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The Invasion That Never Had a Chance.

Q: What Is the War of Gog and Magog?

Ezekiel 38-39 describes a future invasion of Israel. Christians disagree on when and how.

Q: What Is the Battle of Gog and Magog?

Gog and Magog appear in Ezekiel 38-39 and Revelation 20. Ezekiel describes a specific military invasion. Revelation uses the names for a final cosmic rebellion. Whether they're the same event is debated.

Ezekiel 38 — God baits the biggest army in the world into the worst mistake it will ever make

9 min read

Key Takeaways

God doesn't prevent the invasion — He orchestrates it, dragging Gog in like a fish on a hook so every watching nation will see exactly who stops it.

Gog thinks the attack is his own brilliant idea, but he's playing a scripted role in a plan far bigger than he realizes.
When God responds, He doesn't send a counter-army — He shakes creation itself, turns the invaders' swords against each other, and rains fire from the sky.
The coalition spans every direction — Persia, Cush, Put, Gomer, Togarmah — making this a collision between the entire known world and one God.
The 'then they will know that I am the Lord' refrain running through all of Ezekiel reaches its most dramatic crescendo here.

📢 Chapter 38 — The Invasion That Never Had a Chance ⚔️

Up to this point, has been painting a picture of breathtaking . Dry bones coming back to life. A divided nation reunited. A -king from line ruling over a people who finally dwell in . It's beautiful. It's hopeful. And just when you think the story settles into a quiet ending — God pulls back the curtain on one more scene.

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What Is the War of Gog and Magog?

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What Is the Battle of Gog and Magog?

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A massive invasion is coming. A coalition of nations led by a mysterious figurenamed , sweeping down on from the far north. And here's the part that should stop you cold: God is the one who brings them. Not because His people have failed again, but because He has something to prove — and the whole world is about to watch.

Hooks in the Jaw 🪝

God spoke to and gave him a target. Not a familiar enemy like or . Someone new. Someone from a place most of his listeners had only heard rumors about:

"Son of man, turn your attention to Gog, from the land of Magog — the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him. Tell him: this is what the Lord God says — I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws. I will drag you out — you and your entire army. Horses and horsemen, all of them in full armor, a massive force carrying shields and wielding swords.

Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, armed with shields and helmets. Gomer and all his forces. Beth-togarmah from the farthest reaches of the north with all his armies — many nations marching alongside you."

The names here are deliberately vast and distant. , , , — these trace back to the Table of Nations in 10, peoplesfrom the edges of the known world. to the east, to the south, Put to the west. This isn't a regional skirmish. This is a coalition assembled from every direction. And the putting hooks in jaws? That's the language of total control. A fishermandoesn't negotiate with the fish. He reels it in.

A Storm Aimed at the Vulnerable ⛈️

God continued speaking directly to — almost taunting him with what's ahead:

"Get ready. Prepare yourself — you and all those armies gathered around you. You'll be their commander.

After a long time, you'll be summoned. In the latter years, you will march against a land that has been restored from war — a land whose people were gathered back from many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had been a wasteland for generations. They were brought home from exile, and now they live in safety. All of them.

You will advance like a storm rolling in. You and all your armies and your many allied nations — like a cloud covering the land."

Here's what makes this so unsettling. The target isn't a military power. It's a restoredpeople. A nation that had been through devastation, scattered and broken, only to be gathered home and finally living in peace. And now, at their most vulnerable and trusting moment, the storm comes. The imagery of a cloud covering the land — that's not just an army. That's an eclipse. Something so massive it blocks out the sun.

The Evil Scheme 🧠

Now God revealed what would actually be thinking. The internal monologue of an invader:

"This is what the Lord God says: On that day, ideas will form in your mind. You will hatch a scheme and say to yourself, 'I will march against a land of unwalled villages. I will attack a peaceful, unsuspecting people — all of them living without walls, without gates, without bars —

to seize their wealth and carry off their goods, to turn my hand against these rebuilt places now full of people, these exiles gathered back from the nations, who have built up livestock and possessions, living at the crossroads of the earth.'

Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all their leaders will say to you, 'Have you come to seize plunder? Have you assembled your armies to carry off silver and gold, to take livestock and goods, to grab everything you can?'"

Gog sees an easy target. No defenses, no military posture, just a prosperous people trusting in their safety. The merchants of — the international tradingcommunity — essentially ask: "So you're just here to rob them?" It's the ancient version of the world watching an invasion unfold in real time and commentary instead of help.

But here's the deeper layer. Gog thinks this is his idea. He sees opportunity. He calculates risk and reward. And the whole time, God has already told us who's really pulling him in. That tensionsits at the heart of this entire chapter.

Why God Lets It Happen 🌍

God circled back to the real point — the reason behind all of it:

"Therefore, son of man, prophesy. Tell Gog: this is what the Lord God says — on the day when my people Israel are living in safety, you will know it. You will come from your home in the far north, you and many nations with you, all mounted on horses — a massive host, a powerful army.

You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days, I will bring you against my land — so that the nations will know me, when I demonstrate my Holiness through you, Gog, right before their eyes."

Read that last sentence again. God isn't caught off guard by this invasion. He's orchestratingit. Not because He's setting His people up to fail, but because He's setting the stage for the world to see something they'll never forget. The nations need to know who God is. And sometimes the clearest demonstration of power is letting the threat get close enough that everyone can see who stops it.

It's an uncomfortable truth about how God sometimes works. He doesn't always prevent the crisis. Sometimes He lets it arrive — and then He shows up in it.

The Prophets Saw This Coming 📖

God pulled back even further, connecting this moment to a longer story:

"This is what the Lord God says: Are you the one I spoke about long ago through my servants the Prophets of Israel? They prophesied for years that I would bring you against my people.

But on that day — the day Gog comes against the land of Israel — my wrath will erupt.

In my burning jealousy and my fierce anger I declare: on that day there will be a massive earthquake in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the animals in the field, every creature on the ground, and every person on the face of the earth will tremble at my presence. Mountains will collapse. Cliffs will crumble. Every wall will fall to the ground."

This is where the tone shifts completely. Everything that felt calculated and strategic — the armies, the schemes, the coalition — is about to collide with something those forces never accounted for. The God of doesn't deploy a counter-army. He shakes the earth itself. Mountains collapse. Cliffs disintegrate. Every living thing on the planet trembles.

The scope is staggering. This isn't a local event. Fish, birds, animals, people — all of creation responds to God standing up. When describes the , it consistently uses this kind of language. Creation itself knows who's in charge, even when the nations have forgotten.

How God Fights 🔥

And then came the final word — how this invasion actually ends:

"I will call for a sword against Gog across all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every soldier's sword will turn against his own brother. I will execute Judgment on him with plague and bloodshed. I will pour down on him and his armies and his many allied nations — torrential rain, hailstones, fire, and sulfur.

And so I will display my greatness and my holiness and make myself known before the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord."

The coalition doesn't fall to a superior army. It falls to confusion, disease, and the raw power of God unleashed through nature itself. Soldiers turning on each other. sweeping through the ranks. and sulfur raining from the sky — the same language used for and . This isn't a battle. It's a verdict.

And notice the final line. It's the same phrase that echoes through all of : "Then they will know that the Lord." That's been the point all along. Not just for . For everyone watching. Every nation that assumed God's people were an easy target. Every power that thought God was a regional deity who could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. They will know. Not because someone told them. Because they saw it happen.