Chapter 5: Ezekiel 38: The Gog and Magog Invasion
I take an unusual turn in my interpretation of prophecy here. Most people who study Biblical prophecy don’t really seem to even notice Isaiah 17. But when one takes the time to really look at that chapter, the world’s response being described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 becomes obvious.
These two chapters describe what is commonly known as the Gog and Magog invasion. Now, some people think this is the Battle of Armageddon, but it is not. Before we take a look into why it is not, we need to take another look at the nature of prophecy to see why some people make this mistake.
A Pattern in Prophecy
God has a pattern that He uses when prophecy is a foretelling of events to come. This pattern is clear in both the Old and New Testaments. It occurs whether a foretold event is described by just one prophet or by several. The pattern is this. When an upcoming event is described more than once, one description of the event will be a general overview of it. Each of the other descriptions will then only address certain aspects of the event from specific points of view.
So, for example, if God were to give prophecies of an upcoming state fair, He might talk about it three months before it occurs. Now, keep in mind that there is no such prophecy anywhere in the Bible. This is a made up example to clearly demonstrate the concept that I am trying to describe. In His prophecy, God could start out by describing the size of the fairgrounds, and then tell what rides and what midway games will be there. He would probably also mention the animals that are there for show. This would be the overview.
Two months before the fair, God might then give a detailed description of the Ferris wheel. He would tell what color it is, how many lights are on it, how many gondolas, etc. In this telling, He might describe what the view would look like from the top of the Ferris wheel, and where on the fairgrounds it was placed. Maybe He would even mention what rides were next to it.
One month before the Fair, God might give a description of the show animals. We could learn from this description how many animals there are, what types and varieties of animals, how many prizes some of the animals had won, and so on. He could tell us about the shows and competitions at the fair that these animals will compete in, and which animals will win.
Three, two, and one weeks before the fair, the prophetic description could then tell all about the midway games, giving very specific details of them, with a different game described each week until the fair started.
This type of pattern has its pros and cons. The pros involve the fact that this is how people learn. First, we need to understand the general concept of a new thing, and then once we have that, we can start to investigate the details. One of the cons is that many people miss this pattern in prophecy. Instead of realizing that what I have described are several different “prophecies” of a single state fair, many people see these prophecies as unconnected, separate events. They see the State Fair Prophecy regarding a fair that is to come. They see that Ferris Wheel Prophecy as foretelling some great Ferris wheel that is to come, but do not think it will be part of the coming state fair. Instead, they assume it will be a separate but similar event. They see the Animal Show Prophecy as describing some independent animal show that has nothing to do with any other event such as the state fair. And likewise, this mistake is made with each of the separate Midway Game Prophecies. Not realizing that these are all prophecies of the same event, there are many wild interpretations about a series of fairs, rides, games, and competitions that are to come.
Another con to this pattern of prophecy is just the opposite. When two similar future events are foretold, because of their similarity, they will have similar descriptions. Then, those Bible scholars who do recognize this pattern assume that the two separate events are one and the same, and that the prophecies are just different details from different points of view regarding the same event. Once the pattern of prophecy is understood, this mistake is very difficult not to make! However, God always gives us details. Sometimes the details are very difficult to understand, and thus require an in depth study, but the details are always there. When we have a prophetic foretelling of two similar but different events, a careful study of the details will turn up contradictions. Using the state fair example, let’s say that the Ferris Wheel Prophecy was not actually related to the state fair, but was part of some other carnival. In that case, the original, overview prophecy might mention that the Ferris wheel is near the east side of the fairgrounds. Then, somewhere in the Ferris Wheel Prophecy, there would be an indication that the Ferris wheel was on the west side of the event. When we see such a contradiction, we know that two different events are being prophesied. God puts those contradictions in there for this purpose. When the contradictions do not exist, the prophecies are of the same event. But we must be very careful! Sometimes the contradictions are very subtle.
Now that we know what we are looking for, we are ready to see why the Gog and Magog invasion is not the Battle of Armageddon.
Why This is Not The Battle of Armageddon
To begin with, the Battle of Armageddon is described in Revelation 16:12-16 (NIV):
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty.
15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.”
16 Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon.
This battle is lead by the antichrist, who is represented in this passage as the beast. But wait a minute! Did we not earlier determine that in prophecy beasts represent nations? Yes, we did. However, in prophecy, God makes little or no distinction between a nation and the ruler of that nation. So, while we did determine that a beast represents a nation, we now find out that it can also represent a single person as long as that person is the leader of the nation. Furthermore, we see that “the kings of the whole world” are gathered for battle at Armageddon. These are two important details.
A careful study of several different prophecies indicates that the antichrist will rule from somewhere in Europe. This is important, because the Gog and Magog Invasion is led by Russia, which is ruled from Moscow, in Asia. So Armageddon is led by Europe while Gog/Magog is led by Asia. Is the Ferris wheel on the east or the west?
Also, as we shall see from our study of Ezekiel, only a few nations are involved in the Gog and Magog Invasion, while “the kings of the whole world,” i.e. every nation, is involved in Armageddon. So, we have two clear contradictions in the details of the prophecies. That means that without a doubt, the Gog and Magog invasion is not, and cannot possibly be, the Battle of Armageddon. There are additional details that confirm this conclusion, which we will see as we look at Ezekiel’s writings. For example, at least one of these details indicates that the Gog and Magog Invasion comes immediately before the Tribulation. The Battle of Armageddon comes at the end of the Tribulation. So, let’s look at Ezekiel 38.
Ezekiel 38
Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh,[a] Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia,[b] and Libya[c] are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.
There is a lot here to take in all at once. But first, this is not the only place Gog and Magog are mentioned in the Bible. Revelation 20:7-8 says,
7 Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.
I’m getting a little ahead of myself here, but the seven year Tribulation ends when the Lord returns to the earth. At that time, He sets up a kingdom over the whole earth, and He rules from Jerusalem for one thousand years. At the end of that one thousand years is another battle, similar to the Battle of Armageddon. Immediately after this final battle comes the judgment of the living and the dead. At the time of this judgment, the old heavens and the old earth are destroyed and replaced by a new heavens and a new earth. These verses talk about the battle that comes at the end of the thousand years. We know that although this battle involves Gog and Magog, it is not the Gog and Magog invasion described in Ezekiel, because Ezekiel tells us that the physical nation of Israel continues to exist and have its needs met for at least seven years following the Gog and Magog Invasion. That cannot happen if the earth ceases to exist almost immediately after the battle. There are also some other discrepancies, but suffice it to say that there are two battles involving Gog and Magog, and neither of them are the Battle of Armageddon.
Getting back to the comparison of Ezekiel to the verses in Revelation, Ezekiel clearly says “the land of Magog,” indicating that this is a place, not a person. But Gog is referred to as a prince of that land. How could Gog be in an invasion before the Tribulation and in a battle one thousand seven years later? Recall back in chapter 2, where we discovered “the Bible hints at certain demons having governing authority over certain areas of the world. The most prominent such hint is in Daniel 10:13, where a spirit who comes to Daniel in a vision tells him, ‘the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes , came to help me.’ Here, both a demon (the prince of Persia) and an angel (Michael, the Archangel) are referred to as princes.” Gog is not a human, but rather is another such demonic prince over the land of Magog. So, what is the land of Magog?
Magog, Meshach, and Tubal were grandsons of Noah, born to Japheth. They settled in what is today known as southern Russia, between the Black and Caspian Seas. Their descendants were a group of people known as the Scythians. Rosh was a grandson of Jacob, born to Benjamin. During the Assyrian invasion of Israel, several of the tribes of Israel were scattered northward to the Caucus Mountains in western Russia. Some of them are known to have migrated westward into Europe, while others migrated eastward into north and central Russia. Given the similarity of the names, it is conceivable that Russia is named after Rosh. But regardless of whether or not this is the case, clearly the land of Magog, Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal is modern day Russia.
So, a demonic prince is leading the land of Russia. God is opposed to this prince. He draws the prince and the army of the land out very unexpectedly. We see this from the statement, “I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army.” Many theories exist as to what, exactly the figurative hooks in the jaws are. Most prophecy scholars who are unfamiliar with Isaiah 17 think that oil will be found in Israel, and Russia will be greedy for that oil. Most of the verses they base this on are actually talking about olive oil. “But,” they ask, “what else would draw Russia out like this?”
I answer, well then why hasn’t Russia invaded Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, etc.? I also ask, “Wouldn’t Israel nuking Damascus unexpectedly evoke a strong response?” I suggest that the hooks in the jaws is Isaiah 17. Especially since Isaiah 17 describes the world’s response:
12 Woe to the multitude of many people
Who make a noise like the roar of the seas,
And to the rushing of nations
That make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations will rush like the rushing of many waters;
But God will rebuke them and they will flee far away,
And be chased like the chaff of the mountains before the wind,
Like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
This sounds a whole lot like a multinational invasion that is driven back by God Himself. It just so happens that Ezekiel 38 and 39 describe a multinational invasion that is driven back by God Himself. Because the two prophecies describe the same thing and do not contain contradictions, it makes sense that Isaiah 17 is the hook in the jaw of Ezekiel 38:4, and Ezekiel 38 and 39 are a detailed description of the rushing of nations mentioned in Isaiah 17:12.
So moving on, as I said above, “only a few nations are involved in the Gog and Magog Invasion.” Verses 5 and 6 tell us which nations those are.
5 Persia, Ethiopia,[b] and Libya[c] are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far north and all its troops—many people are with you.
Some of these nations are easily identifiable today. For instance, Ethiopia is modern day Ethiopia; Libya is modern day Libya. But, throughout the course of history, many place names have changed. For instance, in 1938 A.D., Persia changed its name to Iran. But some of these places changed their names thousands of years ago. So, where exactly are Gomer and Togarmah? Well, Gomer was more recently known as Armenia, which no longer exists as a separate nation, but is the land that makes up the eastern end of Turkey. Gomer, as a person, was also a grandson of Noah, born to Japheth. He settled not too far from his brothers Magog, Meshach, and Tubal. Armenia is just south of the eastern end of the Black Sea, just barely reaching up between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Togarmah was the son of Gomer, the grandson of Japheth. He travelled west and settled in what is today known as western Turkey. But, verse 6 doesn’t just say Togarmah. It makes a distinction here that is not made for any of the other involved players. It says “the house of Togarmah from the far north.” Using the phrase “the house of…” indicates that we are not talking so much about where Togarmah himself settled as we are talking about where his descendants settled. The phrase “…from the far north…” adds some specificity. Many of Togarmah’s descendants populated the area now known as Turkey. But several of his descendants migrated northward and settled in what is today known as Germany.
So, putting this all together, we have Russia suddenly deciding, due to some form of provocation, to lead an invasion against Israel. This battle is more a spiritual battle than a physical battle, involving God Himself and the demon prince, Gog. On the physical side of the battle, along with Russia are Iran, Ethiopia, Libya, Turkey, and Germany. This list of nations brings up an interesting question. Not counting the Palestinians, who do not make up a separate nation, but rather exist within Israel’s borders, the most vehement, traditional enemies of the Israelis have been the Syrians. If this invasion is not in response to Isaiah 17, why aren’t the Syrians involved? There is no way to answer that question with any level of certainty, so we will treat it as rhetorical and move on.
7 “Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered about you; and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be visited. In the latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely. 9 You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all your troops and many peoples with you.”
Verse 7 lets us know that this will be a well prepared army; they will be ready for battle, and well able to defend themselves. Then in verse 8, we get a timing reference. “After many days…In the latter years…” tells us that this is an end times prophecy. The rest of verse 8 gives us some details about the signs of the times. It is talking about people being brought out of the nations of the earth and brought back to Israel. The verse also makes a specific reference to the sword, “brought back from the sword and gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel.” The sword is a weapon of war. This is a direct reference to World War II, which caused the rebirth of the Nation of Israel. The rebirth of the nation of Israel has given Jews around the world a homeland to which they can return. And return is exactly what they are doing! The Jewish people of the world are being gathered out of the nations, back to Israel to a place where they can live in relative safety; they no longer have to worry about the government trying to eradicate them. So verse 8 is telling us that the events we see in the world today are the events that will be going on when this invasion occurs.
Verse 9 begins to describe the size of the invading army. “You and all your troops” is speaking to Gog. Gog will be the spirit behind the invasion, leading all the troops from these nations. The armies will “cover the land like a cloud.” When seen from above, a cloud prevents one from seeing the land beneath it. This army will so cover the land that, looking at it, the ground will not be visible for as far as the eye can see.
10 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: 11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’— 12 to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land.
These verses amount to a quick review with some details. In Ezekiel’s day, cities and villages had a strong wall around them to defend them against invaders. Verse 11 tells us that the likelihood of invasion against Israel is so remote that they don’t even have walls around their towns; these people do not expect to be invaded. Verse 12 gives us information that has more impact today than it did in Ezekiel’s time. When Ezekiel wrote this, an invading army always took plunder from their victims. This was considered normal. So naturally, from Ezekiel’s perspective, the Gog and Magog Invasion force would be prepared to take plunder. But today, we have the United Nations, an institution that is supposed to prevent aggressive warfare. According to the United Nations, a country or group of countries can lead a preemptive attack against an aggressor nation to prevent that aggressor nation from attacking any country. However, once the objective of preventing such attack has been met, the attacking nation(s) must restore control to the people of the country they attacked, and the attacking nation may not take plunder from that nation. So, Syria attacks Israel (Isaiah 17:3), Israel responds with a nuclear attack against Damascus (Isaiah 17:1,9,14), and Russia dishonestly convinces the UN that Israel is an aggressor nation that could launch a nuclear attack against anyone. The UN allows the invasion of Israel to prevent such an attack. But, instead of preparing for this type of invasion, Russia is actually being the aggressor, and preparing to take plunder.
There remains here one additional item to note. For between 1500 and 2000 years, the land of Israel was a desert wasteland. Since 1948, through various means, the desert of Israel has been in full bloom. It is a wasteland that is once again inhabited. As an interesting side note, there was very little rainfall in Israel from 70 A.D. until about 1900 A.D. Then, the annual rainfall increased every year until 1948. Since 1948 the average rainfall in Israel is over ten times what it was prior to that year! Prior to 70 A.D., Israel was a land flowing with milk and honey. Between 70 A.D. and 1900, it was a wasteland. Since 1948, it has been returning to its former glory.
13 Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’
Here, we have some more place names that are not used in modern times. So, we will review them quickly, and then get on to the real meaning of this verse. Sheba is Egypt. Dedan is the entire Saudi Arabian peninsula. Tarshish is a city in what is today Spain. “All their young lions” refers to younger nations that did not exist or were not known in Ezekiel’s day.
So now, every nation surrounding Israel has been directly mentioned, with the notable exceptions of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. These are the nations that are evacuated in Isaiah 17. This is more than just an interesting coincidence.
Also, virtually every other nation of the world has been indirectly referenced by the term “all their young lions.” The idea here is that as the invasion force approaches Israel, it becomes apparent that this is not a preemptive strike, but rather is an act of aggression. At this point, the nations of the UN make hollow objections that have no effect on the invasion. They loudly proclaim that this is supposed to be a preemptive strike, but the invading army is overkill! It is clearly here as an aggressor with the intent to plunder and conquer. This is unacceptable! But in the end, the rest of the nations of the world will do nothing more than talk about it.
14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? 15 Then you will come from your place out of the far 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 like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes.” 17 Thus says the Lord God: “Are you he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?
We have had some verses that give many details. Verses 14, 15 and the first half of 16 bring us back to the sequence of events, restore us to the storyline so to speak. The second half of verse 16 tells us why this is happening: So that people can come to know God. God will be Hallowed “before their eyes.” “Hallowed” is translated from a Hebrew word that, depending on the usage, can have several, similar meanings. The two that make the most sense in this context are, “to show oneself sacred or majestic,” and “to be observed as holy.” In other words, what God intends to use this event for is to show the world in no uncertain terms, that He is all powerful. And, “their” refers to all people, especially the non-Hebrew people who are involved in, or observing, the invasion.
Verse 17 almost needs to be read in a sneering tone of voice. The idea is that God will show Himself to be so much more powerful than the greatest army ever assembled, the army of Gog, that He is saying to Gog, to paraphrase, “Really? That’s all you’ve got? This is going to be easy! I mean, are you really the one that the prophets spent all those years telling everyone how fierce you are? Yawn. Please, show me a real challenge!”
“And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of Israel,” says the Lord God, “that My fury will show in My face. 19For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: ‘Surely in that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20so that the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.’ 21I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains,” says the Lord God. “Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
When Gog leads what will be the largest army ever assembled against Israel, God will be furious. The first thing He will do is waiting until the army is passes through the mountains, cause a major earthquake. The earthquake will cause landslides and rockslides, at a scale on par with the largest of avalanches, which will bury enormous portions of the invading force. In the confusion created by all of this, the various armies from the different nations will start fighting each other. Today we call this “friendly fire.” The earthquake, rock avalanches, and friendly fire will have a devastating effect on the invasion force.
22And I will bring him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’
Pestilence can be a few different things. It can refer to pests, such as being overrun by insects or rats or other vermin, it can refer to diseases which are often carried by those vermin, or it can be both. An army that large would certainly attract pests, and would then likely suffer diseases spread by those pests.
Bloodshed refers to violent death, whether by wild animal, or by friendly fire, or by being crushed under a rockslide, or some other means. So, this term in verse 22 could be talking about many different possibilities. It is very likely just a summary that includes what was mentioned in verses 18 through 21.
Once all of this has happened, God sends floods, giant hailstones, fire and brimstone. Consider an army on the move, traveling over a thousand miles to invade a foreign land. They won’t have too many solid structures. They will mostly be living in and operating out of tents. Because of the recent earthquake and avalanches, the high ground in the mountains is unstable. The armies will settle in the lowlands. And they will become victims of flash floods that will wash many of them away. Large hailstones will kill anyone not in a solid structure. The lowland, tent dwelling armies will be decimated.
But that’s not all! Along with all of this comes the fire and brimstone. There are two possibilities here. With the seismic activity of a major earthquake, there could potentially also be a volcanic eruption, spewing cinders and sulfur through the air. Volcanic eruptions are capable of sending high temperature ash clouds out that are so hot, they can burn people to death over twenty miles away from the volcano itself. If a person is in the middle of an army that is ten miles from a volcanic eruption, and the ash cloud is coming at them at one hundred twenty miles an hour, they are probably not going to have a good day. In fact, they are probably not going to have a day at all, ever again. The other possibility, which is less likely but not untenable, is some sort of a meteor shower raining down sulfuric rocks on the army. Due to friction with the atmosphere, these rocks would be burning. Like the volcano situation, this would literally be fire and brimstone raining down on what is left of the invading armies. The invasion force will be completely wiped out without Israel ever having to do a thing to defend herself.
Before continuing on with that thought, worth mentioning is the fact that God has used these methods to fight for Israel in the past, so there is nothing new here. For instance, we see God being given credit for causing earthquakes in Psalm 60:1-2
1 You have rejected us, God, and burst upon us;
you have been angry—now restore us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open;
mend its fractures, for it is quaking.
More relevant to God using this in a battle is what David says in Psalm 18:6-7
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
Pestilence and bloodshed are what the ten plagues on Egypt were in the book of Exodus. No doubt these were sent by God to fight for His people, Israel. The Exodus account also tells of the plaque of hail. And while we don’t normally think of it this way, after the parting of the Red Sea, when the Egyptians tried to pass through, they became the victims of a massive flood!
1 Samuel 14:15-20 tells of a “friendly fire” incident among Israel’s enemies, the Philistines, that was brought on partially by the confusion following an earthquake:
15 Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God.[a]
16 Saul’s lookouts at Gibeah in Benjamin saw the army melting away in all directions. 17 Then Saul said to the men who were with him, “Muster the forces and see who has left us.” When they did, it was Jonathan and his armor-bearer who were not there.
18 Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (At that time it was with the Israelites.)[b] 19 While Saul was talking to the priest, the tumult in the Philistine camp increased more and more. So Saul said to the priest, “Withdraw your hand.”
20 Then Saul and all his men assembled and went to the battle. They found the Philistines in total confusion, striking each other with their swords.
All that’s left at this point is to mention an example of fire and brimstone raining down. For this I will simply say “Sodom and Gomorrah,” and leave it at that.
This completes the thirty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel. The next chapter begins with a quick review of this, then continues the narrative.
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