Ezekiel 38 Study Notes: God Brings Gog Against Israel
Ezekiel prophesies that God will lead Gog, a ruler from Magog, and a vast allied army against Israel after its people have been regathered and live in peace. Gog schemes to plunder the unprotected land, but God strikes his forces with an earthquake, infighting, disease, hail and fire to display His holiness.
General
True or False: In 38:18-23 Israel’s own soldiers march out and defeat Gog’s army in battle.
Answer: False
This is false. Israel does not fight in this chapter at all. When Gog invades, it is God’s own wrath that flares up (38:18). God summons the sword, carries out judgment with disease and slaughter, sends rain, hail, fire and sulfur, and reveals Himself before the nations (38:21-23). Israel is a peaceful people living without walls, and their rescue comes from God alone. It is like the Red Sea, where Moses told Israel that the LORD would fight for them while they stood still (Exodus 14:13-14), and like Jehoshaphat’s day, when Judah was told the battle belonged to God (2 Chronicles 20:15). That is why God’s people need not fear even when the earth shakes (Psalm 46:2-3).
- Ezekiel 38:18 (BSB)“Now on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, My wrath will flare up.”Gog’s invasion stirs up God’s own anger.
- Ezekiel 38:21-23 (BSB)“And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”Every act of judgment on Gog is God’s, ending in His self-revelation to the world.
- Exodus 14:13-14 (BSB)“But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.””At the Red Sea Moses assured Israel that God would do the battling while they stayed calm.
- 2 Chronicles 20:15 (BSB)“And he said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God.”Jehoshaphat’s people were assured that the fight was God’s to win, not theirs.
- Psalm 46:2-3 (BSB)“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas, though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah”The psalm declares that God’s people will not be afraid even when the earth is shaken and the mountains fall.
Theological
True or False: In 38:18-23 Gog is overthrown by Israel’s armed forces.
Answer: False
This is false. Israel plays no military part in Gog’s defeat. The burning wrath is God’s (38:18), and every agent of judgment, whether the summoned sword, plague, bloodshed, rain, hail, fire or sulfur, is His, so that the outcome is God’s self-revelation before the nations (38:21-23). The defenseless, unwalled people are delivered by divine action alone, in the pattern of the exodus, where the LORD fought for a people who only had to stand still (Exodus 14:13-14), and of Jehoshaphat’s day, when the battle was declared to be God’s and not Judah’s (2 Chronicles 20:15). God’s people therefore rest secure in Him even when the earth itself is shaken (Psalm 46:2-3).
- Ezekiel 38:18 (BSB)“Now on that day when Gog comes against the land of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, My wrath will flare up.”Gog’s invasion stirs up God’s own anger.
- Ezekiel 38:21-23 (BSB)“And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him. I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”Every act of judgment on Gog is God’s, ending in His self-revelation to the world.
- Exodus 14:13-14 (BSB)“But Moses told the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the LORD’s salvation, which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.””At the Red Sea Moses assured Israel that God would do the battling while they stayed calm.
- 2 Chronicles 20:15 (BSB)“And he said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle does not belong to you, but to God.”Jehoshaphat’s people were assured that the fight was God’s to win, not theirs.
- Psalm 46:2-3 (BSB)“Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas, though their waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. Selah”The psalm declares that God’s people will not be afraid even when the earth is shaken and the mountains fall.
General
According to 38:21, what happens among the soldiers in Gog’s army when God summons a sword against him?
Answer: They turn their swords against one another
When Gog invades, God’s wrath flares up. He announces that Israel’s land will be violently shaken, and every creature, from fish and birds to all people on earth, trembles at His presence (38:19-20). God summons the sword to strike Gog, and each soldier’s sword is turned against his own brother (38:21). God adds plague, bloodshed, flooding rain, hail, fire and burning sulfur against Gog and his allies (38:22). God has done this before: in Gideon’s day He set the enemy camp fighting each other (Judges 7:22), and in Jehoshaphat’s day the invading armies destroyed one another (2 Chronicles 20:22-23). Fire and sulfur recall how He judged Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24).
- Ezekiel 38:19-20 (BSB)“In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.”God’s burning anger shakes the land, and all living things quake before Him.
- Ezekiel 38:21-22 (BSB)“And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.”God turns the invaders’ weapons on each other and strikes them with disease and storms of fire and hail.
- Judges 7:22 (BSB)“And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.”In Gideon’s day the LORD likewise set the enemy camp fighting against each other.
- 2 Chronicles 20:22-23 (BSB)“The moment they began their shouts and praises, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction. And when they had finished off the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.”In Jehoshaphat’s day the invading armies turned on one another and destroyed each other.
- Genesis 19:24 (BSB)“Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.”Fire and sulfur from heaven were already God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Theological
What does 38:21 say happens within Gog’s forces when God calls for a sword against him?
Answer: They turn their swords against one another
God’s judgment on Gog is presented as a direct visitation of His wrath and zeal. A great earthquake shakes Israel’s land, and all creation trembles at His presence (38:19-20). God calls for the sword to come on Gog, and the invaders turn their swords on one another (38:21); He then judges them with disease and slaughter, torrential rain, hail, fire and sulfur (38:22). The self-destruction of the enemy repeats God’s earlier deliverances, when He set the Midianite camp against itself (Judges 7:22) and turned the allied armies against each other in Jehoshaphat’s day (2 Chronicles 20:22-23). The fire and sulfur echo the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24).
- Ezekiel 38:19-20 (BSB)“In My zeal and fiery rage I proclaim that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that crawls upon the ground, and all mankind on the face of the earth will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be thrown down, the cliffs will collapse, and every wall will fall to the ground.”God’s burning anger shakes the land, and all living things quake before Him.
- Ezekiel 38:21-22 (BSB)“And I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares the Lord GOD, and every man’s sword will be against his brother. I will execute judgment upon him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour out torrents of rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him.”God turns the invaders’ weapons on each other and strikes them with disease and storms of fire and hail.
- Judges 7:22 (BSB)“And when the three hundred rams’ horns sounded, the LORD set all the men in the camp against one another with their swords. The army fled to Beth-shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel-meholah near Tabbath.”In Gideon’s day the LORD likewise set the enemy camp fighting against each other.
- 2 Chronicles 20:22-23 (BSB)“The moment they began their shouts and praises, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir who had come against Judah, and they were defeated. The Ammonites and Moabites rose up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction. And when they had finished off the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.”In Jehoshaphat’s day the invading armies turned on one another and destroyed each other.
- Genesis 19:24 (BSB)“Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.”Fire and sulfur from heaven were already God’s judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah.
General
What does Gog himself plan to do when he invades the land (38:10-12)?
Answer: To seize plunder from a peaceful, unguarded people
Even though God is the one bringing Gog out, Gog is not a puppet. Thoughts arise in his own mind and he devises an evil plan (38:10). He means to attack a land of open villages with no walls, bars or gates, where a quiet people live in safety (38:11). His goal is to loot a people regathered from many lands who now have livestock and goods (38:12). The Bible often holds these two truths together: God rules over what happens, and people remain guilty for their own evil aims. God used Assyria as the rod of His anger, yet Assyria only meant to destroy (Isaiah 10:5-7), and Joseph’s brothers meant their act for evil while God meant it for good (Genesis 50:20). The safe, unwalled land is the very peace God had promised His restored flock (34:27-28).
- Ezekiel 38:10-11 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates—”Gog forms his own wicked scheme to attack a peaceful land with no defenses.
- Ezekiel 38:12 (BSB)“in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center of the land.’”His aim is to rob a regathered people of their herds and goods.
- Isaiah 10:5-7 (BSB)“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.”God sent Assyria to punish, but Assyria’s own heart was set on wiping out nations.
- Genesis 50:20 (BSB)“As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.”The brothers had a wicked purpose, yet God had a good purpose in the very same event.
- Ezekiel 34:27-28 (BSB)“The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them. They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them.”God had promised that His restored flock would enjoy peace and safety in their land.
Theological
What design does Gog form in his own heart against the land (38:10-12)?
Answer: To seize plunder from a peaceful, unguarded people
God’s sovereign summons (38:4) does not make Gog a mere instrument without will. Thoughts rise in his own heart and he devises an evil scheme (38:10): to fall on an unwalled land of villages without bars or gates, where a quiet people live securely (38:11), and to strip a people regathered from the nations of their livestock and goods (38:12). Scripture holds the two lines together: God ordains the event for His own holy purpose, while Gog acts freely from wicked motives and is fully accountable. Isaiah says the same of Assyria, the instrument of God’s anger whose own intent was simply destruction (Isaiah 10:5-7), and Joseph confesses it of his brothers (Genesis 50:20). The defenseless peace Gog covets is the security God promised His restored flock (34:27-28).
- Ezekiel 38:10-11 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: On that day, thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will come against a quiet people who dwell securely, all of them living without walls or bars or gates—”Gog forms his own wicked scheme to attack a peaceful land with no defenses.
- Ezekiel 38:12 (BSB)“in order to seize the spoil and carry off the plunder, to turn a hand against the desolate places now inhabited and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and possessions and who live at the center of the land.’”His aim is to rob a regathered people of their herds and goods.
- Isaiah 10:5-7 (BSB)“Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger; the staff in their hands is My wrath. I will send him against a godless nation; I will dispatch him against a people destined for My rage, to take spoils and seize plunder, and to trample them down like clay in the streets. But this is not his intention; this is not his plan. For it is in his heart to destroy and cut off many nations.”God sent Assyria to punish, but Assyria’s own heart was set on wiping out nations.
- Genesis 50:20 (BSB)“As for you, what you intended against me for evil, God intended for good, in order to accomplish a day like this—to preserve the lives of many people.”The brothers had a wicked purpose, yet God had a good purpose in the very same event.
- Ezekiel 34:27-28 (BSB)“The trees of the field will give their fruit, and the land will yield its produce; My flock will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and delivered them from the hands that enslaved them. They will no longer be prey for the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not consume them. They will dwell securely, and no one will frighten them.”God had promised that His restored flock would enjoy peace and safety in their land.
General
According to 38:4, who is the one bringing Gog and his huge army out to war?
Answer: The LORD, who leads Gog out like a hooked captive
God tells Ezekiel to set his face against Gog, a ruler from Magog who heads Meshech and Tubal, and announces that He Himself is against him (38:2-3). Then God says He will turn Gog about, fix hooks in his jaws, and lead him out with all his horses, riders and armed troops (38:4). The picture is of a powerful animal led wherever its master pulls it. However mighty this army looks, it moves only where God leads it. God used the same picture of a hook against the proud king of Assyria (2 Kings 19:28), and Proverbs teaches that even a king’s heart is steered by the LORD (Proverbs 21:1). In the same way God once drew Pharaoh’s army out after Israel so that He would be honored and Egypt would know who He is (Exodus 14:4).
- Ezekiel 38:2-3 (BSB)““Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”Ezekiel is sent to announce God’s opposition to Gog, ruler from Magog.
- Ezekiel 38:4 (BSB)“I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords.”God pictures Himself leading Gog and his army out like a hooked animal.
- 2 Kings 19:28 (BSB)“Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’”God used the same picture of a hook against the proud king of Assyria, showing His control over a raging invader.
- Proverbs 21:1 (BSB)“The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.”The LORD turns a ruler’s heart in whatever direction He chooses.
- Exodus 14:4 (BSB)“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.”God drew Pharaoh’s army out after Israel so that He would gain honor over them and Egypt would know Him.
Theological
In 38:4, to whom does the text ascribe Gog’s coming out to war?
Answer: The LORD, who leads Gog out like a hooked captive
The oracle names Gog, from Magog, the head ruler over Meshech and Tubal, and opens with God’s declaration of hostility toward him (38:2-3). The initiative belongs to God: He turns Gog about, puts hooks in his jaws, and brings out his entire army (38:4). The image of the hooked beast asserts God’s sovereign control over the most fearsome invader; Gog advances only on the line God draws. The same image is used of Sennacherib in his arrogance (2 Kings 19:28), and the principle is stated in Proverbs 21:1, where the LORD directs the king’s heart as He wills. The closest precedent is the exodus, where God drew out Pharaoh’s army in order to gain honor over it and make Himself known (Exodus 14:4).
- Ezekiel 38:2-3 (BSB)““Son of man, set your face against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.”Ezekiel is sent to announce God’s opposition to Gog, ruler from Magog.
- Ezekiel 38:4 (BSB)“I will turn you around, put hooks in your jaws, and bring you out with all your army—your horses, your horsemen in full armor, and a great company armed with shields and bucklers, all brandishing their swords.”God pictures Himself leading Gog and his army out like a hooked animal.
- 2 Kings 19:28 (BSB)“Because your rage and arrogance against Me have reached My ears, I will put My hook in your nose and My bit in your mouth; I will send you back the way you came.’”God used the same picture of a hook against the proud king of Assyria, showing His control over a raging invader.
- Proverbs 21:1 (BSB)“The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.”The LORD turns a ruler’s heart in whatever direction He chooses.
- Exodus 14:4 (BSB)“And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart so that he will pursue them. But I will gain honor by means of Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.” So this is what the Israelites did.”God drew Pharaoh’s army out after Israel so that He would gain honor over them and Egypt would know Him.
General
What purpose does God give for bringing Gog against His land (38:16, 23)?
Answer: To make the nations know Him as He displays His holiness
God says plainly why He will lead Gog against His land, namely so that the peoples of the world may come to know Him when He shows Himself holy through Gog before their eyes (38:16). The chapter closes on the same note, with God showing His greatness and holiness before many peoples so that they will know He is the LORD (38:23). God’s main aim is His own glory, meaning that people everywhere see Him as He truly is. He had already promised to reveal how holy His great name is before the nations (36:23). Paul quotes God’s word to Pharaoh, whom God raised up so that His power and name would be made known (Romans 9:17), and Isaiah records God saying that He acts for His own sake and will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11).
- Ezekiel 38:16 (BSB)“You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.”God states that Gog’s invasion will serve to reveal His holiness to the watching peoples.
- Ezekiel 38:23 (BSB)“I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”The chapter ends with God displaying His greatness and holiness so that many peoples acknowledge Him.
- Ezekiel 36:23 (BSB)“I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.”God had already pledged to vindicate His holy reputation before the watching nations.
- Romans 9:17 (BSB)“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.””Paul cites God’s word to Pharaoh: God set him in place so that God’s might would be seen and His fame spread worldwide.
- Isaiah 48:11 (BSB)“For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.”God declares that His own glory is the reason He acts, and He shares it with no one.
Theological
What end does God assign to Gog’s invasion in 38:16 and 38:23?
Answer: To make the nations know Him as He displays His holiness
The stated purpose is God-centered: God leads Gog against His land in order that the Gentile peoples may know Him when He is sanctified through Gog before their eyes (38:16), and the chapter concludes with God magnifying and sanctifying Himself before many nations, so that they acknowledge Him as the LORD (38:23). The ultimate end of the whole episode is God’s own glory, the display of His holiness to the world. This continues the promise to vindicate the holiness of His great name before the nations (36:23). Paul draws the same principle from Pharaoh, raised up so that God’s power would be shown and His name proclaimed (Romans 9:17), and Isaiah grounds God’s dealings with Israel in His refusal to yield His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11).
- Ezekiel 38:16 (BSB)“You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.”God states that Gog’s invasion will serve to reveal His holiness to the watching peoples.
- Ezekiel 38:23 (BSB)“I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”The chapter ends with God displaying His greatness and holiness so that many peoples acknowledge Him.
- Ezekiel 36:23 (BSB)“I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.”God had already pledged to vindicate His holy reputation before the watching nations.
- Romans 9:17 (BSB)“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.””Paul cites God’s word to Pharaoh: God set him in place so that God’s might would be seen and His fame spread worldwide.
- Isaiah 48:11 (BSB)“For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.”God declares that His own glory is the reason He acts, and He shares it with no one.