Psalm 84

Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary Doorkeeper

DOORKEEPER Person guarding access to an important or restricted place. Temple doorkeeper was an important office in biblical times. The doorkeepers collected money from the people (2 Kings 22:4). Some Levites were designated doorkeepers (or “gatekeepers”) for the ark (1 Chron. 15:23–24). The Persian kings used eunuchs for doorkeepers (Esther 2:21). Women also served this function (John 18:16–17; Acts 12:13).

The Hebrew word underlying the translation “doorkeeper” in Ps. 84:10 (KJV, RSV, NIV) appears only once in the OT. The root idea is threshold. Thus some translations (NASB, REB, TEV) render the word “at the threshold” or some similar expression. The reference is to those waiting outside the temple either to beg alms or to seek admission. The thought of the verse is that it is better to be standing outside the temple than to be inside the tents of the wicked.

----------- vv. 1-9 - Gog’s great army coming out at God’s direction against God’s people who have been restored to the Promised Land.

​The ESV Study Bible Chapter 38Together with 38:2, 6, this passage depicts enemies coming against Israel from all sides: Meshech, Tubal, Gomer, and Beth-togarmah from the north (vv. 2, 6), and here Persia, Cush, and Put from the south.

​The ESV Study Bible Chapter 38The uttermost parts of the north seems to refer to enemies that will come from regions to the far north of Israel, without specifically identifying these enemies. This phrase (repeated in 38:15; 39:2) has led some interpreters to understand this as a prediction of a future attack against Israel by Russia (Russia is the country farthest north of Israel, and Moscow is directly north of Jerusalem). But others see it as a general prediction of invaders from the north (see note on 38:2). In other places in the OT, this phrase describes the place where God reigns () or where God will set his throne (), which would suggest a more symbolic interpretation of this oracle.

​God Strengthens: Ezekiel Simply Explained 2. His Warlike NatureThough Gog and his allies are a force to be reckoned with—the destruction caused will be breathtaking—God imposes limits. He places boundaries upon Gog’s powers. Mention is made of controlling Gog’s power in the same way as a fisherman might control a fish by using ‘hooks’ in its jaws (38:4).

vv. 10-13 - The reason for Gog’s invasion of the Promised land is spoil and plunder - a thought God will put into its mind. vv. 14-16 - God’s reason for bring Gog on his people - so that “the nations may know (him), when through (Gog), (God) vindicate(s) (his) holiness before their eyes,” (v. 16). vv. 17-23 - God’s wrath will be poured out on Gog in apocalyptic fashion so that his greatness and holiness will be known in the eyes of many nations. 39:1-6 - Gog will fall when it comes against Israel; stripped of its power and left as food for vultures. vv. 7-8 - God’s name will be made holy among his own people; certain because God has said it.

​The ESV Study Bible Chapter 39God’s opposition to Gog is reiterated as the invasion of Israel proceeds, only for Gog’s army to fall solely by the hand of God.

vv. 9-10 - Israel will be amply supplied by the spoils of her would-be conquerors. vv. 11-16 - The land shall be cleansed of Gog’s dead when the people bury the corpses for seven months. vv. 17-20 - The birds and beasts are summoned to the sacrificial feast of Gog’s dead, which includes horses and charioteers, mighty men and all kinds of warriors.

​The ESV Study Bible Chapter 39This grisly scene represents the wholesale inversion of what sacrifice intends, but God has inverted it. The slain of Gog’s army are carrion for scavengers, a banquet celebrating condemnation. In John’s vision of the end in , he sees an angel using this language and this imagery.

​The ESV Study Bible Chapter 39The sacrificial feast is depicted in .

vv. 21-24 - God’s glory is set among the nations; his judgment executed in their sight. Israel will know that YHWH is the Lord their God from the day forward, and the nations will know that God disciplined his people for their sins against him.

​The ESV Study Bible Chapter 39This absolute, unanswerable demonstration of God’s power serves as vindication before the nations. It also puts Israel’s exile into proper perspective. Their expulsion from their land was not because their God was incapable of preserving them. On the contrary, their treachery compelled God to hide his face (vv. 23, 24; cf. v. 29) from them, leaving them to the fate they deserved for their iniquity of turning against God (cf. ).

vv. 25-29 - The fortunes of Israel will be restored, their shame forgotten, their treachery against God no more when in his mercy and jealousy God brings all his people back to the Promised Land in peace having vindicated his holiness in the sight of many nations and promising to not hide his face from his people any longer when he pours his Spirit out on his people.

​The ESV Study Bible Chapter 39God’s promise (I will not hide my face) ensures that the abandonment reviewed in vv. 23–24 is consigned to the past (cf. ). As in , this final renewal coincides with the outpouring of my Spirit.

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​ ESVFor we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

​ ESVand will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.

​ ESVAnd we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

​ ESVWho shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

​God Strengthens: Ezekiel Simply Explained 1. God Is in ControlAbraham Kuyper once wrote, ‘If once the curtain were pulled back, and the spiritual world behind it came to view, it would expose to our spiritual vision a struggle so intense, so convulsive, sweeping everything within its range, that the fiercest battle ever fought on earth would seem, by comparison, a mere game. Not here, but up there—that is where the real conflict is waged.’

​God Strengthens: Ezekiel Simply Explained 2. A Period of Tribulation ForetoldThe passage indicates that we are to expect a period of tribulation at the end of history. It becomes clear that the battle in view here is one which other prophets have spoken about (38:17).To be sure, Gog has not been mentioned anywhere else among the prophets, but many had predicted danger coming from the north. Among them is Joel, who spoke of a ‘northern army’ sent against Israel but destroyed in the last battle (). Another passage which Ezekiel may be thinking of here is : ‘The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand.’ The ‘nation’ in view here is not specified, but represents Assyria (; ), and Babylon (; ; ). The non-specific nature of this prophecy is meant to convey a threat that the church can expect at any time, right up to and including the ‘Battle of Armageddon’ as represented in and 19. And in , following a description of the binding of Satan for a thousand years (understood to be the period of the New Testament right up until the advent of Christ), Satan is said to be ‘set free for a short time’ (). Both Old and New Testaments expect a period of tribulation to characterize the period prior to the end. Jeremiah speaks of a ‘time of trouble’, adding concerning the day, ‘None will be like it’ (). Daniel speaks of a ‘time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning’ (). And in the Olivet Discourse (), Jesus not only tells of the immediate destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 (), and further admits that the entire history of the church is to know tribulation (), but also warns that the church can expect a final tribulation—one which is anticipated by the destruction of Jerusalem: ‘For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equalled again …’ ().

; ; ,

​God Strengthens: Ezekiel Simply Explained SummaryFantastic, yet real, forces of evil are at work in our midst, seeking to destroy everything that God has made. The church, God’s supreme creation (), is currently under attack by the forces of darkness. Satan, now bound by a chain, is to be loosed ‘after many days’ (for a season, ). He is going to deceive the nations and gather them for battle. Compare , where the ‘kings of the whole world’ are gathered ‘for the battle on the great day of God Almighty’—the so-called ‘Battle of Armageddon’; or , with its description of the ten horn-kings in battle against the Lamb who is King of kings; or , where the ‘beast’ gathers ‘the kings of the earth and their armies’ to fight against the rider on the white horse. Ezekiel and John are depicting the same battle and it becomes clear that the language forbids us thinking of ‘Gog, from the land of Magog’ as any one nation or people. John’s description in is on an epic scale: ‘the nations in the four corners of the earth … In number they are like the sand on the seashore’ (vv. 7–8). It seems as though the true identity of Gog covers all ‘those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus’ who will ‘be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power’ (). We are led to expect from certain biblical passages that this battle is billed for the end of time. Satan will have one last attempt to overthrow Christ and his kingdom. The outcome, however, is certain. Jesus’ death ‘disarmed the powers and authorities …’ (). His resurrection and ascension were the proof of his victory. The end is sure: Satan and his minions are to be destroyed. Jesus will be Conqueror! Hallelujah!

​MacArthur Study Bible NASB CommentaryThe LXX used “Gog” to render names such as Agag () and Og (), possibly showing that though it was a proper name, it came to be used as a general title for an enemy of God’s people.

​MacArthur Study Bible NASB CommentaryThis refers to the general references to this time and the participants (cf. ; , ; ). Even Daniel () referred to this time at least 3 decades prior to . The nature of the question presupposes that the previous generalities are now being particularized in the person of Gog.

​MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary38:18–23 My fury will mount up. God’s patience will be exhausted with the repeated attempts to annihilate Israel since the “abomination” by Antichrist (; ), and He will employ a great earthquake in Israel; panic will seize the invading soldiers (v. 21) who will turn and use their weapons against one another (cf. , ). He will further decimate the ranks by pestilence, a deluge of rain, large hailstones, plus fire and brimstone. The descriptions here are identical to that of the last half of the 7 year tribulation in ; ; ; .

​MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary39:17–20 Speak to … bird and … beast. God’s word summons carrion birds and carnivorous animals to consume the fallen flesh as described in .

​MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary39:11–16 give Gog a burial ground. Israelites moving E from the Mediterranean, with the sea to their backs and the Jezreel Valley before them, bury bodies. Further, people in the whole land help in the interment, which consumes 7 months. The description fits the time after Christ’s Second Advent extending into the millennial era as those who go into His kingdom do the work (cf. ).

​MacArthur Study Bible NASB Commentary39:21–29 I will set My glory. God vanquishes Israel’s foes to show His glory so that His enemies and Israel will all know that He is the Lord (vv. 6, 22). This is Israel’s salvation spoken of in and .

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog Attacks Israel and is DestroyedDeuteronomy 28:49, from the days of the renewal of the Mosaic covenant in 1400 B.C., is another of the prophecies that alludes to. It says: “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.” In one sense, this kind of prophecy was fulfilled by both the Assyrian and the Babylonian invasions. In another sense, its ultimate fulfillment was to come only in the latter days, when, as the Book of Revelation de scribes it, all the powers opposed to God will be destroyed.

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog Attacks Israel and is DestroyedThere is nothing at the moment that we can do to win that coming great final battle since God will do the fighting for His people in that day, but there is plenty that we can do in light of it. We can be on the right side—the side that will win rather than lose. We can enlist as many others as possible to be on the right side so that they too may also be rescued in that day. And we can be obedient to the only final Victor, so that He will be pleased with the faithfulness that He finds on the part of His people. We, after all, are part of the “Israel” of whom the passage speaks ().

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog’s Attack Retold and Israel’s RestorationFor an army to fall on the open field (v. 5) means that it has been completely killed without survivors to carry the dead back home or even to bury the dead (cf. 37:1–14).

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog’s Attack Retold and Israel’s RestorationIn Old Testament times most shields were made of wood or oiled leather (cf. ), so it is not illogical that they too could be burned. This language is that of hyperbole—purposeful exaggeration for effect—and it gives a sense of how enormous Gog’s army is, thus suggesting how large are the numbers of those opposed to God in the world as compared to those who seek to honor Him.

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog’s Attack Retold and Israel’s RestorationThis valley will be named Hamon Gog, which means “Gog’s Multitude.” Such names were sometimes given to locations to commemorate an event so as to keep its lessons in peoples’ consciousness (cf. ).

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog’s Attack Retold and Israel’s RestorationInviting carrion-eating birds and other scavenging animals to come eat the flesh of Gog’s army (vv. 17–20) is a graphic way of emphasizing Gog’s demise.

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog’s Attack Retold and Israel’s RestorationThis closing reference to the Spirit of God connects the whole passage to the emphasis in chapters 36 and 37 on the Spirit and summarizes what Ezekiel’s prophecies really look forward to.

​The Preacher’s Commentary Series, Volume 20: Ezekiel Gog’s Attack Retold and Israel’s RestorationFar beyond any mere material restoration and far beyond any mass human warfare stands the matter of belonging to God forever—eternal life. That is what the presence or “face” of God (v. 29) pro vides. Israel may come back to a land they had been forcibly removed from, but more importantly they will come back, once and for all, to the God they had abandoned and to the purity they could never on their own hope to maintain. The new “house of Israel” will be that transformed and recreated people so frequently predicted by the prophets. This people will be made up of all those who will enter into heaven with the King of kings, and whose final inheritance is not an earthly but a heavenly one ().