Day 254: Ezekiel 37-40

(The previous post covered some immediate judgments of Babylon and began to cover events during the Tribulation.)

Ezekiel 37

(Verses 1-14: Ezekiel's vision of "the valley of dry bones." God carried Ezekiel "out in the Spirit of Jehovah" to a valley that was full of bones.)

¹ The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of Jehovah, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
² And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

(God caused Ezekiel to pass the bones "round about" (from every side). The bones were very dry: without moisture.)

³ And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest.
⁴ Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.

(God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy over the bones.)

⁵ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.

(God would cause breath to enter into the bones and they would live. This symbolized Israel's restoration.)

⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.
⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

(As Ezekiel prophesied there was a noise and a shaking. The bones came together.)

⁸ And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up, and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.

(There was still no breath in them.)

⁹ Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

(God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the wind and to cause the wind to breathe upon the bones (the slain) so they would live.)

¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

(Breath came into the bones and they lived. Next, God gave the interpretation...)

¹¹ Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.

(The bones represented Israel.)

¹² Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.

(God would restore Israel back to her land.)

¹³ And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have opened your graves, and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people.
¹⁴ And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, saith Jehovah.

(The wind and breath were the Holy Spirit and life. God would put His Spirit IN them and they would live.)

¹⁵ The word of Jehovah came again unto me, saying,

(Verses 16-28: the unity of Israel and Judah, which also symbolized Jews and Gentiles.)

¹⁶ And thou, son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:

(The two sticks symbolized Judah and Israel, which could also be applied to Jews and Gentiles.)

¹⁷ and join them for thee one to another into one stick, that they may become one in thy hand.
¹⁸ And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?
¹⁹ say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.

(From Genesis 48, Ephraim by Joseph had the blessing of the birthright. From Genesis 49, Judah got the position of the birthright. This split would be reconciled in the Millennium.)

²⁰ And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes.
²¹ And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, whither they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
²² and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all;
²³ neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
²⁴ And my servant David shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in mine ordinances, and observe my statutes, and do them.

("David" (Messiah) would be over them and they will have one Shepherd (Christ). All the tribes of Israel will be eternally on the mountains of Israel.)

²⁵ And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children's children, for ever: and David my servant shall be their prince for ever.
²⁶ Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

(A Covenant of peace that will be everlasting.)

²⁷ My tabernacle also shall be with them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
²⁸ And the nations shall know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

(These verses referred to eternity: the new Jerusalem is the tabernacle of God that will be occupied by God's people and last forever.)




Ezekiel 38

(Chapters 38-39 covered prophecy against Gentile powers at Armageddon.)

¹ And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
² Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

(God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy against Gog, the prince of the land of Magog.)

³ and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

(God was against Gog. Many people believe this referred to Russia...from the north. Gog is the army of the Antichrist, so Gog could also be the Antichrist's armies after they conquer Russia.)

⁴ and I will turn thee about, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords;
⁵ Persia, Cush, and Put with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
⁶ Gomer, and all his hordes; the house of Togarmah in the uttermost parts of the north, and all his hordes; even many peoples with thee.
⁷ Be thou prepared, yea, prepare thyself, thou, and all thy companies that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

(These nations are from the east and south of Israel.)

(Verses 8-9: foretold Gog's invasion of the restored Palestine in the last days.)

⁸ After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, that is gathered out of many peoples, upon the mountains of Israel, which have been a continual waste; but it is brought forth out of the peoples, and they shall dwell securely, all of them.
⁹ And thou shalt ascend, thou shalt come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy hordes, and many peoples with thee.

(Verses 10-13: Gog's purpose in their invasion: to take a spoil.)

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: It shall come to pass in that day, that things shall come into thy mind, and thou shalt devise an evil device:
¹¹ and thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates;
¹² to take the spoil and to take the prey; to turn thy hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and against the people that are gathered out of the nations, that have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the middle of the earth.
¹³ Sheba, and Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, Art thou come to take the spoil? hast thou assembled thy company to take the prey? to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take great spoil?

(Verses 14-16: God’s purpose in the invasion.)

¹⁴ Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In that day when my people Israel dwelleth securely, shalt thou not know it?
¹⁵ And thou shalt come from thy place out of the uttermost parts of the north, thou, and many peoples with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army;
¹⁶ and thou shalt come up against my people Israel, as a cloud to cover the land: it shall come to pass in the latter days, that I will bring thee against my land, that the nations may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
¹⁷ Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Art thou he of whom I spake in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel, that prophesied in those days for many years that I would bring thee against them?
¹⁸ And it shall come to pass in that day, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, that my wrath shall come up into my nostrils.

(The first three and a half years of the Tribulation will be a time of peace. The final three and a half years will be stressful for Israel culminating in the battle of Armageddon. When Gog comes against Israel, God will set His Face against Gog.)

¹⁹ For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
²⁰ so that the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground.
²¹ And I will call for a sword against him unto all my mountains, saith the Lord Jehovah: every man's sword shall be against his brother.
²² And with pestilence and with blood will I enter into judgment with him; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.
²³ And I will magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will make myself known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

(Gog will be destroyed at Armageddon.)




Ezekiel 39

(Chapter 39 continued the prophecy against Gentile powers at Armageddon. Specifically Gog…)

¹ And thou, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal:

(God commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to Gog that God is against him.)

² and I will turn thee about, and will lead thee on, and will cause thee to come up from the uttermost parts of the north; and I will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel;

(In the King Jame's Version, "and will lead thee on" was translated "and leave but the sixth part of thee." This implied that 1/6 of the Antichrist's army would survive.)

³ and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
⁴ Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy hordes, and the peoples that are with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
⁵ Thou shalt fall upon the open field; for I have spoken it, saith the Lord Jehovah.
⁶ And I will send a fire on Magog, and on them that dwell securely in the isles; and they shall know that I am Jehovah.

(Magog is the land, while Gog is the prince/leader of Magog. God will send fire on Magog.)

⁷ And my holy name will I make known in the midst of my people Israel; neither will I suffer my holy name to be profaned any more: and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, the Holy One in Israel.

(God will not allow His Name to be polluted any longer.)

⁸ Behold, it cometh, and it shall be done, saith the Lord Jehovah; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

(This verse supported the belief that the battle of Armageddon will take place in one day, also known as the physical Day of the Lord.)

⁹ And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years;

(The spoil of the weapons of Gog will contain enough wood to burn for seven years.)

¹⁰ so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests; for they shall make fires of the weapons; and they shall plunder those that plundered them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord Jehovah.
¹¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place for burial in Israel, the valley of them that pass through on the east of the sea; and it shall stop them that pass through: and there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it The valley of Hamon-gog.
¹² And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land.

(Seven months of burying the enemy.)

¹³ Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown in the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord Jehovah.
¹⁴ And they shall set apart men of continual employment, that shall pass through the land, and, with them that pass through, those that bury them that remain upon the face of the land, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
¹⁵ And they that pass through the land shall pass through; and when any seeth a man's bone, then shall he set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the valley of Hamon-gog.
¹⁶ And Hamonah shall also be the name of a city. Thus shall they cleanse the land.

(The name Hamonah meant "multitudes." It will be founded to commemorate the defeat of Gog.)

¹⁷ And thou, son of man, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Speak unto the birds of every sort, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood.

(Revelation 19:17 - "...to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God.")

¹⁸ Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
¹⁹ And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
²⁰ And ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord Jehovah.

(Verses 21-24: God's purpose behind the battle of Armageddon.)

²¹ And I will set my glory among the nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
²² So the house of Israel shall know that I am Jehovah their God, from that day and forward.
²³ And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they trespassed against me, and I hid my face from them: so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and they fell all of them by the sword.
²⁴ According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions did I unto them; and I hid my face from them.

(Verses 25-29: showed that Israel will be regathered and converted.)

²⁵ Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Now will I bring back the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for my holy name.
²⁶ And they shall bear their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they shall dwell securely in their land, and none shall make them afraid;
²⁷ when I have brought them back from the peoples, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations.
²⁸ And they shall know that I am Jehovah their God, in that I caused them to go into captivity among the nations, and have gathered them unto their own land; and I will leave none of them any more there;
²⁹ neither will I hide my face any more from them; for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.

(This concluded the third type of prophecies in the Book of Ezekiel: events during the Tribulation and some immediate judgments of Babylon. The final chapters covered the fourth type of prophecies: Christ's Millennial Reign and the Millennial temple.)




Ezekiel 40

(Chapters 40-48 were a picture of the Millennial temple.)

¹ In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day, the hand of Jehovah was upon me, and he brought me thither.
² In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain, whereon was as it were the frame of a city on the south.

(God brought Ezekiel to a mountain for visions of the land of Israel, specifically Jerusalem and the temple. Ezekiel was not bodily at the temple because it did not exist yet.)

³ And he brought me thither; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
⁴ And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thy heart upon all that I shall show thee; for, to the intent that I may show them unto thee, art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.

(God commanded Ezekiel to declare all he saw to Israel.)

⁵ And, behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed six cubits long, of a cubit and a handbreadth each: so he measured the thickness of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.

(Verse 5 was the outer wall of the house (temple). The unit of the reed was used in measuring houses (Revelation 21:15). It marked the straightness of the walls. A cubit was believed to be somewhere between a foot and a half and a little more than two feet. In this commentary, we have been using the conversion of a cubit as about a foot and a half.)

(Verses 6-16: described the east outer gate.)

⁶ Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the steps thereof: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed broad; and the other threshold, one reed broad.
⁷ And every lodge was one reed long, and one reed broad; and the space between the lodges was five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate toward the house was one reed.
⁸ He measured also the porch of the gate toward the house, one reed.
⁹ Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was toward the house.
¹⁰ And the lodges of the gate eastward were three on this side, and three on that side; they three were of one measure: and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.
¹¹ And he measured the breadth of the opening of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits;
¹² and a border before the lodges, one cubit on this side, and a border, one cubit on that side; and the lodges, six cubits on this side, and six cubits on that side.
¹³ And he measured the gate from the roof of the one lodge to the roof of the other, a breadth of five and twenty cubits; door against door.
¹⁴ He made also posts, threescore cubits; and the court reached unto the posts, round about the gate.
¹⁵ And from the forefront of the gate at the entrance unto the forefront of the inner porch of the gate were fifty cubits.
¹⁶ And there were closed windows to the lodges, and to their posts within the gate round about, and likewise to the arches; and windows were round about inward; and upon each post were palm-trees.

(Verses 17-19: described the outer court.)

¹⁷ Then brought he me into the outer court; and, lo, there were chambers and a pavement, made for the court round about: thirty chambers were upon the pavement.
¹⁸ And the pavement was by the side of the gates, answerable unto the length of the gates, even the lower pavement.
¹⁹ Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court without, a hundred cubits, both on the east and on the north.

(Verses 20-22: described the north outer gate.)

²⁰ And the gate of the outer court whose prospect is toward the north, he measured the length thereof and the breadth thereof.
²¹ And the lodges thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were after the measure of the first gate: the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
²² And the windows thereof, and the arches thereof, and the palm-trees thereof, were after the measure of the gate whose prospect is toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps; and the arches thereof were before them.

(Verse 23: described the north and east inner gates.)

²³ And there was a gate to the inner court over against the other gate, both on the north and on the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits.

(Verses 24-26: described the south outer gate.)

²⁴ And he led me toward the south; and, behold, a gate toward the south: and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures.
²⁵ And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about, like those windows: the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
²⁶ And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them; and it had palm-trees, one on this side, and another on that side, upon the posts thereof.

(Verse 27: described the south inner gate.)

²⁷ And there was a gate to the inner court toward the south: and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.

(Verses 28-31: described the south inner gate court.)

²⁸ Then he brought me to the inner court by the south gate: and he measured the south gate according to these measures;
²⁹ and the lodges thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about; it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
³⁰ And there were arches round about, five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad.
³¹ And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

(Verses 32-34: described the east inner gate and court.)

³² And he brought me into the inner court toward the east: and he measured the gate according to these measures;
³³ and the lodges thereof, and the posts thereof, and the arches thereof, according to these measures: and there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about; it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.
³⁴ And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.

(Verses 35-43: described the north inner gate and court.)

³⁵ And he brought me to the north gate: and he measured it according to these measures;
³⁶ the lodges thereof, the posts thereof, and the arches thereof: and there were windows therein round about; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.
³⁷ And the posts thereof were toward the outer court; and palm-trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side, and on that side: and the ascent to it had eight steps.
³⁸ And a chamber with the door thereof was by the posts at the gates; there they washed the burnt-offering.
³⁹ And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side, and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt-offering and the sin-offering and the trespass-offering.
⁴⁰ And on the one side without, as one goeth up to the entry of the gate toward the north, were two tables; and on the other side, which belonged to the porch of the gate, were two tables.
⁴¹ Four tables were on this side, and four tables on that side, by the side of the gate; eight tables, whereupon they slew the sacrifices.
⁴² And there were four tables for the burnt-offering, of hewn stone, a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high; whereupon they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt-offering and the sacrifice.
⁴³ And the hooks, a handbreadth long, were fastened within round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the oblation.

(Verse 44: described the chambers of the singers.)

⁴⁴ And without the inner gate were chambers for the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the north gate; and their prospect was toward the south; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north.

(Verses 45-46: described the chambers for the priests.)

⁴⁵ And he said unto me, This chamber, whose prospect is toward the south, is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house;
⁴⁶ and the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to Jehovah to minister unto him.

(Verse 47: measured the altar court (208 ft. 4 in. square).)

⁴⁷ And he measured the court, a hundred cubits long, and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare; and the altar was before the house.

(Verses 48-49: described the porch of the temple.)

⁴⁸ Then he brought me to the porch of the house, and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side, and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side.
⁴⁹ The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits; even by the steps whereby they went up to it: and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side, and another on that side.

(God gave Ezekiel a vision of the Millennial temple which was different from the times God bodily transported Ezekiel to see current events.)

(This post covered the conclusion of the third part of the Book of Ezekiel which focused on events during the Tribulation and some immediate judgments of Babylon. This post also began covering the fourth type of prophecies: Christ's Millennial Reign and the Millennial temple.)

Day 255