Introduction
Ezekiel continues his encouraging messages. He has so far expressed hope for the future in terms of new leadership for the people (Ezekiel 34) and judgment on their enemies (Ezekiel 35). Now he is going to speak of the restoration of Israel to the land (Ezekiel 36).
1 - 7 The Invaders Driven Out
1 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2 Thus says the Lord GOD, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ 3 therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “For good reason they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations and you have been taken up in the talk and the whispering of the people.”‘“ 4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations which are round about, 5 therefore thus says the Lord GOD, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy [and] with scorn of soul, to drive it out for a prey.” 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have endured the insults of the nations.’ 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults.
Ezekiel is to prophesy to “the mountains of Israel” (verse 1). He has been given this command before, but then to proclaim judgment (Ezekiel 6). Now the LORD says to the land that it will again be filled with people (verses 10-11,37-38). This prophecy is contrasted with the prophecy about Mount Seir, which is Edom, for which there is no future (Ezekiel 35).
Israel is called to hear the word of the LORD. The occasion for the prophecy is what the enemy has said about Israel (verse 2). The enemy referred to consists of the nations that have taken the land, such as Ammon and Tyre (verse 3; cf. Eze 25:3; 26:2), with Edom mentioned separately (verse 5; cf. Eze 35:10; 25:12).
The enemy, in his pride, thinks he can take possession of Israel. He speaks of “the everlasting heights” (cf. Gen 49:26; Deu 32:13) having become his possession. “The everlasting heights” is a beautiful description for Israel, which God has chosen for His everlasting possession. The enemy thinks that he can take possession of Israel because the people are scattered and therefore seem to have no right to the promised land (verse 3). The enemy has no eye and no heart for God’s promises for His people.
The nations use big words about God’s land and speak ill of it (cf. Num 13:32). It is the rhetoric of people who pat themselves on the back because of their own righteousness, while portraying the people they want to attack as evil. With it they motivate themselves to go and take possession of the land. In their haughty thoughts, they have already given themselves the land. But God knows their foolish posturing. To Him their words are nothing more than hollow drivel.
He tells the mountains of Israel that He knows how the nations think about the land (verses 4-5). Of all the nations that speak evil of God’s people, only Edom or Esau is mentioned by name. He is the ringleader. The nations have appropriated for themselves the LORD’s land – He calls it “My land” in verse 5 (Lev 25:23). What joy they take in it. With all their hearts they rejoice over this annexation. They already see their flocks grazing on Israel’s pasture land.
Only fools think and speak this way, people who do not take God into account. God does not address them in His answer, but His land. The attitude of the nations is the occasion for Him to pronounce a prophecy about His land in its entire expanse (verse 6). He is wroth at the insults which the nations have brought upon His land and which His land has endured (cf. Zec 1:13-16). Therefore, He says to His land, those nations will themselves endure their insults (verse 7).
8 - 15 Israel Bears Fruit and Is Populated
8 But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. 10 I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt. 11 I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am the LORD. 12 Yes, I will cause men—My people Israel—to walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’ 13 “Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,” 14 therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares the Lord GOD. 15 “I will not let you hear insults from the nations anymore, nor will you bear disgrace from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares the Lord GOD.’”
Unlike the nations (verse 7), His land will no longer bear shame, but it will bear fruit (verse 8). The land will bear fruit for the people of Israel, for the time for the return of the people is at hand, that is, according to the LORD, for to Him the future is present (cf. 2Pet 3:8). In order to work the blessing, He assures them that He is for them and He will turn to the land. The land will be cultivated and sown (verse 9). This is a wonderful reference to the coming of the Messiah to His people whereby the land will also share in His glory.
There will be people in the land again, who together will form the house of Israel (verse 10). It will be one, with nothing missing. The cities will be inhabited again and the ruins rebuilt (cf. Isa 58:12; 61:4; Amos 9:11,14). Man and beast will be numerous and increase in number (verse 11). The former times will revive and even surpassed by the goodness of God. Then the mountains will know that He is the LORD. His people will walk over the land and take possession of it, never to lose it again (verse 12). This situation will be worked and maintained by the Messiah in the realm of peace.
The LORD will turn all that has been said for evil of His land to good (verse 13). His land has been accused of devouring its own people (cf. Num 13:32) and of bereaving its own nation of their children. This is due to their unfaithfulness (Lev 18:24-25,28). Their children died in multitudes in the wars, as well as by being sacrificed to idols by their parents. It will be no longer the case, says the LORD (verse 14). He will deprive the nations of any reason to ever utter another word of insult over the land (verse 15). How He will do that, He says in the next section.
16 - 21 Concern for His Holy Name
16 Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds; their way before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out My wrath on them for the blood which they had shed on the land, because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 Also I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD; yet they have come out of His land.’ 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.
The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel (verse 16). The LORD reminds him of the time Israel lived in their land and what they did then (verse 17). Their ways they have gone and their deeds they have done are clearly before Him. They have defiled themselves, so He has had to treat them like a woman who is a secluded one because of her uncleanness. This means that He has had to break off dealings with this people (Lev 15:19-27).
Instead of being able to show His love to the people, He had to pour out His wrath on them (verse 18). They caused it by their violence and their idolatry. Therefore, He removed them from their land and scattered among the nations and dispersed them throughout the lands (verse 19; Eze 20:23; Lev 26:33). It is the judgment they have deserved by their ways and by their deeds.
Among the nations to which they were scattered and dispersed, they behaved no better than in their land (verse 20). There, too, they profaned the holy Name of the LORD (Rom 2:24; Isa 52:5). From the exile and scattering, the nations draw the conclusion that God has dealt faithlessly with His people and has been unable to protect His people. Thus they profaned the Name of the LORD. But the cause lies with Israel, which has turned away from the LORD in such a way that He did have to deal with them in this way.
However, the LORD Himself will take care for the holiness of His Name before the nations (verse 21). Therefore, He will not give up His people, however guilty they may be, to extermination. That would result in new and greater slander from the nations. However, He will remove all ground for reproach by being merciful to His people, that is, a remnant, by sparing them and redeeming them.
22 - 32 A New Heart and a New Spirit
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD,” declares the Lord GOD, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. 24 For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 I am not doing [this] for your sake,” declares the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!”
Ezekiel is to tell Israel not to think that they owe their redemption and return to their land to themselves (verse 22). The LORD does it solely for His own holy Name’s sake. Never does God’s mercy on man lie with man, but God’s mercy always finds its origin in Himself in spite of man. When the LORD sanctifies His great Name, it is to let the nations know that He and He alone is the LORD.
To accomplish this, He vindicates the holiness of His great name in His people (verse 23). He vindicates in them His Name before the nations by bringing them back to their land, through which He shines as the God of truth and faithfulness. The nations will be impressed by His greatness, as He reveals Himself to His people as the Holy One, Who at the same time maintains His justice and lets His grace prevail.
He Himself will take the initiative and gather His people from all nations and bring them to their land (verse 24). The returned people will experience a tremendous spiritual renewal (verse 25). The LORD Himself will sprinkle clean water on them, making them clean, cleansed from all their filthiness and abominations. Water is a picture of God’s Word and of God’s Spirit (Eph 5:26; Jn 7:38-39). God’s Word, through the working of God’s Spirit, makes them aware of all their sins so that they will confess them.
Confession cleanses and creates room for God to give them “a new heart” and to put “a new spirit” within them (verse 26). He will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. A heart of stone speaks of depraved insensitivity to the LORD. The heart is as hard as stone (cf. 1Sam 25:37). A heart of flesh speaks of receptivity to the Word of God.
In their heart of flesh God will give His Spirit (verse 27). They will not only receive a new spirit in the sense of a new inner being, but God will give them His Spirit. Their heart of flesh will be open to God’s Word. As a result, they will walk in the statutes of the LORD and obediently keep His ordinances by observing them.
If everything is in harmony with the will of God, they will also be able to enjoy the rich blessing of living in the land. The greatest blessing, though, is that they will be a people to Him and He will be a God to them (verse 28).
The Lord Jesus refers to these verses in His conversation with Nicodemus about the new birth (verses 25-28; Jn 3:5-6). He is surprised that Nicodemus does not understand Him, since surely Nicodemus could have known from this section of the book of Ezekiel about what He is talking. The new birth happens through water and the Spirit. The new birth is entirely God’s work through His Word and His Spirit. It is only through this that people are born of God and become His children. No one can do anything about being born of God by himself. And once a person is born of God, no one can change it.
The situation Ezekiel describes will not be a temporary one, but a continuous and unchanging one. This is because the LORD has saved them from all their uncleanness (verse 29). He will call an abundance of blessing over the trees and the field for them instead of the former famine. That famine He had to impose on them because of their constant forsaking Him and sinning against Him. The abundant fruit of the trees and of the field will also result in them no longer receiving the reproach of famine among the nations (verse 30).
The abundant blessing will be in stark contrast to the evil ways they have gone and to their evil deeds (verse 31). The contrast will bring them to loathe themselves. When we receive goodness from God, we will also experience how unworthy we are of that goodness. Then it again dawns on us that the Lord does not bestow His goodness on us because of who we are, as if we were any better than others, but that He does so because of Who He Himself is (verse 32). Then with gratitude there is also shame. The awareness that we are unworthy of the LORD’s goodness is also an evidence of true repentance.
33 - 38 The Sole Purpose: The Glory of the LORD
33 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. 35 They will say, ‘This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate and ruined cities are fortified [and] inhabited.’ 36 Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places [and] planted that which was desolate; I, the LORD, have spoken and will do it.” 37 ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38 Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”‘“
On the same day that the people are cleansed, the LORD will bestow all the deferred blessing on the people (verse 33). The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. The devastated land will be cultivated to bring forth food and fruit (verse 34). The land will remind all who passes by of “the garden of Eden”, paradise (verse 35). The people who pass through the land will be those who first scoffed that the LORD had not been able to preserve His people from destruction (cf. 1Kgs 9:8-9; Jer 18:16; Eze 5:14; 16:15).
So it will be in the realm of peace, when the Lord Jesus reigns as Messiah. The surrounding nations that did not perish in the great tribulation will know that He is the LORD, because He has rebuilt what was ruined and planted that which was desolate (verse 36). He will do it, because He has spoken it.
Israel will then be in perfect harmony with the LORD. They will ask Him things that He gladly answers (verse 37). They may think that there are only a few of them, a rest, a remnant, remaining. Therefore, they will ask Him to multiply the people. He will. He will make them as numerous in people as there are sheep. Sheep are sacrificial animals. The comparison shows that His people will be made up of people who dedicate themselves to Him as a living sacrifice (cf. Rom 12:1).
They will be like sanctified sheep being sacrificed to the LORD on the appointed times (verse 38). Every day of their lives will be like appointed time for them, a day of dedication and sacrifice to the LORD. The formerly destroyed cities will be filled with “flocks of men” (cf. Eze 34:31). What a joy that will be to the LORD! He will receive all the glory for it, for He has done it.