Click above to watch video.
OR
Click below to play audio and read along.
Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends on this Wednesday,
No matter where you live in the world today, I wonder if you consider yourself blessed by God and living in a time of bounty in your life journey? My father is 98 years old and sometimes he and I talk about what life was like when he was a young boy in the 1930’s in America! If you know history, all I need to say is these words… ‘The Great Depression’. Oh my, how life in most of America is so vastly different today than it was in those days!
But perhaps you live in a part of our world today suffering from famine, or great damage due to horrific regional warfare, or corruption in government, or major natural disasters. Come with me again back in time about 2600 years and let’s rejoin the prophet Ezekiel as he is bringing a message from God to Jewish captives scattered throughout what we call today the ‘middle east’.
The land of Israel was at that time largely ravaged by decades of warfare and mostly abandoned by the Israelites who had been dragged off as captives of war. Yesterday we listened as Mr. Ezekiel challenged both the people of his day and us today with the idea that each of us is daily building a personal reputation that either honors God with our lives or profanes His holy Name!
We also saw in Ezekiel 36:24-27 God’s remarkable promise of transformation that He would work in the lives of His people, and we personalized that with what is available to us in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)
Now today let’s look at the next part of this great message in Ezekiel 36 for God was promising to captives in exile that He would bring them back to their homeland Israel and once again pour out His great blessing upon the land and it would be bountiful: “You will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people and I will be your God. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and crops of the fields, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine…” (Ezek. 36:28-30)
If you’ve ever visited the land of Israel, you know the miracle of God there in our time! Remarkable water management, technology, and amazing advances in cutting edge agriculture, has turned the rocky soil and arid conditions to be an amazingly productive, fruitful land, actually producing enough food so excess can be exported, even to surrounding Arab nations!
I’ve seen it with my own eyes… huge fields of fresh vegetables, banana plantations, avocado groves, and so much more! Even down south in the arid region near the Gaza strip, thousands of Gazans were employed by Israeli farmers in highly productive farming Kibbutz communities which came under attack on October 7th, 2023. Oh yes, this promise of Ezekiel 36 has been realized in our generation in Israel, perhaps unlike any other time in history!
Now look with me as God’s message to Ezekiel took another turn, from agricultural blessing to a deep inward focus: “Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices…” (Ezek. 36:31) It’s one of the most powerful statements in the entire Bible.
By God’s design of the human soul, the combination of our clear memory filtered through our innate sense of moral right and wrong often yields a strong sense of shame or guilt for past evil behavior. In that place, at that moment, a spiritual battle rages.
The dark kingdom tempts us to blame others, or rationalize our wickedness, or pass it off as no big deal and simply try to bury the guilt and the shame, and move on in life. Eph. 4:17-19 is a New Testament picture of that! However, the Holy Spirit of God convicts us with the objective of drawing us to confession of our sin before God and repentance, turning from our wickedness to God, seeking His forgiveness and restoration in relationship with Him and His Holiness! (1 John 1:9)
It has been amazing to me how those same words in Ezekiel 36:31 can either lead a person to hard hearted rejection of God and willfully continue to sin; OR humble repentance and forgiveness, then experiencing the wonder of a glorious restoration of relationship with Holy God. So… which is it for you, my friends?
Have you noticed the dark kingdom can use our memories to shame and demean us, leading us further away from God, deeper into the darkness of rebellion?
But the Holy Spirit can use our memories to invite us, in God’s love and mercy, to repentance and restoration of our relationship with God?
So again, I ask… which is it for you, my friends?
God continued speaking and Ezekiel kept writing: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On that day I will cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. They will say, ‘This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited. Then the nations around you will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it!” (Ezekiel 36:33-36)
Oh my! Think back with me over the past 2600 years of history in the land of Israel as you know history. Amazingly, these words are true! It has only been in the past 50 or 60 years or so that Ezekiel 36:33-36 have become reality in Israel! Only in our time has the desolate land become very productive and many of the ruined cities have been rebuilt! You and I are living in the time when this 2600-year-old prophecy is being fulfilled right before our eyes!
But there are two major parts of this great prophecy that have yet to be fulfilled. Do you see them my friends? The people of Israel have NOT yet acknowledged that all this bounty is the work of Almighty God, the LORD of Israel. Too many modern Israeli’s credit scientists and technology rather than God Himself for the bounty of the land of Israel today. And also, the Jewish people have not yet, in large numbers, turned their hearts toward Holy God in great spiritual revival or toward Jesus as their Messiah.
And secondly, the nations both near and distant from Israel, who see the clear evidence of the miraculous return of the Jewish people to their homeland and the great agriculture bounty, have NOT yet acknowledged that all this is the miraculous work of the God of Israel!
So, we have yet much more to watch for as God continues to do His miraculous work both in the land and people of Israel but also in the hearts of all people throughout the world as they watch the miracles, in fulfillment of Ezekiel 36. But for us today, oh my there is so much to praise God for as we reflect on Ezekiel 36 and so I urge us to do just that… praise God for His miraculous fulfillment of this prophecy, and pray for the people of Israel, and here’s another wonderful worship song to help us in our praise!
Today’s Scripture: Ezekiel 36:24-36.
Choose below to read or listen.
 |  |
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
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
Archived back issues of “Walking with Jesus” and other resources are available by clicking here to open our ‘home page’ (or go to HOME at upper right of this page).
Share with friends. Subscribe below for daily “Walking with Jesus”.