Ezekiel 38

This chapter belongs to the restoration prophecies in the latter part of Ezekiel. It follows the promise in Ezekiel 37 that Israel will live again and be gathered as one nation, and it begins a prophecy concerning Gog, who sets his sights on the restored people, that continues through Ezekiel 39.

Outline

• Verses 1–6 The son of man is commanded to prophesy against Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. God declares that He will put hooks into Gog's jaws and bring him out together with Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, and the house of Togarmah.
• Verses 7–9 In the latter years Gog comes against the mountains of Israel, which had long lain desolate. At that time the land is inhabited by a people brought back from the nations and dwelling in safety, and Gog comes like a storm and covers the land like a cloud.
• Verses 10–13 Gog devises an evil scheme to plunder unwalled villages. The merchants of Sheba, Dedan, and Tarshish ask whether he has come to take spoil.
• Verses 14–16 Gog comes out of the far north leading a great company of horsemen. God declares that in the latter days He will bring Gog against His land in order to display His holiness before the nations.
• Verses 17–23 God identifies Gog as the one of whom the former prophets spoke. He then strikes him with a great earthquake, with the sword of brother against brother, with pestilence, and with torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone, and many nations come to know Him as the LORD.

Key Verses

• Ezekiel 38:16 "when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes" — Even Gog's invasion is directed by God, and its purpose is to make God known.
• Ezekiel 38:23 "and they shall know that I am the LORD" — The theme repeated throughout the Book of Ezekiel forms the conclusion of this chapter.

People and Places

• Gog: The ruler of the land of Magog, a northern power that comes against Israel.
• Magog, Meshech, Tubal: Northern peoples and regions whose names also appear among the descendants of Japheth in Genesis 10.
• Persia, Cush, Put: Thought to correspond, respectively, to Persia, the Nile region south of Egypt, and North Africa.
• Gomer, Togarmah: Northern peoples.
• Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish: Merchants from regions known for their trade.

Points to Consider

• In verse 2, the Hebrew word rosh can also mean "head" or "chief," so some translations, such as the Korean New Standard Version (Saebeonyeok), render the phrase "the chief of Meshech and Tubal."
• Some twentieth-century dispensationalist interpreters linked Rosh with Russia and Meshech with Moscow. Most scholars regard this interpretation as lacking any linguistic basis.
• Some scholars connect Gog with Gyges, the ancient king of Lydia, though this identification is not settled.
• Dispensationalism tends to read this chapter as a prophecy of an actual future war. By contrast, amillennialism, which is widely held in the Reformed tradition and elsewhere, often reads it as a symbolic portrayal of evil's final assault on the people of God.
• In the New Testament, Revelation 20:8 calls the multitude that Satan gathers after the thousand years are expired "Gog and Magog." How this connection is interpreted varies with one's understanding of the millennium.