Year 9, Day 165: Ezekiel 39

Theological Commentary: Click Here

The Gog and Magog saga continues.  God promises to destroy Gog.  In fact, the level of His promise is quite descriptive.  God not only promises that they will be destroyed but that the Hebrew people will be able to live off their weapons for seven years.  There will be so many wood handles for fire and metal blades for smithing that the people won’t need to go out and get their own.  That’s a remarkable plunder.

Take this deeper.  Remember that Gog is going to come against the Hebrew people because He wants their stuff and He thinks they will be an easy plunder.  Look at what happens.  Gog is destroyed by God and the Hebrew people end up getting their stuff!  Talk about reversal of fortunes!

God then tells Ezekiel that it will take months to bury all the people.  While this is a disturbing imagine, in the ancient world gravediggers were necessary.  In mass casualties, everyone became a grave digger.  To have dead bodies lying around pollutes the land, pollutes the water, and allows bacteria and disease to spread among other things.  After a massive battle with so much plunder that the Hebrew people will be satisfied for years, it will take a good while to bury the dead.

There are two lessons we can get from this easily.  First, notice that the Hebrew people have to do the work.  They don’t simply reap the reward, they have a role to play in the process.  God protects them.  God defeats Gog.  But the Hebrew people will aid God in the aftermath.

Second, look at the invitation to the birds.  God invites the birds to come and feast on God.  Gog invites the birds to come and help cleanse the land and keep disease from spreading.  Creation is our ally.

This is powerful.  So often we think that creation is something we have dominion over.  Yet, look at how often creation corrects our errors.  Streams, creeks, and oceans filter our pollutants (to various levels, depending on what we put in it). Microbes in the soil and on living things helps break down poisonous substances.  Bacteria in the water will help clean up oil spills.  I could go on with a long list of examples.  The reality is that we love to strip the earth for our gain without realizing that the earth is our biggest ally in life.

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