Ezekiel 38:1-23

Ezekiel: “They shall know that I am God”

God’s Plans for *Israel and the Nations

Ezekiel Chapter s 25 to 39

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 38

v1 The *LORD spoke to me. v2 ‘*Son of man, look toward Gog, from the country called Magog. He is the chief ruler of the nations called Meshech and Tubal. *Prophesy against him. v3 “The *LORD your King says this: I am against you, Gog, chief ruler of Meshech and Tubal. v4 I will turn you about. I will catch you as a man catches a fish by the mouth. And I will bring you out with all your army. I will bring all your horses and riders who have dressed themselves ready for war. They will be a large army. They will have large and small *shields and all of them will wave their swords. v5 The armies of Persia, Cush, and Put will be with them. They will all have *shields and clothes for war. v6 There will also be armies from the nations called Gomer and Togarmah. These armies will come from the far north with all their soldiers. Many nations will support you.

v7 Get ready. Prepare for battle, you and all the armies that have come to you. You will be their leader. v8 After a long time I will call for you to come. In the last years, you will attack the country. It is a country that has recovered from war. I brought its people from many nations to live on the mountains of *Israel. Nobody had lived there for a long time. I brought these people out of the nations, and now all of them live in safety. v9 You will come like a storm. You will come with all your armies and the many nations that are with you. You will be like a cloud that covers the country.

v10 The *LORD your King says this: At that time, ideas will come into your mind. And you will think up an evil plan. v11 You will say, ‘I will march against a country that has towns without walls. I will attack a peaceful nation. I will attack people who live in safety. They live in towns without walls, gates or locks. v12 I will rob them and I will take away their wealth. I will turn my power against the places where people now live. Those places were empty until they left many nations to gather there. And now they are rich with farm animals and property. And they live in the most splendid place in the world.’ v13 People from Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its villages, will speak to you. They will say, ‘You have come in order to make yourselves wealthy. You have brought your great armies to rob and to steal. You have brought them to carry away silver and gold. You have come to take away farm animals and goods, and to take many valuable things.’ ”

v14 So *prophesy, *son of man, and say this to Gog. “The *LORD your King says this: On that day, my people called *Israel will live in safety. And you will know about it. v15 You will come from your place in the far north. Many nations will support you. You will have a large army with horses and riders. v16 You will attack my people called *Israel. You will be like a cloud that covers the country. You will do this at a future time when I bring you against my nation. Then the nations will know me. I will use you, Gog, to show them that I am holy.

v17 The *LORD your King says this: I spoke about you in past days. I spoke by my servants, the *prophets of *Israel. For many years, they *prophesied that I would bring you against them. v18 This is what will happen. Gog will attack the country called *Israel. On that day, I will become very angry, says the *LORD your King. v19 I declare what I will do in that day. Because of my fierce anger, I will send a great *earthquake on the country called *Israel. v20 The fish in the sea and the birds in the air will be afraid of me. The animals in the fields and all things that move along the ground will shake with fear of me. All the people on the earth will tremble with fear because of me. The *earthquake will throw the mountains down. The cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. v21 Then I will declare war against Gog. The soldiers will fight on all my mountains, says the *LORD your King. Each man will fight against the man who is next to him. v22 I will punish Gog with disease and death. I will send heavy rain and ice, together with fire and *sulphur. This will pour down on him and on his army. Also, this will pour down on the many nations that are on his side. v23 So, I will show how great and holy I am. All the nations that watch will see this. Then they will know that I am the *LORD.” ’

Verses 1-3 Gog is the ruler of the nation called Magog. Also, he rules over the countries called Meshech and Tubal. Magog, Meshech and Tubal were sons of Japheth (Genesis 10:2). Their families became *tribes round and to the north of the seas called the Black and Caspian Seas.

Verses 4-6 The *Lord will gather Gog and Magog for a final battle. Probably, this will happen after Jesus has ruled on earth for 1000 years (Revelation 20:8). It seems that this *prophecy is for that time.

Gog and his army will be ready for war. They will have a plan. But the *Lord will change that plan. He will turn them from their plan to his plan. The *Lord will force them to go in a way that they do not want to go.

Gog’s army will be a large army. It will be the armies of Magog, Meshech and Tubal. Also, the armies of other nations will join with them. These armies will be from Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer and Togarmah.

We cannot be certain where all these countries are. Persia is to the east of *Israel and it includes Iran. Cush could be from the area of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan. Put is in North Africa and is perhaps Libya. Gomer became the people who lived along the Danube and the Rhine rivers in Europe. Togarmah became the Armenians (people from Armenia) who lived in the region east of Turkey. Gomer and Togarmah will come from the far north of *Israel.

Verses 7-9 This great army will attack *Israel. The *Lord calls them to be ready. Gog is their leader.

The attack will not happen for a long time. It will be in the last years. The last years will be after the time of great trouble. That time could be before the 1000 years in Revelation chapter 20. But the attack seems to be after the 1000 years. (Revelation 20:8-9)

At that time, *Israel will be a nation again. The *Jews will be back in their country. There will be peace in the country called *Israel. The people will live in safety. At the end of this period of peace, the armies will attack *Israel. They will come suddenly, like a storm over the country.

Verses 10-13 At that time, Gog will make plans to attack *Israel. The *Israelites will be at peace. They will not expect an attack. In the past, all towns had walls for defence. They had gates and they had locks. But then none of the towns of *Israel will have good defences.

Gog intended to come and take away all the wealth of *Israel. At that time, *Israel will be one of the richest nations in the world.

Other nations such as Sheba and Dedan will be afraid. With the merchants of Tarshish, they will speak to Gog. Perhaps they want to know if he will attack them also. Perhaps they will support him. Or perhaps they hope to trade with him.

Verses 14-16 Gog will think that it is his own idea to attack *Israel. But the plan will come to him from the *Lord. The *Lord will bring him from the north. So, Gog will come. He will have a vast army. They will be like a great cloud that covers the country.

The *Lord’s purpose will be to protect his people. He will defeat Gog. The nations will see it. Then they will know that the *Lord God is holy. He is the *Lord and they will know him.

This attack will be at a future time. The future time in *prophecy means the events just before the end of the world. The attack will be after the *Jews have come back to *Israel. *Israel will be a wealthy and powerful nation.

Verses 17-23 Before Ezekiel, no *prophets had written about Gog by name. But there were many *prophecies about the events just before the end of the world.

Gog will attack *Israel. But the *Lord will be very angry. And he will oppose Gog. The *Lord will defend his people. He will kill Gog. And he will destroy the vast army that comes with Gog.

The *Lord will send a great *earthquake in the country called *Israel. The effect of this will be terrible. Mountains and cliffs will fall down. The force will destroy all the buildings. Animals, birds and even fish will tremble at this action by the *Lord.

There will be terror in the armies that support Gog. There will be confusion among them. Each man will fight against the next man. And they will kill each other.

The *Lord will send diseases on them and many will die of disease. He will send strange weather upon them. There will be storms. There will be ice. There will be fire with *sulphur, which will fall from the sky.

The *Lord will kill Gog. The *Lord will destroy all the armies that come with Gog.

All the nations will know that the *Lord God did this. They will know that the *Lord God saved his people. They will know that he is the *Lord. He is great and he is holy.

Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.

'son of man ~ Ezekiel. ‘Son of man’ was the title that God used for Ezekiel. It emphasised that Ezekiel was a mere man. Ezekiel would have to depend on God’s Spirit to make him strong. Only then could Ezekiel do what God told him to do.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
shields ~ Soldiers carried these in their hands for protection in battle. They used them like covers, so that swords or other weapons could not hit the body.
weapon ~ a tool of war. People use weapons for attack or defence when they fight. For example, swords, spears or (today) guns.
spears ~ long sticks with sharp ends that soldiers used as weapons of war.
prophesy ~ to speak a prophecy.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.'son of man ~ Ezekiel. ‘Son of man’ was the title that God used for Ezekiel. It emphasised that Ezekiel was a mere man. Ezekiel would have to depend on God’s Spirit to make him strong. Only then could Ezekiel do what God told him to do.
prophet ~ person who speaks for God. He can sometimes say what will happen in the future. However, false prophets are people who merely pretend to speak God’s words.
earthquake ~ When the earth shakes, that is an earthquake.
sulphur ~ Sulphur is a chemical. A fire that burns with sulphur is extremely hot. And sulphur burns with an awful smell.
tribe ~ The Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of Israel.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Israel ~ Israel is the nation whose ancestors were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The country in which they live is called Israel. Israel became the name of the northern nation when it separated from Judah. However, Ezekiel sometimes uses the word ‘Israel’ to refer to Judah.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Lord ~ a title for God, to show that he is over all people and things.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It probably means ‘always God’. This name has a relationship with the special promises that God gave to his people.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit.
Jews ~ another name for the Israelites.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.
Israelites ~ the people whose ancestors are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
ancestors ~ people in history from whom your family has come.