Ezekiel 39
The Voice
39 Eternal One: Son of man, prophesy against Gog, and tell him that this is what the Eternal Lord has to say: “I oppose you, Gog, highest ruler of Meshech and Tubal. 2 I will turn you around and lead you. I will bring you from the remote regions of the north and send you up against Israel’s mountains. 3 But just when you think you’ve had success, I will knock the bow out of your left hand and the arrows out of your right hand. 4 Right then and there, on the mountains of Israel, you will meet your end—you and all your troops and everyone in your coalition. I will feed your remains to the predatory birds and wild beasts and deny you an honorable burial. 5 You will fall and be defeated out in the open fields.” I, the Eternal Lord, have spoken. 6 I will pour fire on Magog and on the heads of all those who believe themselves to be living safely on the coastlands. Then they will know that I am the Eternal One.
7 Everyone in Israel will know My holy name! No longer will I allow My name to be profaned! All the nations will know that I, the Eternal, am the Holy One of Israel. 8 Pay attention! The time is coming! I promise it will happen just as I have said. This is the day I’ve been talking about for so long.
The Lord’s slaughter of Gog and his forces serves two purposes. Obviously, it reminds Israel and the other nations of God’s ultimate power, but more importantly, it solidifies His new covenant with Israel. In ancient Israel, when two people made a covenant with one another, they would slaughter an animal, cut it in half, lay the two halves parallel to each other on the ground, and walk between them. This action indicated, “If I break this covenant, then you may do this to me.” The covenant partners would then share a meal together. In this case, God makes Gog’s armies the sacrifice that establishes His covenant with Israel. He, of course, will never break the covenant, and He warns Israel that He could destroy them if they abandon Him again.
Eternal One: 9 Those dwelling in the cities of Israel will leave and make huge bonfires with all of Gog’s weapons—body and chest shields, bows, arrows, clubs, and spears. The troops will be so numerous and their weapons so many that Israel will have fuel to burn for seven years. 10 No one will have to go into the fields or woods to fetch kindling or cut down trees because they’ll use their enemies’ weapons for fuel. They will strip the ones who stripped them and rob the ones who robbed them. I, the Eternal Lord, declare it so.
11 On that day, I will set aside a burial ground for Gog in Israel in the valley of the travelers east of the Dead Sea. No one will be able to pass through there anymore once Gog and all of Gog’s armies are buried there. The place will be renamed the valley of Hamon-gog, which means, “the hordes of Gog.” 12 It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury Gog and Gog’s armies in order to cleanse the land of death’s defilement. 13 Everyone in the nation will participate; and on the day I display My glory, their name will be famous. This I promise. 14 At the end of the seven months of burial, men will be designated to patrol the land and bury any of the bodies that remain on the ground and the bodies of any others who may die while traveling across Israel. This is how they will keep the land clean. 15 As they search through the land, anyone who happens upon even one bone will set up a marker beside it, and it will remain untouched until the buriers find it and lay it to rest in the valley of Hamon-gog. 16 (There will be a town called Hamonah there.) This is how the Israelites will purify the land from death’s defilement.
17-18 Then the Eternal Lord told me, “Son of man, I am telling you to send My message to every bird and wild beast”:
Eternal One: Come together, all you creatures of the sky and earth—birds of the air, beasts of the forests and field! From all around, gather around My sacrifice. I am preparing an enormous feast for you atop Israel’s mountains. You will eat the flesh of great men and drink the blood of princes as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls—all the finest, meatiest animals in all of lush Bashan! 19 I will sacrifice all these people for you, and you will eat fat until you are stuffed and drink blood until you are drunk. 20 At the table of My feast, you will devour horses and charioteers from Gog’s forces, heroes and champions of every kind!
21 I will exhibit My glory for all the nations to see, and they will all recognize the results of My judgment. They will understand that Gog was destroyed by My own powerful hand. 22 From that day on, the people of Israel will know I am the Eternal One, 23 and all the nations will know the people of Israel were exiled because they acted wickedly and willfully turned their backs on Me. This is why I turned My back on them and allowed their enemies to do with them as they pleased. As a result, all of them fell by the sword. 24 I judged them according to their impurities and crimes, and I kept My back turned on them because they violated our covenant.
25 So this is what the Eternal Lord continued to say:
Eternal One: I am going to restore the fortunes of Jacob and have compassion upon all My people Israel, for I am eager to defend My reputation and to protect My holy name. 26 Once they are living comfortably back in their ancestral lands without anyone terrorizing them, the memory of their shame and faithlessness toward Me will fade. 27 By gathering them from the enemy nations and bringing them home, I will reveal My holiness right in the sight of all the nations. 28 After all these things take place, My people will know that I, the Eternal, am their God. Even though I banished them to exile in other lands, I gathered them and put them back in their own land. No one was left behind. 29 I will not turn My back on them ever again, for I have poured out My Spirit upon the community of Israel.
So said the Eternal Lord.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
