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;
Ezekiel 38:18 fixes an exact moment: the day Gog's armies set foot on the land of Israel. It tells us less about the invader than about God, and about what happens when an enemy lays hands on His people.
The names in this prophecy are not vague. Commentators trace them to real peoples of the far north.
Gog is a symbolic name for the powerful and proud chief of the vast armies of Scythia and Tartary. Magog was the son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2). His descendants spread over the great plains of the north, and the land here is named after him... Gog is the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, which match Russia, Moscow (or Muscovy), and Tobolsk: all now in the Russian empire. These peoples come "out of the north" like "a cloud to cover the land." They will attack Israel in the land of Palestine, but God will strike them down.
The verse says the fury rises "on that day" — a day placed after other judgments have already run their course.
The invasion will happen some time after God has judged two other powers (Rev. 19:19-20). The first is the beastly empire with its beast-head: the revived Roman empire in its final ten-kingdom form, with the clay, and with the little horn as leader (Dan. 7; Rev. 13:1-10). The second is the false prophet, the personal Antichrist (Rev. 13:11, etc.)... But other nations gather now for an assault. It is a northern alliance that sweeps south to invade the land. Antiochus Epiphanes did the same in the past, and so did the Assyrian in the days of Isaiah.
The ESV says God's wrath "will be roused in my anger." Older translations read the line as "my fury shall come up in my face," and one writer points to the word behind "face."
Gog is a different kind of enemy, and he dies later. Blinded by his hunger for more land, he does not see the truth: in trying to plunder and destroy Israel, he is attacking Jehovah... But after all God alone governs, whatever the pride or greed or will of Gog: Jehovah brought him against Israel for his own destruction. Yet when he does come, "my fury," says the Lord Jehovah, "shall come up in my face" (literally, nose). No more fears for the land of Israel... at least until the gathering of the nations a thousand years later, which borrows its name from this invasion. One comes at the start of Messiah's reign, the other at its end.
The chapter keeps calling them "My people Israel" and the territory "My land." That little word "my" is why the anger is so personal.
In Ezekiel 38:14 and 16 God speaks of "my people Israel." Gog had to learn what Pharaoh learned in his own day: in attacking Israel he was challenging the God of Israel. Israel were the beloved of God... Gog meant to enrich himself at the cost of God's land and God's people. Instead, he would be the means of showing the nations the glory of the God of Israel.
Gog expects an easy target. He meets the Lord Himself.
Gog wrongly imagined he would meet a defenceless people. Instead, he will face the wrath of God... The Lord Himself is with His people. He comes now not as the meek and lowly Jesus, but as King of kings and Lord of lords. When His anger rises, not only Gog but the whole land shakes before Him.
The fury is not a loss of control. It is the closing act of a long story.
I think, then, that Gog is the end of all God's dealings with Israel. God brings up this proud power for a purpose. By this final judgment He shows on earth how He deals with Israel and with the nations. Then He plants His blessing, His sanctuary, and His glory among Israel — and from then on none of the people are left in exile far from their land.
- Provoked — Gog moves against Israel expecting a defenceless people, blind to one thing: in attacking them he is attacking their God.
- Owned — God calls it "My people" and "My land"; the invader's greed targets what already belongs to God.
- Roused — His fury "comes up in My face," literally "in My nose" — yet God Himself brought Gog there for his own destruction.
- Shaken — the Lord meets him not as the meek and lowly Jesus but as King of kings, and the whole land trembles.
- Known — the fury ends in glory: through Gog the nations see the God of Israel, and God plants His blessing, His sanctuary and His glory among His people, with none left in exile.
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;
The scene is the far future: Israel is back in her own land, and Gog comes against her out of greed. God answers with jealousy, burning anger and a great earthquake, which raises two questions: why does He take this attack so personally, and is the shaking literal ground or a picture of political change?
The language here is physical. God speaks as one whose anger rises into His face. One writer draws out that wording, and shows that Gog was in God's hands the whole time.
In the end God alone rules, whatever the pride or greed or will of Gog: Jehovah brought him against Israel so that he would be destroyed. Yet when he does come, the Lord God says, "my fury shall come up in my face" (literally, nose).
That wording about God's fury comes from an older English translation of the previous verse. Gog marches for spoil, and walks straight into the place God appointed for his ruin.
The word "jealousy" sounds ugly to us today. But one writer, commenting on the same words of God elsewhere, shows what lies behind it.
These words reveal the reason God steps in for His people: it is His unchanging love for Zion. He says, I "am" jealous for Zion, not I "was." Her sad state now moved Him, so to speak, to compassion. It stirred up His jealousy for her, and made Him step in to restore her.
That same love explains why an attack on Israel provokes fire. Gog thought he was raiding a weak people. In fact he was taking on their God.
Gog had to learn what Pharaoh learned in his day: that in attacking Israel he was challenging the God of Israel, for Israel were the people God loved.
Some read the earthquake as a picture of governments falling. One writer rejects that, and points to what happens next in the passage.
To take the words as mere symbols of political revolution is completely uncalled for — worse, it goes against the context. There is no change of government at all in Israel, and they do not suffer any more. But these distant enemies, gathered on their hills, will perish for ever. The mighty shaking in Canaan adds to the solemnity of the scene. Land and sea, heaven and earth own the presence of Him who made all things, and who takes up the cause of Israel.
The shaking does not unsettle Israel; it falls on the invaders. Creation shakes because its Maker has come near, and He has taken a side.
The shaking begins a rescue in which the rescued do nothing. One writer compares it to an older rescue.
Israel will not need to fight. Jehovah will fight for them. As on the shores of the Red Sea, they only have to stand still and see His salvation. He will deal with their enemies in that coming day as easily as He dealt with Pharaoh's armies long ago. First He will throw their ranks into confusion and turn their swords against each other (Ezek. 38:21).
A second Gog appears in the last book of the Bible, and the two are often merged. One writer keeps them apart, arguing from the text.
There is no need to confuse the two. The invasion in Ezekiel comes before Christ's thousand-year reign, not after it, as the one in Revelation does. At that point Israel are only just back in their land (Ezek. 38:14), and from then on Israel know God's name and defile His holy name no more (Ezek. 39:7). The nations also come to know Him (Ezek. 38:16, 23).
One writer reads the same upheaval alongside Psalm 46, where it becomes a reason for confidence.
In the first part [of Psalm 46] they declare that God is their refuge and strength, a present help in trouble. So they will not fear, even if all nature is shaken. Ezekiel 38:19-20 tells us what upheavals will come before Israel enjoys full and settled peace… But this part of the Psalm speaks of upheavals in nature. Facing them, they will not fear, for the Psalm declares that God the Creator is their refuge and strength.
- Provocation. Gog comes for plunder, but God brought him there. His greed serves the very purpose that destroys him.
- Jealousy. The fire is love in action. God will not tolerate an attack on the people He loves.
- Shaking. The upheaval shakes real land, sea and sky. It is not a picture of political change. Creation owns its Maker, and He has taken a side.
- Stillness. Israel does not fight. As at the Red Sea, they stand and watch while the enemy's swords turn on each other.
- Timing. This is the invasion before Christ's reign, not the later gathering in Revelation — from then on the nations learn who the Lord is.
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.
Ezekiel 38 describes a vast army under Gog sweeping down on a restored and peaceful Israel. At verse 20 the prophecy turns from the invader to God Himself: what causes the shaking, how literally should we read it, and when does it come?
Gog thinks he is raiding a defenceless country. In fact he is taking on its God, who calls Israel His own people.
In Ezekiel 38:14 and 16 God speaks of "my people Israel." Gog was to learn what Pharaoh, in his day, had to learn. In attacking Israel he was challenging the God of Israel, for Israel were the beloved of God. ... Instead of enriching himself at the expense of God's land and God's people, Gog would be the means of displaying the glory of the God of Israel before the nations.
The verse names the cause of the shaking: His presence.
Instead of meeting a defenceless people, as he had wrongly imagined, Gog will meet the wrath of God... The Lord Himself is with His people, not now as the meek and lowly Jesus, but as King of kings and Lord of lords, and when His anger rises, not only Gog, but the whole land shakes before Him.
God's own people meet the same convulsions without fear.
In the first part of this Psalm they profess that God is their refuge and strength, a present help in trouble. So they will not fear, though all nature shakes. What are the convulsions that will come before Israel enjoys full and settled peace? Ezekiel 38:19-20 tells us.
Falling mountains and collapsing walls are sometimes read as pictures of governments toppling. One writer rejects that, and places the scene at the final overthrow of Israel's enemies.
This is none other than the last destruction of Israel's enemies before the thousand-year reign of Messiah. The words that follow make that plain, not to mention the next chapter and all the rest of the prophecy. To take the words as merely symbols of political revolution is quite uncalled for — indeed, contrary to the context. There is no change of government whatever in Israel, nor do they suffer more, but these distant enemies gathered on their hills are to perish for ever. The mighty upheaval in Canaan adds to the solemnity of the scene. Land and sea, heaven and earth acknowledge the presence of Him who made all things, taking up the cause of Israel. There is not only mutual slaughter in the ranks of the enemy, but pestilence and blood, overflowing rains and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
Gog's pride does not set the agenda here, and his defeat settles Israel's future for a thousand years.
But after all, God alone governs, whatever the pride or greed or will of Gog: the Lord brought him against Israel for his own destruction... No more fears for the land of Israel. No need of fresh blows on the nations, at least until the mustering of the nations a thousand years afterwards. This invasion lends its name to that one — the one at the beginning, the other at the end, of Messiah's reign.
The shaking of every creature in sea, sky and land displays God's power. He aims it at an audience far wider than Israel.
It tells of the vastness of his army (vv. 4-9) and the evil motive that prompts his invasion of Palestine (vv. 10, 11). It tells of his decisive overthrow too, by the glorious display of God's power as the God of nature and God over and above all things (vv. 14-23). By this means God makes Himself known to the nations. He will magnify Himself and sanctify Himself. That is, He will make Himself respected and revered, no longer mocked or lightly spoken of (vv. 16-23).
- The provocation. Gog attacks what God calls "my people Israel." In doing so he challenges God Himself, as Pharaoh once learned.
- The presence. The land shakes because the Lord is there in person, no longer the meek and lowly Jesus but King of kings.
- The reality. The upheaval is not a picture of political revolution. Land and sea, heaven and earth acknowledge their Maker as He takes Israel's side.
- The refuge. The convulsions that shatter the invader leave God's people unafraid. The Creator is their refuge and strength.
- The result. God magnifies and sanctifies Himself in this overthrow. The nations come to know Him and revere Him, and mock Him no longer.
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.
Gog leads a last great invasion of the land of Israel, and God answers by summoning a sword against him. Two questions follow: who is this enemy, and why does God destroy him by turning his own army on itself?
Gog's invasion looks like his own free choice, driven by greed. One writer shows who is really in control.
Gog is a different kind of enemy, and he perishes later. He is blinded by the lust of grabbing territory. He does not see that he is attacking Jehovah when he seeks to plunder and destroy Israel... But after all God alone governs, whatever the pride or greed or will of Gog: Jehovah brought him against Israel for his own destruction.
The sword summoned here works first as confusion in Gog's own ranks. One writer sets this beside God's past rescues of Israel.
Israel will not need to fight. Jehovah will fight for them. As on the shores of the Red Sea, they have only to stand still and see His salvation. He will dispose of their enemies in the coming day as easily as He disposed of Pharaoh's armies in the distant past. He will first create confusion in their ranks and turn their swords against each other (Ezek. 38:21). This is no new method of warfare with God. He used the same means in Gideon's day. (Judges 7:22)
Another writer adds a second precedent, the rout of the Philistines in Saul's day, when the enemy camp also destroyed itself:
As it was in Judges 7:22 and 1 Samuel 14:20, when every man's sword was against his fellow, so it will be with the armies of Gog, and the destruction of these mighty forces will be completed with other divine instruments of judgment.
Why give this prophecy at all? One writer names two reasons.
This prophecy warns the people about this last great invasion, and so prepares them. It is also meant to give them confidence. It makes known that Jehovah will act for them — He who has so blessedly established them in the land under the True Shepherd. Further, they will not need to fight. Jehovah will rise in His fury. He will fight and win a glorious victory. Gog will find no spoil in Israel's fair land, but a grave.
The sword turned on a brother is only the first blow. Together the blows carry a lesson wider than one battle.
The overthrow comes through internal strife, every man's sword against his brother. It comes through pestilence and blood, that is, violent death. It comes through the downpour of destruction from heaven. So man in proud self-will and boasted sufficiency has his own weapons turned against him... Those who are against God must find that the forces of earth and heaven, combined with their own devices, carry them down to destruction. Self-will and pride must always reap according to the sowing. It is an unchanging principle of the divine government.
When does this happen, and what is it not? One writer answers both.
The words that follow make it plain: this is none other than the last destruction of Israel's foes before the thousand years of Christ's reign. To take the words as mere symbols of political revolution is uncalled for, and even contrary to the context. There is no change of government at all in Israel, and they do not suffer any more. These distant enemies gathered on their hills are to perish for ever. The mighty shaking in Canaan adds to the solemnity of the scene. Land and sea, heaven and earth own the presence of Him who made all things, taking up the cause of Israel. There is not only mutual slaughter in the ranks of the foe, but pestilence and blood, overflowing rains and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
The judgment is not an end in itself. It is how God becomes visible to nations that never knew Him.
Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, falls on the mountains of Israel. There Jehovah makes Himself known in the eyes of many nations (Ezek. 38:21-23)... In a word, Israel would fully know Jehovah and His government. Through this people the world would know them too. From that time God would no more hide His face from them.
- Summoned. God calls for the sword; Gog marches by his own greed, but Jehovah brings him against Israel for his own destruction.
- Scattered. The first blow is panic — swords turned on each other, the method God used in Gideon's day.
- Still. Israel will not need to fight; the prophecy gives them confidence, not a battle plan.
- Sown. Proud self-will has its own weapons turned against it — an unchanging principle of God's government, not a one-off event.
- Seen. The aim of the whole scene is that many nations come to know Jehovah, and that He hides His face from His people no more.
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.
Ezekiel 38 describes a huge northern army sweeping down on a restored Israel at peace. The blows that meet it are not human, so commentators ask who sends them, what they picture, and when they fall.
The chapter piles up disasters. First a great shaking in the land. Then the enemy soldiers turn their swords on each other. Then come the blows named in this verse. One writer sees God's hand behind the whole event, with the created order taking Israel's side.
God alone governs, after all, whatever the pride or greed or will of Gog. The Lord brought him against Israel for his own destruction… The mighty shock in Canaan adds to the solemnity of the scene. Land and sea, heaven and earth all acknowledge the presence of Him who made all things, taking up the cause of Israel. There is not only mutual slaughter in the ranks of the enemy, but pestilence and blood, flooding rains and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.
Every blow here falls from above. So Israel has nothing to do but watch — and then bury the dead for months.
Read chapters thirty-eight and thirty-nine of Ezekiel, and you will see how vast this army is that comes from the far north. You will also see how terrible its destruction is — by mutual slaughter and pestilence, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire and brimstone. Israel will not need to fight. God will do this. He will magnify and sanctify Himself in the eyes of all nations by what happens to them. For seven months after their destruction Israel will be burying the dead.
Rain, hail and fire falling on an army is not a new method. Earlier battles in Israel's history show the same hand at work.
In the days of Joshua the Lord cast down great stones from heaven upon the enemy. In Deborah's time the very stars in their courses fought against Sisera. So it will be in the day to come. His thunderbolts will do terrible damage among the enemies of His people (Joshua 10:11; Judges 5:20). God will open the very windows of heaven, as it were, to pour down destruction upon them.
Three of these terms carry a settled meaning through Scripture. One writer sets out what each one stands for.
"Hail" is often found in Scripture as the expression of violent and destructive judgment (see Joshua 10:11; Isaiah 28, 30; Ezekiel 38:22). "Fire" signifies the holiness of God at work when He judges people, with the thought of something that penetrates everything and consumes. "Blood" will show death, but death under the judgment of God.
Brimstone is sulphur, still found in its raw state in the land itself. Scripture ties it to judgment falling out of the sky.
In God's judgment it was rained from heaven. Genesis 19:24; Psalm 11:6; Ezekiel 38:22; Luke 17:29. It is symbolical of that which will add to the torment and anguish of the wicked. Revelation 14:10; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10; Revelation 21:8.
Commentators differ over Gog's identity. Some link the names in this prophecy with Russia, Moscow and Tobolsk. Kelly rejects the view that Gog is the great western power of Daniel's prophecies. He sees him instead as a northern invader who does not realise whom he is attacking.
Gog is an enemy of a different sort. He perishes later. Blinded by the craving for more territory, he fails to see that he is attacking the Lord when he tries to plunder and destroy Israel… After that there are no more fears for the land of Israel, and no need of fresh blows on the nations. That holds at least until the gathering of the nations a thousand years afterwards, which takes its name from this invasion — the one at the beginning, the other at the end, of Messiah's reign.
Some read these blows as pictures of political upheaval. Kelly answers that the context rules that out.
This is nothing other than the last destruction of Israel's enemies before Messiah's thousand-year reign. The words that follow make it plain, and so do the next chapter and the rest of the prophecy. To take the words as mere symbols of political revolution is uncalled for, and against the context. Israel's government does not change at all, and they suffer no more; but these distant enemies, gathered on their hills, will perish for ever.
- Provocation. Gog attacks a resettled Israel to plunder it. He does not see that he is attacking God Himself.
- Verdict. God Himself enters into judgment with Gog. These disasters are not accident or politics. They are a sentence carried out.
- Weapons. Disease, bloodshed, downpour, hailstones, fire and brimstone. God turns nature itself against an army, as He did in Joshua's day.
- Spectators. Israel does not fight; their part is burying the dead for seven months afterwards.
- Witness. Each word is chosen: hail for violent destruction, fire for holiness that consumes, blood for death under judgment, brimstone for the anguish of the wicked. The end of it all is that many nations learn who the Lord is.
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.
Gog's armies fall, and God says what their ruin will achieve: it will show His greatness and His holiness before many nations. A military defeat becomes a revelation, and the question is how the world finally comes to know God.
The ESV says "show my greatness and my holiness." Older translations read "magnify Myself and sanctify Myself," and use the name "Jehovah" where the ESV has "the LORD." The two verbs do not mean God becomes greater. They mean a change in how people see Him.
In this way God makes Himself known to the nations. He will magnify Himself and sanctify Himself. That is, He will make people respect and revere Him, and stop mocking Him or speaking of Him lightly.
Gog came for plunder. Writers point out that his chosen target put him against God Himself.
Gog had to learn what Pharaoh learned in his day. In attacking Israel he was challenging the God of Israel, for Israel were the beloved of God... Instead of getting rich from God's land and God's people, Gog would end up displaying the glory of the God of Israel before the nations.
Kelly draws the same line, and adds who was in control of the campaign:
Gog is a different kind of enemy, and he perishes later. He is blinded by his hunger for land. He does not see that in trying to plunder and destroy Israel he is attacking Jehovah... Yet in the end God alone governs, whatever the pride or greed or will of Gog: Jehovah brought him against Israel for his own destruction.
"Sanctify Myself" points to something specific in Israel's history. When God punished His own people, the nations He used drew the wrong conclusion about Him.
Jehovah had humbled and struck Israel in judgment, using the nations as the rod of His anger. But those He used had not taken it in. They mocked and boasted, and they blasphemed Jehovah's name. Surely He was of less account than their own idol-gods. He could not defend or save His professed people! ... So the judgments His holiness had to bring on His sinful people ended in His dishonour before the nations. The crushing judgment of Gog will take that reproach away, for it will show His power over the mightiest on earth.
The verse says the nations will know Him. Darby weighs what that knowing is. He compares the same words repeated through Ezekiel: "they will know that I am the LORD."
So the nations know Jehovah through the judgment itself, and not through any spiritual knowledge of Him that follows... All the nations will come to know that Jehovah is God through judgment.
One writer gathers many passages like this one. The effect, he says, reaches far past the battlefield.
Many more testimonies like these could be given. But these put it beyond question. The great moral effect of Israel's restoration on all nations will be this: Jehovah, the one true God, will become known everywhere.
Commentators differ over who Gog is. Kelly rejects one common view, and places the invasion in time:
Many authors think Gog must be the great western enemy of the Jews, as in Daniel. But this mistakes the scope of our prophet, who never takes up the four empires that were to tread down Jerusalem until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled... This invasion lends its name to the gathering of the nations a thousand years later — the one at the beginning of Messiah's reign, the other at the end.
One writer turns this into a question for today. God's people carry His name now.
There is a voice in this for us. We, too, individually or collectively, stand identified with the holy name of Christ. Is that name sullied because of our failure? Do we commend Him before the eyes of the world? ... He is not visible; we are to be His living representatives.
- Brought — Gog marches for plunder, but God says He brought him. The invader's greed serves a purpose he cannot see.
- Magnified — to magnify and sanctify Himself means to make people respect and revere Him, and stop mocking Him.
- Cleared — when God judged His own people, the nations called Him weak. Gog's overthrow removes that reproach for good.
- Known — the nations come to this knowledge through the judgment itself, not through a work of grace in them.
- Universal — the result reaches far past one battlefield: the one true God becomes known worldwide. Until then, His people carry His name and represent Him while He is unseen.