Ezekiel 37:25

37:15-28 This emblem was to show the people, that the Lord would unite Judah and Israel. Christ is the true David, Israel's King of old; and those whom he makes willing in the day of his power, he makes to walk in his judgments, and to keep his statutes. Events yet to come will further explain this prophecy. Nothing has more hindered the success of the gospel than divisions. Let us study to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace; let us seek for Divine grace to keep us from detestable things; and let us pray that all nations may be obedient and happy subjects of the Son of David, that the Lord may be our God, and we may be his people for evermore.

And they shall dwell in the land which I have given to Jacob my servant,.... Abraham and Isaac are not mentioned, as Kimchi observes, because they had other children, who did not inherit the land; only Jacob, because the land was given to him, and his seed alter him: wherein your fathers have dwelt; and so the more desirable to them; and whose inhabitation and possession of it were a pledge of theirs: and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children for ever; unto the end of the world, or personal coming of Christ: and so everything after promised them is said to be for ever: this shows that this prophecy had not its accomplishment in the return of the Jews from Babylon to their own land; since they have been dispossessed of that again, in which state they now are; but that it refers to time to come, when, being converted to Christ, they shall possess their land again, and dwell in it, as long as the sun and moon endure: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever; or their king, as the Targum; and which cannot be understood of any temporal prince, but of the King Messiah, whose throne is for ever and ever; whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom; and who shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever and ever, Psalm 45:6 and to whom it is applied by several Jewish writers (k). (k) T. Bab. Sanhedrin. fol. 98. 2. Ben Melech in Psal. cxliv. 14. Abendana Not. in Miclol Yophi in Hagg. ii. 23.

(25) For ever. —Strong emphasis is placed upon this declaration by its frequent repetition. In this verse, the occupancy of the land is to be for ever, and the kingship of David is to be for ever; and in Ezekiel 37:26 ; Ezekiel 37:28 the sanctuary is to be “in the midst of them for evermore,” and the covenant of peace is to be “an everlasting covenant.” Such promises are taken up continually in the New Testament, and explained of the everlasting reign of the King of kings, the Good Shepherd, over His people, and of the Temple of the Holy Ghost in the heart of the believer.

Verse 25. - The phrase, my servant David (comp. Ezekiel 34:23, 24 ; Jeremiah 33:21, 22, 26 ; Psalm 78:70 ; Psalm 89:3, 20 ; Psalm 144:10 ), goes back to the Messianic promise of 2 Samuel 7:12-16 , and cannot be satisfactorily explained as signifying the Davidic house (Smend), or as pointing to "a line of true rulers, each faithfully representing the ideal David as the faithful Ruler, the true Shepherd of his people" (Plumptre, on Ezekiel 34:23), inasmuch as Israel, after Ezekiel's day, never possessed any such line of rulers, and certainly no such line continued forever . The only feasible exegesis is that which understands Jehovah's servant David to be Messiah, or Jesus Christ, of whom the writer to the Hebrews (Hebrews 1:8) says. "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever." Ezekiel 37:25

25 . Cf. Ezekiel 36:28 . Jacob my servant ] Jacob is here the patriarch himself, not as in Isaiah 40 seq . a name for the people. He is referred to as the ancestor cf Israel in Hosea 12:12 , as Abraham in Isaiah 29:22 . Cf. ch. Ezekiel 33:24 ; Isaiah 41:8 ; Isaiah 51:2 ; Isaiah 63:16 . their prince for ever ] It is not at all probable that “David my servant” means either the Davidic house or a line of kings. But possibly the point whether the king would be one person living for ever is not before the prophet’s mind. It is the quality of the new people and the new ruler that he specially refers to; the point whether generation after generation of the people shall dwell in the land and prince succeed prince is hardly in his mind. The unity of the people and the unity of the ruler, one such as David; the character of the people ( Ezekiel 37:24 ) and their perpetual possession of the land—these are the elements of the prophet’s idea, and further questions are not touched. In Ezekiel 43:7 , Ezekiel 45:8 , a succession of princes appears presupposed, but the idea hardly belongs to the present passage.

And they shall dwell in the {f} land that I have given to Jacob my servant, in which your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell in it, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever. (f) Meaning that the elect by Christ will dwell in heaven by Jerusalem, which is meant by the land of Canaan.

They; the ten tribes and the two tribes. That I have given: see Ezekiel 28:25 . Your fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, whose memory you venerate, and greatly affect to be heirs more of their lands and houses than of their virtues and piety. Their children’s children for ever: if this prophecy or promise be to be understood with the precedent verses in the letter of it, and not mystically and only spiritually, I doubt not but to the end of the world, till Christ’s coming to judgment, the Jews converted to Christ, and professing the gospel, shall, they and their seed after them, inherit this land of Canaan in much peace and glory. But I speak on supposition, not asserting any thing herein. My servant David; typically understood it asserts the everlasting kingdom of our Messiah, and the everlasting happiness of all the faithful subjects of this King: see Ezekiel 34:23,24 .

Reunion of Israel as One Nation under the Future King David This word of God directs the prophet to represent by a sign the reunion of the tribes of Israel, which have been divided into two kingdoms (Ezekiel 37:15-17), and to explain this sign to the people (Ezekiel 37:18-21), and predict its sanctification and blessedness under the reign of the future David (Ezekiel 37:22-28). What is new in this word of God is the express prediction embodied in a symbolical action, of the reunion of the divided tribes of Israel into one single people of God, which has been already hinted at in the promise of the raising to life of "the whole house of Israel" (Ezekiel 37:11). This brief indication is here plainly expressed and more fully developed. Ezekiel 37:15-28 Ezekiel 37:15. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Ezekiel 37:16. And thou, son of man, take to thyself a piece of wood, and write upon it: Of Judah, and the sons of Israel, his associates; and take another piece of wood, and write upon it: Of Joseph, the wood of Ephraim, and the whole house of Israel, his associates; Ezekiel 37:17. And put them together, one to the other, into one piece of wood to thee, that they may be united in thy hand. Ezekiel 37:18. And when the sons of thy people say to thee, Wilt thou not show us what thou meanest by this? Ezekiel 37:19.

Say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will take the wood of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his associates, which I put thereon, with the wood of Judah, and will make them into one stick, that they may be one in my hand. Ezekiel 37:20. And the pieces of wood upon which thou hast written shall be in thy hand before their eyes. Ezekiel 37:21. And say to them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will take the sons of Israel out of the nations among whom they walk, and will gather them from round about, and lead them into their land. Ezekiel 37:22. I will make them into one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel, and one king shall be king over them all; and it shall not become two nations any more, and they shall not henceforth be divided into two kingdoms any more; Ezekiel 37:23. And shall not defile themselves by their idols and their abominations, and by all their transgressions; but I will help them from all their dwelling-places, in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so that they shall be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 37:24. And my servant David will be king over them, and be a shepherd for them all; and they will walk in my rights, and keep my statutes and do them. Ezekiel 37:25.