Ezekiel

Ezekiel Chapter 37

• Ezekiel 37:1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, 
• 2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. 
• 3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. 
• 4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. 

Although God is the God of the literal resurrection from the dead that we will see in the latter days, this is referring to something else. I don't want to take away from the fact though that God can literally raise an army from dead bones. There are two main resurrections in the last days. The 1st resurrection are those that die in the Lord or are saved. The 2nd resurrection are those that are raised to face the white throne judgment after the 1000 year reign of Christ reaches an end and rebellion is allowed to occur for a short season as one final test for all mankind to see if they prefer a righteous ruler or an evil one. 

This passage though is not what is referred to as the literal resurrection although this one is a miracle in itself. 

• Ezekiel 37:5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: 
• 6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 

As God was the original creator, this can literally happen and it will at one point in the future but again this is teaching us something about Israel. 

• Ezekiel 37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. 
• 8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. 
• 9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. 
• 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army. 
• 11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

The bible will interpret itself if we let it. Here is the plain and simple interpretation. These dry bones are the house of Israel. 

Before 1948 and many times throughout history Israel felt that they were cut off, dried up and hopeless. Here we see a prophesy that was fulfilled many times. The fulfillment closer to our time is 1948 when the nation of Israel was reborn. It will be fulfilled in full during the last week we call Daniel's 70th week, the time of Jacob's trouble or the 7 year tribulation period just before the 2nd return of Jesus Christ. 

• Ezekiel 37:12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 

The first re-gathering was after the 70 year captivity of Babylon. They were scattered again in 70 AD after they rejected Jesus Christ and their nation was destroyed by the Romans. In 1948, they came back again into their land thanks to the help of Harry Truman and other nations that God had stirred up their hearts to fulfill His will for Israel. 

More will be gathered in that land but the last final battle against enemies that will attempt to take their land away again will occur just before and climax at the end of the tribulation. Jesus returns just in time to keep them from being destroyed completely. Jesus then will gather together all Israel that are still scattered all over the world at that time. 

• Ezekiel 37:13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, 
• 14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD. 

Although again this passage refers to the latter day restoration of Israel the literal resurrection will also occur in latter times. 

Israel will also have a spiritual resurrection when the Holy Spirit will be poured out upon them. The prophet Joel speaks of this. It begun on the day of Pentecost but there is a latter day fulfillment both in the early 1900s and during the tribulation. 

The late 1800s and the early 1900s was mostly a latter day outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Gentile church. 

• Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 
• 16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions: 
• 17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand. 

We see here all the tribes becoming one tribe or united as the nation of Israel. There will be no more division like we saw after the death of Solomon. 

• Ezekiel 37:18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these? 
• 19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. 
• 20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
• 21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 

We see only a partial fulfillment at this time but what a day that will be when all Israel shall be united and gathered together in the latter days. 

• Ezekiel 37:22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: 
• 23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. 

Now we see a spiritual fulfillment as well as literal Israel being gathered in the land that God promised to Abraham. 

The cleansing of sin has been their stumbling block that has kept them from receiving all their land up to this day. They just are so stubborn that they cannot see that they need to be cleansed from sin. They need a savior to save them from sin. No person can enter the kingdom of God without this savior. This is what has caused Israel's troubles since the beginning of their existence. SIN. 

This is the cause of all human suffering since the beginning of time. SIN. If we would only repent and turn to God, we could be saved. He even sent one from heaven to help us see that we can be free from sin and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Rejecting this good way leaves us in sin and facing eternity without God. 

• Ezekiel 37:24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. 

David himself is to be resurrected and serve as king over Israel under Jesus Christ. Some believe Jesus is the one referred to here who is also known as the son of David by His earthly lineage.

• Ezekiel 37:25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever. 

God said this, not me. All leaders of all countries, nations and kingdoms must realize that the land God promised to Abraham will belong to Israel. There is nothing anyone can do about it. 

• Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. 

This has been God's plan all along. He chose Israel for this purpose. He has always wanted to dwell with them and with all His creation. That is why He sent Jesus to reconcile all people to Himself. 

In order for us to be reconciled though we have to get rid of the thing that is separating us from a Holy God and that thing is sin. We cannot get rid of sin by ourselves so we need something to cleanse us from all sin and then we can be reconciled back to God. The blood of animals pointed to that one but the blood of animals could not take away our sins. Only the blood of the sinless Son of God could accomplish this. 

So we can receive God's presence in us as Gentiles by believing on Jesus and being cleansed from sin. The Jews also have to come this same way to be cleansed from sin and reconciled to God. Sin cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

Gentile believers become adopted into the Israel. We never replace them. We are grafted into the original vine. This dry bone passage never refers to the church but we can apply it to the church. In using Old Testament stories for the church we must remember to always apply not replace. They mainly concern Israel but in some instances the same message given to Israel can apply in a spiritual sense to the church.

Many use these passages in a spiritual sense to apply to a dead church being revived and on fire for God. As God can revive Israel, He can revive a dead church as long as just two or three prayer warriors begin to fast and pray to see revival. 

• Ezekiel 37:27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 
• 28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore. 

To all those people who think of Israel as the scum of the earth, God will show us all that they are still His chosen people. He has never forgotten His promise to Abraham. 

Actually the doctrine of predestination applies to the nation of Israel not to individuals being predestined to salvation and some being predestined to hell. It is true that it is God's will for all to be saved eternally but we still have our free will as individuals. It is Israel that is predestined to the plan of God. That doesn't mean that every individual Jew is predestined to be saved. If they reject Jesus they will be just as lost as a Gentile who rejects Jesus. 

It is the nation as a whole that is predestined to inherit the kingdom and have God's literal presence dwelling with them. We can be part of that if we come by way of Jesus Christ and turn from sin. God is a righteous, fair and holy God. He made a way for Jews and Gentiles to be saved as individuals. If our whole nation rejects Christ, we still can be saved as individuals. If our whole family rejects Christ, we still can be saved as an individual. By trusting in Jesus Christ and repenting of sin, we can be saved and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit that will dwell within us.

Ezekiel Chapter 38 

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