TEXT FOR REFLECTION
The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech[a] and Tubal, and prophesy against him and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. Its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them. You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused in my anger.
EZEKIEL 38, 1-3, 8-9, 18
REFLECT
Today we look at the elephant in the room: God uses man's evil to accomplish His purposes.
A certain king by the name of Gog was directed by God to commit a dastardly act: they were to attack Israel when she was most vulnerable. When Israel was rebuilding herself from her ruins, Gog would swoop in and exploit Israel's weakness and attack her. But God would then intervene and show His wrath towards Gog for being such a bully. Then God would restore Israel's fortunes, that Israel and all the nations would know that Israel was indeed God's chosen nation.
All of this seems theatrical. It seems like just a big theatre. Israel was disobedient, and God used a nation to wreak destruction upon Israel, even putting in that nation's mind, the intention to exploit Israel. And then God delivers Israel and punishes that nation that had been first instigated by God to commit this deed.
Far worse than being theatrical is the question, where is justice? Was it fair or just for Gog to be punished for an evil which God had purposed for it to commit?
This conundrum is not new at all. The Apostle Paul dealt with it in Romans 9:14-23. In that part of his letter, Paul asked a similar question: how can it be just for one to be punished for committing evil when his role in life was to commit that evil?
Paul's answer is that God is sovereign and that He has every right to choose one to have mercy on and another to withhold his mercy from. He likened humanity to that of a lump of clay: the potter has every right to deal with the clay as he pleases, and the clay cannot question the potter's choices.
Unfortunately, Paul's answer does not answer the question at all. But it raises two points that are important to bear in mind:
1) God has sovereignty and power and control over more than we can imagine. God is sovereign over Russia's invasion of Ukraine; He is in control over the chaos in Haiti, or Myanmar, or Israel in Gaza. He is sovereign in the difficult situations in our homes and workplaces and neighbourhoods. God is far larger than the situations that we encounter, and in greater control than we can imagine.
2) God's purpose is always ultimately to bestow mercy. The purpose of Paul's letter to the Romans was to argue that God has shown great mercy to us who deserved only evil. His argument is that God has chosen to be merciful to us sinners.
RELATE
The question that is troubling in this text is then whether we are free agents or pre-destined automatons. Can I even choose to do good? Or have I already been pre-determined by God to a certain life, whether of good or evil?
When we see God's purpose in totality in the Bible, it is clear that we do have free agency. We do have choices. In fact, we are required to make choices daily. What I can surmise from the story of Gog, is that Gog had already chosen to be arrogant. Hence God simply pointed Gog to a situation that he would attempt to exploit, and in so doing, destroy himself.
The lesson for us though is first to be assured that God has far better control over our situations than we can ever imagine. And second, that God's over-arching purpose is that we receive from Him grace upon grace.
REST
Father, in the midst of turbulence around me, help me to rest in the assurance that each trial serves to draw me to you, that I might have fulness of life. Amen.
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