The Beginning of the End Times
The Resurrection of the State of Israel
The Legions of the Roman Empire totally destroyed Israel as a nation in 73 A.D. with the destruction of the zealot fortress of Masada. By then Jerusalem was already in ruins, and the inhabitants either killed, sold as slaves, or driven out.
And for 1,875 years the Jewish people wandered through the world, a distinct people without a place to call home. They have been savagely persecuted through those years, and yet despite their efforts to integrate into the countries where they resided, they still remained a people apart.
It is interesting to note that other, mightier nations when conquered were usually absorbed into the conquering country. The Babylonians, Assyrians, Moabites, Eblaites, Sumerians, Philistines, Ammonites, Canaanites, all enemies of Israel are footnotes in history, their people long gone. Yet Israel has outlived them all.
In Ezekiel 37, God prophesies that there will come a time when Israel will be without hope of ever finding a home, and they will think that they will utterly perish as a people. If nothing else, the Nazi extermination camps of World War II convinced them that they would become extinct. And yet God had different plans.
As He told Ezekiel;
EZEKIEL 37:1-2
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.
Ezekiel probably wondered what this vision was about, and noted especially that the bones were very dry, indicating that they had been in this condition for quite some time.
EZEKIEL 37:3-6
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.” ’ ”
Here we see the state of Israel at it's lowest point, where all hope of their remaining as a nation seems to be lost. But God promises that the bones shall live again, that their death-like state is not total.
EZEKIEL 37:7-10
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.
This must have been quite a sight to see! Note that God commands the winds to blow from the four cardinal compass points, prophesying that the Jews whom the bones represented would come from the four corners of the earth back to Israel.
EZEKIEL 37:11-14
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.’ ”
This refers to the resurrection of Israel as a nation again. Just as God is able to raise the dead, He resurrected what was considered a dead nation, causing the ancient nation of Israel to live again, after nearly 2,000 years of wandering, something that has never before happened in all of recorded history. Truly this proves that God keeps His promises despite the efforts of men and Satan to thwart His will.
EZEKIEL 37:15-20
15 Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
16 “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’
17 Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.
18 “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’—
19 say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’
20 And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
Here we come to a fascinating point of Scripture. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah split apart after the death of Solomon in about 922 B.C. The kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians under Sargon II in 721 B.C. The people of the northern kingdom were deported to Assyria, and disappeared into history.
Judah continued until 73 A.D. when the Romans finally destroyed the nation, and scattered the Jews to the four winds.
And in the above passage, God says that when He gathers them again to the land of Israel, that they will again be one nation. Today no Hebrew man or woman knows what tribe they are from, and are again one nation just as God promised, shown by the binding of the two sticks into one.
EZEKIEL 37:21-23
21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.
23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
As history has shown, Israel became a nation again on May 14, 1948 and despite the attempts of the combined armies of the Arabs around them to destroy them, the Israelis are here to stay. And they are again one nation, not two separate kingdoms.
There has yet to be a king over Israel, but I think what God is saying here is that when a king is crowned over them at Jesus' return, the king will rule over a single people and nation of Israel.
EZEKIEL 37:24-28
24 “David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them.
25 Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children’s children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
28 The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.” ’ ”
God Himself says that Israel will never more be removed from their land. And when Jesus returns, He will resurrect David the ancient king to be King over Israel under Jesus' world-wide kingdom. The Jews will dwell in peace as God's chosen people, and peace will at last come to Israel permanently.
An important note needs to be added here. World War III was prophesied by Ezekiel in chapters 38 and 39, as shown by the End Times Study Part I in this Web site. If the prophecies follow in order chronologically which I suspect they will, the next event on the prophetic calendar will be World War III, as Ezekiel 37 has already been fulfilled.
If you haven't yet read the study on World War III in this site (End Times Part I), please do so, as it contains information that you as a Christian will need to know concerning what to watch for!
And may the Lord Jesus Christ open your eyes to the truth of these studies.
Your fellowservant in Christ Jesus,
Watchmen
Questions? Comments? E-mail: watchmen_777@yahoo.com