news to you ...

So, for whatever reason, I never told you guys about the Mormons who came to my door one night. Mormons came to my door one night. Haha.. I invited them and we talked for a long time and they brought up one verse that has stuck in my head. It was Ezekiel 37:15-23 essentially. Here's what it says:

The word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, take a stick of wood and write on it, Belonging to Judah and the Israelites associated with him.' Then take another stick of wood, and write on it, 'Ephraim's stick, belonging to Joseph and all the house of Israel associated with him.' Join them together into one stick so that they will become one in your hand. When your countrymen ask you, 'Won't you tell us what you mean by this?' say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to take the stick of Joseph—which is in Ephraim's hand—and of the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and they will become one in my hand.' Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on and say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will take the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from all around and bring them back into their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel. There will be one king over all of them and they will never again be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

I had never studied nor read this scripture, so when they asked me what I thought it meant, I really didn't have much to say, which really really frustrated me.

This has stuck in my head for all this time. Last night when we were driving home from Temple, I was thinking as the other two coaches were talking about some political things involving Israel and Palestine, etc. And as I listened to their conversation (it wasn't eavesdropping), I totally got it!

This week, our bible study was about the mystery that was made known to Paul (as in Ephesians 3:6).

This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.

One stick was the nation of Israel, and the other, the Gentiles. Not the Israelites of the Middle East and the "Israelites of the Americas."

It was a mystery to me - the prophecy of Ezekiel - but the mystery was solved a long time ago through Christ!!

Sorry if it doesn't make sense.. It's just been a good day :o)