What are Gog and Magog?

GOG is a symbolical 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. Ezek. 38:2 should read "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal." Gog is the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal answering to Russia, Moscow or Muscovy, and Tobolsk: all now in the Russian empire. These, 'coming out of the north,' as a cloud to cover the land,' will attack Israel in the land of Palestine, but will be smitten by God. Ezek. 38:2, 18; Ezek. 39:1, 6, 11. The valley where they will be buried will be called HAMON-GOG, the 'multitude of Gog,' Ezek. 39:11, 15. The destruction of these hordes will cause the heathen to know the Lord, that is, the nations extern to the Anti-christian Empire of the West.

In Rev. 20:8 we also read of Gog and Magog attacking "the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city," Jerusalem; but this must not be confounded with the prophecy in Ezekiel, for here they come out of 'the four corners of the earth;' and the battles do not coincide as to time. In Ezekiel the attack is before Israel is finally settled in the land, as may be seen by the context; whereas in the Revelation it is after the thousand years of the millennium, and is followed by the final overthrow of God's enemies who are led on by Satan. There is doubtless an allusion to the names in Ezekiel; 'Gog and Magog,' being symbolical names, are employed to describe all the proud and powerful hordes of post-millennium times, whose number is 'as the sand of the sea,' and whom Satan will collect together from all quarters to attack the kingdom of the Lord Jesus as established on earth, only to be devoured by fire from heaven: for Satan, when loosed, will not be able to raise up an empire against the Lord.

These nations are called by a symbolic name, which is a sort of allusion to the enemies of Israel spoken of in Ezek. 38, 39. But they are not the same, and must be carefully distinguished. For in Ezekiel Gog is literally an individual person — the prince of the vast north-eastern territories and peoples, known in our time as the empire of Russia. Gog is to be the then leader of that country, which is called in scripture "the land of Magog." Indeed this is the positive meaning of the words rendered in our Bibles "chief prince." It ought to be "prince of Rosh." But when the scriptures were translated into Latin, which had a great influence on succeeding versions, the Russian empire did not exist, and could not be known by that name. For the north of Europe and Asia was then merely inhabited by hordes of wandering barbarians, called Sarmatians, Scythians, etc. So when the corrector of the old Latin, Jerome, came to the Hebrew "Rosh," he thought it must be taken not as the name of a people, but as a common noun, meaning "head" or "chief;" just as the Franks, besides giving their name to a neighbouring country which they conquered, also meant "free men." Hence probably in our version "Rosh" was translated chief, which the Hebrew word might equally well bear, if a proper name were not required by the context; for "prince of chief, Meshech and Tubal" makes no good sense. Therefore, I suppose the translators, not knowing what better to make of it, put the clause down vaguely as "chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." However, it is well known that learned persons who had no light, or a very partial one, on prophecy — scholars who examined the subject a hundred years ago — concluded that Russia was meant. But what is much more important, the Greek version, or Septuagint, made nearly two centuries before Christ, left it as Ῥώς. They did not know what place or race was meant; but seeing that Meshech and Tubal were given as proper names, they understood the preceding word similarly. Thus Gog is really to be "the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal," which will all be found in the Russian empire.* Ezekiel then shows that, when God restores Israel and plants them in their own land, Russia is to be the last great enemy that comes up to attack them, and meets with its own demolition from the hands of God on the mountains of Israel. His prophecy, I think, does not bear on recent events, save as these may lead on to it; much less is it to be confounded with the gathering of Gog and Magog described in verses 8, 9. It cannot mean the same as these; for the Jewish prophet speaks of a vast confederacy before the millennium, or at least at the very beginning of it; while in the Revelation it is after the thousand years are past.

"And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah, Behold I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; and I will turn thee back, and put my hook into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed elegantly, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords; Persia, Cush, and Phut with them, all of them with shield and helmet; Gomer and all his bands; the house of Thogarmah of the north quarters; many people with thee. Be thou prepared, and prepare thyself, thou and all thy company that are assembled to thee, and be thou a guard to them. After many days shalt thou be mustered; in the latter days thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples against the mountains of Israel which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them. Thou wilt ascend and come like a storm; thou wilt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy bands, and many people with thee." (Ver. 1-9)

Here the case stands clearly defined in all but the name, which seems to be probably symbolic. It is the last enemy of Israel who confronts us. He dwells in the land of Magog, that son of Japhet who overspread in due time the vast steppes of what was anciently called Scythia. He is autocrat of all the Russias, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Thus we have himself, his land, and his people. But the Lord Jehovah is against him who, instead of seeing when good comes to a long-troubled people, would fain aggrandize himself, and thus finds himself in array against not merely the Israel of God but the God of Israel. Cursed must he be who thus trusts in man and makes flesh his arm; and so does Gog prove. For Jehovah declares that He will turn him back, put hooks in his jaws, and cause him to go forth, him and all his host.

“Gog and Magog” stand for the Russian ruler and his people.

The names Gog and Magog would seem to be used as symbols, borrowed from the Prophet Ezekiel, to represent the hatred and opposition of the world to Christ and His people. In Ezekiel Gog is a literal person, the chief prince of the vast region to the north of Palestine and known in our day as the Empire of Russia.

Such is man, and such is Satan. A thousand years confinement in the bottomless pit has not changed the character of the deceiver. A thousand years' blessedness under Christ's rule has not changed the nature which greedily listens to the deceiver's voice. Gog and Magog are here used in a wider sense than in Ezekiel, and their invasion differs in time and details, though agreeing in character and object, with that which he foretells. Ezekiel predicts an incursion by a great northern power called Gog, which, from certain geographical indications, is easily identified with Russia. In the Revelation, however, Gog and Magog are used to designate the nations, not merely from the north, but from all parts, "the four quarters of the earth." Again, the invasion named by Ezekiel is at the beginning of Christ's reign; that in the Revelation at the end. The hosts in Ezekiel, too, fall on the mountains, and their bodies are buried; whereas the forces assembled in the Revelation are devoured by fire from heaven.

When Satan is loosed and allowed to again deceive the nations, the number of those revolting against God is astonishing. They come from every direction of the earth (vv. 8-9). They are characterized as “Gog and Magog.” In Ezekiel 38 and 39 we also read of Gog and Magog, but in a different connection, for there they come from “the far north” (Ezek. 38:6, 15) and are addressed as “the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal” (Ezek. 38:3). Of course the furthest north nation today is Russia. This great northern attack, (with the help of Persia, Ethiopia, Put, Gomer and Beth-togarmah) will take place at the beginning of the Millennial reign, when they attack “a land that is brought back from the sword” (v. 8) — Israel, — but will fall on the mountains of Israel. The King of the North comes from immediately north of Israel. Gog and Magog is from the far north.

This second “Gog and Magog” embraces far more than the first, for its forces come from every quarter of the world. Its name denotes its atheistic character, just as it does in the former attack, but now affecting a far larger territory. Gog means “to surmount” or “to top” while Magog means “to overtop.” This reminds us of Agag, king of Amalek (1 Sam. 15:32-33), meaning “I will overtop,” for it involves the pride of people always seeking to dethrone God so that they may rule.

It is interesting to note that Gog (the Ruler) and Magog (the Russian people) are the last people specifically mentioned in Scripture. After the millennium, in the last great uprising of Satan against God, Gog and Magog, the implacable enemies of the Jew, will meet their final doom in the Holy Land (Rev. 20:8).

Gog is the future ‘prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal' (most likely designations for Russia (Rosh) and its main cities (Moscow and Tubolsk, see Ezk. 38:3), and his land is called ‘Magog' (Ezk. 38:2). Gog, with his mighty armies, will invade the land of Israel with a view to plundering its possessions (Ezk. 38:10-12, 14-16). This will be at a time when Israel has been gathered together from among the nations (v.12) and dwells in the land in peace (v.11), i.e. after they have accepted Christ as their Messiah. But Gog's armies will come to a terrible end when God judges them through a range of terrible calamities (Ezk. 38:18–39: 8). The reference to Gog and Magog in Rev. 20: 8 speaks of a different event that will take place after the millennium (see Q 42).

In Ezekiel 38, then, we have these words: "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal." As Gog is the name of this destined leader of the Gentiles in the north and east and south, so we have his land described as the land of Magog. There is no doubt that this distant land means what the ancients used to call Scythia, what is now included under the vast European and Asiatic possessions of the Russian empire. But, moreover, there is confirmatory evidence in the names of various races, which fact is somewhat obscured in our version; for it is well to observe, that "the chief prince" should be the "prince of Rosh." The word is not only an ordinary appellative, meaning head or chief, but the Hebrew proper name for Russia, or the Russians, in which sense the proper nouns following prove it should be here taken.* Nor is this at all the mere resource of modern interpreters, after events pointed out the way. The oldest version of the Old Testament is the Septuagint, or Greek Bible of the Seventy, which affirms the sense just mentioned. This, it is well known, is the version which our Lord quoted and the apostles used very frequently. In this case the rendering is simple, natural, and clear. The bearing of the prophecy is, that a certain prince comes up under the name (perhaps the mystic name) of Gog, as to which no theory whatever is pressed or hazarded here. From the land of Magog, or old Scythia, comes this prince of certain races — the Russians (Rosh), the Muscovites (Meshech), and the inhabitants of Tobolsk (Tubal). This personage, actuated by territorial greed and especially of the Holy Land, is to lead countless forces of armed followers against the land of Israel in the last day, but to his own and their total destruction, under divine judgment. Now, what could be less looked for, if we turn back to Ezekiel's times, than the then delineation of such a power? And what can be of more profound interest to us now? There would not be, ought not, perhaps, to be, the same confidence, were this merely a discovery of the prophet's meaning confined to our own day. Not, of course, that this would falsify the prophecy; for his inspired words would be just as true, if no translator or interpreter had given the just sense before Russia began to develop and aspire. But when we see that such is the simple force of this Scripture, when we remember that the oldest version of the passage is the best (a version executed some 150 or 200 years before our Lord lived in the world), when we bear in mind that not only in the day of the prophet and of the Greek translators, but for a thousand years after the last, the races that now compose the properly Russian elements of the empire were hardly beyond wandering barbarians, is not the hand and mind of God most apparent? There was not the smallest appearance of the emergence of the gigantic power that is continually absorbing in the East; that claims equality at least with the greatest powers of the Roman empire; that threatens, too, in connection with the Holy Land. For some two or three centuries we know that it has cherished, religiously and systematically, the scheme of unlimited aggression and progress; that its plans are formed upon the thought of possessing the East to itself, as well as of overawing the West; and that, being a power not less superstitious than aggressive, it is peculiarly desirous of gaining and propping up a sacred character by the acquisition of the land consecrated by our Lord's life and death. It were strange if all these considerations did not invest the prophecy and the races in question with exceeding gravity, more particularly as the days are at hand and the effect of every vision. That these thoughts are set forth as revealed truth, and I trust also in a plain manner, is not at all owing to any events that have of late transpired in the world. It is well known, that the very same truths have been held and taught long before there was the recent feud about the holy places or any fighting in the East. Still, no one can deny, nor do I wish to weaken, the confirmatory character of that which has been witnessed there.