Gog and Magog | God over all the Nations

INTRO

If you have your Bible you can turn to Ezekiel chapter 38 where we are getting into one of the craziest, strangest, and interesting parts of Ezekiel. Some of you may be thinking, wait, what could be crazier than what we have talked about with eyeball wheels, eating scrolls, sea monsters and dry bones coming to life. Two words, Gog and Magog. So I think the best way to start this message this morning is with a couple apologies, a disclaimer, and then pray.

Fist, I need to apologize because after our judgmental prophecies to the nations I said we were done with that, totally forgetting about these two chapters. They are another section to specific nations that God needs to address. But don’t worry, they are important for us even today, despite the strangeness of what is written here.

I will also apologize for any of you in here that enjoy us reading through every line of the chapters that we read because there is just way too much to discuss here for us to read everything in these two chapters. So I would encourage you to read these two chapters on your own. Because there was basically three levels of a message I could have delivered today.

Level 1 being the bare basics to understand what is being said here. Level 2 will information will be in the study guide if you are doing that with a life group (if you would like one just let me know and I can get you one.) And then there is lever 3 where we could discuss so many Bible nerd things that this text brings up that I will just keep in my little brain and maybe share sometime, but not today! So you, you are welcome, I think?

Those are my two apologies, now for the disclaimer.

I know these two chapters have been somewhat of a hot topic for people when wars arise an talking about end times. I know pastors who I respect and hold to this teaching, and I don’t think it heretical. I just think there is a bigger, more powerful and fulfilling message that God is communicating to Ezekiel and the people of Israel in this text that I hope to communicate today. If you hold to that idea that this is about a future war and it is more apocalyptic, I’m not against you, I just think that message gives more fear and anxiety then what we can actually grow in faith and confidence from God’s word.

So, with all that being said, let’s pray and seek the Lord as we hear from His voice today.

BODY

English Standard Version Chapter 38

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. 5 Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.

Okay, so who is Gog, the land of Magog, why is God putting hooks in his jaws and just in general, what the heck is happening, right? Okay, As you know, Ezekiel was training to be a priest and therefor his whole mind and worldview was wrapped around the torah (first 5 books of the Bible). So we need to go all the way back to Genesis to understand what is being communicated. You don’t have to turn to these in your Bible, but I would encourage writing them down to fact check me or just to have them for your own information.

Okay, I’m going to do my best to go through this slowly and check in with you from time to time because this is a spiderweb of things happening here.

So starting at the beginning, we know, God made everything good, made man, put them in a garden to rule and reign. But then this is the story all about how all things got messed up. Satan temps, the people take the bait and then God comes in and brings judgment. And this is what God says in Genesis 3.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

14 The LORD God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you above all livestock

and above all beasts of the field;

on your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

15  I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring (seed) and her offspring (seed);

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

Here starts the tension through the whole Bible of serpent verses seed of the woman.

Background to understand Gog and Magog

From Genesis 3 we see the start of a conflict between seed of the woman and seed of the serpent.

I’ll expand on this more later, but continuing our Genesis history lesson, we know, Adam and Eve leave the garden and have kids cain and Able. And what happens to Cain? God does not accept his offering (a discussion we don’t have time for) and then God comes to him and says that sin is crouching, like a lion or a serpent coiled up, at his door. And we see that he goes the way of the serpent and kills able who was the seed of the woman.

Adam and Eve have another kid named Seth and from Seth we run into a guy named Noah. How is everyone doing still, following this story?

Many of you may know the story of Noah and the flood but the lesser known story of Noah and his sons after the flood doesn’t make it into most children’s Bibles. Noah get’s drunk and is naked in his tent, his son Ham who will eventually be the father of the land of Cannan, sees his father’s nakedness and tells his brothers. His brothers then go in and cover up Noah but when Noah figured out what happened he curses Ham but blesses Jepheth and Shem. From Shem we have a defendant named Abe, Issac and Jacob. So why does all this matter in light of Gog and Magog?

Let me show you a picture that might be helpful

Picture of descendants

So in Genesis 10 we get a list of decedents from Noah’s sons and as you can see here the nations that come from Ham are pretty important nations that Israel has to fight throughout the story of the Bible, yes? SO what about Japheth? And what about his decendent?

Let’s read about it in Genesis 10

English Standard Version Chapter 10

1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

English Standard Version Chapter 10

5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.

So where did Japheth end up? And his sons where Magog would be? Most, if not all theologians believe he settled in modern day turkey, so Northwest of Israel. And as far as we know, the Israelites didn’t have much issues with them so why would God be bringing them into the story now? We really don’t hear about these nations at all so all of a sudden in Ezekiel 38, God is addressing these nation?

But here is where this all goes back to Genesis 3 is that we see in Ezekiel 38 that Magog and the nations around him are being captured like a fish or sea dragon. They have become like a serpent where God has to take his hooks in his jaws because he is like again sea monster. If you were not with us in the other prophecies to the nations, this is basically the cool way to say they are evil. They are like the serpent. But what about all the other nations that Ezekiel lists above too? What is there significance? Let me show you another picture that will be helpful.

Picture of NSEW

So you can see here God is calling out all the nations. Every tribe, tongue and nation that has become serpent like and is against Israel, or against God since God has attached himself to Israel, he is going to take care of.

So if you are completely lost in all of this let me summarize it this way.

God is confronting the problem of evil

It’s a big problem isn’t it? Like nations rising up against nations because they are serpent like and killing, and injustice. This is really important right? God cares about it and will take care of it, that is what he is addressing here in Ezekiel with Gog and Magog. So what is God going to do about all of it?

You should read it on your own but I’m going to summarize verses 7-23 for you

Summary of verses 7-23: Gog (and the other nations) attack defenseless Israel, God destroys Gog with an earthquake, fire, and a sword.

Gog comes like a snake up to innocent Israel who has no walls around their village and decides it is a perfect time to attack. But God protects his people by bringing an earthquake, fire and sulfur and a sword to destroy Gog. Hurray, Gog is destroyed! There are so many references in here to a de-creation that we don’t have time for, but God is de-creating evil in the way it is destroyed.

So everything is good now, right? Gog is dead so what more is there to do? Well let’s read Chapter 39 to see what is next.

English Standard Version Chapter 39

1 “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.

Wait, what?? I thought Gog was dead, why are we talking to them and then killing them again? This for me, just being honest before you today that I’m still learning and growing but, is why I don’t think we should take this passage as a blueprint for the end times. It’s not a linear line of thought and more of an analogy filled picture of God destroying the serpent, the problem with evil in every nation. This language should cause reactions of shock and awe that God is going to deal with this massive issue of sin and evil. Are you guys still with me? This is a really important text for Ezekiel who is wondering why he has seen a lot of evil in his life and wondering what is God going to do about it. And I am gussing that there are some of you here that might be thinking, ya! What is he going to do about it? Well, this is usually where I say let’s read on but I’m going to summerize for the sake of time.

Summary of verses Ch. 39: 7-23: Gog is killed in a gruesome way and God is honored among the nations.

The slaughter of Gog will be so massive that Israel will not have to collect wood for 7 years because the spoil of their weapons from Gog’s defeat will be enough for them. Then God buries Gog in a grave, but pulls them out of a grave for the birds of the air to feast on. Nice picture, right? God says that all the nations that did not partner with Gog, with evil, will look at this and honor God. The plan from the beginning of Israel being a blessing to the nations will finally come when God destroys evil, three times, and then restores Israel as a nation. So god is honoring his word back in Genesis 3 and in Genesis 12 when he promises Abram that all nations will be blessed because of him. I’m going to unpack why that is important for us in a second but there is one more thing we need to read.

But there is one more thing that we get to read in this strange text today that I’m praying will bring so much hope to all of you today. Let’s look at verse 25.

English Standard Version Chapter 39

25 “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. 26 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, 27 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. 28 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. 29 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.”

There is so much here that we don’t have time for but a lot of this is just a recap of a lot of the book so far. But I’m going to point out one thing that is interesting and important about these final verses.

God wants the nations know Him through His people.

Over 7x in this text it says the nations will “know that I am yahweh.” His plan from the beginning never changed and while he wanted to work through Israel, the goal was that all nations would come and worship him. Because he is the God of all creation, nation and people group. They all matter to him. Yes, he cares about His people but he is the shepherd that leaves to find the 1 and also cares about the sheep in the fold. This is God’s heart and I believe it should be ours too.

APPLICATION

How God shows himself through Gog and Magog Prophecies

So, how does this actually affect us today? Like how does all of this matter and help our marriages that are failing, our jobs that have become idols, the sin that we are fighting against, and the evil that we see in the world today? I think it has massive implications for us today and the best way to see it is through how God is revealing himself in this text. First thing we see is

1. God keeps His promises

All the way back in Genesis 3, right after the first and biggest sin of all time, God makes a promise. He will crush the head of the serpent through the seed of the woman. he didn’t say when, but he said he would. And here God is showing Ezekiel that he is still planning to keep that promise by destroying the evil that continues to rear its ugly head through serpent like people and governments that are not acting like a seed of eve but a seed of the serpent. So how does that affect you today? Every promise God gives in this book proves true. He is not as quick as we want him to be, but the promises he gives in His word will never escape His mind. Are you believing His word? Are you reading His word? Are you meditating on his word? Or is it just another book that has no actual significance in your life? God gives promises throughout scripture that we can hold onto knowing in full confidence that he will fulfill them.

2. He has a plan to defeat evil.

Are you seeing evil in your life? The affects of the sea dragon? maybe it isn’t as clear as a nation coming against you to destroy you but it could be an evil attitude of mindset from yourself or others that seems to want to destroy you. God has a plan for it. We know that he wins in the end. Revelation 20 takes this very story of Gog and Magog being destroyed with satan right before God makes all things new and promises that every tear will be wiped away and no more sorrow or pain.

Some of you are facing evil in your life. Injustice. Feeling attacked while you have no walls to be protected. I know this is a delicate subject and I’m not saying we be victims or say “whatever” about evil in our lives. What I do hope you hear today with things going on in your life that are just evil, is that God is going to make all things new. How and when, I am not sure. But the promise that he will come with a sword in his mouth to slay the dragon of evil once and for all is a beautiful picture that should give us hope today that God not only sees our pain but has a solution for it too.

3. God will protect His people

In this text, Israel is defenseless and looks like they have no army while all the nations are coming to attack them. But God. He steps in and delivers and destroys their enemies without them having to lift a finger. It reminds me of the red sea when Israel was defenseless and yet God takes out the super power Egypt with ease of the red sea sweeping them away.

As a believer, you will face trials. You will face temptation. You will face spiritual attacks. The enemy will come against you. But God will be your shield and protect you. If you didn’t know that Christianity was not a little walk in the park then you either haven’t been listening to a good pastor or reading your Bible. But here we see that God is the one who covers us and delivers us despite all odds, he is the one who can protect us in all of life. And how does he do all of these things? How does he keep his promises, defeat evil, and protect His people? How do we see this in the fullness?

4. All of this comes through the life, death, resurrection, and return of Jesus.

In 2 Corinthians 1 we are told that every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ Jesus, meaning, he is the one that will carry out every promise of God. From Genesis to revelation. His life and death and resurrection protects us because it is His blood that covers us. Jesus will come again and bring the new heavens and the new earth. We will rule and reign with him. And there will be no need to have a sun or moon there because Jesus will be the light. There will be no darkness.

Communion is us binding ourselves to Jesus, the seed of the woman and saying I am going to walk in His footsteps, not the seed of the serpent. I’m walking in forgiveness because I have been forgiven.

Communion instructions.

A prayer that many of you may have prayed growing up in the church is the Lord’s prayer. And as I was preparing this message, I couldn’t help seeing this in all of it. It keeps us in the perspective of seeing God’s name holy, as it should. It keeps us wanting his kingdom to come, no other kingdom. It keeps us dependant on him, keeping us from evil or the evil one. So I thought, before we come to the table together in the Lord’s supper, that we would, as believers of Jesus Christ, pray this prayer together and then we will take the Lord’s supper.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.