Ezekiel 37:15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
People are generally curious by nature. We want to know what is going on. The good news in our text is that God says the children of Israel would ask what Ezekiel was doing with the two sticks. It is sad today that so many ignore the Word of God. They are not curious about what it says because most have written God’s Word off as irrelevant. That will not be the case at the end of the Tribulation. It is sad that people have to wait so long before they will inquire about God’s Word. People will try anything and everything else before they submit to the truth. That is the case with Israel. Israel has never had a stable government since God blessed them with some of their land in 1948. They have a deeply compromised coalition government now. That coalition is now on the brink of collapse and some people are hoping that Mr. Netanyahu will become the Prime Minister again. He did some good things while he was in power, but he too had to work with a coalition. He is a lost man who use to have Bible Studies every Saturday. I do not know if he still does. Even though he was having Bible Studies every week, he was not coming to the knowledge of the truth. He is still lost.
God tells us this will be the situation with Israel until near the end of the Tribulation. The Bible tells us that many Jews will fall for the lies of the anti-christ when he arrives on the scene. They will follow him until he reveals who he really is at the mid-point of the Tribulation. When he enters the temple that he will have helped to build in the first three years, and he defiles that temple and sets himself up as God, that will wake up some of the Jews. By the end of the Tribulation there will be a number of Jews who will be saved. They will finally realize that God is the true God and that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah and Saviour. It is sad that it will take so long. Yet we know that today many Gentiles look to psychiatrists and psychics and false teachers, but they refuse to look to the Word of God. They struggle and they hope but they never come to know the peace of God and time runs out on them and they die in their sins. It does not need to be that way.
II Timothy 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
God told Ezekiel to tell the people that He, GOD was going to take the two parts of the nation of Israel and He was going to bring them back together into one nation. He also promised to bring them out from among the heathen where they were scattered and He would bring them back into their own land. Ever since 1948, Jews have been moving back to their homeland. However, there are still many Jews that have not moved back to their land yet. God is still drawing them home. He will continue to do that until they are all home and He will also show them the need to turn to Him in repentance and true faith.
In verse 22 God promised to give the revived nation one king. That king will be Jesus Christ. The nation of Israel will rejoice in having this glorious king as their king. Jesus Christ is the One Who can and will unite the nation. When the Spirit of truth indwells people they will be united in the truth. It is a blessing to be united in the truth.
When God brings the nation back under the reign of Jesus Christ, they will never be divided again. The unity will be greater than it was in the days of king David. It will be a blessed time such as they have not known before.
In verse 23 we see that when salvation comes to the nation of Israel, they will no more defile themselves with idols. God promises that He will save them. They will be His people and He will be their God. That is the change that God makes in those who are saved today as well. Those who are saved are given a new nature. They do not want to continue on in their sin. God gives the saved a new heart and their desires are changed. It is an amazing thing. It can only be explained by pointing to God as the One Who changes the lost sinner into a saint. There is no human explanation for it. It is an amazing work of God. As we mentioned before it is that amazing change that was happening to over 3,000 in one day in the early chapters of the book of Acts. It was that amazing change that happened to the damsel in Acts 16 that caused her masters to lose money because she was no longer serving the devil, but was cleansed to serve the living God. It was that change that took place in the apostle Paul’s life in Acts 9 when he as Saul was on his way to persecute Christians in Damascus, but he was gloriously saved and he no longer desired to persecute Christians, but now he desired to know the truth and he desired to fellowship with true Christians and he desired to help others know the truth as well.
What God told Ezekiel to prophesy was true. God was referring to the nation of Israel and to a specific time in their life as a nation. That time is still future today. The change that will take place then is typical of the change that God makes in any saved person’s life. The saved will still sin at times, but there will be a change that will not allow them to remain in sin. Their desires will be changed.
It is true that New Evangelicalism teaches a different gospel. They teach a powerless gospel because it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the gospel of humanism. That gospel will always fail. It will always come up short. How important to turn to God and be forgiven and saved by Him. His salvation will make a difference. Don’t fall for a knock off that is not real and not genuine. Turn to God and know His forgiveness and peace. Then you too will have a message to tell to your friends and neighbours that will be genuine. They may not want to hear it, but they will not be able to dispute that a major change has taken place in your life.
Pastor Bartel
