Which Bible commentary do you trust for Ezekiel 38 & 39?
Bible commentary is often helpful. And this author certainly encourages the use of as many good Bible commentaries as a person can get one’s hands on. But far too many times the commentary is filled with erroneous interpretations on the part of the author. In the well-known Ezekiel 38 prophecy, we come across many such errors.
This is the famous “Gog and Magog prophecy.”
Current news update:
The nation of Turkey sits squarely in the center of this “end-of-days” prophetic puzzle. It is this writer’s opinion that a leader will arise from the Nation of Turkey and take on the role of ‘Gog.’ But I do not believe President Erdogan is that leader.
When most Bible students have trouble understanding a passage in scripture they often turn to a favorite Bible commentary. Turning to such sources gives the student access to learned scholars. Those scholars, after spending many years in study and training have developed advanced insight into the Words of God’s prophets and writers. And rightfully so, many students still lean on and trust the written commentaries from the scholars of the past centuries.
But can we trust that every word is as trustworthy as the Bible itself? Of course not. And in this study of chapters thirty-eight and thirty-nine of the Book of Ezekiel, we will find that most of the Bible commentaries on this passage are wrong.
In this article, I will present some of the opening comments of some of the most respected Bible scholars of the past two centuries. We will see their conclusions almost exclusively settle on the belief that the prophecy was intended as an allegory. Some commentators declare that the writer never intended the prophecy as literal. And they go on to explain how ridiculous it is to consider otherwise.
Much has changed in the world since most of these commentaries were written. The original writers would be shocked to find their opinions were obviously wrong.
It is a very clear and detailed prophecy of a future war centered in Israel. And much to the surprise of the Bible commentators of yesteryear, it will be literal.
So, for this article, we’ll take a look at what some of the most respected Bible commentators wrote as they tried to interpret this famous prophecy. Please follow the links in the headings. You’ll be able to read for yourself and then come to your own conclusions about their interpretations.
Matthew Henry’s Concise Bible Commentary
38:1-13 These events will be in the latter days. It is supposed these enemies will come together to invade the land of Judea, and God will defeat them. God not only sees who are now the enemies of his church, but he foresees who will be so, and lets them know by his word that he is against them; though they join together, the wicked shall not be unpunished.
My thoughts:
Among Bible students, the Matthew Henry Bible commentary is a very popular resource. But we find in its commentary on this prophetic passage, that it makes an error of judgment in regards to Israel. And it’s an error of interpretation that is made quite often in this work. The writer accepts that the reference to Israel in this passage should be considered a reference to the Church. This is a transfer of meaning that just can’t be justified by a careful reading and study of the text.
Matthew Henry published his Bible Commentary around the year 1706. The imaginations of Henry and most Bible commentators of his day had a significant blindspot. Many of them didn’t see the possibility of a literal Israel in the future. Allegorical interpretations of many Bible prophecies had become the norm. As we look at a few more examples we’ll see this was a common mistake.
https://thewritelife.tech/2019/03/27/ezekiel-warns-gog-the-false-christ/
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
The last conflict of the world with God, and the complete overthrow of the former. This section Ezekiel 38-39 refers to times subsequent to the restoration of Israel. As the Church (the true Israel) waxes stronger and stronger, more distant nations will come into collision and must be overthrown before the triumph is complete.
But in this prophecy, there is little distinction of one nation. It is a gathering together of the enemies of Yahweh to make their last effort and to be overthrown. The seer passes to the final struggle between Good and Evil, and the triumphant establishment of the divine rule. It is the same struggle which is depicted in the Book of Revelation and Zechariah 20:7-10, where John adopts words and phrases of Ezekiel.
My thoughts:
In the Barnes Notes Bible Commentary, the writer does see this as a future prophecy. But again, he places it into the category of a non-literal prophecy. It’s essentially a prophecy that paints a picture of the eventual triumph of good versus evil. The writer doesn’t see any distinct nations in the prophecy. And that’s surprising. Many of the nations mentioned by the prophet are clearly recognizable nation-states. We can point to them on a map of the world. But since some of the nations mentioned reference ancient historical names, the commentator apparently didn’t give enough time to researching their biblical meaning. And like Matthew Henry, this writer believes it’s an allegory that refers to the growing triumph of the Church.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
CHAPTER 38
Eze 38:1-23. The Assault of Gog, and God’s Judgment on Him.
The objections to a literal interpretation of the prophecy are…
The gross carnality of the representation of God’s dealings with His adversaries is inconsistent with Messianic times. It, therefore, requires a non-literal interpretation. The prophetical delineations of the divine principles of government are thrown into the familiar forms of Old Testament relations. The final triumph of Messiah’s truth over the most distant and barbarous nations is represented as a literal conflict on a gigantic scale, Israel being the battlefield, ending in the complete triumph of Israel’s anointed King, the Saviour of the world. It is a prophetical parable [Fairbairn].
My thoughts:
I can summarize these writers’ opinions in three words. “Don’t believe it!”
I left out an important part of the writer’s opening commentary in the section quoted above. Follow the link in the heading. There, you will discover six reasons they give for their opinions. It is their suggestion that the prophecy can’t be literally true. They go on to explain what they think it really means. The writers compiled this commentary in 1871, and it has been a top-selling series ever since. But they had the same non-literal interpretation that many scholars did for about 1500 centuries.
If you take a close look at the commentary, you’ll find some interesting short-sighted comments. They couldn’t imagine how enemy nations from so far away would attack Israel. Well, the writers didn’t envision planes, trains, and automobiles traveling at unimagined speeds. Nor did they consider the military forces that would have the ability to push a button and send explosives around the globe. They couldn’t imagine why so many nations would come to take spoils from land that essentially amounted to nothing. But the commentators didn’t envision the surprising wealth of the Jewish nation that has recently declared they may have found a cure for cancer.
Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers
Chapters 38 and 39 form one continuous prophecy, divided into four main parts by the renewed command to the prophet, “Son of man” (Ezekiel 38:1, Ezekiel 38:14, Ezekiel 39:1, Ezekiel 39:17), and these again into smaller divisions by the repetition of the form, “Thus saith the Lord” (Ezekiel 38:3, Ezekiel 38:10, Ezekiel 38:14, Ezekiel 38:17, Ezekiel 39:1, Ezekiel 39:5, Ezekiel 39:8, Ezekiel 39:10, Ezekiel 39:13, Ezekiel 39:17, Ezekiel 39:20, Ezekiel 39:25).
It’s just a parable?
The whole passage is to be looked upon as one sustained prophetic parable, in which vividness and force are given to the truth the prophet would set forth by the introduction of so many concrete details that one would be tempted to understand them literally, were it not that they carry within themselves the evidence that they were not so intended. The general meaning will be better understood after considering such obscurities as occur in the names mentioned and in the language used and is therefore deferred to the Excursus G at the end of this book. Meantime, the details of both chapters may be very rapidly examined.
My thoughts:
I find one of the comments hilarious. Ellicott gives away his bias with the comment. He makes note of the fact there are a lot of details in Ezekiel’s prophecy. I think that is a good thing. But he follows that with an odd interpretation. He says the numerous details might fool someone into taking the passage literally. And then he goes on to warn the reader against such a reading. And in those few words, he encapsulates an error commonly found in many Bible prophecy studies. That error of leaning on too much allegorical interpretation is a 1500-year-old mistake.
And the biggest allegory-not-literal mistake many commentators made was that concerning the Nation of Israel.
They didn’t expect God to restore them to the Promised Land. Now many Bible prophecy students have adjusted their interpretive model to favor a literal interpretation.
That’s a good change in the overall prophetic perspective.
Which Bible commentary do you trust to give you the right answers?
Or, do you trust any of them?
The Bible is the inspired Word of God. All of the Bible commentaries are opinions of men or women.
Jeremiah 31:31
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”
Acts 1:6
So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Hebrews 8:10
This is the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
The nation of Israel is the focus of these passages now and in the future.
https://thewritelife.tech/the-roman-road-to-salvation/
A good Bible commentary can be found in the Thompson Chain Reference Bible
The Antichrist will become a central figure in the prophecy of Gog and Magog.
Find out what the early Church Fathers believed about this mystery.
Let me know what you think.