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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Ezekiel 39

God is sovereign over everything. He is the Ruler over not only His blessings, but also His curses. He uses whatever means He has ordained in order to accomplish His perfect purposes. When He speaks in the prior chapter of one symbolic leader of evil called “Gog” of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, it first seems that this may be another instance of the Lord using the nations (like Assyria and Babylon) to discipline His people. It is clear that the Lord is in charge of this wicked ruler, and that Gog’s time of waging war together with all his warrior host is surely appointed by God. By the end of Ezekiel 38 and as we move into chapter 39 it becomes very clear that the tables will be suddenly turned, and that the Lord will rescue His church and bring an overwhelming end-of-the-world kind of judgment against the world system and all who are in league with it, especially Satan and his horde on earth who lures others into the worship of some impressive Gog.

If it seems strange to adopt a visionary big-picture interpretation of these passages, if instead we are to approach these texts as laden with many secret semi-literal clues of future rulers and events set aside for intelligent interpreters to discover, I wonder if the horses mentioned in the earlier chapters are real horses. Is this Gog and his league of nations allied against Israel actually mounting a frightening offensive against a reconstituted Israel by coming through the desert on horses? Is there some other way of interpreting a detail like horses? It seems far more likely that the Lord is speaking through His prophet using the details that would have made sense in that day to talk about an amazing and marvelous New Covenant future. There will be a massive struggle between the world and the church throughout the entire New Covenant era. At times there will be specific individuals, institutions, nations, and religious movements that are very apt illustrations of what these passages are presenting in symbolic language. We will know whether a person is the real “Gog” by what comes of his evil efforts. If much of the church follows after him and then Christ returns, then we will know that that one was the real Gog! All the guessing in the world will not break this code, because it is an expressive vision, and not a treasure map that you need a magic decorder ring or some special glasses to read and understand. There are many figures throughout history that could have made very fine Gogs, but all this is not going to reach its culmination according to Gog’s will. It will all finally come to pass according to God’s will. When there is an amazingly widespread apostasy and the Lord returns and pushes the vile enemy out of the way forever, we will know that the real Gog finally came. On that day we will be much more interested in the truth that the real God has come. There is no profit that will come from guessing about Gogs as the centuries move forward.

The point of the wonderfully expressive language in these chapters is simple: God will certainly win, and all the enemies among men and angels will not be able to change that in the slightest. The defeat of the Lord’s enemies will ultimately be swift and complete. The struggle is quite intense and lengthy at present. The Lord is only waiting for His own appointed time, and then everything will happen completely according to His plan. Do you ever wonder whether something might go very wrong at the end of this all, and God will end up defeated? Do not wonder. That’s what this chapter is saying. The Lord can win with one Word.

The defeat of evil through the presence of the Lord is not a novel theme. God has spoken of this through earlier prophets. His victory will be massive. His people will be greatly blessed, all the frightening weapons of their enemies will make excellent firewood for a good long time. In other words, there will be perfect peace and security. The meek will inherit the earth.

The defeat of the enemy will be so full and complete that people will be discovering and burying their bones for months. The birds and the beasts will have quite a feast on the defeated foes. We will no longer live in unbelief and doubt. We will all know that the Lord is God, and that He is our God. God will restore the fortunes of His people. He will have mercy, and He will love His people with a perfect holy jealousy – meaning that they will know of His special love that permits no other husband or false god. He will pour out His Spirit upon His beloved Israel.

This has already begun to happen in the New Testament era. The Word has come. Our sins are forgiven. Our hope is secure. We have the down-payment of the Holy Spirit in the church. What glorious blessings are given to us through faith in Christ! The person without faith in the one Messiah who died on the cross for His beloved bride will find the blessings that we have now to be most unimpressive. It may seem to such a man to be just a lot of words. Where is the money? Where is the food? Where are the lands? Where is the power? To those who have eyes to see, we are already rich in Christ. He is already the best Bread for our souls. We have a secure deed through His blood to a land that we are convinced is more real than any estate that someone may lay claim to in this age. We even have been given the power to love and to pursue holiness in the fear of God. As great as these things are, we are overcome with a present joy because of the sure promise of what we have not yet received in full. We believe that the Word will come again. His victory will be more complete than we can imagine at present, and we are truly happy, for our Redeemer will not lose, and He will quickly rescue us from the deceptive clutches of the most impressive Gog.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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