Ezekiel 38:1-6 meaning

Ezekiel 38:1-6 opens the Gog oracle, in which the LORD directs the prophet to face a far-northern ruler named Gog of the land of Magog and announces that He will draw out Gog and a vast allied army of named nations against the restored land of Israel.

The two chapters before this had ended on the highest note in the book. Ezekiel 37 had brought the whole house of Israel up out of its graves, reunited the two kingdoms under one Davidic shepherd, Israel's Messiah, and sealed the picture with an everlasting covenant of peace and the LORD's sanctuary placed in the people's midst forever.

Ezekiel 38 turns from that settled peace to a coming assault on it. The LORD announces the threat after He has guaranteed the security. The assault will come, but the people will be delivered, and that delivery is certain.

The chapter begins with the standard formula that marks a fresh oracle in Ezekiel: And the word of the LORD came to me saying (v 1). The same formula opened the two-sticks sign-act at Ezekiel 37:15. What follows is a single connected word from the LORD, received as the previous restoration oracles were received.

The oracle opens with the charge: "Son of man, set your face toward Gog of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him" (v 2). The title son of man places the prophet's finite humanness before the LORD, as it has more than ninety times across the book. The command set your face toward is the prophet's posture for a judgment oracle directed at a target; Ezekiel had set his face toward Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:7) and toward the Ammonites (Ezekiel 25:2).

Here the target is Gog of the land of Magog (v 2). Gog is the name of the ruler; Magog is the land he comes from. Magog appears in the table of nations as the second son of Japheth (Genesis 10:2), placing this people among the far-northern descendants of Noah's son Japheth. The phrase the prince of Rosh (Rosh in Hebrew means "head" or "chief"), Meshech and Tubal names the peoples Gog leads. Meshech and Tubal also stand among the sons of Japheth in Genesis 10:2. Gog is the head of a coalition the LORD now addresses by name.

The prophetic formula thus says the Lord GOD introduces the LORD's own declaration: "and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal"'" (v 3). The phrase I am against you is the LORD's formula of direct opposition, used against Jerusalem's false prophets (Ezekiel 13:8) and against Pharaoh (Ezekiel 29:3).

The One who guaranteed the covenant of peace in the previous chapter now stands as the personal adversary of the power that comes against that peace. The repetition of Gog's full title--prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal (v 3)--emphasizes the identity of the one God is opposing. God begins to articulate His judgment against them: "'"I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords;"'" (v 4).

God uses the language of a fisherman or hunter capturing his prey to describe His judgment: the LORD says "I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out" (v 4). The invasion is something the LORD Himself draws out. The same image of hooks in the jaws had been used of Pharaoh, the great monster of the Nile whom the LORD would haul up out of his rivers (Ezekiel 29:4).

Gog's vast and willing army marches under its own ambition, yet the LORD describes Himself dragging it forward in its assault on Israel like a creature led by hooks. The description of the force is militant and complete: a full army of horses and horsemen, equipped with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords (v 4). This could be literal or figurative. The horses and swords would have been literal in Ezekiel's era. They could be figurative in a future era, picturing that the army is mobile and well-armed.

The coalition is armed and formidable. The image is filled with irony. The army is marching in its might with the full expectation of conquering, but the reality is that the LORD is drawing them into a trap where they will be destroyed. There is a coalition of nations included: "'"Persia, Ethiopia and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet"'" (v 5).

The allied nations are named. Persia (modern-day Iran) lies to the east, Ethiopia (Cush) to the far south below Egypt, and Put to the west along the North African coast (possibly modern-day Libya). With Magog, Meshech, and Tubal to the north, the coalition is drawn from every direction of the compass. This appears to reflect the gathering of a confederation pulled from the corners of the known world, all of them equipped with shield and helmet for war.

This could be a future picture of a broader coalition that comes from across the entire globe. Zechariah 14:2 says that God will "gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle." Revelation 20:8 appears to use the term "Gog and Magog" to refer to a global coalition Satan raises up to contend against God's kingdom. Coalition members continue to be named: Gomer with all its troops; "'"Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops--many peoples with you"'" (v 6).

Two more northern peoples complete the roster. Gomer is another son of Japheth named in Genesis 10:2, and Beth-togarmah descends from Gomer (Genesis 10:3). Both are placed from the remote parts of the north (v 6)--the same far-northern origin as Magog itself.

The summary phrase many peoples with you closes the muster. The picture is of a massive northern-led confederation, gathered from the descendants of Japheth and joined by powers from east, south, and west, all of whom will assemble against a reconstituted Israel. There will be many peoples who will join Gog (you), who leads the coalition. A later commentary will discuss a possible scenario for what this could mean in days to come.