11 February 2003

Text: Ezekiel 37:15-28

THE NEW EVERLASTING COVENANT

THE PROMISE OF A NEW COVENANT

1. Preached by the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 54-55)

"Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed…"
Isaiah 54:10

"And I will make an everlasting covenant with you-
The sure mercies of David"
Isaiah 55:3

2. One of the Major Themes preached by the Prophet Jeremiah

"I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…"
Jeremiah 31:31

"And I will make an everlasting covenant with them…"
Jeremiah 32:40

3. Also taken up by the prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:15-28)

"Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them,
and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them;
I will establish them and multiply them,
And I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore"
Ezekiel 37:26

FEATURES EMPHASIZED BY EZEKIEL

1. Restoration of Israel - Judah and Israel to be ONE NATION

a) The symbolic sticks of Judah and Israel (Ezekiel 37:16)

"Thus says the Lord God:
Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions;
And I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick,
And they will be One in My hand"
Ezekiel 37:19

b) Full restoration promised
"And I will make them one nation in the land…"
Ezekiel 37:22

c) No longer divided
"They shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they be divided into two nations again"
Ezekiel 37:22

d) God's Plan revealed
i) Gathering of the scattered remnant
ii) Bringing everyone back to Israel

"Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land"
Ezekiel 37:21

e) No more Idolatry
"They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions;
But I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God"
Ezekiel 37: 23

2. Messianic David to be the Shepherd of the Restored Nation
"David, My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them"
Ezekiel 37:24

3. The Land of Israel
"Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever"
Ezekiel 37:25

4. God will set up His Tabernacle among His People
"And I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore"
Ezekiel 37:26

"My tabernacle also shall be with them;
Indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people"
Ezekiel 37:27

5. Israel sanctified
"The nations also will know that I, the Lord, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore"
Ezekiel 37:28