The Sovereign Hook: God's Great Reversal Text: Ezekiel 39:1-8
Introduction: History With a Plot
We live in an age that desperately wants history to be meaningless. Our secularists, our atheists, our materialists, all want the story of mankind to be a tale told by an idiot, a random series of unfortunate events signifying nothing. They want a world where nations rage and rulers plot their little schemes in a vacuum, accountable to no one, with no ultimate purpose directing the chaos. But the Christian faith declares that history has a plot, and the author of that plot is God Almighty. Not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from His will, and not one empire rises or falls except by His decree.
The prophet Ezekiel was ministering to a people in exile who might have been tempted to believe the secular narrative of their day. They had been conquered, their temple was destined for rubble, and the great pagan empire of Babylon seemed to be the master of the world. It would have been easy to conclude that Yahweh had lost control, that He was just one more tribal deity who had been defeated by stronger gods. But Ezekiel's prophecy, particularly these chapters concerning Gog of Magog, is a thunderous refutation of that lie. God is not a frantic spectator in the stands; He is the sovereign playwright, director, and stage manager of the entire production.
This prophecy is not, as some would have it, a detailed road map for predicting the movements of the Russian army in our near future. That kind of newspaper exegesis misses the forest for the trees and dishonors the way Scripture uses prophecy. Rather, this is a paradigm, a pattern of how God deals with arrogant, God-hating world powers throughout history. Gog and his hordes are a type, a representative of all the proud nations that set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed. What we see here is the anatomy of divine judgment. God does not simply react to evil; He orchestrates its demise. He does not just defeat His enemies; He uses their own arrogant plans to bring about their spectacular ruin for the glory of His own name.
This passage teaches us that God is not just against sin in some abstract sense. He is against sinners. He is against proud rulers and the nations that follow them into rebellion. And His opposition is not passive; it is active, meticulous, and utterly effective. He is the one who puts the hook in their jaws and drags them to their appointed doom. This is terrifying news for the enemies of God, but it is a profound comfort for the people of God. Our security does not rest in our own strength, but in the absolute sovereignty of the God who turns the weapons of His enemies against themselves.
The Text
"Now as for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal; and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. And I will strike your bow from your left hand and cause your arrows from your right hand to fall. You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken,” declares Lord Yahweh. “And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands securely; and they will know that I am Yahweh. And My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is coming, and it shall be done,” declares Lord Yahweh. “That is the day of which I have spoken."
(Ezekiel 39:1-8 LSB)
The Divine Antagonist (v. 1)
The prophecy begins with a direct and personal declaration from God Himself.
"Now as for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal;'" (Ezekiel 39:1)
Notice the blunt force of this opening. God does not say, "I am against your policies," or "I am against your worldview." He says, "I am against you." The conflict is personal. God is not an impersonal force, and sin is not an abstract problem. Sin is committed by persons, and God's judgment is directed at those persons. Gog, this "chief prince," represents the pinnacle of human rebellion and pride. He is the archetypal man of power who believes he is the master of his own fate. But before Gog can even make his first move, God declares Himself to be Gog's antagonist.
This is the fundamental reality of the universe. You are either for God or against Him. There is no neutral ground. And if you are against Him, He is most certainly against you. This is not a contest between equals. This is the Creator of the universe declaring His personal opposition to a creature. The outcome is decided before the battle ever begins. All the drama of history, all the marching of armies and the plotting of kings, is simply the working out of this foundational reality. God is against the proud, and He gives grace to the humble.
The Sovereign Shepherd of Evil (v. 2-3)
In the next verses, we see the shocking extent of God's sovereignty. He doesn't just respond to Gog's invasion; He initiates it.
"and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you up from the remotest parts of the north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel. And I will strike your bow from your left hand and cause your arrows from your right hand to fall." (Ezekiel 39:2-3 LSB)
This is one of those passages that should make the sentimental deist break out in a cold sweat. God says, "I will turn you around, drive you on." The previous chapter says God will put hooks in Gog's jaws and bring him out (Ezekiel 38:4). Gog thinks he is acting out of his own geopolitical ambitions. He sees a vulnerable people and decides to plunder them. But in reality, he is a puppet on a string. God is the one pulling him from the "remotest parts of the north," a phrase meant to evoke a distant, menacing, and pagan power. God is marching His own enemy to the precise location of their destruction.
This is the doctrine of divine providence in its starkest form. God ordains whatsoever comes to pass, yet in such a way that the responsibility of the creature is not violated. Gog is fully responsible for his wicked intentions, and yet God's hand is sovereignly guiding his every step. God is not the author of sin, but He is the author of the story in which that sin occurs, and He writes it in such a way that the sin serves His ultimate, righteous purposes. He is so sovereign that He can use the free, rebellious choices of men to accomplish His predetermined plan. He doesn't just bring Gog to the battlefield; He disarms him there. "I will strike your bow from your left hand." The very power Gog trusts in is rendered useless by the God who is dragging him to judgment.
The Appointed Feast (v. 4-5)
The result of this divinely orchestrated invasion is not a battle, but a slaughter. It is a feast, and Gog's army is the main course.
"You will fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you as food to every kind of predatory bird and beast of the field. You will fall on the open field; for it is I who have spoken,” declares Lord Yahweh." (Ezekiel 39:4-5 LSB)
The "mountains of Israel" are not just a geographical location. They represent the realm of God's covenant people. The enemies of God invade God's territory, and there they meet their end. Their defeat is total. And their end is one of ultimate humiliation. They will not receive a proper burial, but will be carrion for the birds and beasts. This "scavenger's feast" is a recurring biblical image for catastrophic divine judgment. We see it again in Revelation 19, where an angel invites the birds to the "great supper of God," to feast on the flesh of kings and commanders who followed the beast.
This is a picture of God's righteous and holy contempt for pride. These men who thought they could devour God's people become food for vultures. God completely reverses their intention. The plunderers become the plundered. The consumers are consumed. And the certainty of this is grounded in the one who guarantees it: "for it is I who have spoken." The Word of God does not just describe reality; it creates it. When God declares a thing, it is as good as done.
The Purpose of Judgment (v. 6-8)
The final verses of our text explain the ultimate reason for this terrifying display of sovereign power. The goal is not merely destruction; the goal is revelation.
“And I will send fire upon Magog and those who inhabit the coastlands securely; and they will know that I am Yahweh. And My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I will not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am Yahweh, the Holy One in Israel. Behold, it is coming, and it shall be done,” declares Lord Yahweh. “That is the day of which I have spoken." (Ezekiel 39:6-8 LSB)
The judgment is not limited to the invading army; it extends to their homelands. Fire falls on Magog and the "coastlands," a term for the distant nations. No one is safe who sets themselves against God. But the purpose of this worldwide judgment is doxological. It is so that "they will know that I am Yahweh." This phrase is a drumbeat throughout the book of Ezekiel. The plagues on Egypt had the same purpose: that the Egyptians might know that He is the Lord. God's judgments are self-revelations. He is teaching the world who is in charge.
And the lesson is for His people as well. "My holy name I will make known in the midst of My people Israel." When Israel was in exile, God's name was profaned among the nations. The pagans looked at defeated Israel and concluded that Israel's God was weak. This judgment on Gog is a vindication of God's name. It demonstrates His power, His holiness, and His faithfulness to His covenant people. It teaches Israel that their security is not in armies or alliances, but in the character of their God.
This is the great end of all history: that the nations will know that Yahweh is the Holy One in Israel. Every judgment, every act of salvation, every turn of history is driving toward that great confession. The passage ends with a statement of absolute certainty. "Behold, it is coming, and it shall be done... That is the day of which I have spoken." What God has planned, He will perform. His Word will not return to Him void.
Gog, Magog, and the Gospel
So what does this ancient prophecy about a northern invader have to do with us? Everything. As I mentioned, Gog is a type. The New Testament picks up this imagery in Revelation 20. After the millennial reign of Christ, Satan is loosed for a final rebellion, and he gathers the nations from the four corners of the earth, who are called "Gog and Magog," to surround the camp of the saints. It is the same pattern: a massive, worldwide confederacy of unbelief making one final, arrogant assault on the people of God.
And the outcome is the same. Fire comes down from heaven and devours them. The point is this: the church, the new Israel, will always have its Gogs. There will always be proud, secular powers, full of rage and bent on our destruction. They may come from the north, or from our own godless universities, or from the halls of government. They gather their armies, their ideologies, their legislation, and their cultural influence, and they march against the city of God.
But we must read the end of the story. God is against them. He is the one sovereignly orchestrating their movements, dragging them by a hook in their jaw to the place of their undoing. Their weapons will fail them. Their pride will be their downfall. Their defeat is not just possible; it is divinely decreed. They will fall on the mountains of Israel, in the very place where they thought they would achieve their greatest victory.
Our task is not to tremble in fear, trying to identify Gog on a map. Our task is to be the faithful people of God, dwelling securely in the land of His promises. Our security is not in the absence of enemies, but in the presence of our God. He is making His holy name known in our midst. The great act of judgment and salvation was at the cross, where the ultimate Gog, Satan himself, marched the powers of the world against the Son of God. And on that mountain, God struck the bow from their hand. He turned their greatest weapon, death, into the instrument of their own defeat. Through the resurrection, God vindicated His name and declared to all nations that He is Yahweh, the Holy One.
Therefore, we can look at the raging of the nations and not be shaken. For God has spoken. It is coming, and it shall be done. The whole earth will one day know that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.