Ezekiel 39

Ezekiel 39:1

RESULTS OF THE INVASIONChapter 39 continues the prophecy against Gog and furnishes added details about the destruction of this formidable enemy. “Leave but the sixth part of thee” is literally “I will six thee,” or better still, “I will afflict thee with six plagues.” These plagues are listed in chapter 38 verse Eze_38:22 as pestilence, blood, overflowing rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. This is the way God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. According to the record, “Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven” (Gen_19:24). And this is exactly the way God intends to destroy this army which will come out of the north against His people to destroy them. You must remember that Russia has always been anti-Semitic. At the present writing the largest population of Jewsoutside the land of Israel and the United Statesis over there in Russia.

We are hearing a great deal of criticism of Russia for not permitting the Jews to leave. Well, in these last days God will deal with Russia for its treatment of His people. There is a message for us here. When God was ready to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham thought He was being unjust. He asked God, “Will you destroy the righteous with the wicked? Will you spare the city if there are fifty righteousforty-fivefortythirtytwentyten?” God said no, He would not destroy the city if ten righteous were found there. But there were not ten, and God sent His angels to get Lot out of the city, saying that they could not destroy the city until Lot was out of it. My friend, this is one reason I believe that God will not let the Tribulation come until He takes His churchthat is, all born-again believersout of the world. Let me illustrate this with the following diagram: To put it very bluntly, all hell will break loose on the earth during the Tribulation period. It will be a frightful, terrible time. I don’t understand the folk who insist that God’s redeemed ones, which we designate as the church, will go through the Tribulation. The Bible makes it clear that those who will be witnessing on the earth during this time will be the 144,000 Jews. God, having dealt in judgment with the enemy that invaded Israel from the north, allows Antichrist to be the world ruler for the remainder of the Tribulation period. Then the Lord Jesus Christ will come to the earth to establish His Kingdom; we have that pictured in chapter 19 of Revelation. In chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation the Kingdom, the Millennium, begins. With these tremendous events in mind, it would be well to pause a moment and consider the material we have studied. After a careful examination of three of the four major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, certain great principles emerge which the fourth prophet, Daniel, will confirm. These principles have an ageless application for nations of the world and for believers (when I say “believers,” I am speaking about those who have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and believe that the Bible is the Word of God). In Ezekiel we have seen God dealing with Israel. My friend, when God says “Israel” He means Israel; He does not mean the church. How some can believe that God means the church when He says Israel is a flip on the flying trapeze of theology that is beyond me.

Let’s allow God to mean what He says and realize that He has been dealing in these prophecies with the literal people of Israel. That is the correct interpretation. However, there is an application we can make since God’s dealing with Israel is a microcosm of His dealings with the world in which we live. The principles God has used in dealing with His own people Israel are eternal, for they are linked to the character and attributes of God. I have stated some of them in the Books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and now I am prepared to draw certain conclusions from Ezekiel. No prophet emphasizes the glory and the holiness of God more then Ezekiel. He saw the glory of Godthat was the great vision he had at the beginning of his book. He never forgot it. And we should not forget it either. His emphasis, therefore, is upon God’s judgment. God is longsuffering, not willing that any should perish, and He warned His people again and again that, if they did not turn to Him, He would judge Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem was destroyed, and Ezekiel offered the people encouragement as they looked into the future. “But,” he said, “another enemy is coming.” When the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth, He wept over the city of Jerusalem because He knew that Titus the Roman would be around in a few years to destroy the city, just as Nebuchadnezzar had done in the past. Things were wrong in Jerusalem; and, if that city was to enjoy the blessings of God, those things had to be made right. The liars should cease lying; the thieves should cease stealing; the lawless should become law-abiding; and righteousness should prevail in the city. Only when God was acknowledged and respected in the land could blessing rest upon Jerusalem. Righteousness must prevail before any nation or individual can experience the love, mercy, and goodness of God. Jerusalem was wrongthe people were thinking wrong; they were acting wrong. They were in sin, and God was right in judging them. God never blesses that which is wrong. This is made evident when we contrast Ezekiel with Jeremiah. I want you to notice this again because I consider it rather important. Jeremiah reveals the heart of God. God does not want to judge. As He said in Isaiah, judgment is strange work. He would rather savethat is His business. He is not willing that any should perish. He is very much involved with the human race. The great statement in John’s Gospel is that He became flesh and came down here among us. This reveals His love and concern for us. It broke His heart that Jerusalem would be destroyed. Jesus wept over it just as Jeremiah had wept over it centuries before. In Ezekiel we have something altogether different. At the very time Jerusalem was being destroyed, Ezekiel’s wife died, and God forbad him to mourn or sorrow for her. He was to act like nothing happened. God wept over Jerusalem, but He did not mourn. He did not repent for what He had done, because He was right in doing it. God, with tears in His eyes, punished Jerusalem and destroyed the city, but He was doing that which was in keeping with His character.

He did what was right because what God does is right. Paul asks, “…Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid” (Rom_9:14). Of course there is no unrighteousness with God. Whatever God does is right. His glory is manifested in judgment.

His grace is manifested in redemption. If God had not provided redemption for us, there would be no salvation for man whatsoever. In chapters 38 and 39 of Ezekiel we saw that the kingdom in the north which is going to invade Israel (which I believe is Russia) will be destroyed in the future. The question is: Why will God destroy Russia? Let’s read this verse again: “And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes” (Eze_38:16). What is God going to do? He is going to destroy them. I can hear someone exclaim, “Do you mean God will actually do such a thing?” Certainly He will.

The liberal theologian has a problem with the Creator destroying what He chooses, such as the Lord Jesus cursing a fig tree and also destroying a few pigs. I was in a conference one time when a man who was a liberal in his theology almost wept because Jesus destroyed those pigs (Mat_8:30-32)! Yet every morning he ate bacon for breakfast! He was like the Walrus and the Carpenter who wept, but were busy eating oysters as fast as they could. I am not impressed with these people who get upset with God because He judges. I have a notion that God gets me a little upset with them. Now let me cite two other verses:

Ezekiel 39:6

Is God going to destroy Russia? He says that He will send fire on Magog and among those that dwell securely in the coastlands. The question is: Where is God today? Why doesn’t He move in defense of His people in our day? I shall never forget watching a newscast on television several years ago when a group of Christians appeared at the American Embassy in Moscow and appealed, actually weeping, for permission to leave Russia because of being persecuted. Our country did nothing.

And the Russian soldiers came and took these people away. I waited for a long time to hear what had happened to them, but there was never a further word in the media. The Soviet authorities were never dealt with. And Russia has been guilty of more anti-Semitism than any other nation over a period of years. Oh, the injustice in the world! I see very little fear of God throughout the world.

The feeling is that He is a jolly old Man who shuts His eyes to the injustice in the world. Why doesn’t God move against injustice? Well, He will move when it is time. He will vindicate His glory, but He will not do it in a vindictive, revengeful, and petulant manner. He will judge, and when He does, there will be a respect and reverence for God in this world, and little man will bow before Him. Rom_2:3 tells us, “And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” Man is not going to escape judgment. He thinks he will get away with his sin, but he will not. In Heb_2:3 we read, “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.” My friend, do you realize that this is a question which even God cannot answer? How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? Well, we can’t escape. There is no answer to that question. Now let me use an old-fashioned expression that gags the liberal preachers (and also some evangelicals who are attempting to make the world a better place for people to go to hell in). Here it is: Hell, my friend, is an awful reality. You can interpret it any way you want to, but it is a place where a holy God puts those who are in rebellion against Him, those who sin with impunity, those who blaspheme God and His holy name at will, those who live like animals in the name of freedom but who are indulging in gross immorality. My friend, God’s holy name is going to be vindicated. How will God’s holy name be vindicated? In love? He is demonstrating His love today in giving His Son. Those of us who name His name need to learn a lesson. We need to learn that we cannot trifle with Him. We cannot get familiar with Him.

We cannot live as we please and then get buddy-buddy with Him. Our God is holy. Neither can we presume upon Him. We cannot sin and get by with it. If that were possible, then God would be no better than we are. Man is only a creature.

The will of God will prevail, and our proper position is to bow before Him. Our only liberty today is in the will of God. He remembers that we are dust, but I can say with Paul, “…I obtained mercy …” (1Ti_1:13). My friend, if you deny Him, He will trample you under His feet. He has loved you enough to give His Son, but if you reject His mercy and grace, He will reject you. This is His universe, this is His earth, and He is running it according to His perfect plan.

My friend, we need to get in step with Him.