Ezekiel 36

Ezekiel 36 OF THE LAND Ezekiel’s messages of encouragement continue. Thus far Ezekiel has expressed his hope for the future in terms of (1) the establishment of new leadership for the people of God; and (2) the punishment of those who previously had opposed his people. He now proceeds to speak of (3) the restoration of the land of Israel (ch 36); and (4) the rebirth of the nation (ch 37). In the judgment message to Mount Seir (ch 35), the deliverance of Israel was implicit. Ezekiel now is commanded to make that deliverance explicit in an address to the mountains of Israel. Mount Seir had no future; the mountains of Israel do. Here Ezekiel speaks of the material and spiritual aspects of the restoration of Israel. Chapter 36 may be the brightest chapter in the entire book. Four units of thought can be observed, each of which is related to the land.

Ezekiel speaks of the (1) redemption (Ezekiel 36:1-7), (2) repopulation (Ezekiel 36:8-15), (3) purification (Ezekiel 36:16-21), and (4) return to the land (Ezekiel 36:22-38). OF THE LANDEze_36:1-7 First Address to the Mountains(Ezekiel 36:1-3) Introduction (Ezekiel 36:1): And as for you, son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. What the enemy has said (Ezekiel 36:2): Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy has said against you: Aha! even the ancient high places are our possession. As motivation for the positive word to Israel, the words of the opponents are again cited (cf. Ezekiel 35:10). The scornful Aha! (he’ ah) echoes the mockery of the Ammonites (Ezekiel 25:3) and Tyrians (Ezekiel 26:2). The ancient high places are the mountains of Israel. The enemies who had cast a covetous eye on the ancient hilly terrain of Canaan had underestimated the power and intention of the God of Israel (Ezekiel 36:2).

God had wonderful plans for his people. On the other hand, the enemies have to pay for their crimes against Israel. The crimes of the enemies (Ezekiel 36:3): Therefore, prophesy and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: because, even because they have made you desolate and swallowed you up on every side that you might be a possession to the rest of the nations, and you are the object of conversation by talkers, and the evil report of people. Three crimes had been committed against the land of Israel: (1) they (the Babylonians) had made the land desolate; (2) the rest of the nations, i.e., the neighbors of Israel, had cast covetous eyes upon that vacant land; and (3) they had spoken of the defeated Jews with contempt.Second Address to the Mountains (Ezekiel 36:4-5) Introduction (Ezekiel 36:4): 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 streams and to the valleys, and to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that have been forsaken which have become a prey and a derision to the rest of the nations that are round about; God had good news for the forsaken cities and desolate wastes that neighboring nations were attempting to seize even while they spoke so contemptuously about them. Judgment against the nations (Ezekiel 35:5): therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against Edom, that have appointed my land as a possession for themselves with the joy of all their heart, with disdain of soul, in order that its open country should be for spoil. In the form of an oath, God confirms his word of judgment on the rest of the nations. He was moved by jealousy, i.e., zeal, for his people. The fire of that jealousy was burning against those nations— especially Edom— that desired to possess Canaan for themselves. Four crimes of these nations are recapitulated: unjustified claim to ownership of the land, gloating over the misfortune of the land, disdain for the people who once occupied that land, and greedy desire to make spoil of that land. Third Address to the Mountains (Ezekiel 36:6-7): Introduction (Ezekiel 36:6 a): Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys; Reproach for the nations (Ezekiel 36:6-7): Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, in my jealousy and in my fury, have spoken because you have borne the reproach of the nations; (Ezekiel 36:7) therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: I have lifted up my hand. Surely the nations that are round about you will bear their reproach. Because the land of Judah had borne the shame of invasion and derision by neighbors, God had spoken in His jealous fury against those nations. To suffer reproach, i.e., disgrace or shame, is a frequent theme in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36:6). God had lifted up His hand in a formal oath that those nations would eventually bear their own shame. They would experience the humiliation that they had inflicted upon the Judeans (Ezekiel 36:7). OF THE LAND Ezekiel 36:8-15 Yahweh’s word now focuses on what will happen on the mountains of Israel once the reproach of desolation is removed from them.Inhabitants Multiplied (Ezekiel 36:8-12) Fruitfulness (Ezekiel 36:8): But as for you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches. Your fruit you will bear for my people Israel; for they are near to come. The mountains of Canaan become once again Israel’s mountains. The fertile hills of Canaan will yet yield their fruit to God’s people, not to strangers. Israel’s return is near to come, lit., at hand to come. The end of the exile was not far off. Assistance (Ezekiel 36:9): For, behold, I am for you! I will turn to you.

You will be tilled and sown. The divine I am against you that God uttered against Mount Seir (Ezekiel 35:3) is reversed as regards the mountains of Israel. God is not only for the mountains of Israel, he is about to turn unto them, i.e., take an active interest in them. As a result, those hills and valleys will once again be cultivated. Divine turning to them with resultant agricultural abundance is a restatement of the Mosaic prediction of Lev 26:9. Multiplication (Ezekiel 36:10-11): I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it. The cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be built up. (Ezekiel 36:11) I will multiply men upon you and cattle. They will increase and be fruitful.

I will cause you to be inhabited as in former times. I will make it better than your beginnings. You will know that I am the LORD. Men multiply in the land as former citizens of both kingdoms united to rebuild their ruined land (Ezekiel 36:10). The promise of multiplication of population is repeated in the exact words of the previous verse for emphasis. However, beasts, as well as men, will increase. The numbers of both will be equivalent to their former strength in pre-exilic times. In fact, God will bless restored Israel beyond anything experienced in bygone days (Ezekiel 36:11).

Possession (Ezekiel 36:12): I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel. They will possess you. You will be an inheritance for them. You will no more bereave them of their children. The feet of God’ s people will yet walk over the mountains of Canaan. They will again possess those hills as their national inheritance. No more will those hills rob God’ s people of their children through war, pestilence and famine that in former days had occurred there.Reproach Removed (Ezekiel 36:13-15) The reproach stated (Ezekiel 36:13): Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they are saying to you: You devour men, and bereave your nations; One of the derogatory allegations hurled at the land of Canaan was that the land devoured its inhabitants. The land that ought to be the mother and bearer of children seems to resemble the wild ravening beast seeking to devour its victims. The original inhabitants— the Canaanites— had been destroyed; now Israel had undergone a similar fate. It seemed that every nation that had occupied that land had been bereaved. The latter part of this quote may be translated, and you have aborted your nations. The Hebrew term (sakal) is used in this sense (Exodus 23:26; 2 Kings 2:19).

The land once spewed out its Canaanite population (Leviticus 18:25; Leviticus 18:28). It also devoured Israelites in the invasions of 732, 722, 597 and 586 B.C.The announcement (Ezekiel 36:14): therefore, you will not devour men any more, and your nations you will not again bereave (oracle of the Lord GOD); Once Israel returns to that land, things will be different. God’ s people will neither be devoured nor bereaved. The explanation (Ezekiel 36:15): I will not allow the shame of the nations to be heard against you any more. You will not bear the reproach of peoples any more. You will not bereave your nations any more (oracle of the Lord GOD).

No more will God’s people have to endure the derision of the nations because of what occurred to them in that land. The land of Canaan will no more be a stumbling block to the people who live in it. They will dwell safely and securely in that land (Ezekiel 36:15). The promises of this chapter are conditional. As long as the returnees are faithful to God, he will bless them in the ways Ezekiel predicted. History records that even after their return to the land, the Jews failed to live up to their commitment to the Lord.

OF THE LAND Ezekiel 36:16-21 Israel’s Provocations (Ezekiel 36:16-20) They defiled God’s land (36:16-18): The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (Ezekiel 36:17) Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelled upon their land, they defiled it by their way and by their deeds. Like the uncleanness of a menstruous woman was their way before me. (Ezekiel 36:18) I poured out my fury upon them because of the blood that they poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. Ezekiel intends to set forth clearly the magnificent grace of God in bringing Israel back to her land. To accomplish this purpose, he reviews the circumstances that brought about Israel’s dispersion among the nations. Israel, the wife of God, had defiled the land by her general way, i.e., course of conduct, and by her specific deeds. The divine Husband temporarily avoided the impure wife, just as any ancient Israelite male was required to avoid intimacy with his wife during her monthly period (Ezekiel 36:17).

God poured out His wrath upon his people because of their inexcusable impurity manifested especially in bloodshed and idolatry (Ezekiel 36:18). They profaned God’s name (Ezekiel 36:19-20): I scattered them among the nations. They were dispersed through lands. According to their way and according to their deeds, I judged them. (Ezekiel 36:20) When they came unto the nations where they came, they profaned my holy name. Men said of them: These are the people of the LORD. From his land they have gone forth.

The wayward people were judged according to their deeds. God scattered them (cf. Ezekiel 12:15; Ezekiel 20:23) among the nations. He judged them according to their deeds as in Ezekiel 24:14 (Ezekiel 36:19). In the foreign lands, Israel profaned the name of the Lord, not by what they did, but by just being there. What a dilemma for God! First the holy people, then the holy land, and most importantly the holy name had been profaned. The nations did not realize that Israel’ s punishment was just retribution for moral and religious shortcomings. Seeing the condition of Yahweh’ s people, they concluded that the God of Israel was unable to protect his own devotees. The fears expressed by Moses in intercessory prayers (Exodus 32:12; Numbers 14:16) had become a reality (Ezekiel 36:20).

According to pagan logic, the gods of Babylon had to be superior to Yahweh since the Babylonians had made the land of Israel desolate and dispersed the people of the Lord. Thus the divine name had suffered indignity without cause. God’s Pity (Ezekiel 36:21): But I had pity upon my holy name that the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they had come. God took pity upon his holy name— his reputation— that was being unjustly attacked (v 21). God is motivated to intervene on behalf of Israel because of his great concern that all mankind comes to know him as creator and redeemer. The exiles must have been pondering how the holy Yahweh could ever again forgive his sinful people whom he had been forced to drive out of Canaan on account of his holiness.

The present oracle is Ezekiel’s answer to this despair.RETURN TO THE LAND Ezekiel 36:22-38 God’s Name Sanctified (Ezekiel 36:22-23): Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name that you have defiled among the nations where you came. (Ezekiel 36:23) I will sanctify my great name that has been profaned in their midst; and the nations will know that I am the LORD (oracle of the Lord GOD) when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. Israel did not merit salvation from exile and restoration to the homeland. But it was necessary as part of God’ s long-range plan, to re-establish the divine reputation. Since His name was inseparably connected with the fortunes of Israel, positive divine action on behalf of his people was imperative. God’s name is all that he has revealed about himself, all that can be known of him. For the sake of this revelation, Yahweh will not abandon his people (Ezekiel 36:22).By restoring Israel to the land of Canaan, God will sanctify His name, i.e., set it apart for awe and reverence.

The restoration of Israel will prove that the Babylonian captivity was not due to God’ s weakness. The nations will come to know the God of Israel as truly the great I AM, Yahweh, when they witnessed the sudden reversal of the fortunes of his devoted followers (Ezekiel 36:23-24).

Relationship with God Restored (Ezekiel 36:24-28): The thesis of this unit is that Yahweh will now act to sanctify his name in a way that far surpasses his activity as described in Ezekiel 20:9; Ezekiel 20:14; Ezekiel 20:22. He will create something fundamentally new. Israel will be reconstituted along lines that will make possible uninterrupted fellowship with Yahweh. This takes place in five stages. Gathering (Ezekiel 36:24): For I will take you from the nations. I will gather you from all the lands. I will bring you unto your own land. Yahweh will bring his people back from among the nations (cf.

Ezekiel 34:13). The ridicule of the nations in v 20 is silenced when Yahweh’s people and land are reunited. Purification (Ezekiel 36:25): I will sprinkle upon you clean water. You will be clean from all your uncleanness. From all your idols I will cleanse you. Yahweh will purify Israel from uncleanness. The verb sprinkle (zaraq) is most used in connection with the application of blood (e.g., Exodus 24:6; Leviticus 1:5). The verb points to a priestly ministry.

The agent of the sprinkling is God himself. This passage clearly forms part of the background for the New Testament teaching on the priestly ministry of Christ. The reference to clean water sets this passage apart from the ritual purification by the water of purification (Numbers 19:9-22). The uncleanness here is not physical and cultic, but moral and spiritual. The cleansing is from idols, i.e., idolatry and violent deeds (cf. v Ezekiel 36:18), actions from which cleansing was impossible by Mosaic rituals. This promise may be built upon the ritual consecration of Levites (Numbers 8:7), suggesting the priestly nature of the messianic Israel.

Only a holy people can live in a holy land (Ezekiel 36:25). The writer of Hebrews probably had this passage in mind when he spoke of Christians who have their hearts sprinkled by Priest Jesus and their bodies washed with water (Hebrews 10:32).

Transformation (Ezekiel 36:26): I will give to you a new heart. A new spirit will I place within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a new heart. Yahweh effects an inner transformation of penitent Israel. As a result of the cleansing, those delivered from exile receive a new heart— a tender and responsive heart of flesh— to replace the stony heart that so long had been impervious to divine pleas and warnings (cf. Ezekiel 11:19). In the Bible, the heart is not so much the center of emotion as of thought and will. The new spirit is even more inclusive.

It points to the whole inner life or disposition of a person. Empowerment (Ezekiel 36:27): My Spirit I will put within you. I will bring it about that you will walk in my statutes, and that you will keep and do my ordinances. Yahweh empowers through his Spirit those who have turned to him. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament provides power to accomplish what would not be possible without his presence (e.g., 1 Samuel 10:6 f.). In this case, the indwelling Spirit enables God’ s people to walk the path of obedience (Ezekiel 36:27; cf. Ezekiel 11:20). Ezekiel goes beyond the expectation of Jer 31:31 ff. that announces that God will put his law within the human heart.

Reconciliation (Ezekiel 36:28): You will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. You will be My people, and I will be your God. Glorious consequences follow upon the spiritual regeneration of Israel— God’ s people: (1) They dwell in the land that God had given to the Patriarchs. The obedience mentioned in the previous verse is the precondition for remaining in the land. As long, however, as they follow the direction of God’s Spirit, they are secure in that land. Here, as is frequent in prophecy, the land of Canaan is a type of Christ’s kingdom. (2) They belong to God as his special possession. (3) The Lord is their God in the special sense in which he is the God of all who love and obey him.Blessings Dispensed(Ezekiel 36:29-32) Description of the blessings (Ezekiel 36:29-30): I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call unto the grain, and increase it. I will not bring famine upon you. (30) I will increase the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, in order that you may no longer receive the reproach of famine among the nations. Changes in the external life of the nation accompany the inward changes described in the previous verses. By the power of the indwelling Spirit, God saves them from uncleanness, i.e., he helps them to overcome their tendency to lapse into sin. God summons, as if miraculously, the grain.

He restores the fertility of the land. Fruit trees, as well as grain fields, yield their abundant harvests. Famines, which periodically had plagued the Canaan of old, are a thing of the past (cf. Ezekiel 34:26-29). No more are non-believers able to bring reproach on God’ s people on this account (Ezekiel 36:29-30). Response to the blessings (Ezekiel 36:31-32): Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good.

You will loathe yourselves in your sight on account of your iniquities and your abominations. (Ezekiel 36:32) Not for your sake will I do this (oracle of the Lord GOD), be it known to you. Be ashamed and confounded because of your ways, O house of Israel. The redeemed will never forget the ugliness of the sinful life from which God has saved them. Having experienced the cleansing of God, the empowerment of his Spirit, and fellowship with the Lord, redeemed Israel will loathe, i.e., abhor their former life of sin (cf. Ezekiel 6:9). They make a complete break with their past life of rebellion (Ezekiel 36:31).

The redeemed realize that they do not deserve the blessing that they receive from the hand of God. Their salvation is a pure act of divine grace. It is, therefore, appropriate that they be ashamed of their past conduct which, if dealt with by God in absolute justice, would have demanded complete and final rejection (Ezekiel 36:32). Desolated Places Populated (Ezekiel 36:33-36) Depiction of the blessings (Ezekiel 36:33-34): Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause cities to be inhabited, and the waste places to be built up. (Ezekiel 36:34) And the desolate land will be tilled instead of remaining a desolation in the sight of all who pass by. The day of cleansing is marked by the repopulation of the desolate land of Canaan (Ezekiel 36:33). Even those areas thought by passers-by to be beyond reclamation would be productive again (Ezekiel 36:34). Reaction to the blessings (Ezekiel 36:35-36) Amazement of observers (Ezekiel 36:35): And they will say: This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. The transformation in the land causes amazement on the part of those outside the nation. The once ugly and barren land suddenly becomes as beautiful as the garden of Eden. The ruined and defenseless cities are filled and fortified (Ezekiel 36:35). Some think that Ezekiel 38:11 (no walls, bars or gates) contradicts this description of the fortification of the land. Zimmerli suggests that fortified here refers figuratively to the protection that, according to Zechariah 2:9, Yahweh offers to Jerusalem like a wall of fire.

Conclusion of observers (Ezekiel 36:36): The nations that remain round about you will know that I the LORD have built the ruined places, and planted the places that were desolate; I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. Certain nations remain round about restored Israel. Obviously Israel’s neighbors were not totally destroyed in the judgments previously announced by the prophet. They remain to be witnesses of Yahweh’s faithfulness to his people. These nations recognize the hand of God in Israel’s restoration. Through His prophets, God had announced beforehand what He planned to do.

He who cannot lie always performs His word. Thus it is that through the fulfillment of prophecy, non-believers come to see the works of God in history.Petitions Answered (Ezekiel 36:37-38) God will listen to their prayers (Ezekiel 36:37): Thus says the Lord GOD: I will yet for this be petitioned by the house of Israel, to do it for them. I will increase them with men like a flock. Earlier Ezekiel had insisted that God would not allow himself to be petitioned by the hypocritical leaders of the exilic community. Here Yahweh allows Himself to be petitioned to act on behalf of the redeemed house of Israel. They are a small band at first. But they pray for an increase in numbers (cf. Ezekiel 36:11). One of the principal concerns of those who know the Lord as savior is that others might share in the blessings of salvation. God here promises to hear that prayer and answer it. God will answer their prayers (Ezekiel 36:38): As a holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed times, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they will know that I am the LORD. As the city of Jerusalem swarmed with sacrificial animals before one of the appointed national festivals, so would the waste areas reclaimed by God’ s people swarm with men (cf. Zechariah 2:8). Ezekiel describes this flock as holy, i.e., a population that is a living sacrifice to God. The fulfillment of this promise strengthens the faith of God’ s people. They join the nations (cf.

Ezekiel 36:36) in acknowledging the supremacy of Yahweh. The promises of the repopulation of Canaan began to be fulfilled in the return of the Jews to Canaan in 538 B.C. But earthly Canaan was but a type of that better country promised to the people of God from the time of Abraham (Hebrews 11:9-10; Hebrews 11:16). The return to Canaan after Babylonian exile was at the same time a fulfillment of a promise, and the down payment of a promise. True Israelites, through faith in Christ, have left the bondage of the world. They have come into spiritual Canaan (Hebrews 12:22).

Properly understood, Ezekiel 36:22-38 points to the spiritual realities of this present gospel age.Ezekiel Chapter Thirty-Six Verse 1 ISRAEL’S RETURN TO ; AND THE NEW This chapter falls into two major divisions: (1) the external restoration of Israel to their homeland (Ezekiel 36:1-15), and (2) the spiritual restoration of Israel (Ezekiel 36:16-38). The smaller subdivisions will be noted below in our commentary. THE OF ALL EDOMEze_36:1-7"And thou, son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: because the enemy hath said against you, Aha! and the ancient high places are ours in possession, therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up in the lips of the talkers, and the evil report of the people; therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and a derision to the residue of the nations that are round about; therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land unto themselves for a possession with all the joy of their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains and the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because ye have borne the shame of the nations: therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are round about you, they shall bear their shame.““To the mountains and to the hills of Israel” (Ezekiel 36:1; Ezekiel 36:4; Ezekiel 36:6)). The hills are included here as one of the outstanding physical features of Palestine and have no reference to the idolatrous worship associated with the high places during Israel’s residence there. “Throughout the first fifteen verses of this chapter, there is a studied contrast with what was stated concerning Edom in the previous chapter."[1] Many have pointed out that Ezekiel 35 and the first fifteen verses here are actually a single chapter. “These first seven verses betray an intensity of patriotic feeling not often seen in Ezekiel; it seems that the outrages of the nations against Israel are still in his mind as he begins this prophecy of future blessing for Israel."[2]Note that the word “therefore” is used six times in this single paragraph, followed each time with the words, “Thus saith the Lord.” “On the lip of the talkers …” (Ezekiel 36:3). This is an effective expression for the slanderers who were taking advantage of Israel’s being cast out of Palestine to push their blasphemous charges that Jehovah was a defunct god, no longer able to protect or bless his people. It was precisely this attitude of the pagan nations of that era that required God’s destruction of them. In the universally accepted theology of the pagan world of that time, the only gods were the local deities, identified with geographical limitations; and many of the Hebrews (Jonah, for example) held the same view. Therefore, if disaster befell a people, it proved the incompetence and weakness of the god of their land. This emphasizes what a compound tragedy the apostasy of Israel actually was, not merely for themselves, but for all men. The apostasy of Israel demanded God’s destruction of their state and the captivity of their people; and then the pagan reaction and blasphemous charges based on that disaster required the destruction of the pagan world itself. “I have spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom …” (Ezekiel 36:5). This emphasizes the connection with Ezekiel 35. “Edom here stands as a representative of all pagan nations."[3]A summary of the meaning of these first fifteen verses is that, “The highlands of Seir (Edom) which seemed to be beginning an era of great prosperity will lose all the trump cards they think they hold; and the highlands of Israel, which seemed to have lost all hope and all power of recovery, will not only survive but will enjoy a period of unparalleled prosperity, to the disappointment of their enemies."[4]Verse 8 “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown; and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded; and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more bereave them of children. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because they say unto you, Thou land art a devourer of men, and hast been a bereaver of thy nation; therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nation any more, saith the Lord Jehovah: neither will I let them bear any more the shame of the nations, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nation to stumble any more, saith the Lord Jehovah.“ISRAEL’S TO (Ezekiel 36:8-15) “They are at hand to come …” (Ezekiel 36:8). Despite the fact that about forty years would yet expire before Israel reentered Palestine, their repatriation is represented as something “at hand.” This is in keeping with the custom of all the prophets of considering that anything God has promised to do is actually “at hand,” regardless of exactly when it will occur. The promise of God makes itas sure as if it had already happened. Pearson has summarized the promises of Israel’s re-entry into Palestine as inclusive of: “(1) The wonderful fruitfulness and productivity of the land; (2) the re-population of Palestine; (3) the elimination of scarcity; (4) freedom from reproach; and (5) the security and prosperity of the nation in a degree even surpassing their former estate’ and the time of their `beginnings.’"[5]We agree with Cook that these great promises of material blessings in their ultimate meaning were typical of the spiritual blessings in the times of Messiah; “But we may not doubt that the prophecy had as its first objective the return of prosperity to the land and the people, after their return from Babylon."[6]The sad thing is that this projected picture of the restored Israel in Palestine never turned out that way at all. There are two explanations offered by different schools of thinking as to the meaning of this fact. (1) The millennialists postpone the actual and complete fulfillment of these promises to some future time during the Millennium. (2) Others point out that, since all of God’s promises are contingent, absolutely, upon some acceptable degree of obedience and cooperation of the people themselves to whom the promises came (See Jeremiah 17:7-10), and that no such obedience or cooperation on the part of Israel ever occurred, the prophecies have never been fulfilled, nor will they ever be. The continued apostasy of Israel, the further development of that judicial hardening already pronounced against the race of Israel by Isaiah 6:9, never diminished, but became worse and wore, until it was confirmed by Jesus Christ himself as terminal and irrevocable (Matthew 13:14 f), resulting finally in their rejection and murder of the Christ himself when he came, incurring the judgment of destruction upon the nation and their city of Jerusalem, as recorded inMatthew 24, a judgment executed by the overthrow of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. In view of all these things, the prophecies here were unfulfilled, nor shall they ever be fulfilled. This writer accepts this explanation as correct and is fully convinced that the Jewish race, along with all other races, as such, are not vital factors at all in the problem of human redemption. God’s message to all races and nations is simply this: “Whosoever will may come!” No man will ever be either saved or lost eternally on the basis either of his race or his “nation.” Salvation, beginning with the Advent of Jesus Christ and ever afterward is an individual matter. All of the wonderful things prophesied of Israel in this chapter, as regards their physical and temporal welfare, were things God intended to do and would have done if Israel had done their part. Look what Israel did. When God ordered them to go back to Palestine, and when Cyrus the king of Persia himself authorized their departure and even paid part of the cost, only a pitiful little handful of the captives responded. The vast majority, according to Josephus, already growing wealthy in Babylon, elected not to go. And the group that went, look what they did. Malachi records that the priesthood itself turned out to be a bunch of robbers, robbing God himself; and the people were not paying their tithes, nor doing anything else that Jehovah had commanded; and even the ones who brought sacrifices brought the sick, the lame, and the blind and other illegal sacrifices. God even cursed the reprobate priesthood. Malachi even challenged the people to obey the Law of Moses and to bring the whole tithe into God’s storehouse, “Prove me now, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). Did it happen? Certainly not. The wickedness of Israel prevailed. This same wickedness prevented many other of the projected blessings of Israel from being given by the Lord. And yet, enough of the promises were fulfilled to encourage and bless the remnant who “waited for the kingdom of God.” They were indeed returned to Palestine; the cities were rebuilt, the land repopulated, and they were the objects of God’s signal protection, especially from the ravages of Alexander the Great in the fourth century B.C. Also the hand of God is clearly seen in many other inter-testamental developments: (1) the provision of the Greek language as the near-universal medium of communication, (2) the tragedy leading to the building of synagogues, (3) the events leading to the reading of the prophets, along with the Law, in the weekly sabbath services, (4) the complete disillusionment of the whole pagan world with the prevailing paganism of the times, and (5) the development of the judicial hardening of all mankind as a prelude to the First Advent of Christ. Also, throughout this period, the preservation of the Jewish records of the genealogies of the tribes and of the House of David made it possible for Jesus Christ Himself to be positively and accurately identified as the legitimate heir to the throne of David, and at the same time a descendant of David through Nathan instead of Solomon (Matthew 1 and Luke 3). Feinberg freely admitted that these prophecies were not fulfilled upon the return of Israel from Babylon, stating that, “The conditions depicted here are clearly millennial."[7] This opinion is echoed by a number of scholars; and as long as the fact of the reign of Christ in this present dispensation is understood as the Millennium, the opinion is correct. However, when the Millennium is projected as a literal thousand years reign of Jesus Christ on a literal throne in Jerusalem involving a wholesale return of racial Israel as Christ’s followers, such notions must be rejected as unsupported by the Holy Scriptures. (For those who may be interested in the pursuit of this subject, see Revelation 20 of my series of commentaries on the New Testament.) “Thou shalt no more devour men … nor bereave …” (Ezekiel 36:13). It will be remembered that this was precisely the charge that the unfaithful spies brought against “the mountains of Israel” when they gave their evil report to Moses (Numbers 13:32). It is still not clear what lay behind such a false charge. “A land incapable of supporting its people, or wherein they suffered loss through war or other divine scourges could be said to bereave the people."[8]Whatever the basis of the saying and regardless of its truth or falsity, God here prophesied the termination of it. “Israel shall no more bear the shame of nations … neither shall (they) stumble any more …”(Ezekiel 36:15). As we have already seen, “That portion of the nation which returned from captivity not only continued under the rule of the heathen, but also, in various ways, they continued to bear the contempt of the nations; and eventually Israel not only stumbled, but fell very low in their rejection of the Saviour; and the nation of Israel was again conquered, destroyed and scattered; and the land was utterly devastated and wasted."[9]This projected return of Israel to Palestine implied a gathering of Israel from all the places where God had scattered them; and there is no way that the handful of returnees from Babylon fulfilled that intention upon God’s part. When did such an ingathering happen.’? Cook, it appears to us, was absolutely correct when he declared that, “The reunion will be in those days when Israel shall be gathered into the Church of God."[10]Verse 16 “Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Wherefore I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood which they had poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols; and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they came unto the nations, wither they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and are gone forth out of the land. But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they went.“THE REASON FOR ISRAEL’S (Ezekiel 36:16-21) “As the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity …” (Ezekiel 36:19). The significance of this comparison lies in the fact that the Mosaic law required that a woman “in her uncleanness” was separated from the congregation (Leviticus 15:19 ff), the point being in the case of Israel that their “uncleanness” was of a type that required them to be separated from the land of Israel. “When they came into the nations …” (Ezekiel 36:20). This paragraph points out that the continued profanation of the name of Jehovah in those countries where Israel had been scattered was due to what the citizens of those nations were saying. “In that the men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah …” (Ezekiel 36:20). The implication of pagan enemies in such remarks was that Jehovah was an incompetent and impotent god, unable to protect his people. Although not mentioned by Ezekiel here, Israel was to blame for the blasphemy that rose among the pagan nations in other ways. Paul clearly stated in Romans 2:21-24 that, “The Jews were thieves, adulterers, robbers of temples, idolaters, and transgressors of the law, and that they dishonored the name of God,” by reason of whom, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles.” What Ezekiel says here in no way nullifies what Paul said. The principal teaching of this whole paragraph is that the conduct of Israel, not only when they dwelt in Palestine, but afterward in the countries where they were scattered, fully justified and even demanded that God remove them from the promised land. Verse 22 “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.“THE OF ISRAEL (Ezekiel 36:22-31) “Which hath been profaned … which ye have profaned among the nations …” (Ezekiel 36:23). Let it be observed that the profanation is here indicated in its double nature, derived from the blasphemous words of the pagans, and from the conduct of Israel also. Not only did those citizens in pagan lands profane God’s name, the word of the Lord states, “which ye have profaned.” There is not a more eloquent passage in the Bible stressing the fact that, in the last analysis, salvation was undeserved by ancient Israel, even as it is also undeserved in the New Israel. There is no such thing as a salvation from God being merited, deserved, or earned by the ones saved. The best Christians on earth are still unprofitable servants (Luke 17:10), even as were the citizens of ancient Israel. The reason for ancient Israel’s return from captivity was not their merit, but the glory of God as required by his eternal purpose. “I will bring you into your own land …” (Ezekiel 36:24). Yes indeed, God did it through his servant Cyrus, just as he had promised more than a century earlier. There cannot possibly be any doubt that such an event as Cyrus’ sending Israel back to Palestine would have been hailed as a signal act of God all over the world. The reestablishing of Israel in Canaan was a giant step indeed toward the redemption of the reputation of Jehovah as the God of all nations. What a shame it was that Israel’s response was so inadequate, yet sufficient for God’s purpose. Verse 25 “And I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stoney heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. And I will save you from your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the vine, and the increase of the field, that ye may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations.

Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and ye shall loathe yourselves in you own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.“THE OF ISRAEL"Ye shall be clean from your filthiness … a new heart will I give you … I will put my Spirit within you …” (Ezekiel 36:25-27). As Pearson analyzed this cleansing of Israel, it consisted of three steps: “(1) the forgiveness of sins; (2) regeneration; and (3) the reception of the Holy Spirit."[11] Significantly, none of these was available under the Law of Moses. Only under the gracious terms of the New Covenant has there ever been available to mortal men such blessings as these. There was no forgiveness of sins under Moses; there was no Holy Spirit within all the people; there was no regeneration. Conservative scholars have no trouble at all with this passage. The cleansing of Israel will take place in the kingdom of Messiah established by the First Advent of the Son of God. Just as the terms of Israel’s peace, prosperity, and security in regard to their possession of Canaan were conditional; so also are the promises here with regard to their forgiveness, their regeneration, and their receiving the Spirit of God. The double tragedy is that Israel’s hardening and rebellion against God hindered their return to Palestine and greatly reduced the blessings; and the second phase of it was that, for the vast majority of them, they rejected the Christ, preferring to die in their sins. “This prophecy teaches that this cleansing of Israel would be through the New Covenant, as in Jeremiah 31:31-34. This would follow the return of Israel to Canaan, where, in time, the people would accept the Messiah as their Saviour through whose death sin would be forgiven; their former iniquity would be remembered no more; they would despise themselves for their former sins; and in possession of a new heart and the Spirit of God, they would lead righteous lives."[12]The new Testament reveals that this projection was frustrated, although not completely, by the apostate and rebellious Israel. That “righteous remnant” mentioned ages previously in the writings of the great prophets of God persevered in their devotion to the kingdom of heaven. The relatively small group who were faithful to the Word of God rallied around the holy apostles of Jesus Christ, forming the nucleus of the New Israel of God, under whose leadership virtually the whole world were turned to Christianity. There is nothing in all history to compare with this. “I will sprinkle clean water upon you …” (Ezekiel 36:25). This metaphor probably came from the Mosaic law which prescribed the sprinkling of water mingled with ashes of a red heifer in the ceremonial cleansing of certain guilt. However, since the whole passage speaks of the New Covenant, it appears that Hebrews 10:22;John 3:5; Ephesians 5:25-26; Titus 3:5, etc. provide the true anti-type of which the Levitical sprinkling was only a symbol. “It is clear enough in this passage that the physical return of Israel to Canaan does not hold the center of the stage; this was only a preliminary to the bestowal of salvation upon all men."[13]“I will call for the grain, and multiply it …” (Ezekiel 36:29). It is strange that commentators do not make more of the fact that the rich and abundant places of the earth today are precisely those lands which operate under Christian principles, and where, although imperfectly, God through Jesus Christ is worshipped continually by vast numbers of the people. In the last dozen years, the United States alone has been feeding half of the vast empire of the Russians, where Christianity has been outlawed for three generations. Does this tell us anything? We believe that it does. Where are the vast populations of earth suffering from famine and starvation? It is precisely in those places where there is the least evidence of any knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. May our beloved nation never forget the source of their bounty, attributing it to themselves, their system of government, their economic system, or anything else except Almighty God “from whom all blessings flow!.” Cook has wisely noted that in Ezekiel we have a shift of emphasis from the nation or the country to the individual, “From congregation to the individual, from the letter to the spirit, from the Law to the Gospel, and from Moses to Christ."[14] To this we would add, “from the Old Israel to the New Israel.” Verse 32 “Not for your sake do I this, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day that I cleanse you from your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, Jehovah, have builded the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Jehovah, have spoken, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock.

As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of. Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with the flocks of men: and they shall know that I am Jehovah.“THE GREAT IS GOD’S GLORY (Ezekiel 36:32-28) “In the day that I cleanse you from your iniquities …” (Ezekiel 36:33). This means that all of the great temporal blessings promised for Israel will come after the New Covenant has been established, and after Israel has accepted it, that at that time God will pour out all of these rich blessings upon Israel. Of course, that is not the way it turned out; but it is the way that it would have turned out if Israel had only accepted the Lord when he came. What really happened was that Israel not only rejected the Saviour, they contrived his crucifixion by a cunning combination of suborned testimony, political pressure, and mob violence. They manufactured lies about his resurrection, they opposed with the bitterest hatred the work of the holy apostles and successfully enlisted the power of Rome itself against the Church. In that last sin, they also accomplished their own destruction. For Rome learned that the Church of Christ was a legitimate offspring of Judaism; and having been set against the Church through Judaistic efforts, Rome decided to destroy Judaism also. This resulted in the war against Jerusalem itself, the destruction of the Temple and the City, the murder of 1,100,000 of the Jewish people, the sending of 30,000 of them back into Egypt as captives, and a bitter campaign against Jews throughout the ancient Roman empire. The contrast between this tragic record of what really happened and what God had intended emphasizes the awful consequences of Israel’s refusal to accept Christ, not merely for Israel, but for the Church and for all mankind. Despite this dismal tragedy which is verified not only by the New Testament but by the full history of the first century of this era, there are still people on earth who suppose that all of the wonderful things God promised to Israel in this chapter with reference to the vast population, the great cities, and the abundant prosperity are still going to happen. Feinberg caught the spirit of this expectation in these words: “The words of this chapter should fill us with joy. Is there not something the Lord wants you to do to work toward the day of Israel’s deliverance and glory."[15]Our Saviour wept aloud over the failure of Israel to receive the glory God intended, saying: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, but ye would not (Matthew 24:37). If thou hadst known in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast a bank about thee, and compass thee round and keep thee in on every side, and they shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation (Luke 19:42-44).” This is exactly what happened to the old Israel and it affords a dramatic contrast with what Ezekiel prophesied and what could have happened except for Israel’s apostasy and judicial hardening. Now should we pray for the day to come when the old racial Israel is going to be restored to glory? No! All of the glorious promises that once belonged to racial Israel now pertain exclusively to the New Israel. There is no revealed formula by which ancient peoples who missed their opportunities shall be able to find them again. The Saviour wept over their loss, but he could do nothing about it, and neither can we.

Ezekiel 36:1

Ezekiel 36:1. Mountains, rivers, etc., are inanimate objects and incapable of receiving any communication of an intellectual character. Notwithstanding, this chapter through verse 15 is addressed to them and it will be necessary to keep that in mind in order to understand the sentence construction. We will bear in mind, of course, that all the good things that are said to and about the land are for the sake of the people of Israel who are again to return from captivity to their own land.

Ezekiel 36:2

Verse 2. The land of Palestine had been made desolate by the heathen nations, the Assyrians and Babylonians, and they were boasting about it as if It had been solely through their own superior strength that it was accomplished. Aha is an expression that implies a feeling of derision and triumph.

Ezekiel 36:3

Ezekiel 36:3. They [the heathen nations] have made you [mountains of Israel] desolate. The Lord’ s motive in giving the land into the hands of the heathen was to chastise Israel. The motive of the heathen was that they might take possession of it for tlieir own persona! profit. Such a motive was wrong and the Lord determined to repossess the land for His peple. Infamy means slander and the land of Palestine was so spoken of by the people of the world.

Ezekiel 36:4

Ezekiel 36:4. God was grieved and made furious because of the haughty spirit of the heathen, although He had used them as instruments in chastising the disobedient Israelites. He therefore delivered a favorable prediction to the mountains, hills, rivers, valleys and other parts of the desolated land.

Ezekiel 36:5

Ezekiel 36:5. This verse is a summing up of the complaints that God had against the people of Idumea (Edom) and the other heathen nations. Appointed my land into their possession means these heathen countries claimed the possessing of the land of Palestine was by their own appointment, whereas they were able to obtain it only because God willed it so. The evil attitude in the matter stirred up the fire of God’ s jealousy and He was determined to “take the side” of the oppressed land. The foregoing verses of this chapter may well be regarded as introductory to the special prophecy that God is about to make on bebalf of the land of Palestine. They state the reasons for the predictions which will now follow.

Ezekiel 36:6

Ezekiel 36:6. For the sake of brevity we will consider the word land as including the mountains and rivers and all other geographical parts of the country. Ye (the land) have borne the shame of the heathen means the nations had desolated the land and that provoked the Lord to jealous fury.

Ezekiel 36:7

Ezekiel 36:7. When a nation is subdued it is held up to shame in the eyes of others, God had decreed that all the heathen who had desolated His land should be thus shamed. Ezekiel 36:8

Ezekiel 36:8

The land of Palestine had not been damaged by the heathen, but it had been made to lie uncultivated. That was in order for It to enjoy its sabbaths. (See Leviticus 26:34-35; Leviticus 26:43.) The most significant thought is in the words to my people. Even had the land produced anything in the 70-year captivity, the people of Israel could not have used it because they were exiles in a country far away.

Ezekiel 36:9

Ezekiel 36:9. This verse is virtually the same prediction as the preceding one.

Ezekiel 36:10

Ezekiel 36:10. Remember, the pronoun you. stands for the laud of Palestine. The men to be multiplied upon it will be those of the Israelites who will be permitted to return from captivity, to rebuild and inhabit the cities as before.

Ezekiel 36:11

Ezekiel 36:11, This verse continues the prediction that Israel will increase in population upon the land. Settle . . . old estates. The last word has no separate one in the original. The clause means that the people of Israel will settle on this land as they formerly did. Once more, the great object to be obtained is mentioned, and ye shall know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:12

Ezekiel 36:12. This verse is virtually all literal and contains its own explanation to a great extent. The Lord promises the land that His people will be permitted to walk upon it and possess it. Bereave is from skakol, which Strong defines as follows: “A primitive root; properly to miscarry, i.e., suffer abortion; by analogy to bereave (literally or figuratively).” The statement represents the land to have previously cast out the people who were living in i t That was entirely just, for they had mistreated it by defrauding it of its 7th-year rest for so long. It is as if the land said to the Jews: “You have overworked me until I have been cheated out of 70 years of rest; now yon must leave me until I regain that many years.” The prediction of the verse 1b that such a revolution will never occur again.

Ezekiel 36:13

Ezekiel 36:13. When misfortune comes upon a man he sometimes will blame it. upon another person or thing, when perhaps he is to blame himself. And so it was that when Israel was cast out of her own land she was inclined to accuse it for the calamity. (A similar circumstance is found in Numbers 13:32 with the 10 spies who returned to Moses.)

Ezekiel 36:14

Ezekiel 36:14. However the preceding ac-cusation may be, it shall not occur again, for nothing like a national removal from the land will be done in the future,

Ezekiel 36:15

Ezekiel 36:15. The land of Palestine is still the thing to which the language is addressed. The same assurance is given that it will receive its rightful citizens again, thereby being freed from the shame under which it will have lain for 70 years.

Ezekiel 36:16-17

Ezekiel 36:16-17. A few verses will consist. of a direct message of God to Ezekiel in the nature of explanation and for his information. He recounts the events in the history of Israel while they were still in their own land. Their conduct was so corrupt that the Lord likened it to the condition of an unclean woman.

Ezekiel 36:18

Ezekiel 36:18. This verse explains why the house of Israel is at the very time all in the land of Babylon, except the comparatively few stragglers yet to be rounded up and taken if there should be any such still In Palestine.

Ezekiel 36:19

Ezekiel 36:19. Dispersed through the countries. The Babylonian Empire was made up of many small countries and kingdoms, and the captives were scattered out among them by the Babylonians after they brought them from Palestine.

Ezekiel 36:20

Ezekiel 36:20. When the Israelites came into the region of the heathen they were made the subject of sneers by those foreign people. They [the heathen] profaned my holy name refers to the scoffing remarks that were made by these heathen folks among whom the Lord had made his people to come. They belittled the unfortunate people of Israel by remarking that they had been thrust out of the land although they were the Lord’s people. But we have seen more than once that God would never tolerate any rejoicing over His people regardless of how much they deserved the chastisement. Because of all this He has pity for his people and has determined to bring them out of their captive condition after they have been put through the necessary trial. Very logically, then, the next subject that God will give the prophet to deliver to Israel is that of the return, which will take up all the rest or this chapter which we will study verse by verse as they come in order.

Ezekiel 36:21

Ezekiel 36:21. The house of Israel was reproached by being taken captive among the heathen, and also the holy name of God was profaned by the situation. Hence He was concerned from that double viewpoint and decreed to reverse the conditions in time.

Ezekiel 36:22

Ezekiel 36:22. The house of Israel will be receiving better treatment than it deserves when God comes to its rescue and puts an end to the captivity. But the holy name of the Lord Is at stake and He must restore It to its proper position in the eyes of the world. Ye have profaned does not mean the Israelites purposely beiitted God’ s name while in Babylon, for the opposite was the case. Psalms 137 shows the deep regard they had for everything that pertained to Him. But the mere fact that God’ s people had to be cast among the heathen because of their unfaith-fulness was a reproach to His name.

Ezekiel 36:23

Ezekiel 36:23. Sanctify comes from qadash and Strong defines it as follows: “A primitive root; to be (causatively make, pronounce or observe aa) clean (ceremonially or morally).” According to the definition the word can apply to that which is already clean and holy, as well as to cause something to be so. That is why a writer may properly speak of sanctify-ing the Lord and his name. The great name of God had been profaned among the heathen and He purposed to clear it of all such a cloud, and prove to the whole world that the name of Jehovah is and always has been clean and holy. The condition that impiied any question about the Lord’ s name was the enslavement of His people in a heathen land. They must be rescued from such impure surroundings and be separated from all the moral and religious taint clinging to them.

Ezekiel 36:24

Ezekiel 36:24. This identical prediction has been made a number of times (Deuteronomy 30:3; Jeremiah 23:3; Ezekiel 11:17; Ezekiel 20:41; Ezekiel 34:13). It is a prophecy that was to be fulfilled when the Jews were released from their bondage in the various countries that made up the great Babylonian Empire.

Ezekiel 36:25

Ezekiel 36:25. This verse pertains to the same people and conditions referred to in the preceding one, not to anyone of our day. God’ s people had been corrupted by the false worship of the heathen among whom they had been living for 70 years. It was required of tlie Jews that if they came in contact witli something that was sinful and unclean, they should be purified by the use of a solution called wafer of separation (Numbers 19). In allusion to that ceremony the Lord promises to cleanse his people from their pollutions obtained from contact with idolatrous nations. Since the prediction was to be fulfilled upon the whole Israelite nation living at the end of the captivity, and also since a full record of that great purifying event Is in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we know the sprinkling o£ clean water on them was figurative.

The result of their entire experience was to cleanse or cure them from idolatry. See the historical note on this subject at Isaiah 1:25 in volume. 3 of this Commentary.

Ezekiel 36:26

Ezekiel 36:26, A complete change of heart is the meaning of this verse. We know that the human heart as to the body is literally flesh, therefore we must understand this language to he figurative. It means their heart (mind) had become hardened in sin and the captivity was going to humbl6 them and make them yield to the law of God.

Ezekiel 36:27

Ezekiel 36:27. The reformation that, the captivity was destined to bring about in the lives of the people of Israel was to result in a better spirit or mind toward God. They were to have such an abhorrence for heathenism that the law of God will be their delight, thereby causing them to walk in its instructions.

Ezekiel 36:28

Ezekiel 36:28. The books of Ezra and Nehemlah give the history of the repossession of Palestine by the Jews. Be my people means they would be a group of people forming a nation, and that it would recognize the Lord as the true God instead of the heathen gods whom they formerly worshiped.

Ezekiel 36:29

Ezekiel 36:29, The leading thought in this verse is the promise of prosperity in the iand. God had at certain times punished his people by bringing a famine on tlie land (Rth 1:1; 2 Samuel 21:1; 1 Kings 18:2 : 2 Kings 6:25; 2 Kings 8:1). Sometimes it was brought about by bringing a hostile army in to lay siege to the cities, and at the other times the Lord caused it. directly by withholding the rain in its season. The prediction is that the land will not again be so visited.

Ezekiel 36:30

Ezekiel 36:30. This is virtually the same thing promised in the preceding verse, with the added thought that a famine in a country encourages it to be reproached.

Ezekiel 36:31

Ezekiel 36:31. This verse makes another reference to the cure from idolatry that was to result from the 70-year captivity. (See the note cited in verse 25.)

Ezekiel 36:32

Ezekiel 36:32. This verse takes the same comments as verse 22.

Ezekiel 36:33

Ezekiel 36:33. The bearing of this verse is that Israel would not be permitted to reinhabit the cities of Palestine until they were cured of the chief evil of idolatry.

Ezekiel 36:34

Ezekiel 36:34. The land did He desolate during the captivity because the Lord desired it to regain the rest supposed to be coming to it under the law of the sabbatical year.

Ezekiel 36:35

Ezekiel 36:35. Eden is derived from a word defined ‘‘pleasure” in the lexicon. It is used figuratively to describe a place that is “ pleasant to the sight” (Genesis 2:9). The thought is that the land of Palestine, so long in a state of desolation, was again to be put under cultivation.

Ezekiel 36:36

Ezekiel 36:36. The renewal of the land into a state of fruitful life was to be proof that God is able to do a thing after He has spoken it.

Ezekiel 36:37

Ezekiel 36:37. There was a time when God ignored his people when they made inquiries of him (Eze 14: 3; 20: 3, 31), but after their reformation they will he heard. The further assurance is given that when they make their petitions known they will be favored with an increase of population.

Ezekiel 36:38

Ezekiel 36:38. The flocks that would appear at Jerusalem at the time of the solemn feasts would be the best in quality, because no other kind was accepted for that service. This is a comparison to the condition of things after the return from Babylonian captivity and settlement in the home land.