Ezekiel 37:7–14 (ESV) —
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. … 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. 14 And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
NOTE: At this point in history, the northern kingdom has been destroyed by Assyria and the southern kingdom, more recently, by Babylon. The nation is gone, and like many nations of that time, Aram, Tyre, Edom, and others, they are in the dustbin of history. But God says 'not so,' to Ezekiel. God was going to do the impossible and bring to life the nation and bring them back to the land of Israel. We could take the graves literally, and this can refer to the millennial kingdom, but another option is that the graves are being used as a symbolic reference to the destruction of Israel where the dead lie in many nations, in that case, it has been fulfilled already. Ezek 37:15-23 says it more clearly with two sticks, a much more obvious metaphor than graves since God can raise people from the dead. Although, 37:24 says David would rule over them, and that is clearly a reference to the millennial kingdom. I think both are true. The nation will be reestablished as it has been, true believers will be resurrected after the tribulation, and David will rule once again.
So what does it mean to us? Right now, God has brought the nation back from the dead. Right now, the world seems to be in agreement to destroy the nation. But that is not God's intent. At some point a peace treaty will be signed between the leader of the world (Gentiles) and the leader of Israel. That world leader is the antichrist. He will break his word after 42 months. And then in 42 more months, God will end his judgment upon the nations, to include Israel's initial rejection of the Messiah, and all Israel will be saved. And peace will reign for a thousand years.
We need to pray for Israel during these dark days -- they will get darker yet.
PONDER:
- How often do I pray for the nation of Israel's safety?
- How often do I pray for the salvation of Israel spiritually?
PRAYER: Protect the people who are called by your name. Open their eyes. Help them to see and understand that they rejected the Messiah, but you have not rejected them. Protect them, and bring them to Jesus.
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