Ezekiel 39:10, commentary and pictures

The verse describes the aftermath of Gog's defeat, when those who were plundered will spoil those who spoiled them and rob those who robbed them, burning the enemy's weapons for fuel so they need take no wood out of the field nor cut any out of the forests. The weapons are the wooden munitions of that age, bows and arrows and shields and spears, not modern weapons, and their burning for seven years signifies that the annihilation of Israel's enemies and the cleansing of the land will be complete. It belongs to the closing consolation and promise of restoration in Ezekiel 36 to 48, whose blessings depended on Israel's repentance and obedience, which would have brought back all the scattered people to dwell safely, defeated the northern powers, cleansed the land and made Israel a light to the world, but because Israel disobeyed it was fulfilled only in very small part or never literally. In its greater fulfillment it still points forward to the close of time when all the true Israel of God will be redeemed and given complete victory, to be read in the light of the clearer prophecies of Revelation, with no literal burning of weapons by human hands but the fires of the last day consuming sin. The northern horde from the north quarters sweeping down upon the mountains of Israel is Russia meeting final ruin under God's wrath before Armageddon and again at the end of the thousand years, and the seven years are 2520 prophetic years of moral warfare in which God's children burn their enemies' weapons by the fire of truth, ending in 1843.

Words and Immediate Setting

The verse portrays the aftermath of Gog's defeat, when those who had been plundered take spoil from those who plundered them and rob those who robbed them, burning the enemy's weapons for fuel so that no wood need be taken out of the field nor cut out of the forests. The scene belongs to a gathered people brought out from all nations to the mountains of Israel, dwelling safely all of them in villages without walls, with cattle and goods and wealth that arouses the cupidity of the northern powers to think an evil thought and sweep down to take great spoil. The defeated invaders leave wooden munitions behind, and Israel burns shields and bucklers and hand staves and spears, with no need for firewood from field or forest.

The weapons are the wooden bows and arrows, shields and bucklers, spears and handstaves of that era, and the detail of burning them does not describe modern weapons or the last great war. Like the burial of the dead, it applied to that historical setting against northern invaders such as the Scythian nations, and is not part of the details for the final conflict. Because modern armies are not equipped with wooden weapons of that kind, and because Palestine is now poor and controlled by others, not inhabited by such a gathered people of God dwelling safely and holding no such wealth to tempt invaders, the verse cannot be fulfilled literally in the last days.

The burning means the annihilation of Israel's enemies will be complete, with God designing that nothing belonging to the enemies be left to pollute the land. The seven years of burning signify that the cleansing is complete, with the surrounding judgment ending under God's unmixed wrath in final doom in the second death.

The setting is judgment against wicked nations that, under Satan's control, seek to destroy God's people. It is an aggregation of nations in a great horde from the north quarters led by Magog, sweeping down like a storm upon those the Lord calls My people Israel in the land of Palestine upon the mountains of Israel. There the enemies perish at the presence of God amid fire and brimstone, with their carcasses left for the fowls to feast upon, proving there will be no converted world before that last day and that peace and glory come only when the Prince of peace comes to raise His people and sit in judgment. The passage in Ezekiel 39:9-16 is obscure, glancing down very clearly at times to the scene of the last days yet also holding what refers to the past, so that just where to draw the line to form a clear demarcation between past and future is not easy. The destruction foretold in Ezekiel 38 and 39 will occur in a place other than Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom.

Conditional Offer to Israel

Ezekiel 39:10 stands in the closing part of Ezekiel, chapters 33 to 48 and especially chapters 36 to 48 beginning in chapter 36, which give consolation and promise of restoration and call Israel to return to God. Its blessings depended on Israel's faithfulness, repentance and obedience, under the universal principle of Jeremiah 18:8-10 that promises involving moral conduct are conditional. Because Israel never yielded and did not truly repent, the promises concerning the true Israel will be fulfilled in the future, but not in all the details described in this verse.

What God would have done was bring back all His scattered people to the mountains of Israel to dwell safely and dwell among them in glory, defeat the northern powers of Gog and Magog and enemies far and near and the kings of the north, and give victory so Israel would spoil those that spoiled them and rob those that robbed them. He would have cleansed the land, raised the faithful in Israel who slept, built the new far greater sanctuary and temple with its water of life and glory of God, made Jerusalem a praise in the earth, and made Israel a light indeed to the world in glory before the nations and in the sight of the nations. The burning of weapons for fuel so no wood need be gathered from fields or cut from forests, and the recovery of what plunderers had taken, meant that victorious restoration.

That literal fulfillment would have followed the restoration from Babylon if Israel had forsaken sins, put away wickedness, been ashamed of iniquities and returned to the Lord wholeheartedly with all the heart. Because Israel disobeyed and did not put away iniquities, and only about forty thousand returned from captivity, it was fulfilled only in a very small and feeble part and in far smaller measure than offered, or never fulfilled literally in its fullness. The closing chapters as a prophecy of restoration were never literally fulfilled and never will be literally fulfilled, and only a mere shadow of the temple was built instead of the wonderful structure shown to the prophet. The sanctuary promised in the closing chapters was never built because Israel never yielded, and never will or can be built because Christ Himself suffered and fulfilled all the typical sacrifices that pointed forward to Him.

Details such as burning wooden weapons for fuel and burying the dead belonged to that possible historical setting against Scythian northern invaders and a local judgment on Israel's northern enemies. The burning fits the wooden bows and arrows, shields and bucklers, spears and handstaves used then, with great northern powers sweeping down from the north whose spirit is that of Satan and whose ambition is to rule in place of all others; it does not describe modern weapons or the last great war. In its greater final fulfillment at the second coming of Jesus Christ there will be no local conditions, no literal burning of weapons, and no cleansing of the land by human hands, but the fires of the last day will consume sin out of the world and melt the earth with fervent heat.

In general the verse still points forward to a broader and more glorious accomplishment at the close of time when all the true Israel of God will be redeemed, placed in possession of immortal inheritance and everlasting reward, and given complete victory. The burning of the weapons means the annihilation of Israel's enemies will be complete, with nothing left to pollute the land, and in the main it points to God's final punishment of those who destroy His people when Christ comes again. Its true meaning is given in the clearer unconditional prophecies of Revelation about events before the second coming and at the end of the thousand years, in whose light the last part of Ezekiel must be read, revealing the fuller meaning that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. The promise is faintly typical of what God will do in the new heavens and new earth when He restores all things by His mighty power.

Prophecy Identity and Timing

Ezekiel 38-39 foretells Russia's important part in the closing work of world history, identifying Gog and Magog with Russia through Rosh, Meshech and Tubal as chief prince of Meshech and Tubal and land of the czar. It concerns Russia's international policy and ultimate destiny and ruin, with part already fulfilled and much still to come in the near future as a warning bearing on present European affairs and present-day conditions. Russia is to be turned back and brought forth in the present war, possibly by Japan as the means the Lord uses to turn Russia back. The defeat leaves those who were plundered to take spoil from those who plundered them and to burn the defeated enemy's weapons for fuel instead of taking wood out of the field or cutting wood out of the forests.

The chapter portrays the final scenes of Russia's career and its ruin at the end of the world, placing the burning of the weapons and the judgment on Gog's forces within the final judgments. The seven years of burning signify that the cleansing is complete, with Gog and his armies under God's unmixed wrath unto final doom in the second death. The last days are days of bloody strife, distress and carnage among the nations, when enemies rush from the north quarters like a storm against the mountains of Israel and there perish at God's presence amid fire and brimstone with carcasses left for fowls to feast upon. That slaughter proves there will be no converted world before that last day, and the coming time of peace and glory will only be brought when the Prince of peace comes to raise His people and sit in judgment on the human race.

The prophecy is connected with the alignment of earthly powers before Armageddon and is invoked as a great conflict among nations close at hand showing the present position in relation to past and future events. It describes an evil confederacy invading the land where God's scattered people dwell, planning to seize territory once occupied by Israel and destroy them, and a future northern confederacy whose head is associated with the power that reinstates the Papacy attacking the southern power with combined armies and navies. It is a last great northern apostasy sweeping over the Holy Land with great power and destruction, in a great horde from the north led by Magog sweeping down upon those the Lord calls My people Israel in Palestine. The gathering of God's people from among the nations to their land belongs to the same prophecy and applies to the need for the gospel to reach Persia and surrounding regions.

Part is a national judgment before Christ comes, with plagues brought to view in Ezekiel 39:22, and not the battle at the end of the thousand years when all the dead of all ages come up and national boundaries and distinctions are completely eliminated. Yet Gog and Magog, who had oppressed God's people, are also applied to the wicked restored to life after the thousand years and gathered by Satan for a last attack, whose defeat is their final doom. The promised details depended on ancient Israel's faith and obedience, and because Israel did not meet those conditions the prophecy will not be fulfilled in its original setting with Israel burning weapons without cutting wood and reclaiming what was taken. God's purposes toward wicked nations and true Israel remain the same though times and setting change: Israel will receive the earth made new, and Gog and Magog representing northern nations will be punished partly in this world and ultimately at the end of the thousand years.

The seven years are a seven-year war of Zion with her enemies in which God's children contend with enemies, spoil those that spoiled them and rob those that robbed them. The years are prophetic years meaning 2520 common years of moral warfare, and the burning of weapons with fire means burning up the enemies' weapons by the fire of truth. The period began when Babylon began to spoil and rob God's people and ends in 1843, proving the time of release when Christ will come to reward every man as his work shall be. The forecast depending on a literal return of the Jews to Palestine with Christ's reign and earthly inheritance is disputed and refuted as leading to errors and conflict with the third angel's message, so different interpretations contradict one another and no definite destiny for Russia is asserted. The chapter teaches no special work for the Jews in the Christian dispensation, since at the second coming the saints are taken to heaven and the earth is left desolate, overthrowing the return-of-the-Jews theory built on this chapter.

Doctrine and Gospel Application

Ezekiel 38 to 40 belongs to the closing part of the book, chapters 33 to 48, which give consolation and promise and prophesy restoration, and in that setting the overthrow of the spoiler and the spoiling of spoilers shows God's love for His house. What God would have done for Israel in that day if they had yielded to Him was to conquer all their enemies far and near and make Jerusalem a praise in the earth, together with raising the faithful in Israel who slept and building the sanctuary promised in the closing chapters. That sanctuary of chapters 37 to 48 was never built because Israel never yielded, under the universal principle of conditional promise stated in Jeremiah 18:8-10. It never will or can be built, because Christ Himself suffered and fulfilled all the typical sacrifices that pointed forward to Him.

The prophecy is conditional and mixed and will not be fulfilled in all its literal details, yet its promise that spoilers will be spoiled will still be fulfilled for God's own people. Part is fulfilled before the second coming of Christ in the clearer terms stated in Revelation, and part is fulfilled at the end of the thousand years, so the unconditional prophecies in Revelation give its true meaning. The gospel reveals the fuller meaning, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus. The gathering of God's people from among the nations and bringing them to their land, connected with the alignment of earthly powers before Armageddon, applies to the need for the gospel to reach Persia and the surrounding regions.

The prophecy concerning Russia, its international policy and its ultimate destiny, is presented as a warning, with part already fulfilled and much still to come in the near future. From chapter 36 onward God promised Israel that the kings of the north and enemies far and near would be brought into subjection, and Israel would spoil those that spoiled them and rob those that robbed them. Fulfillment depended on Israel putting away wickedness and being ashamed of iniquities, and because Israel was not ashamed and did not put away iniquities the promise was not fulfilled literally. The promise remains faintly typical of what God will do in the new heavens and new earth when He restores all things by His mighty power.