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Texts -- Ezekiel 39:1-27 (NET)

Context
39:1 “As for you , son of man , prophesy against Gog , and say : ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says : Look , I am against you, O Gog , chief prince of Meshech and Tubal ! 39:2 I will turn you around and drag you along ; I will lead you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel . 39:3 I will knock your bow out of your left hand hand and make your arrows fall from your right hand . hand . 39:4 You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel , you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I give you as food to every kind of bird and every wild beast . 39:5 You will fall dead in the open field ; for I have spoken , declares the sovereign Lord . 39:6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live securely in the coastlands ; then they will know that I am the Lord . 39:7 “‘I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel ; I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore . Then the nations will know that I am the Lord , the Holy One of Israel . 39:8 Realize that it is coming and it will be done , declares the sovereign Lord . It is the day I have spoken about. 39:9 “‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling – the shields , bows and arrows , war clubs and spears – they will burn them for seven years . 39:10 They will not need to take wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests , because they will make fires with the weapons . They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, declares the sovereign Lord . 39:11 “‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel . It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea ; it will block the way of the travelers . There they will bury Gog and all his horde ; they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog . 39:12 For seven months Israel will bury them, in order to cleanse the land . 39:13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will be a memorial for them on the day I magnify myself, declares the sovereign Lord . 39:14 They will designate men to scout continually through the land , burying those who remain on the surface of the ground , in order to cleanse it. They will search for seven full months . 39:15 When the scouts survey the land and see a human bone , they will place a sign by it, until those assigned to burial duty have buried it in the valley of Hamon-Gog . 39:16 (A city by the name of Hamonah will also be there.) They will cleanse the land .’ 39:17 “As for you , son of man , this is what the sovereign Lord says : Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast : ‘Assemble and come ! Gather from all around to my slaughter which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel ! You will eat flesh and drink blood . 39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth – the rams , lambs , goats , and bulls , all of them fattened animals of Bashan . 39:19 You will eat fat until you are full , and drink blood until you are drunk , at my slaughter which I have made for you. 39:20 You will fill up at my table with horses and charioteers , with warriors and all the soldiers ,’ declares the sovereign Lord . 39:21 “I will display my majesty among the nations . All the nations will witness the judgment I have executed , and the power I have exhibited among them. 39:22 Then the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God , from that day forward . 39:23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile due to their iniquity , for they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies ; all of them died by the sword . 39:24 According to their uncleanness and rebellion I have dealt with them, and I hid my face from them . 39:25 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says : Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob , and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel . I will be zealous for my holy name . 39:26 They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid . 39:27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies , I will magnify myself among them in the sight of many nations .

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • The poet bewailed the fact that he had to continue living with people such as liars who continually stir up strife (vv. 5-6). Meshech was a barbarous nation far to the north of Israel (cf. Ezek. 39:1-2). Kedar in northern Ara...
  • Having begun this oracle by clarifying God's desire for Israel (2:1-4), the prophet proceeded to contrast her present condition. She depended on people rather than Himself, a condition that would result in divine discipline (...
  • Ezekiel ministered to the Jews in exile. He probably wrote this book for the benefit of the exiles and the other Jewish communities of his day and beyond his day. In some of his visions (e.g. chs. 8 and 11) the Lord carried t...
  • There are two major structural peculiarities that set Ezekiel off as distinctive.First, the book is a collection of prophecies arranged in almost consistent chronological order. No other prophetical book is as consistently ch...
  • Several theological concepts receive considerable attention in Ezekiel. Alexander identified five central ones: the nature of God, the purpose and nature of God's judgment, individual responsibility, the ethical, religious, a...
  • I. Ezekiel's calling and commission chs. 1-3A. The vision of God's glory ch. 11. The setting of the vision 1:1-32. The vision proper 1:4-28B. The Lord's charge to Ezekiel chs. 2-31. The recipients of Ezekiel's ministry 2:1-52...
  • 24:25-26 Evidently Ezekiel was not to deliver any more prophetic messages to his fellow exiles after he made the explanation in verses 20-24 until he received word of the destruction of the temple and the capture of the remai...
  • It is appropriate that this section appears at this point in Ezekiel, between the messages announcing judgment on Judah and Jerusalem for sin (chs. 4-24) and the messages announcing future blessings for Israel (chs. 33-48). I...
  • As in numerous other prophetic Scriptures, promises of Israel's restoration accompanied predictions of judgment on the nations (e.g. 34:27; 38:8; 39:26; Isa. 65:21; Jer. 23:6; Amos 9:14-15).28:25 The Lord also promised to reg...
  • "This last major division of the book focuses on the restoration of Israel's blessing. Israel would be judged for her sin (chaps. 1-24) as would the surrounding nations (chaps. 25-32). But Israel will not remain under judgmen...
  • Since this message is undated, it may have come to Ezekiel about the same time as the previous two in chapter 32, namely, in the last month of 585 B.C. If so, Ezekiel received it about two months after God gave him the six me...
  • "The concept of the land is particularly significant to the six messages [33:21-39:29] delivered in that one night before the news of Jerusalem's fall reached the exiles in Babylonia [cf. 33:21-22]. Since Jerusalem had fallen...
  • "The themes of regathering as sheep and of covenant merge in Ezekiel 34:25-31. The Lord promises to make a covenant of peace with His regathered sheep."44434:25 The Lord also promised to make a covenant of peace (i.e., result...
  • This is the sixth and last message that Ezekiel received from the Lord the night before the refugees reached the exiles with the message that Jerusalem had fallen (cf. 33:21-22). It too deals with God's plans for Israel in th...
  • 38:14 The Lord wanted Ezekiel to tell Gog that on the day the Lord would call him up for service (v. 4) he would know that Israel dwelt securely in her own land.38:15-16 He and his allies would descend on Israel from the nort...
  • "Chapter 39 retells the story of God's attack and defeat but with a slightly different emphasis from that of the prior chapter. Not much attention is given to the attack itself (merely vv. 1-2), whereas a great deal of space ...
  • This message expands on one event that will take place at the end of the invasion (cf. v. 4).39:17-18 The Lord also instructed Ezekiel to prophesy to the birds and beasts to come and feast on the flesh of the invaders who had...
  • This message forms a fitting conclusion to the whole section of prophecies about Israel's restoration to the Promised Land (chs. 33-39) as well as to those about future invasion (chs. 38-39).39:25-26 The Lord promised to rest...
  • The Book of Ezekiel begins with a vision of God's glory (ch. 1), records the departure of God's glory (chs. 8-11), and ends with another vision of God's glory (chs. 40-48). This is the longest vision outside the Book of Revel...
  • 43:6 The prophet heard someone speaking to him from the temple, and there was a man, probably Ezekiel's guide, standing beside him (cf. 1:16).43:7-8 The one speaking from the temple, undoubtedly the Lord, told Ezekiel that th...
  • God promised Abraham that He would give a particular piece of real estate to his descendants (Gen. 12:7). Later He reiterated this promise and became more specific about its boundaries (Gen. 15:7, 18-21; 17:8; Num. 34:1-12). ...
  • Ackroyd, Peter R. Exile and Restoration. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1968.Alexander, Ralph H. Ezekiel. Everyman's Bible Commentary series. Chicago: Moody Press, 1976._____. "Ezekiel."In Isaiah-Ezekiel. Vol. 6 of The Expo...
  • 11:40 Finally the very end time will arrive (cf. vv. 27, 35; 12:4, 9). Then this king will be the focus of attack by the king of the South (cf. vv. 42-43), a power south of Palestine, and the king of the North, a force to its...
  • God's judgment on unbelievers would accompany the spiritual renewal and deliverance of His own in the future day of the Lord. As God promised to wipe out the locusts for despoiling Judah, now He promised to do the same to the...
  • 4:1 Amos opened this second message as he did the first (ch. 3), with the cry, "Hear this word."He addressed the wealthy women of Samaria, calling them "cows of Bashan."Bashan was a very luxuriant region of Transjordan east a...
  • 1:15 This is the first verse of chapter 2 in the Hebrew Bible. Nahum called his audience to give attention. Someone was coming over the mountains with a message of peace. Consequently the people of Judah could celebrate their...
  • The second description of Nineveh's fall is more philosophical than the first one and ends with a statement by Yahweh that gives the reason for its fall (v. 13).2:8 Nineveh had been as placid as the waters around the city for...
  • Another question led to this teaching. The thematic connection with Jesus' words about the small beginning of the kingdom (vv. 19, 21) should be obvious. As elsewhere, Luke recorded Jesus teaching lessons and using illustrati...
  • 6:3 When the Lamb broke the second seal on the scroll, John heard the second living creature order the second horseman forward.6:4 The red horse probably symbolizes bloodshed and war. The rider of this horse removes peace fro...
  • 19:17 John saw next an angel standing in the sun, a conspicuous position in which all the birds could see him. He cried loudly for all the birds flying in midheaven to assemble (cf. Ezek. 39:4, 17). Jesus referred to the same...
  • 20:7 At the end of the Millennium God will release Satan from the abyss (cf. 1 Pet. 3:19). Two reasons are implied in the text: to demonstrate the incorrigibility of Satan, and to demonstrate the depravity of humanity.695God ...
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