Israel Reborn - Ezekiel Part 1

The next area of biblical prophecy I want to discuss comes from the prophet Ezekiel. As with previous postings, more detailed verse-by-verse commentary is provided on my website, www.momsbiblejournal.com. Beginning with chapter 36, he recorded an amazing prophecy from God regarding the resurrection of the nation of Israel after a long period of non-existence as a nation. It actually tells of a time when the land of Israel will produce abundantly--a time when the people of Israel have been regathered to the land of Israel and are living in obedience to the LORD, the God of Israel. Important to note is that God clearly declares that He is not going to do this because they deserve it, but in honor of His holy name.

They are pictured as first coming together as a nation with no spiritual life whatsoever. The time is coming when many will recognize God’s miraculous hand at work on behalf of His people and will respond to the gospel message being preached by 144,000 Jewish missionaries and the two prophets of God that will be prophesying during the first half of the 70th week of Daniel, the last 7-year period that we know as the tribulation that precedes the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom. This believing remnant will enter the Messiah’s kingdom to enjoy the fulfillment of all the promises made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Contrary to the teaching of many—God is not finished with the Jewish people.

Beginning with chapter 38 the prophet foretells of a coalition of nations that will come against the resurrected nation of Israel to plunder it. Verse 8 specifies that this will happen in “the latter years,” or “the end times” according to the Hebrew. It also specifies that Israel will emerge from a land that has been a wasteland and will be populated by a people who have come from out of the nations. Following verses indicate that the nation will be flourishing since the expected plunder includes “silver and gold…cattle and goods…a great spoil.” The prophet also declares that the people of Israel will be living “safely,” which in the Hebrew references a feeling of security and without care. Verse 11 even goes on to say that this will be a time in which Israel feels no need for the use of defensive walls or gates. In my mind this would indicate the period of time after the signing of the covenant brokered by Antichrist that we learned about in our study of Daniel.