Dawn over a hill village among terraces and olive trees, smoke from many cooking fires rising straight up in still air, under a calm clear pale sky.

Dry bones live

Ezekiel 39

Do you believe God will finish what He has promised?

29 verses≈ 7 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

Tap any post to go deeper

Where we are

1–3Visions of gloryBy the Kebar, about 593 BC: the throne, the scroll, the watchman
4–7Signs of the siegeA brick, a ration, a razor: the end has come
8–11The glory departsAbout 592 BC: the temple’s abominations, the mark, the glory goes east
12–15False hopesExile acted out, false prophets, a useless vine
16–19Parables and lamentsAn unfaithful bride, two eagles, the one who sins
20–24The sword drawnRebellion retold; the siege begins, about 588 BC
25–32The nations judgedAmmon to Egypt: the LORD is Judge of all the earth
33–36A new heartThe city falls; the Good Shepherd; cleansed and made new
37–39Dry bones liveOne people raised up, and Gog of Magog defeatedChapter 39
40–48The LORD is thereAbout 573 BC: the new temple, the river, the land

The Slaughter of Gog’s Armies

God

On a stony mountainside in early mist, a long bow lying broken on the ground, arrows scattered among the stones, and a fallen round wicker shield beside them, no one there.

“As for you, O son of man, prophesy against Gog and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around, drive you along, bring you up from the far north, and send you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and dash down the arrows from your right hand.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

God

On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.

God

At dusk across a wide gray sea, a far coastline of low hills with several columns of smoke rising, red light under the smoke, the near shore of empty stones.

I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the LORD. So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

God

Morning in a village courtyard: a cooking fire on three stones fed with broken spear shafts, pieces of wicker shields and a snapped bow, a blackened clay pot over it, more broken weapons stacked against the wall as firewood.

Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD.

Question

Quick question

Think about what Israel does with the weapons left behind.

How long would Israel use the enemy’s weapons for fuel?

God

And on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day I display My glory, declares the Lord GOD.

God

And men will be employed to continually pass through the land to cleanse it by burying the invaders who remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will set up a pillar next to it, until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. (Even the city will be named Hamonah.) And so they will cleanse the land.

God

And as for you, son of man, this is what the Lord GOD says: Call out to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrificial feast that I am preparing for you, a great feast on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. You will eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all the fattened animals of Bashan. At the sacrifice I am preparing, you will eat fat until you are gorged and drink blood until you are drunk. And at My table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, of mighty men and warriors of every kind,’ declares the Lord GOD.

Israel to Be Restored

God

I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.

God

And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and transgressions, and I hid My face from them.

God

Morning on a stony road climbing into terraced hills: exile families with donkeys and bundles walking home, a man carrying a child on his shoulders, olive trees ahead.

Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.

God

They will forget their disgrace and all the treachery they committed against Me, when they dwell securely in their land, with no one to frighten them. When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations.

God

God

Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations.

God

Morning over terraced hills: a soft rain falling from a parting cloud with bright light breaking through, terraces and olive trees glistening, a village below, under a calm bright sky.

And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”

0:08

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Pray

Holy One in Israel, You do not hide Your face forever. Gather me with Your people, leave none of us behind, and pour out Your Spirit on us. Amen.

Gog to the Spirit

Whiteboard

The last enemy ends in ashes, and the last word is the Spirit on God’s people.

You’ve experienced

Ezekiel 39

0 of 48 chapters read

A verse to carry with you

And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 39:29

or swipe left