Gog of Magog

Gog of Magog

Ezekiel Chapters 38-39

Gog of Magog

Chapter 35 contained a prophecy against Edom, which at first seemed out of place, as it was not among the group of prophecies found in previous chapters against the nations surrounding Israel and Judah. There was a literary significance for the placement of the prophecy, however, as it was presented as a prophecy against Mount Seir, a landmark of Edom, and this prophecy was paired with the prophecy in Chapter 36, which is directed towards the mountains of Israel. While the former is a prophecy of destruction, the latter is a prophecy of redemption. Chapter 38 also contains a prophecy against a foreign nation, but it is not clear what nation it addresses.

In verses 1-5, the Lord addresses the leader of the nation as “Gog” and refers to the nation itself as “Magog”. These names are unknown to us in this setting. “Magog” is known to us as one of the descendents of Noah (Genesis 10:1-2) and the other names mentioned in these verses are known from Biblical and extra-Biblical sources. Because the book of Ezekiel has no direct reference to the Babylonians, many have supposed that Ezekiel, who was a captive in Babylon, could not refer to the Babylonians directly, and the names Gog and Magog are code words in Ezekiel for the Babylonians, as they are in Revelations 20:8 for the Romans.

There may be some difficulty with this interpretation, however. In verses 7-9, the Lord makes clear that this prophecy concerns future events that will happen after the nation of Israel is restored in the Promised Land. So, this cannot simply be a coded denunciation of Babylon, it is something different. It is a prophecy of the future, a future that perhaps has not yet happened, or perhaps happens all the time.

In verses 10-16 we read that Gog and the people of Magog will make up their own minds, and come out of their own strength and with their own motives without any regard for the will of God. In Ezekiel, this is the consistent judgment of the nations; it is not a question of whether their motives are good or bad by the standards of the world, but that they are not the motives of God. The passage goes on, though, to say that event through the action of people who are completely separated from the will of God, God is in control. It is a difficult thought, but a comforting one.

Know that I Am the Lord

In the final passage of the chapter, verses 17-23, the Lord says that Gog of Magog is the one who has been long prophesied. This prophecy may be what is known as “The Day of the Lord” and had not yet been fulfilled in Jesus’ day (Luke 21:10-11). Chapter 39 tells us that the Lord will protect Israel from Gog. Verses 11-20 describe the glory of the defeat of Gog in two different ways. The first says that the burial of the defeated will be so vast that it will block the way of travelers, and will take months to complete. The second is even more gruesome, and describes the blood and meat of the dead as being offered up as a sacrifice eaten by the birds and wild animals, which are invited to gather and feast.

To a nation that has been wronged, this promise of utter conquest must have sounded very good indeed. But the Lord has no need of conquest, and is not driven by revenge. There is another motivation here, another force at work.

In verses 21-29, the Lord speaks of the people’s separation from the presence of the Lord because of their own sin, because they had rejected the covenant relation the Lord offered. But the Lord promises a day when the people will be brought back into that relationship and forget their former shame and unfaithfulness.

The words “They will know that I am the Lord their God” echo as a refrain throughout the book of Ezekiel, as God continually reveals himself to us. Sometimes that God is the Sovereign Lord, the all-powerful being seated in an indescribable throne. Sometimes that God is the Good Shepherd, ready to lift us up even out of our graves. But always he is our God, and we are his people.