THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL (Ezekiel 35-37)
THE WHOLE HOUSE OF ISRAEL
(Ezekiel 35-37)
Tuesday Morning Bible Study May 13, 2008; April 14, 2026
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
As we come to the last sections of Ezekiel’s prophecy, the themes are distinct and different:
Chapters 33-34 - emphasized the rulers and shepherds.
Chapter 35 - judgment on all enemies who have had a perpetual hatred of Israel.
Chapter 36 - the Nation of Israel blessed, restored, and converted.
Chapter 37 - the Nation resurrected.
Chapters 38-39 - the Land.
Chapters 40-48 - the Sanctuary.
Ezekiel 35: This chapter contains the condemnation of Edom, also called Seir, and the descendants of Esau, and thus a type of the flesh.
Because of their sin, ancient hatred, toward Israel, they are being judged. Due to the present ongoing hatred in the nations toward Jews (antisemitism) even in western nations, I believe this stands today as we watch God’s judgment of nations. It is my persuasion, the war in Iran is a Holy War. I posted Ezekiel 25-32 to support that conclusion. Ezekiel 32: 24-25 are specific for Elam/Iran with passages 17-32 specifically for the judgment of the spirit of terror.
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Obadiah also denounced Edom. This prophecy shows that the ancient hatred of Edom will be dealt with before the glories of the New Covenant can be realized. I feel it is evidence Edom is representative of all the enemies of God’s people.
From the time I taught this in 2008 to 2026, we are no longer in the “shaking of nations” which was my conclusion at that time. We are now in the judgment of nations. The horn of the nation of Israel has been exalted as a mighty military force. The horn of the United States of America is raised to bring down all demonic principalities over the nations. The horn of the church has been raised to have the strength to birth “The Harvest.” These chapters preach themselves as signs of the time.
We have here the devastation of Edom and the restoration of Israel.
Ezekiel 35: 11-15: As I live, says the LORD GOD, “I will do according to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘they are desolate, they are given to us to consume.’ Thus, with your mouth you have boasted against me and multiplied your words against Me; I have heard them.” Thus say the LORD GOD: “The whole earth will rejoice when I make your desolate. As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom---all of it! then they shall know that I am the LORD.”
Let this be wisdom to all God’s children, if one of God’s beloved is being disciplined by Him, it is best not to jump in with our tongue or opinions.
CHAPTER 36 - THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL
36:1-7: Also, you Son of Man, “prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say you mountains of Israel,, hear the Word of the Lord; thus says the Lord God; Because the enemy has said against you , aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession: Therefore prophesy and say, thus says the Lord God: Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people… Therefore, you mountains of Israel hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and a derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about. Therefore, thus says the Lord God; surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen and against all Idumea (Edom) which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus says the LORD GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy an din my fury because you have borne the same of the heathen. Therefore, thus says the Lord God; I have lifted up my hand, surely the heathens that are about you, they shall bear their shame.”
I believe these promises in verses 8-10 are for the Nation of Israel as well as the Church.
Verse 8-10: But ye, Oh mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. For behold I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and you shall be tilled and sown: And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be built.
The Word “I Will” is used 25 times. Five is the number of Grace – Grace intensified and multiplied!
1. 36:9 – “I will turn unto you.”
2. 36:10 – “I will multiply men upon you.”
3. 36:11 – “I will multiply upon you man and beast.”
4. 36:11 – “I will settle you after your old estates.”
5. 36:11 – “I will do better unto you that at your beginnings.”
6. 36:12 – “I will cause men to walk upon you.”
7. 36:15 – “Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame…”
8. 36:23 - “I will sanctify my great name.”
9. 36:24 – “And will bring you into your own land.”
10. 36:24 – “I will take you from among the heathen and gather you.”
11. 36:25 – “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you.”
12. 36:25 – “And from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”
13. 36:26 – “A new heart also will I give you.”
14. 36:26 – “And a new Spirit will I put within you.”
15. 36:26 – “I will give you a heart of flesh.”
16. 36:26 – “I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh.”
17. 36:27 – “I will put My Spirit within you.”
18. 36:28 – “I will be your God.”
19. 36:29 - “I will also save you from your uncleanness’s.”
20. 36:29 – “I will call for the corn and will increase it.”
21. 36:30 - “I will multiply the fruit of the tree.”
22. 36:33 - “I will also cause you to dwell in the cities.”
23. 36:36 - “I will do it.”
24. 36:37 - “I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel.”
25. 36:37 - “I will increase them with men like a flock.”
Ga. 3:16: Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He says not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to your seed, which is Christ… (17-29.) And this I say,” that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise. Therefore, then serves the law. It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one.
The Holy Nation (Matt. 21: 42-43; 1 Pet. 2:9-10).
The Circumcision (Phil. 3:3).
The Heavenly Jerusalem (Jn. 4: 19-24).
The True Jew Rom 2:28-29: For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men but of God.
Romans 9: 6-8: Not as though the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, those are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
The Israel of God – Gal. 6:16: And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
I believe the church received the promises of God and the authority of throne rights to appropriate those promises which Jesus Christ secured.
Romans 15:8: Now I saw that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers.
Throughout the early section of this chapter here is a studied contrast with what is stated of Edom in chapter 35. Thus, this chapter deals with a people of the SPIRIT! The cleansing of the church in the Day of Atonement, which is discussed below, is a national cleansing.
The pre-eminent motive in this redemption is the Glory of God; 36:22-32: Therefore, say unto the House of Israel, Thus says the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, wherever you went.... (32) Not for your sakes do I this, says the Lord God, be it known unto you; be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
There will be a hatred of sin: 31-32: Then shall you remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.”
Forgiveness of sin will be realized: 25: Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”
We will know ultimately that our God is the Lord. 38: As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filed with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord.
The Baptism of the Holy Ghost will be granted. 27: I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my judgments, and do them. There will be obedience to the Law of God.
Verse 31 is the revelation of the man of sin. Verse 33 is the Day of atonement. No more sin, no more death! Back to the dominion of Eden we go.
35: They shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited.
VALLEY OF DRY BONES
Ezekiel 37 is one of the most preached chapters in the Bible. It is the vision of the Valley of Dry Bones and reveals the resurrection of the Nation of Israel and metaphorically apply to all the LORD resurrects.
Therefore, this chapter has to do with the natural Jew as well as the spiritual Jew (Rom. 2: 28-29; 9: 6-8). Scripture has a dualistic interpretation. As we discussed last week, the church is the Holy Nation (1 Peter 2:9) and the Israel of God. We who have received Jesus Christ are the Israel of God. God is my father through the Blood of my elder brother, Jesus Christ.
Gal. 6:16: For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Because I am the Bride of Christ and a Son of God, I inherit all the promises given to the Jew by Jesus’ Blood.
The church is the Holy Nation.
1 Peter 2:9: You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
If you are apprehensive about “Replacement Theology,” that is not what I am saying. Israel is in God’s plan of redemption and the Church is in God’s plan of redemption. In Christ, Israel and the Church will come together as one Kingdom with one God. The Lord uses the nation of Israel as a stage to reveal to the entire world what He is doing in His Kingdom. Ezekiel 37 is also a promise for the restoration of the (dead) church and the raising up of the Army of the Lord!
Sue Baird’s Outline of this chapter is as follows:
1. 37: 1-4 – Valley of Bones One Land = Abrahamic
2. 37: 15-20 – Vision of Broken Rods One Nation = Mosaic
3. 37: 21-28 – Vow of Everlasting Covenant. One Shepherd = Davidic
Eze. 37:1: The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
This passage is part of a series of revelations given during the night to Ezekiel before the messenger came with news of the destruction of Jerusalem. It was to encourage the people and dispel the gloom of the people over the sad news. The main aim of this vision was to counteract the despair and the pessimism which had laid hold of the despondent nation. 37:11: 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 for our parts.
This passage reveals how well that generation knew of the doctrine of Resurrection. Isa. 25:8: He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord has spoken it.
The central figure in these closing prophecies of Ezekiel is “The Prince” – the Messiah, Jesus Christ, The Good Shepherd:
37: 24-25: 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. 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 forever: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.
The bones represent the Israelites in Exile. They point to the church during the bondage and captivity of the Middle Ages, and also the whole creation in the captivity of the bondage of corruption.
Rom.:14-23: Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. We can liken this to the earthquakes, cyclones, and severe weather we are presently experiencing on earth.
Ez. 37:7: 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.
We have the Gathering of a Nation (Israel) dispersed and divided as well as the gathering and raising up, and the unity of the Body of Christ. Let us pray for unity in the United States of America as well. We are surely divided between Democrats and Republicans, between Christian and the spirit of Antichrist.
The Pattern of this Restoration:
1. 37:4:O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the Lord. We must hear the Word of the Lord (His trumpet)
2. 37:5: I will cause breathe to enter into you, and you shall live. We must experience the Holy Ghost Baptism and receive His enabling to praise Him.
3. 37:6: I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin.
4. 37:7: As I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. We must experience the noise of praise and each find his place in the Body of Christ as a joint of supply.
5. 37:9: Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy son of man, and I say to the wind, Thus says the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. We must experience the four operations of the Holy Ghost:
(a) NORTH WIND – His convicting power upon our sin. (Song 4:16)
(b) SOUTH WIND – His being the Comforter (Song 4:16; Jn. 14:26)
(c) EAST WIND – His dealings, trials, and tests. (Job. 1:19; Acts 27)
(d) WEST WIND – His blessings. (Luke 12:54) He (Jesus) said to the people, “When you see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway you say, There comes a shower; and so, it is.”
This is a universal, world-wide move of the Holy Spirit to touch the whole creation.
The four winds, East, West, North and South are all used figuratively in the Bible of the judgments of God, of the Holy Spirit, His blessings, and of heresy.
The East wind is the wind of the wilderness. This is metaphorical of the operation of God’s Spirit in trials, tribulations, and testings. This will incinerate everything that is not of God. Every house---life, family, ministry, or nation---is tested by the wind of the Spirit. (Luke 6: 46-49). All that is founded upon the Rock (Jesus Christ) will still be standing when the work of the wind is accomplished. The east wind will break us, but it will also deliver us into our destiny.
Those of us who have walked for many years with the Lord have experienced all four operations of the Holy Ghost. I know which ones I like the best.
Rev. 7: 1-2: After these things (the opening of the six seals), I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God; and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to not hurt the earth and the sea.
Throughout the Bible, God is pictured as the Master of the winds whether natural or spiritual. He keeps them in his “storehouse” and only by his “authority” do they emerge and blow where he sends them.
Ps. 104:3: Who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters; who makes the clouds his chariot; who walks upon the wings of the wind.
I had a vision of this Holy Wind and know that it is a powerful, supernatural presence of Holiness. I have no qualms about declaring that the winds of God are His supernatural power and presence to do His work, His strange work in our lives and the universe. This I know!!!
Ps. 104:3: Who lays the beams of his chambers in the waters; who makes the clouds his chariot; who walks upon the wings of the wind.
I have also experienced what I perceived to be the south Wind, a Holy Wind of God penetrating and blowing through my whole body. This I know!!!
Psalm 78:26: He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven; and by his power he brought in the south wind.
6. Ez. 37:10 – We must stand on our feet as His army. the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army. We can compare this both to the great army of the nation of Israel and the great army of the Lord.
This operation was not done by Ezekiel’s Faith. This requires GOD’S FAITH
Gal. 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
There have been times in my life that what I walked through could only be done with God’s Faith. He stresses also that this resurrection of the bones was a result of the prophet’s obedience. We can say these bones represent the nation Israel and the whole church, the whole House of Israel. In the larger sense, this includes the O.T. saints; this is the principle of the Bones of Joseph being buried in Canaan’s land.
Heb. 11:39: And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Bro. Bill Britton’s comments: “Breathe upon these Slain, that they may live…now we begin to get a clue of the condition of the whole church in the last days…the whole house of Israel …there are different realms of 30-fold, 60-fold, and 100-fold in God’s army…the fundamentalists are going to win more souls than they ever thought about winning …the Pentecostals are going to see more miracles, more of the manifestations of the Holy Ghost …but there is going to be a company that is going to rule and reign; they are going to be the ones who are speaking, even as this prophet is commanded here to speak …these bones were once alive …they were slain …every dead church in the world is dead because it was killed …every movement of God in time past was born in the fire of God …men laid their lives down …they were killed by the traditions of men.
All these disjointed bones are part of the structure …they hold the structure together, and make the structure strong …they are disjointed, all in different places …now they all didn’t become the same bone … In revival, when God’s Spirit is poured out, the people start coming together. Back in the days of the Latter Rain revival some very strange things happened. In 1949 and 1950, God was pouring out His Spirit in a glorious way, in the so-called, “New Order of the Latter Rain,” and suddenly there were Oneness or Jesus Only preachers…and Trinity preachers… coming together and sitting on the same platform. Now that was a miracle! You never heard of anything in Pentecost like that... They never flowed together, but when revival came, they began to come together. They began to lay down their differences and find something greater in Jesus Christ!”
Beyond the obvious Union of the nation of Israel i.e. the people of God in the latter part of this chapter are seen the joining of the two sticks (the southern Kingdom of Judah and the northern Kingdom of Israel. (Jn. 17),
Jerusalem was in the Kingdom of Judah and represents the Davidic Covenant. We can compare this to the coming together of the two Offices of the King and the Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Caleb was from the tribe of Judah and Joshua was from the tribe of Ephraim, thus revealing the principle of the two witnesses. Judah was the tribe that provided the Kings of the land. Ephraim revealed the fruitfulness of priestly ministry. Joseph was also a fruitful bough. (Gen. 49:22).
This whole area was included in the State of Israel formed in 1948.
1948 – 1967, the West Bank was occupied and annexed to Jordan. Gaza was occupied by Egypt. In 1967, the West Bank and Gaza Strip were again occupied by Israel in the six-day war. In 1994, the Palestinian authority governed territory in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In 2026, Israel now controls 50% of the Gaza strip with 70% as no-go zones, forcing expulsions.
Both the nation and Israel have come up out of her graves since 1948. There have been many moves of the Holy Ghost with times of refreshing upon the earth simultaneous with the outpouring of blessings upon the nation of Israel. The grave is a prison of earth or Adam’s flesh. It is an earthly box (Rom 8: 21-23). The Grave is “the sewer realm” or the lower realm. The serpent eats dust. Jesus Christ lived above all that (Jn. 14:30). There was nothing in Him that the serpent could eat.
Jacob was created but Israel was formed Isa. 43:1: But now thus says the Lord that created you, O Jacob, and He that formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name. You are mine.
The term Israel means one who prevails or overcomes (43: 10-12). This formation is also a transformation of the soul or the renewing of the mind. (Rom 12: 1-2). (Gal. 4:19). The important thing to remember is that these bones were raised up and formed as one Nation (1 Pet. 2: 9-10) - they were raised up together! We are a holy nation.
Eph. 2: 2-6: Even when we were dead in sins, He has quickened us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved ;) and has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
An in-depth study of Joel 2:1-11 will reveal much about this dual army of the Lord. The valley of death becomes the valley of life. There will be the joining of the Old covenant saints with the New Covenant saints as exemplified in Boaz’s purchase of Naomi and Ruth.
Ez. 21-28: Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, where they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: 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: We are here talking about Israel and Judah…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 forever; and my servant David shall be their Prince forever. 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 (Jesus Christ) in the midst of them forevermore. My tabernacle (Jesus Christ) also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary (Jesus Christ) shall be in the midst of them evermore.
Matthew 24:31: And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
THE TWO STICKS – Ephraim and Judah
We the church have grown past many of our differences (issues of life). But there is still much arguing and debating of the Word of God, the present dealings of God, and the future works of God. To my amazement, there are still denominations who though they believe in God, do not believe in Christ’s supernatural daily action on earth, and in each one of our personal lives.
When this present judgment of nations comes into “fullness of time,” I believe the “Glory Cloud” will be moving on people who are seeking the LORD with their whole heart and will have been chosen to “carry the glory” of “Harvest.”
While preaching from Psalm 78, the Lord gave me a revelation or should I say a “light bulb” went off in my head of the Lord’s progression of His Kingdom glory and grace. The Lord used many imperfect vessels to carry His Glory from one generation to the other. When one people group, failed/sinned, His glory moved to those who had the faith to carry His glory.
In Psalm 78: 9-11, the psalmist gives an illustration of Ephraim’s disobedience and the grim consequences of their fall. For a long time, Ephraim was Israel’s leading tribe, but they “turned tail when the time came to fight” fine archers though they were. Why did God not bless them with victory? Because they had deliberately disregarded God’s grace made so plain long ago, and they failed to live in harmony with his will as revealed in the Law. So, theirs was the covenant curse of military defeat.
Psa. 78: 9-11: The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk in his law; and forgot his works, and his wonders that he had showed them.
Judah was given the blessing of the southern kingdom and Ephraim was the leading tribe in the northern kingdom which was called “Israel.” Judah together with Ephraim and Manasseh (the house of Joseph) were considered the leaders of the tribes. They had separate kings until David was chosen to unify Judah and Israel as one nation with one king.
This was prophesied by Ezekiel in the vision of the valley of dry bones and reveals the resurrection of the nation from their fall into sin and idolatry. Nothing can be restored to life without the breathe of the Holy Spirit and the Blood of Jesus Christ.
I believe the Lord is raising up that mighty Army of the Lord and we the church are called to war alongside the Angel Armies of the Captain of the Lord of Hosts. There is division even now in those who do not see the war of Epic Fury against Iran as a Holy War written in the Word of God. This war must happen to fulfill the scriptures.
In this time of warfare against the forces of evil manifesting in the spirit of antichrist, we must stand on our feet as the Lord’s army. We the church are being positioned to be part of that exceeding great army. If we are not found fighting the good fight of faith, we can be set aside just as Ephraim (the northern kingdom) lost the glory, blessing and favor of God.
There are different realms in God’s army; but let us all be found fighting the good fight of faith in the midst of the battle. Let us release our spiritual weapons of warfare through the Word of God which is delivered by His Holy Angels. Let there be none among us, like Ephraim who will refuse to fight alongside the Captain of the Angel Armies. Let us not be among those who do not even recognize that a spiritual battle is going on in the first and second heavens.
Ezekiel 37: 16-17: Son of man, take 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 companion And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in your hand.
Under King David, the two kingdoms became one. Under King Jesus, the whole house of Israel, the Kingdom of God, inclusive of the Church will become one. This is also the coming together of the two offices of the King and the Priest. Judah was the tribe that provided the kings of the land. Ephraim reveals the fruitfulness of priestly ministry or the failure of the priesthood to drive-out the Canaanites and fight.
Satan through the one world government has purposed to create a one-world ruler with a one-world false prophet. Through Ezekiel, the Lord has declared there will be a one world revival by the Ruach (breathe of God) in the dead church as well as Israel.
There is yet another prophet who must prophesy to Judah and Ephraim of the breaking of the stick.
Zech. 11:14: I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. (Ephraim).
After the rejection of the Messiah, the abolishment of the Old Covenant, and its fulfillment, the LORD cut asunder the staff called Bands (union). The meaning of this was that the united nation of Judah and Ephraim would be dispersed again. It came to pass in A.D. 70 when the 12 tribes were again scattered among the nations.
Deut. 28:64 : Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your fathers have known—wood and stone.
The fact that Judah and Israel (Ephraim) were together again as one nation after the captivities to Babylon and Assyria; and that this brotherhood was to be broken again in the second dispersion, reveals the 12 tribes have not been lost. God fully recognized the entire nation as being in the land in one brotherhood after the captivity and prophesied He would scatter them again for the sin of selling and crucifying His son.
Ezekiel 37:21-28: Say too them, Thus, says the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, where they are gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land. 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: 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. 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. I will make a covenant of peace (the New Covenant) with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant. I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary (Holy of Holies) in the midst of them forevermore. They will all have one shepherd (Jesus Christ). My tabernacle shall also be with them: yes, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. The heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.
Psalm 78: 70-72: God also chose his beloved one, David. He promoted him from caring for sheep and made him his prophetic servant. God prepared David and took this gentle shepherd-king and presented him before the people as the one who would love and care for them with integrity, a pure heart, and the anointing to lead Israel, his holy inheritance.
The Davidic Messiah is forevermore the catalyst of human destiny. Continue in his kindness, otherwise we too will be cut off is Paul’s word of caution to presumptuous Gentile Christians. At the time of the "fullness of the Gentiles" the glory will return to Israel.
I believe after this “judgment of nations,” a great glory, a great restoration and a great harvest will be released on the earth. Those who carry this great glory, will not be those Christians who have been unfaithful and disobedient in the glorious gospel of our great salvation. Christ will again choose a people who He has prepared to “carry His glory.” Let us be found with our weapons of warfare ready for battle and willing to fight the good fight of faith that we will not be like Ephraim and be set aside from carrying the glory.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX.
Scripture from K.J.V. and TP.T. I quoted Bill Britton as indicated by quotations. I entered into the labors of Principles of Present Truth by Kelly Varner. Comments and conclusions are my own and not meant to reflect the views of those who I entered into their labors.