<< Ezekiel XXXVIII >>

 1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
 2 Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,
 3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:
 4 and I will turn thee about, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
 5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
 6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with thee.
 7 Be thou prepared, yea, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy companies that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
 8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.
 9 And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy hordes, and many peoples with thee.
 10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt devise an evil device:
 11 and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;
 12 to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations, that have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the earth.
 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thy company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?
 14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth securely, shalt thou not know it?
 15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost parts of the north, thou, and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army;
 16 and thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
 17 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, that prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against them?
 18 And it shall come to pass in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.
 19 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;
 20 so that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
 21 And I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
 22 And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
 23 And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

 
1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

1, 2. Those who are in the mere sense of the letter of the Word, and in a worship therefrom, which is external without an internal, are meant by Gog. P. P.
1-23. They who are in external worship and not in internal are meant by Gog and Magog. They are in the literal sense of the Word only, and in external worship without internal. Each and everything of that worship is to perish, it will take possession of the church, and vastate it, Hence the truths and goods of religion will perish. R. 859.

2 Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

2. See Chapter XX.XII., 2, 18. L. 28.
2-6, 8. This whole chapter treats of the church, which became perverted, and at length made all worship to exist of externals or rituals, charity, which is signified
by the mountains of Israel, being extinguished. Gog and the land of Magog the prince and head of Meshech and Tubal is worship in externals. A. 1151.

3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

3-7. Everything and all things of that worship will perish. P. P.

4 and I will turn thee about, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

4. See Chapter XXIII., 24· R. 436.
4, 15. Speaking of Gog, by whom is signified external worship separate from internal, thus become idolatrous. His army stands for falsities. A. 3448.

6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, yea, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy companies that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

6. Gomer and all his hordes stand for perverted doctrinal teachings, which are also the sides of the north. A. 1154.

8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.

8. The latter years stand for the last time of the church, which then becomes no church, those being rejected who before were of the church, and others received from elsewhere. A. 2906.
8-16. That that worship will overspread the church, and lay it waste, and it will thus be in externals without internals. P. P.
8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16. That Gog and Magog, that is, they who are in external worship separate from internal, will invade the church, and endeavor to destroy it. R. 862.
8, 16. After many days thou shalt be visited, in the latter days thou shalt come into the land. D. P., Page 27.
The same statement repeated. D. P., Page 69.

9 And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy hordes, and many peoples with thee.
10 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt devise an evil device:
11 and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;

9. Clouds in the opposite sense signify the falsity of evil. E. 594.
11. Cities signify doctrinals, gates firmness and protection, slaves or bars signify the power belonging to truth which is from good. A. 9496.

12 to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations, that have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the earth.

12. Cattle are truths by which good is procured. A. 6049. See Chapter XXII., 15, 16. A. 7051.

13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thy company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?

13. Gog is treated of, by whom external worship without internal is meant. Sheba and Dedan represent the internal things of worship, namely the good of faith, Tarshish a corresponding external worship. The silver, gold, cattle, goods, spoil which Gog wishes to take away are the knowledges of what is good and true. These things are defended by those meant by Sheba and Dedan, who therefore are called young lions. A. 3240.

14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth securely, shalt thou not know it?

14-16. North, in the opposite sense, means falsity from which is evil, which originates in reasoning about Divine things, and against them from the knowledges of the natural man, called the people of the north out of Egypt. North means also falsity which is from evil, because it originates from external worship apparently holy, whose interiors are profane. A. 3708.
14, 16, 18, 19. In that day means the coming of the Lord. L. 4.
    See Chapter XXXIV., II, 12. T. 689.

15 And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost parts of the north, thou, and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army;
16 and thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

15, 16. This is said concerning Gog, that is, external worship without internal. The north signifies what is removed from good and truth, thus whence are the falsities of evil. Riding upon horses stands for reasonings, covering the land is to fight against the truths of the church. E. 355.

17 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, that prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against them?

17-19. The state of the church will therefore be changed. P. P.

18 And it shall come to pass in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.

18-20. Gog stands for external worship separated from internal, and therefore idolatrous, the earth and the ground of Israel for the spiritual church, the shaking upon the ground, for a change of its state. A. 3355.
    By the fishes of the sea are here meant the affections, and hence the thoughts, of those who are in general truths, and who thus partake more of the natural than of the spiritual. R. 405.
    By beasts men as to their affections are signified. R. 567.
    Gog external worship without internal, the land of Israel the church. A great shaking in the house of Israel means a great change of the church, and its inversion. Where there is no internal worship the external is not properly worship, but only gestures and speech, the thought then being from natural memory. E. 400.
    Beasts, fowl, and fish signify what relates to the will of man. E. 513.
    Gog the external without internal sanctity. An earthquake is a change in the state of the church. All things in man, appertaining t.o the church within him shall be changed. E. 650.
18, 20, 21. By the mountains of Israel are signified the goods of spiritual love, bu t in this case the evils of loves, which are in opposition to those goods. E. 405.

19 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;

19. See Chapter XVI., 42. A. 8875.
    In that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. D. P., Page 69.
19, 20. By every created thing is meant everything that is reformed, for by creating is signified to reform and regenerate. R. 290.
By the fishes of the sea are meant those who are in the ultimates of truth, in whom there is no life from a spiritual origin. E. 342.

20 so that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.

20. The wild animal, the beast, the creeping thing are the goods of the celestial man, the flying fowl his truth.
    They have perished. A. 776.
    The foundations of the mountains mean the hells. They are so called, because the love of self and the love of the world reigns in them, and are from them. A. 1691.
    Birds signify the things of the understanding, and hence of thought and design. They are representations of the life of thought in the spiritual world. R. 757.
    By earthquake is signified a change of the state of the church. E. 1100.
20, 21. See Chapter XXXVI., 8. R. 336.
20-23. And the truths and goods of religion will perish in consequence, and falsities will succeed in their place. P. P.

21 And I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man's sword shall be against his brother.

21. In the immediate sense by man is understood every one, and by brother he who is of the same tribe, but in the spiritual sense man signifies everyone who is in spiritual truths, and in the opposite sense who is in falses. Brother is everyone who is in the good of charity, in the opposite sense the evil opposite to that good, and the false opposite to tru tho E. 746.

22 And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.

22. Gog is treated of, who lays waste the land of Israel, that is the church. A. 2446.
    Evil, hell, and the devil do these things, by no means the Lord, Who is mercy itself and good itself. A. 2447.
    Gog for those who place the all of Divine worship in externals, to the extinction of charity. Hailstones stand for falsities from evil. A. 7553.
    Hail and fire mingled with blood stands for falsity from infernal love, destroying good and truth, and falsifying the Word. R. 399.
    Fire signifies infernal love, brimstone the lusts flowing forth from that love, through the pride of self-derived intelligence. R. 452.
   See Chapter XIII., II, 13, 14- R. 496.
    Fire came down out of heaven upon them that profaned holy things. R. 863.
    When the Lord renders the influx strong or powerful, it is not to destroy the evil, but to rescue and protect the good, for by this means He conjoins the good to Himself more closely and interiorly, whence they are separated from the evil, who perish. E. 503.
    This refers to the dispersion of the evil, and their being cast down into hell. E. 504.
    This is spoken of Gog, by whom those are understood who place all worship in a pious external, and not in what is internal, when notwithstanding the quality of external worship is according to the internal by which it is influenced. Fire and brimstone are the evils of falsity. E. 578.

23 And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

23. External worship without internal - Gog - consists of crusts or shells, in which the kernels are either putrified or corroded by worms; therefore they are called inundating rain, and stones of hail, by which are signified falses and things imaginary, rushing in in abundance, which destroy man. E. 644.

Author: Emanuel Swedenborg (Compiled by Robert S. Fischer 1925)