Ezekiel 38:3

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: I AM AGAINST THEE, O GOG, THE CHIEF PRINCE OF MESHECH AND TUBAL. His high-sounding titles are repeated, to imply the haughty self-confidence of the invader as invincible....

1-13 These events will be in the latter days. It is supposed these enemies will come together to invade the land of Judea, and God will defeat them. God not only sees who are now the enemies of his church, but he foresees who will be so, and lets them know by his word that he is against them; though they join together, the wicked shall not be unpunished....

EXPOSITION The present and the following chapters, comprising the next oracle, or "word of God," delivered by the prophet, relate to the expedition (Ezekiel 38:1), overthrow (Ezekiel 38:14), and destruction of Gog (Ezekiel 39:1), with the results of the same to the heathen world and to Israel (Eze 38:21 -29). Attempts to identify Gog and his armies with particular nations, as _e_._g_._ _with the Chaldeans (Ewald), the Scythians (Kuobel, Hitzig), the Greeks under Antiochus Epiphanes (Grotius), and even the Turks (Luther), have not been and are not likely to be successful. Either the highly idealized picture the prophet sketches was designed, as Hengstenberg thinks, to sum up and

AND SAY, THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, BEHOLD, I AM AGAINST THEE, O GOG, THE CHIEF PRINCE OF MESHECH AND TUBAL. Which is repeated for the confirmation of it, that so it would certainly be; that the Lord, the mighty God, and King of kings, would in his providence frown upon him, and appear against him; and his titles are repeated also, to show that all his greatness, grandeur, and power, would not protect him from the vengeance of God....

GOG See note 2, (_ See Scofield) - (Ezekiel 38:2). _...

Ezekiel 38:1; Ezekiel 39:1. There will be at that time of restoration a great and final invasion of the land of Israel. Gog and Magog will invade the land “that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people.” The invaders 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 Ezekiel 38:11, the evil purpose of the invader is made known. 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 beast head, the revived Roman e

EZEKIEL 38. GOG'S INVASION (EZEKIEL 38:1), DESIGN (EZEKIEL 38:10), AND DESTRUCTION (EZEKIEL 38:17). Gog, of the land of Magog, seems from the names of the peoples that follow (cf. Ezekiel 27:13) to represent the mysterious hordes of the north, and were probably suggested to Ezekiel by the Scythian invasion (cf. Ezekiel 39:3) of Western Asia about 630 B.C. He, with a confederacy of peoples from the extreme south (Ezekiel 27:10;...

THE LORD GOD. Hebrew. _Adonai Jehovah_. See note on Ezekiel 2:4. BEHOLD. Figure of speech _Asterismos_. App-6,...

_chief prince_ Cf. on Ezekiel 38:2....

SET THY FACE, &C.— "This (says Calmet) is one of the most difficult prophesies of the Old Testament. There are very few which have more divided both ancient and modern interpreters. Not to embarrass my commentary too much, (continues he,) I have treated of it in a particular dissertation. _Gog_ appears to me to be Cambyses king of Persia, who, upon his return from the war against Egypt, came into the land of Israel, and died there. According to this hypothesis, we may, I think, very aptly explain every part of the prophesy;" and accordingly Calmet's commentary and dissertation wholly proceed upon this supposition. _Gog_ and _Magog_ are mentioned in Revelation 20:8 and these, says Bishop Newton, seem to have been formerly the general names of the northern nations of Europe and Asia, as the Assyrians have been since, and the Tartars are at present. The prophesy in the R