Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 39-40.

Starting in Chapter 38, which I read yesterday, Ezekiel prophesies that Gog, prince of Magog, Meschech, Tubal, and perhaps Rosh (there is some debate as to whether the last is the name of a country or an adjective meaning “chief”).   We do not know exactly where Ezekiel would have believed those lands to be located, but everything we know says that they would have been in the lands around the Black Sea, most likely in areas which are now part of Turkey.  Ezekiel tells us that a day will come when the ruler of those lands will decide to attack what he perceives to be a defenseless Israel.  Ezekiel then prophesies that God will draw the armies of these nations to attack Israel.  But when they do, He will utterly destroy them, revealing His glory to the entire world.  Ezekiel prophesies that the force which will attack Israel and be defeated will be so large that the people of Israel will use their weapons to fuel their fires for seven years and it will take seven months to bury the bodies.

This prophecy of Gog attacking Israel and being defeated has long been considered a prophecy of the end times.  In the 1970s, those seeking to interpret the prophecies about the end times from the Bible looked at this passage and concluded that the lands to which it referred were the lands of the Soviet Union.  Some of the arguments used to make that case seemed fanciful to me.  Based on what I know today, those fanciful arguments were not necessary.  However, when I look at the world today, it seems to me that if God were to fulfill this prophecy right now, the attack would be led by Turkey.  However, the most important aspect of this prophecy is God’s promise that when it comes to pass He will pour out His Spirit on the people of Israel and they will know that He is the Lord their God.  We can look at this prophecy from many directions, but let us never forget that God will fulfill this prophecy in a way which shows the entire world that He alone is God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Ezekiel 41-43.

Today’s passage continues Ezekiel’s description of his vision of the restored Temple.  I have never really received any spiritual insights from such detailed descriptions.  However, in chapter 43 Ezekiel describes his vision of God’s glory returning to the Temple.  Unlike his previous visions of God’s glory, he does not go into a detailed description.  This time Ezekiel merely tells us that what he saw was like his first vision when God called him to be a prophet and like his vision of God’s glory leaving Jerusalem when God ordered its destruction.  I am unsure if this prophecy was completely fulfilled when the Holy Spirit entered into Jesus’ disciples at Pentecost, or if there is yet another fulfillment of it in physical Jerusalem.

When the Holy Spirit entered into Jesus’s disciples gathered in the upper room at Pentecost, it was entering into the Church, which was the Temple which Jesus had built.  This is really rather significant.  Each and every one of us is part of God’s Temple.  Which means that God’s glory resides within us.  Therefore, when we sin, we are doing the sort of thing which Ezekiel condemned in his visions regarding the destruction of Jerusalem.  When we sin, we are offering sacrifices to idols in the presence of God.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.