Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration

1) Description of Israel’s Shepherds (34:1-10)

a) Indictment against “shepherds of Israel” (1-6)
b) Judgment against false shepherds (7-10)
2) God, the True Shepherd (34:11-30)
a) Declares Himself the Shepherd (11-16)
b) He will execute judgment (17-22)
c) One Shepherd (23-24)
d) A covenant of peace (25-29)
e) The blessedness of knowing God (30-31)
3) Prophecy of Edom’s Destruction (35:1-15)
a) Genesis 36:8, “So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom”
b) Why the curse? “Because you have had an ancient hatred” (vs 5)
c) Purpose: “Then they shall know that I am the LORD” (15)
d) Question: Why another prophecy against Edom? (Ezekiel 25:12-14)
4) Restoration of the Land of Israel (36:1-15)
a) What does regeneration look like?
i) Motive of regeneration – the glory of God (36:22 & 32)
ii) Knowledge of God: 38, “Then they shall know that I am the LORD”
iii) Abhorrence of sins: 31-32, “you will loathe yourselves in your own sight”
iv) Forgiveness of sins: 25, “I will cleanse you … “
v) Regeneration: 26,27, “I will give you a new heart”
vi) Gift of the Holy Spirit, “I will put My Spirit within you.
vii) Obedience to God’s laws, “you will keep My judgments and do them.”
5) Restoration of the People of Israel (36:16-38)
6) The Dry Bones Live (37:1-14)
a) How does regeneration work? Cf Lazarus in the NT: “Lazarus, come forth!”
b) The feeling of Israel, “can these bones live?” (37:3)
c) Vs 11 is key: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.”
d) Commentators:
i) Feinberg: “the passage is speaking figuratively of the resurrection of the dead nation, and not of a
physical resurrection of dead persons” (p 214)
1) ESV Study Bible: “it stands on its own as a powerful statement of God's power to re-create the
community”
7) The symbol of one stick (37:15-28)
a) National reunification!
b) Spiritually clean, “I will … cleanse them. …. and I will be their God” (23)
c) Messiah will rule and reign, “David My servant shall be king over them,” (24)
d) Millennial blessings
e) Abrahamic Covenant fulfilled (Cf Genesis 12:1-3, “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make
your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who
curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”)
f) Future Tabernacle (Ezekiel 40-43)
g) God’s glory will again dwell with Israel

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
Scripture: Chapter 34-37

Key Verse: Ezekiel 37:14, “I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will
place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it
and performed it,” says the LORD’”

Outline:

1) Description of Israel’s Shepherds (34:1-10)

2) God, the True Shepherd (34:11-30)
3) Prophecy of Edom’s Destruction (35:1-15)
4) Restoration of the Land of Israel (36:1-15)
5) Restoration of the People of Israel (36:16-38)
6) The Dry Bones Live (37:1-14)
7) The Symbol of the One Stick (37:15-28)

Detail:

1) Description of Israel’s Shepherds (34:1-10)

a) Familiar metaphor of sheep and shepherd!
i) Contrasts false shepherd w
ii) True Shepherd – the Messiah
iii) The irresponsible shepherds are the Kings, prophets and priests!
b) Familiar formula: “And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Son of
man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them
…”
c) Indictment against “shepherds of Israel” (1-6)
i) What they do:
(1) They “feed themselves” (2)
(a) Expanded: “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool;
you slaughter the fatlings” (3)
(b) A self-centered “ministry” instead of a serving ministry
(c) Used privileges of leadership to enrich themselves
(2) Corrupt leadership: “with force and cruelty you have ruled them” (4)

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
(3) You did not:
(a) feed the flock
(b) strengthened the weak
(c) Heal those who were sick (probably does not mean physical
healing!)
(d) Seek the lost
ii) What they should be doing:
(1) Feed the flock
(2) Lead flock with servant leadership
iii) Consequences their actions:
(1) Flock scattered: “they were scattered because there was no
shepherd”
(2) Flock vulnerable and unprotected …. Lost!
d) Judgment against false shepherds (7-10)
i) God against them: “Behold, I am against the shepherds”
ii) Accountability: “I will require My flock at their hand”
iii) Loss of position and privilege: “I will cause them to cease feeding the
sheep”
(1) Termination of the Judean Kings rule!
(2) Pharaoh Neco imprisoned Jehoahaz (2 Kings 23:33)
(3) Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah captive (2
Chron 36:6; 2 Kings 24:12, 25:7)

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
2) God, the True Shepherd (34:11-30)
a) Declares Himself the Shepherd (11-16)
i) Vs 11, “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.”
ii) Actions: (note “I will”) (17 times from vss 10-31)
(1) What actions will the True Shepherd do?
(2) Re-gather, Seek, Feed, Save, Judge, et al.
iii) Note close parallels with
(1) Psalm 23 &
(2) John 10:1-30
(3) Also Zechariah 13:6-8
(4) Isaiah 40 (especially vs 11, “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He
will gather the lambs with His arm, And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young”)
iv) Note promise of re-gathering at the end of the age!
b) He will execute judgment (17-22)
i) Sheep – goat judgment: “Behold, I shall judge between sheep and
sheep, between rams and goats” (17)
ii) Cf Matthew 25:32-34, “A ll the nations will be gathered before Him, and
He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep
from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the
goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand,
‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world”

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
c) One Shepherd (23-24)
i) Text: “I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—
My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I,
the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them;
I, the LORD, have spoken”
ii) Question:
(1) Literal David resurrected? OR
(2) Messiah / Savior the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant?
iii) Case for Messiah:
(1) 2 Sam 7:12, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your
fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your
body, and I will establish his kingdom”
(2) Jeremiah 23:5, “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “ That
I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and
prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth”
(3) Hosea 3:5, “Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the
LORD their God and David their king. They shall fear the LORD and
His goodness in the latter days”
d) A covenant of peace (25-29)
i) Vs 25, “I will make a covenant of peace with them”
ii) Section is clearly Millennial!
iii) Curse reversal: “Then the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the
earth shall yield her increase”
iv) Vs 26, “there shall be showers of blessing” (in case you ever wondered
the hymn-writers basis!)
v) Cf Acts 3:19-20, “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may
be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence
of the Lord, 20 and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to
you before”

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
e) The blessedness of knowing God (30-31)
i) Text: “Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them,
and they, the house of Israel, are My people,” says the Lord GOD.’”
“You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your
God,” says the Lord GOD”
ii) Ultimately there will be national salvation of Israel - Romans 11:25-27
iii) Ultimate objective of the Lord for His people:
(1) Ephesians 4:13, “till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the
knowledge of the Son of God”
(2) Ephesians 3:10, “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God
might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers
in the heavenly places”
3) Prophecy of Edom’s Destruction (35:1-15)
a) Edom and Israel long enemies
i) Genesis 27:41, “So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which
his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning
for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”
ii) Genesis 36:8, “So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom”
b) This section contrasts the curse on Mount Seir verses the blessings on the
mountains of Israel. Ezek 34:13-14, “And I will bring them out from the
peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their
own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in
all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them in good pasture,
and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie
down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.”
c) Why the curse? “Because you have had an ancient hatred” (vs 5)
d) Purpose: “Then they shall know that I am the LORD” (15)
e) Question: Why another prophecy against Edom? (25:12-14)
i) An elaboration of the previous? OR
ii) Edom representative of all of Israel’s enemies? (Isaiah 34:5 w Isaiah
63:1-4)

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
4) Restoration of the Land of Israel (36:1-15)
a) This chapter presents the regeneration of Israel
i) Literal Israel
ii) Literal land
(1) “The ancient heights have become our possession” (vs 2)
(2) “I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the
cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will multiply upon
you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will
make you inhabited as in former times” (10-11)
iii) Literal regeneration
b) What does regeneration look like?
i) Motive of regeneration – the glory of God (36:22 & 32)
(1) “Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of
Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among
the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will sanctify My great name,
which has been profaned among the nations, which you have
profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the
LORD,”
(2) “Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be known
to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of
Israel!””
ii) Knowledge of God: 38, “Then they shall know that I am the LORD”
iii) Abhorrence of sins: 31-32, “Then you will remember your evil ways and
your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your
own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 Not for your
sake do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be
ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!””
iv) Forgiveness of sins: 25, “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you
shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your
idols”

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
v) Regeneration: 26,27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
vi) Gift of the Holy Spirit, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit
within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
vii) Obedience to God’s laws, “I will give you a new heart and put a new
spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to
walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”
5) Restoration of the People of Israel (36:16-38)
a) “For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries,
and bring you into your own land.” (24)
b) “Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be
My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your
uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine
upon you.” (vss 28-29)
6) The Dry Bones Live (37:1-14)
a) How does regeneration work?
i) Explained here in this vision
ii) Cf Lazarus in the NT: “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:1-44)
b) God’s question to Ezekiel probably reflected the feeling of Israel, “can these
bones live?” (37:3)
c) Vs 11 is key: “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They
indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut
off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD:
“Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up
from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall
know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people,
and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I,
the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’”
d) Commentators:
i) Feinberg: “the passage is speaking figuratively of the resurrection of the
dead nation, and not of a physical resurrection of dead persons” (p 214)
ii) ESV Study Bible:
1) “it stands on its own as a powerful statement of God's power to re-
create the community”
2) Note 2 phases:
a) Ezek. 37:8 The first phase of prophesying results in the rebuilt
bodies, which lack breath. So far this activity only yields corpses—
but it is still a necessary first step.
b) Ezek. 37:9–10 The second phase of prophesying is addressed to
the breath (or wind or spirit/Spirit; Hb. ruakh, which can take all
three meanings). The coming of the wind/breath/spirit that gives
life powerfully alludes to God's creative work in Gen. 2:7. God
creates, and God re-creates.
iii) Shepherd’s notes: “This prophecy is not fulfilled by the Jews who live in
Israel today; it will be fulfilled when believing Jews return to the land at
the return of Jesus Christ” (Matthew 24:30-31, “Then the sign of the Son
of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will
mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a
great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”) (p 89)

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 Ezekiel – Reassurance and Restoration
7) The Symbol of the One Stick (37:15-28)
a) Text: ““As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For
Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another
stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house
of Israel, his companions.’ 17 Then join them one to another for yourself
into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.” (16-17)
b) National reunification!
i) 21-22, ““Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take
the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone,
and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own
land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of
Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be
two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.”
ii) Had been 2 nations since the death of Solomon in 931 bc!
c) Spiritually clean, “They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols,
nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I
will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned,
and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their
God” (23)
d) Messiah will rule and reign, “David My servant shall be king over them,”
(24)
e) Millennial blessings
f) Abrahamic Covenant fulfilled (Cf Genesis 12:1-3, “I will make you a great
nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses
you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”)
g) Future Tabernacle (Ezekiel 40-43)
h) God’s glory will again dwell with Israel

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