Meaning of GOG

(a) Son of Shemaiah, a Reubenite (1 Chr. 5:4).

(b) Gog is a symbolic name of the powerful and superb leader of the vast hordes of Scythia and Tartary. Magog was the son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2), whose descendants spread across the vast steppes of the north, giving his name to the land.

These hordes, coming from the north, "as a cloud covers the earth" (Ez. 38:9), will attack Israel in the land of Palestine, but will be crushed by God (Ez. 38:18-23; 39:1, 6 , eleven).

In Revelation (Rev. 20:8) Gog and Magog are again mentioned attacking Jerusalem, "the camp of the saints and the beloved city."

Many do not accept the identification of the Gog of Ezekiel with that of Revelation, establishing that in Ezekiel, Gog is seen acting before the Millennium, while in Revelation, Gog acts after.

Another reason given against the identification of the Gog of Ezekiel with that of Revelation is that in Ezekiel, Gog is seen as coming "from the ends of the north" (Ez. 38:6), while in Revelation, Gog and Magog are identified with "the nations that are in the four corners of the earth" (Rev. 20:8).

However, both passages can be reconciled without difficulties:
(A) In addition to the mention "northern borders" in Ez. 38:6, the colligation of Gog with "Persia (to the east), Cush (Ethiopia, to the south), and Put (Libya, to the east)" is affirmed (Ez. 38:5). Thus, it agrees with Rev. 20:8: "the four corners of the earth."

(B) Ez. 38:8 cannot be reconciled with the Tribulation era. Two alternatives are given: either it is a transitional period between the Tribulation and the Millennium, or it is Israel dwelling in the Millennium era.

A third possibility, and the most harmonious with the characteristic of biblical prophecy, is that there is a double fulfillment, before the time of the Millennium, and a total fulfillment at the end of the Millennium.

The definitive destruction of Gog and Magog will give the final step to the establishment of the eternal state, prior to the Judgment of the Great White Throne (Rev. 20-22).

There, justice will no longer suffer, as now, nor will it reign, as in the Millennium (see), but, once all opposition is destroyed, it will dwell.