God makes it clear that he is the one who brought the enemy down from the North and into the land of Israel, but he did this in order to destroy them there.
“Son of man, prophesy against Gog and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. I will turn you around and drag you along. I will bring you from the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel.” - Ezekiel 39:1, 2
Gog and his men will not have time to retreat. After entering Israel, their weapons will be knocked out of their control. Whatever the modern counterpart of an ancient bow and arrow may be—it will be rendered useless against Israel on that day. Hordes of soldiers will die in the mountains of Israel and on the battlefield. Birds and wild animals will immediately begin to devour their carcasses.
“Then I will strike your bow from your left hand and make your arrows drop from your right hand. On the mountains of Israel you will fall, you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and to the wild animals. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.” - Ezekiel 39:3-5
As the army is dying in the mountains of Israel, a fire will break out back in the army’s homeland of Magog. Magog isn’t the only place struck by the fire of God. Other nations will watch as fire breaks out in their cities and along their coastlands.
“I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the Lord.” - Ezekiel 39:6
Finally, the people of the world will recognize that God is who he’s always said he is. Even the current secular attitude of the Jewish people will change. Their deliverance from Gog will remind modern Jews that they are still God’s chosen people. They will recognize that their existence as a nation is possible only because the Lord willed it.
“I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel. It is coming! It will surely take place, declares the Sovereign Lord. This is the day I have spoken of.” - Ezekiel 39:7-8
After Gog’s destruction, the people of Israel will gather up Gog’s weapons to burn them. We learn that Israel will not need to produce energy for seven years because the burning of these weapons will supply their energy needs. The weapons will be disassembled to remove some element of power that can be converted into a usable energy source.
“Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel.” - Ezekiel 39:9-10
Gog’s army had intended to loot Israel and “carry off silver and gold and take away livestock and goods and seize much plunder.” Yet ironically, the dead army of Gog’s coalition will instead be looted by the people of Israel.
“And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign Lord.” - Ezekiel 39:10
There will be an enormous number of dead soldiers to deal with. The location of the mass burial for these soldiers will be a huge ravine in the mountains on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. It will be a grave so massive that the road system in that area will have to be altered in order to logistically accommodate it. Ezekiel tells us this place will be called “Hamon Gog” which means “hordes of Gog.”
“On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east toward the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog.”
- Ezekiel 39:11
The number of dead will be so great that it will require many Israelites to be employed full-time for seven months just to bury them. Life in Israel will stop until the remains of the hordes of Gog have all been carted away.
“For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign Lord. Men will be regularly employed to cleanse the land. Some will go throughout the land and, in addition to them, others will bury those that remain on the ground.” - Ezekiel 39:12-14
After seven months, workers will do a thorough search of the land, looking for human body parts leftover from the slaughter. This search team will place a marker by each bone they find so the transportation department can take the last remains to Hamon Gog to be buried. There will be so many people working at the Hamon Gog burial site that a temporary city will be constructed there. It will be called “Hamonah” which simply means “horde” or “multitude.”
“At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they go through the land and one of them sees a human bone, he will set upa marker beside it until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. Also a town called Hamonah will be there. And so they will cleanse the land.”
- Ezekiel 39:14-16
The date that God overthrew the armies of Gog will become a national holiday in Israel alongside other Jewish holidays like Passover and Hanukkah. This great and final war may be God’s way of dealing with terrorism once and for all. In the end, the terrorist states will fall just like the Assyrians and the Babylonians did. |
