The Undated Period of Time - Ezek. 33:23 to Ezek. 39:29

From: Christian Treasury: Volume 1

Ezekiel 33‑39 • 4 min. read • grade level: 13

²²Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb. (Ezekiel 33:22)²⁹Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 39:29)The period is divided as follows: Ezek. 33:23²³Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, (Ezekiel 33:23) to 36:38 inclusive; Ezek. 37, then Ezek. 38 and 39 together. The divisions present definite periods in Israel's history.

The undated period begins with Jerusalem under the control of the Gentiles and a remnant of Judah scattered in the land claiming possession as Abraham's heirs (Ezek. 33:24²⁴Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. (Ezekiel 33:24)), but Jehovah disallowing their claim of possession (Ezek. 33:25²⁵Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? (Ezekiel 33:25)).

The period ends on the first month and tenth day, corresponding to the day for selecting the Passover lamb (Ex. 12:1-3¹And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ²This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. ³Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: (Exodus 12:1‑3)) and also to the day of the Lord's first entry (first of five) into Jerusalem as king. (Matt. 21:5-10⁵Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass. ⁶And the disciples went, and did as Jesus commanded them, ⁷And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. ⁸And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way; others cut down branches from the trees, and strawed them in the way. ⁹And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest. ¹⁰And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? (Matthew 21:5‑10); Ex. 12:3-6³Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: ⁴And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. (Exodus 12:3‑6).)

Between the two periods, Israel's history, past, present and future, is seen in outline. The few people left in the land depend upon the sword for defense (Ezek. 33:26²⁶Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife: and shall ye possess the land? (Ezekiel 33:26)), but it fails them and they are either destroyed in the land (Ezek. 33:27²⁷Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely they that are in the wastes shall fall by the sword, and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured, and they that be in the forts and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. (Ezekiel 33:27)) or taken prisoner by their enemies so that the land is left empty and desolate (Ezek. 33:28²⁸For I will lay the land most desolate, and the pomp of her strength shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, that none shall pass through. (Ezekiel 33:28)). In captivity, their hypocritical claim to be the people of God (Ezek. 33:31³¹And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. (Ezekiel 33:31)) is rebuked and a warning is given to them (Ezek. 33:32, 33³²And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. ³³And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. (Ezekiel 33:32‑33)).

In Ezek.34, the leaders (shepherds) are denounced and sentenced for their abuse of the flock (Ezek. 34:9⁹Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; (Ezekiel 34:9).10). (The leaders of Israel were denounced by the Lord when He was among them. See Matt. 22:15, 16, 23, 34, 41, 46¹⁵Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. ¹⁶And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. (Matthew 22:15‑16)
²³The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, (Matthew 22:23)
³⁴But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. (Matthew 22:34)
⁴¹While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, (Matthew 22:41)
⁴⁶And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. (Matthew 22:46); Zech. 11:8⁸Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. (Zechariah 11:8).) Immediately there follows a promise of a shepherd who will care for the flock (Ezek. 34:11-16¹¹For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. ¹²As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. ¹³And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ¹⁴I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God. ¹⁶I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment. (Ezekiel 34:11‑16)), and who will judge between the strong and the weak, between the oppressive and the helpless oppressed (Ezek. 34:17-22¹⁷And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats. ¹⁸Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet? ¹⁹And as for my flock, they eat that which ye have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which ye have fouled with your feet. ²⁰Therefore thus saith the Lord God unto them; Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat cattle and between the lean cattle. ²¹Because ye have thrust with side and with shoulder, and pushed all the diseased with your horns, till ye have scattered them abroad; ²²Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. (Ezekiel 34:17‑22)). A covenant of peace completes the chapter.

The enemies of Israel are hindered for a season in their intention to swallow them up (consider the wars and battles Israel has survived since becoming a state) and the sentence of future judgment of these enemies, with their Esau-like hatred of Israel, is announced in Ezek. 35.

In Ezek. 34:36, the land is taken by the surrounding enemies (Ezek. 34:2-6²Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? ³Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. ⁴The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. ⁵And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. ⁶My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. (Ezekiel 34:2‑6)), but in the midst of their trials, Jehovah promises their national blessing (Ezek. 34:22-31²²Therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between cattle and cattle. ²³And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. ²⁴And I the Lord will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the Lord have spoken it. ²⁵And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. ²⁶And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. ²⁷And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them. ²⁸And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid. ²⁹And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. ³⁰Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God. ³¹And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:22‑31)). All the dealings of God are for correction, to lead them to further repentance (Ezek. 34:31³¹And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 34:31)), and to justify His name among the heathen as a righteous and holy God who will not permit man to continue in sin without correction.

The work of restoration to fulfill the promises of Ezek. 34 begins in Ezek. 37. Israel (Judah) is seen as the dry bones in the open valley, where bone joins to bone, and sinews and flesh cover them; yet there is no life God ward (Ezek. 37:8⁸And 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. (Ezekiel 37:8)), but they subsequently receive life at the command of the Lord Jehovah (Ezek. 37:10¹⁰So 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 37:10)). Next, in Ezek. 37:11-14¹¹Then 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. ¹²Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith 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. ¹³And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, ¹⁴And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:11‑14), all Israel, that is, all of the ten tribes (Ezek. 37:11, 16, 19¹¹Then 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. (Ezekiel 37:11)
¹⁶Moreover, thou son of man, take thee 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 companions: (Ezekiel 37:16)
¹⁹Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. (Ezekiel 37:19)), rise out of their graves, (the figure in Ezek. 37:2²And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. (Ezekiel 37:2) is changed in Ezek. 37:12¹²Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith 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. (Ezekiel 37:12) to extend its application), live and have the Spirit of God within (Ezek. 37:14¹⁴And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord. (Ezekiel 37:14)). The divided tribes become one nation in the land (Ezek. 37:19-22¹⁹Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand. ²⁰And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes. ²¹And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: ²²And 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: (Ezekiel 37:19‑22)); a prince of the house of David is set over them (Ezek. 37:24, 25²⁴And 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. ²⁵And 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 for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. (Ezekiel 37:24‑25)), and Jehovah's tabernacle is in the midst of them (Ezek. 37:26-28²⁶Moreover 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. ²⁷My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore. (Ezekiel 37:26‑28)).

When Israel dwells safely and all is quiet in the land, Gog will, with his allies, the last invaders, meet their doom on the mountains of Israel (Ezek. 38 and 39). Ezek. 39 ends with scattered Israel gathered (Ezek. 39:27, 28²⁷When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; ²⁸Then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. (Ezekiel 39:27‑28)), and Jehovah no longer hidden (Ezek. 39:29²⁹Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord God. (Ezekiel 39:29)), but acting openly on their behalf.

This is immediately followed in Ezek. 40 with Jehovah's instructions for the building of the temple for the return of His glory among them.

The undated interval is evidently a figure of the circumstances of Israel until the appearing of the Son of man to defend His people and visit retributive justice upon the nations.

(An observation: Prior to Ezekiel's temple, a holy place shall be set up, in which the abomination which maketh desolate shall be placed: Dan. 9:27; 12:11²⁷And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate. (Daniel 9:27)
¹¹And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Daniel 12:11): Matt. 24:15¹⁵When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) (Matthew 24:15) "a holy place;" 2 Thess. 2:4⁴Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (2 Thessalonians 2:4) "the shrine," not necessarily a temple which would require years to build). W. Bothwell.

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