Ezekiel 32-39

These chapters contain numerous prophecies, descriptions, and laments concerning nations in the typical style that we see from Ezekiel.  

Ezekiel 32 contains a prophecy about Egypt then transitions to a description of how Egypt is in the "pit" or with the slave.  In the words, Ezekiel considers Egypt dead. This may or may not be before the predicted invasion of Egypt by the Babylonians predicted by Jeremiah when the Jewish settlers fled there.

The chapter then states that other nations are there along with Egypt, these include Elam, Edom, and Assyria.  I think this imagery is important because several chapters later in Ezekiel 37, we see the valley of bones coming to life.  In that chapter, tendons and flesh are attached to bones before they are reanimated. The bones are identified as the whole House of Israel and their reanimation is identified as the resettling of Israel by the Israelites.  So, reading chapters 32 and 37 together, we see that the God considers a number of nations to be dead, including the Israelites.  However, the Israelites will be reanimated and brought back from the dead, which is indicated to be the resettling of the land.

Also in Ezekiel 37, we see a prophecy about a united Israel under one king.  Christians might associate this with Christ, but there are interesting details for the contemporary Jewish mind.  For starters, verses 18-19 indicates the Israelites from both the northern and southern kingdoms that are scattered will be brought back from all the nations and united in the same kingdom.

On one hand, this seems to indicate that the Lost 10 Tribes were brought back to Israel along with the people in Babylon.  Another possibility is that Christ unified the houses of Israel and this is actually a reference to the Gospel going to the Gentiles, since the people of the northern kingdom were scattered among the nations and lost their Jewish identity.

The last part that stands out is that in Ezekiel 33, Ezekiel considers himself to be a watchman and it is his duty to warn Israel.  If he does not, then he is guilty. 

The same chapter also has an interesting discussion on when righteous people fall and when wicked people turn from wickedness.  For both situations, it is not the prior actions that angered or pleased God, but rather the change in course determines whether God is angered or pleased.  It is also flies in the face of the principles of karma or Islam in which the merit of one's life is determined on balance.  According to Ezekiel, it is not what one has done in the past that matters, good or bad, big or small, but rather what one is doing right now.