Ezekiel 37-39 Valley of Dry Bones
Psalm 100:1-5 Thanking And Praising Our Good Shepherd
Ps 100:1 “Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands! 2 Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that Yahweh, He is God. It is He who has made us, and we are His. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. 4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, and bless His name. 5 For Yahweh is good. His hesed/loyal love endures forever, His faithfulness to all generations.“
Observations: 100:1-2 Joyful singing and service are appropriate responses to God, for which people come before His presence in corporate worship.
100:3 Joy is not just an emotion, but is rooted in the knowing the person of God and what He has done. The joyful worshipers know God as the Creator and Shepherd of His people, and have experienced His care in their lives.
100:4 Note the parallelism, which is the hallmark of Hebrew poetry: 1 thanksgiving, 2 praise; 1' thanks, 2' bless. That means praise is equivalent to blessing His name. Note also the progression, from gates/thanks to courts/praise. We start with thanks and move to praise. Our awareness of what God has done (for which we give thanks), leads us to understanding who He is (for which we give praise). His works reveal His character. Thanks is for things, praise is for His person. I discovered this progression in my Quiet Time one chilly winter morning, with my hands wrapped around a hot mug of yummy coffee (see prayer below). Good coffee pointed to a good God. This can work for tea-drinkers as well.
100:5 Blessing God's name, is speaking well of His attributes and expressions of His nature/power. God reveals Himself through His acts to be good, loyal, covenant keeping, and faithful to His promises and people, forever.
Application: Put a rational and enduring basis under your response to God by moving from thanksgiving for what He's done in your life, to praise for who He is.
Prayer: God, I thank You that You created good coffee; I praise You for being a good God, and that Your goodness is infinite; whatever You've allowed into my life must be good, even though I might not immediately recognize it as such, but I know I can trust You to work it together for my good. Thanks. Amen.
Proverbs 23:12-16 The Proverbial Parent
Pr 23:12 “Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge. 13 Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die. 14 Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol. 15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine: 16 yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.“
Observations: 23:12-16 Wisdom and knowledge are not the defaults of life, folly and shame are. It takes diligent effort to gain what is valuable. It takes diligent effort to gain a child in whom you can rejoice. Withholding correction/discipline from a child is to hate him/her (Pr 13:24). Parents who love their children let them reap painful earned consequences from their actions, so they will avoid disastrous catastrophes further down the road of life. That mirrors God's discipline of us. (See Parenting Principles on Truthbase.net, and under Resources below.) Biblical parents rejoice when their children make wise choices and say wise things, because they want what's best for their children, and wisdom is not only supreme, it merits God's blessings of protection and prosperity.
Application: Obediently giving children earned consequences is the most loving thing we can do for them, ourselves, and God. Any other course of action is disobedient, self-gratifying folly, meriting God's discipline.
Prayer: Father, thanks for giving me discipline that spares me from disaster. May my parenting mirror Your parenting of me. Amen.
Ezekiel 37-39 These chapters finish up the prophecies against the nations, and promise the regathering and rebuilding of Israel, paving the way for the new temple and the return of God's glory (next chapters). Ezekiel's vision of the valley of bones being brought to life starts the section. Two chapters describe the attack of the coalition of northern nations under the command of Gog, and their destruction by God, who blesses Israel with the spoil. God glorifies Himself in both judging and blessing, so all will know that He is God (and live correctly related to Him).
Ezekiel 37 D'em Bones
37:1 The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know. 4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.
15 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 16 You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these? 19 tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. 20 The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. 21 Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; 23 neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their unfaithfulness/dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will 28 set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forevermore.
Observations: 37:1-14 God takes Ezekiel via the Spirit to prophesy to a valley (literal or figurative) of dried out bones, which symbolized the nation of Israel (dead beyond hope). Ezekiel had a habit of obedience, so he did what God said: prophesy to a bunch of bones.
Verse 5 is the general statement, followed by the specifics of what God does to breathe life into the dry bones. God said He would open the graves, resurrect the bodies and give life to the people (another passage indicating the OT teaching of an afterlife), and place them back in the land (during the Millennium). When this happens, Israel will know that God indeed does keep His promises. For the exiles hearing of the fall of Jerusalem, this should have given hope.
37:15-28 God has Ezekiel play “pick up sticks” to symbolize the uniting of Israel and Judah under one leader, His servant/shepherd David (or a descendent). God will cleanse his people, and they will walk in His ways. Note that God still requires obedience to His law. Verse 23 has a textual variant, “unfaithfuless” for “dwelling places”; the former fits the context better. God will make an everlasting covenant of peace, and cause His dwelling to permanently be in the midst of Israel. Then the nations will know that Yahweh is God. This is obviously still future, because Israel is not at peace, nor is God dwelling in their midst.
Application: God can “resurrect” hopeless causes by the power of His word. Count on it.
Prayer: God, nothing is too difficult for the One who created the world with “Let there be...”; may I never lose sight of Your promises, but instead, base my life upon them. Thanks for blessing Your people with Your presence and peace. Amen.
Ezekiel 38 God Gets Glory Over Gog
38:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: 4 and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; 5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you. 7 Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them. 8 After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them. 9 You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you. 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device: 11 and you shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates; 12 to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth. 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, Have you come to take the spoil? have you assembled your company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it? 15 You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army; 16 and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes. 17 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? 18 It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils. 19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20 so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains, says the Lord Yahweh: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 22 With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulfur. 23 I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Observations: 38:1-13 Ezekiel prophesies against Gog, the leader of a coalition of northern peoples, who plan on attacking a regathered Israel, who is dwelling securely and prosperously in the land. There are no historic event that match Ezekiel's description, so the setting is still in the future. The identification of the individual “Gog” is up or grabs. “Chief” prince is translated “Rosh” in some versions. “Rosh” usually is an adjective meaning “chief” or “head”, and never mentioned elsewhere in Scripture as a place name, as the other countries are. Josephus, who wrote in the latter half of the first century A.D., identifies Gog and Magog with the Scythians (see map). Many commentators identify it as Russia because of Josephus and the etymology. “Rus” wasn't used to describe the territory north of Asia Minor until sometime after the third century A.D., more likely over a thousand years after Ezekiel's prophecy. Ezekiel's original audience might have been confused about what he meant (which Is the condition of most of Ezekiel's readers throughout history). However, there will be a coalition of nations from the north which will attack Israel, and if that happens when Russia occupies it's current position as a world power, the identification would make sense. This attack is probably not that described in Revelation 20 at the end of the Messiah's Millennial rule, since the purpose and consequences (also described in the next chapter) of both battles differ. In any event, Bad guys will attack a prosperous, regathered Israel, at God's instigation, and He will destroy them. This will probably take place during the Tribulation. Exactly when, and who it is, will probably not make much difference in how you obey and please God this week.
38:14-23 Just like with Pharaoh and the Exodus, God will use the natural greed of Gog and company to attack Israel, so He may destroy them to show His might to the nations. Being “sanctified” or made “holy” is almost incomprehensible unless you understand that the root of the word “holy” means separate or different/distinct. Yahweh will show himself to be separate from all other Gods when he destroys the power of Gog and his multitude. Then all the nations will know that the God of Israel is the one and only God, who defends Israel.
Application: God glorifies Himself in coming to the aid of His people, rescuing them despite the odds being against them.
Prayer: God, thanks that I can trust You to help me, and defend me, especially from those who are mighty. Amen.
Ezekiel 39 Problems Turned to Prosperity
8 Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh; this is the day about which I have spoken. 9 Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them 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 make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord Yahweh. 11 It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog. 12 Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord Yahweh. 14 They shall set apart men of continual employment, who shall pass through the land, and, with those who pass through, those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 Those who pass through the land shall pass through; and when any sees a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog. 16 Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal 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 on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You 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 bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord Yahweh.
21 I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward. 23 The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. 28 They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; 29 neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.
Observations: 39:1-20 God will not only destroy Gog's army but He pour out fire on Gog's land, Magog, so that all will know that He is God, when He judges them. No longer will His name be profaned (treated as common), another prophecy which awaits future fulfillment. Israel will use the invaders' weapons for fuel for seven years. It seem unlikely that weapons of the future will be made of wood, but there is no time in history when this has been fulfilled. The language could be figurative for weapons that could be used as a fuel source, which the original audience would understand as wood, or in an apocalyptic future, warfare could revert to historic weapons. It would take seven months to bury the dead. Seven is a number with symbolic significance of completeness, but that doesn't preclude the years or months from actually being seven. Would it make a difference to your spiritual life if it was a greater or lesser number? We'll eventually find out.
39:21-29 These verses serve as a summary of God's judgment's upon Israel's enemies, and pave the way for the new temple in the next chapters. Here, God will display His glory in judgment so both Israel and the nations will know that Yahweh is the one and only God. Israel's scattering will be seen as Yahweh's work in disciplining them for their sin, and His regathering and blessing of them (particularly with New Covenant blessings of the Spirit) will impress upon all that “I am Yahweh their God.”
Application: God reveals His glory in judging or blessing, He'd rather bless (as that's how things started and ended) but sin makes judgment necessary first.
Prayer: God, may I be receptive to Your will so I experience Your blessing in my life rather than the pain and shame of disobedience. Thanks that You graciously accept back Your people. Amen.
Digging Deeper:
God in a nutshell: Nothing is too difficult for God, from blasting hordes of enemies, to rebuilding broken bones and people. He will resurrect Israelites from the grave, and rebuild the nation, blessing them with the spoil of their attackers. God glorifies Himself through all His actions, so that He is seen as the One who rules (calls the shots). He will never abandon His plan to permanently dwell in the midst of the Israelites, and has plans to bless then with an enduring/everlasting covenant of peace in the future.
Us in a nutshell: Those who fight against God and His people will lose, eventually. Those who turn to God will find restoration from even the most hopeless of situations, and will have enduring peace. Those who sin, will experience both the pain of discipline, and shame when restored into God's graces.
Where to Go for More:
See J. Dwight Pentecost's “Things To Come” for a detailed analysis of God's future plans for Israel and the earth.
Truthbase.net has a few outlines as well.
Ezekiel complete text
Ezekiel complete text
Ezekiel 37
37:1 The hand of Yahweh was on me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Yahweh, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass by them all around: and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and behold, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? I answered, Lord Yahweh, you know. 4 Again he said to me, Prophesy over these bones, and tell them, you dry bones, hear the word of Yahweh. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 I saw, and, behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, Prophesy to the wind, prophesy, son of man, and tell the wind, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live. 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off. 12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, my people. 14 I will put my Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and you shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken it and performed it, says Yahweh.
15 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 16 You, son of man, take one stick, and write on it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write on it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 17 and join them for you one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 When the children of your people shall speak to you, saying, Will you not show us what you mean by these? 19 tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. 20 The sticks whereon you write shall be in your hand before their eyes. 21 Say to them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all; 23 neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 24 My servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers lived; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children, forever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever. 26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My tent also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 The nations shall know that I am Yahweh who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in their midst forevermore.
Ezekiel 38
38:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him, 3 and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: 4 and I will turn you around, and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you forth, with all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armour, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords; 5 Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet; 6 Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with you. 7 Be prepared, yes, prepare yourself, you, and all your companies who are assembled to you, and be a guard to them. 8 After many days you shall be visited: in the latter years you shall come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, on the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them. 9 You shall ascend, you shall come like a storm, you shall be like a cloud to cover the land, you, and all your hordes, and many peoples with you. 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: It shall happen in that day, that things shall come into your mind, and you shall devise an evil device: 11 and you shall say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to those who are at rest, who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates; 12 to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten livestock and goods, who dwell in the middle of the earth. 13 Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions of it, shall tell you, Have you come to take the spoil? have you assembled your company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great spoil?
14 Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In that day when my people Israel dwells securely, shall you not know it? 15 You shall come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you, and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army; 16 and you shall come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall happen in the latter days, that I will bring you against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in you, Gog, before their eyes. 17 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Are you he of whom I spoke in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, who prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring you against them? 18 It shall happen in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils. 19 For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel; 20 so that the fish of the sea, and the birds of the sky, and the animals of the field, and all creeping things who creep on the earth, and all the men who are on the surface of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. 21 I will call for a sword against him to all my mountains, says the Lord Yahweh: every man’s sword shall be against his brother. 22 With pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain on him, and on his hordes, and on the many peoples who are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and sulphur. 23 I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 39
39:1 You, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal: 2 and I will turn you around, and will lead you on, and will cause you to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring you on the mountains of Israel; 3 and I will strike your bow out of your left hand, and will cause your arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you, and all your hordes, and the peoples who are with you: I will give you to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the animals of the field to be devoured. 5 You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken it, says the Lord Yahweh. 6 I will send a fire on Magog, and on those who dwell securely in the islands; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. 7 My holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I allow my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, the Holy one in Israel.
8 Behold, it comes, and it shall be done, says the Lord Yahweh; this is the day about which I have spoken. 9 Those who dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the war clubs, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them 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 make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those who plundered them, and rob those who robbed them, says the Lord Yahweh. 11 It shall happen in that day, that I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of those who pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop those who pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon Gog. 12 Seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. 13 Yes, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, says the Lord Yahweh. 14 They shall set apart men of continual employment, who shall pass through the land, and, with those who pass through, those who bury those who remain on the surface of the land, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search. 15 Those who pass through the land shall pass through; and when any sees a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, until the undertakers have buried it in the valley of Hamon Gog. 16 Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land. 17 You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Speak to the birds of every sort, and to every animal 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 on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You 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 bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan. 19 You shall eat fat until you be full, and drink blood until you are drunk, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. 20 You shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, says the Lord Yahweh. 21 I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid on them. 22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am Yahweh their God, from that day and forward.
23 The nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword. 24 According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I to them; and I hid my face from them. 25 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name. 26 They shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses by which they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid; 27 when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations. 28 They shall know that I am Yahweh their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them to their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there; 29 neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit on the house of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh.
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