The Ezekiel War-Part 2
Introduction
No one can tough the apple of God’s eye and He Himself calls Israel just that even though they have been a rebellious people.(Zechariah 2:8) In Ezekiel Chapter 36 the LORD says He will have mercy upon Israel as a nation and restore them not because they have deserved it or earned it but for His own names sake. (Ezekiel 36:22) The exiles that were taken from the city during the reign of the Antichrist will come back to Israel after the Messianic Kingdom has been established on earth. In the last days God will spiritually revive Israel and the land of Israel will blossom and flourish from the River Euphrates to the Wadi of Egypt as God had promised to do for Abraham the father of faith and for all who belong to the commonwealth of Israel, both believing Jews and Gentiles.
In this chapter the prophet Ezekiel continues to speak about the demise of the Antichrist, his Islamic armies and of all of the rebellious people on the earth who do not love God, who do love the Lord Jesus, who do not love God’s Word and who do not love His people. Specifically Ezekiel focuses on what happens to those who have attacked Israel and desecrated Jerusalem and also speaks about the clean-up after the battle is over.
Exposition-Ezekiel Chapter 39
(Vss.1-2) “And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; and I will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring you against the mountains of Israel.”
Ezekiel is called ‘the son of man’ and in some way, as all the prophets, represents the Lord Jesus and His relationship with His people both Jews and Gentiles who believe in Him for salvation. And so the prophet Ezekiel continues to describe how God will draw the Islamic Turkish Antichrist and the Turkish army and its allies ‘into His net’ and destroy him and his forces arrayed against Israel. God will have brought this vast army to Israel to judge them there for what they have done to His people Israel.
The prophet Joel makes this clear when he writes about this same event; “For behold, in those days and at that time, When I bring back the captives of Judah and Jerusalem, (which happened in 1948) I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there On account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. They have cast lots for My people, Have given a boy as payment for a harlot, And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.” (Joel 3:1-3)
The armies of the Antichrist and their Islamic confederacy will think they have everything planned but will not realise that God is bringing them down to Israel that his people might see How great He is when He destroys the Islamic confederacy. As it is written in the Psalms; “The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, The plans of His heart from generation to generation.” (Psalm 33:10)
Let ‘General’ Erdogan whip up the 57 member states of the Organization of the Islamic cooperation to form an alliance and confederacy against Israel, as he tried to do last year on December 12th 2017, and let the nations rage and the people imagine in their vanity that they can fight against God and His people, but they will most certainly discover in their folly that it does not pay to pick on God or His people. You cannot pick a fight with God and win!
(Vss.3-5) “Then I will knock the bow out of your left hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. You shall fall upon the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken,” says the Lord God.”
The ‘arrows’ of the enemies today are the missiles and artillery shells and the rocket launchers that the Islamic nations will try to deploy towards Israel but God will shield Jerusalem. As it is written; “So will the LORD of hosts come down to wage war on Mount Zion and on its hill.” Like flying birds so the LORD of hosts will shield (protect) Jerusalem. He will protect and deliver it; He will pass over and rescue it.” (Isaiah 31:4-5) As the LORD says in the book of Kings; “’For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.'” (2 Kings 19:34)
As the LORD also says through the prophet Zechariah; “The LORD also will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not be magnified above Judah. “In that day the LORD will shield (defend) the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them. “And in that day I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.” (Zechariah 12:7-9) In that day it may well be that it will not be the iron dome that saves the day but the angels of the LORD working around the clock deflecting the enemy’s missiles and artillery shells.
The hordes of Antichrist will fall on the mountains of Israel and the birds of the air will feast on the carcases of the slain. As it is written in the book of Revelation; “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, “Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.” And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.” (Revelation 19:17-21)
(Vss.6-8) “And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the coastlands (the isles). Then they shall know that I am the Lord. So I will make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. Surely it is coming, and it shall be done,” says the Lord God. “This is the day of which I have spoken.”
The judgement on the armies of the nations gathered against Israel will occur at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. Not only will the fire of God’s judgement fall on these armies but on those living in the coastlands or the isles, i.e. the distant lands of the earth at ease and deceived by a false peace and security. The armies of Gog and his allies will be annihilated on the mountains of Israel, but the judgment extends simultaneously to their distant abodes, that the ends of the earth may know and fear the Lord. It will be a global judgement.
The Time of Jacob’s Trouble will see Israel centre stage in world affairs and this time period corresponds to the Great Tribulation which will last for a time, times and half a time, for 42 months or 1,260 days. The whole world will come to the very brink of annihilation and then for the sake of the elect saints the Lord Jesus will come back. (Matthew 24:21-22) After the Lord Jesus has come back the surviving nations will know the LORD is the Holy One of Israel and that He loves and rescues His people. Once the Antichrist, the false prophet and their armies have gone into the pit below and Satan has been removed from human contact the Millennial Kingdom will commence. (Revelation 20:1-6)
The Lord Jesus the Messiah will see to it that the earth is cleansed and renewed. The earth will then fulfil its original purpose for which it was created namely to be paradise on earth for man under the rule of God. We are also told is scripture that during the Millennial reign of the Messiah that He will rule the nations with a rod of iron and we who are believers will also co-reign with Him and also rule with a rod of iron. (Psalm 2:9) (Revelation 11:15) (Revelation 20:4, 6) (Revelation 2:26-27)
(Vss.9-10) “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. They will not take wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and pillage those who pillaged them,” says the Lord God.”
After the Lord Jesus has come back and the Millennial Kingdom has commenced the clean-up in Israel will begin. The weapons will be gathered and burned and it will take seven years to cleanse the land. Seven of course is the number that represents God and the perfection and completeness of a work He has done. The weapons described will be able to be burned by fire. Possibly refineries will be set up in Israel to do this job. As the Israelites spread throughout the whole land of Israel from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River the surviving nations will become subject to being plundered by the Israelis.
No one will be disputing the rights and privileges of Israelis in that day. Not only this but the prophet Zechariah also tells us that the surviving nations on earth will also be subject to the Messiah as He reigns on David’s throne in Jerusalem. As for these nations Zechariah writes; “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. If the family of Egypt will not come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles.” (Zechariah 14:15-19)
As for Israel Zechariah writes; “In that day “HOLINESS TO THE LORD” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone who sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them. In that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 14:20-21) God has spoken and He will bring it to pass! Israel will have become what God called them to be namely “a Holy nation.”
(Vs.11) “It will come to pass in that day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travellers, because there they will bury Gog and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog.”
God has already prepared a burial place for the carcasses of the Antichrist, the false prophet and their armies. Travellers in Israel will not be able to pass through this valley because of these rotting carcasses of men and animals. This valley of Hamon Gog meaning “the Valley of the multitudes of Gog” lies east of the Mediterranean Sea and is a valley in the Trans-Jordan where their carcasses will be buried.
(Vss.12-16) “For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for it on the day that I am glorified,” says the Lord God. “They will set apart men regularly employed, with the help of a search party. to pass through the land and bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make a search. The search party will pass through the land; and when anyone sees a man’s bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. The name of the city will also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land.”’
It will take seven months for the Israelis to bury the remaining carcasses. Men will actually be set apart and employed to dig graves. Once again the number seven signifies a perfect and complete work of God. This cleansing is not a ceremonial cleansing as such but a literal cleansing and clean-up of the land because of the smell and the rotting corpses. It will not be a pleasant task as such but one nevertheless that will bring a sense of joy to the people of Israel because they will realise that the LORD has given them a great deliverance and that He is the same God who did all the signs and wonders for the people of Israel in times past.
Those who have survived the Second Coming of the Messiah in the Gentile nations will marvel at what God has done for His people Israel and rightly so as they were part of those nations that despised and rejected Israel as a nation before God. Within seven months the bodies will have been buried in the valley of Hamon Gog in the Trans-Jordan. This place where the carcases are buried will be called the City of Hamonah, the place where the bodies of those who were loud, noisy and aggressive now lay silent in their graves. It will take seven months and then the land itself will be clean.
(Vss.17-20) “And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord God, ‘Speak to every sort of bird and to every beast of the field: “Assemble yourselves and come; Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you, A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel, That you may eat flesh and drink blood. You shall eat the flesh of the mighty, Drink the blood of the princes of the earth, Of rams and lambs, Of goats and bulls, All of them fatlings of Bashan. You shall eat fat till you are full, And drink blood till you are drunk, At My sacrificial meal Which I am sacrificing for you. You shall be filled at My table With horses and riders, With mighty men And with all the men of war,” says the Lord God. “
Once again the prophet Ezekiel speaks about the great feast the birds and the beasts will have. It will be a supper for them that God has provided. Carcases of men of every rank and file will be eaten. (Revelation 19:17-21) The prophet Isaiah also spoke about this great sacrificial meal the God had prepared for the armies of the Islamic Antichrist. The LORD Himself said; “For My sword is satiated in heaven, Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction. The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, With the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah And a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Wild oxen will also fall with them And young bulls with strong ones; Thus their land will be soaked with blood, And their dust become greasy with fat.” (Isaiah 34:5-7)
Bozrah is a town in Southern Jordan and the gateway into Edom which today is Saudi Arabia. The bodies and carcasses of these Islamic armies will lie strewn from the deserts of Saudi Arabia and scattered through Bozrah and lay all the way along the Valley of Jehoshaphat even up to the very walls of Jerusalem. The Messiah, “the Sword of the LORD” will have ‘cleaned house’ with Islam once and for all time as Isaiah also writes; “Who is this who comes from Edom (Southern Jordan and Saudi Arabia),With garments of glowing (stained) colours from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come. “I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me. “I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.” (Isaiah 63:1-6)
This one Isaiah describes is the Word of God Himself and His robes are stained with the blood of His enemies. (Revelation 19:13) The blood of Israel’s enemies we are told will flow as high as a horses bridle and for a 180 miles outside of the walls of Jerusalem. (Revelation 14:20) The winepress of the wrath of God also appears in revelation chapter nineteen. Both Isaiah chapter 63:1-6 and Revelation chapter 19:11-21 describe the one and the same battle. Also in Revelation chapter 14:17-21 the winepress of God’s wrath is mentioned again linking this passage of scripture with the other two in Isaiah chapter 63 and Revelation chapter 11.
(Vss. 21-24) “I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward. The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them.”’
God’s Glory is the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah. He is God’s appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature, upholding all things by His powerful word, the one who after He had provided purification for sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:2b-3) The surviving nations will see God’s judgement and the people of Israel will know that the LORD is their God from that day forwards. In that day we are told that Israel will “possess their possessions” and that “no one will make them afraid.”(Obadiah 1:7) As Micah the prophet wrote; “And He (the Messiah) will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into ploughshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. Each of them will sit under his vine And under his fig tree, With no one to make them afraid, For the mouth of the LORD of hosts has spoken.” (Micah 4; 3-4)
(Vss.25-29) “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name—after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer. And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,’ says the Lord God.”
God remembers His covenants and Israel is no exception in this matter. God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit the Land of Israel to be for the Jewish people “an everlasting possession” and that their allotted inheritance in the land of Israel would be from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River. (Genesis 15:17-21; 17:8) God will see to it that every exiled Jew will return to the land of Israel in His Millennial Kingdom. God will do this because He is jealous for His Holy name and because the redeemed of Israel will reflect His glory, not because they have earned or deserved it, but because of His mercy and compassion in the covenant made with Abraham concerning the land and more so because of the New Covenant cut in the blood of the Messiah God has made with the House of Israel and with the House of Judah. (Jeremiah 31:31) Israel’s suffering for their sins will be over. God will have “banished all ungodliness from Jacob” through the blood and merits of the Messiah whose shed blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat at the cross to atone for Israel’s sin and rebellion. God will bring them back to Israel from the nations after the last exile. (Zechariah 14:1-2)
Epilogue
During the Millennial Messianic Kingdom of God every nation existing on the face of the earth for a thousand years will know what God has done for Israel and in that day all Israel will be “the head and not the tail” and “the mountain of the LORD’S House will be lifted higher than all of the other mountains (kingdoms and cities) of the earth and all peoples will stream into it” to worship the LORD and His Messiah in Jerusalem. In that day “the Torah will go out from Zion and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” (Deuteronomy 28:13) (Isaiah 2:1-5) God will no longer hide His face from His people because He will have poured out His Spirit on them. Zechariah the prophet speaks about this great outpouring that will occur in Israel during the Time of Jacob’s Trouble when the surviving Israelis see Him who they pierced and mourn for Him with tears of repentance and joy at His appearing to save them from all of their enemies and from the hands of all who have hated them. In that day the weeping and rejoicing in Israel will be great! (Zechariah 12:10-14)
