restore

Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, ²⁰ that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 11:19-20 nkjv).

Amidst the discipline and judgment of God on Judah through the Babylonian captivity and invasions, the LORD promised both a physical gathering and a spiritual restoration of His people - a restoration that would bring hope in their darkest hour.

The future gathering fulfills the picture of the Feast of Trumpets, as the sound of a trumpet signifies the calling together of God's people for worship (Isaiah 27:12-13), and he calls His church to be caught up with Him (1 Thess. 4:16-17). The future restoration comes in the form of a New Covenant made with Israel that will see its fulfillment in Christ's coming kingdom later, while believing Jew and Gentile experience its redemptive blessings of salvation even now.

So, how might we respond today to God's gathering and restorative power? It is rather simple:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷and Then we who are alive remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. ¹⁸ Therefore comfort one another with these words (1 Thess. 4:16-18 nkjv).

Let us indeed bring comfort and hope to each other as Ezekiel gave the LORD's comforting words to Judah.