Ezekiel Chapter 39

Ezekiel 39:1
"Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:"
This re-emphasizes the fact that God is against Gog the Antichrist. We discussed before the reason for God being against them. They did not believe in God, they were hateful against His people. He was against them, because they had totally rejected Him, then and now.

Ezekiel 39:2
"And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:"
When Gog comes into Palestine this time he will be turned back and almost completely destroyed. The result will not be thus when he invades Palestine 3 ½ years earlier (in the middle of Daniel's 70th week) to take over Jerusalem and the Jewish temple as his capital (Dan. 9:27; Mt. 24:51; 2 Th. 2:3-4; Rev. 11:1-2; 13:1-18). God will permit him to drive the Jews out of Palestine and occupy their country for about 3 ½ years in the last part of 7 years tribulation period. Then, during this time He will rise up new enemies north and east of Gog's 10 kingdoms to keep him occupied in war so that he cannot concentrate on the total destruction of Israel. At the end of those 3 ½ years, after conquering these enemies, he will lead the nations against Israel and Jerusalem to do what he intended at the beginning; but before he can take all of Jerusalem he will be defeated by Jesus Christ at the 2nd coming (Zech. 14:1-15; 2 Th. 1:7-10; Jude 14-15; Rev. 19:11-21). This is the time he is to be turned back from his purpose and his armies are to be destroyed-- all but a sixth part.
Sixth part... A sixth part of men under the Antichrist being spared would mean about 166,667 escaping destruction and 833,333 being destroyed out of every million. We have no way of telling how many millions will be in the vast armies of the nations, but there will be many to fulfill 38:22; Rev. 14:20.
North parts... Antichrist’s army will come down from the north into Palestine, as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Grecians, and others did in the past. Syria is north of Palestine, and an army from Babylon would come west through that country and then south into Palestine to avoid the desert.

Ezekiel 39:3:
"And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand."
This is just speaking of the hopelessness of them fighting back against God. Who do they shoot? In despair, they just drop their bows and arrows or more rightly put, this is talking of the many weapons of today.

Ezekiel 39:4
"Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that [is] with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and [to] the beasts of the field to be devoured."
Gog and his mighty armies will be destroyed at this time, a fact which proves the whole two chapters (38-39) refers to the leading up to Armageddon and the 2nd advent of Christ.
This speaks of them dying in such vast numbers, that there is no way, until this is over, to bury them. Their bodies will be literally eaten by the vultures (fowls, ravenous birds) of the air. Even the beasts literally passing by will eat their carcasses (flesh) drink the blood of this slain. There will be no one left to stop them.

Ezekiel 39:5
"Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD."
The open field refers to all the land of Palestine and surrounding countries where the hosts of the armies of all nations under Antichrist will be mobilized, but mainly to the mountains of Israel (vs. 17).

Ezekiel 39:6
"And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I [am] the LORD."
Magog... It seems that Magog will be the chief hater of God and the Jews; it is this singled out along with maritime countries as the object of Gods wrath. This is perhaps why both Gog, the prince, and the land of Magog are mentioned in particular in Rev. 20:7-10 in connection with the last rebellion against God on earth, which will take place 1,000 years later.
Even though these are doing the fighting, the judgment is from God. God is just using them to bring the judgment. There will be no question that God is God.

Ezekiel 39:7
"So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not [let them] pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, the Holy One in Israel."

Three Results of Armageddon:

1. I will make My holy name known in the midst of my people Israel
2. I will not permit them to pollute My holy name anymore
3. The heathen will know that I am the Holy One in Israel

We read that the name of Jesus brings worship. Philippians 2:10-11: "That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven, and [things] in earth, and [things] under the earth;" "And [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Ezekiel 39:8
"Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this [is] the day whereof I have spoken."
The day...This should be taken literally instead of being counted as a period (a number of days), for in Zech. 14:7 it is definitely stated as one day, meaning the battle of Armageddon will last only that long. This time will come, because God has spoken it.

Ezekiel 39:9
"And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years:"
After the one-day battle of Armageddon Israel will begin the work of burying the millions of men slain on the battle field (vs. 9-16). The prediction is that no wood will be needed from the forests to be used as fuel for 7 years, because there will be enough material collected from the battle field to provide fires that long (vs. 9-10). This scripture is speaking of the tremendous amounts of weapons that will be in the battle of Gog and Magog. They will be of no use, as how can humans fight God? The cleanup from such devastation would be a long, tremendous task.

Ezekiel 39:10
"So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down [any] out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord GOD."
This speaks of using these weapons for burning, in the place of wood from the forest, to heat the homes. Whatever of value they had, will go to Israel. They were the victors, even though they did not fight the war. God fought for them.

Ezekiel 39:11:
"And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the [noses] of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call [it] The valley of Hamon-gog."

In that day... after Armageddon, Gog and his armies (that is, five-sixths of his armies) will be buried. It will take 7 months to bury such a vast multitude of bodies and dispose of every bone in all the land (vs. 12-14). Before the most of them are buried men will stop their noses as they pass through the land because of such a stench coming from the decaying bodies (vs. 11).
Valley of Hamon-gog... The multitude of Gog (vs. 11,15).

To what "sea" is Ezekiel referring? It is the sea that the "Valley of the Passengers" enters. That is the "Sea of Salt" or the "Dead Sea". The "Valley of the Passengers" in Hebrew is "Guy-'Ohverim". It is a deep gorge, an abysmal chasm, a canyon that descends from the crest of Mount Moab down between Mount Nebo's Pisgah on the North and the mount called "Ohverim" on the South. "Oh-ver" means "pass", "Ohverim" means "Passengers". Guy-'Ohverim enters the sea directly opposite to the Cave of the Column.

Over the ridge of Mount Moab flowing east away from Guy-'Ohverim, is the Valley of Tubal. The Tubal River flows down all the way from Mount Moab to the Euphrates at the ancient city of Babylon.

Place . . . of graves - Gog found only a grave where he had expected the spoils of conquest. Valley - So vast were to be the masses that nothing but a deep valley would suffice for their corpses. the passengers on the east of the sea - those traveling on the high road, east of the Dead Sea, from Syria to Petra and Egypt.

The publicity of the road would cause many to observe God's judgments, as the stench (as English Version translates) or the multitude of graves would arrest the attention of passers-by. Their grave would be close to that of their ancient prototypes, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Dead Sea, both alike being signal instances of God's judgments.

Ezekiel 39:12
"And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land."
There were so many dead; they would be continually burying them. It speaks highly of Israel that they buried them, instead of just piling them up, and burning them, as some countries would do. Israel has respect for bodies.

Ezekiel 39:13
"Yea, all the people of the land shall bury [them]; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD."
This would be a monumental task, even for all the people, to bury them. They would all feel the necessity to bury them and to stop the horrible odor.
It is now that Israel will begin to see how God vanquishes Israel’s foes to show His glory so that His enemies and Israel will all know that He is the Lord.

Ezekiel 39:14
"And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search."
The people in the whole land help in the interment of the dead that will consume seven months. They will also hire people to go around, and find the ones they missed, so that they also may be buried.

Ezekiel 39:15
"And the passengers [that] pass through the land, 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."
Hamon-gog: The valley of, the name to be bestowed on the ravine or glen, previously known as "the ravine of the passengers on the east of the sea," after the burial there of "Gog and his entire multitude."
"Everyone who found a bone from a dead body, put a flag up by it, so that the professional buriers will find it, and buries it.

Ezekiel 39:16
"And also the name of the city [shall be] Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land."
"Hamonah"... means to the multitude. This city shall rise out of the rubble of the grave place of Gog. The multitude speaks of the multitude of dead.

Ezekiel 39:17
"And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, 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."
Speak... This is exactly the same command and concerns the same thing as in Rev. 19:17-18,20). It refers to the calling of all the birds and beasts of the field to eat of the dead bodies of men and animals killed in the battle of Armageddon. Both passages speak of the supper, the great sacrifices, and My table that God will make upon the mountains of Israel where the birds and beasts may come to eat until they are full and drink until they are drunken. Jesus referred to this same thing when He said, “wheresoever the carcase is, thither will the eagles be gathered together” Luke 17:34-37. This could not possibly refer to any war before Armageddon between Russia and Israel; it refers only to the time of the battle of Armageddon when Christ comes literally to the planet earth with His angels and resurrected saints to take over the governments of this world and reign over them eternally, (Rev. 11:15; 19:11-21).

Ezekiel 39:18:
"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."
When they fall in battle, it will make no difference whether they were generals or a private. The vultures know no rank. The rams, lambs, goats, and bullocks are speaking symbolically of the different soldiers.
Since God describes the feast by the imagery of a sacrificial means, the warriors who fell are described figuratively in words such as rams and other animals used in sacrifice.
Bashan... Fruitful, Region East of Jordan.

Ezekiel 39:19:
"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."
Again, this is speaking of this as a very large killing ground. It seems there is no limit to how full the vultures will be. This is like a sacrifice from God to the birds and beasts.

Ezekiel 39:20
"Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD."
This is saying, that not only them but everything they brought with them. We must remind ourselves that this is not Satan doing this, but the Lord GOD does this. He is a just God. He has judged them, and now, this is their punishment for their years of sin and hate for Israel and God Himself.

Ezekiel 39:21
"And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them."

Four fold purpose of God in Armageddon:

1. I will set My glory among the heathen
2. All the heathen will see My judgment that I have executed upon them vs. 21
3. The house of Israel will know that I am Jehovah their God from that day and forward vs. 22
4. The heathen will know that the house of Israel was defeated and went into captivity for their sins, and that I dealt with them accordingly vs. 23-24

The one really important thing to see in this verse, is the effect this judgment from God has on the rest of the heathen, and also, on Israel.

Ezekiel 39:22
"So the house of Israel shall know that I [am] the LORD their God from that day and forward."
This battle will leave a lasting impression upon Israel. They had seen God operate in their behalf before, but never to this magnitude. LORD, here is Jehovah.

Ezekiel 39:23
"And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword."
God is expressing, in this verse that judgment truly began at the house of God. Israel was not allowed to go on worshipping false gods. God did not overlook her transgression. He let many of Israel die by the sword, because of their sins. It was not God's inability to protect Israel. It was God's judgment on Israel.
When Gog and his companions came against Israel, God showed His might and was giving them time to repent.

Ezekiel 39:24
"According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them."
God hid His face from Israel, when they were involved in false worship.
Isaiah 54:8 "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer."
Israel in exile and dispersion has been like a wife whose husband has rejected her. But this is only for a brief time compared to the everlasting kindness she will enjoy when the Messiah returns to gather the woeful wife.

Ezekiel 39:25
"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;"
Now... (after Armageddon and at the 2nd advent of Christ) will I bring the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, that is, those of all the 13 tribes that have not yet been gathered from all the nations.

Ezekiel 39:26
"After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made [them] afraid."
This explains the Now of vs.25. After Israel has borne her shame and her people have reaped for all their sins, when they dwell safely in their own land, when when none will make them afraid, and when I have brought them again from all the people among whom they have been scattered (vs. 26-27), then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led away captive among the heathen, and gathered them again to their own land, leaving none of them among the heathen. Neither will I hide My face from them anymore, for I have redeemed them and poured out My Spirit upon them (vs. 28-29).

Ezekiel 39:27
"When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations;"
The word again proves that this is the second gathering of Israel and they were gathered once before this. The first gathering was after the Babylonian captivity; the second is now taking place and it will continue until all the Israelites are finally and completely gathered or regathered at the second advent of Christ (vs. 27-29; Isa. 11:10-12).
Sanctified... Here again God speaks of Himself as being sanctified in Israel, meaning that He is revered by them and they have set Him apart as their only true and living God-- not that He has been cleansed from sin, for He has no sin (vs. 27).

Ezekiel 39:28
"Then shall they know that I [am] the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them anymore there."
God scattered them for the sins in their lives. He brings the remnant back, because He is a merciful God. He has forgiven them.

Ezekiel 39:29
"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 GOD."
God’s provision of His Spirit at the Second Advent complements the regathering. The last revolt at the end of the Millennium is another assault on Jerusalem patterned after certain images of the invasion here, but it is a distinct event one thousand years after the millennial kingdom begins and Satan is loosed and then sent to the lake of fire for eternity.
I believe this is the Scripture in Jeremiah that makes reference to this: Jeremiah 31:34 "And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."