Magog | Wayfarer

“‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east of the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.”
Ezekiel 39:11 (NIV)

It is an impressive place. The Valley of Jezreel/Megiddo stretches from the Mediterranean on the west to the Jordan River on the east. I stood for a while and gazed at it. This is the fabled place of Armageddon, the site of the prophesied last great battle. It’s a real place and because of its natural topography, it’s been the site of over 30 major conflicts across 4,000 years of human history. Those conflicts include Napoleon as well as David.

Today’s chapter is the second of Ezekiel’s mysterious prophesies concerning a nation called Gog who rallies the nations in a massive invasion of Israel from the north. They are unsuccessful, and in hyperbolic metaphors, Ezekiel describes the aftermath of the great battle. There are so many of the weapons of the enemy left lying around that for seven years the people of Israel don’t need to gather wood for their fires. They simply use the weapons of Gog’s hordes that are lying around everywhere.

In even more raw and graphic metaphors, the dead enemies of God are described in sacrificial terms as if they were the bulls and rams sacrificed on the altar in the sacrificial system of Moses.

When God says that the burial place for Gog and its hordes will be “in the valley of those travel east of the Sea,” the Valley of Megiddo is a natural conclusion.

The chapter concludes with a vision of a restoration of Israel and God pouring out His Spirit on the people.

The challenge, of course, is that nothing like that described in these two chapters has a clear connection to an actual historical event while clear parallels exist to John’s prophetic visions in Revelation.

Along my life journey, I have learned that there is a spiritual dance that happens between the micro and macro, the common and the cosmic, between the everyday events of my life journey and the larger Great Story of which it is a part. God is present and at work in both. There are all sorts of macro-level connections throughout the Great Story that weave their way into a giant storyline. But God also knows the ever-decreasing number of hairs on my head and God is present and intimately involved in everything that happens in my life this day. It is not an “either-or” but a “both and.” This gives me much-needed context for my life journey. My everyday fears and anxieties need the context of the larger Great Story that God is telling in which I can take comfort. Likewise, the larger Great Story informs my daily thoughts, words, and actions. I am part of something bigger than myself and this reminds me that I’m to live this day thinking not about myself, but others and how I can contribute to all that God is doing in this Great Story.

NOTE: I’m on the road tomorrow. See you on Monday!

I once had a professor who was a vain know-it-all. Among the many things that he loved waxing eloquent about in his intellectual pride was the prophesies regarding the end times. Even when a class had nothing to do with the subject, he found ways to bring up the subject. I also noticed that he regularly used the occasion to hawk his recorded messages on the subject.

A number of years ago, I recalled some of the professors assured interpretations that didn’t come to fruition as he said they would. I’ve added it to a mental heap of modern-day prophets and end-times interpreters who made sure-fire predictions and interpretations that turned out to be completely wrong.

Along my spiritual journey, I’ve learned that one has to approach the prophetic with humility. The prophetic is mysterious, and I’ve observed that it’s very easy for people to get lost down the rabbit hole with the vast minions of those who’ve gotten lost in it before them. While it can certainly be an entertaining pursuit, I have never found it to be of much value from a personal, spiritual perspective.

In addition, I constantly remind myself that all of the greatest and most learned scholars and interpreters in Jesus’ day got the Messianic prophecies completely wrong. The Messiah they predicted was almost the exact opposite of who Jesus turned out to be. If all of them got it wrong, why should I expect that all of the modern scholars and interpreters have everything right when it comes to the end times?

This all came to mind today as we enter two of the most mysterious prophetic chapters in the entire Great Story. They speak of a mysterious land of Gog and Magog (Magog may simply mean “leader of Gog”). Today’s chapter speaks of Gog leading the nations in an invasion of Israel. John also references “Gog and Magog” in describing a final great battle against God led by Satan and the “kings of the earth” in Revelation 20:8. So Ezekiel 38-39 are prophetically connected to Revelation. Exactly how and what it all means? There’s a lot of different interpretations and I humbly confess I don’t know for certain.

What I do know, is that as I read today’s chapter it felt a bit like it was ripped from the headlines of the past year. My mind immediately conjured up images of the unsuspecting Kibbutzes in Israel last October 7 as I read:

“‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind and you will devise an evil scheme. You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled villages; I will attack a peaceful and unsuspecting people—all of them living without walls and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the land.”

I also know that the description in today’s chapter of all the nations of the earth joining in a combined hatred of Israel seems pretty apt when you look at the current political landscape.

So, I know that there are prophecies about how this Great Story ends. I believe them to be true and that they will eventually be proven true in the course of time. This is what’s called faith. I can even share with you various interpretations and schools of thought regarding how it’s going play out and the identity of the mysterious Gog in today’s chapter. I can even muse with you about which of those interpretations are more plausible in my mind. Yet, I will also humbly admit that they could all be wrong.

So when it comes to the prophetic and the end times, I take my interpretive advice from .38 Special: “Hold on loosely, but don’t let go.”