Ezekiel 38

God’s Message to Gog

1 And the word of Yahweh {came} to me, {saying},

2 "Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the head leader of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.

3 And you must say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Look! I [am] against you, Gog, the head leader of Meshach and Tubal,

4 and I will turn you around, and I will place hooks in your cheeks, and I will bring you out and all of your horses and horsemen {fully armed}, all of them, [a] great crowd, holding [a] shield, and small shield, [and] holding swords, all of them.

5 Persia, Cush, and Put [are] with them, all of them, with [a] small shield and helmet.

6 Gomer and all of its troops, Beth Togarmah, the remote areas of the north, and with all of its troops and many peoples with them.

7 Be ready, and prepare {yourselves}, you and all of your assembly, the assembling around you, and you must be for them as a guard.

8 After many days you will be mustered; {in the last years} you will come to a restored land from [the] sword, gathered from many peoples on the mountains of Israel which were as {permanent ruins} [but] from peoples it was brought out, and they will dwell {in safety}, all of them.

9 And you will advance like a storm; you will come, [and] you will be like a cloud {covering} the land, and all of your troops and many nations [along] with you."

10 " 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "{And then} on that day, things will come up on your mind, and you will devise evil plans.

11 And you will say, 'I will go up against a land of open country; I will come [to] the [people] being at rest {in safety}, all of them dwelling without a wall and crossbars and {without doors},

12 to loot loot, and to plunder plunder, {to assail} inhabited ruins and [a] people gathered together from [various] peoples [and who are] acquiring livestock and goods [and] dwelling at the center of the world.

13 Sheba and Dedan and traders of Tarshish and all its strong lions, they [will] ask you, 'To loot loot are you coming? To plunder plunder [have] you summoned your assembly, to take away silver and gold, to take livestock and goods, to loot great amounts of loot?" '

14 "Therefore prophesy, son of man, and you must say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Will you not realize on that day when my people Israel are dwelling {in safety},

15 and [so] you will come from your place, from [the] remote areas of [the] north, you and many people with you, {horsemen} all of them, a great crowd and a vast army,

16 and you will advance against my people Israel like a cloud {covering} the land; it will be in the last days, and I will bring you against my land, so that the nations know me, {when I show myself holy through you} before their eyes, O Gog!" '

17 "Thus says the Lord Yahweh, '[Are] you he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of my servants the prophets of Israel [who] were prophesying in those days for years [that I would] bring you against them?

18 And [so] then in that day, on the day of the coming of God against the land of Israel,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, 'my rage will come up in my anger.

19 And in my passion, [in] the fire of my wrath, I spoke [that] {certainly} on that day [a] great earthquake will be on the land of Israel.

20 And the fish of the sea and the birds of the heaven and the animals of the field and all of the creeping things that creep on the earth and all of the humans who [are] on the surface of the earth will shake {at my presence}; and the mountains will be demolished, and the steep mountain sides will fall, and every wall on the earth will fall.

21 And I will call against him in all of my mountains a sword,' {declares} the Lord Yahweh, '[And] [the] sword of each [person] will be against his brother.

22 And I will execute justice with him with a plague and with blood and {torrents of rain}, and hailstones; fire and sulfur I will cause to fall on him and on his troops and on many peoples who [are] with him.

23 And [so] I will exalt myself, and I will show myself holy, and I will make myself known before [the] eyes of many nations, and they will know that I [am] Yahweh.'"

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]. Literally "was"
• [b]. Literally "to say"
• [c]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
• [d]. Or "chief"
• [e]. Or "chief"
• [f]. Or "give"
• [g]. Literally "clothed of fullness"
• [h]. Or "buckler"
• [i]. Or "wielding"
• [j]. Literally "for you"
• [k]. Or "battalions" or "hoards"
• [l]. Or "assemblies"
• [m]. Or "serve"
• [n]. Or "final years"; literally "in the last of the years"
• [o]. Literally "ruins continually/permanently"
• [p]. Literally "with confidence/assurance/trust"
• [q]. Literally "to cover"
• [r]. Literally "and it will be"
• [s]. Or "thoughts"
• [t]. Or "in"
• [u]. Or "go"
• [v]. Literally "with confidence"
• [w]. Or "walls"
• [x]. Hebrew "crossbar"
• [y]. Literally "and doors there are not for them"
• [z]. Or "for"
• [aa]. Or "war-booty"; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
• [ab]. Or "seize"; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
• [ac]. Literally "to bring back your hand against"; NJPS, "to turn your hand against"
• [ad]. Or "all of its violent leaders"
• [ae]. Or "for"
• [af]. Or "war-booty" this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
• [ag]. Or "seize"; this word is chosen because of the alliteration in Hebrew
• [ah]. Hebrew "amount"
• [ai]. Or "mortal," or "son of humankind"
• [aj]. LXX reads, "stir up/rouse yourself"
• [ak]. Literally "with confidence/trust"
• [al]. Literally "riders of horsemen"
• [am]. Literally "to cover"
• [an]. Or "occur"
• [ao]. Literally "declaration of"
• [ap]. Or "I asserted"
• [aq]. Literally "if not"
• [ar]. Hebrew "bird"
• [as]. Or "sky"
• [at]. Hebrew "animal"
• [au]. Or "every human being"
• [av]. Literally "from the face of me"
• [aw]. Or "to"
• [ax]. Or "summon against him" (cf. NJPS)
• [ay]. Literally "declaration of"
• [az]. Or "with respect to him"
• [ba]. Literally "rain flooding/pouring down"

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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