Ezekiel 39

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. Ezekiel 39:4 KJV

Today, let us continue with the study of end times in Ezekiel 39. This is a very shocking chapter. The details of the Lord’s judgment upon the enemies of Israel is quite an eye opener. After the events found in Ezekiel chapter 38, there will be seven months of burying the dead. These dead are the dead from Gog, the enemies who came against Israel. I don’t know about you but I can’t seem to grasp the concept of burying people for seven months. That is a massive amount of people! This battle scene is actually connected to Revelation chapter 19. 

* The Marriage Supper of the Lamb *

The apostle John gives us a description of what he sees happening from heaven to earth. He sees the Lord Jesus and His army of saints descending to save Israel from destruction. They are the faithful 144,000 of His army who fought with the Lord in the Old Testament. This is also known as the “Marriage Supper of the Lamb”.

And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. Revelation 19:17-18 KJV

In conjunction with the passage above, this is also the moment when the Lord Jesus captures and binds Satan for 1000 years and throws the false prophet and the anti-Christ (the beast) into the Lake of Fire.

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Revelation 19:21 KJV

The sword that comes out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus is judgment. The result of that judgment is death and the bellies of the fowls will get satisfied eating their flesh. 

* Seven Years *

Another interesting event to note in Ezekiel chapter 39 is the burning of their weapons for seven years. Every type of weapon the enemies brought to this battle will be burned for all those years. 

And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years: Ezekiel 39:9 KJV

The previous passage is referring to the Israelites that live in all the cities. They will also be given free reign to steal from their neighbors. All those people that stole from Israel will be plundered. The Israelites will burn their weapons so they do not need to cut down any trees from the forests.

So that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall burn the weapons with fire: and they shall spoil those that spoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God. Ezekiel 39:10 KJV

* Purification of the Land *

This will begin a time of atonement for Israel. A time when they will cleanse the land with fire according to their cultural practices. The King has arrived so they will be purifying the land with this fire.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude: and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog. And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. Ezekiel 39:11-12 KJV

For seven months they will continue to cleanse the land. The rest of the verses from 13-16 continue to expand on this as well. The location where all the people will be buried will be called the “Valley of Hamongog”. Could this valley be the same one mention in a previous study known as “the Valley of slaughter”? You may find this study interesting here: What is the Lake of Fire?

And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. Ezekiel 39:23 KJV

In this passage, the reference to “heathen” is not necessarily related to unbelievers. According to the Strong’s dictionary, the word can also mean the gentiles. It would be more fitting to choose the meaning to be gentile. In this case, the Lord is revealing the reason why Israel went into captivity. It was for their iniquity. In other words, the King is now saying to be faithful an obey or we “gentiles” could have this same end result, as the ones getting buried, if we do not comply with His ways. 

As a believer and follower of Jesus reading this now, one needs to see after the battle, this will be a time much different than living in a time of grace. That period would be over. This period would be a time of fellowship with the Lord and starting things anew. Experiencing His love and goodness but also witnessing His judgment for disobedience. This would be a time of intolerance to disobedience. The King of Peace has arrived and there will be peace at all cost. 

Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. Ezekiel 39:28-29 KJV

One thing to remember is that the Holy Spirit was poured out on everyone in Pentecost. Unfortunately, there were many Israelites who did not accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. In this passage, the Lord says Israel will know the Lord their God, who is Jesus. He will not hide His face from them any longer because He has also poured out the Holy Spirit upon the house of Israel. The veil that spiritually blinded them is now removed in this passage and they can clearly see their Lord is Jesus. Please remember that this was a prophecy Ezekiel spoke of for a future time. This unveiling for Israel will occur during the end times after the two witnesses prophesy in Jerusalem for 3.5 years. (Revelation 11:3) Many of the current events point to this fulfillment very soon, possibly within this decade. Our redemption draws near! Hallelujah!