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Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
This week, we continue what I think is a very timely journey together, which I’m calling “God’s Restored People Engage the Darkness with the HOPE of Jesus”. This is our third week and we’re going to spend this week looking at a very powerful statement from God. It’s actually staggering in its significance.
Here’s the statement: “Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show Myself HOLY through you, before their eyes.“
This historic statement is recorded for us in Ezekiel 36:23. It’s important that we understand where, when and why God said this, and it’s amazing how it fits so well in summer 2020!
Ezekiel is one of the great prophets of Israel. He was one of Israel’s priests (Ezekiel 1:3) and was taken from Jerusalem, as a war captive by King Nebuchadnezzar, either in his 605bc invasion of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:5-8), or the 597bc second invasion (2 Chronicles 36:9,10). We know that when King Nebuchadnezzar and the Bablylonian army finally destroyed Jerusalem and the great Temple in 586bc (2 Chronicles 36:15-20), Ezekiel had already, for some time, been living in exile in Babylon, and speaking/writing God’s messages to the exiles there.
Ezekiel lived the rest of his life in Babylon, as what we might today call a ‘prisoner of war’, but he knew his true identity and calling was a priest of God’s people, and so evidently he did all he could to speak God’s truth to the thousands of Hebrew captives, and serve them faithfully as a priest of God. For more than 20 years God spoke to and through Ezekiel as one of His great prophets to the Hebrews in exile, especially those in Babylon, which by the way, would be modern day Iraq. Ezekiel began speaking God’s messages in July 593bc. (Ezekiel 1:1)
Ezekiel 36 is a particularly powerful chapter of God’s word. The first 15 verses is a message of great future hope for the land of Israel. The land would one day be restored, by God, to fertility and peace, and the people of Israel would settle there once again. This was a radical prediction from God. You’ll remember the united country of Israel under the kingship of David and Solomon experienced civil war and divided into two kingdoms. (2 Kings 12) Israel, the northern 10 tribes with its capital in Samaria, and the southern kingdom Judah, two tribes and its capital in Jerusalem.
The northern kingdom was led by primarily evil Jewish kings who turned the people away from God. God sent several prophets to them like Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Micah and finally Isaiah, calling the people back to God and warning them of soon coming judgment. But they were ignored and sometimes imprisoned, and finally God removed His hand of protection and allowed the kingdom of Assyria, with Ninevah as its wicked capital, to conquer Israel in 722bc, and either kill or drag into captivity most of the Jews of the 10 northern tribes.
Prophets like Nahum, Zephaniah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk and finally Ezekiel warned the southern two tribes and the city of Jerusalem, but they too were largely ignored and finally after a third invasion, the Babylonian army destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple to the ground, in 586bc, either killing or dragging into captivity almost all of the Jews of the southern two tribes.
It is AFTER these events that Ezekiel is giving God’s message of future hope, found in Ezekiel 36. Notice verses 16-21 is God’s verdict and explanation of WHY He did not protect His city Jerusalem, His people the Jews, and His great Temple, from the destruction of the Babylonian army: “I dispersed them (God’s Jewish people) among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. And wherever they went among the nations they profaned My Holy Name… I had concern for My holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone.”
My friends this is extremely important to understand. I’ve shared it with you before. God has a predictable way of handling both His people Israel, and His people the Church of Jesus around the world. IF God’s people profane His holy name in their words, attitudes, decisions, conduct, FIRST God will warn them and if they do not respond He will REMOVE His hand of blessing. He then watches to see how His people respond. If nothing changes, God will warn again and REMOVE His hand of PROTECTION. God then watches again to see how His people respond.
If nothing changes, God warns a third time and IMPOSE His hand of DISCIPLINE. And finally, God will warn a fourth time and if nothing changes, God will impose His JUDGMENT. This cycle is repeated multiple times in the book of Judges, and here in the story of the nation of both kingdoms of Israel. It is important for God’s people all around the world, to discern where in that spectrum we are at any moment in history.
Finally please notice Ezekiel 36:22,23 and God’s promise that He was going to do some great things for His people who were in captivity, and thereby the whole world would recognize the greatness and holiness of Almighty God, the God of the Hebrews.
What was God going to do? Oh my… look at verse 24 “For I will take you out of the nations. I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.” Now watch this carefully my friends, for YOU have seen this miracle with your own eyes!
In 538bc God moved king Cyrus of the Persian kingdom, who had conquered the Babylonian kingdom, to issue an edict that ANY Jew in captivity was free to return and rebuild Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple!! It was a miracle, predicted by Jeremiah (Jeremiah 29:10) and discovered by the prophet Daniel who told king Cyrus about it (Daniel 9:2,3; Ezra 1)!! 42,360 Jews made that first pilgrimage back from captivity to Jerusalem to resettle there and rebuild (Ezra 2:64). That second great Temple was completed in Jerusalem in 515bc (Ezra 6:14-16) and it was dedicated with great fanfare!
This ‘second temple’ is the same Temple Jesus often entered with His disciples and others, but remember Jews were living under the iron fist of Roman domination. And in 70ad the Roman army did what the Babylonian army had done 650 years before, they destroyed Jerusalem and burned the Temple to the ground, and dispersed all the Jews from that city around the world.
Now watch carefully… from that day Jews around the world had no homeland. They settled where-ever they could find work and live in relative peace with the people of those nations… Until May 14, 1948, when Israel was again declared a Sovereign State and some of the original land of Israel was returned to the Jewish people!
On and since that date, God has been fulfilling Ezekiel 36:24 by bringing back to ancient, historic the land of Israel the Jewish people! This prophecy of Ezekiel, which had for nearly 2000 years seemed impossible, is being fulfilled right before our eyes! If you visit Israel today, you can walk the streets of ancient Jerusalem, with Jews all around you and even some Messianic Jews who have recognized Jesus as their long awaited Messiah! Oh my friends, celebrate that God is faithful to His promises! Amazing, remarkable prophecies of both Old and New Testaments of the Bible are being fulfilled IN OUR DAY!
May I invite you, my dear “Walking with Jesus” friends, to carefully, prayerfully read the rest of Ezekiel 36 and simply be amazed at the rest of God’s prophecy of what He is doing, and yet will do in the land of Israel, with His ancient chosen people, as He brings them back from around the world. I urge you to do as God has called us to do in Psalm 122:6 “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
And why is God fulfilling Ezekiel 36 in our day? We’ll look at that question more closely tomorrow, but listen to what God says… “Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted that which was desolate. I, the LORD have spoken, and I will do it…Then they will know that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 36:36-38)
By the way, here’s a link to a brief historical overview of how modern day Israel came back into existence:
https://www.
Oh God, we bow before You celebrating that You are the one and only eternal, holy God and You have watched over Your people Israel from the days of Abraham. You have fulfilled Your promises and we stand amazed at what You are doing in our day in that place, ancient and modern Israel, and around the world. May the Name of Jesus be honored in Israel today and may we, Your people O God, look closely at our nations and hear the words of Your prophets in our day!
Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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