Ezekiel 39:8 - Meaning and Application

Though this prophecy would be fulfilled in the later days, it is spoken here as if it had already happened, because it is certain (Ezekiel 39:8): “See, it has come, and it is done.” What God has promised will be as sure to happen at the right time as if it were already finished. This is the day he had long spoken about, and though it had been delayed for a long time, at last it has arrived. In the same way, John was told, “It is done” (Revelation 21:6).

To show how complete Gog’s defeat would be, three results are mentioned. It was God himself who gave the victory, and we do not read that Israel drew a sword or struck a blow. First, they will burn the enemy’s weapons, their bows and arrows that fell from their hands (Ezekiel 39:3), along with shields, bucklers, javelins, spears, staff-like weapons, clubs, and half-pikes, in short, anything that could burn. They will not store them in armories or keep them for future use, so they will not be tempted to trust in them. Instead, they will burn them as fuel.

They will not make one huge fire, as if to waste them all at once. Rather, they will use them as firewood in their homes as needed, so they will not need to cut wood from the field or forests for seven years (Ezekiel 39:10). There will be such a great number of weapons left on the battlefield and along the roads of the enemy’s flight that they will have plenty of fuel. The weapons were dry and better suited for burning than green wood, and by using them they would preserve the trees in their orchards and forests. Even though the mountains of Israel produced much good fruit, the people should still be wise with what they have and save what they can for those who come after them, as God gives them opportunity.

We may suppose that when the people of Israel came out to plunder those who had plundered them, they found silver, gold, and ornaments. Yet the only thing mentioned as being put to use is the wood from the weapons, and that for an ordinary need of life, fuel. This teaches us to be content if we have enough for what we truly need, even if we have few of life’s comforts and pleasures. Each time they put wood on the fire and warmed themselves, they would remember the number and strength of their enemies, and how close they had been to falling into their hands. That would stir their hearts to thank the God who had so wonderfully and so timely rescued them. As they sat by the fire with their children around them, they could tell them what great things God had done.

Second, they will bury the dead. After a battle, the defeated side usually wants time to bury its own dead. But here the slaughter will be so complete that there will not be enough enemy survivors left to do it. Also, the slain will be scattered over the mountains of Israel, so it would take time to gather them. Therefore, the house of Israel is given this task as part of their triumph over Gog.

A place will be set apart for this burial, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea, either the Salt Sea or the Sea of Tiberias. It was a valley through which many travelers passed between Egypt and Chaldea. There will be so many dead bodies, left above ground to decay, that the travelers who go that way will have to hold their noses because of the terrible smell. This reminds us how weak our bodies are. Once the soul has left them for a little while, their smell becomes foul and offensive. The place where the greatest number fell will become the burial place. Where the tree falls, there let it lie. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog, meaning the multitude of Gog, because that great number was what must especially be remembered. So many enemy soldiers were defeated and destroyed by God to defend his people Israel.

A good amount of time will be spent on the burials, seven months (Ezekiel 39:12). That shows the dead of the Lord in this battle will be many, and it also shows the care the house of Israel must take to leave none unburied. In that way they would cleanse the land from the ceremonial uncleanness caused by so many dead bodies lying in it. For the same reason, those hanged on a tree were to be buried quickly (Deuteronomy 21:23). This also shows that times of great deliverance should be times of reform. The more God does to save a land from ruin, the more its people should do to cleanse that land from sin.

Many people will be employed in this work. All the people of the land will help, and each one should do all he can in his place to cleanse the land from its pollution and from everything that brings it shame. Sin is a common enemy, and everyone should take up arms against it. In a time of public danger, every man becomes a soldier. Whoever helps in this work will be honored for it. The job of grave-makers or common cleaners of the country may seem lowly, but when it serves to cleanse and purify the land from dead bodies, it will be remembered as a credit to them.

Acts of kindness add much to the honor of God’s people. It reflects well on religion when those who profess it are ready for every good work. And burying the dead is a good work, even if they are strangers and enemies of the commonwealth of Israel, because even they will rise again. It will be a mark of honor for them on the day when God is glorified. When God’s people do what beautifies their faith, that brings glory to God, and others will see their good works and glorify their Father (Matthew 5:16). When God is honored, he will place honor on his people. His glory becomes their honor.

Some people will make it their special business to search out the dead bodies, or any parts of them that remain unburied. The people of the land will soon grow tired of burying the country’s pollution, so they will appoint men for this ongoing task. These men will do nothing else until the land is fully cleansed, because what belongs to everyone can easily become nobody’s work if no one is set apart for it.

Those who take part in public work, especially in cleansing and reforming a land, should keep at it steadily. They should stay with what they have started and carry it through. If people do good wherever they have a chance, they will find plenty to do.

Even travelers should help by giving information to those whose task it is to clean up the land when they see public harm. They may not stop to bury the dead themselves, because that would make them ceremonially unclean, meaning unfit for certain religious duties. Still, they can point out where an unburied body or even a bone lies. They could mark the spot so the buriers can come and take it away, and so others will avoid touching it. That is why Jewish graves were whitened, so people would keep away from them.

When good work needs to be done, everyone should help, even passersby. In a shared disaster, or a shared sin, no one should think it does not concern them. Those responsible for cleansing the land must not excuse anything that defiles it. Even if only a bone, and not a whole body, is found unburied, they should encourage anyone who can give private notice, by some sign, so it can be removed and buried out of sight.

After seven months, when they have removed everything seen at first, they will search again for anything hidden. They will keep looking for sin until nothing remains. In memory of this, they will give their city a new name, Hamonah, which means “the multitude.” It will remind them of the many enemies buried there. In this way they will cleanse the land, with great care and much effort (Ezekiel 39:16).

After victory comes cleansing. Moses told the Israelites who had fought against the Midianites to purify themselves afterward (Numbers 31:24). Since we have received special favor from God, we should cleanse ourselves from all filthiness.

The birds and wild animals will feed on the bodies of the slain while they remain unburied, and nothing will be able to stop them (Ezekiel 39:17 and following). A scene like this is also used in Revelation 19:17 and following. There is a general invitation here to every bird and beast that feeds on carcasses, from the greatest to the least, from eagle to raven, from lion to dog. They are all to gather on every side, because there is food enough for all. It is as if they are invited to God’s sacrifice, to his feast.

God’s judgments on sin and sinners are both a sacrifice and a feast. They are a sacrifice to his justice and a feast for the faith and hope of his people. When God destroyed Leviathan, he gave its body as food for Israel (Psalm 74:14). The righteous will rejoice, as if at a feast, when they see vengeance, and they will be refreshed by it.

This sacrifice is on the mountains of Israel. Those high places had been used like altars where the people dishonored God by idolatry. Now God will honor himself there by destroying his enemies.

The feast is richly prepared. The birds and beasts will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth (Ezekiel 39:18-19). It is human flesh and blood they are given. This has sometimes been a sign of the lower creatures turning against man, their master, because man has turned against God, his Maker. It is also the flesh and blood of great men, here compared to rams, bulls, and goats, all fat animals from Bashan. It is the blood of the princes of the earth that they will drink.

What a humbling thing this is for the princes of the blood, as they call themselves. God can make that royal blood, which fills their veins, become food for birds and beasts. And it is the flesh and blood of wicked men, the enemies of God’s church and people, that are invited here. They had treated God’s people as sheep for slaughter, and now they will be treated the same way. They had done this to the dead bodies of God’s servants (Psalm 79:2), or would have done it, and now it comes back on them.

They will all be fed fully, and the feast will be complete (Ezekiel 39:19-20). They will eat fat and drink blood, both rich, heavy food. “You will be filled at my table,” God says. He keeps a table even for the lower creatures. He gives food to all flesh. All living things look to him, and he satisfies them because he provides generously. If birds and beasts are filled at God’s table, how much more will his children be abundantly satisfied with the goodness of his house, even of his holy temple.

They will be filled with horses and chariots, meaning the riders and warriors who used them. These mighty men had triumphed over nations, but now the ravens and young eagles triumph over them (Proverbs 30:17). They had expected to make easy prey of God’s Israel, and now they themselves become easy prey for birds and beasts. This shows how evil keeps following sinners even after death.

This exposure of their bodies is only a sign of something greater. It points to the terrors that, after death, will torment their consciences. The old poetic image of a vulture pecking endlessly at the heart hints at that. And this shame is only a foretaste of the everlasting shame and contempt they will rise to.

This will greatly advance both God’s glory and the comfort of his people. It will honor God because the nations will be made to know that he is the Lord (Ezekiel 39:21). The nations will see and notice his judgments, and his glory will be displayed among them. More than before, this truth will be established among them, that the God of Israel is a great and glorious God. Even among those who do not have his written word, he is known by the judgments he carries out.

It will also greatly comfort his people, because they will know more fully that he is their God (Ezekiel 39:22). The house of Israel will know, to their great comfort, that he is the Lord their God from that day onward. His present mercies are promises of more mercies to come. If God shows us that he is our God, he is also assuring us that he will never leave us.

This God is our God forever and ever (Psalm 48:14). From that day on, they will know it with much greater joy and certainty. At times, they had been tempted to wonder whether the Lord was really with them. But the events of that day will silence those doubts, and once the matter is settled so clearly, it will not be questioned again in the future.

So self-confidence is shut out forever, and boasting in God is secured forever.