Ezekiel 38:17

Ezekiel 38:17 says, 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?  God asked if Gog was not the enemy that He had prophesied many years ago would come against His people.  Nothing ever catches God by surprise, and His word will always be fulfilled, no matter how many years pass before it is.  We know about the return of Jesus Christ in victory, and it will one day happen.  

Verse eighteen adds, 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.  God said that when Gog came against Israel that His fury would come before Him as well. Matthew Henry says coming before His face is an illusion to how people have their face turn red when they are angry, but I believe that it likely means when He sees what Gog is doing to Israel.  Since God has provided a way of salvation for all people, He will one day allow His everlasting punishment to come on all those who refuse to accept it.  

Verse nineteen continues, 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;  God said that He had spoken because of His jealousy over the people of Israel and that when His wrath came against the enemies of Israel, there would be great quaking in Israel.  

Verse twenty states, 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.  When Jesus Christ returns in victory, the heavens and earth will shake, and everyone will know that He is God.  I believe that saying He is jealous means that He expects those who are His people to be faithful to Him and that He will destroy anyone who has tried to destroy or abuse them.  

Verse twenty-one states, 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.  God said that He was going to call for a sword against the enemies of Israel, and that they would destroy themselves.  Ultimately, it will be their own actions when they refused to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and denied God or fought against His people that will destroy the people who have refused God’s gift of salvation.  God will never judge anyone unjustly.  

Verse twenty-two adds, 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.  God said that He was going to have it rain fire and brimstone on the people of Gog who were trying to destroy Israel.  When God’s final judgment comes, those who are not followers of Christ will be sent away to the fire and brimstone of hell.  

Verse twenty-three continues, 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.  God said that when this happened, He would be magnified and glorified in the eyes of the world, and they would know that He is God. Some who are followers of Christ already know that God is God, and when Jesus Christ returns in judgment, everyone will know this.

Ezekiel 38:14

Ezekiel 38:14 says, Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord God; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?  The rest of the chapter is a repeat of what the first part said.  Matthew Henry says this could be taken two ways.  The first was that the people who were planning to wage war against Israel would have knowledge of Israel’s living in safety and feeling secure.  The second was that they would know God’s disappointment at their thinking they could defeat Israel. Either way, they were going to be unsuccessful, just as all who oppose God for whatever reason will always be unsuccessful.  

Verse fifteen adds, And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:  God said that this army was going to come from the north and they would have a great company with them.  They would beleive that they were more powerful than the people of Israel, and more importantly more powerful than their God.  There are still people who feel this way about Christians and our God.  They think that if they easily defeat us militarily that they have also defeated our God, but one day, they will know how wrong they were.  

Verse sixteen continues, And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.  God said that this army was going to be like a cloud against His people and that He had caused or allowed this to happen.  Nothing can happen to God’s people that He doesn’t allow.  We may not always know why God allows certain bad things to happen to those who are followers of Christ, but just like then, one day it will be for His glory.

Ezekiel 38:8

Ezekiel 38:8 says, After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.  God said that these nations were going to come to fight against Israel, which had barely recovered from their last captivity. As Christians, the forces of the world will often attack us when we are at our weakest, and I believe this may certainly be true when a person first accepts Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.   

Verse nine adds, Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.  God said that these enemies were going to be like a storm coming against Isreal.  We as Christians are going to often find ourselves in a spiritual storm fighting against Satan and his forces when it seems that the whole world is against us, and at times this may even include so called fellow Christians.  Still, even if we are weak from the last battle, if we continue to put our faith in the power of God, we will never be defeated.  

Verse ten continues, Thus saith the Lord God; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:  God said that when these forces came against Israel that their minds would be filled with many evil thoughts about what they were going to do to Israel.  The world is still filled with people today who have nothing but evil thoughts about God’s people.  

Verse eleven states, 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,  God said that these enemies would believe that they were going to war with a people that were weak and had no real point of safety.  Even if they had built some of the walls of their cities back, they had no gates to keep people from coming into the city.  I believe that we can safely say that we will always be attacked spiritually at our weakest point, which is why we must always be led by the Holy Spirit to be prepared for these attacks.  

Verse twelve adds, 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.  God said that the intention of this army was to take all the spoils of Israel and to take the people of Israel captive once more.  The people of Israel once more had cattle and goods that other people would covet, even if they had just recently been restored to the land that God had promised them.  People today often covet the material things that God’s people have amassed and will be willing to go to war with them to claim them.  

Verse thirteen continues, Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take a spoil? hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?   God said that these surrounding nations would ask if he, which Matthew Henry says refers to Antiochus, had come to take the spoils from Israel.  They may have asked wanting to join in with the taking of the spoils.  Many people who see God’s people having everything taken away from them today may want to join in with claiming some of the spoils, or material things of life that are being taken away.

Ezekiel 38:1

 Ezekiel 38:1 says, And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 

Verse two adds, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,  Ezekiel was once more to prophesy against one of the enemies of Israel.  Matthew Henry says this was a powerful enemy of the people of Israel, even if history of Israel doesn’t reach until this time.  It was after they returned from captivity and after God made the Messianic promises of peace and prosperity for them but was to let them know that this was not a promise for that time.  This likely refers to the latter days shortly before the return of Jesus Christ.  As followers of Christ, we are promised everlasting spiritual peace with God, but this does not mean that we will always have peace in this lifetime.  The opposite may be true.  

Verse three continues, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:  God’s prophesy to these enemies of Israel, His chosen people, was that He was against them, which meant that they would never be victorious forever.  No matter what enemies we may face before the return of Jesus Christ, they will never be victorious forever.  God has already assured us the victory.  

Verse four states, 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: God said that He was going to completely defeat this enemy.  God gave the people of Israel assurance of victory even before they knew who the enemy was, just as He will ultimately defeat all the enemies of His people one day.   We just have to live by faith in this promise. 

Verse five adds, Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:  God then specified some of the other nations that were going to join with this enemy of Israel in an attempt to destroy her.  There will be many nations aligned against God’s people today, but they will never have the ultimate victory.   

Verse six continues, Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.  This is just a continuation of the list of people who would be at war with God’s people.  We should be prepared for many nations who do not believe in God to be at war with us as Christians today, but we should also live by faith in knowing that we have the everlasting victory spiritually, no matter what may happen in this lifetime.   

Verse seven concludes, Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.  God warned the people of Israel, His chosen people who lived by their covenant relationship with Him, to be prepared for this coming battle.  As followers of Christ, we should always be prepared for a spiritual battle against the world today.