Lecture 12: Exposition of Ezekiel - Dr. Ralph Alexander

Oh that we began yesterday as we look now at our overview we have looked at the sins that were announced and the resulting judgment upon Judah in those first 24 chapters revealed repeatedly in many different ways and dramas and riddles and symbolic acts as well as oral messages and envisions interpretations of those and equally the judgment that comes upon the foreign Nations and primarily the cause of their judgment is the way they have responded to the people of God unfortunately responded in improper ways they did not bless them instead they cursed the people of God

they mocked them they maligned them they tried to take advantage of them they tried to they turned them over to other enemies they tried to get the spoils of war anything they could do and God has his justice there also he is he is fair he Is just and all he does and when the news of the fugitive of the collapse of Jerusalem came at the focal point to chronologically and really many ways thematically in the book at the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC and Jerusalem collapsed and that fugitive left and he came to

Babylon the night before he arrived as we mentioned yesterday God opened the mouth of Ezekiel his mutinous stopped and he freely could move now among the people and intercede for them And encourage them and minister to them as a prophet would delight to do and in that night before the fugitive arrived with the news that Jerusalem has fallen it's all over guys everything you were hoping wouldn't happen which you've been arguing with me about and which I've been telling you is going to happen it's a done deal it's happened okay so we have to list

it was reality but right before that sad news comes he gives these night messages from 33:21 to the End of chapter 39 as an encouragement to them now that encouragement hope as we're going to see will continue in another series of messages many years later way down there at five seventy three when we have the messages in Ezekiel 42 48 which will still be encouragement and hope but right here before everything collapses he's God steps right in and through Ezekiel says let me encourage you guys as to what I'm what I'm going to do the

hope that you Have to look forward to now as we look at these chapters and actually through the remainder of the book again try to put yourself in the place of the Exile okay I think we always have to do that you know we don't just sit here academically and I'm gonna look at the book and read it and it's you know it's so far away so put yourself there you know you have this sudden shock you know your hopes are your hopes humanly are dashed okay they're gone Because you'd put your hope and the

fact that Jerusalem would not fall you'd put your hope in Egypt all those hopes have been dashed they're gone and you're just kind of sitting there to live I never I never planned it this way what's gonna happen I don't know what's happening I don't know where I am I'm in a strange land I don't like it here things are different what's the future I don't have any future I don't have you've been there But you may be there some time you know what is God doing okay and God steps in and encourages them but

as he begins to talk about what he's going to do he doesn't put real specific time notes on it okay and that drives us Westerners up a tree we just go bonkers come on give us some specifics you know is it that guy is it this event is at that time they're going to the future to them when God says after many days are at the end times they don't know when the end time Is at least we know the end time for them is at least 2500 years longer than where they were okay but

we have the privilege of hindsight they didn't know that so please don't make them know that okay they didn't know because to the Hebrew it's over there how far over there and naturally in their context is he's going to talk about things like restoration and return from dispersion what would you think if you were in exile what but you know and you're in That contact what would you be thinking on yeah and probably what you know I mean they're gone they're they're out here in a Babylon well probably we're going to get to leave here

sometime we could go back to land and we won't have to be in Babylonian captivity any longer I mean it's extremely natural I mean that's where they are that's exactly what we would expect from them but God when he speaks of it again as I mentioned that could Prophetically they think conceptually yes your hope is the fact that God will restore you to the land he may restore you in the captivity he's going to restore some others at another time and ultimately they're all going to get back there okay and the Messiah will reign well

as if you look at the intertestamental time and many of the Jews genuinely thought that the bad times the judgment part was the Babylonian captivity and once they came Back there was a messianic hope and a good sense of course but they were thinking he's going to come soon and we're gonna have the kingdom okay and you see that's why they had a hard time understanding why Jesus had to die among other things because the Kings coming we're in this thing you know it's happening because they they are trying now to do what we try

to do I want to put it in a particular situation you know I want it and in my day but God's Looking a you know is revealing it conceptually from from now to the end and here frequently we're going to see it's very clear that he's talking about not only now but then at the end because we'll have such phrases that there will no longer be X there are no longer be this now wait a minute after our 2500 years approximately we know that there are some longer as it comes to the people of Israel

they aren't in the land the other work they're not today do they Are they still mocked in any way I don't know if people in the world that aren't by almost any other nationality looked at in some way is yeah it's the Jews it's interesting it I don't know where anywhere you go so these things obviously did not happen then all of them some of them did and some of them didn't and we have to therefore understand this is a conceptual understanding of restoration but with the emphasis upon the final Culmination of that but that

does not do away with the fact that they're encouraged and they were encouraged I'm quite sure they're going to return and they did return from Babylon captivity now you see that's not the way we think we wanted to say okay would you please Ezekiel talk first about Babylon and returning from that captivity then tell us the next one and then would you come over here and tell and then make sure that this one is all At the end don't don't stir them in the pot a little bit please we don't like the plot of it

we don't like just the pot of restoration we want to have all the ingredients please take them out and give us each one at a time and I say we have to begin to think as the prophets think and as things are revealed and time is not their great concern by that I mean I'm thinking specific time nor often is specific identification of People or places their great concern that's not to say we have no identification but what do we do today and we come to passages like we're going to come to here who is

it where is it you know is it Germany no no no it's Russia no no is it is it China no no it was Japan you know we go through all these type of things why because we're always trying to identify we want to know who it is you know well is it going to be at the beginning of the Tribulation at the end of the tribulation in the middle of the tribulation and no tribulation or in the Millennium at the beginning of the end or what where are these things yeah that's where we spend

unfortunately as Emma Jellico's most of our time rather than understanding the message we get all hung up over when and who and they're not hung up over it I'm sorry guys it's not their big issue again that's not to say we don't know anything And we can talk about it and we can get some general ideas obviously if they're talking about the far end time is we're not talking about Nebuchadnezzar in some of those situations okay it doesn't those aren't real difficult things to come up with but I just say that so that we can

relax I hope you can relax and and let God speak his message through Ezekiel and then there's nothing wrong with thinking about those things and doing some speculation but please let me Remind you of this in your interpretation of prophecy do not base it on political speculation it'll always keep changing go back and read all the books as I just told you know the first you know king of the north we're not talking about the king of the north here but so that's we're free you know but the king of the north was Germany well

once Germany passed off the scene we got to get a new one oh well it's Russia you know they're North aren't it yeah they're north okay well they hey we got a new one it was Japan once they passed out see now well let's got to pick up another oh it's got to be China only probably you know it's always interesting me that it never come up with a King of the South nothing against the air people I will of dear friends who airs but they are certainly never United so who is it going to

be oh isn't that terrible we don't know well that's okay very probably that that I don't know now I I want to mention that framework because as we come here he's going to be looking to encouragement of the future for them and that future is going to go from them to the end the hope they have and that's the whole of the nation of Israel okay so we saw that here one of the issues it's very predominant is the issue of the land it's not the only issue but you're going to see land having almost

a an issue Everywhere you come up through chapter 39 and even when we get over into 40 because that the land and the people and their God are always related in the ancient Near East you cannot separate them Daniel block has written a nice monograph on that I didn't the actual name of it it's just my mind but where he dealt it's actually come part out of one I think out of his dissertation of how he shows how in the the ancient Near East as well as in Israel how these three factors it's like a

triangle you got God and land in people and there they all ways relate and you got to take them along together so the land is very significant to them in obviously we have God there we have the people so the the other factor that we're going to see visually in a sense as far as what happens in what is foretold and what they look forward to in the hope is they'll have they'll be in their land Because right now they're not okay so as a nation they're hurt okay they're really hurting at this point they

don't have their land so that's why as we begin in 21 yesterday in essence the people are if we could kind of read under the between the lines that people are saying we're here Jerusalem's fallen have we lost it all are we going or we gone as a people where's the land and the read and the encouragement is from the covenants the Abrahamic covenant God will be faithful okay but you're not going to be in the land people as long as you disobey my ways it's still they're still yours you haven't lost it but if

you want to get back there you need to return to me you need to repent oh oh yeah that's what you've been saying all along in it hmm yeah maybe I better think about that now because I'm here and it's there and we're not together if I'm gonna get there I got to Change my heart okay so we come to 34 the next message that he gives here and it says the word of the Lord came to me son of man prophesy against the Shepherd's of Israel prophesy and say to them very fascinating message in

34 he's going to talk about the shepherds the the Shepherd imagery and picture is predominantly used for the leaders and I primarily those who lead the country if I can put it in this way politically now I I say that with some hesitancy because You cannot divorce in Israel the political from the religious okay because they were the the king what are we having the Davidic covenant you know the king is a in a son father relationship with God okay that's an interesting concept in the Davidic covenant he is one who is closer related he

is one who is leading the people and is to have a copy of the of the Mosaic Covenant that he reads in day and night you go back to Deuteronomy 17 that's What's to leave him he is to depend upon God he's not to depend upon armies with the chariots and horses from Egypt he's not to depend upon wealth and money he's not to depend upon them but on alliances which were sealed with marriages so that hid when he has many marriages and dependent upon those women he is depending upon the security of Alliance he

is to trust God that's what the leaders to do Salomon blew it on every level and he's just one among many but They're to trust God they're to be servants of Yahweh who here with the cert what the master says which is in the Covenant okay and then do it there to read day and night so they know how to guide their people so you cannot separate the political leader in that sense the King and so forth from the religious element but when we speak of shepherds we're really it's not a term that's normally used

for priests or prophets the distinction that I'm Wanting to make it's used for the leaders of the people so he's going to talk and we've already seen Ezekiel talking about leaders and how important it is and how it really was the leaders who were there it sounds strange encouraging helping leading guiding astray the people that is ultimately led them to captivity though ezq makes it very clear to remind the people you didn't have to follow okay so you can't just say it's their fault But God's greatest concern is about the leaders and I've said it

before but I come back again because this book is so strong to us about this men as you are a leader in your church or whatever the ministry may be and you will have some form of leadership it's an awesome responsibility lead the people in God's ways not your ways and sometimes the temptation is very subtle and easy to leave them in my ways it's my church we see it all the time Don't we well it's John MacArthur's Church no I don't think John probably be real thrilled with that you know but that's what we

tend to do isn't it we we go and pick out the person and make the associations and people do that and you're going to be you know you're gonna be this is Joe's church this is Bill's church this is your church no it isn't your church I said I see our situation in mosque out times been heavily Involved trying to help and guide and and train people to be leaders to be elders and so forth in the church and I'll be honest with you sometimes I you know and then I think you know I may

not be here I'm not gonna be here very long and I'm trying to try and view what's gonna happen in other words I start owning it no and well but but if I'm not here what's gonna happen I need to you know you know we're all indispensable guys I know we I know it's sometimes we Don't think so I've been there I fight that at times because you you get so tied to the situation but we it's not ours okay but we are the leaders so are we leading them to follow us to follow him

and I see this in the church today it it amazes me at time how everybody believes in the ecclesial analogical concept that Christ is a head of the church but not practically okay everybody knows that the pastor is the head of the church right no he's not Jesus is some day we need to start practicing that a little bit more let him give the direction to the church that's just in one area see it's so easy now we come here and he talks to the shepherds and he announces judgment woe to the shepherds of Israel

and please note what they do that we should not do okay this is what you call negative learning you learn from the mistakes of someone else woe to the shepherds who only take care Of themselves okay leaders and you and a church can do where you're just caring primarily for yourself should not Shepherds take care of the flock oh but that takes time it takes a lot of work that's less work yeah I mean I mean I mean I get less sleep tonight people don't have problems on my schedule I'm trying to explain to these

elders in in Moscow that we need we need greater help in the in pastoral care well we don't see anything I said would you like to Get the calls I get at 3 o'clock in the morning yeah it started from the road there it's not gonna be our schedule guys a lot of you already know that very well ok should not the Shepherd take care of the flock you eat the curds you clothed yourself with the wool and slaughter the choice animals but do you not take care but you do not take care of the

flock now that can happen where we become so Self-centered we become we want to we want to climb the pastoral ladders or the ministry ladders to success we like the the material success of that I can't imagine it blows my mind sometimes with pastors making this country especially when I know what pastors make in Russia and we were so we're taking care of ourselves you have not strengthened the weak now here's another point you have not strengthened the weak or heal the sick or bound up the injured people are Hurting if you haven't found that

out in ministry you yeah I don't know where you've been I know there's a lot of people hurting in Southern California they're hurting all over the world they're hurting people they're hurting people in Moscow oh wow they're hurting and somebody needs to be out there healing the sick and binding up the injuries and and helping them in that way we need that's part of the Responsibilities of a leader to be responsible for that you have not strengthened the week or healed and bound them up the injured you have not brought back the strays or searched

for the lost we lost our heart for evangelism those that are lost do we not do we have people in our ministry that we know have needs or just too busy to reach out to them and then later when something happens and perhaps they're gone or whatever we say oh well I really Should have done something well in this case the Shepherd's of Israel were not searching for the laws you have ruled them harshly and brutally I hope we're not harsh and brutal but I've seen some pastors that have clubbed people with the truth you

know you sinners banging banging man you know they let them have it well they are centered we're all sinners we have to be sensitive to know where the people are and the best way to communicate to them and that way so Since that's the way you lad you were scattered that well as a result the people were scattered abroad because there was no Shepherd no real Shepherd okay in this case and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals and it's our responsibility the people are not shepherd they're going to go

astray because they have not been guided and directed in the right way and they're gonna they're going to become food for the wild animal you do Not teach people the truth they're gonna go out there and hear a lot of junk and they're gonna be led astray by analogy hey my sheep have wandered all over the mountains and every high hill they were scattered over the whole earth and no one searched or looked for them no care just don't care leadership are those who are to care for those they lead first therefore you Shepherds hear

the word of Lord as surely as I live declares at an Iowa because my flock my Flock it is his flock not our flock my flock lacks a shepherd because of that and has so been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals because my shepherds did not search for my fly but cared for themselves rather than the flock therefore o Shepherds hear the word of the Lord this is what at an Iowa says I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock I will remove them from tending the

flocks Of the Shepherd Shepherd's can no longer feed themselves what a statement instead of feeding the flock their feeding on the flock what are we doing in our ministry are we seeking to bolster ourselves people think we're so wonderful my or wonderful teacher your wonderful preacher look your church is growing and so forth well nothing wrong with teaching and preaching and with a church grow but where is there are we doing that at the expense of the people But we really don't care for them really caring for ourselves that's what the Shepherd's and the leaders

of Israel are doing they no longer they say they'll no longer feed themselves I will rescue my flock from their mouths and it will no longer be food for them what an indictment against leadership and I said it's good to read this periodically to remind ourselves what we are not to do but in contrast what we are to do as Shepherds People so that in verse 11 for this reason he says I will search I myself this is God I myself will search for my sheep and look after them as a shepherd looks after his

flock when he is with them so I look after my sheep I will rescue them from all the places where they are scattered on the day of clouds and darkness I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries I will bring them into their own land I will pasture them On the fountains of Israel in the ravines and all the settlements of the land I will tend them in good pasture and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing place they will lie down in good grazing land and there

they will feed in a rich pasture in the mountains of Israel I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down declares out an i Yahweh I will search for the lost and bring back the strays I will bind up the injured and strengthen the Weak but the sleek and the strong I will destroy I will Shepherd the flock with justice I will do it since God I will be the one who rules I will be the Shepherd of my people we're going to go back to the way it was supposed to be Israel

was a people whose King was Yahweh and under the time of the judges they said it's too tough you have to trust God so we want a king of our own like everybody else and remember you toss a mule you know they're not rejecting you Samuel They're rejecting me and the people of Israel rejected Yahweh as their king they rejected the great everybody talks about what's the greatest type of government democracy unnecessarily after all we have kingship here all the time there must be something that might be hmm there may be something else some other

options but the greatest one is a theocracy and one of those days you know guys were Gonna be in it we're gonna be with our Lord and he rules he's the king he is the king now but just face-to-face with that I can't wait you know what could be better you know forget the democracy stuff you know give me Jesus I want him to be the just the King and that's all I need I don't need a better ruler than that well he's going to rule them and he's speaking here I will do that and

he's going to go on to elaborate on that he Says that's for the flock this is what the sovereign Lord says I'll judge between by the way he just said he doesn't like the sleek ones because and he's gonna point out those who lead who fatten themselves on the flock he's going to remove he's gonna remove the false shepherds the unfaithful shepherds and they're going to be replaced with the true Shepherd John 10 you know the true Shepherd he will be the one who will lead the flock and the way I will Be just he

says I will Shepherd the flock with justice so that in 17 he says I'll judge between one sheep and another between Rams and goats Rams and goats are those that you know often tried to get it over the Sheep is it not enough for you to feed on good pasture kind of speaking to the Rams and goats keeping with the imagery of the Shepherd and the Sheep is it enough enough for you to feed on the good pasture must you also trample the rest of your pasture with Your pasture with your feet is it not

enough for you to drink clear water must you also muddy the rest with your feet I mean after all you I've given you the pasture and I've given you clean water and you as the leaders have gone around muddying the place and you make it where he trampled the land so that nobody else can eat and no one else can drink you're destroying the provisions that I've made for them less you also must my flock feed on what You have trampled and drank what you have muddied with your feet very graphic beautiful illustration using the

imagery of the Shepherd and the sheep therefore see I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep because you shoved with flank and shoulder butting the week sheet with your horns until you've driven them away yeah I know most of you probably aren't shepherds I'm not either but I have had the privilege to watch shepherds in the inch in there in The Middle East they ever had that opportunity ever been in any of you ever raise sheep hey there we go we got a shepherd it's interesting to watch them and how they

do that and of course the Rams often will but you know the sheep they there there's some you know turf protection that goes on in these situations very vividly given here he says I will save my flock in verse 22 and they will no longer be plundered I will judge between one sheep and another I'll place over them one Shepherd my servant David and he will tend them and he will Tim and he will tend them and be their Shepherd Iowa will be their God and my servant David will be Prince among them I we

have spoken now I'm convinced that in the context here and in the context the end time and in fact that the concept of David he is a visual representation continually given of the one who will come he will be like unto David the Messiah I'm convinced we're Talking about the Messiah at this point I don't think this is going to be actual resurrected David there if it is guys you know I'm not gonna say hmm I'm so wrong yeah but I think contextually in the way David continually is the MA that is set before the

other leaders as the ideal king and the model of what God is going to bring at the end time that I think that the picture is that God says I'm going to because he's already set I will Shepherd my sheep so we are having This in the text that God's going to do it and that means we're gonna have to get the descendant of David Jesus who is God to give the leadership I will be their God and David will be my servant David will be the Prince among them he is the true Shepherd I

say we go to John 10 we have that developed in the New Testament of the true Shepherd who will Shepherd the flock and the other imagery it's picked up again and I don't think John was ignorant at that point of Ezekiel 34 because this is the passage in the Old Testament that really zeroes in on the Shepherd and the shepherding work of God himself over his flock so it will be Jesus it will be the Messiah who will Shepherd is that going to be immediately at the time when the Babylonian captivity takes over no now

we could say well they you know they didn't know that no they didn't know that so they had that expectation and rightly so we simply live at Approximately 2500 years later and we happen to know it didn't happen then okay but for them they hoped for that and rightly so just like you hope for the second coming I hope you do I hope you you know you hope for the coming of Jesus you know he comes at the rapture you know if it's imminent because the scripture says it's imminent we know that Emmons imminency is

that which we are to live with you say well in two thousand years since Paul it's okay I'm Ready let's go I hope he comes today Steve great Friday 13 my luckiest day you know yeah it comes right here and we can all go together well that'd be fine I'm ready let's go you know he comes at any time now the false shepherds you've had to deal with that people but I want you to know I'm gonna give you a new true Shepherd the Messiah when you're next I'll sitting there and say wow all those

guys I don't Have to deal with him anymore you know those owed those jeho has--is and joey cams and joey chins and Zedekiah's I get to have the Messiah that's got to be an encouragement even if you're sitting in the Babylonian captivity see and this was the night before they're gonna find out Jerusalem's fallen then he says in the latter part of the chapter he says I will make a covenant of peace with you with them and rid the land of the wild Beasts so they may live in the desert and sleep in the forest

in safety now the Covenant of peace I think is the covenant of peace there are many people who come and immediately say the Covenant of peace is a new covenant I think the new covenant is the new covenant okay but I think the covenant of peace what he's saying is I'm making a covenant with you guys that when I come and restore you to the land and we're looking here towards the end when I ultimately we all get back here and I cleansed you and I've removed all the wild beasts and so forth you will

live in security and peace and I will rule and all your covenants will have reached their fruition and fullness that's my that's my agreement with you that's my covenant of peace there will be peace and if you've never been in the Babylonian captivity you don't understand fully what it means peace guys we live in the rat race today we Live in a situation of sinful mankind if you're in ministry you are a target and people will pot shot at you one way or the other okay and it's not a lot of fun and it's a

war okay there is no peace if you're in that sense if you understand why there is peace in wordly in our relationship with with Jesus that's what carries us along and the work of the Spirit one day we'll just be able to relax enjoy peace with Him in his kingdom I think there may well be I think it's more than that in Hebrews but interestingly we call the book Hebrews and I think there's some key break thought in the book of Hebrews and that's why I think a number of people have had problems with bookkeepers

again but I think obviously the rest there is time with the rest of the people of Israel and the way you know the the practical situations and then he talks About that for us today we can rest in him but some day there'll be the full fruition of that rest in Jesus and I can't wait it's gonna be wonderful and that can be and I hope that's encouraged me to you know to keep on you know fighting fight finish the course because of what's laid up for you in heaven yeah that's the way the New

Testaments telling us the same message so keep on going sometimes it's tough sometimes we don't want to keep going all the way There's the covenant of peace Wow look what he says and we understand something like these say well how do we know what the Covenant well look at the context was text say you know I'm gonna make a cut of a piece with you I think he probably is gonna say something that would relate to that okay what's involved in it well I'll rid the land of wild beasts so that you may live in

the desert and she from the forest safely okay I will bless them and the Places surrounding my hill I will send down showers and the seasons that we showers of blessing the trees of the field will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops the people will be secure in their land and it'll be fruitful and it will be pray uh it will be marvelous what you have they will no longer be plundered by the nations nor will the wild animals devour them they will live in safety they'll have peace that's what he's

talking About the security and and the wonderfulness of what they will have at that time no one will make them afraid and I will provide for them a land renowned for its crops and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of nations then they will know that I yo way their God and with them and they the house of Israel are my people and that formula by the way I will be their God and they will be my people to formula all the way back From the Mosaic

Covenant and said it's a relational formula and we've already seen it repeated a number of times already in Ezekiel God's relationship to his people is that he is their God and they are his people it's a relationship and that relationship and the fullness of that relationship will certainly be true at this time of peace and security and in verse 31 you my sheep the Sheep of my pasture are people and I am your God declares a tan i Yahweh nation for That being used four times in Scripture starting at numbers 25 I by simple it

what do you mean when we hear the covenant of peace should be kind of linking on to the other passages or is the covenant of peace and the other passages in this path is different because numbers 25 speaks about a coven of peace I think that again I think we have to think you break Lee it starts and there there are relationships and it can be relationships in a given Situation but the Altamonte here we're seeing the ultimate manifestation of that is at the end time but it's a conceptual concept that God is work we

can have peace now individually in our lives and we can have pieces of people if we follow him I'm a Fraser I'm speaking of Israel we can do that at the United States too if we found him anyone could be they can no peace obviously it's peace and not a perfect environment at this point as it Ultimately will be so yes I think there is a continuum that goes through a relationship and that in that sense now the false shepherds will be put aside the true Shepherd will take their place what a tremendous encouragement and

there'll be at that time the fruition and the fulfillment that actually I have a fullness you know fulfillment I've really moved away from that term because I think it it gets this in trouble because fulfillment has the connotation It happens boom right here at that point I see it growing to fruition and that you finally have the fullness of the concept realized all of its aspects to me that helps pray it may not help you at all but it helps me to see something is a concept that's developing and it comes to the very end

time and reaches its fullness you got it all all the concept now is realized at the end time yeah it comes to its fruition While Kaiser talks about that same thing we've had some interesting talks I think he shares the same perspectives in that sense of looking at it in that way okay we come now to still those are the ones that are the true Shepherd is the one that's going to rule over the people in the land that he will give to them we come in 35 actually in 35 1 through 36 15 it

it all I think relates together and this is what I would call the preparation of the land actually Preparation for the people to return ok ok the land what had happened to the land and the announcement of the judgment and what happened in 586 from their perspective the land was desolate Jerusalem was destroyed the land was left barren in that sense yes there were some people still there Jeremiah was there with yet a lie up and Mizpah and so forth at least for a while - they shipped him out to Egypt but the Land is

desolate ok the land east is defile the land needs to be prepared for the return of the people now we immediately have here a prophecy directed specifically at Edom and it has to do with Edom per se but what I want you to notice in chapter 36 we read he goes on talking about the removal and the concept of possession because one of the things about Edom is they always want to possess the land in fact Kevin New Testament times it amia is actually The extension of Edom into the southern part of the West Bank

like use mixture chronological times here into the southern part of the of the Canaanite area Edom has always been wanting to possess Edom is going to be here a representative of the nations of the foreign nations who have possessed are tried to possess the land and we if I can just move over to 36 for a moment and verse 4 therefore old mountains of Israel hear the word of the Lord because He's talked to the land yeah and this he's speaking to the land I'm going to get you ready he says to the mountains and

to the hills this is what the Lord says to the mountains to the hills arene the ravines the valleys to the desolate ruins the desert the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the nations around you so we're talking about all the nations this is what adonai yahweh says in my Burnie Xilai has spoken against the rest Of the nations against all Edom fit Edom is a representative of all the nations that doesn't mean that either doesn't have its own thing because that's basically what's gonna happen in chapter 35 you're

gonna have specifically against Edom but in a sense they are a representation a picture of really what's true all those who have sought to possess the land and here explicitly makes that representative statement all the nations That is all Edom okay well Edom is not literally all nations they are representative of all nations within that context so we'll come back to that so this is why you have to see 35 and 36 up through 15 as kind of a package it kind of goes together we have the specific judgment in chapter 35 against Edom per

se then we have the preparation of the land where we get rid of he's going to remove all those all those of that are like Edom all the nations that Have ever done that he's going to move them out and he's then going to prepare the land so the people can come back to it and it's goodness now you're again you're you're an Israelite here sitting listening to the in the middle of the night staying up late not watching TV watching easy kill which is better okay better better station okay and you're listening this valley

I was a great show on the shepherds now oh now we're gonna talk about it you know this is the Latest show on Edom okay we just flipped channels and now we're on the Edom channel so chapter 35 is specifically the statement and he's going to talk about the removal of Edom and the judgment he'll bring upon them so he's to set your face against mountain sear now Mount Seir and is terminology for Edom as well is there the same thing and I will stretch out my hand against you and make you a desolate waist

I will turn your towns into ruins And you'll be desolate and of course our purpose which I hope hasn't become so familiar that it's kinda like oh yes know everything God does is so that people will know that he is Yahweh yes he referring to the exile in this for referring people of Edom yes I think it's both because the message is obviously to the ex Isles but also it's directed and I said I can't tell you how it's gonna work out that the message is gonna get to eat them but it is a Message

directed toward them but it is initially heard and received by the excellence extra-biblical material or anything that we we see that people in Edom or or these foreign land said we got it we got the point no we understand that Yahweh is God not extra biblically that I'm aware of of course the Scriptures going to imply that they will they will come to place where they are restored so that's there has to be then the implication would Then be that there's some change that's going on there also but it's only an implications then direct statement

by the scripture it's just like we often you know we read it historically about some of the things that Egypt does and so forth and but we don't see that in Egyptian history which in some ways shouldn't surprise us because you know the leaders of these countries didn't like to talk about their failures often Assyria never never lost a battle I Don't know how they ended up being done away with the Babylonians a little bit more honest with us no say hey we got it man we lost that one you know at least there were

but by and large people in the gypsies appear to be those because we have very little mention among the Egyptians of any defeat any loss or anything that didn't what to get a PR for them at that point so their PR people in the Syrians were the same way you know we never do Anything wrong there were knee problems and we don't need any help and so forth Babylon was a little bit better you know yeah well or what's why we do make mistake yeah I can't answer that I don't know I mean this is

all we have but let's say it is interesting obviously this it's the audience's is the exiled but it is a message to them at least at the best you have to wonder if it's a message to them did do they get it and I just don't have any data so I can't Answer that one how that's why I said in an answer to your question I don't know how and we talked about even I think yesterday I don't know how that would be done but I think it certainly is highly likely that the message would

have gotten there certainly is recorded certainly they could have gotten it after the fact if nothing else just like we do we have the message as well so he's going to if we come down to verse 5 and we read we find the reason ok which Again I hope you're familiar if you're not if you haven't already been familiar before even this course the fact that the prophets primary framework of communication is what we call a judgement speech are often what we call a prophetic lawsuit prophetic actually you know they use the Hebrew term Reve

which means lawsuit to legal lawsuit they're going to bring a case a lawsuit against Israel the the prophets as a prosecutor to them but they use this They they use a prosecutor or a legal form which and they will give the accusation or the indictment about the people and then they'll give the verdict that's a constant so you're constantly looking for your yawns and your logins the causes and the their force that will guide you as you look and see okay this is way this is the basis for it and here's what the judgments going

to be so in verse five because you harbored Ancient hostility and deliver the Israelites over to the sword at the time of their calamity the time their punishment reached its climax so Edom was you know as the people we have some extra biblical statement that does help us in this you know the people would be trying to flee and leave the siege and so forth and the would catch him and turn him over to the Babylonians you know so there's this ancient also the ancient hostility all the way from The time of Jacob and Esau

what did he saw say when they parted there after the after Jacob and his sneaky conniving ways got the last will and testament I'll kill you that's why Jacob was scared spitless when he returned to the land you know and boy you had all those hundreds and thousands of gifts and stuff out there you know we've got to get we got it we got to try to help this thing and God in this race did solve that problem but there's been this Hostility and it becomes a picture and that's why I think again Edom is

the representative because of the traditional hostility between Edom and Judah and Israel that picture that's come all the way from Jacob and Esau and they for therefore Edom becomes a very good country to be the representative of all those who are anti-israel at that point so but their specific accusation you have Harvard the ancient hostility and delivered the Israelites over to the Sword at the time of their calamity the time they're punished putting reached its climax therefore so now we have the verdict because of that I will give you over to bloodshed and it will

pursue you since you did not hate bloodshed bloodshed shall shall pursue you or in other words we have Lex talionis going on here you know what that is it means punishment in kind you know yeah and so you shed their blood your Blood is going to be shed at this point I will make Mount Seir a desolate waste and cut off from it all whoo go come and go I will fill your mountains with the slain those killed by the sword will fall on your valleys and your heels and your valleys and your ravines and

I will make you desolate forever forever forever it's still definitely your towns will not be inhabited then you will know that I am Yahweh now so speak to us try it again Okay verse 10 because now we're gonna have again an indictment because you because you have said now this is what they have said these two nations and countries that is Israel and Judah will be ours we will take possession of them see there's that there's that thing these foreign countries want to take possession of the people of Israel okay even though I Yahweh was

there therefore what's the verdict since you have been wanting to possess them as Sure as I live says that in I Yahweh I will treat you in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in your hatred of them I will make myself known among them when I judge you again it's we're gonna have Alex tell you let's type a situation you're gonna experience the same thing that you were wanting to happen to them then you will know that I I may have heard all the content of all things that you have said against the

mountains of Israel you said quote they Have been laid waste and have been given over to us to devour you boasted against me and spoke against me without the restrained and I heard this is what at an Iowa says while the whole earth rejoices I will make you desolate Wow because yeah here we're gonna begin to because what's the reason because you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate that is how I will treat you you will be Desolate there's judgement in kind it's taking place old Mount Seir I would make

you desolate Oh Mount Seir you and all of Edom then they will know that I am Yahweh and there he's giving us a little hint of what's coming 1036 so this gonna be true to all those who have sought to possess the land all those who have wanted Israel Judah to be desolate all those who have harbored hostility against them God's going to remove them and they will be desolate those must Specifically eat them in this situation so that then brings us to we're continued I mean this it really don't please you really should kind

of do away with your chapter division here and just get the continued flow that goes on so son of man prophesy to the mountains of Israel since that's true now let's talk to the land let me say it seemed a little strange but again understand the importance of the land and he's going to say we've got to get the land ready We've got to prepare the land for them and that's what we're going to see in 36 old mountains is it's what the Lord says in verse 2 the enemy said to you aha to the

mountain the ancient heights have become our possession well there's that possession it keeps coming everybody is wanting to possess the land and people have done that that crisscross the land they've come and taken it at different times each of these country have tried to do that specifically eat Them and eat them is the representative therefore of the whole but it's true of all the nations that they have said the ancient heights have become our possession therefore prophesy and say this is what Adonai yes--we says and now we have again because now here's the indictment because

they ravaged and hounded you from every side so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations and the object of people's malicious talk and slander There's the indictment now we're broadening it's not just Edom it's all the nations and then he's going to say Edom is representing all the nations okay so what is true it has been true Edom from ancient hostility this is true all those who have because they've ravaged you they've hounded you on every side so that you might become a possession of the nation's and the object of their

their malicious talk their slander their mocking their Taunting what's the consequence what's the verdict therefore verse 4 therefore what am I going to do a mountain of Israel hear the word of yot about an iowa Lord says to the mountain hills to the ravines and valleys to the desolate ruins the deserted towns that have been plundered and ridiculed to the rest of the mountains by the rest of the nations around you this is what he's going to say he's speaking to the land because the land lies desolate ok everybody's Wanted to this is mine you're

mine you're mine no it's mine it's mine everybody wants this laughs geographically understand what the land is it's the land ridge between all the great nations so yeah it's kind of a nice place except his goal in my ear says there's no oil there and he says this is what Adonai away says in my burning Zil I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom those are oppositional to one There for this glee and malice and their hearts that made my land their possession so that they might plunder its pasture land

therefore prophesy concerning the Land of Israel and say to the mountains the hills or ravines of valleys this is what I say I speak in my jealous wot wrath because you have suffered the scorn of the nations the land has suffered the scorn of the nation okay he's speaking to the land therefore I Swear with an uplifted hand or is this an oath on the part of God that the nations around you will also suffer scorn here we have our judgment and kind again but you owe mountains of Israel will produce branches and fruit for

my people Israel so here's how he he's gonna in essence there's going to be judgment upon those of one possessed there we see elsewhere developed more clear they're going to be removed taken out of the land and I'm going to clean Up I'm gonna clean house okay here's what I'm going to do the land will produce in verse eight branches and fruit for my people Israel for they will soon come home nice you know we use that phraseology today you know welcome home I must confess and for you who are not US citizens but it

probably I trust would be true with you and your home country it's if I can't explain to you the emotional feeling of when I go through passport control and in this Country normally the past people at passport control say to me is an American citizen welcome home it's just something about that you know it's a be appreciative of what you have and it's a wonderful thing and I trust that's true for the rest of you in your home countries something great about being home no and so he's going to say here to them they'll soon

come home for can you imagine what that meant to Those exile sitting there in the middle of the night now we're gonna have a messiah Roulettes he's gonna get rid of all these guys that have tried to possess our land over and over again from every side you know just like eat him and he's gonna get in and he's gonna make it fruitful again and we're gonna be home soon I am concerned for you and will look on you with favor and you will be plowed and sown speaking to the land and I will multiply

the number of people Upon you though even the whole house of Israel now obviously that didn't happen at the end of the Babylonian captivity and it hasn't happened today but it will happen where you'll have the whole house of Israel I'll come home we reached the fullness of these statements at the end time we have partial aspects so to speak the concept is being worked out yes there was the return at the Babylonian captivity there were a number that came back but they had a choice a number Didn't come back remember if you go back

and read those lists in Ezra Nehemiah they didn't they had some relatively small returns at that point people kind of got in assimilated into some of those countries but he will ultimately I will multiply so the land will hold the whole house of Israel I better do a little expansion work here but the towns will be inhabited that the towns will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt I will increase the number of men and animals Upon you and there will be the they will be fruitful and become numerous I will settle people on you as

in the past and will make you prosper more than before then you will know that I'm your way I'm doing what I promised I said I'd return you I said that way back there in the Mosaic Covenant I've said it all along you'll know that I'm who I say I am and I do what I do I will cause people my people Israel to walk upon you okay they will they will possess you and You will be their inheritance that's the way it was planned it's the inheritance of Israel and will never again you will

never again deprive them of their children everybody's gonna come home I'm about you we delight to have people come home in our family we see our family once a years and we don't have a home where homeless people they don't own one of those things you know we're not another bridges yet but we're homeless people and but I again tell you For my wife and I'm sure for your wife especially the wives the nest is very important and it's they just get thrill out of their minds when all the chicks are home now your chicks

may not be old enough they've left the nest but when they do there's no greater thrill for you than their home that's basically what he's saying to the land your people are home okay they've come home everybody's there all up what a wonderful time the land has been cleaned Up its fruitful got rid of all the problems the people have tried to possess everything and you're just home in peace and security home with your people and you'll never again be deprived of your children that are supposed to be in your land verse 13 this is

what's at an Iowa says because and then we have here a reason because people say to you people are saying to the land not Yahweh but people are saying to the land what are they saying You devour men and deprive and deprive your nation of its children because it's the way it looked you know when all the possessions would come and people they would be taken out of the land you know you you you devour your children boy what kind of a land is this you you deprive them of their children well he says therefore

here's my consummate verdict for that you will no longer devour men or make your nation childless No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the nations no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples or cause your nation to fall declare that an Iowa no longer won't happen you the land will have the joy and the privilege of receiving your people home the land will be prepared for them I'm getting I'm getting home ready getting the house ready again if you've been in that place where your children come home your wife is

like a windmill in the gale storm Getting the nest ready okay for them to come home and I remember our youngest son when our two older ones because there's a 12-year gap between he and the oldest and an eight-year gap the next he was to tackle on at the end and they would come home when they lived in Vienna and they came home from either here somewhere else he thought it was royalty coming it was just he couldn't wait yeah and there's just that thrill of coming home okay remember where is Your home yeah I

remember when we went to we first went from the mission field my wife will tell you that she woke up in the middle of night as we were sleeping in a strange bed at that point in the in Austria and she said I'm not here and I'm not there oh god you are my dwelling place and one day though we'll be home okay I'm ready he's getting it ready he told us he's gone up there to get get it all fixed up get the get the mansion fixed That for us and we'll be coming home

these concepts are true throughout the scripture by the way Old Testaments not different from the new he just carries on the concepts and develop sons further for us in the New Testament so that we come to that fullness that fruition not only in Jesus but in the whole of all that because of him of all the blessings that come now beginning in chapter 36 16 we are going we have a slight turn here in these messages to talk okay I've got Everything ready so let me tell you how I'm gonna get them home you