CHAPTER 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: 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.

God has told Ezekiel that He is watching over His people, and sees enemies before the people are aware of them. God has a plan to destroy enemies of His people because they are enemies to Him.

The prophecy in Chapter 39 is a continuation of that from Chapter 38. It is for the "latter days," particularly at the end of the millenium reign of Christ. When God allows Satan to be "loosed" from the pit where he has been chained for 1,000 years, that old devil will martial forces from the world to fight against Christ and His people.

Then God will rain down "fire" from heaven (Revelation 20:7-9) and destroy those enemies.

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.

The destruction of this massive army will be greater than any battle that man has ever known. The purpose of this destruction is to utilize the wicked in bringing glory to God (Proverbs 16:4 & 2Peter 2:9).

Ezekiel was given this vision almost 2,500 years ago; yet, God says, "it is come, it is done" (verse 8). God knows the end from the beginning. He can see how to save those who surrender to Him and how to destroy those who refuse Him. It's wonderful to know that we have the omnipotent and omniscient God on our side!

The destruction of the massive army will leave weapons of wood which the people of God will use as fuel for fire (verses 9-10). Thus, they will be able to save the forest.

A massive grave site will be provided East of the Dead Sea (verse 11). It will take SEVEN MONTHS to bury all the dead! (verse 12)

Everyone will be involved in being sure that the dead are buried (verses 13-15).

"Hamonah" means multitude.

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.

The carnivorous fowl and beasts will be called to feast on the dead bodies! It is amazing to realize that even kings, princes, presidents, etc. will become food for the animal kingdom because of their rebellion against 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.

The "heathen" (those who refuse Christ) will KNOW the GLORY of God (verse 21). And the people of God will know without doubt that God has always been watching over them (verse 22), and will always care for them.

Unbelievers will lose all their smart remarks in that day! (See verse 23) No one will be able to say, "If there really is a God, then He wouldn't let BAD things happen to GOOD people."

God disciplines His people when they do wrong (verses 23-26). But God always SAVES His people (verse27).

Two things of great importance are seen in verse 29. First, God will have no occasion to "hide His face" from His people anymore! After that final battle, judgment day will come, and the people of God will be totally and perfectly saved. They will be WITHOUT sin! Paul reiterates this fact in 1Corinthians 13:12 when he says, "...then shall I know even as also I am known." And John also refers to this time in 1John 3:2.

Secondly, God HAS "poured out" His Spirit upon His people even today! The structure of this sentence yields the understanding that, for believers, God has ALREADY given knowledge of Himself!

Friends, those who surrender to Christ today have the revelation of God and the relevence of God in their lives! Those who have surrendered to Christ have "passed from death unto life" (John 5:24). The revelation here is that REAL LIFE is in knowing Christ as Lord and Savior! To NOT know Him as Lord and Savior is to exist in "death," or separation from God.

The relevance of God in Christians lives today is that He LIVES with them and HELPS them. He TEACHES His Word (Bible) to them, and helps them remember to make decisions according to His truths and not their own selfishness (John 14:26).

A little girl had a bad heart, and the heart surgeon was examining her to see if he should operate. He was a very kind doctor, though he was an unbeliever. He asked, "When I open your chest, will I Find "Winnie-the-Poo" in your heart?"

The little girl responded, "No, sir. Winnie is on my shirt, but Jesus is in my heart."

The doctor said, "Oh, come on now. Will I find "Big Bird" there?" She responded, "No, sir. Big Bird is in my room at home. You will find Jesus in my heart."

The doctor scowled and began to talk to the parents about the surgery he would perform. The next day, he performed the surgery, but the little girl's heart was too diseased for him to help her. He went home angry because he was unable to heal her. He went into his bathroom and yelled at God. "GOD! If you are truly there, WHY? Why would You allow this little girl to die at such a young age? WHY?! WHY?!"

All of a sudden, the PRESENCE of God filled that bathroom and the man fell to his knees in repentance. He had acknowledged God, and God had revealed the truth of His realness to the doctor. It seemed God was saying, "This little girl is suffering so I can lead YOU to ME!"

The next day, he visited the little girl and her parents, and told them the sad news. Tears filled his eyes as he confessed he was only a doctor, and that only God could heal. The little girl smiled and asked, "Doctor, what did you find in my heart?"

He knelt beside her bed, took her hand, and said, "Honey, If found JESUS in your heart!"

Ain't it good to know that the Almighty Creator God of grace and mercy LIVES with us today?!!

PLEASE CONTINUE WITH US IN BIBLE STUDY TOMORROW.