Ezekiel’s Prophetic ‘Quadfecta’ (Part 2)

Chapter 37

 

1 Kings 11:1-13 records The Lord’s decision to divide the nation of Israel into two nations—His judgment for the noted sins of King Solomon. The Old Testament records several predictions that The Lord would, one day, reverse this division, and rejoin the 12 tribes of Jacob (Israel) as one unified nation. The most vivid of these predictions is in Ezekiel 37. In it, The Lord metaphorically depicts His plan via a vision of a valley of scattered, dry bones that represent Jacob’s scattered diaspora. Obeying The Lord’s progressive commands, the prophet spoke to the bones. They rattled, connected to form complete human skeletons, took on flesh and skin, and finally, received breath. The Lord calls them an exceedingly great army—the whole house of Israel.

 

There are various interpretations of this vision, including it refers to:

 

•  The re-birth of Israel as a nation on May 14, 1948,

•  Israel’s modern army—the Israel Defense Forces (IDF),

•  All deceased Jews who will be resurrected when The Messiah is revealed,

•  Only ‘righteous’ Jews, or

•  All Jews who will inhabit the greatly expanded Israel in the 5th age—the Millennial Reign age.

 

Confusions arise when we read this chapter out of context of (a) the rest of yet-fulfilled Bible prophecies, and (b) an understanding of the remaining 3 ages of history on this current version of Earth. Perhaps in an effort to minimize mis-interpretations, The Lord used another metaphor—two sticks tied together as one—to clarify the meaning of the vision for Ezekiel—and us. That depicted His iterative promise to re-unify the 12 tribes of Israel into one nation, reversing His earlier judgment that divided ancient Israel. 

 

This chapter signifies events in two ages of history—this current 3rd and the pending 5th ages. In vv. 7 and 8, the large group of standing corpses might best represent Israel today—a people who are largely not spiritually alive to The Lord as their Messiah. In vv. 9 and 10, that group becomes alive, representing Israel at the start of The Millennial Reign age. This signifies that, Israel is currently navigating a ‘pregnant pause period’ between these two ages, since, across The Bible, the ‘breath of life’ signifies being spiritually alive to God, through Jesus Christ, The Lord God. Clearly, that does not describe Israel today.

 

In v. 11, The Lord called the assembled, breathing group of people, ‘the whole house of Israel’. It is critical to intuit the accurate meaning of this expression in context of the iterative theme across Bible prophecies. Verse 17 reveals whole nation means unified nation, comprising people from all 12 tribes. No one today can discern those tribes since, for millennia, the Jewish diaspora has spread across every continent, and may have mixed with every people group across the world. Thus, the only assured time v. 17 will be fulfilled, will be at the start of The Millennial Reign age, AFTER The Lord’s promised purging of the apocalypse remnant of Jews worldwide. This purging promise echoes in Isaiah 1:25-27, Ezekiel 20:34-38, Amos 9:9-10, Zephaniah 3:8-13, Zechariah 13:8-9, and Malachi 3:2-3. Only Zechariah gives us insight into the quantitative aspect. Only a third will embrace The Lord as Messiah, and be qualified to enter into and enjoy the Millennial Reign age. I imagine many of those who will be disqualified, may will have received the mark of the beast on their bodies during the reign of the anti-Christ man. In vv. 24-25, The Lord promised to appoint King David to rule over the purged Jewish remnant. ^{1, 2}

 

With the above insights, it is safe to conclude:

 

•  The Lord’s strategic plan for humanity, and especially for all Jews, is like puzzle pieces’ packaged and preserved in 66 books of The Bible. Only by The Holy Spirit guiding The Mind of Christ within us, are we able to perceive, appreciate, and then align our lives and expectations to His whole plan.

•  From Heaven’s perspective, what happened in May 1948, was a seed sown—a distant pre-cursor towards general fulfillment of numerous regathering prophecies across The Bible, AND the eternal fulfilment of Exodus 19:6. 

•  History confirms each historical regathering of Jews to the promised land, was preceded by various types of purging. This purging pattern will reach its pen-ultimate climax just prior to the start of The Millennial Reign age, ensuring only post-apocalypse Jews who will embrace Jesus as Messiah will enjoy that age. Its ultimate climax will be incorporated in the final resurrection/rapture event depicted in Revelation 20:11-15. ³

 

Stay tuned for Part 3

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¹ Zephaniah 3:8-13 and Zechariah 13:8-9 reveal a pattern in which The Lord first judges secular people and nations, then He judges Jacob’s remnant. This first happened when He judged Egypt before the exodus, and later, He began to judge Jacob’s descendants in the wilderness. He will repeat that same sequence when He will judge all nations during the apocalypse, and afterward, He will judge all Jews who will have survived the apocalypse. The Lord is remarkably consistent!

² Most versions of The Bible mention David being appointed forever as a king over righteous Jews. The Young’s Literal Version uses the phrase, unto to the age—i.e., until the forever age. See: Forever or Until Forever? (Poem). Also, The Bible reveals David, along with all other 1st and 2nd ages saints, was resurrected with Jesus. Thus, he is currently an immortal being, and will return with The Lord and ALL of His immortal saints from across the first 4 ages of history. See: Missed Insights from Matthew (Series).

³ See: Pre-entry Purging Patterns (Series), Why May 1948 (Series), and Group Raptures – Types and Timings (Part 2).