Ezekiel 38:16

Translations

Modern

You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.

Traditional

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

Literal

And you will come up against My people Israel, like a cloud to cover the land. In the latter days it will come to pass that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, in My showing My holiness in you before their eyes, O Gog!

Latin

Et ascendes super populum meum Israël quasi nubes, ut operias terram. In novissimis diebus eris, et adducam te super terram meam: ut sciant gentes me cum sanctificatus fuero in te in oculis eorum, o Gog!

Original

Hebrew

English

You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.

Notes

Ezekiel 38:14–16

Israel would be prosperous, living in peace and enjoying the benefits of trusting in the Lord. However, such trust does not remove the chance of facing threats (compare John 16:33). The situation might have seemed unfavorable for Israel, but Gog did not consider the Lord's power. The Lord would use Gog and his allies to show his holiness to all nations.

Ezekiel 38:1–39:29

In Ezekiel 37, the nation is reunited and lives in peace in its own land. In Ezekiel 38–39, this peaceful picture changes. A new danger appears. These chapters describe the attack, defeat, and removal of the final enemy, called Gog.
Many readers have tried to identify Gog. Some have connected him with Gyges, king of Lydia, who ruled about 680 to 644 BC. However, the Gog described in the Bible goes beyond any one historical ruler. The text focuses less on who Gog is and more on the worldwide threat from the nations.
Even this powerful enemy would not truly threaten God’s restored people. God was now living among them. Because of his presence, they were secure.
These chapters use strong symbols. They are similar to psalms that speak about Zion’s safety (see, for example, Psalms 2, 46). The message is clear. If even a terrible enemy like Gog cannot defeat God’s people, then nothing in all creation can separate them from God’s protection.
Ezekiel’s description of Gog also includes features of apocalyptic literature (a style of writing that uses symbols and dramatic images to describe God’s final victory over evil; see “Apocalyptic Literature” Theme Note).

Theme notes and profiles

Apocalyptic Literature

Events

Prophecies of Ezekielc. 593 BC

Related verses

Ezekiel 39:21
I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them.
Ezekiel 38:23
I will magnify and sanctify Myself, and I will reveal Myself in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.
Hosea 3:5
Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.
1 Timothy 4:1
Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
Ezekiel 36:23
I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.
Daniel 2:28
But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in the latter days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay on your bed were these:
Micah 4:1
In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
Psalm 83:17–18
May they be ever ashamed and terrified; may they perish in disgrace.
2 Timothy 3:1
But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
Daniel 10:14
Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”
Daniel 4:32–37
You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”
1 Samuel 17:45–47
But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

People

Israel: Patriarch, son of Isaac, father of twelve tribes

Places

Gog: A symbolic enemy of God's people in prophetic literature

Glossary

Book of Revelation Ezekiel (Person) Ezekiel, Book of Gog Inheritance Magog

Topics

Armies: Compared to Clouds Clouds of Hostile Armies

Ezekiel 38:16

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