Ezekiel 39 Study Notes: Gog Defeated and Israel Restored
God declares that Gog’s army will fall on Israel’s mountains, so that His holy name is honored in Israel and among the nations. Israel burns the enemy’s weapons and buries the dead to purify the land, and the nations learn the exile was judgment for sin. God promises to bring His people home and give them His Spirit.
General
Why do the Israelites bury the bodies of Gog’s fallen army (39:12, 16)?
Answer: To make the land clean from the defilement of death
God gives Gog a grave site within Israel, and the Israelites bury the invaders there to make the land clean again (39:11-12). Men are even set apart to go through the land and make sure every remaining body is buried, so that the land is cleansed (39:14-16). Under God’s law, dead bodies made a person or place ceremonially unclean, meaning unfit for God’s holy presence. God had told Israel not to make unclean the land where He Himself lived among them (Numbers 35:34), and even an executed criminal’s body had to be buried that same day so the land God gave would not be defiled (Deuteronomy 21:23). The land is made clean again for a holy God dwelling with His people.
- Ezekiel 39:11-12 (BSB)“And on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.”Gog’s army is buried in a valley within Israel so that the land is made clean.
- Ezekiel 39:14-16 (BSB)“And men will be employed to continually pass through the land to cleanse it by burying the invaders who remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will set up a pillar next to it, until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. (Even the city will be named Hamonah.) And so they will cleanse the land.”Appointed searchers make sure no remains are left unburied anywhere in the land.
- Numbers 35:34 (BSB)“Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.””The land had to be kept clean because the LORD Himself lived among His people there.
- Deuteronomy 21:23 (BSB)“you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.”Even the body of an executed criminal had to be buried that day so that the land God gave would stay undefiled.
Theological
What reason does the text give for Israel’s burial of Gog’s slain (39:12, 16)?
Answer: To make the land clean from the defilement of death
God appoints a burial ground for Gog in Israel, and the Israelites bury the slain in order to purify the land (39:11-12). Designated men search the land continually until every remaining corpse is interred, so that the cleansing is complete (39:14-16). Contact with the dead brought ritual defilement, and the land where the LORD dwelt among His people had to be kept clean (Numbers 35:34), which is why even an executed man’s body had to be buried the same day lest the inheritance be defiled (Deuteronomy 21:23). The victory over Gog is therefore followed by the purification of the land, fitting it once more for the presence of the holy God.
- Ezekiel 39:11-12 (BSB)“And on that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the Sea. It will block those who travel through, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them in order to cleanse the land.”Gog’s army is buried in a valley within Israel so that the land is made clean.
- Ezekiel 39:14-16 (BSB)“And men will be employed to continually pass through the land to cleanse it by burying the invaders who remain on the ground. At the end of the seven months they will begin their search. As they pass through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will set up a pillar next to it, until the gravediggers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. (Even the city will be named Hamonah.) And so they will cleanse the land.”Appointed searchers make sure no remains are left unburied anywhere in the land.
- Numbers 35:34 (BSB)“Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.””The land had to be kept clean because the LORD Himself lived among His people there.
- Deuteronomy 21:23 (BSB)“you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.”Even the body of an executed criminal had to be buried that day so that the land God gave would stay undefiled.
General
What will the nations come to understand about why Israel was carried into captivity (39:23-24)?
Answer: Israel was punished for its unfaithfulness to God
When God judges Gog, every nation sees His glory and His hand at work, and from then on Israel knows the LORD as their God (39:21-22). The nations will also learn the true reason for Israel’s exile: Israel went into captivity because of their sin and unfaithfulness to Him. So God hid His face from them, meaning He withdrew His protecting favor, and handed them over to their enemies, dealing with them as their uncleanness and rebellion deserved (39:23-24). Exile was not a sign that Israel’s God was weak. It was His own just judgment. God had told Moses that He would hide His face when Israel turned to other gods (Deuteronomy 31:17-18), and Moses warned that the nations would be told the land was ruined because Israel forsook the covenant, God’s binding agreement with them (Deuteronomy 29:24-25). The nations had scorned the LORD’s name because His people were forced out of His country (36:19-20); Gog’s defeat sets the record straight.
- Ezekiel 39:21-22 (BSB)“I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.”God’s judgment on Gog displays His glory to the nations and teaches Israel to know Him as their God.
- Ezekiel 39:23-24 (BSB)“And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and transgressions, and I hid My face from them.”The nations will learn that Israel’s captivity was God’s judgment on their unfaithfulness.
- Deuteronomy 31:17-18 (BSB)“On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’ And on that day I will surely hide My face because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.”The LORD told Moses that He would withdraw His favor if Israel turned to idols.
- Deuteronomy 29:24-25 (BSB)“So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”Moses foretold that the nations would ask why the land was ruined and be told it was for forsaking the covenant.
- Ezekiel 36:19-20 (BSB)“I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds. And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’”God scattered Israel for their deeds, and the nations scorned His name because His people were forced out of His country.
Theological
What does 39:23-24 say the nations will recognize as the cause of Israel’s exile?
Answer: Israel was punished for its unfaithfulness to God
God’s judgment on Gog displays His glory to every nation and confirms Israel in the knowledge of the LORD as their God (39:21-22). In that light the nations will recognize that Israel’s exile was the righteous judgment of God for their iniquity and covenant unfaithfulness: God hid His face, handed them to their enemies, and repaid them as their impurity and rebellion deserved (39:23-24). The exile was never evidence of the LORD’s weakness but of His justice. This fulfills the covenant warnings, which threatened that God would hide His face from an idolatrous people (Deuteronomy 31:17-18) and foretold that the nations would trace the land’s ruin to Israel’s abandonment of the covenant (Deuteronomy 29:24-25). Where the nations had scorned the LORD’s name because His people were driven from His land (36:19-20), Gog’s defeat vindicates both His power and His holiness.
- Ezekiel 39:21-22 (BSB)“I will display My glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the judgment that I execute and the hand that I lay upon them. From that day forward the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God.”God’s judgment on Gog displays His glory to the nations and teaches Israel to know Him as their God.
- Ezekiel 39:23-24 (BSB)“And the nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity, because they were unfaithful to Me. So I hid My face from them and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, so that they all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and transgressions, and I hid My face from them.”The nations will learn that Israel’s captivity was God’s judgment on their unfaithfulness.
- Deuteronomy 31:17-18 (BSB)“On that day My anger will burn against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they will be consumed, and many troubles and afflictions will befall them. On that day they will say, ‘Have not these disasters come upon us because our God is no longer with us?’ And on that day I will surely hide My face because of all the evil they have done by turning to other gods.”The LORD told Moses that He would withdraw His favor if Israel turned to idols.
- Deuteronomy 29:24-25 (BSB)“So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger?’ And the people will answer, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt.”Moses foretold that the nations would ask why the land was ruined and be told it was for forsaking the covenant.
- Ezekiel 36:19-20 (BSB)“I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds. And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’”God scattered Israel for their deeds, and the nations scorned His name because His people were forced out of His country.
General
Where does God say Gog and his whole army will fall (39:4)?
Answer: On Israel’s mountains
God repeats that He is against Gog. He will turn him, lead him from the remote north, bring him to Israel’s mountains, and knock the bow and arrows from his hands (39:2-3). There, on Israel’s mountains, Gog falls together with his troops and allies in the countryside, because God has spoken (39:4-5). God also sends fire against Magog and against the coastlands that feel safe (39:6). Later God calls birds and wild animals to feed on the fallen army as at a sacrificial meal (39:17-20), a vivid picture of total defeat. The psalms praise God for shattering weapons of war (Psalm 76:3) and for frustrating what the nations plot (Psalm 33:10-11). Revelation uses a similar picture of birds summoned to feed on God’s fallen enemies (Revelation 19:17-18).
- Ezekiel 39:2-3 (BSB)“I will turn you around, drive you along, bring you up from the far north, and send you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and dash down the arrows from your right hand.”God steers Gog to Israel’s mountains and disarms him there.
- Ezekiel 39:4-5 (BSB)“On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”Gog’s army is struck down in Israel’s countryside, just as God declared.
- Psalm 76:3 (BSB)“There He shattered the flaming arrows, the shield and sword and weapons of war. Selah”The psalm praises God for shattering the weapons of war, just as He disarms Gog.
- Psalm 33:10-11 (BSB)“The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.”The schemes of the nations fail, but God’s purposes stand firm.
- Revelation 19:17-18 (BSB)“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.””Revelation uses a similar image of birds summoned to feast on the fallen enemies of God.
Theological
According to 39:4, where are Gog and his hosts brought down?
Answer: On Israel’s mountains
God renews His sentence against Gog: He turns him, drives him from the remote north, brings him to Israel’s mountains, and strikes the weapons from his hands (39:2-3). There Gog falls with all his troops and allies in the countryside, the outcome guaranteed by God’s word (39:4-5), and fire falls upon Magog and the secure coastlands as well (39:6). The later summons of birds and beasts to God’s sacrificial feast (39:17-20) depicts the completeness of the defeat in the imagery of sacrifice. The psalmist celebrates the God who breaks the weapons of war (Psalm 76:3) and overturns the schemes of the nations while His own purpose stands (Psalm 33:10-11). Revelation employs a related image of birds summoned to feast on God’s defeated foes (Revelation 19:17-18).
- Ezekiel 39:2-3 (BSB)“I will turn you around, drive you along, bring you up from the far north, and send you against the mountains of Israel. Then I will strike the bow from your left hand and dash down the arrows from your right hand.”God steers Gog to Israel’s mountains and disarms him there.
- Ezekiel 39:4-5 (BSB)“On the mountains of Israel you will fall—you and all your troops and the nations with you. I will give you as food to every kind of ravenous bird and wild beast. You will fall in the open field, for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD.”Gog’s army is struck down in Israel’s countryside, just as God declared.
- Psalm 76:3 (BSB)“There He shattered the flaming arrows, the shield and sword and weapons of war. Selah”The psalm praises God for shattering the weapons of war, just as He disarms Gog.
- Psalm 33:10-11 (BSB)“The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples. The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.”The schemes of the nations fail, but God’s purposes stand firm.
- Revelation 19:17-18 (BSB)“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out in a loud voice to all the birds flying overhead, “Come, gather together for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and commanders and mighty men, of horses and riders, of everyone slave and free, small and great.””Revelation uses a similar image of birds summoned to feast on the fallen enemies of God.
General
True or False: In 39:7 God says that through Gog’s defeat He will make His holy name known in Israel and will not let it be dishonored any longer.
Answer: True
This is true. After Gog’s fall, God says He will make His holy name plain to His people and will not let it be treated as common anymore. The nations too will recognize Him as the Holy One at work in Israel (39:7). He insists that this day is certain (39:8). Israel’s exile had caused God’s name to be scorned among the nations, so God said He would act to honor His name and not because Israel deserved it (36:20-22). In the same way He promised to deal with Israel for His name’s sake and not as their wicked ways earned (20:44). God will not let His glory be given to another (Isaiah 48:11).
- Ezekiel 39:7 (BSB)“So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”God promises to reveal His holy name to Israel, stop its dishonor, and be recognized by the nations.
- Ezekiel 39:8 (BSB)“Yes, it is coming, and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD. This is the day of which I have spoken.”God insists that the day He foretold is certain to arrive.
- Ezekiel 36:20-22 (BSB)“And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone. Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went.”God explains that Israel’s exile had caused His holy name to be profaned and that He acts for that name, not for Israel’s sake.
- Ezekiel 20:44 (BSB)“Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.””God’s mercy to Israel is governed by His name, not by what their deeds deserve.
- Isaiah 48:11 (BSB)“For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.”God will not allow His name to be dishonored or His glory to pass to anyone else.
Theological
True or False: In 39:7 God declares that Gog’s overthrow will make His holy name known in Israel and end its profanation.
Answer: True
This is true. The purpose of Gog’s overthrow is the vindication of God’s name: He will make His holy name known within Israel, end its profaning, and be acknowledged by the nations as the Holy One at work in Israel (39:7), and He confirms the certainty of that day (39:8). This answers the problem of chapter 36, where Israel’s exile had brought God’s name into contempt and God resolved to act for His name, not for Israel’s merit (36:20-22). God’s dealings with His people are governed by His own name rather than their deserts (20:44), because He will not yield His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11).
- Ezekiel 39:7 (BSB)“So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”God promises to reveal His holy name to Israel, stop its dishonor, and be recognized by the nations.
- Ezekiel 39:8 (BSB)“Yes, it is coming, and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD. This is the day of which I have spoken.”God insists that the day He foretold is certain to arrive.
- Ezekiel 36:20-22 (BSB)“And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone. Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went.”God explains that Israel’s exile had caused His holy name to be profaned and that He acts for that name, not for Israel’s sake.
- Ezekiel 20:44 (BSB)“Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.””God’s mercy to Israel is governed by His name, not by what their deeds deserve.
- Isaiah 48:11 (BSB)“For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.”God will not allow His name to be dishonored or His glory to pass to anyone else.
General
In 39:29, what reason does God give for never again hiding His face from Israel?
Answer: He will pour out His own Spirit on Israel’s people
God now promises to restore Jacob, another name for the nation of Israel, show compassion to all of Israel’s people, and be jealous for His holy name, meaning He will protect its honor (39:25). He will gather His people from the countries of their foes, leaving none behind (39:27-28). Then He promises never again to hide His face from them, because He will pour out His Spirit upon His people (39:29). This is the same gift God promised in 36:27, where His Spirit within His people causes them to walk in His ways. The restoration rests on God’s mercy and His own work, not on anything Israel earned. Joel also foretold the pouring out of God’s Spirit (Joel 2:28), and at Pentecost Peter announced that this promise was being fulfilled (Acts 2:17).
- Ezekiel 39:25 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.”God announces a coming restoration, rooted in His mercy and His zeal for His name.
- Ezekiel 39:27-29 (BSB)“When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.””God brings every exile home and grounds His lasting favor in the gift of His Spirit.
- Ezekiel 36:27 (BSB)“And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.”God had pledged to place His own Spirit within His people and make them obedient to His laws.
- Joel 2:28 (BSB)“And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”Joel likewise foretold a day when God would give His Spirit to all kinds of people.
- Acts 2:17 (BSB)“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”At Pentecost Peter declared that Joel’s promise of the poured-out Spirit was being fulfilled.
Theological
What ground does 39:29 give for God’s pledge no longer to hide His face from Israel?
Answer: He will pour out His own Spirit on Israel’s people
The restoration springs entirely from God: He will bring Jacob back from captivity, show mercy to all Israel, and be jealous for His holy name (39:25), gathering His people from their enemies’ lands without leaving one behind (39:27-28). The permanence of His favor is grounded in His gift of the Spirit: He will never again conceal His face, because He will pour out His Spirit upon Israel (39:29). This is the same sovereign regenerating gift promised in 36:27, where God’s indwelling Spirit causes His people to walk in His statutes, so that their faithfulness is the fruit of His grace rather than its ground. Joel likewise foresaw the outpouring of the Spirit (Joel 2:28), and Peter declared that promise fulfilled at Pentecost (Acts 2:17).
- Ezekiel 39:25 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Now I will restore Jacob from captivity and will have compassion on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for My holy name.”God announces a coming restoration, rooted in His mercy and His zeal for His name.
- Ezekiel 39:27-29 (BSB)“When I bring them back from the peoples and gather them out of the lands of their enemies, I will show My holiness in them in the sight of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God, when I regather them to their own land, not leaving any of them behind after their exile among the nations. And I will no longer hide My face from them, for I will pour out My Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.””God brings every exile home and grounds His lasting favor in the gift of His Spirit.
- Ezekiel 36:27 (BSB)“And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.”God had pledged to place His own Spirit within His people and make them obedient to His laws.
- Joel 2:28 (BSB)“And afterward, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”Joel likewise foretold a day when God would give His Spirit to all kinds of people.
- Acts 2:17 (BSB)“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”At Pentecost Peter declared that Joel’s promise of the poured-out Spirit was being fulfilled.
General
What do the people living in Israel’s cities do with the weapons left by Gog’s army (39:9-10)?
Answer: They burn them as fuel instead of cutting wood
After Gog’s defeat, the people of Israel’s cities go out and set fire to the shields, bows, arrows, clubs and spears the invaders left behind (39:9). There is so much that they need not collect wood from the fields or cut it in the forests, because the weapons serve as their fuel, and they plunder the very people who came to plunder them (39:10). The tools of war become ordinary firewood for a people at peace. The psalm praises God for ending wars by breaking bows and spears and setting shields ablaze (Psalm 46:9), and Hosea records God’s promise to remove bow, sword and battle from the land so His people can rest safely (Hosea 2:18).
- Ezekiel 39:9-10 (BSB)“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD.”Israel’s townspeople use the enemy’s weapons as firewood and take spoil from their would-be robbers.
- Psalm 46:9 (BSB)“He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.”The psalm pictures God ending war by destroying the weapons of battle.
- Hosea 2:18 (BSB)“On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and battle in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.”God promised to do away with weapons and warfare so His people could live without fear.
Theological
How do the inhabitants of Israel’s cities dispose of Gog’s abandoned weapons (39:9-10)?
Answer: They burn them as fuel instead of cutting wood
The citizens of Israel go out and set ablaze the invaders’ shields, bows, arrows, clubs and spears (39:9). The arsenal is so vast that it replaces wood from field and forest as their fuel, and the would-be plunderers are themselves plundered (39:10). The burning of the enemy’s weapons signals that the threat of war is ended by God’s hand, and that His people enjoy settled peace. The same image appears in the psalm that celebrates God breaking the bow, shattering the spear and burning the shields (Psalm 46:9), and in Hosea’s promise that God will abolish bow, sword and battle so His people may dwell in safety (Hosea 2:18).
- Ezekiel 39:9-10 (BSB)“Then those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out, kindle fires, and burn up the weapons—the bucklers and shields, the bows and arrows, the clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. They will not gather wood from the countryside or cut it from the forests, for they will use the weapons for fuel. They will loot those who looted them and plunder those who plundered them, declares the Lord GOD.”Israel’s townspeople use the enemy’s weapons as firewood and take spoil from their would-be robbers.
- Psalm 46:9 (BSB)“He makes wars to cease throughout the earth; He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; He burns the shields in the fire.”The psalm pictures God ending war by destroying the weapons of battle.
- Hosea 2:18 (BSB)“On that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that crawl on the ground. And I will abolish bow and sword and battle in the land, and will make them lie down in safety.”God promised to do away with weapons and warfare so His people could live without fear.