Gog of the Land of Magog
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; 5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes—even many peoples with you. 7 “‘“Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them. 8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought out of the peoples and they will dwell securely, all of them. 9 You will ascend. You will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.” 10 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “It will happen in that day that things will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. 11 You will say, ‘I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, 12 to take the plunder and to take prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth.’ 13 Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its young lions, will ask you, ‘Have you come to take the plunder? Have you assembled your company to take the prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’ 14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, ‘The Lord Yahweh says: “In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, will you not know it? 15 You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. 16 You will come up against my people Israel as a cloud to cover the land. It will happen in the latter days that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me when I am sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes.” 17 “‘The Lord Yahweh says: “Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for years that I would bring you against them? 18 It will happen in that day, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord Yahweh, “that my wrath will come up into my nostrils. 19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath I have spoken. Surely in that day there will be a great shaking in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the animals of the field, all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth will shake at my presence. Then the mountains will be thrown down, the steep places will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence and with blood. I will rain on him, on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, torrential rains with great hailstones, fire, and sulfur. 23 I will magnify myself and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.”’
A coalition from the far edges of the map attacks a people living without walls, and the attacker is brought by the hooks in his jaws.
The names are given without explanation. Gog, of the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, with Persia, Cush and Put, with Gomer and Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north. What the list has in common is distance. These are the peoples at the rim of the world as Ezekiel's readers knew it, from every direction. The point of the roll call is that the threat comes from beyond the horizon, rather than from the familiar neighbors of chapters 25 to 32.
The timing is stated twice and it is the key to the passage. This happens after many days, in the latter years, and it happens to a people already restored — the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste. Everything promised in chapters 34 to 37 has occurred first. The attack falls on the security, not on the exile.
The reasoning of the attacker is quoted, and it is the reasoning of a predator rather than of a rival power. I will go up to the land of unwalled villages. I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates. The absence of defenses is the attraction. Chapter 34 promised as its great blessing a people who can sleep in the woods and are not afraid. That is precisely what makes them worth attacking, and the plan is to take the plunder and to take prey.
And over the whole thing stands an image already used twice in this book. I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out. The hooks were used on the crocodile in the Nile Ezekiel 29:4 and on the lion cubs of chapter 19. Gog is not described as escaping God's control at any point. He devises his own evil plan, and he is brought.
What ends it is not an army. The chapter describes an earthquake that shakes fish, birds, animals and every man on the face of the earth. Mountains are thrown down. Every man's sword is turned against his brother, and the coalition destroys itself. The stated purpose is the one the book has repeated fifty-seven times, now enlarged to its widest scope: I will magnify myself and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am Yahweh. The passage gives a profile, a timing and an outcome, and does not supply an identification beyond the names it uses.
held with reason What this mark means