We can now pass rapidly to the close of our subject, with a view of the gathering of Israel, and of their establishment in their own land. We turn first to the prophecy of Ezekiel, and must necessarily quote a large portion of the thirty-seventh chapter. The prophecy was uttered soon after the Jews were carried away to Babylon.
And here we would remark, incidentally, that the books of Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, are the only prophecies that were not spoken either before or during the captivity, and that Haggai and Zechariah were written before the complete restoration after the captivity. Therefore whatever portion of the prophecies refers to the restoration of literal Israel, was fulfilled by the decrees of the kings of Persia.
As we shall see, however, the greater portion of the prophecies refers to the final gathering of the true Israel of God. Now for Ezekiel's prophecy:
"The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about; and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And He said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, You know. Again He said unto me, prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O you dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord. So 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. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them. Then He said unto me, prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and 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. So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army." (Ezekiel 37:1-10)
It is useless to spend time conjecturing what this may mean, when we have the Lord's explanation given in connection with it, so we quote further:
"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. Therefore prophesy and say unto them, thus says the Lord God: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and you shall live, and I shall place you in your own land; then shall you know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, says the Lord." (Ezekiel 37:11-14)
This is nothing less than a prophecy of the resurrection of the righteous at the second coming of Christ. But the Lord continues the interpretation thus:
"And say unto them, Thus says the Lord God: 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." (Ezekiel 37:21)
No one can deny that the gathering of Israel of which Ezekiel speaks, is the same gathering that is spoken of by the other prophets. It is evident that the words,
"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" (Ezekiel 37:21),
is the same promise that the Lord made to David, through the prophet Nathan, when he said,
"Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as before." (2 Samuel 7:10)
And this gathering of the children of Israel into their own land is accomplished only by opening their graves and bringing them up out of their graves.
In this prophecy of Ezekiel, therefore, we have the most positive assurance that the promises to Israel never contemplated anything else but an eternal inheritance; their own land is the earth made new.
With Ezekiel's statement that the gathering of Israel shall follow the general resurrection, compare the following:
"And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." (Matthew 24:30-31)
When this gathering of the people of God takes place,
"...the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)
And this is what Paul calls
"...the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him." (2 Thessalonians 2:1)
Returning to the prophecy of Ezekiel, we find out what will follow this gathering of Israel:
"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 nations any more at all. And 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. 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 in the midst of them for evermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; yes, I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Ezekiel 37:22-27)
With the statement that they shall be placed in their own land, in peace forever, compare with this promise to David:
"Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them anymore, as before." (2 Samuel 7:10)
Now read again the last verse we looked at from Ezekiel:
"My tabernacle also shall be with them; yes, I will be their God, and they shall be My people." (Ezekiel 37:27)
And compare it with these promises from the book of Revelation:
"And I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new." (Revelation 21:3-5)
Look at the statement above that God shall
"...wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying."
This is expressly declared to be when the earth is made new.
Read the following, and there cannot remain a doubt but that the gathering which the prophets of old spoke concerning Israel, was the gathering to the New Jerusalem in the new earth:
"He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he (compare with Hosea 13:14). Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all." (Jeremiah 31:10-12)
Before this has been consummated, however, the wicked must be destroyed from the earth. When Christ,
"...the Seed to whom the promise was made" (Galatians 3:19),
the One whose the kingdom is by right, shall come, He will say to the true Israel, who are gathered from all the earth,
"Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." (Matthew 25:34)
This resurrection of the righteous at the coming of Christ, is called the first resurrection, and takes place one thousand years before the resurrection of the wicked (Revelation 20:1-5).
At His coming, those of the wicked who are still alive react in this manner:
"And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17)
And in this way they are
"...slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." (Revelation 19:21)
During this thousand years the earth will be desolate, reduced to its primitive, chaotic state:
"I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger. For thus has the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." (Jeremiah 4:23-27)
Isaiah also describes the same events as those recorded in the last chapters of the book of Revelation, namely the final battle and the destruction of the earth. Here are a few selections:
For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies: He has utterly destroyed them, He has delivered them to the slaughter. And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion. ...from generation to generation it shall lie waste. ...He shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness. They shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be a habitation of dragons, and a court for owls." (Isaiah 34:2,4,8,10-13)
At the beginning of the creation, while the earth was still in a shapeless, lifeless form, it was described as "the deep" and "without form, and void" (Genesis 1:2). Jeremiah uses the same words, "without form, and void" to describe what it will become. The book of Revelation uses the term "bottomless pit" (Revelation 20:1,3), which has the same meaning as "the deep."
After the violent upheaval that takes place before and during Christ's return, the earth will be returned to a similar con dition as it was before creation. This desolate state will last during the one thousand years.
In this desolate place Satan will be obliged to stay, and is therefore "bound," being unable to deceive the nations until the thousand years are expired.
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." (Revelation 20:1-3)
After that, when the wicked will be resurrected, he can exercise his power again for "a little season." Then the holy city, the New Jerusalem, will come down from God out of Heaven:
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (Revelation 21:2)
The hosts of the wicked, under the leadership of Satan, will go up on the breadth of the earth, and encompass the beloved city. Fire shall come down from God out of Heaven and devour them:
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Revelation 20:7-9)
This fire shall burn as an oven, until the wicked are burned up root and branch:
"For, behold, the day comes, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yes, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." (Malachi 4:1)
It shall also dissolve the earth and purify it from all its corruption:
"But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness." (2 Peter 3:7,10-11)
From their place of safety in the city of God, the saints will behold the destruction of the wicked:
"The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? He that walks righteously, and speaks uprightly; he that despises the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stops his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high: his place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure." (Isaiah 33:14-16)
"Wait on the Lord, and keep His way, and He shall exalt you to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, you shall see it." (Psalm 37:34)
Afterward, they shall go out upon the purified earth, which will then be their home throughout eternity.
But if the earth is the kingdom, yet the saints do not dwell upon it for more than a thousand years after the coming of the Lord, how can it be said that they inherit the kingdom at his coming? This is easily answered.
At the first resurrection the saints are taken at once to the capital of the kingdom, the New Jerusalem, where, during the thousand years, they are associated with Jesus in judging the wicked, in going over the records of the controversy between good and evil:
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4-6)
"Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world shall be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know you not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life?" (1 Corinthians 6:2-3)
During this time the entire history of the world will pass under the eyes of the saints, and they will understand the secret workings that have been hidden from all but the eyes of God. Then the things which have seemed obscure, in God's dealings with men, will be understood.
"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." (1 Corinthians 13:12)
So Christ and his saints will be in possession of the earth during all the thousand years, although they do not dwell in it during that time. It will be in their hands, and they will be en gaged in making it fit for habitation, by removing from it those things which offend:
"The Son of man shall send forth His angels [ie. pastors, or messengers], and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity." (Matthew 13:41)
The kingdom is given to Christ as soon as He leaves the throne of grace, and ceases to plead for sinners. From that time, the whole earth is His possession:
"Ask of Me, and I shall give you the heathen for your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession." (Psalm 2:8)
He at once proceeds to dash the nations in pieces:
"You shall break them with a rod of iron; you shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalm 2:9)
So that when His people Israel are planted in the land, the children of wickedness shall not afflict them any more:
"Moreover I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as before." (2 Samuel 7:10)