Ezekiel 39:27, commentary and pictures

God himself will bring Israel again from among the peoples and gather them out of their enemies' lands to the land of Israel upon the mountains of Israel given to Jacob, which is the gathering of the true Israel of God from all nations of the earth. To be sanctified in them in the sight of many nations is for God to show his holiness publicly and be honored before many nations through Israel's restoration, blessing, salvation and victory over enemies sweeping down from the north. The promise belongs to the conditional prophecies of Ezekiel 36 to 48, especially 37 to 48 and 38 to 39, of what God would have done for Israel at that time if they had yielded to him, returned with all the heart and put away iniquity. Had Israel met the conditions after the return from Babylon, God would have fulfilled it in far greater measure with glorious prosperity, defeat of their northern enemies and manifestation of his glory among them, but because they failed it was only partially and meagerly fulfilled when fewer than fifty thousand returned and built a sanctuary far inferior to Ezekiel's temple. What remains must be fulfilled under broader, more glorious last-days conditions without the local details, with no burning of wooden weapons and no literal cleansing of the land, part before Christ comes the second time and part in the last great battle on the other side of the thousand years when Gog and Magog receive final doom.

Promise and Conditional Setting

God himself would bring Israel again from among the peoples and gather them out of their enemies' lands into the land of Israel, upon the mountains of Israel and the land given to Jacob. That gathering is the gathering of the true Israel of God from all nations of the earth, and it belongs to promises of what God would do for His people if they returned to Him. Its setting is a people inhabiting the land and dwelling safely, and it does not describe a literal fulfillment in the last days in contemporary Palestine.

To be sanctified in them in the sight of many nations is for God to show His holiness publicly and be honored before many nations through Israel's restoration, blessing, and salvation. It comes through victory over enemies sweeping down from the north, by God's own direct hand bringing great blessing in the salvation of Israel His people and by national judgments upon the attacking nations. So made, Jerusalem becomes a praise in the earth and His children become the joy of the whole earth.

The promise belongs to the conditional prophecies of the latter part of Ezekiel, chapters 36 to 48 and especially 37 to 48 and 38 to 39. It includes the wonderful sanctuary, glorious temple, city and river vision of chapters 40 to 48, with deliverance from all enemies together with the building of the wonderful sanctuary. It is what God would have done for Israel at that time if they had yielded to Him, returned to Him, put away iniquity and turned from wickedness, calling the people to return to God and promising good things if faithful.

The gathering places Israel after the people have borne their shame for iniquity, and depends on their being ashamed of sins, forsaking sins, repenting, obeying, heeding God's words, and returning with all the heart. Its setting is a people inhabiting the land and dwelling safely. It provides the setting for the promised prosperous condition after the return from Babylonian captivity in Palestine, a glorious state of prosperity and favor to be realized when they returned from captivity in Babylon to their own land, providing the setting for the city and temple vision of chapters 40-48.

Had Israel met the conditions after the return from Babylon, God would have fulfilled the promise in far greater measure with glorious prosperity, restored them to their land, defeated their northern enemies, built the sanctuary, and manifested His glory among them. Because they failed to meet the Lord's conditions and were not established in the land, the victory and restoration were only partial, very small, and a faint shadow of what was promised. What might have happened then was therefore fulfilled only in the faintest shadow in the prosperity after Babylon, and some details concern what might have happened if Israel had met the conditions.

The restoration was only meagerly fulfilled in the return from Babylonian captivity when about forty thousand, fewer than fifty thousand, returned. They built a sanctuary far inferior to the glory of Solomon's temple and to Ezekiel's temple, because Israel failed to meet God's requirements for faithfulness in representing truth and the conditions of obedience.

The prophecy in its original form with all its specific local details was never fulfilled and was never literally fulfilled. It was not fulfilled in every detail because its conditions were never fulfilled, and it will not be fulfilled that way or in all the details described.

Prophetic Fulfillment and Warning

Ezekiel 39:27 belongs to the general outline of the gathering of the nations for Armageddon and their final conflict and destruction before God. It stands in the prophecy of God's judgment on the enemies who attack Israel, who perish in a storm of fire and brimstone while birds are summoned to feed on their bodies. Some details in Ezekiel's later chapters concern what might have happened if Israel had met the Lord's conditions and been established in its land.

Gog is the ruler of Magog, and Ezekiel 38-39 is applied to Russia and its czar in the closing work of world history. Gog and Magog are great northern powers, ambitious powers whose spirit is that of Satan seeking to rule in place of all others. Russia is the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, Persia is associated with the power from the north, and Japan is used as a means to turn Russia back. As those forces draw people toward battle for Armageddon, the gospel is to gather God's children in Persia and nearby regions.

A great horde from the north, a confederacy led by Magog, sweeps down upon those whom the Lord calls My people Israel, brought again from the people and gathered out of their enemies' lands into Palestine upon the mountains of Israel. This is a final great northern apostasy sweeping over the Holy Land with great power and destruction. It is a mighty northern confederacy opposing the southern power whose head is connected with the power outlined in Revelation 17. It is a tremendous Gog and Magog war close at hand involving the great nations, in which an evil world confederacy seeks to seize the strategic territory and destroy God's people now scattered throughout the world.

What remains to be fulfilled must be fulfilled in harmony with conditions existing on earth, under broader and more glorious last-days conditions without the local conditions of the prophet's day. There will be no burning of wooden bows and shields and no cleansing of the land by human hands, for the fires of the last day will consume sin out of the world and melt the earth with fervent heat. Part of the events foretold occurs before Christ comes the second time and part 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.

Gog and Magog were oppressors of God's people in past days, and the doom pronounced on them in Ezekiel 38 and 39 reaches its final fulfillment after the thousand years expire. Then Satan is loosed from his prison, the wicked are brought back, and Satan goes out to deceive the nations in the four quarters of the earth. He gathers Gog and Magog with countless millions from the whole earth to battle against the camp of the saints and the beloved city in hope of taking them captive.

God is sanctified in His people in the sight of many nations by national judgments upon those attacking nations before Christ comes, including the plagues brought to view in verse 22. This gathering with divisions and aggregation of nations cannot belong to the time at the end of the thousand years when Gog and Magog are raised. When all the dead of all ages come up, national boundaries and distinctions are completely eliminated.

The plagues, pestilence, hailstones, fire and brimstone falling on the wicked who come against God's people have their setting not in Ezekiel 38 and 39 but in Revelation 16-19. Part of Ezekiel 38 and 39 will be fulfilled this side of the second coming of Christ, but in the clearer terms stated in Revelation, and part at the end of the thousand years, best understood through the unconditional prophecies in Revelation. Combined armies like those described will appear in near-future revolutions and may sweep down over lesser powers and destroy them, but not in the setting found in this prophecy. Ezekiel 38 and 39 as conditional mixed prophecy must not be applied in all its details to literal Israel alone, but must be read in the light of the fuller revelation that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, in which there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian or Scythian.

The promises concerning the true Israel are to be fulfilled in the future, but not in all the specific details described in Ezekiel 39, and the promised future glory and full immortal inheritance will come to the faithful. Israel will be redeemed and receive the earth made new. This gathering of the true Israel of God from all nations of the earth does not describe a literal fulfillment in the last days in contemporary Palestine. The use of the verse to predict the Jews' return to Palestine is fanciful and arbitrary. Israel would have occupied Palestine as a separate people had God's people remained faithful, but rebellion led to expulsion.

The prophecy is history foretold given beforehand as warning and as a light shining in a dark place, able to make wise unto salvation through faith in Christ. It concerns the present distress of nations with perplexity and men's hearts failing for fear in looking after the things coming on the earth, meaning eternal salvation to some and everlasting destruction to others. Part has been fulfilled, but much is yet to come to pass in the immediate and near future. The destruction God brings upon His enemies in Ezekiel 39 is in a place distinct from Gehenna in the valley of Hinnom, proving that Gehenna has been and is to be a place of punishment by fire but is not the only place of divine punishment.