Bible Commentaries

Son of man, set thy face against ^a Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

(a) Who were a people that came from Magog the son of Japheth, (Genesis 10:2). Magog also here signifies a certain country so that by these two countries which had the government of Greece and Italy he means the principal enemies of the Church, (Revelation 20:8).

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thy army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armour, even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them ^b handling swords:

(b) He shows that the enemy would bend themselves against the Church but it would be to their own destruction.

^c Persia, Cush, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:

(c) The Persians, Ethiopians and men of Africa.

^d Gomer, and all his troops; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his troops: [and] many people with thee.

(d) Gomer was Japheth's son, and Togarmah the son of Gomer, and are thought to be they that inhabited Asia Minor.

Be thou prepared, and ^e prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled to thee, and be thou a guard to them.

(e) Signifying that all the people of the world would assemble themselves against the Church and Christ their head.

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 ^f evil thought:

(f) That is, to molest and destroy the Church.

And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; ^g I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,

(g) Meaning Israel, which had now been destroyed and was not yet built again: declaring by this the simplicity of the godly, who seek not so much to fortify themselves by outward force, as to depend on the providence and goodness of God.

Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all its young lions, shall say to thee, ^h 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?

(h) One enemy will envy another because everyone will think to have the spoil of the Church.

Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel ⁱ dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know [it]?

(i) Will you not spy your opportunity to come against my Church when they suspect nothing?

And thou shalt come against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the ^k latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I ^l shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

(k) Meaning in the last age, and from the coming of Christ to the end of the world.

(l) Signifying that God will be sanctified by maintaining his church, and destroying his enemies, as in (Ezekiel 36:23) , (Ezekiel 37:28).

Thus saith the Lord GOD; [Art] thou he of whom I have spoken of old ^m by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days [many] years that I would bring thee against them?

(m) By this he declares that no affliction can come to the Church of which they have not been advertised before to teach them to endure all things with more patience when they know that God has so ordained.

So that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping animals that creep upon the earth, and all the men that [are] upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be overturned, and the ⁿ steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

(n) All means by which man would think to save himself will fail, the affliction in those days will be so great, and the enemies destruction will be so terrible.

And I will call for a sword against him ^o throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

(o) Against the people of God and Magog.