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.