We move into prophecies now which have been fulfilled in the lifetimes of people who are still alive today. First, we need to understand something about prophecies. While God has a plan for all our lives, He chose one nation, one people, to be His for the purpose of bringing salvation to all the world. This nation is Israel. And though God knows – has already planned – what will happen to all the other nations and peoples of this earth, the Bible gives us prophecies only as they concern the nation Israel because it was, and continues to be, Israel through which He will accomplish everything else He has planned for all the world.
Many years ago a famous queen of England asked one of her advisors how he knew God existed. He answered, Israel. Surprised, she asked why he said this. He said that if Israel still existed after all the attempts the rest of the world had made to erase it from existence, it could only be because God was/is protecting her.
In Ezekiel 36 we can read a prophecy of God’s protection and restoration of the people. Throughout history there have been other nations which have determined to kill all these people, to wipe them from the face of the earth. We could name Hitler and Stalin as examples of this, though we see the same hatred alive today in many other countries.
Verse 38 is God speaking to the mountains of Israel to begin producing vegetation again in preparation for the return of the people. For many hundreds of years the land had been barren. Rome destroyed everything they could of civilization in 70 AD, and in the 1100s, during the times of the Crusades, the land itself was destroyed as trees were used for fire and weapons. Then God prophesied the land would again become lush and green as the people of Israel would return to it.
God had prophesied against Israel thousands of years earlier that He would disperse them among the nations if they continued to reject Him. This happened several times, and yet God brought them back again so they had the opportunity again to be faithful. After the nation demanded the death of Jesus, Messiah and Son of God, the Lord dispersed them again until the time would come for the end of what He had called the time of the Gentiles (see Romans 11:25 and Luke 21:24). This time essentially began when Israel was taken captive to Babylon. Then God gave Daniel at least two prophecies about this time – the golden statue and the Seventy Weeks prophecy from Daniel 9:24-27.
Prayer: Father, we thank You for the mysteries of the prophecies You have given to us – mysteries we can unlock and understand only as we see Your purpose for all people and hear Your explanations through Your Word. Teach us Your Truth. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
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