Bones of Contention, Ezekiel 37:1-14
Introduction
Carvosso had seen all his children converted, except one, and burdened with the lost one he sought counsel of a Christian leader, who said: “Why don’t you claim a promise of the Lord?” “I don’t understand you,” he replied. “Well, the Book is full of promises, some bearing right on your case. Seize one of these and throw all your weight upon it until God feels your confidence in heaven.” “I’ll do it,” said the father. They parted, and he looked up, and there came sweeping into his heart the words: “Thou shalt not leave one hoof behind thee” (see Ex. 10:26). It was enough. For ten days he saw no change. On the tenth day, he was plowing near his house when a message came from his wife: “Do come at once, it seems our daughter will die.” He understood it, and when he reached the room he asked: “Daughter, what’s the matter?” She cried in agony: “Oh, father, pray for me; I do believe I am lost.” In a very little time she rested by faith upon the finished work of Christ for salvation, and he said: “Now, daughter, tell me all about it.” “I don’t know anything about it,” said she, “except that Sunday night ten days ago, just before you came home from the meeting, something got hold of my heart that I could not shake off. I have been miserable ever since.” “I know all about it,” said the father; “that very night I claimed the promise made to Israel—that is what has moved you.”
Transition
Salvation. The promises of God with regard to the salvation of His people are indeed many. He has promised in Christ to save for eternity all of those who confess His name and place their trust in Him. He has promised to save His Church in the last days prophesied just prior to His return to this world.
He has also promised to save His chosen people; Israel. God is not finished with the physical nation of Israel. In the Bible there is a motif running from cover to cover that God will ultimately restore all of humanity and all of creation to its intended splendor. There is also a theme running alongside that God will hear the cry of Jacob, Israel, and save His chosen people.
There are some who say that all of the promises made to physical Israel, like the one in today’s text, are spiritually fulfilled in the Church. In some cases this is true. Often God’s promise is doubly fulfilled in the Church and in Israel but a plain and honest and literal reading of the text demands division between the two.
God is not finished with His chosen people; He has a specific plan for the Church and a specific plan for the nation of Israel. This morning I want to offer to you a message of splendid hope! I am compelled by a plain reading of the Bible that we are living in days of prophetic biblical fulfillment.
Are we the generation which will see the return of our savior? I make no claims at knowing the answer to that question, as rightly should no Bible teacher. We ought to live every day filled the hope that today might be the day and live those same days doing the work of the kingdom of God as though He will not return for a thousand more years.
Our eternal hope righty fuels our passion for soul-winning, the building of the kingdom on this earth, and genuine Christian discipleship. Prophecies greatest strength is to fuel our hope for the future, not to make us indifferent to today.
In what follows we will look at current world events in Israel through the lens of biblical prophecy. This is an exciting area of study of the Bible as it reminds us that God is active in the here and now aspects of the world. He is alive in human history and He is in control of the future!
Exposition
Our text this morning outlines the prophecy of God through the prophet Ezekiel dealing with the coming, impending, and, as I will demonstrate this morning, presently being fulfilled restoration of the Nation of Israel. In the last 100 years God has been at work in the Holy Land showing almost unprecedented favor to His chosen people; performing a miraculous work in their lives.
The Jewish people have been scattered throughout the world since the Babylonian exile, more than 2,500 years ago. At no time since the Babylonians invaded Israel and took most of the people out of the land have the Jews enjoyed any lasting sovereign control over the land promised to them in the Bible.
The Temple of Solomon has never been restored to its former glory and though Temple worship was reinstated under Hezekiah, the glory of Israel has never fully been restored. Two distinct Temples stood in succession on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem: Solomon’s Temple was built in the 10th century B.C.to replace the Tabernacle.
It was destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. According to Talmudic tradition it stood for 410 years.
The Second Temple was built after Cyrus the Great, the King of Syria, allowed the Jews to return from the Babylonian captivity. The return took place around 537 B.C. The Temple rebuilding project was completed in 516 B.C.
The Second Temple was destroyed by Roman Empire troops under General Titus in 70 A.D. This second Temple had been desecrated by Pompey, when he entered it after taking Jerusalem in 63 B.C. According to the Jewish historian Josephus, Pompey did not remove anything from the Temple or its treasury. He did, however, massacre the Priests who attempted to block his entry to the sanctuary.
The Jewish Diaspora, that is, the scattering of the Jewish people from the Holy Land began with the Babylonian captivity, continued through the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans, and continues to this very day. There is hope for Israel however, when Israel began a National State in 1948, this signaled a new age for God’s people. This signaled a new hope and set things into motion, I am convinced, for the modern day fulfillment of many biblical prophecies.
There are 4 stages to Ezekiel’s prophecy in today’s text. The scattered bones are the scattered Israelites in the Diaspora, the scattering of Jewish people around the globe which has continued from the times of Babylonian captivity today.
Stage (1) of Ezekiel’s prophecy portrays the physical gathering of the Nation of Israel as sinews are joined to the bones as the pre-1948 gathering occurs. The Zionists movement, which began in the latter portion of the 19th century, found its peak expression when the United Nations supported Israeli statehood in 1948.
This is stage (2) as Israeli statehood is realized in the present day. The political growth of the nation continues to this day, though her political and ideological enemies have made the process arduous.
Stage (3) in the biblical prophetic time line occurs during the great tribulation or day of turmoil to come when the skin will cover the body of Israel as God will defend His people from the forces of the world coming against Israel. Given the current climate of pressure upon Israel, this is perhaps not difficult to imagine.
The final stage (4) is the complete nation conversion of Israel when they shall be filled with His Spirit and know His presence among them. In this the prophet speaks of the days of the return of Christ and His millennial reign upon the earth.
Biblical prophecy is an exciting subject even as it is a difficult one. Applying the moral teachings of Christ for example, may seem simpler because it is something that I do in the here and now, while prophecy, on the other hand, may seem purely academic with not application. Allow me to offer to you some application:
Application
We are living in days of prophetic fulfillment. These are exciting times to be a follower of Christ, though they can be disheartening times as well. When God’s people lose sight of the glorious future which is to come for His people, we lose sight of the blessed assurance that has the power to fuel our lives today. (Acts 2)
It is altogether too easy to find ourselves going through the motions of the Christian faith while forgetting what the ultimate provision of that faith is; the coming reign of Christ upon this earth for a thousand years when every tear shall be wiped away and when He shall dwell with us directly; face to face.
The Bible makes such extraordinary promises. Why do we often have such ordinary faith? Today is Pentecost Sunday and today we have been talking about Ezekiel’s prophecy that God would one day gather the Nation Israel out of its 2,500 + long Diaspora (Scattering) and ultimately fill them with His Spirit.
As Christians, we have already received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God. My heart breaks for the Nation of Israel as so many go through the motions of religious ritual; still longing for the coming of Messiah, blind to the reality that He has already come! Many (most) orthodox Jews place their trust squarely in their national heritage, that is, in their familial lineage from Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Though my heart breaks for the current spiritual status of Israel, my heart is equally broken for the current spiritual status of Christ’s Church. Many of Abraham’s descendants have turned away from the faith of their fathers to modernism and secularism. Thos who practice the faith of their fathers do so out of religious zeal but lacking the power of the Holy Spirit which, though it awaits them ultimately, escapes them today for it is found in Christ alone.
How many are those of Christ’s Church who are just the same way, going through the motions of religion but lacking the power of their faith; having turned away from the genuine Christ of the Bible to one of their own making or to modernism and secularism. Today, on Pentecost Sunday let us renew our conviction to allowing God’s Spirit to take up residence in us; to work in and through us!
A couple of weeks of ago I was playing with a friend’s dog who loves to chase a tennis ball; well Jake will chase most any ball if you throw it for him in fact!
After I had thrown the ball for him a couple of times I took the ball, gave it a good wind up, and threw it hard, though I never let go of the ball. Jake ran and looked and ran and looked everywhere for that ball. As far as he was concerned I had thrown the ball and we were playing! After he did that for a few moments I learned that he would continue that way until he found that ball so I threw it again for him and he brought it back again and again.
Though I had not even let go of the ball; though we were not really playing the game; Jake was convinced that it was real. Though he thought we were playing the game, we had just gone through the motions. I am terribly afraid that just as those worshipping Yahweh in Israel go through the motions of worship, devoid of the coming power of the Holy Spirit, often so do we.
For the nation of Israel the promise of the rebirth, renewal, and revival that the Holy Spirit will bring is indeed great and impending, and even happening right before our eyes; when they shall be awakened to the reality that Messiah has already come; that Jesus offers life to those who will receive it.
How much more does it burden this Pastor’s heart that we who are called Christ’s Church, we who have received the promise of the Holy Spirit, so often live spiritual lives devoid of His power? I invite you today to ask yourself, “Am I going through the motions in my spiritual life?” Do I trust in my national or familial heritage more than in Christ alone for salvation?
Last week we discussed the beauty of how God has shaped this nation, but O, dear Saints of God, may we never commit the idolatry of placing our national heritage or the faith of our fathers ahead of personal trust in Christ!
Conclusion
I will conclude this message with this passage from I Thessalonians 5:16-23 as means of reminder of admonition to be ever available to the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives. “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil. May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (NIV)
Do not quench the fire of the Holy Spirit in your life. The day is coming when God will restore Israel and fill her with His Spirit. The day has already come when you and I may find the spiritual power needed to strengthen for this life. Let us not go through the motions of religious exercise but be fueled by the power and presence and provision of the Holy Spirit!
Christianity is not, as some have supposed it to be, like a drop of water on a warm day; it is a torrential rain, a flood, of refreshing water in the heat of the desert!
The power of the Holy Spirit is not reserved for a select few incredibly spiritual people. He is available to you and to me today. Let us renew our commitment to allowing Him to work in and through us on this day of the celebration of Pentecost!
Amen.
