Old Testament Commentary - Ezekiel 38

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 38 The battle of Gog and Magog against Israel shall usher in the Second Coming—The Lord will come amid war and pestilence, and all men shall shake at his presence.
1 AND the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, set thy face against ^aGog, the land of Magog^a, 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:	2^a set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog Many have attempted and so set forth just who or what is Gog and Magog. It or they are those who will fight against Israel, Israel being those who do prevail in the Lord. Any such as fight against Israel, the people of the Lord are heatheren. They may think they have Christ as their Lord, but they will find that their concept and understanding of Christ and God are but a figment of their own inovative minds for they have not come to know God. It may well be ask 'what and/or who do you worship. And many will give lip service unto Jesus Christ but they will not know him and he will say unto them that they never did know him and to depart as they are but workers of iniquity. It is important to come to know God and to search the scriptures which preach of him and to do as he told Nichodemus to do, to keep his ordinances and to live his commandments and by the spirit one will learn what and who to follow, that it is Christ and his messengers. Find the one true God, become Israel by following him; not by birth and ancestry, but according to the spirit of God which dwells in all the true followers of Jesus Christ. Be not the heathen that denies God, his ordinances and the power thereof. For stait is the way and narrow the gate. Do not fight against God, but gain a true and living testimony of Him and Jesus Christ whom he and sent. This 'war' has persisted from before the world was and it will continue until Lucifer and his followers are set to dwell in the sides of the pit at the end of Christ's thousand year reign. And in that, though there be specific battles, the war is always the same.
4 And I will turn thee back, and put ^ahooks 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, ^aEthiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: 6 ^aGomer, and all his bands; the house of ^bTogarmah 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 ^avisited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is ^bgathered out of many people, against the ^cmountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell ^dsafely all of them. 9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a ^astorm, thou shalt be like a ^bcloud 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 ^amind, 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 ^aTarshish, 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 ^anorth 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 ^aagainst my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the ^blatter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the ^cheathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified ^din 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 ^afury 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 ^ashaking 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 ^abrother. 22 And I will ^aplead against him with ^bpestilence 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 ^chailstones, ^dfire, and brimstone. 23 Thus will I magnify myself, and ^asanctify myself; and I will be ^bknown in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the LORD.