Ezekiel 39 commentary

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.

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. After all that ambitious and covetous men do and look for, "a place of graves" is all the Lord gives them on earth, while their guilty souls are doomed to misery in another world.

When the Lord shall have mercy on the whole house of Israel, by converting them to Christianity, and when they shall have borne the shame of being cast off for their sins, then the nations shall learn to know, worship, and serve him. Then Israel also shall know the Lord, as revealed in and by Christ. Past events do not answer to these predictions. The pouring out of the Spirit is a pledge that God's favour will continue. He will hide his face no more from those on whom he has poured out his Spirit. When we pray that God would never cast us from his presence, we must as earnestly pray that, in order thereto, he would never take his Holy Spirit from us.

CHAPTER 39

Eze 39:1-29. Continuation of the Prophecy against Gog.

1. Repeated from Eze 38:3, to impress the prophecy more on the mind.

2. leave but the sixth part of thee--Margin, "strike thee with six plagues" (namely, pestilence, blood, overflowing rain, hailstones, fire, brimstone, Eze 38:22); or, "draw thee back with an hook of six teeth" (Eze 38:4), the six teeth being those six plagues. Rather, "lead thee about" [Ludovicus De Dieu and Septuagint]. As Antiochus was led (to his ruin) to leave Egypt for an expedition against Palestine, so shall the last great enemy of God be.

north parts--from the extreme north [Fairbairn].

3. bow--in which the Scythians were most expert.

4-5. (Compare Eze 39:17-20).

upon the mountains of Israel--The scene of Israel's preservation shall be that of the ungodly foe's destruction.

6. carelessly--in self-confident security.

the isles--Those dwelling in maritime regions, who had helped Gog with fleets and troops, shall be visited with the fire of God's wrath in their own lands.

7. not let them pollute my holy name--by their sins bringing down judgments which made the heathen think that I was unable or unwilling to save My people.

8. it is come ... it is done--The prediction of the salvation of My people, and the ruin of their enemy, is come to pass--is done: expressing that the event foretold is as certain as if it were already accomplished.

9-10. The burning of the foe's weapons implies that nothing belonging to them should be left to pollute the land. The seven years (seven being the sacred number) spent on this work, implies the completeness of the cleansing, and the people's zeal for purity. How different from the ancient Israelites, who left not merely the arms, but the heathen themselves, to remain among them [Fairbairn], (Jud 1:27, 28; 2:2, 3; Psa 106:34-36). The desolation by Antiochus began in the one hundred and forty-first year of the Seleucidæ. From this date to 148, a period of six years and four months ("2300 days," Da 8:14), when the temple-worship was restored (1 Maccabees 4:52), God vouchsafed many triumphs to His people; from this time to the death of Antiochus, early in 149, a period of seven months, the Jews had rest from Antiochus, and purified their land, and on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month celebrated the Encænia, or feast of dedication (Joh 10:22) and purification of the temple. The whole period, in round numbers, was seven years. Mattathias was the patriotic Jewish leader, and his third son, Judas, the military commander under whom the Syrian generals were defeated. He retook Jerusalem and purified the temple. Simon and Jonathan, his brothers, succeeded him: the independence of the Jews was secured, and the crown vested in the Asmonean family, in which it continued till Herod the Great.

11. place ... of graves--Gog found only a grave where he had expected the spoils of conquest.

valley--So vast were to be the masses that nothing but a deep valley would suffice for their corpses.

the passengers on the east of the sea--those travelling on the high road, east of the Dead Sea, from Syria to Petra and Egypt. The publicity of the road would cause many to observe God's judgments, as the stench (as English Version translates) or the multitude of graves (as Henderson translates, "it shall stop the passengers") would arrest the attention of passers-by. Their grave would be close to that of their ancient prototypes, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Dead Sea, both alike being signal instances of God's judgments.

13. I ... glorified--in destroying the foe (Eze 28:22).

14. with the passengers--The men employed continually in the burying were to be helped by those happening to pass by; all were to combine.

after the end of seven months shall they search--to see if the work was complete [Munster].

15. 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 heathen pollution from the Holy Land.

16. A city in the neighborhood was to receive the name Hamonah, "multitude," to commemorate the overthrow of the multitudes of the foe [Henderson]. The multitude of the slain shall give a name to the city of Jerusalem after the land shall have been cleansed [Grotius]. Jerusalem shall be famed as the conqueror of multitudes.

17. (Re 19:17).

sacrifice--Anciently worshippers feasted on the sacrifices. The birds and beasts of prey are invited to the sacrificial feast provided by God (compare Is 18:6; 34:6; Zep 1:7; Mr 9:49). Here this sacrifice holds only a subordinate place in the picture, and so is put last. Not only shall their bones lie long unburied, but they shall be stripped of the flesh by beasts and birds of prey.

18. rams ... lambs ... goats--By these various animal victims used in sacrifices are meant various ranks of men, princes, generals, and soldiers (compare Is 34:6).

fatlings of Bashan--ungodly men of might (Psa 22:12). Bashan, beyond Jordan, was famed for its fat cattle. Fat implies prosperity which often makes men refractory towards God (De 32:14, 15).

20. my table--the field of battle on the mountains of Israel (Eze 38:8, 20).

chariots--that is, charioteers.

22. So the house of Israel shall know ... Lord--by My interposition for them. So, too, the heathen shall be led to fear the name of the Lord (Psa 102:15).

23. hid I my face--(De 31:17; Is 59:2).

25. bring again the captivity--restore from calamity to prosperity.

the whole house of Israel--so "all Israel" (Ro 11:26). The restorations of Israel heretofore have been partial; there must be one yet future that is to be universal (Ho 1:11).

26. After that they have borne their shame--the punishment of their sin: after they have become sensible of their guilt, and ashamed of it (Eze 20:43; 36:31).

27. sanctified in them--vindicated as holy in My dealings with them.

28. The Jews, having no dominion, settled country, or fixed property to detain them, may return at any time without difficulty (compare Ho 3:4, 5).

29. poured out my Spirit upon ... Israel--the sure forerunner of their conversion (Joe 2:28; Zec 12:10). The pouring out of His Spirit is a pledge that He will hide His face no more (2Co 1:22; Ep 1:14; Php 1:6).

And leave but the sixth part of thee - The margin has, strike thee with six plagues; or, draw thee back with a hook of six teeth.

I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand - The Persians whom Antiochus had in his army, Eze 38:5, were famous as archers, and they may be intended here. The bow is held by the left hand; the arrow is pulled and discharged by the right.

I will send a fire on Magog - On Syria. I will destroy the Syrian troops.

And among them that dwell carelessly in the isles - The auxiliary troops that came to Antiochus from the borders of the Euxine Sea. - Martin.

In the midst of my people Israel - This defeat of Gog is to be in Israel: and it was there according to this prophecy, that the immense army of Antiochus was so completely defeated.

Ands I will not let them pollute my holy name any more - See on 1 Maccabees 1:11, etc., how Antiochus had profaned the temple, insulted Jehovah and his worship, etc. God permitted that as a scourge to his disobedient people; but now the scourger shall be scourged, and he shall pollute the sanctuary no more.

And shall set on fire - the weapons - The Israelites shall make bonfires and fuel of the weapons, tents, etc., which the defeated Syrians shall leave behind them, as expressive of the joy which they shall feel for the destruction of their enemies; and to keep up, in their culinary consumption, the memory of this great event.

They shall burn them with fire seven years - These may be figurative expressions, after the manner of the Asiatics, whose language abounds with such descriptions. They occur every where in the prophets. As to the number seven it is only a certain for an indeterminate number. But as the slaughter was great, and the bows, arrows, quivers, shields, bucklers, handstaves, and spears were in vast multitudes, it must have taken a long time to gather them up in the different parts of the fields of battle, and the roads in which the Syrians had retreated, throwing away their arms as they proceeded; so there might have been a long time employed in collecting and burning them. And as all seem to have been doomed to the fire, there might have been some found at different intervals and burned, during the seven years here mentioned. Mariana, in his History of Spain, lib. xi., c. 24, says, that after the Spaniards had given that signal overthrow to the Saracens, a.d. 1212 they found such a vast quantity of lances, javelins, and such like, that they served them for four years for fuel. And probably these instruments obtained by the Israelites were used in general for culinary firewood, and might literally have served them for seven years; so that during that time they should take no wood out of the fields, nor out of the forests for the purpose of fuel, Eze 39:10.

The valley of the passengers on the east of the sea - That is, of Gennesareth, according to the Targum. The valley near this lake or sea is called the Valley of the Passengers, because it was a great road by which the merchants and traders from Syria and other eastern countries went into Egypt; see Gen 37:17, Gen 37:25. See Calmet here.

There shall they bury Gog and all his multitude - Some read, "There shall they bury Gog, that is, all his multitude." Not Gog, or Antiochus himself, for he was not in this battle; but his generals, captains, and soldiers, by whom he was represented. As to Hamon-gog, we know no valley of this name but here. But we may understand the words thus: the place where this great slaughter was, and where the multitudes of the slain were buried, might be better called Hamon-gog, the valley of the multitude of God, than the valley of passengers; for so great was the carnage there, that the way of the passengers shall be stopped by it. See the text.

And seven months - It shall require a long time to bury the dead. This is another figurative expression; which, however, may admit of a good deal of literal meaning. Many of the Syrian soldiers had secreted themselves in different places during the pursuit after the battle, where they died of their wounds, of hunger, and of fatigue; so that they were not all found and buried till seven months after the defeat of the Syrian army. This slow process of burying is distinctly related in the three following verses, and extended even to a bone, Eze 39:15; which, when it was found by a passenger, the place was marked, that the buriers might see and inter it. Seven months was little time enough for all this work; and in that country putrescency does not easily take place: the scorching winds serving to desiccate the flesh, and preserve it from decomposition.

Gather yourselves - to my sacrifice - This is an allusion to a custom common in the east: when a sacrifice is made, the friends and neighbors of the party sacrificing are invited to come and feast on the sacrifice.

Ye shall - drink the blood of the princes of the earth - I need not mention the custom of the Scandinavians: they were accustomed to drink the blood of their enemies out of the skulls of the dead. But this is spoken of fowls and beasts here - rams, lambs, and goats. The feast shall be as grateful and as plenteous to the fowls and beasts, as one made of the above animals, the fattest and best of their kind, (because fed in the fertile fields of Bashan), would be to the guests of him who makes a sacrifice.

And ye shall eat fat - and drink blood - Who shall eat and drink, etc.? Not the Jews: though Voltaire says they ate human flesh, and are invited here by the prophet to eat the flesh and drink the blood of their enemies; which is a most unprincipled falsehood. It is the fowls and the beasts that God invites, Eze 39:17 : "Speak to every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, assemble yourselves - that ye may eat flesh and drink blood;" nor are the persons altered in all these Eze 39:17-20 : so the assertion of Voltaire is either through brutish ignorance or Satanic malice.

Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob - Both they and the heathen shall know that it was for their iniquity that I gave them into the hands of their enemies: and now I will redeem them from those hands in such a way as to prove that I am a merciful God, as well as a just God.

After that they have borne their shame - After they shall have borne the punishment due to a line of conduct which is their shame and reproach, viz. idolatry.

When I have - gathered them - Antiochus had before captured many of the Jews, and sold them for slaves; see Dan 11:33.

And have left none of then any more there - All that chose had liberty to return; but many remained behind. This promise may therefore refer to a greater restoration, when not a Jew shall be left behind. This, the next verse intimates, will be in the Gospel dispensation.

For I have poured out my Spirit - That is, I will pour out my Spirit; see the notes on Eze 36:25-29 (note), where this subject is largely considered. This Spirit is to enlighten, quicken, purify, and cleanse their hearts; so that, being completely changed, they shall become God's people, and be a praise in the earth. Now, they are a proverb of reproach; then, they shall be eminently distinguished.

The sixth part - I will leave in thy country but one in six.

Thy bow - What is said of the bow rendered useless, is to be understood of all other weapons of war; this is one kind, the bow, being most in use with the Scythians, is mentioned for all the rest.

It is come - As sure as if already come. The day - That notable day of recompences against the last great enemies of the church.

The weapons - The warlike provision, instruments, engines, carriages and wagons. Shall burn - It may be wondered why they burn these weapons, which might be of use to them for defence; but it was done in testimony that God was their defence, on whom only they relied. With fire - In such a country where the need of fire is much less than with us, it will not seem incredible, that the warlike utensils of so numerous an army might be enough to furnish them with fuel for many years.

Gog - And to many of those with him; but many were given to the birds and beasts to be devoured. Graves - Gog came to take possession; and so he shall, but not as he purposed and hoped. He shall possess his house of darkness in that land which he invaded. The valley of the passengers - So called from the frequent travels of passengers through it from Egypt and Arabia Felix, into the more northern parts, and from these again into Egypt and Arabia. The sea - The Dead Sea. Hamon Gog - That is, the multitude of Gog.

Glorified - The day of my being glorified shall be a renown to Israel.

They - The rulers of Israel. Sever - Chuse out men who shall make it their work. Passing - To go up and down over the whole land; for many of Gog's wounded, flying soldiers, died in thickets, and corners into which they crept. The passengers - Whose assistance they would desire of courtesy. Remain - Unburied by the public labour of the house of Israel during the seven months.

The city - That is, the multitude: the city which is next to this common tomb of Gog.

I do sacrifice - The punishment of these God calls a sacrifice, which he offers to his own justice. Upon the mountains - Where more thousands are offered at once, than ever were at any time offered; 'tis a sacrifice so great, that none ever was, or will be like it.

Ye shall eat - In these two and the following verses, God takes on him the person of one that makes a feast, invites his guests, and promises to satisfy them. Of the two former, the first is an Enigmatical invitation, or an invitation in a riddle; the latter is the key to this character. The mighty - Who had great authority, great courage and strength, the giant - like ones, commanders of great note in the army. Princes - Many princes came with their country men and subjects to assist in this war. Rams - These are compared to rams which lead the flock. Lambs - Lambs are the more ordinary in the army. Goats - Goats signify the more lascivious, and impetuous among them. Bullocks - Bullocks, such as though more slow, were of great strength. Fatlings - Well fed. Bashan - A mountain of most rich, and sweet soil.

At my table - In the field where Gog, his princes, and army, are slain, compared to a table. Horses - Horsemen, not common foot soldiers. Chariots - The men that ride in them.

All the heathen - In the countries to which the news shall come.

Their shame - Reproach for their sins.

1 THerefore, thou son of man, prophesie against Gog, and say, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

Vid. chap. 38. ver. 2, 3. where this whole verse is unfolded.

2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts , and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel.

See chap. 38. ver. 4. let, g. or else, when Gog, or his Assistants shall go into their Countreys to compose disorders risen since this enterprise was set on foot, they shall return to the rest of the Confederates.

Some read, as our Margin notes, I will draw thee back with a hook of six teeth, alluding to the drawing fish out of the water: Others, I will strike thee with six plagues, others, I will kill five of six, and leave but the sixth part of thee, let me conjecture too, I will leave in thy Countrey, but one in six, and I will bring forth thy people with thee in so great numbers, that five of six shall march on this expedition, this runs more complyant with what follows

By his alwise providence God will dispose things so, that Gog shall deliberately choose this expedition, so God will bring him, as chap. 38.4.

Vid. chap. 38. ver. 15. let. t.

See chap. 38. ver. 4.

See chap. 38. ver. 8. let. k. and ver. 21. let. t.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word] with six [illegible: 1 word] or, [illegible: 1 span] book of [illegible: 1 word] as chap. 3[illegible: 1 letter].[illegible: 1 letter]; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] the north.

3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and I will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.

Make thy hand weak, not able to hold the bow, and thy heart faint, not daring to take it up again.

What is said of the bow rendred useless, is to be understood of all other Weapons of War, this one kind the Bow being most in use with these Scythians, is mentioned for all the rest.

The hand for holding the bow, while the right fits the arrow to the string, and draws to shoot.

Thou shalt throw away thine arrows that thou mayest the better fly for escape.

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 to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured .

Thy Army shall be overthrown, and slain.

Gog himself the leader of this Army.

Thine own Souldiers, the old, trained Souldiers.

The several of the Nations, that had joyned in this enterprise with Gog.

Their Carcasses unburied shall be torn, and mangled by every ravenous bird of the Air.

Wild beasts, that range over the mountains for their prey shall eat them.

So many of them shall be denied a burial see a like place. chap. 32.4, 5.

Marginal references: chap. [illegible: 2 letters]; Heb. [illegible: 2 letters]; Heb. [illegible: 1 span].

5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God.

See chap. 16. ver. 5. let. y. and chap. 32. ver. 4. let. s. and chap. 29.5.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] the f[illegible: 1 letter]ll.

6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessely in the Isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

By an unusual judgement from God.

Either civil dissensions, as Egypt was consumed by, as chap. 30.16. Or else the destroying pestilence, which alwayes carrieth with it a burning distemper, or Fever. Or that Fire, and Brimstone mentioned, chap. 38.22. Or whatever this Fire was, it should devour, and lay desolate.

Who perhaps thought their scituation would be their safety, though Gog fell on the Land, the Ships, and Isles might escape not so, for the same hand will send the Fire on the Isles, and their inhabitants, which sent it on Gog, possibly the Tyrians, and Sidonians may be aimed at.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word]

7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more; and he heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the holy one in Israel.

The destruction threatned against the wicked for their enmity against holiness, being executed, manifest, that God is holy, and the protection of such. Or, Holy name, for that he does in his Oath swear by his Holiness. So his Faithfulness is here commended, and illustrated.

I'le give them that new spirit, that due sense of my mercy, they shall not as formerly, prophane my name among the Heathen, Ezek. 20.9. let. c.

See chap. 38. ver. 23. let. b.

In verse 6th. the Judgements executed on Gog make God known in the midst of the Heathen, here they make him known among his own people, in both glorious.

8 ¶ Behold, it is come and it is done, saith the Lord GOD: this is the day whereof I have spoken .

This Prophesie to be fulfilled in the destruction of Gog, rescue of Gods People, and magnifying the name of God.

As sure as if already come. Or as if already done, nor shall it be too long, ere in effect, and fully it shall be done.

That notable day of recompences against the last great Enemies of Christ and the Church.

By Ezekiel now, and by others. See chap. 38. ver. 17. let. g. h. i.

9 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 hand staves and the spears, and they shall burn them with fire seven years.

Out of their Houses and out of the Cities, with joy to see, and admire the great goodness of God towards them, and the greatness of his power against their Enemies.

This expression seems to intimate that they should burn these things in the open Field, or Mountains, where they found them, here is no mention made of the carrying any into City or Houses to burn in their Chimneys, it may be they should make those fires intoken of Joy.

The warlike Provision, Instruments, Engines, Carriages, and Waggons, &c. as well as those recounted.

Vid. chap. 38. ver. 4. let. o.

That either their Leaders used, like our half Pikes, or perhaps such as they cast like darts at the Enemy.

It may be wondered they burn these Weapons, which might be of use to them for defence and safety, but 'twas done, partly, because they were Weapons of the uncircumcised, partly because they were Anathemata as all Iericho was, but chiefly in testimony, that God was their safety and defence, on which they relyed, and would ever since he had so wonderfully delivered.

We might read the words thus, they shall kindle with them a fire of seven years, and then the sense would be plain, that there should be such store of Weapons, and warlike Utensils that heapt together, they would last so long, being cast into the fire still by such as found them, for its not unlike they gathered up the Weapons, as they did scattered bones on their walks, as they did light on them. Other tell us, 'tis a certain number for an uncertain, others that 'tis somewhat a proverbial speech, they shall have enough by the spoil of the Enemy to make them and keep them warm, much as we sometimes say of one well provided, he is a warm Gentleman, and some others tell us, 'tis an expression of the Jews, who love to use this number in extraordinary cases, though they intend not precisely the same, as we say of a thing delay'd 'twill be seven years ere it come, or of a thing that will serve us a good while, 'twill last seven years. Or else, since the Hebrew hath not a distinct way of declaring what might be, or the Potential mode as the Latin, but they express possible by future, and say, that shall be, which we express by that may be, the meaning of these futures, they shall, in this and the next verse, is no more, then they may or might burn for seven years, and so Kimchi glosseth it as to countenance this last ghesse. They shall be sufficient, and in such a Countrey, where the need of fire is much less then with us, it will not seem very incredible, that the warlike Utensils of so numerous an Army might be enough to furnish them with fewel for so many years, or more.

Marginal references: Or, javelins.; Or, make a fire of them.

10 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.

Heb. And they shall not, &c.

This, as noted before, taken Potentially, or speaking what they might, not what they eventually should do, such store of fuel from the Weapons, and Utensils of War left by these Gogites, that the Jews will not need to go to the Forests to cut down Wood. Or else comparatively, as some will, what they shall need to fetch from the Forests shall be nothing in comparison to what they were wont to fetch.

They may if they will, 'tis not preceptive, to make it duty, nor doth it necessarily determin, that they must, but there were and would be for all that time, who would be burning these Weapons, and save the labour and cost of buying, and fetching Wood, and these, who should do this, I would look for among the poorer sort.

Strip the dead, rifle their Waggons, and Tents, searching what they may find of value and use, in which tis likely, the poor among the Jews would be earliest, and most diligent.

The Army of Gog, and his Followers.

'Twas not Theft or Robbery in the Iews to do this, though 'twas Robbery in Gog and his Company to spoil the Iews, but for decorum of the phrase, the Prophet useth the same word in both cases.

11 ¶ And it shall come to pass, at 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 Hamon Gog.

When God shall have destroyed this Prince, and his formidable Army.

And to many of those, were with him, for some were ver. 4. given to the Birds and Beasts to be devoured.

Beside many other reasons for burying these slaughtered multudes, the humanity that Religion is full of, would guide the Iews to it, and God tells us, that Gog shall have a grave in Israel. He came to take possession and so he shall, but not as he purposed and hoped, but as God intended, Gog shall possesse his house of darkness in that Land, which he invaded to make a prey of. He shall have one place there, a grave as the Hebrew.

This Valley hath here its name, and scituation, the name from the frequent Travels of passengers through it from Egypt, and Arabia Felix into the more Northern parts, and from these again into Egypt and Arabia.

By its scituation 'tis on the Eastside of the Dead Sea, to distinguish it from the Valley, that is on this side Iordan Westward, in which is Dotham. Now in this Valley did the Iews discomfit the Ammonites, Moabites, Tyrians, and Sidonians, 1 Macc. 5. c. This might be a Type, or first fruits, and assurance of this great victory, but no more; for this was of a few against a few, and in this fight of some, but [illegible: 1 letter]ew fell, &c.

The stink of the putrifying Carcasses should make Travellers stop their Noses, offended with the ill smells.

Partly in doing the office of humanity, though to dead Enemies, and let their Enemies live, who would not (for want of others) be so civil to them when dead, but chiefly to remove the nuissance of Eye and Nose, and to prevent diseases, that rise many times from such smells.

This Prince whoever 'tis, shall there fall, and be buried with his multitude,

This shall give name to the Valley, which is to be called the Valley of Hamon Gog, which appellation I do not know to be given to any Valley as yet, probably because this Prophesie is not yetfully accomplisht.

Marginal references: Or, grave.; Or, months.; i. e. the multitude of Gog.

12 And seven moneths shall the house of Israel be burying of them , that they may cleanse the land .

Many of the house of Israel, some voluntarily, others by appointment.

A little time would not suffice to bury so great multitude, make what haste they could.

Not in a legal sense, but in a natural, to clear the Land of hurtful stinks.

13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them: and it shall be to them a renown , the day that I shall be glorified , saith the Lord GOD.

That dwell there about, or all, that came out to resist, and fight with this Army.

The house of Israel.

A commendation, matter of praise, that did like men, bury the dead, who otherwise must have been all dung on the face of the Earth, and the swelling Hill rising from their buried bones, shall be a Monument to the praise of Israel's Courtesie.

Or else thus, the day of my being glorified shall be a renown to Israel, as indeed 'tis an honour to be owned of God, so when God shews he owneth such, he gives them honour among all that observe it.

Marginal references: In the deliverance of Israel, and in the destruction of Gog by my wonderful power, in my just zeal against mine Enemies, and for my People.

14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth to cleanse it: after the end of seven moneths shall they search.

The Rulers in Israel.

Choose out men who shall make it their work.

To go up and down over the whole Land, for many of Gogs wounded, flying Souldiers died in Thickets, and by corners into which they crept, when they could go no farther.

Whose assistance they would desire of courtesie, or command by order, and that with reason, all this care and labour for burying the dead tending to their good, that they might unoffended travel whether they were going.

Unburied by the publick labour of the house of Israel during the seven moneths.

A legal cleansing, if refered to Antio[illegible: 1 letter]hus Epiphanes times, but not so with those, that refer it to a season not yet come; for all legal Ceremonies are ended, when Gog's Army shall be destroyed and buried, the Land shall be cleansed from the ste[illegible: 1 letter]ch and noisomness of these Carcasses.

These Officers begin their work after the first seven moneths are expired, for during the seven months there would be work for all of them to bury the dead, and slain of Gog's Army.

Marginal references: Heb. men of continuance.

15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a mans bone , then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog.

Order should be taken to inform Travellers, if they lighted on any bone, or bones of men, as they journeyed, that they were desired to set up some mark at them, that thereby the publick Officers appointed to gather and bury them, might find and carry those bones to the common burying place.

Many of Gogs Souldiers were torn by Beasts, which if some of the greater Beasts did, the lesser could not break and devour the bones, but with the flesh these were dragged about by Beasts, or scattered by the Eagles, and Vultures, and so lay divided from the body; of these the Prophet speaks.

Marginal references: Heb. bul[illegible: 2 letters].; Or, the mu[illegible: 1 letter]titude of Gog.

16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah: thus shall they cleanse the land.

Either, which is next to this common Tomb of Gog, as most likely, or the City Ierusalem, whose people, delivered, sanctified, grateful, and magnified in the eyes of the Nations by the wonderful mercy of their God shall be called by way of eminence, The People, or Her People, Hamonah.

Marginal references: Or, that is, the multitude.

17 And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; speak unto every feathered fowl , and to every beast of the field; Assemble your selves , and come; gather your selves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you , even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh , and drink blood .

Though they understand not thy word, yet speak, for they will understand my word, which shall go out with thine.

To all sorts of carnivorous birds, every kind of those, that eat flesh.

That are for the prey, little or great which either by craft, or power get their food out of the flesh of others.

Come in whole Companies, flocks and herds too, and this repeated twice more, come gather your selves, they have an earnest invitation, from all sides.

When sacrifices were offered, there usually was a feast to the Priest the sacrificer, and for what guests were invited, now God is about to make such, he invites his guests, resolved to entertain them plentifully.

The punishment of these God calls [illegible: 1 word] Sacrifice, which he doth offer, i. e. to his own Justice, to satisfie that.

It was for higher ends, yet since God intends to fill them with the flesh and blood of it, he is pleased to tell them, he hath slain for their entertainment.

Where more thousands are offered at once, then ever were at any time offered, 'tis a Sacrifice so great, that none ever was, or will be like.

The land of Canaan.

The flesh of the sacrifice.

And the blood of it, this was entertainment fitting these invited guests.

Marginal references: Heb. to the fowl of every wing.; Isa. 18.6. and 34.16. Jer. 12.9. Zeph. 1.7. Rev. 19.17.; Or, slaughter.

18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty , and drink the bloud of the princes of the earth, of rams , or lambs , and of goats , of bullocks , all of them fatlings of Bashan .

Who had great authority, great courage and strength the giantlike ones, Commanders of great note in the Army▪

Many Princes came with their Countrey men, and subjects to assist in this War whose blood these Fowls should drink, and these compared to

Rams which lead the flock.

Lambs are the more ordinary in the Army.

Great Goats as the Hebrew denoteth▪ and these signifie the more lascivious, and impetuous among them.

Such as though more slow, were of great strength.

Well fed, 'twas no lean sacrifice made.

A mountain of most rich, and sweet soil, and that fed the best of any.

In these two, and the two following verses, God takes on him the person of one, that makes a Feast, invites his guests, and promiseth to satisfie them. Of the two former, the first is an Aenigmatical invitation, or an invitation in a riddle, the latter is the Key to this character.

Marginal references: Heb. great goats.

19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full , and drink blood till ye be drunken of my sacrifice , which I have sacrificed for you.

Accounted best, and which shall here be plentiful.

None should fray them away, nor should any devour so much as to leave others hungry.

Vid. ver. 17. let. c. d.

20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses , and chariots , with mighty men , and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

In the Field where Gog, his Princes and Army are slain compared to a Table.

Horse put for Horsemen, not common foot Souldiers.

For the men that ride in them.

Vid. ver. 18. l[illegible: 1 letter]t. [illegible: 1 letter].

21 And I will set my glory among the heathen , and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

I will advance and continue.

The glory of power, justice and wisdom against Enemies, and of power, mercy, and faithfulness, with wisdom toward his people.

Among whom my name was evil spoken of, they eclipsed, but God will clear up his glory.

That are either in Gogs Army, or in the Countries, to which the News shall come.

Not be able to deny, or doubt.

The punishment just and from heaven, called Gods hand laid upon them.

22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their GOD from that day and forward.

Vid. chap. 34. ver. 31. let. l. m.

From the day of Gogs signal destruction, forward, while time shall be.

23 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.

The sottish heathen thought meanly of the God of Israel, and reckoned they came into Captivity, because the People of some greater God had by the power of their God, prevailed against Israels God, and his People, but by this overthrow given to Gog, they shall see 'twas not impotence in Israels God, but iniquity in Israels People, that brought them into Captivity.

Committed sin perversly, continually and with an high hand.

Withdrew my favour, would no more regard them, and then 'twas soon a night of trouble to them.

Into the power of their Enemy which could not have hurt Israel, if Israel had not first forsaken his God but then God forsook them.

When God withdrew his defence, as fenceless, they fell under the Sword of the Enemy, for 'tis he, that subdueth enemies, and giveth victory.

24 According to their uncleanness , and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face q from them.

Whatever severity I have seemed to use, 'twas but according to their sins, yet less then their sins.

In punishing and hiding my face from them.

25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob , and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name.

Since my Name, my Power and Justice are vindicated, and the heathen see 'twas Israels iniquity brought them into captivity, and Israel knows this too,

From this time of Gogs overthrow.

The seed of Iacob here called by their Fathers name.

This reducing Captive Iews is meer mercy; its very true, by sin they deserved to be made Captives, and 'tis as true, they never did, or could deserve a deliverance from Captivity, 'twas not extremity of justice, that so punisht, but 'twas the riches of mercy that so pardon'd, and redeemed.

On the ten Tribes with the two.

And all this in zeal for my holy name, by which I am engaged to be their God.

26 After that they have born their shame , and all their trespasses , whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid .

They have long suffered, and now shall suffer no longer: for it is enough my People know, and the heathen know, that I am the Lord.

Reproach for their sins cast on then by the heathen with great reflections on their God, this was part of the punishment of them all, and the greatest grief to the best among them, that their God was reproacht.

The punishment of those trespasses, whereby they sinned against God, which this Prophet plainly and frequently chargeth them with.

And this done amidst that prosperity, and safety, which should have obliged them to love and obedience, but when they were safe at home, they sinned as if danger would never overtake them.

No Enemy to endanger and alarm them, strange ingratitude to cast off the fear of God, and his Law, when he had set them free from the fear of Enemies.

27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies lands , and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.

The phrase chap. 28. ver. 25. let. b. the persons here are not the two Tribes onely, but the ten with them, as ver. 25. let. u.

Where ever they were, they were among Enemies out of their own Countrey.

By their accepting punishment, repenting for sin, loathing their former wayes, and themselves for them, acknowledging God to be holy, his law holy, and his worship holy, and engaging themselves in Covenant of perpetual obedience to God, and keeping it, by these things God will be sanctified among the Israelites, and in sight of the Nations, when they see the furnace hath purified them.

Marginal references: chap. 36.[illegible: 2 letters]

28 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 .

On fullest experiences, and clearest evidences, see, acknowledge, and publish to each other.

The mighty one, the just judge, who determineth righteously between men and men, yea, between them and himself.

Who in Covenant with their Fathers, hath remembred it for the good of their Children, who did assure them, that if they violated his Covenant he would punish, and when they repented he would shew mercy.

Who by his own hand raised up Enemies against, and then delivered them into the Enemies hand, so sent them into a sad and long Captivity.

But now done more for them, then when I brought them out of Babylon, whence the two Tribes (yet not all of them for some staid behind) and a few of the house of Israel returned, now the whole of the twelve Tribes shall be gathered.

That Countrey, they so dearly loved, somewhat for their Fathers sake, whose antient seat 'twas, but more for the goodness of it, which flow'd with Milk and Honey.

This recovery it seems shall be much more universal then the former in Zerobabels time, as coming out of Egypt, not a feeble person left behind, so nor here, if the words be to be literally explained.

In the Land of Captivity, the enemies Countrey.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1 paragraph]

29 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.

See ver. 23. let. 1. I will not turn from them in displeasure.

From the whole house of Israel this is no assurance to any pretender of great interest in God, yet lives in sin.

In abundant measures of Wisdom, and Holiness.

Which is a spirit of sanctification to make them Holy, and a spirit of strength to confirm them in Holiness, and of Adoption to sweeten obedience to them, they shall not, they will not depart from me according to the promises, chap, 11.19, 20. and 36.25.26, 27. and chap. 37. from 23. to 28. and Ier. 31.31. &c. and 32.37, 38, 39, 40. 'Twas sin, that caused God to hide his face, and now Grace shall be given to keep them out of sin, and to engage them to constant obedience, that God may rejoyce over them to do them good in this their latter end.

Marginal references: Joel 2.28. Act. 2.17.

Eze 39:1-8

Further Description of the Judgment to Fall upon Gog and his Hosts

Eze 39:1-8. General announcement of his destruction. - Eze 39:1. And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with thee, Gog, thou prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. Eze 39:2. I will mislead thee, and conduct thee, and cause thee to come up from the uttermost north, and bring thee to the mountains of Israel; Eze 39:3. And will smite thy bow from thy left hand, and cause thine arrows to fall from thy right hand. Eze 39:4. Upon the mountains of Israel wilt thou fall, thou and all thy hosts, and the peoples which are with thee: I give thee for food to the birds of prey of every plumage, and to the beasts of the field. Eze 39:5. Upon the open field shalt thou fall, for I have spoken it, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 39:6. And I will send fire in Magog, and among those who dwell in security upon the islands, that they may know that I am Jehovah. Eze 39:7. I will make known my holy name in the midst of my people Israel, and will not let my holy name be profaned any more, that the nations may know that I am Jehovah, holy in Israel. Eze 39:8. Behold, it comes and happens, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah; this is the day of which I spoke. - The further description of the judgment with which Gog and his hosts are threatened in Eze 38:21-23, commences with a repetition of the command to the prophet to prophesy against Gog (Eze 39:1, cf. Eze 38:2-3). The principal contents of Eze 38:4-15 are then briefly summed up in Eze 39:2. שׁבבתּיך, as in Eze 38:4, is strengthened by שׁשּׁתיך, שׁשׁא, ἁπαχ λεγ.., is not connected with שׁשׁ in the sense of “I leave a sixth part of thee remaining,” or afflict thee with six punishments; but in the Ethiopic it signifies to proceed, or to climb, and here, accordingly, it is used in the sense of leading on (lxx καθοδηγήσω σε, or, according to another reading, κατάξω; Vulg. educam). For Eze 39:2, compare Eze 38:15 and Eze 38:8. In the land of Israel, God will strike his weapons out of his hands, i.e., make him incapable of fighting (for the fact itself, compare the similar figures in Psa 37:15; Psa 46:10), and give him up with all his army as a prey to death. עיט, a beast of prey, is more precisely defined by צפּור, and still further strengthened by the genitive כּל־כּנף: birds of prey of every kind. The judgment will not be confined to the destruction of the army of Gog, which has invaded the land of Israel, but (Eze 39:6) will also extend to the land of Gog, and to all the heathen nations that are dwelling in security. אשׁ, fire, primarily the fire of war; then, in a further sense, a figure denoting destruction inflicted directly by God, as in Eze 38:22, which is therefore represented in Rev 20:9 as fire falling from heaven. Magog is the population of the land of Magog (Eze 38:2). With this the inhabitants of the distant coastlands of the west (the איּים) are associated, as representatives of the remotest heathen nations. Eze 39:7, Eze 39:8. By this judgment the Lord will make known His holy name in Israel, and show the heathen that He will not let it be blasphemed by them any more. For the fact itself, compare Eze 36:20. For Eze 39:8, compare Eze 21:12, and for היּום, see Eze 38:18-19.

Eze 39:9-20

Total Destruction of Gog and his Hosts

Eze 39:9. Then will the inhabitants of the cities of Israel go forth, and burn and heat with armour and shield and target, with bow and arrows and hand-staves and spears, and will burn fire with them for seven years; Eze 39:10. And will not fetch wood from the field, nor cut wood out of the forests, but will burn fire with the armour, and will spoil those who spoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 39:11. And it will come to pass in that day, that I will give Gog a place where his grave in Israel shall be, the valley of the travellers, and there will they bury Gog and all his multitude, and will call it the valley of Gog’s multitude. Eze 39:12. They of the house of Israel will bury them, to purify the land for seven months. V.1 3. And all the people of the land will bury, and it will be to them for a name on the day when I glorify myself, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 39:14. And they will set apart constant men, such as rove about in the land, and such as bury with them that rove about those who remain upon the surface of the ground, to cleanse it, after the lapse of seven months will they search it through. Eze 39:15. And those who rove about will pass through the land; and if one sees a man’s bone, he will set up a sign by it, till the buriers of the dead bury it in the valley of the multitude of Gog. Eze 39:16. The name of a city shall also be called Hamonah (multitude). And thus will they cleanse the land. Eze 39:17. And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Say to the birds of every plumage, and to all the beasts of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come, gather together from round about to my sacrifice, which I slaughter for you, to a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, and eat flesh and drink blood. Eze 39:18. Flesh of heroes shall ye eat, and drink blood of princes of the earth; rams, lambs, and he-goats, bullocks, all fattened in Bashan. Eze 39:9. And ye shall eat fat to satiety, and drink blood to intoxication, of my sacrifice which I have slaughtered for you. Eze 39:20. And ye shall satiate yourselves at my table with horses and riders, heroes and all kinds of men of war, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - To show how terrible the judgment upon Gog will be, Ezekiel depicts in three special ways the total destruction of his powerful forces. In the first place, the burning of all the weapons of the fallen foe will furnish the inhabitants of the land of Israel with wood for firing for seven years, so that there will be no necessity for them to fetch fuel from the field or from the forest (Eze 39:9 and Eze 39:10). But Hävernick is wrong in supposing that the reason for burning the weapons is that, according to Isa 9:5, weapons of war are irreconcilable with the character of the Messianic times of peace. This is not referred to here; but the motive is the complete annihilation of the enemy, the removal of every trace of him. The prophet therefore crowds the words together for the purpose of enumerating every kind of weapon that was combustible, even to the hand-staves which men were accustomed to carry (cf. Num 22:27). The quantity of the weapons will be so great, that they will supply the Israelites with all the fuel they need for seven years. The number seven in the seven years as well as in the seven months of burying (Eze 39:11) is symbolical, stamping the overthrow as a punishment inflicted by God, the completion of a divine judgment.

With the gathering of the weapons for burning there is associated the plundering of the fallen foe (Eze 39:10), by which the Israelites do to the enemy what he intended to do to them (Eze 38:12), and the people of God obtain possession of the wealth of their foes (cf. Jer 30:16). In the second place, God will assign a large burying-place for the army of Gog in a valley of Israel, which is to be named in consequence “the multitude of Gog;” just as a city in that region will also be called Hamonah from this event. The Israelites will bury the fallen of Gog there for seven months long, and after the expiration of that time they will have the land explored by men specially appointed for the purpose, and bones that may still have been left unburied will be sought out, and they will have them interred by buriers of the dead, that the land may be thoroughly cleansed (Eze 39:11-16). מקום שׁם, a place where there was a grave in Israel, i.e., a spot in which he might be buried in Israel. There are different opinions as to both the designation and the situation of this place. There is no foundation for the supposition that גּי העברים derives its name from the mountains of Abarim in Num 27:12 and Deu 32:49 (Michaelis, Eichhorn), or that it signifies valley of the haughty ones (Ewald), or that there is an allusion to the valley mentioned in Zec 14:4 (Hitzig), or the valley of Jehoshaphat (Kliefoth). The valley cannot even have derived its name (העברים) from the עברים, who passed through the land to search out the bones of the dead that still remained unburied, and have them interred (Eze 39:14, Eze 39:15). For העברים cannot have any other meaning here than that which it has in the circumstantial clause which follows, where those who explored the land cannot possibly be intended, although even this clause is also obscure. The only other passage in which חסם occurs is Deu 25:4, where it signifies a muzzle, and in the Arabic it means to obstruct, or cut off; and hence, in the passage before us, probably, to stop the way. העברים are not the Scythians (Hitzig), for the word עבר is never applied to their invasion of the land, but generally the travellers who pass through the land, or more especially those who cross from Peraea to Canaan. The valley of העברים is no doubt the valley of the Jordan above the Dead Sea. The definition indicates this, viz., קדמת, on the front of the sea; not to the east of the sea, as it is generally rendered, for קדמת never has this meaning (see the comm. on Gen 2:14). By היּם we cannot understand “the Mediterranean,”as the majority of the commentators have done, as there would then be no meaning in the words, since the whole of the land of Israel was situated to the east of the Mediterranean Sea. היּם is the Dead Sea, generally called היּם הקּדמוני (Eze 47:18); and קדמת, “on the front side of the (Dead) Sea,” as looked at from Jerusalem, the central point of the land, is probably the valley of the Jordan, the principal crossing place from Gilead into Canaan proper, and the broadest part of the Jordan-valley, which was therefore well adapted to be the burial-place for the multitude of slaughtered foes. But in consequence of the army of Gog having there found its grave, this valley will in future block up the way to the travellers who desire to pass to and fro. This appears to be the meaning of the circumstantial clause.

From the fact that Gog’s multitude is buried there, the valley itself will receive the name of Hamon-Gog. The Israelites will occupy seven months in burying them, so enormously great will be the number of the dead to be buried (Eze 39:12), and this labour will be for a name, i.e., for renown, to the whole nation. This does not mean, of course, “that it will be a source of honour to them to assist in this work;” nor is the renown to be sought in the fact, that as a privileged people, protected by God, they can possess the grave of Gog in their land (Hitzig), - a thought which is altogether remote, and perfectly foreign to Israelitish views; but the burying of Gog’s multitude of troops will be for a name to the people of Israel, inasmuch as they thereby cleanse the land and manifest their zeal to show themselves a holy people by sweeping all uncleanness away. יום is an accusative of time: on the day when I glorify myself. - Eze 39:14, Eze 39:15. The effort made to cleanse the land perfectly from the uncleanness arising from the bones of the dead will be so great, that after the great mass of the slain have been buried in seven months, there will be men specially appointed to bury the bones of the dead that still lie scattered here and there about the land. אנשׁי תּמיד are people who have a permanent duty to discharge. The participles עברים and מקבּרים are co-ordinate, and are written together asyndetos, men who go about the land, and men who bury with those who go about. That the words are to be understood in this sense is evident from Eze 39:15, according to which those who go about do not perform the task of burying, but simply search for bones that have been left, and put up a sign for the buriers of the dead. ראה, with the subject indefinite; if one sees a human bone, he builds (erects) a ציּוּן, or stone, by the side of it (cf. 2Ki 23:17). - Eze 39:16. A city shall also receive the name of Hamonah, i.e., multitude or tumult. To שׁם־עיר we may easily supply יהיה from the context, since this puts in the future the statement, “the name of the city is,” for which no verb was required in Hebrew. In the last words, וטהרוּ הארץ, the main thought is finally repeated and the picture brought to a close. - Eze 39:17-20. In the third place, God will provide the birds of prey and beasts of prey with an abundant meal from this slaughter. This cannot be understood as signifying that only what remain of the corpses, and have not been cleared away in the manner depicted in Eze 39:11-16, will become the prey of wild beasts; but the beasts of prey will make their meal of the corpses before it is possible to bury them, since the burying cannot be effected immediately or all at once. - The several features in the picture, of the manner in which the enemies are to be destroyed till the last trace of them is gone, are not arranged in chronological order, but according to the subject-matter; and the thought that the slaughtered foes are to become the prey of wild beasts is mentioned last as being the more striking, because it is in this that their ignominious destruction culminates. To give due prominence to this thought, the birds and beasts of prey are summoned by God to gather together to the meal prepared for them. The picture given of it as a sacrificial meal is based upon Isa 34:6 and Jer 46:10. In harmony with this picture the slaughtered foes are designated as fattened sacrificial beasts, rams, lambs, he-goats, bullocks; on which Grotius has correctly remarked, that “these names of animals, which were generally employed in the sacrifices, are to be understood as signifying different orders of men, chiefs, generals, soldiers, as the Chaldee also observes.”

Eze 39:21-29

The Result of this Judgment, and the Concluding Promise

Eze 39:21. Then will I display my glory among the nations, and all nations shall see my judgment which I shall execute, and my hand which I shall lay upon them. Eze 39:22. And the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God from this day and forward. Eze 39:23. And the nations shall know that because of their wickedness the house of Israel went into captivity; because they have been unfaithful toward me, I hid my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their oppressors, so that they all fell by the sword. Eze 39:24. According to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions, I dealt with them, and hid my face from them. Eze 39:25. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have pity upon all the house of Israel, and be jealous for my holy name. Eze 39:26. Then will they bear their reproach and all their faithlessness which they have committed toward me when they dwell in their land in security, and no one alarms them; Eze 39:27. When I bring them back out of the nations, and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, and sanctify myself upon them before the eyes of the many nations. Eze 39:28. And they will know that I, Jehovah, am their God, when I have driven them out to the nations, and then bring them together again into their land, and leave none of them there any more. Eze 39:29. And I will not hide my face from them any more, because I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. - The terrible judgment upon Gog will have this twofold effect as a revelation of the glory of God - first, Israel will know that the Lord is, and will always continue to be, its God (Eze 39:22); secondly, the heathen will know that He gave Israel into their power, and thrust it out of its own land, not from weakness, but to punish it for its faithless apostasy (Eze 39:23 and Eze 39:24; compare Eze 36:17.). עשׂה אתם (Eze 39:24), as in Eze 7:27, etc. But because this was the purpose of the Lord with His judgments, He will now bring back the captives of Israel, and have compassion upon all His people. This turn of the prophecy in Eze 39:25 serves to introduce the promise to Israel with which the prophecy concerning Gog and the whole series of prophecies, contained in Eze 35:1 onwards, are brought to a close (Eze 39:25-29). This promise reverts in 'עתּה אשׁיב וגו to the prophet’s own time, to which Ezekiel had already gone back by mentioning the carrying away of Israel in Eze 39:23 and Eze 39:24. The restoration of the captives of Jacob commences with the liberation of Israel from the Babylonian exile, but is not to be restricted to this. It embraces all the deliverances which Israel will experience from the termination of the Babylonian exile till its final gathering out of the nations on the conversion of the remnant which is still hardened and scattered. לכן, therefore, sc. because God will prove Himself to be holy in the sight of the heathen nations by means of the judgment, and will make known to them that He has punished Israel solely on account of its sins, and therefore will He restore His people and renew it by His Spirit (Eze 39:29). - In what the jealousy of God for His holy name consists is evident from v.7, and still more plainly from Eze 36:22-23, namely, in the fact that by means of the judgment He manifests Himself as the holy God. ונשׂוּ is not to be altered into ונשׁוּ, “they will forget,” as Dathe and Hitzig propose, but is a defective spelling for ונשׂאוּ (like מלוּ for מלאוּ in Eze 28:16): they will bear their reproach. The thought is the same as in Eze 16:54 and Eze 16:61, where the bearing of reproach is explained as signifying their being ashamed of their sins and their consequences, and feeling disgust thereat. They will feel this shame when the Lord grants them lasting peace in their own land. Raschi has correctly explained it thus: “When I shall have done them good, and not rewarded them as their iniquity deserved, they will be filled with shame, so that they will not dare to lift up their face.” - Eze 39:27 is only a further expansion of Eze 39:26. For the fact itself, compare Eze 36:23-24; Eze 20:41, etc. And not only will Israel then be ashamed of its sins, but (Eze 39:28, Eze 39:29) it will also know that Jehovah is its God from henceforth and for ever, as was affirmed in Eze 39:22, when He shall fully restore to their own land the people that was thrust into exile, and withdraw His favour from it no more, because He has poured out His Spirit upon it, and thereby perfectly sanctified it as His own people (cf. Eze 36:27).

The promise with which the prophecy concerning the destruction of Gog is brought to a close, namely, that in this judgment all nations shall see the glory of God, and all Israel shall know that henceforth Jehovah will be their God, and will no more hide His face from them, serves to confirm the substance of the threat of punishment; inasmuch as it also teaches that, in the destruction of Gog and his gathering of peoples, the last attack of the heathen world-power upon the kingdom of God will be judged and overthrown, so that from that time forth the people of God will no more have to fear a foe who can disturb its peace and its blessedness in the everlasting possession of the inheritance given to it by the Lord. Gog is not only depicted as the last foe, whom the Lord Himself entices for the purpose of destroying him by miracles of His almighty power (Eze 38:3-4, Eze 38:19-22), by the fact that his appearance is assigned to the end of the times, when all Israel is gathered out of the nations and brought back out of the lands, and dwells in secure repose in the open and unfortified towns of its own land (Eze 38:8, Eze 38:11-12); but this may also be inferred from the fact that the gathering of peoples led by Gog against Israel belongs to the heathen nations living on the borders of the known world,since this points to a time when not only will the ancient foes of the kingdom of God, whose destruction was predicted in Ezekiel 25-32, have departed from the stage of history and perished, but the boundaries of Israel will also stretch far beyond the limits of Palestine, to the vicinity of these hordes of peoples at the remotest extremities on the north, the east, and the south of the globe. - So much may be gathered from the contents of our prophecy in relation to its historical fulfilment. But in order to determine with greater precision what is the heathen power thus rising up in Gog of Magog against the kingdom of God, we mut take into consideration the passage in the Apocalypse (Rev 20:8 and Rev 20:9), where our prophecy is resumed. Into this, however, we will not further enter till after the exposition of Ezekiel 40-48, when we shall take up the question as to the historical realization of the new temple and kingdom of God which Ezekiel saw.

The Judgment of Gog and Magog. (b. c. 585.)

1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts, and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel: 3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. 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. 5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God . 6 And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the Lord . 7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord , the Holy One in Israel.

This prophecy begins as that before (ch. xxxviii. 3, 4, I am against thee, and I will turn thee back); for there is need of line upon line, both for the conviction of Israel's enemies and the comfort of Israel's friends. Here, as there, it is foretold that God will bring this enemy from the north parts, as formerly the Chaldeans were fetched from the north, Jer. i. 14 (Omne malum ab aquilone—Every evil comes from the north), and, long after, the Roman empire was overrun by the northern nations, that he will bring him upon the mountains of Israel (v. 2), first as a place of temptation, where the measures of his iniquity shall be filled up, and then as a place of execution, where his ruin shall be completed. And that is it which is here enlarged upon. 1. His soldiers shall be disarmed and so disabled to carry on their enterprise. Though the men of might may find their hands, yet to what purpose, when they find it is put out of their power to do mischief, when God shall smite their bow out of their left hand and their arrow out of their right? v. 3. Note, The weapons formed against Zion shall not prosper. 2. He and the greatest part of his army shall be slain in the field of battle (v. 4): Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel; there they sinned, and there they shall perish, even upon the holy mountains of Israel, for there broke he the arrows of the bow, Ps. lxxvi. 3. The mountains of Israel shall be moistened, and fattened, and made fruitful, with the blood of the enemies. "Thou shalt fall upon the open field (v. 5) and shalt not be able even there to make thy escape." Even upon the mountains he shall not find a pass that he shall be able to maintain, and upon the open field he shall not find a road that he shall be able to make his escape by. He and his bands; his regular troops, and the people that are with him that follow the camp to share in the plunder, shall all fall with him. Note, Those that cast in their lot among wicked people (Prov. i. 14), that they may have one purse with them, must expect to take their lot with them, and fare as they fare, taking the worse with the better. There shall be such a general slaughter made that but a sixth part shall be left (v. 2), the other five shall all be cut off. Never was army so totally routed as this. And, for its greater infamy and reproach, their bodies shall be a feast to the birds of prey, v. 4. Compare v. 17, Thou shalt fall, for I have spoken it. Note, Rather shall the most illustrious princes (Antiochus was called Epiphanes—the illustrious) and the most numerous armies fall to the ground than any word of God; for he that has spoken will make it good. 3. His country also shall be made desolate: I will send a fire on Magog (v. 6) and among those that dwell carelessly, or confidently, in the isles, that is, the nations of the Gentiles. He designed to destroy the land of Israel, but shall not only be defeated in that design, but shall have his own destroyed by some fire, some consuming judgment or other. Note, Those who invade other people's rights justly lose their own. 4. God will by all this advance the honour of his own name, (1.) Among his people Israel; they shall hereby know more of God's name, of his power and goodness, his care of them, his faithfulness to them. His providence concerning them shall lead them into a better acquaintance with him; every providence should do so, as well as every ordinance: I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people. In Judah is God known; but those that know much of God should know more of him; we should especially increase in the knowledge of his name as a holy name. They shall know him as a God of perfect purity and rectitude and that hates all sin, and then it follows, I will not let them pollute my holy name any more. Note, Those that rightly know God's holy name will not dare to profane it; for it is through ignorance of it that men make light of it and make bold with it. And this is God's method of dealing with men, first to enlighten their understandings, and by that means to influence the whole man; he first makes us to know his holy name, and so keeps us from polluting it and engages us to honour it. And this is here the blessed effect of God's glorious appearances on the behalf of his people. Thus he completes his favours, thus he sanctifies them, thus he makes them blessings indeed; by them he instructs his people and reforms them. When the Almighty scattered kings for her she was white as snow in Salmon, Ps. lxviii. 14. (2.) Among the heathen; those that never knew it, or would not own it, shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. They shall be made to know by dearbought experience that he is a God of power, and his people's God and Saviour; and it is in vain for the greatest potentates to contend with him; none ever hardened their heart against him and prospered.

The Judgment of Gog. (b. c. 585.)

8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God ; this is the day whereof I have spoken. 9 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: 10 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 . 11 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. 12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God . 14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment, passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 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. 16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God ; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. 18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord God . 21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward.

Though this prophecy was to have its accomplishment in the latter days, yet it is here spoken of as if it were already accomplished, because it is certain (v. 8): "Behold it has come, and it is done; it is as sure to be done when the time shall come as if it were done already; this is the day whereof I have long and often spoken, and, though it has been long in coming, yet at length it has come." Thus it was said unto John (Rev. xxi. 6), It is done. To represent the routing of the army of Gog as very great, here are three things specified as the consequences of it. It was God himself that gave the defeat; we do not find that the people of Israel drew a sword or struck a stroke: but,

I. They shall burn their weapons, their bows and arrows, which fell out of their hands (v. 3), their shields and bucklers, their javelins, spears, leading staves, truncheons, and half-pikes, every thing that is combustible. They shall not lay them up in their armouries, nor reserve them for their own use, lest they should be tempted to put a confidence in them, but they shall burn them; not all at once, for a bonfire (to what purpose would be that waste?) but as they had occasion to use them for fuel in their houses, instead of other fire-wood, so that they should have no occasion to take wood out of the field or forests for seven years together (v. 10), such vast quantities of weapons shall there be left upon the open field where the enemy fell, and in the roads which they passed in their flight. The weapons were dry and fitter for fuel than green wood; and, by saving the wood in their coppices and forests, they gave it time to grow. Though the mountains of Israel produce plenty of all good things, yet it becomes the people of Israel to be good husbands of their plenty and to save what they can for the benefit of those that come after them, as Providence shall give them opportunity to do so. We may suppose that when those who dwelt in the cities of Israel came forth to spoil those who spoiled them, and make reprisals upon them, they found upon them silver, and gold, and ornaments; yet no mention is made of any thing particularly that they converted to their own use but the wood of the weapons for fuel, which is one of the necessaries of human life, to teach us to think it enough if we be well supplied with those, though we have but little of the delights and gaieties of it and of those things which we may very well live without. And every time they put fuel to the fire, and warmed themselves at it, they would be put in mind of the number and strength of their enemies, and the imminent peril they were in of falling into their hands, which would help to enlarge their hearts in thankfulness to that God who had so wonderfully, so seasonably, delivered them. As they sat by the fire with their children about them (their fire-side), they might from it take occasion to tell them what great things God had done for them.

II. They shall bury their dead. Usually, after a battle, when many are slain, the enemy desire time to bury their own dead. But here the slaughter shall be so general that there shall not be a sufficient number of the enemies left alive to bury the dead. And, besides, the slain lie so dispersed on the mountains of Israel that it would be a work of time to find them out; and therefore it is left to the house of Israel to bury them as a piece of triumph in their overthrow. 1. A place shall be appointed on purpose for the burying of them, the valley of the passengers, on the east of the sea, either the salt sea or the sea of Tiberias, a valley through which there was great passing and repassing of travellers between Egypt and Chaldea. There shall be such a multitude of dead bodies, putrefying above ground, with such a loathsome stench, that the travellers who go that way shall be forced to stop their noses. See what vile bodies ours are; when the soul has been a little while from them the smell of them becomes offensive, no smell more nauseous or more noxious. There therefore where the greatest number lay slain shall the burying-place be appointed. In the place where the tree falls there let it lie. And it shall be called, The valley of Hamon-gog, that is, of the multitude of Gog; for that was the thing which was in a particular manner to be had in remembrance. How numerous the forces of the enemy were which God defeated and destroyed for the defence of his people Israel! 2. A considerable time shall be spent in burying them, no less than seven months (v. 12), which is a further intimation that the slain of the Lord in this action should be many and that great care should be taken by the house of Israel to leave none unburied, that so they might cleanse the land from the ceremonial pollution it contracted by the lying of so many dead corpses unburied in it, for the prevention of which it was appointed that those who were hanged on a tree should be speedily taken down and buried, Deut. xxi. 23. This is an intimation that times of eminent deliverances should be times of reformation. The more God has done for the saving of a land from ruin the more the inhabitants should do for the cleansing of the land from sin. 3. Great numbers shall be employed in this work: All the people of the land shall be ready to lend a helping hand to it, v. 13. Note, Every one should contribute the utmost he can in his place towards the cleansing of the land from the pollutions of it, and from every thing that is a reproach to it. Sin is a common enemy, which every man should take up arms against. In publico discrimine unusquisque homo miles est—In the season of public danger every man becomes a soldier. And whoever shall assist in this work it shall be to them a renown; though the office of grave-makers, or common scavengers of the country, seem but mean, yet, when it is for the cleansing and purifying of the land from dead works, it shall be mentioned to their honour. Note, Acts of humanity add much to the renown of God's Israel; it is a credit to religion when those that profess it are ready to every good work; and a good work it is to bury the dead, yea, though they be strangers and enemies to the commonwealth of Israel, for even they shall rise again. It shall be a renown to them in the day when God will be glorified. Note, It is for the glory of God when his Israel do that which adorns their profession; others will see their good works and glorify their Father, Matt. v. 16. And when God is honoured he will put honour upon his people. His glory is their renown. 4. Some particular persons shall make it their business to search out the dead bodies, or any part of them that should remain unburied. The people of the land will soon grow weary of burying the pollutions of the country, and therefore they shall appoint men of continual employment, that shall apply themselves to it and do nothing else till the land be thoroughly cleansed; for, otherwise, that which is every one's work would soon become nobody's work. Note, Those that are engaged in public work, especially for the cleansing and reforming of a land, ought to be men of continual employments, men that will stick to what they undertake and go through with it, men that will apply themselves to it; and those that will do good according to their opportunities will find themselves continually employed. 5. Even the passengers shall be ready to give information to those whose business it is to cleanse the land of what public nuisances they meet with, which call for their assistance. Those that pass through the land, though they will not stay to bury the dead themselves, lest they should contract a ceremonial pollution, will yet give notice of those that they find unburied. If they but discover a bone, they will set up a sign, that the buriers may come and bury it, and that, till it is buried, others may take need of touching it, for which reason their sepulchres among the Jews were whitened, that people might keep at a distance from them. Note, When good work is to be done every one should lend a hand to further it, even the passengers themselves, who must not think themselves unconcerned, in a common calamity, or a common iniquity, to put a stop to it. Those whose work it is to cleanse the land must not countenance any thing in it that is defiling; though it were not the body, but only the bone, of a man, that was found unburied, they must encourage those who will give information of it (private information, by a sign, concealing the informer), that they may take it away, and bury it out of sight. Nay, after the end of seven months, which was allowed them for this work, when all is taken away that appeared at first view, they shall search for more, that what is hidden may be brought to light; they shall search out iniquity till they find none. In memory of this they shall give a new name to their city. It shall be called Hamonah—The multitude. O what a multitude of our enemies have we of this city buried! Thus shall they cleanse the land, with all this care, with all this pains, v. 16. Note, After conquering there must be cleansing. Moses appointed those Israelites that had been employed in the war with the Midianites to purify themselves, Num. xxxi. 24. Having received special favours from God, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness.

III. The birds and beasts of prey shall rest upon the carcases of the slain while they remain unburied and it shall be impossible to prevent them, v. 17, &c. We find a great slaughter represented by this figure, Rev. xix. 17, &c., which is borrowed from this.

1. There is a general invitation given, v. 17. It is to the fowl of every wing and to every beast of the field, from the greatest to the least, that preys upon carcases, from the eagle to the raven, from the lion to the dog; let them all gather themselves on every side; here is meat enough for them, and they are all welcome. Let them come to God's sacrifice, to his feast; so the margin reads it. Note, The judgments of God, executed upon sin and sinners, are both a sacrifice and a feast, a sacrifice to the justice of God and a feast to the faith and hope of God's people. When God broke the head of leviathan, he gave him to be meat to Israel, Ps. lxxiv. 14. The righteous shall rejoice as at a feast when he sees the vengeance, and shall wash his foot, as at a feast, in the blood of the wicked. This sacrifice is upon the mountains of Israel; these are the high places, the altars, where God has been dishonoured by the idolatries of the people, but where he will now glorify himself in the destruction of his enemies.

2. There is great preparation made: They shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, v. 18, 19. (1.) It is the flesh and blood of men that they shall be treated with. This has sometimes been an instance of the rebellion of the inferior creatures against man their master, which is an effect of his rebellion against God his Maker. (2.) It is the flesh and blood of great men, here called rams, and bullocks, and great goats, all of them fatlings of Bashan. It is the blood of the princes of the earth that they shall regale themselves with. What a mortification is this to the princes of the blood, as they call themselves, that God can make that blood, that royal blood, which swells their veins, a feast for the birds and beasts of prey! (3.) It is the flesh and blood of wicked men, the enemies of God's church and people, that they are invited to. They had accounted the Israel of God as sheep for the slaughter, and now they shall themselves be so accounted; they had thus used the dead bodies of Gods' servants (Ps. lxxix. 2), or would have done, and now it shall come upon themselves.

3. They shall all be fed, they shall all be feasted to the full (v. 19, 20): "You shall eat fat, and drink blood, which are satiating surfeiting things. The sacrifice is great and the feast upon the sacrifice is accordingly: You shall be filled at my table." Note, God keeps a table for the inferior creatures; he provides food for all flesh. The eyes of all wait upon him, and he satisfies their desires, for he keeps a plentiful table. And if the birds and beasts shall be filled at God's table, which he has prepared for them, much more shall his children be abundantly satisfied with the goodness of his house, even of his holy temple. They shall be filled with horses and chariots; that is, those who ride in the chariots, mighty men and men of war, who triumphed over nations, are now themselves triumphed over by the ravens of the valley and the young eagles, Prov. xxx. 17. They thought to make an easy prey of God's Israel, and now they are themselves an easy prey to the birds and beasts. See how evil pursues sinners even after death. This exposing of their bodies to be a prey is but a type and sign of those terrors which, after death, shall prey upon their consciences (which the poetical fictions represented by a vulture continually pecking at the heart), and this shame is but an earnest of the everlasting shame and contempt they shall rise to.

IV. This shall redound very much both to the glory of God and to the comfort and satisfaction of his people. 1. It shall be much for the honour of God, for the heathen shall hereby be made to know that he is the Lord (v. 21): All the heathen shall see and observe my judgments that I have executed, and thereby my glory shall be set among them. This principle shall be admitted and established among them more than ever, that the God of Israel is a great and glorious God. He is known to be so even among the heathen, that have not, or read not, his written word, by the judgments which he executes. 2. It shall be much for the satisfaction of his people; for they shall hereby be made to know that he is their God (v. 22): The house of Israel shall know, abundantly to their comfort, that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. (1.) He will be so from that day and forward. God's present mercies are pledges and assurances of further mercies. If God evidence to us that he is our God he assures us that he will never leave us. This God is our God for ever and ever. (2.) They shall know it with more satisfaction from that day and forward. They had sometimes been ready to question whether the Lord was with them or no; but the events of this day shall silence their doubts, and, the matter being thus settled and made clear, it shall not be doubted of for the future. As boasting in themselves is hereby for ever excluded, so boasting in God is hereby for ever secured.

Mercy Promised to Israel. (b. c. 585.)

23 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. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; 26 After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; 28 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. 29 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 .

This is the conclusion of the whole matter going before, and has reference not only to the predictions concerning Gog and Magog, but to all the prophecies of this book concerning the captivity of the house of Israel, and then concerning their restoration and return out of their captivity.

I. God will let the heathen know the meaning of his people's troubles, and rectify the mistake of those concerning them who took occasion from the troubles of Israel to reproach the God of Israel, as unable to protect them and untrue to his covenant with them. When God, upon their reformation and return to him, turned again their captivity, and brought them back to their own land, and, upon their perseverance in their reformation, wrought such great salvations for them as that from the attempts of Gog upon them, then it would be made to appear, even to the heathen that would but consider and compare things, that there was no ground at all for their reflection, that Israel went into captivity, not because God could not protect them, but because they had by sin forfeited his favour and thrown themselves out of his protection (v. 23, 24): The heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, that iniquity which they learned from the heathen their neighbours, because they trespassed against God. That was the true reason why God hid his face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies. It was according to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions. Now the evincing of this will not only silence their reflections on God, but will redound greatly to his honour; when the troubles of God's people are over, and we see the end of them, we shall better understand them than we did at first. And it will appear much for the glory of God when the world is made to know, 1. That God punishes sin even in his own people, because he hates it most in those that are nearest and dearest to him, Amos iii. 2. It is the praise of justice to be impartial. 2. That, when God gives up his people for a prey, it is to correct them and reform them, not to gratify their enemies, Isa. x. 7; xlii. 24. Let not them therefore exalt themselves. 3. That no sooner do God's people humble themselves under the rod than he returns in mercy to them.

II. God will give his own people to know what great favour he has in store for them notwithstanding the troubles he had brought them into (v. 25, 26): Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob.

1. Why now? Now God will have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, (1.) Because it is time for him to stand up for his own glory, which suffers in their sufferings: Now will I be jealous for my holy name, that that may no longer be reproached. (2.) Because now they repent of their sins: They have borne their shame, and all their trespasses. When sinners repent, and take shame to themselves, God will be reconciled and put honour upon them. It is particularly pleasing to God that these penitents look a great way back in their penitential reflections, and are ashamed of all their trespasses which they were guilty of when they dwelt safely in their land and none made them afraid. The remembrance of the mercies they enjoyed in their own land, and the divine protection they were under there, shall be improved as an aggravation of the sins they committed in that land; they dwelt safely, and might have continued to dwell so, and none should have given them any disquiet or disturbance if they had continued in the way of their duty. Nay, therefore they trespassed because they dwelt safely. Outward safety is often a cause of inward security, and that is an inlet to all sin, Ps. lxxiii. Now this they are willing to bear the shame of, and acknowledge that God has justly brought them into a land of trouble, where every one makes them afraid, because they had trespassed against him in a land of peace, where none made them afraid. And, when they thus humble themselves under humbling providences, God will bring again their captivity: and,

2. What then? When God has gathered them out of their enemies' hands, and brought them home again, (1.) Then God will have the praise of it: I will be sanctified in them in the sight of many nations, v. 27. As God was reproached in the reproach they were under during their captivity, so he will be sanctified in their reformation and the making of them a holy people again, and will be glorified in their restoration and the making of them a happy glorious people again. (2.) Then they shall have the benefit of it (v. 28): They shall know that I am the Lord their God. Note, The providences of God concerning his people, that are designed for their good, have the grace of God going along with them to teach them to eye God as the Lord, and their God, in all; and then they do them good. They shall eye him as the Lord and their God, [1.] In their calamities, that it was he who caused them to be led into captivity; and therefore they must not only submit to his will, but endeavour to answer his end in it. [2.] In their comfort, that it is he who has gathered them to their own land, and left none of them among the heathen. Note, By the variety of events that befal us, if we look up to God in all, we may come to acquaint ourselves better with his various attributes and designs. (3.) Then God and they will never part, v. 29. [1.] God will pour out his Spirit upon them, to prevent their departures from him and returns to folly again, and to keep them close to their duty. And then, [2.] He will never hide his face any more from them, will never suspend his favour as he had done; he will never turn from doing them good, and, in order to that, he will effectually provide that they shall never turn from doing him service. Note, The indwelling of the Spirit is an infallible pledge of the continuance of God's favour. He will hide his face no more from those on whom he has poured out his Spirit. When therefore we pray that God would never cast us away from his presence we must as earnestly pray that, in order to that, he would never take his Holy Spirit away from us, Ps. li. 11.

CHAP. XXXIX.

Ver. 1. PRophecy againſt Gog] Prophecy again againſt him, for my peoples greater comfort. The Jews (noted ever to have been a light, aerial, and fanatical nation, apt to work themſelves into the fools paradiſe of a ſublime dotage) they expounding this Prophecy according to the letter, conclude that Chriſt is not yet come, becauſe theſe things here foretold are not yet fulfilled. When he doth come, they ſay, he ſhall ſet up his kingdom at Jeruſalem, gather all Iſrael out of all coaſts unto himſelf there, ſend each one to his own Tribe, and that moſt certainly, by the operation of his holy Spirit. There they ſhall be no ſooner ſetled, and the kingdom not yet fully ſtabliſhed,In fruſta vel ſcintillas redigam te. Pintus. Sextabo te. but Gog and Magog ſhall bring a huge army againſt Jeruſalem, where they ſhall fall by the ſword, lye unburied, &c.

Ver. 2. And I will turn thee back] Convertam vel Conteram te: See ch. 38.3.

And leave but the ſixth part of thee] Or, ſtrike thee with ſix plagues, or draw thee back with an hook of ſix teeth, as chap. 38.4.

And will cauſe thee to come] This is much and oft inculcated, that it is God who brings in and drives out the Churches enemies. This is a quieting conſideration.

Ver. 3. And I will ſmite thy bow out of thy left hand] I will diſarm thee: Lib. 2. as Herodotus reporteth of Sennacherib and his Aſſyrians in Egypt, that their quivers, bowſtrings and targets were gnawn to pieces by Mice and Rats in one night, ſo that they were forced to flye for their lives: And as our Chroniclers tell us that in the battle between Edward the third of England, and Philip of France, their fell ſuch a piercing ſhower of rain, as diſſolved their ſtrings, and made their bowes unſeful.Dan. 237.

Ver. 4. Thou ſhalt fall upon the mountains of Iſrael] Thither thou ſhalt come indeed (as Antiochus did into the Temple, Antichriſt into the Church of God, 2 Theſſ. 2.) but there thou ſhalt take thy end.

Ver. 5. Thou ſhalt fall upon the open field] Heb. the face of the field, which thou ſhalt dung with thy dead carkaſſe.

Ver. 6. And I will ſend a fire on Magog] So God will one day on Rome that Radix omnium malorum, Rev. 18.

And among them that dwell careleſly in the Iſles] Who muſt not think there to mott up themſelves againſt my fire.

Ver. 7. I will not let them pollute my holy Name] As if I were leſs able to deliver my people, or leſs mindful of my Promiſes.

Ver. 8. Behold it is come, and it is done] It is as good as done. So, Babylon is fallen, i. e. it will fall certainly, quickly, utterly.

This is the day] O dieculam illam! when ſhall it once be? O mora! Chriſte veni.

Ver. 9. And they that dwell] Hyperbolical expreſſions; though the Jews hold otherwiſe. See on ver. 1.

Shall ſet on fire and burn the weapons] Do not the Churches Champions ſo at this day, ever ſince they proclaimed and proved the Pope to be that Antichriſt: burning up his weapons (his falſe doctrines and hereſies) by the fire of Gods Word, and giving their bodyes to be burned for the teſtimony of Jeſus?

And they ſhall burn them with fire ſeven years] i. e. Diutiſſime & ſaepiſſime! This ſeven years is not yet out. The Jeſuites ſay, Satan ſent Luther, and God ſent them to withſtand him. But there is a ſucceſſion of Luthers to find them work enough ſtill, and to burn up their weapons, that the Churches may be at reſt.

Ver. 10. So that they ſhall take no wood] This muſt needs be Hyperbolical, as are alſo ſundry other paſſages in holy Scripture. When Luther burnt the Popes decrees and decretals at Wittenberg, it was a fair fire doubtleſs, as Solon once ſaid of the fire he cauſed to be made at Athens, of the bills and bonds of the Athenian uſurers.

Ver. 11. I will give unto Gog a place there of graves] That's all the portion or poſſeſſion he gets in the holy land.

On the Eaſt of the ſea] The dead ſea, or the lake of Sodom: a fit place for Antichriſt to be buried in: he ſhall at laſt be caſt alive into a worſe lake, Rev. 19.20.

And it ſhall ſtop the noſes of paſſengers] By reaſon of ſtench, or the mouthes of paſſengers from ſpeaking evil of Gods people.

And they ſhall call it] For a laſting monument of Gods great mercy, in ridding the country of ſuch Peſts.

Ver. 12. And ſeven moneths ſhall the houſe of Iſrael be burying of them] That is, a long while: like as the Reformed Churches were in [illegible: 1 letter]ooting out Popery, thoſe damnable doctrines, ceremonies, images, reliques, bulls and books. Here in England, the Romiſh Religion ſtood a whole month and more after the death of Queen Mary, as afore. December 27. it was permitted that the Epiſtles, Goſpels, ten Commandements, Lords Prayer, Creed and Letany ſhould be uſed in the Vulgar tongue. March 22. when the eſtates of the Realm were aſſembled by renewing of a law of Edward the ſixth, was granted the whole uſe of the Lords Supper; that is, under both kinds. June 24. the ſacrifice of the Maſſe was aboliſhed, and the Liturgy in the Engliſh tongue eſtabliſhed.Camd. Eliſab. In July, the oath of Supremacy was miniſtred: and in Auguſt images were removed out of Churches, broken or burnt: Tantae molis erat Romanam abſcondere gentem.

Ver. 13. And it ſhall be to them a renown] A Monument, or Trophie of their triumph. When the Suitzers, Anno 1443. had vanquiſhed the Thuricenſes in battle,Lanquet Chron. p. 263. they banquetted in the place where they won the victory; uſing the dead bodyes of their adverſaries inſtead of ſtooles and tables.

Pollinctores. Veſpillones.Ver. 14. And they ſhall ſever out men of continual employment] Viros quotidianos, men that ſhall ſtick to it, making it their buſineſs. So do our publike Profeſſours and others, to confute Popiſh Tenets, and to decry their cuſtomes. In doing whereof they are aſſidui & accubui.

Ver. 15. Then ſhall he ſet up a ſign by it] A ſtatue, pillar, or ſepulchral monument, that the buriers may bury it. Oh that in like ſort God would cauſe the Prophet (all reliques and raggs of Popery, and other hereſie) together with the unclean spirit to paſſe out of our land, Zech. 13.2.

Ver. 16. And alſo the name of the City ſhall be Hamonah] i. e. Multitude or Tumult: and all to keep up the memory of that ſignal victory. Near unto the Univerſity of Cambridge, on the South-Eaſt ſide there appear aloft certain high hills called Gogmagog-hills; but wherefore I know not. But not far from them is Heretikes-hill, ſo called by the Papiſts, becauſe Bilney and Latimer were wont there to walk.

Ver. 17. Speak unto every feathered foul] A further explanation of that which had been ſaid, ver. 4.

Aſſemble your ſelves] Jer. 12.9. Rev. 19.17. See there.

To my ſacrifice] To this great ſlaughter or enemyes, whom I do ſacrifice, as it were, to my juſtice.

Ver. 18. Ye ſhall eat the fleſh of the mighty] Whoſe fleſh may be, perhaps, more delicate.

And drink the blood] Blood royal, of a noble alloy. Sed nihil inde colligas, Oecol. quam perpetuam eorum damnationem qui verbum Dei perſequuntur, quique populum Iſrael spiritualem exagitant. It importeth the eternal damnation of Atheiſts and Antichriſts.

Ver. 19. Of my ſacrifice] Or of my good chear: So God calleth it, to ſhew how well pleaſed he is with the deſtruction of his Churches enemies.

Ver. 20. With horſes and charets] i. e. With men that ride on horſes, and fight out of Charets.

Ver. 21. And all the heathen ſhall ſee my judgment] Antiochus did ſo, and Maximinus the Emperour, and other tyrants, when ſeized upon by ſuch judgments of God as they could neither avoyd nor abide.

Ver. 22. From that day and forward] Their experience ſhall breed confidence.

Ver. 23. And the heathen ſhall know] They ſhall be convinced of the equability of my proceedings, and the truth of my menaces.

Ver. 24. According to their uncleanneſſe] I have not ſhewed my ſoveraignty, or exerciſed tyranny towards them, but done them right.

Ver. 25. Now will I bring again] Three things he here promiſeth his people, notwithſtanding all the ſorrow. 1. Effectual Vocation. 2. Justification here. 3. Glorification, ver. 29. The Sun of righteouſneſs loves not to ſet in a cloud.

And will be jealous] Or zealous; the zeal of the Lord of hoſts, his free grace, ſhall effect it.

Ver. 26. After that they have born their ſhame] Are become ſoundly aſhamed of their ſinful practiſes: hoc enim ingenium est verae fidei, ſaith Oecolampadius, for this is the nature of true faith, to bluſh and bleed for ſins paſt.

When they dwelt ſafely in their land] And ſo ſettled on their lees through carnal ſecurity.

Ver. 27. And am ſanctified in them] i. e. Have fully ſhewed my ſanctity and majeſty, both by their puniſhment, and by their deliverance.

Ver. 28. And have left none of them any more there] Here the Jews triumph and ſay, When was this promiſe ever fulfilled? and how then can the Meſſias be come already? Hereunto it is rightly anſwered that this Prophecy is to be taken partly literally, and ſo it was fulfilled at the return of the captives out of Babylon. See Ezra [illegible: 1 letter].1. Partly ſpiritually;Lavat. in loc. and ſo Chriſt will at the laſt day raiſe up every of his Elect (that Iſrael indeed) and gather them to himſelf; not one of them ſhall be miſſing.

Ver. 29. Neither will I hide my face any more from them] They ſhall have beatifical viſion and fruition for ever. See on ver. 25.

For I have poured out my spirit] Have already, and will do yet more liberally in the dayes of the Goſpel, Act. 2.27. Joh. 7.38.