Ezekiel39

Ezekiel 39 prophesies God's decisive judgment against Gog and his vast army on the mountains of Israel, leading to their utter destruction. This victory serves to manifest God's holy name to both Israel and the heathen nations. Following the battle, Israel will spend years burning the enemy's weapons and months burying the dead to cleanse the land, culminating in God's promise to restore His people and pour out His Spirit upon them.

Listen to this chapter

God's Judgment Against Gog

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 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 in Israel.

Behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

The Cleanup and Burial of the Dead

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 out of the forests; 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-gog.

And seven months shall the house of Israel be 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: 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 shall they cleanse the land.

The Feast of Judgment

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.

The Theological Purpose of the Victory

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 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: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword.

According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I unto them; and I hid my face from them.

Promise of Final Restoration

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.

Study Notes for Ezekiel 39

Verse 1

This chapter continues the prophecy from chapter 38, detailing the decisive defeat of Gog and his coalition. God asserts absolute sovereignty, declaring that He is the one who orchestrates the battle.

Verse 2

God asserts absolute control over the invasion, implying that Gog is merely a tool used to demonstrate divine power. The phrase 'leave but the sixth part of thee' (KJV) is based on a difficult Hebrew reading, often interpreted as 'lead you on' or 'turn you about.'

Verse 6

The fire on 'Magog' and 'the isles' (coastlands) suggests judgment extending beyond the immediate battlefield to the homeland of the invaders and distant, seemingly secure nations, emphasizing the universal scope of God's power.

Verse 7

The ultimate purpose of the destruction is the vindication of God's holiness before Israel and the nations. This is a central theme in Ezekiel: God acts primarily for the sake of His own name and reputation.

Verse 8

This declaration emphasizes the certainty and immediacy of the prophecy's fulfillment. This phrase acts as a concluding marker for the battle description before moving to the consequences.

Verse 9

The incredible abundance of weapons, enough to fuel fires for seven years, illustrates the vast size of the defeated army and signifies the resulting long period of peace and security for Israel.

Verse 10

The burning of weapons negates the need to cut wood, demonstrating the miraculous provision of fuel and highlighting the reversal of fortune, where Israel now spoils those who sought to spoil them.

Verse 11

The designated burial place is named the Valley of Hamon-gog ('Multitude of Gog'). The immense number of corpses requires a specific, isolated location, and the effort ensures the land is not defiled.

Verse 12

Seven months of burial are required to ritually purify the land from the defilement of the unburied dead (cf. Numbers 19:11-13). This meticulous detail highlights the importance of ritual purity in the restored covenant land.

Verse 17

This is a hyperbolic, metaphorical invitation to the scavenger animals, describing the destruction of God’s enemies as a great sacrificial feast (*zebach*). This imagery reappears in Revelation 19:17-18.

Verse 18

The description of the fallen enemies as 'fatlings of Bashan' uses terminology associated with luxury and strength, emphasizing that God defeats the most powerful forces.

Verse 21

The judgment on Gog serves not only to protect Israel but, more importantly, to reveal God's glory (*kavod*) to the surrounding nations, who will acknowledge Yahweh's power.

Verse 22

The deliverance ensures that Israel’s faith is reaffirmed, establishing a permanent, recognized relationship between the people and their God.

Verse 23

This verse provides the key theological link between the past exile and the current restoration. The nations will finally understand that Israel’s previous suffering was divine discipline for sin, not a sign of Yahweh’s weakness.

Verse 25

God promises to restore Israel based on His mercy and His commitment to His own holy reputation. This verse marks the transition from the judgment on external enemies to the assurance of Israel's renewed covenant status.

Verse 26

The phrase 'borne their shame' refers to the humiliation and suffering of the exile, which served as a purgative punishment for their former unfaithfulness.

Verse 28

This verse summarizes the entire history of Israel and the nations: God was sovereign both in sending the exile and in orchestrating the return, confirming His identity as the LORD their God.

Verse 29

The promise to 'pour out my spirit' is the ultimate sign of the covenant renewal and permanent relationship (cf. Joel 2:28-29). This guarantees God's enduring presence and the cessation of divine hiding ('hid I my face,' v. 24).

Use ← → arrow keys to navigate

Ezekiel39

God's Judgment Against Gog

The Cleanup and Burial of the Dead

The Feast of Judgment

The Theological Purpose of the Victory

Promise of Final Restoration

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options