Ezekiel 38:19

Shaking] or, 'earthquake.'

God's Final Victory over the Heathen

Ezekiel's earlier group of prophecies against the nations (Ezekiel 25-32) was concerned with Israel's nearer neighbours, which had interfered more or less in former times with her prosperity; and their humiliation was regarded as a necessary condition of Israel's peaceful and happy future. Ezekiel, however, contemplated a wider extension of God's glory than these prophecies involved. This is described under the form of an invasion of the restored Israel by hordes of the remotest heathen, who will be destroyed by God without any fighting on Israel's part. His glory will thus be manifested to the very ends of the earth. Ezekiel is alone among the Old Testament prophets in expecting another crisis to arise after the restoration has been accomplished. His conception is reproduced in the New Testament in the book of Revelation (Revelation 20:7), and the underlying idea in both cases is that what seems the triumph of God's kingdom may be followed by a fresh assault of the forces of evil, which, however, are destined to be overthrown at last. The picture of Gog may have been suggested partly by the memory of the great Scythian invasion (see Intro.), and partly by the ravages of Nebuchadrezzar's armies.

Ezekiel 38 describes Gog's allies (Ezekiel 38:1), his nefarious plans (Ezekiel 38:8), his great invasion (Ezekiel 38:14), and God's turning of the forces of nature against him (Ezekiel 38:18). Ezekiel 39 foretells that God will lead him on to destruction (Ezekiel 39:1); his weapons will provide Israel with fuel for seven years (Ezekiel 39:8); seven months will be required to bury the corpses of his host, which will fill a whole valley on the E. of the Dead Sea (Ezekiel 39:11); when the seven months are over special officers will still be required to search out and bury the dead bodies that remain (Ezekiel 39:14); birds and beasts of prey will enjoy an enormous banquet (Ezekiel 39:17); all the earth will recognise the power and glory of the true God, the heathen will understand at last the real meaning of Israel's exile, and Israel will learn the lessons of all God's dealings with them in judgment and in mercy (Ezekiel 39:21).

The New Israel (Ezekiel 33-48)

So long as the Jewish kingdom remained in existence Ezekiel's prophecies (those in Ezekiel 1-24) dealt almost exclusively with the nation's sin, and with the certainty of its overthrow. But when these prophecies were fulfilled by the fall of Jerusalem his message assumed a new and hopeful character. God's punishment of Israel's sin was not the end of His dealings with His people. The destruction of the old sinful Israel would be followed by the establishment of a perfect kingdom of God. The humiliation of the foreign nations (described in Ezekiel 25-32) would prepare the way for this, and would be succeeded by the restoration of the exiles. The new kingdom would be set up under new conditions of worship and fellowship with God. This concluding part of the book falls into two sections, the first dealing with the restoration from captivity (Ezekiel 33-39), and the second with the new arrangements and laws of the future kingdom (Ezekiel 40-48).