Middle East Meltdown 008 – Ezekiel 37

Middle East Meltdown 008 – Ezekiel 37

By Dr.  Andy Woods – 02/27/2022

Ezekiel 37:23-38:2

Let’s go ahead and bow our hearts in a word of prayer. Father, we’re grateful for the fact that you’re sovereign and you are still on your throne regardless of what’s happening in the world and you are the Rock of all ages and I just pray Father that people would leave here today understanding that when they’re in a relationship with you, they are in a relationship with the immutable, immovable, eternal, changeless God and that we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken. So give us that confidence, we pray today as we look into your word. We ask these things in Jesus’ name and God’s people said, Amen.

Alright! Well, if you can open your Bibles to the book of Ezekiel chapter 37, and verse 23 (Ezek 37:23). We are continuing our study on the Middle East Meltdown. I’m glad nothing in the news happened this week that would relate to this.

Ezekiel 33‒48

1. Ezekiel recommissioned (33)
2. False shepherds removed (34)
3. Edom destroyed  (35)
4. Israel’s restoration: physical & spiritual (36)
5. Israel’s restoration illustrated (37)
6. Means of restoration: Northern invasion (38)
7.  Results of the Northern invasion: conversion (39)
8. Millennial Temple (40‒46)
9. Tribal land allotment (47‒48)

So we’ll try to get to Russia hopefully, if I can make it through verse 2 of the next chapter, we’ll talk about Russia. I was going to entitle this “From Russia with Love” but I decided that might be a little bit of an overreach. So, we are  doing this study on the Middle East Meltdown which is basically a study on chapters 36 through 39 of the book of Ezekiel. Ezekiel, 36, as you know, is a tremendous prophecy about the spiritual and political restoration of the nation of Israel in the last days and then from there we moved into chapter 37, where Ezekiel is given two metaphors or two word pictures to describe the content that he just saw in chapter 36.

Ezekiel 37

1. Vision: Valley of the Dry Bones (Ezek 37:1-14)
   1. Vision (Ezek 37:1-10)
   2. Interpretation (Ezek 37:11-14)
2. Sign: Two Sticks (Ezek 37:15-28) 
   1. Sign (Ezek 37:15-17)
   2. Interpretation (Ezek 37:18-28)

The first metaphor is the vision of the valley of the dry bones coming together and it’s at that point the Lord said, these bones are the whole house of Israel. So he sees the bones assemble, that would be a political restoration and then he sees the breath or the Ruah or the Holy Spirit enter the body so it becomes a living being and then he also sees, verses 15 through 17, two sticks coming together and as we saw last time, that basically represents the uniting of the northern and the southern kingdoms in the millennium. That division between the two kingdoms won’t exist anymore and so we made it all the way through, I think, verse 22 last time, where Ezekiel had these prophecies about a united kingdom in the millennium and so we pick it up here with verse 23 (Ezek 37:23), it says: They will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver 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… So that’s the end game of this process that we are articulating here that Ezekiel saw. It’s not just the physical restoration of the nation but it’s very clear when you look at verse 23 when it says, they’ll be cleansed of their idols, they’ll be cleansed of their detestable things, it’s also the spiritual restoration of the nation. 4:29

So one nation in faith again is the prediction and then you come to verse 24 (Ezek 37:24), which is very problematic for a lot of interpreters. It says in that time period, quote: My servant David… Now, notice it doesn’t say, branch of David, son of David, seed of David, cause everybody wants to make this Jesus, okay? It just says David. It says: My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd… Which would make sense because they are one nation again… and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them… So the issue is the millennial David, what is being spoken of here? Well, what you’ll discover in the prophets is that four times, it mentions a restored Israel under David. The first time it’s predicted, I think, is in Hosea, 3, verse 5 (Hosea 3:5), says: Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king… It’s mentioned a second time in Jeremiah chapter 30, and verse 9 (Jer 30:9), it says: But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them… And then even in the book that we’re studying here a few chapters earlier back in chapter 34 and verse 23 (Ezek 34:23), it says: Then I will appoint over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd… So when people run into passages like this, this is where your literal interpretation, because there’s a lot of people that say, I interpret the Bible literally, but here’s where it’s tested. I mean, what exactly does this mean? And sadly, the overwhelming majority of commentators turn this as a prophecy into Jesus, because Jesus of course, is born from the line of David, they reason… and this is just talking about David’s greater son Jesus Christ. But the problem is as you look at these passages, it doesn’t say anything other than David.

The Millennial David – Hosea 3:5; Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 34:23; 37:24

• Root of Jesse
• Branch of David
• Son of David
• Seed of David

Now, it is true that in the Bible David is often used as a metaphor for Jesus but when that happens you’ll see a textual clue there. It’ll say something like a root of Jesse, branch of David, son of David, seed of David, nothing like that is said here. It simply says David. 7:34

So, as we’ve tried to go through in this series, language and of course the Bible was written in language.

There’s only two kinds of language. There’s literal language and figurative language and generally, we think the best method of interpretation when you study the Bible is to take everything at face value unless there’s something in the text itself which tells you that a figure of speech is in play. So when you back up to chapter 37, verse 11 (Ezek 37:11), it says: Then He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel… We don’t take the bones as anything other than a symbol for Israel. Why is that? Cause the text told us. The vision of the two sticks coming together, if you look back at chapter 37, and verse 18 (Ezek 37:18), it says: When the sons of your people speak to you saying, Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?… The two sticks in other words, we take the two sticks as a symbol for something else, cause the text tells us, it gives us a clue and you don’t have any kind of clue like that here in chapter 37, verse 24 (Ezek 37:24). It’s just a statement about David. So what do you do with that? What I do with it is like I take it literally. I actually think David himself is going to be resurrected and is going to reign over the land of Israel in the millennial kingdom and that’s not too big of a stretch, because we know that Old Testament saints and tribulation martyrs, Daniel, 12, verses 2, and 3 (Dan 12:2-3) will be resurrected at the beginning of the millennial kingdom and David is in that group and so he is resurrected and he is given his rightful authority over all of the land of Israel.

Order or Tagma (1 Cor. 15:23)

1. General: Christ’s resurrection (1 Cor 15:23)
2. Officer: Rapture (1 Thess 4:13-18)
3. Soldiers: OT saints & Tribulation martyrs (Rev 20:4)
4. Captives: Unsaved of all ages (Rev 20:5)

We’ve done sermons and things on the different resurrections and here I’m talking about the resurrection called “the soldiers”, which will consist of Old Testament saints and tribulation martyrs, all Old Testament saints will be resurrected in that third resurrection, so to speak and David will be in that group and so David, we believe, will actually be brought back to life and he will reign over the united kingdom of Israel and a lot of you are saying, Pastor I’ve never heard that kind of interpretation before. That’s why I like to quote people that have said it. You’ll notice what Arnold Fruchtenbaum says about this passage Ezekiel, 37, verse 24 (Ezek 37:24), he says:

Dr. Arnold G. Fruchtenbaum – Footsteps of the Messiah, 389

“Nothing in the text indicates that David is to be taken symbolically. If the prophets wanted to refer to the messiah in connection with David, they used terms such as ‘Root of Jesse,’ ‘Branch of David,’ ‘Son of David,’ or ‘Seed of David.’ None of these expressions are used here. The text simply states, David. In keeping with literal interpretation, it is best to take the text as it reads, meaning the literal David, who, in his resurrected form, will function as the king over Israel and as a prince in subjection to the King of the world.”

Nothing in the text indicates that David is to be taken symbolically. If these prophets wanted to refer to the messiah in connection with David, they used terms such as ‘Root of Jesse,’ ‘Branch of David,’ ‘Son of David,’ or ‘Seed of David.’ None of these expressions are used here. The text simply states, David. In keeping with literal interpretation, it is best to take the text as it reads, meaning the literal David, who, in his resurrected form, will function as king over Israel and as a priest in subjection to the King of the world… So you notice we’re not ruling out Jesus here, Jesus is ruling the whole world during the thousand years. David is exercising authority under the delegated authority of Jesus Christ and David in a co-regency form of government is ruling over Israel while Jesus is ruling over all of planet earth. 11:48

Dr. John Walvoord – Every Prophecy in the Bible, 187

“Though some have attempted to take this prophecy in less than its literal meaning, the clear statement is that David, who is now dead and whose body is in his tomb in Jerusalem (Acts 2:29), will be resurrected.”

John Walvoord in his book “Every Prophecy in the Bible” says concerning this verse: Though some have attempted to take this prophecy in less than its literal meaning, the clear statement is that David, who is now dead and whose body is in his tomb in Jerusalem, will be resurrected… My professor Dr. Charles Dyer puts it as follows, as he’s commenting on this verse in the Bible knowledge commentary, he says:

Charles H. Dyer – Bible Knowledge Commentary p. 1295.

“After judging the individual sheep, God will exercise His leadership by appointing a new shepherd (vv. 23–24). This shepherd, God stated, will be His servant David. Many see this as an allusion to Christ, the Good Shepherd (cf. John 10:11–18), who descended from the line of David to be the King of Israel (cf. Matt. 1:1). However, nothing in Ezekiel 34:23 demands that Ezekiel was not referring to the literal King David who will be resurrected to serve as Israel’s righteous prince.”

“David is referred to by name elsewhere in passages that look to the future restoration of Israel (cf. Jer. 30:9; Ezek. 37:24–25; Hosea 3:5). Also Ezekiel indicated that David will be the prince (nāśî’) of the restored people (Ezek. 34:24; 37:25). This same ‘prince’ will then offer sin offerings for himself during the millennial period (45:22; 46:4). Such actions would hardly be appropriate for the sinless Son of God, but they would be for David. So it seems this is a literal reference to a resurrected David.”

After judging the individual sheep, God will exercise His leadership by appointing a new shepherd. This shepherd, God stated, will be His servant David. Many see this as an allusion to Christ, the Good Shepherd, who descended from the line of David to be the King of Israel. However, nothing in Ezekiel, 34:23 (Ezek 34:23)… or 37:24 (Ezek 37:24) for that matter… demands that Ezekiel was not referring to the literal King David who will be resurrected to serve as Israel’s righteous prince. David is referred to by name in passages that look to the future restoration of Israel… Notice he’s quoting, there, several verses I read to you earlier. Also Ezekiel indicated that David will be the prince of the restored people. This same ‘prince’ will then offer sin offerings for himself during the millennial period. Such actions would hardly be appropriate for the sinless Son of God, but they would be for David. So it seems this is a literal reference to a resurrected David… Thomas Ice in the Tim LaHaye prophecy study Bible says of this verse:

Thomas Ice – Tim LaHaye, ed., Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2001), 875.

“While Jesus, the Messiah, will reign over the entire earth, David will be resurrected to reign with Christ as vice regent over the nation of Israel.”

While Jesus, the Messiah, will rule over the entire earth, David will be resurrected to reign with Christ as vice regent over the nation of Israel… So I am one of those Bible readers that try to take everything at face value the best I can and I realize that if the day comes right don’t and if I start to sort of rewrite the passage here to fit my understanding of it, rather than submit to what it says, that’s a very dangerous door that opens up, because I can do that virtually anywhere. So that’s why issues like this are actually a big deal. 14:33

So, you move away from verse 24 and then you move into verse 25 (Ezek 37:25) and you have a prophecy there about the land and it says:

They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons’ sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever… So it’s very clear that God is going to give to the nation of Israel in the millennial kingdom everything He has ever promised and that promise or promises begin with the Abrahamic Covenant, which represents in part, among other things that God promise there for Israel, in covenant form a track of real estate that literally goes from Egypt to Iraq and God says, that land belongs to me and I gave it to the nation of Israel and everybody else on that land is a squatter and the squatters are going to be removed and they’re not going to be fighting anymore about the so called “West Bank”, you know, so called “the West Bank”, west of the Jordan. They’re actually also going to have the East Bank. So I find that very interesting, you know, when everybody’s upset about the West Bank. When is Israel going to give back the West Bank? And my reaction is, well, when are you guys going to give up the East Bank? Because Israel’s going to get all of it one day, the whole enchilada, maybe a better metaphor is the whole shawarma. The whole thing it’s going to be united kingdom, they’re going to have one king and David, who made some bad choices in his life, Amen? And it shows that just because you made some bad choices in your life God still doesn’t have a future for you, cause we all make bad choices and we think God is finished with us and David with all of his problems, God says I’m not finished with you David. You’re going to be brought to life in this resurrection of Old Testament saints and you’re going to be given authority over the United kingdom of Israel and you’re going to have every square inch of everything that I promised in the Abrahamic Covenant and then, you move into verse 26 through the first part of verse 28 (Ezek 37:26-28) and it says: I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them…

So stopping just for a minute there, we know exactly what covenant he’s talking about. He’s talking about the Abrahamic Covenant which unconditionally gives to the nation of Israel, land, seed and blessing and those three things are filled out in greater detail in the sub covenants that God later made with Israel and so this is the time in history the millennial kingdom, when all of these covenantal promises will find their absolute realization. So God is a covenant keeping, promise keeping God and every day of your life as a Christian you should praise the Lord for that, because if God is going to keep His promises to the Jew, that means He’s going to keep His promises to you, Amen? And for Him not to do so would be to violate His very nature because He cannot lie. So God, contrary to the portrayal of God in Islam, is not a deceiver. He’s not going to rip the carpet out from under you, if He feels like it, if He’s in a capricious mood. His character is such that He is a truth teller and by the way, if God is a truth teller and we’re supposed to be like Him we should be truth tellers as well, Amen? Speak the truth in love, that’s part of our calling. Why even do that? Because it’s who God is and we’re to imitate His basic character. 19:05

You continue on from the second half of verse 26 down through the end of verse 28 (Ezek 37:26-28) and it says: And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever… You should underline “sanctuary”. What Sanctuary? Verse 27: My dwelling place… You should underline “dwelling place”… also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people… Then down to verse 28: And the nations will know the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when My… What’s the next word?… Sanctuary… You should underline “Sanctuary”… is in their midst forever… So he says here over and over again: Sanctuary, dwelling place. What is he speaking of? He is speaking of what is going to be unpacked in Ezekiel, 40, through 46, which is the greatest description you have anywhere in the Bible of the millennial temple. Charles Feinberg says:

Charles L. Feinberg – The Prophecy of Ezekiel: The Glory of the Lord, Paperback ed. (Chicago: Moody, 1969; reprint, Chicago: Moody, 1984), 216.

“Many have denied that this refers to a physical building in sanctuary, but this seems pointless in view of the last nine chapters of the book, which are treated at length. Just as it pleases God to dwell in a tabernacle when Israel departed from Egypt, so He will tabernacle among them in their converted condition (cf. Exodus 25:8).”

Many have denied that this refers to a physical building in sanctuary, but this seems pointless in view of the last nine chapters of the book, which are treated at length. Just as it pleases God to dwell in a tabernacle when Israel departed from Egypt, so He will tabernacle among them in their converted condition… This relates to God’s program for the nation of Israel for they will have a fourth temple.

ISRAEL’S FOUR TEMPLES

1. Solomon’s pre-exilic temple (Kings and Chronicles)
2. Zerubbabel’s post exilic temple (Ezra 1-6; John 2:20)
3. Antichrist’s temple (Dan. 9:27; Matt. 24:15; 2 Thess. 2:4; Rev. 11:1-2)
4.  Millennial temple (Ezek. 40-48)

In the history of the nation of Israel there have been two temples past, two future. The first was the temple Solomon built, destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The second was the temple that we’re studying on Wednesday evenings in the book of Zechariah, that was built by the returnees from the exile and that temple was destroyed by Rome forty years after the time of Christ. So ever since that point in time there’s never been a Jewish temple but prophetically, we know there has to be a third temple because it’s difficult for the antichrist to desecrate the temple midway through the tribulation period, unless there is a what? Temple. So by inference there has to be a rebuilt temple functioning midway through the tribulation. That’s why when Israel today is making movements towards rebuilding it, we say to ourselves, I see the Christmas lights so therefore Thanksgiving is coming. The signs of Christmas tell us that we’re approaching Christmas but Thanksgiving occurs earlier on the calendar than Christmas and because the rapture of the church precedes the tribulation period and the signs of the tribulation period are approaching, boy! We must be getting pretty close to the rapture which gives us an incentive to live differently. Now, that third temple, we believe, is going to be destroyed with bowl judgment number seven, which is a description of the greatest earthquake in human history and it is to be replaced by the glorious millennial temple that Ezekiel spells out in really chapters 40 through 46. Chapters for 47 through 48 are really dealing with a couple of other subjects. But if you’re on your one year Bible reading program and you get to Ezekiel, 40 through 46, I’ll be praying for you, because it’s kind of tough terrain to get through, because it’s mind numbing in its details. But all of that is meant to be understood literally and here in the book of Ezekiel you have your first reference to this fourth millennial temple. 23:23

There’s an artist caricature of most likely what it’s going to look like and you notice how big it’s going to be.

Look how big it is compared to temple two. Look at how big it is compared to temple one. Look at how big it is compared to the tabernacle that we read about in the book of Exodus. Look how big it is compared to a modern day football field. I mean, this is going to be astronomical and what people do here is it doesn’t fit their theology so they just get out the magic markers and they just start rewriting it, pretend like it’s not here. Oh! This is a symbol for something else. The problem with that is the book of Ezekiel, as we’ve tried to explain, is symmetrical.

The things happening at the beginning of the book are repeated at the end of the book and at the beginning of the book the Shekinah glory of God leaves temple one and temple one is described in Ezekiel chapters 8 through 11 and everybody takes that literally no problem. So if that temple was literal, then why is it that the Shekinah glory of God re-entering temple four, which is even described with greater vividness, why should not that latter temple be taken with the same degree of literalness? Yet this is the game that people constantly play in the book of Ezekiel that take part of the book one way and they interpret part of the book a different way and we can’t do that here at Sugar Land Bible Church because we don’t just follow a literal interpretation, we follow, keyword, a consistent literal interpretation. I have absolutely no permission from God to rewrite His word unless in His word He tells me the temple represents something, which He doesn’t do here. So there is going to be during the thousand year kingdom a fully functioning fourth millennial temple. Now one of the things that people do is they say, Oh! There’s no millennial kingdom, let’s just drag all that stuff into the eternal state.

So in their eschatology, the study of the end, they have a second coming maybe and then they have the eternal state and they completely leapfrog the millennial kingdom and they try to make it sound as if this temple is going to exist in the eternal state and of course, there’s a big problem with that. The biggest problem with it is John’s description of the eternal state.

Eternal State is Future

1. No Satan (Rev 20:10)
2. No sea (Rev 21:1)
3. No death, crying, or pain (Rev 21:4)
4. No Sun (Rev 22:5)
5. No Moon (Rev 21:23)
6. No temple (Rev. 21:22)
7. No night (Rev 21:25)
8. No evil (Rev 21:27)
9. No curse (Rev 22:3)

Where he says in Revelation, 21, 22 (Rev 21:22): I saw no temple, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple… So if there’s no temple in the eternal state, where are you going to put it? Well, we’ll just make it the church. Well, that doesn’t say the church. The only place it fits is in that intermediate one thousand year time period in between the return of Jesus to the earth and the eternal state. That’s the only place a prophecy like this even fits and there are countless, I’m just giving you one, there are countless prophecies like this in your Old Testament that do not fit today and they do not fit the eternal state and the only place they fit is in this intermediate one thousand year earthly kingdom. 27:17

There of course, is another major problem with trying to put this in the eternal state and if you look at Ezekiel, 45, just for a minute it describes what one of the high priests is going to do during this time period, it says: On that day the prince… Now, Charles Dyer was of the opinion that this is David. I believe obviously in a literal David, but I’m not sure that the prince here is David. So we might have a slight difference of opinion on that, but it says: On that day the prince shall provide for himself and all the people of the land a bull for a sin offering… Now, this freaks everybody out, because what they think it means is a restoration of animal sacrifices and Jesus did away with animal sacrifices. I believe that there will be animal sacrifices in the millennium, but they have really nothing to do with atoning for sin. They have to do with the same reason we’re going to celebrate communion at this church next week. The elements have no power. But they enable us to look backward to what Jesus did, because the cup represents His blood, the bread represents His body and we recognize that salvation is free to us but it wasn’t free to Jesus, the second member of the eternal Godhead and so we leave that worship service when communion is practiced, which by the way, the Lord commanded first communion to be practiced in the church on a consistent basis. We do that here monthly, other churches do it weekly, quarterly, there’s no instructions regarding how frequently you have to practice it. Just make sure it’s practiced regularly because if you don’t practice it regularly you’re going to forget what Jesus did for you. Here’s a pictorial reminder. Now, think about this, the millennial kingdom is a time period where death has been totally scaled back. We obviously in resurrected bodies will not die, but then there’s a group of people that survive the tribulation period that happened to be believers, and they enter the millennial kingdom in their mortal bodies and they begin to repopulate the earth and that group there, there’s a sin element because the sin nature just got passed down through the chain, original sin. So you’ve got some people in the millennium that can’t sin and other people that can and so death, it’s very interesting, amongst those mortals is rolled back to almost  it doesn’t exist anymore. Isaiah, 65, and verse 20 (Isa 65:20) says, if someone during that time period dies when he’s a hundred, everybody’s going to think, what a shame such a young man died at such a young age. So it’s a very different world from ours where if you make it to one hundred you’re considered fortunate. So in a world where death is almost a thing of the past, is it not easy to forget what Jesus did to make the millennium possible? I mean, Jesus died for our sins. Died, what does that even mean? We don’t even do that anymore, die. So you can see why animal sacrifices in the temple are necessary, because they point back their memorial to what Jesus did. Oh! That’s what death is like. I remember now, I just saw an animal slaughtered in the temple. Thank you Jesus that you died for the sins of the whole world and that you made the millennial kingdom a possibility. 31:27

So, you see what I’m doing here? I’m coming up with interpretations that give the benefit of the doubt to the biblical text. Most commentators don’t do that; they just get out magic markers and erasers and rewrite the passage. I’m afraid to do that, quite frankly, because the Bible says, you know, if you add to the prophetic word, God will add to you the curses that are written in this book. If you subtract from the prophetic word, God will subtract your place from the book of life. That’s in the very last chapter of the Bible. I’ve never fully understood how people feel the liberty to just rewrite the Bible to accommodate their own, you know, understanding of things. So when you look at Ezekiel, 45, verse 22 (Ezek 45:22), it talks about this sin offering and you cannot put this in the eternal state, because Revelation, 21, verse 4 (Rev 21:4) says, in the eternal state there be no sin or death at all: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away… How can you put this in the eternal state, the slaughter of animals, when in the eternal state there’s no such thing as death at all. So this is a prophecy that doesn’t fit today, it doesn’t fit the eternal state and thus, you become a believer in an intermediate time period called the millennial kingdom when these prophecies will be fulfilled. You look at the very, very end of chapter 37 and you have the word “forever”. In fact, as we were going through this, we saw the word “forever”. It’s at the end of verse 25, it’s at the end of verse 26 and there it is at the end of verse 27: My sanctuary is in their midst forever… and a lot of you are saying, hold the phone now, you just told us that this temple is going to last a thousand years but the Bible says forever and what you have to understand is the Hebrew word here Olam, that’s translated forever. Can mean forever, but it can also mean a very, very long but defined period of time. You’ll find it used that way in Exodus, 21, verses 5, and 6 (Exo 21:5-6), where it says: But if the slave plainly says, I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not live as a free man, then his master shall bring him to God and then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl… I think it’s how you pronounce that A-W-L… and he shall serve him forever… Olam. The NASB translates that there “forever” or “permanently”. So if a slave still wants to be a slave, he gets this thing in his ear and he’s dedicating himself to his master forever. That’s the same word olam. Now obviously he’s not going to be in that position forever, like forever and ever. But it’s referring to a very long but defined period of time. So that’s how to understand these “forever” references to the temple. The temple will not exist forever, because as we saw, it’s going to be done away with in the eternal state. So then how do we handle this word “forever” when we’re limiting the temple to the thousand years? Well, forever lexically can refer to a period of time which is long but defined. That’s what the millennial kingdom is. It’s long, it’s a thousand years, but it still is defined because it only will last for one thousand years. 35:44

So that takes us out of Ezekiel, 37.

Ezekiel 37

1. Vision: Valley of the Dry Bones (Ezek 37:1-14)
   1. Vision (Ezek 37:1-10)
   2. Interpretation (Ezek 37:11-14)
2. Sign: Two Sticks (Ezek 37:15-28)
   1. Sign (Ezek 37:15-17)
   2. Interpretation (Ezek 37:18-28)

The two visions or metaphors that Ezekiel saw depicting what he saw in chapter 36. Chapter 36 is the physical and spiritual restoration of the nation of Israel. Chapter 37 is that vision pictured in two forms: The valley of the dry bones and the two sticks coming together. Then the question becomes, okay, this is all fascinating information about the restoration of Israel in the last days and Israel, as we speak today, is a nation in unbelief. What is the catalyst or the agency that God is going to use to bring his covenanted people from unbelief to belief? Oh! I’m so glad you asked that question, because it’s answered in chapters 38 and 39.

Ezekiel 33‒48

1. Ezekiel recommissioned (33)
2. False shepherds removed (34)
3. Edom destroyed  (35)
4. Israel’s restoration: physical & spiritual (36)
5. Israel’s restoration illustrated (37)
6. Means of restoration: Northern invasion (38)
7.  Results of the Northern invasion: conversion (39)
8. Millennial Temple (40‒46)
9. Tribal land allotment (47‒48)

The means of restoration is a northern invasion into the land of Israel, spearheaded by Russia. Now, Gosh! I didn’t get on the phone with Putin and say, okay, when are you going to do the invasion? Because I want my study to be relevant. The fact of the matter is as you just go through the Bible you see things happening in the news that fit exactly the scenario that Ezekiel describes. So with that being said, we now move into the final leg of our study which is chapters 38 and 39.

Ezekiel 38‒39

1. Invasion planned (38:1-13)
2. Invasion executed (38:14-16)
3. Invasion defeated (38:17‒39:20)
4. Invasion’s results (39:21-29)

You have an invasion plan, verses 1 through 13 (Ezek 38:1-13). An invasion executed, verses 14 through 16 (Ezek 38:14-16). An invasion defeated, there’s a real happy ending to this, chapter 38, verse 17 through chapter 39, verse 20 (Ezek 38:17- Ezek 39:20) and then the invasions results, end of chapter 39, verses 1 through 29 (Ezek 39:1-29). So let’s start looking at, as time permits, the invasion planned, verses 1 through 13.

1. Invasion Planned (Ezekiel 38:1-13)

1. 1. God’s intention (Ezek 38:1-9)
   2. Gog’s intention (Ezek 38:10-13)

We have God’s intention, because these invading parties, they think they’re doing their own will but actually it’s God that put hooks in their jaws, as we’ll see. So God’s intention is disclosed in verses 1 through 9 and then Gog, that’s the leader of the invasion, his intention is disclosed in verses 10 through 13. When you read verses 10 through 13, you’ll understand the Middle East, you’ll understand what just happened with Russia and the Ukraine, because it’s all about money. It’s all about coming into the land of Israel for material reasons. That’s why I was listening to a news commentator this week and he said something to the effect of: Putin is going to go as far as Poland and I shouted at the TV, no! He won’t, he will keep going past Europe, past Poland and he will go into the Middle East or one of his successors, because that’s what the Bible says will happen and he’s coming in because of wealth, economics. This is what Ezekiel said two thousand six hundred years ago. So we have God’s intention, God is drawing them in, because God wants to be the Rescuer at the end of the day. But they don’t know they’re being drawn by God, these foreign powers and their intention is given in verses 10 through 13. 39:47

So let’s begin here with chapter 38 and verse 1 (Ezek 38:1), which is God’s intent and you look at chapter 38, verse 1, it says: The word of the LORD came to me saying… So aha! We have a new vision and that’s the structural marker that Ezekiel always uses to start something new and what is being described here is the tool that God is going to use to bring an unbelieving nation to faith. He is going to put them in a situation where they have no one to help them. Not even the late great United States of America will help them and their back will be completely against the wall and they will have no one to help them but God. Now, when you think about that, that’s a wonderful position to be in, because they’re actually going to ask God to help them and that’s when God works and brings them to saving faith. He rescues them physically and spiritually. So as you go into verse 2 (Ezek 38:2) you start to see a list of names it says: Son of man, set your face toward Gog… That’s the ruler… the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him… So here are mentioned several nations that will be walking through as we move into this section.

By my count there’s about fourteen nations mentioned.

You’ll notice it says: Gog, that’s the leader of this coalition and if you went to a normal church, you would have no idea who these people are. I mean, you would be looking at this saying what in the world is this talking about. But because you go to an abnormal church that spent five weeks in Genesis, 10 or maybe even more, you can go back to your notes in Genesis, 10 and you’ll recognize all of these names. These names, Genesis, 10, are Noah’s descendants and where they went following the flood and the Tower of Babel and all you have to do is pay attention to some scholarly sources like Herodotus, Josephus, etc, and you can generally see where these people groups went and the modern nations containing those people groups are part of this end times coalition and then you look at your headlines and you’ll see, Oh my goodness! Ezekiel knew what he was talking about, because every single one of them is perfectly in alignment for this scenario that we start to see described here. So you’ll notice there that the first mention of a nation is Magog. Josephus tells us where Magog settled. You’ll see Magog’s name in Genesis, 10. Josephus in the 1st century says:

Josephus – Josephus, Antiquities, 1.6.1.

“Magog founded those that from him were named Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians.”

Magog founded those that from him were named the Magogites, but who are by the Greeks called Scythians… And basically we know that the Scythians migrated from central Asia to southern Russia around the eighth to the seventh century BC. So we’re pretty confident that Magog here represents those nations today that we call central Asia, the Stans, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Afghanistan, maybe I need to say that again, Afghanistan. Shall I say a third time? Afghanistan. You’ll see them mentioned there upper right hand corner of the map:

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and why don’t we add one more, Afghanistan. Why do I keep mentioning Afghanistan over and over again? Well, unless you’ve been under a rock, Afghanistan probably is where one of the greatest debacles in American foreign policy has ever occurred. Where the Biden administration and this makes absolutely no sense to me, either Joe Biden is the stupidest man that ever lived, as dumb as a box of rocks, which could be true or he is being manipulated by powers outside of himself or maybe some combination thereof. Maybe he was not elected but selected to make a decision like this, where he took out of the country as we were getting out of Afghanistan and whether you think we should be in Afghanistan or not in Afghanistan, that’s not the point, the point is how he did it. Everybody with two brain cells to rub together understands that you get the civilians out first and you get your allies and those who helped you out first and you get your weapons, which happened to be eighty five billion dollars of weaponry, you get them out first or you destroy them or whatever you’re going to do. Then, step two, you pull the military out. The Biden administration did the exact opposite. They pull the military out first, left the weapons, left American citizens behind, left allies behind in a part of the world where the Taliban and related groups, quickly seized authority and so American allies, American citizens, you have a situation where they’re trapped behind enemy lines and you just militarize the Taliban. I mean, the Taliban, they cannot even believe their good fortune.

This is from Fox news, it talks about U. S. weapons seized by the Taliban because of the strange, bizarre, inept, bungling, manipulated, whatever term you want to use, pull out of Afghanistan. Eighty five billion dollars in weaponry, left behind. Seventy five thousand vehicles left behind, six hundred thousand weapons left behind, two hundred aircraft left behind to the Taliban that has an agenda to wipe Israel off the map and our own government just paved the way for this to happen. Now, we can all get upset politically and rightfully so about it, but the truth to the matter is when you actually look at this, it shouldn’t be much of a surprise, because Ezekiel himself predicted Magog, Central Asia, would come against the nation of Israel in the last days. 47:41

The second nation that he mentions here is Rosh. Look at verse 2 (Ezek 38:2): Son of man, set your face toward Gog… That’s the leader… of the land of Magog… That’s Central Asia, and then it says: …Set your face towards the prince of Rosh… Now here we come into one of the most interesting and controversial debates on the subject of Bible prophecy, because a lot of people out there and I’ve noticed that they’re raising their voices a lot now because of Putin’s invasion of the Ukraine and they’re saying Russia has nothing to do with Bible prophecy and the reason they’re saying that is they’re saying that Rosh is not a proper noun but a common noun and if Rosh is a common noun, then it’s not a geographical place and what they’re all saying is Rosh simply is a common noun, a descriptor, Rosh means head, top, summit, chief, it doesn’t mean Russia. In fact, if you’re reading today from the King James version, you will notice that the King James version as it translates verse 2 leaves out the name Rosh, cause a lot of you are reading this saying, I don’t see Rosh here and the reason you don’t see Rosh here is the King James version, although a very good translation in other areas, has made a decision to treat the noun Rosh as a common noun and not a proper noun designating a specific person or designating a specific place. So this is how it will read in the KJV or the RSV or the ASV or the NAB or the NLT or the NIV, some of you might be NIV positive. You’re reading this out of the NIV, you’re saying, pastor I don’t see the name Rosh. Well, there’s a reason for that. The English translations made a decision not to translate this as a proper noun but as a common noun. There’s a lot of people that are capitalizing on this, even people that typically you would like. Here is Derek Gilbert of Sky Watch News and you notice his Magog invasion doesn’t look like mine. I’ve got this big arrow from Rosh or Russia coming down into the land of Israel, he doesn’t have that.

He thinks the whole thing is spearheaded by Turkey, etcetera and he writes on this tweet: Rough locations of the northern coalition of Gog in Ezekiel, 38 and 39. Mount Zaphon is the uttermost north… Then he says: No, Russia is not Magog. In Hebrew rosh means head… So he’s following the King James version and he’s taking Rosh as a common noun and what you’ll discover is people that will malign this interpretation that I’m giving, a Russian led conspiracy and I, sadly, even had a seminary professor do this, Oh! ha ha ha ha! You think it’s Russia. Well, you just think that because Rosh sounds like Russia and you’re trying to make it up to fit the headlines. 51:33

So there’s another perspective though where Rosh is a proper noun, not a common noun but a proper noun, meaning that Rosh is a geographical place on planet earth. It doesn’t just mean head, chief, summit, top. It’s talking about a specific location and a specific group of people and you’ll notice that the New American Standard Bible, which of course is the version that the apostle Paul used, right? You’ll notice if you’re reading this under the NASB, so you’re a Spirit led Christian in other words, and this is a good exercise for us because these English translations that we have, none of them are perfect. So, on different issues you gravitate toward different ones best on what you think which one captures the best rendering of the Hebrew text. You’ll notice that Rosh is mentioned. Son of man set your face towards Gog… The leader of the land of Magog, Central Asia… the prince of Rosh… And we believe that the prince of Rosh is Russia. Now why do we believe that Rosh is not a common noun but a proper noun? Are we just trying to sell books? My friend and colleague Dr. Mark Hitchcock in his book called “The End”, which I recommend to you, gives five reasons why we should understand this as a proper noun and not a common noun.

Is Rosh Russia? – The End, Page 295

“The weight of evidence favors translating Rosh in Ezekiel 38–39 as a proper name. Five arguments support this view. First, the eminent Hebrew scholars C. F. Keil and Wilhelm Gesenius both hold that a proper noun is the better translation of Rosh in Ezekiel 38:2-3 and 39:1, referring to a specific geographical location. Second, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, translates Rosh as the proper name Ros. This translation is especially significant since the Septuagint was translated only three centuries after Ezekiel was written—obviously much closer to the original than any modern translation.”

“The modern translations of Rosh as an adjective can be traced to the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. Third, in their articles on Rosh, many Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias (New Bible Dictionary, Wycliffe Bible Dictionary, and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) support taking it as a proper name in Ezekiel 38. Fourth, Rosh is mentioned the first time in Ezekiel 38:2 and then repeated in Ezekiel 38:3 and 39:1. If Rosh were simply a title, it would be dropped in these two places, because when titles are repeated in Hebrew, they are generally abbreviated.”

“The modern translations of Rosh as an adjective can be traced to the Latin Vulgate of Jerome. Third, in their articles on Rosh, many Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias (New Bible Dictionary, Wycliffe Bible Dictionary, and International Standard Bible Encyclopedia) support taking it as a proper name in Ezekiel 38. Fourth, Rosh is mentioned the first time in Ezekiel 38:2 and then repeated in Ezekiel 38:3 and 39:1. If Rosh were simply a title, it would be dropped in these two places, because when titles are repeated in Hebrew, they are generally abbreviated.”

He says: The weight of evidence favors translating Rosh in Ezekiel, 38–39 as a proper name. Five arguments support this view… Okay, I like this guy… First, the eminent Hebrew scholars like Keil… Now, Keil & Delitzsch is one of the most reputable sources in Hebrew that you can possibly find… First eminent scholars like Keil… and then he mentions… Wilhelm Gesenius both hold that a proper noun is the better translation of Rosh in Ezekiel, 38:2-3 and Ezekiel, 39, and verse 1, and refers to a specific geographical location… And I actually have Gesenius’ quote reprinted in 1847, he died I think in 1842, where he looks at Rosh and he says, it’s a proper noun.

Wilhelm Gesenius – Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon (Samuel Bagster and Sons, 1847; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987), 752.

“pr. n. of a northern nation, mentioned with Tubal and Meshech; undoubtedly the Russians, who are mentioned by the Byzantine writers of the tenth century, under the name the Ros, dwelling to the north of Taurus . . .as dwelling on the river Rha (Wolga).”

Gesenius is the father of lexicography which is the science and art of compiling dictionaries, predominantly Hebrew dictionaries. He was no slouch and he made that statement about Russia when Russia was a Christian Orthodox country. He says Russia is going to invade Israel and there wasn’t even an Israel at the time he said this, to invade. So this maligning of the view, Oh! You just think it sounds the same so you’re making it Russia, well, what do you do with Gesenius, a scholar’s scholar. Mark Hitchcock goes on and he says: Second, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, translates Rosh as the proper name Ros. This translation is especially significant since the Septuagint was translated only three centuries after Ezekiel was written—obviously much closer in time to the original than any modern translation. The modern translations of Rosh as an adjective can be traced to the Latin Vulgate of Jerome… A translation by the way, that Luther himself did not trust, because he felt it contained Roman Catholic concepts in it. So Luther, when he did his German translation, did not rely on the Latin Vulgate… Third, in their articles on Rosh, many Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias, such as the New Bible Dictionary, Wycliffe Bible Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia support taking it as a proper name in Ezekiel, 38. Fourth, Rosh is mentioned the first time in Ezekiel, 38, verse 2 and then repeated in chapter 38, verse 3 and chapter 39, verse 1. If Rosh were simply a title… meaning chief or head or top… it would be dropped in these two places, because when titles are repeated in Hebrew, they are generally abbreviated… So it’s not just called Rosh here in verse 2, it’s also called Rosh, verse 3, chapter 39, verse 1, the full name is given which should be very, very odd in terms of repetition for this to be just the title of something… Fifth, the most impressive evidence in favor of taking Rosh as a proper name is simply that this translation in this context is the most natural. G. A. Cooke translates Ezekiel, 38, verse 2, ‘the chief of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal.’ He calls this ‘the most natural way of rendering the Hebrew.’ The compelling evidence of biblical scholarship indicates that Rosh be understood as a proper name—the name, the specific geographical area… So why do we think rosh means Russia? I mean, we know it’s a place.

Is Rosh Russia? – The End, Page 295

“First, linguistically and historically, there is substantial evidence that in Ezekiel’s day there was a group of people known variously as Rash, Reshu, or Ros who lived in what today is southern Russia. Egyptian inscriptions as early as 2600 BC identify a place called Rosh (Rash). A later Egyptian inscription from about 1500 BC refers to a land called Reshu that was located to the north of Egypt. Other ancient documents include a place named Rosh or its equivalent in various languages.”

“The word appears three times in the Septuagint (LXX), ten times in Sargon’s inscriptions, once in Ashurbanipal’s cylinder, once in Sennacherib’s annals, and five times in Ugaritic tablets. While the word has a variety of forms and spellings, it is clear that the same people are in view. Rosh was apparently a well-known place in Ezekiel’s day.”

Hitchcock says: First, linguistically and historically, there is substantial evidence that in Ezekiel’s day there was a group of people known variously as Rash, Reshu, or Ros who lived in what today is southern Russia. Egyptian inscriptions as early as 2600 BC identify a place called Rosh. A later Egyptian inscription from about 1500 BC refers to a land called Reshu that was located to the north of Egypt. Other documents include a place named Rosh or its equivalent in various languages. The word appears three times in the Septuagint, ten times in Sargon’s inscriptions, once in Ashurbanipal’s cylinder, once in Sennacherib’s annals, and five times in Ugaritic tablets… Mark Hitchcock did his Master’s thesis on this subject. While the word has a variety of forms and spellings, it is clear that the same people are in view. Rosh was apparently a well-known place in Ezekiel’s day… 58:58

Number one, It’s a place, it’s people, it’s not some sort of adjectival description. Number two, using all of these sources we can track where that people group existed and the place they existed is what today we call Russia. Clyde Billington in the Michigan Theological Journal has an extended description of this and he says:

Clyde Billington – Clyde E. Billington Jr., “The Rosh People in History and Prophecy (Part Two)” Michigan Theological Journal 3 (1992): 59, 61.

“Historical, ethnological, and archaeological evidence all favor the conclusion that the Rosh people of Ezekiel 38–39 were the ancestors of the Rus/Ros people of Europe and Asia. . . . Those Rosh people who lived to the north of the Black Sea in ancient and medieval times were called the Rus/Ros/Rox/Aorsi from very early times. . . . The Rosh people of the area north of the Black Sea formed the people known today as the Russians.”

The Rosh people of the area north of the Black Sea formed the people known today as the Russians… Gesenius, a scholar’s scholar, said of Rosh: It’s not just a proper noon… He says in his Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon, he says: Undoubtedly the Russians… Now, why give you all this boring lexical information, because you’re about to be hit by a bunch of propaganda, if you haven’t been hit by it already. Sadly, much of it coming from within Christianity saying, Rosh has nothing to do with Russia and I’m here to completely disagree with what they’re saying. I am disagreeing with the King James version on that point. This is not a common noun, this is a proper noun and you can academically identify Rosh as the people group of Russia. So when Putin in 2008, I think it was, rolled right over Georgia, I said to myself, well, that’s terrible but I’m not surprised, because Ezekiel predicted the character of that nation two thousand six hundred years ago and then in 2014 when Putin became aggressive into Crimea, I say to myself, you know it’s disappointing but I’m not surprised because Ezekiel predicted the character of that nation two thousand six hundred years ago and this week when Putin invades the Ukraine by the way, just look at a map as he is invading Ukraine, he’s not going the opposite direction of Israel. He’s coming down from the north which is exactly what Ezekiel said would happen, I say to myself, what a tragic thing, cause we have connected to our church some of our missionaries trying to get out. I mean, it is a terrible thing but I said to myself, you know it’s horrible, it’s terrible, I’m going to pray for the oppressed people there, I’m going to do everything within my power to get our folks out. But then I say in the back of my head, I’m really not surprised because Ezekiel predicted the character of that nation two thousand six hundred years ago. So it’s not just, Oh! You think Rosh means Russia, they sound the same, ha ha ha. No, there’s actually exegetical and lexical academic reasons why Rosh is a proper noun meaning Russia. 1:02

There’s also a geographical argument. Look at chapter 38 verse 6 (Ezek 38:6): Gomer with all its troops; Beth-togarmah from the remote parts of the north… Look at chapter 38 look at verse 15 (Ezek 38:15): You will come from your place out of the remote parts of the north… Look at chapter 39, look at verse 2 (Ezek 39:2): and I will turn you around, drive you on, take you from the remotest parts of the north… I’m seeing a pattern here. This is not just a northern invasion, it’s coming from the remote parts of the north. Now most people when they see this expression “north” they don’t know what to do with it, where is the starting point? And let me help you with that, the starting point in Bible prophecy is always Israel, because if you look down at verse 12, God says of Israel, they live at the center of the world. You have to start to think the way God thinks. You see, the world itself looks at Israel as just a little nation in the way of progress but that’s not how God thinks. As far as God is concerned, Israel is living at the center of the world. In fact, that word translated, center, is belly button or navel in Hebrew, which is the center of the body because that’s the part of the world that God covenanted real estate to a particular group of people. Over in Ezekiel chapter 5, verse 5 (Ezek 5:5) it talks about Jerusalem dwelling at the center of the nations. So the starting point is always Israel and just go straight up north. What nation do you run into? You run into Rosh or Russia.

So there is a lexical/ exegetical argument why Rosh means Russia and there’s actually a geographical argument, why rosh means Russia. Which means you understand something that the people on cable television can’t even begin to figure out, because your starting point is God’s word, you understand exactly why that happened. What is that? One nation rolling over another, that is just phase A for greater things coming, because your Bible says ultimately Russia is going to keep right on moving north and it’s going to go right into the land of Israel and there’s a lot of territory in between there. 1:05

I want you to understand something and I need to get ready to wrap up, believe it or not. The world changed this week, I hope you understand that. We are living in and I don’t mean to get knee deep into politics. But we are living in the post Donald Trump world, where the world system was upset over Trump’s tweets. That’s the biggest problem they had. Look at his tweets. Well, guess what? You got rid of that president, I think, in a very suspicious way, but that’s another sermon for another day. The tweets are gone. But we’re on the precipice of World War III, why? Because Putin, Ex KGB agent by the way, smells weakness. Why would he smell weakness? Because of the debacle in Afghanistan. He looks at Joe Biden as someone that won’t stand up for anything and so what you’re going to see more and more is these dictators are going to start making their move and if Russia is successful here, you watch what China does and you watch what Iran does, which is as I speak is on the cusp of getting a nuclear weapon, God help us and yet you look at the world and you say, this is very disappointing. But at the same time, you know what? This is what God said will happen cause Jesus is coming back to rescue His church from the wrath of God. Can I get an Amen on that?

Well, speaking of literal interpretation I’m six minutes over. Let’s pray. Father, we are grateful for your truth, your word, how it informs us even about headlines and make us good stewards of your truth in these last days. Help us to use these things to point people to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. We’ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory. We ask these things in Jesus’ name and God’s people said, Amen. Happy mini intermission.