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Ezequiel 38

BLIVRE · Chapter 38/48

1E veio a mim a palavra do SENHOR, dizendo:

2Filho do homem, dirige teu rosto contra Gogue, da terra de Magogue, príncipe-chefe de Meseque e Tubal, e profetiza contra ele.

3E dize: Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Eis que eu sou contra ti, ó Gogue, príncipe-chefe de Meseque e de Tubal.

4E eu te farei virar, e porei anzóis em tuas queixos, e te levarei com todo o teu exército, cavalos e cavaleiros, todos eles vestidos com armadura completa, uma grande multidão com escudos pequenos e grandes, todos eles manejando espada;

5Persas, cuxitas, e os de Pute com eles; todos eles [com] escudo e capacete;

6Gômer, e todas as suas tropas; a casa de Togarma, dos lados do norte, e todas as suas tropas; muitos povos contigo.

7Prepara-te, e apronta-te, tu, e toda as tuas multidões que se juntaram a ti, e sê tu guardião delas.

8Depois de muitos dias serás tu visitado; ao fim de anos virás à terra que foi restaurada da espada, ajuntada de muitos povos, aos montes de Israel, que sempre serviram de assolação; mas aquele [povo] foi trazido das nações, e todos eles habitarão em segurança.

9Então tu subirás, virás como uma tempestade devastadora; serás como nuvem para cobrir a terra, tu, todas as tuas tropas, e muitos povos contigo.

10Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: E será naquele dia, que subirão palavras em teu coração, e pensarás mau pensamento;

11E dirás: Subirei contra terra das aldeias sem muros, virei contra os que estão em repouso, que habitam em segurança, todos eles habitam sem muros, não têm ferrolhos nem portas;

12Para tomar despojo e para saquear presa; para virar tua mão contra as terras desertas [que agora] estão habitadas, e contra o povo que foi ajuntado das nações, que é dono de gados e de posses, que mora no meio da terra.

13Seba, Dedã, os mercadores de Társis, e todos seus filhotes de leões te dirão: Por acaso vens para tomar despojos? Reuniste tua multidão para saquear presa, para lavar prata e ouro, para tomar gados e posses, para tomar grandes despojos?

14Portanto profetiza, ó filho do homem, e dize a Gogue: Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Por acaso naquele dia, quando meu povo Israel habitar em segurança, tu não o reconhecerás?

15Virás, pois, de teu lugar, das regiões do norte, tu e muitos povos contigo, todos eles a cavalo, uma grande reunião, e imenso exército;

16E subirás contra meu povo Israel como uma nuvem para cobrir a terra; [isto] será no fim dos dias; então eu te trarei contra minha terra, para que as nações me conheçam, quando eu houver me santificado em ti, ó Gogue, diante de seus olhos.

17Assim diz o Senhor DEUS: Não és tu aquele de quem eu disse nos tempos passados, por meio dos meus servos, os profetas de Israel, que naqueles dias profetizaram [vários] anos que eu te traria contra eles?

18Porém será naquele tempo, quando Gogue vier contra a terra de Israel, diz o Senhor DEUS, que minha fúria subirá ao meu rosto.

19Porque falei em meu zelo, no fogo de minha ira, que naquele dia haverá grande tremor sobre a terra de Israel;

20[De tal maneira] que diante de mim tremerão os peixes do mar, as aves do céu, os animais do campo, todos os répteis andam se arrastrando sobre a terra, e todos os seres humanos que estão sobre a face da terra; e os montes serão derrubados, os precipícios cairão, e todos os muros cairão por terra.

21Pois chamarei contra ele a espada em todos os meus montes, diz o Senhor DEUS; a espada de cada um será contra seu irmão.

22E disputarei contra ele com pestilência e com sangue; e farei haver uma grande pancada de chuva, grandes pedras de granizo, fogo e enxofre sobre ele, sobre suas tropas, e sobre os muitos povos que estiverem com ele.

23Assim me engrandecerei e me santificarei, e serei conhecido em olhos de muitas nações; e saberão que eu sou o SENHOR.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God announces that, in future days, Gog, leader of the land of Magog, will lead a great coalition of nations in an attack against restored Israel, but will be supernaturally defeated by God.

Explanation

This chapter opens one of the most discussed and debated prophetic sections of the Old Testament, generally interpreted as referring to a final confrontation between organized forces of evil and God's people living in peace and security. The mention of nations from the far north and distant regions gathering against Israel, driven by greed for wealth and land, illustrates how the prosperity and peace of God's people can attract envy and hostility. Regardless of the various interpretations of the exact identity of Gog and Magog throughout history, the central principle is clear: no coalition of human power, however great, can prevail against God's ultimate protection over his people.

Fun facts

  • 'Gog and Magog' are taken up directly in the book of Revelation (20:8), showing how this prophecy became a central reference point in later biblical apocalyptic literature.
  • Scholars have historically linked 'Meshech and Tubal' to peoples who inhabited regions of present-day Turkey and the Caucasus in antiquity, though the exact geographic identification remains debated among specialists.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Ezequiel 38:1The formula that opens a new oracle, but this time not against a known historical nation, rather against a composite adversary coming from the far north.
  2. Ezequiel 38:2Gog and Magog are names used only here and in a few other places in the Bible for an enemy coming from the north in an apocalyptic vision — the text does not give enough detail to identify a specific historical people, and the task here is not to guess who that would be today, only to record what the text says about this symbolic figure.
  3. Ezequiel 38:3It repeats the formula ‘I am against thee,’ used in the earlier oracles against real nations, now applied to this figure that scholars still debate how to identify historically.
  4. Ezequiel 38:4‘Hooks into thy jaws,’ already used for Pharaoh in chapters 29 and 32, reappears here: it is God who leads Gog into battle — even the villain of the story acts under divine control.
  5. Ezequiel 38:5A list of Gog’s allied peoples — Persia, Cush, Put — forming a coalition of distant nations, which reinforces the scale of the threat described.
  6. Ezequiel 38:6More allies join the list: Gomer and Togarmah, peoples of the far north, in what is now Turkey and the Caucasus — the coalition comes from several directions at once.
  7. Ezequiel 38:7An ironic order: ‘prepare for thyself’ for the attack, as though Gog were in control — but the text has already made clear that it is God who directs the whole scene.
  8. Ezequiel 38:8‘In the latter years’ is a common expression in apocalyptic language for an indefinite future within the vision, not a date on a calendar — the apocalyptic genre uses this kind of open horizon to describe a final confrontation between God’s people and hostile forces.
  9. Ezequiel 38:9The invasion is described as a storm or a cloud covering the land, the image of an army so large it darkens the whole horizon.
  10. Ezequiel 38:10The ‘evil thought’ arises in Gog’s own heart, yet it remains part of a larger plan that he himself does not realize he is merely following.
  11. Ezequiel 38:11Gog’s motivation is to attack a people living in peace, without walls or gates — a detail showing that this attack comes right in the middle of the safety promised in the earlier chapters.
  12. Ezequiel 38:12The stated goal is plunder: seizing the wealth and livestock of a people who had just reorganized themselves after returning from exile.
  13. Ezequiel 38:13Even other trading peoples — Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish — question Gog’s intentions, recognizing that this is clearly a raid for plunder.
  14. Ezequiel 38:14A rhetorical question that introduces God’s answer: Gog would discover firsthand what it means to attack a people under divine protection.
  15. Ezequiel 38:15It repeats the description of the army coming from the far north, mounted on horses, in enormous numbers, reinforcing the scale of the announced threat.
  16. Ezequiel 38:16It reinforces that this confrontation serves a greater purpose: showing the nations who God is through the defeat of so great a threat.
  17. Ezequiel 38:17A question linking this figure to old prophecies already made by other prophets of Israel — suggesting that this threat represents a recurring type of danger.
  18. Ezequiel 38:18It marks the moment of the divine reaction: Gog’s arrival against Israel stirs up God’s indignation, setting up the chapter’s climax.
  19. Ezequiel 38:19Earthquake, famine, pestilence, hailstones: the pattern of destruction described against Gog repeats the same elements already used in other judgments in the book, against Jerusalem and against Egypt — it is the standard vocabulary of prophetic judgment poetry, reused on a larger scale.
  20. Ezequiel 38:20An exaggerated description of the shaking caused by the divine intervention: fish, birds, and reptiles react, and even mountains and walls collapse — all creation feels the impact.
  21. Ezequiel 38:21Gog’s defeat comes in an unexpected way: the confusion makes the invading army turn against itself.
  22. Ezequiel 38:22Besides the internal confusion, come plagues, hailstones, and fire — images recalling other judgments already told in the Bible, reinforcing the extraordinary nature of the defeat.
  23. Ezequiel 38:23The chapter’s conclusion: the purpose of this whole confrontation is for the nations to recognize God through what happened.

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