Ezekiel 39:1-3

God's Judgment on Gog.

“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Behold I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. And I will turn you about and lead you on (shshw), and will cause you to come from the uttermost parts of the north, and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel. And I will smite your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand.”

For the name and description see on Ezekiel 38:2. Once again it is emphasised that Gog is under Yahweh's control. Nothing can happen outside God's remit. The meaning of the verb shshw is unknown. The versions support ‘lead on' (Ezekiel 38:4 has instead ‘put hooks in your jaws' which implies the same thing). Again ‘the uttermost parts of the north' are stressed (compare Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15), the lands shrouded in mystery from which anything can come. And the mountains of Israel are the backbone of Israel. So the picture is of the mysterious Gog, descending from an equally mysterious region, at the instigation of Yahweh, onto the backbone of Israel.

That is then followed by the shattering of his weapons, that is, his strength, by the hand of Yahweh. He will be left helpless and defenceless, as he previously thought that Israel was (Ezekiel 38:11). His bow and arrows will be smitten from his hands. It is noteworthy that Gog is depicted as carrying a bow. The same was true of the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6:2 who symbolised false religion and the deceitfulness of Satan. In Psalms 120:4 lying lips and a deceitful tongue are likened to ‘the sharp arrows of the mighty', and both the psalmist and Hosea speak of ‘the deceitful bow' (Psalms 78:57; Hosea 7:16). Thus the bow, with which men are taken by surprise and brought down, was seen as a weapon of deceit, carried by the great deceiver.