Ezekiel 39:21-24 meaning

Ezekiel 39:21-24 widens the prophetic recognition formula, that the Lord will be known to two audiences: the nations see the LORD's hand in the defeat of Gog, and Israel understands from that day forward that the LORD is their God, while the nations also understand that Israel's earlier exile was the LORD's own judgment on His people for their iniquity, not evidence of His weakness.

The defeat of Gog is the LORD's revelation of Himself before all nations: "And I will set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them (v 21). I will set My glory among the nations (v 21) is the same result as in Ezekiel 38:16, 23: the nations see what the LORD has done and know who He is. "Glory" is the observed essence of something or someone. We can see this in 1 Corinthians 15:41, which notes that the moon and sun both have a glory, but their glory differs, because the essence of their being differs. When God executes judgment on Gog, the essence of His might will be seen by all, and His covenant relationship with Israel will also become manifest.

The judgment executed on Gog is public proof of God's righteous judgment and covenant protection of Israel. The statement My judgment which I have executed and My hand which I have laid on them (v 21) leaves no ambiguity about who brought the army down. From this point forward, Israel will understand that the LORD is their God: And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward (v 22).

The Hebrew word translated LORD is "Yahweh" and is the name God spoke to Moses when Moses asked Him for His name. As God says in Exodus 6:3, Abraham and the patriarchs did not know God by His name. "Yahweh" is rooted in "I AM"—God's essence is that of existence itself (Exodus 3:13-14). This makes sense given that He created all things (Colossians 1:16-17). The LORD is used as God's covenant name, and Israel will know Him and be in covenant with Him during the messianic kingdom.

Israel's knowledge of the LORD is sealed. From that day onward the house of Israel will know the LORD as their God (v 22)—a permanence that contrasts with the repeated cycles of obedience and rebellion recorded in Ezekiel's earlier chapters. During the messianic reign, death will be rare and peace will be the norm (Isaiah 60:20-25, 11:1-10). The same recognition formula that ran through the whole book as a goal (that Israel and the nations would know that I am the LORD) arrives here at its fulfillment for the nation of Israel as well as for the nations of the earth: The nations will know that the house of Israel went into exile for their iniquity because they acted treacherously against Me, and I hid My face from them; so I gave them into the hand of their adversaries, and all of them fell by the sword (v 23).

The nations' knowledge includes a specific piece of Israel's history: the exile was the LORD's judgment on His own people, not evidence that He was unable to protect them. I hid My face from them (v 23) names the withdrawal of the LORD's presence as the cause of the exile, not a failure of His power. A pattern in scripture is that when His people rebel, He gives them over to their desires (Romans 1:24, 26, 28).

As Ezekiel 16:37-38 states, God gave Israel over to the nations with whom they had committed spiritual and diplomatic adultery. The disobedient generations fell by the sword. They fell into the hand of their adversaries. They went into exile, all as prescribed in God's covenant/treaty with Israel. This exile was enforcement for the Israelites breaking their covenant vows and seeking pagan gods and the pagan cultures they represented of indulging self and exploiting others, rather than loving God and loving one another.

The same hiding of the face that Ezekiel 39:29 will reverse is here explained to the nations: the LORD gave Israel into exile by His own sovereign choice because of their treachery.

The verse confirms the measure of the judgment: According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I dealt with them, and I hid My face from them"' (v 24). The LORD dealt with Israel according to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions. The exile was proportional according to their transgressions, as the nation had agreed in their covenant/treaty (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). The second time the phrase I hid My face from them is spoken focuses on an explanation for the nations.

The hiding of God's face in Ezekiel 39:23-24 is offset in the next section, when Ezekiel 39:29 declares that the LORD will hide His face from Israel no longer. The messianic kingdom will be a time when harmony and covenant faithfulness is the permanent rule of the day.