Ezekiel 38 and 39
At this moment we find ourselves, listening friend, in the last major division in Ezekiel’s prophecy. We have something here that we trust you have already discovered, that is important, and that we have seen in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and now in the book of Ezekiel. And it is that these books were not written without keeping a due order; we mean that the materials used in its writing were not accumulated in a random way; they were not presented in a confusing way, but their content reveals that there was a plan and a definite purpose in each of them. There was a didactic purpose and we have been able to verify this purpose in the book of the prophet Ezekiel. First of all, we saw Ezekiel living and speaking to the captives, in the canals that flowed out of the Euphrates River in the land of Babylon. Let us remember that the false prophets had encouraged the people to believe that Jerusalem had not been destroyed when Nebuchadnezzar went against it twice; and they said that such a misfortune could never happen because God would not allow it. This is how the false prophets were acting as if they were speaking on behalf of God, as if they were speaking on his behalf. However, God had not called them and his interested speculations, expressed for purely human reasons, led them into error and deception.
Time and time again Ezekiel had prophesied that God would allow Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the city. It was a city full of blood, a city where evil prevailed, a sinful city, and although it was the city of God, it was going to be destroyed. The predictions expressed by the prophet from God were fulfilled and the misfortune was consummated with the destruction of the city.
Now, at the time that the city was destroyed, even before receiving information or confirmation of that tragedy, Ezekiel had nothing more to say on this subject. Then the prophet began to speak to the people of other matters; that is, that he tried to cheer them up for when they received the bad news. There was never a prophet so enlightened by the very presence of the glory of God, as Ezekiel. He looked to the future, to a coming kingdom, when the glory of God would appear again on this earth. And he then communicated that message of encouragement, of hope, to a people who believed that their existence as a nation had come to an end.
Now, in chapters 38 and 39, which are projected into the future, we saw that another enemy will appear when they return to that land, and we believe that there will be a false peace; the israelites will return to the earth under the antichrist, and the antichrist will make them believe that peace at that time has come to the world and that all the problems of the earth have been solved and that they are entering the millennium. But this will be a false statement, because in the middle of the Great Tribulation period, that is, in that seven-year period, enemy armies will come down from the north. And Ezekiel spoke of these enemies in chapters 38 and 39 that we have been considering lately. They will be enemies who will have concrete plans to invade the earth and destroy them.
On that future day when Israel is living in peace and the Antichrist has deceived everyone, God will be Israel’s only source of help. He himself will deal with his enemies who come from the north. Then war will break out. The so-called “great tribulation” will begin, which will last the last 3 1/2 years of the tribulation period. This “great tribulation” will begin with a frenzied fury. The whole earth will become a kind of holocaust. Judgments will fall one after another on the earth. War will prevail. In Matthew 24:22, Christ said of this brief period: And if those days were not shortened, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days will be shortened.
Listening friend, let us say it in a very direct and very brief way. All hell will be unleashed on earth during that period that has been called “the great tribulation”. It will be a truly terrible and terrifying period. That is why, while we respect the views of those who, like us, long for the coming of the Lord, we do not agree with their view that the redeemed by God, whom we call the church, will go through that great tribulation. We believe the Bible makes it clear that those who will be giving public witness to their faith on earth during that period will be the 144,000 Jews.
God having judged this enemy who will have come down to the land of Israel from the north, he will allow the Antichrist to be the world ruler for the rest of the tribulation period. Later, the Lord Jesus Christ will come to this earth to establish his kingdom; and we have a picture of that scene in the 19th chapter of the book of Revelation. And then in the next chapter of that last book of the Bible, the 20th chapter, the thousand-year kingdom will begin.
Now, remembering these tremendous events, we would do well to pause to consider the material we have studied thus far. After carefully examining three of the four major prophets; Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, certain great principles emerge that the fourth prophet, Daniel, will confirm. These great principles have an application for all times, a permanent application, for the nations of the world and for believers on this earth who live their Christian life in light of their relationship with God. And when we say believers, we are talking about those who have already trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, as their Savior and believe that the Bible is the Word of God. In this book of Ezekiel we have seen God dealing with Israel. Dear listener, when God said Israel, he meant Israel; he did not refer to the church. We should recognize that since He so indicated, in these prophecies He has literally been speaking about the people of Israel. That is the natural, normal and correct interpretation. However, there is an application that we can make, keeping in mind that God’s dealings with Israel are like a microcosm of his dealings with the world in which we live. The principles that God has used in his relations with his own people Israel are eternal, because they are linked to the character and attributes of God. We have expressed some of them in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and now we are ready to draw certain conclusions from Ezekiel.
None of the prophets emphasized the glory and holiness of God more than Ezekiel. He saw the glory of God. That was the great vision that he had and that was mentioned at the beginning of his book. He never forgot her and the contemplation of that vision would mark his life and his ministry for the rest of his life. And we shouldn’t forget it either. Therefore, his emphasis fell on the judgment of God. God is patient and does not want anyone to perish, and therefore he warned his people over and over again that if they did not turn to him, he would punish Jerusalem. God used this prophet Ezekiel to communicate his warnings in a very graphic way, very didactic, so that everyone could understand it. But the people did not pay due attention to God’s message. Then Jerusalem was destroyed, and Ezekiel offered the people encouragement, encouragement, as they looked to the future. But he told them that another enemy would come. Let us remember that when the Lord Jesus Christ was on earth, He wept over the city of Jerusalem, because He knew that the Roman general Titus would arrive in a few years to destroy the city, just as King Nebuchadnezzar had done in the past.
Things were bad for Jerusalem, and if that city was to enjoy God’s blessings, the wrongs had to be righted. Liars had to stop lying. The thieves had to stop stealing. Those who flouted the law must obey it, and justice must prevail in the city. Only when God was recognized and respected in the country could his blessing come to Jerusalem. It is that justice must reign before any nation or individual can experience the love, mercy and goodness of God. Jerusalem was wrong and the people had their thoughts dominated by evil, and they were doing wrong. They were controlled by sin, and God was acting justly in judging them. God never blesses what is wrong.
This becomes evident when we contrast Ezekiel and Jeremiah. We want to highlight again this contrast of personalities between both prophets because we consider it important for a better understanding of the character and the way of acting of God. Jeremiah revealed the heart of God. God does not want to judge. As He told Isaiah, the judgment was his strange work. He prefers to save, and that is what He wants to do. He does not want someone to perish; and He is very involved with the human race. The great declaration of the gospel according to Saint John, chapter 1, verse 14, was that the Word became man and dwelt among us. This reveals to us his love and concern for us. When Jerusalem was destroyed, his heart was broken. Jesus wept over the city just as Jeremiah had wept centuries before.
Now in Ezekiel we have something completely different. At the very moment that Jerusalem was being destroyed, Ezekiel’s wife died, and God forbade him to mourn her, or to mourn her in sorrow. The prophet had to act as if nothing had happened. God wept over Jerusalem, but he was not sorry that he had allowed it. He was not sorry for what he had done, because he had acted justly. God, with tears in his eyes, punished Jerusalem and destroyed the city, but He was doing something that was in accordance with his character. He did the just thing, the right thing, because He always acts justly. The Apostle Paul asked the question in Romans 9:14: Is God unjust? No way! Is there any injustice in God? Of course there is no injustice in God. Everything God does is just. So his glory is revealed in judgment. His grace is manifested in redemption. If He had not provided that redemption for us, then there would be no kind of salvation for man.
In chapters 38 and 39, of this book of Ezekiel, we saw that a northern kingdom that is going to invade Israel in the future will be destroyed. And the question arises: Why would God destroy that enemy? Let’s read that 16th verse of the 38th chapter again: and you will come up against my people Israel like a cloud covering the earth. So it will be at the end of days: I will bring you to my land, so that the nations will know me when I am sanctified in you, Gog, before his eyes. What is God going to do? He is going to destroy that enemy. Someone might doubt this and even ask: Are you saying that God will actually do such a thing? Certainly he will. Well, let’s continue reading verses 6 and 7 of this verse 39:
“And I will send fire on Magog and on those who dwell safely in the coastlands. And they will know that I am the Lord. I will make my holy name known among my people…