Who is Gog of Ezekiel 38 and 39? (Part 1)
Matthew 18:16 "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established."
In the language of the King James Bible, there are two words that are common between these three verses, and I am referring to Job 41:2, Ezekiel 29:4 and Ezekiel 38:4:
Job 41:2 “Canst thou put an hook into his nose? or bore his jaw through with a thorn?”
Job 41:2 talks about the leviathan, and the leviathan is a dragon according to:
Isaiah 27:1 "In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."
Psalms 74:13-14 "Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength: thou brakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. 14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness."
Isaiah 51:9 "¶ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?"
Rahab is the name of the leviathan, and the leviathan is a dragon in the sea. Consider this passage comparing Pharaoh king of Egypt to the “great dragon” (leviathan):
Ezekiel 29:3-4 "Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself. But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales."
Verse 3 calls the Pharaoh king of Egypt "the great dragon" (leviathan). Again, notice the words “hooks” and “jaws” found in this passage. In fact, we also find the same words in this verse talking about Gog:
Ezekiel 38:4 “And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:”
Notice the words "hook" and "jaws" are found in all three passages. There is a relationship between these three entities:
the leviathan, which is a dragon;
Pharaoh king of Egypt which is also called "the great dragon";
Gog of Ezekiel 38, 39.
I believe according to Scripture that they are all pointing to the same spiritual entity, particularly in:
Revelation 12:7-9 "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."
This is the King James Bible telling us who the "great dragon" is. He is the Devil or Satan, and the same term was also used in Ezekiel 29:3-4 referring to Pharaoh king of Egypt. Link this information back to Job 41, we establish the spiritual identity of the leviathan, which Isaiah 27:1 also confirms this about him:
Isaiah 27:1 "In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea."
Something will take place "in that day", and we know from Revelation 12:7-9 that there will be a war in heaven, and in that day, Satan and his evil angels shall be punished.
Ezekiel 38:18-19 "And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face. For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;"
Not coincidentally, "in that day" God shall also unleashed his fury against Gog and his armies. The events that shall be taking place in heaven will have its fulfillment on the things that shall be taking place on earth "in that day".
Job 8:9 "(For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow:)"
The natural realm is a shadow of the spiritual realm. As much as Adam was created in the image of God, so are the things in the natural realm a reflection of things in the spiritual realm.
This is an upside-down image of a great white shark looking like a laughing devil.
The identity of Gog is the object of contention here, because there are no genealogies in the Bible that tell us where he comes from. This is where spiritual discernment is needed to compare Scripture to Scripture. Some say that Gog is the "man of sin" even though there are no verses in the Bible that calls him that. Others say Gog is an evil principality because according to Ezekiel 38:3, he is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
Revelation 13:2 "And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."
Revelation 13:4 "And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?"
These two verses are the only Scripture in the Bible, as far as I know, where we see Satan gave his power, his seat, and great authority to another entity, which in this case is the beast. While it is true that the beast is a kingdom, as in:
Daniel 7:23 "Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces."
He is also a man, as in:
Revelation 13:18 "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."
Paul calls the "man of sin" the "son of perdition" in:
2 Thessalonians 2:3 "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;"
The only other place in the Bible the same term "son of perdition" was used is in John 17:12, referring to Judas Iscariot:
John 17:12 "While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
Right there is a reference to the beast which is the "man of sin".
Luke 22:3 "Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve."
John 13:27 "And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly."
In Luke 22:3 and John 13:27 we read about Satan who entered into Judas Iscariot the night he betrayed Jesus. In like manner, Satan will also enter into the "man of sin", and that's how he will give his power, his seat and great authority to the beast. Therefore, based on the pattern in Job 41:2, Ezekiel 29:4 and Ezekiel 38:4, it is my disposition that Gog is in fact the "man of sin". These three verses are pointing to the same spiritual entity, and we've also established the mechanism by which Satan shall receive worship through the beast. So, if you want to study more about the "man of sin" in the end times, I encourage you to study Gog of Ezekiel 38 and 39.