Ezekiel chapters 38 & 39
I read these two chapters on October 5th & 6th. I have thought upon these chapters now for quite a few years, as I come upon them every year in my reading through the Bible annually.
I can recall frequent discussions with my late wife, Ann, who was a very keen and knowledgeable student of Holy Scripture.
Myths
The names ‘Gog AND Magog’ have been surrounded by many myths, fancies and ostentatious notions as to their identity and that which they will be engaged in.
In truth, these two chapters in Ezekiel provide all that we need to know about them, given us of God by inspiration.
I. AS I HAVE STUDIED THESE CHAPTERS I BELIEVE THAT THEY REFER TO EVENTS IN THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF CHRIST.
My reasons for coming to this conclusion are as follows.
1. The Bible reveals a wonderful time when Christ shall reign of the earth for 1000 years — His Millennial Reign.
The announcement of the beginning of that reign is given us in Revelation 12:15.
“And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.”
The time when “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord” is at the sounding of the “seventh angel.”
This is the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The sounding of that trumpet marks the end of this age.
“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets,” Revelation 10:5-7.
2. It is a time in which Christ shall reign over all the earth with His redeemed.
“And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years,” Revelation 20:4.
Please note that the Lord repeats the number “a thousand years” six times in the verses 2-7. That ought to be enough for us to realise and understand that the Lord is referring to “a thousand years”! It is rather egotistical of anyone to dare to replace that God inspired and repeated and emphasised period of time with a period of their own invention!
Symbolism
There is no indication in this passage that the Lord is using ‘symbolism’, as some would say! The respectful Bible student will simply take God at His Word and believe that this is truly a period of 1000 years!
3. It is that time when the promise of Christ, given in Matthew 5:5, will be fulfilled.
“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” The word “inherit” literally means ‘obtain by inheritance.’
Now if, as some believe, “the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up,” (2 Peter 3:10) immediately upon the Saviour’s return, how will the meek obtain it for their inheritance?
The truth of the matter is, “the day of the Lord” referred to by Peter is that period of the Saviour’s reign on earth for a period of 1000 years. It is at the end of that reign that He will bring about the renewing of the creation, spoken of by Peter.
The phrase, “The day of the LORD” is found in many passages of Holy Scripture and in those passages the events of that day indicate that it is not a ‘24 hour period’. It is much longer.
In the Bible, the word “day” often is very obviously used to describe a period much longer than 24 hours.
For instance, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel,” Luke 1:80. This is spoken of John the Baptist and his “shewing unto Israel” took more than a 24 hour period.
When Christ wept over Jerusalem, He said, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes,”Luke 19:42.
He was not speaking of a period of 24 hours but of the period of opportunity that they had to hear, heed and obey the gospel!
The context in which the word appears determines its length. Thus we know that the days of creation were 24 hour periods for they are spoken of in such a way as to make this clear.
“And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day,” Genesis 1:5. We are given the parameters of that period – “evening and morning”!
Please note the little phrase “in the which” in 2 Peter 3:10. It is during the day of Christ’s reign that “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” That is, it will happen at the end of the 1000 years!
Revelation 21:1 states: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
That glorious event follows on from the final overthrowing of the devil and those ready still to believe him and the judgment of the unconverted, referred to as “the rest of the dead” who “lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”
They will remain in their graves until brought before the Great White Throne at the end of the 1000 years (20:11-12) and there condemned and “cast into the lake of fire,” verse 14.
The time of the meek enjoying the earth, wonderfully renovated and blessed, will lie between the coming of Christ and the final judgment of the Great White Throne.
Immediately after that there will begin the commencement of the eternal glory of the Lord in that wonderful place described in Revelation 22:1-5.
II. I AM SURE YOU WILL HAVE NOTICED THE REFERENCE TO ‘GOG AND MAGOG’ IN VERSE 8 OF REVELATION CHAPTER 20.
They are amongst those who have not been converted and brought to faith in Christ and total submission to His throne.
1. When Christ returns, there will begin a wonderful time of ‘conversion’ during His 1000 year reign, and it will begin with the Jews.
This is in keeping with the Saviour’s command to His disciples and Paul’s definition of the gospel.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek,” Romans 1:16.
Thus we read many prophecies, of which here are some:—
“And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, (please note the list of events that could not be completed in a 24 hour period) that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation,” Isaiah 11:10-12:2.
Everlasting Salvation
“But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else,” Isaiah 45:17-22.
A nation born at once!
“Hear the word of the LORD, ye that tremble at his word; Your brethren that hated you, that cast you out for my name’s sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that rendereth recompence to his enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the LORD: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her,” Isaiah 66:5-10.
Remembering their sin no more!
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever,” Jeremiah 31:31-36.
Clean from all your filthiness!
“Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them,” Ezekiel 36:22-27.
They shall dwell in the land for ever!
“And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore,” Ezekiel 37:24-28.
2. Like all converts, but to a very much greater degree, the converted Jewish nation will become a witness for Christ throughout the whole earth.
Consider this prophecy.
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of many cities: and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the LORD, and to seek the LORD of hosts: I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you,” Zechariah 8:20-23.
Jehovah Tsidkenu
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS,” Jeremiah 23:5-6.
3. The Millennium reign will be like no other period in human history, except that period before Adam and Eve sinned.
That was a period of perfect righteousness and peace and joy. When man fell into sin, murder and immorality quickly followed, for the Lord no longer reigned in the heart and life of men.
“And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him,” Genesis 4:8.
“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. . . . The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth,” Genesis 6:5, 11-12.
A Great Change
To a very great degree, that will change after the Saviour’s returns. It will be a time when Christ, “Shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” Isaiah 2:4.
The gospel influence and godly habits of the United Kingdom, prior to World War II, were broken by the impact of that war upon society and there has been a constant drift away from God and His Word ever since. Christ’s reign will introduce a contrary influence and bring in righteousness.
Nature
There will also be significant changes in the realm of nature and physical life. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea,” Isaiah 11:6-9.
The latter sentence gives us the reason for the most extraordinary change in the behaviour of creatures. It is a return of the day of Adam!
“And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof,” Genesis 2:19. The lion and the tiger and the viper were no threat to Adam in that day!
A lengthening of natural life!
“And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands,” Isaiah 65:19-22.
4. However, not everyone will be converted during that time of prolonged mercy and blessing.
This is made clear in Zechariah 14.
“Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. . . . And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one. . . . And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in the LORD’S house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts,” Zechariah 14:3-4, 9, 16-21.
The difference will be that the defiant sinner who THEN openly rebels against the Lord and defies Him will be immediately punished.
That is not so NOW!
Most people live out their lives in defiance of God and it is not until they die that they encounter the punishment that their sins have accumulated! “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” Hebrews 9:27.
So, sin will remain active amongst the nations but to a very greatly reduced level and the order of Christ shall prevail on the earth.
Part 2 will follow shortly.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
Monday 13th October 2025