Some form of the phrase “then you will know
that I am the Lord” appears in the Book of Ezekiel 50 times.
Prior to the Babylonian captivity (605-535 BC) the Lord used it
most often in the context of judgment, whether against Israel's
leaders (Ezekiel 11:10), the nation as a whole (Ezekiel
12:20) or its enemies (Ezek 25-35).
The Lord had given the Babylonian King
Nebuchadnezzar authority over the whole world (Daniel 2:36-38)
to be His agency for judgment (Jeremiah 25:8-9). This
action began the period of time known as Gentile Dominion that
continues to this day and will not be fully concluded until the
2nd Coming.
He ordered Israel and all its neighbors to either
surrender to Nebuchadnezzar or be destroyed (Jeremiah 27:1-8).
The Lord had determined to punish Israel and
all the surrounding nations and make His existence known to all
people, even if it took destroying them to do so. In some cases
that's exactly what happened. By
the time Nebuchadnezzar was finished, Israel had gone into
captivity, Tyre and Sidon (Lebanon) had been laid waste, Egypt
had been scattered, and Ammon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia no
longer existed.
Israel was punished was for practicing
idolatry. The
surrounding nations were punished for celebrating Israel's
punishment. The Lord felt the need to remind all of them who was
God and who was not.
That Was Then, This Is Now
But beginning in Ezekiel 36, after
Nebuchadnezzar had taken the Jews to Babylon and burned
Jerusalem to the ground, the Lord began using the phrase in a
different way. He
said the restoration of Israel in the latter days would be the
way He would show both Israel and the nations of our day that He
is the Lord.
Although the Lord's promise of restoration
was partially fulfilled during the time between Israel's return
from Babylon and the Lord's first coming, the language in
chapters 36 and following make it clear Ezekiel was speaking of
the time preceding the Second Coming.
Here are some examples.
Speaking to the mountains of Israel, the Lord
said. “No longer will I make you hear the taunts of the
nations, and no longer will you suffer the scorn of the peoples
or cause your nation to fall, declares the Sovereign LORD” (Ezek.
36:15).
Obviously Israel fell to the Romans after
their return from Babylon.
‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I
will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have
gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back
into their own land.
I will make them one
nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There
will be one king over all of them and they will never again be
two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. (Ezekiel 37:
21-22)
During the time of their captivity the Jews
were held in Babylon, and they were the ones who resettled the
land afterward.
There was no official regathering from all the nations as
Ezekiel prophesied will take place after the Gog Magog battle (Ezekiel
39:28).
Also, prior to the first coming the
promised land was divided among various members of the Herod
family and Rome. It was not a single entity with a single
king.
Here's How You Will Know
Each step along the way to Israel's complete
restoration is meant to be a sign to show both Israel and the
nations that God is the Lord. Each of these signs is identified
by some form of the phrase “You will know that I am the Lord”.
He said, “You will know that I am the Lord,
When I settle people in the land and they
become fruitful and prosperous (Ezekiel 36:11)
When I show Myself holy through Israel before the eyes of the
nations (Ezekiel 36:23)
When I have rebuilt what was destroyed and
replanted what was desolate
(Ezekiel 36:36)
When I fill the rebuilt cities with people
(Ezekiel 36:38).
When I bring back to life a people long dead
(Ezekiel 37:6)
When I open their graves and bring My people
up from them (Ezekiel 37:13)
When I put My spirit in them and settle them
in their own land (Ezekiel 37:14)
When My sanctuary stands among them forever (Ezekiel
37:28)
When I defeat the Gog Magog coalition (Ezekiel
38:23)
When I have finished calling My people back
to Israel, not
leaving any behind” (Ezekiel 39:28).
Here's How It All Began
The desire for a Jewish homeland was awakened
in the hearts of Jewish people toward the end of the 19th
Century with the First Zionist Congress organized by Theodor
Herzl in 1897.
The 1917 Balfour declaration made Great Britain's support for
the creation of a Jewish homeland official. Then in 1948 the
United Nations declared Israel to be a sovereign nation.
During this 50 year interim Jewish people
from all over the world had been coming to
Israel
to help reclaim the promised land. Barren land was made fertile
and malaria infested swamps were drained and cultivated.
Since then cities have been rebuilt, more desolate land
reclaimed, millions of trees planted, and what had been largely
wasteland has been made into some of the most productive
farmland on the planet.
People have come to fill the cities and a nation long
considered to be dead was brought back to life and resettled in
its historic lands after an absence of nearly 2,000 years.
This was the beginning of God's plan to
reveal Himself to Israel and the nations in the end times.
It had first been foretold in a prophecy that was ancient
even in Ezekiel's time.
Centuries earlier, Moses told the Israelites,
Even if you have been banished to the
most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your
God will gather you and bring you back.
He will bring you to the land that belonged to your
fathers, and you will take possession of it. He will make you
more prosperous and numerous than your fathers (Deut.
30:4-5).
And then the Lord had Ezekiel tell the
people,
It is not for your sake, O house of
Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of
my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where
you have gone (Ezekiel 36:22).
Though scoffers continue to deny it, the
rebirth of Israel is a conspicuous fulfillment of prophecy.
It's a sure sign that the end of the age is upon us
because to a greater or lesser degree these ten signs, intended
by God to show Israel and the nations that He is the Lord, are
all evident today.
Obviously they are not in chronological order, but are listed as
they appear in the Book of Ezekiel. Some are already fulfilled
and others won't be completely fulfilled until the Second
Coming, but all are somewhere in the process of fulfillment as
you read this.
Ten is one of the perfect numbers and
signifies the perfection of divine order. These ten signs are
the Lord's way of saying, “Here is everything that's necessary
for Israel and the nations to know that I am the Lord.”
Are you getting the message? You can almost hear the
footsteps of the Messiah. 04-30-11
