Gog Before Ezekiel: Uncovering the Ancient Enemy in Numbers, Amos, and Esther

 Gog Before Ezekiel: Uncovering the Ancient Enemy in Numbers, Amos, and Esther


When most readers hear the name Gog, their minds race to Ezekiel 38–39 — the famous prophecy of Gog from the land of Magog, leading a coalition of nations against Israel. For many, Gog is a future villain, still waiting in the wings. But a closer look at the Septuagint and a deeper exploration of Scripture reveal a much older — and richer — story. 


Gog in the Septuagint: Numbers 24:7


In the Greek Septuagint, Numbers 24:7 contains a surprising name: Gog. Where the Masoretic Text reads, "His king shall be higher than Agag", the Septuagint replaces Agag with Gog:


“There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased.” (LXX, Num. 24:7)



This is not a minor textual variation — it reveals something deeper. Gog is associated with a royal enemy figure whose power is exalted only to be overthrown. This echoes the broader Balaam oracle: Israel will rise, and her enemies — even great kings like Gog — will fall. Already, Gog is introduced as a spiritual adversary tied to covenant opposition.


Amos 7:1— Locusts and High Places


Amos 7:1 presents another cryptic use of Gog in the Septuagint. It says:


“Thus the Lord showed me, and behold, a swarm of locusts coming from the east; and behold, one of the young ungodly ones was Gog the king.” (LXX, Amos 7:1)


Again, Gog is associated with destruction — this time like a plague of locusts, echoing Egypt’s judgment. Gog appears as a king-like figure who brings devastation. The locust imagery, used also in Joel and Revelation, often represents foreign armies under divine judgment.



Haman the Agagite — or Gogite?


In Esther, Haman is described as the Agagite (Esther 3:1), which ties him to Agag, king of the Amalekites — long-time enemies of Israel. But when we recall the Septuagint’s reading of Gog for Agag, a provocative possibility emerges: Haman is a Gogite during the events of Persian rule.


Haman seeks to destroy the covenant people during a time of rebuilding and renewal. Just as Ezekiel 38 depicts Gog attacking the peaceful land of unwalled villages (a symbolic picture of restored Israel), Haman plots to annihilate the exiles in the Persian empire — the scattered remnant of God’s people. But just as Gog is defeated by divine intervention, Haman too falls — impaled on his own gallows, and his plot overturned in a great reversal.


Similar to Pharaoh, Gog arises during a pivotal moment of covenant renewal to oppose God's people — and is crushed.


Gog in Revelation 20: Simon Bar Kokhba’s Final Stand


Revelation 20 recapitulates the Gog motif one last time:


“When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations... Gog and Magog... to gather them for battle.” (Rev. 20:7–8)


Who is this Gog in Revelation? Many expect a literal end-times figure. But Revelation is a covenantal book — steeped in Old Testament typology. If we read this through first-century eyes, the identity of Gog becomes clearer: Simon Bar Kokhba, the failed Jewish messiah of the second century.


Bar Kokhba, like Haman and Pharaoh before him, led an assault on the newly established New Covenant community. After Jerusalem’s destruction in 70 AD, Bar Kokhba led a revolt (132–136 AD) to restore the old system — temple, land, priesthood, and national identity. He tried to resurrect the Old Covenant — the very system God had judged. His revolt attacked the 144,000 — the faithful remnant, the New Jerusalem people — just as Haman had.


Bar Kokhba was hailed as messiah by Rabbi Akiva, and for a moment, it seemed Gog would rise again. But just as in Esther/Ezekiel— Gog was destroyed. His revolt was crushed by Rome, Jerusalem was further desolated, and the temple site was desecrated with a pagan city.


A Covenant Pattern of Opposition


Gog is not a mystery. He is a pattern. A recapitulating archetype of covenantal resistance:


In Numbers, he is the proud king who must fall before Israel rises.


In Amos, he is the locust king, consuming what is left after Israel’s disobedience.


In Esther and Ezekiel, he is Haman — plotting extermination but crushed by divine reversal.


In Revelation, he is Bar Kokhba — trying to resurrect what God has judged, only to fall in final ruin.



Conclusion


Gog is the face of rebellion against God’s unfolding covenant plan. Every time God advances — whether through the Exodus, exile return, Esther's deliverance, or the arrival of New Jerusalem — a Gog rises to resist. But in every case, Gog loses.


In this way, Gog is not merely a person, but a spiritual pattern — a force that tries to pull God's people back into bondage, law, temple, and flesh. But God’s plan cannot be stopped, and the faithful remnant moves forward into deeper covenant glory.


In Christ, the ultimate deliverer, the final Gog is defeated. And the people of God — like those in Esther — celebrate a reversal, living in the peace of a kingdom that no one can shake.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

No One Knows the Day or Hour — Matthew 24:36, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Witness of 70 AD

 No One Knows the Day or Hour — Matthew 24:36, the Feast of Trumpets, and the Witness of 70 AD When Jesus said in Matthew 24:36, "But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only," many have taken this to mean a far-future, end-of-the-world event. But what if this phrase had a much more specific meaning to Jesus’ Jewish audience—one tied to their festal calendar, their historical context, and even the events of 70 AD? Let’s unpack this verse and its connection to the Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah), the idea of two witnesses, and the prophetic imagery of Revelation 11—all pointing to a first-century fulfillment. The Feast of Trumpets and the Phrase "No One Knows the Day or Hour" The phrase “no one knows the day or the hour” was commonly associated in Jewish idiom with the Feast of Trumpets—the only festival that began on a new moon (Tishri 1). Since the new moon is difficult to predict precisely, ancient I...
Read more

Ezekiel 38-39 has been fulfilled in the book of Esther-Quick Reference

Ezekiel 38-39 has been fulfilled in the book of Esther-Quick Reference ***The Jews’ victory caused 75,310 people (Esther 9:10, 15, 16). This corresponds with the enemy deaths in Ezekiel 38-39. ·          Esther 9:10 10 the ten sons of Haman son of Hammedatha, the enemy of the Jews. But they did not lay their hands on the plunder . ·          Esther 9:15-16 15 The Jews in Susa came together on the fourteenth day of the month of Adar, and they put to death in Susa three hundred men , but they did not lay their hands on the plunder . 16 Meanwhile, the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies . They killed seventy-five thousand of them but did not lay their hands on the plunder. ·          Ezekiel 39:11 11 “‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, ...
Read more

Ezekiel 40

Image
INTRODUCTION Picture yourself as a Jew in the exile. You lost your home, your family, and even questioning your faith in the midst of God’s promises. You are traumatized and broken by the events that have transpired. All hope seems loss. Then Ezekiel the Priest says that you will inherit a new Temple and a new land with more responsibility added to you. More responsibility that you couldn’t fulfill the first time, which is why you are exiled in the first place. And get this, it is all invisible. This would have not gone well for Ezekiel by simply telling the Jews their inheritance was invisible. However, that’s not the case. Thankfully, our God is very descriptive about the measurements and dimensions of the Temple. We have a basis to compare the old Temple and old land to these new promises. Since the Jews were involved in the construction, they would be familiar with the size of the Temple and the land. When Ezekiel was telling the Jews about these measurements, it blew their mind...
Read more