Ezekiel 39:25, commentary and pictures

God promises to end Jacob's captivity, to show mercy to the whole house of Israel, and to act in jealousy for His holy name as part of the restoration and consolation promised in Ezekiel 33 to 48. It was a conditional promise of what He would have done for literal Israel after Babylon if they had repented, put away iniquity and obeyed wholly, gathering them safely to the mountains of Israel, defeating their enemies, dwelling among them in glory and making His name known to the nations. Israel did not turn and was not ashamed, so the glorious temple, land and prosperity were never fulfilled literally, and the return with about forty thousand was only a meager partial restoration ending in conquest and destruction. Because ancient Israel failed, the promise will be fulfilled in broader and more glorious form to true Israel by faith in Christ, gathered from all nations including Gentiles to receive the immortal inheritance in the new heaven and new earth with the New Jerusalem. In its general outline the surrounding prophecy points to God's future victory over the destroyers of His people in the final conflict of Gog and Magog before Christ comes and at the end of the thousand years, when in jealousy for the honor of His holy name He will no longer tolerate its contempt but will show mercy in restoring His people and judgment on its despisers.

Context in Ezekiel's Prophecy

The verse stands in the last part of Ezekiel, chapters 33 to 48, which gives consolation and promise of restoration, showing God's love for His house in bringing back Jacob, having mercy on the whole house of Israel, and being jealous for His holy name. Chapters 38 and 39 are judgments against the wicked nations which, controlled by Satan, seek to destroy God's people, and at the same time they are a direct and explicit promise of the great blessings God Himself will bestow in saving Israel and of the glory with which He will invest the land, the city and the sanctuary. The verse belongs to the sanctuary prophecy of Ezekiel 37 to 48 and introduces the city and temple vision of chapters 40 to 48, given in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity, as what lay in prospect for restored Israel when returned to its own land. The chapter's details concerning the defeat of enemies and the cleansing of the land fit Israel's ancient setting, and not every detail applies to the last days.

Conditional Promise and Terms

Ezekiel 39:25 is a conditional prophecy of what God would have done for Israel if His people had been faithful, had yielded wholly to Him, repented, put away iniquity and obeyed. On those terms He would have restored Jacob's fortunes, shown mercy to the whole house of Israel, and vindicated and defended the honor of His holy name. The promised restoration and blessings depended on their putting away wickedness and meeting the conditions God had given, and because they failed the glorious restoration described did not take place as promised. The promise was first given in connection with restoration from Babylonian captivity and was offered to literal, fleshly Israel in the first dispensation under the old covenant. God would have fulfilled it then if the people had been ashamed of sins, been cleansed from sin, and returned wholeheartedly to Him in true repentance and obedience.

If Israel had met the conditions, God would have called the scattered people back to their land to the mountains of Israel, gathered them from the lands of their enemies, and brought them back to dwell safely after His judgments. He would have defeated their northern enemies by plagues, cut off all their enemies, and made His glory known to the nations. He would have done better to them than at their beginnings, caused them to shoot forth branches and yield fruit, raised them as in the resurrection of chapter 37, and dwelt among them in great and overpowering glory. He would have enabled them to build the marvelous sanctuary of chapters 40-48 where His presence would dwell in the city called Jehovah Is There.

If His people had heeded the prophet, that glorious state of prosperity and favor upon return from Babylon to Palestine would have made Israel a light indeed to the world, with the glorious temple, its water of life and glory of God, instead of only a mere shadow of the temple being built. Its fulfillment depended on their faithfulness in representing truth in the earth, and the city and temple vision of chapters 40-48, given in the twenty-fifth year of the captivity, set forth what lay in prospect for restored Israel. Taken together with the whole nine chapters, the vision does not teach a future age of probation nor describe the river of life.

Ancient Failure and Partial Restoration

The promise to bring back the captivity of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel was conditional on repentance, wholehearted return, putting away wickedness, faith and obedience, and being ashamed of sins. Israel did not turn from sins, did not yield wholly, did not meet the requirements, and refused to be ashamed, so the glorious restoration described did not take place as promised. The closing chapters prophecy was therefore never literally fulfilled in its details and never will be literally fulfilled in its original details. Its conditions were never met, so its promised victory, restoration and blessings failed literally.

What followed the Babylonian captivity was only a meager, small, partial and limited fulfillment. Only about forty thousand returned, and the promises were not realized in fullness or on the much greater scale offered. God would have gathered all His people from the nations, restored them to Israel, dwelt among them in great glory, made His glory known to the nations, defeated their northern enemies and called the scattered back to their land, but failure left victory and restoration only partial. Because the conditions failed, the people were eventually conquered and the nation destroyed.

Instead of the glorious temple with its water of life and glory of God, only a mere shadow of the temple was built, and Israel did not become a light to the world. The sanctuary described later in Ezekiel was never built because Israel did not yield to God's plan. The promised restoration of the land and rebuilding of the temple were not fulfilled for them.

That restoration and its blessings were offered to literal Israel after bearing shame, to gather them from enemy lands to their own land, no longer hiding His face so they would know He was their God. They belonged to the first dispensation after the Babylonian captivity, depending on putting away iniquities and obeying God. They were not intended for a future return to the same earthly condition.

Future Fulfillment for God's People

Because ancient Israel did not yield, repent and meet the conditions, what would have been fulfilled then in connection with restoration from Babylonian captivity was not fulfilled in its original details, and the return from Babylon remained only a meager, small and partial restoration. The promises concerning true Israel are therefore reserved for the last days and will be fulfilled in the future under different, broader and more glorious conditions, but not with every detail described in Ezekiel 39. The faithful will receive that promised future glory and the fullness of the immortal inheritance, even the more glorious inheritance of the earth made new.

After Christ, Israel is understood as Israel by faith, and God will make good His promises to His people in Christ in the new heaven and new earth whose capital is the New Jerusalem. He will gather the true Israel of God from all nations of the earth, including those joined to His people through Christ, including Gentiles, and redeem them to receive the immortal inheritance. That gathering is God's own work and not Israel's effort to rebuild Jerusalem, belonging to a people scattered among other nations who are brought back to dwell safely after God's judgments. The sanctuary of Ezekiel 37-48 will never be built in its old form, for its promises must be read in light of the New Testament and God's work for all peoples through the gospel.

The gathering is applied to the gospel mission in which missionaries gather God's children, as in Persia and nearby regions, while earthly powers assemble for the battle of the great day. God's restoration of Jacob and mercy toward the whole house of Israel connects with the gathering of His people at the resurrection, since some of Israel are still in their graves and restoration cannot be complete until they are raised, and His jealousy for His holy name accompanies this act of mercy. The verse will be fulfilled toward the true Israel of God, but not in its literal setting.

A literal fulfillment in the last days is impossible, because the land called the mountains of Israel would have to be inhabited by a people God calls His own gathered out from all nations, dwelling safely all of them in villages without walls, possessing cattle, goods and wealth. That wealth would have to arouse the cupidity of the northern powers to think an evil thought of sweeping down for great spoil, with wooden shields and bucklers and hand staves and spears left to be burned for fuel. Present Palestine is controlled by others with few Jews, is not safely dwelt in, is the poorest of lands with no such wealth to tempt invasion, and modern armies are not equipped with wooden weapons.

Ezekiel's prophecy is mixed and should not be applied in all its details to either ancient or later times. Some of it will be fulfilled before Christ's second coming in terms made clearer in Revelation, especially Revelation 16-19, and some at the end of the thousand years. In a general way it points to God's future victory over those who destroy His people when He comes again, and its promised restoration and glory will have a greater fulfillment in events connected with Christ's second coming. The chapter does not teach a special work for the Jews in the Christian dispensation nor support a literal return of the Jews to Palestine as a prophetic sign on which to base a forecast of destiny. The saints are taken to heaven at the second coming of Christ when the earth is made desolate, and that removal with the desolation of the earth overthrows the return-of-the-Jews theory drawn from this chapter.

Northern Invaders and Last Conflict

The general outline of Ezekiel 38 and 39 concerns the gathering for the final conflict of Armageddon. The same prophecy foretells Russia's rise and its important part in the closing work of world history. It concerns Russia's international policy and ultimate destiny. It stands as a warning, in part already fulfilled, but with much still to come to pass in the immediate and near future.

Chapters 38 and 39 especially mention Russia as the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, called Rosh in the Revised Version. Japan is one means the Lord uses to turn Russia back. The prophecy depicts God's people Israel in Palestine attacked by a great horde from the north led by Magog. It is the last-days conflict in which God's enemies come against Israel and perish in a tempest of fire and brimstone. It is a mighty northern confederacy that will oppose the southern power, whose head is identified with the power outlined in Revelation 17. It is a final northern apostasy sweeping through the Holy Land with great power and destruction. It is the great Gog and Magog war, a coming conflict involving the great nations.

Had Israel remained faithful, the people would have occupied that territory in Palestine and faced invasion by an evil world confederacy. Instead they were scattered, and the confederacy's design would seek both to secure the territory and to destroy God's people wherever they were. Its fulfillment is a national judgment before Christ comes, with plagues falling upon the attackers. It is not the rising of Gog and Magog at the end of the thousand years, when national divisions, boundaries and aggregations of nations no longer exist. Yet Ezekiel 39 also pronounces the final doom upon Gog and Magog, who oppressed God's people in past days. At the close of the thousand years Satan is loosed and goes out to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle against the camp of the saints and the city of God, that they may receive that doom pronounced upon them.

Jealousy for the Holy Name

God's jealousy for His holy name accompanies His mercy in restoring His people, for the bringing again of the captivity of Jacob and mercy upon the whole house of Israel is His own act of zeal for that name. That restoration cannot be complete until the dead are raised, since some of Israel are still in their graves, so the gathering belongs to the resurrection. The gathering is God's work and not Israel's effort to rebuild Jerusalem, bringing back a people scattered among other nations to dwell safely after His judgments. That gathered people includes those joined to Him through Christ, including Gentiles.

To be jealous for the holy name is to uphold its honor and to defend it, no longer tolerating its contempt. For that reason the promise is applied to His judgments in the last days upon despisers of His name, when in showing mercy to the whole house of Israel He vindicates what is holy. The God of the Old Testament is unchanged in the gospel dispensation and remains jealous for His holy name in how men and women come into His presence. That jealousy means guilty irreverent worship is by no means overlooked, such as entering prayer with hearts full of worldly plans and vain thoughts, with ambition and avarice, in showy dress that causes envy or humiliation, and with indifference, yawning and critical jesting. No swift judgment now falls on such rash irreverence as fell on Uzzah, yet the guilt remains, leaving even Christians who hope for forgiveness estranged from God, without delight in His service and with a poor, deformed, misshapen spiritual life.