Ezekiel's
Sticks
and
Ezekiel's
Interpretation


The Sticks


The first thing to note is that the word of the Lord was speaking to Ezekiel. Ezekiel was commanded to take two sticks, one for Judah, and one for Joseph (aka the stick of Ephraim), and write their names on them. Note also that the one for Judah included the children of Israel, while the one for Joseph included the house of Israel. Obviously the children of Israel must be different than the house of Israel. If they are not different, there would be no reason to make note of them at all.

In verse 17, Ezekiel was commanded to join these two separate sticks in to one stick. After joining these two sticks, Ezekiel has only one stick in his hand, which includes both Judah and Joseph.

In verse 19, Ezekiel now begins to explain why he has these sticks in his hands. First God says that He will take the stick of Joseph, which is IN the hand of Ephraim. What does this mean? It means that Ephraim, at the time these two sticks are joined, is the leader of Joseph. Also note that in this verse, Joseph is paired with the tribes of Israel. Taking both verses 16 and 19 together, it is obvious that the house of Israel is the same as the tribes of Israel, yet still distinct from Judah.

The Interpretation


Now we see that God is using these two sticks to represent the two divisions of the children of Israel, one stick for Judah and one stick for the house of Israel, lead by Ephraim. Historically, until Solomon died, Israel consisted of all of the descendants of Jacob, also known as Israel. Upon Solomon's death, the northern 10-1/2 tribes (Ephraim, Manasseh, Simeon, Dan, Reuben, Gad, Issachar, Asher, Zebulon, Naphtali, and part of Levi) of the nation of Israel rebelled, and formed a new nation (I Kings 12). The southern 2-1/2 tribes (Judah, Benjamin, and part of Levi) became known as Judah, while the northern tribes kept the name of Israel.

Ever since they divided, any time God specifies the 'Israelites,' He is usually refering to only the northern tribes of Israel, although sometimes He is also including the southern house of Judah. When He specifies the 'house of Israel,' or the 'tribes of Israel' He is refering only to the northern ten tribes, never to Judah. Likewise, when He wants to refer to the rest of His people, He refers to them as 'Judah', or 'Jews', since that was their official name as a nation and ALL of the kings of Judah were Jews. And finally, when God refers to the 'children of Israel,' He may be refering to any part or any combination of the either or both the northern or southern tribes.

These distinctions between 'Israel' and 'Judah' can get quite confusing. As a result, many, if not most, students of prophecy also get the prophecies for these peoples confused. Many think that Israel today is the sum total of both ancient Israel and Judah, but upon closer examination, that is patently IMPOSSIBLE, as you will see as we continue.

In verses 21 & 22, God says that He will rejoin these two parts of the descendants of Israel (Jacob) into one nation again. And He says that the rejoined nation will be gathered together from among the heathen and inhabit the 'mountains of Israel' which is a way of saying that they will return to their ancient homeland. NOWHERE in these two verses does God say WHEN this would happen. All God says is that it WILL happen, and once finished that the rejoined tribes will NEVER be divided again.

Now, the question is, 'At WHAT TIME was God intending to rejoin Israel and bring them back to their ancient land?' Some say that God did this when He caused Jerusalem to be restored before Christ. Some say that God did this when the nation of Israel was established in 1948. And some say that God has not fulfilled this prophecy yet. So, WHICH view is the CORRECT view? What does God say about it? Methinks that WHATEVER God says is MORE important (and obviously more CORRECT) than whatever the SPECULATIONS of MAN are. So, let's go look at what GOD says.


WHOA!!! Stop right here! WHAT is this? Verse 24 says that 'David my servant' shall be their king! Now we must ask ourselves whether David was/is/will be king over the re-combined children of Israel. First, was David king over the restoration before Christ? Not if we believe Jesus when He said that David was dead and buried and still in his grave at the time Jesus was alive. Second, what about the Israel of 1948? Was David at any time king over modern day Israel? Not according to any history that I know about, and not according to my own experience. So, that leaves only the theory that some time in the FUTURE that God will REJOIN Israel. Based on only this one verse, I would lean toward the future. But, is this correct, and does it square with the rest of God's Word?


Let's stop again for a bit. Did I read this right? Does it say that the rejoined tribes will dwell in the land given to Jacob FOR EVER? And that DAVID would be their prince FOR EVER? IT SURE DOES! Now back to our three possibilities. One, did the restored nation before Christ last for ever? Not according to history. Judah was conquered and disbersed from their ancient lands by the Romans shortly after Christ. Two, has the modern nation of Israel lasted for ever? Well, so far, yes. But has EITHER of these had David as their prince forever? NO!!! So, again, that leaves ONLY the third possibility, that God has NOT YET rejoined Israel and has NOT YET brought them home to Jacob's land PERMANENTLY. But, we must go on and make sure that this is correct.


Now God says that He will make a covenant of PEACE with them, the rejoined tribes, FOR EVER. Has any part of Israel EVER had PEACE? Maybe bits and pieces, but, as of this writing, NOT FOR EVER. NOT during the restoration before Christ and most assuredly NOT TODAY in modern Israel. This AGAIN rules out BOTH the restoration before Christ, AND modern Israel, and leaves ONLY the FUTURE as a possibility.

God also says that his tabernacle will be with the rejoined tribes and amongst them FOR EVER. And that God would be their God, implying ONLY one RELIGION for the rejoined tribes. Has this happened yet? Not that I am aware, again leaving only one possibility, the FUTURE.

The bottom line is that this prophecy of the sticks has NOT occured yet, OR that God is a LIAR! TAKE YOUR PICK.

The Conclusion