Ezekiel 39:1-6. Part of Ezekiel's prophecy against Gog, the leader of Magog. Here, God tells Ezekiel to prophesy that Gog is against God and God's punishment of Gog will involve driving him forward to attack Israel. God will lead Gog "from the uttermost parts of the North... against the mountains of Israel." That is where Gog shall fall, while attacking Israel. God will strike Gog's bow and his arrows from his hands. He and all his army shall fall there, and will be eaten by birds of prey and wild beasts.

I have written about Gog's punishment before, but what strikes me here is the means of it - Israel. God will not just punish Gog in his hometown or his home nation. God is specifically going to inspire or lead Gog to attack Israel. Gog will bring his army with him, so the punishment will not just be of him, but of all who follow him. But put yourself in Israel's place here - they're just living their lives, trying to get through, living one day at a time, when suddenly they learn that Gog is coming to attack them. This happens over and over again to Israel and the Jews throughout history, even today!

To the Jews, this probably seems like God punishing them in some way - why else would he allow them to be attacked by a foreign enemy? Can't he just leave them alone? Maybe it is a bit of a lesson for Israel, maybe they are being complacent and need to wake up to the threats all around them, and the fact that they have to actively fight evil, they cannot live side by side with it. This goes for us too, we have been complacently living side by side with evil for too long - It is time we wake up and fight. I think that is what God is doing right now - making the evil so obvious, we have no choice but to fight it.

The threat of attack, preparation for war, and the battle itself are trials, struggles - they are painful for Israel. But God knows what he is doing. By leading Gog to attack Israel he accomplishes so much more than just the punishment of Gog. He has his chosen people show his glory by defeating Gog so decisively. He wipes out the entire army that is going to attack them, not just Gog himself (and it is their fault, they don't just randomly die, they die because they were attacking God's chosen people along with Gog). And he wakes up his people to the threats around them.

So, no, we cannot just be left alone to live side by side with evil. God needs us to fight in this fallen world sometimes. He will let us know when. And he will accomplish much with our battles.