The Mystery of Esau and Ephraim

Practically fragments of all the previous chapter are repeated in chapter 39, namely, Ezekiel 39:2-4,14-17. Comments on Gog, the chief (Rosh) prince of Meshech and Tubal continues. Meshech and Tubal; these are names believed by some to be associated with Russia; others Turkey. Meshech in Hebrew is Mosoch and the Muscovites are said to descend from Meshech.

Being brothers, Meschech is also closely associated with Tubal. Assyrian annals have them as Tabali and Mushki. The Russian city Tobolsk is said to derive from Tubal. Tbilisi is the Capital of the country of Georgia. A picture of a geographical area begins to be apparent with names associated with these tribes.

And here is the second opinion: the name Gog occurs only in connection with Magog, except in 1 Chronicles 5:4. In Numbers 24:7 it was translated as Gog” in the Samaritan and Septuagint version in place of Agag. It has been suggested that “Agag” was a dynastic name of the kings of Amalek, a grandson of Esau; just as Pharaoh was used as a dynastic name for the ancient Egyptians;

There shall come a man out of his seed, and he shall rule over many nations; and the kingdom of Gog shall be exalted, and his kingdom shall be increased. Numbers 24:7 (Septuagint)

And a third opinion says the countries of Gog and Magog, which they call Gug and Mungug; from hence came the Turks, even from Tartary; so some commentaries make Gog to be the general of the Ishmaelites or Turks. This land of Magog is the same with Cathaia or Scythia, that part of Tartary from whence the Turks came; Joel Richardson is of this opinion;

Ezekiel 39

¹ “Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog and say, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. — repeated from Ezekiel 38:3 to emphasise the prophecy of God’s judgement on Gog if he or his confederate doesn’t repent;

² And I will turn thee back and leave but a sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel; — I will lead thee and turn thee wheresoever I please: thou shalt not proceed any further than I shall permit thee, but shalt be driven back. And leave but a sixth part of thee; that is, 85 percent destroyed;

— or, as others render it, I will strike thee with six plagues, those mentioned in Ezekiel 38:22, namely, pestilence, blood (by the sword certainly), overflowing rain (or torrential rains), hailstones, fire, brimstone;

³ and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. — thy left hand; the hand for holding the bow, while the right fits the arrow to the string, and draws to shoot.

⁴ Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou and all thy forces and the people that are with thee. I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. — I will give thee to the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured: a great part of his army being slain, should not be buried,

— but be devoured by birds of prey, and savage beasts; such as eagles and vultures of the former sort, and lions, bears, wolves. These birds of prey and savage beasts are behaving as before, so this doesn’t sound like the Millennium.

— one scene about the peace and tranquility of the Millennium is given by Isaiah below:

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them” Isaiah 11:6.

⁵ Thou shalt fall upon the open field, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. — these are for those who hard-hearted and wouldn’t want to repent.

⁶ And I will send a fire on Magog and among them that dwell confidently in the isles; and they shall know that I am the Lord. — these are from Magog and those that dwell along the coastlands and islands and will also be called to repentence; “and they shall know that I am the Lord.”

— the Septuagint renders it, “I will send a fire on Gog,” and they shall know that I am the Lord: by his judgements executed upon them.

⁷ “‘So will I make My holy name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them pollute My holy name any more; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel. — and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: either the nations round about who before blasphemed it, saying that God was not able to deliver his people from such a potent enemy; but now they will not dare to speak any more after this manner.

⁸ Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God. This is the day whereof I have spoken. — God’s judgement is extended to “the isles” coastlines or seacoast to show that it should fall not only on Gog and his land, but on those who share Gog’s feelings of rebellion and opposition to his kingdom.

⁹ “‘And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall set on fire and burn the weapons, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the javelins and the spears; and they shall burn them with fire seven years,

— “seven years”~ some consider this may be very well taken in literally, and the meaning be, that so great will be the quantity of warlike weapons that will be found and gathered, that they will serve for fuel for the space of seven years.

¹⁰ so that they shall take no wood out of the field, neither cut down any out of the forests. For they shall burn the weapons with fire, and they shall despoil those that despoiled them, and rob those that robbed them, saith the Lord God. — the burning of these weapons implies that nothing belonging to the enemies should be left to pollute the land.

¹¹ “‘And it shall come to pass on that day that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passersby on the east of the sea; and it shall stop the noses of the passersby. And there shall they bury Gog and all his multitude; and they shall call it the Valley of Hamongog [that is, The multitude of Gog].

— at the “east of the sea,” that is, east of the Dead Sea, a place frightful in its physical character, and admonitory of past judgements; and there shall they bury Gog, and all his multitude; all his army, such of it as the fowls and beasts had not devoured, and the bones they had left.

¹² And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying them, that they may cleanse the land. — that they may cleanse the land: not only from priestly uncleanness, a place being unclean, but by the Levitical law, where dead carcasses, or the bones of dead men, lay;

¹³ Yea, all the people of the land shall bury them; and it shall be to them a day of renown the day that I shall be glorified, saith the Lord God. — cleansing the land from reproach as sin is an enemy every man should strive against.

¹⁴ And they shall separate out men for continual employment, passing through the land, to bury with the passersby those who remain upon the face of the earth to cleanse it. At the end of seven months shall they search. — after the end of seven months shall they search or begin a new search, as the Targum says;

— when seven months are ended, in which the people in general will be employed in burying the dead; these men before mentioned will be sent out into each part of the land, to search in caves, and dens and ditches; among thickets, thorns, and briers, where the slain may fall;

¹⁵ And the passersby who pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamongog. — or, till the buriers of the dead bury it in the valley of the multitude of Gog.

¹⁶ And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah [that is, The multitude]. Thus shall they cleanse the land.’ — thus shall they cleanse the land; the extremest defilement, according to Levitical law, was caused by a dead body or by human bones.

¹⁷ “And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God: Speak unto every feathered fowl and to every beast of the field: ‘Assemble yourselves and come. Gather yourselves on every side to My sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood.

— the Targum says, “draw near everywhere round about to the slain, which I slay for you with a great slaughter upon the mountains of Israel, and ye shall eat the flesh, and drink the blood.”

— “that ye may eat flesh and drink blood” maybe taken metaphorically; perhaps just “Gather from all sides for the sacrificial feast I am preparing for you, a magnificent sacrificial feast on the mountains of Israel.”

¹⁸ Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. — drink the blood of the princes; in these verses there is a curious mingling of the figurative and the literal; thus the “princes” are immediately explained by the mention of the various sacrificial animals;

¹⁹ And ye shall eat fat till ye be full and drink blood till ye be drunken of My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. — the Targum says, “of the flesh of the slain, which I have slain for you;”

²⁰ Thus ye shall be filled at My table with horses and chariots, with mighty men and with all men of war,’ saith the Lord God. — the Chabad Bible: “And you shall be sated on My table with horses and riders, mighty men and all warriors,” says the Lord God.

²¹ “And I will set My glory among the nations, and all the nations shall see My judgement that I have executed and My hand that I have laid upon them. — and all the nations, and there is no exception, shall see my judgement that I have executed,

— and my hand that I have laid upon them; his glory and greatness, his omniscience and omnipotence. Even the Chinese will come to realize he is the ShangDi (上帝) that they have some knowledge before, but that he has never fully revealed to them.

²² So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day and forward. — the depth of knowledge for the house of Israel increases as more experiences are accumulated; this time from God’s dealings with the Gentiles;

²³ And the nations shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity. Because they trespassed against Me, therefore hid I My face from them and gave them into the hand of their enemies; so fell they all by the sword. — here is the reconciliation between the full house of Israel and all the nations of the world, the full “70 nations” of the world under one Sovereign, one God! Hallelujah!

²⁴ According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid My face from them. — therefore hid I my face from them; took no notice of them, showed them no favour, took no care of them; disregarded their prayers and cries, and removed his presence from them, and all the tokens of it.

So the Targum says, “I caused my Shechaniah (or majesty) to remove from them.”

²⁵ “Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Now will I bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for My holy name — “the whole house of Israel” as the house of Jacob or the “two houses of Israel” as in Isaiah 8:14.

²⁶ after they have borne their shame and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against Me, when they dwelt safely in their land and none made them afraid. — after that they have borne their shame; and disgrace, among the nations where they are scattered; being captives, exiles, in distress and affliction, and under the manifest tokens of the divine wrath and vengeance: it may be rendered, “and they shall bear their shame.”

²⁷ When I have brought them back from the people and gathered them out of their enemies’ lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations, — and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; when they shall publicly repent of their sins, and seek the Lord their God, and embrace and profess him, and acknowledge that God has been righteous in dealing with them.

²⁸ then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, who caused them to be led into captivity among the nations. But I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there; — again, the depth of knowledge for the house of Israel increases as they experienced their own captivity when more experiences are accumulated; by their own experience and from God’s dealings with the Gentiles;

²⁹ neither will I hide My face any more from them, for I have poured out My Spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God.” — for I have poured out my Spirit upon the house of Israel; after such experiences God will no more depart from them, nor shall they depart from him;

— “Christians” will repent for their adoration and worship of the SUN and come to the full meaning of what full the Oracles of God are; and even the Jews will repent profusely for the One they had pierced; see Zechariah 12:10.

— “And in controversy they shall stand in judgement, and they shall judge it according to My judgements; and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all Mine assemblies, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths” Ezekiel 44:24;

— but how, one would ask? Well, earlier Ezekiel 38:22 has provided the answer: God will strike thee with six plagues; those mentioned, namely, pestilence, blood (by the sword certainly), overflowing rain, hailstones, fire and brimstone.

Ezekiel 40

What we have here in this chapter is a very detailed description of a magnificent physical Temple, somewhat loosely patterned after the Temple of Solomon, only much larger, complete with special living quarters for priests, and an elaborate system of animal sacrifices and other material offerings, along with the faithful observance of New Moons and Sabbaths, the whole picture rivaling the Book of Leviticus itself.

Maybe here is the start for the peace and tranquility of the Millennium?

¹ In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was smitten, on the selfsame day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me thither.

— in the beginning of the year; this is the month Abib, or Nisan, in which the Passover was celebrated; the tenth day of the month would be when the sacrificial lamb was selected;

— in the self-same day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and brought me hither; which is sometimes called the finger of God, or the power of God, this fell upon him, or was laid on him, and impressed his mind and soul; the Targum interprets “the hand of the Lord” the spirit of prophecy.

² In the visions of God brought He me into the land of Israel and set me upon a very high mountain, by which there was, as it were, the form of a city on the south. — by which was as the flame of a city on the south: the prophet in the vision, and as to his view of things coming from Babylon, which lay north of Judea, has a view of the south which is the city of Jerusalem and the Temple.

³ And He brought me thither, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate. — there was a man; one in human form; appearance of brass, a cherub? or the Son of God?

⁴ And the man said unto me, “Son of man, behold with thine eyes and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall show thee; for with the intent that I might show them unto thee art thou brought hither. Declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel.”

— behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears; look with both eyes, and hear with both ears; that is, look and hear attentively; for if persons only have a glance of anything or hear in a careless and indifferent manner, what they see and hear will make little impression upon them; nor will they retain, but soon forget them.

⁵ And behold, a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man’s hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by a cubit and a hand breadth. So he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed.

— the cubit is a cubit and a hand’s breadth; to which may be added, that such was the royal cubit at Babylon, where Ezekiel now was, “the royal cubit is larger by three fingers than that which was usually measured with, or the common cubit;”

— so the Targum paraphrases it, “and in the man’s hand measuring reeds, one of which was six cubits by a cubit, which is a cubit and a hand’s breadth” and this is confirmed by what is said in Ezekiel 43:13, “(the cubit being a cubit and a handbreadth)”

— the common cubit were eighteen inches, a foot and a half, or half a yard; 

— several modern translation have these measurements in feet and inches: an example is Voice, CSB, CEB, CJB, CEV, EXB, GW, GNT, etc:

— VOICE: I saw a wall surrounding the temple. The measuring reed in the man’s hand was about 10½ feet long. He measured the wall and found it to be about 10½ feet thick and 10½ feet high.

⁶ Then came he unto the gate which looketh toward the east, and went up the stairs thereof and measured the threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad, and the other threshold of the gate, which was one reed broad.

⁷ And every little chamber was one reed long and one reed broad; and between the little chambers were five cubits; and the threshold of the gate by the porch of the gate within was one reed.

⁸ He measured also the porch of the gate within, one reed.

⁹ Then measured he the porch of the gate, eight cubits; and the posts thereof, two cubits; and the porch of the gate was inward.

¹⁰ And the little chambers of the gate eastward were three on this side and three on that side; they three were of one measure, and the posts had one measure on this side and on that side.

¹¹ And he measured the breadth of the entry of the gate, ten cubits; and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits.

¹² The space also before the little chambers was one cubit on this side, and the space was one cubit on that side; and the little chambers were six cubits on this side and six cubits on that side.

¹³ He measured then the gate from the roof of one little chamber to the roof of another; the breadth was five and twenty cubits, door against door.

¹⁴ He made also posts of threescore cubits, even unto the post of the court round about the gate.

¹⁵ And from the face of the gate of the entrance unto the face of the porch of the inner gate were fifty cubits.

¹⁶ And there were narrow windows to the little chambers, and to their posts within the gate round about and likewise to the arches; and windows were round about within; and upon each post were palm trees.

¹⁷ Then he brought me into the outer court, and lo, there were chambers and a pavement made for the court round about; thirty chambers were upon the pavement.

¹⁸ And the pavement by the side of the gates over against the length of the gates was the lower pavement.

¹⁹ Then he measured the breadth from the forefront of the lower gate unto the forefront of the inner court from outside, a hundred cubits eastward and northward.

²⁰ And the gate of the outer court that looked toward the north, he measured the length thereof and the breadth thereof.

²¹ And the little chambers thereof were three on this side and three on that side; and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were the same measure as the first gate; the length thereof was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

²² And their windows and their arches and their palm trees were the same measure as the gate that looketh toward the east; and they went up unto it by seven steps, and the arches thereof were before them.

²³ And the gate of the inner court was opposite the gate toward the north and toward the east; and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits.

²⁴ After that he brought me toward the south, and behold, a gate toward the south; and he measured the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures.

²⁵ And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about like those windows; the length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

²⁶ And there were seven steps to go up to it, and the arches thereof were before them; and it had palm trees, one on this side and another on that side, upon the posts thereof.

²⁷ And there was a gate in the inner court toward the south; and he measured from gate to gate toward the south a hundred cubits.

²⁸ And he brought me to the inner court by the South Gate. And he measured the South Gate according to these measures,

²⁹ and the little chambers thereof and the posts thereof and the arches thereof according to these measures. And there were windows in it and in the arches thereof round about; it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.

³⁰ And the arches round about were five and twenty cubits long, and five cubits broad.

³¹ And the arches thereof were toward the outer court, and palm trees were upon the posts thereof; and the going up to it had eight steps. — and the going up to it had eight steps, for the inner court rose higher above the outer court than the latter did above the exterior.

³² And he brought me into the inner court toward the east; and he measured the gate according to these measures.

³³ And the little chambers thereof and the posts thereof and the arches thereof were according to these measures. And there were windows therein and in the arches thereof round about; it was fifty cubits long, and five and twenty cubits broad.

³⁴ And the arches thereof were toward the outer court; and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side and on that side; and the going up to it had eight steps. — it had eight steps, the symmetry of the entire structure thus being shown once more.

³⁵ And he brought me to the North Gate and measured it according to these measures

³⁶ the little chambers thereof, the posts thereof and the arches thereof, and the windows to it round about. The length was fifty cubits, and the breadth five and twenty cubits.

³⁷ And the posts thereof were toward the outer court, and palm trees were upon the posts thereof, on this side and on that side; and the going up to it had eight steps. — eight steps again! Eight signifies a new beginning.

³⁸ And the chambers and the entries thereof were by the posts of the gates, where they washed the burnt offering.

³⁹ And in the porch of the gate were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, to slay thereon the burnt offering and the sin offering and the trespass offering.

⁴⁰ And at the side outside, as one goeth up to the entry of the North Gate, were two tables; and on the other side, which was at the porch of the gate, were two tables.

⁴¹ Four tables were on this side and four tables on that side by the side of the gate, eight tables upon which they slew their sacrifices.

⁴² And the four tables were of hewn stone for the burnt offering, of a cubit and a half long and a cubit and a half broad and one cubit high, upon which also they laid the instruments wherewith they slew the burnt offering and the sacrifice. — burnt offering and animal sacrifices will be brought back into practice. Why brought these back for those who preached such nonsense: “Christ died and the ceremonial laws are therefore obsolete?”

⁴³ And within were hooks, a handbreadth wide, fastened round about; and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering.

⁴⁴ And outside the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the North Gate, and their prospect was toward the south, one at the side of the East Gate having the prospect toward the north.

— the chambers of the choristers: the chambers of the Levites who sing; whose duty and privilege it is to sing psalms, hymns and other songs.

— and outside the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, these two cells being immediately at the entrance of the court, which was at the side of the north gate, and their prospect was toward the south, that is, the one faced in that direction; one at the side of the east gate having the prospect toward the north, so that the two faced each other.

⁴⁵ And he said unto me, “This chamber whose prospect is toward the south is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the house.

⁴⁶ And the chamber whose prospect is toward the north is for the priests, the keepers of the charge of the altar; these are the sons of Zadok among the sons of Levi, who come near to the Lord to minister unto Him.”

⁴⁷ So he measured the court, a hundred cubits long and a hundred cubits broad, foursquare, and the altar that was before the house.

⁴⁸ And he brought me to the porch of the house and measured each post of the porch, five cubits on this side and five cubits on that side; and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side and three cubits on that side.

⁴⁹ The length of the porch was twenty cubits and the breadth eleven cubits; and he brought me by the steps by which they went up to it; and there were pillars by the posts, one on this side and another on that side. — all nine chapters 40-48 are devoted mainly to the Grand New Temple in Jerusalem; the City and the land allocation for each tribe following Israel’s return to the Promised Land.

— the Laws, statutes and both the weekly and annual Sabbaths will be brought back:

“And in controversy they shall stand in judgement, and they shall judge it according to My judgements; and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all Mine assemblies, and they shall hallow My Sabbaths,” Ezekiel 44:24.

And despite Ephraim being the birthright holder, the Lord chooses Judah to oversee His Temple ceremony and worship:

“Moreover He refused the tabernacle of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion which He loved,” Psalm 78:68-69.

This Ezekiel Temple and its courts will be five hundred cubits in length with five hundred in breadth: – “875 by 875 feet” — much enlarged compared to Solomon’s or Herod’s to reduce chances of stampedes during festivals when Jerusalem will be flooded by people from all the nations:

“Of this there shall be for the sanctuary five hundred in length with five hundred in breadth, square round about, and fifty cubits round about for the open places thereof,” Ezekiel 45:2.

Various forms of offerings and sacrifices will be reinstated:

“It shall be the prince’s duty to furnish the burnt offerings, grain offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the new moons, and the Sabbaths, all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel: he shall provide the sin offerings, grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement on behalf of the house of Israel,” Ezekiel 45:17.

And the Ephraimites, who had been stiffed-necked all along, will no longer be quarreling with Judah pertaining as to how many days to observe Passover, a composite feast of seven days where only the unleavened is to be eaten:

“‘In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the Passover, a feast of seven days. Unleavened bread shall be eaten,” Leviticus 45:21.

And about the Law, both written and case Laws:

Judah is My lawgiver, Psalm 108:8.

~ by Japheth on November 21, 2022.

Posted in Ezekiel