Ezekiel39
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1And 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:
2and 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;
3and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4Thou 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.
5Thou shalt fall upon the open field; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
6And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.
7And 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.
8Behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
9And 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;
10so 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.
11And 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.
12And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land.
13Yea, 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.
14And 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.
15And 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.
16And Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
17And 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.
18Ye 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.
19And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord Jehovah.
21And 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.
22So the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God, from that day and forward.
23And 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.
24According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I unto them; and I hid my face from them.
25Therefore 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.
26And 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;
27when 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.
28And 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;
29neither 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 Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 39.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The destruction of Gog. (1-10). Its extent. (11-22). Israel again favoured. (23-29).
vv1-10
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.
vv11-22
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.
vv23-29
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.
Key Words
אַתָּה: thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
נָבָא: to prophesy, i.e. speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse)
עַל: above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications
גּוֹג: Gog, the name of an Israelite, also of some nothern nation
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
כֹּה: properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now
אֲדֹנָי: the Lord (used as a proper name of God only)
הִנֵּה: lo!
Cross References
Ezekiel 39John's invitation to birds of prey to consume kings and captains directly echoes Ezekiel's sacrificial feast.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Direct reiteration of the divine indictment and titles of Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallel theme of God making wars to cease by breaking and burning the weapons of war.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Identifies the divine plagues of destruction sent against Gog's hosts.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Similar judgment of being cast onto the open fields and given to ravenous beasts.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Confirms this judgment is the great day of recompense spoken of by former prophets.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The solemn declaration 'it is done' matches the seventh bowl judgment in Revelation.
Supported by JFB
Eschatological development of the ultimate gathering of Gog and Magog for final defeat.
Supported by Matthew Henry
The sovereign pouring out of God's Spirit as the guarantee of covenant restoration.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Parallels God's turning back of the northern invader as with hooks in jaws.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Verifies that Gog's armies originate from the extreme recesses of the north parts.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God acts to preserve His holy name from being polluted among the heathen.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God's holy jealousy to vindicate His name, which had been profaned by His people's exile.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Mosaic requirement to bury the dead promptly so that the land is not defiled.
Supported by JFB
The legal ritual context for cleansing the land from defilement caused by human bones.
Supported by JFB
Prophetic parallel of a great slaughter framed as a sacrificial feast for wild creatures.
Supported by JFB
The Lord has prepared a sacrifice and invited his guests to consume the wicked.
Supported by JFB
Textual cross-connection within the chapter locating the massive burial site at Hamon-gog.
Supported by JFB
The stouthearted are spoiled and the men of might cannot find their hands.
Supported by Matthew Poole
God walking contrary to Israel and hiding His face due to their persistent uncleanness.
Supported by Matthew Poole