Ezekiel 38:7–14 records that after the army of Gog gathers, their purpose will be to attack what they think is the defenseless kingdom of Israel. This prophecy refers to the great battle commonly referred to as the battle of Armageddon, which will precede the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
Ezekiel 38
38 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16 And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
17 Thus saith the Lord God; Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them?
18 And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
20 So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
21 And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
22 And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
23 Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
The Lord told Gog, the satanically inspired ruler of end-times events, that a day is coming when he will be summoned to invade the Promised Land of Israel. Together with a vast army of allies from Persia, Ethiopia and many clearly identifiable nations, he will march against God's people and this invasion is to happen at the 'time of the end.' The Lord told Gog that He would 'put hooks in his jaw' and give him and his allies, an irresistible urge to flood into the Land, at a time when God's people were living securely.
The aim of Gog and his co-conspirators will be, 'to take a spoil'. Their evil plan will be to plunder Israel of its great wealth. They will come like a great cloud covering the land. But the Lord, Who knows the end from the beginning, reveals that this is an oracle of judgement against Gog. Although he and his allied troops will rapidly advance through the land like a thunderstorm, they will all be judged and punished, because of their evil ways.
Just as the Lord raised up Pharoah to demonstrate His almighty power to the people, so the Lord will use Gog to show the nations that the Lord is God, and sovereign over all the earth. "You will come up against My people Israel. You will come like a cloud to cover the land. It shall come about, in the last days, that I will bring you against My land, so the nations may know ME when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog."
This great leader called Gog, is told by the Lord, WHAT he is going to do, "You will come up against My people Israel", HOW he will come, "like a cloud to cover the land", WHEN it will take place, "It shall come about in the last days", WHERE this will happen, "I will bring you against My land", and WHY it is happening, "so that the nations may know Me and I will be sanctified through YOU, before their eyes, O Gog."
From the beginning, the enemy of our soul has sought to hide God from us, to distort His character, to disrupt His plan of salvation, to deceive the nations, to destroy His Anointed and to shipwreck the faith of those that put their trust in Him. He has taken control of corrupt minds and used men like Gog, as his puppets to counteract the Lord's glorious plan of redemption, which was planned before the foundation of the world.
Down through the corridors of time, we see a succession of evil men, like Gog, with the spirit of antichrist. The enemy of our soul manipulates their minds to carry out attacks on God's people. He uses evil rulers to deceive the world of the truth about God's goodness and grace. Satan was a liar and a murderer from the beginning who used Cain to slay his brother in an attempt to destroy, "the Seed of the woman who will crush the serpent's head."
Nimrod, Pharoah, Herod, and Jezabel, the wife of wicked King Ahab, were biblical characters that the enemy has used in his attempt to thwart God's plan of redemption. More recent history also records many dictators, who have the evil spirit of antichrist, such as Emperor Nero, Genghis Khan, Mao Zedong and Adolph Hitler. But God used their wicked work to forward His perfect plans for mankind. And the satanically inspired Gog from the land of Magog, is the coming tyrant of Ezekiel 38, whom the Lord will use to show the nations that God is the Lord.
God knows the end for the beginning, and although Gog from the land of Magog, will be prompted by the enemy to attack the beautiful land of Israel in the last days, his assault will be used by the Lord, to overturn Satan's plans, punish the evildoers and reveal Himself to the world, so that the nations may know Him and be sanctified before Gog. On that day, the Lord will exalt Himself and demonstrate His holiness. On that day, He will make Himself known to many people, and all the people of the earth will learn that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the LORD.
There are many that speculate about Gog of the land of Magog, and try to pinpoint the time when this will happen. But perhaps the more urgent thing to consider is that there are still family members, work colleagues, neighbours and people we pass in the street each day, who have not yet trusted Christ as their Saviour.
Let us remember that Ezekiel's prophecy was given to Israel, to encourage them at the time when Gog and a great army with him, sweep into the beautiful land of Israel, like a cloud covering the land, "to take a plunder." God is jealous for His people, and when Gog invades Israel, the Lord has determined to execute judgment on him. He will send a plague on the evil people and bloodshed. The Lord will pour out torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone on Gog, as on all his troops and the many people who are with him.
It is not only the nations that will know that God is the Lord, but Israel will see that God Himself has come to their defence, and rescued them from their enemies, as He did in olden days. Today, Israel is in the land in unbelief, but the invasion of Gog will help to wake up God's people to the truth.
But while the age of grace is still here, let us tell as many as we can, the glorious gospel of Salvation and warn of the wrath to come. Let us be diligent to build ourselves up in our most holy faith, as we wait expectantly for Christ to come in the clouds and take us to be with Himself. And let us have mercy on lost sinners, and those who doubt the truth - let us help to save some by snatching them from the coming fires of judgement, so that they too may know that God is the Lord.
My Prayer
Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, thank You for alerting us to the coming judgement of the world and the many deceptions that seek to distort the gospel, disrupt Your plan of salvation, deceive the nations and shipwreck the faith of those that put their trust in You. Thank You, that You have told us the end from the beginning and that a day is coming when evil will be punished, and the world will know that You are the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth, and that Jesus is coming back to rule this world in righteousness. Have mercy on those that do not yet know You and bring many into the Body of Christ before that time of terrible tribulation, when judgement is poured out on the wicked. Hear my prayer I pray, in Jesus' name, AMEN.
Source: https://dailyverse.knowing-jesus.com/ezekiel-38-16
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