(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen, now if you remember last week in chapter 35 sermon, we actually went into chapter 36 and we actually read more than the first half of chapter 36. So I'm just going to briefly review a little of that super fast, but we're really just going to jump in to verse 16 tonight. But if you remember the context of the book of Ezekiel that is so important to understand is that this is written during the Babylonian captivity. So the children of Israel sinned against God and they went away captive into Babylon. There's a 70-year Babylonian captivity and if you remember the first part of Ezekiel was really rebuking the kingdom of Judah and the Israelites really hard for all their sins and how stiff-necked and disobedient they were. Then we entered another section of Ezekiel where he talked about other nations being punished, Egypt, Tyre, Zaydah and places like that. And then now we're entering a portion of the book of Ezekiel where God is giving them hope that he's not through with them and that the Babylonian captivity is going to come to an end and that they're going to be regathered from the nations whether they've been scattered and they're going to be brought back to the land and the nation of Israel is not going to cease to exist but that it's going to be regathered. And so now we're getting into a positive section of the book of Ezekiel. So it says in verse number, starting in verse number 16, it says, Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings. Their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Now that's an interesting comparison but basically he's just bringing up the fact that their sins are something that is unclean in his sight. But the key thing I want you to see is that it's when they dwelt in their own land. Okay, that's when they committed the sins and defiled his way before them was when they were in their own land. As a result, they got scattered into these other countries in the captivity. Wherefore, verse 18, because of that I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it. So some of the reasons why God punished them were murdering innocent children, murdering other innocent people. They're practicing infant sacrifice and also worshiping idols and false gods. So he says, I scattered them among the heathen, verse 19, and they were dispersed through the countries according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered into the heathen, this is the part that people are misunderstanding often, and when they entered into the heathen, whether they went, they profaned my holy name when they said to them, these are the people of the Lord and are gone forth out of his land. So a lot of people misunderstand this, and they will actually read this as, well, they did a bunch of bad stuff when they were in the land. Then when they went into these other lands during the captivity, then they profaned his name more by doing more bad stuff, and then God just brings them back in spite of how bad they are. He just brings back a bunch of wicked people who don't believe in him, and they don't worship him, and they're just defiling and profaning his name. That is not what the Bible is teaching. That is not consistent with the rest of Scripture. If we actually read the historical record in Ezra and Nehemiah, we find that the people that came back in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah were people that were seeking the Lord, they believed in the Lord, they wanted to worship the Lord. The wicked people got destroyed. They got smoked, or they didn't get brought back. And if they did, God wasn't blessing them, okay? The people that were mixed in, the bad people that got mixed in. In general, though, the nation was serving the Lord. They had their heart in the right place in Ezra and Nehemiah. It's very clear to see that. So I explained this last time, but it bears repeating because so many people have misunderstood this passage. But it says, when they entered into the heathen, whether they went, they profaned my holy name. We're in verse 20. Notice what he does not say. He doesn't say, they profaned my name by continuing to worship idols, and by shedding innocent blood. He doesn't list any sins, does he? He says, they profaned my name when they said to them. So he's explaining how his name was profaned. His name was profaned simply by virtue of the fact that they said to them, these are the people of the Lord and are gone forth out of his land. And why does that profane the Lord's name? Because remember, these are polygamists. I want to say polygamists, but they're not polygamists. They're not the Mormons, okay? They are polytheistic. And in the polytheistic world, they have regional gods, right? You've got the gods of the Philistines, the gods of the Babylonians, the gods of the Amorites. And it's sort of this competition of my dad can beat up your dad. It's kind of this competition of my god is better than your god. And so if we study the Bible, we'll see that when one nation defeats another nation, they see that as a victory of their god. They see that as our gods more powerful than your god. You remember the story where the Syrians are fighting against Israel and basically the Syrians lose the battle and they say, well, their god is a mountain god. You know, Jehovah is a mountain god, but he's not a valley god. And so if we can just fight them in the valley, we can win. And of course, they fight them in the valley and they lose again. But that's how they think. So they think that if a nation gets destroyed, it's a defeat of that god. And if a nation wins, that's a victory for that god. That's the way they think. So basically, the nations that are surrounding Israel, the enemy nations, when they saw the children of Israel scattered into the other lands, they saw that as a defeat of Jehovah, which caused Jehovah's holy name to be profaned among the heathen. Because they're looking at that as, well, God can't protect his people. If these are the people of the Lord, why did they get destroyed? But in reality, it's not that the Lord couldn't protect them, it's that it was the Lord himself fighting against them because the Lord was punishing his own people. But the polytheistic people, they don't understand that. They're thinking about it in terms of their false religion, of polytheistic religion. And so that's why it says, they profaned my holy name when they said to them, these are the people of the Lord. I mean, these are his people and they're gone out of his land, meaning it's a failure of that religion. They see it as, well, the Lord's done. I mean, the Lord is associated with this certain region and those people. And now that those people have been kicked out of that region, they're expecting the worship of the Lord to be done, to be over. But of course, we know that God is the God of the whole earth. And so he's not limited to a certain geography or a certain group of people. And so the Israelites being destroyed and scattered into all nations doesn't say anything in reality about the Lord. But that's how people perceived it, isn't it? So because the Lord had pity in verse 21, so his name's profaned because he said, well, these are the people of the Lord and they're gone out of his land. But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen whether they went. Therefore, saying to the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which you profaned among the heathen whether you went, and I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which you profaned in the midst of them. And the heathen shall know that I'm the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes, for I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. He's saying, look, even though right now this looks bad for me, when I bring you back into the promised land and make you a nation again, then people will see that as, well, the Lord has a lot of power because he's able to bring his people back and reestablish them in the land. So that's what's going on in this passage. Now, a lot of people will take this passage and twist it to teach that they're unbelievers. He's bringing unbelievers back into the land. And then it says in verse number 24, for I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. Verse 25, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols while I cleanse you. And they say, see, God brings these disobedient, rebellious, stiff-necked people who don't even believe in him back to the land and then they get saved once they get to the land. That is not what the Bible teaches. Notice that there's no unbelief in this passage. Where does it say they don't believe? It doesn't say that at all. It's just talking about once they get there, God's going to sanctify them and purify them, and they're going to worship him better than they have in the past. But that's not to say they didn't believe in him. That is absurd. It's completely contrary to everything we read in Ezra and Nehemiah. It's completely contrary to what the Bible teaches in the book of Deuteronomy and elsewhere that says, you know, when you disobey the Lord, I will scatter you among the heathen. I will take you out of this land. That was predicted all the way back in Deuteronomy. And then it says in Deuteronomy, when you in that land repent and get right with me, then I will bring you back. So he says that in Leviticus and Deuteronomy, I'll bring you back when you get right. That's why in Ezra and Nehemiah, we see a people that have gotten right coming back. That's why when Daniel realizes that the 70 years captivity is coming to an end, and he sort of does the math on the 70 years that Jeremiah talked about, he doesn't just say, oh, cool, let's pack a bag. We're all going home. He then begins to pray and confess his sin before God and basically beg God to be merciful to the children of Israel, because it's not just a foregone conclusion that Israel gets the land. No, it's conditional upon their obedience to the covenant. Okay. And so this passage is being ripped out of the context of the Babylonian captivity. And they'll read this and say, well, he brings these unrepentant, wicked Israelites back and then they get saved. And then they'll say, well, that's what happened in 1948. He brought all these unsaved Jews into Israel and they're all going to get saved. Except here we are in 2022. You know, that was a cool sermon in the 60s. Maybe that was a cool sermon in the 70s, maybe even in the 80s, but it's 2022, folks. When are we going to ditch that stupid doctrine and realize that it ain't happening? Okay. Because you know how many people have tried to evangelize the Jews over in Israel for the last 75 years, because there's been a lot of missionaries and people that have gone over there and tried to preach them. And of course, individuals have been saved. Individuals can always get saved. But as a nation, they are unreceptive to the gospel. 99% of them do not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is not going to change. It's not like tomorrow that's just going to change or five years from now, that's just going to change. No, broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go in there at, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it. And in general, few there be that find it. And among Jews, it's even fewer that find it, because they are some of the most unreceptive people in the world. Okay. So now let's move on from that. That is a little bit of a repeat from last week, but it bears repeating, honestly, because it's been taught the wrong way so many times. So once he gathers them into the land, and of course they are people who believe in him. They're not perfect. They're not necessarily very righteous people, but yet he brings them to the land. They definitely believe in him and they're seeking the Lord. Unlike the Jews of today who do not believe in Jesus. And the Bible says, if you don't have the son, you don't have the father. Who is a liar, but he that denyeth that Jesus is the Christ. He's anti-Christ that denyeth the father and the son. Whosoever hath not the son, the same hath not the father. But he that acknowledge, whosoever denyeth the son, the same hath not the father, but he that acknowledgeeth the son, hath the father also. That's what the Bible says. So he says in verse 22, Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake. Now let me stop and say this. That really goes for all of us all the time. We can sometimes get this attitude that we think everything's about us. When God does a great work in our lives, and when God does a great work in our church, and if our church gets a lot of people saved, at the end of the day, he's not really doing it for our sakes. He's doing it for his holy name's sake. He's doing it for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake. He's doing it for the gospel's sake. At the end of the day, our lives are not about our lives. Ultimately, our lives are about bringing glory to God. Now God is kind and gracious enough to really give us a lot of cool things in our lives that we want, and he's really good to us, and he fulfills the desires of our heart, and we get to enjoy a lot along the way in our Christian life. And I'm thankful for that, but at the end of the day, life is not about me having the most enjoyable life that I can. Life is about the Lord's program, his will, people getting saved, the gospel being preached. At the end of the day, he must increase, and I must decrease. And so just as he told the children of Israel, I'm not doing this for your sake, I'm doing it for my holy name's sake, we could apply that to ourselves and say, hey, wait a minute, you know, the things that are happening in our lives are ultimately to bring glory to God. And we ought not be self-centered and think that the whole world revolves around us. Sometimes we have to take one for the team, team Jesus, and we have to take one for the team sometimes, because he must increase and we must decrease. And so he says in verse number 25, so after he gathers them out of all countries and brings them into their own land, he says, then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. Now, this is a prediction that came true. If you study the Old Testament, you'll find that the children of Israel were constantly struggling with idolatry, right? Back in the book of Judges, there's constantly idolatry creeping in, in the monarchy period, a lot of idolatry, but you know, when they came back from the Babylonian captivity, they were totally cured of their idolatry. That's why when Jesus Christ is preaching against the Pharisees and the Sadducees and calling them out for all the things that they're doing wrong, you'll notice he doesn't call them out for idolatry, does he? You don't see Jesus rebuking the Jews for idolatry, because the Jews were not practicing idolatry. Now, they had other problems, they had other sins, but God predicted here that I will cleanse you from your idols, and that's what happened. So even the most messed up Jews in the time of Christ, they still weren't into idolatry, and even today, the Jews do not worship idols. Now, they worship the devil, but that's another story, but they don't worship idols, you know what I mean? They don't have graven images, they don't have molten images, do they? I mean, you go to a synagogue, there's not an idol there. You know, they have other false doctrines, and they're rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ, but they certainly are not worshiping idols. And people say, oh, they strap a little box to their head. That's not an idol. I have boxes in my house, too. It doesn't mean that my house is a house of idolatry, okay? What's it an image of? Spongebob Squarepants? That's not a real animal, okay? You know, a molten image is an image of a human or an animal or something, you know? So they don't have idols. They say, well, the wall, the Wailing Wall. Again, not, you know, it could be metaphorically an idol, but it's not an actual idol idol. It's not a molten image or a graven image. And, you know, the Muslims also do not worship idols either, you know? They have other problems, but, you know, well, don't even get me started on that. But that's another sermon that shall be preached at another time. But, you know, he's basically predicting something here in verse 25 that came true. That idolatry stopped being a thing amongst the Jews after the Babylonian captivity. Then he says in verse 26, a new heart also will I give you and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. So again, those who would twist this passage in order to support the Zionist state of Israel, here's what they would say that this means. You know, God brings these unbelieving, disobedient Jews back to land in 1948. And then he just kind of does like a heart swap. Just kind of swap out the bad heart, put in a good one, and then boom. They're all just worshiping Christ and getting saved. Of course, we haven't seen that happen. But they say, well, it's still, it's coming, you know, next year. It's going to happen. That's what they claim. But actually what this is prophesying is the New Testament. You know what it's actually prophesying? It's actually prophesying that when Jesus comes and Jesus dies on the cross, is buried, and rises again, he's going to send the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers. That's what's being predicted. When he says here, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, that is a foreshadowing of literally him sending his spirit to dwell among them in the form of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer. Now obviously there's an immediate application that when they get back from Babylon back then, yeah, you know, he's going to do a work in their heart, and there are going to be prophets that are filled with the Holy Spirit, and he's going to do a spiritual work in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Amen. But also this is foreshadowing further into the future, the first century AD, Jesus Christ being glorified and the Holy Spirit being given. And the Bible says that I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. Now again, we don't want to misunderstand this. This doesn't mean God's going to start controlling people like robots, and they're just going to just, they're just going to start obeying God, like whether they want to or not. They're just, it's just, they're just these automatons obeying the commandments of God because God has just swapped out their brain and swapped out their hearts. That's not what this is saying. What this is referring to is that when someone gets saved in the New Testament, when they get saved, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And so that's what he's talking about. He says, hey, I'm going to take out that stony heart and give you a heart of flesh. He's talking about salvation, and he's talking about in the New Testament how we are also indwelled by the Holy Spirit, which will cause us to walk in his statutes, not because God is controlling us or because we don't have free will, but rather because being indwelled by the Holy Spirit is going to lead us in paths of righteousness, okay? But not against our will and not if we don't cooperate because the Bible says that we can quench the Holy Spirit. The Bible says we can resist the Holy Ghost, okay? We can, as saved Christians, walk in the flesh. And if we walk in the flesh, we're going to do the works of the flesh. We're going to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. I mean, the Bible tells us that we need to put on the new man. The Apostle Paul said, I die daily. And he said, we need to mortify the flesh, mortify the old man. Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. We need to put off the works of darkness, put on the armor of light, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, walk in the spirit, and you'll not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. This is something that we have to work on constantly, putting on the new man, walking in the spirit. So when he says, I'll put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, that's true because by putting his Holy Spirit within us, now if we walk in that spirit, that will cause us to walk in his statutes. Because if we walk in the spirit, we won't fulfill the lusts of the flesh. So by putting his spirit in us, he's causing us to walk in his statutes if we walk in the spirit, but not if we're walking in the flesh. So when we get saved, the Bible tells us the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. That's why the Apostle Paul said, man, the things I want to do, I end up not doing, and then I end up doing things that I hate. We as Christians have a war going on where the flesh is lusting against the spirit, the spirit against the flesh. It's a battle that's going on, and it prevents us from doing the right thing at times because we give in to the flesh. We have to every day decide to put on the new man if we are going to actually follow Christ and keep his statutes. Because if we just wake up in the morning, our default mode is the flesh. When you wake up in the morning, you're defaulted to the flesh. You don't just wake up in the spirit, ready to serve God. You're defaulted to the flesh, and you've got to make the effort to put on the new man, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, mortify the flesh, walk in the spirit. And so that's why one of the first things that you do when you wake up in the morning should be to read your Bible or pray or both and do something that gets you walking in the spirit from the beginning so that your day will be a more righteous day than if you just roll out of bed and just turn on the radio, turn on the TV, or just jump right into your day. Your alarm goes off three minutes before you need to leave the house, you're rushing out the door, you just get thrown into your day, then you're not going to be walking in the spirit. You need to take some time to meditate upon the things of God, pray, read your Bible, sing a hymn, whatever, but you need to walk in the spirit. Okay. That is what's going to cause you to walk in God's statutes. And so this is a prediction of the New Testament. That's what he's telling them is coming. A time when they will be a new creature in Christ and indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God, that's what's ultimately coming. And it came 2000 years ago and we're still living it today. Now, Christians are not perfect because of the fact they still have the flesh, but I guarantee you that there are a lot of people in this room that could tell you, you know, that the way that they were before they were saved is a lot different than the way that they're living now. Now, typically that doesn't mean that the moment they got saved, it was just boom, everything's fixed. No, they got saved and sometimes maybe even a few years of zero growth went by where they're just in the flesh and they're not really growing, they're not really in church or anything. But typically it's a process of line upon line, precept upon precept, learning the Bible, slowly getting sin out of our life and just making one change at a time, learning, growing, fixing things. It's not just an overnight boom, you know, because a lot of a lot of people, they they didn't have this dramatic just change. And then they then they think, like, did I get saved? Like, am I missing something? Well, guess what? If only it were that easy. If only it were that easy, you just you just call upon the name of Lord and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and then boom, all of a sudden you just jump out of bed every morning and you're just ready to do all the right things. No one is having that experience. Every single person. I mean, look, if the apostle Paul is struggling with sin, then don't sit there and tell me that you're never tempted. You know, I've heard these preachers get up. I'm not even tempted, you know, to do these things. It's like, OK, well, you know what? There are certain things that don't tempt me either. Then there are other things that do, you know, and it's like just because I abstain from certain sins doesn't mean that I'm perfect. And just because you abstain from certain sins doesn't mean that you're perfect. It's easy to point to all the things we don't do. You know, we're not committing adultery. We're not smoking, you know, crack. You know, I mean, yeah, I mean, I smoke, but I'm not smoking crack. You know, but here's the thing, and they go, I don't smoke. I mean, you know, are you sure someone can actually be saved if they smoke? But you know what? You're probably doing stuff that's even worse than smoking. And I mean, there are all kinds of sins that involve just pride and just foolish thoughts, arrogance. You know, God hates arrogance. How about just walking around thinking that you're better than everybody else? That's a big sin to be arrogant like that. Well, but you're not drinking, you're not smoking, you're not, you know, shooting up heroin, but your prideful arrogance is an abomination to God. And there are Christians who do get puffed up and full of themselves, and they look down on other people and despise other people, and that isn't right. You know, the Bible says that if I give my body to be burned and give everything I have to charity, or sorry, give all of my alms to the poor, but if I don't have charity in my heart, like if I don't have love in my heart, if I don't have charity, the Bible says I'm nothing. If I have not charity, I am nothing. So what if you're just a bitter person who just looks down on everybody else, thinks you're better than everybody else? You know, okay, well, you might not be a drunkard or a drug addict, but that sin itself is repugnant in the sight of God. God looks down at that and is disgusted by it. You know, the Bible says covetousness is idolatry. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. I mean, what if you're just clean as a whistle when it comes to putting substances in your body, but what if you love money? Well, how does God feel about that? So we could go down the list of just looking on a woman to lust after her and committing adultery with her in your heart, to the love of money, covetousness, foolish thoughts, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. You know, we could go down all the list of sins of omission and commission, and I guarantee you we all have something to work on. We all have something to work on, but we have the potential to overcome the sin in our life. You know, we don't want to just sit there and say, well, this is just how I am. Well, change, because we have the new creature. We are a new creature in Christ on the inside, and we do have the Holy Spirit of God. So we do have the power to overcome these sins in our lives. And maybe for you it is drinking. Well, guess what? You can overcome drinking through the power of the Holy Spirit. You can overcome drinking. You know, you can stop with the drugs or the drinking or whatever you're addicted to. You know, don't use it as an excuse like, well, nobody's perfect. You know, hey, we should still be working on these things because we have the potential. We have the ability to overcome sin because God has given us this gift of the Holy Spirit, and we have that ability to walk in the Spirit, and we need to be putting on the new man every day. But without the new man, without being a new creature in Christ, without the Holy Spirit, you know, we would be much worse people than we are right now. Every single one of us would, if we were just the flesh and we didn't have the Lord himself living inside of us, Christ in us, the hope of glory. You know, we would not be where we are right now. Not saying we're perfect, but we're in a much better place than we would be without it. So that's what's going on when he says here, I'm going to put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. That is a foreshadowing of the New Testament phenomenon of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And we could turn to another passage to prove that. I don't really know if we have time, but let's see how the rest of this chapter goes real quick. But it says. I will also excuse me, verse 28, and you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and you shall be my people and I will be your God. Because remember, they're coming back from the Babylonian captivity. That's what's on their immediate horizon. I will also save you from all your uncleanness and I will call for the corn and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. And I will increase the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall you remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you, be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord God, in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities and the waste shall be builded and the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say this land that was desolate has become like the Garden of Eden and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. And again, this is a short-term prophecy about coming back from the Babylonian captivity and they're going to be in the land and it's going to be great. And you know, right now they've been living among the heathens so they have a lot of things wrong with their lifestyle. But you know, but they're sincere. I mean, they believe in the Lord and Ezra and Nehemiah, they want to come back. You know, he's got to bring them back and then he's going to sprinkle water on them and clean them up and help them to actually serve him right. Because I mean, remember when they get back and Ezra and Nehemiah, you know, they have to read the Bible to them. And a lot of them were unfamiliar with what the Bible even said because they've been living in Babylon and these different places. But they were people who were sincerely wanting to follow the Lord. Unlike the Jews of today that are over there, they don't want to follow the Lord at all. They have nothing but disdain for the Lord Jesus Christ who is God Almighty. And so the Bible says here, people are going to say, you know, man, this land is like the Garden of Eden now. I don't think anybody's saying that about Israel in the 21st century. Because it's not like the Garden of Eden over there. I've been there and it's a lot like Arizona. OK, so it's pretty much what it looks like over there. In fact, a lot, you know, I went over, I never I didn't go to Israel itself. I was like Moses where I looked into the promised land, but I did not cross over. But I traveled throughout Palestine and I looked over into Israel. And, you know, it's really not like the Garden of Eden. It's more like Arizona, which is cool because I like Arizona, you know. So, I mean, a lot of the plants were the same. You know, we recognize a lot of the plant life and everything. It's very similar. But back then, it was more lush than it is now. Back in Christ's day, it was more lush. And, you know, regions are regions go through those type of eco cycles because you can't just keep farming a region forever because eventually if you keep tilling the land every year that you till farmland, then a little bit of it blows when you're ripping up the land, then a little bit of it blows away and erodes. And so over time, you erode the good topsoil in an area and then it just it gets down to just kind of a dry bedrock. And so that region of the world is not as lush as it used to be. OK, so because a lot of times you look at it today and you're kind of like, this is the promised land flowing with milk and honey, you know, what's going on? But it was not that way back then. What you see today is different than the way it was back then because the ecosystem has changed, which makes sense. Thousands of years of erosion. And, you know, they weren't necessarily practicing conservation over the last couple of thousand years. So, you know, not all of it was retained and kept pristine. That's just the way the world works. So it says in verse number thirty six, then then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I, the Lord, build the ruined places and plant that which that was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken it and I will do it. Thus sayeth the Lord God, 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 and her solemn feast. So shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men and they shall know that I'm the Lord. So quickly, I want to take you to another passage that's related to this one, Jeremiah chapter thirty one. And typically when people are preaching Ezekiel thirty six and trying to use it to somehow support the Zionist state and say, God brought them back in nineteen forty eight for his name's sake. You know, last time I checked, I thought his name was Jesus. I thought that Jesus was the name that's above every other name. So, you know, did he bring them back in nineteen forty eight for the name of Jesus sake? Because I don't see a lot of Jesus going on over in Israel today. OK, they don't love Jesus over there. And the Bible says, if any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. That's what the Bible says. I didn't write it. Jeremiah thirty one is a passage that will also be used by the same people who are misusing Ezekiel thirty six. They will also misuse Jeremiah thirty one. And it's kind of a parallel passage. So let's look at verse twenty seven and let's think about what we just read in Ezekiel thirty six and kind of compare it to what we're reading here in Jeremiah. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, with the seed of beast. Very similar to what we saw in the first part of Ezekiel thirty six, if you remember, where he talks about, you know, it being kind of just desolate of animals and men and that they're going to come back and then it's going to be filled with people and filled with animals again. So that's what he says here. It shall come to pass that like as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to throw down and to destroy and to afflict. That's the judgment that he brought through Babylon when he scattered them into all nations. So will I watch over them to build and to plant, saith the Lord. In those days, they shall say no more. The fathers have eaten a sour grape and the children's teeth are set on edge, but everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Every man that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Remember, what's another word for new covenant? New Testament. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. That's the first covenant. The old covenant was made with Moses on Mount Sinai. And he's saying this new covenant is not going to be like that covenant. It's not going to be according to that covenant. When I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they break, although I wasn't husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people. Now look, he says, I'm going to make a new covenant. It's not going to be like the old covenant in the new covenant. I'm going to put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. Isn't that similar to what we read over in Ezekiel 36? He's going to bring them back to the land. It's going to be filled with people and animals. And then he says, I'm going to make a new covenant with them and I'm going to put my law in their heart. This is sort of like when he talked about putting his spirit in them and giving them a new heart. It's quite similar. And he says, I'll write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man his brother saying, know the Lord for they shall all know me. He's saying, people aren't going to have to tell people, you know, that there's a God called the Lord and this is what he's like. He said, you know, people are going to know about that. It's going to be universally known. They shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them, say it the Lord for I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. And again, this is quoted in Hebrews chapter eight as being about New Testament salvation, God forgetting about our sins and forgiving us and so forth. Now look at the next verse. Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divide at the sea when the waves there of roar, the Lord of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, sayeth the Lord, then the seed of Israel will Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth search now beneath, I will also cast off all. That is the key word. All, all, all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, sayeth the Lord. You see, people will constantly quote the scripture and ignore the all there. And here's what they'll say. God is never going to cast off Israel. He'll never be through with Israel. He'll never reject Israel. He'll never be done with Israel. That's not what it says. What it says is he'll never cast off all of Israel. There will always be a remnant. A righteous remnant will always be there. That's why in Romans chapter 11, it says, what then have God cast away his people? God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not what the scripture saith concerning Elias, he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they've digged down thine altars. And he said, but let me skip ahead. He says, I've reserved to myself 7,000 men who haven't bowed the knee to Baal. And even so then at this present time also, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if it be of grace, then is it no more works? Otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it's no more grace. Otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election have obtained it and the rest were blinded. What is the Bible saying? The Bible is saying God did not cast off all of Israel because some Israelites believed in Jesus and they didn't get cast off. And the Apostle Paul is like, I'm one of them. If God cast off all Israel, then explain how I'm one of God's chosen people is what Paul said. Because Paul is like, I'm of the tribe of Benjamin. I'm an Israelite and I'm not cast off. Why? Because I'm elect according to the grace of Jesus Christ because I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm saved. That's why I'm still part of Israel. And folks, there is a spiritual Israel today that is made up of all believers. The Bible says to the Gentiles were the circumcision who worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. We have the circumcision of the heart, not necessarily of the flesh, but we have the circumcision of the heart. We are the spiritual Israel. We are God's chosen people. Elect simply means chosen. We're the chosen people. Christians are the elect. We are the Israel of God. We are spiritual Israel. Now, did God cast off his people? No, because they had the opportunity to stay in Israel by believing in Jesus. But if you don't believe in Jesus, guess what happens? You're cut out. You're broken off. That's why John the Baptist said, think not to say within yourselves. We have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the tree. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. And Jesus said, you know, every tree that my father had not planted is going to be plucked up. And so if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as an Israelite in the first century, like Paul, you're the remnant. You're the righteous remnant. As many as received him to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. That was the righteous remnant. He came unto his own, his own received him not in general, but many of them did receive him. And they're the righteous remnant. Everybody else is out. Okay. And so that's what the Bible is saying. But a lot of people will pull this verse out and say, well, here's the proof that God is still for that nation of white people over in the Middle East masquerading as Jews or Israelites or whatever they call themselves. Basically, God's for them because he'll always be for Israel. Yeah, except they're not all Israel, which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of Abraham or they're all children. You know, they told Jesus in John chapter eight, Abraham's our father. And he said, well, if Abraham were your father, you'd do the works of Abraham. You do the deeds of your father. We'd be not born of fornication. We have one father. You know, even God's our father. Abraham's our father. He's like, nope, God's not your father. Abraham's not your father. He said, ye are of your father, the devil. You're of your father, the devil. Abraham's our father. Nope, the devil's your father. God's our father. Nope, the devil's your father. That's what Jesus said in John chapter eight. And so here we see God promising never to cast off all of the seed of Israel. Now, does that mean he can't cast off part of them? Of course he can cast off part of them, because throughout history in the old Testament, he was constantly purging them and, and destroying them. And I mean, look, what about the 10 northern tribes that got smoked? But there's still the remnant of the southern kingdom. Well, there's still a remnant today too, of people who believe in Jesus. That's the righteous remnant. And so he says, I will not cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they've done, sayeth the Lord. Verse 38, behold, the days come, sayeth the Lord, that the city shall be built to the Lord from the tower of Hananiel under the gate of the corner. And the measuring line shall yet go forth against it upon the hill of Goreb and shall compass about to goeth and the whole and, and on and on it goes. And so this passage in Jeremiah 31 is another one that is misunderstood because they say, well, you know, the sun would have to stop shining for God to be done with Israel, for God to be done with all of Israel. That's the key word that they're missing. And so the good news is that we are God's chosen people. We are the elect. We're not second class citizens because, you know, we're, you know, we're dogs. You know, the Gentiles are dogs and all. No, we're not. We are the children of God. We are the circumcision. According to Philippians three, three, we're the circumcision. We're the Israel of God. According to Galatians chapter six, we are the elect. According to Romans chapter eight, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. We are saved and we are the chosen nation. You know, first Peter two, we're the royal priesthood, we're the holy nation. We're the peculiar people. In time past, we were not a nation, but now we're the people of God. And so don't let people twist this passage. Now in chapter 37, we're going to get into next week, a very interesting chapter with the valley of the dry bones. And just to give you a little preview of what this is going to be is that, you know, again, it's a foreshadowing of God bringing the children of Israel back into the land after the Babylonian captivity, where basically he says, you know, they think that they're just dead and dry bones and they can never live again. But I'm going to, I'm going to basically resurrect the nation in a sense. But there's also an end time significance of an actual literal bodily resurrection in the end times. So Ezekiel 37 is a super interesting chapter, but we'll leave it at that. Inspire us in our word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord. Thank you for this great chapter. And Lord, just give us understanding as we read your word. Some of these chapters in Ezekiel are pretty heavy, Lord, but I pray that you would just open our eyes and allow us to behold wondrous things out of your law. And in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.