Reformational Commentary on Ezekiel 38:9

"Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee." (Ezekiel 38:9)

So numerous, so menacing, so all-consuming and so unavoidable will be the assembled military force approaching Israel, that it will cast a metaphorical shadow over the land.

And as a storm, the intention to violently pound and ravage the land of Israel will be unmistakable.

Gog himself is addressed as "thou" three times in Ezekiel 38:9 showing that he, as corporate head of Russia (Magog, Meshech and Tubal - see commentary on Ezekiel 38:2) is first the initiator of the whole enterprise (ascending, i.e., preparing and striking out to come like a storm), then the chief executor of it (upon arrival and overseeing the metaphorical covering of the land), and finally that he will attend and supervise the invasion in person, being as present with it as the very "bands" (armed forces) he directs, along with "many people" (perhaps an allusion to non-combatant support staff or else a reference to less adept soldiers than those forming the "bands", i.e., conscripts).