QT 9/11/2023 Ezek 36:24-32, What am I doing now?

Ezekiel 36:24–32 (ESV) —

24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

 

NOTE: I believe this passage is multi-staged. It is about Israel, not about the church. The Assyrians and then the Babylonians took Israel from its land. The Medo-Persians restored them in the time of Nehemiah and Ezra. The Romans dispersed them again in AD 70. This last regathering is in verse 24. It does not say that they will come in belief, although they will come to belief. This is not the church, although it is similar. I believe this is the recent regathering, 1948, and I believe the new hearts will occur at the end of the tribulation. I also believe that the abundance of the nation occurs during the millennial kingdom. The church is involved, even today, as a witness to individual Jews, many who become part of the Church and leave at the rapture, but also many who witness to their families before being raptured. Those unbelievers, among the Jews, will come to faith in the tribulation period and will be those who carry the gospel as one last final testimony to the unbelieving world as it faces God's judgment. Ultimately, all Israel, in the final days and in their shame, will call out for Jesus to save them.

 

PONDER:

1. What am I doing to be an effective witness to those who will remain during the tribulation period?

 

PRAYER: Father, my witness could be life or death to those who do not know you in the tribulation period. I need to use each day to be that witness for Jesus. Help me to train the men that you have given me to know and to serve you and to witness for you.