Many centuries before Christ, the prophet Ezekiel was given visions from the Lord spelling out the future of Israel. Some of these prophecies are now being fulfilled millennia later, others are yet to be realized. Perhaps we will see more of these predictions come to pass in our lifetimes.
God promised through Ezekiel to bring the exiles back into Israel from all the various countries throughout the world to which they had been scattered. We have seen this process begin in earnest since about the middle of the 20th century.
God also promised to reunite Israel into one nation, no longer divided into the Northern Kingdom of Ephraim and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Though the kings of these two regions were mostly apostate and led people away from the Lord, some were great examples of faith, including their greatest king, David.
Ezekiel gave the exiles of his day this message of encouragement about a future of hope for their nation:
21 And say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am going to take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I 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 will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. 23 They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their offenses; but I will rescue them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 37:21-23 (NASB)
God also promised to restore King David to the throne of Israel. David’s regal blood line was preserved through the genealogy of Jesus Christ including lines to both Jesus’ mother Mary and stepfather, Joseph.
Christ will one day reign over the entire earth when He does return from heaven. If we take Ezekiel’s prophecy literally, King David will rule over Israel in these end times. Some interpret Ezekiel’s prophecy about David to actually be a reference to Jesus as the fruit of David’s line and the Davidic Covenant. But it is certainly possible that either interpretation is correct.
As Ezekiel writes:
24 “And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes and follow them. 25 And they will live on the land that I gave to My servant Jacob, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and My servant David will be their leader forever. 26 And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and set My sanctuary in their midst forever. 27 My dwelling place also will be among them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people. 28 And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever.”’” Ezekiel 37:24-28 (NASB)
God also promises in the New Testament that He will live among His people in a holy sanctuary set upon the mountains of Israel. There are great parallels between Ezekiel’s Old Testament prophecy and the Revelation of Jesus Christ given to and recorded by the apostle John near the end of his life, approximately six hundred years after Ezekiel. John received his series of visions and prophecies while in exile on the island of Patmos because of his faith. The visions he received decades after Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection from the dead, and ascension into heaven, focus on events leading up to Christ’s return and His assumption of global authority.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them… Revelation 21:1-3 (NASB)
The future of the world has been determined. God will win the ongoing battle of good versus evil, that is assured. The times of the Gentiles and their world empires and powers will be coming to an end one day. Then God Himself will step into His eternal role as global ruler, living among His people.
We do not know all of the specifics of what the world might look like when Jesus returns, or even when that might happen. No one on earth knows, only the Father. But in the words of former Prison Chaplain, Robbie Strong, when Christ does come to call His bride the Church to the wedding supper, “Be there!”
Reflection
Father, draw us closer to You through Christ. Purify and cleanse us of our sins and help us to overcome our difficulties so that we may be pleasing to You. We want to be there and full of joy when Christ returns to rule and reign on earth. Place Your Holy Spirit within us and teach us how to live for You. We ask all of this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 