God's Holy Glue Text: Ezekiel 37:15-23
Introduction: The Sin of Schism
We live in a world that is coming apart at the seams. Our politics, our communities, our families, and tragically, our churches, are all marked by fractures, divisions, and schisms. Division is the native tongue of a fallen world. Ever since Adam and Eve hid from God, and then Adam pointed a finger at Eve, the human race has been perfecting the art of breaking things in two. We are natural-born splitters. We are experts in tribalism, factionalism, and party spirit. And we often baptize this sin with pious names, calling it doctrinal purity or principled separation when it is really just carnal pride dressed up for church.
The historical backdrop for our text is the great schism, the original political and religious disaster of Israel. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom tore itself in two. Ten tribes in the north, led by Ephraim, went into apostasy, setting up their own kings and their own idolatrous worship centered on golden calves. Two tribes in the south, Judah and Benjamin, remained, at least nominally, loyal to the Davidic throne and the Temple in Jerusalem. This was a deep, ugly, centuries-long family feud. It was a self-inflicted wound that festered until both kingdoms were dragged off into exile. The northern kingdom was scattered by the Assyrians, effectively lost to history. The southern kingdom was later taken to Babylon, where Ezekiel is now prophesying.
So when God speaks to Ezekiel about joining two sticks, He is addressing the foundational sin of His people. He is promising to undo their greatest failure. But we must understand this is far more than a political promise to a scattered ethnic group. This is a promise about the very nature of God's redemptive work. God is not in the business of managing schisms; He is in the business of killing them. He is a God who gathers, who unites, who makes one. And this prophecy, delivered to a hopeless people in a foreign land, shows us precisely how He intends to do it.
The Text
The word of Yahweh came again to me saying, "Now as for you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.' Then draw them together for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand. And when the sons of your people speak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' say to them, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand." ' And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. And speak to them, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them; and they will no longer be two nations and no longer be divided into two kingdoms. They also will no longer defile themselves with their idols or with their detestable things or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their places of habitation in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God."
(Ezekiel 37:15-23 LSB)
A Prophetic Object Lesson (vv. 15-17)
We begin with God's command to the prophet. God often uses what we might call prophetic kindergarten to teach His people.
"Now as for you, son of man, take for yourself one stick and write on it, 'For Judah and for the sons of Israel, his companions'; then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and all the house of Israel, his companions.' Then draw them together for yourself one to another into one stick, that they may become one in your hand." (Ezekiel 37:16-17)
This is a divine object lesson. God tells Ezekiel to take two pieces of wood. One represents Judah, the southern kingdom, the line of the scepter. The other represents Joseph, or Ephraim, the leading tribe of the apostate northern kingdom. These two sticks represent the long-standing, bitter division. They are symbols of rebellion, jealousy, and spiritual adultery.
And what is Ezekiel to do? He is to bring them together, to join them, so they become one stick in his hand. This is a picture of a miraculous union. This is not about taping two sticks together so they look like one. The language suggests a supernatural fusion, an organic joining. The division that man made, God will unmake. The prophet's hand is the initial theater of this miracle, a preview of what God Himself will accomplish on a cosmic scale.
From Man's Hand to God's (vv. 18-20)
Naturally, this strange behavior from the prophet prompts a question from the people.
"And when the sons of your people speak to you saying, 'Will you not declare to us what you mean by these?' say to them, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph... and I will put them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."'" (Ezekiel 37:18-19)
The people see the sign and ask for the meaning, and God provides it. And notice the crucial transition. The sticks were joined in Ezekiel's hand, but God says the final, real unity will happen "in My hand." This is essential. The unity of God's people is not a project for human ecumenical councils or denominational committees. It is not something we can engineer with clever programs or watered-down doctrinal statements. True, lasting, spiritual unity is a supernatural work accomplished by the sovereign hand of God Almighty.
Man's attempts at unity always lead to compromise and mush. We try to glue the sticks together with the cheap adhesive of sentimentalism, and the moment any pressure is applied, they snap apart again. But God's work is different. He does not glue; He grafts. He makes them organically one. And this work is to be public. The sticks are to be in Ezekiel's hand "before their eyes." God's work of redemption and unification is not a secret, private affair. It is a public declaration to the watching world.
One Nation, One King (vv. 21-22)
God then elaborates on the meaning of this unification. It is a promise of restoration, both geographically and politically.
"Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king for all of them..." (Ezekiel 37:21-22)
Here we have a direct refutation of any eschatology that drives a permanent wedge between Israel and the Church. God's promise is not to maintain two separate peoples with two separate plans. His promise is to make them "one nation." The great sin of schism will be undone. They will "no longer be two nations."
How will this happen? Under "one king." Who is this one king? This is the great son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a prophecy about some future political figure in the modern state of Israel. This is a prophecy about the Messiah who would come and gather a people for Himself from every tribe, tongue, and nation. The "gathering from among the nations" is the Great Commission. The "land" and the "mountains of Israel" are spiritual realities in the kingdom of Christ. The Church is the Israel of God, the one nation, gathered from the nations, ruled by the one king, Jesus.
The Apostle Paul tells us this explicitly. In Christ, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile has been torn down to create "one new man" in place of the two (Ephesians 2:14-15). The two sticks, Jew and Gentile, have been made one in the hand of God through the cross of Jesus Christ. He is the king who rules over this new, united nation.
The Foundation of True Unity (v. 23)
But how is this unity possible? What is the basis for this new nation? Verse 23 gives us the glorious, gospel foundation.
"They also will no longer defile themselves with their idols... but I will save them... and I will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God." (Ezekiel 37:23)
True unity is not possible without true purity. The reason the kingdoms split, and the reason they were sent into exile, was idolatry. They defiled themselves. They chased after other gods. Unity cannot be built on a foundation of shared sin or doctrinal indifference. It must be built on a shared salvation and a shared holiness.
And notice who the actor is. "I will save them." "I will cleanse them." This is all of grace. They do not cleanse themselves and then present themselves to God for unification. God, in His sovereign mercy, saves them from their sins and cleanses them from their filth. Regeneration is the basis for unity. We are made one with each other because we have first been made right with God through His unilateral, gracious action.
This cleansing from idols is the prerequisite for the renewal of the covenant. "And they will be My people, and I will be their God." This is the great refrain of Scripture. This is the goal of all of redemptive history. God is creating a people for His own possession, a united people, a clean people, who are ruled by His Son and live in His presence. The schism was a breach of covenant. The healing of the schism is the restoration of that covenant, made new and permanent in the blood of the one true King.
Conclusion: One in Christ's Hand
This prophecy is not a relic of ancient history. It is the blueprint for the Church. We are the fulfillment of this promise. In Christ, there is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, and we can certainly add, there is no longer Judah or Ephraim. All are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28).
The cross was the place where the two sticks were joined. When Jesus was lifted up, He held the sins of the whole world, the idolatries of the north and the south, the pride of the Jew and the arrogance of the Gentile, in His own body. He absorbed the hostility and the division, and in His resurrection, He created one new people, the Church.
Therefore, any division in the body of Christ is a sin against the finished work of Christ. When we allow bitterness, denominational pride, or theological squabbles to divide us, we are acting as though the sticks are still two. We are living as though Christ has not come. We are denying the power of the gospel that not only reconciles man to God, but man to man.
Our task is to live in the reality that God has established. We are to pursue the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. This does not mean we abandon truth for a false unity. As we have seen, true unity is founded upon God's cleansing truth. It means we stand together on the great central truths of the gospel, under our one King, Jesus, and we extend grace to one another in the non-essentials. God has done the work. He has made us one in His hand. May we have the grace to live like it.