Ezekiel 38

Special Note THE INTERPRETATION OF Ezekiel 38-39

In Chapter s 38-39 Ezekiel is predicting an unparalleled invasion by a dreadful foe. It is generally conceded by commentators that these Chapter s contain an apocalyptic element. In apocalyptic literature the setting is usually the end of the age. This kind of literature is full of symbols, especially numerical symbols. Great catastrophes befalling God’s people and dramatic rescues by divine agencies characterize this type of writing. Most of the characters are painted much larger-than-life in these word pictures. Deliberate vagueness and purposeful incongruities are further identifying marks of apocalyptic. One can note at least three incongruities in the God-Magog Chapter s: (1) In Ezekiel 38:4 the Lord brings God forth, but in Ezekiel 38:10 God himself devises the plan of attack; (2) in Ezekiel 38:18-22 God is overthrown by earthquake and storm, but in Ezekiel 39:1-2 God is still very much active; (3) in Ezekiel 39:4 God and company are devoured by birds and animals, while in Ezekiel 39:11-16 the bodies of the fallen host are buried; but again in Ezekiel 39:17-20 the carcasses of the fallen enemy are picked clean by birds and beasts. As in apocalyptic literature in general, the final catastrophe is looked at from various angles, without any attempt to trace a logical order in the sequence of events.[477] The purpose of apocalyptic writing such as this is the unveiling of the future, not in the sense of chronicling every event prior to its occurrence, but in the sense of showing God’s lordship over the future. It serves the function of letting the faithful know that God knows where history is heading and that He is ultimately in control of the situation. Thus apocalyptic literature guides and strengthens God’s people in dark days of uncertainty.

[477] Cooke in ICC cited by Blackwood, EPH, p. 228

Having recognized the apocalyptic elements within these two Chapter s, commentators are still divided as to the fulfillment of the prediction here made. Four major categories of conclusions have been formulated.

A. The Historical Views

Some commentators hold that the invasion of God was an actual event, future from the standpoint of Ezekiel, but ancient history from the present-day vantage point. God has been identified with every outstanding general from the time of Ezekiel to the time of Christ and even beyond. Among those suggested are Cambyses king of Persia, Alexander the Great, Antiochus the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus Eupator, and Mithridates king of Pontus. Within this general category of approach perhaps the strongest case can be made for equating God with Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes was a bitter opponent of the Jews in the second century before Christ. The center of his kingdom was in north Syria, Antioch on the Orontes river being his capital. To the east his territory extended beyond the Tigris. To the north his reign extended over Meshech and Tubal, districts of Anatolia. In his excellent commentary on the Book of Revelation, William Hendriksen argues that Magog in the present prophecy represents Syria, and God, Antiochus. He comments as follows on the relationship between the God invasion of Ezekiel and that recorded in the Book of Revelation: .. The Book of Revelation uses this period of affliction and woe as a symbol of the final attack of satan and his hordes upon the church.[478] That Ezekiel’s description of the defeat of God (Antiochus) would be an appropriate type of the final overthrow of the enemies of God can be seen in the following parallels pointed out by Hendriksen:

[478] Hendriksen, MTC, p. 233.

1. The last great oppression of the people of God under the Old Testament era was sufficiently severe to typify the final attack of anti-Christian forces upon the church in the New Testament age.

2. The armies of God and Magog were very numerous and came from wide-ranging territories. This would be most appro priate to symbolize the world-wide opposition to the church in the days just preceding the second coming.

3. The persecution under Antiochus was very brief but very severe. The tribulation through which God’s people will pass toward the end of the present dispensation will apparently also be of short duration but extremely severe (cf. Revelation 11:11).

4. Defeat of God and Magog was unexpected and complete. It was clearly the work of God. So also will be the sudden over throw of the eschatological God and Magog of the Book of Revelation. This position identifying the invasion forces of Ezekiel 38-39 with the hosts of Antiochus Epiphanes is not as easily over turned as some commentators seem to think. It will not do, for example, to argue that the time frame for the Ezekiel passage is the latter years or latter days (Ezekiel 38:8; Ezekiel 38:16) for these expressions are clearly used in the Book of Daniel to include events which transpired after the Babylonian captivity.[479] Nor will it do to argue that the apocalyptic character of these Chapter s necessitates a prophecy dealing with the end-time. Clearly Daniel uses highly symbolic (apocalyptic?) language to describe certain events in the intertestamental period (Daniel 8), as does Zechariah as well (Zechariah 9:11-17). Furthermore, the ruthless assault of Antiochus against Israel and the divine protection of God’s people in the midst of that assault is a major theme in the prophecies of Ezekiel’s contemporary Daniel (Daniel 8:9-27; Daniel 11:21-35). Why should it then be thought strange that Ezekiel would devote two Chapter s to describing in highly idealized language this same invasion?

[479] See Daniel 2:28; Daniel 10:4. Similar expressions clearly referring to the closing days of the Old Testament era time of the end (Daniel 8:17; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 11:40; Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:9); end of years (Daniel 11:6).

B. The Literal Futuristic View

Some commentators believe that the invasion of God and Magog has not yet occurred. Ezekiel is describing the final invasion of the land of Israel by a ruthless coalition following the Millennium. Scofield popularized this view. He writes: That the primary reference is to the northern, (European) powers, headed up by Russia, all agree -God-’ is the prince, -Magog,-’ his land, The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification. Russia and the northern powers have been the latest persecutors of dispersed Israel, and it is congruous both with divine justice and with the covenants that destruction should fall at the climax of the last mad attempt to exterminate the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem. The whole prophecy belongs to the yet future -day of Jehovah-’ and to the battle of Armageddon, but includes also the final revolt of the nations at the close of the kingdom age. [480]

[480] SRB, comments on Ezekiel 38

A disciple of Scofield, John F. Walvoord cites two reasons for believing that a Russian invasion of Israel is being prophesied. First, he points out that three times in Chapter s 38-39 the invading armies are said to come from the extreme north (Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2). Then Walvoord points to the fact that God is said to be the prince of Rosh. The nineteenth century lexicographer Wilhelm Genesius is cited as the authority for equating Russia with Rosh.[481]

[481] Walvoord, NP, pp. 106-108,

The geographical argument offered by Walvoord is weak. Jeremiah frequently speaks of armies coming from the uttermost parts of the earth by which he means no more than Babylonian.[482] In some sense Mt. Zion itself is said to be situated in the uttermost part of the north (Psalms 48:2).

[482] See Jeremiah 6:22; Jeremiah 25:32; Jeremiah 31:8; Jeremiah 50:41.

The etymological argument offered by Walvoord linking Russia with Rosh is also weak. For one thing, the precise translation of the Hebrew term rosh here is uncertain. Several modern versions render the word as an adjective modifying the word prince.[483] Even conceding that Rosh is a proper name[484] here (as in ASV and NASB) that by no means proves that Rosh is to be identified with Russia. For one thing, hard etymological evidence for this identification is lacking. Rosh is here connected with Meshech and Tubal now generally accepted as being regions in eastern Anatolia. Genusius was making an intelligent guess at the identification of Rosh in his lexicon, but he was writing at a time when Assyrian texts mentioning these places were not available. His etymologies are now generally disregarded. Even the dispensational writer Feinberg rejects the Rosh = Russia identification.[485] A cylinder text of the Assyrian king Sargon mentions a land of Rashi on the Elamite border. The same text speaks of Tabalum (Ezekiel’s Tubal) and the land of Mushki (Ezekiel’s Meshech).[486] Could this Rashi be Ezekiel’s Rosh? In any case, the evidence seems to point to Rosh being a region of Anatolia far north of Israel, but far south of Russia.

[483] KJV, RSV, and NASB margin have *chief prince of Meshech.

[484]* The Greek Old Testament supports Rosh as a proper name.

[485] Feinberg, PE, p. 220,

[486] Luckenbill, ARAB, 11, 48.

Patrick Fairbairn does perhaps the best work in setting forth the arguments against any literal interpretation of Ezekiel 38-39. He enumerates six arguments which are here summarized:

1. It is impossible to identify God and Magog with any historical person or place.

2. It is improbable that such a conglomerate army as is here explained would ever form a military coalition,

3. The size of the invading force is disproportionate to that of Israel or any spoil which they might have derived from Israel.

4. The mind cannot imagine a situation in which it would take seven months to bury slain soldiers, much less the utilization of discarded weapons for seven years as fuel. Fairbairn conservatively estimates that the corpses would have to number over 300 million. How would any living thing survive the pestilential vapors arising from such a mass of corpses?

5. The gross carnality of the scene is inconsistent with Messianic times.

6. This prophecy was the same which had been spoken in old times by the prophets (Ezekiel 38:17). However, no prophecies concerning God and Magog are recorded elsewhere. However, prophecies of a final assault against God’s people and the miraculous overthrow of the invaders is a constant burden of prophecy.[487]

[487] Fairbairn, EE, pp. 204-205.

C. Future Idealistic View

Since there are no clearly identifiable historical events to which the prophecy can be attached, it is possible that this invasion is yet future. The commentators holding to the future idealistic view would distinguish between what is of primary and what is of secondary significance in the two Chapter s. The primary significance is that the ruthless enemies of God’s people will attack with the avowed intention of utterly destroying them. God will rescue His people by divine agencies. The secondary or representative elements in the two Chapter s are the place names, the weapons used, the chronological statements and the like. In other words, Ezekiel 38-39 teaches that God’s people will face implacable enemies; the leader of the enemy will not necessarily have the name God, nor will he fight with bows and arrows.[488] By his use of the same names, and a short summary of the same description, the Apostle John has shown that he regarded Ezekiel’s vision as typical, and its fulfillment as in his time still future. Thus the commentators holding the future idealistic view see in Ezekiel 38-39 the final climatic struggle between the forces of good and evil. With the help of God, His people will ultimately be victorious in this struggle.

[488] Hall, WBC, p. 470.

D. The Prophetic Parable View

The parabolic view of Ezekiel 38-39 is very popular among conservatives as well as liberals. These Chapter s illustrate a great truth, but refer to no specific event in time and space. Israel can have assurance from these Chapter s that once restored the power of God would protect her from the worst foe. At the same time, the church can gain strength from this passage in that here is a promise of God’s deliverance from the most severe attacks. Gardiner sets forth this view when he states that .. there are several clear indications that he did not confine his view in this prophecy to any literal event, but intended to set forth under the figure of God and his armies all the opposition of the world to the kingdom of God, and to foretell, like his contemporary Daniel, the final and complete triumph of the latter in the distant future.[489]

[489] Gardiner, OTC, p. 352.

Blackwood adds these words:

If the passage is apocalyptic, the identity of God becomes meaningless. He represents every force of evil that is marshaled against God. It is immaterial whether or not Ezekiel had in mind a historical prototype[490]

[490] Blackwood, EPH, p. 227.

From the more liberal camp Allen writes:

The Chapter s should be treated as an elaborate piece of symbolism, an attempt to portray some of the ultimate problems of human life with the help of figures and incidents borrowed from the repertoire of mythology. [491]

[491] Allen, IB, pp. 272, 274.

Thus according to this view, Ezekiel 38-39 speaks of concepts, not events; the clash of ideologies rather than armies. Those who seek to identify God with some ancient tyrant, and those who seek here specific predictions of some imminent attack upon the Zionist state of Israel are equally wide of the mark. This apocalypse deals with every threat to faith in every time and every nation.[492]

[492] Blackwood, EPH, p. 228.

In criticism of the parabolic view three points need to be made. (1) Many of those holding this view fail to take the oracle as a serious teaching of the Word of God. However, within these two Chapter s there are seven distinct claims to inspiration. This is a divine revelation and not Ezekiel’s speculations. (2) The parabolic view does not unite the interpretation of these Chapter s with a real return of God’s people to their land. Yet history records the fulfillment of many items in the background and setting of this prophecy. (3) Those holding this view do a rather poor job of correlating the predictions of Ezekiel with the God Magog prophecy of Rev 20:9.

Ezekiel’s prophecies regarding the invasion of God are enigmatic and difficult. Honest and capable expositors will continue to have differences of opinion regarding the specific fulfillment of the prediction. The present writer believes that Ezekiel is speaking about a specific event which has not yet transpired. That he employs hyperbole, symbolism and apocalyptic imagery is readily admitted. That the passage has an application to any situation in which God’s people are under trial may also be readily admitted. But that which Ezekiel had in mind was an eschatological event the final showdown between God’s people and their enemies.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

In what time-frame should one place the invasion by Cog?

What various suggestions have been made about the identity of God and Magog?

What connection is there between the invasion by God and the numerous threats in the Old Testament of an invasion by an enemy from the north?

With what events does John in Revelation associate the invasion of God?

How would God’s ultimate plan be advanced through the invasion of God?

By what means would God destroy God?

By what figures does Ezekiel underscore the completeness of God’s destruction?

What is the connection between the promise of restoration in Ezekiel 39:25-29 and the preceding material promising the over throw of God?

What are the characteristics of apocalyptic literature?

Why do some scholars feel that the God invasion was fulfilled in the persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes?

What are some indications that Ezekiel did not intend for Chapter s 38-39 to be taken literally?

What evidence is there here which is supposed to point to a modern day Russian invasion of Zionist Israel? How would you refute this evidence?

What weaknesses are there in the parabolic view of Ezekiel 38-39?

Ezekiel 38:1-13

Chapter Seventeen

FINAL DELIVERANCE FOR GOD’S PEOPLE 38:1-39:29

Chapter s 38-39 deal with the efforts of some arch-enemy of God’s people to invade and devastate the land of Israel. The tranquil scene with which the previous chapter closed would not go unchallenged. The new Israel of God would undergo testing as did the nation Israel of Old Testament times. These Chapter s are apocalyptic in nature. The language is highly symbolical and at times deliberately shadowy and even cryptic.[462] The time frame is the final age the age of the Messiah as is indicated by the recurring phrase the end of days. The author of the Book of Revelation seems to allude to this same event, the last battle between the powers of evil and the church of God. He placed this battle immediately before the final judgment and the emergence of the new heavens and the new earth (Revelation 20:8).

[462] Taylor, TOTC. p. 243.

These two Chapter s consist of seven oracles, each introduced with the formula, Thus says the Lord God.[463] For the purpose of this discussion the material can be divided into four major units: (1) the invasion by God (Ezekiel 38:1-13); (2) the overthrow of God (Ezekiel 38:14-23); (3) the destruction of God (Ezekiel 39:1-20); and (4) the results of God’s destruction (Ezekiel 39:21-24). To this is appended a note of consolation for the exiles in Babylon (Ezekiel 39:25-29).

[463] Ezekiel 38:3-16; Ezekiel 17-23; Ezekiel 39:1-24; Ezekiel 25-29

I. THE INVASION BY GOD 38:1-13

TRANSLATION

(1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, set your face toward God from the land of Magog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, (3) and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O God, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal; (4) and I will turn you about, and put hooks in your jaws and bring you and your army out horses and horsemen, all of them clothed gorgeously, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling the sword: (5) Persia, Cush and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; (6) Comer, and all her bands; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, all his bands; even many people with you. (7) Be prepared, and prepare yourself, you and all your congregation who have congregated about you, and for whom you are a guard. (8) After many days you shall be mustered for service, in the latter years you shall come against the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, against the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it has been brought forth from peoples, and they dwell safely all of them. (9) And you shall go up, you shall come like a Storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you and all of your bands, and many people with you. (10) Thus says the Lord GOD: It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall come up upon your heart, and you will devise an evil plot. (11) And you will say, I will go up against the land of unwalled villages, I will come upon those who are quiet, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, having neither bars nor gates; (12) to take spoil and seize prey; to turn your hand against the waste places which are now inhabited, and against the people that arc gathered from the nations, that have acquired cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the earth. (13) Sheba and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its powerful ones, shall say to you: Have you come to take spoil? have you assembled a congregation to seize prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take cattle and goods, to take great spoil?

COMMENTS

Ezekiel is to address an oracle to God. Who is God? From this text all that can be deduced is that (1) he is from the land of Magog; and (2) he was prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Scholars have wrestled with the etymology of the name God. Among the more interesting suggestions are the following: (1) God is derived from the Sumerian gug which means darkness. God would then be a personification of all that is dark and evil.[464] (2) God is the exact equivalent of the Assyrian name Gugu who was king of Lydia in Asia Minor from 685-652 B.C.[465] (3) God is a name artificially constructed from Magog, the land over which this anonymous ruler is said to have ruled.[466]

[464] Rowley, RA, p. 32.

[465] Pfeiffer. IOT, p. 562.

[466] Keil, BCOT, 11, 159.

In truth there probably never will be general acceptance of any etymology for the name God. But more important is this question: Who is it that is given the name God? Almost every character of note in the Hellenistic period has been nominated.[467] The position taken here is that God should not be identified with any figure of history, but rather should be regarded as an apocalyptic figure of the end-time.

[467] Alexander the Great (Winckler); Antiochus the Great (Grotius). Antiochus Epiphanes (Seinecke), Antiochus Eupator (Berry); Mithridates VI king of Pontus (Schmidt).

God is said to be from the land of Magog. Magog, along with Meshech and Tubal, is mentioned in the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 as being among the sons of Japheth. Many scholars follow Josephus (Ant. I. vi. 1) in identifying the Magogites as the ruthless Scythians. These warriors were infamous in the ancient world for their practice of pausing to drink the blood of the first enemy soldier killed in battle.

A more positive identification can be made for Meshech and Tubal, two other lands said to be ruled by God. In Assyrian literature these peoples were known as Mushki and Tabal.[468] They inhabited the region of central and eastern Anatolia near the headwaters of the Tigris. The Mushki entered the Near East in the twelfth century B.C. During the time of Sargon II the Mushki were ruled by the famous King Mita, Midas of classical and mythical fame.[469]

[468] Texts mentioning one or both of these people are found in Luckenbill, ARAB, I, 74, 138.44; II, 4, 12, 21-23, 46-48, 61.

[469] Herodotus 1.14 has Midas as king of the Phrygians Mita (Midas) must have been a dynastic title preserved by the Phrygians from the Mushki who apparently earlier had occupied parts of Asia Minor.

The identification of Rosh is more problematical. A country called Rashu is mentioned in one Assyrian text which mentions Mushki and Tubal.[470] This identification is likely. On the other hand, some scholars believe that Rosh is a general designation for all northern territories.

[470] Luckenbill, ARAB II, 48.

Ezekiel is using the thought-forms of his day as vehicles for this eschatological prophecy. Throughout Old Testament history prophets warned of an attack upon God’s people from the north (cf. Jeremiah 4:5 to Jeremiah 6:26). What Ezekiel says here is that God’s people would face one last dreadful onslaught by the forces of evil out of the north, the traditional region of Israel’s enemies.

The evil designs of God against God’s people cannot succeed because the Lord is against him (Ezekiel 38:3). Like a wild beast captured and led about by hooks in the jaws, God would be forcefully turned back. His handsome and well-equipped troops (Ezekiel 38:4) would be comprised of people of many nations (Ezekiel 38:5-6). Ezekiel enumerates five allies of God:

1. Persia. The Persians were an Indo-European people who entered the Iranian plateau late in the second millennium B.C. They were located east of the Persian Gulf.

2. Cush. The Cushites were a Hamitic nation (Genesis 10:6-8; 1 Chronicles 1:8-10) residing south of Egypt. Cush is equivalent to Ethiopia.

3. Put. The war-like inhabitants of Put were a Hamitic people (Genesis 10:6; 1 Chronicles 1:8). They are mentioned elsewhere as allies of Egypt (Nab. Ezekiel 3:9; Jeremiah 46:9; Ezekiel 30:5) and warriors of Tyre (Ezekiel 27:10). Put was certainly an African nation, but its location is disputed. Probably Put is Libya in North Africa.[471]

[471] Kitchen, NBD, p. 1066

4. Gomer. Gomer was a Japhethic people (Genesis 10:2-3) probably to be identified with the ancient Gimirrai (Cimmerians)[472] who invaded the Fertile Crescent from their Ukrainian homeland some time before the eighth century B.C.

[472] This identification is made on the basis of statements made by Herodotus (1.6, 15, 103; IV, I, 11, 12).

5. The house of Togarmah. These Japhethic peoples (Genesis 10:3; 1 Chronicles 1:6) were mentioned earlier by Ezekiel as trading partners with Tyre (Ezekiel 27:14). In the fourteenth century Tegarama is described as lying between Carchemish and Harran on a main trade route through southwest Armenia. Some com mentators refer to them as Armenians.

In Ezekiel 38:7 God exhorts God to prepare himself for the invasion of Israel and to assume the guardianship or command of the various people who had assembled about him (Ezekiel 38:7).

Ezekiel 38:8 serves to underscore the time-frame of the entire prophecy. The attack will take place (1) after many days. This phrase suggests that for a long period of time God and his confederates would be dormant. But at the appropriate time they would be mustered for service, i.e., they would reappear on the stage of history. (2) The attack would transpire in the latter years, a phrase which may point to the eschaton the final end-time period. (3) The attack would occur after the restoration of the people of God.

Ezekiel 38:8 also serves to underscore the enormity of God’s crime. He would attack a people which had been rescued from the sword of national death by being gathered out of all peoples where they had been held captive. Furthermore, the attack would be against a land which had already suffered immeasurably having been waste a long time. And finally, the attack would be against a land which enjoyed security and peace (Ezekiel 38:8). Yet like a terrible storm cloud the awesome armies of God would come up against the land of Canaan (Ezekiel 38:9).

In Ezekiel 38:10 Ezekiel shifts back in time to the point where God first hatched the plot to attack Israel. In that day when Israel was dwelling safely in Canaan God would devise an evil plan against the people of God (Ezekiel 38:10). The peace and security of God’s people is such that they would not have made any preparation to meet such an onslaught. The defenseless, unwalled villages would be an open invitation to tyrants like God to invade the land (Ezekiel 38:11).

Even before the attack, God could count the spoil and captives he would take. He would turn his hand, i.e., take strong measures, in this campaign. Yet those who are the objects of his wrath God’s people certainly had done nothing to raise the ire of God. He came from the distant north; they lived in the center (lit., navel) of the earth.[473] Certainly a people so far removed from Magog could pose no threat. The attack of God would be an act of naked aggression.

[473] All the international highways converged in Canaan. The phrase is also used in Judges 9:37.

In his evil scheme God is encouraged by neighboring merchant nations Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish (cf. Ezekiel 27:12; Ezekiel 27:15; Ezekiel 27:22). They hoped to enrich themselves by purchasing and reselling the plunder of Israel (Ezekiel 38:13).

Ezekiel 38:14-23

11. THE OVERTHROW OF GOG 38:14-23

TRANSLATION

(14) Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to God: Thus says the Lord GOD: in that day when My people Israel dwell safely, shall you not know it? (15) And you shall come from your place, from the uttermost parts of the north, you and many people with you, all of them riding on horses, a great congregation and a mighty army. (16) And you shall go up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the end of days that I will bring you against My land in order that the nations might know Me, when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O God. (17) Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by the hand of MY servants the prophets of Israel who prophesied in those days for (many) years, that I would bring you against them? (18) And it shall come to pass in that day, when God comes against the land of Israel (oracle of the Lord GOD, that MY wrath shall rise up in My nostrils. (19) For in My jealousy, in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking upon the land of Israel. (20) Fish of the sea, birds of the heavens, beasts of the field, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the ground, and every man who is upon the face of the earth shall shake at My presence, and the mountains shall be ripped open, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. (21) And I will call against him throughout all My mountains a sword (oracle of the Lord GOD); every man’s sword shall be against his brother. (22) And I will enter into judgment with him with pestilence, and with blood; an overflowing shower, great hailstones, fire and brimstone I will rain upon him and upon his bands, and upon the many peoples who are with him. (2-3) Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and make Myself known before the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

COMMENTS

The plan of God would utterly fail. He would take note of the unpretentious and peaceful people and think that he would have no difficulty in overwhelming them. With his vast armies coming from the north (Ezekiel 38:15) he would arise suddenly, ominously against Israel like a storm cloud. Little do the heathen realize that they are unwittingly carrying out the plans of God. He had brought them in the sense that he had permitted them to make this attack.[474] Through the destruction of this vast throng God would prove conclusively to all that He is king of the universe. He would be sanctified i.e., honored as holy, through the destruction of God’s forces (Ezekiel 38:16).

[474] Here, as throughout the Old Testament, the active or causative will of God must be distinguished from the permissive will. All things which happen do so because God either causes them to happen, or allows them to happen. Thus is removed the moral difficulty of having God lead these barbarians into a crime for which He must punish them.

What proof is there that the invasion of God was part of God’s foreordained scheme of self-vindication? The fact that long before it occurred the servants of the Lord predicted such an invasion. The prophecy here in Ezekiel is certainly in view, and possibly passages in Zephaniah (chap. 1) and Jeremiah Jeremiah 4:5 ff.) as well (Ezekiel 38:17). The fate of God as well as the fact of the invasion is announced by Ezekiel. The furious wrath of God would be manifested against God (Ezekiel 38:18). Divine jealousy or zeal was aroused whenever man outraged His immutable law. He would cause a great shaking i.e., an earthquake, in the land (Ezekiel 38:19) which would cause consternation and confusion in man and beast alike. Mountains and massive walls would crumble (Ezekiel 38:20). In the panic caused by this awesome display of divine power the enemy soldiers would lash out at and destroy one another (Ezekiel 38:21).[475]

[475] Cf. Judges 7:22; 1 Samuel 14:20

In this judgment against God, God would employ pestilence and bloodshed. A violent, overflowing storm of hailstones, fire and brimstone (cf. Ezekiel 13:11; Ezekiel 13:13) would finally bring about the demise of God (Ezekiel 38:22). This stroke against God and consequent rescue of Israel would cause citizens of many nations to recognize the majesty and power of the Lord (Ezekiel 38:23).