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861. Bible Study: Ezekiel 37 (The Resurrection and Milennium Foretold) · Faith by annm2705

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Chapter 37 from the book of Ezekiel.
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This is called the Valley of dry bones.
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Dear Lord, please be with us as we read through this chapter.
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Open our ears and our hearts to what you have to say.
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We ask this in Jesus name. The hand of the Lord was on me,
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and he brought me. Out by the.
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Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley.
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It was full of bones. He led me back and forth among
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them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the
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valley, bones that were very dry.
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He asked me, Son of man, can these bones live?
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I said, Sovereign Lord, you alone know.
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Then he said to me, prophecy to these bones, and say to them,
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dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
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This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones.
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I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.
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I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and
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cover you with skin. I will put breath in you, and
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you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the
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Lord. So I prophesied as I was
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commanded, and as I was prophesying.
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There was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came
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together, bone to bone. I looked in tendons and flesh
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appeared on them, and skin covered them, but there was no
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breath in them. Then he said to me, Prophecy to
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breathe, Prophecy, Son of man, and say to it, This is what the
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Sovereign Lord says. Come, breathe from the four
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winds, and breathe into the slain, that they may live.
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So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breathe and breath
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entered them, and they came to life and stood up on their feet
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a vast army. Then he said to me, Son of man,
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these bones are the people of Israel.
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They say our bones are dried up and our hope is gone.
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We are cut off. Therefore prophecy and say to
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them, This is what the sovereign Lord says, My people, I am going
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to open your graves and bring you up from them.
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I will bring you back to the land of Israel.
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Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord.
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When I open your graves and bring you up from them, I will
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put my spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you
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in your own land. Then you will know that I, the
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Lord, have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.
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The word of the Lord came to me. Son of man, take a stick of wood
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and write on it belonging to Judah and the Israelites
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associated with him. Then take another stick of wood
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and write on it belonging to Joseph, that is Ephraim, and all
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the Israelites associated with him.
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Join them together into one stick, so they will become one
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in your hand. When your people ask you, won't
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you tell us what you mean by this?
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Say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
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I'm going to take the stick of Joseph, which is in Ephraim's
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hand and the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it
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to Judah's stick. I will make them into a single
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stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.
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Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on, and
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say to them, This is what the sovereign Lord says.
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I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have
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gone. I will gather them from all
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around and bring them back into their own land.
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I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of
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Israel. There will be 1 king over all of
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them, and they will never again be two nations or be divided
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into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile
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themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their
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offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful
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backsliding, and I will cleanse them.
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They will be my people and I will be their God.
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My servant. David will be king over them and
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they will all have one shepherd. They will follow.
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My laws and be careful to keep my decrees.
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They will live in the land I gave to my servant Jacob, the
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land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and
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their children's children will live there forever.
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And David, my servant, will be their Prince forever.
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I will make a covenant of peace with them.
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It will be an everlasting covenant.
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I will establish them and increase their numbers, and I
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will put my sanctuary among them forever.
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My dwelling place will be with them.
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I will be their God, and they will be my people.
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Then the nations will know that I, the Lord, make Israel holy
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when my sanctuary is among them forever.
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Well, obviously this is about the future.
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It talks about the resurrection, about the life that is going to
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be given to those who are dead already.
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It talks about the Millennium reign of Christ, when the, I
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guess the northern and the southern tribes will be brought
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together. That stick that gets brought
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together. The nations that were once
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divided will be reunited under one king.
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And and this is interesting too, because the way that the Bible
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is written here, it's verse 24 where it says, my servant David
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will be king over them and they will all have one shepherd.
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But then when you get to verse 25, a portion of that says, and
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David, my servant will be their Prince forever.
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So there's two different things. There's a king and A and a
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Prince. And I did look up and it had
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different names, the Hebrew names, I guess Malik is for king
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and then Prince. I forgot what that one was when
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I looked it up, but. This is an interesting thing,
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the way it's stated here, and I guess the study Bible will
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probably address this too. But I also will be reading from
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Amir's book exploring Ezekiel because he gives a certain
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perspective that is from Israel and from his knowledge of
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Israel. And I think it's really helpful
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for us to go through that. So I will go through the
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questions and answers in regards to David being king and then
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also talking about David. His servant to be Prince
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forever. I've mentioned this in a prior
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chapter where I believe from what I read that David.
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You know will be. Resurrected and he will be a
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Prince. And perhaps where it says my
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servant David, I'm I'm making an assumption here.
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Maybe it would be the the through the line of David to be
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king which would be Jesus and I don't know why it was stated
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this way, but maybe the study Bible will have a little bit of
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information to address that. So we'll go to the beginning of
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chapter 37 with the questions from the study Bible.
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Where was this valley of bones? This may have been the large
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flat valley through which the Kibar River flowed.
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The Hebrew word for valley is also translated plain.
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Earlier Ezekiel had seen the glory of God in this place.
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Why is Ezekiel called Son of Man?
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Used some 90 times in the book of Ezekiel, this label
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underscores Ezekiel's humanity and his dependence on God's
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supernatural power. It may also have reminded
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Ezekiel that his job was to convey, not create, the message.
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Why prophecy to the bones instead of people speaking to
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dead dry bones was a metaphor for prophesying to people who
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were spiritually dead. The people of Israel, the
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Exiles, had no hope, no spark of faith.
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Why was Israel hopeless? The northern Kingdom of Israel
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had been destroyed by Assyria and taken into captivity some
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150 years earlier, and Judah had just been crushed by Babylon.
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The temple of the Lord had been destroyed, the city of Jerusalem
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burned and left in ruins, and the people taken into exile.
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After such devastation, the Israelites could not imagine
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that God would restore them again as a nation.
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Was God actually going to bring people back from the dead?
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The imagery of the Valley of Dry Bones has primarily to do with
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Israel's national revival on the far side of exile, but from the
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perspective of Ezekiel's placement within a 2 Testament
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Canon, it quite It is quite legitimate to read this text in
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light of a Christian understanding of the
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resurrection of the dead. Revelation 1111 may allude to
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Ezekiel's Valley of Dry Bones. I guess we should read that
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verse. I hadn't looked that up so it'll
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be just a minute, but I'll get to Revelation 11/11 and read
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that and we are almost there. OK, it says Revelation 11/11
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this is about the two witnesses. But after the 3 1/2 days, the
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breath of life from God entered them and they stood on their
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feet and terror struck those who saw them.
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This is, yeah, in that chapter, this is about the the two
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witnesses that speak and I can read about that.
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But this is for that 42 months or that 3 1/2 years that we did
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talk about before. So I'll just read the chapter of
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11, the Chapter 11 of Revelation.
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I was given a read like a measuring rod and was told go
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and measure the temple of God and the altar with its
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worshippers. So this is also a time when the
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temple was there. So that's that's interesting.
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So I don't know how it really relates to this Ezekiel book
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because just in the prior question and answer, I was
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talking about the the temple was ruined.
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I mean, it was gone. So again, but we also know in
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the Book of Ezekiel that a third temple does come at some point
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in the future. So anyway, going back to
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Revelation and I will appoint my 2 witnesses and they will
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prophecy for 1260 days clothed in sackcloth.
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So they're mourning and it's 3 1/2 years or 42 months or 1260
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days. Those are all the same.
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They are the 2 olive trees. So that's interesting.
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Olive trees tend to represent Israel and it says they are the
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2 olive trees and the two lampstands.
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Oh, I just. Actually got an understanding as
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I'm reading through this right now.
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He talked about the 2. Sticks remember the northern
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tribe of Israel? Well, he's a Joseph and Ephraim
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and then the southern tribe of Judah.
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And so that almost makes sense that if they're talking about
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Israel here, these two witnesses maybe oh, wow.
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I mean, I'm just like thinking about this as I'm reading it is
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that there's with the two witnesses we always saw that
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these were like prophesying against.
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But it's almost like these are could potentially be the
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witnesses to like what he talked about in Ezekiel, the people of
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Israel when they are resurrected.
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OK, so I'll continue to read. If anyone tries to harm them,
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fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies.
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This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die.
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Now some people have, you know, fire could be the word of the
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Lord coming from their mouths because you know, the word of
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God will, you know, like when people are tested, they will be
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tested with fire and anyone who wants to harm somebody, then
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they would they would die or, you know, this would be held
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against them in judgment. And that's that's and
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understanding of of this text, but I'll continue.
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They shall have the power to shut up the heavens so that it
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will not rain during the time they are prophesying.
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And they have power to turn the waters into blood and to strike
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the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
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Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that
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comes up from the abyss will tack them and overpower them.
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Now this is really interesting, and it is really interesting
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because I never saw how this chapter connected with
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Revelation, but. Just think about God is.
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Telling Ezekiel multiple times prophecy, son of man prophecy,
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prophecy and say this and prophecy and do this and then we
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here in when we look at the Book of Revelation it it says that I
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will appoint my 2 witnesses and they will prophecy for 1260 days
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clothed in sackcloth. They are the 2 olive trees and
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the two lampstands. Now the lampstands I believe
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were churches and they stand before the Lord of the earth.
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In the beginning of the Book of Revelation there are 7 different
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lampstands, but if you look in detail that there were really
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only two that were righteous. And so it's kind of like the
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remaining after all of this devastation there are two olive
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trees and two lampstands. SO2 churches and the two
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different tribes of of Israel that are represented here.
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It's interesting this nobody really has this solved.
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No one knows. There's so much speculation on
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who the two witnesses would be because they had similar
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characteristics to different people of the Old Testament.
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You know, there's people that say that these two witnesses
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could be Elijah and and Enoch I think is another one.
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Then there's another because they didn't die and that's why
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people have speculated that. There's also, I think Moses and
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Elijah because those two appeared with Jesus in the
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Transfiguration. So that's another speculation
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and I don't know if there's another one beyond that, but
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there's quite AI mean. Nobody quite understands this
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yet. But I just think this is kind of
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interesting how it ties into Ezekiel.
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And seriously, this just came right when I was looking at it.
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So I really haven't had time to really ponder on this, but I'll
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continue. They have power to shut up the
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heavens so it will not rain during the time they are
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prophesying. And they have power to turn
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waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of
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plague as often as they want. Now when they have finished
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their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will
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attack them and overpower and kill them.
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This kind of makes sense. Well, it you know about the
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Angel coming down with the key to the abyss and then there's
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this is like it during the trumpets.
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So that kind of, I guess it would make sense that there
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would there could potentially be 3 1/2 years after that their
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bodies will lie in the public square of the great city which
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is figuratively called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was
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crucified. So this is ultimately believed
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by many to mean Jerusalem because that's where the Lord
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was crucified. And figuratively it's Sodom and
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Egypt because they are worshipping other things.
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There's idolatry, especially with Egypt.
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And then Sodom and Gomorrah was the immoral.
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There was like a lot of sexual crimes and well, crime, sins or
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whatever. And again, this is like adultery
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and idolatry. Those were the two things that
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God often compared with Jerusalem being his bride and
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she's been adulterous. So it would seem fitting for
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these two. You know, Sodom and Gomorrah was
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destroyed for sexual immorality and then Egypt was known for its
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idolatry and Egypt was always a place they always went to
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instead of going to God. So it says in Revelation verse
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9, for 3 1/2 days, some from every people, tribe, language,
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and nation will gaze on their bodies and refuse them burial.
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The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and will
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celebrate by sending each other gifts because these two
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prophets, So that's interesting. Now they're singular.
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It's like these two prophets had tormented those who live on
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earth. But after 3 1/2 days, the breath
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of life, just like in this Ezekiel scene, the breath of
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life from God entered them and they stood on their feet and
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terror struck those who saw them.
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Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come
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up here and they went up to heaven in a cloud while their
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enemies looked on. At that very hour there was a
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severe earthquake and a tenth of the city collapsed. 7000 people
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were killed in an earthquake and their survivors were terrified
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and gave glory to the God of heaven.
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This says the second woe has passed.
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The third woe is coming soon. So that's this is during the 6th
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trumpet that this is described. That's that's interesting.
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OK, let's go back to Ezekiel. I didn't mean to get off on to
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Revelation, but the study Bible referenced that and I never
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connected Ezekiel and and Revelation 11 on here.
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So OK, let's go to the. I forgot where we were here, all
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right. Was.
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God bring. OK, we did talk about that OK
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why describe the northern and southern kingdoms as sticks?
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It is not known why sticks were used in this prophetic object
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lesson. Some have understood the sticks
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to be a shepherd's staff or a king scepter, but these options
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stretch what is commonly. What is really a common term for
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sticks? Just small pieces or planks of
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wood. Ezekiel had previously used a
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block of clay, an iron pan, and a knapsack.
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All the. These were common objects.
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In this case, the sticks were used to represent the
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reunification of the Kingdom of Israel.
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So in some ways, in my mind, it makes sense because the sticks
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are not the full tree. It's like the remnant, and we
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know that there is a remnant of Israel.
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There were 12,000 in the Book of Revelation.
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There were 12,000 from each tribe that were sealed by God
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and they were spared. Just like Ezekiel did when he
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had those in the beginning of the book where he had those
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hairs that he would burn a third of them or something.
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And then some of them he would tuck inside his garment and, and
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preserve them. And that's like what that was,
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you know, symbology for what God was going to do to Israel.
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He always spared A remnant to keep the His promise that He
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made a long time ago to Israel about them being His chosen and
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His plans and as numerous as the stars and the sand on the sea
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and so forth. So when was this fulfilled?
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Some think this was fulfilled, at least partially, when the
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Jews were released from captivity to return to the land
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of Israel's. Others see the act of joining
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the six in verse 17 as a symbol of a future Messianic Kingdom, a
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time when the northern and southern kingdoms, Ephraim and
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Judah will be reunited. The Messiah will come, establish
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His Kingdom and restore Israel to the land.
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Forever so that God can live among them.
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What does backsliding mean? It means turning away or moving
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away. A backslider is one who turns
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away or moves away from God. How can a dead king rule?
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This does not mean that David would literally return from the
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grave to rule over Israel. Instead, David was used to
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picture the type of ruler to come, one who would rule on
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behalf of the Lord. This is a reference to Jesus the
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Messiah, who is from the line of David.
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The phrase could also mean some future human representative of
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David's line, though there has never been a human ruler on the
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throne of David since the. Time of Ezekiel.
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So that's the the information that the study Bible gives us.
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Now I'm going to read from Amir Sarfati's book called Exploring
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Ezekiel. And as I've recommended before,
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it's a really good book to buy and you can get it on Amazon and
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it covers a lot. It's, it's great to have a
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perspective from someone who's a believer and is located in
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Israel and has seen first hand a lot of these sites and
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experienced a lot of what we're reading about South has a good
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perspective in this. So, Ezekiel.
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OK. We are in Amir's book now.
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Can these bones live? Ask the Lord from Ezekiel 37.
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Three. Wisely, Ezekiel passed the
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question back. Lord, you know, quite possibly
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the prophet expected that God was going to tell him about the
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battle or maybe give him a new word using this killing as a
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visual. Instead, the Lord treated
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Ezekiel to an unexpected and astounding illustration.
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And here's the quote again. He said to me, prophecy to these
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bones and say to them, Oh, dry bones, hear the word of the
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Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these
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bones. Surely I will cause.
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Breath to enter you, and you shall live.
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I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you.
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Cover you with skin and put breath in you, and you shall
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live. Then you shall know that I am
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the Lord. Ezekiel obeyed.
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And I don't think that any CGI animator could replicate what
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the Prophet saw next, or could. Nor could the best audio mixer
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reproduce what he heard. The Lord began reuniting bone to
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bone, connecting them with ligaments and tendons and
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muscles. Organs regenerated.
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Blood flowed, filled the veins, and a covering of flesh spread
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over each figure to keep everything inside.
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Finally, voila, there it was, a valley filled with dead bodies.
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Cool trick God, but also he said to me, prophecy to the breath.
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Prophecy son a man and say to the breath.
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Thus says the Lord of God, come from the four winds, O breath
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and breathe on these slain, that they may live again.
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Ezekiel obeyed. Breath filled their lungs.
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Hearts started beating, blood began flowing, brains switched
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back on, eyes opened and the army stood to their feet.
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Stop reading and picture the scene.
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Incredible. Then God told Ezekiel what all
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this meant. Son of Man, These these bones
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are the whole House of Israel. They indeed say our bones are
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drier. Hope is lost in our and we
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ourselves are cut off. Therefore prophecy and say to
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them, Thus says the Lord God, Behold, Oh my people, I will
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open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves and
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bring you into the land of Israel.
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Then you shall know that I am the Lord.
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When I've opened your graves, Oh my people, and brought you up
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from your graves, I will put my spirit in you, and you shall
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live, and I will place you in your own land.
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Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and
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performed it, says the Lord. The people were not wrong.
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The once mighty Israel was as dead as that slaughtered army.
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No home, no language, nothing to unify them.
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But it is often when we are at our most hopeless that God shows
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his power. I will open your graves.
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I will put my spirit in you. I will place you in your land.
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What did those bones do to regain their life?
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Nothing. What could God do?
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Everything. God put them together and
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reanimated them. It was His will, His decision,
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and His power. The people of Israel were simply
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the blessed, passive recipients of God's grace given to a nation
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that had proven over and over that it couldn't be trusted with
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nice things. Not only does that resonate with
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me as a Jew, but as a follower of Yeshua.
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This death to life scenario is exactly what happens to every
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believer. Paul wrote.
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God who is rich in mercy because because of his great love,
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which. With which He loved us even when
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we were dead. In our trespasses.
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Made alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved.
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Ephesians 2, verses 4 through 5. Because of our sins, our
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spiritual bones were bleaching out in the field.
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But then God came along and said, I will give you life.
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I will put my spirit in you, I will bring you into my family.
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Praise the Lord, He has made the dead alive.
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So fulfilled prophecy #3A rebirth of a nation in 1941.
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I actually maybe I shouldn't read all.
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Of this OK, I will. I'll go ahead and read The
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Fulfilled prophecy #3 Rebirth of a nation.
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In 1941, at the behest of Adolf Hitler, Rice Marshall Hermann
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Goering set a communication to Reinhard Heidrich asking for an
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overall plan. Showing the preliminary
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organizational, substantiative and financial measures for the
28:33
execution of the intended final solution of the Jewish question.
28:37
Second, in Shustafel s s to Reich Furer s s Heinrich Himmler
28:44
Heydrich had the necessary levels of cunning and evil to
28:48
carry out his task. Plans were made and timelines
28:52
created. They were submitted and approved
28:54
by Hitler, then decimated to Hedrick to Nazi leaders at
28:58
various levels of government. At the 1942 Wansi conference,
29:03
the intention was to deport 11,000,000 Jews east from
29:07
Central Europe to concentration camps.
29:10
Once there, some would be executed immediately, while
29:13
others would be forced to would be put to force labor so extreme
29:18
that it would ensure their deaths.
29:20
The plan was implemented and thousands, then millions of Jews
29:23
were slaughtered. My grandfather and grandmother
29:26
on my mother's side somehow survived the Auschwitz death
29:30
death camp, but the experience never left them.
29:34
They both lost so much family and so many friends.
29:38
How could a? People survive such a genocide.
29:41
So many children of Israel could no longer conceive of a God who
29:46
would allow such a thing to happen.
29:48
But God was there. He had not turned his back on
29:51
His people as much as it grieved him to see what was happening to
29:55
His chosen ones. He had to keep his hands off
29:58
because he was working a much bigger plan.
30:01
We saw that plan when God said through Ezekiel, Behold my
30:06
people, O my people, I will open your graves and cause you to
30:10
come up from your graves and bring you into the land of
30:14
Israel. Then you shall know that I am
30:19
the Lord when I have opened your graves, Oh my people, and
30:25
brought you up from the graves. That was verses 12 through 13.
30:30
It took the guilt caused by mass burial sites of so many victims
30:36
to move the international community to finally vote to
30:39
accept an Israeli state. This never would have happened
30:43
otherwise. No people group in the world is
30:46
as hated as Jew as we Jews are. It necessitated something so
30:52
extraordinary, so heinous, to gather that much international
30:56
support. Think about it.
30:58
After the October 7th, 2023 attacks, how long did it take
31:03
for the world community to stop their crocodile tears over the
31:06
slaughter and come after us with their marches and their
31:09
resolutions and their violence? If we had only, if we had lost
31:14
quote only a few 100,000 innocent lives to the Central
31:19
European meat grinder, who knows whether there would be an Israel
31:23
today? Even with the millions killed
31:26
during the Holocaust, only a short time passed before the
31:30
United Nations turned around and began condemning Israel.
31:35
And they're still doing it today.
31:37
In the nine year span from 2015 to 2023, the UN voted to condemn
31:44
Israel 154 times. That works out to about 1 1/2
31:51
condemnations per month. During the same time period,
31:54
their August anti-Semitic international body voted to
31:58
condemn other countries 71 times.
32:01
That's total Israel 154, the rest of the world 71.
32:07
Seems like we should qualify for a punch card or some
32:11
condemnation of the month club. Try as they might, the United
32:15
Nations can't bring Israel down because God also provided my
32:21
country with the United States. The US is quick to veto UN
32:25
Security Council resolutions against Israel and to vote no
32:30
against General Assembly resolutions directed at the
32:33
Jewish state. I strongly believe that is why
32:37
America is the number one superpower in the world today.
32:41
That's no coincidence. That's God.
32:44
It all goes back to the Abrahamic Covenant, when God
32:48
promised that He would bless those who bless Abraham's
32:52
descendants and curse those who curse them.
32:57
I find myself agreeing with my fictional friend near Tavor who
33:04
is fond of saying that coincidence is is only an excuse
33:10
for those not willing to step back and see the big picture.
33:16
Through Isaiah, God asked the question, who has ever heard of
33:20
such things? Who has ever seen things like
33:22
this? Can a country be born in a day
33:25
or a nation be brought forth in a moment?
33:28
Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her
33:32
children. That's from Isaiah 66 verse 8
33:35
NIV version. God asked a question and He
33:38
answered it himself. Then 2700 years later He proved
33:41
his answer. On May 14th, 1948, the state of
33:45
Israel came into existence. Not only was Israel born in a
33:50
single day, it was reborn as a single nation during the period
33:55
of the kings. The country was split North and
33:58
South even in Jesus time. While Samaria was located in the
34:02
Roman Providence of Judea, it was considered a separate region
34:06
from Judea itself. God had plans to remedy this.
34:11
It was time for more show and tell for the Exiles.
34:15
As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself, and write on
34:18
it for Judah and the children of Israel his companions.
34:21
Then take another stick and write on it for Joseph, the
34:23
stick of Ephraim and all, and for all the House of Israel his
34:27
companions. Then join them one to another
34:31
for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your
34:35
hand. Ezekiel 37, verses 16 through
34:38
17. The unification of these two six
34:41
was to serve as a visual to the people of what God was doing for
34:45
the nation of Israel. Surely I will take the children
34:48
of Israel from either, from among the nations wherever they
34:52
have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them
34:55
into their own land. And I will make them one nation
34:58
in the land on the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be
35:02
their king over, over them all. They shall no longer be two
35:07
nations, nor shall they ever be. Divided into two kingdoms again
35:13
verses 21 and 22, God's covenants were with the single
35:17
nation of Israel, and His plans for the future belong to the
35:22
single nation of Israel. The the sinful splitting was
35:27
over. When you come to Israel today,
35:29
you may hear talk about Northern Israel and Southern Israel, but
35:34
it will only be in terms of geographical regions.
35:37
We are one people of 1 nation drawn from around the world
35:43
right now. If there are divides within the
35:46
country, they are political and religious.
35:49
As we're finding in many nations today, the split between
35:52
conservatism and the liberal left is becoming dangerously
35:56
hostile. Eventually the issues with a
35:59
runaway judicial branch are going to come to a head in some
36:04
ugly way. When it comes to the divide of
36:06
beliefs, the majority religion is Judaism.
36:10
However, we have people of all faiths living freely in Israel.
36:15
But that will one day change, and for the better.
36:19
The plan of God was not just for a physical reunion, but also a
36:25
spiritual unification. The path leading to that blessed
36:29
time when all will kneel before the Messiah and the incredible
36:33
time of peace and joy following is found in the unfulfilled
36:37
prophecies that remain in these two chapters.
36:41
And God will make it all happen. It is essential not to miss the
36:45
words God uses in the passage above three times.
36:48
The word quote will is connected to the Lord's first person
36:53
pronoun. He is the one bringing them
36:56
back. Quite honestly, most European
37:00
Jews in the early twenty 20th century were not excited about
37:04
everyone coming to the promised land.
37:07
Like Jonah. They even tried running away
37:09
from God's calling. In May 1939, many European Jews
37:14
saw the saw the Nazi buzz saw coming their way.
37:18
A group of them boarded the German ship Saint Louis in
37:22
Hamburg to try to flee. But rather than seeking escape
37:27
to their ancestral home, the 937 refugees sailed for Cuba.
37:34
Sort of reminds me of the Israelites fleeing to Egypt
37:37
after Jerusalem's destruction. But unlike Egypt, which accepted
37:42
the Jewish survivors, Cuba refused.
37:44
The ship panicked. The passengers tried the United
37:48
States and Canada. Nope, and Nope were the replies.
37:52
With no options left, the Saint Louis streamed back to Western
37:57
Europe. Of the 937 travellers, 254 were
38:03
killed in the Holocaust. Why do people seek help from
38:08
sources other than God? Cuba, the United States and
38:11
Canada were no help. In fact, they made matters
38:15
worse. God said I will gather my people
38:18
and bring them to their land. He made the promise.
38:22
He accomplished his plan. Any time there is a debate about
38:26
whether the Jews belong in the land, your problem is not with
38:30
the people but with God himself. Then let me see, maybe there
38:37
will be. I don't know if I should read
38:39
the the last ones. There's there's more here.
38:46
I guess I'll maybe I'll finish this chapter.
38:49
How prophecy unfulfilled in our generation.
38:52
Unfulfilled prophecy #1A covenant of peace.
38:56
Picture in your mind a piece of paper, perfectly white except
38:58
for a smattering of black dots that mar the surface.
39:01
As you examine the sheet, there seems to be no pattern to the
39:04
tiny circles, no rhyme, no reason to them.
39:07
But as you look more closely, you discover, printed next to
39:10
each dot, a tiny number. Scanning the digits, you finally
39:14
track down the number one. You take the pencil, place it
39:17
squarely in a .1, and look for the one two.
39:20
There it is up to the right. Dragging your pencil LED along
39:24
the paper, you draw a line connecting the two points.
39:27
When you found three, you continue your line from 2:00 to
39:30
that point. On and on you go until you reach
39:32
the final number. Pulling back, you can see that
39:37
what you took for random dots were not so random at all.
39:40
When connected in the right order, they create a picture.
39:45
Thanks Samir for the whole paragraph.
39:47
Paragraph to describe a simple connect the dots game.
39:51
May I ask why? Yes, of course you may.
39:54
I took the time because I wanted to get into your mind the
39:57
process of connecting one dot to another.
40:00
This is a. Skill that any good biblical
40:04
interpreter must possess. A passage of Scripture.
40:07
Scripture on its own can be a powerful thing, but when it is
40:11
connected to others that bolster its truth and purpose, it can
40:15
become a foundational tenant upon which we can build
40:19
doctrine. The covenant of peace was first
40:21
mentioned by Ezekiel back in chapter 34 as the Lord discussed
40:26
his role as the new shepherd over Israel.
40:29
He said, I will make a covenant of peace with them and cause
40:32
wild beasts to cease from the land, and they will dwell safely
40:36
in the wilderness and sleep in the woods.
40:38
Verse 25, the wider context speaks of a time when there is
40:42
safety from both man and beast, and there is closeness between
40:46
Israel and the Lord. In our current chapters, the
40:49
Lord doubled down on His promise, saying, Moreover, I
40:52
will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an
40:55
everlasting peace covenant with them.
40:58
Again, a covenant of peace. And now we learn that it is an
41:01
everlasting covenant. What is this promise between God
41:05
and His people? It is 1/5 covenant that we
41:09
haven't spoken of yet. Or is it a fifth covenant that
41:12
we haven't spoken of yet? This is where connecting
41:15
scriptural dots is a necessity. When we do so, we'll recognize
41:19
that we already know all about this covenant, only under a
41:22
different name. Through Jeremiah, God said,
41:26
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make
41:29
a new covenant with the House of Israel and with the House of
41:32
Judah. Jeremiah 3131.
41:35
The covenant of peace and the new covenant are one in the
41:39
same. It too will be realized in a
41:42
time when there is peace between Israel and the Lord due to His
41:47
boundless forgiveness shown in His words.
41:50
I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.
41:53
I will remember no more. Imagine it.
41:56
Sin that was great enough to cause destruction of Jerusalem
41:59
in the Holy Temple will be forgiven and fleshed from the
42:03
mind of God. Again, that is the same
42:06
forgiveness promised to you and me.
42:08
But this new covenant didn't begin with Jeremiah and Ezekiel.
42:13
There is another dot to connect, and that one is found in Isaiah.
42:19
More than 100 years before these two prophets, Isaiah wrote of a
42:24
suffering servant by whose stripes we are healed.
42:28
Isaiah 53. Five Immediately following that
42:31
tale of sorrow, Isaiah wrote a marvelous promise made by God to
42:36
Israel, a promise that would have been spoken just as
42:40
appropriately to the audiences of the later prophets.
42:44
For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great
42:48
mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid my
42:51
face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will
42:56
have mercy on you, says the Lord your Redeemer.
43:00
For this. Is like the waters of Noah to
43:03
me. For I have sworn that the waters
43:06
of Noah would no longer cover the earth.
43:09
So have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke
43:14
you. For the mountains shall depart,
43:16
and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from
43:21
you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord,
43:26
who has mercy on you. Isaiah 54, seven through 10.
43:31
God brought necessary discipline, but he never removed
43:35
his love. The mountains may be levelled
43:38
and the hills flattened, but God's covenant with Israel will
43:42
remain. Which covenant?
43:45
The New Covenant, The covenant of peace.
43:48
When you look at Israel today, it is obvious that a final peace
43:51
has not come between God and the children of Abraham.
43:55
But the era is soon approaching when all enmity between the Lord
43:59
and His people will once for all time be really erased.
44:05
Unfulfilled prophecy #2 a fourth temple.
44:09
I am so tired of hearing about the third temple.
44:12
Every single day I receive questions from people asking if
44:15
the Third Temple is being rebuilt and where it will be
44:18
placed, when it is, and how will the world react, and must all
44:22
Muslims be gone for the rebuilding to happen, along with
44:24
so many more? Sure, these can be intriguing
44:28
queries, but for believers they are wholly irrelevant.
44:33
I won't be here to see the Third Temple, and hopefully you won't
44:36
be either. We'll be in heaven, in our
44:38
resurrected bodies, enjoying the physical presence of God.
44:42
That is a better deal by far than checking out a fancy new
44:46
building built on the Temple Mount which is utterly devoid of
44:50
the glory of God. God promised the nation of
44:53
Israel a new temple. He said, I will establish Israel
44:57
and multiply them, and I will set my sanctuary in their midst
45:01
forevermore. My Tabernacle also shall be with
45:04
them. Indeed, I will be their God, and
45:07
they shall be my people. The nations will also know that
45:10
I, the Lord, sanctify Israel when my sanctuary is in their
45:15
midst forever. Ezekiel 37, verses 26 through 28
45:20
The temple of God speaks about. The temple God speaks about in
45:24
Ezekiel is an everlasting divine dwelling.
45:27
It is a survivor. The Third Temple is not it is
45:32
one that will be established once the Antichrist is revealed,
45:37
and it is where he will shock all the people of Israel who had
45:41
bought into his lies by entering the structure and declaring
45:45
himself to be God. Let no one deceive you by any
45:48
means, for that day will not come unless the falling away
45:52
comes first and the man of sin is revealed.
45:55
The Son of Perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above
45:58
all that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he sits as
46:03
God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
46:07
2 Thessalonians 2, verses 3 through 4.
46:11
The day referred to is the second coming of Christ at the
46:15
end of the tribulation. This defilement of the temple
46:19
will take place 3 1/2 years earlier.
46:22
At that time some of the Jews will see that they've been duped
46:27
and will flee into the wilderness.
46:29
Revelation 12, verse 6. The rest will accept the new
46:33
this new God, lowercase G, and ultimately will pay for it with
46:39
their lives. This defiled third temple is
46:41
short lived though. When the day does not arrive for
46:44
Christ's return, the desecrated structure will be destroyed by
46:48
the earthquake that emanates from the feet of the Messiah
46:51
touching down on the Mount of Olives from Zechariah 14, four.
46:55
When that temple along with the mount itself is destroyed, it
46:58
will make way for the 4th temple.
47:00
The massive new House of God is often referred to as Ezekiel
47:06
temple because he goes into so much detail regarding its size
47:09
and appearance. Because the prophet waits until
47:11
the end of his book to dig deep into the 4th temple will do the
47:16
same. Unfulfilled prophecy #3 a king
47:20
and a Kingdom. Israel has no king.
47:23
I know, I live here. We have a legislator, known
47:26
legislature known as the Knesset or Assembly.
47:29
We have an executive body headed by the Prime Minister, and we
47:32
have a judicial branch led by the Supreme Court.
47:35
While it's true that the current Israeli Supreme Court believes
47:39
itself to be made-up of kings and Queens, it is not actually
47:42
the case. They are just power hungry
47:44
leftists who like to pretend at royalty.
47:47
It's not surprising that we have no monarchs, because we are.
47:50
They're not a monarchy. Israel is not a Kingdom, but a
47:53
unitarily parliamentary Republic.
47:57
That's certainly not as glamorous or easy to say as
48:01
Kingdom, but when this system is done properly, it's worked
48:04
pretty well for us. Still a coming time.
48:08
Still a time is coming when the government of Israel will shift
48:11
completely. Not only will we go throwback to
48:15
the days of monarchy, but we're bringing the throwback G GOAT,
48:20
the greatest of all times, of all kings, David himself.
48:24
David, my servant, shall be king over them, and they shall have
48:27
one shepherd, and they shall also walk in my judgments and
48:30
observe my statues and do the same.
48:33
Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob,
48:36
my servant, where your father's dwelt, and they shall dwell
48:39
there. They, their children, and their
48:40
children's children are forever, and my servant David shall be
48:46
their Prince forever. I'm Amir.
48:48
There's a slight glitch in that whole plan.
48:51
I don't know how to break it to you, but David's been dead for
48:54
right about around 3000 years. I hear you and I agree that
48:58
normally that should be considered deal breaker.
49:01
However, we're talking about the life giving God.
49:04
He is the one who resurrected his Son and placed him on the
49:08
throne for all eternity. Do you really think that placing
49:11
A resurrected David on the throne of Jerusalem to rule
49:15
through a Millennium is a big deal to him?
49:18
Remember, all of us who have received Yeshua as our Savior
49:22
and Lord will also be resurrected.
49:26
And like David, we will serve our King of Kings during His
49:30
thousand year reign. The only difference between
49:33
David and us is that He knows what his job is going to be.
49:38
We, on the other hand, get to experience exciting anticipation
49:42
as we wait to discover the perfect job the Lord has
49:45
assigned to us that will match precisely whom He has created us
49:50
to be. Contrary to some popular
49:53
opinion, the Millennium will not just be 1000 year long church
49:58
service, although I'm sure there will be plenty of wonderful
50:01
opportunities for worship throughout.
50:04
Rather it will be a time of serving the Lord as we in
50:08
glorified bodies represent Him to the surviving mortal
50:14
population on earth, which will be ever increasing in size as
50:19
the years passed. Sadly, that flesh bound citizens
50:23
re will also gradually stray from the Lord as time goes on to
50:28
the point that there will be a ready army of rebels waiting for
50:33
the devil when he is released from the abyss.
50:37
The ensuing conflict will be the final one on this earth.
50:40
When it is done, the devil, his minions and all those from all
50:45
time who turned their backs on the Lord will be judged and
50:49
thrown into the lake of fire. Then the Lord will create a new
50:53
heaven and a new earth in which we will dwell with Him forever
50:58
and ever. Then they and we will know that
51:02
He is the Lord. So that wraps up Ezekiel chapter
51:07
37. And so I'm going to stop there.
51:11
And the next one's going to be about this big war that
51:14
everybody seems to keep talking about current in currently in
51:19
the news. And all people who know prophecy
51:22
keep looking at this. And then there's another war
51:24
that they are looking at is it's called Psalm, the Psalm 83.
51:31
So that's another one that people are seeing as coming in
51:35
the future or wondering if what's happening right now is
51:38
leading to that. So anyway, we will stop here and
51:42
hope you come back for chapter 38 from Ezekiel which comes up
51:47
next.