Then those who live in the towns of Israel will go out and use the weapons for fuel and burn them up—the small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war clubs and spears. For seven years they will use them for fuel. – Ezekiel 39:9

Today's Scripture Reading (July 11, 2020): Ezekiel 39

It is a post-apocalyptic vision of the world. After the final battle, the survivors scrounge from what is left over to live. Objects are found and given new uses. And fuel is scrounged only to be bought and sold at a premium. It is a harsh reality where those who can scrounge enough, live, and those who can't die. Nothing is the same as what it used to be. Everything is new, and everything is terrible.

It is this image that Ezekiel intends to give to his readers. The world has ended; all that is left is the remnant living in the hills of Israel and other remote places of the earth. Gog has come with his army intending to destroy. He came with overwhelming force and weaponry, knowing that his victory was assured, and instead was defeated. Both the leader and his men meet their end in the hills of Israel.

But there is also a change in behavior here. Typically, weapons would be collected and placed in arsenals, ready to be distributed during the next battle. The purpose of this was two-fold. First, the attacker is deprived of the weapons they need to defeat the defenders. By taking the weapons off of the battlefield, the attackers are not given the opportunity to regroup and gather for another attack. Not only do the rank and file of the army have to be repopulated, but the weaponry would have to be rebuilt. But even more importantly, these weapons were now available for the defense of the land. These weapons of the oppressors could now be turned back on the ones attacking the nation. The defenders were strengthened by the weaponry gained from the defeated invaders.

Ezekiel argues after the days of Gog, the weapons will not be placed in the arsenal of the nation, but will instead be dismantled and burned for fuel. The implication is that after the destruction of Gog and his army, there will be no more need for weapons. After that war, weapons would become obsolete. The comment that for seven years, the arms of Gog and his allies would be burned as fuel speaks to the vast amount of weaponry left behind after the battle. There were enough weapons to burn that the land was given time to recover before it, once again, be asked to provide fuel for the people.

Ezekiel's words are also an echo of the prophecies spoken by both Isaiah and Micah a century and a half earlier. But the phrasing of both Isaiah and Micah argues that in the last days, God will establish his kingdom on the earth.

He will judge between the nations
    and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
    nor will they train for war anymore (Isaiah 2:4; see also Micah 4:3).

The weapons of the enemy could be disassembled and destroyed, because in those days, weapons would no longer be needed and the conflicts of the human race would be solved in more peaceful ways.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Daniel 3