There is much confusion about prophecies in the Old Testament about Israel and how to understand them.

Often our default method is to understand them all literally.  If the prophecy says something like “the Israelites will be restored to Israel”, then by default we tend (and much writing encourages this), to interpret this as saying, “those who are physically descended from Jacob will be restored to the physical location we today call Israel”.  But is this always the right way of understanding such passages?  Is it the default way we should read them?

A test case is Ezekiel 34:11-16.  What is this talking about?  Most people in churches today would probably answer as I did above “those who are physically descended from Jacob will be restored to the physical location we today call Israel”.  However, if we are to take it literally, how do we understand what it says a few verses on in Ezekiel 34:23-24?  Who is the David referred to here?  If this is to be literally fulfilled, then it should be, to be consistent, David, the son of Jesse, grandson of Ruth.  But we know from the New Testament, that this is really Jesus, who is David’s descendent, and who is the fulfilment of all the prophecies about David and his descendent (Acts 2:22-35).  If verses 23-24 are using imagery, then logically verses 11-16 are also using imagery.  So what it is referring to is that God will gather all who are his, both Jew and Gentile (Galatians 3:28), and will lead them into the new earth promised in the book of Revelation, where they will be in close relationship with Jesus (Revelation 21).

The key to understanding Old Testament prophecy, is not to read it literally, but to instead  understand the New Testament, and then interpret it through New Testament eyes.