Question:

Is Ezekiel 37:21 a reference to the modern state of Israel?

Answer:

No, it is not.  It is a reference, either to the restoration of the Southern Kingdom of Israel when Persia conquered Babylon, as recorded in Ezra and elsewhere, or it is a reference to the spiritual restoration of Israel in the church.  I am a believer in the idea that kingdom prophecies such as this often have multiple references, and therefore I believe that Ezekiel 37:21 is a prophecy, both of the restoration of Judah/Israel and to the church, which is a spiritual restoration of Israel.  Both fit the context and both make sense.

There is in no sense that the modern Israel is the fulfillment of any of the prophecies in the Old Testament, at least as far as I can see.   God has now turned away from the Jews who have rejected him and brought the gospel to all peoples.  The end of his chosen status was symbolized by the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.  Like the Jewish writer said, what is old and fading will soon pass away (Hebrews 8:13).  Of course, Jews, like anyone else, are welcome into the kingdom of God, but they no longer are God’s special, chosen people.  I understand that this is not a unanimous view of Christians generally, but it is how I understand both the Old and the New Testament with regard to the Jews and to political Israel today.  Israel is a political state, established by political powers, but I know of no biblical mandate to establish this political state.  Whether it was a good thing to do is for humans to discuss, but I do not particularly see God behind the restoration of political Israel after nearly two thousand years.  In fact, to be honest, I wonder if it was a mistake to displace the Palestinians who had been living there from well over a thousand years in order to create the modern state of Israel.  But this, again, is a political question.
John Oakes

Comments are closed.