Ezekiel 39 and Babylon

EZEKIEL 39 and Babylon

Ezekiel 39:1 KJV

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:

Chapter 39 of Ezekiel again brings prophesy against Gog, Meshech, and Tubal.  The name Magog is absent (until verse 6) as are the names of Gog’s confederates:  Persia, Ethiopia, Libya, Gomer, and Togarmah.  The Lord God states that He is against Gog, Meshech, and Tubal.

Ezekiel 39:2-6 KJV

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.

2:  It again appears this group is hesitant to attack; therefore the Lord will coerce them.  The KJV reads, “and leave but the sixth part of thee” which is a somewhat different translation than most other versions.  Actually the KJV is the only version in my collection that contains the wording of this particular phrase.

NET and NIV:  will turn you around and drag you along

Young’s:  and have turned thee back, and enticed thee

Green’s and KJ3:  And I will turn you back and lead you on

Brenton LXX:  and I will assemble thee, and guide thee

It could mean that only 1/6 of the male population will be left behind.  The other versions lend for credence to the concept of a coerced group using words such as:  entice, drag, lead, and guide. They will be led from the north parts, the NET with the remotest parts of the north.  Other versions have:  far north, distant north, recesses of the north.  The LXX has: the extremity of the north.  This may be the reason some exegetes exclude Turkey and instead proclaim Russia as the likely candidate.  Utley states this “north
 term is used in Jeremiah to describe the invasion of Babylon (Jer. 6:22, 25:32, 50:41)

3:  Bows and arrows may again be symbolic of military weapons.  This verse seems to indicate that the Lord God will destroy the invading hordes Himself when they reach the mountains of Israel.

4:  Gog, the army of Gog, and the nations allied with Gog will fall (be killed) and left for the animals (wild beasts) and carrion birds to eat (devour).

5:  Falling dead in an open field implies some type of destruction other than hand-to-hand combat.  A missile or nuclear weapon could perform the same function.

6:  The Lord God will send fire on the land of Magog and those in the isles or coastlands

Word Study Dictionary:  A masculine noun meaning island or coastland. It depicts the Phoenicians as a coastland (Isa_20:6; Isa_23:2, Isa_23:6). Distant islands or shores were designated by this word (Isa_40:15). In general, the islands, shores, and coastlands of the Mediterranean Sea are indicated.

The word “carelessly” is another KJV translation issue.  Other versions supply the meaning as:  securely, live in safety, confident in habitants.  The variance in translations doesn’t appear to alter the understanding of the context.

Some modern exegetes equate fire with nuclear weapons.  The text states that God will send the fire.  In my opinion this is the same fire as discussed in chapter 38:  caused by some celestial object that is the core of the trumpet and bowl judgments.  I agree with an expositor (can’t remember the name) who said that Jesus is not interested in reigning over an earth that is a nuclear waste dump and will not allow it to happen.

Ezekiel 39:7-8 KJV

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.

6b, 7:  The Lord God will cause His Name and power to be recognized by the entire world.  If these events occur just prior to the millennium then the Name of God will no longer be corrupted or profaned in Israel or the earth, from that moment onward.  Jesus will rule the world with a rod of iron.

8:  When God wills something, it is done.

Ezekiel 39:9-10 KJV

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.

9:  The Gog invasion and their destruction occur in the mountains of Israel or Palestine.  The inhabitants of the cities of Israel will use the weapons of war as firewood for seven years.  This pretentious verse has allowed some commentators to distinguish a timeframe for the failed invasion:  burning weapons for seven years.

The seven years of weapon burning has allowed some to say this invasion must occur at least seven years prior to the 70^th week of Daniel.  It could be presumed that no one is burning wood for heat or cooking in Israel at this time.  There may be wood burning stoves and fireplaces in Israel (as in the USA) but no one needs them for heat and no one is relying on wood to prepare their meals. 

The saints of the New Jerusalem, at the end of the millennium, will certainly have no need for firewood.  They will be living in the splendor and glory of the New Jerusalem with the Lord God and will not be going outside the city to gather wood.

Only if Israel (or the world) is suddenly set back to the Stone Age will anyone need wood for heat and cooking.  However, I believe that very event will happen at the conclusion of the wrath of God at the end of the 70^th week of Daniel.  After the wrath of God, particularly the earthquake that moves the entire crust of the earth, there will be no utilities.  All electricity, gas lines, gas pumps, manufacturing plants and companies, farms, grocery stores, and everything else will be gone.  Jesus will come to rule the world, not recreate it as a new Garden of Eden in the blink of an eye.  Jesus is in control and ruling now, but He will be completely in charge at that time.  There will be no government except His, no food stamps, no armies, no vehicles, no televisions, no cell phones, and no working microwaves.  To eat hot food or stay warm, one will need firewood. 

The next issue or question is:  how does one burn a tank or an AK47 as wood.  The weapons of vogue when Ezekiel wrote this prophecy were: bows, arrows, spears, staves, and lances.  The language may be symbolic of other means that will be employed such as:  siphoning fuel from tanks, wooden rifle handles clothes, leather and cloth gear, and gleaning gunpowder from bullets and shells.  The Bible never describes the millennium as heaven on earth but that it will be the active Kingdom of God with Jesus as the ruler of all.

Ezekiel 39:11-16 KJV

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.

11, 12, 13:  The troops of Gog will lie in their dead state and will be buried by the people of Israel for seven months to cleanse the land.  The odor of the rotting corpses will be offensive to those passing through the area.  The cemetery will be called the valley of Hamongog which was earlier known as the “valley of the passengers,” and it will become a memorial (renown).

14, 15, 16:  Certain men (people) will be employed to bury the dead.  After seven months they will search for body parts and bury them.  Even the individuals passing through the area will place a marker next to a bone or body part as a sign for the grave tenders.  There is either a town located there, or there will be one, that will have the name of Hamonah. 

Ezekiel 39:17-20 KJV

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.

As the Israeli group is burying the dead, the animals (beasts) and carrion birds will be eating the flesh of the men and animals (horses?).  The text presents this animal feast as a sacrifice of God to the beasts and fowl.

Ezekiel 39:21-24 KJV

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.

As discussed previously, these acts will magnify the glory of God to the citizens of many nations (the entire world) who will know they were initiated by the Lord against the invasion of the land of Israel and probably the rest of the earth as well.  The nation of Israel will know the existence and power of God and the heathens (nations, Gentiles) will understand the 2000 plus years of the plight of the Judeans:  their uncleanness of idolatry and their transgressions against the authority of the Lord God.

Ezekiel 39:25-29 KJV

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.

25:  After the Gog invasion, the sovereign Lord will restore the fortunes Jacob, the northern tribes, and the house of Israel, the southern tribes.  This will not happen prior to the 70^th week of Daniel and it will be have already happened at the beginning of the millennium and will not need to happen again at the end of the millennium.  This is another important sign that the Gog-Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38 and 39 occurs at the end of Daniel’s 70^th week during the destruction of mystery, Babylon or Jerusalem.

26, 27:  At the beginning of the millennium (not before) all tribes of Israel will realize their errors and mistaken concepts concerning the Lord God and the scriptures written by God through prophets.  They will now abide safely with no fear.

28, 29:  The complete house of Israel will now understand their exile when they have been gathered back to the land of the original kingdom of David.  The Lord God will always be present with His people and all the saints.

Viewpoints Concerning Gog

The name Gog and Magog (land of Gog) is said to be a Sumerian word for “darkness” and thus it could be viewed as a metaphor for evil or evil people.  Several commentators write that Gog is not a person or a group of people at all and that the “north” is symbolic of invading armies.  This would designate Gog as symbolic of an evil enemy from the north.  Guzik claims in the book of Jeremiah “the north” represents invasion, and there is some historical justification for this thought:  due to the desert between Mesopotamia and Palestine, the empires of Assyria and Babylon invaded from the north, therefore the word became a symbol of invasion.  In some prophetic scripture the word “north’ is not necessarily meant to be a geographical direction because many armies came from that direction, but it is highly probably the Gog, Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal invasion will be from the north.

Bob Guzik Commentary

Gog is “the” eschatological enemy from the north.  This would correspond to the “Man of Sin” of 2 Thessalonians 2 or the “Antichrist” of 1 John. Evil is personified as a personal enemy and attempted replacer of Christ (the Davidic seed)

CONCLUSION

As written earlier, some commentators consider chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel to prophecy concerning two separate events:  38 for the end of the millennium Gog-Magog conflict described in Revelation chapter twenty; and 39 for a pre-Daniel’s 70^th week event.  In my opinion this is merely a justification to allow an Ezekiel war prior to the antichrist tribulation era and the wrath of God.  I continue to maintain that both chapters are concerned with events that will occur during the wrath of God and the destruction of mystery, Babylon just prior to the beginning of the millennium.

All recent posts including:  Revelation Commentary; Eschatology of Jesus; Life and Times of the Antichrist; Daniel 12; The Beast; and Millennium can be found at the web address below.

http://freedomfromdelusion.blogspot.com/

If you would prefer to have these articles in a Kindle edition including:  Revelation Commentary; Eschatology of Jesus; and Life and Times of the Antichrist.  It is available for minimal cost at the web address below.

Amazon Kindle – Understanding the Revelation