Ezekiel 39, Valley of Hamon Gog

Ezekiel has told of a valley of dry bones coming to life and the people of Israel being gathered together and renewed. But there are still some old enemies. One enemy, introduced in the previous chapter, is Gog, in the land of Magog.

Chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel are discussed in the Bible Project classroom, sessions 23 and 24, by Tim Mackie.

Ezekiel 39:1-8, Turned and dragged

"Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: `This is what the Sovereign LORD says: 

I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of  Israel. Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD.   

"`I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the LORD am the Holy One in Israel. 

It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign LORD. This is the day I have spoken of.

When Gog attacks, it will be overwhelmed and turned back. These verses summarize the first half (verses 1-16) of the previous chapter.

Ezekiel 39:9-11, Weapons for fuel

 "`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. They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign LORD.   

"`On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog. 

The discarded weapons will be used for fuel. So many weapons are discarded that it takes seven years to burn them.

Ezekiel 39:12-16, Seven months to cleanse the land

"`For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign LORD.

"`Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set up a marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. (Also a town called Hamonah will be there.) And so they  will cleanse the land.'   

It will take seven months to bury the bodies after this great battle.

The prophets identified a number of events as occurring in a valley.  In Joel 3:1-2, the nations are judged in the Valley of Jehoshaphat. In Jeremiah 7:30-34 the Valley of Ben Hinnom becomes the Valley of Slaughter and in Isaiah 22:1-13 a day of terror occurs in the Valley of Vision. In Zechariah 14:1-5, a valley is created by God splitting the Mount of Olives.

Ezekiel 39:17-23, A feast for birds

"Son of man, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 

Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: `Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls--all of them fattened animals from Bashan. At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,' declares the Sovereign LORD.  

The bodies on this battlefield will provide food for the birds and wild animals. (In an earlier paragraph the bodies were buried over a period of seven months; here the bodies are food for will animals.)

Ezekiel 39:21-24, Understanding

"I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God. And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.   

This paragraph and the one below return to the main theme of the prophetic messages beginning in Ezekiel 33:23-33. The punishment of Israel will be recognized, by the other nations, as just and evidence of YHWH righteousness and power. It will restore Israel to a permanent time of peace and prosperity.

Ezekiel 39:25-29, Back from captivity

"Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: 

I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me when they lived in safety in their land with no one to make them afraid. When I have brought them back from the nations and have gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will show myself holy through them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, for though I sent them into exile among the nations, I will gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind. 

I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign  LORD."

Eventually Israel will be brought back from captivity and a new Israel will be created. Indeed, this new Israel will involve an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The description of that future peaceful Israel occupies the last nine chapters of this book.

Some Random Thoughts

Chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel are unique to the Old Testament. They describe a future apocalyptic battle against a peaceful Israel. There has been numerous attempts to fit these chapters into some type of eschatological timeline (in an end time study.) Clearly connected to this prophecy is the New Testament passage Revelation 19:11-20:10. In that passage Gog and Magog are identified with nations Satan uses to attack Israel.