What did Ezekiel 37 say about Israel's dispersion?
Ezekiel 37 pictured Israel's dispersion as becoming like corpses out in the Gentile world. This dispersion followed A.D. 70, when Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple. Yet God did not give up on Israel; Romans 11 says they did not fall out of His program but were set aside while salvation came to Gentiles.
Les explains that Ezekiel 37 pictured Israel as dispersed among the Gentiles, reduced to something like corpses in the Gentile world. That dispersion came after the 40-year book of Acts period, when Titus destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70. Even so, Les teaches, God does not give up on Israel. As Paul says in Romans 11, Israel has not fallen out of God's program; they are merely set aside for a time while God turns to the Gentiles, and by their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles. Les likens this interval to a parenthesis, a period outside the prophetic time frame. Old Testament prophecy concerning Israel always operates within a time frame—490 years determined upon Israel, with 40 years here and 40 years there.