Commentary - Ezekiel 39:17-20

Bird's-eye view

Following the catastrophic defeat of Gog's armies, the Lord now issues a formal invitation to a great and terrible feast. This is not a feast for men, but for the birds of the air and the beasts of the field. The main course is the flesh of the mighty, the proud princes and warriors who dared to set themselves against the people of God. Ezekiel 39:17-20 is a picture of ultimate divine justice, a macabre and visceral depiction of total victory. God Himself prepares this sacrificial meal, turning the enemies' intended slaughter of Israel into their own ignominious end. This passage serves as a grim counterpoint to the glorious wedding supper of the Lamb. For those who reject the invitation to the marriage feast, this is the only other table God sets: a supper of judgment where the ungodly are not the guests, but the meal.

The imagery is stark and designed to communicate the absolute humiliation of God's enemies. Their power, their prestige, their military might, all of it is reduced to carrion for scavengers. This is the final answer to the boastful pride of man. The Lord of Hosts declares that He will be glorified, and He will use the very instruments of the wild to clean His land of the filth of rebellion, satisfying His justice completely.

Outline

Context In Ezekiel

These verses form the grisly climax to the prophecy against Gog of Magog in chapters 38 and 39. After God has supernaturally destroyed the invading hordes with pestilence, infighting, and fire from heaven, the aftermath is described. First, the sheer number of the dead is so great that it will take Israel seven months to bury the bodies and cleanse the land (Ezek. 39:11-16). This section, the invitation to the birds and beasts, runs parallel to that description. It is another way of illustrating the same point: the defeat of God's enemies will be so complete and so overwhelming that the normal processes of man are insufficient to deal with the carnage. God must summon the creatures of the wild to dispose of the bodies. This event is a "sacrifice," a word that frames the entire slaughter in theological terms. This is not merely a battle; it is a holy act of judgment executed by God upon those who defied Him.

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 17 “Now as for you, son of man, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Say to every kind of bird and to every beast of the field, “Gather and come, assemble from every side to My sacrifice which I am going to sacrifice for you, as a great sacrifice on the mountains of Israel, that you may eat flesh and drink blood.”’

The Lord addresses Ezekiel directly, commissioning him as the herald for this grim proclamation. The prophet is not to speak to kings or nations, but to the non-human creation. He is to summon "every kind of bird and to every beast of the field." This is a universal call to the scavengers. God is the one hosting this event. Notice the possessive: "My sacrifice." This is not an accident of war; it is a divinely ordained and executed judgment. The enemies of God thought they were coming to plunder, but they were actually marching to their appointed role as a sacrifice. The language of sacrifice is deliberate and potent. In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was an offering to God. Here, God Himself makes the offering, and the offering is the wicked. The purpose is explicit: "that you may eat flesh and drink blood." This is raw, elemental, and shocking. It strips away all the pomp and circumstance of the mighty and reduces them to their basic components, food for wild animals.

v. 18 “You will eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, as though they were rams, lambs, goats, and bulls, all of them fatlings of Bashan.”

Here the menu is specified. The guests will not be dining on common soldiers alone, but on "mighty men" and "princes of the earth." The very ones who held power, who commanded armies, who lived in luxury, are now the main course. The Lord then employs a stunning metaphor. These proud leaders are compared to the finest sacrificial animals: rams, lambs, goats, and bulls. And not just any livestock, but "fatlings of Bashan." Bashan was a region famous for its lush pastures and, consequently, its prime, well-fed cattle. The irony is thick. The enemies of God had fattened themselves on their pride, wealth, and power. They were, in effect, preparing themselves for this very slaughter. God sees their arrogance and worldly success as nothing more than a fattening for the day of judgment. Their earthly glory contributes only to the richness of this sacrificial feast.

v. 19 “So you will eat fat until you are satisfied and drink blood until you are drunk, from My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.”

The totality of the victory is emphasized here. This is not a meager meal. The scavengers will "eat fat until you are satisfied." They will gorge themselves. They will "drink blood until you are drunk." The imagery of drunkenness signifies an overabundance, a supply of carnage that exceeds all capacity. There is nothing left over. No one escapes. The justice of God is not partial; it is thorough. He repeats again that this is "My sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you," underlining His personal, sovereign agency in this entire affair. He is the priest, the altar is the mountains of Israel, and the sacrifice is the godless nations. The birds and beasts are the profane congregants invited to this anti-supper.

v. 20 “And you will be satisfied at My table with horses and charioteers, with mighty men and all the men of war,” declares Lord Yahweh.

The Lord calls the battlefield "My table." A table is a place of fellowship, provision, and satisfaction. Here, God's table is laden with the instruments of the enemy's pride. Not just the men, but their war-making capacity: "horses and charioteers." All the symbols of their worldly power are served up. This image is picked up almost verbatim in Revelation 19, where an angel summons the birds to the "great supper of God," to eat the flesh of kings, commanders, and mighty men. This is the final, declarative statement of God's victory. He is satisfied. His honor has been vindicated. The proud have been brought low, and their substance has become a feast that declares the glory and righteous judgment of the Lord Yahweh. When God sets a table for His enemies, this is what it looks like.

Application

We live in an age that is squeamish about divine judgment. We prefer a God who is endlessly accommodating and never brings out the carving knife. But the God of the Bible is the God of Ezekiel 39. He is a God of absolute justice, and His hatred of sin and rebellion is as fierce as His love for His people. This passage should, first, give tremendous comfort to the saints. The mighty men of our day, the princes of the earth who mock God and persecute His church, are nothing more than fatlings of Bashan. Their day is coming. Their power is temporary, and their end is to be a public spectacle of divine wrath. We are not to fear them, nor are we to envy them. Their pride is simply preparing them for the slaughter.

Second, this serves as a stark warning. There are only two tables set by God. One is the Lord's Table, the table of grace, where we feast on the body and blood of Christ by faith for our salvation. The other is this table, the table of judgment, where the rebellious are themselves the feast. There is no third option. To refuse the invitation to the wedding supper of the Lamb is to RSVP for the supper of the great God. The gospel call is therefore an urgent one. Flee from the wrath to come. Flee to Christ, who became a sacrifice for us, so that we would not become a sacrifice to God's righteous anger.

Finally, we should see in this a picture of the victory of the gospel. Christ, on the cross, defeated the ultimate Gog and Magog. He triumphed over sin and death. The ongoing advance of His kingdom in history is the progressive dismantling of all other rival kingdoms. While the final consummation of this feast awaits the end, the principle is at work now. Every idol that falls, every lie that is exposed, every tyrant who is humbled, is a taste of this great sacrificial supper. Our God reigns, and He will be satisfied at His table.