QT 9/13/2023 Ezek 37:15-22, God will fulfill prophecy

Ezekiel 37:15–22 (ESV) —

15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. 22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms.

 

NOTE: It is an interesting thing that while there are 12 sons of Jacob (Israel), there were 13 tribes. God took Levi as his possession, leaving 11 remaining tribes. But the tribe of Joseph was split into two tribes for his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. The result was that 12 tribes inherit the land, while Levi's possession is their relationship to God. When Israel split during the time of Rehoboam, Benjamin (nearly destroyed by all of Israel in Judges) went with Judah (also proximity favored it), and so Rachel's two children are one nation. The remaining ten tribes rally under Joseph's tribe Ephraim (the dominant tribe in the middle of the land). Consequently, there are multiple ways to view the two nations:

 

1. The Northern and Southern (Judah) Kingdom
2. Israel (most of the tribes (10), and Judah (which includes Benjamin)
3. Judah and Joseph (the two most influential of the brothers)
4. Rachel and all the other 3 mothers
5. Judah and Ephraim (the two dominant tribes)

 

Sin and arrogance split the nation. And Jeroboam, son of Nebat, further complicates things be creating two idols in the north and south of Israel, probably similar to the golden calf in the desert. But what man has torn in two, God promises to restore and make whole again. I believe this has and is happening right now in the land of Israel. There is no Samaria or two Jewish nations. There is one nation, still in rebellion to God, fighting for survival against the Arab nations.

 

PONDER:

1. While most of the nations in that region have disappeared or been replaced by another (Edom, Ammon, Philistines, Phoenicia, Aram, Persian, Medes, Assyria), Israel is regathered as Israel in the original lands. Do I believe God will fulfill the rest of his prophecies?

 

PRAYER: Father, forgive me for my sins against you in my thoughts and actions. You are in control of this world, even though man scoffs at you. Someday the scoffers will weep because they failed to believe your truth.