At That Time There Shall Be
a Great Earthquake in the Land of Isra’el
Ezeki’el 38: 17-23
At that time there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Isra’el DIG: What will God accomplish through this war? What will the entire world learn from it? What will Isra’el learn?
Having described the LORD’s purpose, the questions of what and how are answered.
Gog’s attack will be crushed by the LORD Himself.135 This is what ADONAI ELOHIM says: Are you not the one I spoke of in former days by My servants the prophets of Isra’el? At that time they prophesied for years that I would bring you against them (Ezeki’el 38:17). When you look at all the writing prophets in Isra’el’s history one thing becomes very clear. Up to the days of Ezeki’el, there is never any mention of an invasion of Isra’el from the land of Magog. However, God said that He had prophesied about it for years in the former days in the distant past. This would exclude the contemporaries of Ezeki’el such as Jeremiah and Dani’el. It would also have to exclude more recent prophets such as Isaiah and all of the minor prophets. Therefore, the prophets he is referring to here are the oral prophets such as Elijah, Enoch, Elisha, and many others, who didn’t write their prophecies down. Ezeki’el was not the first one to speak of an invasion of Isra’el by Gog and Magog. However, he is the only prophet to have written it down in a book.
The invasion will be against the LORD’s Land and His people. Attacking God’s Land makes it anti-Isra’el, and coming against God’s people makes it anti-Semitic. And because this violates the principle of Genesis 12:3b, whoever curses you I will curse, then ADONAI ELOHIM’s hot anger will be aroused against the invaders (Ezeki’el 38:18). The invasion will cause God to move for two reasons. First, He will act because of His zeal for His Land and His people, or the right of exclusive ownership and protection. The Bible teaches that the LORD is Isra’el’s husband and no weapon forged against her would prevail (see the commentary on Isaiah, to see link click Jg – In Righteousness You Will Be Established, Terror Will Be Far Removed). Secondly, when anyone violates His people, it always leads to His fiery wrath that will destroy the invader in keeping with the cursing aspect of God’s Covenant with Abraham (Ezeki’el 38:19a). ADONAI will use four means to destroy the invading army.
The first means of destroying the invading army will be an earthquake. At the time of the invasion, there shall be a great earthquake in the Land of Isra’el (Ezeki’el 38:19b). As a result, the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the beasts of the field, every creature that moves along the ground, and all the people in the Land will tremble at My presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble and every outer city wall will fall to the ground (Ezeki’el 38:20).
The second means of destroying the invaders will be anarchy. In the pandemonium, communication between the invading forces will break down and they will begin attacking each other. I will summon a sword against Gog on all My mountains, declares ADONAI ELOHIM. Every man’s sword, or weapon, will be against his fellow soldier (Ezeki’el 38:21). They will die on the mountains of Isra’el. Fear and panic will sweep through the forces so that each army will shoot indiscriminately at the others.136 God has done this before (Judges 7:22; First Samuel 14:20; Second Chronicles 20:23).
The third means will be various diseases. The LORD declares: I will execute judgment upon them with plague (like the sixth plague of boils in Egypt) and bloodshed.
The fourth means will come from the heavens. Through His prophet the LORD announces that He will pour down torrents of rain, hailstones (like the seventh plague of hail in Egypt) and burning sulfur (like Sodom) on him and on his troops and on the many nations with him (Ezeki’el 38:22). Therefore, this downpour will be similar to the destruction of Sodom and the plagues of Egypt.
God Himself will totally destroy the alliance by natural and supernatural means. No other nations are used to destroy these invaders, He will do it all by Himself. In this way He will receive all the glory. He will show His greatness and His holiness, and He will make Himself known in the sight of many Gentile nations. Then they will know that He is ADONAI (Ezeki’el 38:23).
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise Your Almighty power, Great is our Lord and mighty in power – His understanding is infinite! (Psalms 147:5). Praise Your wisdom and Your love for Your firstborn Isra’el (Exodus 4:22). How awesome You that you know the future and have already planned how You will execute judgement on the evil power by a great earthquake (38:19), torrents of rain, hailstones and burning sulfur (38:22) to rescue Isra’el when Russia and the other nations come against it. What a comfort to trust You at All times, for You hold the future in the palm of Your hand. You are Mighty and our loving Father! We love You and delight in pleasing You. In Your holy Son’s name and power of resurrection. Amen
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