39:1 “As for you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal!
Ezekiel 39:1-16 recorded additional details about the Russian Invasion of Israel from chapter 38. Ezekiel was once again addressed as a “son of man,” meaning that he was born into the human genealogy of Adam. Jehovah is sovereign over all of history, including the future history of Israel and the Russian confederacy. “Gog” is the title of the future Russian leader, much like czar, king, or president. Gog will be the leader of Rosh, Meschech, and Tubal, which is northern Russia, southern Russia (including Moscow), and Siberia (including the capital city of Tobolsk).
39:2 I will turn you around and drag you along; I will lead you up from the remotest parts of the north and bring you against the mountains of Israel.
Jehovah will drag Russia and her allies into a future war with Israel. Notice that more specific details are given about the location of the Russian Confederacy army. Jehovah will bring the invading army into the mountains of Israel. The mountains of Israel contain the Israelite cities of Dothan, Shechem, Samaria, Shiloh, Bethel, Ai, Ramah, Bethlehem, Hebron, Debir, and Jerusalem. The City of Jerusalem seems to be the goal of this invading Russian Confederacy. It is interesting to note that Israel did not control this territory until they supernaturally defeated Jordan during the Six Day War.
In the King James version, there is the addition “and leave but the sixth part of thee.” However, this is a mistranslation of וְשִׁשֵּׁאתִ֔יךָ (wa-shishtika), meaning “I will drag you.” All of the Russian Confederacy will be destroyed (not just five-sixths).
39:3 I will knock your bow out of your left hand and make your arrows fall from your right hand.
Jehovah will disarm the weapons of the Russian Confederacy.
39:4 You will fall dead on the mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the people who are with you. I give you as food to every kind of bird and every wild beast.
The Russian Confederacy soldiers will all fall dead on the mountains. The birds of the air will eat their flesh.
39:5 You will fall dead in the open field; for I have spoken, declares the sovereign Lord.
Jehovah has spoken, so these Russian soldiers who attack Israel will not be able to escape this sovereign death sentence. They will suffer the kind-for-kind curse of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Russian Confederacy wanted to kill all of Israel on the high ground, but it is they who will be killed on the high ground. Control of the high ground is always the #1 military strategy of the armed forces, but Jehovah is the One who possess the highest ground.
39:6 I will send fire on Magog and those who live securely in the coastlands; then they will know that I am the Lord.
Not only is the Russian army destroyed on the mountains of Israel, but fire will come down from heaven and destroy the physical land of Russia as well. Russia will no longer be a political force in future world politics.
39:7 “ ‘I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.
This supernatural destruction of Russia will be a tremendous witness to an unbelieving world that Jehovah is the one true God of Israel. Many of the people of Israel will witness this miracle and become believers in Jehovah.
39:8 Realize that it is coming and it will be done, declares the sovereign Lord. It is the day I have spoken about.
Jehovah knows the end from the beginning. He predicted this prophecy of Russia’s destruction, so it will be fulfilled.
39:9 “ ‘Then those who live in the cities of Israel will go out and use the weapons for kindling—the shields, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears—they will burn them for seven years.
Israel will burn the Russian arms as fuel for the next seven years. This means that this attack must occur before the Great Tribulation. It is doubtful that people of Israel will be burying weapons during the last three years of the Great Tribulation. Instead, they will be hiding from the Antichrist. They will also not be burying corpses during the Millennial Kingdom.
39:10 They will not need to take wood from the field or cut down trees from the forests, because they will make fires with the weapons. They will take the loot from those who looted them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them, declares the sovereign Lord.
The kind-for-kind curse of the Abrahamic Covenant will be in effect. Russia’s motive was to destroy and plunder Israel. However, it is Russia who will be destroyed and plundered.
39:11 “ ‘On that day I will assign Gog a grave in Israel. It will be the valley of those who travel east of the sea; it will block the way of the travelers. There they will bury Gog and all his horde; they will call it the valley of Hamon-Gog.
Jehovah decides when, where, and how a man dies and when, how, and where man is buried. Gog will be assigned to a grave in Israel. Gog and his army will be buried in the Jordan Valley above the Dead Sea. The graveyard will be called “Hamon-Gog,” which means “multitudes of Gog.”
39:12 For seven months Israel will bury them, in order to cleanse the land.
It will take the future government of Israel seven months to bury the bodies and seven years to burn the weapons for fuel. These two time periods are clues as to the timing of the Gog invasion.
When will the Gog invasion take place? First, Israel must be a state which is not controlled by the Antichrist. Second, the cities of Israel, from the past centuries that have gone to waste, must once again be inhabited. Third, Israel must dwell in unwalled villages, such as their modern kibbutzim. Fourth, Israel is dwelling securely, which in Hebrew means “confidence” and not peace. Fifth, the weapons of the enemies will be buried for seven years. Sixth, the bodies of the enemies will be buried for seven months. Seventh, since bodies will most likely not be buried during the Millennial Kingdom, then the Gog and Magog invasion must occur before the Great Tribulation.
Since modern Israel fits four of these conditions today, then the Russian invasion of Israel is imminent. It can happen at any time. The invasion must happen before the Great Tribulation. It can happen before or after the Rapture.
39:13 All the people of the land will bury them, and it will be a memorial for them on the day I magnify myself, declares the sovereign Lord.
According to the Mosaic Law, dead corpses pollute the land of Israel and bring curses upon the land. Therefore, all of the nation of Israel will be involved in this future seven-month burial plan. This burial process will burn this historical event as a memorial into the minds of the parents and children of Israel who will enter into the Millennial Kingdom.
39:14 They will designate men to scout continually through the land, burying those who remain on the surface of the ground, in order to cleanse it. They will search for seven full months.
The future Israeli government will organize a special task force of men to search out, find, and bury all of the Russian soldiers who may be buried in hidden crevices.
39:15 When the scouts survey the land and see a human bone, they will place a sign by it, until those assigned to burial duty have buried it in the valley of Hamon-Gog.
Hamon-Gog means “multitudes of Gog.”
39:16 (A city by the name of Hamonah will also be there.) They will cleanse the land.’
Israel will be cleansed of all of the dead bodies. A special city will be created for the burial staff. The name of this specially created city will be “Hamonah,” meaning “multitudes.”
39:17 “As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.
Ezekiel invited all of the birds and wild beasts of future Israel to a feast. Usually, humans sacrifice animals and eat them at a feast. This feast process is reversed. The birds and animals will attend the sacrifice and the Russian soldiers will be the feast.
39:18 You will eat the flesh of warriors and drink the blood of the princes of the earth—the rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fattened animals of Bashan.
Bashan was a fertile land which was known for her very fat cows. The Russian soldiers will become like fattened cows ready for slaughter.
39:19 You will eat fat until you are full, and drink blood until you are drunk, at my slaughter which I have made for you.
The beasts will eat their fill of Russian soldiers.
39:20 You will fill up at my table with horses and charioteers, with warriors and all the soldiers,’ declares the sovereign Lord.
Jehovah will set up the feasting table for the wild animals. Sometimes prophecy mongers will point out that there are lots of birds gathering in Israel, so the Gog invasion must be right around the corner! (The author has heard this interpretation for over thirty years!)
39:21 “I will display my majesty among the nations. All the nations will witness the judgment I have executed, and the power I have exhibited among them.
When Russia is destroyed, then all nations will know that Jehovah is Lord. His name will be magnified throughout the earth. The atheists, agnostics, liberals, and evolutionists will look foolish.
39:22 Then the house of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God, from that day forward.
Many in the house of Israel will become believers in Jehovah.
39:23 The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile due to their iniquity, for they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies; all of them died by the sword.
All of the Gentile nations will understand why Israel went into captivity, dispersion, and to the grave.
39:24 According to their uncleanness and rebellion I have dealt with them, and I hid my face from them.
All of the Gentile nations will understand that Israel was an unclean wife who was experiencing her monthly menstrual cycle.
39:25 “Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob, and I will have mercy on the entire house of Israel. I will be zealous for my holy name.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will be restored back into her land. Jehovah’s name will be honored by all of the nations on the earth.
39:26 They will bear their shame for all their unfaithful acts against me, when they live securely on their land with no one to make them afraid.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will be ashamed of her past history of rebellion against Jehovah. She will live in the land without the fear of a military invasion from anti-Semitic nations.
39:27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from the countries of their enemies, I will magnify myself among them in the sight of many nations.
During the Millennial Kingdom, the name of Jehovah will be honored among all of the Gentle nations of the world.
39:28 Then they will know that I am the Lord their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations, and then gathered them into their own land. I will not leave any of them in exile any longer.
During the Millennial Kingdom, Israel will be taken out of exile. She will finally understand that God caused the exile so that Israel could know that Jehovah is God.
39:29 I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord.”
During the Millennial Kingdom, Jehovah will no longer hide His face from Israel. The Lord Jesus Christ will be the God-man ruling on earth from Jerusalem. All of Israel will be baptized with the Holy Spirit into conversion. The Holy Spirit will be poured upon all of Israel. All of these prophetic events will happen, because Jehovah is sovereign over all of world history.