On That Day

“I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel!” (Ezekiel 36:24–32, NIV 1984).

My Musings – One of those prophecies with both a near and far future fulfillment. God brought them back once following the Babylon exile, and again in the generation that has not yet passed away. In general, they still have a heart of stone, but for His name’s sake He will put a new spirit in them. Ashamed and disgraced for the rejection of their Messiah, He will cleanse them from their impurities.

Not quite there yet. The “the full number of the Gentiles has [not yet] come in.” (Romans 11:25, NIV 1984). But given trajectory of the current culture, I believe we are the midst of a period of greatly diminishing returns as far as the “gentiles” are concerned. The “full number” might not be far off. As for Israel, “God is able to graft them in again. After all, if [the gentiles] were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will [Israel], the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!” (Romans 11:23–24, NIV 1984).

My Advice – The prodigals have come home to their land but have not yet come home to their Messiah. But now that they are back in the land the day is coming when “they will look on [Jesus], the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.” (Zechariah 12:10 & 13:1, NIV 1984). Pray for our Jewish friends.

Author: thebrewisamusing

I was raised in a Christian family and my earliest childhood memories include regular Sunday school and Church attendance as a family. I was taught that our Judeo-Christian values were not just a part of our Sunday routine they should be part of our character and influence all aspects of our lives. I was also taught that as important as these values were they could not save us. We must also be “born again” by accepting Christ. View all posts by thebrewisamusing