- there are 70 faces to 
Post by alon on Dec 17, 2015 12:52:22 GMT -8
Ezekiel 37:15-28 is the haftara fo par’shah Va’yiggash (Gen 44:18-47:17) wherin Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, thus reuniting 12 sons of Jacob. That is the theme here in this par’shah: reunification. Ezekial’s symbolic demonstration when he put two sticks together is representative of a future reunification of the nation of Israel. We are witnesses to this today in the State of Israel, it’s miraculous rebirth; the fact it continues to exist a testament to the might and power of Elohim Tseva’ot.
Ezekiel (Hebrew יְחֶזְקֵאל, Y'ḥez'qel), means "May God strengthen him", or "God will strengthen." This passage certainly epitomizes this meaning as Ezekial demonstrates both the superior strength of two sticks together and the strengthening hope for a future when Melech Dovid (in the person of Yeshua) will once again reign over a united Yisro’el.
Like his contemporary Yir'meyahu (Jeremiah), Y'ḥez'qel is both priest and prophet, and his writings are best understood in this light. He’s very aware of his dual role, and his calling as a watchman for the nation tasked with warning of impending doom, as well as giving hope for future restoration. A priest ministers from the people to God, while a prophet ministers from God to the people.
Ezekial was deported with the Jews when King Yehoiachim was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE. He settled settled on River Chebar in Northern Mesopotamia (Ezek 1:1). His d’rashot were vivid, full of action, and captured the attention of those he ministered to as well as readers through the generations. The emphasis of his ministry is the glory of God and honor of His name. Had the people of Judah not dishonored His name, He might not have dishonored them before their enemies.
Ezekiel 37:15-28 (ESV) 15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. 22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
The imagry here is more of living wood than just two “sticks” as it is usually translated; although the double immagry of trees and/or sticks is certainly more instructive. The Hebrew term used is:
H6086 עץ êts … a tree (from its firmness); hence wood (plural sticks): … . Webster’s Hebrew – English Dictionary gives the modern usage as just meaning tree. Sticks would be ma’kel or l’had’bik.
I can see here though representations of both life (trees) and death (sticks, as we would normally picture them); therefore we have strength from weakness in the combination, and life from death in the dual connotations we get from “ets.”
God will repair the damage done with the division of the monarchy and from the sins of the nation. This prophecy draws from God’s covenant of an eternal kingdom from his line with Melech Dovid:
2 Samuel 7:14-17 (ESV) I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
The covenant of peace spoken of in vs. 26 is the same as that given to Pinehas in Num 25:
Numbers 25:10-13 (ESV) And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”
So while this haftara is pretty straightforward, it still must be read from a Hebrew mindset; and from a mindset of the time it was written in first if we are to truly understand it. Read it first as a Hebrew in the Babylonian Diaspora. Then as a Jew at different times in history up to the present day. Then, if you really want to hear about all the things God is doing for Gentiles today almost any mainstream commentator will tell you that while he pollutes your mind with Replacement Theology and their self-absorbed opinions of what is re-e-e-aly meant here. I do believe God is working with “the church” today; but unlike them, I believe that’s why you and I are here; and NOT why they are here!
This was a tough one for sources. While I read from many accounts, I rejected almost as many which did not tell of their sources and, on further study whose sources turned out to be the writings of Josephus (himself a self-proclaimed liar and politician first, accurate observer/commentator last). I drew mostly from my JPS Study TNK, and some from sources like Pastor Ed Cole. However I also rejected all the “We are Spiritual Israel and God is doing this for the Gentiles now” stuff as inaccurate and anti-Semitic. While there are certainly parallels in God’s dealings with the Gentiles all through the Scriptures (not just in those “New” ones), this is a prophesy about and for the nation of Israel: to wit, the Jews. Frankly, Wikipedia (used for confirmation, NOT doctrine) was much more accurate than most of the mainstream sources.
Dan C
Ezekiel (Hebrew יְחֶזְקֵאל, Y'ḥez'qel), means "May God strengthen him", or "God will strengthen." This passage certainly epitomizes this meaning as Ezekial demonstrates both the superior strength of two sticks together and the strengthening hope for a future when Melech Dovid (in the person of Yeshua) will once again reign over a united Yisro’el.
Like his contemporary Yir'meyahu (Jeremiah), Y'ḥez'qel is both priest and prophet, and his writings are best understood in this light. He’s very aware of his dual role, and his calling as a watchman for the nation tasked with warning of impending doom, as well as giving hope for future restoration. A priest ministers from the people to God, while a prophet ministers from God to the people.
Ezekial was deported with the Jews when King Yehoiachim was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 BCE. He settled settled on River Chebar in Northern Mesopotamia (Ezek 1:1). His d’rashot were vivid, full of action, and captured the attention of those he ministered to as well as readers through the generations. The emphasis of his ministry is the glory of God and honor of His name. Had the people of Judah not dishonored His name, He might not have dishonored them before their enemies.
Ezekiel 37:15-28 (ESV) 15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, take a stick and write on it, ‘For Judah, and the people of Israel associated with him’; then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph (the stick of Ephraim) and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 17 And join them one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. 18 And when your people say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what you mean by these?’ 19 say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am about to take the stick of Joseph (that is in the hand of Ephraim) and the tribes of Israel associated with him. And I will join with it the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, that they may be one in my hand. 20 When the sticks on which you write are in your hand before their eyes, 21 then say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. 22 And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations, and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children's children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
The imagry here is more of living wood than just two “sticks” as it is usually translated; although the double immagry of trees and/or sticks is certainly more instructive. The Hebrew term used is:
H6086 עץ êts … a tree (from its firmness); hence wood (plural sticks): … . Webster’s Hebrew – English Dictionary gives the modern usage as just meaning tree. Sticks would be ma’kel or l’had’bik.
I can see here though representations of both life (trees) and death (sticks, as we would normally picture them); therefore we have strength from weakness in the combination, and life from death in the dual connotations we get from “ets.”
God will repair the damage done with the division of the monarchy and from the sins of the nation. This prophecy draws from God’s covenant of an eternal kingdom from his line with Melech Dovid:
2 Samuel 7:14-17 (ESV) I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’” In accordance with all these words, and in accordance with all this vision, Nathan spoke to David.
The covenant of peace spoken of in vs. 26 is the same as that given to Pinehas in Num 25:
Numbers 25:10-13 (ESV) And the Lord said to Moses, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy. Therefore say, ‘Behold, I give to him my covenant of peace, and it shall be to him and to his descendants after him the covenant of a perpetual priesthood, because he was jealous for his God and made atonement for the people of Israel.’”
So while this haftara is pretty straightforward, it still must be read from a Hebrew mindset; and from a mindset of the time it was written in first if we are to truly understand it. Read it first as a Hebrew in the Babylonian Diaspora. Then as a Jew at different times in history up to the present day. Then, if you really want to hear about all the things God is doing for Gentiles today almost any mainstream commentator will tell you that while he pollutes your mind with Replacement Theology and their self-absorbed opinions of what is re-e-e-aly meant here. I do believe God is working with “the church” today; but unlike them, I believe that’s why you and I are here; and NOT why they are here!
This was a tough one for sources. While I read from many accounts, I rejected almost as many which did not tell of their sources and, on further study whose sources turned out to be the writings of Josephus (himself a self-proclaimed liar and politician first, accurate observer/commentator last). I drew mostly from my JPS Study TNK, and some from sources like Pastor Ed Cole. However I also rejected all the “We are Spiritual Israel and God is doing this for the Gentiles now” stuff as inaccurate and anti-Semitic. While there are certainly parallels in God’s dealings with the Gentiles all through the Scriptures (not just in those “New” ones), this is a prophesy about and for the nation of Israel: to wit, the Jews. Frankly, Wikipedia (used for confirmation, NOT doctrine) was much more accurate than most of the mainstream sources.
Dan C
