Ezekiel 39:12-13

It would take seven months to bury all the corpses and so clean up this valley (cf. Leviticus 5:2; Leviticus 21:1; Deuteronomy 21:1-9). Taylor assumed that the recurrence of the number seven is a sure sign that we are not to interpret this prediction literally. [Note: Taylor, pp. 247-48.] But because seven has symbolic significance some places in Scripture does not rule out its literal meaning in others. All the Israelites would get involved in burying the corpses, and this would receive worldwide attention and result in glory for God.