Ezekiel 39:9-10 describes the size of the army of Israel's enemies by numbering how long it will take to burn its tools of war. Gog (Israel's enemy) will be defeated and all the weapons it brought will be used as firewood for seven years. There will be no reason to chop down trees or gather brush for burning; the weapons of the defeated enemy will be so plentiful that it will take seven years to exhaust its supply.
Ezekiel 39:9-10 describes the aftermath of the battle in terms of scale: the people of Israel spend seven years burning the weapons left by the destroyed army, and they plunder those who came to plunder them, so that the complete reversal of Gog's ambition becomes visible in daily life: Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them (v 9).
A lengthy inventory of discarded weapons remains: shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears (v 9). These weapons will serve no further purpose than to be fuel for fires. The people of Israel's cities spend seven years burning them, a duration that displays just how great this defeat was. Seven years to destroy the remains of a battle is a long time, implying an enormous quantity of weapons. The weapons Gog assembled for conquest are repurposed entirely, converted into firewood by the people they were meant to kill.
That it takes seven years to consume these weapons could fit the Revelation 20 Gog and Magog prophecy as well as the end of the "great tribulation." The seven years to gather the fuel and weapons could be the first seven years of the messianic era. This could be a time when these spoils of war are gathered and used or repurposed. During the messianic reign, peace will fill the earth, so weapons will be repurposed for commercial application (Isaiah 2:4).
The "great tribulation" spoken of by Jesus is a period of three-and-a-half years. The last seven years of Daniel's prophecy of a period of seventy sevens will be the final phase of the current era's history prior to Jesus's return to earth. That seven-year period begins with a treaty between Israel and the beast (Daniel 9:27).
What Jesus called a time of "great tribulation" begins in the "middle of the week" or three-and-a-half years from the beginning of the seven-year period (Matthew 24:21). This three-and-a-half-year period is variously referred to as 1260 days, "time and times and half a time" and 42 months in scripture (Revelation 11:2, 3, 12:6, 14, 13:5, Daniel 7:25, 12:7). This cannot be the same seven years as in Ezekiel 39:9. But the Ezekiel seven years could follow the end of Daniel's seven years. The massive nature of the spoils indicate the massive size of the assembled army that invades Israel: "They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them," declares the Lord GOD (v 10).
The abundance of captured weaponry replaces the normal gathering of firewood, or fuel. There will be no need to harvest wood from typical locations, such as the field or the forests, because a stockpile of burnable wood is readily available at the site of Gog's defeat, seven-years worth.
The reversal announced here matches the ambition exposed in Ezekiel 38:12-13: Gog came to capture spoil and to seizeplunder, and the people he targeted become the ones who take the spoil and seize the plunder. The seven years to recycle the arms and supplies of the invading army depicts the massive force assembled by Gog the same way the seven months of burial of the dead in Ezekiel 39:11-16 depicts Gog’s defeat from a different angle.
Ezekiel 39:9-10
9 “Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them.
10 “They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them,” declares the Lord God.
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Ezekiel 39:9-10 meaning
Ezekiel 39:9-10 describes the aftermath of the battle in terms of scale: the people of Israel spend seven years burning the weapons left by the destroyed army, and they plunder those who came to plunder them, so that the complete reversal of Gog's ambition becomes visible in daily life: Then those who inhabit the cities of Israel will go out and make fires with the weapons and burn them, both shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears, and for seven years they will make fires of them (v 9).
A lengthy inventory of discarded weapons remains: shields and bucklers, bows and arrows, war clubs and spears (v 9). These weapons will serve no further purpose than to be fuel for fires. The people of Israel's cities spend seven years burning them, a duration that displays just how great this defeat was. Seven years to destroy the remains of a battle is a long time, implying an enormous quantity of weapons. The weapons Gog assembled for conquest are repurposed entirely, converted into firewood by the people they were meant to kill.
That it takes seven years to consume these weapons could fit the Revelation 20 Gog and Magog prophecy as well as the end of the "great tribulation." The seven years to gather the fuel and weapons could be the first seven years of the messianic era. This could be a time when these spoils of war are gathered and used or repurposed. During the messianic reign, peace will fill the earth, so weapons will be repurposed for commercial application (Isaiah 2:4).
The "great tribulation" spoken of by Jesus is a period of three-and-a-half years. The last seven years of Daniel's prophecy of a period of seventy sevens will be the final phase of the current era's history prior to Jesus's return to earth. That seven-year period begins with a treaty between Israel and the beast (Daniel 9:27).
What Jesus called a time of "great tribulation" begins in the "middle of the week" or three-and-a-half years from the beginning of the seven-year period (Matthew 24:21). This three-and-a-half-year period is variously referred to as 1260 days, "time and times and half a time" and 42 months in scripture (Revelation 11:2, 3, 12:6, 14, 13:5, Daniel 7:25, 12:7). This cannot be the same seven years as in Ezekiel 39:9. But the Ezekiel seven years could follow the end of Daniel's seven years. The massive nature of the spoils indicate the massive size of the assembled army that invades Israel: "They will not take wood from the field or gather firewood from the forests, for they will make fires with the weapons; and they will take the spoil of those who despoiled them and seize the plunder of those who plundered them," declares the Lord GOD (v 10).
The abundance of captured weaponry replaces the normal gathering of firewood, or fuel. There will be no need to harvest wood from typical locations, such as the field or the forests, because a stockpile of burnable wood is readily available at the site of Gog's defeat, seven-years worth.
The reversal announced here matches the ambition exposed in Ezekiel 38:12-13: Gog came to capture spoil and to seize plunder, and the people he targeted become the ones who take the spoil and seize the plunder. The seven years to recycle the arms and supplies of the invading army depicts the massive force assembled by Gog the same way the seven months of burial of the dead in Ezekiel 39:11-16 depicts Gog’s defeat from a different angle.