Page 187 - NOTES ON EZEKIEL

CHAPTER XXXVII. 181
ruined [places], and plant that that was desolate: I Je­
hovah have spoken [it], and I will do [it.] Thus saith the
Lord Jehovah; I will yet [for] this be inquired of by the
house of Israel, to do [it] for them; I will increase them
with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock
of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste
cities be filled with flocks of men : and they shall know
that I [am] Jehovah.” (Ver. 29—38.) Thus will Je­
hovah wipe off all reproach from without to the praise
of His own name, while He works feelings and ways
suitable to repentance in Israel. Nothing approaching
this was experienced by the returned remnant; and
those who were brought under the gospel were called
into other and better blessings which induced many to
get rid of their houses and lands. There was no re­
building of the once desolate cities as a part of their
heritage. But God will surely make good every word
when the day comes to restore the kingdom to Israel.
Under the law Israel was ruined; under the gospel
there is neither Jew nor Greek, but union with Christ
in heaven; when the kingdom is manifested in power,
they will be restored to their land and cities, no longer
waste, but under the blessing and glory of Jehovah.

CHAPTER XXXVII.
T h is section contains a striking vision and a plain ex­
planation of it. It is a question neither of the con­
version of the soul nor of the resurrection of the body,
but of God’s causing Israel to live once more by-and-by
as a people. They were at that time swept away and
without a political existence; and greater troubles than