Ezekiel 39:15

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. THE PASSENGERS THAT PASS THROUGH THE LAND, WHEN ANY SEETH A MAN'S BONE, THEN SHALL HE SET UP A SIGN BY IT. First, "all the people of the land" engaged in the burying for seven months; then special men were employed, at the end of the seven months, to search for any still left unburied. The passers-by helped them by 'setting up a mark near' any such bones, in order to keep others from being defiled by casually touching them, and that "the buriers" might come and remove them: denoting the minute care to put away every relic of pagan pollution from the Holy Land....

11-22 How numerous the enemies which God destroyed for the defence of his people Israel! Times of great deliverances should be times of reformation. Every one should help the utmost he can, toward cleansing the land from reproach. Sin is an enemy every man should strive against. Those engaged in public work, especially of cleansing and reforming a land, ought to be men who will go through with what they undertake, who will be always employed. When good work is to be done, every one should further it. Having received special favours from God, let us cleanse ourselves from all evil. It is a work which will require persevering diligence, that search may be made into the secret recesses of sin. The judgments of the Lord, brought upon sin and sinners, are a sacrifice to the justice of God, and a feast to the faith and hope of God's people. See how evil pursues sinners, even after death. Afte...

EXPOSITION Of the two main divisions of this chapter, the first (Ezekiel 39:1) depicts the greatness of the overthrow of Gog; the second (Ezekiel 39:21) records the impression made by it upon Both Israel and the heathen, and adds a closing promise to the former. EZEKIEL 39:1 In the first main division Ezekiel repeats the substance of what has already been advanced concerning the defeat of Gog (verses 1-8), after which he strives to represent its completeness (verses 9-20), by setting forth (1) the immense quantity of spoil Israel should obtain from the fallen foe (verses 9, 10). (2) the length of time it should take Israel t

AND THE PASSENGERS THAT PASS THROUGH THE LAND,.... Not along with the searchers, but that travel through it upon business in it, or in other lands: WHEN ANY SEETH A MAN'S BONE, THEN SHALL HE SET UP A SIGN BY IT; as he passes along, if he happens to see a human bone in the way, or hard by, he shall stop and lay a stone, or a heap of stones, by it, or some such mark or token, signifying that a man's bone lies there: TILL THE BURIERS HAVE BURIED IT IN THE VALLEY OF HAMON-GOG, that is, which sign shall continue till searchers come that way and take up the bone, and carry it to be buried in the valley of Hamon-gog; for carcasses and bones were not to be buried in the place where they were found, but to be brought and interred in this common place of sepulture....

Ezekiel 38:1; Ezekiel 39:1. There will be at that time of restoration a great and final invasion of the land of Israel. Gog and Magog will invade the land “that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people.” The invaders come “against the mountains of Israel which have always been waste; but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely, all of them.” In Ezekiel 38:11, the evil purpose of the invader is made known. From all this we learn that the invasion takes place at the time when the Lord has brought back His people and resumed His relationship with the remnant of Israel. The invasion will happen some time after the beastly empire with its beast head, the revived Roman e

To cleanse the holy land from the defilement caused by the corpses of these heathen hordes, the common people were to spend seven months in collecting and burying them, in a place appointed for that purpose east of the Dead Sea; and after that, to ensure the absolute holiness of the land, permanent officials were to be appointed to go through it scrupulously marking every spot where even a bone was found that it might be buried in the proper place, and the land cleansed of all defilement. (In Ezekiel 39:11 after place add, with LXX, of renown. For of them that pass through, read with different pointing of the Abarim, _i.e._ some valley at the N.E. corner of the Dead Sea. For it shall stop, etc. we should perhaps read, and they the Israelites shall close (the mouth of) the valley. Hamon means multitude. In Eze

MAN'S. Hebrew. _'adam,_ App-14....

Render with R.V., AND THEY THAT PASS THROUGH THE LAND (the searchers) SHALL PASS THROUGH; AND WHEN ANY SEETH A MAN'S BONE, then shall HE SET UP (lit. build) A SIGN (or pillar), &c. On Hamon-Gog cf. Ezekiel 39:11....

B. The Completeness of the Destruction 39:9-20 TRANSLATION (9) And the inhabitants of the cities of Israel shall go out, and they shall burn the weapons and make fuel of them, even the shields, bucklers, bows, arrows, hand staves, and spears; and they shall make fires of them seven years. (10) And they shall not take wood from the field, nor shall they cut down any out of the woods, for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall take spoil of those who spoiled them, and they shall plunder those who plundered them (oracle of the Lord GOD). (11) And it shall come to pass in that day I will give to God a place there for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through; and they shall bury there God and all his multitude; and they shall call it the valley of Hamon-gog. (12) In order to cleanse the land, the hou...

2. LEAVE BUT THE SIXTH PART OF THEE] RV 'lead thee on.'...