Ezekiel 36:21-24
21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
In chapter 36 Ezekiel, six times, repeats the phrase “among the heathen.” He also refers to “the shame of the heathen,” in verses 13 and 15.
I gather, in part from this, it’s really not good that we are scattered “among the heathen.” From what I can determine, God’s people were meant to always live in the Land under a Theocracy.
That’s how it should be … but it’s not. Without going too much into this, let me share my thoughts.
I don’t want to be scattered among the heathen any longer. I want to be in my land, Israel. It’s mine because I’ve been, through the new birth, grafted into the true Israel of God by means of the shed blood of Messiah. It’s my land because of my union in Messiah Yeshua.
Since coming into the Hebraic mindset, my heart’s desire has been more and more for the return of Messiah to set up His Kingdom. I long for things to be made “right” in this world. And the only way that will ever happen is for Him to return.
I used to look for the Lord Jesus’ return so that I would be raptured before all (or, most of) the bad stuff happened. Yes, I wanted to be with Him for all eternity; but now, my desire has shifted ever so slightly. I want Him to come back so that we, God’s people, can live out the Torah of God in all it’s entirety … as it was meant to be lived.
I long for the Torah to be the guiding rule of faith and practice — all the time and everywhere. We, as Hebraic folks, are happy in our attempts to follow Torah the best we can. It’s great to participate in the Feasts and Biblical Holidays. It’s so awesome that we see the Torah for all that it is now … today.
However …
I find, for myself, that this Hebraic understanding has awakened something within me. And now that it’s been awakened, NOTHING SATISFIES LIKE IT USED TO. I can’t be happy, satisfied, with the mere Scripture Morsels that we were told are for us in the “New Testament.” The “pick and choose” method no longer fulfills the longing that is now alive within me. I need and want it all … now.
The most wonderful aspect of all this is … I truly long for Yehovah’s Name to no longer be profaned because we live among the heathen. However, as long as we are “among the heathen,” His name will not be lifted up and magnified as it should be. That saddens me. But I also rejoice because I know the powerful pull of this new longing within me. That wasn’t there, to the degree it is now, until the Hebraic mindset took hold.
So, what are we to do now? — —
Get ourselves prepared for our Messiah’s return.
Let this longing within us build to the crescendo that will one day be reality.
Accept that we are here, dispersed among the heathen, with a renewed desire to let our light shine.
Rejoice in our expanded realization that this world is not our home. That is: Become more and more detached and free from what bogs us down. ——
Don’t you long for the time when Jehovah’s Name will no longer be profaned among the heathen? Let’s, therefore, be like the Apostle John and cry out as he did:
“Even so, come, Lord Yeshua”