If I’m going to write about Ezekiel 38 and 39, I have to call the blog “Gog and Magog.” It will surely be the only time I’ll have a chance to use such an esoteric title! Read the chapters quickly, skim them, and here’s what you’ll see:

• There will be an invasion of Israel from the north.
• It will be in the future.
• The invasion won’t succeed.

Simple…and I’ve told you all I know. Actually, I’ve told you all anyone knows for sure. Some doubt that the invasion is real. It might be a metaphor. Some doubt that it’s in the future. Some who think it’s in the future don’t know when in the future. You can read a detailed account from a Christian source that believes in end-time prophecy involving Israel.

Here’s a key paragraph from Ezekiel 38:

A long time from now you will be called into action. In the distant future you will swoop down on the land of Israel, which will be enjoying peace after recovering from war and after its people have returned from many lands to the mountains of Israel. You and all your allies—a vast and awesome army—will roll down on them like a storm and cover the land like a cloud. (Ezekiel 38.8, 9, NLT)

“Distant future…after its people have returned from many lands…you…will roll down on them like a storm…” It feels more like present (or future to now) day when the nation Israel is inhabited by people “from many lands,” than the return from the Babylonian exile.

You will come from your homeland in the distant north with your vast cavalry and your mighty army, and you will attack my people Israel, covering their land like a cloud. At that time in the distant future, I will bring you against my land as everyone watches, and my holiness will be displayed by what happens to you, Gog. Then all the nations will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 38.15, 16, NLT)

But Gog and Magog won’t win:

I will summon the sword against you on all the hills of Israel, says the Sovereign LORD. Your men will turn their swords against each other. I will punish you and your armies with disease and bloodshed; I will send torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur! In this way, I will show my greatness and holiness, and I will make myself known to all the nations of the world. Then they will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 38.21 – 23, NLT)

The story continues into Ezekiel 39 with graphic detail on how big the fires fueled by weapons will be and how long it will take to bury the dead. The section ends with a clear promise:

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 39.25 – 29, ESV)

There’s little agreement, even among conservative biblical scholars on who Gog and Magog are and when exactly the invasion will occur.

THEREFORE, skip it! Some texts are just hard. Some texts have no direct application to my life other than something like:

When it appears that all hell is breaking loose, God is still in control, and he has the power to save and restore.

Remember,

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 29.29, ESV)

In fact, that text is the last verse of Deuteronomy 29, followed immediately by the message of the last paragraph of Ezekiel 39:

And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. (Deuteronomy 30.1 – 3, ESV)