Ezekiel chapter 39

So I've spent the last period of time writing a sermon (as so usually happens when there is a gap in my bible reading) but now that I've finished it, I don't know that I should post it, since I'm not actually giving it till December. But what the hey, I'll stick it up. How many people will actually see it, after all?

In the meantime, back to Ezekiel, before I start on my next sermon on the same topic.

vs 1

Oh good, Gog is still getting a thrashing.

vs 2

It's so interesting that in other places, where God uses a nation for his purposes, there is this real quandary about whether he is using them, or he is just approving the actions they do, and they want to do it anyway, so he is just going along with it, and then he'll punish them for the actions which they always wanted to do. But here, and in the last chapter, the language is far more forceful. God is dragging Gog to do the things, and it's pretty much entirely for the purpose of smiting him for doing it. Which makes it a lot more difficult to justify, which is good, because it makes you sit back and say, "Okay, so that's God. How do I deal with that?"

Personally, God can do whatever he wants in my book. Since he defines what is good, it is good.

vs 3

Not many people see it, but you do realise that this is God prophesying that left-handers will rule the world, right?

vs 4

Again, the carrion bird feast is echoed in Revelation.

vs 5

I'm not sure what the relevance of the open field is - that they will lose a fair fight, not a guerilla war in the mountains?

vs 6

Well, damn. I mean, it's not bad enough that God drags their whole army out to battle, only to slaughter them all, but when he defeats them, God himself goes on a reciprocal rampage and burns down their houses!

vs 7

They sure will. I won't argue.

vs 8

The day. It's long in coming. Even longer than we shortsighted Christians think.

vs 9

This is great. It is obviously a verse to give you an idea of how big the army was, that if you piled up all their weapons, you could use it as firewood for seven years. And remember, people used fire a lot back then - for things like cooking.

Now, you have to be a little guarded about the dispensationalist interpretation, which sees the invasion of Gog and Magog as that of Russia. While it is true that an AK74 has a wooden stock, I don't know that tanks and such burn that well. But as a friend of mine said, "They can just siphon out the petrol!" Nothing stops the dispensationalist.

vs 10

Israel has certainly shown itself to be good at this. You attack them, they beat you, they retaliate, they take some of your land, and then they fight tooth and nail over it for decades. No doubt some of them even look at this verse as legitimising this. But of course it doesn't.

vs 11

"Oh, this valley? Well, it used to be the highway to the beach, but ever since Gog attacked Israel, it's been blocked with the bones of him and his army." I mean, seriously, are you getting the message? If you are against God, you are paste.

vs 12

Another seven. Coincidence?

vs 13

I would remember having to work for seven months to bury bodies, for sure.

vs 14

But oh, no, it doesn't stop there. I suppose this is to show the holiness of God's land. I mean, if God wants an army to march onto his promised land and then strike them down, that's fine. But you can't leave a bunch of corpses lying around.

vs 15

It's an important job. Dead stuff is ceremonially unclean, I think especially dead human.

vs 16

Body parts are going to litter the ground - I mean, does God make them all explode, or what?

vs 17

As truly disturbing as this picture is, those who had been to war during this time period would no doubt be well aware that when hundreds, if not thousands, of corpses are lying around, this is the consequence.

vs 18

And of course it's a fairly ignoble way to die - the death of the defeated.

vs 19

You'd almost think that God has a special soft spot for vultures.

vs 20

But really, it's just marking out that God is going to kill so many people, because it doesn't matter how many rise up against God, they are wrong, and they will die.

vs 21

I'm afraid even if God send down a pillar of holy light that just killed a whole army, people would just blame America and say it was a GDI style ion cannon or something. That doesn't mean God didn't show his glory - it just means that the blind are called the blind for a reason.

vs 22

But those who see can see, and will go, "What the - woah."

vs 23

So... we won't have forgotten about that by this time, evidently.

vs 24

That's for sure. God deals with all uncleanness - if it's his own people, he exiles them. If it's a rogue army, he explodes them. If it's corpses, he summons carrion birds. He's got it all covered.

vs 25

God has let his name slide a little, but now he's going to make his image crystal clean again, and he's going to do it by making sure Israel does it.

vs 26

No-one to make them afraid! What an incredible statement. The less we fear, the less we fear God, I suppose.

vs 27

He definitely was. I mean, could you honestly read Israel's history any other way? Of course you could. But this way is pretty darn compelling.

vs 28

Leaving none behind. Damn it. It's in the Bible. I mean, I love it as a military idea, but as an educational idea it leaves something to be desired in my humble opinion. Nevertheless, as a religious idea, I think I'm okay with it. Not that everyone will be saved - but that no-one who should be saved won't be saved. And as such, all humanity should be reached with the gospel.

vs 29

I'm honestly not sure what to make of this promise. Is this marking Acts, or did God pour out his spirit on the exilees upon their return? Both?