Skip to content Divine Claims on Holy Land: Insights from Ezekiel 36 Apr 17 · 13 min ...more
Divine Claims on Holy Land: Insights from Ezekiel 36
April 17, 2025 · 13 min
Explore the layers of prophecy in Ezekiel 36 concerning Israel's temporal return and spiritual restoration under God's covenant.
Series Stand on the Word - Video On Demand April 17, 2025 · 13 min · Stand on the Word - Video On Demand
Explore the layers of prophecy in Ezekiel 36 concerning Israel's temporal return and spiritual restoration under God's covenant. ...more Show the full description Show less Explore the layers of prophecy in Ezekiel 36 concerning Israel's temporal return and spiritual restoration under God's covenant.
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The Land, Name, and People of God 0:10 Good morning. Thanks so much for joining me as we continue our journey through the book of Ezekiel. Today, we look at chapter 36 as we're now in the final section of Ezekiel, which is focused on0:21 Israel's return to the land and their future. Verse 28, you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Now remember, much of,0:33 biblical prophecy has layered or phases of fulfillment. There's sometimes immediate, intermediate, and future fulfillment. Ezekiel chapter 36 has 2 prophetic messages.0:45 The first speaks of Israel's temporal state and their return to the land. They returned to that land 70 years after 70 years of captivity. And, you know, of course, they're returning0:57 again, which could be the precursor to the final fulfillment of this passage, which is the focus of the second half of this chapter. The second prophecy is their1:09 spiritual restoration and the prosperity that God will bring upon them. The latter prophecy speaks to the period of the new covenant and into the millennial reign of Christ. Now some very1:21 important insights in this chapter, which I believe have relevance to our lives today. 1, and I've really kinda divided this chapter into 3 parts. 1 is the land of1:32 God, 2, the name of God, and 3, the people of God. So it makes it easy to remember the land of God, the name of God, the people of God. First, the land of God and the right of1:44 possession. That's verses 1 through 10. Let's begin. And you, son of man, prophesied to the mountains of Israel and say, oh, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God, because the enemy said1:56 of you, ah, and the ancient heights have become our possession. Therefore, prophesy and say, thus says the Lord God, precisely because they made you you desolate and crushed you from all sides so2:08 that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk in envy, talk in evil gossip of the people. Therefore, oh, mountains of Israel, hear the2:20 word of the lord God. Thus says the lord God to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate waste, and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the2:31 nations all around. Therefore, thus says the lord God, surely, I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom who gave my land to themselves as a possession,2:44 who with wholehearted joy and utter contempt that they might make its pasture lands a prey. Now notice verse 5, just just something to notice here. Take2:56 note of. Verse 5. Look what it says. My land who gave my land to themselves as a possession. Alright? Now let me interject3:08 something here that some might find controversial. While the complete fulfillment of this and other prophecies related to the land of Israel are yet to come,3:20 let me ask you a question. Why would we support or encourage policies or actions that run counter to this declaration of where we know god is3:31 headed. I don't know the timing of this. Maybe I think some of it we're seeing today. We're seeing the precursor to the fulfillment of this. You know? I I could be wrong. I could be. But3:43 we do know without hesitation where god is eventually going to end. And so my view is that we should be moving in that direction with god, not against him. Now I'm referring3:55 to several, foreign policy goals, of of US administration, both Republican and Democrat, policies that have attempted to divide the land of4:07 Israel in this pursuit of a so called 2 state solution. Now the Lord has made clear that the land is not ours, the US. It's not the United Nations to divide. Scripture4:19 tells us in history has shown us to move counter to this understanding provokes the wrath of God. Okay? Alright. Verse4:31 6. Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and valleys, thus says the lord god, behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath because you have suffered the4:43 reproach of the nations. Therefore, thus says the lord god, I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach. Now we've already read in previous chapters of4:55 the judgment of God, that he spoke on the surrounding nations triggered by their response to the fall of Judah. They were like a committee of, kind of of vultures on the side of the road.5:08 They they moved in, took possession of the land, but the land did not belong to them. And and it didn't yield its abundance as it did for the children of Israel. Why? Because they were not the rightful owners.5:20 The lord said it was his land, and he set a blessing over the land5:35 return after the captivity, but it is also seen in the return of the Jewish people following, the the Balfour declaration in 19 175:47 followed by the establishment of the Jewish state in, 19 48. Now I've I've been to the Middle East many times, including many, many trips to Israel. In fact, I'll be there at the end of this month.6:00 You know, Israel is literally like an oasis in the desert when you compare it to the surrounding countries. It's just unbelievable. Listen to how Mark Twain described that land back in 186:11 67. He said this, quote, desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over wholly to weeds a silent mournful expanse. A desolation is here that6:23 not even imagination can grace with the pomp of life and action. We never saw a human being on the whole route. There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus,6:43 the there's more to come. Alright. The second aspect of this chapter, the name of God, the reason for his mercy. Look at verse 18.6:55 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land for the idols which they but with which they had defiled it. They defiled the land by their idolatry. I7:07 scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds, I judged them. But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy7:19 name and that the people said of them, these are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to get out of his land. Now this is really insightful. Okay? The7:31 the as I was reading through this, I hadn't seen this before. They profaned the name of god, not by their words. It wasn't like they took the name of the lord in vain. That was not what he's talking about here. They7:43 profaned the name of god by the results of their deeds. Their disobedience, which led to their punishment, profane the name of god in the eyes of the watching world.7:55 So did the results of our actions? Let's think about this for a moment. You and I personally. Do our actions glorify or dishonor god? You see, when we disobey god and and god has to chastise8:07 us or punish us, the the world, the watching world doesn't understand that relationship, and they look at this and they say, wow. It's dishonoring to God. Alright. Verse 21,8:19 it profanes his name. Verse 21, but I had concern for my holy name. See, this is why he's acting. But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they8:30 came. Therefore, say to the house of Israel, thus says the Lord God, it is not for your sake. I'm not doing this for you, oh, house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name,8:42 which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations and which you have profaned8:54 among them. And the nations will know that I am the lord, declares the lord god. When through you, I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. Now here's something we need to9:06 understand. It is not about us. It is about the glory of god and the elevation of his name. Yes. Yes. God loves us, but9:18 it's not about us. It's about him. It's about God's reputation. God's name suffers because of our sin, which happens when we make ourselves the center of our lives and9:30 not God as the center. If we want to see God, and this is the insight I think we can gather from the scripture. We wanna see God move in our day. We must begin praying and living for9:42 the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to be glorified. God's not gonna answer prayers that elevates man. He's going to pay attention to those prayers that bring glory and honor to him and9:53 to the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to lift high the banner of the lord Jesus Christ and march under that banner. Our power, our authority is in the name of Jesus, the10:05 son of the living God. Alright. Final point, we had we have the people of of God. Right? The result of his grace. Look at verse 25. I will10:17 sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness. And from all your idols, I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you, and I will10:29 remove the hardest stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules, then,10:40 you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your god. This is the new covenant. It's what he's talking about here. This is the this is the future still being10:52 fulfilled, still yet to be fulfilled. Where the the old covenant covenant focused on the external, the new is internal, a new heart, a new spirit, a new mind. The working of the holy spirit that came after Jesus11:04 was resurrected, and he ascended into to heaven at Pentecost. With this new heart, we want to follow god and obey him. It's not about a set of rules being this, you know, being enforced11:16 like an elementary school teacher during quiet time. We do this out of love for god and the lord Jesus Christ through a regenerated heart. Jesus said in John chapter11:27 14 verse 15, he says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. We do this out of love. It's not it it it's no longer an external force that is forcing us to do a certain thing out11:39 of fear. Rather, we're doing it internally motivated out of love for our lord and savior. Now as I said, this is yet to be fulfilled in its entirety as it pertains to Israel and the Jewish11:51 people, but we do see we do see this in the spiritual realm in the age of the church because he is our god, and we are his people. Father, thank you for12:03 this word. What an encouraging word. And, lord, we pray that we would be in alignment with your word even as it pertains to the nation of Israel and the the Jewish people and the land there. May, lord, may you12:15 give them all that you have committed to them. And, lord, we pray for their well-being and their protection. We pray for the church, that the church says we're grafted in, and we are your people. That, lord, that we12:26 would walk in the fullness of that relationship. And, lord, that out of obedient out of love for you, we would be obedient to you. Now, Lord, may the Holy Spirit continue to lead us on this journey. We pray in Jesus'12:37 name. Amen. Alright. Thanks again for joining me. Until next time, keep standing on the word.12:46 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan available for free at f r c dot o r g slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you12:58 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at frc dot org slash bible.In this video 0:00 The Land, Name, and People of God94K followers
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