A False Security

This raises the question, why would Magog attack Israel if they are actually secure in their armed forces? The answer we glean from Scripture is that there are three perspectives on what it means to be secure—

        1. the perspective of Israel,

        2. that of their enemy Gog-Magog (Russia),

        3. and that of the Lord.

        Obviously, in Ezekiel 38, Israel believes that they are living “securely.” But from Magog’s perspective, that security can be breached, or else they wouldn’t risk an attack. And from the Lord’s perspective, any security apart from trust in Him is a false security. Israel’s confidence in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) apart from the Lord is a false security, and no one, including Israel’s superb defense forces, will receive the glory that is due to God alone, for “my glory will I not give to another.” (Isaiah 42:8)

        That Israel trust in its own security is evident in this simple statement by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to the ever-present “peace” negotiations,

                                        “We want peace, but not at the price of security” ⁴

        Netanyahu believes that “peace” and “security” are not one and the same. He is right. The Ezekiel 38 prediction of Israel’s condition at the time of the Russian-Islamic invasion is not one of peace, but one of security. Netanyahu obviously believes that Israel is presently secure by virtue of its military power. The source of  that security? Netanyahu continued by making an admiring reference to a statement Israeli patriot Theodore Herzl said a century earlier.  On June 11, 1901, Herzl said,

“Do not rely on the help of foreigners nor on that of benefactors …A people that wants to stand upright must put all its trust in itself alone.

” Israel’s perspective on living “securely” is the same one they had when they were driven out of the land 2000 years ago,

which is summed up in Ezekiel 33:26:" Ye stand upon your sword…shall ye possess the land?”

Then there is the perspective of the Russian-Islamic arch enemy. They see Israel’s security-”walls” wide open for a breach, for then

“shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought,

And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages…”  (Ezekiel 38:10-11). 

If the Russian-Islamic invaders really believed that the IDF was an impenetrable wall of defense, with unbreachable “gates” of security, then of course they wouldn’t attack in the first place! But the prophecy says that then “shall things come into thy mind” and they will view Israel as “living dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.” (Ezekiel 38:11) (see below)

The third perspective on Israel’s security is the Lord’s—the only one that matters.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6)

Regarding the belief that Israel has (and many Christians) that Israel is secure behind the Israeli Defense Forces, the Bible declares something else,

 “There is no king saved by the multitude of an host [a mighty army]:

a mighty man is not delivered by much strength.” (Psalms 33:16)

“For I will not trust in my bow, neither shall my sword save me.” (Psalms 44:6)

 “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” (Psalms 20:7)

Israel’s trust in itself and its IDF gives rise to a false security that the nation is self-secure  behind “walls” and “barred gates.” However, then “shall things come into thy mind,” and as a result  the Russian-Islamic coalition will have a different perspective—Israel will be ripe for an invasion because Russia “shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest,

that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls,

and having neither bars nor gates.” (Ezekiel 38:11)

As to why Israel will find itself in this predicament, parallel phrases (note the underlined print below) in the Bible about “safely,” “security,” “walled villages,” and “bars and gates” give us the answer.

        1. Israel dwells ALONE among hateful neighbors in the Mid East. The Babylonians attacked a “secure” Arabian people precisely because they were isolated, alone without allies.

"... Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has formed a plan against you

And devised a scheme against you.

"Arise Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation (Arabia-dwellers) that dwelleth without care, 

saith the LORD, which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone.. (Jer. 49:30-31)

        2. Israel is “complacent” about its security. Jeremiah’s indictment of the complacent (“careless”) women of Jerusalem came as a warning about false security before Jerusalem’s destruction by Babylon.

Rise up, ye women that are at ease [safe and secure]; hear my voice,

ye careless daughters; give ear unto my speech. (Isaiah 32:9)

        3. Israel is prideful of being self-sufficient. God is not in the equation. Babylon trusted in its self-security in the same way. So did the Assyrian super-city of Nineveh two centuries earlier (Zephaniah 2:15).

Therefore hear now this [Babylon], thou that art given to pleasures,

that dwellest carelessly [securely], that sayest in thine heart,

“I am, and none else beside me [self sufficient];

I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children.”  (Isaiah 47:8)

4. Israel is arrogant about its own strength. With that same attitude in the eighth century BC, Israel fell to the Assyrians.

Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust [feel secure] in the mountain of Samaria...

The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself …

I abhor the excellency of Jacob [arrogance of Jacob]...

which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? (Amos 6:1, 8, 13)

From our Ezekiel 38 passage on the Russian-Islamic invasion of Israel, we find a remarkable similarity in the  phrasing of the “security” conditions in passages above,

i.e., [Israel] shall dwell safely.. [and Russia] shalt say,

I will go up to the land of unwalled villages...

to them that are at rest, that dwell safely,

all of them dwelling without walls,

and having neither bars nor gates…”  (Ezekiel 38:8, 11)