Ezekiel 39:21, commentary and pictures

God sets His glory among the nations by delivering His people, so that all the nations see the judgment He has executed and recognize His own hand laid upon their enemies. That judgment is the utter ruin and final doom of Gog and Magog and the Satan-led northern host that seeks to destroy His people, whose bodies are left as prey in fiery destruction. It was first offered as a conditional promise to Israel after the Babylonian captivity, that if they had repented and returned God would have gathered them, defeated their enemies, and made them a light and joy to the whole earth, but through their failure it was fulfilled only in very small part and never in its literal detail. What remains will without question be fulfilled toward the true Israel in the last days, in part before and at the second coming in the Armageddon conflict, and ultimately after the thousand years when Satan is loosed and the wicked compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city to receive their sentence. Its fulfillment will not keep the local conditions of the prophet's day with wooden weapons burned for fuel and the land cleansed by human hands, but is to be understood in the setting of Revelation 16-19 when the fires of the last day consume sin.

Historical Setting and Condition

Ezekiel 39:21 belongs to the restoration prophecy of Ezekiel 36 to 48, delivered while Ezekiel lived among the captives in Babylonia. It concerns judgment against the wicked nations which, controlled by Satan, seek to destroy God's people, and promises of what God would do for His children if they returned to Him. The prophecy in Ezekiel 36 onward calls Israel to return to God and promises blessings on condition of faithfulness, describing what the Lord would do for His people if they yielded to Him.

It was a conditional offer first addressed to the Jews after the Babylonian captivity. If they had obeyed, forsaken sin, been ashamed and confounded for their ways, been cleansed, and returned with all the heart to the mountains of Israel, God would have gathered them from the nations and made them great. He would then have defeated the northern enemies sweeping down upon them, destroyed the northern host by judgment and plagues, cut off all the enemies of His people, and set His overpowering glory among the heathen by dwelling among His people. His glory would have rested among them, the threatening nations would have been defeated, and He would have built a far greater and grander temple and marvelous sanctuary than Zerubbabel built, whose city is called Jehovah Is There, with its water of life and glory of God, and made Israel the joy of the whole earth and a light to the world going out from its restored city to convert the nations.

Because Israel failed to meet God's requirements, did not truly repent, refused to be ashamed of iniquities, and did not forsake sin and return to the Lord, the prophecy was fulfilled only in very small part with faint prosperity and feeble fulfillment after Babylon. The only restoration was the meager return of about forty thousand, with the inferior temple of Zerubbabel as only a shadow of the glorious temple that would have been built. It was never literally fulfilled in its original detail and never will be literally fulfilled in that detail.

The chapter's outline is not all unconditional, since some details depended on Israel fulfilling the Lord's conditions, turning from wickedness, and being established in its land. What remains will be fulfilled toward the true Israel according to later revelations under broader and more glorious conditions, with the faithful receiving the full immortal inheritance, not in every literal Palestinian detail. Parts will be fulfilled before Christ's second coming in the clearer terms of Revelation and parts at the end of the thousand years, rather than as a prediction whose every detail must occur in one historical setting.

Meaning of Glory and Judgment

God sets His glory among the heathen by delivering His people, so that all the heathen see the judgment He has executed and the hand He has laid upon Israel's enemies. That setting of glory is the direct working of His hand in judgment against the wicked nations which, controlled by Satan, seek to destroy His people. The nations see both His judgment and His hand against them, and recognize the power He has exercised upon them. That display is connected with the great supper of God at the coming of the King of kings, when the wicked are destroyed.

The verse declares His promise to cut off all the enemies of His people and to bring Gog's career to ruin as events move toward the end of the world. It pronounces final doom on Gog and Magog who oppressed God's people, with God's enemies advancing against Israel and perishing in fiery judgment with their bodies left for the birds. Its fulfillment comes after the thousand years when Satan is loosed and the wicked are brought back to life to go up on the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city in hope of taking them captive. There they see the great white throne, hear their sentence read from the books of record, and receive the executed judgment, with His glory and His hand set before all the heathen.

The judgment is a national judgment on the great northern host led by Gog and Magog, executed by plagues. The pestilence, hail, fire and brimstone belonging to these judgments are to be understood in the setting of Revelation 16-19 rather than as wooden weapons burned for fuel and a cleansing of the land by human hands. The destruction foretold occurs in another place than Gehenna, the valley of Hinnom. Gehenna has been and will be a place of punishment, but it is not the only place of punishment.

Enemies and Northern Powers

Gog is the ruler of Magog and prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, which are understood as the czar of Russia and the land of the czar. This identification places Russia in an important role in the closing work of world history. The prophecy sets forth by name and by country the descendants of Noah after the Flood to give information and instruction on the Russo-Eastern question with its American complications. It concerns Russia's international policy and ultimate destiny.

That prophecy about Russia is partly fulfilled, while much of it is yet to come in the near future. Russia's mighty army is to be destroyed on the mountains of the Holy Land. That destruction is the judgment by which God sets His glory among the nations, with the Russian army as part of the prey of the last-day Armageddon conflict. The Lord even uses Japan to turn Russia back.

The invaders are the ambitious northern powers of Gog and Magog, having the spirit of Satan and seeking to rule over all others. Persia is associated with that power from the north. They form a future mighty confederacy led by the king of the north, which reinstates the Papacy and wages war against the opposing southern power with world-spanning military movements still future. That final great northern apostasy sweeps over the Holy Land with great power and destruction.

The invasion of Palestine, intended to be Israel's territory, is aimed both at securing that land and at destroying God's people wherever they are scattered throughout the world after Israel's rebellion.

Timing of Final Fulfillment

Ezekiel 39:21 belongs to the account of Gog's final scenes as events move toward the end of the world, with God's judgment bringing Gog's career to ruin. Its general outline concerns the gathering of nations for the final conflict at Armageddon, though not every individual detail is unconditional, since some depended on Israel fulfilling the Lord's conditions and being established in its land.

What remains of its judgment on the heathen will without question be fulfilled in the last days in harmony with conditions existing upon the earth. Parts of Ezekiel 38-39 will be fulfilled before Christ's second coming in the clearer terms of Revelation, while other parts will be fulfilled at the end of the thousand years, the verse's promise being understood in light of those later revelations and not as a prediction whose every detail must occur in one historical setting. At Christ's second coming God forever punishes those who would destroy His people, which is the general fulfillment of Ezekiel 39. Ezekiel 39:21 will be fulfilled in the greater glory of the second coming of Jesus Christ and events connected with it, when God displays His glory and judgment upon the heathen northern powers of Gog and Magog, ambitious powers with the spirit of Satan seeking to rule over all others.

The prophecy is divided so that some events of its chapters occur before the second coming of Christ and some in the last great battle on the other side of the thousand years. Gog and Magog, representing northern nations, will be punished partly in this world before and when Christ comes, and ultimately at the end of the thousand years. The pre-Advent judgment is God's national judgment on the great northern host led by Gog and Magog that comes down upon His people Israel in Palestine before Christ comes, executed by plagues, by which all the heathen see God's glory in the judgment He executes and the hand He lays upon that confederacy. This is not the gathering of Gog and Magog after the one thousand years when the dead of all ages are raised and national boundaries and distinctions are gone, but a judgment of nations before the coming of Christ.

Its fulfillment also comes after the thousand years when Satan is loosed from his prison and the wicked are brought back to life, and he goes out to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth and gather them together to battle against the camp of the saints and the city of God in hope of taking them captive. Gog and Magog are then called into service with that host to go up on the breadth of the earth and compass the beloved city, where they see the great white throne, hear their sentence read from the books of record, and receive the judgment God has executed upon them, setting His glory and His hand before all the heathen. The final fulfillment will not keep the local conditions of the prophet's day, with no literal burning of weapons for fuel and no cleansing of the land by human hands, because the fires of the last day will consume sin out of the world and melt the earth with fervent heat. The chapter cannot be fulfilled literally in the last days because Palestine is not inhabited by a people gathered out from the nations by God, its people do not dwell safely all of them in villages without walls, the land is the poorest of lands without cattle and goods and wealth to arouse cupidity and spoil, and the armies of today are not equipped with wooden shields and bucklers and hand staves and spears that Israel could burn for fuel. The prophecy about Gog and Magog was conditional and, because its conditions were never met, was never fulfilled.

Links With Other Scriptures

The promise is part of a conditional prophecy of judgment on Israel's enemies and display of divine glory among the nations, given to literal fleshly Israel under the old covenant, and it is not to be taken as a prediction whose every detail must occur in one historical setting but is to be understood in light of later revelations. Part will be fulfilled before the second coming of Christ in the clearer terms of Revelation, and part at the end of the thousand years. If Israel had been ashamed and confounded for their ways, been cleansed from sin, been brought back to the mountains of Israel and made great, God would have destroyed the northern host coming down upon them, executed judgment by plagues upon those enemies, and set His overpowering glory among the heathen by dwelling among His people and enabling them to build the marvelous sanctuary of chapters 40-48 whose city is called Jehovah Is There, with the judgments explained by Revelation and the sanctuary by Ezekiel 40-48. Because Israel failed to meet the conditions, that glory was never then manifested, and the only restoration was the meager return from Babylon with the inferior temple of Zerubbabel. The setting of glory among the nations is the manifestation of judgment and the divine hand against them, connected with the great supper of God at the coming of the King of kings when the wicked are destroyed.

The sanctuary prophecy of Ezekiel 37-48, whose city is called Jehovah Is There, is conditional on Israel's acceptance or rejection and will never be fulfilled as a literal sanctuary built in Israel. Explained in harmony with the whole Bible, the verse does not teach a special work of God among the Jews in the Christian dispensation or their return to inherit the land. The saints are taken to heaven at the second coming of Christ when the earth is made desolate, and admitting that desolation overthrows the return-of-the-Jews use of the verse drawn from the last nineteen chapters of Ezekiel concerning the return of the Jews, the reign of Christ, and the inheritance of the saints.

Mission Call and Warning

The setting of divine glory among the nations includes the foretold gathering of God's people from among the nations and bringing them to their land, with Persia associated with the power from the north. While the nations are being drawn toward Armageddon, that gathering is the call for gospel work to seek and gather God's children in Persia and the regions near it.

Had the promise been fulfilled, God's glory would have rested among His people, the threatening nations would have been defeated, and Israel would have gone out from its restored city to convert the nations as a light to the world. This was what God would have done for Israel after the return from Babylon if they had heeded the prophet's words and become ashamed of their iniquities, cutting off all the enemies of His people. Because Israel refused that shame and cleansing, the prophecy was not fulfilled in detail and never will be fulfilled literally, so only a shadow of the temple was built instead of the glorious temple with its water of life and glory of God. In its general fulfillment, at Christ's second coming God forever punishes those who would destroy His people, together with the resurrection of those gone down in death.