Chapter xxxviii.

The great restoration vision of the preceding chapter is followed by another great prophecy concerning the last enemy of Israel, and how the Lord will deliver His people and deal in judgment with the invading hordes. This prophecy is in chapters xxxviii and xxxix. These two chapters are of great interest and demand a careful study; they have been misunderstood by many. Frequently the Gog and Magog have been identified with the final revolt at the close of the millennium, when Satan is loosed for a little season (Rev. xx:7-9). The text shows that this is incorrect. The invasion which Ezekiel describes takes place in the beginning of the millennium; the invasion of Gog and Magog in Revelation is postmillennial. Ezekiel's invasion takes place from the North and the nations are designated; the nations which gather under Satan at the close of the millennium are from the four quarters of the earth. The invaders in Ezekiel's vision fall on the mountains of Israel, while those assembled after the millennium are devoured by fire from heaven.

Others have identified these invading enemies with the nations gathered in the revived Roman Empire. This also cannot be, for we find that the nations Ezekiel names are outside of the territory of the restored Roman Empire. We have to turn to the text itself to find the correct meaning of this prophecy.

I. The Invasion of Israel's Land.

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 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. Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. 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. 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. 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: 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 dwellings 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. 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? (verses 1-13).

The first question which confronts us in giving an exposition of these verses is, When does this enemy fall into Israel's land? At what time does this invasion take place? We find the answer in the text. The statement is made in verse eight that Gog and Magog and the other nations with them invade the land "that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people;" they come "against the mountains of Israel, which have always been waste; but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely, all of them." In verse eleven the evil purpose of the invader is made known. He says, "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." He comes "upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land" (verse 12). From all this we learn that the invasion takes place at the time when the Lord has brought back His people and resumed His relationship with the remnant of Israel.

The invasion will happen some time after the beastly empire with its beasthead (the revived Roman empire), in its final ten kingdom form and the clay, with the little horn as leader (Dan. vii; Rev. xiii:1-10) and the false prophet, the personal Antichrist (Rev. xiii:11, etc.) have been dealt with in judgment (Rev. xix:19-20). The stone out of heaven has then fallen upon the feet of the great dream image of Nebuchadnezzar, and as far as the Western confederated world power is concerned it is now ended. But other nations gather now for an assault. It is a Northern confederacy which sweeps southward to invade the land as Antiochus Epiphanes did in the past, as well as the Assyrian in the days of Isaiah. These final invading hosts, under the leadership of a powerful king, come like a storm, and like a cloud to cover the land.

In verse 17 we read "Thus saith the Lord God: Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old times by my servants the prophets of Israel, which prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against them?" By the way, in these words we have a very clear statement concerning the prophets of God. They all were the mouthpiece of Jehovah; He has spoken through them. According to this verse other prophets prophesied of the same enemy. Some expositors have stated their inability to find a single prophecy elsewhere which would confirm Ezekiel's vision and prophecy.

We believe the foe, of whom Isaiah speaks as the Assyrian, foreshadows this one coming with his hordes from the North. The Assyrian in the days of Isaiah, who threatened to cover the land like a cloud, was Sennacherib. How the Lord dealt with him by wiping out his proud army with a single stroke is known to every reader of the Bible. But he also foreshadows the final Assyrian, the last King of the North. He is described in Isaiah x. A significant statement is made in that chapter as to the time when the Lord will deal with this Assyrian of the future. It is this "Wherefore it shall come to pass that when the Lord has performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the King of Assyria and the glory of his high looks" (verse 12). When the Lord has performed His work in judgment and in mercy upon Mount Zion and in behalf of Israel and their enemies, then He will also punish the last invader and spoiler of His people, the one foreshadowed by the Assyrian.

The Antichrist, who opposed the heavenly rights and glory of Christ, has then already been overthrown by the brightness of His coming; and next this last enemy who opposeth the earthly rights of the King of kings will also meet his defeat. Notice that in the same chapter of Isaiah the Lord comforts His people in view of the invader, showing thereby that He is with them and on their side. "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwelleth in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrian" (Isa. x:24).

The prophet Micah bears a similar testimony to the same person. In