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March 1, 2015 |
| Dry Bones | ||
It's easy to think that no prophecies have been fulfilled since back in Jesus' time some 2000 years ago. It may seem like since that time there hasn't been even one prophecy fulfilled. Because of that great time span it's easy to doubt that prophecies were really fulfilled back then and to think that they were all made up stories.
Prophecies have been fulfilled in our time, though. It's certainly true that there weren't any fulfillments of prophecies for most of the past 2000 years. Yet there are people alive today who saw one fulfilled and we see the results of that fulfillment.
What does it feel like to live at a time of prophetic fulfillment? Is there a great horn that sounds when a prophecy is fulfilled? Is it an event that happens by the hand of God without mankind being involved? No, it's not like that at all. In fact it happens just like all other events happen. People do something that seems very ordinary to them and that turns out to be a fulfillment of prophecy.
Just as we saw in Jesus' time people are mostly unaware that they are fulfilling prophecies. For example Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. It seems certain that he didn't realize he was fulfilling prophecy at the time.
In fact the events that fulfill a prophecy are often so unremarkable that people don't see them as a prophetic fulfillment and even deny it later on.
In this lesson we will look at the prophetic fulfillment that occurred in this century - the return of Israel to the land.
This prophecy actually begins in the previous chapter. Ezekiel 36 talks about Israel's return to the land.
33 'Thus says the Lord God, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35 They will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.' 36 Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it." (Ezekiel 36:33-36)
That is exactly what people say about Israel now, "This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden". Swamps that used to grow nothing but malaria for mosquitoes to spread have become lakes or fertile land. Dry dead desert now grows palm trees.
But God also made something clear in chapter 36
22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord God, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord," declares the Lord God, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. (Ezekiel 36:22-23)
God is saying to Israel I'm not doing this because you have done something to deserve this. In fact you have caused disrespect to come on my name by all the things you have done while among the nations. God says he is doing this to preserve his name, to show that he is holy.
Notice the verse says that Israel was "among the nations". At the time Ezekiel wrote this he was in Babylon as a captive along with most of Israel. Therefore the Israelites might have thought Ezekiel was talking about their time in Babylon, but this prophecy is about all the time until now. We'll see this as we move along.
Chapter 37 continues on from chapter 36 to describe the return of Israel to the land.
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" And I answered, "O Lord God, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.' 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.'"
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life."'" 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
This prophecy is using dry bones coming back to life to represent the entire nation of Israel coming back to life. In the first prophecy the bodies are restored but there is no life. In the second prophecy they come to life and it is said that they are "an exceedingly great army".
The nation of Israel began in 1948 without much of a fighting force and was attacked immediately by the surrounding Arab countries. She managed to survive that battle only by the grace of God. There were other battles and Israel now has a world class military, far exceeding its neighboring countries.
God now goes on to explain the vision to Ezekiel.
11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.'
In the year 70 AD the Jews were driven of out Jerusalem by the Romans and later on they would be driven out of Israel. From there they were dispersed into all the nations. They were hated in most of those nations and kicked out of some of them and killed in others.
Then it got bad - World War II, and Hitler. About 6 million Jews were exterminated. After they went through that we can easily imagine the Jews saying that they have no hope and they are as good as dead as we see here in Ezekiel.
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it," declares the Lord.'"
God says they think they are dead but he will bring them out of their graves. Here God explicitly promises them a return to their land and we have seen that return in our time. More importantly he promises them the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Notice God's goal in all of this - that Israel will know that it is God who has done it all.
15 The word of the Lord came again to me saying, 16 "And you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.'
Very shortly after the reign of King Solomon, 10 of the tribes of Israel separated themselves from the other 2, Judah and Benjamin. These 10 turned away from God.
God has Ezekiel take two sticks and write on them. One stick symbolizes Judah and his companions, who we now call the Jews. The other stick symbolizes the ten tribes. The capital of the 10 tribes was in the land of the tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph. That is why the names of Joseph and Ephraim are placed on the other stick.
17 Then join them for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 When the sons of your people speak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' 19 say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' 20 The sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God.
God says that he will join these two groups of Israel back into one group, one nation under one king. He will take them from all the lands where they have gone and bring them back to the land of Israel.
After splitting from Judah and Benjamin the 10 tribes were eventually conquered by the Assyrians. Judah and Benjamin, by the intervention of God, were not conquered. The 10 tribes were taken into captivity as was the practice at that time. History does not have a clear record of what happened to them after that. A new group of people appears in south eastern Assyria at about that time. It makes sense that they would be settled there. If that was them there was a later event that dispersed them and they went in all directions. They are considered by most people now to be lost.
The people of Israel returned after their captivity by the Babylonians who had also conquered the Assyrians. But there is no evidence that the 10 tribes returned with them to Israel. Even now with the return to Israel there is no evidence that all the 12 tribes are there. Therefore we wait for that event.
Some Jewish scholars believe that God has set some of the people of the 10 tribes aside somewhere and is protecting them until the time is right. At various times in history a few people have turned up claiming to be from those 10 tribes and saying that they are kept in a special place.
Israel has accepted many groups of people into Israel as Jews, after learning of their heritage. As a kid I remember news coverage of a group of dark-skinned Jews returning to Israel from Ethiopia. These people were believed to have been part of the tribe of Dan, one of the lost tribes. Most of the lost tribes are still unaccounted for.
We have seen that the dry bones prophecy is fulfilled with the coming into existence of the country of Israel. However, the prophecy of the two sticks being joined is at best only partly fulfilled in our time. Now Ezekiel's prophecy jumps even further into the future.
24 "My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them. 25 They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."'"
By saying "my dwelling place will be with them" we know that this describes the time after the Messiah returns. The phrase "my servant David" refers to the Messiah. They will live in the land according to God's commandments.
We've seen that one prophecy has been fulfilled in our time, another is in the prophecy of being fulfilled. Many more are to come.