Who Are Gog and Magog in Ezekiel?

In the book of Revelation, “Gog and Magog” describes “the nations in the four corners of the earth” (Rev. 20:8), the forces of evil that attack the people and the city of God. It is an attack that ends in total defeat as “fire came down from heaven and devoured them.” The expression “Gog and Magog” comes from Ezekiel 38–39 where we read of “Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” (38:2) and of his allies “Persia, Ethiopia, and Put are with them, all of them with buckler and helmet; Gomer and all its troops; Beth-Togarmah from the remotest parts of the north with all its troops” (38:5–6).

The Dictionary of Biblical Prophecy and End Times begins an entry on “Gog and Magog” with the explanation that “Gog is the leader of a future coalition that will attack Israel, an event described in Ezekiel 38.”1 Interpreters throughout the ages have identified Gog and Magog with very different peoples and places: (1) the invading Goths in the fourth and fifth centuries; (2) the invading Huns in the fifth and sixth centuries; (3) Hungarian raiders in the tenth century; (4) the pope and the papacy in the fourteenth century (John Wycliffe), (5) Hitler’s Germany and Russia in the twentieth century; or (6) more generally as heretics.2 The Scofield Reference Bible identified Gog with Russia, which was a popular identification among “prophecy writers” in the twentieth century, particularly after Russia became a Communist country.3 After the fall of the Soviet Union, different interpretations were offered. Some suggest a version of the older identification with Communist Russia: the invading coalition that is thought to invade Israel is identified by some with the Islamic republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and the Ukraine, all former Soviet satellite states.4

These various and very different interpretations have one element in common: they all depend on contemporary political and military threats. These identifications can be justified only temporarily and then must be modified to match the ever-changing regional or global political climate changes.

The prophet Ezekiel prophesies that in the more distant future, seen from his “place” in history in the sixth century B.C., the conflict between the God of Israel and the evil in the world will come to a climax in which the nations who seek to harm God’s people will be utterly and completely destroyed.

Schnabel, E. J. (2011). 40 Questions about the End Times. (B. L. Merkle, Ed.) (p. 224). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional.