under the Divine protection, shalt not thou be made to know it by finding that endeavours to destroy them are made in vain? Promises of security are treasured up in the word of God, against the troubles and dangers the church may be brought into in the latter days. In the destruction of sinners, God makes it appear that he is a great and holy God. We should desire and pray daily. Father, glorify thine own name.

Footnotes

• [a]. Or 'chief,' 'commander.' Same word as 'watch,' Jer. 51.12.
• [b]. Or 'Many days ago wast thou appointed.'
• [c]. Or 'at ease,' 'trustfully:' see 2Kings 18.19.
• [d]. Or 'high part,' as Judg. 9.37; lit. 'navel.'
• [e]. Lit. 'nose,' as 'nostrils,' 2Sam. 22.9.

Chapter Summary

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:

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