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Restoration & Resurrection

How can we live?

Ezek. 33:10 And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you

said: Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot awaybecause of them. How then can we live?

Theme of Chapters 33-48?

Life/Live 8 times in those chapters

With news of Jerusalems fall the Israelites feel dead

o Integrity of Jerusalem their only hope, and now that is gone

o Dried up boneso Ezek. 37:11 Then he said to me, Son of man, these bones are the

whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, andour hope is lost; we are clean cut off.

Question for the exiles was not whether God Israel was dead, nor

whether God could raise the deado But what did God intend to raise the dead?

Ezekiels vision in 37 shows that he did intend to do so new creation

There is basis for hope of life after all, and that is found solely in the will of God

Restoration

Virtual plan for restoration unlike piecemeal promises of other propheticbooks

Several themes reappear in various passages Chapter 36 contains themost comprehensive base of reference

Motive for Restorationo Not about any virtue found in the exiles

o Will be recreated because that is the way Yahwehs character will be

manifested on the earth to both Israel AND the nations Ezek. 36:22-23 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD:

It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake

of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which youcame. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has beenprofaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. Andthe nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when throughyou I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

o The will of Yahweh to create a people whom he can bess and live in

harmony with

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Covenant

o Aim of making changes in human nature establish permanment

relationship of harmony between God and his peopleo Covenant language in Ezekiel

o Berith not used in 36

o Both 16 and 37 speak of an everlasting covenanto Covenant Formularly in 36, 11, 37, 27 You shall by my God and I

will be your people

o Ezekiel as prophet convicts the people of breaches in covenant

o Indictments frequently drawn from language of Pentateuch laws

(esp. Lev 18-20)o Unfaithfulness of the people has breached both Sinai and Davidic

covenants

o As a result, central blessing of both removed Gods dwelling in

midst of his peoplee

God will abandon his earthly temple on Mt Zion, leavingJerusalem defenceless against Babylonian invaderso But God remains faithful to his promises despite habitual human

unfaithfulnesso Because honour of his name depends on its fulfilment

Ezek. 36:22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It

is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake ofmy holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which youcame.

o He has therefore preserved a remnant

The true heirs of the promise who will return to possess theland and blessings of the covenant and God will be with

them Not because they deserve it but because of his grace

Ezek. 36:32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares theLord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed andconfounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

The people will recognise their guiltEzek. 36:31 Then you will remember your evil ways, and yourdeeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves foryour iniquities and your abominations.

But this is not a cause of their re-establishment

(although it is a close as Ezk gets to repentance)

Only when one is offered an can accept forgiveness it

is possible to acknowledge guiltThere will still be trials (cosmic struggle with Gog from Mago-38-39)

But this is just a precusor to the reordering of the

universe, resitablishment of temple and return ofGods glory

The city will need a new nameEzek. 48:35 The circumference of the city shall be 18,000

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cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be,The LORD is there.

Reunification

o Monarchy period facturing of Israel into two kingdoms

o Exile further fracturing of Judah into Palestinian & Babylonian

communities (also an existing community in Egypt)

Pyschological Fractureo Fracture not just physical buy psychological

o Palestinian community thought themselves true Israelites

(remnant) Ezek. 11:15 Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen, the

whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants ofJerusalem have said, Go far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a

possession.

o Ezk says no physical removal from land did not mean

excommunicating from Israelo But it did raise serious questions about what it meant to be people of God

o If there is only one King, or one Shepherd (34) then then can only

be one people (37)o Divine rule would therefore involve the gathering of scattered flock

into one united people

Promise of ingathering forgiveness and obedienceo The exiles eventually learned how to be Yahwehs people in the diaspora

o But did not develop a theology which fully accounted for their

separation from the promised lando As first of exilic theologians, would we expect Ezk to work on this

theology?

He doesnt but instead speaks of a promised ingathering

o Most frequently repeated promise Ezek. 36:24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the

countries and bring you into your own land.

o Fractures were temporary

o New age would come when they would be healed

o When unity of Gods people would be tangible reality

Closing vision 12 tribes around central sanctuary

Also includes the Gentiles

Lords actions will have effect upon the nationsEzek. 35:15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the houseof Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; youshall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Thenthey will know that I am the LORD.

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Life-giving river flowing out of new temple (47)

reminiscent of Genesis 2 blessing from restorationof Israel to overflow to rest of the world

o The ingathered people would be a purified people

o Exile would show those who were truly committed to the Yahwistway of life

o But more than that the people had to be purified and cleansed

through

Forgiveness of uncleanesso Ezek. 36:25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean

from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanseyou.

New heart and a new spirit for obedienceo Ezek. 36:26-27 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will

put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your fleshand give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and

cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.