ez 37 38 39 referance study
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This does not necesarely express my views on the prophesy
However it is the traditional line of thinking on the subject

I hope this is helpful



I hope this is helpful
The Valley of Dry Bones


Ezekiel 37:1 Eze 37:1

CHAPTER XXXVII



This chapter treats of the same subject with the preceding, in
a beautiful and significant vision. Under the emblem of the
open valley being thickly strewed with very dry bones is
represented the hopeless state of the Jews when dispersed
throughout the provinces of the Chaldean empire. But God,
contrary to every human probability, restores these bones to
life, thereby prefiguring the restoration of that people from
the Babylonish captivity, and their resettlement in the land of
their forefathers, 1-14.
The prophet then makes an easy and elegant transition to the
blessedness of the people of God under the Gospel dispensation,
in the plenitude of its manifestation, when the genuine
converts to Christianity, the spiritual Israel, shall be no
longer under the domination of heathen and anti-christian
rulers, but shall be collected together into one visible
kingdom, and constitute but one flock under one Shepherd, 15-28.
The vision of the dry bones reviving is considered by some as
having a remote view to the general resurrection.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVII

Verse 1. The hand of the Lord was upon me] The prophetic influence was communicated.

And carried me out in the spirit] Or, And the Lord brought me out in the spirit; that is, a spiritual vision, in which all these things were doubtless transacted.

The valley which was full of bones] This vision of the dry bones was designed, first, as an emblem of the then wretched state of the Jews; secondly, of the general resurrection of the body.



Ezekiel 37:3 Eze 37:3

Verse 3. Can these bones live?] Is it possible that the persons whose bones these are can return to life?

Ezekiel 37:4 Eze 37:4

Verse 4. Prophesy upon these bones]; Declare to your miserable countrymen the gracious designs of the Lord; show them that their state, however deplorable, is not hopeless.

Ezekiel 37:5 Eze 37:5

Verse 5. Behold, I will cause breath] xwr ruach signifies both soul, breath, and wind; and sometimes the Spirit of God. Soul is its proper meaning in this vision, where it refers to the bones: "I will cause the SOUL to enter into you

Ezekiel 37:6 Eze 37:6

Verse 6. I will lay sinews upon you] Observe the progress: 1. Here are the bones. 2. The ligaments, called here sinews, are to be added in order to unite the bones, that the skeleton might be complete. 3. The flesh (the whole muscular system, the subjacent and superjacent muscles, including the arterial and venous system) clothes this skeleton. 4. The skin (the dermis and epidermis, or cutis and cuticle) envelopes the whole of these muscles or flesh; and now these bodies are in the state that the body of Adam was before it received the animal and intellectual principle from God. 5. There was no breath in them-they had not yet received their souls. 6. The wind, xwr ruach, the soul, came into them. They were endued with animal and intellectual life; and they arose and evidenced a complete restoration to life, and began to perform its functions, Eze 37:10.

Ezekiel 37:9 Eze 37:9

Verse 9. Prophesy unto the wind] xwr ruach. Address thyself to the soul, and command it to enter into these well-organized bodies, that they may live.

Come from the four winds] SOULS, come from all parts where ye are scattered; and reanimate these bodies from; which ye have been so long separated. The four winds signify all parts-in every direction. Literally it is, "Souls, come from the four souls;" "Breath, come from the four breaths;" or, "Wind, come from the four winds." But here xwr ruach has both of its most general meanings, wind or breath, and soul.

Ezekiel 37:11 Eze 37:11

Verse 11. These bones are the whole house of Israel] That is, their state is represented by these bones; and their restoration to their own land is represented by the revivification of these bones.

It is said that this was fulfilled when Isreal re-occupied the state after WWII


Ezekiel 37:12 Eze 37:12

Verse 12. I will open your graves] Here is a pointed allusion to the general resurrection; a doctrine properly credited and understood by the Jews, and to which our Lord refers, Joh 5:25,28,29: "The hour is coming when they that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and come forth."

And cause you to come up out of your graves] I am determined that ye shall be restored; so that were ye even in your graves, as mankind at the general resurrection, yet my all-powerful voice shall call you forth.

Ezekiel 37:13 Eze 37:13


Verse 13. When I have opened your graves] When I shall have done for you what was beyond your hope, and deemed impossible, then shall ye know that I am Jehovah.

Ezekiel 37:14 Eze 37:14

Verse 14. And shall put my Spirit] yxwr ruchi. Here xwr ruach is taken for the Holy Ghost. They were living souls, animal and intellectual beings, when they had received their souls, as mentioned above: but they could only become spiritual, holy, and obedient creatures by the Spirit of God actuating their spirits. See the notes on Eze 36:25-27.

THREE degrees or processes have been remarked in this mystic vision. When the prophet was commanded to prophesy-to foretell, on the authority of God, that there should be a restoration to their own land,-

1. There was a noise, which was followed by a general shaking, during which the bones became arranged and united.

2. The flesh and skin came upon them, so that the dry bones were no longer seen.

3. The spirit or soul came into them, and they stood up perfectly vivified.

Perhaps these might be illustrated by three periods of time, which marked the regeneration of the Jewish polity.

1. The publication of the edict of Cyrus in behalf of the Jews, which caused a general shaking or stir among the people, so that the several families began to approach each other. and prepare for their return to Judea, Ezr 1:2,3. But though partially restored, they were obliged to discontinue the rebuilding of their temple.

2. The edict published by Darius in the second year of his reign, Ezr 4:23,24, which removed the impediments thrown in the way of the Jews. Ezr 6:6,7, &c.

3. The mission of Nehemiah, with orders from Artaxerxes to complete the building of the temple and the city, Ne 2:7, &c. Then the Jews became a great army, and found themselves in sufficient force to defend themselves and city against all their enemies.

As to the spiritual uses of this curious vision, I must leave them to preachers. I have given the literal meaning, and what the different parts refer to; and if they found their observations on these, they may profit their hearers.

Ezekiel 37:16 Eze 37:16

Verse 16. Son of man, take thee one stick] The two sticks mentioned in this symbolical transaction represented, as the text declares, the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah, which vere formed in the days of Rehoboam, and continued distinct till the time of the captivity. The kingdom of Judah was composed of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, with the Levites; all the rest went off in the schism with Jeroboam, and formed the kingdom of Israel. Though some out of those tribes did rejoin themselves to Judah, yet no whole tribe ever returned to that kingdom. Common sufferings in their captivity became the means of reviving a kinder feeling; and to encourage this, God promises that he will reunite them, and restore them to their own land; and that there shall no more be any divisions or feuds among them. To represent this in such a way as would make it a subject of thought, reflection, and inquiry, the prophet is ordered to take the two sticks mentioned above, to write on them the distinguishing names of the divided kingdoms, and then by a notch, dovetail, glue, or some such method, to unite them both before the people. He did so, and on their inquiry, showed them the full meaning of this symbolical action.

Ezekiel 37:19 Eze 37:19

Verse 19. The stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim] Jeroboam, the first king of the ten tribes, was an Ephraimite. Joseph represents the ten tribes in general; they were in the hand of Ephraim, that is, under the government of Jeroboam.

Ezekiel 37:22 Eze 37:22

Verse 22. I will make them one nation] There was no distinction after the return from Babylon.

And one king shall be king to them all] Politically speaking they never had a king from that day to this; and the grand junction and government spoken of here must refer to another time-to that in which they shall be brought into the Christian Church with the fulness of the Gentiles; when JESUS, the King of kings and Lord of lords, shall rule over all.
Ezekiel 37:24 Eze 37:24


Verse 24. And David my servant shall be King] That this refers to Jesus Christ, see proved, Eze 34:23.

Ezekiel 37:25 Eze 37:25

Verse 25. The land that I have given unto Jacob my servant] Jacob means here the twelve tribes; and the land given to them was the whole land of Palestine; consequently, the promise states that, when they return, they are to possess the whole of the Promised Land.

Ezekiel 37:26 Eze 37:26

Verse 26. Covenant of peace] See this explained Eze 34:25


Ezekiel 37:27 Eze 37:27

Verse 27. My tabernacle] Jesus Christ, the true tabernacle, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily


The first prophesy against Gog

Ezekiel 38:1 Eze 38:1




The sublime prophecy contained in this and the following
chapter relates to Israel's victory over Gog, and is very
obscure. It begins with representing a prodigious armarnent of
many nations combined together under the conduct of Gog, with
the intention of overwhelming the Jews, after having been for
some time resettled in their land subsequent to their return
from the Babylonish captivity, 1-9.
These enemies are farther represented as making themselves sure
of the spoil, 10-13.
But in this critical conjuncture when Israel, to all human
appearance, was about to be swallowed up by her enemies, God
most graciously appears, to execute by terrible judgments the
vengeance threatened against these formidable adversaries of
his people, 14-16.
The prophet, in terms borrowed from human passions, describes,
with awful emphasis, the fury of Jehovah as coming up to his
face; and the effects of it so dreadful, as to make all the
animate and inanimate creation tremble, and even to convulse
with terror the whole frame of nature, 17-23.


Ezekiel 38:2 Eze 38:2


Verse 2. Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog] This is allowed to be the most difficult prophecy in the Old Testament. It is difficult to us, because we know not the king nor people intended by it: but I am satisfied they were well known by these names in the time that the prophet wrote.

I have already remarked in the introduction {Eze 1:1} to this book that there are but two opinions on this subject that appear to be at all probable: 1. That which makes GOG Cambyses, king of Persia; and, 2. That which makes him ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES, king of Syria. And between these two (for one or other is supposed to be the person intended) men are much divided.

Calmet, one of the most judicious commentators that ever wrote on the Bible, declares for Cambyses; and supports his opinion, in opposition to all others, by many arguments.

Mr. Mede supposes the Americans are meant who were originally colonies of the Scythians, who were descendants of Magog, son of Japheth. Houbigant declares for the Scythians, whose neighbours were the people of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, that is the Russians, Muscovites, and Tybareni or Cappadocians. Several eminent critics espouse this opinion. Rabbi David Kimchi says the Christians and Turks are meant: and of later opinions there are several, founded in the ocean of conjecture. Calmet says expressly, that GOG is Cambyses, king of Persia, who on his return from the land of Egypt, died in Judea. The Rev. David Martin, pastor of the Waloon church at Utrecht, concludes, after examining all previous opinions, that Antiochus Epiphanes, the great enemy of the Israelites, is alone intended here; and that Gog, which signifies covered, is an allusion to the well-known character of Antiochus, whom historians describe as an artful, cunning, and dissembling man. See Da 8:23,25; 11:23,27,32. Magog he supposes to mean the country of Syria. Of this opinion the following quotation from Pliny, Hist. Nat., lib. v., c. 23, seems a proof; who, speaking of Coele-Syria, says: Coele habet Apamiam Marsyia amne divisam a Nazarinorum Tetrarchia. Bambycem quam alio nomine Hierapolis vocatur, Syris vero Magog. "Coele-Syria has Apamia separated from the tetrarchy of the Nazarenes by the river Marsyia; and Bambyce, otherwise called Hierapolis; but by the Syrians, MAGOG."

I shall at present examine the text by this latter opinion.

Chief prince of Meshech and Tubal] These probably mean the auxiliary forces, over whom Antiochus was supreme; they were the Muscovites and Cappadocians.

Ezekiel 38:4 Eze 38:4

Verse 4. I will turn thee back] Thy enterprise shall fail.
Ezekiel 38:5 Eze 38:5


Verse 5. Persia] That a part of this country was tributary to Antiochus, see 1Macc 3:31.

Ethiopia, and Libya] That these were auxiliaries of Antiochus is evident from Da 11:43: "The Libyans and Ethiopians shall be at his steps."
Ezekiel 38:6 Eze 38:6


Verse 6. Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah] The Cimmerians and Turcomanians, and other northern nations.-Calmet.

Ezekiel 38:8 Eze 38:8


Verse 8. In the latter years thou shalt come] This was fulfilled about four hundred years after.-Martin. The expedition of Cambyses against Egypt was about twelve years after the return of the Jews from Babylon.-Calmet.

Ezekiel 38:9 Eze 38:9


Verse 9. Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm] It is observable that Antiochus is thus spoken of by Daniel, Da 11:40: The king of the north-Antiochus, shall come against him (the king of the south is the king of Egypt) like a whirlwind.
Ezekiel 38:10 Eze 38:10


Verse 10. Shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought] Antiochus purposed to invade and destroy Egypt, as well as Judea; see Da 11:31,32,36. This Calmet interprets of Cambyses, his cruelties in Egypt, and his evil design to destroy the Israelites.

Ezekiel 38:12 Eze 38:12


Verse 12. To take a spoil-and a prey] When Antiochus took Jerusalem he gave the pillage of it to his soldiers, and spoiled the temple of its riches, which were immense. See Joseph. WAR, B. i. c. 1.


Ezekiel 38:13 Eze 38:13


Verse 13. Sheba, and Dedan] The Arabians, anciently great plunderers; and Tarshish, the inhabitants of the famous isle of Tartessus, the most noted merchants of the time. They are here represented as coming to Antiochus before he undertook the expedition, and bargaining for the spoils of the Jews. Art thou come to take a spoil, to carry away silver and gold, cattle and goods?
Ezekiel 38:16 Eze 38:16


Verse 16. When I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog] By the defeat of his troops under Lysias, his general. 1Mac 3:32, 33, &c., and Eze 6


Ezekiel 38:17 Eze 38:17


Verse 17. Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old time] This prophecy concerning Antiochus and the Jews was delievered about four hundred years before the events took place.-Martin. Calmet maintains that Cambyses is spoken of, and refers to ancient prophecies, especially Isa. xiv., xv., xx., xxi.

Ezekiel 38:21 Eze 38:21


Verse 21. I will call for a sword against him] Meaning Judas Maccabeus, who defeated his army under Lysias, making a horrible carnage.-Martin. Cambyses had no wars in the mountains of Israel.
Ezekiel 38:22 Eze 38:22


Verse 22. Great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.] These are probably figurative expressions, to signify that the whole tide of the war should be against him, and that his defeat and slaughter should be great. Abp. Newcome supposes all the above prophecy remains yet to be fulfilled. Where such eminent scribes are divided, who shall decide!
some say this bears a strange resemblence to Nuclear war


The second prophesy against Gog


Ezekiel 39:1 Eze 39:1


CHAPTER XXXIX



The prophet goes on to denounce the Divine judgments against
Gog and his army, 1-7;
and describes their dreadful slaughter, 8-10,
and burial, 11-16,
in terms so very lofty and comprehensive, as must certainly
denote some very extraordinary interposition of Providence in
behalf of the Jews. And to amplify the matter still more, the
prophet, with peculiar art and propriety, delays the summoning
of all the birds and beasts of prey in nature to feast on the
slain, (in allusion to the custom of feasting on the remainder
of sacrifices,) till after the greater multitudes are buried;
to intimate that even the remainder, and as it were the
stragglers of such mighty hosts, would be more than sufficient
to satisfy their utmost rapacity, 17-20.
The remaining verses contain a prediction of the great
blessedness of the people of God in Gospel times, and of the
stability of the kingdom of Christ, 21-29.
It will be proper to remark that the great northern expedition
against the natural Israel, described in this and the preceding
chapter, is, from its striking resemblance in the main
particulars, put by the writer of the Apocalypse,
(Eze 20:7-10,)
for a much more formidable armament of a multitude of nations
in the four quarters of the earth against the pure Christian
Church, the MYSTICAL Israel; an event still extremely remote,
and which it is thought shall immediately precede the
destruction of the world by fire, and the general judgment.


Ezekiel 39:2 Eze 39:2

Verse 2. And leave but the sixth part of thee] The margin has, strike thee with six plagues; or, draw thee back with a hook of six teeth.


Ezekiel 39:3 Eze 39:3

Verse 3. I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand] The Persians whom Antiochus had in his army, Eze 38:5, were famous as archers, and they may be intended here. The bow is held by the left hand; the arrow is pulled and discharged by the right.

Ezekiel 39:6 Eze 39:6


Verse 6. I will send a fire on Magog] On Syria. I will destroy the Syrian troops.

And among them that dwell carelessly in the isles] The auxiliary troops that came to Antiochus from the borders of the Euxine Sea.-Martin.

Ezekiel 39:7 Eze 39:7


Verse 7. In the midst of my people Israel] This defeat of Gog is to be in Israel: and it was there according to this prophecy, that the immense army of Antiochus was so completely defeated.

And I will not let them pollute my holy name any more] See on 1Macc 1:11, &c., how Antiochus had profaned the temple, insulted Jehovah and his worship, &c. God permitted that as a scourge to his disobedient people; but now the scourger shall be scourged, and he shall pollute the sanctuary no more.

Ezekiel 39:9 Eze 39:9


Verse 9. And shall set on fire-the weapons] The Israelites shall make bonfires and fuel of the weapons, tents, &c., which the defeated Syrians shall leave behind them, as expressive of the joy which they shall feel for the destruction of their enemies; and to keep up, in their culinary consumption, the memory of this great event.

They shall burn them with fire seven years] These may be figurative expressions, after the manner of the Asiatics, whose language abounds with such descriptions. They occur every where in the prophets. As to the number seven, it is only a certain for an indeterminate number. But as the slaughter was great, and the bows, arrows, quivers, shields, bucklers, handstaves, and spears were in vast multitudes, it must have taken a long time to gather them up in the different parts of the fields of battle, and the roads in which the Syrians had retreated, throwing away their arms as they proceeded; so there might have been a long time employed in collecting and burning them. And as all seem to have been doomed to the fire, there might have been some found at different intervals and burned, during the seven years here mentioned. Mariana, in his History of Spain, lib. xi., c. 24, says, that after the Spaniards had given that signal overthrow to the Saracens, A.D. 1212, they found such a vast quantity of lances, javelins, and such like, that they served them for four years for fuel. And probably these instruments obtained by the Israelites were used in general for culinary firewood, and might literally have served them for seven years; so that during that time they should take no wood out of the fields, nor out of the forests for the purpose of fuel, Eze 39:10.


Ezekiel 39:11 Eze 39:11


Verse 11. The valley of the passengers on the east of the sea] That is, of Gennesareth, according to the Targum. The valley near this lake or sea is called the Valley of the Passengers, because it was a great road by which the merchants and traders from Syria and other eastern countries went into Egypt; see Ge 37:17,25. See Calmet here.

There shall they bury Gog and all his multitude] Some read, "There shall they bury Gog, that is, all his multitude." Not Gog, or Antiochus himself, for he was not in this battle; but his generals, captains, and soldiers, by whom he was represented. As to Hamon-gog, we know no valley of this name but here. But we may understand the words thus: the place where this great slaughter was, and where the multitudes of the slain were buried, might be better called Hamon-gog, the valley of the multitude of God, than the valley of passengers; for so great was the carnage there, that the way of the passengers shall be stopped by it. See the text.


Ezekiel 39:12 Eze 39:12


Verse 12. And seven months] It shall require a long time to bury the dead. This is another figurative expression; which, however, may admit of a good deal of literal meaning. Many of the Syrian soldiers had secreted themselves in different places during the pursuit after the battle, where they died of their wounds, of hunger, and of fatigue; so that they were not all found and buried till seven months after the defeat of the Syrian army. This slow process of burying is distinctly related in the three following verses, and extended even to a bone, Eze 39:15; which, when it was found by a passenger, the place was marked, that the buriers might see and inter it. Seven months was little time enough for all this work; and in that country putrescency does not easily take place: the scorching winds serving to desiccate the flesh, and preserve it from decomposition.
Why would it take seven months to burry the bodies? Radiation exposser?

Ezekiel 39:17 Eze 39:17


Verse 17. Gather yourselves-to my sacrifice] This is an allusion to a custom common in the east: when a sacrifice is made, the friends and neighbours of the party sacrificing are invited to come and feast on the sacrifice.


Ezekiel 39:18 Eze 39:18


Verse 18. Ye shall-drink the blood of the princes of the earth] I need not mention the custom of the Scandinavians: they were accustomed to drink the blood of their enemies out of the skulls of the dead. But this is spoken of fowls and beasts here-rams, lambs, and goats. The feast shall be as grateful and as plenteous to the fowls and beasts, as one made of the above animals, the fattest and best of their kind, (because fed in the fertile fields of Bashan,) would be to the guests of him who makes a sacrifice.


Ezekiel 39:19 Eze 39:19


Verse 19. And ye shall eat fat-and drink blood] Who shall eat and drink, &c.? Not the Jews: though Voltaire says they ate human flesh, and are invited here by the prophet to eat the flesh and drink the blood of their enemies; which is a most unprincipled falsehood. It is the fowls and the beasts that God invites, Eze 39:17: "Speak to every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, assemble yourselves-that ye may eat flesh and drink blood;" nor are the persons altered in all these verses, Eze 39:17-20: so the assertion of Voltaire is either through brutish ignorance or Satanic malice.

Ezekiel 39:25 Eze 39:25


Verse 25. Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob] Both they and the heathen shall know that it was for their iniquity that I gave them into the hands of their enemies: and now I will redeem them from those hands in such a way as to prove that I am a merciful God, as well as a just God.

Ezekiel 39:26 Eze 39:26


Verse 26. After that they have borne their shame] After they shall have borne the punishment due to a line of conduct which is their shame and reproach, viz. idolatry.

Ezekiel 39:27 Eze 39:27


Verse 27. When I have-gathered them] Antiochus had before captured many of the Jews, and sold them for slaves; see Da 11:33.

Ezekiel 39:28 Eze 39:28


Verse 28. And have left none of then any more there.] All that chose had liberty to return; but many remained behind. This promise may therefore refer to a greater restoration, when not a Jew shall be left behind. This, the next verse intimates, will be in the Gospel dispensation.

Ezekiel 39:29 Eze 39:29


Verse 29. For I have poured out my Spirit] That is, I will pour out my Spirit; see the notes on Eze 36:25-29, where this subject is largely considered. This Spirit is to enlighten, quicken, purify, and cleanse their hearts; so that, being completely changed, they shall become God's people, and be a praise in the earth. Now, they are a proverb of reproach; then, they shall be eminently distinguished.



A NEW PLAN OF THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM


For an explanation of this plan, and of the accompanying
map of the division of the Land of Canaan,
see at the end of "Eze 48:35".


[Drawing of the Plan of the Temple]


[Drawing of Divison of the Land of Canaan]



This does not necesarely express my views on the prophesy
However it is the traditional line of thinking on the subject