Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 393
39:12–40:2
E ze k iel
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Gog’s Hordes. It will take seven months for the people of Israel to bury
the bodies and cleanse the land. Everyone in Israel will help, for it will be
a glorious victory for Israel when I demonstrate my glory on that day, says
the Sovereign Lord.
“After seven months, teams of men will be appointed to search the land
for skeletons to bury, so the land will be made clean again. Whenever
bones are found, a marker will be set up so the burial crews will take them
to be buried in the Valley of Gog’s Hordes. (There will be a town there
named Hamonah, which means ‘horde.’) And so the land will finally be
cleansed.
“And now, son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Call all the
birds and wild animals. Say to them: Gather together for my great sacri
ficial feast. Come from far and near to the mountains of Israel, and there
eat flesh and drink blood! Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood
of princes as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls—all fattened
animals from Bashan! Gorge yourselves with flesh until you are glutted;
drink blood until you are drunk. This is the sacrificial feast I have prepared
for you. Feast at my banquet table—feast on horses and chario teers, on
mighty men and all kinds of valiant warriors, says the Sovereign Lord.
“In this way, I will demonstrate my glory to the nations. Everyone will
see the punishment I have inflicted on them and the power of my fist when
I strike. And from that time on the people of Israel will know that I am the
Lord their God. The nations will then know why Israel was sent away to
exile—it was punishment for sin, for they were unfaithful to their God.
Therefore, I turned away from them and let their enemies destroy them. I
turned my face away and punished them because of their defilement and
their sins.
“So now, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will end the captiv
ity of my people; I will have mercy on all Israel, for I jealously guard my
holy reputation! They will accept responsibility for their past shame and
unfaithfulness after they come home to live in peace in their own land,
with no one to bother them. When I bring them home from the lands of
their enemies, I will display my holiness among them for all the nations
to see. Then my people will know that I am the Lord their God, because
I sent them away to exile and brought them home again. I will leave none
of my people behind. And I will never again turn my face from them, for I
will pour out my Spirit upon the people of Israel. I, the Sovereign Lord,
have spoken!”
On April 28, during the twenty-fifth year of our captivity—fourteen years
after the fall of Jerusalem—the Lord took hold of me. In a vision from
