Promised Attack, Promised Deliverance

World leaders' arrogance is typically their downfall. In the ancient world, we have no shortage of examples. From Pharoah's hardened heart to Nebuchadnezzar's years in the wilderness to Herod the Great at the time of Christ's birth, the governments set against God's rule crumbled into humiliating defeat. 

In the modern world, the pendulum swing from Democrat to Republican and back again in America is a softer picture of the same thing. Pride is the undoing of many heads of state. 

In Ezekiel 38, we learn that the Lord Himself sets up this whole experience. Ezekiel receives another word from the Lord about a leader named "Gog," who unites several Eastern powers to fight from the North against Israel. We first learn that God is leading them to do it.

Ezekiel 38:1–6 (ESV) The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him 3 and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords. 5 Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.

Next, the Lord reveals how this leader and these nations will desire to conquer Israel. 

Ezekiel 38:7–8 (ESV) “Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them.

They will surmise that Israel is ripe for the taking, that her recently restored land will be too weak to fight, and that her treasure will be theirs. Ezekiel makes clear that these thoughts were predicted by the Lord before they came to be.

Ezekiel 38:10–12 (ESV) “Thus says the Lord GOD: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme 11 and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’ 12 to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.

Notice the description: a land of unwalled villages with quiet people. Protection in that sort of situation would have been unthinkable in the ancient world, but modern military technologies like Israel's iron dome missile defense system allow just that. The iron dome hits over 90% of its intended targets. 

Notice the description of the enemy's tactics: Horses. 

Ezekiel 38:15–16 (ESV) You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army. 16 You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land. In the latter days I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when through you, O Gog, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

Now consider the following nations that still use horses in great numbers during certain forms of warfare: the Taliban, Russia, China, and North Korea. All but China are to the North of Israel. The point: What Ezekiel received from the Lord is very possible 2500 years later. It's crazy to see Biblical prophesy so accurate. 

How will the battle end? Ezekiel announces an earthquake. Interestingly, Israel sits on a major earthquake fault line known as the Dead Sea Transform (DST), also called the Syrian-African Rift. This fault line runs from northern Syria down through Israel, the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, the Red Sea, and into East Africa. An Earthquake happened at Christ's death, and they still happen in that land every 100 years or so, the last time being in 1927.

Further, Ezekiel describes the end as such:

Ezekiel 38:21–23 (ESV) I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord GOD. Every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur. 23 So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

The pride of Gog, who opposes Israel, will be his undoing, keeping to that ancient script applied to Pharoah and Nebuchadnezzar. World leaders who seek Israel's destruction will be cursed by God, both in the past and future. And as Israel stands today, a beacon of Western freedom surrounded by her enemies, she proves God's promises true. 

You can trust Him. For He keeps His Word. Every attack against you has been known by Him beforehand and He knows exactly how to deliver you from it. 

2 Peter 2:9 (ESV) the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment...