Ezequiel 38

Ezequiel 38

MacDonald says "We as Christians have even higher privileges than the Jews. May the Lord give us grace not to misuse them and thus bring about our own temporal judgment and loss of eternal rewards! " Ezekiel 38:13 "Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish with all its villages will say to you, 'Have you come to capture spoil? Have you assembled your company to seize plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to capture great spoil?'" ': Sheba - Eastern Arabia Dedan - Arabia Sheba - 23x - Gen 10:7, 28; 25:3; 1 Kgs 10:1, 4, 10, 13; 1 Chr 1:9, 22, 32; 2 Chr 9:1, 3, 9, 12; Job 1:15; 6:19; Ps 72:10, 15; Isa 60:6; Jer 6:20; Ezek 27:22-23f; 38:13 Dedan - 10x - Gen 10:7; 25:3; 1 Chr 1:9, 32; Jer 25:23; 49:8; Ezek 25:13; 27:15, 20; 38:13 Tarshish - The location of Tarshish, known for its wealth (Ps 72:10; Jer 10:9; Eze 27:12, 25), is uncertain. The Gr. historian Herodotus identified it with Tartessus, a merchant city in southern Spain. HCSB - Sheba (Ezek 27:22), Dedan (Ezek 25:13; 27:20), and Tarshish (Ezek 27:12) are mentioned in chapter 27 as engaged in trade with Tyre. Sheba, located in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula (modern Yemen), was known for its trading (Job 6:19; see Ezek 27:22; 1Ki 10:1-2). Capture...seize...plunder...carry away...take away - These verbs describe the ravenous, greedy motivation of Gog. Have you come to capture spoil - Israel has recently discovered large natural gas reservoirs (Israeli natural gas and Here) KJV Commentary - The development of Israel since 1948 has been phenomenal. It is also a known fact that the mineral wealth in the Dead Sea is of almost incalculable value! Much of it is used for production of fertilizer. These chemicals, together with modern technology in farming by irrigation and increasing amounts of natural rainfall, could make it to be the breadbasket for a large part of the world. Israel also stands at the crossroads of world commerce. Whoever controls Israel could control much more. Ezekiel 38:14 "Therefore prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On that day when My people Israel are living securely, will you not know it?: NLT - "Therefore, son of man, prophesy against Gog. Give him this message from the Sovereign LORD: When my people are living in peace in their land, then you will rouse yourself. NIV - "Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: In that day, when my people Israel are living in safety, will you not take notice of it? When My people Israel are living securely (cp Ezek 34:27, 28, 38:8, 11, 39:26) - Is Israel living securely in 2013? Few would say they are. On that day (Ezek 38:10, 14, 18, 19, 39:8, 11) - Compare "latter years" in Ezek 38:8, "in the last days" Ezek 38:16. My people (Ezek 38:14, 16, 39:7, cp My land Ezek 38:16) - Israel is described as belonging to Him. An attack on them is in essence an attack on God, something that is not advisable! (cp Saul's experience in Acts 9:1-6). Undoubtedly the nations either do not know Israel is God's people or they have no fear of God or a combination of both. Lind comments - Ezekiel’s message is international, for the conversion of the nations. This international conversion is by means of Gog: When through you, O Gog, I display my holiness before [the nations’] eyes. God’s holiness here has two sides: the destruction of Gog’s peripheral power politics, and the salvation of the quiet people, those living at the earth’s center (cf. Hos. 11:9, “the Holy One”). For Ezekiel, this conversion of the nations may not mean that they will became “mono-Yahwists” (monotheists, worshiping only Yahweh, the Lord), but that they will acknowledge the God of Israel, rather than their own militaristic national gods, as head (or at least a member) of their pantheon. Certainly it means also the acknowledgment of God’s quiet people as the navel of the earth (38:11-12). For spiritual and moral leadership, they are dependent on Israel. Ezekiel 38:15 "You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly and a mighty army;: You - Gog's route of attack is predicted. Remote parts of the north (cf Ezek 38:6; 39:2) - On a modern map, the closest countries directly to the North of Israel are Lebanon, Syria (slightly to the east), Turkey, Ukraine, Russia, Russia being the most remotely north. Israel has been attacked from the north by Assyria, Babylon, and the Hittites. Remote (uttermost - ESV, remotest - HCSB) (03411)(yarkah) means a remote are, the far end, something distant, far away (eg, Jdg 19:1, 18, 2Ki 19:23) Yarkah - 28 times - extreme rear(1), far(1), flank(1), hold(1), inner recesses(1), innermost part(1), rear(6), rear part(1), recesses(2), remote part(2), remote parts(5), remotest parts(5), within(1). Gen 49:13; Ex 26:22f, 27; 36:27f, 32; Jdg 19:1, 18; 1 Sam 24:3; 1Kgs 6:16; 2 Kgs 19:23; Ps 48:2; 128:3; Isa 14:13, 15; 37:24; Jer 6:22; 25:32; 31:8; 50:41; Ezek 32:23; 38:6, 15; 39:2; 46:19; Amos 6:10; Jonah 1:5. The Septuagint translates the Hebrew phrase remote parts of the north with eschatos (from ek = from = primarily refers to place - the extreme, most remote) and borras (north) Riding on horses - These could be literal horses but some commentators postulate these are vehicles of war (which would not have existed in Ezekiel's day). Naylor - Gog will engage in blitzkrieg against Israel, looking for a decisive knockout blow. ‘Blitzkrieg’ is a German Second-World-War term meaning ‘lightning war’: enemy forces sweep rapidly over their victim’s terrain. Ezekiel 38:16 and you will come up against My people Israel like a cloud to cover the Land . It shall come about in the last days that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.": Like a cloud to cover the land (cp Ezek 38:9) - This simile leaves little doubt that the invasion will be "omnipresent" and appear as an overwhelming force arrayed against tiny Israel. Like a cloud could also allude to a massive invasion via the air, but it certainly does not exclude a land invasion (cp Jer 4:13). The last days (cf latter years Ezek 38:8) - This phrase occurs 14x in the OT - Ge 49:1; Nu 24:14; Deut 4:30; 31:29; Isa 2:2; Jer 23:20; 30:24; 48:47; Ezek 38:16; Dan 2:28; 8:23; 10:14; Hos 3:5; Mic 4:1. See related phrase - The Last Hour (scroll down) I will bring you against My land - Emphasizes God's sovereign control of these events. Evil brought against His holy Land will bring about good in the end! So that - Expresses the purpose for God's bringing the invaders upon Israel. The nations may know Me when I am sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog. - Gog means it for evil, but God causes it to work together for good (cp Ge 50:20)! How great and mysterious is our Living Lord! God's deliverance of Goliath into the hands of David was that the earth would know God... This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands." (1Sa 17:46-47, cp 2Ki 19:19) Disciple's Study Bible - EVANGELISM, Mass--God often uses strange methods to bring the mass of the people to an awareness of His glory. Here He even used Gog, a godless source, to declare His greatness. But our Lord uses all means. Therefore, if He will use Gog, how much more will He use us, as we attempt the evangelization of the masses! (Ed: Are you as convicted as I am?)