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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Eze_38:1-13
The announcement of Cog's expedition against Israel.
Eze_38:1
The word of the Lord came unto me. Although this oracle is unaccompanied by any note of time, it was obviously delivered before the twenty-fifth year of the Captivity (Eze_40:1), and most likely in immediate succession to the preceding prophecy, with which also it has a close relation in respect of purport, being designed to show that against restored and united Israel, i.e. against the Church of God of the future, the strongest combinations of hostile force would not prevail, but would fall back defeated and self-destroyed.
Eze_38:2
Set thy face against (or, toward) God. Although occurring in 1Ch_5:4 as the name of a Reubenite, Gog was probably a title formed by Ezekiel himself from the word Magog, the syllable ma being treated as equivalent to "land." A similar freedom appears to have been exercised by the author of the Apocalypse, who out of Magog, here a territorial designation, makes a military power co-ordinate with Gog (Rev_20:8). That Gog was not an actual person—though the name reminds one of that of the Lydian king Gyges, as it appears on the monuments, Gu-gu, Gu-ug-gu, aud of that of one Sa-gi, or Sa-agi, the ruler of another Eastern territory not yet identified—but an ideal character, must be held as proved by the composite structure of his army, which was drawn from the four comers of the globe, as well as by the highly imaginative texture of the whole prophecy, which, as Hengstenberg properly remarks, has a thoroughly "utopian [perhaps better, 'ideal'] character," showing that it moves "in the region of holy fancy." The words, the land of Magog, are not, with Havernick, Ewald, and Smend, to be interpreted as the local or geographical terminus of the prediction, as if the word of God had said, "Set thy face toward Gog, toward the laud of Magog;" but, with the majority of expositors, as a territorial designation signifying that Gog was in or of the laud of Magog, which is here marked with the article, probably to identify it with the well-known Magog mentioned in Gen_10:2, along with Tubal and Mesech as among the descendants of Japheth. From the circumstance that in the table of nations Magog stands between Gomer (the Cimmerians) and Madai (the Medians), and that Gomer appears in Gog's army, it has been not unreasonably concluded that to Ezekiel Magog represented a fierce Northern tribe, most likely, as Josephus ('Ant.,' 1.6. 1) asserts, the Scythians, whose territories lay upon the borders Of the sea of Azov and in the Caucasus. Plumptre even thinks that, "placed as Ezekiel was, he may well have come into contact with these Scythian tribes, either as part of Nebuchadnezzar's army or by a journey on his part into the regions north of Ararat". Yet, could both of these hypotheses be established, it would not follow that Ezekiel was thinking merely, as Knobel and Gesenius suppose, of a future struggle which Israel should have to maintain against these genres Scythicas immanes et innumerabiles, as Jerome in his day described them. In addition to being named from his land, Gog is further distinguished by the peoples over whom he rules, Ezekiel styling him the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal—a translation adhered to by Hengstenberg, Ewald, and Smend; or, according to the LXX; which most expositors and the Revised Version follow, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. The former rendering is obtained by interpreting ðÀùÄÒéà øàÉùÑ after the analogy of äÇëÉÌäÅï øàÉùÑ , "chief priest," or "minister," in 1Ch_27:5; and is supported by a similar use of the word rosh on coins under the government of the Persian satraps; yet the second rendering is not devoid of considerations that may be urged in its favor. Besides being grammatically possible, it yields a souse which is not improbable. Byzantine and Arabian writers of the tenth century were acquainted with a people called οἱ Ρῶς , who were Scythian mountaineers, dwelling north of the Taurus, on the shores of the Black Sea and on the banks of the Volga. The Koran speaks of a land of Ras not far from the Araxes. Whether either of these can be connected with present-day Russians, as Gesenius suggests—an hypothesis which Hengstenberg protests deals hardly with the poor Russians—must be left undecided. So must the question whether the people inquired after can be identified, as Delitzsch suggests, with the inhabitants of the land of Raseh (mat Ra-a-si) of the Inscriptions, which was Situated on the confines of Elam on the Tigris. At the same time, Jerome's objection will scarcely hold good against understanding Resh as the name of a people, viz. that the Bible elsewhere has no knowledge of any such people, since, as Havernick observes, "one cannot know beforehand whether to Ezekiel, in his then place of abode, the knowledge of such a people was not likely sooner to come than to any Old Testament writer," and it is certain that the Book of Ezekiel is not wanting in names that occur only once, as e.g. Chilmad (Eze_27:23) and Chub (Eze_30:5). Hitzig points out that in Gen_10:1-32, along with Mesech and Tubal, is mentioned a third nation, Tiras, which Yon Hammer has attempted to connect with Rosh; while Schroder sees in Rosh (allied to Ross, "horse") an indication that the people were equestrian in their habits, like the Scythians. The other peoples, Meshech and Tubal, were undoubtedly the Mosohians and Tibarenes, who, according to Herodotus (3.94; 7.78), dwelt south of the Black Sea.
Eze_38:3
I am against thee, O Gog. Just because Gog was against Israel, Jehovah was against Gog. Gog's invasion of Israel's land would be a declaration of war against Israel's God. so that the conflict would rather be between Jehovah and Gog than between Israel and Gog. Hence throughout this prophecy Jehovah is represented as the principal actor on the side of Israel, who seeks her defense not in walls and bulwarks or in earthly alliances and military combinations, ,s in the days of the monarchy before the exile, but in the presence of Jehovah in her midst.
Eze_38:4
I will turn thee back. ùÑåÉáÇáÀúÄÌéêÈ (pilel of ùÑåÌá , and signifying "to cause to return") has by Hitzig, Havernick, Ewald, and Keil, been interpreted in the sense of "enticing," "misleading," decoying to a dangerous enterprise, as in Isa_47:10; but the ordinary meaning seems sufficient, that Jehovah would turn him back from his own self-devised career, or turn him about like a wild beast, putting hooks into his jaws (comp. Eze_29:4; 2Ki_19:28; Isa_37:29), and so compelling him to follow the lead of a power superior to himself. It is as evident that a turning back from the Holy Land cannot be intended, as it is that a turning back to the Holy Land is unsuitable, unless, with Hengstenberg and Ewald, one regards Gog as the Chaldeans, or, with Hitzig, and Schroder, as the Scythiaus, though these latter never were in Palestine, having left it unvisited in their campaign in B.C. 626, and had not as yet formed the design of invading Israel. Smend is not wide of the mark in suggesting that the thought expressed in the verb is simply that of the superior might of Jehovah. I will bring thee forth. That the power which stirs up Gog is here represented as that of Jehovah, while in Rev_20:8 it is affirmed to be that of Satan, need occasion no more difficulty than the similar statements, in 1Sa_24:1, about God and in 1Ch_21:1 about Satan, stirring up David to number Israel. The enumeration of horses and horsemen in Gog's army points to the Scythians, who, according to Herodotus, were mostly equestrian tribes, although the Scythian remains discovered at Kerteh do not give an example of a Scythian horse-archer. All of them clothed with all sorts of armor, better, clothed with perfection, i.e. splendidly attired, all of them. A characteristic of the Assyrian army (comp. Eze_23:12; Nah_2:3). The arms of the warlike host—a great company, as in Eze_17:17 (comp. Rev_20:8, "the number of whom is as the sand of the sea")—are described as consisting of bucklers, or shields large enough to cover the whole of the soldier, and not so suitable for cavalry as for infantry (comp. Eze_23:24); shields, i.e. bucklers of smaller size than the proceeding, such as Assyrian warriors were accustomed to carry; and swords, or weapons for laying waste. The Assyrian soldiery employed "the short dagger, or dirk, and the sword, which was of two kinds. The ordinary kind was long and straight, the less usual kind being curved, like a scimitar" ('Assyria, its Princes,' etc.). In connection with the allied nations in Eze_17:5, only the small "shield" and "helmet" are mentioned.
Eze_38:5-7
These allied nations are depicted as coming from the four quarters of the globe. Persia (see Eze_27:10), from the east; Ethiopia (see Eze_30:5), or Gush (Gen_10:6), from the south; Libya, or Phut (see Eze_27:10; Eze_30:5), from the west; and Gomer (see Gen_10:2, Gen_10:3; 1Ch_1:5), the Cimmerians of Homer ('Odyss.,' Eze_11:13-19), whose abodes were the shores of the Euxine and Caspian Seas, and the Gimirrai of the Assyrian Inscriptions; with the house of Togarmah, from the north, or the extreme regions of the north, as in Isa_14:13 (see Eze_27:14). The first three are portrayed as armed with shield and helmet, or more accurately as being all of them shield and helmet, which might signify that they should serve as a shield and helmet to Cog, who in truth should be unto them and their confederates a guard; i.e; according to Keil and Schroder, one who keeps watch over them; according to Miehaelis and Havernick, one who gives them law; according to Hengstenberg, one who is their authority; according to Ewald and Smend, one who serves to them as an ensign, t.¢. acts to them as a leader or commander. The LXX. translation, with which Hitzig agrees, "And thou shalt be to me for a guard," is manifestly wrong.
Eze_38:8
After many days thou halt be visited. The principal controversy raised by these words is as to whether they signify, as Hitzig, Fairbairn, and Kliefoth suppose, that after many days Gog should be entrusted with the command of the aforementioned nations, or, as Ewald, Hengstenberg, Keil, Schroder, Plumptre, and Currey translate, that Gog, who intended to visit Israel, should himself be visited, in the sense of being punished. In support of the former rendering appeal is taken to Neh_7:1; Neh_12:44; and Jer_15:3; but the verb ôÈî÷ã when used in this sense is commonly followed by òÇì with the accusative of that or those with reference to which or whom the appointment is made or commission issued, and in addition no such commission with reference to these other nations was ever given by God to Gog. In vindication of the second meaning of the words, Isa_24:22 and Isa_29:6 are ordinarily quoted: while in answer to the objection that it is too soon to talk of punishment for an offense not yet committed, it is customary to reply that, as Jehovah's stirring up of Gog was the first step towards his ultimate overthrow, that stirring up might fairly be described as at least the beginning of his judicial visitation. Havernick's translation, "For a long time thou wilt be missed," i.e. considered as a people that has utterly vanished," is forced; Smend's is better, "After many days thou shalt be mustered," or numbered. In any case Gog's first movement should take place in the latter years; literally, at the end of the years—a frequent prophetic phrase (see Gen_49:1; Num_24:14; Isa_2:2; Dan_10:14; Mic_4:1), here denoting the Messianic era, and should assume the form of an invasion of the land of Israel, which is next described by a threefold characterization.
(1) As a land brought back from the sword, not in the sense of its people having been made to desist from war, through being henceforth peacefully inclined (comp. Isa_2:4; Mic_2:8), or of their having ceased to expect war, because of living ever after securely (Isa_29:11), but in that of having been recovered from its devastations (Eze_6:3-5);
(2) as a land whose inhabitants had been gathered out of many nations—a phrase, which while starting from and including the return from Babylon, manifestly looked beyond that event to the wider dispersion of Israel that should precede the final ingathering; and
(3) as a land whose mountains had been always waste; literally, for a waste continually. If such was their condition prior to the return from captivity, it is undeniable that such has practically been their condition ever since, and such it is likely to continue to be, until the final ingathering of the dispersed of Israel.
Eze_38:9
Like a storm, and like a cloud. Gog's invasion, his "ascension," or "going up" (compare the Greek term ἀνάβασις for a military expedition), should be like a storm in its suddenness and violence, as in Pro_1:27, and like a cloud in its threatening aspect and overshadowing nearness (see Pro_1:16; and comp. Jer_4:13). Taken together, the images suggest that Gog's invasion should burst forth suddenly, rage violently, spread quickly, alarm greatly, but cease finally. Storms roar and crash, alarm and destroy, but do not continue. Clouds diffuse gloom and fear, but ultimately disperse.
Eze_38:10
Thou shalt think an evil thought; "conceive a mischievous purpose" (margin); or, devise an evil device (Revised Version). The ultimate responsibility for Gog's expedition should rest on Gog himself, who should be impelled thereto by his own lust of conquest. Ezekiel here recognizes what the Bible is full of, the duality of existence, according to which man is both a free agent, acting out his own thoughts and plans, and an unconscious instrument in the hands of God carrying out his counsels and designs.
Eze_38:11, Eze_38:12
give voice to the things that should come into Gog's mind and incite him to his enterprise against Israel. The spectacle of Israel dwelling safely, i.e. securely and confidently, in a land of un-walled villages—literally, a land of open places, as opposed to fortified cities—i.e. of towns without walls, and having neither bars nor gates (comp Zec_2:4, Zec_2:5; Deu_3:5; 1Sa_6:18), because of being no more apprehensive of invasion, should excite within his bosom the thought that Israel would fall an easy prey to his assault; and this thought again should kindle in his bosom the lust of conquest which should finally impel him to the sinful project described, viz. to take a spoil and to take a prey; literally, to spoil the spoil (comp. Eze_29:19; Isa_10:6) and to prey the prey (Isa_33:23). In execution of this he would fall upon the once desolate but then inhabited places, upon the once scattered but then collected population, upon the previously poor but then wealthy inhabitants, who should then have gotten cattle and goods (cattle and chattel best renders the Hebrew parouomasia, mikneh vekinyan), as the patriarchs of their nation had once done (Gen_34:23; Gen_36:6), and who should then be dwelling in the midst of the land; literally, in the height, or, navel (LXX; Vulgate), of the earth (comp. Jdg_9:37), the Hebrews generally regarding Palestine as the Greeks did Delphi, both as the middle (Ezekiel v 5) and perhaps therefore if not as the highest (Gesenius), at least as the fairest and most fertile portion of the earth.
Eze_38:13
Sheba, and Dorian, and the merchants of Tarshish were the great trading communities of the South, East, and West respectively (see on Eze_27:15, Eze_27:20, Eze_27:22, Eze_27:25). The young lions thereof—i.e. of Tarshish, not of the other communities (Keil)—were probably intended to represent, not the" authorities" of Tarshish, as Hitzig suggests, but its smaller tradesmen who were equally rapacious with its larger merchants. All are depicted as following in the wake of Gog, like vultures in the rear of an army, and as inquiring whether Gog had come simply for the purpose of destruction or in the hope of trading with the booty he should capture. In this case they intimate their wish to be partakers of the spoil This (Plumptre), rather than the thirst for booty which characterized them (Keil), their question to Gog signified; Schroder's idea, that they purposed ironically to ridicule the smallness of the spoil which would reward so gigantic an expedition, has as little to recommend it as Kliefoth's suggestion, that they designed to intimate their sympathy with Gog's invasion of Israel.
Eze_38:14-23
The prophet is next directed to assure Gog of four things,
(1) that in the latter days he should come up against Israel as predicted (Eze_38:14-16);
(2) that he should not do so without Divine observation, permission, and direction (Eze_38:16, Eze_38:17);
(3) that nevertheless Jehovah's indignation should flame forth against him (Eze_38:18); and
(4) that Jehovah would magnify himself in his destruction.
Eze_38:14
Shalt thou not know it? viz. that Israel is dwelling safely and unsuspectingly? Assuredly; because the barbarian chieftain will then be on the watch, as it were, to spy out Israel's defenseless condition, and to fix upon the most opportune moment for an assault. The LXX. read, "Shalt thou not arise?" Οὐκ … ἐγερθήση ; and following it, both Hitzig and Ewald, without other justification, change úÅÌãÈò into úÅÌòÉø , "Wilt thou bestir thyself?"
Eze_38:15
All of them riding upon horses (see on Eze_38:4; and comp. Eze_23:6; Eze_26:7; Jer_6:23; and Amo_2:15). The Scythians are said to have been able to eat, drink, and sleep in the saddle (Schroder).
Eze_38:16
I will be sanctified in thee, O Gog. Jehovah meant that in taking vengeance upon Gog for assailing Israel, he would be seen to be a holy and a righteous God.
Eze_38:17
Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time? As no existing prophecy, prior to Ezekiel's time, mentions Cog by name, it must be concluded either
(1) that Ezekiel refers to prophecies known in his day, though no longer extant; or
(2) that his words simply mean that earlier prophets had predicted such an invasion of Israel in the last times as that which he announces under the leadership of Gog. The former opinion, though countenanced by Ewald, Kuenen, and Smend, is less probable than the latter, which expositors both ancient and modern favor. Schroder considers the hypothesis that earlier prophets had spoken of Gog by name as excluded by the interrogatory form of the sentence, since, had Cog been thus explicitly pointed out, there would, he thinks, have been no need to ask, "Art thou he?" But it is doubtful if the interrogatory form of the words had any other intention than to lend emphasis to the assertion that Gog was he to whom the earlier prophets had unconsciously referred. As to which earlier prophets he alluded opinions vary. Ewald cites Isa_10:6; Isa_17:4; Smend adding Mic_5:11; Zep_3:8; Keil, Isa_25:5, Isa_25:10; Jer_30:23, 25; Joel 4:2, 11, etc.; Hengstenberg, Deu_32:1-52.; Isaiah 24-27.; 34.; and Fairbairn, Num_24:17-24; Isa_14:28-32; Isa_18:1-7.; Joe_3:1-21.; Dan_2:44, Dan_2:45; though Schroder is probably correct in holding that all should be included which represent the hostility of the heathen world as culminating in the latter days in a grand concentrated attack upon Israel. Smend sees in the unusual phenomenon that Ezekiel reflects upon earlier prophecies an indication of the declining spirit of prophetism; it should, however, rather be regarded as a sign of superior spiritual insight on the part of Ezekiel, who could discern that from the first the prophets had been guided in their utterances by One who was intimately acquainted with the whole world-program, and knew the end from the beginning, so that however dark and enigmatical their predictions might be when taken separately, when viewed in connection they were recognized as forming parts of a harmonious whole.
Eze_38:18-20
Eze_38:18 and Eze_38:19 are not, as Hitzig, Kliefoth, and others explain, on the ground of the perfect, "I have spoken" (Eze_38:19), which, however, is rather a prophetical present—a free recapitulation of the earlier predictions, but a direct announcement through Ezekiel that when Gog should arrive upon the scene Jehovah should take the field against him, so that he should have to fight against Jehovah rather than against Israel. The expression, my fury shall come up in my face; or, my wrath ascends in rail nose, has parallels in Eze_24:8; Psa_18:9; and Deu_32:22, and describes the vehement breathing (inhalation and exhalation) of an angry man through his nose. The fire of Jehovah's wrath (comp. Eze_21:1-32 :36; Eze_36:5) should make itself known in that day by a great shaking in the land of Israel, which can hardly, as Kliefoth surmises, refer to the final judgment, or, as Keil thinks, to the trembling of the whole earth, with all the creatures, before the Lord, who comes to judgment, as in Joel 4:16 and Zec_14:4, Zec_14:5, since the locality in which this convulsion of nature is to happen is expressly defined as "the land of Israel;" but must be understood, with Schroder and Smend, as a figurative description of the terrible overthrow which Jehovah should inflict upon Gog, and which should produce within the heathen mind a feeling of consternation, as if the whole fabric of the globe were falling into ruin. Grounding upon what occurred at Sinai (Exo_19:16-18), Hebrew writers generally depicted special interpositions of Jehovah as being witnessed to and accompanied by awe-inspiring natural convulsions (comp. Psa_18:7, Psa_18:15; Psa_46:2, Psa_46:3; Psa_55:2; Isa_13:9-13; Isa_24:19-22; Jer_4:23-26; Nah_1:5; Zec_14:4); and in the same manner does Ezekiel delineate Jehovah's intervention in behalf of Israel and against Gog, as so alarming that all living creatures, irrational as well as rational—fishes of the sea, fowls of the heaven, beasts of the field, creeping things that creep upon the earth (or, ground—adamah), and men upon the face of the earth; or, ground (comp. Gen_1:26; Gen_7:21-23)—should shake at its accompanying manifestations, and that even the mightiest objects in nature, such as the mountains, steep places, or, "reek-clefts" (Ewald), such elevations as can only be ascended by means of steps as by a ladder (comp. So 2:14), and walls (comp. Jer_15:20), including natural ramparts as well as humanly constructed erections, should be overthrown (verse 20).
Eze_38:21
Every man's sword shall be against his brother (comp. Zec_14:13). The consternation produced by Jehovah's interposition should be such that the ranks of Gog should fall into utter confusion, and his warriors exterminate each other, as did the Midianites in the days of Gideon (Jdg_7:22), and the Moabites, Ammonites, and Seiritea, who invaded Judah in the reign of Jehoshaphat (2Ch_20:23).
Eze_38:22, Eze_38:23
Pestilence and blood (comp. Eze_5:17; Eze_14:19; Eze_28:23)… an overflowing rain and great hailstones—literally, stones of ice (comp. Eze_13:11,Eze_13:13)—fire, and brimstone, or, pitch (comp. Gen_19:24). The imagery here brought together was probably borrowed from the accounts given in the Pentateuch of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen_19:24), of the plagues in Egypt (Exodus 7-10.), and of the extermination of the Canaanites (Jos_10:11). The result of the whole would be to impress the minds of many nations with the conviction that Israel's God was both great and powerful, that, in fact, he was God alone.
I. THE BIBLE IS FOR ALL NATIONS. It contains a message even for Gog and Magog—it is intended to reach the Scythians. It has to do with all people in the world. The Hebrew prophet was not permitted to narrow his thoughts to the parochial mind; His vision was world-wide. A Jew of the Jews, he was nevertheless a preacher to mankind. Much more is the Christian apostle a preacher to all men. Here is a great motive for circulating the Scriptures among all nations.
II. GOD HAS DEALINGS WITH ALL PEOPLE. His influence extends to Gog and Magog. God's hook will be put in the jaws of the distant prince. The heathen are under God's notice and affected by his supreme authority. To be far from the Church of God is not to be far from the power of God. The ends of the earth feel his great energy. The arms of God are long. This is a reason for our seeking to enlighten the most remote and heathenish people; for they all belong by right to God.
III. GOD TAKES ACCOUNT OF SAVAGES. The Scythians of ancient times were about the wildest known people; they were to the Easterns of the past what the cannibals of Central Africa are to modem Europeans. It was difficult to make civilized nations feel that they belonged to the same species with such wild men of the Northern forests. Yet God knew these people. God does not ignore the most degraded savages. They, too, are naturally made in the image of God. Judged according to their poor, obtuse, perverted consciences, even they will have to give account to the God of all. They are not responsible for the ignorance and degradation in which they are born, and surely God will deal very leniently with these unhappy races. Yet for their acknowledged evil even they must be punished. But if there is a judgment of Gog, much. more must there be a judgment of Israel; if the savages of Africa must give an account of the deeds done in the body, much more must the Christians of Europe appear before the judgment-seat of God.
IV. CHRISTIANITY BRINGS A GOSPEL OF SALVATION AND UNION FOR ALL NATIONS.
It even includes Gog and Magog in its gracious outlook; for St. Paul taught that the Scythians were to share in the common brotherhood of the Christian Church (Col_3:11).
1. The gospel is suited to the lowest heathen. This fact is proved by its effects. While the dreamer at home pronounces the Christianizing of savages to be an impossibility, the worker in the missionary field answers effectually by quietly accomplishing the so-called impossible feat. Charles Darwin was so struck with the good work of missionaries in civilizing the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, whom he regarded as about the most degraded savages on the face of the earth, that he subscribed to the society from which the missionaries had gone forth.
2. The gospel should be spread among the lowest heathen. We have no excuse to despair of any. The very dedication of heathendom is a call to Christians for help. Rousseau's fancy of the innocence and happiness of the simple savage is not justified by experience. Oppressed with cruelty and superstition, degraded in uncleanness, the savage greatly needs the liberty and salvation of Christ.
Eze_38:8
"The mills of God grind slowly,
But they grind exceeding small."
We must learn to use the telescopes of faith and hope, and look far beyond the scene of the present, if we would form a right estimate of any important human event.
I. THE MISCHIEF OF EVIL IS SEEN AFTER MANY DAYS. This would be a pertinent consideration in regard to the evil work of remote Gog and Magog.
1. The mischief may be slow to develop. At first men enjoy the pleasures of sin; the pains come later. Judgment is deferred. God is patient and long-suffering, and he gives ample time for repentance. Nevertheless, the accumulations of wrath will at length burst over the heads of the finally impenitent.
2. The mischief may long endure. It may last for many days. A hasty sin may be followed by a lengthy penalty. The crime of a moment may be punished with penal servitude for life. One man's wickedness may bring misery on generations.
II. THE FRUITS OF GOODNESS ARE SEEN AFTER MANY DAYS. Earnest men work, and yet see but little results coming from their labors; so that they seem to be laboring for nothing. Like the disciples who toiled all 'night and took nothing, perhaps they are ready to despair just when a grand reward is within their reach. We have to learn to work and wait, and to obey our Master's command even when we expect but little good to come from our labor.
III. THE HARVEST OF THE GOSPEL IS REAPED AFTER MANY DAYS. The Christian preacher may have to go forth weeping, but he bears precious seed. Therefore, though he sows in tears, he will reap in joy. What we have to remember is that our work is seed-sowing, not the planting of full-grown trees. The latter process would give us the more immediate results; but it would be the more precarious, for the trees would not be easily kept alive. Now, since our work is a sowing of seeds, necessarily it cannot produce visible results at once. The field that has been sown all over with the best seed looks at first much like one that has been left waste and neglected. The Christian preacher, the Sunday school teacher, the missionary, have all to sow in patience. Perhaps one may sow and another reap. A man may not live to gather the harvest of his labor; then his works will follow him (Rev_14:13).
IV. THE BEST BLESSINGS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ARE ENJOYED AFTER MANY DAYS.
1. We may haw to wait for them. Some inestimable blessings may be had at once. We have no delay in receiving the pardon of our sins and the regeneration of our souls when we truly repent and yield ourselves to Christ. Still, "this is not your rest." We are not yet in heaven. The cross must now be carried; we must wait for the crown.
2. They will endure forever. We shall have them after many days, and after many days more these best blessings of God will still endure. The things which are not seen are eternal (2Co_4:18). No math nor rust corrupt the heavenly treasures. When all things on earth fade these shall abide, the everlasting inheritance of God's people.
Eze_38:10
II. AN EVIL THOUGHT IS A DANGEROUS GUEST. The Americans and the Australians are much concerned at the character of persons who pour into their territories from the overflowing population of Europe. Hence their regulations setting conditions to the reception of emigrants. We cannot always prevent the incoming of evil thoughts, but we must beware of the mischief of their presence when they have come.
1. An evil thought tends to spread. It is like the little leaven that leavens the whole lump, like the worthless seed which, growing up, produces a host of new seeds, and so makes the weeds take possession of the soil. A striking idea starts a whole chain of thoughts.
2. An evil thought tends to rouse an evil desire. The active evil from without appeals to the latent evil within the soul. Thus while in one place St. James writes of Satan as our tempter (Jas_4:7), in another he says that we are tempted by our own evil desires (Jas_1:14). The evil thought is most dangerous because it is lodged in an evil nature. Unhappily, the seed of evil falls on congenial soil. The germ of sin attacks one who has what the doctors would call a sinful diathesis, a temperament that is naturally prone to sin.
III. AN EVIL THOUGHT SHOULD BE QUICKLY EXPELLED. We cannot prevent its coming; but we may refuse to give it quarter. If we harbor it we consent to its presence, and take the guilt of it on ourselves. Thus we make it no longer a foreign intruder, but our own thought. The practical question is how may the evil thought be cast out?
1. Directly, by resisting it. We should pray against an evil thought, and firmly set our foot upon it when it has come near to us.
2. Indirectly, by encouraging a better thought. An empty mind is always ready to receive bad guests. The last state of the house from which the evil spirit was cast out became worse than the first, because, though it was swept and garnished, it was left empty (Mat_12:44). There are plants the very vigor of which, when they are once well established, will prevent the growth of weeds among them; in the struggle for existence they are stronger than the weeds. The presence of Christ in the heart is the best antidote to evil thoughts.
Eze_38:14
1. It affords an opportunity for recovering strength. The soldier cannot be always fighting. Repose is essential as a pro-legation for future exertion.
2. It enables us to perform quiet work. The whole of Christian experience is not covered by the idea of warfare. There are such things as working in the vineyard, fruit-bearing, building up the house of God, etc; which his servants have to attend to, and which can be best accomplished without distracting thoughts, in times of security.
3. It offers us a foretaste of heavenly blessedness. Heaven is a safe place, and its Messed inhabitants dwell there securely. Their security, indeed, is sound and enduring; while ours on earth may be but brief and treacherous, like the calm on a mountain lake, which may be broken at any moment by a sudden squall. Still, while we enjoy the peace we may be thankful for it, and gratefully accept it as an earnest of that in the eternal home, "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest."
II. THE SECURITY OF GOD'S PEOPLE IS OBSERVED BY THEIR FOES. Gog and Magog take note of the security of Israel and bestir themselves. Satan watches his opportunity, and often finds it best when the servants of God are quite confident in the sense of safety. The city gates are left open and the walls unmanned because no enemy is expected. The doors are unbolted at night because the householder never imagines that any burglar will visit his home. But these very signs of security tempt an attack, and, when it comes, give fatal facility to the enemy's projects. The Eurydice suddenly went down with all on beard, when struck by a squall off the Isle of Wight, just because the fine weather had tempted the crew to leave all the port-holes open. It must have been observed by every one who has watched his own experience that seasons of spiritual peace and joy are commonly followed by times of severe temptation. Immediately after the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus he was led into the wilderness to be tempted. Peter's boast was swiftly followed by his denial of his Master. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" (1Co_10:12).
III. THE SECURITY OF GOD'S PEOPLE REVEALS THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF HIS SERVICE. Gog and Magog seem to take note of the security of Israel as beasts of prey observe the unsuspecting confidence of the game they are scenting; out they might also observe it with admiration, as Balaam did that of the tents of Israel (Num_24:5), as Milton's Satan observed the peace and joy of the happy pair in Eden. If so, however, the prospect need not inspire despairing, regrets as it did in Balaam (Num_24:17), nor malignant envy as Milton represents it doing in Satan. The peace of God's people may be shared by all, for all may become God's people. Even Gog and Magog may enjoy the same security. Russia, the land of the ancient Scythians, became a Christian nation, we may see the calmness of Christian experience, and take it as a witness to the blessedness of the Christian privileges. Thus the gospel is preached by the very countenances of God's people.
Eze_38:19, Eze_38:20
I. AN EARTHQUAKE MAY OCCUR. There were once two opposed schools of geology—one believing that our earth had reached its present condition after successive violent catastrophes had wrought great and sudden changes on its surface; the other holding that the most striking results could be produced, and, therefore—on the principle that the minimum cause is the only one that one can affirm—have been produced, by the operation of the very forces which we now witness. This latter, the uniformitarian theory, has been so well established by Sir Charles Lyell, that few would now think of reviving the more dramatic hypothesis. Nevertheless, even this theory admits of many great and violent movements under the operation of present laws and forces. Earthquakes do now occur. So is it in the world of men. We are governed by orderly Divine laws. Yet we meet with great shocks in political changes, when empires topple to the dust; in social changes, when the old order is upset, as in the French Revolution; in domestic changes, when a man's quiet home-life is ruthlessly upset, and sudden poverty, or the death of those he loves most, or fearful family divisions, shake him like an earthquake. There are earthquakes in religion, when the old beliefs are shaken or the old practices disturbed. Such an earthquake occurred at the advent of Christ, at the Reformation, etc. There are also spiritual earthquakes in the breasts of individual men. The crust of self-confidence is widely torn, and great chasms opened in well-settled notions. Some day the easy-going sinner will be astonished at the earthquake shock that will disturb his misplaced confidence.
II. MEN SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR AN EARTHQUAKE. In countries where such an occurrence is frequent it is necessary to build the walls with especial solidity, and to bind them together with iron bands. Yet even there the lessons of experience fade away in a season of long security. It is strange how villages creep up the sides of slumbering volcanoes which may at any moment overwhelm them in torrents of lava. We ought to be prepared for the coming of trouble, although all is now quiet and smiling. This does not mean that we should be "anxious about the morrow," for "sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." But the best way to dismiss anxiety is to be well fortified against the possibility of disaster. If we would be prepared for the upset of our earthly home comforts, we need to have a deeper foundation on which to rest, so that when the things which are shaken are removed the things which cannot be shaken may remain (Heb_12:27).
III. AN EARTHQUAKE MAY BE A BLESSING IN DISGUISE. At first it is ruinous, and the destruction, misery, and death that it spreads make it appear as a huge calamity. But in changing the face of the earth it may prepare for a better future. Political and social earthquakes throw down old abuses and clear the ground for a new and better order. God' upsets a man's life that he may lead the man to build afresh on a more sure foundation. Earthquakes in human affairs should make us look above the earth and have our treasure in heaven—"seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness."
Eze_38:21
II. MUTUAL ANTAGONISM IS WRONG. It springs from an evil root—selfishness. War is the awful fruit of national selfishness. In public life the good of the people is too often sacrificed to the ambition of the Politician or the interest of the party. Business is degraded into a horrible scramble of selfishness, in which each clutches at whatever he can lay hands on without actually transgressing the law. Religious selfishness is the worst form of selfishness, for it belies the faith it professes. In sheer bigotry the antagonism may be honest; but bigotry is largely inspired by a subtle, unsuspected self-regarding spirit.
III. MUTUAL ANTAGONISM MAY BE OVERRULED FOR GOOD. We see it in nature where no moral ideas have dawned, and where, therefore, no blame can be ascribed. The evolution of higher types of life is brought about by the struggle for existence, in which the strong kill out the weak, so that they only survive who are fittest for their habitat. No doubt national jealousy necessitates the maintenance of national vigor. Political partisanship keeps a watch on the government, and checks wrong-doing by a perpetual shower of criticisms. Competitive business cheapens produce for the consumer; it also stimulates invention and enterprise, and therefore encourages progress which monopoly paralyzes. Perhaps even in religious rivalry we may provoke one another to good works. These results cannot excuse selfishness, but they may show how God overrules it for a measure of good.
IV. MUTUAL ANTAGONISM CAN ONLY BE CAST OUT BY CHRISTIAN LOVE. Reasoning will not destroy selfishness. The only cure for war is the reign of Christ, the Prince of Peace. Internal peace can only be brought about by the influence of love in the hearts of men. Christ came to set up the kingdom of heaven on earth. One of the essential characteristics of this kingdom, as opposed to all earthly kingdoms, is that it does not appeal chiefly to self-regarding motives. It demands love of God and of one's neighbor, and it inspires that love by the influence of the constraining love of Christ.
Eze_38:23
II. A DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS. If this is the sanctification of God, how is it brought about? We are here told that God accomplishes it himself. He is the great Sanctifier. He sanctifies his people by his Spirit. He says, "Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself."
1. This is done by revelation. God manifests himself. His Name was dishonored while his greatness was hidden. He unveils his glory, and then men are amazed to read his great Name. Thus it is rescued from degradation.
2. This is done in judgments. God comes down among defiant men and scatters his foes. The heathen once regarded him as on a level with their own gods. But now his supremacy and therefore his separateness are seen. Thus God is known among the nations and sanctified among men.
3. This is done in spiritual experience. The sanctification by judgments is an external process. It may arouse wonder and even create conviction, but it does not stimulate the veneration which includes love and true worship. But when God manifests himself to his people as he does not unto the world, his holiness and his goodness are brought home to them with a fresh force.
4. This is done in the sanctification of God's people. They are called upon to sanctify the Lord God in their hearts (1Pe_3:15). When the heart is consecrated to God, God's holiness is confessed as it never was before. To be devoted to God is the way to recognize God's supreme glory.
I. THE MANIFESTATION OF GOD'S FAVOR DOES NOT INVOLVE PERFECT TRANQUILITY. Israel had been restored from the East to the land of inheritance and promise. The hand of Divine retribution had been removed, and the hidden countenance of God had shone upon his people. But their troubles were not over; their land was not to remain in their undisturbed possession; Jerusalem was not to be the city of peace. This indicates a general principle of the Divine government. The Church of Christ is a ransomed Church, a chosen and beloved possession. But upon earth it is the Church militant; there is a warfare to be waged; this is not our rest. Even in the latest period of this dispensation repose may be disturbed, enemies may arise, a conflict may be passed through. All this would be consistent with the favor and loving-kindness of the God of salvation.
II. SINFUL RAPACITY IS NOT DETERRED BY THE SIGNS OF DIVINE PROTECTION. Not a few of the enemies of Israel had been defeated and put to shame, whilst Israel had been spared, favored, and exalted. He who questioned the power and kindness of Jehovah might well be pointed to the history of the Hebrew people. Yet, as a matter of fact, there were enemies of Israel and of God who, notwithstanding these apparent lessons, renewed their assaults upon the objects of Divine protection. Similarly, the Church of Christ is exposed to assaults open and insidious, physical and moral. The enemies of religion, if they have studied history, must be aware that Christ has built his Church upon a rock, and that the gates of Hades do not prevail against it. Yet they are not found to desist from their endeavors or to abate their hostility. Nor need the people of God expect to be exempt from "rude assaults of raging foes."
III. THE ENEMIES OF GOD'S PEOPLE, CONSCIOUS OF THEIR NUMBER AND THEIR POWER, REGARD THE APPARENTLY DEFENSELESS AS AN EASY PREY. The foe is described in these verses in a manner which depicts his formidable character. Cog and his auxiliaries and allies are represented as preparing for the attack, as mustering to make war upon those who are without the protection of walls, bars, or gates. The unwalled villages seem to invite the marauder, and he counts the cattle and goods, the silver and gold, as already a prey. In like manner, the foes of the Church, confident in their resources, relying upon the force of their arms, encourage one another in their hostile designs against the Church, by observing how defenseless she appears, and how open to the hostile attack and the crafty strategy of her foes. The weapons of her warfare are not carnal, and weapons of any other kind are beyond the comprehension of the foe.
IV. THE AGGRESSOR SHOULD REMEMBER THAT THE LORD OF ALL CAN CHECK AND DEFEAT THE ABLEST AND THE MIGHTIEST. If the Omnipotent do but say, "I am against thee," it matters not how formidable and vast are the hostile resources of the enemy. One word from his lips, one glance from his eye, is enough to put to confusion all the boasted power of the foe.
V. THE DEFENSELESS SHOULD REMEMBER THAT GOD IS ABLE IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES TO DEFEND AND TO DELIVER HIS OWN. The true security of Israel was in God's care; Jehovah was the Shield, the Stronghold of his people, and when they trusted in him they were safe. The Israel of God has a sure defense. "Fear not," says Jehovah; "I am with thee." The protection of the Church is not in the favor of kings or in the arm of the warrior; it is the eternal God who is our Refuge, and underneath us are the everlasting arms.—T.
Eze_38:4
I. IT IS LITTLE EXPECTED. When plans are laid, and evil designs matured, nothing is further from the mind of the enemies of God's people than the unquestionable fact that the Lord of all is supreme. Some poor, faint human opposition may be anticipated; but it is not expected that a superior Power should intervene.
II. IT IS HAUGHTILY SPURNED. Shall hooks be put into the jaws of the dragon? Shall the wild horse of the desert be bridled? Shall the lion of the jungle be tamed? The very thought is repudiated and resented. The mighty of the earth are not wont to brook restraint or interference. Those who plan the ruin of the cause of God, of the religion of Christ, of the Church on earth and all its agencies—whether they so plan in the name of atheism and secularism, or in the name of worldly policy—spurn and contemn the restraint of Heaven. They see no power which they need to fear, and in their view it is superstition to fear the unseen.
III. IT IS VARIOUSLY EXERCISED. Sometimes God controls the foe by natural causes and instrumentalities. The destroying angel comes down upon the camp and smites the host; pestilence decimates the bands of the enemy; an earthquake opens the prison-doors; the storm scatters the invader's fleet. Sometimes God controls the foe by human agency. One enemy of God makes war upon another, and cripples the forces which were on the point of being employed against the Lord's people. Or a great deliverer is raised up, whose valor and heroism crush the enemy, and set the threatened free from fear and danger. In any case God is never at a loss for means by which he may bring his counsels to pass.
IV. IT IS ALWAYS EFFECTUAL. The control of God may be defied by God's enemies, and it may be ignored or distrusted by his friends. But it exists, and it is superior to all earthly powers and machinations. Revelation is full of instances of this control as manifested in the history of Israel and in the history of the infant Church of Christ. And the annals of Christianity, through long centuries, contain abundant confirmation of the great and blessed truth—" the Lord reigneth."
V. IT SHALL BE FINALLY ACKNOWLEDGED. Here and now men may withhold the confession. But sooner or later it shall be publicly admitted that all powers are subject to the King of kings.—T.
Eze_38:10
I. PASSIONS PROMPTS THE EVIL DEVICE. There is in all men's nature a principle assuming various forms—impulse, propensity, passion. If there were no such principle, we cannot see how human life could go forward. It is the spring, the motive power, of the machine. It is not implanted within us in order that it may be eradicated, but in order that it may be governed, directed, controlled. In itself it is not bad. But passions become bad when misdirected and uncontrolled by reason and conscience.
II. CHOICE ADOPTS IT. Anger, lust, or some other passion prompts to a certain course of action. The mischief is wrought when the man, in the exercise of choice, accepts as the motive of his action, and identifies himself with, a passion, the indulgence of which works evil, preferring such a principle of action to a higher and better one. The device thus adopted by the enemies of Israel was a device of selfish passion, only to be indulged at the expense of justice and good feeling.
III. SINFUL HABIT NOURISHES IT. It is not a single feeling, a single purpose, which usually accounts for a man's, a nation's, evil ways. The mischief, when isolated, might be checked. But it is too often fostered and thus encouraged, complicated, and multiplied, as the mind broods upon it. A mere fancy becomes, when encouraged, a desire; a