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THE STICKS OF JUDAH AND OF EPHRAIM JOINED
THE restoration of the whole Jewish people, to their own land, and to the favour of their God, is a subject on which all the prophets dwell with great delight; and not with delight only, but with the strongest confidence and assurance. There were indeed then, and there are still, in that nation, circumstances which, if viewed only after the manner of men, render the accomplishment of these predictions highly improbable. For instance; the whole people of Israel, of the ten tribes which were carried captive to Assyria, and of the two tribes in their present dispersion, are scattered, like dry bones, over the face of the whole earth: and we might as well expect a restoration of such scattered bones to life, as the return of that people to their own land. Moreover, from the period of their separation in the time of Rehoboam, to the latest hour of their existence as different states, there existed between them such inveterate hatred, as precludes a hope that they can ever be united into one people again. But the Prophet Ezekiel was inspired to declare, that both these difficulties should be overcome. The resuscitation of the dry bones he has foretold in the preceding part of the chapter; and the reunion of the two nations he foretells in the words which we have just read. He was commanded to represent this to his hearers by a very appropriate sign. He was to take two sticks; and, writing on each of them the nation which it was intended to represent, he was to cause them to become one stick in his hand; and then to explain to them the figure, by a full declaration of God’s purpose relative to their reunion in the latter-day.
His words will lead us to contemplate,
I. The event predicted—
The sign itself, just like the blossoming of Aaron’s rod, whilst all the others retained their own proper form without any such alteration, was a convincing proof, that the prophet both spake and acted under a divine commission. The causing of two sticks, without any previous process, in an instant to become one in his hand, was a pledge to the spectators that the prediction, however improbable, should certainly be fulfilled. Accustomed to be taught by signs, the spectators desired an explanation of that which was now before their eyes. And the prophet informed them, that it imported and prefigured,
1. The restoration of all the tribes to their own land—
[The names inscribed upon the two different sticks clearly shewed that the ten tribes which had been carried captive to Assyria, no less than the two who were then in Babylon, should at a future period be restored; and that all of them together should form one nation, as they had done in the days of David and of Solomon: and that they should never be divided into two nations again [Note: ver 22, 25.]. This has never yet been fulfilled; and therefore we know it shall receive its accomplishment at a period yet future. To confirm this from many passages of Scripture would be quite superfluous: for if the return of all the tribes to their own land at a future period be questioned, there is not any prediction of a future event that can be depended on. It is not necessary that the whole mass of the Jewish people should return: for there were but forty thousand that returned from Babylon; yet was that deemed a sufficient accomplishment of the prophecies relating to that event. So, if there be only a few millions that return to their own land in the latter-day, it will amply suffice to verify the predictions respecting it. But return they shall, as surely as ever the two sticks became one in the prophet’s hand. And to this effect speaks the Prophet Isaiah, whose words I record as illustrating and confirming, beyond a possibility of doubt, the declarations in my text: “It shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up his ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly, upon the shoulders of the Philistines, toward the west: they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian Sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry-shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people which shall be left from Assyria; like as it was to Israel, in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt [Note: Isa_11:11-16.].”]
2. The union of them all under Christ as their common Head—
[Never have they been all under the government of one king since the revolt of the ten tribes from Rehoboam: much less has there been any king of the name of David that could lay claim to this dominion. But, at the period referred to, they shall all, even the whole twelve tribes, become one nation again; and that too under the government of the Messiah, who is frequently foretold under the name of David, and who in the New Testament also is recognized as raised up of David’s house, and as sitting upon David’s throne [Note: Luk_1:31-33; Luk_1:69.]. They will all form one flock under him, as their “Shepherd,” as, both in a preceding chapter and in that before us, is fully declared [Note: ver. 22, 24, 25 and Eze_34:23-24.]. They will be deeply sensible of their error, in having so long rejected him; and will then “look on Him whom they, no less than their fathers, have pierced, and mourn, and be in bitterness, even as one that mourneth for his first-born son.” And no longer will they cast off his light and easy yoke: yea rather, they will delight in him, and glory in him, as “all their salvation and all their desire.” To this effect the Prophet Hosea also most plainly speaks: “The children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the Lord, and his goodness, in the latter-days [Note: Hos_3:4-5.].”]
3. Their enjoyment of God, as their covenant-God and portion—
[A new covenant will God make with them in that day, widely different from that which he made with their fathers, when he brought them forth out of Egypt [Note: Jer_31:31-34.]. In the new covenant, provision shall be made for the remission of all their sins, for the mortification of all their lusts, and for their entire restoration both to the favour and to the image of their God [Note: ver. 23–26.]. In former days, God dwelt with them visibly, by the bright Shechinah, the symbol of his presence; and in his tabernacle he revealed himself in a way that he never had done to any people from the foundation of the world; avouching himself to be their God, and them to be his peculiar people [Note: ver. 27. with Rev_21:2-3.]. And again, at the latter-day will his manifestations of himself to them be not a whit less bright and glorious, insomuch that all the nations of the world shall be constrained to acknowledge them as the people whom, above all others upon earth, Jehovah has been pleased to bless and honour [Note: ver. 28.]. Their holiness and happiness will far transcend any thing experienced by their forefathers; “the light of the moon will become as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound [Note: Isa_30:26.].”
Now, from these things will be seen what is the true character of the Millennium. It is not in their external state that the Jews will be changed, more than in the state of their souls before God. In truth, it is the spiritual change which will chiefly mark the glory of their latter-day: it will consist not so much in any political revolution, like that of the restoration of the Jews to their own land, as in the establishment of Christ’s kingdom upon earth, and the subjugation of the whole world to the obedience of Christ.]
The sign intimated by the prophet having been realized before the eyes of his people, having assured to us the accomplishment of his prophecy, we will proceed to contemplate,
II. The prediction verified—
Let us place ourselves on an eminence, and behold it, as st were, accomplishing before our eyes. Behold in it,
1. What a display of God’s power!
[The Scriptures speak highly of God’s power in raising up such an innumerable seed from Abraham and Sarah, at a time when, according to the course of nature, they could have no hope of any progeny. Greatly also is his power magnified in bringing out that nation from their bondage in Egypt. The deliverance also of the Jews from Babylon is marked, as illustrating in no ordinary degree the boundless power of Jehovah. But all of these together are nothing, in comparison of that power which he will display, when he shall, in every quarter of the globe, convert the souls of his ancient people, and restore them in safety to their former inheritance. We are particularly told, that the redemption from Egypt will then no longer be mentioned, by reason of the more glorious deliverance which will be vouchsafed unto them.]
2. What a proof of his veracity!
[God promised to Abraham and his descendants the full and entire possession of the land of Canaan: yet it was four hundred and thirty years, before either he or his posterity possessed, with the exception of a burial-place, so much ground as to set his foot upon. Their deliverance from Egypt had been predicted; but their deliverance was delayed so long, that if it had continued one day longer, God’s promise to Abraham would have been broken. But behold, on the self-same day he brought them forth; and thereby he shewed himself mindful of the promise which he had given above four hundred years before. At the expiration, too, of seventy years, the time fixed for their captivity in Babylon, God brought them forth from thence also. As to the time fixed for their return from their present dispersion, we are unable with certainty to declare precisely when it shall arrive: but, according to every calculation, we have reason to believe it fast approaching; and at the appointed period the event shall assuredly be accomplished. And how wonderfully will it attest the unchangeableness of God, “not one jot or tittle of whose word can ever fail!”]
3. What an exhibition of his grace!
[The sovereignty of God was clearly shewn, in his choice of Abraham from the midst of an idolatrous family and nation: nor less so in limiting his blessings to the lines of Isaac and Jacob, to the exclusion of the eider branches of Ishmael and Esau. Every part of the Divine administration towards the people of Israel gives, in like manner, ample demonstration of the sovereignty of his grace. The preservation, too, of that people, as distinct from all the nations of the earth, proves, that nothing shall, or ever can, defeat the purposes of his grace. Certainly, if any thing could prevail on God to annul his covenant, the conduct of that people must have done it. From the very beginning, they were a disobedient and stiff-necked people. In the wilderness itself, yea, and even at the Red Sea, where such a wonderful interposition had appeared in their favour, they rebelled against their God. At all times were they ready to cast off their allegiance to God, and to place their confidence on stocks and stones. And at last they filled up the measure of their iniquities, by rejecting their Messiah, and crucifying the Lord of glory. To all this we may add their long impenitence, during eighteen centuries, notwithstanding they know and acknowledge that they are cast off from God on account of their impieties. How astonishing, then, will the freeness and richness of God’s grace appear, when he shall take these persons from their dispersion, revealing himself to them, bringing them forth from every corner of the earth, manifesting the Saviour to them, and returning himself to them as their covenant God and portion! If, in the election of them at first, the grace of God was eminently displayed, much more will it be glorified in such mercies vouchsafed to them after such heinous and manifold transgressions.]
4. What a call to the whole world to serve and obey him!
[God has spoken in his works; but his voice is not heard. He has also spoken by his word; but that word is known to a very small part of mankind. But in that day he will speak to all the whole world at once; and in such terms, that it will be impossible for any to misapprehend his meaning. In the chapter before us he has said, “The heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore [Note: ver. 28.].” The Jews are spread in almost every part of the world. Their conversion to God being simultaneous in every country, it will attract the attention of all, and create a vast sensation through the whole world. The victories, too, which they will gain over all who shall oppose their establishment in their own land will yet further demonstrate, not only that God is with them, but that there is no other God but He. They will be struck, as Baal’s worshippers were by the fire which descended from heaven to consume Elijah’s sacrifice; and will exclaim, with wonder and amazement, “The Lord, he is the God! the Lord, he is the God!” Instantly will multitudes, in every place, “lay hold on the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we see that God is with you of a truth [Note: Zec_8:23.].” In truth, it will be a signal to all mankind to acknowledge Christ as their Lord and Saviour; and it will “be as life from the dead [Note: Rom_11:15.]” to the whole world.]
Address—
[And now, brethren, be ye all as one stick in my hand: and let every one amongst you, whatever be the diversity of his age or station, submit to Christ as your King, and live in dependence on him as your Shepherd. Enter now into “God’s covenant of peace,” that you may be partakers of all its privileges and blessings. Let God himself dwell in you, as in his temple of old: be ye altogether a people unto him, and let him be your God and portion for ever. These blessings will characterize the Millennial age, and be vouchsafed in a more abundant measure to his people that shall hereafter return unto him: yet are they to be enjoyed at this present hour by all who truly believe in Christ. Why then should so much as one of you remain destitute of these blessings? May God of his infinite mercy make you all like-minded in relation to them! and may the time quickly arrive, when God’s ancient people shall experience them in their souls, and “all flesh shall see the salvation of God!”]