God’s Message to Exiles

GOLDEN TEXT: “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you.”—Ezekiel 36:26

EZEKIEL 18:1-4—The prophet’s message to the captive Israelites recorded in today’s lesson will not be fulfilled until the “times of restitution”—the thousand-year reign of Christ. Until then it will be true that “the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” This proverb illustrates the hereditary results of sin. The most comprehensive example of the outworking of this principle is that explained by Paul when he wrote, “As in Adam all die.”—I Cor. 15:22

Our lesson is addressed particularly to the Israelites, and with no people of the earth has the principle set forth in the proverb of the sour grapes operated more tragically. Those who rejected Jesus at his first advent said, “His blood be upon us, and upon our children,” and it has worked out that way; for they have been a desolated and suffering people throughout the centuries since.—Matt. 27:25

But it will not always be thus. The Prophet Jeremiah also tells of a time coming when the sour grapes proverb will no longer be true. He locates that time as being when the Israelites are restored to their own land, and when God will make a new covenant with them, and take away their sins. (Jer. 31:27-34) The Apostle Paul quotes a part of this prophecy and shows that its fulfillment follows the work of this Gospel age.—Rom. 11:26-28

The sour grapes of sin lead to death. This is in harmony with the general teachings of the Scriptures that the “wages of sin IS death.” (Rom. 6:23) In the prophet’s statement of this fundamental truth he robs those of their argument who claim that the death which is the wages of sin refers only to the body, that the soul does not die. Ezekiel leaves no doubt on this score, for he says the “soul” that sinneth “it” shall die. It is strange that many should study the Bible so earnestly, yet overlook this plain statement of truth.

The soul, of course, is the whole being. When the soul dies, the whole being is dead. Concerning those in the Millennium who eat the sour grapes of sin and have their own teeth set on edge, the Apostle Peter says, “It shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.”—Acts 3:23

EZEKIEL 34:11-16—Here is another of God’s reassuring promises to the natural house of Israel that the time would come when he would gather them from all the lands in which he scattered them. In this promise particular emphasis is laid upon God’s tender love for his “lost sheep,” and for those which are lame and otherwise incapacitated. In this there is a good lesson for us. To the extent that we are like God we too will take an interest in his scattered people. In these last days spiritual Israel has been scattered, and glorious is the privilege of co-operating with the Lord in finding these, and binding up their wounds with the oil of joy—the truth and its spirit.

In this passage also we have proof that the prophet is not in these various scriptures foretelling the return of the Israelites from their captivity in Babylon, although the prophecy was written during this period of exile. But at that time they were held captive in only the one country, Babylon, whereas the prophecy speaks of their being gathered from all the lands whither they had been scattered. They did return to Palestine from their Babylonian captivity—at least many of them did—but centuries afterward they were again driven out of their land and scattered among all the nations.

EZEKIEL 36:25-28—Here again we have a promise to the natural house of Israel which definitely applies to the Millennium. It refers to a time when the Lord will put a new spirit in his people, and take away their stony hearts. He promises also to take away their sins. This promise has not yet been fulfilled, but the Prophet Jeremiah tells us that it will be, at a time when the Lord will “make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.”—Jer. 31:31-34

As we have already noted, the Apostle Paul places the fulfillment of this promise of a new covenant after the completion of the church. Then, he explains, “There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and turn away ungodliness from Jacob: for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” (Rom. 11:26-29) Many who do not understand the full scope of the divine plan are inclined to spiritualize these promises to Israel, and they suppose that the “new covenant” has been in operation during the Gospel age. But this view does not harmonize with all the facts.

Ezekiel 36:28 declares, “And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” The only people to whom God promised to give a land are the natural descendants of Abraham, and throughout the prophecies these are encouraged to set their affections upon that land. But to spiritual Israelites the apostle writes, “Set your affections on things above, not on the things on the earth.” (Col. 3:2) How glad we are that God’s ancient people are again to rejoice in his favor, and that they will have the privilege of dwelling in their own land forever.

QUESTIONS:

When will the proverb of the sour grapes no longer be true?

What lesson can we draw from God’s tender love for the “lost sheep of the house of Israel”?

When will the new covenant be made with Israel?

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