Midrash su Ezechiele 38:22

(Deut. 12:29:) WHEN THE LORD GOD HAS CUT OFF THE GENTILES. A parable: To what is the matter comparable? To a king who planted a vineyard within his field, but within <that field> were great cedars and thorns.⁵Tanh., Deut. 4:9. The king went and cut down the cedars and left the thorns. His servants said to him: Our Lord King, the thorns, which catch our clothes, you have left <standing>; but you have cut down the cedars! He said to them: If I had left the cedars and cut down the thornbushes, how should I have {decreed} [fenced in] my vineyard. So also Israel is the vineyard of the Holy One, as stated (in Is. 5:7): FOR THE VINEYARD OF THE LORD OF HOSTS IS THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL. He brought Israel into the land and cut down the cedars that were in it, as stated (in Amos 2:9): YET I DESTROYED THE AMORITES [BEFORE YOU, WHOSE STATURE WAS LIKE THE CEDARS IN HEIGHT]; but he left their children and their children's children so that Israel would observe the Torah, as stated (in Jud. 3:1): NOW THESE ARE THE NATIONS WHICH THE LORD LEFT TO TEST ISRAEL. So when the vineyard stands in its place in the service of the Torah, THEN (according to Is. 33:12) THE PEOPLES SHALL BECOME BURNINGS OF LIME, THORNS CUT DOWN <THAT ARE BURNED IN THE FIRE>. It is also written (in Is. 40:17): ALL THE NATIONS ARE AS NOTHING BEFORE HIM. Look at how many hosts⁶Gk.: ochloi. Pharaoh sent out after Israel! When Israel saw them, they were terrified before them and said: Who can stand against these? The Holy One said to them: By your lives, all these are as unimportant before me as <if they were> [only] a single horse, as stated (in Exod. 15:19): WHEN THE HORSE (in the singular) OF PHARAOH CAME; they all died in a single breath (rt.: NShP), as stated (in Exod. 15:10): YOU BLEW (rt.: NShP) WITH YOUR WIND, <AND THE SEA COVERED THEM>. Similarly Gog and Magog are going to come against Israel, but the Holy One will carry out judgments against them (literally: against him), as stated (in Ezek. 38:22): I WILL ENTER INTO JUDGMENT AGAINST HIM WITH PESTILENCE AND WITH BLOOD…. At that time (according to Ezek. 38:23): SO I WILL BE MAGNIFIED, BE SANCTIFIED, AND BE MADE KNOWN BEFORE THE EYES OF MANY {PEOPLES} [NATIONS]; AND THEY SHALL KNOW THAT I AM THE LORD.

"and I will be honored through (the downfall of) Pharaoh and all of his host": Pharaoh initiated the transgression, viz. (Exodus 1:22) "Every son that is born, into the Nile shall you throw him." Since he initiated the transgression, first he and then all of his host were drowned. Similarly, (Genesis 7:23) "And He blotted out every being … from man until beast, etc." The initiator was punished first. Similarly, (Ibid. 19:11) "And the men at the entrance of the house, etc." The initiators were punished first. Here, too, "and I will be honored through (the downfall of) Pharaoh, etc." The initiator was punished first. Now does this not follow a fortiori? If in the (L rd's) measure of punishment, the lesser, the initiator of the transgression is punished first, then in his measure of reward, the greater, how much more so (is the converse true)! "and I will be honored through Pharaoh": Scripture here apprises us that when the L rd exacts punishment of the nations, His name is aggrandized in the world, as it is written (Isaiah 66:19) "And I will put a sign upon them (the nations), and I will send some of them as survivors to the nations — Tarshish, Pul, Lud, the Archers, Toval and Yavan … and they will declare My glory among the nations," and (Ibid. 45:14-15) "Thus said the L rd: The toil of Egypt and the men of Cush and the Sabeans, men of stature, will pass to you and will become yours. They will follow after you and pass in chains. They will prostrate themselves before you. They will pray before you — Only with you is G d, and there is none other except for G d." What follows? "You are a G d who conceals Himself. The G d of Israel is the Savior." And it is written (Ezekiel 38:22) "And I will punish him (Gog) with pestilence and with blood, torrential rain and hailstones, fire and sulphur, etc.", followed by (23) "And I will be exalted and I will be sanctified, and I will make Myself known before the eyes of many nations, and they will know that I am the L rd." And it is written (Psalms 76:3) "And His tabernacle will be in Jerusalem, and His dwelling in Zion, etc." And (Ibid. 4) "There He broke the flying bows, shield, sword, and battle, Selah." (Ibid. 2) "G d is known in Judah. His name is great in Israel." This is the intent of (Exodus 14:4) "And Egypt will know that I am the L rd." In the past, they did not know, but now they will know!

There was pestilence in Egypt, and about Edom it says: I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood (Ezek. 38:22). In Egypt, boils were inflicted, and in Edom: Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their sockets, and their tongues shall consume away in their mouths (Zech. 14:12). In Egypt there was hail, and upon Edom: An overflowing shower and great hailstones (Ezek. 38:22). Locusts afflicted Egypt, and in the case of Edom: Son of man … Speak unto the birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field: Assemble yourselves (Ezek. 39:17). Darkness befell Egypt, and with regard to Edom: He shall stretch over it the line of confusion and the plummet of emptiness (Isa. 34:11). In Egypt He smote their firstborn, and in Edom: There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians (Ezek. 32:30).