WEBVTT 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:13.679 Tonight we are looking at uh specifically Ezekiel 36. 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:22.960 This is a continuation of our series about what is dispensationalism, and every sermon so far in our series has been the church has a new something. 00:00:23.120 --> 00:00:27.359 The church is a new priest, the church is a new promise, the church has a new purpose, church has a new plan. 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.120 I've got all kinds of practice, we've got all kinds of uh peas going on. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:32.719 The church is all those new peas. 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:40.079 But this one kind of gets to a main point of dispensationalism that not everything is about the church. 00:00:41.439 --> 00:00:47.200 The center of the Bible, of course, is Christ, and history leads to him and then comes from him. 00:00:47.840 --> 00:00:57.039 And either even as the Westminster Confession says, that history takes place through certain stages and dispensations of God's grace. 00:00:58.719 --> 00:01:07.519 Kind of at the center of dispensationalism, of course, is Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected that launches the church age, and this teaching that the church and Israel are not interchangeable. 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:09.680 That God had given promises to Israel. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:17.519 Those promises, in some senses, are fulfilled in Christ, but in some other senses, very important senses remain to be fulfilled in the future. 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:28.560 And that the church occupies a unique place in God's redemptive plan, that the church began in Pentecost and will be glorified at the rapture of the church. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:32.079 And so the church occupies a break in world history. 00:01:32.159 --> 00:01:43.200 When you think of the unfolding plans, the church occupies a unique stage beginning here at Pentecost, ending on earth in that sense for glorification at the rapture. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:48.239 But prior to Acts chapter 2, there was, of course, history, and God was working predominantly through Israel. 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:54.959 And part of dispensationalism is the belief that after the church is raptured, that God will continue working through Israel. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:00.239 This is the prophecy from Daniel chapter 9, that there are 70 weeks that Daniel decreed for the people of Israel. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:02.400 We are through 69 of those weeks. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:05.120 There remains a 70th one in the future. 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.960 So God has a plan for Israel, and that plan is not completed yet. 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.840 There still remains promises for them. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:21.680 Now it's common to say that the church receives those promises and fulfills those promises because true believing Christians are the spiritual heirs of true believing Israel. 00:02:21.759 --> 00:02:26.080 And so promises to true Israel are taken over in the church, and so we fulfill all them. 00:02:26.319 --> 00:02:37.039 And I understand that conceptually, and I understand that's what perhaps even most Christians have believed throughout the ages, but I don't understand it when it comes to the Word of God because the passages like Ezekiel 36. 00:02:37.120 --> 00:02:55.199 I think there's just so much in the Bible that is not conceivably fulfilled in the church or by the church or in the church age that causes us to look forward for a second age, for an age to come, a millennium, a thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth that fulfills all of these prophecies that were not fulfilled at the Savior's first coming. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:59.599 You understand that when Jesus came to earth the first time, he didn't fulfill all the prophecies about him. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.360 Many of them remain to be fulfilled at the second coming. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:11.919 And it's interesting when you take a step back and look at the Bible that many of those unfulfilled prophecies, not all of them, but many of them relate to the nation of Israel. 00:03:12.080 --> 00:03:16.800 And Ezekiel 36 is one of those chapters, and so we will look at that tonight. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:19.840 But first I just want to give you a little sense of place in the book of Ezekiel. 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:24.879 Ezekiel is a prophecy given to people that are going into exile. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:32.159 These are the 12 tribes of Israel that are being evicted. 00:03:32.319 --> 00:03:35.199 The 10 tribes of Israel are being evicted by the Assyrians. 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:37.840 The Assyrians are going to fall to the Babylonians. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.879 The Babylonians are going to conquer Egypt as well. 00:03:41.120 --> 00:03:43.599 Judah is going to be taken into captivity by the Babylonians. 00:03:43.680 --> 00:03:45.199 That's Daniel and his prophecy there. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:46.960 Ezekiel is right before that. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:53.360 And as they are about to be taken into exile, Ezekiel writes this book warning them to repent. 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.960 The book begins, and kind of in the middle here, we'll see it tonight. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:00.080 Has this image of Ezekiel as a watchman. 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:01.199 He's on the wall. 00:04:01.280 --> 00:04:03.360 Remember the watchmen, they didn't have radar. 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:05.120 Norad didn't exist yet. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:06.639 And so they put watchmen on the wall. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:08.319 Watchmen are watching for the attack. 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:10.479 They would sound the trumpet, they'd sound the alarm. 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.199 And when the trumpet sounds, you know the attack is coming. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:16.399 And so Ezekiel says he's functioning like the watchman. 00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.600 And he's sounding the alarm to the Israelites. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.399 Bad things are about to happen to bad people. 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:23.920 That's Ezekiel's alarm. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:27.279 And of course, bad people don't listen to the prophecy of bad things. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:30.800 They reject Ezekiel, and you get all the weird, crazy signs in the book of Ezekiel. 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:35.839 He does some pretty outlandish stuff to try to wake them up to the destruction that is coming. 00:04:35.920 --> 00:04:40.480 But when you jump into like chapter 29 and 30, this prophecy gets specific about Egypt. 00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:42.720 Egypt has been what Israel has been trusting. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:44.160 Judah in particular. 00:04:44.399 --> 00:04:47.199 Jerusalem had been trusting Egypt for protection. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:04:59.040 So they know the Assyrians got ten tribes into captivity, and now the Babylonians are coming and surrounding them, and God has delivered Jerusalem from the Assyrians before, and the Israelites think he'll deliver us again. 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:04.319 The Babylonians are coming knocking on the door, they're going to destroy us, but we don't think so because we're God's people. 00:05:04.399 --> 00:05:12.000 And so you have all the minor prophets, you know, most of them are written during this time, and they're telling the Israelites, hey, you say you're God's people, then I don't know, repent. 00:05:13.040 --> 00:05:15.120 They say, we don't want to repent, we want to keep living this way. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:17.759 And so God tells them, you're going into exile, then I'm going to destroy you. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:18.639 You're going down. 00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:24.800 And their response was always, God's not going to destroy us because we like him, even though they don't. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:30.319 But also, just in case God doesn't show up for us, we have a secret backup plan. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:34.720 The top secret emergency backup plan is the Egyptians. 00:05:35.279 --> 00:05:37.120 They will come and they will rescue us. 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.439 If God can't help us, the Egyptians can. 00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.240 Well, that doesn't work out. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:45.199 And that's what Ezekiel 29 and 30 are about. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:47.439 That you want to trust in the Egyptians? 00:05:47.519 --> 00:05:48.639 Guess what's going to happen to them? 00:05:48.879 --> 00:05:50.800 The Babylonians are going to beat them, you know? 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:53.040 I'm going to send the Babylonians away from Jerusalem. 00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:56.399 I'll go sack the Egyptians first, and then they'll come own you. 00:05:56.560 --> 00:05:59.120 So that's what Ezekiel 29, 30 are about. 00:05:59.439 --> 00:06:01.839 Ezekiel 31, Pharaoh is going to die. 00:06:01.920 --> 00:06:09.279 I mean, you see this in chapter 31, verse 2, son of man say to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and his multitude, whom are you liking greatness? 00:06:09.439 --> 00:06:11.360 Remember, Pharaoh's exalting himself. 00:06:11.519 --> 00:06:16.800 You know, Assyrian, verse 3 there of chapter 31, uh was like a cedar, you know, a tall tree. 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:18.000 I'm going to chop down Assyria. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.040 Babylon wrecked Assyria, so it's going to wreck Egypt as well. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:22.240 Pharaoh's going to die. 00:06:22.480 --> 00:06:30.480 Chapter 32 of Ezekiel, a long lament over Pharaoh getting smoked by the Babylonians, and really by God is the one who did it. 00:06:31.199 --> 00:06:35.680 You know, the Egyptians, they trusted in their river, they trusted in their glory. 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:39.680 Look at chapter 32, verse 12 in the middle there. 00:06:39.839 --> 00:06:45.519 I'm going to bring ruin to the pride of Egypt, its multitude shall perish, I'll destroy its beasts from beside many waters. 00:06:45.680 --> 00:06:48.240 And there's an irony here that Israel is under drought. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:49.360 Their animals are dying. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:51.360 So they're trusting in Egypt because there's a river there. 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.600 Nile, that's a great river, way bigger than the Jordan River. 00:06:53.680 --> 00:06:54.240 We'll trust them. 00:06:54.399 --> 00:06:55.199 God says, you know what? 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:58.800 I'll kill your animals with drought, and I'll kill their animals next to the river. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:00.639 Teach you all a lesson. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:02.079 You want to trust in horses? 00:07:02.160 --> 00:07:03.680 Their horses are going to die. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.399 Right next there, you know, great flowing rivers. 00:07:08.480 --> 00:07:11.279 There will just be, verse 16, lamentation chanted everywhere. 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:13.120 I mean, Egypt's going to go down. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:18.079 Chapter 33 of Ezekiel, Ezekiel is a watchman. 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.879 He's standing there and he's he's sounding the alarm. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:23.120 He's on the wall and he's sounding the alarm. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:28.720 Chapter 33, verse 7, you son of man, I've made a watchman for the house of Israel. 00:07:28.879 --> 00:07:32.079 Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:37.519 And chapter 33, verse 10, why are you gonna die, you Israelites? 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:38.720 You say, How can we live? 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:43.839 And as I live, verse 11 or chapter 33, declares the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of wicked. 00:07:44.000 --> 00:07:44.959 Very famous verse. 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:45.759 You know this verse. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:51.120 It's Ezekiel like begging the Israelites to repent. 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.000 And God says, if you do repent, I'll restore you. 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:57.279 That's verse 14. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:02.639 If Ezekiel says to the wicked, you surely die, and the wicked turns from his sin, does what is just and right. 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:08.800 If the wicked restores his pledge and gives back what he's taken by robbery, walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he'll live. 00:08:08.959 --> 00:08:10.000 He won't die. 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:14.639 It reminds me of the Sodom and Gomorrah negotiation with Abraham. 00:08:14.720 --> 00:08:16.800 You know, if there's 50 righteous, are you gonna destroy it? 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:17.600 And God says, No. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:19.279 Ten righteous, we destroy it. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:19.759 No. 00:08:20.480 --> 00:08:22.399 Be right back, I'm gonna go destroy it. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:25.279 I mean, it lets you know there's not ten righteous there. 00:08:25.519 --> 00:08:27.439 And they're not, there's not righteous people there. 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:28.480 It's going down. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.000 And the same thing is here. 00:08:30.160 --> 00:08:34.159 You know, Israel, if you repent, you get to live. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:36.559 But then look at verse 21. 00:08:36.799 --> 00:08:41.440 In the 12th year, the word comes out, the city has been struck down. 00:08:41.519 --> 00:08:43.120 I mean, the same passage, chapter 33. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:44.320 If they repent, they'll live. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:46.000 Next verse, they all die. 00:08:46.720 --> 00:08:48.080 They wouldn't repent. 00:08:49.440 --> 00:08:52.480 Chapter 34, we talked about that this morning. 00:08:53.039 --> 00:08:55.360 Prophecy against the shepherds of Israel. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:57.759 Israel is run by wicked religious leaders. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:09:00.480 They threw Jeremiah in a pit, they reject Ezekiel. 00:09:00.799 --> 00:09:03.120 I mean, they have they want nothing to do with God. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:05.519 They believe believe false prophets. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:10.559 And so, verse 15 of chapter 34, critical verse, I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:13.919 I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord Yahweh. 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:22.480 I will seek the lost, I'll bring back the strayed, I'll bind up the injured, I'll strengthen the weak and the fat and the strong, I will destroy, I will feed them in justice. 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:26.480 So God says, I will be your shepherd. 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:31.840 Now we understand as Christians that this is fulfilled in the New Testament. 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:33.120 John chapter 10. 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:35.200 Jesus declares that he is the great shepherd of the sheep. 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:36.720 So this is a prophetic word here. 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:45.200 Israel's going down, Jerusalem falls, and then the narrative of Ezekiel jumps forward to Jesus as the Good Shepherd. 00:09:46.000 --> 00:09:50.480 The Good Shepherd comes and dies on the cross, of course, inaugurating the new covenant. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:52.799 This is verse 25 of Ezekiel 34. 00:09:52.960 --> 00:09:55.440 He's going to make with them a covenant of peace. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:05.679 We read much of that section earlier for a scripture reading, that he will sprinkle their hearts with the blood and the purity, water of the word. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.559 They will be regenerated, and God will rescue them. 00:10:10.960 --> 00:10:14.960 Chapter 35 now is a prophecy against Mount Seir. 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:16.399 That's Edom. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:21.759 It stands in often in the Old Testament for the nations that hate the Israelites, the nations that try to take their land. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.879 This is the place where Abraham stood with Lot back in Genesis, what, 14, I think. 00:10:27.200 --> 00:10:28.000 Around there somewhere. 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:35.360 I could have the chapter wrong, but they stand on the mountain there, I think it's Genesis 14, and Lot looks one way, and Abraham looks the other way, and this is where that's happening. 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:42.080 And Lot goes one way off to Sodom and Gomorrah, and Abraham goes the other way, and God says, You're going to the land of Israel, will you have? 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:43.759 So this is those mountains. 00:10:44.480 --> 00:10:46.799 And God says they're going to be judged. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:55.919 They stand here representing the nations that want the land of Israel, their enemies, and God says, Don't worry, I'm going to inaugurate the covenant of peace, but your enemies are going down. 00:10:56.799 --> 00:11:04.639 It's a very important passage because when you understand Israel is a light to the world, a light to the nations, that doesn't mean all the nations are saved. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:07.679 So that's kind of a mystery in the Old Testament. 00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:21.759 I think you're Old Testament Jew, a believing Old Testament Jew, even Ezekiel, I don't know if he'd be able to put this together without the New Testament, because he understands that the gospel is going to go through the Abrahamic covenant and the Davidic covenant to the world. 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:26.000 It'll be the seed of Abraham, through the king of David, that will be the savior of the world. 00:11:26.159 --> 00:11:33.440 He'll be the one from Genesis 3 that will crush the head of the serpent and restore the gospel, bring the gospel to the world, make peace between God and man. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:38.879 So that's all gonna happen, and Jesus is gonna be a light to the Gentiles, a light to the nations. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:44.080 But in the Old Testament, God's working through Israel, doesn't that mean that Israel has a special place in God's plan? 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:44.960 Yes, it does. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:47.039 In the New Testament, he's going to the nations. 00:11:47.200 --> 00:11:50.000 Doesn't that mean that each nation has a special purpose in God's plan? 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:51.759 It's kind of like this continuity from Israel. 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:57.919 And the answer is no, and that's how Ezekiel 35 is functioning, that the nations are going to be judged. 00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.840 Ezekiel 36, we'll look at it more carefully later, but just an overview real quick. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:08.000 It says that Israel is going to be spared. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.360 The nations are going to be this is after the new covenant. 00:12:12.000 --> 00:12:17.039 In the chronology here, it's after the new covenant has been inaugurated. 00:12:17.840 --> 00:12:23.440 At the time of the judgment of the nations, Israel is going to be spared. 00:12:23.919 --> 00:12:25.360 That's Ezekiel 36. 00:12:25.840 --> 00:12:27.600 How are they going to be spared? 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:29.440 That's Ezekiel 37. 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:31.440 The dry bones, the valley of the dry bones. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.039 Look at the bones of Ezekiel, can they live? 00:12:33.200 --> 00:12:35.360 Ezekiel has the only answer possible. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:36.960 I love it. 00:12:37.039 --> 00:12:38.639 It's one of my favorite verses as a pastor. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:40.720 Ezekiel 37, verse 3. 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:43.279 God said to me, Son of man, can these bones live? 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:45.679 And I answered, Oh Lord Yahweh, you know. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:47.519 That's the best answer. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:49.360 God, you know. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:50.480 I give up. 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:59.519 When Israel lives, when they're resurrected through the agency of the Holy Spirit, you get the last half of chapter 37, they will be back under God. 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:00.879 God will be their shepherd. 00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:02.480 They'll be purified. 00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.080 Verse 24 of Ezekiel 37, they'll be brought in. 00:13:06.240 --> 00:13:07.919 King David will be over them. 00:13:08.159 --> 00:13:09.600 They'll all have one shepherd. 00:13:09.679 --> 00:13:10.799 They'll all walk in my rules. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.559 They'll all be careful to obey my statutes. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:16.799 And so now you're seeing, I think, kind of this image of the church in Israel together. 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:20.320 They're going to be occupying the kingdom here at the end of Ezekiel 37. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:25.039 They're all one person, they're all under my King David, verse 25, or chapter 37. 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:26.320 They're all together. 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:30.720 They're going to be in the land, it says in the middle of verse 26, in their land of Israel. 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:33.919 God's going to multiply them, He'll dwell with them. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:35.279 Verse 27. 00:13:35.440 --> 00:13:37.759 They will, I will be their God, they will be my people. 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.360 And then the nations will I know that I'm Yahweh, who sanctifies their Israel. 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:44.320 My sanct sanctuary is in their midst forevermore. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:48.080 So this is, I think, a prophecy of the millennial kingdom pointing forward. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:54.320 Before the kingdom, though, you have the last battle at the end of the tribulation, the battle of Gog and Magog. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:55.840 That's described as the Antichrist War. 00:13:55.919 --> 00:13:57.840 That's described in Ezekiel 38 there. 00:13:58.320 --> 00:14:01.840 And 39, two chapters that you get to this massive battle. 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:05.840 It's also described in Zechariah 13, well, 12, 13, 14. 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:10.000 It's described all over the Old Testament, described in the New Testament, in the Olivet Discourse. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.159 It's alluded to in 2 Thessalonians. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:19.120 It's described in Revelation, around like 16 to 19 or so in that window there. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:24.799 But even through that battle, the end of Ezekiel 39, Israel will be restored. 00:14:26.159 --> 00:14:27.360 Not just part of Israel. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.600 Look at Ezekiel 39, verse 25. 00:14:29.840 --> 00:14:33.600 I will have mercy on the whole house of Israel. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:34.960 All of them. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:39.519 Reminds you of Romans 11. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:42.159 In that day all Israel will be saved. 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:44.399 This is obviously a future event. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:46.720 Look at verse 28, 28 of 39. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:51.279 They shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh, because I sent them into exile among the nations. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:56.799 I then assemble them in their own lands, and I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:14:59.039 I won't hide my face from them anymore. 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:02.720 I'll pour out my spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord Yahweh. 00:15:02.879 --> 00:15:07.759 And then chapter 40, the end of the book is the image of the new temple that is in the millennial kingdoms. 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:18.960 But you get, you know, a smooth eight or nine chapters here describing the temple that will be in the millennial kingdom. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:21.200 And that's how the book ends. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:22.799 Now I know we went through that fast. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:29.519 I just wanted you to get like a 30,000-foot overview of this section of scripture, because it's not one we're very familiar with, right? 00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:35.120 I mean, we don't, you know, you read your Bible in a year and you try to blitz through this in a day or two and uh not think about it again. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:41.519 So I just wanted to pull the car over and let you know, like from above, when you're flying over this at a high altitude, you look out the window, that's what you see. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:46.799 So it's God's judgment on Egypt, God's judgment on the nations. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.879 Uh the Israelites are bad, yet God's gonna be their own shepherd and he's going to save them. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.840 He'll save them through the new covenant, then he's gonna judge the nations that oppose them. 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:54.559 In fact, I have an outline. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:55.919 Then he's gonna judge the nations that oppose them. 00:15:56.080 --> 00:15:57.120 Forgot about this. 00:15:57.759 --> 00:15:58.960 Isn't that so helpful? 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:03.360 But if I didn't, if I put this up earlier, you wouldn't have been listening as attentively. 00:16:03.679 --> 00:16:06.000 Uh I mean that's the order of those chapters. 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:07.600 And do you see this flow? 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:16.960 There's a judgment on Israel, Israel will fall on Egypt, then Israel will fall, Jesus will be their shepherd, he'll inaugurate the new covenant, the nations will be punished. 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.000 God will spare Israel from that punishment. 00:16:20.159 --> 00:16:26.639 There's that battle between Gog and Magog, and it ends with a description of the millennial kingdom. 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:28.000 And I can translate this. 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:31.600 That's the overview of Ezekiel here, but let me translate this into terms that we're more familiar with. 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:37.360 First of all, Ezekiel 36, right there, if it's there, but here's the same list in the same order. 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:42.960 And she says, I saw I subbed out kind of the New Testament terms here, but it's the same, same chapters. 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:43.840 You get the flow of it. 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:50.000 You get the Old Testament kind of summarized in Ezekiel 30, 31, 32, the judgment on the nations, including Israel. 00:16:50.080 --> 00:16:54.559 You get the exile that happens in Ezekiel 33. 00:16:54.639 --> 00:16:55.120 It's described. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:17:00.879 This is, you know, of course, where Daniel and Ezra and Nehemiah take place, Esther during that time period. 00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:05.759 Then you get the uh the Gospels, where Jesus comes as the shepherd to lay his life down for the sheep. 00:17:05.839 --> 00:17:08.000 That's Ezekiel 34, the first half of it. 00:17:08.079 --> 00:17:15.680 You get the new covenant inaugurated the death of Christ, launching into the church age from Acts chapter 2. 00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:21.440 You get the tribulation, the tribulation, the seven-year period uh that's coming onto the world where God judges the nations. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:22.880 That's Ezekiel 35. 00:17:23.119 --> 00:17:27.039 Even despite that, God is going to spare Israel, that's ushering them into the kingdom. 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.880 But on their way into the kingdom, there's that final war against Israel. 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:33.680 Remember, the Antichrist breaks his covenant in the temple. 00:17:33.759 --> 00:17:36.400 That's Ezekiel 38 and 39, it ends with the millennial kingdom. 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.279 So I take this whole section to be chronological. 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:54.720 And when you take it chronologically, I think it makes a lot of sense, and it corresponds really neatly with the same chronology that you get in the Olivet Discourse, the same chronology you get in 1st and 2 Thessalonians, and lo and behold, wouldn't you know it? 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.440 The same chronology you get in the book of Revelation. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:10.799 If I had more time today, I just I just blame, you know, we only get 24 hours and you have to sleep and eat, and yeah, but if I had more time, you would see an outline of the book of Revelation, and you would see the same thing follows the book of Revelation, the Revelation follows the same pattern here. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:13.759 But maybe some other time. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:20.400 I want to go back here to the overview where you see where the passage we're gonna look at tonight is Ezekiel 36. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:22.480 I want to zero zero in here. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:30.319 Because it is common to say that this flow is not necessarily chronological, that all these chapters kind of are uh can be spiritualized into the church age. 00:18:30.400 --> 00:18:32.720 They all take place more or less simultaneously in the church age. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:36.000 They're all kind of the promises of Israel fulfilled in the church, so to speak. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:41.359 But I think it's a compelling argument when you look at the flow of them, that there's something going on here chronologically. 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:49.279 And Ezekiel 36, if you drill in there, I mean I could pick any of these chapters and make similar points, but I think it's uh most persuasive from Ezekiel 36. 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:56.960 I want to dive into Ezekiel 36 and try to illustrate for you that these are not things that are really fit well with saying they're just fulfilled in the church. 00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:06.960 That the church and spiritual Israel care uh have a common lineage and heritage, which is true, but because of that common lineage and heritage, the church fulfills these kind of promises to Israel. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:11.039 I don't think that is true because of chapters like Ezekiel 36. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:19.279 Remember, there's there's probably 20 chapters that make the same point, and it's tempting to choose all 20 of them, uh, but eventually I have to preach something different. 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.279 So we've got to wrap the series up sometime. 00:19:21.440 --> 00:19:23.519 So just one chapter tonight, Ezekiel 36. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:26.880 You son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:30.240 And I just like the image of Ezekiel having to go yell at the mountains. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:31.920 It kind of is fun for me. 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:38.240 He's gonna be preaching in the mountains, which is not doesn't even crack the top five for the craziest things he's done in his life. 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:40.960 So he's probably he's probably grateful for this one. 00:19:41.279 --> 00:19:42.720 He gets to wear his clothes. 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:46.960 Um mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.599 Thus says the Lord Yahweh. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:54.319 Because the enemy said of you, aha! And the ancient heights have become our possession. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:55.599 That's you contrast with Edom. 00:19:55.680 --> 00:19:57.359 Edom is the one that said those. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:19:59.920 This is all the nations claim Israel. 00:20:00.160 --> 00:20:00.799 You know? 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:03.039 But God's going to protect them. 00:20:03.119 --> 00:20:15.920 Therefore, verse 3, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of all the people. 00:20:16.079 --> 00:20:20.559 Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh. 00:20:21.279 --> 00:20:23.359 So the land here is being divided. 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:29.119 The nations, Edom, Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, they're all fighting over Israel. 00:20:29.200 --> 00:20:30.319 They want to divide it up. 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:31.599 And of course they do divide it up. 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:33.920 The Assyrians get ten tribes. 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:36.559 The Egyptians are peeling off part of Judah. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:38.960 Eventually Benjamin falls to the Babylonians. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:42.079 And I mean, so it is being peeled apart by the nations. 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:45.440 And God says, you know, everybody mocks you. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:46.640 Everybody's making fun of Israel. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:47.200 Do you get that? 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:49.680 Like they don't realize that they're the kid everyone's making fun of. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:20:50.240 But they are. 00:20:50.400 --> 00:20:51.759 That's what Ezekiel's saying here. 00:20:51.920 --> 00:20:53.680 Everybody is making fun of you. 00:20:54.960 --> 00:20:59.039 Therefore, mountains of Israel, verse 4, hear the word of law of the Lord Yahweh. 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:10.559 Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, the desolate places and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations all around. 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:14.880 So just pause here before we look at what the actual prophecy is. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:18.000 He's talking to inanimate objects. 00:21:18.480 --> 00:21:22.000 And those inanimate objects represent the nation of Israel, of course. 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:27.839 But you just wonder why is he talking to objects instead of people? 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.480 And it's I mean, you can probably make a list of reasons. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:34.400 First of all, the people aren't listening to him. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:35.279 He's tried. 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:37.680 Remember, he was already, the watchman on the wall already happened. 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:38.880 They rejected him. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:48.319 But secondly, these prophecies will not be fulfilled in the lifetime of those who are hearing it. 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.960 And it doesn't go to the grave when the people die. 00:21:53.440 --> 00:21:57.680 When the Babylonians take him away, the king is going to be led away with a hook through his nose. 00:21:57.839 --> 00:21:59.680 When that happens, these prophecies do. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:01.519 Don't go with him. 00:22:04.720 --> 00:22:06.000 Jeremiah did something similar. 00:22:06.079 --> 00:22:07.519 Remember, Jeremiah took the scroll? 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.960 Took a title deed, bought a field, took a title deed, dug a hole, and buried it. 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.880 It's like you guys are all gonna get evicted. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:13.759 You're all gonna get evicted. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:19.680 But my great, great, great, great, great, great grandkids are gonna come and they're gonna have a 7-Eleven right here. 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:22.559 We're coming back. 00:22:23.599 --> 00:22:25.039 That's what Ezekiel's doing here. 00:22:25.200 --> 00:22:31.440 You know, listen, mountains, listen up mountains, listen up streams, listen up little ravines, listen up hillsides. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:37.440 All you land listen, because the prophecy will be fulfilled in the land. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:45.839 Therefore, verse 5 says the Lord Yahweh, surely I've spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all of Edom. 00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:49.519 That was the previous chapter, who gave my land to themselves as a possession. 00:22:49.599 --> 00:22:50.480 Notice that turn of phrase. 00:22:50.640 --> 00:22:53.359 Allah's nations said, I hereby give myself that land. 00:22:53.599 --> 00:22:55.920 You've got to love it when you give yourself a gift. 00:22:57.759 --> 00:23:01.759 With wholehearted joy and utter contempt that they might make its pasture lands a prey. 00:23:01.839 --> 00:23:04.319 Therefore prophesy, verse 6 concerning the land of Israel. 00:23:04.480 --> 00:23:12.480 Say to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, thus says the Lord Yahweh, behold, I've spoken in my jealous wrath, because you've suffered the reproach of the nations. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:19.599 Therefore, thus says the Lord Yahweh, I swear, the nations that are all around you, they'll suffer reproach. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:33.759 But you, O mountains of Israel, so the contrast here is the other people, the people that are attacking Israel, they'll die, but the land of Israel, verse 8, will shoot forth your branches. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:37.599 You'll yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 00:23:37.759 --> 00:23:39.279 They're going into exile now. 00:23:39.519 --> 00:23:40.720 They'll come back. 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:43.519 When they come back, they'll eat the trees. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:44.960 They'll eat from the fruit. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:46.319 They'll drink from the rivers. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:48.079 They'll be back in the land. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:52.319 So at this point, it could be tempting for you to say, hey, that already happens. 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:53.839 That's talking about the end of the exile. 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:57.119 That's talking about Jeremiah that says, you know, they'll be in exile 70 years. 00:23:57.200 --> 00:23:58.799 That's Daniel where he says it's time to come home. 00:23:58.880 --> 00:23:59.920 That's the decree of Cyrus. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:00.799 That's already happened. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:02.319 The Israelites ate an orange. 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:06.480 You know, I went on Israel, uh went on trips to Israel and saw Israelites eating oranges off their trees. 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:08.240 There are big avocados everywhere in Israel. 00:24:08.319 --> 00:24:09.920 They're grown by the Jews that eat the avocados. 00:24:10.079 --> 00:24:11.920 Therefore, prophecy fulfilled. 00:24:12.240 --> 00:24:13.519 But not quite. 00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:15.359 Not quite. 00:24:16.079 --> 00:24:19.200 Behold, I'm for you, God says. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:21.680 I will turn to you, you shall be tilled and sown. 00:24:21.920 --> 00:24:27.039 It has echoes in it of other prophecies about the millennial kingdom, swords and plowshares and such. 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:30.960 I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.319 The cities will be inhabited, the waste places rebuilt. 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:37.519 By the way, that still hasn't entirely happened yet. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:40.799 I will multiply on you man and beast, and they will multiply and be fruitful. 00:24:40.960 --> 00:24:44.400 I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times. 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:48.480 And will do more good to you than ever before. 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.720 That's why it's so important to understand the New Testament. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:52.480 Israel didn't own that land. 00:24:52.720 --> 00:24:56.880 In the New Testament, they they didn't have the glory of their former times after the exile. 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:01.440 The former times they're talking about are like when David was king, when Solomon was king. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:02.400 That's the former times. 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:04.480 Remember what happened when they came back over exile? 00:25:05.279 --> 00:25:06.880 Their nation was divided up. 00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:14.400 The whole point of, one of the many points of uh Esther is that there's another king reigning over God's people. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:20.799 Or of Ezra, he's got to write permission slips to get timber to build the temple. 00:25:20.960 --> 00:25:22.559 You remember all that in the book of Ezra? 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:24.000 The Jews were not in charge. 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:25.680 They got no king in Ezra and Nehemiah. 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:26.880