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

Ezekiel 39:1-8. General announcement of his destruction. - Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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; Ezekiel 39:3. And will smite thy bow from thy left hand, and cause thine arrows to fall from thy right hand. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 39:5. Upon the open field shalt thou fall, for I have spoken it, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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. Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 38:21-23, commences with a repetition of the command to the prophet to prophesy against Gog (Ezekiel 39:1, cf. Ezekiel 38:2-3). The principal contents of Ezekiel 38:4-15 are then briefly summed up in Ezekiel 39:2. שׁבבתּיך, as in Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 39:2, compare Ezekiel 38:15 and Ezekiel 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 Psalm 37:15; Psalm 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 (Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 38:22, which is therefore represented in Revelation 20:9 as fire falling from heaven. Magog is the population of the land of Magog (Ezekiel 38:2). With this the inhabitants of the distant coastlands of the west (the איּים) are associated, as representatives of the remotest heathen nations. Ezekiel 39:7, Ezekiel 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 Ezekiel 36:20. For Ezekiel 39:8, compare Ezekiel 21:12, and for היּום, see Ezekiel 38:18-19.

Ezekiel 41:22 Parallel Commentaries

altar This must signify the altar of incense; which, both in the tabernacle and Solomon's temple, was covered with plates of gold. It is very remarkable, that in this temple described by Ezekiel, there is not the least mention of gold or silver, though there was such a profusion of these metals in the former; which may probably imply, that a glory of a more spiritual nature was intended under these emblems.

Exodus 30:1-3 And you shall make an altar to burn incense on: of shittim wood shall you make it...

1 Kings 6:20,22 And the oracle in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof...

1 Kings 7:48 And Solomon made all the vessels that pertained to the house of the LORD: the altar of gold, and the table of gold...

2 Chronicles 4:19 And Solomon made all the vessels that were for the house of God, the golden altar also, and the tables where on the show bread was set;

Revelation 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given to him much incense...

this is

Ezekiel 23:41 And sat on a stately bed, and a table prepared before it, whereupon you have set my incense and my oil.

Ezekiel 44:16 They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister to me, and they shall keep my charge.

Exodus 25:28-30 And you shall make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them...

Leviticus 24:6 And you shall set them in two rows, six on a row, on the pure table before the LORD.

Proverbs 9:2 She has killed her beasts; she has mingled her wine; she has also furnished her table.

Songs 1:12 While the king sits at his table, my spikenard sends forth the smell thereof.

Malachi 1:7,12 You offer polluted bread on my altar; and you say, Wherein have we polluted you? In that you say...

1 Corinthians 10:21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils.

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him...

before

Exodus 30:8 And when Aaron lights the lamps at even, he shall burn incense on it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations.