AN EXPOSITION OF EZEKIEL 37 – PART 3
September 30, 2009
http://www.tribulationperiod.com/
These two verses have already been fulfilled:
Matthew 23:37-38 – O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! [38] Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
This verse will be fulfilled at the coming of the Messiah:
Matthew 23:39 – For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
These verses will be fulfilled after Messiah arrives:
Malachi 4:2,3 – But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. [3] And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
Ezekiel 43:1-5 – Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: [2] And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel
came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. [3] And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.
[4] And the glory of the Lord came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. [5] So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.
The following verses began to be fulfilled near the beginning of the last century, and are still continuing to be fulfilled.
Part 2 ended with an exposition of Ezekiel 37:7. In Part 2 we will continue the building of a nation by the hand of God.
Verse 8 of Ezekiel 37: “And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.” This verse continues the building of flesh and blood bodies over the dry bones God has gathered together in the midst of the Gentile nations.
“The sinews and the flesh came upon them” – By 1930 approximately 160,000 Jews had come home – Israel did not yet have the appearance of a nation, but it was developing the internal nucleus.
“And the skin covered them from above” – By 1948 a breathless physical nation had grown as a body with the British Protectorate.
The full body was there, but one thing was missing – “But there was no breath in them.” They were not recognized as a genuine, living nation.
They were a group of people with no national breath.
Verse 9 renders God’s solution to the closing breath problem of verse 8: “Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” This is not God breathing spiritual rebirth into the Jewish nation – that comes later in verse 14. The four winds represent north, south, east, and west, and, as such, they portray the locations of all the nations of the world. Most of the nations of the world (United Nations) on May 14, 1948 breathed upon the dead body of Israel, under the direction of God, and Israel became a recognized, physically reborn nation.
Verse 10 shows the results of verse 9: “So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army” – Worldwide recognition (except for Arab nations) gives them physical life, and they stand on their own two feet.
The fact that they have defeated the Arab nations around them in 1948, 1967, and 1973 testifies they have been an exceeding great army.
Verse 11 describes the symbolism of verses 1 and 2: “Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.” The bones are clearly identified as the entire nation of Israel.
It p aints
a concise picture of a dead nation, without hope, scattered across the world in small parts, cut off from one another. This is a perfect picture of the descendants of Israel (Jacob) from about A.D. 135 until the twentieth century.
Verse 12 continues to explain the symbolism of verses 7 through 10: “Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. This outlines the gradual drawing of Jews from out of their places in the Gentile world to their natural homeland – the land of Israel. This began more than 100 years ago and is still continuing.