Ezekiel 39.9-24-The Eight-Fold Result of the Lord Destroying the Russian Led Invasion of Israel (Doctrinal Bible Church in Huntsville, Alabama)

Doctrinal Bible Church

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Wednesday May 15, 2024

The Day of the Lord Series: Ezekiel 39:9-24-The Eight-Fold Result of the Lord Destroying the Russian Led Invasion of Israel

Lesson # 23

Pre-Trib Invasion of Israel by Russia and Her Allies (Ezek.38-39):

• Israel is populated by Jews and other people from many nations (Ezek. 38:8, 12).

• The Jews dwell securely (Ezek. 38:11, 14) but not peacefully.

• This view allows for the seven years (Ezek. 39:9) and seven months (Ezek. 39:12) interpretative difficulty.

This view doesn’t destroy the imminency of the rapture because this invasion comes after the rapture. (Something that must precede the seventieth week of Daniel is not the same as stating that it must precede the rapture unless it is further stated that the rapture begins the seventieth week.)

However, the act that begins the seventieth week is Antichrist’s treaty with Israel) (Dan. 9:27).

In Ezekiel 38:1-3, the name “Gog” is the title of the ruler and “chief prince” denotes that Gog is the leader of Magog while “Magog” signifies the land, which is composed of three parts, “Rosh, Meshech and Tubal,” all of which were located in an area that is now known as Russia.

The descendants of “Magog” include Russians, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Finns, Siberians, Yugoslavians, Croatians, Bosnians, Serbians, Slovenians, Slovakians, Bulgarians, Poles, and Czechs.

The descendants of “Meshech” include Muscovites, Lithuanians, Romanians whereas the descendants of “Tubal” include Georgians and Albanians.

Thus, Meshech and Tubal were located in area where several Russian Republics are located, namely Chechnya, Stavropol, Krasnodar, Dagestan, and Rostov as well as the country of Georgia located south of these Russian Republics and the Ukraine.

“Persia” was located in what is now known as Iran and “Cush” was located in what is now known as modern Ethiopia and Sudan.

“Put” was located in what is now known as modern Libya and “Gomer” was located in what is now known as modern Ukraine and Georgia, which are south of Russia.

“Beth Togarmah” was located in what is now known as Turkey.

Therefore, Ezekiel 38:1-6 reveals that Russia, (Rosh, Meshech and Tubal from the land of Magog), Georgia, and Ukraine (Gomer) and Turkey (Togarmah) will invade Israel from the north, Iran will come from the east, Ethiopia and Sudan from the south while Libya (Put) from the west, thus Israel will be surrounded.

Ezekiel 39:9-10 records the aftermath of the Lord destroying the invasion of Israel by a coalition of nations led by Russia in that it predicts that the weapons of this invading force will be burned for fuel for seven years.

Ezekiel 39:9 “‘Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. 10 They will not need to gather wood from the fields or cut it from the forests, because they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will plunder those who plundered them and loot those who looted them, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’ (NIV)

Notice that the prophet Ezekiel states that citizens of the nation of Israel in the aftermath of the destruction of the Russian led invasion of Israel will be using the Russian weapons as firewood.

It is interesting that some Russian produced weapons are manufactured with lignostone, a compressed wood product, which was developed in Holland to be used as fuel, however, the Russian weapon scientists found that this unique product was as strong as steel, light, pliable and invisible to radar.

These characteristics encouraged Russian military strategists to use this product in many military vehicles and weapons.

One of its characteristics is that it burns at very high temperatures and could be readily used as an alternative fuel.

The following is quote from Grant Jeffery’s book entitled “Armageddon” (page 105), which I think you will find interesting and illuminating regarding Russia’s intentions toward Israel: “In June of 1982, Israel responded to a PLO artillery bombardment of the villages of northern Galilee from a terrorist base in southern Lebanon. When the Israeli army entered Lebanon to destroy the PLO bases, they expected to uncover substantial arms depots. However, they were astonished at the staggering number of weapons, which Russia had stockpiled in tunnels carved out of rock by an amazing tunneling machine developed in the USSR. Reports from Lebanon stated that there were tanks, anti-tank missiles, and thousands of shells. Huge underground supply dumps contained hundreds of thousands of uniforms, AK-47 assault rifles and millions of rounds of ammunition. These figures are so incredible that I would not have been able to report them without verification. An Israeli colonel (Reserve) Yehuda Levi, who was the Israeli Defense Forces media spokesman during the events in Lebanon, was in a position to know firsthand about these captured Russian supplies. In a conversation I had with him in Vancouver, B.C. after those events, I asked him if the reports were correct. While of course, he would not give additional details, he agreed that the reports were substantially correct.”

Jeffery goes on to state on page 106, “The implications of these Soviet weapons in Lebanon are significant regarding the possible timing of this attack. The stored Russian military food rations had a shelf life of only 6 months, which indicates that the massive attack of Israel was planned for the fall of 1982! Israel’s ‘incursion’ obviously set back the planned invasion somewhat, but it is clear that the political-military decision to attack Israel and risk a major war with the West has already been taken. In the years since 1982, Russia has had ample time to restore the weapons ‘lost’ to Israel.”

Ezekiel 39:11-16 records that Israel will be burying the dead from the invading force for seven months.

Ezekiel 39:11 “‘On that day I will give Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of those who travel east of the Sea. It will block the way of travelers, because Gog and all his hordes will be buried there. So it will be called the Valley of Hamon Gog. 12 “‘For seven months the Israelites will be burying them in order to cleanse the land. 13 All the people of the land will bury them, and the day I display my glory will be a memorable day for them, declares the Sovereign Lord. 14 People will be continually employed in cleansing the land. They will spread out across the land and, along with others, they will bury any bodies that are lying on the ground. “‘After the seven months they will carry out a more detailed search. 15 As they go through the land, anyone who sees a human bone will leave a marker beside it until the gravediggers bury it in the Valley of Hamon Gog, 16 near a town called Hamonah. And so they will cleanse the land.’” (NIV)

In Ezekiel 39:17-20, we have the Lord inviting the bird and animal kingdom to a banquet.

Ezekiel 39:17 “Son of man, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Call out to every kind of bird and all the wild animals: ‘Assemble and come together from all around to the sacrifice I am preparing for you, the great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel. There you will eat flesh and drink blood. 18 You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth as if they were rams and lambs, goats and bulls—all of them fattened animals from Bashan. 19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. 20 At my table you will eat your fill of horses and riders, mighty men and soldiers of every kind,’ declares the Sovereign Lord. 21 “I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay on them. (NIV)

This imagery of foreign armies being given as food to the birds and beasts of the field appears in other passages of Scripture: (1) Pharaoh’s Egypt (Ezek. 29:1-6); Antichrist and the Tribulation armies (Rev. 19:17-21).

Ezekiel 39:21 “I will display my glory among the nations, and all the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the hand I lay on them. 22 From that day forward the people of Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.” (NIV)

Ezekiel 39:21-24 reveals that eight things will result from the Lord destroying this Russian invasion of Israel.

(1) It will vindicate God’s holiness and magnify Him among the nations by judging Gog’s willful pride. (2) It will glorify the Lord in the nation of Israel. (3) It will clarify as to why the Lord disciplined the nation of Israel by expelling them from the land for centuries and dispersing them throughout the nations of the world. Israel failed and not the Lord. (4) It will bring glory to His Holy Person. (5) It will be a magnificent display of the Lord’s concern for His reputation among the nations. (6) It will result in the regeneration of Israel. (7) It will result in their trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for security and deliverance. (8) It will result in the Lord being set apart as sovereign over the nations through His restoration of the nation of Israel.