Ezekiel 39

Chapter context

What is happening in Ezekiel 39?

glory of Godjudgmentexilenew heart

Ezekiel 39 belongs to the middle movement of the book, especially the section often described as restoration, new heart, dry bones, and temple vision. Ezekiel is a priestly-prophetic book of visions, enacted signs, judgment against Judah and the nations, and a vast closing vision of restored life and worship. Read this chapter with the wider themes of glory of God, judgment, and exile in view so the individual verses keep their proper weight.

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: 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: 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 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. ⁵ Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD. 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. 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. ⁸ Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken. 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: 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. 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 Hamongog. ¹² And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of 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 the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD. 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. 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 Hamongog. ¹⁶ And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 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. 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 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. 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. ²² So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward. 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. ²⁴ According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. 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; 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. 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; 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 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 GOD.

Study helps

Glossary

Meshech Place v. 1: Biblical region. Modern identification: Gordion.
Tubal Place v. 1: Biblical region. Modern identification: Tabal.
Bow Tribe v. 3: The bow was in use in early times both in war and in the chase ( Gen. 21:20 ; 27:3 ; 48:22 ). The tribe of Benjamin were famous for the use of the bow ( 1 Chr. 8:40 ; 12:2 ; 2 Chr. 14:8 ; 17:17 ); so also were the Elamites.
Magog Place v. 6: Biblical region. Modern identification: Sardis.
Salt Sea Place v. 11: (Heb. yam), signifies (1) “the gathering together of the waters,” the ocean ( Gen. 1:10 ); (2) a river, as the Nile ( Isa. 19:5 ), the Euphrates ( Isa. 21:1 ; Jer. 51:36 ); (3) the Red Sea. Modern identification: Dead Sea.
Valley of Hamon-gog Place v. 11, 15: Biblical special. Modern identification: Abarim.
City People v. 16: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Hamonah Place v. 16: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Abarim.
Bashan Place v. 18: Biblical region. Modern identification: Saham al Jawlan.