Eze. 38:3-4

3 And say ['amar], Thus saith ['amar] the Lord ['Adonay] GOD [Yahovih]; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog [Gowg], the chief [ro'sh] prince [nasiy'] of Meshech [Meshek] and Tubal [Tuwbal]:

4 And I will turn thee back [shuwb], and put [nathan] hooks [chach] into thy jaws [lachiy], and I will bring thee forth [yatsa'], and all thine army [chayil], horses [cuwc] and horsemen [parash], all of them clothed [labash] with all sorts [miklowl] of armour, even a great [rab] company [qahal] with bucklers [tsinnah] and shields [magen], all of them handling [taphas] swords [chereb]: KJV-Interlinear

3 and say,' Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, 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 splendidly attired, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them wielding swords; NASB

Gog represents the leader or ruler of the regions to the north of Israel. This type of invasion and battle, which is being described in Eze. 38-39, has not yet occurred in history. These are future events.

Whenever anyone attacks Israel (Gods chosen nation), then they are in effect attacking God. Gods chosen nation is not restricted to the geographical region in the Middle East. Gods nation, His chosen nation, is a spiritual one, consisting of all peoples who have believed in Christ. However, we use the region of Israel to describe the enemies of Israel and of God Himself, to get a relative position of who and where they are.

All who believe in Christ are Gods chosen people. This collection of peoples (believers in Christ), make up Gods nation. Anyone, standing on the periphery or outside of Gods chosen, are His enemies.

But too, we have a geographical reference of Gods enemies. The nations to the north of present day Israel, will devise a plan against Israel, together with the nations that are generally to the south of Israel. Together they will all attack Israel in a coordinated invasion, hoping to seize control over the region of the Middle East.

This attack is not only against the nation of Israel, but is in effect an attack against Gods promise to deliver His people who reside in that region, and therefore this attack is against Gods plan, and therefore against God Himself.

But God is much smarter than any human army. God controls history. Thus He places hooks in the jaws of the attacking forces. As with a wild animal who shows aggression, a hunter ropes, or hooks the wild animal with some sort of restraining instrument or weapon. The hunter then leads the wild animal (his prey) into the snare, which he has previously prepared. The animal (not thinking) follows with all of its anger, right into the trap and to its death.

The hunter is far smarter than the animal. God sets the trap and God leads the prey right into it.

Another thing we can note here is the picture of how well armed the enemy forces are. When you consider that this battle will occur at the end of the Tribulation, and when you consider that the conditions in the world are not going to be the greatest.

The economies of the world have virtually collapsed (but not totally), famine has ravaged the world, storms and disasters of nature have sent the world into a devastating nosedive, millions and most probably billions of people have died and are dying everyday from disease, starvation, ongoing crime and such. Huge numbers of people are probably trapped in collapsed buildings from all of the disasters, waiting for someone to come along to rescue them. But no one is even searching for them. And yet, the nations of the world find it within their means to build up their militaries, not to protect their freedoms, but to invade their neighbors.

In the normal course of history, a strong military is essential in the preservation of ones freedom. But there are those nations who abuse the use of their military forces. In these cases, the military has priority and the economy is set aside. The military becomes the instrument of crime and the nation suffers as a result. Many nations in Africa are a good example of this abuse principle. No agriculture system, no economic system, nothing of value can exist when there are gangs and opposing forces constantly marauding, raiding, and pillaging about in the countryside.

These armies of the future will not be made up of small groups of volunteers, all wearing the same color t-shirt, but they will be well trained, well armed, well equipped forces.

As the nations populations of people starve and die all around, the leadership of these nations will be pursuing their lusts for greed and power.

And they will not be short of willing combatants. It is very likely that millions of folks, both men and women, will want to join the armed forces just to be able to have clothing and meals. North Korea is another very good example of this. While the common citizen starves, those in the military enjoy the best that their economy has to offer. The government steals from the nation, just as a leach steals the lifeblood from its host. Enough leaching and the host eventually dies.

All evil has the same opinion of itself. That it is capable of doing whatever it wants, and there is no one who can stand in opposition.

Isa. 47:10

10 And you felt secure in your wickedness and said, 'No one sees me,' Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; For you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one besides me.' NASB

God sets out the plan for human history. People pursue that plan of their own volition.

Those who pursue God will find favor. Those who do not will find disaster in their lives.

Now is the time to post a prayer.