Ezekiel 36:24

Ezekiel 36:24

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

a. NLT: For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land. [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. NIV: “ ‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

c. YLT: And I have taken you out of the nations, And have gathered you out of all the lands, And I have brought you in unto your land, [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Amplified Bible: For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land. [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

1). Note in Amplified Bible: No person needs to be reminded of the startling way in which this prophecy has been in the process of fulfillment since World War II. The Jews have for centuries been dispersed among all the nations with only a few left in the homeland which lay waste and desolate. It was said that travelers in Palestine had no difficulty in recognizing the appropriateness of Ezekiel’s label for the country: a “valley... full of bones” (Ezek. 37:1). But by a.d. 1960 one-sixth of the Jewish population of the world was in Palestine. Already they had been made “one nation” (Ezek. 37:22a)—between sunrise of one day and sunset of the next—“a nation born in one day” (Isa. 66:8)! But the greatest event of all is yet to come (Ezek. 37:22b-25). This prophecy will be fulfilled in its entirety.

e. Septuagint: And I will take you out from the nations, and will gather you out of all the lands, and will bring you into your own land:

f. Stone Edition Torah/Writings/Prophets: I will take you from [among] the nations and gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you to your own soil. [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE TANACH--STUDENT SIZE EDITION Copyright 1996, 1998 by Mesorah Publications, Ltd.]

1. “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries…”

a. For I will take you [Strong: 3947 lâqach, law-kakh'; a primitive root; to take (in the widest variety of applications):—accept, bring, buy, carry away, drawn, fetch, get, infold, × many, mingle, place, receive(-ing), reserve, seize, send for, take (away, -ing, up), use, win.]

 b. you [Strong: 853 ʼêth, ayth; apparent contracted from H226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):—[as such unrepresented in English].]

c. from [among] [Strong: 4480 min, min; or מִנִּי minnîy; or מִנֵּי minnêy; (constructive plural) (Isaiah 30:11); for H4482; properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses:—above, after, among, at, because of, by (reason of), from (among), in, × neither, × nor, (out) of, over, since, × then, through, × whether, with.]

d. the heathen [Strong: 1471 gôwy, go'-ee; rarely (shortened) גֹּי gôy; apparently from the same root as H1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also (figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:—Gentile, heathen, nation, people.]

e. [and] gather out of [Strong: 6908 qâbats, kaw-bats'; a primitive root; to grasp, i.e. collect:—assemble (selves), gather (bring) (together, selves together, up), heap, resort, × surely, take up.]

f. you [out of] [Strong: 853 ʼêth, ayth; apparent contracted from H226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):—[as such unrepresented in English].

g. all [Strong: 3605 kôl, kole; or (Jeremiah 33:8) כּוֹל kôwl; from H3634; properly, the whole; hence, all, any or every (in the singular only, but often in a plural sense):—(in) all (manner, (ye)), altogether, any (manner), enough, every (one, place, thing), howsoever, as many as, (no-) thing, ought, whatsoever, (the) whole, whoso(-ever).]

h. countries [Strong: 776 ʼerets, eh'-rets; from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at large, or partitively a land):—× common, country, earth, field, ground, land, × natins, way, + wilderness, world.]

2. “…and will bring you into your own land.”

a. [and will] bring [Strong: 935 bôwʼ, bo; a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):—abide, apply, attain, × be, befall, besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, × certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, × doubtless again, eat, employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, have, × indeed, (in-) vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, × (well) stricken (in age), × surely, take (in), way.]

b. you [Strong: 853 ʼêth, ayth; apparent contracted from H226 in the demonstrative sense of entity; properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely):—[as such unrepresented in English]

c. into [Strong: 413 ʼêl, ale; (but only used in the shortened constructive form אֶל ʼel ); a primitive particle; properly, denoting motion towards, but occasionally used of a quiescent position, i.e. near, with or among; often in general, to:—about, according to, after, against, among, as for, at, because(-fore, -side), both...and, by, concerning, for, from, × hath, in(-to), near, (out) of, over, through, to(-ward), under, unto, upon, whether, with(-in).]

d. [your own] land [Strong: 127 ʼădâmâh, ad-aw-maw'; from H119; soil (from its general redness):—country, earth, ground, husband(-man) (-ry), land.]

1).  They are brought into their land in unbelief, and then and only then will the spiritual transformation begin. Prophetically we are in between Ezekiel 36:24 and Ezekiel 36:25. In between those verses are a whole host of prophetic verses from Isaiah, Joel, Zephaniah, Zechariah and others.

a). Ezekiel 36:24-28  For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.

36:26 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 an heart of flesh.

36:27 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.

36:28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

2). Dr. David R. Reagan, Founder & Director, Lamb & Lion Ministries: One of the greatest examples of God's continuing love for the Jewish people can be found in the most important prophetic development of the 20th Century. When I think back on the 20th Century and all its amazing events, I am reminded of some words found in Habakkuk 1:5. They constitute a statement made by God to the prophet: Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days — You would not believe if you were told. The 20th Century was full of momentous events that no one could have foreseen in 1900. Looking back on that century, what would you consider to be the most important event from a biblical perspective — particularly from the viewpoint of Bible prophecy? World Wars I and II? The Great Depression? The advent of space travel? The collapse of Communism? The reunification of Europe? The resurgence of Islam? The answer from a biblical perspective is none of these events. The most important development of the 20th Century — more important than all of these events put together — was the worldwide regathering of the Jewish people to their homeland. And lest you think I am exaggerating, let me prove it to you. There are many Bible prophecies concerning the regathering of the Jewish people in unbelief. In fact, their regathering in unbelief is the most prolific prophecy in the Old Testament Scriptures. Jeremiah 16:14-15 — Let's take a look at three of the most important of those prophecies. 

a). The first is found in Jeremiah 16. It is mind-boggling. Read it carefully: 14) "Therefore behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when it will no longer be said, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt,' 15) but, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them.' For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers." This same prophecy is repeated verbatim in Jeremiah 23:7-8. You cannot fully appreciate what is said in these verses unless you know something about Judaism. The one event that all Jews consider to be the greatest miracle in their history is the deliverance of their ancestors from Egyptian captivity under the leadership of Moses. But this scripture passage asserts that a time will come when the Jews will look back on their history and proclaim that their regathering from the four corners of the earth — the event that began in the 1890s and continues to this day — was a greater miracle than their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. In other words the regathering in the 20th Century will eclipse the Exodus! This means that you and I are privileged to witness one of the greatest miracles of history. And yet, the average Christian has no appreciation for what is happening because he is ignorant of Bible prophecy and he has been taught that God is finished with the Jews. Therefore, the current regathering is simply viewed as an accident of history.

b). The second prophecy I want to bring to your attention is found in Isaiah 11:10-12 Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse, who will stand as a signal for the peoples…(11) Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover the second time with His hand the remnant of His people, who will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
(12) And He will lift up a standard for the nations and assemble the banished ones of Israel, and will gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Some have tried to debunk any modern application of this prophecy by claiming that it was fulfilled about 500 years before the time of Jesus by the return of the Jews from Babylonian captivity. But that cannot be. The passage refers to a "second" regathering (the return from Babylon being the first). Further, it states this will be a regathering "from the islands of the sea," which is a Hebrew colloquialism for the whole world, as is made clear in verse 12 where it states that the regathering will be "from the four corners of the earth." Also, verse 12 says that "the banished ones" of both Israel and Judah will be regathered. The return from Babylon was a regathering of Jews from Judah.

c). The third prophecy is found in Ezekiel 37. This is the famous prophecy of the Valley of the Dry Bones (watch one minute animation). The prophet was placed in a valley full of bones and told to preach to them. As he did so, the bones began to come together, flesh grew back upon them and they came to life, becoming "an exceedingly great army" (Ezekiel 37:1-10). At that point, the Lord explained to Ezekiel what he was witnessing: (11) Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, 'Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.' (12 "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.'" This is a symbolic prophecy. The dry bones represent the Jewish people in their end time dispersion, with no hope of ever existing again as a nation. The resurrection from their graves represents their regathering from the nations where they had been dispersed. We can be assured of this interpretation because it is the one that God Himself provides later in the chapter: (21) "Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; (22) and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms.'" Again, those who are determined to argue that God has no purpose left for the Jewish people, attempt to invalidate these verses as an end time prophecy by arguing that they were fulfilled when the Jews returned from Babylonian captivity. But that simply cannot be. The entire chapter has an end time context. It speaks of a regathering from "the nations," and not just from Babylon (verse 21). It says this regathering will result in a union of Jews from both Israel and Judah (verse 19). And it says that following this regathering, the Jewish people will turn their hearts to God and will become "My people" (verse 23). At verse 24, the chapter moves into the Millennial Reign of Jesus as it speaks of David (in his glorified body) once again becoming the king of the Jewish people. Further, it states that at that time, "the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel..." (verse 28).