Canonical Reading Plan for Sep 11, Eze 37-39

Today's readings are Eze 37-39.

Much has been said and written about Eze 37, the "Dry Bones" chapter. Suffice it to say that God does something amazing. The dry bones are regenerated in the exact opposite manner that they decomposed. Their breath comes at the command of God. The bones, on a basic level, represent the fallen Northern and Southern kingdoms. Having been destroyed and carried away, they will be regathered and restored.

On another level, the entire vision is a type of creation as seen in Gen 1-2. God produces matter, in Ezekiel's case, muscle, sinew and flesh, out of nothing other than the command of His voice. He forms a man by assembling the dead bones, then breathes life into him the same way He breathed life into Adam.

In its most powerful application, the tale of the dry bones is a vivid image of salvation by grace. The bones are completely dead and unable to do anything to help themselves. Unless God moves in an entirely sovereign way, the bones will remain dead. God not only regenerates them, but He breathes life into them. Once they are reborn, they experience the blessing of God for having been chosen to receive His glory.

Those who understand the implications of Ezekiel’s vision should have a better understanding of grace. All believers were once spiritually as dead and hopeless as that pile of dirt from which God made Adam. We were as totally incapable of bringing ourselves back to life as the dry bones were. Regeneration can occur only by the hand and grace of God. That Israel will be restored brings hope to the remnant. That the dry bones can live brings hope to us all.

It is no coincidence that the following two chapters tell of the judgment on those who oppose God. Those to whom He chooses to give life, those whom He regenerates, will live. Those who oppose God shall be judged and condemned.

Israel and Judah will not only be restored, they will be forgiven and reunited, their fortunes and blessing reinstated (Eze 37:15-28). God will make good on His promises, once again.

Still, in Eze 38, we see that the rejuvenated Israel will come under attack. Bible scholars have been unable to agree on the location of Gog. Some believe it is in the area of Russia or China but those perspectives may be speculation that ignores a larger lesson being taught. What Ezekiel’s prophecies make clear is that, at some point, all nations will come against God's people. It’s not a matter of which nations they are or where they come from...it will be all nations. This is a picture of the world coming against God’s people. Trying to boil this down to geographic locations or political alliances misses the primary lesson of the prophecy. In the final analysis, the great tipping point on who is saved and who burns in Hell will not be nationality or geographical boundaries but allegiance to God.

From our text, what we can discern to be true is this: Magog, Tubal, and Meshech are mentioned in Genesis 10:2 and 1 Chronicles 1:5 as sons of Japheth. In Ezekiel’s day, their descendants inhabited what is now eastern Turkey. According to Eze 38:5–6 the allies of Gog included Persia, Cush (modern Ethiopia), Put (modern Libya), Gomer (another son of Japheth whose descendants resided to the far north of Israel), and Beth Togarmah (according to Gen 10:3, Togarmah was a son of Gomer).

When the attack occurs, regardless of whoever is involved, God's people will prevail. It will take months to bury the bodies of their enemies. The spoils will be a blessing to the saved for years to come.

Clearly, the vision is of the future. A lot of time and effort has been spent trying to define these ancient countries, many of which, as we have seen, have already been defined by a careful reading of Scripture. While some parallels to geographic areas can be drawn, it is best to view the attacking nations as anyone that comes against God's people. The foundational message applies regardless of location or nationality. These ominous passages tell us that all those people who remain ungodly and refuse to repent will be obliterated (Rev 20:8-9). The only victory, peace and salvation will be in Him and His grace. Only those who are in Christ Jesus will prevail.