Commentary - Ezekiel 38:1-6

Bird's-eye view

In Ezekiel 38, we come to one of the more notoriously difficult prophecies in the Old Testament, one that has been a playground for newspaper exegetes for generations. But the passage is not an encrypted timetable for future geopolitical conflicts involving Russia, as is commonly supposed. Rather, it is a dramatic, symbolic prophecy about God's absolute sovereignty over the nations and His ultimate intention to vindicate His own holy name before the eyes of the whole world. God Himself musters a vast coalition of pagan nations under a mysterious figure named Gog, not because Gog is a strategic genius, but because God has a purpose to display His power on a grand stage. God is the one baiting the hook, dragging this fearsome enemy onto the mountains of Israel for the express purpose of destroying him there. The prophecy, therefore, is not given to satisfy our curiosity about the future, but to bolster our faith in the present. It teaches us that no enemy, no matter how formidable, is outside of God's sovereign control, and that all of history is being orchestrated for one central purpose: that the nations may know that He is Yahweh.

This section (vv. 1-6) serves as the divine summons. God commissions Ezekiel to prophesy directly against Gog, identifying him and his confederates. The list of nations is representative of the distant, hostile Gentile world from Israel’s perspective at that time. God declares His hostile intent toward Gog and describes how He will sovereignly compel him and his massive, well-equipped army to march toward Israel. This is not a battle that gets out of hand; it is a battle that God Himself instigates and choreographs from start to finish for His own glory.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

Chapters 38 and 39 form a distinct unit that follows the great prophecies of Israel's restoration in chapters 34-37. In chapter 36, God promised to cleanse His people and give them a new heart of flesh. In chapter 37, He promised to resurrect the "dead" nation, symbolized by the valley of dry bones, and to reunite the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Having promised this glorious restoration, the question naturally arises: will this new, restored Israel be secure? Will they be subject to attack from hostile nations as they were before? Chapters 38 and 39 are God's emphatic answer. He demonstrates that the security of the restored people of God does not depend on their own military might, but on God's direct and overwhelming intervention. He will deal with the collected hostility of the pagan world in one final, decisive blow, so that not only Israel, but all the nations, will know His power and holiness. This prophecy serves as the ultimate guarantee of the promises made in the preceding chapters.

Key Issues

God's Great Fishhook

One of the central challenges for the modern Christian mind in a text like this is the raw, unapologetic display of God's sovereignty. We are comfortable with God responding to evil, but we get squeamish when we see God actively orchestrating the movements of evil men for His own purposes. But that is precisely what the text says. God declares, "I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out." Gog is a great and fearsome beast, a monster from the deep, but God has a fishhook for his jaw. Gog thinks he is acting out of his own ambition and greed (cf. 38:10-12), but in reality, he is being reeled in by an unseen hand.

This is a theme that runs throughout Scripture. God hardened Pharaoh's heart. He used Assyria as the rod of His anger. He raised up the Babylonians to judge Judah. And here, He musters Gog and his hordes. This does not make God the author of sin, but it does make Him the author of the story in which the sin occurs. He writes the script, and even the villains play the part He has assigned them, all leading to a conclusion that displays His justice, power, and glory. Understanding this is crucial for the believer's peace. Our confidence is not that evil men will never arise, but that when they do, they are on a leash, and the one holding that leash is our sovereign and good God.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 And the word of Yahweh came to me saying,

This is the standard formula that establishes the divine origin of the message. Ezekiel is not offering his own geopolitical analysis or speculative forecast. What follows is a direct communication from the sovereign Lord of history. This phrase reminds us that the prophet is merely a conduit; the authority rests entirely with the one who speaks through him. This is God's Word about what God is going to do.

2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him

The command to "set your face toward" someone signifies a resolute, confrontational stance. Ezekiel is to act as God's prosecuting attorney, delivering a formal indictment and sentence. The target is "Gog." This is a personal name, the name of a ruler. He is from the land of "Magog," which, based on the Table of Nations in Genesis 10, was a descendant of Japheth and likely refers to a people group in the northern regions, perhaps in modern-day Turkey or southern Russia. The attempts to identify Magog with a specific modern nation, like Russia, are highly speculative and miss the point. For Ezekiel's audience, these were real but distant and semi-mythical peoples on the far horizons of their world, representing the vast, unknown, and hostile Gentile powers. Gog is further identified as the "chief prince of Meshech and Tubal," other Japhetic peoples from the same general region. The point is not to give us a map to follow on CNN, but to personify the collective hostility of the pagan world against God's people in this one formidable, northern chieftain.

3 and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

The message begins with a stark declaration of divine hostility. "Thus says Lord Yahweh" asserts the absolute authority of the covenant God. And His first word to this mighty prince is, "Behold, I am against you." This is the ultimate terror. It does not matter how large your army is or how sophisticated your weapons are. If the sovereign Creator of the universe declares Himself to be your personal enemy, your doom is sealed. The conflict is not fundamentally between Gog and Israel; it is between Gog and Yahweh. Israel is simply the stage upon which God has chosen to deal with His enemy.

4 I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your military force, horses and horsemen, all of them magnificently dressed, a great assembly with large shield and shield, all of them wielding swords;

Here we see the mechanics of God's sovereignty in action. Gog is not just permitted to come; he is compelled. The image of hooks in the jaw is one of irresistible force. It is used elsewhere for leading a wild, powerful animal that cannot be reasoned with. God will sovereignly redirect Gog's plans and drag him and his entire impressive army onto the field of battle. Ezekiel paints a picture of a magnificent and terrifying military force: cavalry in full armor, a vast infantry with shields and swords. The point is to emphasize their human power and impressiveness. God is not stacking the deck by picking on a weak foe. He is setting the stage to show that even the most formidable human power is nothing before Him.

5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

The coalition is expanded. Persia is to the east. Ethiopia (Cush) and Put (Libya) are to the south. These nations represent the outer ring of the known world from Israel's perspective. The army is not just a regional power but a massive, international confederacy. Their being equipped "with shield and helmet" again stresses their military readiness. This is a deliberate, fully-armed invasion force, drawn from the four corners of the earth.

6 Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops, many peoples with you.

The list concludes by returning to the north. Gomer and Beth-togarmah were also peoples located in what is now modern Turkey or the surrounding regions. The phrase "from the remote parts of the north" is significant. In the Old Testament, the north was often the direction from which disaster and invasion came upon Israel (e.g., Jeremiah 1:14-15). This enemy represents the ultimate northern threat, the final and greatest invasion from the "remote parts." The summary statement, "many peoples with you," underscores the vastness of this coalition. Gog is the head of a multinational force, the embodiment of the world set in array against the people of God.

Application

The prophecy of Gog and Magog is not a roadmap for decoding current events, but a rock for our faith. The temptation for Christians in every age is to look at the rising power of pagan nations, at their military might, their cultural arrogance, and their open hostility to the things of God, and to become afraid. We see the Gogs of our own day assembling their forces, and our hearts can fail us.

This passage is God's word to us in those moments. It tells us, first, that God sees them. He is not surprised or alarmed. Second, it tells us that God is against them. The final arbiter of history is not on the side of the big battalions, but on the side of His own covenant faithfulness. And third, it tells us that God is in control of them. The hooks are in their jaws. Their proud advances and their arrogant plans are all happening within the boundaries of His sovereign decree. He is luring them to a place of judgment.

Our task is not to speculate about who the modern Gog is, but to trust the God who controls every Gog. Our security does not lie in political alliances or military strength, but in the fact that our God has promised to vindicate His own name. He has done this supremely at the cross, where the powers of darkness assembled against His Son, only to be disarmed and made a public spectacle (Col. 2:15). And He will do it finally at the end of history. The message of Ezekiel 38 is a call to faith, to rest in the absolute sovereignty of God, who works all things, even the rage of His enemies, for His own ultimate glory and the good of His people.