Gog and Magog

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1. The War of Gog and Magog

   Haftarot: Chol Hamoed Sukkot

   Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein

   What is the relationship between the description of the war of Gog and Magog in Zachariah, which is read on the first day of Sukkot, and the description of the same Armageddon war in Ezekiel, which is read on Shabbat Hol Hamoed? What was the sin of Gog?

2. Yehezkel’s Prophecy regarding Gog and Magog

   Part 1

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   Ostensibly, the revival prophecies climax with the nation’s return to its land and its purification from sin. However, the process remains unfinished. The nation’s revival occurs hand-in-hand with the strengthening of God’s status in the world and God’s status is only fully anchored after His war against Gog: a war that ends with the Divine promise that God will not hide His face from His people.

   The uniqueness of this prophecy in Yehezkel, compared to similar prophecies in Yishayahu and Zekharya, lies in its scope, the explicit naming of the aggressors, and the timing of the war as specified in the prophecy: after the nation’s return to its land.

   The purpose of the prophecy as a whole is emphasized in the final verse of chapter 38: “Thus will I magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord.” (v. 23) This verse underlines the aim of God’s war against Gog, as well as its result – knowledge of God among the nations. Thus, this prophecy is a response to the desecration of God’s Name represented by the exile of the nation from its land and the destruction of the Temple.

3. Yehezkel’s Prophecy regarding Gog and Magog

   Part 2 - The Purification of the Land

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   The corpses of the armies of Gog defile the land and must be buried in order to purify the land. However, the valley in which they are buried alludes to the valley of Ben Hinom, the valley in which children were sacrificed to Molekh. Thus, on a deeper level the prophet is hinting that the passing of children through fire - which had been common in the land - is what truly caused the land’s defilement. In addition to purifying the land from the casualties of war, this ceremony also purifies the land from the sins of the past.

   Although burying the dead bodies can stop those bodies from causing impurity, the burials cannot stop the graves from becoming a pilgrimage site. In these verses, the dead themselves become flesh for consumption. Those who consume them – the birds and the beast of the field – could have been sacrificed as offerings to the dead, while here the situation is reversed: they themselves eat the flesh and drink the blood of God’s enemies, thus ensuring that the graves do not become places of worship.

   Whereas in Yirmiyahu’s prophecy of destruction, the flesh of the sinners from the nation of Israel is eaten by the birds and the beasts of the field, in Yehezkel’s prophecy of revival it is God’s enemies who succumb to this fate.

4. Yehezkel’s Prophecy regarding Gog and Magog

   Part 3 - The Nations will Know God

   Dr. Tova Ganzel

   God exiled His people because of their sins, and because God’s chose to hide His face. In the pagan world, by contrast, the harm inflicted on a particular nation was proof of the weakness of their god; the suffering was not interpreted as a punishment or as the hiding of a divine face. This sharply contrasts the Jewish view.

   The purpose of redemption – the ingathering of the exiles and the war against Gog – is that not only will God’s name become known among the nations, but His name will also be magnified and sanctified, so much so that many nations will recognize Him. This will compensate for the desecration of God’s name that transpired when His people were exiled.

5. Yehezkel 38-39

   Matan Al Haperek

   Rabbi David Sabato

   In perakim 38-39 we find the prophecy of the war of Gog from the land of Magog, known more familiarly as the "War of Gog and Magog". This prophecy closes the unit of prophecies of redemption in the book and describes the last stage of the redemption which will occur after the nation returns to their land and the tribes are reunited. The war will involve a large army and many nations and is expected to conclude with a harsh defeat of Gog on Israel i land. The purpose of the war is to sanctify and glorify God's name, in keeping with the perceptions of exile and redemption which we have found throughout the book.

   Perek 39 includes an additional prophecy about the war with Gog and parallels perek 38 in many ways, but the focus of the perek is different: while perek 38 deals mostly with Gog coming to the war and ends with its downfall, perek 39 describes at length and in detail Gog's downfall and the results of the downfall- burning the weaponry, cleansing the land of the fallen- and ends with the purpose of the war, the knowledge of God that will spread among the nations and Israel.  

6. Zechariah 11-12

   Matan Al Haperek

   Rabbi David Sabato

   The different prophecies in perek 11 have a common theme- the use of the shepherd and his flock in their imagery. The first part (1-3) describes the difficult sounds and visions of the fire and destruction. Afterward two symbolic acts are described, each one of them an unfavorable description of different types of shepherds. In the first act (4-14), God commands the prophet to herd the “flock of slaughter”, a flock which is intended for slaughter. The prophet herds the sheep and then abandons them; this is symbolized by the cutting off of the two shepherd’s crooks. In the end he receives his reward and throws it to the “keeper of the treasury”. In the second act the prophet is commanded to act as a “foolish shepherd” as a symbol of the corrupt rule. The prophecies in this perek and in the following perek are full of hints and obscure symbols. The commentators explained these hints in different ways, but even so it is difficult to understand their meaning.

   Perek 12 describes the war of the nations on Jerusalem and Judah in the End of Days. In the first section the enemy’s failed attempt at placing a siege on Jerusalem is described (2-9). The second section describes the great mourning which will be in Jerusalem after the war (10-14). The perek is divided into sections which open with the words “On that day”, and which list the various events in the End of Days. The background to this prophecy is other prophecies of the End of Days – the rescue of Jerusalem from the Assyrian army in the days of Chizkiyahu, the vision of the war of Gog and Magog, and others.