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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ezek. 38
I have no idea who Gog from Magog is or what exactly is going on with this prophecy. However, I do notice a shift. It seems God’s promise to gather His people from among the nations to settle securely with Him in Israel’s land is complete by the time this prophecy sees fulfillment. And it is clear that Gog and the nations gathered with him oppose God. The shift I see is that this time when the enemy comes against God’s people, he does not succeed. There is no evidence that God’s people stop living securely. It reminds me of Assyria’s failed attack on Jerusalem under King Hezekiah’s reign, only on a much greater scale.
To me, this speaks of the truth that, once we enter into God’s new covenant of grace through Christ Jesus, the enemy can conquer us no more. As Paul so eloquently put it, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38). Gog may come against us, but He will fall to the full wrath of God in doing so.
Ezek. 39
A very curious thing takes place in the middle of this chapter. God calls all the birds and beasts to His sacrificial feast. Pausing right there for a moment, let me say that this takes my mind to Noah and the ark. God likewise involved all the birds and beasts in that incident. I wonder if this has to do with the thought that the final redemption of mankind will also lift the curse on the rest of creation. I have no idea.
The passage goes on to describe the feast. “You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the earth’s princes: rams, lambs, male goats, and all the fattened bulls of Bashan.” (Ezek. 39:18). Curious. The mighty men and earth’s princes are listed as all the typical sacrificial animals. What is the message in that? Again, I have no idea. But I sense a hint of doing away with man’s efforts. The things that were, those things that could never save us, have been completed and fulfilled by the only One who can. And now it is God Himself who saves us, not only from His own judgment, but also from our own sinful, God-separating nature.