"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 is devoted to describing the massive slaughter of Gog's forces. In a sense, then, Chapter 38 concentrates on the threat from the powers opposed to God and His people, while Chapter 39 concentrates more on the deliverance of God's people from that threat. The end of the chapter dwells at length on Israel's restoration (vv. 21-29), especially on the immediate (pre-Gog) era of that restoration. Thus the chapter starts with the distant future but ends in the nearer future with the promise of return from captivity to the land of Canaan and the greater truths which that return points toward."493
39:1-2 The Lord again announced His antagonism toward Gog (cf. 38:2-3). He repeated that He would turn him around and bring him from the remotest parts of the North against the mountains of Israel (cf. 38:4-9, 15).
39:3-4 The Lord promised to defeat Gog there; it would be as though He knocked his weapons out of his hands. Yahweh did not reveal whom He would use to do this or how He would do it, but 38:21 suggests that at least part of the defeat would be a result of Gog's soldiers killing one another (cf. Judg. 7:22). Gog and his army and allies would fall in the Promised Land, and birds and beasts would eat their corpses (cf. vv. 17-20; Rev. 19:17-21). Such a fate was the ultimate indignity in the minds of the ancients (cf. 2 Kings 9:35).
39:5-6 Gog would fall in the open fields because the Lord had decreed His judgment. Yahweh would also destroy Gog's homeland, Magog, and the remote homelands of his allies (the coastlands, cf. 26:15, 18; 27:3, 6-7, 15, 35), and those who safely inhabited these regions. This would teach them that He is God.
39:7-8 Yahweh would also proclaim His holy reputation among the Israelites and the other nations. They would no longer regard Him as just another local deity but would recognize Him as the Holy One of Israel, the only true God who was Israel's God. This day of judgment of which the Lord had formerly spoken would surely come and what He had predicted would indeed happen (cf. 38:17).
39:9-10 After the Lord destroyed the forces of Gog, the Israelites would use the enemy's numerous implements of warfare for fuel for seven years. The Israelites would not need to burn traditional fuel because there would be so many old weapons and implements left to burn.494They would also take as spoil what the invaders had brought into the land when they came to despoil the Israelites. God would turn the tables on the invaders.
39:11 The Israelites would also bury Gog and his soldiers in a valley east of the Mediterranean Sea. This probably means that multitudes of the enemy would be buried there, not necessarily Gog personally (cf. Rev. 19:20-21; 20:10). The slaughter would be so great that it would take a large valley to accommodate all the corpses. This valley would become known as "The Valley of the Multitude of Gog."This cemetery would be so large that travelers would not be able to pass through that part of the land. Probably the Esdraelon Valley is in view since it is east of the Mediterranean Sea and since many travelers normally passed and still pass through it. Furthermore it is the only major east west valley in Israel.495In biblical times a major highway connecting Egypt and Mesopotamia ran through this valley. The Apostle John identified this valley as the location of the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 16:13-16).
39:12-13 It would take seven months to bury all the corpses and so clean up this valley (cf. Lev. 5:2; 21:1; Deut. 21:1-9).496All the Israelites would get involved in burying the corpses, and this would receive worldwide attention and result in glory for God.
39:14-16 Special men would be responsible to search the land after seven months. When they discovered an exposed bone they would mark it so others could bury it. The name of the nearby city would then be called "The Multitude"as a tribute to Yahweh's victory.
