Ezekiel 39

1 "Son of man, prophesy against Gog. Say, 'A Message of God, the Master: I'm against you, Gog, head of Meshech and Tubal.

2 I'm going to turn you around and drag you out, drag you out of the far north and down on the mountains of Israel.

3 Then I'll knock your bow out of your left hand and your arrows from your right hand.

4 On the mountains of Israel you'll be slaughtered, you and all your troops and the people with you. I'll serve you up as a meal to carrion birds and scavenging animals.

5 You'll be killed in the open field. I've given my word. Decree of God, the Master.'

6 "I'll set fire to Magog and the far-off islands, where people are so seemingly secure. And they'll realize that I am God.

7 "I'll reveal my holy name among my people Israel. Never again will I let my holy name be dragged in the mud. Then the nations will realize that I, God, am The Holy in Israel.

8 "It's coming! Yes, it will happen! This is the day I've been telling you about.

9 "People will come out of the cities of Israel and make a huge bonfire of the weapons of war, piling on shields large and small, bows and arrows, clubs and spears, a fire they'll keep going for seven years.

10 They won't need to go into the woods to get fuel for the fire. There'll be plenty of weapons to keep it going. They'll strip those who stripped them. They'll rob those who robbed them. Decree of God, the Master.

11 "At that time I'll set aside a burial ground for Gog in Israel at Traveler's Rest, just east of the sea. It will obstruct the route of travelers, blocking their way, the mass grave of Gog and his mob of an army. They'll call the place Gog's Mob.

12 "Israel will bury the corpses in order to clean up the land. It will take them seven months.

13 All the people will turn out to help with the burials. It will be a big day for the people when it's all done and I'm given my due.

14 Men will be hired full-time for the cleanup burial operation and will go through the country looking for defiling, decomposing corpses. At the end of seven months, there'll be an all-out final search.

15 Anyone who sees a bone will mark the place with a stick so the buriers can get it and bury it in the mass burial site, Gog's Mob.

16 (A town nearby is called Mobville, or Hamonah.) That's how they'll clean up the land.

17 "Son of man, God, the Master, says: Call the birds! Call the wild animals! Call out, 'Gather and come, gather around my sacrificial meal that I'm preparing for you on the mountains of Israel. You'll eat meat and drink blood.

18 You'll eat off the bodies of great heroes and drink the blood of famous princes as if they were so many rams and lambs, goats and bulls, the choicest grain-fed animals of Bashan.

19 At the sacrificial meal I'm fixing for you, you'll eat fat till you're stuffed and drink blood till you're drunk.

20 At the table I set for you, you'll stuff yourselves with horses and riders, heroes and fighters of every kind.' Decree of God, the Master.

21 "I'll put my glory on display among the nations and they'll all see the judgment I execute, see me at work handing out judgment.

22 From that day on, Israel will realize that I am their God.

23 And the nations will get the message that it was because of their sins that Israel went into exile. They were disloyal to me and I turned away from them. I turned them over to their enemies and they were all killed.

24 I treated them as their polluted and sin-sated lives deserved. I turned away from them, refused to look at them.

25 "But now I will return Jacob back from exile, I'll be compassionate with all the people of Israel, and I'll be zealous for my holy name.

26 Eventually the memory will fade, the memory of their shame over their betrayals of me when they lived securely in their own land, safe and unafraid.

27 Once I've brought them back from foreign parts, gathered them in from enemy territories, I'll use them to demonstrate my holiness with all the nations watching.

28 Then they'll realize for sure that I am their God, for even though I sent them off into exile, I will gather them back to their own land, leaving not one soul behind.

29 After I've poured my Spirit on Israel, filled them with my life, I'll no longer turn away. I'll look them full in the face. Decree of God, the Master."

Ezekiel 39 Commentary

Chapter 39

The destruction of Gog. (1-10) Its extent. (11-22) Israel again favoured. (23-29)

Verses 1-10 The Lord will make the most careless and hardened transgressors know his holy name, either by his righteous anger, or by the riches of his mercy and grace. The weapons formed against Zion shall not prosper. Though this prophecy is to be fulfilled in the latter days, it is certain. From the language used, it seems that the army of Gog will be destroyed by miracle.

Verses 11-22 How numerous the enemies which God destroyed for the defence of his people Israel! Times of great deliverances should be times of reformation. Every one should help the utmost he can, toward cleansing the land from reproach. Sin is an enemy every man should strive against. Those engaged in public work, especially of cleansing and reforming a land, ought to be men who will go through with what they undertake, who will be always employed. When good work is to be done, every one should further it. Having received special favours from God, let us cleanse ourselves from all evil. It is a work which will require persevering diligence, that search may be made into the secret recesses of sin. The judgments of the Lord, brought upon sin and sinners, are a sacrifice to the justice of God, and a feast to the faith and hope of God's people. See how evil pursues sinners, even after death. After all that ambitious and covetous men do and look for, "a place of graves" is all the Lord gives them on earth, while their guilty souls are doomed to misery in another world.

Verses 23-29 When the Lord shall have mercy on the whole house of Israel, by converting them to Christianity, and when they shall have borne the shame of being cast off for their sins, then the nations shall learn to know, worship, and serve him. Then Israel also shall know the Lord, as revealed in and by Christ. Past events do not answer to these predictions. The pouring out of the Spirit is a pledge that God's favour will continue. He will hide his face no more from those on whom he has poured out his Spirit. When we pray that God would never cast us from his presence, we must as earnestly pray that, in order thereto, he would never take his Holy Spirit from us.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 39

This chapter is a continuation of the prophecy of the destruction of Gog, which is both repeated, and more largely described, Eze 39:1-8, then follows an account of the burning of his weapons of war, which will last seven years in burning, during which time there will be no need of the use of wood, Eze 39:9,10, and of the burial of him, and many of his army; the place where, and the time that will be taken up in doing this, even seven months, are observed, Eze 39:11-16, and every feathered fowl and beast of the field are called upon to feed on the flesh of those that are left unburied, Eze 39:17-20 and by all this the glory of the Lord will be seen, known, and acknowledged, both by the Heathens, and by the house of Israel, Eze 39:21,22, and the former will also be informed that the present captivity of the Jews has been for their sins and transgressions, Eze 39:23,24, and the chapter is concluded with a promise of their return from captivity, when they shall know the Lord, and their interest in him; who will after this no more hide his face from them, but pour out his Spirit upon them, under whose influence they shall ever continue, Eze 39:25-29.