Old Testament Lesson 43 – The Shepherds of Israel

 

Ezekiel 34. The Lord reproves those shepherds who do not feed the flock. He will seek all the lost sheep and be their Shepherd.

Ezekiel 18:21–32. Ezekiel teaches that the wicked who repent will be saved and that the righteous who turn to wickedness will be cast out.

Ezekiel 37:1–14. Ezekiel sees a vision in which many dry bones are given life.

Ezekiel 37:15–28. Ezekiel prophesies that the stick of Judah and the stick of Joseph will become one in the Lord’s hand.

In 597 B.C. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carried into captivity many people from the kingdom of Judah. Among these captives was Ezekiel, whom the Lord called as a prophet five years later. Ezekiel ministered to his exiled people until 570 B.C.

Ezekiel’s writings include rebukes and promises that apply not only to the ancient kingdom of Judah but to all Israel, including Church members today. Although Jerusalem had been destroyed, Ezekiel foresaw a day when Israel would be gathered and restored.

Who are the “shepherds of Israel” spoken of in Ezekiel 34? In what ways can each of us be considered a shepherd of Israel?

How is the Savior like a shepherd to us? (See Ezekiel 34:11–16; Psalm 23.)

What does it mean to “make … a new heart and a new spirit”? (Ezekiel 18:31). How can we experience this change of heart? (See Alma 5:7–14.)

In the prophecy recorded in Ezekiel 37:15–28, one of the things the stick of Judah represents is the Bible. One of the things the stick of Joseph represents is the Book of Mormon. What blessings have come from having the Book of Mormon in addition to the Bible?

Additional reading: Ezekiel 2.

 

Start lesson

First let’s orient ourselves with history…Ezekiel lived in turbulent times.

Likely resided at Jerusalem during Jeremiah’s tumultuous ministry.

721 b.c. Assyrian Empire conquered and deported the northern kingdom of Israel

612 b.c began to crumble, capital city of Nineveh was devastated by Medes and Babylonians.

609 b.c. King Josiah, southern kingdom of Judah was killed at Megiddo by Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt who came north to try to prop up Assyria and reassert Egypt’s once powerful influence in the region.

Judah continues to weaken. Josiah’s son, Jehoahaz, rules three months

Pharaoh Necho put another of Josiah’s sons, Jehoiakim, on the throne of Judah.

605 b.c. Babylon defeats the Egyptians at Carchemish and Nebuchadnezzar is installed as king of Babylon. Jehoiakim switched his allegiance to him. According to Daniel 1:1, that same year, the third of Jehoiakim’s reign, Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, besieged it, and inaugurated the first deportation of Judahite citizens (not as big as in 598)

Babylonian and Egyptian armies meet again in battle and Jehoiakim takes the opportunity to rebel against Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar.

598 b.c. Nebuchadnezzar responded to Jehoiakim’s treachery by sending his army against Jerusalem and conquering it. Nebuchadnezzar exiled ten thousand to Babylon. Including Ezekiel (as well as Jehoiakim’s son, Jehoiachin). They joined those deportees who had been exiled in 605 b.c. Ezekiel was undoubtedly a very young man at this time.

In exile Ezekiel received his call to be a prophet (Ezekiel 1:1–3).

Ezekiel 1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. ² In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,  ³ The word of the Lord came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the Lord was there upon him.

From a priestly family - ministered to his fellow exiles as a prophet-priest.

He was married, lived relatively freely with his fellow exiles (akin to house-arrest).

As a priest, now cut off from the temple, his prophetic message had much to do with the Temple and its rituals.  Like Jeremiah, he sometimes acted out his message using symbolic images. Ezekiel’s influence upon the exiles was significant.  He greatly affected their thinking.

Ezekiel knew great personal sadness. He is informed in chapter 24 that Jerusalem is being besieged and the temple will be destroyed.

Ezekiel 24 ² Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day: the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day.

Then he loses his wife…

Ezekiel 24 ¹⁶ Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down. ¹⁷ Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men. ¹⁸ So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.

He is told not to mourn to show the people that they should not mourn for their loss of Jerusalem, but that they should mourn their sinful condition…a tough lesson

After Jerusalem’s fall Ezekiel’s message becomes one of hope - the Lord’s people would experience a restoration and enjoy future redemption.

574 b.c marks the end of Ezekiel’s ministry. He was faithful in all things. The Prophet Joseph Smith said specifically that he was one of the ancients who had made his calling and election sure. The Prophet’s statement is especially instructive since it applies to all of us:

“After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints. . . . [W]hen any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions—Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens” (History of the Church,3:380–81).

OT Gospel Doctrine lesson 43 - The Shepherds of Israel (Ezekiel 18; 34; 37)
Sadly, the OT schedule being done in only one year has the class only looking at 3 chapters of Ezekiel. So much is available in his vision that ties directly into LDS theology that is not in these few chapters…

Ezekiel’s Vision by Raphael

The Vision
Ezekiel 1
Received 594 BC in Babylon. First, it shows that Jehovah is God outside of the boundaries of the land of Israel. Israel could survive in captivity and exile, even without a temple as their center place.

The vision in Ezekiel 1 has a great deal of temple imagery including cherubim and seraphim, much like apocalyptic Revelations and similar to Isaiah 6. He has a theophany, a vision of God’s throne.

Then he sees God.

Ezekiel 1 ²⁵ And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings. ²⁶ And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. ²⁷ And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.

As with Isaiah, Jacob and others, God is a man of glory in Ezekiel’s vision, not a burning bush or a spirit.

Son of Man of Holiness
Ezekiel 2
Jehovah calls Ezekiel “son of man” throughout many of his visions. This is to signify to Ezekiel his status with God.

In his mortal ministry, Jesus also would call himself “son of man.” Jesus was the Son of God the Father. In LDS teaching, one of God’s names or titles is Ahman, or Man of Holiness (D&C 78:20, Moses 6:57; 7:35). Jehovah is Son of Ahman, the son of Man of Holiness, and in this context, so is Ezekiel.

In conjunction with many theophanies, the prophet sees or reads a heavenly book.

Ezekiel 2 ³ And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. ⁴ For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God.

⁵ And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

⁶ And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.

 

⁹ And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;

¹⁰ And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

Moses had the Ten Commandments given him (Exo 20). Lehi received a book and prophesied (1 Nephi 1). Isaiah prophesied while reading a book in the ancient text, Ascension of Isaiah. John the Revelator swallowed a book that was given him (Rev 10:10). Here, Ezekiel sees a book containing the lamentations of his people, while they are yet in exile.

Watchman in Israel
Ezekiel 3, 33-34
Anciently, a watchman stood upon a tower, often at night, to ensure the safety of the kingdom or land. From his position in the tower, he could look over the land, perhaps for a few miles, which would give sufficient warning in case of approaching enemies.
Ezekiel is tasked with being Israel’s spiritual watchman, while they are in exile. They are surrounded by enemies and demon idols. His counterparts: Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego would be tried by the enemies of Israel. They were in need of prophets to teach them, warn them, and protect them from the world’s evils. So important was this position of watchman that God told Ezekiel that their blood would be on his hands if he did not faithfully perform his duties.

Ezekiel 3  ¹ Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, eat that thou findest; eat this roll, and go speak unto the house of Israel. ² So I opened my mouth, and he caused me to eat that roll.

³ And he said unto me, Son of man, cause thy belly to eat, and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee. Then did I eat it; and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.

When he is told to “eat” the roll, he is not literally eating it.  He is internalizing it, making the message his.  Part of the symbolic language.

⁴ And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. ⁵ For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel;

⁶ Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee.

⁷ But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me: for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted.

⁸ Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.

Then he has another theophany…

¹² Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place. ¹³ I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.

 

¹⁶ And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ¹⁷ Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

¹⁸ When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

¹⁹ Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

 

²¹ Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.

So it is with those of us tasked in God’s service today. We are to watch over the members of the Church and our families, protecting them from the world’s ever encroaching evils and dangers.

If we neglect our duty, we will someday have to answer for the collapse and destruction caused among those we are to care for.

Those watchmen who are faithful in their responsibility, not only save the community, but save their own souls. They are to be true shepherds of the flocks, and not just sheep herders that work for a wage. Instead, a shepherd put his life in danger to protect his beloved sheep. He would fight lions and bears to keep the flock safe.

This theme continues in Ezekiel 33…

Ezekiel 33  ² Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:

³ If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; ⁴ Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

⁶ But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand. ⁷ So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.

We should be clear on who we are a watchman for…

The Future of Israel
Ezekiel sees the future collapse and destruction of Israel and it’s temple (remember, they are already in exile). They will suffer much as they are scattered throughout the world. But they will be gathered again in the last days.

Punished for our own sins
Ezekiel 18

Verses 1–4 correct the misunderstanding of a phrase from the Ten Commandments about “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 20:5). Alcoholism, drug abuse, infidelity, rebellion, and many other sins of the fathers certainly can influence generations of descendants, but the basic doctrine is “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” It is an issue of individual responsibility. God will not impose punishment upon children because of any sins their fathers commit but only for the children’s own sins.

This echoes Article of Faith 2…“We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression” (Article of Faith 2).

This continues one theme of Ezekiel, that of emphasizing individual responsibility over family or societal responsibility. 

Ezekiel teaches that all are responsible for their own sins. Children will not be punished for the evil actions of the parents, nor the parents punished for their children’s sins.

This is a drastic departure from the Mosaic Law, where entire families were often stoned to death, whenever a major sin was caused by someone in the family (such as idolatry or rebellion). The idea was that if one was able to do such destructive things, then the entire family was capable of the same.

Ezekiel 18 The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, ² What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?

³ As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. ⁴ Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

⁵ But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,

Then goes on to highlight what is lawful and right (or wrong) in verses 6-13 

Ezekiel 18  ²⁰ The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.

²¹ But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

And finally…

Ezekiel 18 ³⁰ Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

The Mosaic Law was based upon the needs of the nation as a whole. However, with Israel in exile, they were no longer a nation. Instead, Israel was a loose confederation of Jews that were mostly limited to local worship of Jehovah.

Most Bible scholars believe that the concept of worship done in synagogues either began during the exile, or rapidly expanded during the exile, as a method to continue worshiping Jehovah without a temple.

Suddenly, without a nation and the need to preserve the exiles as much as possible, the rule was changed by God. Now, only the sinner himself would be punished for grave sins. Those who repented, would be forgiven, while those who continued in rebellion would be stoned to death, in order to protect the religious community.

The focus changes from the Nation to the Individual…men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression

Jerusalem and Samaria destroyed by Babylon and Assyria
In the following chapters, Ezekiel speaks to Israel concerning why they have been taken into Exile.

Jerusalem had not yet been completely sacked and the temple destroyed, but Ezekiel explains that its destruction is certain. Because Judah and Israel were evil and worshiped other gods, they no longer had God’s true power to protect them. This holds true for the surrounding nations, as well.

Israel would be restored in time. Even Egypt would be destroyed by Babylon, and when it arose from the Phoenix’ ashes, it would not ever regain its former strength and beauty.

The Messiah
Ezekiel 34
The concept of a Messiah was becoming highly developed from the time of Isaiah and later. Ezekiel also sees the coming of the Messiah ben Judah (Savior, son of Judah), who would come forth and save Israel from its enemies.

Christ will be the one true shepherd, even the future servant David. While many would expect a Messiah to save them from the physical enemies of the world, the Messiah’s first coming would involve bringing his sheep to him and protecting them from all the spiritual dangers. In his 2nd Coming, Jesus would destroy the physical and spiritual enemies of Israel.

Ezekiel 34 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

² Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

³ Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.

⁴ The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.

⁵ And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.

More imagery of shepherd but notice how a new shepherd is introduced…

⁸ As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;

⁹ Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord;

¹⁰ Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.

¹¹ For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.

¹² As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.

Gathering is discussed…

¹³ And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.

¹⁴ I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁵ I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.

The temple (which is being destroyed) will be restored (upon the high mountains of Israel)…

Jehovah shall be Israel’s Prince of Peace, Melchi (king) Zedek (righteousness), as he establishes a covenant of peace with them and begins the Millennial reign. However, he also becomes the spiritual Prince of Peace, bringing peace and hope to the souls of all those who believe and trust on his name.

Note that in the Hebrew text Melchizedek is split into Melchi and Tzedek, but in the Septuagint and the KJV it appears as one word.  In the Dead See Scrolls 4QAmram is found the opposite name, Melchi Resha (or Jeshua) (King of Evil) verifying that the usage of Melchizedek (King of Righteousness or Justice) as we have it is correct.

Ezekiel 34 ¹⁶ I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.

Then a direct reference to the Messiah

Ezekiel 34  ²³ And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall 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 it.

²⁵ And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.

Deliverance

²⁷ And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them.

Then the chapter closes with…

Ezekiel 34 ²⁸ And they shall no more be a prey to the heathen, neither shall the beast of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and none shall make them afraid.

²⁹ And I will raise up for them a plant of renown, and they shall be no more consumed with hunger in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen any more. ³⁰ Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord God.

³¹ And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God.

Dry Bones and Sticks = Restoration
Ezekiel 37

Most Latter-day Saints are very aware of the LDS belief that a portion of Ezekiel 37 foresees the coming forth of the Bible and Book of Mormon in the last days. And it is a valid way to interpret it. However, we must remain aware that there are often multiple ways to read, and correctly understand scripture. Nephi told us to “liken” the scriptures unto ourselves, in what Jews would call pesher (commentary) or Midrash (explanation of scripture). However, it is important we seek to understand all the correct meanings, so as to expand our own understanding of scripture.

Ezekiel 37 ¹ The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,

² And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.

³ And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.

⁴ Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.

⁵ Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:

⁶ And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel sees a valley of dry bones. These bones suddenly change to living, breathing beings. This can be understood on at least two levels:

First it foresees the future resurrection of all mankind through the power of Christ’s own resurrection.

Second, it also refers to the restoration of Israel as a living people and nation. We see things that once lived, but for a long time seemed dead. Now they become alive again.

Israel as a physical people and nation stopped existing for the most part for almost 2000 years, until 1948, when the nation of Israel was restored.

Yet, spiritual Israel also was dead. The Great Apostasy had taken the living Church that mortal Christ set up, and left it a skeleton that had no spirit nor true physical form. For centuries, the Christian church did not have all the priesthood authority, revelation, apostles, prophets, temples, or modern scripture.

It was a valley of dry bones, until the Restoration of the Gospel occurred in 1820, when the Father and Son came to the boy Joseph Smith and began the miraculous reconstruction of Spiritual Israel.

⁷ So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.

⁸ And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.

⁹ Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.

¹⁰ So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

¹¹ Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.

¹² Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.

Referring to both a literal resurrection as well as a spiritual one…

¹³ And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,

¹⁴ And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.

Then we get the reference to future scriptures…

¹⁵ The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

¹⁶ Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:

¹⁷ And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

But when we look at the Hebrew word for “stick” (‘etz) we find that a better translation would be “wood.”

Based upon the context, we determine what the wood is. If you sit on it, the wood is a chair. If you eat on it, it is a table. If one writes on wood, then it is a book.

In ancient Babylon, books were created with thin boards that had wax on one side. The scribe would write in the wax, and then place two boards together with the wax on the inside to protect it.

In essence, Ezekiel is describing the Babylonian technique for preserving their documents, by combining them together. So we literally can have two books combined with the testimonies of Judah (the Bible) and Joseph (Book of Mormon).

(Some ask how the Book of Mormon can be the stick of Ephraim, when Lehi was a descendant of Manasseh. The key is not who wrote the books, but for whom the books were written. The Bible was written primarily for the Jews and their fellows (converted Gentiles), while the Book of Mormon was written primarily to the spiritual and physical tribes of Ephraim (which most LDS today belong to, according to their patriarchal blessings) and all others who join the LDS Church and are members of other tribes of Israel.)

Hinged Writing Board from Assyria

 

¹⁸ And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?

We have a clear understanding of this…have you ever wondered how the rest of the world interprets this scripture, which we see as a reference to the Book of Mormon?

Matthew Henry’s Commentary discusses the mainstream christian view of the two sticks.  This commentary indicates the belief that the two sticks refer to the tribes of Judah (including Benjamin) on the one hand, and Joseph and the rest of the tribes and indicate and that “become one in thine hand” refers to a restoration of the kingdom’s of Judah and Israel, as they were in the time before the split (time of Solomon). 

¹⁹ Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

²⁰ And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

²¹ And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

²² And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

²³ Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

Second coming imagery ends Ezekiel 37…

²⁴ And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

²⁵ And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

²⁶ Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

²⁷ My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

²⁸ And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Chapter 38 and 39 End of Times

Ezekiel 38 ¹ And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ² Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

To understand the people involved in these opening verses you would have to refer back to Genesis 10. 

What Ezekiel calls here the “battle of Gog and Magog” other writers call the “battle of Armageddon”.  There are two facts that can help clarify some of this “end of times” imagery here and throughout the OT.  These battles are mentioned here in Ezekiel, Revelation 20, Joel 3, Zechariah 12 and D&C 45. 

1. The battle of Armageddon is before the millennial reign of Christ begins, and the battle of Gog and Magog is after the millennial reign; and

Ezekiel 38 ¹⁸ And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face.

Ezekiel 38 ⁶ I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in safety in the coastlands, and they will know that I am the Lord.

2. What Ezekiel here describes is actually the pre-millennial battle of Armageddon, though he (and he only) labels it the battle of Gog and Magog. Keeping that one difference in mind resolves any confusion about which is which.

 

Bibliography
David Larsen’s notes of Margaret Barker’s Temple Symposium IV discourse on the Paradise Temple:http://www.heavenlyascents.com/2010/11/08/the-temple-studies-group-symposium-iv-margaret-barker/
Model of the Third Temple as described by Ezekiel:http://www.sonstoglory.com/ThirdTempleEzekielsMillennialTemple.htm#PhotosofEzekielsTemple
Cherubim: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherub
Cherubim/Seraphim Wings or Coverings: http://bible.cc/isaiah/6-2.htm
Isaiah’s theophany in Isaiah 6 and in the Ascension of Isaiah (OT Lesson 36) from my blog at Joel’s Monastery:http://joelsmonastery.blogspot.com/2010/09/ot-gospel-doctrine-lesson-36-glory-of.html
Painting: Raphael's Vision of Ezekiel:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/Raffael_099.jpg/300px-Raffael_099.jpg