Holy Spirit and the New Birth Ezekiel 36 and John 3

Hello ladies and gentlemen, this is William Bell. Welcome to All Bible Prophecy Fulfilled. Today we're going to be talking about the Holy Spirit and the recreation of Israel. We're going to be looking at the background in Ezekiel chapters 36 and 37. So that's going to be the focus of our study and we invite you to dive in with us as we consider this fantastic topic of the recreation of Israel to begin with. Now when we turn to Ezekiel chapter 36 and the verse is 24, the Bible says, For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land. So we first have God speaking about the recreation of Israel, but he's going to gather them out of all the nations where they have been scattered. And so we have to see, number one, that the gathering of Israel into their own land is in direct relationship to the recreation of Israel. In other words, to make of them a new nation. And again, verse 24, Ezekiel 36, For I will take you from among the nations. In other words, this is going to be an act of God. It is not going to be an act of man. In other words, this will not be the British mandate that brings this about and nor will it be any other human endeavor that is going to make this happen or allow it to occur. Furthermore, he says, Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. So what we're looking at is the gathering of all 12 tribes of Israel. Because, remember he said, I'm going to gather you out of all countries from among the nations and bring you into your own land. Then he says, I'm going to sprinkle clean water on you, you will be clean, and I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. This is a spiritual renewal. God is not talking about giving the entire nation of Israel a bath so that their skin will be clean. What he's talking about is the cleansing of their hearts. And therefore, what we're looking at here is a spiritual renewal. And so we have the recreation of Israel via the new birth that is being taught here in Ezekiel. And then he says, in giving them the new heart, he's going to put a new spirit within them. And he will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh. So he's going to transform them through the spirit and remove from them that which related to the flesh or the heart. And again, this is all about the recreation of Israel. It is a precursor of the new birth of Israel prophesied in Ezekiel 36. And you will see how it correlates with the new birth in the New Testament. Furthermore, he says, I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them. So what is God saying here? He says that he's going to gather them from all the nations, bring them into their own land, from all the countries where they've been scattered. He's going to bring about this new birth of Israel by sprinkling clean water on them, cleansing them from all their filthiness and from all of their idols, give them a new heart so that they are transformed. And he is going to put his spirit in them in order to bring this about. So here's the role of the spirit involved in the new birth. Furthermore, the scripture says he's going to cause them to walk in his statutes and keep his judgments. Now this can't be deliverance from Babylon because Israel was not created new when they came from Babylon. He did not gather Israel, that is all 12 tribes out of all the nations where they had been scattered when they returned from Babylon, because those who had been placed in the captivity in Assyria were yet in captivity. We're not saying that there were not some who came out of that captivity, but the point being is, it is very clear that you still had those who were in Assyria because God was going to deliver them in the time of the last days. In addition to that, God did not pour out his spirit upon them in the time of Babylon. Joel's prophecy wasn't poured out during the time of Israel's return from Babylonian captivity, and they certainly did not walk in the judgments of God. As a matter of fact, when we get to the New Testament, we can see that Israel was more corrupt than they had ever been in time past. And that is precisely what Jesus said about them when he assessed their condition in Matthew chapter 23, in saying to them, fill up then the measure of your father's guilt. Which of the prophets have your fathers persecuted and slain? And so he tells them to fill up their measure of guilt. Why? Because they had become the most corrupt generation on earth. And as a result of that, he said that he was going to bring vengeance on them for all the righteous blood, which had been shed from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom they murdered between the temple and the altar. So here is Jesus saying to them that he's going to bring vengeance upon them within that generation, not because they were walking in his statutes. In other words, the nation had up to that point at the time that he was about to be crucified, were guilty, and they were going to continue to do the same. In other words, only a remnant among them was going to be saved. So from the time prior to that, they were not walking in his ways. And so this cannot be a time that was prior to the time that Jesus speaks about. It could not be a time in Israel's past that he would bring about this gathering from the captivity. Furthermore, the Bible says that this is not a 400 year prophecy that is going to be fulfilled in the year 2019 as a result of the transatlantic slave trade. Again, there was no outpouring of the spirit during that time. And there certainly has not been a gathering of all the 12 tribes of Israel from a physical point of view into the land of Israel. It just has not happened. And furthermore, it's not going to happen. So the Bible says, then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You shall be my people and I will be your God. So we have this covenantal language that God is speaking of here. So that's a brief look at the creation of Israel, the new creation of Israel, which was going to take place through the work of the spirit. Now we can see that being fulfilled in the third chapter of the gospel of John. You can see at least beginning to be fulfilled or Jesus speaking of it because the Bible says in verse one, there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, but no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Jesus answered and said to him, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus said to him, how can a can he enter a second time into his mother's womb? See Nicodemus had in mind the manner in which he entered the old covenant kingdom. And that was through his natural birth because he was a descendant of Abraham. However, what Jesus is speaking of here is that a new birth had to take place. A recreation had to occur in order for Israel to enter into the kingdom of God. And so Jesus said, once again, most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born now, watch this of water and of the spirit, unless one is born of water and of the spirit. Now, had that happened at any time prior? No, Israel had not been born of water and of the spirit in the time of the Babylonian captivity. This was coming about as a result of the outpouring of the spirit by the prophet Joel. It was going to take place through the outpouring of the spirit that occurred from the prophecy of Joel. And so he says, I'm going to put my spirit within you. So here is the Lord speaking and saying, unless one is born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And then he goes on to say that which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now, remember what he said in Ezekiel 36, he says, I will give you a new heart. This is verse 26 and put a new spirit within you. I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and I will put my spirit within you. So there was going to be a transformation, a recreation, a renewing of Israel, because no longer would they be considered born of the flesh, but they would be born of the spirit. And thus he says, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. And that which is born of the spirit is spirit. Now, when he said that which is born of the flesh is flesh, he was not indicating that in our humanity, we don't have a spirit and nor was he suggesting when he said that which is born of the spirit is spirit, that in being born of the spirit, they were without their physical bodies. It is talking about a new covenant relationship with God. It is speaking of renewing Israel through covenant. And thus he says in verse seven, do not marvel that I said to you, Nicodemus, that you Israel must be born again. The you in the first part of the text is singular and it refers to Nicodemus, but the you in the second part of the text is plural and refers to the nation of Israel. And thus he says, do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the spirit. And therefore we can see very clearly that Ezekiel 36 and John three are speaking of the same thing. It is about the work of the Holy Spirit in the last days where Israel is being reborn. They're being recreated, but what is going to take place at this time of Israel's new birth? This is the time that God is going to begin gathering Israel out of all the nations. Now, many people are under the impression that he was talking about physically gathering them to bring them into the land. Well, you can't find that in the new Testament. You cannot find that God was gathering Israel into the land in the new Testament. As a matter of fact, what you do find is that they were being scattered from the land as a result of persecution. And in fact, we're even told to not set their affections on the land in Colossians chapter three and verse one. If then you are risen with Christ and see that's being raised from their new birth, from being born of water and of the spirit in that resurrection in being raised, he tells them, do not set your affections on the land. So they weren't being gathered back into physical land. But remember, this was the time when all 12 tribes were being gathered. So we cannot take Ezekiel 36 and make it a time prior to the outpouring of the spirit of Joel on the day of Pentecost. Now we pointed out that the outpouring of the spirit would take place over a period of 40 years, according to the prophecy of Micah seven in verse 15. As in the days of your coming out of Egypt, I will do miracles. I will perform these miracles just as it was in the time of Moses. God said he was going to do the same thing in this time. That is in the time of the second Exodus, because he's delivering Israel out of bondage. He's delivering them out of the captivity of sin, taking them out of that captivity and bringing them into their own land. But you see the land here, ladies and gentlemen, is Christ himself. Jesus Christ is the land into which Israel is being gathered. And we're going to demonstrate that very clearly. As we look at the restoration of Israel, we're going to be showing you that from the scripture so that you will be able to see it. But here's the point. The Holy Spirit was bringing about the recreation of Israel, the new birth of Israel. The Holy Spirit is the means through which Israel was being regathered. And if we're going to talk about the gathering of Israel in the last days, if we're going to talk about the new birth of Israel, the recreation of Israel, all of this occurs within the last days. And the last days are those times that was spoken of in the time of Jesus's death, burial, resurrection, his personal ministry, and leading all the way up to the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. That's about all the time that we have. I'm William Bell with All Bible Prophecy Fulfilled saying have a very pleasant day.