“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. 2 And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. 6 I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.
7 “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. 8 Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.
9 “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, 10 so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.
11 “On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. 12 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God. 14 They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make their search. 15 And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. 16 (Hamonah
is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17 “As for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God: Speak to the birds of every sort and to all beasts of the field: ‘Assemble and come, gather from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel, and you shall eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—of rams, of lambs, and of he-goats, of bulls, all of them fat beasts of Bashan. 19 And you shall eat fat till you are filled, and drink blood till you are drunk, at the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you. 20 And you shall be filled at my table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all kinds of warriors,’ declares the Lord God.
21 “And I will set my glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22 The house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward. 23 And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, because they dealt so treacherously with me that I hid my face from them and gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their transgressions, and hid my face from them.
The Lord Will Restore Israel
25 “Therefore thus says the Lord God: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies' lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. 28 Then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. 29 And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord God.” Ezekiel 39 ESV
Ezekiel 39
1-6 From the uttermost parts of the north - A repetition of 38:5, stating from where Gog will be brought, not just north, but uttermost regions, far away. This chapter goes with the last chapter, amplifying the scene of Gog's call and destruction in Israel.
Strike your bow from your left hand - They brought weapons, but it sounds like they come to the point of using them and are then disarmed or disabled.
I will give you to birds of prey - A mass of people laying in the open field.
17Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, 18so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.” 19Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies assembled to wage war against the One seated on the horse, and against His army.… Revelation 19: 17-19
I will send fire on Magog - Not the first use of this in God's judgment. Aaron's sons were killed this way.
I will send fire upon Magog - The sending of fire is a common expression for divine judgment (Hos 8:14; Am 1:12). Not only are the invading forces destroyed, their homeland is also devastated by fire from God (presumably "fire and brimstone" as this is the only other contextual reference to fire). Send in the Septuagint is apostello which means to send forth and in the NT is used of men who were sent forth with a commission (apostle [apostolos], eg, Mt 11:10 speaks of God's messenger John the Baptist). In a sense the fire is God's "messenger" conveys the truth that He is LORD! - Precept Austin
They shall know that I am the Lord - Men devise all sorts of ways, and they convince themselves of their just nature, their own strength and wisdom, yet now they will blame this fire on no other than God. There will be no more explaining away. God has done this and those that remain acknowledge as much.
7-8 And My holy name - He is the Lord and there is no other, Holy is otherly, beyond different, righteous, eternally so.
"Unlike man's popular use of the term "name" as a label of reference, God's very essence is bound up in His "name." The invader, by his attack upon an innocent people, is profaning God's "name." Because of their helplessness, the people will know that God is their deliverer." (W A Criswell)
…11This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” 13When they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they marveled and took note that these men had been with Jesus.… Acts 4: 11-13
1Then the LORD said to Moses, 2“Tell Aaron and his sons to treat with respect the sacred offerings that the Israelites have consecrated to Me, so that they do not profane My holy name. I am the LORD. 3Tell them that for the generations to come, if any of their descendants in a state of uncleanness approaches the sacred offerings that the Israelites consecrate to the LORD, that person must be cut off from My presence. I am the LORD.… Leviticus 22: 1-3
9-10 Make fires of the weapons and burn them - The weapons described may be just for the understanding of Ezekiel's time, yet there is so much fuel that it can burn for 7 years.
Plunder those who plundered them - It is a reversal of Gog's intent. It is reminiscent of the lepers in 2 Kings after God had caused the enemy to hear noises and be overcome with fear.
6For the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a great army, so that they said to one another, “Look, the king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and Egyptians to attack us.”…
…7Thus the Arameans had arisen and fled at twilight, abandoning their tents and horses and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had run for their lives. 8When the lepers reached the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they carried off the silver, gold, and clothing, and went and hid them. On returning, they entered another tent, carried off some items from there, and hid them. 9Finally, they said to one another, “We are not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our sin will overtake us. Now, therefore, let us go and tell the king’s household.”… 2 Kings 7: 6-9
11-16 For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them - This would go into the beginning of the Millennial kingdom, that is how massive the death toll from this battle will be.
HCSB - Because corpses were considered unclean (Lev 21:1,11; 22:4; Num 5:2; 6:6-12; 31:19), the Mosaic law required all humans to be given a proper burial (Dt 21:22-23). Numbers 19:11-22 explains not only the contaminating effects of a corpse but also the process by which a person so defiled could be ceremonially cleansed. - Precept Austin
Hamonah is also the name of the city - This means "multitude".
17-24 Rams...bulls... all of them fat beast of Bashan - Bashan was known for its flocks, but this is describing the dead of the earth, those who came up against Israel. The comparison is used at other times to represent men, especially those of title and power. Christ was surrounded by these, and also described the dogs, or unclean, referencing gentiles, as they cast lots for His robe. He truly bore sorrow, pain and disgrace, yet earned none of it as He took the place of those who deserved it.
…11Be not far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13They open their jaws against me like lions that roar and maul.… Psalm 22: 11-13
According to their uncleanness and transgressions - Let God be true and all men liars. He was true to His word, His integrity stands, that He first dealt with sin, died for our sins, to keep His holiness and yet also His covenant with Israel. Now they and the world understand. Who is like God?
My glory among the nations - "Glory" in Hebrew speaks of that which is heavy or weighty, a good word picture of the omnipotent God, Who indeed is "weighty!" The corresponding Greek word (used in this verse for the Hebrew noun kabod) is doxa, which in simple terms speaks of that which gives a proper opinion of something or someone, in this case of God. In other words, God's "glory" will give to the nations a proper opinion of His character, His person, His attributes as seen in the Glorious One, the Messiah, Who Himself will reign on earth. Hallelujah! Maranatha!
My judgment - In context this refers to the defeat of Gog. As discussed these events at the end of Ezekiel 38-39 are such that they strongly suggest that they take place at the very end of this present age and are terminated by the return of the Messiah in glory to take up His glorious throne in Jerusalem for all the nations to behold. - Precept Austin
…20All the priests and Levites had purified themselves and were ceremonially clean. And the Levites slaughtered the Passover lamb for all the exiles, for their priestly brothers, and for themselves. 21The Israelites who had returned from exile ate it, together with all who had separated themselves from the uncleanness of the peoples of the land to seek the LORD, the God of Israel. 22For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.… Ezra 6: 20-22
25-29 Have mercy on the whole house of Israel - This seems pretty straightforward, and when we look upon the covenants and the whole counsel of God, it seems clearly and simply evident that God is not yet done with Israel.
25I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will remove godlessness from Jacob. 27And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”… Romans 11: 25-27
With none to make them afraid - That has not been the case since Babylon to this day. 9/11 was a wake up call for the U.S. and other nations, yet they still don't understand this region of the world, nor that it will take more than a conversation. Only Christ can genuinely fix this, and what we experienced that day is what Israel has known since her return as a nation. People even go so far as to tell this little country to stand down, even when missiles are aimed and fired on her. It is a sick and hypocritical world.
When I pour out My Spirit upon the house of Israel - You must be what? Born again.
…38Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Matthew 23: 38-39
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