Dry Bones

These are a few follow-up thoughts and insights on my August 27th post entitled The Peaceful People Who Dwell Safely which I hope you have already read. I expect there will be a very apparent connection between these prophecies and events in the real world that could happen this month.

The current church prophetic narrative has as one of its key tenets that with the creation of the State of Israel in May of 1948, God had begun to fulfill the prophecies of Ezekiel 37. After 2,000 years without a home, the Jews were finally returning to their ancient homeland … AND the “prophetic timepiece” was re-started. With the blooming of the “fig tree” (Matt. 24:32) we could now begin to calculate the beginning of Daniel’s 70th week and the return of Christ. I believed it myself once, but not any more. And by the way, I have NO contempt for those who may still believe it, but at the same time I have little respect for those who are so convinced of it that they refuse to study or consider further.

The “Dry Bones” prophecy of Ezekiel 37 was not written in a vacuum. There’s a context and a LOT of extra information beginning in the preceding chapter. Since most “prophecy teachers” display little apparent grasp of this context, I thought I’d take a few moments to discuss the salient points.

This is a theme with which we’re all certainly familiar: God chose Israel and gave them the land. But they lapsed into idolatry and its associated wickedness, so He drove them off His land. However, with their departure He also gave them a promise: He would restore them and bring them back. Chapter 36 also answers the question about why God acted as He did. After all, the Gentiles were also wicked, but God did not displace them. Why not?

Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary impurity. 

Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.

Ezekiel 36:17-19 NKJV

The Gentiles had no special relationship with God, so they could not bring the Name of God into disrepute. But the Jews profaned God’s Name and polluted God’s land by their idolatry, so God drove them off the land. According to verse 20 this did not fix the problem because Ezekiel continues, “When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name …” They needed more than just a change in location; they needed a change of heart.

This is where the promise of a return to the land comes in, but it’s a two-fold promise:

For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.

Ezekiel 36:24-27 NKJV (emphases added)

God said He would 1) bring them back into His land and, 2) cleanse them from their filthiness. When He brings them back, He will also change them so they won’t have wickedness and idolatry in their hearts any more.

This, of course, invites an obvious question: has this prophecy of a restored Israel been fulfilled? For as we see, this promise has two parts, a return to the land and a new spirit. Not only do we expect to see the return of the Jews, but we also expect to see the Jews who return to be a broken and contrite people who walk in God’s statutes and keep His judgments. Just staking a land claim in Palestine and claiming Jewish heritage is not enough. Adopting the Jewish culture is not enough. Speaking Hebrew is not enough.

Now we may not expect that the Jews return on Monday, get sprinkled with clean water on Tuesday, and become as righteous as Noah, Daniel and Job on Wednesday. But the seeds of modern Zionism (an essentially political initiative) were sown in the late 19th century, and the “Jews” began returning sans repentance in the post-War years. The modern “State of Israel” has been around for over 70 years – almost two generations – and any honest observer must admit there is NO EVIDENCE that these people have God’s Spirit dwelling within or among them. Verse 31 says, “you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations.” I ask again: is there any evidence that this has happened? Did the post-War Jews say, “we brought this on ourselves by our wickedness, but our God was merciful?” Or was it more like, “the Germans gave us a raw deal, and we deserve international sympathy and our own homeland.”

I was recently sent the link to Notes on Ezekiel – 2024 Edition by Dr. Thomas L. Constable. He writes:

Some Christians believe that the recent regathering of Jews to the modern State of Israel, which began in 1948, fulfills these prophecies. But it does not, because the prophets predicted many things that would characterize the Jews when they returned that do not characterize most of them now, including regeneration, possession of the Holy Spirit, a repentant attitude, and faith in Yahweh.

– Dr. Constable’s Notes on Ezekiel, 2024 Edition, page 286

We’re on the threshold of a genocide against the Palestinian people and the Israeli Minister of Defense Yaov Gallant, told troops massing for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip “We have abolished all the rules of war. Our soldiers will not be held responsible for anything. There will be no military courts.” I don’t think even Hitler went that far.

Yes, the leaders of Hamas have demonstrated unspeakable evil. Hezbollah in the north likewise. There have been threats and counter-threats for years as the Israelis and their neighbors have routinely and severely mistreated each other. I’m not writing to defend evil. I’m simply saying that the prophecy of the Jews returning to the land has not yet been fulfilled, and I’m pointing at obvious evidence. The people in Israel who are running the government and implementing these policies are NOT JEWS. (The fact that our government says they ARE Jews should tell us something.)

This isn’t anti-semitism; it’s simply stating the obvious. If anything, it’s PRO-Semitism. Why should the true Jews be blamed for crimes committed in their name by Gentiles? And as I (and others) have pointed out, these identity thieves – possibly Turkish Khazars or perhaps descendants of the ancient Carthaginians – are very probably NOT descendants of Jacob.

Here’s an item from this past April: ‘Death to Christians’: Violence steps up under new Israeli gov’t – “Christian leaders in Jerusalem say never have Israeli attackers felt more emboldened than under the far-right ruling coalition. Under Netanyahu, violence against Christians is being normalized.” American Christians have been extremely supportive of the State of Israel, both financially and politically. Why the shabby treatment? This cannot be explained away by the canard that “God has brought His people back to the land in unbelief” or they are still under the “blindness in part” of Romans 11:25. However, it certainly CAN be explained by pointing out Rev. 2:9 and 3:9. Jesus’ warning makes perfect sense.

“Spiritual blindness” may explain someone’s inability to see Jesus Christ as the Jewish messiah, but it does NOT explain barbaric or uncivil behavior. And even if it did, Paul said the “spiritual blindness” afflicted Jews, not Gentile Turks. The most reasonable answer is that the “dry bones” have not been resurrected. The Jewish people have NOT yet returned to the land. If the true Jews have not been brought back, then these folks who claim to be Jews are imposters. This whole “State of Israel” thing is counterfeit. The land of Israel is still populated by Gentiles.

When you understand this, some events in the immediate future will make sense, because God has explained in Ezekiel 37 just how He intends to fulfill His promise. For most of us, unless we’ve all entirely misread Rev. 3:10, it’s probably (and hopefully) academic. I’m on the record as believing that our departure and the “dry bones” resurrection happen at the same time, and that the confirmation of the covenant will happen shortly thereafter – my best guess being October 26th of this year. We shall see, of course. In the meantime, I am expecting God to begin fulfilling these ancient prophecies as He said He would, so that His great Name will be sanctified, and “… the nations shall know that I am the LORD.“