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.
Ezekiel 38 turns from Israel's restoration to one last enemy who comes down on the restored people. Verse 8 fixes the time by three marks: "the latter years," a land "restored from war," a people "gathered from many peoples."
The verse dates itself. The conditions it names — the whole nation, living securely — have never yet existed since Ezekiel spoke.
The prophecy says plainly when this happens — "in the latter years"; "on that day when My people Israel are dwelling securely" (Ezek. 38:8, 14, 16). Israel has never lived securely in their own land since Ezekiel gave this prophecy. In fact, Israel as a nation has not been in the land at all. Those who came back to Palestine under Zerubbabel and Ezra were only a small, weak remnant, and mostly from the two tribes Judah and Benjamin. So Ezekiel's prediction looks ahead to their future gathering.
The phrase about the land is a date stamp too. Where the ESV says "restored from war," the older translation quoted here reads "brought back from the sword." The fighting must be over before Gog comes.
The words "after many days … at the end of years" speak plainly of a time that was still future. And the words "the land brought back from the sword" show that this time has not yet come, for even now the sword is very active in the land of Israel. The land will not be brought back from the sword until the Lord Jesus returns to it to reign as the true David. When the Lord comes back to this world, He will first reign as the warrior King and defeat all the enemies of His people. Only then will He reign as the true Solomon, the Prince of Peace.
The mountains that "had been a continual waste" belong to the same picture. Their new fruitfulness is what draws the invader.
For centuries the mountains and cities of Israel had been a ruin. When the Lord brings His people back, they will be fertile and full of people. Gog will look at them with greedy eyes and a greedy heart, and he will not be able to resist. The land lies in safety with no visible means of protection. So Gog thinks that this land, flowing again with milk and honey, will be easy prey for his powerful armies.
Gog's attack is not the great battle of the Lord's appearing. That comes earlier. Gog follows it, and God has a purpose in bringing him.
Ezekiel shows plainly what happens in the coming days of peace and prosperity, after the gracious work of restoration recorded in the earlier chapters. The Lord will bring great and powerful nations up against His people and their land. These nations lie outside the borders of the empires Daniel speaks of. We have already met them gathered in full power at Armageddon (Rev. 16:12-16; Rev. 19:11-21), and then the Lord appears on the Mount of Olives and judges the great army gathered to take Jerusalem (Zech. 14:1-4). But Gog and his armies come up after those scenes of judgment, when Israel is living in safety (verses 8-11). The reason is to show all nations that the Lord is supreme over the whole earth.
The invader has a land and a title. His fatal error is simple: he sees a people without defences, and not the God who stands behind them.
He lives in the land of Magog. Magog was a son of Japheth whose descendants spread over the vast plains once called Scythia. He is the absolute ruler of all Russia, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. So we have the man himself, his land, and his people. But the Lord God is against him. Good has come at last to a people long in trouble; instead of seeing it, he wants to make himself great. So he stands in battle against not just the Israel of God but the God of Israel.
A second Gog appears at the end of Revelation. Verse 8 keeps the two apart.
There is no need to confuse the two. The invasion in Ezekiel comes before the thousand years; the one in Revelation comes after them. In Ezekiel, Israel have only just come back to their land (Ezek. 38:14). From that time God's name is known in Israel, and they never again defile His holy name (Ezek. 39:7). The nations also learn to know Him (Ezek. 38:16, 23). So we need look no further to be sure that this is not after a thousand years of such knowledge.
- Brought back — when. "The latter years" points past every return in history. Israel has never yet lived securely in the land as a whole nation.
- Brought back — from what. War. The land is "restored from war" only when the Lord returns to reign as the warrior King, before He reigns as the Prince of Peace.
- Brought back — from where. Gathered "from many peoples," out of the nations, onto mountains that had been a continual waste and are waste no longer.
- Brought up — the invader. The recovered wealth and the undefended people tempt Gog, so he sets himself not just against Israel but against the God of Israel.
- Brought low — the result. God brings him up on purpose: to show all nations that He rules the whole earth. This attack comes before the thousand years; the Gog and Magog of Revelation 20 come after them.
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.
Ezekiel 38:9 draws the invader in two pictures: a storm sweeping in, and a cloud blotting out the sky. Gog and his allied peoples pour into a land at peace. Three questions run through the chapter. Who is this enemy? When does he come? And what happens to Israel when a cloud of armies covers the land?
Who is Gog? Commentators trace the names in this prophecy to the north.
GOG is a symbolic name for the powerful and proud chief of the vast hordes of Scythia and Tartary. MAGOG, the son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2), whose descendants spread over the vast steppes in the north, after whom the land is here called... Gog is the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. These answer to Russia, Moscow or Muscovy, and Tobolsk: all now in the Russian empire. They come "out of the north" and cover the land like a cloud. They will attack Israel in the land of Palestine, but God will strike them down.
Commentators tie this invasion to a set moment in Israel's history.
So it is clear. This northern alliance invades, and a terrible judgment falls on it. Both come after Israel has returned and settled peacefully in the land. Israel is then under the protection of their Messiah, and has the smile and approval of God.
Another writer sets it after Christ has set up His throne.
After He sets up His throne — perhaps not long after — Gog comes up against His people Israel. He brings a multitude of followers, "a great company, and a mighty army," and covers the land like a cloud. But he comes only to meet immediate and utter destruction.
In Scripture, wind and storm stand for forces God holds back and lets loose at His own choosing.
The "four winds of the earth" are those disturbing elements existing in every quarter, which God can let loose in judgment whenever He wills. So Ezekiel says that Gog, the great hostile destroyer, will "advance, coming on like a storm" (Ezek. 38:9). And when the Lord delivers Israel from her enemies, He is "a hiding place from the wind, a shelter from the storm."
A cloud does two things: it threatens, and it darkens.
Left to themselves, Israel would be powerless against this invasion, with its raging and darkening influence. But Israel is not alone. Messiah is with them, in their midst. He has already come to deliver His people from the nations that had taken His beloved city (Zech. 14:3-4). He will be the shield of Israel and Jerusalem.
The verse ends with "many peoples with you." Kelly names some of them, then weighs the numbers.
Persia too is there, forced to follow the mighty northern leader; Cush and Phut with them; Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah from the far north, and all his bands: many people indeed with Gog! ... As a storm Gog comes; as a cloud he covers the land. But no weapon formed against Israel shall prosper. That is their heritage, when their righteousness is from the Lord. They may be few as yet, and their enemies countless. But what is this to the Lord? It is only an opportunity to show Himself the enemy of His people's enemies. Gog finds this out too late, as we shall see — too late for himself and his enormous following, and too late for those he had left quietly at home.
This prophecy was written for the people who will live through it.
When the time of these events has come, how comforting and reassuring for the people to have this word of prophecy. On this they may rest their souls. By then the land "brought back from the sword" will be theirs, with peace and plenty. The first signs of the gathering storm will suddenly darken those scenes. But God will not allow Gog to put the land to the sword again.
The invasion ends in a judgment whose effect reaches far past the borders of Israel.
Then Gog, the last enemy, comes up. A terrible judgment falls on him and on the countries allied with him. That judgment makes the Lord's glory known and owned worldwide. It magnifies Him and sanctifies Him. His name will be set apart from all profanation and deeply respected, and every nation will bow to His rule for one thousand years.
- Timing — Gog comes only after Israel has returned and settled in peace. Commentators differ on how far into Christ's reign this falls.
- Storm — God can let this force loose whenever He wills. The same Lord who releases the tempest is the shelter from it.
- Cloud — Gog's huge armies darken the land. Left to themselves, Israel would be powerless.
- Shield — Israel is not alone: Messiah is in their midst. Countless enemies only give God the chance to show Himself the enemy of His people's enemies.
- Glory — the storm breaks on Gog, not on Israel. The world then knows and honours the Lord's name for a thousand years.