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Ezekiel 39:9 – end time fulfillment
Ezekiel 39 is a prophecy of God’s judgment upon Gog and it is a continuation to the subject of chapter 38. In Ezekiel 39 and verse nine we read: “Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years” (Ezekiel 39:9).
This part of the prophecy and the seven years will not have a literal fulfillment in relation with the second coming of Christ and the millennium. According to the understanding of Ezekiel 38:1, history would have taken a very different path if Israel had allowed the Lord to work out His plans concerning them. These plans included peace and a national prosperity in order to reach the whole world with the knowledge of God.
In the natural plan, the restored and successful nation would have become the aim of attack from neighboring adulterous nations that rejected the worship of the true God. In such a battle as here shown; God would save His people by giving them great triumph. This prophetic outline of the great battle would without a doubt have been a literal event according to the promises of national restoration for the returned exiles of Israel.
The question may be asked, why, then, will not these prophecies get fulfilled today now that there is once more a national state of Israel in Palestine?
The answer is: upon the Jew’s refusal of Christ, and crucifying Him, they were rejected by God as a nation. And the promises of God’s covenant that were originally made for them, were transferred to spiritual Israel or the church which consists of Jews and gentiles that accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (Galatians 3:26, 29). For information, check out Has the church been grafted in Israel’s place?
Gog
The word “Gog” is mentioned 13 times in the Bible, but none of the references shed any light on its meaning. Gog appears in 1 Chronicles 5:4 as the name of one of the sons of Joel of the tribe of Reuben. And in Revelation 20:8, it is used in relation with Magog as a symbol the nations of the evil doers, whom Satan gathers after the millennium to attack Christ and to capture the New Jerusalem. The remaining 11 references are found in Ezekiel (chapters 38:2, 3, 14, 16, 18; 39:1, 11, 15). These describe the leader of a great coalition of the heathen nations.
In His service,
BibleAsk Team
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