Gog and Magog - Ezekiel 38 & 39

Gog and Magog - Ezekiel 38 & 39

Introduction

First, it must be pointed out that the Gog and Magog of Ezekiel is not the same as the Gog and Magog of Revelation.
What is commonly referred to as 'Gog and Magog' is, in Ezekiel, Gog of the land of Magog, the Prince of Meshech and Tubal, including other specific nations; whilst in Revelation Gog and Magog are said to be the nations which are in the four corners of the earth (Rev. 20:8), obviously a reference to the whole world.
The passage in Revelation is concerned about the period of time surrounding the release from the thousand year imprisonment of the devil and the subsequent events; whereas the passage in Ezekiel is dealing with the period of time before the tribulation starts, which is at least one thousand and seven years before the passage in Revelation which mentions Gog and Magog. According to Ezekiel it will take seven years to burn the weapons:

9 Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years;
10 so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord GOD.
Eze. 39:9-10

If the Ezekiel passage was the same as the passage in Revelation then there would be no time, nor need to burn the weapons as it would then be the end of the millennium and the start of eternity, complete with a new heaven and a new earth (Rev. 21:1).

Secondly, there is always a real danger of interpreting prophecies in the light of current events — referred to as 'newspaper exegesis'.
I will endeavor to avoid this. However as, I believe, we are close to this prophecy occurring, certain current events will be mentioned but in as broad and general terms as is possible.

The Prophecy

1 The word of the LORD came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
4 and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you.
7 Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them.
8 After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.
9 You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
Eze. 38:1-9

The first thing to notice is that exact geographical locations are given (vs. 2, 5-6).
Many commentators are in agreement as to the countries involved; they are: Russia ( Magog being the name given to the general area of modern day Russia), Rosh is specifically Russia, Meshech is Moscow whilst Tubal is Tobolsk. Persia is Iran, Cush is Ethiopia, Put is Somalia (some would say, as do some translations, Lybia), Gomer is in modern day Germany and Togarmah is Armenia.
No Arab countries are mentioned as belonging to the coalition (Iran, although Islamic is not Arab).
The coalition of armies is headed by Gog the leader or prince of Russia and comprising of Russia, Iran, Ethiopia, Somalia (could be Lybia), Germany and Armenia; there could also be other countries involved although the 'even many peoples with you' of verse 6 could be a reference to the vast array of different cultures involved.

The land that will be invaded is the land of Israel - specifically the mountains of Israel:

8 After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.
Eze. 38:8

It is interesting to note that the mountains of Israel, which stretch from the southern part of the valley of Jezreel at Jenin until, and including the hills surrounding Jerusalem, half way between Hebron and Beersheba, only came into the possession of Israel as a result of the six day war in June of 1967; until then, what is now known as the West Bank was under the control of Jordan (see map).
As can be seen from a more detailed map, the whole of the mountains of Israel are dotted with Jewish settlements as Ezekiel prophesied more than 2,400 years ago.

There are four reasons for the invasion:
First, because God ordains it:

3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
4 and I will turn you about, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;

17 Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them?

1 You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
2 and I will turn you about, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel;
Eze. 38:3-4, 17; 39:1-2

Second, because the leader (Gog) of Russia wants to plunder Israel:

10 Thus says the Lord GOD: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device:
11 and you shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;
12 to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.
Eze. 38:10-12

The third, to take spoil; although not specifically mentioned in the text, it can be deduced from the response of other nations:

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, Are you come to take the spoil? have you assembled your company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?
Eze. 38:13

It is only Gog that is spoken of as having the idea to plunder and to loot; the other nations that are with him would seem to be unaware of his real intentions and motives. Therefore the other nations have a legitimate, in their eyes, reason to invade Israel, or rather, the mountains of Israel.
The 'legitimate' reason could be that Israel has, once again (sic), done something to which the United Nations objects and therefore the Security Council passes a resolution condemning Israel and demanding that Israel comply. Israel refuses and so a coalition of member States is sent to enforce the U.N. resolution.
Whatever the reasons for the resolution, a coalition is formed and is sent to the mountains of Israel where God destroys all who participate in the invasion:

21 I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains, says the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22 With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur.
23 I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
1 You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
2 and I will turn you about, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel;
3 and I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.
4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured.
5 You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken it, says the Lord GOD.
Eze. 38:21-39:5

God also rains down judgement on Russia (Magog):

6 I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze. 39:6

The fourth, as in the first, is because God ordains it; however the emphasis is to show to both the Jewish people and to the nations of the world that God is who He claims to be:

16 .....it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.

23 I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

7 My holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

21 I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God, from that day and forward.
23 The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword.
24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid my face from them.
Eze. 38:16(b), 23; 39:7, 21-24

This prophecy, contained in chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel, is probably the first time since the tower of Babel that the whole world shall see the Glory of God; but, as with the tower of Babel, the people will not necessarily turn in faith. There will of course be some but the vast majority will, although seeing God's mighty hand at work, continue in the hardness of their hearts: There is a difference between knowing that God is God and believing in Him in a trusting way that leads to salvation.

The whole prophecy deals with the nation of Israel — the Jewish people once again living in the land. It should be noted that the mountains of Israel, at the time that the prophecy will be fulfilled, belong to Israel; which means that either there cannot be a declared State of Palestine or that there will be, but that it will be short lived with them once again becoming a part of Israel — only time will tell.

The last 5 verses of the prophecy jump forward in time to the end of the tribulation when, after God has finished His judgements on the world, He pours out His graceupon the Jewish people and they receive their Messiah — Jesus:

25 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name.
26 They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid;
27 when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.
28 They shall know that I am the LORD their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any 29 neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord GOD.
Eze. 39:25-29

Map showing the extent of the mountains of Israel.

It can be seen that the mountains of Israel extend from Jenin in the North to a half way point between Hebron and Beersheba in the South.
It can also be seen that the West Bank occupies all of the mountains of Israel.

Map - courtesy of The General Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin

Disclaimer: PrayingForIsrael.net does not endorse the use of the term 'occupied territories' as used at the foot of the map.

These events will take place; maybe not exactly as I have laid out and perhaps not the exact countries as I have mentioned, but it will come to pass to the glory of God.
We ought then to pray that God's will be done and that He will be glorified in the sight of the nations and amongst His people — the Jews, also that many will come to faith as a result of the fulfillment of this prophecy. catcmo2006