EZEKIEL 39
<Vs. 8-29>
[5/1/11]
Review:
Ezekiel 39:2 {GW} 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 {KJV} And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 {KJV} 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 {KJV} Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken [it], saith the Lord GOD.
6 {KJV} 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 {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.
(GW) I will make my holy name known among my people Israel, and I will never let them dishonor my holy name again. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
NOTE: Some commentaries believe this to be an ancient battle.
QUESTION: If this refers to an ancient battle, has this promise from God been fulfilled?
ANSWER: No! Israel has been a land polluted with false religions throughout ancient, and modern history. Even today there are false religions in Israel. The Islam Dome of the Rock is the 3rd holiest site of Islam. Only the Mosque of the Haram, and the mosque of the Prophet, both is Saudi Arabia, are considered to be holier than the Dome of the Rock. ALLAH IS NOT JEHOVAH! He is a false God, and a temple built in his honor sits on the mount where the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt. The prophecy of verse 7 has not yet been fulfilled.
NOTE: I believe this fact proves that the battle described in Ezekiel 38-39 has not yet happened.
On To This Week’s Lesson:
Ezekiel 39:8-10 {KJV} Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this [is] the day whereof I have spoken.
9 {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 {KJV} 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.
QUESTION: How do you burn modern day weapons?
ANSWER: Consider the following quote: Ezekiel 39:9 begins the description of the aftermath. It is gruesome but also amazing in its detail when looked at in comparison to today. “Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up – the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel.” This statement is remarkable for two reasons. First is the nature of the weapons. In the time that Ezekiel wrote this, burning weapons made perfect sense because they were made of wood. What of today’s weapons however? How do you burn warplanes and other metals? Amazingly, Russia has been using Lignostone in the production of its weapons. Lignostone “is a special kind of wood used for ‘coke breakers.’ It is stronger than steel, is very elastic… and it burns better than coal.” (90 LaHaye Are We Living in the End Times?)
In regards to “lignostone,”
“The Lignostone® material is commonly used as structural insulation in electrical apparatus such as transformer applications. The basic material is european rotary cut beech veneer. The veneers will be stacked to put the greatest strength where it is needed. Finally the veneers will be joined together with thermosetting synthetic resins under high pressure into sheet material with a density from 0,82 gr/cm3 upto 1,38 gr/cm3. Lignostone® material has excellent mechanical, thermal and electrical properties and uses the combination of dielectric properties and stability of thermosetting resins with the strength and toughness of wood fibers. Sametime it can reduce full sections in transformer applications and improve the oil circulation” [lignostone.com].
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 {KJV} And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.
13 {KJV} 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.
(GNB) Everyone in the land will help bury them, and they will be honored for this on the day of my victory. I, the Sovereign LORD, have spoken.
14 {KJV} 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.
(MSG) Men will be hired full-time for the cleanup burial operation and will go through the country looking for defiling, decomposing corpses. At the end of seven months, there’ll be an all-out final search.
15 {KJV} 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 {KJV} And also the name of the city [shall be] Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
(GW) (A city named Hamonah will also be there.) In this way they will cleanse the land.’
In regards to “Hamongog” in verse 11,
“the multitude of Gog” [Strong].
QUESTION: Why will it take 7 months to bury the dead?
ANSWER: Let me quote John Gill, “So long time will the burial of Gog’s army take up, because of the multitude of it, and by reason their bones will be scattered here and there; which will require time to gather them together, and bring them to one place.”
QUESTION: Why will the burying of the dead last for 7 months?
ANSWER: Verse 13 tells us that God will be glorified among His people Israel in this process. Remember, Israel has not served the Lord as a nation since the time of their dispersion. This will be a time of their renewing.
NOTE: Think of it, they bury the dead for 7 months after the slaughter of the coalition of Russia and many of the Arab nations. I’m assuming that the rapture of the church will take place shortly after the events of Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapters 38-39. Consequently, by the time this “clean-up” is well under way many of the Jews will have been converted. HERE’S WHY I SAY THIS:
Romans 11:15, 25-27) [GW] If Israel’s rejection means that the world has been brought back to God, what does Israel’s acceptance mean? It means that Israel has come back to life.
25) [GW] Brothers and sisters, I want you to understand this mystery so that you won’t become arrogant. The minds of some Israelites have become closed until all of God’s non-Jewish people are included.
26) [GW] In this way Israel as a whole will be saved, as Scripture says, “The Savior will come from Zion. He will remove godlessness from Jacob.
27) [GW] My promise to them will be fulfilled when I take away their sins.”
NOTE: Revelation 7:1-14 tells us about 144,000 Jewish evangelists who I believe will spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are left behind after the rapture, for the first 31/2 years of the Tribulation Period.
Ezekiel 39:17-22 {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 {KJV} 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 {KJV} 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 {KJV} 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 {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 {KJV} So the house of Israel shall know that I [am] the LORD their God from that day and forward.
QUESTION: Who will feast on the dead?
ANSWER: The birds of prey will eat from the carcasses of the fallen.
NOTE: This will also happen after the Battle of Armageddon.
QUESTION: Who will be saved as a result of this resounding victory over this evil coalition?
ANSWER: The men of women of Israel will put their faith in God, and Jesus, the Son of God.
Ezekiel 39:23-29 {KJV} 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 {KJV} According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.
25 {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 {KJV} 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 {KJV} 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 {KJV} 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 {KJV} 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.
QUESTION: What is God up to at this time?
ANSWER: He is restoring Israel to a relationship with Him, and promising them that He will never hide His face from them again.