Ezekiel 39:4

Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. THOU SHALT FALL UPON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL. The scene of Israel's preservation shall be that of the ungodly foe's destruction. Compare , as to the willful and blasphemous king of the north; "yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him." (Compare Ezekiel 39:17.)...

1-10 The Lord will make the most careless and hardened transgressors know his holy name, either by his righteous anger, or by the riches of his mercy and grace. The weapons formed against Zion shall not prosper. Though this prophecy is to be fulfilled in the latter days, it is certain. From the language used, it seems that the army of Gog will be destroyed by miracle....

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

THOU SHALT FALL UPON THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL,.... Be slain, and his carcass lie there; so the Targum, "upon the mountains of the land of Israel thy carcass shall be cast:'' thou and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee; Gog and his army, auxiliaries and allies: I WILL GIVE THEE TO THE RAVENOUS BIRDS OF EVERY SORT, AND TO THE BEASTS OF THE FIELD TO BE DEVOURED: a great part of his army being slain, should not be buried, but be devoured by birds of prey, and savage beasts; such as eagles and vultures of the former sort, and lions, bears, wolves, c. of the latter. This was always reckoned a very sore judgment and dreadful calamity, not to have a burial, but to be exposed to birds and beasts of prey this was threatened to the Israelites, in case of disobedience to the law of God, Deuteronomy 28:26 and to the wicked Jews in the tim

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

GOG'S DESTRUCTION AND BURIAL. This chapter does little more than repeat, with variations, the message of the last. The slain hordes lie thick upon Israel's mountains and fields, to be devoured by beasts and birds. Yahweh, whose power is not limited to His own land, will send His destructive fire upon the enemy's land and his islands in the Black (or Mediterranean?) Sea. This is the great day (Ezekiel 39:8) of which the prophets have spoken, and its doings will convince the world of the uniqueness of Israel's God. So great would be the destruction that Israel, which was poor in wood, would find weapons enough of the invaders to burn as fuel for seven years. Thus the spoilers would be spoiled a precious thought to later Judaism, as we see from the sanguinary and vindictive temper of the Book of Esther....

PEOPLE. peoples. Some codices, with Aram, and Syriac, read "many peoples". Compare Ezekiel 38:22....

Cf. Ezekiel 39:17; Ezekiel 38:21....

III. THE DESTRUCTION OF GOD 39:1-20 In the first main division of chapter 39 Ezekiel emphasizes the certainty of the overthrow of God by repeating the substance of what he has already said about that defeat (Ezekiel 39:1-8). He then stresses the completeness of the destruction (Ezekiel 39:9-20). A. The Certainty of Cog's Destruction 39:1-8 TRANSLATION (1) And as for you, son of man, prophesy against God, and say. Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against you, O God, prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal; (2) and I will turn you about, and lead you on, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you against the mountains of Israel; (3) and I will smite your bow from your left hand, and I will cause your arrows to fall from your right hand. (4)

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