The Destruction of Gog and Its Army

38 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ² “Son of man, turn to Gog from the land of Magog. He is the chief prince of ⌞the nations of⌟ Meshech and Tubal. Prophesy against him. ³ Tell him, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. ⁴ I will turn you around and put hooks in your jaws. I will lead you out with all your military forces, with horses and riders. Your soldiers will be fully armed. They will carry large and small shields and be able to use swords. ⁵ Persia, Sudan, and Put will be with you. They, too, will have shields and helmets. ⁶ Gomer will come with all its troops and with the nation of Togarmah from the far north. There will be many armies with you.

⁷ “ ‘Be prepared! Be prepared, you and all the soldiers assembled around you. You will be their leader. ⁸ After a long time you will be called to service. In the years to come, you will attack a land that has been rebuilt after a war. Its people have been gathered from many nations and brought to the mountains of Israel, mountains that have been ruined for a long time. These people were brought there from the nations, and all of them live there safely. ⁹ You will attack like a storm and cover the land like a cloud. Your troops and the many armies will be with you.

¹⁰ “ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: At that time ideas will enter your head, and you will make wicked plans. ¹¹ You will say, “I’ll attack a land with unwalled villages. I will attack peaceful people who live safely. All of them live without walls, locks, or gates. ¹² I will come to rob them and loot them. I will use my power against the ruins that people are living in again. I will use it against the people who were gathered from the nations. These people have cattle and property, and they live in the world.”

¹³ “ ‘Sheba, Dedan, the merchants from Tarshish, and all their villages will ask you, “Did you come to rob these people of their possessions? Did you assemble all these soldiers to carry away large amounts of silver and gold and to take cattle and property?” ’

¹⁴ “So prophesy, son of man. Tell Gog, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: At that time my people Israel will live safely, and you will know it. ¹⁵ You will come from your place in the far north and many armies will be with you. All of you will ride on horses. You will be a large crowd and a mighty army. ¹⁶ You will attack my people Israel like a cloud that covers the land. In the days to come, I will let you attack my land so that nations will know me. I will use you for my holy purpose as they watch.

¹⁷ “ ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: You are the one I spoke about long ago through my servants the prophets of Israel. They prophesied in those days that I would bring you to attack them. ¹⁸ On the day that Gog attacks the land of Israel, I will be filled with burning anger, declares the Almighty Lord. ¹⁹ In my fiery anger I tell you this. On that day there will be a large earthquake in the land of Israel. ²⁰ Fish, birds, wild animals, everything that crawls on the ground, and every person on earth will tremble in my presence. The mountains will be torn down, the cliffs will crumble, and every wall will fall to the ground. ²¹ I will declare war against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Almighty Lord. Each person will use his sword against his relative. ²² I will punish Gog with plagues and death. I will send rainstorms, large hailstones, fire, and burning sulfur on his troops and on the many armies with him. ²³ I will show my greatness and my holiness. I will reveal myself to many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.’ ”

7 Don’t you realize, brothers and sisters, that laws have power over people only as long as they are alive? (I’m speaking to people who are familiar with Moses’ Teachings.) ² For example, a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, that marriage law is no longer in effect for her. ³ So if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she will be called an adulterer. But if her husband dies, she is free from this law, so she is not committing adultery if she marries another man.

⁴ In the same way, brothers and sisters, you have died to the laws in Moses’ Teachings through Christ’s body. You belong to someone else, the one who was brought back to life.

As a result, we can do what God wants. ⁵ While we were living under the influence of our corrupt nature, sinful passions were at work throughout our bodies. Stirred up by the laws in Moses’ Teachings, our sinful passions did things that result in death. ⁶ But now we have died to those laws that bound us. God has broken their effect on us so that we are serving in a new spiritual way, not in an old way dictated by written words.

Moses’ Laws Show What Sin Is

⁷ What should we say, then? Are the laws in Moses’ Teachings sinful? That’s unthinkable! In fact, I wouldn’t have recognized sin if those laws hadn’t shown it to me. For example, I wouldn’t have known that some desires are sinful if Moses’ Teachings hadn’t said, “Never have wrong desires.” ⁸ But sin took the opportunity provided by this commandment and made me have all kinds of wrong desires. Clearly, without laws sin is dead. ⁹ At one time I was alive without any laws. But when this commandment came, sin became alive ¹⁰ and I died. I found that the commandment which was intended to bring me life actually brought me death. ¹¹ Sin, taking the opportunity provided by this commandment, deceived me and then killed me.

¹² So the laws in Moses’ Teachings are holy, and the commandment is holy, right, and good. ¹³ Now, did something good cause my death? That’s unthinkable! Rather, my death was caused by sin so that sin would be recognized for what it is. Through a commandment sin became more sinful than ever.

God’s Standards Are at War with Sin’s Standards

¹⁴ I know that God’s standards in Moses’ Teachings are spiritual, but I have a corrupt nature, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I don’t realize what I’m doing. I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do what I hate. ¹⁶ I don’t do what I want to do, but I agree that God’s standards are good. ¹⁷ So I am no longer the one who is doing the things I hate, but sin that lives in me is doing them.

¹⁸ I know that nothing good lives in me; that is, nothing good lives in my corrupt nature. Although I have the desire to do what is right, I don’t do it. ¹⁹ I don’t do the good I want to do. Instead, I do the evil that I don’t want to do. ²⁰ Now, when I do what I don’t want to do, I am no longer the one who is doing it. Sin that lives in me is doing it.