In the first part of these passages, God speaks to Ezekiel, once again telling him that it is vitally important how a person finishes their life. He says, “When I say to the righteous he will surely live, and he so trusts in his righteousness that he commits iniquity, none of his righteous deeds will be remembered; but in the same iniquity of his which he committed he will die.” As the saying goes, ‘we can never rest on our laurels.’ We must continue to move away from sin in our lives. We must continue to make the right choices. If we turn away from our belief and Faith, we will die physically and spiritually.
In the second half of these passages, God speaks to Ezekiel about Israel’s return to the promised land. God had severely punished Israel for turning from Him and worshiping idols. Three times God destroyed Jerusalem and removed the people from the land. He killed many for their transgressions against Him. In all cases, God used godless nations and people to punish Israel. Then, God punished those godless nations. However, God did not abandon Israel. God promised He would bring Israel back to the land.
After World War II Israel was reestablished as a nation. Their country was small. However, Israel has grown since 1948 though wars with the surrounding nations. God has protected this new country. We see Israel’s population growing, as many Jews from around the world are returning to live in Israel.
