Gog and Magog

Concise Bible Dictionary:

GOG is a symbolical name for the powerful and proud chief of the vast hordes of Scythia and Tartary. MAGOG, the son of Japheth (Gen. 10:22The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. (Genesis 10:2)), whose descendants spread over the vast steppes in the north, after whom the land is here called. Ezekiel 38:22Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, (Ezekiel 38:2) should read “Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal.” Gog is the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal answering to Russia, Moscow or Muscovy, and Tobolsk: all now in the Russian empire. These, “coming out of the north,” “as a cloud to cover the land,” will attack Israel in the land of Palestine, but will be smitten by God (Ezek. 38:2, 182Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, (Ezekiel 38:2)
18And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face. (Ezekiel 38:18); Ezek. 39:1,6,111Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: (Ezekiel 39:1)
6And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 39:6)
11And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog. (Ezekiel 39:11)). The valley where they will be buried will be called Hamon-Gog, the “multitude of Gog” (Ezek. 39:11,1511And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog. (Ezekiel 39:11)
15And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. (Ezekiel 39:15)). The destruction of these hordes will cause the heathen to know the Lord, that is, the nations extern to the Antichristian Empire of the West.
In Revelation 20:88And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. (Revelation 20:8) we also read of Gog and Magog attacking “the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city,” Jerusalem; but this must not be confounded with the prophecy in Ezekiel, for here they come out of “the four corners of the earth”; and the battles do not coincide as to time. In Ezekiel the attack is before Israel is finally settled in the land, as may be seen by the context; whereas in the Revelation it is after the thousand years of the millennium, and is followed by the final overthrow of God’s enemies who are led on by Satan. There is doubtless an allusion to, the names in Ezekiel; “Gog and Magog,” being symbolical names, are employed to describe all the proud and powerful hordes of post-millennium times, whose number is “as the sand of the sea,” and whom Satan will collect together from all quarters to attack the kingdom of the Lord Jesus as established on earth, only to be devoured by fire from heaven: for Satan, when loosed, will not be able to raise up an empire against the Lord.