Ezekiel 39

Ezekiel 39 OF GOGIn the first main division of ch 39, Ezekiel emphasizes the certainty of the overthrow of Gog by repeating the substance of what he has already said about that defeat (Ezekiel 39:1-8). He then stresses the completeness of the destruction (Ezekiel 39:9-20).

OF GOG’ S Eze_39:1-8 First Oracle(Ezekiel 39:1-5) Declaration of hostility (Ezekiel 39:1): As for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say. Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal. Chapter 39 gives an even more vivid description of the overthrow of Gog. The chapter begins with a declaration of divine hostility directed toward Gog (cf. Ezekiel 38:3). Maneuvered by God (Ezekiel 39:2): I will turn you about, lead you on, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north. I will bring you against the mountains of Israel. God will turn Gog about, i.e., frustrate his purpose. God leads him to his destruction upon the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 39:2). Earlier God threatened those mountains with judgment because of their idols (cf. Ezekiel 6:4-5). But after those mountains were made desolate, God promised their redemption (Ezekiel 36:1-15). Muted weapons (Ezekiel 39:3): I will smite your bow from your left hand. I will cause your arrows to fall from your right hand. Gog’ s skillful archers are of no value in the battle that transpires there. Scattered corpses (Ezekiel 39:4-5): Upon the mountains of Israel, you will fall, you and all your bands and peoples that are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to beasts of the field, to be devoured. (Ezekiel 39:5) Upon the face of the ground, you will fall; for I have spoken (oracle of the Lord GOD). Gog and all his confederates will fall on the redeemed mountains of Israel. Once and for all time the violent, imperialist powers of this world are crushed by God. The corpses of Gog are left unburied, a prey to beast and bird alike (Ezekiel 39:4). By no means will Gog be able to avert this calamity, for this destruction had been decreed by the Lord (Ezekiel 39:5).

Second Oracle (Ezekiel 39:6-8) Lands of invaders devastated (Ezekiel 39:6): And I will send fire against Magog, and against the inhabitants of the isles who dwell safely; and they will know that I am the LORD. Even the lands from which the invaders came experience divine judgment. God sends a fire against those lands. The fire here, as frequently in the Old Testament, probably symbolizes warfare.God’s purpose revealed (Ezekiel 39:7): My holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel. I will not defile my holy name again; and the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. No more will the heathen profanely mock the impotence of Israel’ s God. The divine presence in the midst of Israel will be obvious to all when the Lord makes known his name, i.e., his character, person, presence, in this mighty judgment upon Gog. Assurance of victory (Ezekiel 39:8): Behold, it comes, and it will come to pass (oracle of the Lord GOD); that is the day of which I have spoken. The destruction of Gog was a foregone conclusion; it was as good as accomplished. The Lord cannot lie, and he had announced it.

OF THE Ezekiel 39:9-20 In stressing the completeness of the destruction of Gog, Ezekiel flashes three somewhat gruesome pictures before his readers. Immense Quantity of Spoils (Ezekiel 39:9-10): The inhabitants of the cities of Israel will go out. They will burn the weapons and make fuel of them, even the shields, bucklers, bows, arrows, hand staves, and spears. They will make fires of them seven years. (Ezekiel 39:10) They will not take wood from the field, nor will they cut down any out of the woods; for they will make fires of the weapons. They will take spoil of those who spoiled them. They will plunder those who plundered them (oracle of the Lord GOD). Ezekiel points out the immense quantity of spoil that God’ s people obtain from the fallen foe. So vast is the multitude of the enemies slain that the wood of their weapons serves God’ s people as fuel for seven years (Ezekiel 39:9). During the seven years, it is not necessary for men to resort to their usual sources of firewood. The tables are turned in that day. God’ s people take spoil from those powerful enemies who previously had plundered Israel (Ezekiel 39:10). Usually weapons left by a defeated enemy were added to the victor’s cache of arms. There would be no further battles to fight. God’s people have no need for weapons of war. Ezekiel is building on the old motif of the destruction of weapons of war (Isaiah 9:5; Psalms 46:10). But Ezekiel goes a step further. The weapons of Gog are converted to domestic use by God’s people. Problem of Burial (Ezekiel 39:11-16)

Place of burial (Ezekiel 39:11): It will come to pass in that day that I will give to Gog a place there for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through east of the sea. It will stop those who pass through. They will bury there Gog and all his multitude. They will call it the valley of Hamon-gog. In order to cleanse the land, the corpses of Gog’s soldiers needed to be buried. God provides a burial place for them.

That spot is identified as the valley of those who pass through, i.e., it was a major thoroughfare. The valley is said to be east of the sea. If Ezekiel means the Dead Sea, then the burial took place outside the normal borders Israel. NIV renders, east toward the sea, i.e., a valley through which one would travel east in the direction of the Dead Sea. In this case, the Esdraelon Valley in lower Galilee might be nominated as a likely candidate. On the other hand, if the sea is understood as the Mediterranean, then the specific valley could be any valley in the land of Israel east of that sea.

Perhaps the geography is deliberately vague because it contributes nothing to the main point. The multitude of bodies blocks that thoroughfare. The valley receives the name Hamon-gog, i.e., the multitude of Gog.

Initial burial effort (Ezekiel 39:12-13): In order to cleanse the land, the house of Israel will bury there seven months. (Ezekiel 39:13) Yea, all the people of the land will bury there. It will acquire for them a reputation, in the day when I am glorified (oracle of the Lord GOD). For seven months the house of Israel transports dead bodies to this remote burial spot. An unburied corpse was a defilement of the land (Deuteronomy 21:23) that had to be removed (Ezekiel 39:12). The whole population takes part in this mass burial. They will be famous for this noble and horrendous effort. They share the glory of their God in that day of victory (Ezekiel 39:13).

Continuing burial effort (Ezekiel 39:14-15)

Permanent committee appointed (Ezekiel 39:14): And they will set apart men of continual employment who will pass through the land burying those who remain upon the face of the ground to cleanse it. At the end of the seven months they will search. After the seven-month period, a permanent burial committee is appointed. They scour the land looking for unburied bones. Assistance of travelers (Ezekiel 39:15): When they that pass through have passed through the land and see the human bones, then a sign will be erected beside it until the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog. Travelers aid the committee by marking any spot where they noticed bones. A commemorative city (Ezekiel 39:16): Hamonah will be the name of a city. Thus they will cleanse the land. Near that valley of Hamon-gog, a city is built to commemorate the victory over Gog. That city is called Hamonah, i.e., multitude.A Sacrificial Feast (Ezekiel 39:17-20) Invitation to the guests (Ezekiel 39:17): As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: Say to the birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field: Assemble yourselves! Come! Gather yourselves on every side to my feast that I am preparing for you, even a great feast, upon the mountains of Israel, that you may eat meat and drink blood. Ezekiel depicts the horrible carnage that results from the overthrow of Gog. The slaughter of the multitude is regarded as a sacrificial feast to which the birds and beasts are the invited guests. The flesh and blood of the fallen men of Gog serve as the sacramental elements. Promise to the guests (Ezekiel 39:18-20): The flesh of the mighty you will eat. The blood of the princes of the earth you will drink. Rams, lambs, goats, bullocks, fatlings of Bashan are all of them. (Ezekiel 39:19) You will eat fat until you are full. You will drink blood until you are intoxicated because of my feast that I have prepared for you. (Ezekiel 39:20) You will be filled at my table with horses and horsemen, with mighty men, and with all men of war, (oracle of the Lord GOD). The victims of this sacrificial feast are described as rams, lambs, goats and the like (Ezekiel 39:18) that are figures for the mighty warriors of Gog (Ezekiel 39:20). The birds and beasts of prey will eat of God’ s sacrificial feast, God’ s table (Ezekiel 39:19). Eze_39:21-29 Future Revelation (Ezekiel 39:21-24) Knowledge about God (Ezekiel 39:21-22): I will set my glory among the nations. All the nations will see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have set against them. (Ezekiel 39:22) So the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God, from that day and forward. The overthrow of Gog is regarded as a divine act revealing God’ s glory, judgment, and hand (Ezekiel 39:21). Israel’ s faith would thereby be confirmed (Ezekiel 39:22). Knowledge about Israel (Ezekiel 39:23-24): The nations will know that the house of Israel went into captivity because of their iniquity, because they acted treacherously against me. I hid my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their adversaries. All of them fell by the sword. (Ezekiel 39:24) According to their uncleanness and their transgressions I dealt with them. I hid my face from them. The nations at last are convinced that Israel’ s captivity experience was not due to any lack of power on God’ s part. Rather the Lord had allowed Israel to suffer because they broke faith with me.

God hid his face from them, refusing to aid them against their enemies. The idea is that Israel will prosper only when God’s face is toward them. As a result, all of them, i.e., a great number of them, fell by the sword (Ezekiel 39:23). Perversity on the part of the people, not powerlessness on the part of God, was responsible for their abandonment by the Lord (Ezekiel 39:24). Present Consolation (Ezekiel 39:25-29) God’s zeal for Israel (Ezekiel 39:25): Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will reverse the captivity of Jacob. I will have compassion on all the house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name. The captivity was a time when God was hiding his face from his people. Using Ezekiel 39:23-24 as a transition, Ezekiel brings the focus back to his own time for the final movement of thought in this section. It was needful that the exiles in their distress see at the close of this far- reaching prophecy the first step in the long course of events leading to its fulfillment. That step was one of special interest and comfort to them; but even this promise is mingled with predictions that still look beyond to the distant future.

Ezekiel has spoken previously of the promised restoration. He alluded to the glory of Yahweh abiding with his people in their own land. In chs 38-39, he has indicated that these promises do not go unnoticed nor unchallenged by other nations. Yahweh’ s presence does not preclude aggression against the Canaan of God. The difference is this: Yahweh will not withdraw from his people as he had done in 586 B.C.

God’ s new positive relationship to his people is about to begin. He will bring back the captivity of Jacob, i.e., reverse the fortunes of his people. The whole house of Israel, i.e., all the tribes, will experience the compassion of the Lord. God will be jealous or zealous for his name or reputation. His reputation is most enhanced by the prosperity of his worshipers. Restoration of Israel (Ezekiel 39:26-27 a): They will bear all of their shame, and all their treachery that they have committed against me, when they dwell upon their land safely. None will terrify them (Ezekiel 39:27) when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of the lands of their enemies. In their homeland, God’ s people enjoy peace and security. Their sense of gratitude toward the Lord makes them keenly ashamed of their own former waywardness (v 26). God was about to bring his people back from the lands of their enemies.

New perspective of Israel (Ezekiel 39:27-28): I have been sanctified in them in the eyes of many nations. (Ezekiel 39:28) They will know that I am the Lord their God, when I have caused them to go captive unto the nations, and then have gathered them unto their own land. I will not leave any of them any more there. The restoration of Israel causes God’ s name to be reverenced by many peoples (Ezekiel 39:27). Gentiles come to see that the Lord God reveals himself in history. Yahweh brought about the captivity of his people. He also engineered their restoration to their homeland. Not one of his true people was left in foreign lands (Ezekiel 39:28). New status of Israel (Ezekiel 39:29): I will not hide any more my face from them; for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel (oracle of the Lord GOD). No more does God hide his face from his people, i.e., they would enjoy fellowship with the Lord. This glorious state of affairs exists in the age of the Holy Spirit when God has poured out his Spirit upon the house of Israel (Ezekiel 39:29). Already God had promised to pour out his Spirit on his people (Ezekiel 36:27; Ezekiel 37:14). Joel was the first prophet to make such a prediction (Joe 2:28). After the time of Ezekiel that same promise was taken up by Zechariah (Zechariah 12:10). The Gog prophecy speaks in concrete terms about the salvation that Ezekiel proclaimed after the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. It therefore forms a fitting conclusion to the oracles of salvation that begin in ch 33. SPECIAL NOTE OF Ezekiel 38-39

In chs 38-39, Ezekiel is predicting an unparalleled invasion by a dreadful foe. Commentators generally concede that these chapters contain an apocalyptic element. In apocalyptic literature, the setting is usually the end of the age. This kind of literature is full of symbols, especially numerical symbols. Great catastrophes befalling God’ s people and dramatic rescues by divine agencies characterize this type of writing. Most of the characters are painted much larger-than-life in these word pictures. Deliberate vagueness and purposeful incongruities are further identifying marks of apocalyptic.

One can note at least three incongruities in the Gog-Magog chapters: (1) In Ezekiel 38:4 the Lord brings Gog forth, but in Ezekiel 38:10 Gog himself devises the plan of attack; (2) in Ezekiel 38:18-22 Gog is overthrown by earthquake and storm, but in Ezekiel 39:1-2 Gog is still very much active; (3) in Ezekiel 39:4 Gog and company are devoured by birds and animals, while in Ezekiel 39:11-16 the bodies of the fallen host are buried; but again in Ezekiel 39:17-20 the carcasses of the fallen enemy are picked clean by birds and beasts.

As in apocalyptic literature in general, ‘ ‘ the final catastrophe is looked at from various angles, without any attempt to trace a logical order in the sequence of events.” The purpose of apocalyptic writing such as this is the “ unveiling” of the future, not in the sense of chronicling every event prior to its occurrence, but in the sense of showing God’ s lordship over the future. It serves the function of letting the faithful know that God knows where history is heading, and that he is ultimately in control of the situation. Thus apocalyptic literature guides and strengthens God’ s people in dark days of uncertainty.

Having recognized the apocalyptic elements within these two chapters, commentators are still divided as to the fulfillment of the prediction here made. Four major categories of conclusions have been formulated.

The Historical Views: Some commentators hold that the invasion of Gog was an actual event, future from the standpoint of Ezekiel, but ancient history from the present-day vantage point. Gog has been identified with every outstanding general from the time of Ezekiel to the time of Christ and even beyond. Among those suggested are Cambyses king of Persia, Alexander the Great, Antiochus the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes, Antiochus Eupator, and Mithridates king of Pontus. Within this general category of approach, perhaps the strongest case can be made for equating Gog with Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus Epiphanes was a bitter opponent of the Jews in the second century before Christ. The center of his kingdom was in Antioch on the Orontes River. To the east, his territory extended beyond the Tigris. To the north, his reign extended over Meshech and Tubal, districts of Anatolia.

In his excellent commentary on the Book of Revelation, William Hendriksen argues that Ezekiel’s Magog represents Syria, and Gog, Antiochus. He comments as follows on the relationship between the Gog invasion of Ezekiel and that recorded in the Book of Revelation: “ . . . The Book of Revelation uses this period of affliction and woe as a symbol of the final attack of Satan and his hordes upon the church." That Ezekiel’ s description of the defeat of Gog (Antiochus) is an appropriate type of the final overthrow of the enemies of God can be seen in the following parallels pointed out by Hendriksen:

The last great oppression of the people of God under the Old Testament era was sufficiently severe to typify the final attack of anti-Christian forces upon the church in the New Testament age. The armies of Gog and Magog were very numerous and came from wide-ranging territories. This would be most appropriate to symbolize the world-wide opposition to the church in the days just preceding the second coming. The persecution under Antiochus was very brief, but very severe. The tribulation through which God’ s people will pass toward the end of the present dispensation will apparently also be of short duration, but extremely severe (cf. Revelation 11:11). Defeat of Gog and Magog was unexpected and complete. It was clearly the work of God. So also will be the sudden overthrow of the eschatological Gog and Magog of the Book of Revelation. Linking the invasion forces of Ezekiel 38-39 with the hosts of Antiochus Epiphanes is an interpretation not as easily overturned as some commentators seem to think. It will not do, for example, to argue that the timeframe for the Ezekiel passage is the latter years or latter days (Ezekiel 38:8; Ezekiel 38:16). These expressions are clearly used in the Book of Daniel to include events that transpired after the Babylonian captivity. Especially weak is the argument that the apocalyptic character of these chapters necessitates a prophecy dealing with the end-time. Clearly Daniel uses highly symbolic (apocalyptic?) language to describe certain events in the intertestamental period (Daniel 8), as does Zechariah as well (Zechariah 9:11-17). Furthermore, the ruthless assault of Antiochus against Israel and the divine protection of God’ s people in the midst of that assault are major themes in the prophecies of Ezekiel’ s contemporary Daniel (Daniel 8:9-27; Daniel 11:21-35). Why should it then be thought strange that Ezekiel would devote two chapters to describing, in highly idealized language, this same invasion?

The Literal Futuristic View: Some commentators believe that the invasion of Gog and Magog has not yet occurred. Ezekiel is describing the final invasion of the land of Israel by a ruthless coalition following the Millennium. Scofield popularized this view. He writes:

That the primary reference is to the northern, (European) powers, headed up by Russia, all agree ‘ Gog’ is the prince, ‘ Magog,’ his land. The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification. Russia and the northern powers have been the latest persecutors of dispersed Israel, and it is congruous both with divine justice and with the covenants that destruction should fall at the climax of the last mad attempt to exterminate the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem. The whole prophecy belongs to the yet future ‘ day of Jehovah’ and to the battle of Armageddon …, but includes also the final revolt of the nations at the close of the kingdom-age . . . .

A disciple of Scofield, John F. Walvoord, cites two reasons for believing that a Russian invasion of Israel is being prophesied. First, he points out that three times in chs 38-39 the invading armies are said to come from the extreme north (Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2). Second, he points to the fact that Gog is said to be “ the prince of Rosh.” The nineteenth century lexicographer Wilhelm Genesius is cited as the authority for equating Russia with Rosh.

The geographical argument offered by Walvoord is weak. Jeremiah frequently speaks of armies coming from the uttermost parts of the earth by which he means no more than Babylonia. In some sense Mount Zion itself is said to be situated in the uttermost part of the north (Psalms 48:2).

The etymological argument offered by Walvoord linking Russia with Rosh is also weak. For one thing, the precise translation of the Hebrew term rosh is uncertain. Several modern versions render the word as an adjective modifying the word prince79 Even conceding that Rosh is a proper name here (as in ASV and NASB), that by no means proves that Rosh is to be identified with Russia. For one thing, hard etymological evidence for this identification is lacking. Rosh is here connected with Meshech and Tubal, now generally accepted as being regions in eastern Anatolia.

Genesius was making an intelligent guess at the identification of Rosh, but he was writing at a time when Assyrian texts mentioning these places were not available. His etymologies are now generally disregarded. Even the dispensational writer Feinberg rejects the Rosh = Russia identification. A cylinder text of the Assyrian king Sargon mentions a land of Rashi on the Elamite border. The same text speaks of Tabalum (Ezekiel’ s Tubal) and the land of Mushki (Ezekiel’ s Meshech). Could this Rashi be Ezekiel’ s Rosh? In any case, the evidence seems to point to Rosh as a region of Anatolia far north of Israel, but far south of Russia.

Patrick Fairbairn does perhaps the best work in setting forth the arguments against any literal interpretation of Ezekiel 38-39. He enumerates six arguments that are here summarized:

1. It is impossible to identify Gog and Magog with any historical person or place.
2. It is improbable that such a conglomerate army as is here described would ever form a military coalition.
3. The size of the invading force is disproportionate to that of Israel or any spoil that they might have derived from Israel.
4. The mind cannot imagine a situation in which it would take seven months to bury slain soldiers, much less the utilization of discarded weapons for seven years as fuel. Fairbairn conservatively estimates that the corpses would have to number over three hundred million. How would any living thing survive the pestilential vapors arising from such a mass of corpses?
5. The gross carnality of the scene is inconsistent with messianic times.
6. This prophecy was the same that had been spoken in old times by the prophets (38:17). While no prophecies concerning Gog and Magog are recorded elsewhere, prophecies of a final assault against God’ s people and the miraculous overthrow of the invaders is a constant burden of prophecy. Future Idealistic View: Since there are no clearly identifiable historical events to which the prophecy can be attached, it is possible that this invasion is yet future. The commentators holding to the future idealistic view would distinguish between what is of primary and what is of secondary significance in the two chapters. The primary significance is that the ruthless enemies of God’ s people will attack with the avowed intention of utterly destroying them. God will rescue his people by divine agencies. The secondary or “ representative” elements in the two chapters are the place names, the weapons used, the chronological statements and the like. The future idealistic school interprets Ezekiel 38-39 this way: God’ s people will face implacable enemies; the leader of the enemy will not necessarily have the name Gog, nor will he fight with bows and arrows. By his use of the same names, and a short summary of the same description, the Apostle John has shown that he regarded Ezekiel’ s vision as typical, and its fulfillment still future. Thus the commentators holding the future idealistic view see in Ezekiel 38-39 the final climatic struggle between the forces of good and evil. With the help of God, his people will ultimately be victorious in this struggle. Prophetic Parable View: The parabolic view of Ezekiel 38-39 is very popular among conservatives as well as liberals. These chapters illustrate a great truth, but refer to no specific event in time and space. Israel can have assurance from these chapters that, once restored, the power of God would protect her from the worst foe. At the same time, the church can gain strength from this passage in that here is a promise of God’ s deliverance from the most severe attacks. Gardiner sets forth this view when he states that . . . there are several clear indications that he did not confine his view in this prophecy to any literal event, but intended to set forth under the figure of Gog and his armies all the opposition of the world to the kingdom of God, and to foretell, like his contemporary Daniel, the final and complete triumph of the latter in the distant future. Blackwood adds these words:

If the passage is apocalyptic, the identity of Gog becomes meaningless. He represents every force of evil that is marshaled against God. It is immaterial whether or not Ezekiel had in mind a historical prototype. From the more liberal camp Allen writes:

The chapters should be treated as an elaborate piece of symbolism, an attempt to portray some of the ultimate problems of human life with the help of figures and incidents borrowed from the repertoire of mythology. Thus according to this view, Ezekiel 38-39 speaks of concepts, not events, the clash of ideologies rather than armies. Those who seek to identify Gog with some ancient tyrant, and those who seek here specific predictions of some imminent attack upon the Zionist state of Israel are equally wide of the mark. This apocalypse “ deals with every threat to faith in every time and every nation.”

In criticism of the parabolic view, three points need to be made. (1)Many of those holding this view fail to take the oracle as a serious teaching of the word of God. However, within these two chapters, there are seven distinct claims to inspiration. This is a divine revelation and not Ezekiel’ s speculations. (2)The parabolic view does not unite the interpretation of these chapters with a real return of God’ s people to their land. Yet history records the fulfillment of many items in the background and setting of this prophecy. (3)Those holding this view do a rather poor job of correlating the predictions of Ezekiel with the Gog-Magog prophecy of Rev 20:9. Conclusion: Ezekiel’ s prophecies regarding the invasion of Gog are enigmatic and difficult. Honest and capable expositors will continue to have differences of opinion regarding the specific fulfillment of the prediction. Probably Ezekiel is speaking about a specific event that has not yet transpired. That he employs hyperbole, symbolism and apocalyptic imagery is readily admitted. That the passage has an application to any situation in which God’ s people are under trial may also be readily admitted. But that which Ezekiel had in mind was an eschatological event— the final showdown between God’ s people and their enemies.Ezekiel Chapter Thirty-Nine Verse 1 “And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: and I will turn thee about, and I will lead thee on, and will cause thee to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel; and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy hordes, and the peoples that are with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah. And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah; this is the day whereof I have spoken.” OF THE OF GOG (Ezekiel 39:1-8) Practically all of the previous chapter is repeated here, namely, Ezekiel 39:2-4; Ezekiel 39:14-17, and Ezekiel 18-22. “The writer is describing not a second invasion by Gog but the same events from a different perspective. He especially elaborates the numbers of the enemy, shown by the quantity of weapons left behind and the long time required to bury the dead.” As Skinner stated it, “These chapters anticipate a world-judgment as the final scene of history."[16] This obvious certainty relative to the meaning of these chapters leads to the deductions that the mention of firewood for seven years and the required time for burying the dead are both inert features of the prophecy, designed to indicate the numbers of Gog’s host and nothing else. “I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured …” (Ezekiel 39:4). This corresponds to the judgment scene given in Revelation 19:17-18, in which the mighty angel of God invites the birds and beasts to the “Great Supper of God”! “And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more …” (Ezekiel 39:7). This is an astounding statement, and it explains everything else in the prophecy. Why would it be necessary for God to make his name known in the midst of his people Israel? Simply because the Israel of that final period will no longer know the name of God in any real understanding of it. They shall have ignored God’s Word, contradicted it, perverted it, mistranslated it, gone beyond it, forgotten and profaned it to the extent that the Final Judgment itself would he necessary to make known to the apostate Second Israel of that day even the holy Church of the Messiah, such an elementary thing as the name of God. It was impossible, really, that Ezekiel could have recognized the complete meaning of such a prophecy as this. Verse 9 “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years; so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any of the forest; for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those that plundered them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord Jehovah. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of them that pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop them that pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it the valley of Hamon-god. And seven months shall the house of Israel be in burying them, that they may cleanse the land. Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord Jehovah. And they shall set apart men of continual employment, that shall pass through the land, and, with them that pass through, those that bury them that remain upon the face of the land, to cleanse it; and after the end of seven months shall they search. And they that pass through the land shall pass through; and when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.

And Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shalt thou cleanse the land.“TOTAL OF GOG AND HIS HOSTS (Ezekiel 39:9-20) We have already mentioned our conclusion that these rather long statements about the firewood for seven years and the seven months period of burying the dead are inert features of the prophecy designed merely to stress the great numbers of the hosts of Gog. We have discovered no other meaningful interpretation. “On the east side of the sea …” (Ezekiel 39:11). Keil informs us that the Hebrew from which this translation is taken literally means “on the front of the sea”[17] which, of course, means “east of the sea.” See our full discussion of this under Genesis 2:14, where we have exactly the same Hebrew words (Vol. 1 of the Pentateuchal Series, p. 51). The “sea” here “Undoubtedly means the Dead Sea."[18]“And it shall stop them that pass through …” (Ezekiel 39:11). This is another one of the passages where translators thought they were improving upon the King James Bible when they were not! The KJV has this, “It shall stop the noses of the passengers.” “This means that the strong odor of decay would arrest the attention and impede the progress of all who passed by."[19] This same author also pointed out that this burial place east of the Dead Sea was in the vicinity of the final resting places of Sodom and Gomorrah, both of those having also received terminal judgments from God because of their wickedness. Verse 17 “And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: speak unto the birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field. Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord Jehovah.“Although repeated here with variations, this is the same prophecy given in Ezekiel 39:4, foretelling The Great Supper of God. There are two Suppers which God has provided for human beings: (1) the Lord’s Supper in his kingdom to which all men are invited to come, regardless of race or any other merely human classification, and (2) the Great Supper of God. The first is optional for men. If they desire redemption from their sins, the Lord’s Supper is given for their nourishment and teaching; but if men through wickedness reject this supper, there is yet another, the Great Supper of God; it is not optional. Those who miss the Lord’s Supper will most certainly be present for this one, only they shall not be the ones who eat it; they shall be the piece de resistance! The picture here seems to be “Based upon Isaiah 36:6 and Jeremiah 46:10."[20] Also, Revelation 19:17-19 has another graphic presentation of this Great Supper of God. Feinberg’s opinion that, “These events shall transpire at the end of the great tribulation, and just before the Millennial reign of Messiah,"[21]cannot possibly be correct, for the New Testament plainly states that it will happen “when the thousand years reign of Christ are finished” (Revelation 20:7). Verse 21 “And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment which I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God, from that day and forward. And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them.““And the nations shall know …” (Ezekiel 39:23). “The big lesson the nations needed to learn was the fact of Israel’s having been abandoned by their God, delivered to the sword of the invader; and taken into exile, was not because of Jehovah’s inability to protect them, but because of their wickedness which had caused God to hide his face from them."[22]Most of the nations had already found out that God was mightier than their pagan deities. Verse 25 “Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. And they shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.“ISRAEL TO RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT (Ezekiel 39:25-29) This final paragraph is not a part of the Gog prophecy. “The prophecy here returns to the point of view inEzekiel 33-37."[23] “These verses also form a fitting conclusion to the whole prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1-39) down to this point."[24]“I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel …” (Ezekiel 39:29). This promise had already been conveyed to Israel in Ezekiel 6 and in Ezekiel 37:14, also in Joe 2:28 and Zechariah 12:10; and, “The citation of Joel’s words by Peter on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17) prove that he regarded the remarkable effusion of the Holy Spirit upon that day as a fulfillment of the promise here recorded by Ezekiel."[25] Therefore, we must construe the verb, “I have poured out” in this promise as a prophetic perfect, in which a promise of God is given as something already done. There is no evidence whatever that Israel as a whole ever manifested any evidence of being possessed of the Spirit of God during the pre-Christian centuries, nor in their wholesale rejection of the Christ when he came. Returning, for a moment to the Gog, Magog prophecy, we should observe that Gog is depicted as “the last enemy,” “at the end of the times,” and that it is presented as gathering together against God and his people the nations from the “uttermost parts of the earth.” All of the ancient enemies of Israel such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Antiochus, all long ago departed from the stage of human affairs and had presumably perished. But notice also another tremendously important deduction that is required by this. “The boundaries of Israel, at that remote time, shall stretch far beyond the limits of ancient Palestine”![26]For those who wish to pursue further the implications of this remarkable prophecy, we refer to that place in the Apocalypse of the Apostle John (Revelation 20:9; Revelation 20:9), where according to Keil, and also according to the conviction of this writer, the Gog, Magog prophecy is concluded.

Ezekiel 39:1

Ezekiel 39:1, This verse takes the same comments as chapter 38: 1, 2. The repetition will serve as emphasis and indicate the intensity of God’ s feeling against Gog.

Ezekiel 39:2

Ezekiel 39:2, Leave but sixth part is rather of indefinite meaning according to the lexicon. But it is clear the prediction means that the army of Gog will be almost totally destroyed. Will cause thee to come has the same meaning as “ bring thee against my land” In verse 16 of the preceding chapter, which see. Upon the mountains of Israel will be explained at verse 4,

Ezekiel 39:3

Ezekiel 39:3. The bow and arrow was one of the weapons of combat in ancient times. Cause thine arrows to fall is equivalent to saying they will be disarmed.

Ezekiel 39:4

Ezekiel 39:4. Fall upon the mountains of Israel might seem like something unfavorable was to happen to Israel. The context shows it to have been opposite to that in its meaning and that the damage will have come to one who falls. (See a similar use of language in Matthew 21:44.) It is like the result when a man would get a fall and light upon some injurious substance. That sense is intended in our verse for the result of the fall is to give the bodies that fall as prey to ravenous birds and beasts. The fall so bruised the victims that they were fit for nothing but to be used as food by other creatures that live on flesh.

Ezekiel 39:5

Ezekiel 39:5. The flesh of a mangled body is useless except as food for flesheating creatures, therefore these carcases were to he cast out into the field for that purpose. This is the figurative picture of the circumstances, and its meaning is that the forces of Gog will he destroyed.

Ezekiel 39:6

Ezekiel 39:6. Magog is the country from where the above army of invasion came. Its people were dwelling carelessly which means they were feeling secure and were not thoughtful of any possible danger. Isles denotes “ inhabited spots,” and the meaning is that the various places within the domain of Magog will feel the force of God’s wrath.

Ezekiel 39:7

Ezekiel 39:7. The Lord now turns his attention to Ilis own people and the prophet will write some predictions concerning them. To clarify the matter so that the reader may find his “bearings” as to the date, remember that Ezekiel writes this after the whole nation has been brought to Babylon and the greater part of the 70-year captivity is in the future. This explains the clause I will not let them pollute my holy name any more. It is a prediction of the cure from idolatry which was effected by the captivity. As a prediction he could say I will not let, etc. The way the Lord would pre-vent it was by holding them in captivity until every trace of love for idols was burned out.

Ezekiel 39:8

Ezekiel 39:8. It is come is still prophecy and not history although the language sounds like it. The force of the statement is that an inspired prediction is as sure as if it had taken place. This is the day is as if the Lord said: “1 have been predicting that an important day was coming for my people and this is a description of that day.” Then some verses will follow that

Ezekiel 39:9

Ezekiel 39:9. The subject is still the successful resistance of Israel against the forces of God. That success is pictured as being so great that they will be able to make fuel out of the weap-ons that were intended to be used against them.

Ezekiel 39:10

Ezekiel 39:10. The language here is strong and somewhat figurative, but the actual success of Israel was intended by the Lord to be very unusual. It is so represented by saying that the material for fuel out of the weapons of the enemy will be so plentiful that it will not be necessary to go to the forest for any of it.

Ezekiel 39:11

Ezekiel 39:11. Graves in Israel is a prediction that great numbers of the army of God will be slain right in the country where they expected to slay its citizens. Stop the noses of the pas-sengers. Noses has no word in the original, and the various translations I have consulted leave the phrase indefinite. It seems clear, however, that the number of those who had to be buried of the people of Gog was to be so great that the attention of travelers will be attracted.

Ezekiel 39:12

Ezekiel 39:12. As a further indication of the great number of the people of Gog to be slain, it will take the men of Israel 7 months to bury them. Cleanse the land Is said from a sanitary standpoint, for if that many corpses were left on tlie surface It would cause much danger to health.

Ezekiel 39:13

Ezekiel 39:13. It was seen in tlie verse preceding this that very many men of Gog were to be slain, and that the task of burying them would be great also; for this reason most of the people would be needed in the work. Be to them a renown. God will glorify Himself by destroying these wicked Invaders. and by co-operating with him in this disposal of the dead bodies the people will share in that glory. The New Testament teaches the same principle In Romans 8:17; 2 Corinthians I: 7; 2 Timothy 2:11-12.

Ezekiel 39:14

Ezekiel 39:14. There is no separate word in the original for employment, but continual is represented and means n.en who were in constant search for dead bodies to bury. Bury with the passengers meanB the people passing through the land would finally be invited to help in this great task of burying the dead. However, it was to be after the 7 months’ work was over that the extra help was invited, and a part of the assistance they were to render was to search to see if any dead had been overlooked in the course of the burying period of 7 months.

Ezekiel 39:15

Ezekiel 39:15. Passengers means the men passing through who were Invited to join in the search for any stray bodies that might have been overlooked. If they came across such bodies they were to set up some kind of a marker so that the others whose special work was to handle the corpses would see them and bury them out of sight. Hamoiugog is not strictly a geographical name, but is used to designate the place where so many of the people of Gog were buried, Hamon meaning “ a crowd” according to Strong.

Ezekiel 39:16

Ezekiel 39:16. The word for City is an indefinite one and means any locality that Is marked by some unusual sight. In this case the sight was that of such a great number of graves; the word Hamonah meaning the same as Hamon which is a multitude.

Ezekiel 39:17

Ezekiel 39:17. The dumb creatures are invited to a rich feast provided by the Lord, consisting of the flesh of men who had come into Palestine on behalf of Gog. The preceding verses will explain how such a feast was possible. The number of slain men was to be so great that it would require 7 months to bury them. In that length of time many of the bodies would be stripped of their flesh (see hone in verse 15), the result of the activities of these creatures that had been invited by the Lord to come and feast themselves. Sacrifice does not indicate a religious performance, but the word means a slaughtering of the men of Gog, and (hat will supply the meat for the beasts.

Ezekiel 39:18

Ezekiel 39:18. The mighty and princes were the great men in the army of Gog that were to furnish meat for the beasts. Rams and other animals named are figurative and the terms are used in allusion to the creatures that were used under the law to be served at the. feasts prescribed by the Lord.

Ezekiel 39:19

Ezekiel 39:19. The words fat and blood refer literally to ’the parts of the bodies, but they are used somewhat figuratively. Under the law no one was permitted to eat fat nor blood, but they must be offered to God as a sacrifice. The idea is transferred to these creatures that have been invited to the feast. The words my sacrifice give us the explanation of the matter, for if It is the Lord’ s sacrifice then He can consistently make whatever use of those materials that Is considered proper.

Ezekiel 39:20

Ezekiel 39:20. The line of thought continues in this verse. My table is used in the same sense as my sacrifice in the preceding verse. The Lord prepares a table supplied with tbe bodies of men and horses taken from the army of Gog. He then invites the dumb creatures to feast themselves upon these articles.

Ezekiel 39:21

Ezekiel 39:21. The slaughter of the men and horses of the army of Gog will be known to the other heathen or other nations. And especially, as there will be such a great number that it will take 7 months to bury the men, the witnesses will be impressed with the glory of the Lord who has wrought such an Imposing scene.

Ezekiel 39:22

Ezekiel 39:22. Once more the main object of all divine demonstrations is stated, which is that they shall know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 39:23

Ezekiel 39:23. The heathen shall know, etc., has this logical meaning. The heathen (or nations in general) knew that Israel had been in exile with one of those strange nations for 70 years. They might have concluded it was be-cause the Lord wanted to show his favor for the heathen world. But when they see the great destruction of the people of Gog (another heathen group). they will know the mentioned conclusion was wrong. They will then be able to form the correct conclusion namely, that Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, and not as a favor to the Babylonians.

Ezekiel 39:24

Ezekiel 39:24. It was according to their [Israel’ s] uncleanness that God hid his lace from his people, and let them be held in captivity for 70 years.

Ezekiel 39:25

Ezekiel 39:25. As soon as God’ s wrath was satisfied against his people. His mercy and love for them came into action and the captivity was brought to a close. The terms Jacob and whole house of Israel are very significant Let the reader refer to the comments in chapter 37: 15-22 regarding the so- called lost 10 tribes, and connect them with the italicized words in this verse. It will be clear to all that the whole house of Israel does not mean 2 tribes only.

Ezekiel 39:26

Ezekiel 39:26. Regardless of the form of language as to past, present or future tense, the reader should remember that Ezekiel is writing about half a century before the end of the captivity. The purpose of the predictions is to encourage the people of Israel who had fallen into a state of despondency. (See at the valley of dry bones and 137th Psalm.) But they are given to understand that they must bear their shame as a matter of chastisement before being released.

Ezekiel 39:27

Ezekiel 39:27. God promised to bring his people out of the enemies’ lands.

Ezekiel 39:28

Ezekiel 39:28. Have left none of them any more there. It is true that even after the 70-year captivity was ended, many Jews remained in that country according to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, But they were voluntary citizens of Persia and not. captives.

Ezekiel 39:29

Ezekiel 39:29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them. There were numerous times afterward when God was displeased with his people and punished them very severely. But the nation as a whole was never taken in a body from their home land as It was in the Babylonian captivity.