Ezekiel 37: Resurrection, 2
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Wednesday 03/16/2022
Wednesday 03/16/2022
The First & The Last
The First & The Last
8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write, ‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life:
Now of the seven churches addressed by the Lord Jesus Christ, two of the seven churches have no commendation because these churches are in operational carnality. They are divorced from the teaching of the Word and have compromised with false doctrine. This is not dissimilar from many churches today.
Two churches, one of them the church in Smyrna, have only commendations. These two are churches that are fully squared away in terms of doctrine and are going through, in the case of the Smyrna church, an intense period of adversity that is designed to refine them in preparation for their future destiny as priests and kings for the Lord Jesus Christ. The other church with only commendations is at Philadelphia.
Now in Revelation 2:9 when the Lord Jesus Christ says, “I know your works.” He uses the perfect tense of the verb οἶδα (oida) which emphasizes intuitive knowledge as opposed to γινώσκω (ginōskō) which is usually learned or acquired knowledge.
This emphasizes the fact that as the Lord Jesus Christ is talking to this congregation that is going to go through some tremendous adversity and suffering and persecution He is talking about how intimately He knows each and every one of them and what they are going through. They are not just left alone. They are not just left wandering around in this hostile cosmic system to have to deal with the struggles and the heartaches and the problems and the adversities all by themselves. There is an intimate knowledge based on the infinite knowledge of God.
This correlates with the phrase we will be reviewing next,
Now as an aside - it is demonstrated throughout scripture that the omniscience of God makes Him a personal God. Funny - because that is very different from Human Viewpoint on the matter. Generally people think of God as being more abstract, and not less.
The first and the last — found in in verse 8b We will find that there are four observations to gather from the title.
But let’s review the grammar and vocabulary first, then discuss.
Now for the relative clause. We start out with the nominative singular from the relative pronoun ὅς (hos) whose antecedent is “the first and the last.” So it is translated: “the first and the last who.” Next comes the aorist middle indicative of the verb γίνομαι (ginomai): vb., which means “to be” and it also means “to become.” We will translate it “who became.”
This is the dramatic aorist tense, it states the present reality with the certitude of a past event — the death of our Lord on the cross. The idiom, of course, is a device for emphasis. The middle voice: our Lord’s humanity participated in the results of the action. This refers to His physical death on the cross. The indicative mood is declarative for a dogmatic statement of Bible doctrine - the declaration as an emphasized certitude that the humanity of Christ participated in dying anc coming to life.
Next we have the predicate nominative from νεκρός (nekros), which refers to our Lord’s semantic death on the cross. Literally, “who became dead.” But it is an idiom and should be translated “who died.”
Next we have the connective conjunction καί (kai), followed by the aorist active indicative of the verb ζάω (zaō), which means to live. It is used for dead persons who return to life, hence to become alive again. And it should be translated: “who died and came to life again.”
The aorist tense is a culminative aorist. It views the resurrection of our Lord in its entirety but regards it from the viewpoint of existing results: the continuation of human history past the first advent. This continuation of history is the subject of the book of Revelation. The active voice: Jesus Christ produces the action of the verb through His physical, literal, bodily, resurrection from the dead. The indicative mood is the declarative for a dogmatic statement of doctrine — the doctrine of the literal, physical resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead.
Now let’s discuss the title here, when it comes to the title of "first and last." These titles don’t just come out of thin air. We must always interpret within the framework of context. In Revelation 1:16 , Jesus in all of His glory has now appeared to John. When He speaks He utters a command: “Don’t be afraid.”
16 He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.
17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
What is the orientation of the human heart toward God in its fallen condition? It’s fear. The first thing that happened when Jesus Christ came to speak to Adam and Eve in the garden after the fall was that they were afraid and hid. So the first thing the Lord says is, “Don’t be afraid, I am the first and the last.”
What does that mean?
Isaiah gives us some insight in Isaiah 41:4 , where the speaker is God:
4 Who has performed and done it, Calling the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the Lord, am the first; And with the last I am He.’ ”
So here is the Lord utilizing this terminology in the Old Testament. It is in a context that is emphasizing His eternality.
This same phrase is used in Isaiah 44:6 where the speaker is the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ:
6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.
“Thus says the LORD the King of Israel [God the Father], and his redeemer the LORD of hosts [the Lord Jesus Christ]; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”
The text is clear that there are two personalities there, and both the Father and the Son are called the first and the last. So it is not a title that is unique to one person in the Trinity. Again, it indicates the eternality of the Lord.
The Lord refers to Himself the same way in Isaiah 48:12:
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, And Israel, My called: I am He, I am the First, I am also the Last.
In context there is an emphasis on His omnipotence and His being the creator. It relates to the doctrine of His infinity, and His infinity relates to His sufficiency. If He is the first and the last He is sufficient for everything.
Now Revelation 2:8 continues “Who was dead, and came to life.” In order to be dead you have to be alive first, so it is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. He begins by using a title that relates to the eternality of God as applied to God the Father as well as to the Redeemer of Israel, as we saw in the Old Testament. So we see a clear statement in Scripture where Jesus is identifying Himself with God the Father: that is, He and the father are of the same essence. Jesus as Alpha and Omega is emphasizing His eternality and His deity, as the 2nd person of the Triune God.
Now to our 4 observations derived from “the first and the last”
1 -First of all this refers to Jesus Christ as the God-Man; it refers to the hypostatic union which started at the virgin birth or the incarnation of Christ. Jesus Christ as “the first” is eternal God, coequal and CO-eternal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. As eternal and infinite God, Jesus Christ pre-existed history which He controls from the computer of divine decrees. Jesus Christ also concludes history as “the last”. He is the God-Man, He concludes history as “the last” in hypostatic union. So He is eternal God and true humanity in One person forever. Jesus Christ as the author of history never loses control of history. He is the first and He is the last. He began history by personally creating man — Adam. And as the last Adam He will personally conclude history with the destruction of the earth.
Even though history is the record of man’s thoughts, motives, decisions, and actions, it is Jesus Christ, the first and the last, who controls history. Therefore, there are two sources of judgements and disasters in history: the sovereign decisions of our Lord Jesus Christ and the erroneous decisions of mankind.
Principle: People are collectively and individually the products of their own decisions. And remember that decision creates environment, it is not true that environment creates decision. For example, there is no such thing as a “transsexual” because of environment or because of genes. Rather, it is a matter of decision. In other words, we are the products of our decisions, not our environment. Our decisions create the environment; the environment does not create our decisions.
2 - Secondly first and last has to do with the two great prophecies of history. The title “first and last” also refers to these two great prophecies because they refer to our Lord Jesus Christ.
They are the first and second advents. So many prophecies in the Old Testament deal with the details of our Lord’s first advent, all of which are a part of “the first.” The Church is located in between these two great prophetical periods of human history and therefore the Church Age becomes the dispensation of no prophecy. Everything pertaining to the first advent was fulfilled prior to the beginning of the Church Age — the virgin birth, the incarnation, the hypostatic union, our Lord’s residence and function in the prototype divine dynasphere, His resultant impeccability, His saving work — redemption, reconciliation, propitiation — His death on the cross, His physical resurrection, His ascension, His session, etc.
The dispensation of the Church is designed, then, to call out a royal family for our Lord’s third royal patent. Therefore the Church Age is the dispensation of historical trends, but not prophecy.
This may seem incidental, but it is front and center in the lives of many Christians right now. To illustrate this I want to read a chat that I had last week with someconcerned Christians:
Interestingly, "the JCPOA was supposed to be signed this week to get Iran’s oil back into the market, but Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put a monkey wrench in that."
Notice that Israel Prime Minister Naftali Bennett visited Putin a couple of days ago.
This prevents the treasonous Biden from inking a new Iran agreement. It keeps Iran out of money. It further empowers Russia and protects Israel.
I don't think any of the ad hominem against Putin is true - beyond that he is unarguably evil. He is a brilliant strategist with a Ph.D. In international law amongst his accomplishments.
Will we be here for the Gog/Magog invasion of Ezekiel 38-40?
If you mean the Body of Christ, then no.
None of the actual prophecy gets fulfilled until we are out of here, and Israel and the warring nations sign the peace treaty with the Anti-Christ, who everyone thinks is a master negotiator.
After the rapture, things can move very quickly, as the restrainer of Satan and the AntiChrist is removed, per 2 Thessalonians 2:6.
1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Like the Thessalonians, most people get confused when they try to see prophecy being fulfilled now.
Date Setters have long been with us. These individuals have decided in their own study that they have found the date when the Rapture of the Church or the 2nd coming of Christ would occur. This is based on their understandings and insights into prophecy.
I remember with fondness (that is said tongue in cheek) the little pamphlet “88 Reasons why the Lord is coming back in 1988”. Edgar C. Whisenant was a former NASA engineer and Bible student. This was, of course, 40 years after Israel became a nation again.
The great radio man and prophecy nut, founder and bible show host of Family Radio, Harold Camping made a name for himself by setting the date of the return of Christ for His church.
Sept 6, 1994
then Sept 29, 1994
then Oct 2, 1994
He was sure he had the year right.
Then May 21, 2011
then Oct 21, 2011
He was finally “retired” from being on the air on Oct 16, 2021 - days before the final prediction failed.
But God has stopped the clock of fulfillment, and doesn't restart it until that moment that the treaty is signed. And then the final week of Daniel's 70 weeks from Daniel 9:24 begins.
Per Daniel 9:26, at the end of 69 weeks (483 years) from the Decree to restore and rebuild Israel, the Messiah will be cut off. And the clock concerning all biblical fulfillment for Israel is stopped. So Christ hit the time out button in his first advent. When we leave in rapture it becomes possible for the clock to start again.
There is some work to go through to understand the exact meaning of Daniel 9:24-27. I'll give the high points only.
The correct decree that corresponds to the one prophesied in Daniel 9:25 is found in Nehemiah 2:5, and is the decree of Artaxerxes.
The count begins at the issuing of the decree to restore (not return to) Jerusalem.
Because Daniel's prayer in Daniel 9:16 is "let the face shine on Thy desolate sanctuary" we know that the temple is a key facet of this prophecy.
The Artixerxes decree was issued on March 5, 444 BC.
A lot of bible chronology research will show that a biblical month is 30 days, and a biblical year is 360 days.
So there are 173,880 days from Artexerxes decree, bringing us to March 30, 33AD.
Which is the exact day that Jesus entered Jerusalem.
After that, by a few days, Jesus Christ is "cut off" as the Messiah of Israel, when He is crucified and resurrected and ascends to Heaven to wait for His 2nd coming.
I skipped many details and reasons - but that is the synopsis.
I mentioned the decree to rebuild the temple is an important facet. So, we see it again. At the beginning of the tribulation, the peace decree with the AntiChrist will include another order to rebuild the temple. This will be the 3rd and False temple. It will be rebuilt in time, and be functioning, so that the antichrist can desecrate it at the 1/2 way point, at exactly 1,260 days.
The current Temple Mount institute in Jerusalem is so far advanced, that they may be able to build the temple in weeks, or even days, from the decree. Intriguing.
None of the prophecies are fulfilled in the church age. The Ezekiel war is a prophecy. It is fulfilled after the prophetic clock of Israel is restarted. Every prophecy is on God's timeline for Israel. God's timeline for Israel restarts after He takes the church home in the rapture.
The point of Paul's comments in 1 & 2 Thessalonians is that these prophecies don't take place until the rapture, and then the AntiChrist appears on the scene.
So where do you get the idea that we will be here to see prophecy fulfilled? This is not that.
So, in reality we do know the timing of these things - that they all follow the rapture of the church.
So if we see war break out - it isn't any war of prophecy.
Unfamiliarity with good biblical teaching led many in the 1920s and 1940s to think that prophetic wars were upon us. They were just ignorant of God's stated plans in scripture.
One very pertinent verse is typically ignored by those who say war will happen before the tribulation, is Ezekiel 38:14.
Ezekiel 38:14 (HNV) Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and tell Gog, Thus says the Lord GOD: In that day when my people Yisra'el dwells securely, shall you not know it?
Here we are told that when the time comes on "that day" (which is an important and meaningful technical prophetic phrase, that can be returned to for further discussion) that Israel will be at -peace/secure without the need of protective perimeters "without walls, and having no bars or gates" (v.11) who are quiet or at rest.
End of Service 3/23/2022
End of Service 3/23/2022
Wednesday 4/06/2022
Wednesday 4/06/2022
In dealing with the issue of whether or not the prophecies of the bible concerning Israel are pertinent now, or are not being fulfilled until after the end of the church age, we have taken a look at what is probably one of the most cited prophetic passages that has dominated “current events exegesis” in countless pulpits, and in multiple books and articles and prophecy conferences over the decades. So we started a high level examination of Ezekiel 38, in verse 14.
14 “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it?
Many today are advocates of the explanation that Israel is dwelling safely today in this current time. So when you look at Israel right now, you are seeing this safety, is their assertion.
But Ezekiel has already told us back in verse 11 what this dwelling in safety means.
11 You will say, ‘I will go up against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates’—
Before I come back to that, I want to address a few other pertinent facts or elements about the Ezekiel restoration found in this passage in Ezekiel 36-40. To accomplisht this we need to survey Chapters 36-40 to cover our material and then apply it in in interpreting this misunderstood passage. The point here is not to give you doctrinal notes that pile up and become abstract and impossible to remember. The point or goal is to give you an overview of Ezekil 36-40 so that you can think your way through these issues that are relevant to our understanding of the first and the last, as a title of the Lord Jesus Christ, and giving you tools to think your
way through the discussions and challenges to the prophetic teaching of the 1st advent and the 2nd advent, and anything that might come in between.
So we start our survey in Ezekiel 36.
Purpose - For His Name Sake
Purpose - For His Name Sake
Let’s acknowledge that the purpose of this restoration of Israel which will lead to the Gog/Magog war is to show the holiness of God’s great name. His people will be restored, not because they deserve it - but for the sake of God’s Holy Name. I.e. His reputation. This will reestablish God’s reputation or “name” among the nations.
21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
Also in verse 32
32 Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
I’m not throwing all of the parallel scriptures at you, but this gathering will serve as a signal to the nations, including Babylon and Edom, that YHWH is still in control and still regards Israel as His people.
Next, we see that God will gather Israel from all countries and bring them back to their land.
The God who had been faithful in judgement would also be faithful in redemption.
1st- From All Countries
1st- From All Countries
Now while it was staggering to many that Israel came back into existence as a nation with a national identity and with land in 1948 - we have seen nothing close to the regathering of Jews to Israel. At this time 34% of the world Jewish population is understood to live in Israel. 41% of the world Jewish population is in the US. The other 30% is scattered across the planet. Many scholars acknowledge that this section is not fully fulfilled … put some will seem to slip it by as partially “filled” (if you take the Full out of full-filled, you just get filled). This little play on words may be cute, but in some cases is reflective of making claims that can’t be made.
Let’s read Ezekiel 36:24-32
24 For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.
31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
32 Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
Now verse 24, does not mean that God will take a few Jews from every nation - it means He will bring all Jews from all nations. The focus is on how God will restore the nation of Israel from the scattering. The scattering takes the nation and breaks it up, and scatters all of the people to other places. The restoration works in reverse. Restoration of all Jews from all places of scattering is in mind here.
This is not a reference to the specific restoration from Assyro-Babylonian captivity, as the reference is to a gathering from “all countries.”
Ezekiel (4) Future Restoration of Fruitfulness in Israel (36:16–38)
The return to the land in 535 B.C. after the exile in Babylon involved a return from one nation, Babylon, allowed by another nation, the Medo-Persians. Technically three nations were involved in the return of the exiles, Assyria, Babylon, and Medo-Persia. Israel, the Northern Kingdom, went captive to Assyria in 722 B.C. Babylon took captives from Judah in 605, 597, and 587 B.C. Babylon was overthrown by the Medo-Persians in 539 B.C., after which the Hebrews began to return to the land under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
Ezekiel (4) Future Restoration of Fruitfulness in Israel (36:16–38)
The reference in Ezekiel to a gathering from “all countries” seems to imply a wider scope for the return that looked beyond the first return from the Assyro-Babylonian captivity. This prophecy reflected the hope of a regathering after the A.D. 70 dispersion among all nations of the world (cf. 11:16–17; Isa 11:12; Jer 16:15).
Let’s compare to the parallel passages
16 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.” ’
17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.” ’
12 He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.
15 but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’ For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers.
Second - Cleansing
Second - Cleansing
Third, we see that God promised to regenerate the people spiritually, giving them a “new heart” and “new spirit”.
Our text also references that God will cleanse Israel from their impurities and idolatry which defiled the land. While cleansing of the ceremonial kind was an external rite, it was a ritual that also called for internal repentance.
25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
We compare back to the previous statement
17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity.
18 Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it.
Cleansing and forgiveness are spoken of in terms of washing with the sprinkling of clean water to wash away impurity.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
While the ceremonial cleansing is reflected, keep in mind that true worship requires internal repentance.
Third - regeneration
Third - regeneration
The change of will will be from stone to flesh made possible by the new covenant in Jer 31:33-34. Which will lead the people to turn to their new shepherd the Messiah.
33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
This is not about the Jews who turn to Christ in the Christian Age, this is about Jews who become part of the “All of Israel” that will turn to Christ, per Romans 11:26
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
Fourth - Spirit Filled Law Keeping
Fourth - Spirit Filled Law Keeping
Fourth, at this restoration, God will move Israel to follow his laws. Which will be achieved by living in the power of the Holy Spirit, which requires being saved.
27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Paul indicated the struggle of keeping the law in Romans 7:13-25
13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
Paul expressed the solution in Romans 8:1-39
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,
17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;
21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.
24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees?
25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The solution is living in the power of the Holy Spirit, walking in the Divine Dynasphere, which to we church Age believers is expressed in Gal 5:16-26 amongst other passages.
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
The description is of a land of unwalled villages
they are a peaceful people who dwell safely
all of them dwell without walls and have neither bars nor gates.
Scholars who say Israel meets this qualification of peace are advocates of the pre-trib war concepts.
However, there are only two times in prophetic history when Israel is said to be at peace: first, the false peace brought about under the false Christ with the signing of the antiChrist's "peace" treaty which is extremely short lived; second under the true Christ during the Messianic kingdom, which actual peace lasts for a thousand years.
This is a part of the criteria that according to scripture must precede the Ezekiel war. That criteria is not met now, nor will be until the antiChrist appears.
We also have the timeline set by Daniel in Daniel 9:
The next prophecy is the termination of the Church Age, the Rapture of the Church, the resurrection of the body of Christ.
And because the Church Age is the dispensation of no prophecy the next event prophetically, eschatologically, is an imminent event.
In other words, there are no intervening prophecies that have to be fulfilled before the Rapture occurs. The Rapture was imminent even in the time of the apostles and still is.
Therefore Christ is the first, related to the first advent and the strategic victory of the cross. Christ is the second related to His tactical victory of the second advent. The first and the last, then, is a title of our Lord Jesus Christ as the prophetical key to human history.
3 - Third the first and the last,” informs us of the uptrends and downtrends of history related to the believer in the lord Jesus Christ. Christ is either first or last to every believer; there is no in between because every believer is either inside the divine dynasphere or inside the cosmic system.
If you are living inside the divine dynasphere — gate 5: love of God; gate eight, which includes occupation with the person of Christ — this means that Christ is first. But if you are a believer living in cosmic dynasphere number one, cosmic dynasphere number two, then Christ is last. So the up and down trends of history are related to this particular title of our Lord.
In other words, as goes the believer in Christ so goes human history in any generation. When the believer puts Christ first in his scale of values it is because he lives inside the divine dynasphere which contributes to the uptrend of history; when the believer puts Christ last in his scale of values it is because he lives in the cosmic system which contributes to the downtrend of history.
Therefore, “first and last” also emphasises the function of human volition in history. It emphasises the importance of occupation with the person of Christ as well as the place of Christ in one’s scale of values and daily priorities.
4 - “First and last” also refers to the source of both temporal and eternal blessing for the believer. Our first blessing relates to time while our last blessing relates to eternity. “First and last” is the fulfilment of the Christian way of life resulting in the imputation of both logistical and super grace blessing in time plus the imputation of eternal blessing and reward at the judgment seat of Christ.
The first two points are interpretation of our Lord’s title; the last two points are application of our Lord’s title.
End of Service 4/06/2022
End of Service 4/06/2022
Wednesday 4/13/2022
Wednesday 4/13/2022
Fifth - Live in the Land
Fifth - Live in the Land
Fifth, the people will live permanently in the land that God gave their ancestors. Live is the opposite of sojourn. Ezekiel 36:28.
Dwell or live is from the Hebrew root YASAB, which mean to sit, be seated, or to dwell. The word GUR means a sojjourner, a temporary resident or a resident alien.
28 Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
they will no longer be temporary residents or aliens - they will live in the reaffirmation of the covenant relationshp with their God.
20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
11 that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but that they may be My people and I may be their God,” says the Lord God.’ ”
Sixth - Productive in the Land
Sixth - Productive in the Land
Sixth, a new level of productivity is given in Ezekiel 36:29-30 as God instructs the produce to respond to Israel.
29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you.
30 And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.
No famine will disgrace the people of God or drive them from the land.
Notice back in vs. 8, Ezekiel 36:8
8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people Israel, for they are about to come.
Notice the parallel passages where
11 “On that day I will raise up The tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the Gentiles who are called by My name,” Says the Lord who does this thing.
13 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “When the plowman shall overtake the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow with it.
14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them.
15 I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From the land I have given them,” Says the Lord your God.
21 “It shall come to pass in that day That I will answer,” says the Lord; “I will answer the heavens, And they shall answer the earth.
22 The earth shall answer With grain, With new wine, And with oil; They shall answer Jezreel.
No longer will famine disgrace God’s people or drive them from the land. The reason is that Israel will respond to God spiritually, and the blessings of God will follow the spiritual.
See Ezekiel 5:12
12 One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Let’s follow this trend: Notice Genesis 12:10
10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land.
1 There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
5 And the sons of Israel went to buy grain among those who journeyed, for the famine was in the land of Canaan.
1 Now the famine was severe in the land.
4 And they said to Pharaoh, “We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen.”
1 Now it came to pass, in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem, Judah, went to dwell in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons.
1 Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord. And the Lord answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
Wednesday 4/20/2022
Wednesday 4/20/2022
Seventh - Repentance with Loathing
Seventh - Repentance with Loathing
Seventh, the people will loathe the remembrance of their former practices, immorality and idolatry. This is a description of their repentance from their behavior before and while in exile. Ezekiel 36:31
31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.
We see this same terminology used in Ezekiel 6:9 earlier in describing Israel’s repentance in exile.
9 Then those of you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations.
43 And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed.
In Contrast, our passage in v.31 and a passage in 20:43 describes feelings of revulsion AFTER the return FROM exile, in recalling their former thinking and lifestyle.
v. 32 gives us a reminder that none of these restoration promises were provided because the Hebrews deserved them. The primary motive is expressed to demonstrate God’s greatness and holiness.
Benefits of Restoration
Benefits of Restoration
Now lets look at some of the benefits of the restoration. This is the final review of the benefits of God’s provided restoration to Israel that is in the book prior to the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones in Ezekiel 37.
33 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.
34 The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by.
35 So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’
36 Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it, and I will do it.”
37 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do this for them: I will increase their men like a flock.
38 Like a flock offered as holy sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
Ezekiel 36:33–38 This is a final review of the benefits of the restoration that God will provide.
Those benefits include cleansing from sin, resettlement, rebuilding, replanting, and productivity of the land (Ezekiel 36. 33–34 ).
33 ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.
34 The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass by.
Mention of the “garden of Eden” in v. 35 suggests that Ezekiel saw a future fulfillment of his prophecy that went beyond the return from Babylon under Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. What Israel came back to after their expatriation from the land, does not match up to the garden of Eden.
35 So they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’
While many aspects of the fulfillment of these prophetic promises were immediate and limited, there was also to be a distant, complete fulfillment in a messianic age.
The ideal qualities of life, (I like to call the Qualities O’ Life, or QOL) including work, rest, peace, companionship, knowledge by revelation, dominion, productivity, and security characterized human existence before the fall.
All Qualities O’ Life, were either lost or greatly diminished after sin entered the world.
Ezekiel’s use of the garden of Eden revealed a hope for the restoration and development of the characteristics of life in Eden.
God is faithful. When he promised he would bless the descendants of Abraham (Gen 12:1–3 ), the promise was unconditional, confirmed by the marvelous restoration that God promised in Ezek 36:1–38.
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The love, grace, mercy, and salvation that God offers is never deserved by human recipients. He gives these gifts because of his holy and righteous character, which we saw back in Ezekiel 36:22–23, 32. Let’s read these again.
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went.
23 And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes.
32 Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord God, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!”
We also see the promise of God is embodied in his name (Exod 3:14–15 ; 34:6–7 [the OT version of John 3:16 ]; John 8:58 ).
14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
15 Moreover God said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’
6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
58 Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
Here we note that for those who are paying attention, the redemptive character of YHWH towards Israel, is the same as the redemptive character of Yeshua-Jesus towards mankind.
The Restoration of Israel - Ezekiel 37
The Restoration of Israel - Ezekiel 37
Prophecy of Ezekiel 37: 1-28.
The primary purpose of the chapter is NOT to teach a doctrine of the resurrection. The main purpose of the vision is to communicate the restoration of Israel.
I think a few comments are appropriate here.
The best understanding of Ezekiel comes from a perspective that is seeped in the promises of YHWH to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - to Israel. The vision here has been analyzed every which way but loose, as they saying goes. Some try to put extraordinary meaning into details, which inevitably are simply supporting the big picture. YHWH mentioned how He would make the descendents of Abraham like the stars or the sand in number.
17 blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies.
Ezekiel 37 is written to the covenant descendents of Israel, wherevere they might be - and has a very specific message. Israel will be regathered, and will receive the breath of new life.
The idea of covenant inherited resurrection precedes Ezekiel, having already been mentioned in Hos 6:1-3 Where Israel is called out for judgement, and then called back for restoration.
1 Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.
3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
In Hosea, we see the expression that the ultimate purpose of the Lord’s judgment on His people was to restore them. That is always the ultimate purpose of the Lord in judgement - restoration.
[Chisholm, Robert B., Jr. 1985. “Hosea.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, 1:1393. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.]
We see the same in Isaiah 26:19 addressing the people of the land of Judah and Israel.
19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.
While Isaiah is clearly a passage about the resurrection of the individual people of Israel, and some like, Arnold Fruchtenbaum think a likely reference to the resurrection of the OT Dead following the Tribulation - yet it calls upon a corporate promise, applied to individuals.
In Ezekiel 37: The purpose of the Judgement of Israel by YHWH will be shown to be for the ultimate purpose of the complete restoration of all of corporate Israel.
Again, the liberal theologians try to grasp how Ezekiel could come up with this new concept of the restoration of the nation from bones to living-breathing being as a picture of the resurrection of the nation of Israel. They seek to find it in literature from that age. They seem to think that they must find the idea elsewhere - that it could not have come from Ezekiel.
In theology and the study of the things of God - I sometimes am astounded at how stupid erudite men can be, and how Godless these students of the things of God can sometimes seem. Can’t God inspire - I ask?
END of 4/20/2022
END of 4/20/2022
Wednesday 4/27/2022
Wednesday 4/27/2022
We are stepping into the Las Vegas of bible teaching land. By that I mean, that every teacher , preacher, evangelist, pop-theology book writer, and good scholars-bible teachers, has stepped into the arena to tell us what Ezekiel 37 is all about.
Much of the telling is allegorical, or imagined, and ignores the details already provided by Ezekiel to us, like what we have reviewed so far in Ezekiel 36.
In Ezekiel 37: The purpose of the Judgement of Israel by YHWH will be shown to be for the ultimate purpose of the complete restoration of all of corporate Israel.
Next, to be perfectly clear - this restoration has nothing to do with the Church or the New Testament portrayal of the church.
This is about promises of a new everlasting covenant, and an old everlasting covenant that are promised to the physical descendents of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - not to the spiritual descendents.
While we CA believers can participate in the benefits of being the spiritual inheritors of the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — we do not participate in the inheritance to the physical inheritors, the physical seed of the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Restoration of Life for Israel
Restoration of Life for Israel
1 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.
3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.
6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ”
10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.
14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”
1 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
We understand “the hand of the Lord was upon me” to be the normal and usual expression from Ezekiel of a visionary experience. To be clear, we have a few.
Here is a description from The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version. Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, Edited by Radmacher, Earl D., Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne House. 1997.
First Vision
First Vision
God
Ezekiel is called, commissioned, and empowered with an overwhelming vision of divine glory.
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
2 On the fifth day of the month, which was in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
3 the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the River Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was upon him there.
4 Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
5 Also from within it came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness of a man.
6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings.
7 Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the soles of calves’ feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze.
8 The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and each of the four had faces and wings.
9 Their wings touched one another. The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight forward.
10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four had the face of an eagle.
11 Thus were their faces. Their wings stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two covered their bodies.
12 And each one went straight forward; they went wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.
13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning.
14 And the living creatures ran back and forth, in appearance like a flash of lightning.
15 Now as I looked at the living creatures, behold, a wheel was on the earth beside each living creature with its four faces.
16 The appearance of the wheels and their workings was like the color of beryl, and all four had the same likeness. The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
17 When they moved, they went toward any one of four directions; they did not turn aside when they went.
18 As for their rims, they were so high they were awesome; and their rims were full of eyes, all around the four of them.
19 When the living creatures went, the wheels went beside them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
21 When those went, these went; when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22 The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads.
23 And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body.
24 When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings.
25 A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.
27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.
28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking.
Second Vision
Second Vision
Abominations in the temple
Ezekiel is transported to Jerusalem where he sees pagan idols in the temple and Israelites worshiping these false gods. God reveals His anger to Ezekiel over such sinful behavior.
1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell upon me there.
2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire—from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.
3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.
5 Then He said to me, “Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north.” So I lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of jealousy in the entrance.
6 Furthermore He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations.”
7 So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in the wall.
8 Then He said to me, “Son of man, dig into the wall”; and when I dug into the wall, there was a door.
9 And He said to me, “Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are doing there.”
10 So I went in and saw, and there—every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on the walls.
11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12 Then He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the room of his idols? For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us, the Lord has forsaken the land.’ ”
13 And He said to me, “Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they are doing.”
14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord’s house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will see greater abominations than these.”
16 So He brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house; and there, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun toward the east.
17 And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.
18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud voice, I will not hear them.”
Third Vision
Third Vision
People slain in Jerusalem
Ezekiel witnesses a violent vision in which Israelites of all ages are judged and killed because of their rebelliousness and idolatry.
1 Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, “Let those who have charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand.”
2 And suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen and had a writer’s inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn at his side;
4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”
5 To the others He said in my hearing, “Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity.
6 Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.
7 Then He said to them, “Defile the temple, and fill the courts with the slain. Go out!” And they went out and killed in the city.
8 So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my face and cried out, and said, “Ah, Lord God! Will You destroy all the remnant of Israel in pouring out Your fury on Jerusalem?”
9 Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’
10 And as for Me also, My eye will neither spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own head.”
11 Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side, reported back and said, “I have done as You commanded me.”
Fourth Vision
Fourth Vision
The temple and the cherubim
Ezekiel watches God’s glory and the mysterious cherubim deport from the temple because of the sinfulness of the people.
1 And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim, there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
2 Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, “Go in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.” And he went in as I watched.
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the Lord’s glory.
5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court, like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.
6 Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” that he went in and stood beside the wheels.
7 And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out.
8 The cherubim appeared to have the form of a man’s hand under their wings.
9 And when I looked, there were four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the color of a beryl stone.
10 As for their appearance, all four looked alike—as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
11 When they went, they went toward any of their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went.
12 And their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the four had, were full of eyes all around.
13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, “Wheel.”
14 Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15 And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River Chebar.
16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did not turn from beside them.
17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still, and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
18 Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.
19 And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and they stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
20 This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar, and I knew they were cherubim.
21 Each one had four faces and each one four wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings.
22 And the likeness of their faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River Chebar, their appearance and their persons. They each went straight forward.
Fifth Vision
Fifth Vision
Twenty-five wicked rulers
Ezekiel is transported to the East Gate where he sees twenty-five Israelite leaders plotting evil. He condemns them for their evil ways.
1 Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the Lord’s house, which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men, among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
2 And He said to me: “Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city,
3 who say, ‘The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat.’
4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!”
5 Then the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said to me, “Speak! ‘Thus says the Lord: “Thus you have said, O house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind.
6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain.”
7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; but I shall bring you out of the midst of it.
8 You have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you,” says the Lord God.
9 “And I will bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments on you.
10 You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
11 This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel.
12 And you shall know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.” ’ ”
Sixth Vision
Sixth Vision
Valley of the dry bones
Ezekiel 37:1–14
Ezekiel is transported to a valley where he sees dry, bleached bones come together, recover flesh, and come to life. This vision depicts God’s power and promise to restore and revive a dead people.
We aren’t rereading that as it is our subject matter passage, which we read at the top of the study.
Seventh Vision
Seventh Vision
The temple
Ezekiel 40:1–43:10
Ezekiel sees a detailed vision of a new temple and the return of the Lord. This vision encourages the Israelites that God will return to bless His people.[1]
We aren’t reading that, as John recently taught through that passage for us.
Wednesday 5/4/2002
Wednesday 5/4/2002
The Sixth Vision: Ezekiel 37
The Sixth Vision: Ezekiel 37
Now our subject matter under study is the Sixth Vision, Ezekiel 37: Few other passages suffer from the same extremes of interpreters who see too much or too little in meaning and application of figures, symbols, and types.
Now, apocalyptic literature presents its message via symbols and visions whose meanings are not immediately apparent. Some of these apocalyptic passages in scripture are accompanied by interpretation passages that explain the symbolism to us.
As we have read through it together, last week, you should be able to make a few connections of your own of the symbols and language used to describe the other Visions in Ezekiel. There is a significant overlap between them - but this Vision, number 6, is a bit unique.
I want to state up front that I take a very conservative view of the use and interpretation of descriptions as symbols. From my vantage point, I have watched how teaching on passages where words, and specifically descriptions, were interpreted as symbols 200 years ago, and treated symbolically 50 or 75 years ago have slowly fallen to the side. A great many things have been understood through simple and basic bible study that works to cross the bridges within biblical interpretation. Sometimes this comes from an understanding of relevant historic or regional background information. Sometimes it is better care and sifting of vocabulary in lexicographical study, or improved contextual awareness of grammatical options that will or won’t work. We tend to be increasing in understanding as a community, but floating on the backs of the diligent hard work of individuals working hard on these issues.
All of that to say that I have mostly noticed a trend towards clarification of the text, by use of a more literal, normal understanding, in contrast to the move toward the non-literal interpretation of what things mean. We have made progress in understanding, by leaning to a normal view of what is said.
Now some of our apocalyptic sections, like we will see in Ezekiel 37:11-14, or in Daniel or in Revelation were accompanied by interpretation passages that explain symbols where they are used.
Presuppositions (Questions Answered Beforehand)
Presuppositions (Questions Answered Beforehand)
Now we have already dealt with two pre-suppositions for this passage:
Does this passage convey OT ideas about bodily resurrection of the dead?
Is anything to be revealed about the relationship of Israel and the church of the NT?
The answer to both questions is negative. They are not in view.
Ezekiel 37 is about a national resurrection of the whole house of Israel.
The purpose of the vision is not to teach doctrine on the subject of resurrection, but rather to teach the restoration of Israel. The point is not physical resurrection, but rather what physical resurrection pictures - the regathering of Israel.
As I have mentioned before, there are liberal critics, scholars from the “dark side” if you will [Oh by the way, today is May the 4th - so I have to say it, May the 4th be with you. No i’m not getting pantheistic on you, i’m joking about what I like to call a mithpro-eupehmism, which is a euphemism based on mispronouncing something. And that is funny too because a mispronounce mispro into mithpro … mithpro-euphemism instead of mispro-euphemism ... ]
So we have those on the dark side who assert that the concept of resurrection was not even in the Hebrew mindset.
This is false - let’s review:
Can Hebrews understand resurrection
Can Hebrews understand resurrection
First - Hebrew anthropology.
First - Hebrew anthropology.
Understanding the Hebrew ability to understand resurrection is as easy as understanding their anthropology or view of man.
We tend to think of the human as either dichotomous or trichotomous, whereas the Hebews thought in terms of unity:
7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
See, man did not become a body, soul and spirit - he became a living being.
Now at death, there is separation:
14 If He should set His heart on it, If He should gather to Himself His Spirit and His breath,
15 All flesh would perish together, And man would return to dust.
Psalm 104:29 speaks of the omnipotence of God in whose hand alone is the power to give life and take it, for animal creation and for man. But unity vs. separation is in view.
29 You hide Your face, they are troubled; You take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.
In Ecclesiastes, God is shown as sovereign, life in His control, and the wholeness or unity of life is held by the creator.
6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is loosed, Or the golden bowl is broken, Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain, Or the wheel broken at the well.
7 Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.
Second -Humans had been resurrected in Israel:
Second -Humans had been resurrected in Israel:
Always as a polemic - a mocking of the powerless gods falsely called, and falsely worshipped, who had no power, and did not control or have power over life.
Elijah first ...
Elijah first ...
17 Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.
18 So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”
19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
20 Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?”
21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.”
22 Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is the truth.”
And then Elisha Second ...
And then Elisha Second ...
18 And the child grew. Now it happened one day that he went out to his father, to the reapers.
19 And he said to his father, “My head, my head!” So he said to a servant, “Carry him to his mother.”
20 When he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died.
21 And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out.
22 Then she called to her husband, and said, “Please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys, that I may run to the man of God and come back.”
23 So he said, “Why are you going to him today? It is neither the New Moon nor the Sabbath.” And she said, “It is well.”
24 Then she saddled a donkey, and said to her servant, “Drive, and go forward; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.”
25 And so she departed, and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel. So it was, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, the Shunammite woman!
26 Please run now to meet her, and say to her, ‘Is it well with you? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child?’ ” And she answered, “It is well.”
27 Now when she came to the man of God at the hill, she caught him by the feet, but Gehazi came near to push her away. But the man of God said, “Let her alone; for her soul is in deep distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me, and has not told me.”
28 So she said, “Did I ask a son of my lord? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me’?”
29 Then he said to Gehazi, “Get yourself ready, and take my staff in your hand, and be on your way. If you meet anyone, do not greet him; and if anyone greets you, do not answer him; but lay my staff on the face of the child.”
30 And the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her.
31 Now Gehazi went on ahead of them, and laid the staff on the face of the child; but there was neither voice nor hearing. Therefore he went back to meet him, and told him, saying, “The child has not awakened.”
32 When Elisha came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed.
33 He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord.
34 And he went up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the flesh of the child became warm.
35 He returned and walked back and forth in the house, and again went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.
36 And he called Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite woman.” So he called her. And when she came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.”
37 So she went in, fell at his feet, and bowed to the ground; then she picked up her son and went out.
The Bones of Elijah
The Bones of Elijah
And then to show it was not about the prophets, but about the God of life YHWH … we see it associated with the bones of Elisha.
20 Then Elisha died, and they buried him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of the year.
21 So it was, as they were burying a man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
Now this is another major polemic. Elisha’s ministry focused on the message of life and hope and meaning that comes only from God. yet the people were devoted to the worship of Baal and the Asherah, and as can be expected were under massive divine discipline. These people were miserable. Elisha’s message was a message of real hope. Hope and life comes from relationship with YHWH - doctrinal orientation is about knowing God and having His truth, doctrine, functioning in our soul. The message of bringing life where there is only death comes from God and His representatives, His prophets.
So one last time, God shows His grace provision, associated with His messenger Elisha, in that resurrection is from Him alone. He alone has power over life and death. The power is not in His messenger - the power is alone in God.
Jonah
Jonah
Then we have the resurrection of Jonah, which by the way is about 790 BC. Now interestingly, many of the Rabbis believed that Jonah is the child of the Shunammite woman who was resurrected to her. That actually fits the historic timeline. It is not recorded in scripture as such, but could still be true, I suppose?
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.
2 And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
3 For You cast me into the deep, Into the heart of the seas, And the floods surrounded me; All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
4 Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight; Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
7 “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into Your holy temple.
8 “Those who regard worthless idols Forsake their own Mercy.
9 But I will sacrifice to You With the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the Lord.”
10 So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.
We have reviewed this teaching previously. For a fuller view, you can check the Easter message from 2021. We also covered it in the Summer of 2020, as we were reviewing the establishment by Christ of the dispensation of the church age, which He taught on in Matthew 12-14, where we have recorded the incident of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which was the time of the national rejection of the Messiah by Israel.
We can raise a couple of notes from our previous teaching:
Jonah’s death is seen in verse 6:
6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
bars refer to the gates of Sheol.
17 Have the gates of death been revealed to you? Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?
10 I said, “In the prime of my life I shall go to the gates of Sheol; I am deprived of the remainder of my years.”
13 Have mercy on me, O Lord! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,
psalm 107:18
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death.
Only the dead cross the gates of Sheol.
Once dead, the fish swallowed Jonah.
Now notice verse 1 and 2 again:
1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.
2 And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.
Also, it is interesting that scholars whom I very much respect tell us that Jonah “pictured” or “Visualized that he went down to the bottom. Let’s review verse 5 and 6.
5 The waters surrounded me, even to my soul; The deep closed around me; Weeds were wrapped around my head.
6 I went down to the moorings of the mountains; The earth with its bars closed behind me forever; Yet You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord, my God.
Where is the wording about picturing or visualizing?
I think it is quite made up. Inserted, to explain away a concept that they do not want to see.
We can’t take the the entire book exegetically at this time - to show what may be in sequence, and what might not be - but we might do that at some time in the future, when we take on the whole book.
Now verse 6 tells us he was brought up from the pit. שַׁחַת (šachat) The pit or Shacat is synonomous for Sheol. the Grave, Sheol, formally, the pit, i.e., a state of death and the place the dead abide as a figurative extension of a pit as a place under the ground.
The idea is a steap pit into which animals or enemies will fall, get caught, die and decay. It is where those captured by it or fall into it end up dead decay. This became synonymous with Sheol, and means Sheol.
The Messiah will speak to this same concept of Sheol being the place of decay and corruption, Psalm 16:10
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
Sheol is the place of death where the dead decay. We have a typical Hebrew couplet of parallel meanings. Sheol is parallel, a synonym of corruption.
Peter quotes these very words in Acts 2:22-28
22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—
23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;
24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.
25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’
Peter quotes the messianic passage of Psalm 16:10 - about the resurrection of Christ.
Paul also mentions it in Acts 13:26-39
26 “Men and brethren, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to you the word of this salvation has been sent.
27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him.
28 And though they found no cause for death in Him, they asked Pilate that He should be put to death.
29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
30 But God raised Him from the dead.
31 He was seen for many days by those who came up with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are His witnesses to the people.
32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers.
33 God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’
34 And that He raised Him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, He has spoken thus: ‘I will give you the sure mercies of David.’
35 Therefore He also says in another Psalm: ‘You will not allow Your Holy One to see corruption.’
36 “For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and saw corruption;
37 but He whom God raised up saw no corruption.
38 Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins;
39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.
We see Psalm 16:10 quoted yet again in verse 35.
This view of death and resurrection of Jonah was held by Dr. Henry Morris, Dr. Dwight Pentecost, J Vernon McGee, Arnold Fruchtenbaum, and others who believe that the words should be taken literally unless there is a reason in the text that indicates otherwise.
So the OT most definitely taught the concept of resurrection before the Ezekiel text was penned, and the vision was given.
So much for liberal thinking.
Now before we move to our third point, I wanted to examine the three Sings of Noah. See if you recall or know what they are:
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”
39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The first is the sign of Lazarus.
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.
31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.
46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.
47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs.
48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
49 And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,
50 nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish.”
51 Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation,
52 and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.
53 Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.
The second is the sign of Christ.
Three Signs of Noah:
Lazarus
Christ
Third, we have the sign of the two witnesses.
To follow this, we start in Zechariah 4:1-14
1 Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.
3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.”
4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
7 ‘Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain! And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!” ’ ”
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
9 “The hands of Zerubbabel Have laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it. Then you will know That the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you.
10 For who has despised the day of small things? For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. They are the eyes of the Lord, Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
11 Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees—at the right of the lampstand and at its left?”
12 And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”
13 Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.”
14 So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
Now Israel has twice rejected the sign of Noah as a nation.
She will be given the sign one more time, and will accept it.
Zechariah’s vision showed Israel as a saved nation, filled with the Holy Spirit, and fulfilling its original calling to be the light to the gentiles. The olive oil is the unifying element of the vision, and it represents the Holy Spirit. It is in the trees, the pipes, the bowls, the ducts, and the seven lamps.
Remember Zech 4:6
6 So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.
Now Zecharia didn’t know what the two olive trees were, so he asked:
14 So he said, “These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
But our fuller answer is in the book of Revelation:
3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.”
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
5 And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner.
6 These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
This Revelation passsage explains our question from Zechariah: the two prophets, or the witnesses are the answer. These two have a specialized ministry in the city of Jerusalem during the tribulation
13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
They are identified as the two olive trees
4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth.
After 3-1/2 years, at the middle of the tribulation, the witnesses are killed
7 When they finish their testimony, the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them, overcome them, and kill them.
They lie dead for 3-1/2 days
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to be put into graves.
Everyone rejoices at their death
10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
And God resurrects them in front of everyone, taking them up to heaven
11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them.
Judgement will come in the form of an earthquake
13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.
that destroys 1/10th the city, killing 7,000 people, and the rest were afraid giving glory to God.
This sets up Israel for national repentance on the last 3 days of the tribulation.
15 I will return again to My place Till they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
1 Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.
3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
A lot more verse we could throw at how the salvation of Israel progresses. But I just wanted to get the idea out there.
The sign given to Israel is the sign of Jonah - twice it is rejected, but finally it will be responded to
When the whole nation of Israel is saved, it will plead for the return of the Messiah.
Third: Sheol is a place where death reigns.
Third: Sheol is a place where death reigns.
Deliverance from sheol is portrayed as having been brought from death to life:
our text again from Psalm 16:9-11
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.
10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
and Psalm 49:14-15
14 Like sheep they are laid in the grave; Death shall feed on them; The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; And their beauty shall be consumed in the grave, far from their dwelling.
15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah
Fourth - National restoration portrayed previously.
Fourth - National restoration portrayed previously.
Ezekiel was not the first:
1 Come, and let us return to the Lord; For He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us; On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight.
3 Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, Like the latter and former rain to the earth.
19 Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; For your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.
Fifth, Trees are restored
Fifth, Trees are restored
Trees show hope of resurrection
Trees show hope of resurrection
7 “For there is hope for a tree, If it is cut down, that it will sprout again, And that its tender shoots will not cease.
8 Though its root may grow old in the earth, And its stump may die in the ground,
9 Yet at the scent of water it will bud And bring forth branches like a plant.
10 But man dies and is laid away; Indeed he breathes his last And where is he?
If so … then in Chapter 19, Job postulates further
For I Know
For I Know
25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth;
26 And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
27 Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!
HOPE
HOPE
Ezekiel himself longed for this idea of hope in restoration:
Ezekiel himself longed for this idea of hope in restoration:
1 The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.
3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord God, You know.”
4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live.
6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.” ’ ”
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.
8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.
9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ”
10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.
14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’ ”
Daniel echoed it
Daniel echoed it
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.