Ezekiel 37:24-25 shows God’s promise to establish a Davidic king who will rule over all of Israel when they have been restored to their land. They will live there forever and their Davidic king will be their king forever. They will never be removed from the land again.
Ezekiel 37:24-25 identifies the king who will reign over the reunited people as David—the LORD's servant—one shepherd and one king. This passage promises that they will inhabit the land given to the patriarchs forever. This king will be Jesus, the Son of David, who has been granted all authority but has yet to take up His earthly reign (Matthew 1:1, 28:18).
"My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them." (v. 24)
David had been dead for approximately four centuries when Ezekiel received this word. The announcement of My servant David as king pictures the One of whom the original David was a picture: a man after God's own heart. This is Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus called Himself "the Good Shepherd" (John 10:11, 14). He will be a ruler that serves the best interest of His people and sit on the throne of a restored Israel. He will be one shepherd, a sole ruler over all.
The phrase My servant is a messianic term used frequently in the Old Testament to speak of the coming messiah. This term appears many times in the "Servant Songs" of Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4, 49:5-7, 52:13 - 53:12). Ezekiel also uses "My Servant" to refer to the coming Davidic messiah in Ezekiel 34:23-24. The reference to David points to the fulfillment of the promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:12-13, that his descendant would sit on the throne of Israel forever.
Matthew 1:1 leans into Jesus as the "son of David," the One who will fulfill this prophecy. Matthew even leans into the number 14, the number of David, describing Jesus's genealogy as a trinity of fourteens (Matthew 1:17). The phrase they will all have one shepherd refers to Jesus's leadership as the shepherd of His people.
Jesus is also the second Adam who restored the right of humans to reign in the earth. As Hebrews 2:9 states, "through the suffering of death" Jesus restored God's original design for humans to have dominion over the earth as servant leaders (Hebrews 2:5-8 quotes Psalm 8 which marvels that humans were "crowned" with the "glory and honor" of having dominion over the earth when humans are lower than angels). Jesus will restore Israel and be their king, but He will also reign over all the earth and all peoples as the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15).
One shepherd in verse 24 parallels one king in Ezekiel 37:22. The shepherd-king language draws from the ancient Near Eastern royal convention of the king as shepherd of his people. But in Israel's usage, it carries a specific reference to David, who was a literal shepherd raised up to be king and the LORD Himself as the shepherd of Israel (Psalm 23:1, 80:1).
The Davidic king is the LORD's appointed shepherd. Ezekiel 34 had used the failed shepherd language to describe every king who had scattered the flock. The one shepherd here is the king who gathers. 1 Peter 5 exhorts church elders to view themselves as a team of shepherds working as servants under the "Chief Shepherd," who is Jesus (1 Peter 5:4). Not only is Jesus a shepherd-king who serves His people, to follow Jesus as His disciple is to also live as a servant-leader. This is the means by which we restore connection to our design and recover our purpose as humans.
In the case of Israel, the covenant promise is connected directly with the land of Israel. This is repeated; Jesus will rule over a literal kingdom in a literal location:
"They will live in the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live in it, they, their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever" (v. 25).
The land promise in verse 25 extends to three generations: they, their sons and their sons' sons. The Hebrew word "ad" translated forever in the phrase they, their sons and their sons' sons, forever is literally "until" or "even to." It bears the concept of "until the end of the age." The time when Jesus reigns on a literal throne of Israel in the literal land of Israel on the current earth has a limit. This earth will be burned with fire, and be replaced by a new heaven and earth (2 Peter 3:10-13). The messianic reign on this earth is likely the same as described in Revelation 20:1-4 which is described as lasting a thousand years. After the thousand years this earth will be replaced with a new one.
A different Hebrew word, "olam" is translated as forever in the last phrase of verse 25: and David My servant will be their prince forever. "Olam" carries the sense of long duration or perpetuation. This signals that while Israel will live in the physical territory promised to Jacob on this earth, for the duration of an age, Jesus as the Son of David will lead Israel for all of eternity. We see this in the description of the new earth in Revelation where God comes to dwell physically on the new earth, the Lamb is its light, and the New Jerusalem is the capital city with twelve gates that each are named after one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:1-3, 12, 23).
The land given to Jacob is the territory God promised to Jacob, which was also the land He promised to Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 35:12). The boundaries of this land originally promised in Genesis 15:18 ran from the Nile to the Euphrates. This means that in the messianic kingdom, Israel's borders will be beyond any that have otherwise existed. As can be seen in Ezekiel 47:1-12 as well as the description of Ezekiel's temple in chapters 40-44, the geography of the area will change dramatically as well. The Dead Sea will become alive, being fed by a river with its headwaters under the steps of the new temple (Ezekiel 47:1-12).
We can see a new apportioning of lands to the twelve tribes in Ezekiel 47:13-23. This reflects the assertion of the parable of the two sticks, that God will revive all twelve tribes and unite them as one (Ezekiel 37:21-22). The "brook of Egypt" is mentioned as a border (Ezekiel 47:19) but does not mention the Euphrates.
Since God granted the land as an inheritance but left it to the people to possess their inheritance, this could mean that their deeded lands reach to the extent they were ever possessed. The New Testament includes the same concept, that God grants believers an inheritance as a reward, but that inheritance must be possessed through living as a faithful witness. Romans 8:17 is one example. In Romans 8:17a, God is unconditionally every believer's inheritance, through having been born into His family through His grace. In 8:17b, believers become "joint heirs" with Christ only through participating in His sufferings.
This is the same as Revelation 3:21 that promises the reward of reigning with Christ, sharing His authority, only to those who overcome as He overcame. The book of Hebrews, written to "holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1), is written mainly to warn believers that they must persist in their faithful witness if they desire to possess their full reward of inheritance. It uses the first generation of Jews who left Egypt but did not possess the Promised Land, as well as Esau who sold his birthright, as examples of what NOT to do (Hebrews 3:8, 11, 12:16).
Hebrews elevates many examples to follow in Chapter 11, the witnesses of faith, and Hebrews 12:1-2 cites Jesus as the ultimate example to follow. Jesus endured "shame" from the world, but gave it no value as compared to the "joy" he pursued, which was to sit down "at the right hand of the throne of God" and receive all authority in heaven and earth, not only as God, but as a human (Matthew 28:18). 2 John 1:8 indicates that rewards can be lost in whole or part. Perhaps the loss of territory for Israel from Genesis 15:18 to Ezekiel 47:13-23 reflects this principle.
Ezekiel 37:24-25
The Davidic Kingdom
24 “My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.
25 “They will live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live on it, they, and their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever.
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Ezekiel 37:24-25 meaning
Ezekiel 37:24-25 identifies the king who will reign over the reunited people as David—the LORD's servant—one shepherd and one king. This passage promises that they will inhabit the land given to the patriarchs forever. This king will be Jesus, the Son of David, who has been granted all authority but has yet to take up His earthly reign (Matthew 1:1, 28:18).
"My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them." (v. 24)
David had been dead for approximately four centuries when Ezekiel received this word. The announcement of My servant David as king pictures the One of whom the original David was a picture: a man after God's own heart. This is Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus called Himself "the Good Shepherd" (John 10:11, 14). He will be a ruler that serves the best interest of His people and sit on the throne of a restored Israel. He will be one shepherd, a sole ruler over all.
The phrase My servant is a messianic term used frequently in the Old Testament to speak of the coming messiah. This term appears many times in the "Servant Songs" of Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4, 49:5-7, 52:13 - 53:12). Ezekiel also uses "My Servant" to refer to the coming Davidic messiah in Ezekiel 34:23-24. The reference to David points to the fulfillment of the promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:12-13, that his descendant would sit on the throne of Israel forever.
Matthew 1:1 leans into Jesus as the "son of David," the One who will fulfill this prophecy. Matthew even leans into the number 14, the number of David, describing Jesus's genealogy as a trinity of fourteens (Matthew 1:17). The phrase they will all have one shepherd refers to Jesus's leadership as the shepherd of His people.
Jesus is also the second Adam who restored the right of humans to reign in the earth. As Hebrews 2:9 states, "through the suffering of death" Jesus restored God's original design for humans to have dominion over the earth as servant leaders (Hebrews 2:5-8 quotes Psalm 8 which marvels that humans were "crowned" with the "glory and honor" of having dominion over the earth when humans are lower than angels). Jesus will restore Israel and be their king, but He will also reign over all the earth and all peoples as the firstborn of all creation (Colossians 1:15).
One shepherd in verse 24 parallels one king in Ezekiel 37:22. The shepherd-king language draws from the ancient Near Eastern royal convention of the king as shepherd of his people. But in Israel's usage, it carries a specific reference to David, who was a literal shepherd raised up to be king and the LORD Himself as the shepherd of Israel (Psalm 23:1, 80:1).
The Davidic king is the LORD's appointed shepherd. Ezekiel 34 had used the failed shepherd language to describe every king who had scattered the flock. The one shepherd here is the king who gathers. 1 Peter 5 exhorts church elders to view themselves as a team of shepherds working as servants under the "Chief Shepherd," who is Jesus (1 Peter 5:4). Not only is Jesus a shepherd-king who serves His people, to follow Jesus as His disciple is to also live as a servant-leader. This is the means by which we restore connection to our design and recover our purpose as humans.
In the case of Israel, the covenant promise is connected directly with the land of Israel. This is repeated; Jesus will rule over a literal kingdom in a literal location:
"They will live in the land that I gave to Jacob My servant, in which your fathers lived; and they will live in it, they, their sons and their sons' sons, forever; and David My servant will be their prince forever" (v. 25).
The land promise in verse 25 extends to three generations: they, their sons and their sons' sons. The Hebrew word "ad" translated forever in the phrase they, their sons and their sons' sons, forever is literally "until" or "even to." It bears the concept of "until the end of the age." The time when Jesus reigns on a literal throne of Israel in the literal land of Israel on the current earth has a limit. This earth will be burned with fire, and be replaced by a new heaven and earth (2 Peter 3:10-13). The messianic reign on this earth is likely the same as described in Revelation 20:1-4 which is described as lasting a thousand years. After the thousand years this earth will be replaced with a new one.
A different Hebrew word, "olam" is translated as forever in the last phrase of verse 25: and David My servant will be their prince forever. "Olam" carries the sense of long duration or perpetuation. This signals that while Israel will live in the physical territory promised to Jacob on this earth, for the duration of an age, Jesus as the Son of David will lead Israel for all of eternity. We see this in the description of the new earth in Revelation where God comes to dwell physically on the new earth, the Lamb is its light, and the New Jerusalem is the capital city with twelve gates that each are named after one of the twelve tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:1-3, 12, 23).
The land given to Jacob is the territory God promised to Jacob, which was also the land He promised to Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 35:12). The boundaries of this land originally promised in Genesis 15:18 ran from the Nile to the Euphrates. This means that in the messianic kingdom, Israel's borders will be beyond any that have otherwise existed. As can be seen in Ezekiel 47:1-12 as well as the description of Ezekiel's temple in chapters 40-44, the geography of the area will change dramatically as well. The Dead Sea will become alive, being fed by a river with its headwaters under the steps of the new temple (Ezekiel 47:1-12).
We can see a new apportioning of lands to the twelve tribes in Ezekiel 47:13-23. This reflects the assertion of the parable of the two sticks, that God will revive all twelve tribes and unite them as one (Ezekiel 37:21-22). The "brook of Egypt" is mentioned as a border (Ezekiel 47:19) but does not mention the Euphrates.
Since God granted the land as an inheritance but left it to the people to possess their inheritance, this could mean that their deeded lands reach to the extent they were ever possessed. The New Testament includes the same concept, that God grants believers an inheritance as a reward, but that inheritance must be possessed through living as a faithful witness. Romans 8:17 is one example. In Romans 8:17a, God is unconditionally every believer's inheritance, through having been born into His family through His grace. In 8:17b, believers become "joint heirs" with Christ only through participating in His sufferings.
This is the same as Revelation 3:21 that promises the reward of reigning with Christ, sharing His authority, only to those who overcome as He overcame. The book of Hebrews, written to "holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling" (Hebrews 3:1), is written mainly to warn believers that they must persist in their faithful witness if they desire to possess their full reward of inheritance. It uses the first generation of Jews who left Egypt but did not possess the Promised Land, as well as Esau who sold his birthright, as examples of what NOT to do (Hebrews 3:8, 11, 12:16).
Hebrews elevates many examples to follow in Chapter 11, the witnesses of faith, and Hebrews 12:1-2 cites Jesus as the ultimate example to follow. Jesus endured "shame" from the world, but gave it no value as compared to the "joy" he pursued, which was to sit down "at the right hand of the throne of God" and receive all authority in heaven and earth, not only as God, but as a human (Matthew 28:18). 2 John 1:8 indicates that rewards can be lost in whole or part. Perhaps the loss of territory for Israel from Genesis 15:18 to Ezekiel 47:13-23 reflects this principle.