The Mystery of Ephraim

Chapter 37 contains a prophecy of both the Jews’ and Israelites’ return from captivity to their own land; of the union of the each tribes with one another; their restoration is represented by a vision of dry bones made alive. But is this the start of the Millennium?

Ezekiel 37

¹ The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, — More on Ezekiel 23:25:

And I will set My jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee. They shall take away thy nose and thine ears, and thy remnant shall fall by the sword. They shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire. Ezekiel 23:25

Since Ezekiel’s message is for the endtime and meant for the house of Israel, which is the United States and its European allies and “thy remnant shall fall by the sword . . . and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire”: — if those remnant are put to the sword, and any residue be put to the fire, then no more will be left, reaffirming there is no place of safety for those hopeful to have one. Second, any living will have to be resurrected from the valley of dry bones!!!

² and caused me to pass by them round about; and behold, there were very many in the open valley, and lo, they were very dry.

³ And He said unto me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, Thou knowest.” — and he said unto me, son of man, can these bones live?… is there any probability to believe they shall live?

⁴ Again He said unto me, “Prophesy upon these bones and say unto them, ‘O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

⁵ Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.

⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.’” — God said of these dry bones “and ye shall know that I am the Lord” implying that they never have known God, despite many claim they were Christians. How could they? In today’s world, no less than 99.99 percent of professing Christians don’t even know the basic tenet of understanding the Oracles of God!

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied,there was a noise, and behold, a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

⁸ And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then said He unto me, “Prophesy unto the wind. Prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.’” — and breathe upon these slain, that they may live; and so looked comely and beautiful, as in the proper form of men; and yet no principle of spiritual life in them; but, like Adam’s body, of the earth, earthly, and breathless, till the Lord stirred up their spirits.

¹⁰ So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

¹¹ Then He said unto me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried and our hope is lost. We are cut off from our parts.’ — these bones are the whole house of Israel; this phrase takes in the ten tribes, as well as the two tribes of Benjamin and Judah inclusive.

¹² Therefore prophesy and say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

¹³ And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves, — in God’s view, death is both unclean and an insignificant event, hence He forbid His priests to come near the dead among his people; and the high priests, not even near their parents if they died (Ezekiel 21:1-11).

¹⁴ and shall put My Spirit in you and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land. Then shall ye know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord.’”

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

¹⁶ “Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick and write upon it, ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write upon it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ — earlier in Ezekiel 36:1 these are described as “the mountain of Israel;” this prophecy is concerning the top dog, the United States and its European allies, UK and France. And in Ezekiel 36:4  “the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys;” these are the hills: Ireland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, Finland, and Iceland; and the valleys, the low countries: Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

¹⁷ And join them one to another into one stick, and they shall become one in thine hand.

¹⁸ And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, ‘Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by these?’

¹⁹ say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in Mine hand.’ — Rashi: Behold I will take the stick, etc: that they shall no longer be two kingdoms.

²⁰ And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

²¹ “And say unto them, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations whither they have gone, and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land.

²² And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, and one King shall be King to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all. — and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel, as they were during the times of David and Solomon.

²³ Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them. So shall they be My people, and I will be their God.

²⁴ “‘And David My servant shall be King over them, and they all shall have one Shepherd. They shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them. — is this the Millennium? Is this the same King David of ancient Israel? Or is he an equivalent? and they shall also walk in my judgments, and keep my statutes, and do them; these would definitely include the statutes and ordinances of the “ceremonial law” since the temple will be rebuilt; and which the Jews, who control Jerusalem, will be performing them for and on behalf of all the nations.

²⁵ And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children’s children for ever. And My servant David shall be their Prince for ever. — is this the Millennium? Is this the same King David of ancient Israel? Or is he an equivalent?

²⁶ Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. — the Temple will be rebuilt, and the Glory of God, the Shekhinah will return.

²⁷ My tabernacle also shall be with them. Yea, I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

²⁸ And the nations shall know that I, the Lord, do sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.’” — the Temple will be filled with the Glory of God; the Shekhinah will be manifested before all the nations of the world.

The question is, is this the start of the Millennium? If so the Messiah (Christ) and His saints would rule the world, some over one city, others ten. Would these saints be given power over the nations, yet so powerless with no power to allow their subjects to go all the way to Jerusalem and mount a war against its inhabitants? And all the way from east Asia, say the Philippines? It seems inconceivable. Or, is “My servant David” a form of John the Baptist that came in the name of Elijah? Your thoughts?

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Malachi 4:5

Ezekiel 38

¹ And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² “Son of man, set thy face against Gog, in the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him — these are the sons of Japheth.

The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. Genesis 10:2

³ and say, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal. — Gog is not a name among the sons of Japheth, but designated as the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.

⁴ And I will turn thee back and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords;

⁵ Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them, all of them with shield and helmet;

⁶ Gomer and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters and all his bands — and many people with thee; in Revelation 20:8 Gog and Magog shall go out to deceive the nations to the four quarters of the earth, but here, Persia is from the extreme east; Ethiopia or Cush is from the south; Libya or Put represent the extreme west; and the house of Togarmah was in the extreme north.

⁷ “‘Be thou prepared and prepare for thyself, thou and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them. — TLB translation says “Be prepared! Stay mobilized. You are their leader, Gog!”

⁸ After many days thou shalt be visited. In the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste; but it is brought forth out of the nations and they shall dwell safely, all of them. — led by Gog and Magog ‘in the latter years,’ numerous Gentile nations will launch an attack on Israel from all directions.

⁹ Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm. Thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou and all thy troops, and many people with thee.

¹⁰ “‘Thus saith the Lord God: It shall also come to pass that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought; — at the same time shall things come into thy mind; when the Israelites shall be in their own land, dwelling in great security; and when Gog and his companions shall make preparation to enter into their land suddenly and furiously; and thou shall think an evil thought, many schemes and devices; to do mischief, to dispossess them of their land, and plunder their substance.

¹¹ and thou shalt say, “I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, who dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls and having neither bars nor gates”—

¹² to take a spoil and to take a prey, to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited and upon the people who are gathered out of the nations, who have gotten cattle and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. — this will be against Gog as the chief of numerous rebellious nations with him.

¹³ Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish, with all the young lions thereof, shall say unto thee, “Art thou come to despoil us? Hast thou gathered thy company to take a prey, to carry away silver and gold, to take away cattle and goods, to take a great spoil?”’

¹⁴ “Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, ‘Thus saith the Lord God: On that day when My people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?

¹⁵ And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company and a mighty army. — in relation to Jerusalem, Gog is indicated as coming from the north. So who is Gog? The two major nations lying north of Jerusalem are Turkey and Russia. Joel Richardson says Gog is Turkey; whereas most CoG Communities say it’s Russia. So who is Gog? We’ll see.

¹⁶ And thou shalt come up against My people of Israel as a cloud to cover the land. It shall be in the latter days; and I will bring thee against My land, that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.

¹⁷ “‘Thus saith the Lord God: Art thou he of whom I have spoken in old times by My servants the prophets of Israel who prophesied in those days many years that I would bring thee against them? — besides Ezekiel, there maybe other prophet/s that spoke of Gog, hence the plural form of prophet.

¹⁸ And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that My fury shall come upon My face.

¹⁹ For in My jealousy and in the fire of My wrath have I spoken: Surely on that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel,

²⁰ so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at My presence; and the mountains shall be thrown down and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. — this scene appears like when the Israelites were at the foot of Mount Sinai when the mountain quaked with thunders getting louder and louder, with Moses speaking with God in a voice also like thunders that frightened the Israelites as written in Exodus 19:18–20.

²¹ And I will call for a sword against him throughout all My mountains, saith the Lord God. Every man’s sword shall be against his brother. — this will be a civil war within Gog, with numerous nations warring against each other.

²² And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him and upon his troops and upon the many people that are with him an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. — and I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood…. not only the sword against the confederates and the sword of Gog’s soldiers against one another; but the Lord himself would plead with him by his judgments, or take vengeance on him;

— as the Targum; and send a pestilence in his army, which should destroy vast numbers of it; as the army of Sennacherib was destroyed by one when before Jerusalem; and make a great slaughter among them by that and other judgments.

²³ Thus will I magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord.’ — “and I will be known in the eyes of many nations” could be known by another term, “the times of the Gentiles.” Lastly, “and they shall know that I am the Lord,” (together with verse 16 “that the nations may know Me”) indicate they’ll have learned their lessons and survive at the end.

~ by Joel Huan on September 27, 2021.

Posted in Ezekiel