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.
In verse 24 God promised the nation that David would be their king. We know this is prophecy. At the time of this writing, David was long dead. He would be resurrected one day, and as a resurrected Old Testament saint, he will sit as king. Jesus Christ will be king over the entire nation and over the entire Millennial kingdom and David will serve under Him. The nation of Israel still to this day looks at the time of the reign of king David as one of the high points of the nation. God blessed the nation greatly in that time. David was a humble servant of God and God directed him in the many battles he fought. David had great success against the Philistines. He was not as successful in his own life and family. He had too many wives and was not content with that and stole Urijah’s wife from him and then had him murdered. He had trouble with his sons and one even tried to take the kingdom away from him.
In spite of those troubles, David was a king that was greatly blessed and the nation never enjoyed the blessings of that time again. By the time Solomon died, there were enemies outside of Israel who were looking for an opportunity to invade. The fear of the LORD was not evident in Israel and thus the enemies of Israel saw the weakness of the land.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Great Shepherd and He will always be the Great Shepherd. David will be a shepherd under the authority and power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unlike his former reign, he will reign in righteousness during the Millennium. The people will walk in the Lord’s judgments and they will follow His statutes. You notice that God says they will observe His statutes and do them. It is one thing to observe something. It is another to DO what is right.
We mentioned yesterday the fact that Mr. Netanyahu had Bible Studies every Saturday. However, he certainly is not doing what God’s Word says. Bible Study is important. It is not wrong for lost people to be involved in a good Bible Study. They should not lead the study. They need to be led by a God-fearing person who can help them to see the truth of what they are studying. Today many religions no longer know how to conduct a Bible Study. They now have “facilitators” who do not lead the study, but they “facilitate” discussion. They will also guard against anything offensive being said. It would be unacceptable to state that anything other than the King James Version for the English speaking world is a perversion. It would be unacceptable to warn people of the fraudulent tactics used to get people to “love Jesus”. Biblical Christianity is forbidden in today’s “facilitation sessions.” It is highly unlikely that Jesus Christ could hold a Bible study in today’s modern religious environment.
When Jesus establishes His rule in the Millennium, there will be no place for fraudsters.
In verse 25 we see that Israel will be back in the land that God gave to Jacob. That land is the land of Israel. Israel is not “occupying” that land today. The Arabs are occupying some of the land that belongs to Israel. Israel is living in part of the land that God owns and He gave it to them back in the time of Abraham. It is important to understand Who owns the land. In our country, the governments are becoming more and more aggressive in taking away private ownership. I read a news report of a couple who were ordered to remove bird feeders from their front yard because a neighbour complained. These were store bought feeders. They could have them in their back yard, but not in the front yard. Our governments have time to waste on such useless things, while they have no time to honour God in their own lives or in the laws they pass. As we have mentioned before, we could save large amounts of money if we got rid of most of those who sit in government and on city boards. They are not accomplishing anything of value anyway.
Life will not be like that in the Millennium. Jesus Christ will be king. His laws will be just. The descendants of Jacob will know God’s blessing in their lives. Their children will also be blessed. Things will be different than they were in Old Testament history. In the history of the judges and kings of Israel we find the nation on a spiritual roller coaster. They would honour God for a while and then they would be pursuing idolatry and then honouring God, etc. That will no longer be the case when Jesus Christ reigns. The important fact to note is that those who enter the Millennium will all be saved people. Their hearts will have been changed by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. Their children will still be born as lost sinners. There will be a large number of those children who will not get saved, but they will not be allowed to overturn Godly rule. There will be no democracy in the Millennium. It will be a true Theocracy and it will be a blessing for all even though the ungodly will not appreciate it.
In verse 26 we see that God will make a covenant of peace with those who enter the Millennium. It will be an everlasting covenant. There will be a new Temple built in the Millennium. The temple of the anti-christ will be destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ. It cannot be cleansed. It needs to be destroyed. There will be a true Temple built that will be greater than the Temple that was built in the days of king Solomon. Those who minister in that Temple will be truly saved people who love the Lord and they will teach the people the truth. Verse 27 continues that thought.
In verse 28 we see that the heathen will know Who is in charge. We see again the word LORD all capitalized. The self-existent God will be in charge. We know that Jesus Christ will be the king. He is God. He is Jehovah. He is One with His Father.
Jesus Christ will be the One who will sanctify the nation of Israel that enters the Millennium. The word translated as “sanctify” means “to set apart.” It speaks of being declared clean. It will be the Lord Jesus Christ Who will pronounce them clean because they will put their trust in Him. That is the only way anyone can be made clean.
That is true for Jew or Gentile today as well. We can only be made clean through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that God’s sanctuary will be in the midst of them. In the Old Testament, the Tabernacle was to be set up in the midst of the camp. It was designed that way so that the entire nation would have easy access to that place. It was also set up that way to demonstrate the prominence of that place.
On our website we state that all our services are essential. We are situated in a location where it is not difficult to find us. Many people walk past our building and many drive past our building. Most have no interest in our building. Some will even stay off of the sidewalk just to avoid being too close to our building. I do not know if they think something we do might rub off on them or what. One day they will wish they chose to come into our building and listen and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ to save them. By God’s grace we want to remain faithful to Him and give people the opportunity to come and hear the truth and be saved.
In the Millennium, there will be no ungodly government that tries to shut down the worship of the true God. God’s truth will be supreme and will be the law for the entire 1,000 years and will carry on after the Millennium. In the New Heavens and the New Earth, righteousness will dwell for ever!! That is exciting for all who are saved. Today, those who are saved can choose to live under the righteousness of God. We do not need to yield to sin. We can be blessed and we can be a blessing to others.
Pastor Bartel
