And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
The two written sticks are Judah and Israel, Ephraim and the ten tribes, and their becoming one in the prophet's hand held before the people's eyes is a visible sign that divided Israel will be reunited as one people and nation in God's hand. That promised restoration to their land, spiritual renewal by God's Spirit, covenant of peace, building of the sanctuary and raising of the dead was conditional on Israel turning to God in repentance, faith and obedience. Because those conditions were not met it received only a small partial fulfillment when about forty thousand returned from Babylon, and it was never fulfilled literally in its fullest detail nor will be under the local conditions of Ezekiel's time. The David promised as one shepherd and king over them is David the second, Christ of the new covenant, and the Israel over whom He reigns is Israel the second of faith, Christians from every kindred, tongue and people, not the natural descendants of Jacob under the first covenant. Its union and gathering take place at the coming of the Saviour, when the dry bones, the whole house of Israel, are revived with flesh and the breath of life as a great army and the elect are gathered with a great trumpet from the four winds to immortal inheritance in the new earth and New Jerusalem.
The Sign Before Eyes
The two inscribed pieces of wood stand for Judah on the one side and for Israel, Ephraim, the ten tribes on the other. Their joining together pictures the reunion of divided Israel as one people and nation in God's hand. That union is the future union of God's people, who become one fold through Christ the one Shepherd. It belongs to restored Israel as God's people in the future Messianic kingdom ruled by Christ as My servant David.
They are to be held together in the prophet's hand before the people's eyes as a visible sign of that coming union. As the sticks become one in his hand, Judah and Israel will one day be united as one people in God's hand. That holding before their eyes is part of the prophecy of the final gathering of the whole house of Israel.
The sticks, or scepters, signify kingly authority, so their becoming one in the prophet's hand pictures the church in God's hand becoming one. The chapter belongs to Ezekiel's later prophecies after Jerusalem fell, given in Israel's captivity around 587 B.C. using figures and language familiar to that time. It joins the dry-bones vision of resurrection to the uniting of scattered hosts and kingdoms. In that vision the dry bones come together, receive flesh and the breath of life, and live, and the bones are the whole house of Israel whose opened graves are the gateway to the promised land.
The sticks do not represent the American continent or Joseph Smith. They belong to the prophecy of the sticks for divided Israel and its conditional promises, including restoration to the land and the gathering of those from the scattered tribes who would return to Him.
Conditional Promise of Restoration
The promised restoration held out in the sign of the sticks was conditional on Israel turning to God in repentance, putting away sin and yielding to Him in faith and obedience, under the universal conditions stated in Jeremiah 18:8-10. If they had obeyed and returned to Him, He would have restored them to their land and brought the vision to life as the captive nation revived from death like dry bones. He would have given spiritual renewal through His Spirit and a new spirit, made a covenant of peace, gathered honest-hearted people from the nations, conquered all enemies far and near, made Jerusalem faithful as a light and a praise in the earth, built the sanctuary of the closing chapters within that city, and brought back from the dead the faithful in Israel who slept. Because the nation did not meet that condition and failed to heed God's call, the prophecy would not be fulfilled as originally given but would be fulfilled more gloriously in the new dispensation, its promises concerning true Israel fulfilled in the future in the way later revelations describe with the faithful receiving their full immortal inheritance.
Because Israel did not truly repent and return to God wholeheartedly, what followed Cyrus's decree was only a small, limited, partial fulfillment and not the union of the two divisions as one nation in its fullness as described. Only about forty thousand returned from Babylon, and the promises were not realized in their fullest detail. The chapter's promised resurrection did not take place then, and its specific details would not all be fulfilled as described. In that sense the prophecy of Israel's restoration was never literally fulfilled and will not be literally fulfilled under the local conditions of Ezekiel's time, though its greater fulfillment is connected with the second coming of Christ.
The sanctuary promised in Ezekiel 37 to 48 was never built because Israel never yielded to God's plan. It never will be built and never can be built, because God cannot go back to the typical sacrifices which pointed forward to Jesus Christ, since the Lord Himself suffered and fulfilled all types.
Fulfillment in Christ's Coming
The David promised as king and one shepherd over them is David the second, Christ, who belongs to the new covenant, and the Israel over whom He reigns is Israel the second, of faith, Christians from among all kindreds, tongues and peoples, not the natural descendants of Jacob. The first Israel and the reign of the first David belonged entirely to the first covenant, while the second Israel and David the second belong together under the new. To join the reign of David the second to the first literal Israel mixes the covenants and is impossible, as impossible as joining the reign of David the first to the second Israel.
The union pictured by the two sticks joined together takes place through Christ the one Shepherd, and united in Him His people become one fold. The sticks, or scepters, signify kingly authority, so their becoming one in the prophet's hand pictures the church in God's hand becoming one. The remnant church's work is to bring true believers back to the old paths under Christ's banner in commandment-keeping and with the spirit of prophecy.
The gathering is the New Testament gathering at the coming of the Saviour, when the graves of Israel are opened and the dry bones, the whole house of Israel, are revived with sinews, flesh, skin and the Spirit and breath of life as a great army. Then with a great trumpet the elect are gathered from the four winds to worship in the holy mount at Jerusalem, the same gathering spoken of in Isaiah 27 and Matthew 24, united in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 2 Thessalonians 2, and pointing to the state described in Revelation 21. This is the only gathering of Israel still to be fulfilled, coincident with the resurrection of the dead in Christ at the second coming and with the New Jerusalem. That union has not yet taken place and will occur at the final gathering of God's people when Jesus comes.
The prophecy is a faint type to be fulfilled more gloriously in the new dispensation in the last days under different, broader conditions, not in every detail before Christ's second advent. It represents the reunion of restored spiritual Israel in the future Messianic kingdom ruled by Christ as My servant David, when the faithful receive their full immortal inheritance. God gathers His people from all nations through Christ, so that those of Israel who believe and Gentiles who accept Christ become one, and the restored Israel is all the saved who enter the holy city through its twelve gates named for the tribes. The land is the everlasting possession of Christ the true seed of Abraham and of all who are in Him by faith in the new earth and New Jerusalem when death no longer reigns.
The chapter witnesses to the hope that God will raise the dead to everlasting life and immortality at Christ's coming. Its resurrection power is found in the Word of God bringing revival when hope is lost and bones are dried. Mortal man stays dead under the rule of death and would never live again except by grace through a Redeemer who breathes the breath of life into them. The righteous rise in spiritual immortal bodies to live and reign forever with Christ, and the unjust to die again the second death from which there is no restoration, since death and life cannot exist together. The birth from the dead and change to immortality must take place before people in flesh and blood can inherit the kingdom, so the fulfillment is at the resurrection and in the new earth, not by restoring the Jews to their land in mortal life.
The two written sticks are Judah and Israel, Ephraim and the ten tribes, and their becoming one in the prophet's hand held before the people's eyes is a visible sign that divided Israel will be reunited as one people and nation in God's hand. That promised restoration to their land, spiritual renewal by God's Spirit, covenant of peace, building of the sanctuary and raising of the dead was conditional on Israel turning to God in repentance, faith and obedience. Because those conditions were not met it received only a small partial fulfillment when about forty thousand returned from Babylon, and it was never fulfilled literally in its fullest detail nor will be under the local conditions of Ezekiel's time. The David promised as one shepherd and king over them is David the second, Christ of the new covenant, and the Israel over whom He reigns is Israel the second of faith, Christians from every kindred, tongue and people, not the natural descendants of Jacob under the first covenant. Its union and gathering take place at the coming of the Saviour, when the dry bones, the whole house of Israel, are revived with flesh and the breath of life as a great army and the elect are gathered with a great trumpet from the four winds to immortal inheritance in the new earth and New Jerusalem.
The Sign Before Eyes
The two inscribed pieces of wood stand for Judah on the one side and for Israel, Ephraim, the ten tribes on the other. Their joining together pictures the reunion of divided Israel as one people and nation in God's hand. That union is the future union of God's people, who become one fold through Christ the one Shepherd. It belongs to restored Israel as God's people in the future Messianic kingdom ruled by Christ as My servant David.
They are to be held together in the prophet's hand before the people's eyes as a visible sign of that coming union. As the sticks become one in his hand, Judah and Israel will one day be united as one people in God's hand. That holding before their eyes is part of the prophecy of the final gathering of the whole house of Israel.
The sticks, or scepters, signify kingly authority, so their becoming one in the prophet's hand pictures the church in God's hand becoming one. The chapter belongs to Ezekiel's later prophecies after Jerusalem fell, given in Israel's captivity around 587 B.C. using figures and language familiar to that time. It joins the dry-bones vision of resurrection to the uniting of scattered hosts and kingdoms. In that vision the dry bones come together, receive flesh and the breath of life, and live, and the bones are the whole house of Israel whose opened graves are the gateway to the promised land.
The sticks do not represent the American continent or Joseph Smith. They belong to the prophecy of the sticks for divided Israel and its conditional promises, including restoration to the land and the gathering of those from the scattered tribes who would return to Him.
Conditional Promise of Restoration
The promised restoration held out in the sign of the sticks was conditional on Israel turning to God in repentance, putting away sin and yielding to Him in faith and obedience, under the universal conditions stated in Jeremiah 18:8-10. If they had obeyed and returned to Him, He would have restored them to their land and brought the vision to life as the captive nation revived from death like dry bones. He would have given spiritual renewal through His Spirit and a new spirit, made a covenant of peace, gathered honest-hearted people from the nations, conquered all enemies far and near, made Jerusalem faithful as a light and a praise in the earth, built the sanctuary of the closing chapters within that city, and brought back from the dead the faithful in Israel who slept. Because the nation did not meet that condition and failed to heed God's call, the prophecy would not be fulfilled as originally given but would be fulfilled more gloriously in the new dispensation, its promises concerning true Israel fulfilled in the future in the way later revelations describe with the faithful receiving their full immortal inheritance.
Because Israel did not truly repent and return to God wholeheartedly, what followed Cyrus's decree was only a small, limited, partial fulfillment and not the union of the two divisions as one nation in its fullness as described. Only about forty thousand returned from Babylon, and the promises were not realized in their fullest detail. The chapter's promised resurrection did not take place then, and its specific details would not all be fulfilled as described. In that sense the prophecy of Israel's restoration was never literally fulfilled and will not be literally fulfilled under the local conditions of Ezekiel's time, though its greater fulfillment is connected with the second coming of Christ.
The sanctuary promised in Ezekiel 37 to 48 was never built because Israel never yielded to God's plan. It never will be built and never can be built, because God cannot go back to the typical sacrifices which pointed forward to Jesus Christ, since the Lord Himself suffered and fulfilled all types.
Fulfillment in Christ's Coming
The David promised as king and one shepherd over them is David the second, Christ, who belongs to the new covenant, and the Israel over whom He reigns is Israel the second, of faith, Christians from among all kindreds, tongues and peoples, not the natural descendants of Jacob. The first Israel and the reign of the first David belonged entirely to the first covenant, while the second Israel and David the second belong together under the new. To join the reign of David the second to the first literal Israel mixes the covenants and is impossible, as impossible as joining the reign of David the first to the second Israel.
The union pictured by the two sticks joined together takes place through Christ the one Shepherd, and united in Him His people become one fold. The sticks, or scepters, signify kingly authority, so their becoming one in the prophet's hand pictures the church in God's hand becoming one. The remnant church's work is to bring true believers back to the old paths under Christ's banner in commandment-keeping and with the spirit of prophecy.
The gathering is the New Testament gathering at the coming of the Saviour, when the graves of Israel are opened and the dry bones, the whole house of Israel, are revived with sinews, flesh, skin and the Spirit and breath of life as a great army. Then with a great trumpet the elect are gathered from the four winds to worship in the holy mount at Jerusalem, the same gathering spoken of in Isaiah 27 and Matthew 24, united in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 2 Thessalonians 2, and pointing to the state described in Revelation 21. This is the only gathering of Israel still to be fulfilled, coincident with the resurrection of the dead in Christ at the second coming and with the New Jerusalem. That union has not yet taken place and will occur at the final gathering of God's people when Jesus comes.
The prophecy is a faint type to be fulfilled more gloriously in the new dispensation in the last days under different, broader conditions, not in every detail before Christ's second advent. It represents the reunion of restored spiritual Israel in the future Messianic kingdom ruled by Christ as My servant David, when the faithful receive their full immortal inheritance. God gathers His people from all nations through Christ, so that those of Israel who believe and Gentiles who accept Christ become one, and the restored Israel is all the saved who enter the holy city through its twelve gates named for the tribes. The land is the everlasting possession of Christ the true seed of Abraham and of all who are in Him by faith in the new earth and New Jerusalem when death no longer reigns.
The chapter witnesses to the hope that God will raise the dead to everlasting life and immortality at Christ's coming. Its resurrection power is found in the Word of God bringing revival when hope is lost and bones are dried. Mortal man stays dead under the rule of death and would never live again except by grace through a Redeemer who breathes the breath of life into them. The righteous rise in spiritual immortal bodies to live and reign forever with Christ, and the unjust to die again the second death from which there is no restoration, since death and life cannot exist together. The birth from the dead and change to immortality must take place before people in flesh and blood can inherit the kingdom, so the fulfillment is at the resurrection and in the new earth, not by restoring the Jews to their land in mortal life.