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Ezekiel 39

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God's Judgment Against Gog 1–8

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: ​
2
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; ​
3
and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4
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.
5
Thou shalt fall upon the open field; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
6
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. ​
7
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. ​
8
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 9–16

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; ​
10
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. ​
11
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. ​
12
And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. ​
13
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.
14
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.
15
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.
16
And Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

The Feast of Judgment 17–20

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. ​
18
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. ​
19
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.
20
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 21–24

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 upon them. ​
22
So the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God, from that day and forward. ​
23
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. ​
24
According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I unto them; and I hid my face from them.

Promise of Final Restoration 25–29

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. ​
26
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; ​
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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.
28
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; ​
29
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. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Ezekiel 39

Verse 1

I am against thee, O Gog — The words of 38:3 are repeated, and the same declaration was made against mount Seir (35:3) and Pharaoh (29:3). Ch.39 returns to Gog and describes what the LORD does to him, as ch.38 described his coming. He is again named 'the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal'.

Verse 2

turn thee back — The verb of 38:4, where the LORD put 'hooks into thy jaws': Gog is turned, not self-directed. The 'north parts' are those of 38:15, and he is brought 'upon the mountains of Israel'. The verb behind 'leave but the sixth part of thee' (shasha) occurs only here, so its sense is not settled by other uses.

Verse 6

dwell carelessly in the isles — Betach is the word rendered 'safely' of Israel in 38:8, 11 and 14, and 'carelessly' here of the isles. Fire falls on Magog, the invader's own land, as well as on the mountains of Israel where his army is met, and the result is the same as before: 'they shall know that I am the LORD'.

Verse 7

the Holy One in Israel — The name Israel had 'profaned among the heathen' (36:20, 22) is the name the LORD now makes known, using the same verb for 'pollute' (chalal): 'I will not let them pollute my holy name any more'. 'Holy One' recalls Isaiah's title 'the Holy One of Israel' (Isa 1:4); here he is the Holy One 'in' Israel.

Verse 8

it is come, and it is done — Of Jerusalem's end the LORD said, 'Behold the day, behold, it is come' (7:10). Here the day is Gog's, and the 'spoken' of this verse answers 38:17, 'Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time'. In Rev 16:17 a voice from the throne says 'It is done' after the seventh vial.

Verse 9

burn the weapons… seven years — The list opens with the shields and bucklers of 38:4 and adds bows, arrows, spears and 'handstaves'. Israel burns them, as Ps 46:9 says the LORD 'breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire'. The seven years of fuel mark the size of the army.

Verse 10

spoil those that spoiled them — The pair shalal and baz, 'spoil' and 'rob', is the one Gog meant to use: 'to take a spoil, and to take a prey' (38:12). What he planned returns on him. The weapons serve as firewood, so that 'they shall take no wood out of the field'.

Verse 11

The valley of Hamongog — Hamon-gog means the multitude of Gog. Gog and his host are buried in Israel, in 'the valley of the passengers' ('overim, those who pass through), and the valley takes its name from them. The city named in v.16, Hamonah, comes from the same word, hamon, a multitude.

Verse 12

seven months… that they may cleanse the land — A dead body made the touching person 'unclean seven days' (Num 19:11), and a body left hanging would defile 'thy land' (Deut 21:23). Taher, 'cleanse', is the verb of 36:25, where the LORD cleanses the people. Here the people cleanse the land, and the work runs seven months.

Verse 17

my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you — Zebach, the word for a sacrificial feast, and the LORD is the host. Zeph 1:7 uses the same picture, 'the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests'. Rev 19:17–18 repeats the call to 'all the fowls that fly', 'unto the supper of the great God'.

Verse 18

fatlings of Bashan — The 'mighty' and 'princes of the earth' are named as rams, lambs, goats and bullocks, the animals of the sacrificial feast of v.17. Bashan was cattle country, with 'rams of the breed of Bashan' (Deut 32:14) and its 'kine' (Amos 4:1). Rev 19:18 speaks of 'the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains'.

Verse 21

I will set my glory among the heathen — 'Glory' is kabod. The purpose is that 'all the heathen shall see my judgment', as 38:23 foretold. It is the aim given to Pharaoh long before: 'for to shew in thee my power; and that my name may be declared throughout all the earth' (Ex 9:16).

Verse 22

from that day and forward — The heathen learn the LORD's name at v.21, and Israel learns it for good: the promise of Jer 24:7, 'I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD'. It follows the new heart and spirit promised in 36:26–27, and v.29 gives the sign of it.

Verse 23

went into captivity for their iniquity — In 36:20 the heathen read the exile as the LORD's failure. They now read it rightly, as Jeremiah said they would: 'Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God' (Jer 22:9). 'Trespassed' is ma'al, and 'hid I my face' matches Isa 59:2, 'your sins have hid his face'.

Verse 25

will be jealous for my holy name — The verb qana shares its root with 'jealousy' in 36:5, and 'holy name' is the concern of 36:21–22, 'I had pity for mine holy name'. The verse gives mercy on 'the whole house of Israel' and jealousy for the name together as the reasons for bringing again 'the captivity of Jacob'.

Verse 26

borne their shame — The verb is nasa, as in 36:6–7, 'ye have borne the shame of the heathen'. 'Trespasses' and 'trespassed' are ma'al, as in v.23. The later security, 'none made them afraid', is the promise of Lev 26:6, 'none shall make you afraid', and of Mic 4:4.

Verse 28

have left none of them any more there — The LORD is both the one who 'caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen' and the one who 'gathered them unto their own land'. Nothing of the people is left in exile. Amos 9:15 gives the same promise: 'they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them'.

Verse 29

I have poured out my spirit — Shaphak, the verb of 36:18, 'I poured my fury upon them'. What was poured on them for their sins is now the Spirit, and the LORD gives this as the reason he will not hide his face any more. The pouring is the promise of Joel 2:28, which Peter cites at Pentecost (Acts 2:16–17).