ONE ISRAEL
“And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.” Ezekiel 37:17.
In 945 B. C. the nation of Israel was divided into two nations with ten tribes in the North, called Israel, and two tribes in the South, called Judah. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah, and Samaria became the capital of Israel. They were divided in the days of Rehoboam and Jeroboam. (See 1 Kings 12).
The symbolism is clear from Scripture. The time is coming soon when all Israel will be reunited as one nation, in their land, under one King; the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah 11:10-16, is just one of the many prophecies of Israel’s return and reuniting as one nation, “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. 11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. 12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 13 The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim. 14 But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall obey them. 15 And the LORD shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. 16 And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.” Isaiah 11:10-16
This is the intended message by the prophet when he took the two sticks and held them together. Its intent is to encourage the nation to not abandon their God or Scriptures. Both are true and faithful; and this symbol will become a reality. Thank God for our infallible Bible!
Pastor Ken Blue was born in Boswell, Ark. In 1955 he accepted Christ as his Savior. He and his wife Joyce were married in 1955. They have 5 children. He graduated from Midwestern Baptist Bible College in 1969 and started the Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Wa. where he pastored for 39 years. Because of health issues (ALS) he was forced to resign as pastor. It is his desire to continue to be used of God to help pastors and believers through this ministry.