# What Is the War of Gog and Magog? | Learn about Moshiach | Moshiach Life > The war of Gog and Magog is Ezekiel’s battle of the nations (chapters 38–39), which the Rambam places at the start of the days of Moshiach (Melachim 12:2). URL: https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/gog-and-magog/ Language: en Site guide for agents: https://moshiach.life/llms.txt --- [Learn about Moshiach](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/) # What Is the War of Gog and Magog? ![Star trails and city lights over the Earth, photographed from the International Space Station](https://moshiach.life/assets/archive/learn-about-moshiach--our-evolving-universe.webp) The war of Gog and Magog is the battle of the nations against the Land of Israel foretold by the prophet Ezekiel (chapters 38–39), and the Rambam places it at the beginning of the days of Moshiach (Hilchos Melachim 12:2). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, taught that Moshiach first prevails over the nations that oppose him and then unites them all to serve G-d together. ## Who are Gog and Magog? Ezekiel names Gog as a ruler “of the land of Magog” who leads nations against Israel (Ezekiel 38:2). Magog first appears in the Torah as a son of Yefes, the son of Noach (Genesis 10:2). In Ezekiel, Gog is “the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal,” the head of a coalition that comes “in the end of days” against a people gathered back to its Land (Ezekiel 38:2, 38:8, 38:16). The prophet gives no modern map. The names describe a gathering of nations that rises against Israel before the full Redemption, and the Rambam warns that the details stay hidden until they happen. ## What does the Rebbe teach about the war of Gog and Magog? The Rebbe taught, from the Rambam’s order, that Moshiach first defeats opposing nations, then unites them (Hilchos Melachim 11:4). The Rambam writes that Moshiach “will fight the wars of G-d” and be victorious over the nations around him. Only afterward, once the Beis Hamikdash is built and the exiles are gathered, does he “perfect the entire world to serve G-d together.” The Rebbe explained that relations with the nations are repaired in these two stages: first some nations resist Moshiach’s leadership and are defeated, and then all nations unite under the Messianic ideal (Hitvaaduyot 5748, vol. 3, p. 145; 5752, vol. 1, p. 1, as cited in Geulah Weekly). The Rebbe added that this is Moshiach’s great innovation. Israel once lived in peace under kings like Shlomo and Chizkiyahu, but the nations of the world have never lived together in harmony. Moshiach brings that about. The Rebbe also contrasted two prophecies of a shofar. Zechariah speaks of a shofar sounding with “whirlwinds of the south” (Zechariah 9:14), an earlier stage of stormy wars among the nations and the [birth pangs of Moshiach](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/chevlei-moshiach/). Isaiah speaks of a “great shofar” that gathers the lost and the exiled (Isaiah 27:13), a later stage of G-d’s open love. The Rebbe said in 5728 that the second stage had begun with the events in Israel the summer before (Sichah of Parshas Bereishis 5728; Maamar V’Haya Bayom Hahu, Rosh Hashanah 5728). ## When does the war of Gog and Magog take place? The Rambam writes that the war comes at the start of the days of Moshiach (Hilchos Melachim 12:2). In his [laws of kings and Moshiach](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/rambam-laws-of-kings-moshiach/), the Rambam writes that the plain meaning of the prophets suggests that the war of Gog and Magog comes at the beginning of the days of Moshiach. He adds that before it, a prophet will arise to set Israel straight and prepare their hearts, and he brings the verse about [Eliyahu Hanavi](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/eliyahu-hanavi-and-moshiach/) coming before the great day of G-d (Malachi 3:23). The Rambam then sets a firm limit. No one knows how these things will happen until they happen. They are not principles of faith, and a person should not spend his time on them. What a Jew must do is await Moshiach and believe in the general matter (Hilchos Melachim 12:2). ## Must the Redemption come through suffering? The Talmud teaches that merit hastens the Redemption: “If they merit, I will hasten it” (Sanhedrin 98a). The path to the Redemption is not fixed. When Israel merits, G-d brings it before its set time (Isaiah 60:22; Sanhedrin 98a). The Talmud even names a merit that protects from this war: whoever keeps the three Shabbos meals is saved from the birth pangs of Moshiach, from the judgment of Gehinnom and from the war of Gog and Magog (Shabbos 118a). The Rebbe stressed the study of the inner dimension of the Torah, for Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was told, “With this text of yours, Israel will be redeemed from exile with mercy” (Sichos In English, Shabbos Parshas Vaeschanan 5751). The Rebbe also pointed out that the ingathering of Jews to the Land in his day was already happening “with mercy and kindness,” as Jews left their countries openly instead of fleeing in secret (Sichos In English, Eve of the 24th of Adar I 5752). The practical response is the one the Sages gave: more Torah, more kindness and more mitzvos, which are the ways to [bring Moshiach](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/how-to-bring-moshiach/) sooner and more gently. ## Do other prophecies describe the war? The Talmud reads Psalm 2, “Why do the nations rage,” as the war of Gog and Magog (Avodah Zarah 3b). Psalm 2 describes kings who plot “against the L-rd and against His anointed,” and G-d who laughs at their schemes. The Talmud teaches that in the future, Gog and Magog will set out against G-d and His anointed, and applies this psalm to them (Avodah Zarah 3b). Zechariah 14 also describes nations gathering against Jerusalem and G-d’s victory. It ends with the verse Jews say at the close of every prayer service in Aleinu: “On that day the L-rd shall be One, and His name One” (Zechariah 14:9). ## What did the Rebbe say about the nations in his time? The Rebbe said the Yalkut Shimoni’s sign, “nations are challenging one another,” matched the world in 5752. The Yalkut Shimoni (Isaiah 499) describes the year in which King Moshiach is revealed: the nations provoke one another, the world is in turmoil, and G-d tells Israel not to fear. The Rebbe noted that even when the nations called peace conferences, peace was not their real purpose, and that the climate of the world was ripe for Moshiach’s coming (Sichos In English, Shabbos Parshas Chayei Sarah 5752). During the Gulf War of 5751 the Rebbe reassured a frightened public that they would witness revealed miracles and that the Land of Israel was the safest place in the world (Geulah Weekly 5776/582 Shemot, Miracles Today). The lesson the Rebbe drew from world events was calm faith and more good deeds, never fear. He tied them to the [signs that Moshiach is coming](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/signs-moshiach-is-coming/). ## What comes after the war of Gog and Magog? The Rambam concludes that the world will know G-d, with neither famine nor war (Hilchos Melachim 12:5). Ezekiel says the purpose of the war is recognition: “I will make Myself known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the L-rd” (Ezekiel 38:23). Then “the nations shall know that I am the L-rd, the Holy One in Israel” (Ezekiel 39:7). The Rebbe called the disarmament agreements of his day “a tangible foretaste” of Isaiah’s promise that nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:4; Sichos In English, Swords Into Plowshares). In the end, as the Rambam writes, the whole world will be occupied only with knowing G-d. All nations turn to serve G-d together, which is what [happens to non-Jews when Moshiach comes](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/moshiach-and-non-jews/), and it is the heart of [the era that follows Moshiach’s coming](https://moshiach.life/learn-about-moshiach/what-happens-when-moshiach-comes/).