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- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Ezek. 35-36
All of Israel, including Judah, belonged to God; both the people and the land. Yet when God drove His people out of their land, Edom thought they could step in and take what belonged to God. “Because you said, ‘These two nations and two lands will be mine, and we will possess them’ – though the LORD was there – …I will treat you according to the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them.” (Ezek. 35:10, 11b). Their disrespect for Israel was really a disrespect for God.
Which takes me back to the thought I expressed the other day about blessing and cursing Israel. As with most everything else in the Old Testament, I believe there is a deeper spiritual application in that behind the obvious physical one. It isn’t about the nation of Israel; it’s about honoring God as God. It’s about understanding that Israel is God’s message to us. Thus, to bless Israel is to hear, accept, and obey His message. Which ultimately means accepting the embodiment of His Word in Jesus Christ.
Ezek. 37
I have been writing about how Ezekiel seems to be a demonstration of Jesus’ work for us. I see another example of that in this chapter. That field of dry bones represents all of humanity, dead in our sin. And it is Jesus who brings us out of our graves, putting God’s Spirit of life in us.
I have also written about how Israel is God’s message to us; a demonstration of God’s plan for the world. So I see a really cool thing with Ezekiel’s two sticks. The prophecy, on the surface, is about the reunification of the two houses of Israel. He promised to gather them back from the nations where they were scattered, cleanse them from their sin, unite them as one people under one king, and dwell with them forever. What I see represented in that for the rest of us is that this is the work of Christ for the whole world. I see the house of Judah as the Jews and the house of Ephraim as the Gentiles who are grafted in (see Rom. 11). Jesus gathers us all from among the nations, unites us as one, and becomes our permanent covenant of peace with God.