God's Holiness Made Manifest

Today we are reading from Ezekiel 39:1-24. Last time we met we learned about Be Mindful Gog of Magog. You can read more in my Ezekiel Studies here and here.

Behold..... Gog is still under threat!

God is not happy with Gog...he going to drive him and his people forward.  Drive them to the mountains where he will destroy them.


“And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. ² And I will turn you about and drive you forward, and bring you up from the uttermost parts of the north, and lead you against the mountains of Israel. ³ Then I will strike your bow from your left hand, and will make your arrows drop out of your right hand. ⁴ You shall fall on the mountains of Israel, you and all your hordes and the peoples who are with you. I will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. ⁵ You shall fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord God. ⁶ I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell securely in the coastlands, and they shall know that I am the Lord.

At the end this fact: 
⁷ “And my holy name I will make known in the midst of my people Israel, and I will not let my holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. ⁸ Behold, it is coming and it will be brought about, declares the Lord God. That is the day of which I have spoken.

So much plunder will be taken from those that God will destroy...there will be enough to have fires burning for seven years.  Weapons and protective gear of all sorts.  In fact, so much will be taken that no wood will have to be cut down.      
⁹ “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and make fires of the weapons and burn them, shields and bucklers, bow and arrows, clubs and spears; and they will make fires of them for seven years, ¹⁰ so that they will not need to take wood out of the field or cut down any out of the forests, for they will make their fires of the weapons. They will seize the spoil of those who despoiled them, and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord God.

The way of the Valley of Travelers will be blocked by the destruction that will fall upon Gog and Magog.   He will have a burial site there.   So it will then be called the Valley of Hamon-gog, it will take seven months for all the people to be buried, in order for the land to be cleansed.
¹¹ “On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. ¹² For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. 

I have to admit, parts of this passage are making no sense to me today.... My head is foggy with a sore throat so bear with me eh? 

When God cleanses the land...his glory will be seen among the nations.  When he destroys Gog of Magog, the birds and animals will have a big feast.  Everyone .. the nations surrounding Israel and even Israel herself will see the glory of the Lord.   They will see how Israel was put into captivity for her treacherous behaviour.  God has dealt with their sin.  Now the land will be cleansed.   Now the "house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God".    

I'm just trying to imagine the destruction the Lord caused and the size of the army involved.  Imagine SEVEN years of fires burning and seven months of burying the dead.   Just think on that for a spell.   So many people and their stuff to get rid of so you can cleanse the land and the people.

At the end of it though... God's name.. glorified. 

Part of me is horrified at all that bloodshed.  All those people destroyed for profaning the name of the Lord.   It's a good reminder to me at just how seriously God takes this stuff.   Has me wondering at how God feels about all the blasphemy that goes on today in the world.  At how little people (even believers) think of God.   Ach... I don't want to be that kind of person, the kind that God turns his face from. 

Oh.. let me be a person who GLORIFIES God, that's what I want to be.  A God-glorifier...not one that causes God to shed the blood of another.  Christ covered my sin so this mass-scale destruction need not happen again.   Be a God-glorifier with me eh?