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Ezekiel

About this book
Chapter 38

1 The Lord’s message came to me: 2 “Son of man, turn toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him 3 and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put hooks into your jaws, and bring you out with all your army, horses, and horsemen, all of them fully armed, a great company with shields of different types, all of them armed with swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Put are with them, all of them with shields and helmets. 6 They are joined by Gomer with all its troops and by Beth Togarmah from the remote parts of the north with all its troops—many peoples are with you. 7 “‘Be ready and stay ready, you and all your companies assembled around you, and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be summoned; in the latter years you will come to a land restored from the ravages of war, from many peoples gathered on the mountains of Israel that had long been in ruins. Its people were brought out from the peoples, and all of them will be living securely. 9 You will advance; you will come like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the earth, you, all your troops, and the many other peoples with you. 10 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil plan. 11 You will say, “I will invade a land of unwalled towns; I will advance against those living quietly in security—all of them living without walls and barred gates— 12 to loot and plunder, to attack the inhabited ruins and the people gathered from the nations, who are acquiring cattle and goods, who live at the navel of the earth.”⁠ 13 Sheba and Dedan and the traders of Tarshish with all its young warriors will say to you, “Have you come to loot? Have you assembled your armies to plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to haul away a great amount of spoils?”’ 14 “Therefore, prophesy, son of man, and say to Gog: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On that day when my people Israel are living securely, you will take notice 15 and come from your place, from the remote parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a vast army. 16 You will advance against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. In future days I will bring you against my land so that the nations may acknowledge me, when before their eyes I magnify myself through you, O Gog. 17 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Are you the one of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days that I would bring you against them? 18 On that day, when Gog invades the land of Israel, declares the Sovereign Lord, my rage will mount up in my anger. 19 In my zeal, in the fire of my fury, I declare that on that day there will be a great earthquake in the land of Israel. 20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake at my presence.⁠ The mountains will topple, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword to attack Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord; every man’s sword will be against his brother.⁠ 22 I will judge him with plague and bloodshed. I will rain down on him, his troops, and the many peoples who are with him a torrential downpour, hailstones,⁠ fire, and brimstone.⁠ 23 I will exalt and magnify myself; I will reveal myself before many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’

Texts in conversation

Compare Joshua 10:11 and Ezekiel 38:22

Hebrew Bible

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Summary

Joshua 10 describes hail falling in battle as weapons from heaven, an image echoed in Ezekiel 38 where hail is a cosmic weapon. Both reflect an ancient belief in heavenly storehouses of hail, snow, and fire, where natural forces become divine weapons.

Passages

Joshua 10:11

Hebrew Bible
9 Joshua attacked them by surprise after marching all night from Gilgal. 10 The Lord routed them before Israel. Israel thoroughly defeated them at Gibeon. They chased them up the road to the pass of Beth Horon and struck them down all the way to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they fled from Israel on the slope leading down from Beth Horon, the Lord threw down on them large hailstones from the sky, all the way to Azekah. They died—in fact, more died from the hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. 12 The day the Lord delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed to the Lord before Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon; O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon!” 13 The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took vengeance on its enemies. The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright One. The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for about a full day.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Joshua

Ezekiel 38:22

Hebrew Bible
20 The fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the wild beasts, all the things that creep on the ground, and all people who live on the face of the earth will shake at my presence. The mountains will topple, the cliffs will fall, and every wall will fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword to attack Gog on all my mountains, declares the Sovereign Lord; every man’s sword will be against his brother. 22 I will judge him with plague and bloodshed. I will rain down on him, his troops, and the many peoples who are with him a torrential downpour, hailstones, fire, and brimstone. 23 I will exalt and magnify myself; I will reveal myself before many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Ezekiel

References

"... The first thing which Enoch says he saw in heaven is a wall which is built of white marble and surrounded by tongues of fire (14:9). As it turned out, the wall surrounded a house. The house, no doubt, is identical with the heavenly divine palace, yet the manner in which it is described requires our comment. The house, its walls, its floor and its groundwork, were built of crystal. (The existence of hailstones in heaven could be inferred from Joshua 10, 11 and Job 38, 22; see also 1 Enoch 69:23, to say nothing of the fact that hail comes from the sky! See further Ezekiel 38:22; Revelation 16:21. Compare also Mechilta d’Rabbi Ismael, ed. Horovitz-Rabin, p. 111. Job 38:22 likewise mentions the heavenly origin of snow ...) Now, this description of the marble-like appearance of the walls most probably derives from Ezekiel 1:22 ..."
Ithamar Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkavah Mysticism, 2nd rev. ed. (Leiden: Brill, 2014), 71–72.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Joshua 10:11 and Ezekiel 38:22

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