EZEKIEL 37

Ezekiel 37 was my chapter for yesterday! I'm joyfully ruminating over it again this morning. It reveals what is very likely Ezekiel's most famous vision - the vision of the valley of dry bones. It elicits the lyrics of the child-learned song: "the foot bone's connected to the ankle bone; the ankle bone's connected to the shin bone; the shin bone's connected to the...." Now you're singing it, too! It ends with the exultant thrice stated, "...'Dem bones, 'dem bones they gonna walk around." (and) "Now hear the Word of the Lord!"

This is another of those prophecies of layered promises. The promises include:
God's promise that He will bring His people back into the land of Israel (verse 12); and
God's promise that the nation of Israel will no longer be two, as it was before the Babylonian captivity; that it shall be again be one (verses 18-23).

Reminiscent of their time of coming out of Egypt in about 1406 BC (after which they were under the leadership of judges, and then kings) the 'Hebrew children' did return to their land after the Babylonia captivity of 598 - 538 BC. From 400 BC until Jesus' time they were fragmented, under various dictatorial rulers; and ultimately completely scattered in the great Diaspora, following the destruction of the 2nd temple in 70 AD.

From 70 AD until 1948, they were not a nation. Israel became a nation again in 1948 - one nation! That is definitely mirrored in this prophecy that occurred some 2525 years earlier - but it's only a layer! The prophecy states: "...Thus says the Lord GOD, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and I will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall no longer be two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms..."(verses 20-23).

The reason I know that the partial fulfillment of 1948 is not the final layer is revealed in the next paragraph,"My servant David shall be the king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd .... David my servant shall be their prince forever."

King David ruled from 1010 - 970 BC. Their King is not going to be David, but David's offspring, Jesus...just as promised in Psalm 89:3-4 and reiterated in John 7:42 and 2 Timothy 2:8. The Messiah's rule over earth won't come until the Millennium, after the horrible battle in the valley of Megiddo - Armaggedon. And that's where my mind first led me with Ezekiel's vision: that valley, where seemingly all hope is lost...but God holds out hope, not a wishful-thinking kind of hope, but real hope: He wins!

Chapter 37 ends this way, "I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forever."

Echoing what God has stated so many times in Ezekiel: He is the LORD, and He will do it!

The following verses are from the English Standard Version (ESV)

Psalm 89:3-4

³You have said, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
⁴'I will establish your offspring forever,
and build your throne for all generations.'"

John 7:42

⁴²Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?"

2 Timothy 2:8

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,