And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.
The verse names Hamonah in the burial of Gog's destroyed forces by which the defiled land is cleared of its dead. It stands in the closing restoration of Ezekiel 33-48, a sanctuary prophecy of restoration and promise with enemies cut off and the land made clean, whose detail about Hamonah is given no further separate meaning. It belongs to what God would have done for Israel after the captivity if they had repented and obeyed, to conquer their enemies, bring them back to the mountains of Israel and cleanse the land, which was never fulfilled as described and never will be literally fulfilled in its ancient details of wooden weapons burned for fuel. Its promise remains in broader and more glorious conditions, pointing generally to God's final punishment of the wicked nations gathered against His people, to be understood in Revelation 16-19 when the fires of the last day consume sin and melt the earth and not by human hands. Those who hold its greater fulfillment before Christ's coming place it in national judgments when a horde from the north falls upon Israel dwelling in Palestine, while those who hold it at the close of the thousand years make Hamonah the city of the eternally dead when Satan gathers Gog and Magog against the camp of the saints, with others holding part fulfilled before Christ comes and part at the end of the thousand years.
Words and Immediate Context
Ezekiel 39:16 stands in the closing part of Ezekiel, chapters 33 to 48, which gives restoration, consolation and promise, in Ezekiel 38 to 40 showing love for the house, and in the sanctuary prophecy of chapters 37 to 48. It belongs to the declaration in chapters 38 and 39 that all the enemies of the people would be cut off if the prophet had been heeded, together with the resurrection of those gone down in death and the rebuilding of the glorious temple with its water of life and glory of God and Israel becoming a light to the world. That restoration was conditional upon Israel's acceptance or rejection, and because the people refused to be ashamed only a mere shadow of the temple was built instead of the wonderful structure shown to the prophet, so it was never literally fulfilled and the literal sanctuary will never be built.
The verse names the city Hamonah in connection with the aftermath of Gog's defeat, when Gog's forces are destroyed and the land is cleansed, as described in verses 11-16 through burial and cleansing. The cleansing of the land is its defilement by the bodies of those slain in a great battle followed by cleansing through removing and burying them, clearing the land of the dead. It is an example of the Hebrew word for cleansing used for clearing the land of the dead, not the cleansing of the sanctuary in the sense debated over the sanctuary, and in the identification held by some it follows the prophesied overthrow of the Latino-Greek Babylonian power.
Beyond its part in the promised cleansing of the land if Israel had met the stated conditions, with part of Ezekiel 38-39 to be fulfilled before Christ's second coming in the clearer terms of Revelation 16-19 and some at the end of the thousand years, the verse's specific detail about Hamonah is given no further separate explanation.
Conditional Promise Not Fulfilled
Ezekiel 39:16 belongs to what God promised to do for Israel after the Babylonian captivity if the people had yielded to Him, repented of iniquity, turned from wickedness and obeyed. Had they met the conditions He would have conquered their enemies and cleansed the land as part of their restoration. He would have brought them back upon the mountains of Israel, cleansed them from their sins, done better to them than at their beginnings, and made them great and fruitful. Then the resurrection shown in the valley of dry bones would have taken place, the whole northern host coming against them would have been destroyed by plagues, and Israel would have built the marvelous sanctuary of the closing chapters where the presence of God would dwell in overpowering glory under the name Jehovah Is There. Because Israel did not truly repent and did not yield to God's plan, that restoration was never fulfilled as described and will not be fulfilled in every literal detail.
The promises would have been fulfilled in that time to literal fleshly Israel under the old covenant if they had been faithful and ashamed and confounded for their ways, and would have been fulfilled in much greater measure if the Jews had met the conditions God set. The chapter's weapons fit that historical setting, with wooden bows, arrows, spears, shields, bucklers and handstaves burned for fuel and the dead buried in cleansing the land. Those specific details about the defeat of Israel's northern enemies, the burning of weapons, the burial of the dead and the cleansing of the land applied to the restoration of Israel if the people had obeyed God. They do not in literal detail describe modern weapons or the last great war nor apply in detail to the final conflict.
A literal fulfillment in the last days is impossible because the land is not inhabited by a people gathered by God from all nations dwelling safely in unwalled villages. It does not hold the property and cattle and goods and wealth that stirs the northern powers to think an evil thought and sweep down to take spoil. The armies of today do not bear wooden shields and bucklers and handstaves and spears that could be burned for fuel in cleansing the land.
The promises concerning true Israel will instead be fulfilled as described in later revelations, and the faithful will receive their future glory and immortal inheritance. What was offered to ancient Israel but forfeited through unbelief will be fulfilled in the last days under different, broader, stronger and more glorious conditions. God's purposes to bless true Israel and to punish wicked nations remain, though their time and setting differ. Gog and Magog will be punished partly in this world and ultimately at the end of the thousand years, pointing generally to God's final punishment of those who destroy His people at the second coming.
Last-Day Judgment and Application
Ezekiel 39:16 belongs to the judgments against the wicked nations which, controlled by Satan, seek to destroy God's people. It portrays enemies advancing from the north against Israel and perishing at God's presence in a storm of fire and brimstone, with birds feeding on their bodies, showing the bloody conflict and destruction among nations expected in the last days. It belongs to a final great apostasy from the north that sweeps over the Holy Land with great power and destruction. It belongs to the great Gog and Magog war presented as a tremendous conflict close upon the world.
The prophecy presents the descendants of Noah after the Flood by name and by country and reveals the origin, international policy and ultimate destiny of the Russian Empire in the Russo-Eastern question, partly fulfilled with much still to come to pass in the immediate future. It is history foretold beforehand for warning, because nothing concerning earth is done without full and faithful warning, to mean eternal salvation to some and everlasting destruction to others, with part fulfilled but much remaining yet to come in the immediate and near future amid distress of nations with perplexity. Russia is identified with the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and Japan is one means God uses to turn Russia back. Russia, the land of the czar, is identified through the names Rosh, Meshech and Tubal in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
The prophecy glances down to the scene of the last days but is obscure, with no easy line of demarcation between that which refers to the past and that which refers to the future. It belongs to promises of what God would have done for Israel after their return from Babylon, when the land would have been cleansed as part of their restoration, but because Israel did not repent it was not fulfilled as described and points generally to God's final punishment of those who destroy His people at the second coming. Its greater fulfillment belongs to Christ's second coming and related events without the local conditions of Ezekiel's day, and in that final cleansing of the land after the defeat of Gog's enemies the work will not be carried out by human hands, for the fires of the last day will consume sin and melt the earth. The plagues, pestilence, hailstones, fire and brimstone to be poured out upon the wicked who come against His own people are to be looked for not in the setting of Ezekiel 38 and 39 but in the fuller, clearer disclosures of Revelation 16-19, though combined armies like those set forth in Ezekiel may appear in near-future revolutions and sweep down over lesser powers and utterly destroy them.
In the view held by the weight of fuller explanation, the chapters describe national judgments that take place before Christ comes, when God's people Israel dwell in the land of Palestine and a great horde from the north led by Magog sweeps down upon them, with plagues falling upon the attackers. They do not in that view describe the raising of Gog and Magog at the end of the thousand years when national boundaries, divisions of nations and distinctions are completely eliminated. In another view, Hamonah is the city of the eternally dead where Gog and his armies meet their final doom after the second resurrection, in the final complete judgment of God in which the burial and cleansing of verses 11-16 is accomplished, the remaining Israel having passed through the cleansing fires over whom the second death has no power, with the land cleansed and Jerusalem holy with no strangers passing through it. That final doom pronounced on Gog and Magog, who in past days oppressed God's people, will be carried out at the close of the thousand years when Satan is loosed from his prison and the wicked are brought back, as Satan goes out to the nations in the four quarters of the earth to gather Gog and Magog together to battle against the camp of the saints and the city of God. In a mediating view, the prophecy was conditional and its details were not all fulfilled because Israel failed to meet God's requirements, so that part of Ezekiel 38-39 will be fulfilled before Christ's second coming in the clearer terms of Revelation and some will be fulfilled at the end of the thousand years.
The gathering to the land is applied to the gospel mission, in that while earthly powers gather nations for Armageddon, missionaries should gather God's people in Persia and surrounding regions, since the prophecy associates Persia with a great power from the north and says God will gather His people from among the nations and bring them to their land. Had Israel remained faithful, God's people would have occupied Palestine and the evil world confederacy would have designed its attack against them by invading their territory, but since Israel was scattered the same plan seeks both to secure the territory once occupied by Israel and to destroy God's people scattered throughout the world. The destruction described shows that God punishes and destroys the wicked in other places besides Gehenna in the valley of Hinnom. The prophecy does not mean a special work of God among the Jews in the Christian dispensation, because at the second coming of Christ the saints are taken to heaven and the earth is left desolate.
The verse names Hamonah in the burial of Gog's destroyed forces by which the defiled land is cleared of its dead. It stands in the closing restoration of Ezekiel 33-48, a sanctuary prophecy of restoration and promise with enemies cut off and the land made clean, whose detail about Hamonah is given no further separate meaning. It belongs to what God would have done for Israel after the captivity if they had repented and obeyed, to conquer their enemies, bring them back to the mountains of Israel and cleanse the land, which was never fulfilled as described and never will be literally fulfilled in its ancient details of wooden weapons burned for fuel. Its promise remains in broader and more glorious conditions, pointing generally to God's final punishment of the wicked nations gathered against His people, to be understood in Revelation 16-19 when the fires of the last day consume sin and melt the earth and not by human hands. Those who hold its greater fulfillment before Christ's coming place it in national judgments when a horde from the north falls upon Israel dwelling in Palestine, while those who hold it at the close of the thousand years make Hamonah the city of the eternally dead when Satan gathers Gog and Magog against the camp of the saints, with others holding part fulfilled before Christ comes and part at the end of the thousand years.
Words and Immediate Context
Ezekiel 39:16 stands in the closing part of Ezekiel, chapters 33 to 48, which gives restoration, consolation and promise, in Ezekiel 38 to 40 showing love for the house, and in the sanctuary prophecy of chapters 37 to 48. It belongs to the declaration in chapters 38 and 39 that all the enemies of the people would be cut off if the prophet had been heeded, together with the resurrection of those gone down in death and the rebuilding of the glorious temple with its water of life and glory of God and Israel becoming a light to the world. That restoration was conditional upon Israel's acceptance or rejection, and because the people refused to be ashamed only a mere shadow of the temple was built instead of the wonderful structure shown to the prophet, so it was never literally fulfilled and the literal sanctuary will never be built.
The verse names the city Hamonah in connection with the aftermath of Gog's defeat, when Gog's forces are destroyed and the land is cleansed, as described in verses 11-16 through burial and cleansing. The cleansing of the land is its defilement by the bodies of those slain in a great battle followed by cleansing through removing and burying them, clearing the land of the dead. It is an example of the Hebrew word for cleansing used for clearing the land of the dead, not the cleansing of the sanctuary in the sense debated over the sanctuary, and in the identification held by some it follows the prophesied overthrow of the Latino-Greek Babylonian power.
Beyond its part in the promised cleansing of the land if Israel had met the stated conditions, with part of Ezekiel 38-39 to be fulfilled before Christ's second coming in the clearer terms of Revelation 16-19 and some at the end of the thousand years, the verse's specific detail about Hamonah is given no further separate explanation.
Conditional Promise Not Fulfilled
Ezekiel 39:16 belongs to what God promised to do for Israel after the Babylonian captivity if the people had yielded to Him, repented of iniquity, turned from wickedness and obeyed. Had they met the conditions He would have conquered their enemies and cleansed the land as part of their restoration. He would have brought them back upon the mountains of Israel, cleansed them from their sins, done better to them than at their beginnings, and made them great and fruitful. Then the resurrection shown in the valley of dry bones would have taken place, the whole northern host coming against them would have been destroyed by plagues, and Israel would have built the marvelous sanctuary of the closing chapters where the presence of God would dwell in overpowering glory under the name Jehovah Is There. Because Israel did not truly repent and did not yield to God's plan, that restoration was never fulfilled as described and will not be fulfilled in every literal detail.
The promises would have been fulfilled in that time to literal fleshly Israel under the old covenant if they had been faithful and ashamed and confounded for their ways, and would have been fulfilled in much greater measure if the Jews had met the conditions God set. The chapter's weapons fit that historical setting, with wooden bows, arrows, spears, shields, bucklers and handstaves burned for fuel and the dead buried in cleansing the land. Those specific details about the defeat of Israel's northern enemies, the burning of weapons, the burial of the dead and the cleansing of the land applied to the restoration of Israel if the people had obeyed God. They do not in literal detail describe modern weapons or the last great war nor apply in detail to the final conflict.
A literal fulfillment in the last days is impossible because the land is not inhabited by a people gathered by God from all nations dwelling safely in unwalled villages. It does not hold the property and cattle and goods and wealth that stirs the northern powers to think an evil thought and sweep down to take spoil. The armies of today do not bear wooden shields and bucklers and handstaves and spears that could be burned for fuel in cleansing the land.
The promises concerning true Israel will instead be fulfilled as described in later revelations, and the faithful will receive their future glory and immortal inheritance. What was offered to ancient Israel but forfeited through unbelief will be fulfilled in the last days under different, broader, stronger and more glorious conditions. God's purposes to bless true Israel and to punish wicked nations remain, though their time and setting differ. Gog and Magog will be punished partly in this world and ultimately at the end of the thousand years, pointing generally to God's final punishment of those who destroy His people at the second coming.
Last-Day Judgment and Application
Ezekiel 39:16 belongs to the judgments against the wicked nations which, controlled by Satan, seek to destroy God's people. It portrays enemies advancing from the north against Israel and perishing at God's presence in a storm of fire and brimstone, with birds feeding on their bodies, showing the bloody conflict and destruction among nations expected in the last days. It belongs to a final great apostasy from the north that sweeps over the Holy Land with great power and destruction. It belongs to the great Gog and Magog war presented as a tremendous conflict close upon the world.
The prophecy presents the descendants of Noah after the Flood by name and by country and reveals the origin, international policy and ultimate destiny of the Russian Empire in the Russo-Eastern question, partly fulfilled with much still to come to pass in the immediate future. It is history foretold beforehand for warning, because nothing concerning earth is done without full and faithful warning, to mean eternal salvation to some and everlasting destruction to others, with part fulfilled but much remaining yet to come in the immediate and near future amid distress of nations with perplexity. Russia is identified with the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and Japan is one means God uses to turn Russia back. Russia, the land of the czar, is identified through the names Rosh, Meshech and Tubal in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
The prophecy glances down to the scene of the last days but is obscure, with no easy line of demarcation between that which refers to the past and that which refers to the future. It belongs to promises of what God would have done for Israel after their return from Babylon, when the land would have been cleansed as part of their restoration, but because Israel did not repent it was not fulfilled as described and points generally to God's final punishment of those who destroy His people at the second coming. Its greater fulfillment belongs to Christ's second coming and related events without the local conditions of Ezekiel's day, and in that final cleansing of the land after the defeat of Gog's enemies the work will not be carried out by human hands, for the fires of the last day will consume sin and melt the earth. The plagues, pestilence, hailstones, fire and brimstone to be poured out upon the wicked who come against His own people are to be looked for not in the setting of Ezekiel 38 and 39 but in the fuller, clearer disclosures of Revelation 16-19, though combined armies like those set forth in Ezekiel may appear in near-future revolutions and sweep down over lesser powers and utterly destroy them.
In the view held by the weight of fuller explanation, the chapters describe national judgments that take place before Christ comes, when God's people Israel dwell in the land of Palestine and a great horde from the north led by Magog sweeps down upon them, with plagues falling upon the attackers. They do not in that view describe the raising of Gog and Magog at the end of the thousand years when national boundaries, divisions of nations and distinctions are completely eliminated. In another view, Hamonah is the city of the eternally dead where Gog and his armies meet their final doom after the second resurrection, in the final complete judgment of God in which the burial and cleansing of verses 11-16 is accomplished, the remaining Israel having passed through the cleansing fires over whom the second death has no power, with the land cleansed and Jerusalem holy with no strangers passing through it. That final doom pronounced on Gog and Magog, who in past days oppressed God's people, will be carried out at the close of the thousand years when Satan is loosed from his prison and the wicked are brought back, as Satan goes out to the nations in the four quarters of the earth to gather Gog and Magog together to battle against the camp of the saints and the city of God. In a mediating view, the prophecy was conditional and its details were not all fulfilled because Israel failed to meet God's requirements, so that part of Ezekiel 38-39 will be fulfilled before Christ's second coming in the clearer terms of Revelation and some will be fulfilled at the end of the thousand years.
The gathering to the land is applied to the gospel mission, in that while earthly powers gather nations for Armageddon, missionaries should gather God's people in Persia and surrounding regions, since the prophecy associates Persia with a great power from the north and says God will gather His people from among the nations and bring them to their land. Had Israel remained faithful, God's people would have occupied Palestine and the evil world confederacy would have designed its attack against them by invading their territory, but since Israel was scattered the same plan seeks both to secure the territory once occupied by Israel and to destroy God's people scattered throughout the world. The destruction described shows that God punishes and destroys the wicked in other places besides Gehenna in the valley of Hinnom. The prophecy does not mean a special work of God among the Jews in the Christian dispensation, because at the second coming of Christ the saints are taken to heaven and the earth is left desolate.