(Final Part)
As I said in the first part of this study, these two chapters were part of my daily reading on October 5th & 6th. On the previous occasions that I have come upon these chapters in my annual reading my way through the Bible, I have pondered their contents.
I can recall frequent discussions with my late wife, Ann, who was a very astute and knowledgeable student of Holy Scripture. The basis of these articles are the conclusions we came to following our joint studies.
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 that we need to know about them, given us of God by inspiration.
The events recorded in these chapters will take place, I believe, during the millennium reign of Christ on his earth.
I believe I gave ample proof of the Bible’s revelation of that wonderful time of blessing and peace in my first article.
Central to Christ’s second advent will be the spiritual salvation of Israel and her restoration to her land, long promised to her by the Lord.
“And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness,” Zechariah 12:10-13:1.
The Millennial Reign of Christ will be an unequalled period of grace amongst the nations but not all on the earth will be saved.
I. ALTHOUGH THE DEVIL WILL BE ‘SHUT UP IN THE BOTTOMLESS PIT’ AND UNABLE TO DECEIVE MANKIND, MAN IS STILL AN ACTIVE SINNER.
Satan being bound he will not be able to hinder the great work of evangelism amongst the nations. However, man being a sinner by nature and practice, does not need the devil in order to sin!
1. The two chapters in Ezekiel we are considering, deal with those who show a particular defiance of Christ’s rule, and a hatred of redeemed Israel, and pay the price for their folly. Central to this rebellion is Gog, the prince of the land of Magog and those nations which will join with them in their defiance.
We are given details of who they are in chapter 38:3-6. They are those nations which lie to the north and north east of Israel. They are nations that even today have a great hatred of the Lord and of Israel!
“And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 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: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.”
2. These nations attack Israel twice, the first of which is recorded in chapter 39. The second attack is recorded in the chapter 38. This is ‘out of order’, as it were, but in the Bible you will often see that the Lord records the final victory over His enemies before He records their earlier attempts to overthrow Him!
Assurance
This is because He would assure His people that everything ends in His victory and thus He seeks to avoid distressing His people by going into details of the trouble the enemy will cause before He tells them that all will be well in the end!
This may be seen in the Book of the Revelation when, in chapter 6:9-11, we see the martyred saints being welcomed in heaven before we are told of the distresses that they will encounter.
Likewise, the Lord shows a vision of Christ returning in victory over His enemies (6:12-17) before He reveals the full details of the troubles that will come upon mankind and the impact upon the righteous of the final rebellion amongst men at the close of this age.
Thus the attack of Gog and Magog upon the redeemed nation of Israel, in which the Lord intervenes to deliver them and the enemy is driven back in utter defeat, comes before the record of an earlier attack by Gog and Magog upon redeemed Israel. The first attack ends in a bitter defeat for Magog but not in utter destruction.
3. How do I know that these attacks take place during the Millennial age? Well first of all the final vicious animosity of Gog and Magog toward the people of the Lord is recorded as taking place during the Millennium according to Revelation 20:7-10.
“And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
This is the final attack and it is at the very end of the 1000 year reign of Christ.
4. There is further evidence of the time of Gog and Magog’s attack upon the people of God given in Ezekiel.
In chapter 38:11-12, we told of what Gog and Magog are planning.
“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, 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.”
I have underlined two significant descriptions of the state of Israel before it is attacked.
1. Here is Israel at rest and unprotected by walls and gates surrounding them. That can only refer to that time when nations “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.
It is that time when the “Prince of Peace” rules the world (Isaiah 9:6-7). That time when the Lord extends “peace to her like a river,” Isaiah 66:12.
2. Israel is described as having been desolate but now inhabited, and the people that are gathered out of the nations. There is a time coming, and that soon I think, when Jerusalem shall be the target of attack by the allies of Antichrist and they shall be driven into captivity amongst their enemies.
“Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city,” Zechariah 14:1-2.
Presently there are over half a million Jews living in Jerusalem. The carrying away of half of the city into captivity comes just before the Lord returns to deliver His nation. The next verses states that.
“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,” 3-4.
Wonderful change
Then will begin the great transformation in the circumstances of Israel! They are gathered back to their own land and experience such blessings as described in Amos 9:13-15.
“Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.”
Thus the description of the Israel that is about to be attacked by Gog and Magog in Ezekiel 38:11-12, can only refer to that time after Christ returns and brings back Israel from captivity and the Jews are dwelling in peace.
II. THE ATTACK REVEALED IN CHAPTER 38 IS REPELLED AT GREAT COST TO THE ATTACKERS BUT THE ONE IN CHAPTER 39 IS THE FINAL DESTRUCTION OF GOG AND MAGOG.
1. The FIRST attack is described in verses 1-5 of chapter 39.
“Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: (1) and I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, (2) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. (3) Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.”
I have number particular statements I would have you note.
(1). The Lord will not utterly destroy Gog, as is the case in the attack recorded in Revelation 20:7-10. There Gog and his forces will be ‘devoured’ by fire from heaven. There are no survivors!
(2). This will take place upon the “mountains of Israel”. That is, an Israel restored to their land and dwelling in peace and with no need for protection or any fear of attack.
(3). The invaders led by the prince of Magog will suffer defeat but not utter destruction, for a “sixth part” will be left.
2. On the other hand, the second attack ends in utter destruction!
In chapter 38, in verse 8, it is stated that Gog plans to attack Israel in “the latter years”, at a time when Israel is a “land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people.” Of that attack Ezekiel is commanded to say:
“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? 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. 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; 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. 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. 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. 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,” Ezekiel 38:17-23.
There is a terrible FINALITY about these words!
This devil-led invasion marks the end of the devil’s freedom to campaign against God and His holy purpose and His redeemed people. That is what is recorded in Revelation 20:10:
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.”
Thus, the “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,” (Matthew 25:41) and awaiting him from that day long ago when he rebelled against the Lord, welcomed him forever!
III. THAT THE FIRST ATTACK UPON ISRAEL TOOK PLACE BEFORE THE END OF THE MILLENNIAL REIGH OF CHRIST MAY BE SEEN BY THE EVENTS IN THE AFTERMATH OF THAT ATTACK.
“And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamongog. And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land,” Ezekiel 39:9-16.
Like the aftermath of any battle there is a great need of cleansing, of a burial of the dead. Thus the land was cleansed of the dreadful results of that intervention of the Lord on behalf of His people.
It is stated that “years” followed that attack which, I believe, indicates that it took place some time in the midst of the Millennial Reign and not at its close.
Israel not involved in her defence
It is to be noted that there is no mention of Israel defending herself. No, the Lord says, “And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee,” 39:2.
Might I just add a thought here. I believe that Israel would not have had the means to defend itself because, as noted before, at the beginning of the Millennial Reign and one of the first developments of Christ’s return, is the beating of “their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks,” Isaiah 2:4.
Where?
The question arises, where did Magog and its allies obtain their weapons? The Lord in defeating them had to “smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.,” 39:3.
Furthermore after the defeat of the invaders: “They that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD,” 39:9-10.
I believe that what we are told here substantiates what we read in Isaiah 2:4. The weapons mentioned here are all ‘hand made’!
It is a common practice in prophecy is to describe events in the future in the terms then common in the days of the prophet.
Thus we would not expect Ezekiel to speak of war planes and tanks and other such weapons of modern warfare in these latter times.
But I am inclined to believe that the weapons here described, “the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears,” is not a description of latter-day weaponry in terms of some 2700 years ago!
No, I believe that the weapons that will be used in Gog’s attack on Israel will indeed be the primitive hand made weapons spoken of here which can be burned!
The world-wide present-day of arsenals of nuclear weapons and missiles will cease to be when Christ returns. But such a divine embargo on modern weaponry will not stop sinful man going to the forest to cut down that which will furnish him with a bow and an arrow or stop him going to his forge and fabricating a sword or a dagger!
That is the source, I would suggest, of Magog’s arsenal!
Fuel
Israel will use the cast off weapons as fuel for some seven years after the attack. They will not have to forage in the woods for fuel, as the Lord here says.
“So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire,” Ezekiel 39:10.
These few thoughts will, I trust, be found helpful in understanding the these two wonderful chapters of God’s Word.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd)
16th October 2025