The Oracle of the Two Sticks
(Ezekiel 37:15-28)
The fifth night message of Ezekiel
centers on a symbolic act in which the joining of two sticks represents the
reunion of the two formerly divided kingdoms of Judah and Israel. There will be
one “nation” in the land and one “kingdom” under “one king” (37:22, and God announces,
“My servant David shall be king [melek] over them” (v. 24). The term
“king” in application to the promised leader in verse 24 picks up the use of
“king” in verse 22, but contrasts with Ezekiel’s preferred designation for
Israel’s rulers, “prince.” Ezekiel 37:22-24 reads:
22
And I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. And
one king shall be king over them all, and they shall be no longer two nations,
and no longer divided into two kingdoms. 23 They shall not defile
themselves anymore with their idols and their detestable things, or with any of
their transgressions. But I will save them from all the backslidings in which
they have sinned, and will cleanse them; and they shall be my people, and I
will be their God. 24 My servant David shall be king over them, and
they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to
obey my statutes.
According to Daniel Bloc, the
uncharacteristic use of “king” in this passage may be due to the discussion of
the restoration of united Israel as a “nation” (gôy), such that the
concern is the prophetic affirmation of Israel’s reconstitution as a nation in
its own right (Block, “Bringing Back David,” 178). In other words, the use of
“king” over “prince” in this passage highlights the restoration of Israel’s
national status in line with the general ANE expectation that an independent
nation has its own king (There is no need to amend the text to “prince”
(following the LXX “ruler” [archon])). The language of 37:24 recalls
34:24, except for the use of the term “king,” which has just been explained
(“My servant David shall be king [prince] over [among] them”), but the text of
Ezekiel reverts to the use of “prince” in 37:25. The verses that immediately
follow (vv. 26-28) anticipate the sanctuary focus of chapters 40-48, and on
that basis, as noted by Kenneth E. Pomykala, “the prophecy of a new David is
only a component part of Ezekiel’s visions of an ideal future for Israel, where
the emphasis is over the LORD’s relationship with his people and the presence
of his sanctuary among them” (Pomykala, Davidic Dynasty Tradition, 29).
None of this says or implies that messianic expectation is unimportant in the
prophecy, but it would be true to say that the promise of a future leader is
put in a context that in various ways places the focus on God’s own rule.
The fivefold recurrence of
“forever” (using various constructions with côlām) in Ezek.
37:24-28 points to the definitive nature of the coming salvation, and
especially important is the promise that “their children’s children shall dwell
there [in the land] forever” (v. 25b). Their possession of the land in the
future will be perpetual, and the unsuccessful attack by Gog in chapters 38-39
will reaffirm this promise (Thomas Renz, The Rhetorical Function of the Book
of Ezekiel, VTSup 76 [Leiden: Brill, 1999], 117). God’s arrangement with
David is part of this lasting state of affairs (37:25: “David my servant shall
be their prince forever”). This climax is found in the mention of the sanctuary
in their midst “forevermore” (vv. 26b-28), which looks forward to Ezek.
40-48, with its detailed picture of the temple and its rituals. The prominence
of the new temple in the final vision of the canonical book is a way of
emphasizing God’s kingship—namely, his presence as King in his place (= temple;
see 43:7: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place of the
soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the people if Israel
forever” (There may be an allusion to the ark as God’s throne or footstool [cf.
1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; Pss. 99:5; 132:7; 1 Chron. 28:2; Isa. 6:1-2]), and the
role of the prince is set within that overarching theocratic framework. (Andrew
T. Abernethy and Gregory Goswell, God’s Messiah in the Old Testament:
Expectations of a Coming King [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2020],
117-19)