Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 36:1
Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
The mountains of Israel are opposed to Seir, the mount of Edom Eze 35:3.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
CHAPTER XXXVI
The Edomites or Idumeans, during the Babylonish captivity, took
possession of the mountainous parts of Judea, and the
fortresses which commanded the country, intending to exclude
the Jews if ever they should return from their captivity. The
prophet therefore, by a beautiful personification, addresses
the mountains of Israel; and, ascribing to them passions and
emotions similar to those of his own breast, consoles them with
the prospect of being soon rid of those usurping foes; of being
freed from the dishonour of idols under which they groaned; and
of flourishing again in their ancient glory under their
rightful owners, 1-15.
The idolatry and other sins of the Jews are then declared to be
the cause of their captivity and dispersion, 16-20;
from which however they are promised a deliverance in terms of
great force and beauty, 21-38.
This chapter contains also, under the type of the happy
condition of the Israelites after their restoration from the
Babylonish captivity, a glorious prophecy of the rich blessings
of the Gospel dispensation.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXXVI
Verse 1. Prophesy unto the mountains of Israel] This is a part of the preceding prophecy though it chiefly concerns the Jews. In it they are encouraged to expect a glorious restoration; and that none of the evil wishes of their adversaries should take place against them.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Also, Heb. And.
Prophesy, declare from me, and in my word,
unto the mountains of Israel; the inhabitants wasted or in captivity, speak concerning the mountains, that is, the land of Judah and Israel, which was a country full of mountains, which were now horrid, unplanted.
Hear what further revenge I will take on Edom, and on other nations that wasted you: this continued to the end of the 6th verse. And hear what good I will do to you: this from the 7th to the end of the chapter.
The word of the Lord; the severe judgments against your enemies, his gracious promises to you.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1, 2. mountains of Israelincontrast to “Mount Seir” of the previous prophecy.They are here personified; Israel’s elevation is moral, not merelyphysical, as Edom’s. Her hills are “the everlasting hills”of Jacob’s prophecy (Ge 49:26).”The enemy” (Edom, the singled-out representative of allGod’s foes), with a shout of exultation, “Aha!” hadclaimed, as the nearest kinsman of Israel (the brother of theirfather Esau), his vacated inheritance; as much as to say, theso-called “everlasting” inheritance of Israel and of the”hills,” which typified the unmoved perpetuity of it(Psa 125:1; Psa 125:2),has come to an end, in spite of the promise of God, and has become”ours” (compare Deu 32:13;Deu 33:15).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel,…. The land of Judah, which was very mountainous, at least one part of it, called the hill country, Lu 1:39 and now the country being cleared of men through the captivity, and other desolating judgments, there were none but bare mountains to speak unto: or, “prophesy concerning the mountains of Israel” d; the inhabitants of them, or those that should be restored to them, concerning their future happiness and comfort: some render it, “against the mountains of Israel” e; but the later prophecies of them are in their favour, and not against them:
and say, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; concerning the destruction of their enemies, and concerning the temporal blessings that should be bestowed on them.
d “de montibus Israelis”, Junius & Tremellius, Polanus. e “Contra montes Israelis”, Vatablus.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Restoration and Blessing of Israel
Eze 36:1. And thou, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah: Eze 36:2. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because the enemy saith concerning you, Aha! the everlasting heights have become ours for a possession: Eze 36:3. Therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because, even because they lay you waste, and pant for you round about, so that ye have become a possession to the remnant of the nations, and have come to the talk of the tongue and gossip of the people: Eze 36:4. Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and hills, to the low places and valleys, and to the waste ruins and the forsaken cities, which have become a prey and derision to the remnant of the nations round about; Eze 36:5. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Truly in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the remnant of the nations, and against Edom altogether, which have made my land a possession for themselves in all joy of heart, in contempt of soul, to empty it out for booty. Eze 36:6. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the low places and valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, in my jealousy and fury have I spoken, because ye have borne the disgrace of the nations. Eze 36:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I, I have lifted up my hand; truly the nations round about you, they shall bear their disgrace. Eze 36:8. But ye, ye mountains of Israel, shall put forth your branches, and bear your fruit to my people Israel; for they will soon come. Eze 36:9. For, behold, I will deal with you, and turn toward you, and ye shall be tilled and sown. Eze 36:10. I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel at once; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruins built. Eze 36:11. And I will multiply upon you man and beast; they shall multiply and be fruitful: and I will make you inhabited as in your former time, and do more good to you than in your earlier days; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Eze 36:12. I will cause men, my people Israel, to walk upon you; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be an inheritance to them, and make them childless no more. Eze 36:13. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because they say to you, “Thou art a devourer of men, and hast made thy people childless;” Eze 36:14. Therefore thou shalt no more devour men, and no more cause thy people to stumble, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 36:15. And I will no more cause thee to hear the scoffing of the nations, and the disgrace of the nations thou shalt bear no more, and shalt no more cause thy people to stumble, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah.
This prophecy is uttered concerning the land of Israel, as is plainly declared in Eze 36:6; whereas in Eze 36:1 and Eze 36:4 the mountains of Israel are mentioned instead of the land, in antithesis to the mountains of Seir (Eze 35:1-15; see the comm. on Eze 35:12). The promise takes throughout the form of antithesis to the threat against Edom in Eze 35:1-15. Because Edom rejoices that the Holy Land, which has been laid waste, has fallen to it for a possession, therefore shall the devastated land be cultivated and sown again, and be inhabited by Israel as in the former time. The heathen nations round about shall, on the other hand, bear their disgrace; Edom, as we have already observed, being expanded, so far as the idea is concerned, into all the heathen nations surrounding Israel (Eze 36:3-7). In Eze 36:2, , the enemy, is mentioned in quite a general manner; and what has already been stated concerning Edom in Eze 35:5 and Eze 35:10, is her predicted of the enemy. In Eze 36:3 and Eze 36:4 this enemy is designated as a remnant of the heathen nations; and it is not till Eze 36:5 that it is more precisely defined by the clause, “and all Edom altogether.” The round about ( , Eze 36:4, compared with Eze 36:3) are the heathen nations which are threatened with destruction in Ezekiel 25 and 26, on account of their malicious rejoicing at the devastation of Jerusalem and Judah. This serves to explain the fact that these nations are designated as , the rest, or remnant of the heathen nations, which presupposes that the judgment has fallen upon them, and that only a remnant of them is left, which remnant desires to take possession of the devastated land of Israel. The epithet applied to this land, , everlasting, i.e., primeval heights, points back to the of Gen 49:26 and Deu 33:15, and is chosen for the purpose of representing the land as a possession secured to the people of Israel by primeval promises, in consequence of which the attempt of the enemy to seize upon this land has become a sin against the Lord God. The indignation at such a sin is expressed in the emotional character of the address. As Ewald has aptly observed, “Ezekiel is seized with unusual fire, so that after the brief statement in Eze 36:2 ‘therefore’ is repeated five times, the charges brought against these foes forcing themselves in again and again, before the prophecy settles calmly upon the mountains of Israel, to which it was really intended to apply.” For , see the comm. on Eze 13:10. is an infinitive Kal, formed after the analogy of the verbs ‘ (cf. Ewald, 238 e), from , to be waste, to devastate, as in Dan 8:13; Dan 9:27; Dan 12:11, and is not to be taken in the sense of , after Isa 42:14, as Hitzig supposes. , to pant for a thing; here it is equivalent to snapping at anything. This is required by a comparison with Eze 36:4, where corresponds to , and to ‘ . In the connection , signifies the lip as an organ of speech, or, more precisely, the words spoken; and , the tongue, is personified, and stands for (Psa 140:12), a tongue-man, i.e., a talker.
In Eze 36:4 the idea expressed in “the mountains of Israel” is expanded into mountains, hills, lowlands, and valleys (cf. Eze 31:12; Eze 32:5-6); and this periphrastic description of the land is more minutely defined by the additional clause, “waste ruins and forsaken cities.” in Eze 36:5 is the particle used in oaths (cf. Eze 5:11, etc.); and the perfect is not merely prophetic, but also a preterite. God has already uttered a threatening word concerning the nations round about in Ezekiel 25, 26, and Eze 35:1-15; and here He once more declares that they shall bear their disgrace. is the fiery jealousy of wrath. is an Aramean form for (Eze 35:15). For , see Eze 25:6. In the expression n o isserp , which has been rendered in various ways, we agree with Gesenius and others in regarding as an Aramean form of the infinitive of , with the meaning to empty out, which is confirmed by the Syriac; for cannot be a substantive, on account of the ; and Hitzig’s conjecture, that should be pointed , and the clause rendered “to plunder its produce,” is precluded by the fact that the separation of the preposition , by the insertion of a word between, is unexampled, to say nothing of the fact that does not mean produce at all. The thought expressed in Eze 36:6 and Eze 36:7 is the following: because Israel has hitherto borne the contempt of the heathen, the heathen shall now bear their own contempt. The lifting of the hand is a gesture employed in taking an oath, as in Eze 20:6, etc. But the land of Israel is to receive a blessing. This blessing is described in Eze 36:8 in general terms, as the bearing of fruit by the mountains, i.e., by the land of Israel; and its speedy commencement is predicted. It is then depicted in detail in Eze 36:9. In the clause , the Israelites are not to be regarded as the subject, as Kliefoth supposes, in which case their speedy return from exile would be announced. The shows that this cannot be the meaning; for it is immediately preceded by ‘ ‘ yb , which precludes the supposition that, when speaking of the mountains, Ezekiel had the inhabitants in his mind. The promised blessings are the subject, or the branches and fruits, which the mountains are to bear. Nearly all the commentators have agreed in adopting this explanation of the words, after the analogy of Isa 56:1. With the in Eze 36:9 the carrying out of the blessing promised is appended in the form of a reason assigned for the general promise. The mountains shall be cultivated, the men upon them, viz., all Israel, multiplied, the desolated cities rebuilt, so that Israel shall dwell in the land as in the former time, and be fruitful and blessed. This promise was no doubt fulfilled in certain weak beginnings after the return of a portion of the people under Zerubbabel and Ezra; but the multiplying and blessing, experienced by those who returned from Babylon, did not take place till long after the salvation promised here, and more especially in Eze 36:12-15.
According to Eze 36:12, the land is to become the inheritance of the people Israel, and will no more make the Israelites childless, or (according to Eze 36:14) cause them to stumble; and the people are no more to bear the contempt of the heathen. But that portion of the nation which returned from exile not only continued under the rule of the heathen, but had also in various ways to bear the contempt of the heathen still; and eventually, because Israel not only stumbled, but fell very low through the rejection of its Saviour, it was scattered again out of the land among the heathen, and the land was utterly wasted…until this day. In Eze 36:12 the masculine suffix attached to refers to the land regarded as , which is also the subject to and . It is not till Eze 36:13, Eze 36:14, where the idea of the land becomes so prominent, that the feminine is used. , to make them (the Israelites) childless, or bereaved, is explained in Eze 36:13, Eze 36:14 by , devouring men. That the land devours its inhabitants, is what the spies say of the land of Canaan in Num 13:32; and in 2Ki 2:19 is it affirmed of the district of Jericho that it causes , i.e., miscarriages, on account of its bad water. The latter passage does not come into consideration; but the former (Num 13:32) probably does, and Ezekiel evidently refers to this. For there is no doubt whatever that he explains or expands by yb . Although, for example, the charge that the land devours men is brought against it by the enemies or adversaries of Israel ( , they say to you), the truth of the charge is admitted, since it is said that the land shall henceforth no more devour men, though without a repetition of the . But the sense in which Ezekiel affirms of the land that it had been , and was henceforth to be so no more, is determined by , thou wilt no more cause thy people to stumble, which is added in Eze 36:14 in the place of in Eze 36:14. Hence the land became a devourer of men by the fact that it caused its people to stumble, i.e., entangled them in sins (the Keri for is a bad conjecture, the incorrectness of which is placed beyond all doubt by the of Eze 36:15). Consequently we cannot understand the “devouring of men,” after Num 13:32, as signifying that, on account of its situation and fruitfulness, the land is an apple of discord, for the possession of which the nations strive with one another, so that the inhabitants are destroyed, or at all events we must not restrict the meaning to this; and still less can we agree with Ewald and Hitzig in thinking of the restless hurrying and driving by which individual men were of necessity rapidly swept away. If the sweeping away of the population so connected with the stumbling, the people are devoured by the consequences of their sins, i.e., by the penal judgment, unfruitfulness, pestilence, and war, with which God threatened Israel for its apostasy from Him. These judgments had depopulated the land; and this fact was attributed by the heathen in their own way to the land, and thrown in the teeth of the Israelites as a disgrace. The Lord will henceforth remove this charge, and take away from the heathen all occasion to despise His people, namely, by bestowing upon His land and people the blessing which He promised in the law to those who kept His commandments. But this can only be done by His removing the occasion to stumble or sin, i.e., according to Eze 36:25. (compared with Eze 11:18.), by His cleansing His people from all uncleanness and idols, and giving them a new heart and a new spirit. The Keri in Eze 36:13, Eze 36:14, and Eze 36:15 is a needless alteration of the Chetib . – In Eze 36:15 this promise is rounded off and concluded by another summing up of the principal thoughts.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| God’s Compassion for Israel. | B. C. 587. |
1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD: 2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession: 3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people: 4 Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; 5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. 6 Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. 8 But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: 10 And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded: 11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 12 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 henceforth bereave them of men. 13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations; 14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD. 15 Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD.
The prophet had been ordered to set his face towards the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, ch. vi. 2. Then God was coming forth to contend with his people; but now that God is returning in mercy to them he must speak good words and comfortable words to these mountains, Eze 36:1; Eze 36:4. You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; and what he says to them he says to the hills, to the rivers, to the valleys, to the desolate wastes in the country, and to the cities that are forsaken,Eze 36:4; Eze 36:6. The people were gone, some one way and some another; nothing remained there to be spoken to but the places, the mountains and valleys; these the Chaldeans could not carry away with them. The earth abides for ever. Now, to show the mercy God had in reserve for the people, he is to speak of him as having a dormant kindness for the place, which, if the Lord had been pleased for ever to abandon, he would not have called upon to hear the word of the Lord, nor would he as at this time have shown it such things as these. Here is,
I. The compassionate notice God takes of the present deplorable condition of the land of Israel. It has become both a prey and a derision to the heathen that are round about, v. 4. 1. It has become a prey to them; and they are all enriched with the plunder of it. When the Chaldeans had conquered them all their neighbours flew to the spoil as to a shipwreck, every one thinking all his own that he could lay his hands on (v. 3): They have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the heathen, to the residue of them, even such as had themselves narrowly escaped the like desolation. No one thought it any crime to strip an Israelite. Turba Rom sequitur fortunam ut semper–The mob of Rome still praise the elevated and despise the fallen. It is the common dry, when a man is down, Down with him. 2. It has become a derision to them. They took all they had and laughed at them when they had done. The enemy said, “Aha! even the ancient high places are ours in possession, v. 2. Neither the antiquity, nor the dignity, neither the sanctity nor the fortifications, of the land of Israel, are its security, but we have become masters of it all.” The more honours that land had been adorned with, and the greater figure it had made among the nations, the more pride and pleasure did they take in making a spoil of it, which is an instance of a base and sordid spirit; for the more glorious and prosperity was the more piteous is the adversity. God takes notice of it here as an aggravation of the present calamity of Israel: You are taken up in the lips of talkers and are an infamy of the people, v. 3. All the talk of the country about was concerning the overthrow of the Jewish nation; and every one that spoke of it had some peevish ill-natured reflection or other upon them. They were the scorning of those that were at ease and the contempt of the proud, Ps. cxxiii. 4. There are some that are noted for talkers, that have something to say of every body, but cannot find in their hearts to speak well of any body; God’s people, among such people, were sure to be a reproach when the crown had fallen from their head. Thus it was the lot of Christianity, in its suffering days, to be every where spoken against.
II. The expressions of God’s just displeasure against those who triumphed in the desolations of the land of Israel, as many of its neighbours did, even the residue of the brethren, and Idumea particularly. Let us see, 1. How they dealt with the Israel of God. They carved out large possessions to themselves out of their land, out of God’s land; for so indeed it was: “They have appointed my land into their possession (v. 5), and so not only invaded their neighbour’s property, but intrenched upon God’s prerogative.” It was the holy land which they laid their sacrilegious hands upon. They did not own any dependence upon God, as the God of that land, nor acknowledge any remaining interest that Israel had in it, but cast it out for a prey, as if they had won it in a lawful war. And this they did without any dread of God and his judgments and without any compassion for Israel and their calamities, but with the joy of all their hearts, because they got by it, and with despiteful minds to Israel that lost by it. Increasing wealth, by right or wrong, is all the joy of a worldly heart; and the calamities of God’s people are all the joy of a despiteful mind. And those that had not an opportunity of making a prey of God’s people made a reproach of them; so that they were the shame of the heathen, v. 6. Every body ridiculed them and made a jest of them; and the truth is they had by their own sin made themselves vile; so that God was righteous herein, but men were unrighteous and very barbarous. 2. How God would deal with those who were thus in word and deed abusive to his people. He has spoken against the heathen; he has passed sentence upon them; he has determined to reckon with them for it, and this in the fire of his jealousy, both for his own honour and for the honour of his people, v. 5. Having a love for both as strong as death, he has a jealousy for both as cruel as the grave. They spoke in their malice against God’s people, and he will speak in his jealousy against them; and it is easy to say which will speak most powerfully. God will speak in his jealousy and in his fury, v. 6. Fury is not in God; but he will exert his power against them and handle them as severely as men do when they are in a fury. He will so speak to them in his wrath as to vex them in his sore displeasure. What he says he will stand to, for it is backed with an oath. He has lifted up his hand and sworn by himself, has sworn and will not repent. And what is it that is said with so much heat, and yet with so much deliberation? It is this (v. 7), Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. Note, The righteous God, to whom vengeance belongs, will render shame for shame. Those that put contempt and reproach upon God’s people will, sooner or later, have it burned upon themselves, perhaps in this world (either their follies or their calamities, their miscarriages or their mischances, shall be their reproach), at furthest in that day when all the impenitent shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt.
III. The promises of God’s favour to his Israel and assurances given of great mercy God had in store for them. God takes occasion from the outrage and insolence of their enemies to show himself so much the more concerned for them and ready to do them good, as David hoped that God would recompense him good for Shimei’s cursing him. Let them curse, but bless thou. In this way, as well as others, the enemies of God’s people do them real service, even by the injuries they do them, against their will and beyond their intention. We shall have no reason to complain if, the more unkind men are, the more kind God is–if, the more kindly he speaks to us by his word and Spirit, the more kindly he acts for us in his providence. The prophet must say so to the mountains of Israel, which were now desolate and despised, that God is for them and will burn to them, v. 9. As the curse of God reaches the ground for man’s sake, so does the blessing. Now that which is promised is, 1. That their rightful owners should return to the possession of them: My people Israel are at hand to come, v. 8. Though they are at a great distance from their own country, though they are dispersed in many countries, and though they are detained by the power of their enemies, yet they shall come again to their own border, Jer. xxxi. 17. The time is at hand for their return. Though there were above forty years of the seventy (perhaps fifty) yet remaining, it is spoken of as near, because it is sure, and there were some among them that should live to see it. A thousand years are with God but as one day. The mountains of Israel are now desolate; but God will cause men to walk upon them again, even his people Israel, not as travellers passing over them, but as inhabitants–not tenants, but freeholders: They shall possess thee, not for term of life, but for themselves and their heirs; thou shalt be their inheritance. It was a type of the heavenly Canaan, to which all God’s children are heirs, every Israelite indeed, and into which they shall shortly be all brought together, out of the countries where they are now scattered. 2. That they should afford a plentiful comfortable maintenance for their owners at their return. When the land had enjoyed her sabbaths for so many years, it should be so much the more fruitful afterwards, as we should be after rest, especially a sabbath rest: You shall be tilled and sown (v. 9) and shall yield your fruit to my people Israel, v. 8. Note, It is a blessing to the earth to be made serviceable to men, especially to good men, that will serve God with cheerfulness in the use of those good things which the earth serves up to them. 3. That the people of Israel should have not only a comfortable sustenance, but a comfortable settlement, in their own land: The cities shall be inhabited; the wastes shall be builded, v. 10. And I will settle you after your old estates, v. 11. Their own sin had unsettled them, but now God’s favour shall resettle them. When the prodigal son has become a penitent he is settled again in his father’s house, according to his former estate. Bring hither the first robe, and put it on him. Nay, I will do better unto you now than at your beginnings. There is more joy for the sheep that is brought back than there would have been if it had never gone astray. And God sometimes multiplies his people’s comforts in proportion to the time that he has afflicted them. Thus God blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning, and doubled to him all he had. 4. That the people, after their return, should be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the land, so that it should not only be inhabited again, but as thickly inhabited, and as well peopled, as ever. God will bring back to it all the house of Israel, even all of it (observe what an emphasis is laid upon that, v. 10), all whose spirits God stirred up to return; and those only were reckoned of the house of Israel, the rest had cut themselves off from it; or, though but few, in comparison, returned at first, yet afterwards, at divers times, they all returned; and then (says God) I will multiply these men (v. 10), multiply man and beast; and they shall increase, v. 11. Note, God’s kingdom in the world is a growing kingdom; and his church, though for a time it may be diminished, shall recover itself and be again replenished. 5. That the reproach long since cast up on the land of Israel by the evil spies, and of late revived, that it was a land that ate up the inhabitants of it by famine, sickness, and the sword, should be quite rolled away, and there should never be any more occasion for it. Canaan had got into a bad name. It had of old spued out the inhabitants (Lev. xviii. 28), the natives, the aborigines, which was turned to its reproach by those that should have put another construction upon it, Num. xiii. 32. It had of late devoured the Israelites, and spued them out too; so that it was commonly said of it, It is a land which, instead of supporting its nations or tribes that inhabit it, bereaves them, overthrows them, and causes them to fall; it is a tenement which breaks all the tenants that come upon it. This character it had got among the neighbours; but God now promises that it shall be so no more: Thou shalt no more bereave them of men (v. 12), shalt devour men no more, v. 14. But the inhabitants shall live to a good old age, and not have the number of their months cut off in the midst. Compare this with that promise, Zech. viii. 4. Note, God will take away the reproach of his people by taking away that which was the occasion of it. When the nation is made to flourish in peace, plenty, and power, then they hear no more the shame of the heathen (v. 15), especially when it is reformed; when sin, which is the reproach of any people, particularly of God’s professing people, is taken away, then they hear no more the reproach of the people. Note, When God returns in mercy to a people that return to him in duty, all their grievances will be soon redressed and their honour retrieved.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
EZEKIEL – CHAPTER 36
THE PROMISE OF BETTER DAYS FOR ISRAEL
Verses 1-15:
MESSAGE OF HOPE TO THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL
Verses 1, 2 address the mountains of Israel, in contrast with “mount Seir” or Edom, a kinsman of Abraham, Esau’s lineage, who had become jealous and covetous enemies of Jacob and Israel. They had gloated “aha” at the fall of Judah and Israel, and boasted that her desolated land had become theirs or “ours in possession.” But Israel’s land was “the everlasting hills” of Jacob’s prophecy, not to be perpetually seized by the Edomites, Gen 49:26; Deu 32:13; Psa 78:69. After chastisement, Israel’s land is to be recovered from her enemies, because of her Divine covenant rights to inherit it, Psa 125:2.
Verse 3 calls upon Ezekiel to prophecy against her enemies that because they had made the mountains of Israel desolate, devouring her people and land as wild beasts devour their prey, making her a captive possession of the heathen; Yet He would rise up to vindicate His covenant people and their promised inheritance, Isa 42:14; Psa 56:1-2. Edom, especially, had come to slander Israel with her lips and tongue and defame her people, as if God could or would not save them, Deu 28:37; 1Ki 9:7; Jer 24:9; Lam 2:15; Dan 9:16.
Verses 4, 5 recount the Lord’s charge to Ezekiel to prophesy specifically to, or to the subject of, the eventual liberation of the mountains of Israel, to her rivers, valleys, and waste lands that had become a prey and object of derision to Edom and the heathen nations about her in her desolation. As inanimate objects they are addressed by the Lord of the covenant with Israel, as if they could hear; and one day they will, Psa 79:4; Isa 64:10-11; Jer 25:9; Jer 25:13; Jer 29:10; See also Rom 8:19-21. They will be set free from their desolation and corruption. In the fire or heat of Divine jealousy the Lord had decreed that, though chastened, Israel was to be restored to her inheritance, as He too administered just judgment to Idumea, the Edomites, and other heathen who had appropriated to themselves, with glee and despiteful minds, the land of Israel, as a prey for a time; Deu 4:14; Isa 66:15-16; Zep 3:8; Zec 1:15; See also Psa 83:4; Psa 83:12; Jer 49:1.
Verses 6, 7 again addresses the mountains of Israel, her hills, rivers, and valleys, representing the hope of her people. They were to be assured that the Lord has spoken in His jealousy over them, and with fury against their enemies, who heaped undue shame upon them, v. 13; Eze 34:29; Psa 123:3-4. They were to understand that the shame they had heaped upon Israel, God would one day cause to fall upon their own heads, as a perpetual shame, Eze 20:5.
Verses 8, 9 assure Israel that soon, “at hand” she would return from her 70 year captivity to Babylon, to “shoot forth,” prosper for a time in her own land, Jer 25:11-12; Dan 9:2. But such was only a foretaste of her eventual fulfillment of her “everlasting possession” of her land, in peace and righteousness, Luk 1:32-33.
Verse 10 pledges that the people of Israel shall be multiplied in the restoration. And the cities once desolated, made waste, and uninhabited, shall be rebuilt and occupied by the whole house of Israel, or her restored order of government. The names of David, a type of the Messiah, and Edom, Israel’s foe, are both associated with her coming restoration, Eze 34:23-24.
Verse 11 continues a further Divine assurance that the Lord will multiply the increase of man and beast in all the land of Israel, in that day; He will cause their fruit to increase as He settles the people of His, in their old estates, so that their latter end shall be better than at their beginning. Then they will know or recognize the Lord, as they should have all the time; It will be much like Job’s latter end, Job 42:12.
Verse 12 addresses the hills and mountains of Israel again, upon which He will cause His people to walk, v. 8; They (Israel) shall possess or occupy “thee,” O hill of Zion, singled out above all hills and mountains from which the king is to reign, Eze 34:26; Oba 1:17. And God will no more bereave these mountains of Zion of men, Jer 15:7.
Verses 13, 14 answer heathen critics who allege the Land of Israel ate up or devoured her people like voracious beasts, Num 13:32. She had bereaved her own nations, Judah and Israel, but only because of their own sins.
Verse 15 assures Israel that after her restoration, under her Lord, she will never fall or hear the derision of heathen against her any more, Luk 1:31-32; Isa 54:4; Isa 60:14; Mic 7:8-10; Zep 3:19-20.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
THE PROMISE OF BETTER DAYS FOR ISRAEL. (Chap. 36)
EXEGETICAL NOTES.Eze. 36:1. Ye mountains of Israelin contrast to Mount Seir of the previous prophecy. They are here personified: Israels elevation is moral, not merely physical, as Edoms.
Eze. 36:2. The ancient high places. The perpetual heights are the natural mountains, as a figure of the unchangeable grandeur of which Israel boasted, because it had the Eternal for its protector, and in Him the security of its own perpetuity (comp. Psa. 125:2).Hengstenberg.
Eze. 36:3. Made you desolate and swallowed you uplaid you waste, and panted after you on every side; like wild beasts after their prey, implying the greedy cupidity of Edom as to Israels inheritance. Ye are taken up in the lips of talkersliterally, Ye are made to go up on the lip of the tongue, i.e., on the lip of the slanderer, the man of tongue. Edom slandered Israel because of the connection of the latter with Jehovah, as though He were unable to save them.Fausset.
Eze. 36:4. Thus saith the Lord to the mountains, hills, &c. The mention of particulars is meant to point to the eye which observes all, the Divine care which beholds each and all, over which only a human eye weeps, or, on the contrary, rejoices. The completeness of the renewed blessedness of all parts of the land is implied.
Eze. 36:5. With joy of heart, despiteful minds, to cast it out as a preywith gladness of heart and deadly scorn, have appropriated My land to desolate and plunder it.Geikie.
Eze. 36:7. Shall bear their shameshall bear their share of contempt in turna perpetual shame, whereas the shame that Israel bore from these heathen was only temporary.
Eze. 36:8. Shall shoot forth your branches and yield fruit to My people, for they are at hand to comeshall shoot out your verdure and yield your fruits to My people Israel, for they will soon come.Geikie. Leaves and branches come into view as food for cattle, while the fruit is for man. Of the seventy years Chaldean servitude twenty had already elapsed, so that many of those still living might yet see the joyful day.Hengstenberg.
Eze. 36:11. Will do better unto you than at your beginningsbetter than in your past. This was fulfilled when He appeared in the Holy Land who could say of Himself, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and who far outshone Solomon in all his glory.Hengstenberg.
Eze. 36:14. Thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more. The land of Israel had a dangerous position. It was a land of transit, an apple of discord for the Asiatic and African powers, and exposed to oppression by the surrounding nations of the wilderness, who always went to it for barter. On account of this dangerous position it is designated, even in Num. 13:32, as a land that devours its inhabitants. Precisely such a land had God chosen for His people. They should always have occasion to look up to Him; and when they fell away the rods were also laid up. Peaceful seclusion would have produced a stagnant condition, the worst that can befall the people of God. It is essential to the Church in this world to be militant.Hengstenberg.
Eze. 36:19. I scattered them among the heathen. The reason for their removal was their sin, which Gods holiness could not let pass unpunished.Fausset.
Eze. 36:20. They profaned My holy name. The name of My holiness is not simply the holy name of Jehovah, but the name in which His holiness is manifest, so that by it man names His holiness, and hence the Holy God Himself.Lange.
Eze. 36:21. I had pity for Mine holy nameI felt pity for it. Gods own name, so dishonoured, was the primary object of His pitying concern, then His people secondarily through His concern for it.Fairbairn.
Eze. 36:23. I will sanctify My great namei.e., My holiness as expressed in My name, securing due weight to it, so that it shall not simply be named as name, but evidently experienced as fact. In its being the name of His holiness lies the necessity, when the people who thus name God do not sanctify it, but, on the contrary, only contribute everywhere to its profanation, that then Jehovah should take in hand the sanctification of His name, and thereby of Himself.Lange. Shall be sanctified in you before their eyesor before your eyes. It must be done first before the eyes of the people who by their depravity had lost sight of Gods real character; and then what was seen by them experimentally would also be seen reflectively by the heathen who dwelt around.Fairbairn.
Eze. 36:25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean. The external restoration must be preceded by an internal one. The change in their condition must not be superficial, but must be based on a radical renewal of the heart.Fausset. The immediate sense of the verse is: That Jehovah leads back Israel from exile into their own land, and consecrates them there to be a people, since the punishment, so characteristic for the sin that occasioned it, is shown to be removed by the bringing of them again into their own land, the forgiveness of sins thereby already proclaimed at once evinces and manifests itself as purification of the people, and the people put from them their old life, especially their idolatry.Lange.
Eze. 36:26. I will give you a heart of fleshnot carnal in opposition to spiritual, but impressible and docile, fit for receiving the good seed.
Eze. 36:27. I will cause you to walk in My statutes. From the bestowment of the new heart flows the altered position toward the law of God.Hengstenberg.
Eze. 36:29. I will also save you from all your uncleannessesthe province of Jesus, according to His name (Mat. 1:21). To be specially exercised in behalf of the Jews in the latter days (Rom. 11:26). And I will call for the cornas a master calls for a servant. All the powers and productions of nature are the servants of Jehovah (Psa. 105:16; Mat. 8:8-9).Fausset.
Eze. 36:31. Then shall ye remember your own evil wayswith shame and loathing. The unexpected grace and love of God manifested in Christ to Israel shall melt the people into true repentance, which mere legal fear could not (chap. Eze. 16:61; Eze. 16:63; Psa. 130:4; Zec. 12:10; Jer. 33:8-9).Fausset.
Eze. 36:35. This land is become like the garden of Eden. We have here the clear counterpart of the night-piece (Joe. 2:3). The comparison of this fundamental passage, according to which the figure of the land of Eden can only signify a prosperous state in general, shows how erroneous it is to find in this passage the restoration of Canaan to a really paradisiac glory, and to charge those who cannot find this in it with a spiritualising evaporation.Hengstenberg.
Eze. 36:36. I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. I, Jehovah, whose name and nature afford a security that between speaking and doing no gulf can be fixed.Hengstenberg.
Eze. 36:37. I will yet for this be inquired ofso as to grant it. On former occasions He had refused to be inquired of by Israel, because the inquirers were not in a fit condition of mind to receive a blessing (chap. Eze. 14:3; Eze. 20:3). But hereafter, as in the restoration from Babylon (Nehemiah 8, 9; Dan. 9:3-23), God will prepare His peoples hearts to pray aright for the blessings which He is about to give (Psa. 102:13-17; Psa. 102:20; Zec. 12:10-14; Zec. 13:1).Fausset.
Eze. 36:37-38. I will increase them with men like a flock, as the holy flock. The passover was the only one among the festivals in which there was a great accumulation of sheep, with which the fulness of men in restored Israel is compared. But the consecrated sheep are meant here, not any other gathering of sheep, because the people that is compared with the sheep is the people of the saints of the Lord. The fulfilment is to be sought in the Church of Christ still more than in the times between the exile and Christ.Hengstenberg.
HOMILETICS
HOPE FOR A RUINED NATION
Eze. 36:1-15.)
In this chapter the prophet continues the theme with which his whole soul was possessedthe prospective revival and prosperity of Israel. In the darkest day of national desolation the lamp of prophecy glowed with a Divinely kindled flame. The land is smitten and helpless; but hope is still left, though that hope is enshrined for the time in the breast of one man, as in the fatal box of Pandora, from which issued all the evils that afflict mankind, hope was still left at the bottom. The keen spiritual insight of Ezekiel saw that, amid the prevailing ruin, Israel still retained an interest in the power and faithfulness of God which would bring about her future restoration, while the exulting hopes of the heathen that her downfall was permanent were doomed to disappointment. Observe
I. That a ruined nation is an object of Divine compassion.
1. He sees its resources exhausted. They have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side (Eze. 36:3). The land is denuded of its inhabitants and its wealth. The hills are there, but they are no longer covered with grazing flocks and herds. The valleys are there, but the diligent husbandmen are gone, and the fields and vineyards degenerate into barrenness or are choked with the wild growths of untamed luxuriousness. The cities crumble to ruin and are forsaken. The hum of commerce is hushed, and the animated scenes of a thriving population are no longer visible. The garden has become a wilderness, the ground a grave in which the national life lies buried.
2. He sees its land possessed with strangers. Even the high places are oursa possession unto the residue of the heathenwhich have appointed My land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds (Eze. 36:2-3; Eze. 36:5). The strangers had no right to the land; it belonged to God: nor would they have dared to seize it had His people, to whom it had been given as a heritage, remained faithful to Him. They were marauders, robbers, who pounced upon the land with the avaricious joy with which the wreckers plunder a stranded ship. It was cast out for a prey. It moved the compassion and indignation of Jehovah to see His heritage overrun and pilfered by those who fiercely hated both Him and His people.
3. He sees its ruin the sport and mockery of its enemies. Aha, the places are oursye are taken up in the lips of talkers and are an infamy of the peoplea prey and derision to the heathen (Eze. 36:2-4). They gloat over the misfortunes of the nation they hated and dreaded. Israel had become a byword and a reproach. The foulest slander was freely circulated, and her enemies chuckled with a hideous satisfaction as they rolled the toothsome morsel in their mouths. Every taunt would rankle like a poisoned barb as the unhappy Israelite reflected it was a just recompense for his inveterate folly. This state of things was faithfully predicted (Jer. 24:9), and nothing was done to prevent it. The warning was despised. Abandoned by God and man, Israel was exposed to the pitiless contempt of the wicked. And yet the heart of Jehovah yearned with compassion towards His afflicted people.
II. That Divine Power can restore a ruined nation to prosperity.
1. He can do it speedily. They are at hand to come (Eze. 36:8). Though there were fifty of the seventy years captivity yet to run, it was near at hand in Gods determination. Fifty years is a long period in the life of an individual, but it is insignificant in the life of a nation. The time is near because it is sure to come. Though Israel was far from home, dispersed in many countries, and held in bondage by the power of her captors, she shall be brought again to her own land. Time is a trifling factor in the working out of eternal purposes; and yet many then living were privileged to witness the promised restoration. God is slow to punish; swift to bless.
2. He can do it effectually (Eze. 36:8-15). The waste places shall be tilled and sown (Eze. 36:8), the earth abound in fruitfulness (Eze. 36:8), the hills covered with flocks and herds (Eze. 36:11), the cities rebuilt and crowded with inhabitants (Eze. 36:10), commerce expand with ever-increasing activity (Eze. 36:11), the taunt of desolation silenced (Eze. 36:15), and the land that had cast out its people to perish shall support and cherish them on a scale of unexampled munificence (Eze. 36:11-15). When a penitent nation returns to God there is no blessing He will withhold: its grievances are redressed, its honour retrieved, its peace and prosperity ensured.
III. That the promise of Divine help inspires national hope. Israel was utterly prostrate. There was no country in that neighbourhood so desolate and forsaken. The laud of plenty was cursed with emptiness, and, like an unnatural mother, had cast out its children to perish. Browbeaten, calumniated, and oppressed by their enemies, the people lost heart and sank into the helplessness of despair. They had no more hope of revival than the salt-encrusted pine-logs that travellers tell us are strewn on the shores of the Dead Sea, saturated for centuries with brine. Left to themselves, there was no possibility of recovery. But they were not to be so completely abandoned. Gradually, and at first faintly, whispers of Divine help reached their ears. The impression grew in distinctness and strength that the promise was real, and at length out of the dark firmament of their miseries the bright star of hope once more shone forth. They had ample evidence, from past experiences, that what Jehovah promised He would surely perform. The worst of sinners need not despair; for him the hope of salvation shines, the promise is still in force. Let him but repent and cry for help, and all will yet be well.
LEARN
1. That there is power in the midst of apparent impotency.
2. That national revival begins in the putting away of national sins.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Eze. 36:1-15. God and Nature.
1. God never forgets His absolute proprietorship in nature. His are the mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys, for He made them (Eze. 36:4-6).
2. Nature remains true to God when man is unfaithful. Man may desolate but cannot destroy nature. The unchanging continuity of its mountains, hills, rivers, and valleys rebukes his fickleness and infidelity.
3. Nature is honoured by signal displays of Divine power. The mountains of Israel had witnessed the miracles of God on behalf of His chosen people, and while the earth stands their voiceless testimony will abide.
4. Nature responds with grateful quickness to the touch of the Divine blessing. Ye mountains shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit. I will multiply upon you man and beast, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings (Eze. 36:8-11).
5. God will make nature a fruitful inheritance to the obedient (Eze. 36:12-15).
Man and Nature.
1. Man regards nature as an opportunity to indulge a covetous spirit. The places are ours in possession (Eze. 36:2).
2. Man abuses the resources of nature by sinful extravagance. They have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side (Eze. 36:3).
3. It is an evidence of great moral debasement when man exults over the desolations of nature he himself has made. The enemy hath said against you, Aha!Ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the peoplea prey and derisionwith the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey (Eze. 36:2-5).
4. When man violates nature he violates the laws of God, and suffers accordingly. Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations (Eze. 36:13).
5. When man obeys God, all the resources of nature minister to his enjoyment (Eze. 36:8-15).
Eze. 36:1-4. The grand distinction between the people of God as Israel, and the people of the world as Edom, is, whereas the latter are finally given over to destruction, the former are only chastened for a time, and shall be finally and completely delivered. The people of the world may now seem exalted to a great height, but their elevation is of a carnal and material kind, and is therefore transitory. The elevation of the Israel of God is spiritual, and therefore permanent. Her hills are the everlasting hills (Gen. 49:26). The Mount Zion, as the seat of Gods earthly throne, cannot be removed, but abideth for ever (Psa. 125:1). Therefore Edoms shout of triumph over the fallen Israel shall be turned into wailing for her own fall. She had greedily thought to take possession of the ancient high places of the people of God. Nay more, she had turned into derision the promise of perpetuity which God had given to His people, as though that promise was now proved to be abortive, and had sneered at Israels connection with Jehovah as though He were unable to save them.Fausset.
Eze. 36:2. Many were the enemies of Gods people, but they so conspired in one design, and were so one in their humours, enmity, and carriage, that the prophet speaks of them as one, and particularly of Edom.Pool.
The scorn of the world an old experience. Thus were the prophets and Christ reproached, and the Lord said that men would speak all manner of evil against His disciples (Mat. 5:11), and Paul, that we should be a spectacle to the world (1Co. 4:9).Lange.
Eze. 36:3. Ye are taken up on the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people. Slander.
1. A vice of great talkers.
2. Is devoid of compassion for the unfortunate.
3. Delights in exaggeration and malicious innuendoes.
4. Is frequently employed to disparage and afflict the people of God.
Ye are made to ascend upon the lip of the tongue and upon the evil fame of the people. God takes it extreme ill that His people should be traduced and defamed, which hath been their lot in all ages, but He will not fail to vindicate them and to avenge them.Trapp.
God knows, sees, and hears the misery of His children: that must comfort them, therefore they cannot despair. How ready men often are not only to count up the sufferings of others, but also in their talk to exaggerate still more.Starck.
Eze. 36:4-6. The Divine Sympathy with Nature.
1. Because it is His handiwork and reflects His character.
2. Because it is the dwelling-place and training ground of man.
3. Because of the havoc wrought in it by the fury of His enemies.
4. Because it is ever faithful and obedient to His laws.
Eze. 36:6-7. Wrong-doing.
1. Rouses the Divine anger.
2. Is doomed while it rejoices in its brief triumph.
3. Will suffer the misery it inflicts on others.
4. Is certain to be Divinely punished.
Eze. 36:6. To these lifeless creatures He directeth His speech to show that every creature groaneth and waileth for the redemption of our bodies. It fareth the better also in this life present, for the elects sake, as it was once cursed for mans sin, and hath lain bedridden, as it were, ever since.Trapp.
Eze. 36:7. The righteous God, to whom vengeance belongs, will render shame for shame. Those that put contempt and reproach on Gods people will sooner or later have it turned upon themselves; perhaps in this world, either their follies or their calamities, their miscarriages or their mischances, shall be their reproach; at furthest, in that day when all the impenitent shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt.M. Henry.
They shall be paid home in their own coin, be overshot in their own bow, be covered with their own confusion.Trapp.
Eze. 36:8-15. The Fertility of Nature.
1. A signal proof of the Divine blessing. Behold I am for you. And I will multiply (Eze. 36:8-9).
2. Evidenced in the abundant increase of fruit, cattle, men and wealth (Eze. 36:8-11).
3. Should be regarded by the people of God as a special blessing. Even My people Israel shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance (Eze. 36:12).
4. The more conspicuous because of former barrenness and decay (Eze. 36:13-15).
5. A type of the future prosperity of the people of God.
While Edom and Tyre rejoiced in their sins at the fall of Jerusalem, the jealousy of the Lord was roused to say that they should return, and as Jeremiah had said that fields and vineyards should again be sold in that city. The promises, like clouds of refreshing rain, scatter their blessings on every age. They were in one form or other continually repeated, and in all the glowing powers of Oriental language. But however justified the prophets might be in the use of hyperbole and metaphor, they could not exceed the truth, which would have been the case had their promises been restricted to the weak but rising times of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. And if the waste places were rebuilt, why then, whole Palestina, dost thou lie very much in ruins to this day? Consequently the gracious cloud of covenant blessings only scattered its drops on Jewish ages, and gave showers to the primitive church, reserving its fulness, or the residue of the Spirit, for the mountain of His holiness in the glory of the latter day.Sutcliffe.
A certain fulfilment of the most literal kind began at an early period to be given to the prophecy. People of the stock of Israel did again possess the land of their fathers; by them the mountains of Israel were again cultivated, and for them the land yielded its fruit; there again, as of old, the seed of man and of beast did greatly increase and multiply, so that the region was known for ages as one of the most fertile and prosperous in Asia, and that too while the old and hereditary enemies of Israel in the neighbourhood sank into comparative insignificance and lost their original place in the scale of nations. Had Israel but seen in all this the hand of God, and viewed the whole in connection with His unchangeable righteousness, there should certainly have been nothing wanting to complete the correspondence between the description of the prophet and the facts of history. But the old relations of the covenant people with the kingdom of God give way; the outward Israel are no longer distinctively the covenant peopleall the children of faith of every land become the seed of blessing and heirs according to the promise. And while it is only under the Gospel dispensation that we can expect the perfect realisation of the promised good, we must now no longer expect it after the old form, or according to the simply literal interpretation. The good is too great and expansive to be now shut up within such narrow limits, for since wherever there is a royal priesthood offering up spiritual services to God, there the incense and offerings of the temple are perpetuated (Mal. 1:11; 1Pe. 2:5), so wherever there are members of Christ there also are the mountains of Canaan, there are the people who have the promise of all things for their portion, on whom descends the blessinglife for evermore. Nor can the old evils properly return again, for the good is avowedly connected with nothing but a spiritual qualification, and is entirely dissevered from a merely ancestral relationship or a political existence in the world.Fairbairn.
Eze. 36:8. Thus shall the ruined churches bring fruit, wine, and bread, that is, the mysteries of doctrine to the profit of the people, that they may no longer be rude and ignorant, but a people taught of God. Therefore the spiritual husbandmen, vine-dressers, till and sow diligently. With the plough of fear they turn up the soil of the heart in which they sow the new word of the Gospel, whereby the forsaken churches become planted anew; and these are the mountains which the Lord addresses.Heim-Hoffman.
Eze. 36:9-11. The Lord declares to the people of Israel, Behold, I am for you. Since God is ultimately to be for them, no power can avail anything that is against them. God will turn to His people in mercy, and they shall at the same time turn to Him in repentance. The restoration to their own land is to be literal, and all things and all persons in the restored state of Israel are to share in the coming blessednessthe mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the desolate wastes, the houses, the cities, man and beast. So in the case of the spiritual Israel, the true Church: she is now a little and despised flock, but she shall at last be a multitude which no man can number (Rev. 7:9); whereas the anti-christian faction, and all the carnal, worldly, and unbelieving, who shall for a time seem to triumph over the Church of Christ (Rev. 11:7-11), shall perish awfully and everlastingly.Fausset.
Eze. 36:9. It is a blessing to the earth to be made serviceable to men, especially to good men that will serve God with cheerfulness in the use of those good things which the earth serves up to them.M. Henry.
I will turn unto you. Look towards you with regard to what has been and is your estate, your sufferings, which were less than you deserved, yet were the greater because ye are mine. Your inhabitants gave me the back and sinned against me, and I turned the back on you and regarded you not: then all darkness covered you, now my face shall be towards you, and you shall prosper and be fruitful to the comfort of those that shall dwell in you and plough and sow you.Pool.
Eze. 36:10. They are far wrong who consider a great increase of men as a curse because it gives rise to want and distress. God can nourish many as well as few, and we should live moderately, avoid endeavouring to surpass others in expenditure, and seek for concord in families.Luther.
Eze. 36:11. Gods kingdom in the world is a growing kingdom, and His Church, though for a time it may be diminished, shall recover itself and be again replenished.M. Henry.
Eze. 36:12. The promised good is always to be understood with the condition that men repent (Mal. 3:7). The self-evident condition is, that they do not fill up the measure of their sins anew. There is no charter of immunity against Ye would not. How often is the country or a district made to bear the blame when there comes a pestilence among men or cattle, when it should be known that sin gaining the upper hand provoked Gods wrath thereto.Lange.
HOMILETICS
SIN THE CAUSE OF NATIONAL RUIN
(Eze. 36:16-21.)
Once more the Jews are reminded of the reason for the calamities that had overtaken them: the root-cause was their sin. It might seem strange to them that they, of all people, should be so deeply humiliated; but such was the obstinacy of their rebellion that no other course was open but for Jehovah to vindicate the cause of righteousness by unmistakable marks of His displeasure. So far as they were concerned they had no reason to expect anything but a continuance of His righteous severity; but a supreme regard for His holy name, which had influenced Him in bringing about their downfall, is now to operate in promoting their recovery. Their restoration must begin in the conviction and acknowledgment of their sins.
I. Sin is a defilement of the national life (Eze. 36:17). It is so because it is a defilement of the individual life. Sin is the polluted heritage of universal man, for all have sinned; but it is intensely individual and personal. Its taint permeates every power and faculty of the manThe whole head is sick and the whole heart faint: from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. Its seat is inward, and it is often disguised under a fair and beautiful exterior; but attack it, and its impurities soon become actively manifest, as the cuttle-fish surprised by an enemy emits an inky fluid that darkens and befouls the most pellucid waters. The nation is defiled because the citizen is defiled, and instead of seeking cleansing has stirred up the muddy sediment in himself and others. Let sin be your deepest sorrow, your heaviest grief, the spring of many tears, the burden of many sighs, the occasion of daily visits to the cross of Calvary.
Weep not for broad lands lost;
Weep not for fair hopes crossed;
Weep not when limbs wax old;
Weep not when friends grow cold;
Weep not that death must part
Thine and the best loved heart:
Yet weepweep all thou can
Weep, weep, because thou art
A sin-defild man.
II. Sin is a profanation of the Divine holiness (Eze. 36:20-21). Sin is not only a degradation to man, but an injustice and injury towards God: it seems to drag Him to the level of man, and to rob Him of every attribute that constitutes Him Divine. The conduct and attendant miseries of the Israelites dishonoured Jehovah in the sight of the heathen, who naturally inferred that if this was all He could do for His worshippers, then He was no better than their own deities, and the morality of His people was in many respects inferior to that of their own. Do not think that your iniquities are unnoticed, or that you are the only one affected by them. The unbelieving world is watching you. The mere profession of religion is a caricature and a hypocrisy, and every act of sin is a defamation of the character of the holy God.
III. Sin is punished by national ruin (Eze. 36:18-19). The Jews were driven out of their own land because of their incorrigible wickedness. Their murders, idolatries, and injustice roused the anger of God, and according to their way and their doings He adjudged them to punishment. His hand scattered them, and no power could detain them in the land when His hand was against them, just as no power could have disturbed their security if they had remained faithful to Him. The nation that makes an enemy of God is doomed. The strongest fortifications must yield, the astutest policy be confounded, commerce decay, wealth give way to poverty, and the proudest people be humbled to the dust. The first step in national ruin begins in moral wrong.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Eze. 36:16-38. There are mountain regions lying within the tropics where in the course of a single day the traveller finds every vegetable form peculiar to every line of latitude between the equator and the poles, and these all laid out in regular arrangement. Leaving the palms which cover the mountains feet, he ascends into the regions of the olive; from these he rises to a more temperate climate, where vines festoon the trees, or trail their limbs along the naked rock; still ascending, he reaches a belt of oaks and chestnuts; from that he passes to rugged heights shaggy with the hardy pine; by-and-by he enters a region where trees are dwarfed into bushes; rising above that his foot presses a soft carpet of lowly mosses, till climbing the rocks where only the lichen lives, he leaves all life below; and now, shivering in the cold, panting in the thin air for breath, he stands on those dreary elevations where eternal winter sits on a throne of snow, and waving her icy sceptre, says to vegetationHitherto shalt thou come, and no further. Like some such lofty mountain of the tropics there are portions of the Divine Word where in a space of limited extentwithin the short compass of a chapter, or even part of itthe more prominent doctrines of salvation are brought into juxtaposition and arranged side by side almost in systematic order. This portion of Scripture presents an epitome or outline of the Gospel. Its details, with their minute and varied beauties, are here, so to speak, in shade; but the grand truths of redemption stand boldly up, much as we have seen from sea the summits of a mountain range, or the lofty headlands of a dim and distant coast. We are aware that the Mosaic economy, and many of Gods dealings with His ancient people, were but the shadows of good things to come; and when the things are come, why look at the shadow when you possess the substance? However valued in his absence the portrait of a son, what mother, when her boy is folded in her arms, and she has his loved and living face to gaze on, turns to the cold picture? What artist studies a landscape in the grey dawn when he may see it in the blaze of day? True. Yet such study has its advantages. It not seldom happens that a portrait brings to view certain shades of expression which we had not previously observed in the face of the veritable man; and when some magnificent form of architecture, or the serried ridges and rocky peaks of a mountain, have stood up between us and the lingering lights of day, we have found that although the minor beauties of fluted columns or frowning crags were lost in the shades of evening, yet, drawn in sharp and clear outline against a twilight sky, the effect of the whole was even more impressive than when eyed in the glare of day. Thus it may be well occasionally to examine the Gospel in the broad shadows and strongly defined outlines of an old economy; and through Gods government of His ancient people to study the motives, the nature, and ends of His dealings with ourselves. In this way the passage before us has peculiar claims upon our attention.Guthries Gospel in Ezekiel.
Eze. 36:16. Mans previous course of action is the cause of Gods subsequent course of action. We shall have to give account not only because of the evil which we have done, but also for the good things which we have had. The world is perfect throughout where man does not come in to disturb it. Storms clear the air, an observation which bears application in regard to the judgments of God.Lange.
Eze. 36:16-17. The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man. The Human Side of the Divine Message. The rain in its descent from heaven falls upon the surface of our earth, percolates through the porous soil, and flowing along rocky fissures or veins of sand, is conveyed below ground to the fountain whence it springs. Now, although rising out of the earth, that water is not of the earth earthy. The worlds deepest well owes its treasures to the skies. So was it with the revealed will of God. It flowed along human channels, yet its origin was more than celestial, it was Divine. Those waters at whose pure and perennial springs faith drinks and lives, while conveyed to man along earthly channels, have their source far awayin the throne of God. No doubt God could have used other instrumentality. He might have commissioned angels on His errands of mercy, and spoken at all times, as He did sometimes, by seraph lips. With rare exceptions His ambassadors were men. The patriarchs, prophets, and apostlesthose inspired missionaries of heavenwere all sons of men. In this arrangement observe
1. The kindness of God to man. Who has read the story of Moses without feeling that it was a very great kindness both to the infant and his mother that he had her bosom to lie on, and that God in His providence so arranged matters that the very mother of the child was hired to be its nurse. Who else could be expected to treat the outcast so lovingly and kindly? And I hold it a singular kindness to man that he is selected to be the instrument of saving his fellow-men. If that parent is happy who has snatched a beloved child from the flood or fire, and the child saved and thus twice given him becomes doubly dear, what happiness in purity or permanence to be compared with his who is a labourer with God in saving souls!
2. The honour conferred on man. What dignity does this world offer, what glittering stars, what jewelled honours flash on her swelling breast, to be for one moment compared with those which they win on earth and wear in heaven who have turned souls from darkness to light? As yon planet worlds that roll above us draw bright radiance from the sun around which they move, so surely shall they shine who spend and are spent in Jesus service; they shall share His honours and shine in His lustre. It was the prayer of Brainerd, Oh that I were a flaming fire in the service of my God!
3. The wisdom of God. Mirabeau said of a man who addressed the French Convention for the first time, That man will yet act a great part; he speaks as one who believes every word he says. Much of pulpit power under God depends on that. They make others feel who feel themselves. It is true a man may impart light to others who does not himself see the light. It is true that like a concave speculum cut from a block of ice, which, concentrating the rays of the sun, kindles touchwood or explodes gunpowder, a preacher may set others on fire when his own heart is cold as frost. Yet commonly it happens that it is what comes from the heart of preachers that penetrates and affects the hearts of hearers. Like a ball red-hot from the cannons mouth, he must burn himself who would set others on fire. If man may not feel what he preaches, angels could not. Man saved himself the more earnestly seeks the salvation of his perishing fellow-man. During a heavy storm off the coast of Spain a dismasted merchantman was observed by a British frigate drifting before the gale. Every eye and glass were on her, and a canvas shelter on a deck almost level with the sea suggested the idea that even yet there might be life on board. With all their faults no men are more alive to humanity than our rough and hardy mariners; and so the order instantly sounds to put the ship about, and presently a boat is lowered, and starts with instructions to bear down upon the wreck. Away after that drifting hulk go these gallant men over the mountain swell of a roaring sea; they reach it, they shout, and now a strange object rolls from that canvas screen against the lee shroud of a broken mast. It is hauled into the boat. It proves to be the trunk of a man, bent head and knees together, so dried up and shrivelled as to be hardly felt within the ample clothesso light that a mere boy lifted it on board. It is conveyed to the ship and laid on the deck. In horror and pity the crew gather around it. These feelings suddenly change into astonishment. The object shows signs of life. The seamen draw nearer; it moves and then muttersin a deep sepulchral voice, muttersThere is another man. Rescued himself, the first use the saved one made of speech was to try to save another.Guthrie.
Eze. 36:17. The Defiler.
1. Sin a defilement. Look at sin, pluck off that painted mask and turn upon her face the lamp of Gods Word. We start, for it reveals a deaths head. I stay not to quote texts descriptive of sin. It is a debt, a burden, a thief, a sickness, a leprosy, a plague, a poison, a serpent, a stingeverything that man hates it is. Name me the evil that springs not from this rootthe crime that lies not at this door. Hypocrite and dead professor! let us open thy bosom: full of all corruption, how it smells like a charnel house! We are driven back by the noisome stenchwe hasten to close the door. It is a painted, putrid sepulchre, whose fair exterior but aggravates the foulness within.
2. The nature of this defilement. (a.) It is internal. Like snowdrift, when it has levelled the churchyard mounds, and glistening in the winter sun, lies so pure, white, fair, and beautiful above the dead that fester and rot below, a plausible profession may wear the look of innocence and conceal from human eyes the foulest heart-corruption. The grass grows green upon the sides of the mountain that holds a volcano in its bowels. Behind the rosy cheek and lustrous eye of beauty how often does there lurk a deadly disease, the deadliest disease of all. Like these maladies, sin has its seat within. It is a disease of the heart, and the worst and deadliest of all heart-complaints. (b.) It is universal. Although the hues of the skin differ, the form of the skull and the features of the face are cast in different moulds, the features, colour, and character of the heart are the same in all men. In Adam all have diedhave sinned, and therefore died. Thus sin, like our atmosphere, embraces every region of the world. Like death, it is universal. The tree is diseased not at the top, but at the root, and therefore no branch of the human family can possibly escape being affected by sin. (c.) It is incurable. What moral effect had Gods judgments on His ancient people? As always happens in incurable diseases, the patient grew worse instead of better. As always happens when life is gone, the dead become more and more offensive. This internal and universal defilement is one which neither sorrows can atone for nor sufferings remove. I have seen the characters of the writing remain on paper which the flames had turned into a film of buoyant coal; I have seen the thread that had been passed through the fire retain in its cold grey ashes the twist which it had got in spinning; I have found every shivered splinter of the flint as hard as the unbroken stone; and let trials come in providence sharp as the fire and ponderous as the crushing hammer, unless a gracious God send along with these something else than these, bruised, broken, bleeding as thy heart may be, its nature remains the same.Guthrie.
Man Sinning.
1. Man is fallen. Compare man with any other of the creatures of God, and how directly we come to the conclusion that he is not, nor can be, the creature he came from his Makers hands. Turn to the bloody horrors of this battlefield. The trampled ground lies thick with the mingled brave, the air is shaken with the most horrible sounds, every countenance expresses the passions of a fiend. Covering her eyes, humanity flies shrieking from the scene and leaves it to rage, revenge, and agony. Fiercer than the cannons flash flames of wrath shoot from brothers eyes; they draw, they brandish their swords, they sheath them in each others bowels; every stroke makes a widow, every ringing volley scatters a hundred orphans on a homeless world. Sooner would I be an atheist, and believe there was no God, than that a man appears in this scene as he came from the hand of a Benignant Divinity. Man must have fallen.
2. Apart from derived sinfulness man has personal sins to answer for. You may deny original, but can any man in his senses deny actual sin? You may as well deny your existence; it sticks to you like your shadow. If every thread of lifes web were yet to weave, what man would make the future a faithful copy of the past] No man living would. 3 The guilt of these actual sins is mans own. We attempt in vain to fix the blame on othersto lay the burden on any shoulders but our own. We talk of the strength, we plead the suddenness of temptation; but how often have we sinned designedly, deliberately, repeatedly? We have sinned when we knew we were sinning; we have repaired to scenes where we knew that we were to sin. We have done what the heathen never did, what Sodom and Gomorrah never did, what Tyre and Sidon never didwe have rejected a Saviour, and insanely refused eternal life.Guthrie.
Eze. 36:18-19. Gods Punitive Justice.
1. God is slow to punish. No band of clock goes so slow as His hand of vengeance. Look, for example, on the catastrophe of the Deluge. There was a truce of one hundred and twenty years between the first stroke of the bell and the first crash of the thunder. Noah grew grey preaching repentance. The ark stood useless for years, a huge laughing-stock for the scoffers wit. Most patient God! God does pour out His fury; but His indignation is the volcano that groans loud and long before it discharges the elements of destruction and pours its fiery lavas on the vineyards at its feet.
2. The truth of God requires the punishment of sin. God has reiterated in a thousand ways the awful sentenceThe soul that sinneth it shall die. Let sin go unpunished either in person or substitute; this saves the sinnerno doubt of that; but at what price? You save the creatures life at the expense of the Creators honour. Your scheme exalts man, but far more than man is exalted is God degraded. By it no man is lost; but there is a greater losssomething more awful happens. The truth of God is lost; and in that loss His crown is spoiled of its topmost jewel, His kingdom totters, and the throne of the universe is shaken to its foundations.
3. The love of God requires the punishment of sin. Love for those who have the highest claim on a sovereigns protection requires that justice take her course and the guilty die. That the community may live in peace, that the citizen may feel safe in the bosom of his family, that streets may be safe to walk on, that beds may be safe to lie in, that our country may be fit to live in, crime must be punished. Divine love is no blind Divinity, and God being as wise as tender, sinners may rest assured that out of mere pity for them He will neither sacrifice the interests nor peril the happiness of His people.
4. Unless sin is punished the language of Scripture appears extravagant. Let me beseech, implore you to read with tears and prayers those passages of Scripture that unveil the miseries of the lost. Blot not from your minds what you cannot blot out of the book of God. The sufferings and miseries which await the impenitent and unbelieving, God has painted in most appalling colours. They are such that, to save us from them, His Son descended from these heavens and expired upon a cross. They are such that when Paul thought of the lost he wept like a woman. The Gospel has in it elements of terror. But it is like our atmosphereoccasionally riven by the thunder and illumined by the fatal flash, at times the path of the stealthy pestilence, charged with elements of destruction and impregnated with the seeds of disease; but how much more a great magazine of health, filled with the most harmonious sounds, fragrant with the sweetest odours, hung with golden drapery, the pathway of sunbeams, the womb of showers, the feeder of fertilising streams, the parent of harvests, and the fountain of all earths life! And, just as in that atmosphere which God has wrapped around our globe there is much more health than sickness, much more food than famine, much more life than death, so in the Bible there is much more love than terror.Guthrie.
Eze. 36:19. The scattering power of sin: in truth, it scatters the souls of men into the whole world, and that is already their judgment which sinners have to experience.Lange.
God frequently repeats that His judgments upon the Jews were no more than what their own ways or doings obliged Him to inflict. There was in His dealings with them no arbitrary exercise of sovereignty, but they were dealt with according to their own conduct. And thus God deals with mankind in general: His actions in regard to them are not founded in an arbitrary exercise of His absolute sovereignty over them, but in impartial justice, wisdom, and goodness; and He judges them according to their own ways, and not according to the dictates of an arbitrary will.Benson.
Eze. 36:20-21. The Name of God
1. Is the expression of His immaculate holiness.
2. Is defamed by human sin.
3. Is misunderstood by those who witness the sufferings of His people.
4. Will vindicate to the universe its inviolable justice and righteousness.
Eze. 36:20. They did profanely sin against those precepts of My law which heathens did know, venerate, and observe better than the Jews. Their heathen neighbours said, with taunt and cutting reprimandThese are the people of the Lord. These captive slaves, that are most forlorn of men, will have it that their God is the Lord, the mighty and the good God, the true and faithful One that gave them the land out of which they are driven. If He be good as they boast, how comes it to pass that His people are in such ill state? Was He weak and could not keep them in their own land, or doth He falsify His word? You miserable Jews, say what this meaneth. But by their impure life they opened the mouths of the heathens to blaspheme and call the holiness of God into question. When they saw His people so unholy they concludedAs is the people so is their God; and this, as it was a great offence and scandal to the heathen, so it was a great dishonour to God.Pool.
With the sinner goes also his curse, his other shadow.Thus this chapter teaches us how the first petition of the Lords prayer should be understood. The name of the Lord is hallowed as well by the prosperity of the elect, which may obtain even under the cross, as by their purification from sin.A bad life ought not to put good doctrine in question.Lange.
Eze. 36:21. God His own justification in this world.God sanctifies His name among men by benefits as well as by judgments and punishments.Lange.
HOMILETICS
SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY
(Eze. 36:22-38.)
I. Is bestowed as an act of unmerited Divine goodness (Eze. 36:22-24). Israel had forfeited all claim to the Divine pity; they had broken every clause in their part of the covenant. No injustice would have been done had they been passed by for ever and another nation selected to carry out the work in which they had so signally failed. But the Divine honour must be vindicated. The Lord had chosen Israel, had wedded Himself to them in closest union of both promise and blessing, had lavished upon them the love of His great heart and made them distinguished by miracles of power. Must all this go for nothing? Amid the general defection He did not overlook the fact that a few remained faithful. And yet, not for their sakes, nor for the sake of the people who had so cruelly disappointed and wronged Him, but for His own Names sake, He resolves upon the vindication of His honour. That vindication had been partially seen in the punishment, but is to be more fully displayed in the restoration and prosperity of His people. An old lesson, which the world in all ages has been so slow to take in, is to be again enforcedthat spiritual good is superior to and the only sound basis of temporal good. Our smallest mercies are undeserved. How unfathomable is the goodness which continually surrounds us with spiritual riches!
II. Begins in a thorough renovation of the moral nature.
1. Sin is removed (Eze. 36:25). There is no possibility of the future being better than the present unless the heart is cleansed from sin. Man is powerless to do this (Jer. 2:22). It is an act of God. The ceremonial cleansing of the Law was typical of the spiritual cleansing of the Gospel. The Divine cleansing is thorough and completeYe shall be cleansed from all your filthiness and from all your foul gods.
2. A new nature acquired (Eze. 36:26). The old nature was full of idolatries; the new shall be clear of these. The old nature was stubborn, stolid, hard as stone; the new shall be soft, tender, impressionable, receiving the Divine impress as the melted wax receives the impress of the seal. The human shall be suffused, interpenetrated, and transformed by the Divine. It is a spiritual miracle. Man can mould the intellect and modify the disposition, but God alone can change and renew the heart.
3. The renovation evidenced by practical obedience (Eze. 36:27). In the spiritual world, as in the physical, every effect must have an adequate cause, and the effect must ever be in harmony with the nature and operative force of the cause. A life of moral obedience is the practical outcome of the influence of moral law acting at the centre of activity. Physical law is inflexible, and must ever produce the same class of phenomena with unvarying regularity. Moral law is not less unalterable, but it operates within the sphere of human freedom and cannot produce the same cast-iron sameness of results as is done in the unchanging operations of physical law: it respects the free, voluntary exercise of the human will. The Spirit of God so operates upon all the powers of the soul as to make obedience to Gods law not only possible, but cheerful, consistent, and acceptable. Enforced, mechanically regulated obedience is unworthy of man and displeasing to God. The reality of a spiritually transformed nature is seen in a constant endeavour to observe the Divine statutes and judgments and do them.
III. Is the only condition in which temporal prosperity can be truly appreciated and safely enjoyed (Eze. 36:28-30; Eze. 36:33-38). With the return of Israel to spiritual allegiance there is promised a return of temporal prosperity, and it is more than hinted in these verses that the outward prosperity should be proportioned to their moral obedience. Had they been more faithful, the promise of national restoration would have been more completely realised than history as yet has shown it to be. Temporal prosperity to the unbelieving is not only delusive, but dangerous. The success achieved by diligence and virtue has become a curse when the loss of rectitude has led to its abuse. The founders of the illustrious family of the Medici rose to affluence and power not only by their commercial genius, but by their philanthropy and virtue, John de Medici being honoured by his countrymen with the title of the Father of the Poor; and his son Cosmo has inscribed on his tomb the title of Father of his country. But with the decline of virtue in their descendants wealth and prestige vanished. Spiritual prosperity is the precursor of temporal prosperity. We never properly enjoy the good things of this life but as we use them in the fear and love of God, the all-bountiful Giver.
IV. Humbles the soul under a sense of personal unworthiness (Eze. 36:31-32). Tis ever so. Nothing humbles the soul more than a display of Gods condescending goodness. We are ashamed of the sins committed against beneficence so tender, so constant, so generous. We feel that such mercy is utterly undeserved. The goodness of God melts the heart into penitence, which a misconception of severity has hardened into indifference or reckless bravado (Rom. 2:4-5). A genuine repentance is one of the most hopeful symptoms of spiritual prosperity. The glory of Divine grace is often seen to best advantage through the mist of tears.
V. Is secured by earnest and persevering prayer (Eze. 36:37). God had promised prosperity, and, apart from Israels deservings, had determined to bestow it, but none the less must it be sought by prayer and supplication. Whatever God has promised is a legitimate subject for prayer. Prayer is the language of conscious dependence; but how vast is the scope of the suppliant which is limited only by the exceeding great and precious promises! Those blessings are most highly prized, and bring the greatest spiritual enrichment, which are secured by earnest and agonising prayer.
LESSONS.
1. God has a definite purpose in giving or withholding prosperity.
2. Spiritual prosperity is the highest kind, of prosperity.
3. The highest blessings are not secured without importunate prayer.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
Eze. 36:22-24. The Divine Impartiality
1. An essential characteristic of the Divine nature.
2. Exercised in the accurate distribution of punishment and reward.
3. Reveals the enormity of human ingratitude and sin.
4. Vindicates the integrity of the Divine name.
5. Seen in the generous treatment of the underserving.
6. A powerful motive to repentance and obedience.
Eze. 36:22. It is not for any merit which God sees in His people that He has pity on them, for if God weighed their merits there could be nothing in them to recommend them to His favour; but it is in consideration of His own holy name and character as the God of covenanted grace, that so He may vindicate its sanctity before the nations from the reproach brought on it through the sins and the terrible punishment of the covenant people. Let us hence learn that the honour of His own holy name is the first grand end of all Gods dealings of wrath and mercy. Let us fall in with the purpose of God, and make the honour of His name our chief plea in our prayers for mercy and our influencing motive in all our acts.Fausset.
Gods Motive in Salvation.
1. Regard to His own glory.
2. In saving man for His own honour and glory God exhibits the mercy, holiness, love, and other attributes of the Godhead.
3. The doctrine that God is not moved to save man by any merit or worth in him is a truth of the highest importance to sinners.
4. It is as important for the saint as for the sinner to remember that he is not saved through personal merit, or for his own sake.
5. This doctrine, while it keeps the saint humble, will help to make him holy.
Here, no ornament to park or garden, stands a dwarfed, stunted, bark-bound tree. How am I to develop that stem into tall and graceful beauty, to clothe with blossoms those naked branches and hang them till they bend with clustered fruit? Change such as that is not to be effected by surface-dressing, or any care bestowed on the upper soil. The remedy must go to the root. You cannot make that tree grow upwards till you break the crust below, pulverise the hard subsoil, and give the roots room and way to strike deeper down; for the deeper the root and the wider-spread the fine filaments of its rootlets, the higher the tree lifts an umbrageous head to heaven and throws out its hundred arms to catch, in dews, raindrops, and sunbeams, the blessings of the sky. The believer offers this analogy between grace and nature, that, as the tree grows best skyward that grows most downward, the lower the saint descends in humility the higher he rises in holiness. The soaring corresponds to the sinking.Guthries Gospel in Ezekiel.
Eze. 36:23-24. God Glorified in Redemption.
1. God might have vindicated His honour and sanctified His name in our destruction.
2. God sanctifies His name and glorifies Himself in our redemption.
3. Gods power, wisdom, holiness, justice, and mercy glorified in redemption.
4. In redemption God is glorified in the complete discomfiture of all His and our enemies.
The effect of the wind is visible, not the element itself. The clouds scud across the sky, the trees swing their arms wildly in the air, aerial waves chase each other across the corn, and the boat, catching the gale in her flowing sheet, goes dancing over the billows. So, although in a sense infinitely higher, the Invisible is visible; and in His works we see One who, seeing all, remains Himself unseen God is lost, not in darkness, but in light; a sun that blinds the eye which is turned on its burning disc. Angels themselves, unable to sustain His glory, cover their faces with their wings and use them, as a man his hand, to screen their eyes from the ineffable effulgence. Unbeliever though he was, the great Laplace, in one of his last and not least memorable utterances, saidIt is the little that we know; it is the great that remains unknown. On the consecrated spot, where the cross of salvation rose and the blood of a Redeemer fell, I find the centre of a spiritual universe. Here, in a completed arch, if I may so speak, locked fast by the key, all the properties of divinity meet; here, concentrated as in a focus, its varied attributes blend and shine.Guthrie.
Eze. 36:25-28. Heart-Renewal
1. The work of the Divine Spirit.
2. Accomplished only by being cleansed from sin.
3. A thorough and self-conscious change.
4. Evidenced by an outward and practical obedience to the Divine law.
5. Puts the soul in its true relationship to God.
Eze. 36:25. The mention of clean water to be sprinkled on the people as the means of purification can only be understood symbolically; it does not refer to any mere external rite, or to any specific ordinance of the old covenant, such as the lustration ceremony with water and the ashes of the red heifer, or to the ablutions connected with the consecration of the Levites. It is rather to be viewed in reference to the purifications by water collectively, which were all, in one respect or another, symbolical of the removal of impurity and the establishment of the worshipper in a sound and acceptable condition. This was no more of a merely formal and outward character in Old Testament times than it is now, as we may learn from the whole tenor of this prophecy. It was by their moral pollutions most of all that the people of Israel had profaned Gods name and drawn down His displeasure; and the purification which was to undo the evil and again to sanctify the name of God could be nothing short of a conformity to Gods own righteousness, which throughout all ages is the same.Fairbairn.
Man Justified.
1. Gods people are not chosen because they are holy.
2. In redemption, the saved are not justified by themselves, but by God.
3. We are not justified through the administration or efficacy of any outward ordinance.
4. We are justified, or cleansed from the guilt of sin, by the blood of Christ. The greatest of all questions, What must I do to be saved? is one which admits of a short and plain answer. Capable of a wide expansion, it may yet be brought within a very narrow compass. The river, which there flows between distant wooded banks and yonder spreads itself out into a lake, reflecting on its mirror-face the bright heavens above and the dark hills around, is herewhere its foaming waters flash past loud as thunder and quick as lightning, or creep sullenly along at the bottom of the deep, dark gorgebrought within narrow bounds; bounds so narrow that, with nerve enough, by one brave leap from rock to rock I could clear its breadth. Even so all the wide expanse of doctrines to be believed and duties to be done over which we might expatiate in reply to the question, What shall I do to be saved? is contracted, compressed, comprehended in Pauls brief addressBelieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. As salvation is the one thing needful for man, faith is the one thing needful for salvation.Guthrie.
Eze. 36:26. Man Converted.
1. It is a great changenot a mere outward reformation.
2. It is a birth.
3. It is a resurrection. Our little child, watching with curious eye the apparent motion of objects, calls out in ecstasy and bids us see how hedge and house are flying past the carriage. You know it is not these that move; nor the fixed and firm shore, with its trees and fields, and boats at anchor, and harbours and headlands, that is gliding by the cabin-window. That is but an illusion of the eye; the motion is not in them but us.Guthrie.
The Heart of Stone and the Heart of Flesh. I. The heart of stone.
1. Stone is cold.
2. Hard.
3. Dead. II. The heart of flesh a new heart.
1. By this change the understanding and judgment are enlightened.
2. The temper and disposition are changed and sanctified.
3. In conversion man gets a warm heart, a soft heart, a living heart.
4. By conversion man is ennobled. Near by a mass of rock that had fallen from the overhanging crag, which had some wild-flowers growing in its fissures and on its top the foxglove with its spikes of beautiful but deadly flowers, we once came upon an adder as it lay in ribbon-coil, basking on the sunny ground. At our approach the reptile stirred, uncoiled itself, and raising its head, with eyes like burning coals, it showed its venomous fangs, shook its cloven tongue, hissed, and gave sign of battle. Attacked, it retreated, and making for that grey stone, wormed itself into a hole in its side. Its nest and home were there. And in looking on that shattered rock, fallen from its primeval elevation, with its flowery but fatal charms, the home and nest of the adder, where nothing grew but poisoned beauty and nothing dwelt but a poisoned brood, it seemed to us an emblem of that heart which the verse describes as a stone, which experience proves is a habitation of devils, and which the prophet pronounces to be desperately wicked.Guthrie.
The heart of stone does not bear bending according to Gods will, whereas the heart of flesh is soft and of such a texture that God can impress into its understanding a living knowledge, into its will a voluntary obedience, and into the inclinations a holy order.Starke.
Eze. 36:27. The New Life. I. It is a willing obedience to the law of God. II. It is a progressive obedience. I will cause you to walk in My statutes. Other images convey the idea of progress, but this of progress achieved by exertion, progress the triumph of an intelligent mind and the reward of a determined will.
1. In this image Gods people find comfort and encouragement.
2. This image stimulates to exertion. III. This willing and progressive obedience is the sign and seal of salvation. IV. One of the most powerful means to accomplish the duty of the new life is to cultivate the love of Christ.
1. Love is the most powerful of all motives.
2. Love is a motive to duty as pleasant as it is powerful. V. A powerful motive to duty lies in the fact that by our obedience to these statutes the verdict of judgment shall be settled. The last day is Gods Day of settlement with a world that has had long credit. It is the winding-up of this earths bankrupt estate and each mans individual interests. It is the closing of an open account that has been running on ever since the fall. It is the day when the balance is struck and our fate is heaven or hell. Our hands are now sowing seed for that great harvest.Guthrie.
I will put My Spirit, the great principle of light, life, and love, within you, to actuate the new spirit and to influence the new affections and passions, that the animal spirit may not become brutish, that the mental powers become not foolish. I will put My Spirit within you, so that as the new spirit may influence the new heart, so will My Spirit influence your new spirit, that each may have a proper mover; and then all will be pure, regular, harmonious, when passion is influenced by reason and reason by the Holy Ghost. And the cause shall be evidenced by the effects; for I will cause you to walk in My statutesnot only to believe and reverence My appointments relative to what I command you to perform; but ye shall walk in them, your conduct shall be regulated by them.A. Clarke.
First the inward and then the outward change is Gods order, while we men always proceed in the reverse order. What good a man does is not his, but Gods work in him.Starke.
Eze. 36:28. To the heavenly among men there is no lack even on earth; to him who has what alone is worth having nothing shall be wanting.Lange.
Eze. 36:29-36. Spiritual blessings were largely comprised in their temporal ones, as the kernel is enclosed in the shell. Hence Christian holiness and all the blessings of the new covenant are here principally implied. The Jews looked for the bringing-in of a better hope. They had a laver in which they washed; but David says, I will wash my hands in innocency. They had the blood of sprinkling, but a better fountain was expected to be opened for sin and for uncleanness. They had circumcision; but the true circumcision was that of the heart. They had the law written on the tables of stone; but the Messiah who says, Thy law is within Me, here promises to write it on the heart.Sutcliffe.
Eze. 36:29-30. The Productiveness of Nature
1. A Divine gift. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field.
2. Promptly responds to the Divine voice. I will call for the corn and increase it.
3. A guarantee against famine. I will lay no famine upon youye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
4. Is appreciated only by those who are morally cleansed. I will save you from all your uncleannesses.
Eze. 36:29. I will call for the corn. All necessaries for aliment comprised in one, and these brought to them at Gods call, which they will hear (Psa. 105:16; Psa. 105:40; Heb. 2:11-12). Famine is Gods arrow; He shoots it; where it is, He layeth it; but His people shall neither have it their misery nor their reproach any more.Pool.
Eze. 36:31-36. Nothing so melts the sinner into repentance as the love and grace of God, where he could have looked only for wrath because of his sins. Let us, if we desire true repentance, receive it as the gift of God at the foot of the cross of Christ, where we see our sin forgiven at the cost of such an awful sacrifice, flowing from the gratuitous love of God. The terrors of the law can frighten, but the grace of God in Christ alone can melt the heart.Fausset.
Eze. 36:31-32. Conscious Sin
1. The result of reflection on personal wrongdoing. Then shall ye remember your evil ways and your doings that were not good.
2. Humbles the soul in profound self-abasement. Ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways.
3. Convinces the soul that all blessings have a Divine source. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God.
Eze. 36:31. When I have given you My Spirit, renewed your hearts, brought you by miraculous mercy out of captivity in a strange land unto liberty in your own, ye shall call to mind, review and examine all your past life, your ways opposite to Gods, therefore both their own by choice and also evil in their very nature. Your mind shall abhor what you loved and deeply grieve at what you rejoiced in. When swine ye wallowed in mire; when made sheep you shall as much fear and flee from it.Pool.
There are some things we can hardly forgetour sorrows and our pleasures, as Esau; some things we can hardly rememberour faults and our friends, as Josephs butler. Augustine was famous for two of his workshis Retractions, which are the confessions of his errors; and his Confessions, which are the retractions of his life.Trapp.
In conversion man regains his memory. Loathing is not a sign of sickness only, but in matters spiritual it is a sign of convalescence. Our life must become sorrow to us, otherwise sorrow will not become life to us.Lange.
Eze. 36:32. Grace works shame, and so much the more as it makes the wilderness a paradise, the beggar a king, and the sinner a priest. We boast of nothing in Christ and we boast of all things.Lange.
Eze. 36:33-36. Moral Reform
1. The basis of temporal prosperity.
2. Can be accomplished only by Divine power.
3. An evidence to the world of the Divine veracity.
Eze. 36:36. I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. The Security of the Believer.
1. The text announces a most important truth.
2. This truth imparts comfort to a true Christian. Through his confidence in this truth
(1) he commits all his earthly cares to God;
(2) he is sustained amid the trials of life;
(3) he cheerfully hopes and patiently waits for heaven.
3. Both nature and providence illustrate the truth of the text. The voice of every storm that, like an angry child, weeps and cries itself to sleep, the voice of every shower that has cleared up into sunshine, the hoarse voice of ocean breaking in impotent rage against its ancient bounds, the voice of the seasons as they have marched to the music of the spheres in unbroken succession over the earth, the scream of the satyr in Babylons empty halls, the fierce shout of the Bedouin as he hurls his spear and careers in freedom over his desert sands, the wail and weeping of the wandering Jew over the ruins of Zionin all these I hear the echo of this voice of GodI the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.Guthrie.
Eze. 36:37-38. An Increasing Population
1. An evidence of national prosperity.
2. A great national responsibility.
3. Should be instructed in the knowledge and worship of God.
4. An imposing spectacle when engaged in the praise and service of God.
Eze. 36:37. Thus saith the Lord God. The Divine Word
1. Emphasised by frequent repetition. This the fourteenth time this expression is used in the present chapter.
2. The foundation and guarantee of blessing to man.
3. Should be devoutly pondered.
4. Is infallible alike in promise and threatening.
I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them. The Nature, Necessity, and Power of Prayer.
1. Nature herself teaches us to pray.
2. Some difficulties connected with the duty. The decrees of God render prayer unnecessary. From want of faith prayer must be useless.
3. Prayer must be earnest.
4. Prayer is powerful.
5. Prayer is confident. Child of God, pray on. By prayer thy hand can touch the stars, thy arm stretches up to heaven. Nor let thy holy boldness be dashed by the thought that prayer has no power to bend these skies and bring down thy God. When I pull upon the rope which fastens my little skiff to a distant and mighty ship, this feeble arm may not draw its vast bulk to me, but I draw myself to it, to ride in safety under protection of its guns, and in my want enjoy the fulness of its stores. And it equally serves my purpose and supplies my needs that, although prayer were powerless to move God to me, it moves me to God. If He does not descend to earth I ascend to heaven.Guthrie.
For all these blessings, whether of sanctification or of millennial glory, God will be enquired of in prayer; for the duty and the promise are everywhere connected in the sacred writings. It is remarkable that when St. Paul mentions holiness of heart at large, it is generally with the most fervent supplications for its attainment (Eph. 3:14-19; 1Th. 5:23). This is still the only way for men to attain purity of heart and the mind of Christ.Sutcliffe.
Eze. 36:38. Thus shall men multiply and fill the cities of replanted Judah. And the increase of the numbers of a people is then honourable when they are all dedicated to God as a holy flock, to be presented to Him as living sacrifices. Crowds are a lovely sight in Gods temple.Benson.
Such promises as those contained in this chapter cannot be taken in an absolute sense; they must be understood to some extent conditionally. They reveal the kind pro-pensions of God towards His people, what He is disposed and ready to do towards them, rather than what He will for certain accomplish at any stage or period of their history. So far the Word contains an absolute element, as God certainly pledges Himself to make provision for securing, in a larger measure than formerly, a proper regeneration of heart and conduct in His people, and also for giving palpable proof of this in their more flourishing and prosperous condition generally. The goodness of God was certainly to manifest itself for these ends; but it would do so to the full extent represented only if they continued in His goodness.Fairbairn.
There is no period of the Jewish history from that time until now to which this beautiful chapter can be applied. It must belong to the Gospel dispensation; and if the Jews will still refuse, contradict, And blaspheme, let no Christian have any fellowship with them in their opposition to this Almighty Saviour. Let none be indifferent to His salvation, let all plead His promises, and let the messengers of the Churches proclaim to the Christian world a free, a full, and a present salvation.A. Clarke.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Chapter Sixteen
TRANSFORMATION AND RESTORATION
36:1-37:28
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 (chap. 36); and (4) the rebirth of the nation (chap. 37).
I. THE RESTORATION OF THE LAND
The prophecy against Mt. Seir (chap. 35) is followed by a prophecy unto the mountains of Israel. 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 here: (1) the redemption of the land (Eze. 36:1-7); (2) the repopulation of the land (Eze. 36:8-15); (3) the purification of the land (Eze. 36:16-21); and (4) the return to the land (Eze. 36:22-38).
A. The Redemption of the Land 36:17
TRANSLATION
(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. (2) Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy has said against you: Aha! even the ancient high places are our possession; (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; (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 which have been forsaken 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 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; (6) therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys; Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I in My jealousy and in My fury I have spoken because you have borne the reproach of the nations; (7) therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I have lifted up My hand, surely the nations which are round about you, they shall bear their reproach.
COMMENTS
The enemies who had cast a covetous eye on the ancient hilly terrain of Canaan completely had underestimated the power and intention of the God of Israel (Eze. 36:2). He had wonderful plans for His people. On the other hand, the enemies of Israel would have to pay for their crimes against Israel. 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 (Eze. 36:3). But God had good news for those forsaken cities and desolate wastes which neighboring nations were attempting to seize even while they spoke so contemptuously about them (Eze. 36:4). God was jealous for His people, and the fire of that jealousy was burning against those lands especially Edom which had desired to possess Canaan for themselves (Eze. 36:5).
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 (Eze. 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 which they had inflicted upon the Judeans (Eze. 36:7).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) The mountains of Israel.The word mountains is used for the land and people of Israel, to keep up the connection (by contrast) with the Mount Seir of the previous chapter. The personification is a strong one, by which the mountains represent the people as well as the land.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1. Mountains of Israel A common name for the land of Israel (Eze 17:22; Eze 33:28; Eze 34:14, etc.). How different this prophecy from that contained in chap. 6! It is not only the prophet’s spirit which has changed, but that of the people. (Compare notes Eze 24:15-27; Eze 33:10-20.)
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“And you son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says the Lord Yahweh. Because the enemy has said against you, “Aha!”, and “The ancient high places are ours in possession”.
Having spoken words of doom to Mount Seir, Yahweh now spoke to the mountains of Israel. He gave as the background against which He was going to work in restoration the cynicism of Edom, which reflected on Himself. Firstly they had said, “Aha!” in a knowing way. They had cast doubts on what Yahweh was doing, and had hinted that He was powerless and unable to help His people. And secondly they had claimed that Yahweh’s inheritance was theirs to take possession of.
That they recognised that they were acting against Yahweh comes out in that they saw themselves as taking possession of ‘the ancient high places’. This was ironic. To them the ancient high places were the heart of Israel’s religion (compare 2Ch 32:12; Isa 36:7 for a similar misconception). They had seen the fervid activity there and had thought that it was central to Yahwism. Now they gloated, they and their gods would take possession of them. The use of ‘ancient’ might suggest that they felt that Israel and Yahweh had usurped them in that they were there before Israel arrived. So this was intended to be a direct attack on Yahweh.
There were of course ancient high places such as at Bethel, Shechem, Gibeon and Gilgal, to name but four, which had had an honourable (as well as a dishonourable) history (see Gen 31:13; Gen 35:7; Jos 24:1; Jos 24:25-26; 1Sa 1:3; 1Sa 9:13-14 ; 1Sa 9:19; 1Sa 10:8; 1Sa 11:15; 1Ki 3:4). They were local sanctuaries where men had felt that they could meet with God and offer sacrifices other than before the tabernacle, probably places where they considered that God had recorded His name (Exo 20:24). And some therefore see this verse as indicating a deliberate attempt by Edom to take over the genuine ancient sanctuaries of Judah and Israel. Then ‘ancient’ is seen as signifying that they had been given to them by Yahweh long ago so that it was blasphemy to seize them. But the ‘high places’ had become a source of Israel’s downfall, as Moses had realised that they would, and elsewhere in Ezekiel ‘high places’ always has a bad sense, so that that would suggest we see it as having the same sense here.
Others however see ‘high places’ here as simply indicating the hills and mountains of Israel (compare Amo 4:13; Mic 1:3; Hab 3:19) which Edom purposed to take over, seeing the verse as indicating Judah’s longstanding right to be there as having been given the land by Yahweh. Its use elsewhere in Ezekiel, however, tends to be against this interpretation.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Israel’s Glorification Eze 35:1 to Eze 48:35 deals with the topic of Israel’s glorification. The description of the restored land of Israel and the new Temple and its worship (36-48) reveals a building and nation more majestic and beautiful that that found during the time of Solomon. These passages reveal the glorification that God has in planned for His people Israel. This glorification is different than what He has planned for the Church. The prophecies of this passage signify the fact that God has a much greater blessing in store for His people than any earthly kingdom in the past, even greater than Israel in its golden age of King Solomon. The future glories of the heavenly kingdom will far exceed the earthly. The Book of Jubilees (4.26-27) tells us that this Mount Zion will be sanctified in the new creation for a sanctification of the earth; through it will the earth be sanctified from all (its) guilt and its uncleanness throughout the generations of the world.
From these last chapters in the book of Ezekiel we know that the full restoration of Israel involves three key events that will take place in order to make their restoration complete and everlasting. These events will involve the restoration of Israel as a nation (36-37), the battle against Gog and its allies (38-39), and the restoration of the Temple and its worship (40-46) and its land (47-48).
Here is a proposed outline:
1. Judgment upon Edom Eze 35:1-15
2. The Restoration of Israel as a Nation Eze 36:1 to Eze 37:28
3. The Battle against Gog and its Allies Eze 38:1 to Eze 39:23
4. The Restoration of the Temple and its Worship and Land Eze 40:1 to Eze 48:35
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Restoration of Israel Eze 36:1 to Eze 37:28 tells us about the time when the nation of Israel will be restored. This event took place in 1948 when Israel was officially recognized as a nation again.
Eze 36:5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.
Eze 36:5
Comments – The region of Edom came to be known by the name “Idumea” during the time of the Greeks. But with the fall of Judah under the Romans the name Idumea disappeared from history.
Comments – The Lord has just spoken against the heathens in Eze 25:1 to Eze 32:32, and against Edom in Eze 35:1-15.
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:26
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Mountains of Israel Comforted
v. 1. Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, v. 2. Thus saith the Lord God, Because the enemy hath said against you, v. 3. therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God, Because they have made you desolate, v. 4. therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God, v. 5. therefore thus saith the Lord God, Surely in the fire of My jealousy, v. 6. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel and say unto the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers, v. 7. therefore thus saith the Lord God, I have lifted up Mine hand, v. 8. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, v. 9. For, behold, I am for you, v. 10. and I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it, v. 11. and I will multiply upon you man and beast, v. 12. Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, v. 13. Thus saith the Lord God, Because they say unto you, Thou, land, devourest up men and hast bereaved thy nations, v. 14. therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God, v. 15. Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
Eze 36:1-38
The present chapter is entirely devoted to the consolation of Israel, though its parts are derived from two separate “words” of Jehovah. Eze 36:1-15 belong to the “word” which opened with the first verse of the preceding chapter; Eze 36:16 begins another “word,” which only closes at Eze 37:14. The subject of the first part is the comfort offered to Israel in the destruction threatened against the heathen, and in the blessings promised to her land and people.
Eze 36:1
Prophesy unto the mountains of Israel. This prediction must be read in contrast, first, to that delivered against the mountains of Seir in the last chapter (35.), and, secondly, to that uttered against the mountains of Israel at an earlier stage of Ezekiel’s activity (Eze 6:1-14.). That “the mountains of Israel” was a familiar expression for the land of Israel, see Eze 6:1; Eze 17:22; Eze 33:28; Eze 34:14; Eze 37:22; Eze 38:8; and comp. Psa 121:1; Isa 52:7.
Eze 36:2
Because the enemy hath said against you. The ground of Jehovah’s purposed proceeding against Edom and the surrounding heathen peoples (Eze 36:3, Eze 36:5) is expressly declared to be the jubilation over the downfall of Israel, and the eagerness with which they sought to appropriate to themselves her forsaken land. Aha! Exulting over Israel’s misfortune (comp. Eze 25:3; Psa 40:16). The ancient high places, which Israel’s enemies fancied had become theirs in possession, were probably “the everlasting hills” of Gen 49:26 and Deu 33:15, the principal mountains of Palestine, which, as Havernick finely observes, were “the honorable witnesses and indestructible monuments of that ancient blessing spoken by Israel’s ancestor, and still resting on the people;” and to assail which was, in consequence, not only to sin against Jehovah, but to attempt an enterprise foredoomed to failure and shame. At the same time, Plumptre’s suggestion (‘Ezekiel: an Ideal Biography,’ Expositor, vol. 8.284; and Unpublished Notes) is not without plausibility, that, considering the special significance of the term bamoth in Ezekiel, the phrase should be held as referring to the sanctuaries which stood upon those heightsincluding, of course, the chief sanctuary, or temple (Schroder); in support of which the dean cites the frequency with which the enemies of Israel, as, for instance, the Assyrians and the Moabites, in their inscriptions, boasted that they had captured these sanctuaries.
Eze 36:3
Therefore. Ewald calls attention to the fivefold repetition of this conjunction, saying, “It repeats itself five times, the reasons [for God’s judgments] against these enemies thrusting themselves forward, before the discourse calmly dwells upon the mountains of Israel, of which it is strictly intended to treat.” As it were, the prophet’s emotion is so strong, and his indignation against Israel’s enemies so vehement, that, though he three times in succession begins to prophesy to the mountains of Israel, he on each occasion breaks off before he can get his message told, to expatiate upon the wickedness of Israel’s foes. In the prophet’s estimation that wickedness was so heinous as to inevitably carry in its bosom appropriate retribution. Becauseliterally, because and because, or even because, a reduplication for the sake of emphasis, as in Eze 13:10 and Le 26:43they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side; literally, wasting of and panting after you (are) round about. Fairbairn, Ewald, and Smend, deriving from , “to pant,” rather than from , “to lay waste,” translate, “because there is snapping and puffing at you round about,” which Plumptre thinks “falls in better with the context,” since “the prophet’s spirit seems to dwell throughout on the derision rather than the desolation to which his country, the mountains of Israel, had been subject.” And ye are taken up; literally, ye are made to come, if be an imperf; niph. of , “to go up “(Rosenmller, Schroder); or, ye are come, if it be imperf; kal of , “to press, or go in” (Ewald, Havernick); or, ye are gone up, if it be second pers. kal of (Hitzig, Smend). In the lips of talkers; literally, upon the lip of the tonguethe lip being regarded as the instrument or organ with which the tongue speaks. Havernick unnecessarily takes “the tongue” as equivalent to “people” in the parallel clausea signification has only in Isa 66:18; while Kliefoth views it as synonymous with “slander,” as in Psa 140:11, and translates, “upon the lip of slander and of the evil report of the people.” Keil sees in “the tongue” a personification for the “tongue-man” or talker of Psa 140:11; and Gesenius considers the two clauses as tautological.
Eze 36:4
The rivers (or, channels, bottoms, dales) were the water-courses, wadies, or ravines through which mountain streams flowed, as in Eze 35:8; and the residue of the heathen were the surrounding nations that had mocked Israel in her degradation, and were then profiting by her fall (comp. Psa 79:4).
Eze 36:5
Surely. , the particle of adjuration, as in Eze 5:11; Eze 33:27; Eze 34:8; Eze 38:19. The fire of my jealousy. Zephaniah (Zep 1:18; Zep 3:8) uses the same phrase. Similar expressions occur in Eze 21:31, “the fire of my wrath;” and Eze 38:19, “in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath” (comp. Deu 4:24). Against all Idumea. Edom. As in Eze 35:15, so here, it is the wickedness, more especially of the Edomites, that excites the prophet’s indignation. They had not only concluded that Israel’s territory should be to them for a possession, but they had done so with the joy of all their heart, and with despiteful minds; or, with contempt of soul (comp. Eze 25:6, Eze 25:15); i.e. with deadly (Ewald) or hearty (Smend) contempt. “The temper of the Edomites,” writes Plumptre, “might almost serve as the regulative instance of the form of evil for which Aristotle (‘Eth. Nit.,’ 2, 7, 15) seems to have coined the word , the temper which rejoices in the ills that fall on others.” The concluding clause, to cast it out for a prey, has been differently rendered.
(1) Regarding as an infinitive after , “to spoil it,” i.e. the land (Gesenius), “empty out” (Keil) or “drive out” (Ewald, Smend) its inhabitants (so as to get it) for a prey.
(2) Taking as a noun, “for the sake of its possession for a prey” (Kliefoth), that their suburbs should be a prey” (Hengstenberg) “on account of its pasturage for a prey” (Schroder).
(3) Changing into , “in order to plunder its produce” (Hitzig) or “pasturage” (Fairbairn).
Eze 36:6, Eze 36:7
Because ye have borne the shame of the heathen (i.e. the shame cast upon you by the heathen, see Eze 34:29) surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. Not the shame which should be cast upon them by Israel, which would be retaliation, but their own shamethe shame due to them in virtue of the Divine law of retribution (Eze 16:52), their own curses come home to roost, Ezekiel seeming to distinguish between retaliation and retribution. “The law [of retribution] is demanded by the absolute righteousness of God. The judicial visitations of God cannot possibly be one-sided. Punishment can so much the less strike Israel alone, as precisely in its punishment the deep degradation of heathendom, its apostasy from God and its pride, has set itself forth in the most striking way” (Havernick). The certainty that this law would operate in the case of the heathen no less than in that of Israel, the prophet expresses by representing Jehovah as having lifted up his hand, or sworn that it should be so (comp. Eze 20:5, Eze 20:6, Eze 20:15, Eze 20:23, Eze 20:28; Eze 47:14; Exo 6:8; Num 14:30; Deu 32:40; and Virgil, ‘AEneid,’ 12.195, “Teaditque ad sidera dextram”).
Eze 36:8
For they are at hand to come. Keil and Plumptre make the subject of the verb the material blessings in which Israel’s prosperity is depicted as consisting, viz. the foliage and fruit her mountains were soon to bear for the people of Jehovah. The majority of expositors believe the subject to be the people whose return from exile was in this way declared to be approaching. Nor is there any reason why Ezekiel should not have represented the return from exile as an event soon to take place, since of the seventy years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah (Jer 25:11) at least twenty years had passed, if its commencement be dated from the fourth year of Jehoiakim (Eze 33:21); and the fulfillment of Jehovah’s promise was to the prophet so much a matter of certainty (Eze 11:17) that his fervent imagination conceived it as at hand.
Eze 36:9
I am for you. He had previously been against (Eze 5:8; Eze 13:8), but was now for Israel and against Seir (Eze 35:3). This change of dispensation implied no mutation in God, but merely that, as God had previously visited Israel with judgment on account of sin, so henceforth would he visit her with grace on condition of repentance. I will turn unto you. Always it is presupposed that Israel turns unto Jehovah.
Eze 36:10, Eze 36:11
I will multiply men upon you. Jehovah’s promise contemplated a return of both sections of the Golah, the whole house of Israel, Ephraim as well as Judah (comp. Eze 20:40), to the land from which they had been deported, and a restoration of the united kingdom to a condition of prosperity in which its cities should again be inhabited, its ruined homesteads repaired, its fields cultivated, and its flocks and herds multiplied (see Eze 16:55; Isa 44:26; Isa 54:3; Isa 61:4)a condition of prosperity so great that it should surpass any measure or degree of good fortune previously enjoyed (comp. Deu 30:5; Job 42:12).
Eze 36:14
Thou shalt devour men no more. From the middle of Eze 36:12 the form of address changes from the plural to the singular, the whole country, mountains, and valleys being regarded as one land, as in Deu 3:25. The charge preferred against the country by her enemies was that she had been a land that devoured men and “bereaved its nations” (or, “nation,” Revised Version); literally, an eater-up of men and a bereaver of thy nations; i.e. of Israel and Judah, perhaps also of the Canaanites, their predecessors (Fausset), the image being that of a wild beast which ravages the population and makes them childless, as in Eze 5:17 and Eze 14:15 (Smend), rather than that of an unnatural mother, a Rabenmutter, as in 2Ki 6:29, who devours her offspring (Ewald). This charge, in which, perhaps, the prophet detected an allusion to Num 13:32, had certainly in times past been true; not, however, as Hengstenberg suggests, because the land had been “an apple of discord for the Asiatic and African powers,” or, as Ewald explains, because “the tremendous restlessness, the excited push and hurry of such a mentally active city must in any case have used up its inhabitants more rapidly;” but, as Keil, Plumptre, and others interpret, because of the judgments of sword, famine, and pestilence sent upon the land by Jehovah for its sins. These judgments had so destroyed its inhabitants, first the Canaanites, and latterly the two peoples of Israel and Judah, that “those who looked upon it deemed it a fatal land, which brought destruction to all who should occupy it” (Currey). In the golden age to which the prophet looked forward, no such reproach should be possible. Not only should the laud not bereave its nations (according to the Keri, followed by the Authorized and Revised Versions, as well as by Ewald and Smend), but (according to the Chethib, preferred by Keil, Kliefoth, Havernick, Heugstenberg, Schroder, and Plumptre) it should not even cause them (or it) to stumble; i.e. should no more cause its inhabitants to lapse into those sins, amongst which idolatry stood prominent, which entailed on them ruin. Hengstenberg’s idea, that “moral stumbling is not to be thought of in this connection,” is certainly to be rejected.
Eze 36:15
Neither will I cause men to hear in theelet thee hear, proclaim against thee (Revised Version); or literally, cause to be heard against theethe shame of the heathen any more; i.e. the contemptuous speech uttered against thee by the heathen, equivalent to the reproach of the people; or, peoples; i.e. the reproach cast upon thee by the nations (see Eze 16:57; Eze 22:4; and comp. Jos 5:9; Mic 6:16), rather than, as Curtsy suggests, the reproach cast upon thee by thy rightful possessors for want of fertility. This prophecy clearly looked beyond the return from exile under Zerubbabel and Joshua, Ezra and Neherajah, since under these leaders only a portion of the whole house of Israel reestablished themselves in Canaan, while the land was often afterwards subjected to reproach and oppression under heathen powers. At the same time, the homecoming from Babylon and the prosperity that ensued thereupon were partial fulfillments of the blessings here promised.
Eze 36:16
The oracle, commencing with this verse and extending to Eze 37:14, has an ultimate connection with that which precedes. Having predicted a golden age in the future for Israel, when her people should have returned from banishment her cities should again be inhabited and her fields cultivated, the prophet is directed
(1) to explain that the ground of this would not have in any worthiness Jehovah should behold in Israel, who had rather in the past been punished and dispersed (Eze 37:16-20), but only in the regard he, Jehovah, should have for his own holy Name or character (Eze 37:21-24);
(2) to intimate that this glorious period should be accompanied by a moral and spiritual renovation of the people, which, however, could and therefore would be brought about only by God himself giving them a new heart and a new spirit, again for his own Name’s sake (Eze 37:25 -32), and which, when attained, should lead to a prosperity so unparalleled as to recall the pristine splendors of earth’s paradisiacal condition, and convince the heathen that should then be sharers in Israel’s felicity that Jehovah alone was God (verses 33-38); and
(3) to remove all doubt from the people’s minds as to the possibility of this happening by the vision of the dry bones (Eze 37:1-14).
Eze 36:16-20
That Israel’s restoration should not be brought about on account of Israel’s merit, the prophet shows by briefly rehearsing the story of Israel’s demerit, as the reason of her exile.
Eze 36:17
Their way was before me. Their ways and doings, i.e. their violent deeds and idolatrous practices (Eze 36:18), were as morally loathsome in Jehovah’s sight as the uncleanness of a woman in her separation was materially disgusting. The comparison may have been derived from Isa 64:6, but was as likely to have been original, seeing Ezekiel was a priest-prophet, to whom the details of the Levitical Law must have been familiar (comp. Eze 18:6; Le 15:19).
Eze 36:19
According to their way and according to their doings I judged them. The language hints at a correspondence between the punishment and the crime. As a woman in her separation was not only defiled, but separated from the congregation Le 15:19), so Israel, having defiled both herself and her land, required to be removed from it (Le Eze 18:28). And she was. Jehovah scattered her among the heathen and dispersed her through the countries.
Eze 36:20
They profaned my holy Name; or, the name of my holiness. According to Kliefoth, the subject of the verb is “the heathen,” but expositors generally regard it as “the house of Israel” of Eze 36:17. Plumptre thinks that “while grammatically the words may refer to either the heathen or the exiles of Israel, possibly the sentence was purposely left vague, so as to describe the fact in which both were sharers,” and cites in support of this view similar constructions in Isa 55:5 and Rom 2:24. What led to the profanation of Jehovah’s Name by the heathen was the arrival among them, not of the news of the calamity which had befallen Israel (Kliefoth, Hengstenberg), but of the house of Israel itself; and the actual profanation lay in this, that, having beheld the exiles, they said, These are the people of the Lord, and they are gone forth out of his land. As the heathen recognized only local divinities, they concluded Jehovah had either behaved capriciously towards his people and east them off (comp. Jer 23:40; Jer 29:18; Jer 33:24), or had proved unequal to the task of protecting them so that they had been driven off (comp. Eze 20:5, etc.; Num 14:16; Jer 14:9). In either case, the honor of Jehovah had been lessened in the minds and tarnished by the words of the heathen, and inasmuch as this result had been brought about by Israel’s sin, on Israel properly the blame lay.
Eze 36:21
I had pity for mille holy Name. Havernick, after the LXX; wrongly renders, “I spared (them, i.e. Israel) for my holy Name s sake; but the preposition for or “upon” following the verb usually marks the object upon which the action of the verb terminates (see Eze 16:5). Gesenius translates, “I will be sparing of my holy Name;” i.e. I will care for its honor.
Eze 36:22
Not for your sakes but for mine holy Name’s sake. Thus Jehovah repudiates the claim of merit on Israel’s part (comp. Eze 36:32); and if Israel had no claim on Jehovah for deliverance from the Babylonish exile any more than she had at first to be put in possession of Canaan (Deu 9:6), much less has fallen man a claim on God for salvation from the condemnation and dominion of sin (Rom 11:6; Eph 2:8-10). As the essential holiness and righteousness of God were the real reason of Israel’s exile and dispersion among the nations, so were these qualities in God the ultimate grounds to which Israel’s recovery and restoration should be traced.
Eze 36:23
I will sanctify my great Name; i.e. the name of my holiness (Deu 28:58; Psa 8:1; Mal 1:11). As Israel’s dispersion had caused that Name to be profaned, so Israel’s restoration would secure that it should be magnified among the heathen (Eze 38:23), who should learn from this event that their previous ideas of Jehovah, as a feeble and local divinity, had been wrong. The question whether your eyes, as in the Hebrew text, or “their eyes,” as in many ancient versions, should be read is debated. The latter reading appears to be demanded by the usus loquendi of Ezekiel (see Eze 20:41; Eze 28:25; Eze 38:16; Eze 39:27), and is adopted by both English versions as well as by interpreters of eminence; but other expositors of equal name adhere to the former reading on the ground that the sanctifying of Jehovah’s Name in the eyes of Israel was an indispensable preliminary to its sanctification in the eyes of the heathen. Havernick regards “their eyes” as “an obvious emendation to relieve a difficulty,” to which in no case should criticism accord the preference; while Keil gives it the preference, though admitting that “your eyes” can be justified.
Eze 36:24
I will take you from among the heathen; or, nations. The first step in the sanctification of Jehovah’s Name. A promise already given (Eze 11:17; Eze 20:41, Eze 20:42), and afterwards repeated (Eze 37:21). The mention of “all countries” shows the prophet’s gaze to have been directed beyond the present or immediate future. The Israel of Ezekiel’s time had not been scattered among and could not be gathered from all, countries; yet in the years that have passed since then Ezekiel’s language as to Israel’s dispersion has been literally fulfilled. Wherefore the inference is reasonable that the reassembling to which Ezekiel refers is an event that has not yet occurred, at least in its fullest measure and degree, but will only then be realized completely and finally when the scattered members of the house of Israel shall have been received into the Christian Church (Rom 11:25, Rom 11:26).
Eze 36:25
Then (literally, and) I will sprinkle clean water upon you. The second step in the sanctification of Jehovah’s Name, and one absolutely necessary to render the preceding either permanent or valuable, was the moral renovation of the people; and in this the first stage was the forgiveness of the people’s sins. The image under which this is set forth, “sprinkling with clean water,” would naturally present itself to a priest-prophet such as Ezekiel. Jarchi, Rosenmller, Hengstenberg, and others suppose the allusion to be to the water of purification prepared by mixing running water with the ashes of a red heifer (Num 19:17-19), and in the account given of this rite the verb for “sprinkle” is that used by Ezekiel, viz. . Havernick prefers the rite performed in the consecration of the Levites (Num 8:7, Num 8:21). Smend, who holds the priest-code had no existence in Ezekiel’s day, traces the image to Zec 13:1 or Psa 51:2, though he also cites Num 8:19. Hitzig, Kliefoth, and Currey think of the lustrations of the Law in general; and perhaps this best explains the prophet’s language, since the element sprinkled is not “blood” or “water mixed with ashes,” but “clean water,” “the best known means of purification” (Schroder). As to whether legal or moral cleansing were intended by the prophet, possibly Ezekiel drew no sharp distinction between the two, such as the New Testament draws between justification and sanctification; if he did, then the figure in the text must be taken as alluding rather to the former than to the latterrather to the forgiveness of Israel’s sin than to the regeneration of Israel’s heart, which is next referred to.
Eze 36:26, Eze 36:27
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. The third step in the progress of sanctifying Jehovah’s Name (comp. Eze 11:19, where a similar promise is made, and Eze 18:31, where the new heart is represented as a thing Israel must make for herself). This antinomy frequently occurs in Scripture, which never shrinks from holding man responsible for the production of that, as e.g. faith, for which he is incompetent without the help of Divine grace. Besides the cleansing of her guilt and her restitution in consequence to Jehovah’s favor, Israel is promised such an inward renovation of her moral and spiritual disposition as to secure that she shall in future adhere to the worship and service of Jehovah. This change is described in a fourfold way.
(1) Negatively, as a removal of the old, stony, unsusceptible heart, which had remained impervious to all appeals and insertsible to all higher feelings (Zec 7:12).
(2) Positively, as a new heart and a new spirit, called elsewhere “one heart” and “a heart of flesh” (Eze 11:19; Jer 32:39), “a heart to know God” (Jer 24:7).
(3) Causally, its existence being traced to the indwelling of God’s Spirit, who writes God’s Law upon the new heart, and inclines it to a life of obedience thereto (Jer 31:33).
(4) Practically, by its manifestation, walking in God’s statutes and keeping God s judgments (Eze 11:20). The account here furnished of the moral and spiritual change proposed to be inwrought on Israel cot-responds exactly with that given in the New Testament of the regeneration of the individual soul (Joh 3:3-8; Rom 8:2, Rom 8:5, Rom 8:9; Gal 5:22; Tit 3:5, Tit 3:6; 1Pe 1:22).
Eze 36:28-31
describe the results which should follow in Israel’s experience when God should have thus gathered, cleansed, and renewed them. They should then have
(1) permanent occupation of the land (Eze 36:28);
(2) covenant relationship with God as his people (Eze 36:28);
(3) protection against future lapsing into idolatry and immorality (verse
9);
(4) abundant supply for every want (Eze 36:29, Eze 36:30); and
(5) a deepening sense of self-humiliation on account of and repentance for past sin (Eze 36:31).
Eze 36:28
Ye shall dwell in the land. As the Jews who returned from Babylon did not permanently dwell in the land, but were again ejected from it, the promise contained in these words must be viewed as having been conditional on the realization of the moral and spiritual purity above described. If, therefore, it be aroused that inasmuch as this promise must be fulfilled (2Co 1:20; Heb 10:23), the Jews must yet be restored to Palestine, the reply is that their return can only take place when they have been converted to Christianity; so that the whole promise must be regarded as receiving its highest fulfillment in the experiences of the Church of Christ. That this view is correct is vouched for by the fact that the words, Ye shall be my people and I will be your God (comp. Eze 11:20 : Jer 7:23; Jer 11:4; Jer 30:22), descriptive of the covenant relationship in which Jehovah stood towards Israel (Exo 19:5; Le Exo 26:12; Deu 26:17, Deu 26:18), have been chosen by New Testament writers to set forth the relationship of God towards the Christian Church, first here on earth (2Co 6:16-18), and afterwards in the heavenly Jerusalem (Rev 21:3).
Eze 36:29
From all your uncleannesses. The same word as in Eze 36:25, though with difference in meaning. From their uncleanness of the past they have already been saved (Eze 36:25); the present promise guarantees preservation against future lapsing into uncleanness, i.e. the filthiness of idol-service. “With this,” writes Plumptre, “the necessity for temporal chastisements as a corrective discipline should cease, and there would be nothing to check the full outpouring of all material as well as spiritual blessings.” With the phrase, I will call for the corn, compare the similar expressions in 2Ki 8:1; Hos 2:23, etc.; Jer 31:12; Zec 9:17.
Eze 36:31
Ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight (comp. Eze 16:61; Eze 42:10). The last result of this enlarged experience of the Divine goodness would be to quicken in the heart of forgiven and renewed Israel a sense of shame and a feeling of repentance (comp. Rom 2:4).
Eze 36:32
repeats and emphasizes the thought of Eze 36:22, that the true ground of God’s gracious dealing with Israel should be found, not in their merit, but in his grace. So far as their ways were concerned, there was cause only for judgment on his part and self-humiliation on theirs.
Eze 36:33-36
describe the effect of Israel’s restored prosperity on the surrounding nations.
Eze 36:35
This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden. (For the reverse picture, see Joe 2:3.) The thought of the first Paradise (Gen 2:8), in the historicity of which clearly Ezekiel believed, was one on which his mind often dwelt (Eze 28:13; Eze 31:9) as an ideal of earthly beauty and fertility which should recur in the closing age of the worlda hope which appears to have been shared by Isaiah (Isa 51:3), and taken up by John (Rev 2:7; Rev 22:1-3). In the day when that hope should be realized for Israel, the waste, desolate, and ruined cities, on which the passers-by who visited Palestine gazed, should be fenced and inhabited; literally, inhabited as fortresses. The three predicates, “waste,” “desolate,” and” ruined,” have been distinguished as signifying “stripped of its inhabitants,” “untilled in its lands,” and “broken down in its buildings;” in contrast with which, in the golden era of the future, the towns should be inhabited, the fields tilled, and the ruined fortresses built.
Eze 36:36
The heathen that are left round about you. The language presupposes that at or before the time of Israel’s restoration the judgments pronounced against the nations will have overtaken them, so that only a remnant of them will be then in existence. Kliefoth and Currey view this remnant as those who shall have been converted out of heathendom and become attached to the community of Israel, like “the nations of the saved” in Rev 21:24; Keil, with more accuracy, regards their conversion as resulting from their recognition of the hand of God in building again the wastes places of Jerusalem.
Eze 36:37
I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel. On two previous occasions (Eze 14:3; Eze 20:3), Jehovah had declined to be inquired of by the hypocritical and idol-loving elders of Israel, who pretended to consult him through his prophet; now he makes it known that in the future era no barrier of moral and spiritual unfitness on their part will prevent their free approach to his throne, but rather that they will come to him with fervent supplications for the very blessings he has pro-raised. In answer to their prayers, he engages, going back to the language of Eze 34:22, to increase them with men like a flockincorrectly rendered by Kliefoth to “multiply them so that they shall become the flock of mankind.” Thus he meets the despondency of those among the exiles who, fixing their attention on the small number of them who should form the new Israelthose who should return with those, perhaps, who still remained in the land-could not see how Israel’s future prosperity was to be secured.
Eze 36:38
The people who should occupy the land of Israel in the coming age should be as the holy flockliterally, as the flock of holy things, or beasts; i.e. of sacrificial lambsas the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; literally, in her appointed times; i.e. her festal seasons (comp. Mic 2:12), referring to the three well-known annual occasions when the male population of the land came to the sanctuary (Deu 16:16), and when in consequence the flocks and herds poured into the metropolis were well-nigh past reckoning (see 2Ch 29:33; 2Ch 35:7; and comp. Josephus, ‘Wars,’ 6.9. 3). Perhaps in addition to the idea of the multiplication of the people, that of their dedication to the service of Jehovah is suggested by the prophet’s language.
HOMILETICS
Eze 36:2
Premature triumph.
The enemies of Israel were triumphing over the fallen nation, but prematurely; for they did not reckon on a possibility of a restoration. This is like the triumph of evil over the ruined world.
I. THERE IS A TRIUMPH OF EVIL.
1. In the fall of man. When Adam fell it seemed as though the greatest work of God had been hopelessly ruined almost as soon as it appeared. No sooner was man made in the image of God than he groveled in the dust, and marred the heavenly likeness with ugly stains of sins.
2. In the history of primitive man. So evil is man that the whole race, with the exception of a single family, is swept off the face of the earth. Once more the world is reduced to a desolate condition, once more evil seems to have conquered.
3. In the troubles of the Hebrews. The people of God become oppressed slaves in Egypt. “Where is the promise delivered to the fathers?’
4. In the failure to enter Palestine. The Israelites reach the borders of the land, and are then driven back defeated, and compelled to wander in the wilderness for forty years.
5. In the miserable days of the judges. When the land was at length possessed, it was not found to be all milk and honey. War and wickedness, sorrow and shame, make the first ages of the possession of Canaan almost the darkest period in Jewish history.
6. The wickedness of later days. The story of Israel is a story of repeated rebellions against God, and repeated Divine chastisements.
7. In the Captivity. When the two nations were driven into captivity, and their territory devastated by the heathen, the triumph of the enemies of the people of God seemed to be complete.
8. In the cruelty of later days. Eastern empires, the Seleucidae, and the Romans successively triumphed over and oppressed the once favored people.
9. In the cross of Christ. Here, indeed, the enemies of righteousness reach their crowning triumph. Satan now exults over the sorrow and death of the Son of man.
10. In the history of Christendom. This has not been a history of continuous growth and victory over evil. First there were the great persecutions. Then followed the great apostasy. The dark ages marked the triumph of ignorance and cruelty. Today the powers of evil are mighty and exultant.
II. THIS TRIUMPH WILL BE REVERSED. It is premature. We have not yet reached the end of the story. The battle is still raging; it is too early for the foe to sing his paeans of victory. All along the dark recital of victories of evil there has been the alternative picture of Divine deliverance. We make a mistake when we dwell only on the gloomy side of history. God has been revealing himself in history. Not only did he save the eight in the ark. He delivered all Israel from Egypt. He gave Canaan, and he gave restoration from the Captivity. He sent his Son to save the world. In the darkest hour when Christ hung dying on the cross while evil seemed to be most triumphant, victory was really being won by that very death of the world’s Savior. We have not seen the end yet. Perhaps we are on the fringe of a great contest between the servants of Christ and his foes. But never was the work of Christ more manifest than it is today in Christian activity at home and in the harvest of the mission-field abroad. While the unbeliever exults in what he thinks is the demonstration of the falsehood of Christianity and the sure prospect of its speedy downfall, there are more earnest active Christians at work than ever there were. By the grace of God we may trust that, though the battle is still fierce, we are moving on to victory under the Captain of our salvation.
Eze 36:8, Eze 36:9
Returning prosperity.
I. RESTORATION OF CHARACTER BRINGS A RETURN OF PROSPERITY. During the absence of the captives in Babylon their land fell into decay. The mountains which had been carefully terraced for vines were neglected, just as they are today on the hills about Jerusalem, where rows of stones mark the site of the ancient terraces. Sin ultimately ruins the outer as well as the inner man, for the prosperity of the wicked is but temporary, and though it may extend through an individual lifetime, it must break down during the course of the longer life of a nation. But on the other hand, restoration to God undoes the ruin of the outer life. This too may be a slow process. The individual man who has beggared himself with sinful extravagance may never become rich; but the nation that has returned to better ways of living will in time reap the good results of its renovation of character even on earth. When we think not only of external prosperity, but of inward blessedness, the result is seen sooner, and it is found in every individual soul that is pardoned and renewed. No one need despair of his present desolation. Repentance renews the face of the penitent’s whole life.
II. This RETURN OF PROSPERITY IS CAUSED BY A RETURN OF GOD. “For behold I am with you, and I will turn unto you.” God had abandoned the guilty land. Therefore a blight had fallen upon it. If God deserts a man, nothing can really prosper with him. He may still coin gold in his business, but it will be a curse to him. When God smiles upon a man’s life he brings, not necessarily wealth, but certainly welfare. It would be well for everybody to ask himselfIs my business such that I dare ask God into it? Can I regard my workshop as a temple, or my work as a sacrifice? For these are the conditions on which true prosperity depends, because they are the conditions of God’s gracious help.
III. THE RETURN OF GOD IS ACCOMPANIED BY A REVIVAL OF HUMAN ACTIVITY. “And ye shall be tilled and sown.” That work will not be done directly by God, nor will it be accomplished by the unseen hands of angel-husbandmen. Men must till and sow. God’s blessing does not dispense with man’s labor. Assuredly it is not an excuse for human idleness. On the contrary, it is the inspiration of the highest activity. God blesses by stirring men up to wise and earnest work. St. Paul teaches us that God gives the increase after man’s sowing and watering (1Co 3:6). But Ezekiel shows that God’s great work does not only follow man’s smaller toil; it precedes that toil, and is the spring from which the energy for it proceeds. We are first told that God will turn unto his people, and not till after this is it said, “And ye shall be tilled and sown.” This is the happiest way of giving prosperity. If all the glory is God’s, still the joy of service is man’s. The same is true of spiritual prosperity. If we would reap a harvest in Christian work, we must not only bring it to God and ask his blessing upon it; we must first of all seek his presence m it, that it may be his work from the first. Then he will be the Inspiration of his servants’ activity. We shall be able to till and sow just because God is with us. The glorious prosperity will come from God as a fruit of his gracious benediction, and it will come through us as the human instruments who are called by God like laborers to work in his vineyard.
Eze 36:10
Multiplying men.
I. THE TRUE WEALTH OF A PEOPLE IS IN ITS POPULATION. God makes this promise to the house of Israel, that he “will multiply men.” The land is desolate for want of inhabitants, the fields untilled for want of laborers, and the cities lying in ruins for lack of men to build up the waste places, The restoration shall be signalized by a return of the captives and a consequent increase of population. Now, the striking fact is that this multiplication of the population is noted as a great good for the land. Other things being equal, every country is strong in proportion to the number of its able-bodied citizens. In times of war this is obvious; the strong nation is one that can command a large army. But in industrial relations the same is equally true. The more producers there are the more wealth must be producedeither in the form of food or in the form of commodities that may be exchanged for food purchased elsewhere. These plain facts are obscured by bad social habits.
1. Overcrowding in cities. The waste places should be builtnot the reeking fever-dens crammed with an overflowing population of sickly creatures, who have no energy for work, and whose surroundings do not permit decent living. One of the greatest evils of our day is the depletion of our rural districts and the pressing of the population into the cities. What is needed is not a reduction of the population, but a scattering of it over the face of the land at home and also throughout the colonies. The mistake that led to the building of the tower of Babel is still fatally prevalent.
2. Unworthy living. Too many men are not doing men’s workidle rich men who consume without producing, and idle poor men who are always near the border-land of crime, on the further side of which they would become positive destroyers. We cannot have too many true men, but they must be men indeedworkers, not drones.
II. THE STRENGTH OF THE CHURCH IS IN ITS MEMBERSHIP. The word “Church” stands for a community. The great Catholic Church of all nations and creeds is the whole body of Christians. This obvious fact is too often neglected. Thus the Church is sometimes regarded as an institution apart from the souls of which it consists; it is said to have its rights, its triumphs, while no thought is given to the people in it. This is a pure delusionthe glorification of an empty abstraction. Again, for the Church some would substitute its officers. The Christian ministry is regarded as the Church. This was the case in the Middle Ages, when popes and great ecclesiastical dignitaries contended with emperors and kings for the privileges of the Church. In those contests little account was taken of the interest of the peoplethe townsfolk and village folk who constituted the body of the Church. But in these democratic days the rights of the people are being better recognized, and now we are coming to see that the Church is just the men, women, and children that constitute it, viewed in their corporate relation as the body of Christ on earth. The Church is honored when men are multiplied in her midst. She cannot be in health if the missionary spirit dies out of her. But while she gathers in the heathen her first duty is to train her own children. She should thus grow her own members. Here, however, we need a caution. Mere numbers will count for nothing apart from character. Statistical Christianity is a poor production. We want true menliving souls united to Christ and working for his glory. Still, the honor of the Church is not in remaining small and select, and keeping her privileges to herself and neglecting the world, but in multiplying men. She should he a great popular institution, true to the spirit of Christ, who called himself “the Son of man.”
Eze 36:11
(“And I will do better unto you than at your beginnings”)
The better future.
I. THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE WORLD. There is a natural tendency among men to say, “The former times were better.” Nations cherish legends of an ancient golden age. People talk about “the good old times.” But when we search history we cannot find these happy days. On the contrary, writers in the very ages to which some of our contemporary dreamers look back with sentimental regret deplore the degeneracy of their days. Our own age is bad enough, but it is not easy to lay our finger on any previous age that was not worse. This, however, is not the principal question. Waiving the point as to whether the past history of our race has been characterized by progress or by a process of degeneration, we have still to ask whether the future may not be better than anything that has been experienced in the past. Now, it is the distinct teaching of the Bible that it will be so. “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” While men turn back wistfully to the lost Eden, God promises a better heaven. We do not need to discuss the idea of a Paradise regained, for we have the more glowing picture of the heavenly Jerusalem. Even if we grant the worst that has been said of man’s continuous decline, the New Testament points to an arrest of this dreadful movement, to a redemption and more than a restoration, to a perfection of humanity never attained in the past.
II. THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE CHURCH. The Church, which has the seed of Divine life in her, should be continually growing in grace. While like the mustard tree she enlarges her size, she should also, like the rising temple, become ever more radiant with the beauty of holiness. Perhaps there is no sadder story than that of the history of the Church. No doubt there have been ages of glorious zeal and devotion; no doubt God has been continuously educating his people. But there have been awful times of relapse. We think we can see progress in our own daya wiser thought, a larger charity, a more practical activity in the service of man. But we are far indeed from realizing Christ’s great ideal. That ideal, however, is the picture of the future, and the pattern after which we are to toil with the utmost hopefulness. The New Testament promises a glorious future to the people of God (Eph 2:21).
III. THE BETTER FUTURE OF THE SOUL. In our melancholy moods we yearn after the old sweet days of childhoodtheir innocence, their simplicity, their joyousness. We forget their limitations, their fears, their infantine distresses. But perhaps we have fallen far from those early days. Then we knew nothing of the world’s dreadful sin. Now we must confess that we have not kept ourselves unspotted. And with the soul’s fall has come the soul’s sorrow, and many disappointments and losses have made the day which dawned in golden sunshine overcast with gloomy clouds. Still, we have not reached the end. After bathing in the Jordan, Naaman’s leprous flesh became healthy as that of a little child. The leprous soul may he cleansed, the worn-out life renewed. “If any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature” (2Co 5:17). Then the future is full of hope. The victorious Christian, with all his scars, and even with his memory of shameful unfaithfulness, stands higher than the unfallen because untried child. God has a blessed future in the heavenly inheritance reserved for the most weary souls. The secret of this happy prospect is in the power and grace of God. It is he who will do better for his people than at the beginning.
Eze 36:21-24
God saving for his own Name’s sake.
I. A PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE ACTION. We are here admitted to the secret council-chamber of heaven. The inner motive of God’s activity is revealed to us. He shows on what grounds he proceeds in redeeming man. Man is redeemed for the sake of God’s Name, and not on account of any human deserts and claims.
1. God‘s faithfulness. A person’s good name is associated with his keeping his word. If a man has put his name to a document, he must not ignore its stipulations. A just person will swear to his own hurt and not change. Now, God is the type and pattern of all truth and fidelity. His eternal constancy lies at the root of the order of the universe. What he has promised he will do, because he is faithful. But he has promised redemption (e.g. Eze 34:22-31). Therefore he will redeem his people, that he may redeem his word. Though it costs the sacrifice of his Son, nothing shall be wanting to a faithful execution of his promise.
2. God‘s character. The name is supposed to express the nature. God is named after what he is. Now, God’s nature is essentially good and gracious. With the New Testament before us, we know that God’s best name is Love (1Jn 4:8). Jesus Christ has taught us to concentrate our thoughts of God on his Fatherhood. God will act according to his Name, i.e. according to his nature. Love must characterize his conduct, and whatever he does he will do it “like as a father.” His fatherly character will lead him to redeem and save, irrespective of desert, for sheer love and pity.
3. God‘s glory. To get a name is to receive glory. When Christ is glorified he is said to receive “a Name which is above every name” (Php 2:9). God’s Name is his glory. Now, God is glorified in many ways, but in none so highly as in his saving the lost. The best song of heavenly praise is the hymn of redemption (Rev 5:9). There is glory in creation; and the greatness, the order, the beauty, the life of the universe praise God. There is glory in Divine government; and the manner in which God rules all things and establishes righteousness displays his glory. But we know of no glory like that of God’s grace revealed at Calvary. This fact should help us to understand how God can ask for his own glory without being selfish. When men seek their own glory they usually do so at the expense of, or to the neglect of, others. But God’s glory shines out of his supreme self-sacrifice. This is the secret of the highest glory.
II. ITS PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES.
1. We can never hope to earn salvation. It is a gift of God, never a work or reward of man.
(1) This is a rebuke for pride.
(2) It also warns us against the folly of seeking to establish some claim with God by penance, works, or sacrifice.
“Nothing in my hands I bring;
Simply to thy cross I cling.”
2. We need never despair of salvation. If it were given for our own sakes in any way, we might well torture ourselves with doubts as to whether we should merit it, nay, we had better give up all hope at once, for we could not earn it. But now the ground is shifted from ourselves to God. The question is not as to what is in us, but as to what is in him. The most unworthy, those who have made the worst failures in life, the weakest or the most sinful, may yet dare to hope for full and perfect salvation through the great grace of God, for his Name’s sake.
3. We have the highest reasons for joy and adoration. The redemption is offered to the worst sinnersto all men, on their repenting and seeking the grace of God. Here is a glad fact and one to inspire eternal praise. Translating it into Christian language, we see that we are to rejoice and glory in salvation given to us through Christ; for Christ is “the Word” (Joh 1:1), i.e. the Name of God. God saves for the sake of his Name when he saves for Christ’s sake.
Eze 36:25
Clean water.
I. SOULS NEED CLEANSING FROM SIN. Here we come to the deeper part of man’s need. The Jews perceived their external disasters only too clearly. War, captivity, poverty, sickness, death, were visible evils. But they did not so readily discern the unseen spiritual evils which were behind those troubles, as their causes. The greatest calamity is not so bad as sin. While we are eager to elude the consequences of wrong-doing, God sees that the wrong-doing itself is our chief evil. The principal part of the redemption required by Israel was not deliverance from the power of Babylon, but deliverance from the tyranny of sin; their most needed recovery was not restoration to Palestine, but restoration to God. To be cleansed from their idolatry and brought into a condition of spiritual worship was their greatest salvation. Israel is restored if that is done, even though she be stir far from possessing her land; she is not restored without it, though she have the fee simple of every acre of Palestine.
II. THE CLEANSING OF SOULS WILL REMOVE BOTH THE GUILT AND THE POWER OF SIN.
1. The guilt. Sin leaves a stain behind. Blame justly attaches itself to all wrongdoing, and, though the deed of evil may be swiftly accomplished, the blame lingers long. The stain of sin is not merely an ugly fact; it produces dreadful consequences.
(1) It excludes the soul from the presence of God. No stained souls can be permitted to tread the courts of heaven.
(2) It draws down the wrath of God.
(3) It carries with it continuous shame.
2. The power. The evil is more than a stain upon the conscience. It is a poison within the soul. It works harm by its corrupting as well as its defiling influence. We need some antidote to this poison, or some wonderful cleansing that shall completely purge it out of our beinga real internal washing, not merely a clearing of a darkened reputation.
III. GOD HAS PROVIDED CLEANSING WATER. What is needed is clean water. New, this is just what is not to be got in places of defilement. The foul soil stains and poisons the streams that flow through it. No human thing is clean from the contamination of man’s great sin. Therefore there can be no human fountain for uncleanness. But God has opened a fountain, and the gospel of Christ introduces us to it. He is pure, and he can give perfect purification. The water that flows from this rock is not defiled with earth’s contamination. “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1Jn 1:7). Here we have the double cleansing. The guilt is washed out by a Divine pardon given through the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ, and the impurity is purged away by the Holy Spirit communicated to us by the grace of God in Christ. The cross redeems from all sin. The Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world. There is perfect cleansing of character, motive, heart, and soul in Christ.
IV. THIS CLEANSING WATER IS SPRINKLED ON INDIVIDUAL SOULS FOR THEIR CLEANSING. It is not enough that the water exists, nor that we behold it, nor that it flows in a full, free torrent.
1. It must be applied to each individual soulsprinkled. This great fact is suggested by the rite of baptism. The future tense is here used. The prophecy was written before the advent of Christ. But even now the future tense must be used for all who are still in sin and earnestly desire cleansing. Christ’s atonement is finished; but his cleansing must be continually given afresh to separate souls.
2. This cleansing is divinely given. “I will sprinkle,” etc. God himself cleanses souls. We have to repent and seek his mercy. Then he will work directly in his pardoning and purifying grace.
Eze 36:26
A new heart.
We are here introduced to one of those profound utterances in which the Old Testament anticipates some of the richest truths of the New. The grace here promised was doubtless given in all ages to those who truly repented and sought it. But reading these words in the light of the gospel, we are able to see much more clearly what is their eternal significance.
I. THE ESSENCE OF SALVATION IS THE RENEWAL OF THE HEART. The commonest mistake is to ignore this most significant fact. People regard salvation too much as a change in the soul’s estate rather than a change in its very nature. But while there is a change of condition, and while the greatest possible external consequences flow from the redemption of souls, that redemption does not consist in these things; they are but of secondary importance. The primary fact is internal. To be saved from the visible fires of a material hell, and to be carried aloft to the tunable pleasures of a celestial Paradise, may satisfy the Mohammedan-minded Christian, but it will not fulfill the great thought of Christ. Hearts are wrong, foul, diseased. Men have false ideas, corrupt desires and affections, evil imaginations, or perhaps a blank deadness of soul. Here is the seat of the disease; here, then, the cure must begin. Sin is heart-disease; salvation is heart-renewal.
II. THE OLD EVIL HEART IS OF STONE. A terrible and most significant description.
1. It is hard. It does not respond to the call of God; it neither perceives spiritual truth, nor feels Divine influences, nor responds to heavenly voices. It has no sympathy with God. It is inflexible and immobile.
2. It is cold. Not only does it not respond to the influences of God; in itself and in its new condition it is unfeeling. There is no glow of generous affection in the sinful heart.
3. It is dead. The heart is the most vital organ. For this part of the body to be petrified involves a fearful condition of utter death. The hands might be turned to stone, and yet the man might live. But if he bad a heart of stone he must be dead. Souls are “dead in trespasses and sin” (Eph 2:1). Men fear a future death, but the Bible teaches that there is a present death of godless souls.
4. It is unnatural. A heart of stonewhat can be more monstrous? Sin is all unnatural. It is contrary to nature not to have feelings of love for our heavenly Father.
III. GOD GIVES A NEW HEART OF FLESH.
1. It is a new heart. There is no curing the old one. “Ye must be born again” (Joh 3:3). To be in Christ is to be “a new creature.” Thus Christ gives complete renewal. Now, the hope of the world lies in this great fact. We try to patch up the face of society, but it is mortifying at the core; and Christ goes at once to the root of the matter. With creative power he makes the heart afresh, i.e. he gives quite new thoughts, feelings, and desires. The most abandoned wrecks of society may take courage and believe that even they can be saved if this is the glorious work of Christ in souls.
2. It is a heart of flesh.
(1) Tender. The old coldness and hardness pass away. Pride, stubbornness, obstinacy, are broken down, the penitent soul is melted. The softening of the hardened spirit is an essential part of conversion.
(2) Sympathetic. The renewed heart readily answers to the call of God and to the joys and sorrows of men.
(3) Living. This new heart beats, It drives life-blood through the whole being. The fainting soul is invigorated. Energy springs from the new heart. It pulsates with the vigor of a glad, strong life.
(4) Natural. The heart is of flesh, not of some foreign angelic substance. Sin is monstrous, goodness natural. The true Christian is natural; he is intensely human. God’s work in the soul brings a man into close sympathy with his fellows. It restores true human nature.
Eze 36:27
The indwelling Spirit.
Three stages in redemption are successively brought before us. First, cleansing: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,” etc.; second, renewal: “A new heart also will I give you,” etc.; third, inspiration: “And I will put my Spirit within you.” Let us now consider this third stage of the grand process of redemption.
I. THE PRESENCE OF GOD‘S SPIRIT DEPENDS ON THE CONDITION OF MEN‘S HEARTS AND LIVES. The third stage of redemption is closely connected with those that precede. It cannot be attained without them, any more than the top of the staircase can be reached without passing over the lower steps. We cannot reverse the order. Cleansing and renewal must precede inspiration. God does not dwell equally with all men. There are God-haunted souls and there are God-deserted souls. The Spirit of God entered into Samson (Jdg 14:6), but Satan entered into Judas (Luk 22:3). Here is one great motive for our seeking to attain to the two earlier stages. They are the conditions on which we may enter into the highest privileges of all religion.
II. GOD PUTS HIS SPIRIT IN THE HEARTS OF HIS PEOPLE. He does not merely give gifts; he also comes in his own Spirit’s presence. The good man walks with God (Gen 5:24). He enjoys God’s abiding presence. He is a temple of the Holy Ghost. These facts show us that religion is not only a human experience of beliefs and devotion. Its creeds and its worship are but one side of it. Its deeper character lies on the other side, in the Divine action. In true religion God enters the soul and touches its secret centers.
III. THE PRESENCE OF GOD‘S SPIRIT IS MANIFESTED BY ITS EFFECTS. We need not look for mystical signs like the incorruptible light which the monks of Mount Athos imagined they were able to see as the revelation of the very presence of God in our souls. We need not despair if immediate consciousness does not give us a vision of God’s Spirit. The joy of communion should be very real. Yet it is rather by the fruits of the Spirit that we are to be assured of his presence (Gal 5:22). They are of two kinds.
1. Graces. There are given to every soul, and consist in the illuminating, sanctifying, strengthening influence of the Holy Spirit. Thus God helps us to understand his truth, baptizes us with his holiness, and breathes into us the power of the Divine life.
2. Gifts. It is important to distinguish the graces of the Spirit from its gifts. While the former are for all Christians, the latter are special and distinctive. They vary in different ages and with different persons. There were gifts of healing, of prophesying, of tongues, in the ancient Church (Rom 12:6). Bezaleel had a gift for art (Exo 35:30, Exo 35:31); Samson, a gift of strength (Jdg 13:25), etc.all from the Spirit of God. Christ now gives gifts unto men through his Spiritnot exactly those of New Testament times, but such as the present age needs.
IV. CHRISTIANS SHOULD ACT ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE INDWELLING SPIRIT.
1. Making use of His aid. If we are Christ’s, we are not left to our own resources. It is much to know that the gracious Spirit is with us to cheer and help.
2. Not grieving him away. We may grieve the Spirit (Eph 4:30). We are to remember that we are temples of the Holy Ghost, and therefore to keep the dwelling of God cigar of all defilement (1Co 6:19).
Eze 36:31
Sad memories.
The restored people are to be cleansed, renewed, and inspired. Yet they will still carry with them sad memories of their former sins.
I. THE PARDONED PENITENT CANNOT FORGET HIS PAST. The hardened sinner may do so; or at least he may carry the memory of his ill deeds with so light a heart that it will be no burden to him. While he thus bears the whole weight of his sin, its guilt, and its hurtful influence, he is scarcely conscious of it; but directly he begins to repeat, the sin grows into an unbearable burden, and the sinner becomes keenly con-solons of its continuous presence. He carries about with him the vision of his life’s story written in letters of fire. Now, after forgiveness and renewal, the burden and stain of guilt are gone. Still the sin is not undone. The restored penitent must feel that his was an evil past. God forgets his sin, but he cannot forget it himself.
II. THE MEMORY OF PAST SIN SHOULD NOT BECOME A HAMPERING BURDEN. It is possible that it may be so in a morbid conscience. But if God has forgiven our sin, we need not feel continuous distress at the thought of it. It is hard for the penitent ever to forgive himself. Yet he may do dishonor to the grace of God by dwelling too painfully on the memory of sin, so that he even forgets the wealth of pardoning love with which it has been covered. We need courage to take the grace of God, and to dare to go on our way rejoicing in the gladness which it is meant to afford us.
III. SAD MEMORIES MAY BE TURNED TO WHOLESOME USES.
1. They may keep us humble. Though restored now, we cannot forget the pit from which we have been digged. Let us, then, beware of falling back into it. “The burnt child dreads the fire.” The soul that has fallen once should fear temptation for the future.
2. They should make us grateful. Every time we remember past sins we should also recollect the grace of God that has delivered us from them. The memory of the disease should call up the picture of the good Physician. Christ’s love never shines so brightly as when it is seen against the background of man’s sin.
3. They should drive us to Christ. Still do we need him. Away from him our souls are saddened with dark shadows of the horrible past. A gloom hangs over the earth when the light of Christ is withdrawn from it. Thus we are kept back from too much earthly elation that tends to frivolity. It may not be bad for us at times to be subdued to a sober sadness. Through the experience of it there may steal over the soul a sense of deep peace in God. Then we can see that Christ is our Light and the Light of the world. Life may be sunny still, but its light is from Christ.
IV. WE SHOULD BEWARE OF SOWING THE SEED OF SAD MEMORIES. This is a lesson for the young. During youth the memories that will cheer or sadden age are created and stored up for use in years to come. It is impossible to unwrite a soul’s history. Then let those who are engaged on its early pages take heed what they set down upon them. It is possible to sow very carelessly seeds that will spring up in a most bitter harvest. If we would not have a gloomy old age of sad memories, let us spend our early years wisely and purely. Though God may forgive the follies of youth, old age will not forget them. In this sense, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Eze 36:35
A new Eden.
The new heart (Eze 36:26) is to be followed by a new Eden. The outer world is to be changed when the inner world is renewed, and that sweet, fair Paradise, the dream of which hovers on the distant horizon of history, is to be once more seen on earth, when men are renewed in nature. The new Adam brings the new Eden. Consider some of its features.
I. LIFE. The desolate land becomes like the garden of Eden. It was desolate in death. Parched up and neglected, unwatered and untilled, the ruined country resembles the wilderness. Sin reduces the world to a wilderness. But Isaiah had prophesied that the wilderness should blossom like the rose (Isa 35:1). Heathenism is characterized by deadness of civilization. The vitality and energy of the world are found in Christendom. The life of the earthly paradise of culture, art, science, invention, manufacture, and commerce is concentrated in Christian lauds. It is by no means all in the lands of Christian men. But it flourishes in an atmosphere of Christianitysome of the essential elements of which are
(1) justice,
(2) truth,
(3) liberty,
(4) human brotherhood, and
(5) hopefulness.
Without these five things progress languishes. They constitute the very air it breathes.
II. ORDER. The desolate place is in confusion; the garden is a well-ordered scene of life and growth. Its perfection is largely dependent on its perfect culturewell-kept paths, smooth lawns, flower-beds without weeds, trees pruned and trim. Christ brings order to a world of confusion. St. James wrote of the “perfect law of liberty”for Christian freedom observes its own lofty law. The great secret of disorder is selfishness. Hence spring war and all strife and confusion. The great secret of order is love; for love involves sympathy, and sympathy inspires harmony, and harmony secures order. If human society is ever to become like an orderly garden, it will not be by means of the fierce contests of competition; nor owing to the rankling jealousy of class-differences between rich and poor, landlord and tenant, employer and workpeople; it will be through the spread of the spirit of Christian brotherhood. Thus Christ will bring “on earth peace.”
III. FRUITFULNESS. The fruit-trees covering the walls of a rich and fertile old English garden give to it great value. In the East a garden is often just an orchard. The garden of Eden is described as a fruit-growing place. The wilderness is barren; the garden is fruitful. Now, there are various fruits that grow out of the redeeming work of Christ. The best and choicest are spirituali.e. “the fruits of the Spirit.” But society also reaps external good in the activities and charities of the Christian life. A living Church must be a boon to a neighborhoodlike a fruit-garden planted among weary men who sadly need its refreshing products.
IV. BEAUTY. Whenever the name of Eden is mentioned, we think of a picture of exceeding beauty. There are few more lovely sights than a cottage garden, with its quaint old-fashioned flowersits airy columbinesits still, tall, white liliesits sweet, rich roses.
“How the rose of orient glow
Mingles with the lily’s snow!”
Alas! for the scenes of city life contrasted with this fresh vision of beauty! But Christ will plant a new Eden. He will bring beauty into faded lives, and joy to the old, weary earth. Christ does not only give grace; he adds glory. The beauty of the Lord is on his people. And this joy is not reserved for a future heaven of departed souls. The new Eden, like the old one, is to flourish on earth. Here Christ converts the wilderness into a garden.
HOMILIES BY J.R. THOMSON
Eze 36:8-12
Promise of revival.
Ezekiel is inspired to foretell the confusion of the enemies of Israel who have brought about her calamities, and who delight in her humiliation, and in their contempt deride her sorrows. But this in itself is small con-solution. And he adds predictions of the restoration, recovery, and revival of Israel after “her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned.” The land and its inhabitants are naturally, as well as poetically, associated in his mind. The restored and rejoicing sons of Jacob till the soil which has been long neglected, and the soil rewards their labors with abundant fruitfulness. It is obvious that these prophetic descriptions have an application to the spiritual renovation of a repenting nation, to the Church of Christ under the genial influences of the Holy Spirit, and to the ransomed race of men in millennial prosperity.
I. THE AUTHOR OF THIS REVIVAL. “I,” says the Lord, “am for you, and I will turn unto you.” The Creator is the Source and Giver of all life, both in the natural and in the spiritual realm. If the wilderness is to be as the garden of God, it must be through the fall of showers from heaven, through dews of grace, through the Divine breath awakening the dead to life, through the sunshine from God’s own countenance calling forth the vitality and the fragrance of the spiritual spring.
II. THE SCENE OF THIS REVIVAL. The land which has been so long desolate by reason of its occupation by hostile armies, and by reason of the deportation of its inhabitants, is visited by reviving mercy. The waste places, the dismantled and forsaken cities, are regarded in compassion and visited in mercy.
III. THE SUBJECTS OF THIS REVIVAL. These are living men, moral natures, capable of true life. “I will multiply men upon you;” “I will cause men to walk upon you.” It is the men who make the land what it is, who till the soil, occupy the cities, garrison the fortresses, fill the temples, raise to heaven the free song of trust and praise. The return of the Hebrew captives to their inheritance, the land given to their fathers, was a joyful occasion, and was the earnest of good things to come. When God gives blessing, it is to living, spiritual, immortal natures that he gives it. He blesses his Church by raising up and consecrating to his service holy men and women, who in every position and vocation of life fulfill duty under a sacred impulse and with a noble aim.
IV. THE TOKENS OF THIS REVIVAL. Fruitfulness, increase, abundance,these am the signs that God is working, that the winter is over and past, that the blossoms of the spring, the promise of the year, have not been delusive. “Herein,” says Christ, “is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.”
V. THE MEASURE OF REVIVAL. “I will do better unto you than at your beginnings.” Such is the gracious assurance of the Almighty. Israel had known times of benediction and prosperity; she should know them again, only more abundantly. All past experience is transcended when the Lord stretches out his hand to bless.T.
Eze 36:20-24
Profanation and pity.
The conjunction is somewhat singular. Israel has profaned God’s Name. Upon this suggestion the Lord, pitying his own Name, resolves to sanctify it, and to this end, and not for Israel’s deserts, succors and restores his people. The several steps in this progress of thought should be attentively traced.
I. THE ISRAELITES HAVE PROFANED GOD‘S NAME AMONG THE HEATHEN. They are universally known as the people of Jehovah. When exiled from their land, they are the objects of derision and contempt to the heathen who behold them, and who, despising them, despise also the Name of Jehovah.
II. THE LORD IS MOVED WITH PITY FOR HIS OWN NAME. The language, nay, the very thought, is remarkably bold. But especially as it is repeated, it must be taken as deliberate and intentional, and as corresponding with a wonderful and Divine, though but partially comprehensible, reality. His Name, his reputation, even among the heathen, is dear to him, and he deigns to be concerned when men speak lightly of his Name and blaspheme him openly. In human language, he is distressed at the evil things which are said of him among the enemies of his people.
III. THE PURPOSES OF GOD‘S MERCY ARE NOT PROMPTED BY ANY DESERTS OF ISRAEL. “I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel.” This is a principle which should ever be borne in mind in interpreting Old Testament history. The Hebrew writers are faithful, candid, and outspoken in describing the national character, in relating the actions of their countrymen. They were a rebellious and stiff-necked people. They had their good qualities, but their many and grievous sins are not extenuated. If God chose them as his peculiar people, it was not for any special excellence or meritorious ness in themselves. And when he restored them from captivity, he let it be understood that he did this not from a regard to their deserts.
IV. GOD‘S PURPOSES OF MERCY TO ISRAEL ARE PROMPTED BY A REGARD TO HIS OWN NAME. He had made certain promises to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and those promises he must needs fulfill. He has intentions of mercy to mankind to be realized by means of the “children of promise,” and he will not allow those intentions to be frustrated. He has his own faithfulness to vindicate, his own moral attributes to manifest. By his Name must be understood his character, especially as known among men; and, this being the case, it is not difficult to comprehend the meaning of “having pity on his holy Name.”
V. PITY BECOMES PRACTICAL IN THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL TO THEIR OWN LAND, BY WHICH GOD‘S NAME IS SANCTIFIED. There is dignity and even moral grandeur in the resolution which is expressed in this passage; it is felt to be worthy of him in whose lips it is placed by the prophet. When the great work of restoration is achieved, the nations who behold it see that the taunts and ridicule in which they have indulged are both foolish and blamable. Israel is proved to be the consecrated nation, preserved by God’s wisdom and goodness as the instrument in effecting his purposes. The Lord God is seen to be, not powerless like the so-called gods of the nations, but omnipotent and just. His promises are vindicated as faithful. “I will sanctify my great Name and the nations shall know that I am the Lord.”T.
Eze 36:25-27
Renewal.
It is observable that, in the view of the prophet, political revival and national restoration are associated with moral and spiritual improvement and renovation. No sooner has he uttered the prediction that the people of Israel shall be delivered from their captivity and be brought back into their own land, than, in a strain of singular beauty and eloquence, he proceeds to assure his countrymen of the Divine favor revealing itself in a deeper and more precious form. Jehovah promises to complete his work of mercy on behalf of his chosen people. They shall not only be rescued from the humiliation and reproach of banishment and servitude. They shall be saved from the sin which was the occasion of their calamities. They shall experience a spiritual renovationthey shall be cleansed, renewed, and sanctified. The change shall be within the spiritual nature, and it shall manifest itself in the outer life, which shall be made a life of purity and of obedience. The figurative language in which this Divine work of renewal is described deserves careful attention; each several figure seems to present the transformation in a new light; taken together, they exhibit the most marvelous work of God in its true beauty and completeness.
I. GOD WILL GIVE FOR FOULNESS, PURITY. The defiling and offensive nature of sin is symbolized in Scripture by uncleanness of body. Of the sins with which Israel is especially charged, that of idolatry is perhaps the most prominent and the most debasing, bringing in its train a host of moral abominations. From idolatry and all its contaminations the consecrated people must needs be delivered, as a condition of all other blessing. With what simplicity and exquisite beauty is the gracious purpose of the Divine -Purifier here expressed! “I wilt sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” The moral purity of the Divine nature is imparted to the nature of man. The Holy Spirit produces the holy character, which expresses itself in the holy life. Much of the religious observance practiced among the Hebrews was intended to convey the idea and to cultivate the practice of holiness. In the New Testament the greatest stress is laid upon this disposition and habit: “Be ye holy; for your Father in heaven is holy.”
II. GOD WILL GIVE FOR HARDNESS OF HEART, A TENDERNESS AND SUSCEPTIBILITY. By hardness or obduracy we understand insensibility to Divine appeals, to rebukes and to promisesa character repelling all higher and holier motive. The stony heart is to be taken away, and replaced by a heart of flesh, i.e. a heart sensitive to Divine goodness and responsive to Divine appeals. The Israelites seem to have been peculiarly hard and stubborn in character. The word addressed to them, if it was to produce any impression, must needs have been “as a fire, and as a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.” This was so throughout long periods of the national history. When God dealt with them in his mercy, he rendered their obdurate nature susceptible to gracious influences. Under the Christian dispensation, the softer features of the human character are brought out into prominence. The Spirit of Christ is a Spirit of meekness and gentleness. The heart of flesh which he imparts is susceptible to all that is good and winning, purifying and consolatory.
III. GOD WILL GIVE FOR OLDNESS, NEWNESS OF CHARACTER. “A new heart also will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you.” It is remarkable that we should find in Ezekiel’s prophecies so striking an anticipation of the promises and privileges of Christianity. Living, as we do, under the new covenant, we are especially able to appreciate this gracious assurance. Old things pass away, all things become new, to him who is “in Christ Jesus,” who is “a new creation.” The oldness of the letter, the oldness of disobedience, are left behind; and spiritual newness opens up, in all its beauty and hopefulness, before us. “Newness of life” is the plainest mark of a Christianity more than nominal and formal.
IV. GOD WILL GIVE FOR ALIENATION, ACCEPTANCE. Those who had been afar off were to be brought nigh; those who had been estranged by sin were to be restored to fellowship; those who had been in rebellion were to be reconciled. The exiled should be brought home, and the cold oppression and scorn of the foreign conqueror should be exchanged for the acceptable services of the temple, and the smile of God upon his people and their inheritance. A marvelous emblem of the restoration of God’s people to himself through Jesus Christ. For our Savior has “made peace,” so that those who accept his mediation, from having been alienated and at enmity, are reconciled, and enjoy the fellowship, the smile, the approval, of their God.
V. GOD WILL GIVE FOR ERROR, OBEDIENCE, SUBMISSION, AND CONFORMITY TO HIS WILL. “I will cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” To feel the force of this promise, we must remember how grievously the Israelites had erred, and how far they had strayed from the path of true and acceptable service. A renovation worthy of the name must include a thorough submission to the will which had been defied, a thorough and cordial performance of the service which had been neglected. As it was with the Israelites, so must it ever be with all upon whom God has mercy. He puts his Spirit within them, and thus the life which would otherwise have been impracticable becomes the life deliberately chosen and consistently and perseveringly followed out.T.
Eze 36:31
Self-knowledge and self-loathing.
It is instructive to observe that this assertion that Israel shall remember and loathe past sin is placed immediately after the promise of renewal, purification, fruitfulness, and blessing. However this may’ seem out of place, a little reflection will convince us that the juxtaposition is both intentional and just. Men do not truly know the heinousness of their sin until they have been turned from it. It is the holy character to which moral evil is most repugnant.
I. SIN BLINDS MEN TO THEIR REAL CONDITION, AND FOSTERS UNDUE SELF–SATISFACTION. It is when men are offending most grievously that they are least sensible of their folly and guilt. They will not think, they will not suffer conscience to speak, they will not listen to any voice save the voice of passion and the voice of prejudice. They persuade themselves, and they allow themselves to be persuaded by others, that they are not to blame in following the dictates of “nature,” in conforming to the usages of “society.”
II. GOD‘S CHASTISEMENTS AND GOD‘S MERCIES AWAKEN MEN TO REFLECTION AND TO SELF–KNOWLEDGE. Israel came to herself when she had passed through the discipline of defeat, of captivity, of national humiliation. This was needed in order to open the eyes which were blind to her own state. Yet even this was not sufficient. Restoration and favor melted the heart to penitence and to gratitude. Sensible of God’s mercies, she became sensible to her own faults. And it has often been observed that, after forgiveness has been obtained and reconciliation has been experienced, after Divine kindness has made its appeal to the better nature, then men’s minds become alive to the magnitude and inexcusableness of the transgressions which have been committed. In the light of God’s forbearance and loving-kindness, sin is seen to be what it really is.
III. SELF–KNOWLEDGE, BY REVEALING INIQUITY IN ITS TRUE LIGHT, LEADS TO SELF–LOATHING. Israel, remembering her evil ways, loathed herself in her own sight for her iniquities and for her abominations. Now that she was restored to her own territory, now that she entered again upon the enjoyments and privileges of her national life, she reflected upon her past. The guilt and folly of her idolatry, her unfaithfulness to Jehovah, her sensuality and pride, were apparent to her conscience. She saw herself in some measure as her God saw her. And at the sight she was filled with remorse and with self-loathing. What Christian is there who has not passed through an experience somewhat similar to this? There are times when we are comparatively insensible to the blemishes and imperfections of our own character. And there are times when God’s mercy in Christ comes home to our hearts; and then we feel that to such a Being, who has so dealt with us, our sin must indeed be distressing and offensive, and we hate ourselves because we are not more what he would have us to be.
IV. THUS SELF–KNOWLEDGE LEADS TO REPENTANCE AND TO A BETTER LIFE. To repent of sin is to aspire after holiness. It is well that we should have a conscience of sin; but it is not well to rest in this. This should lead us to desire both to escape and to conquer sin in the future, and to resolve, by God’s grace, that there shall not in that future be the same reason for self-reproach as in the past. Thus the pardon of sin and the victory over sin are made, by the appointment of Divine wisdom, the means of progress in the spiritual life towards moral perfection. Explain the mystery of sin, we cannot. But we are at liberty to remark how, in Christian experience, even the prevalence of sin is made the occasion of the manifestation of God’s grace to his people, and how in this manner evil, ever remaining evil, is overruled for good, To love God and to loathe the sinful self are very closely associated in the Christian experience. It is to be desired by all of us that we may not be the victims of self-delusion; that we may see and feel our sin, our need of a Savior; that all the motives of the gospel may be brought to bear upon our nature, with a view to our swifter progress in the Divine and holy life.T.
Eze 36:37
Inquiry of God.
Light is cast upon the function of prayer in the Divine economy by observing that in this passage explicit promises of blessing are first given to Israel; and then, afterwards, it is affirmed that, for this blessing, God requires that his people should make supplication to him. The fact is that unless there be a basis for prayer in the explicit assurances of God, although it may be a natural and instinctive, it can hardly be a reasonable, exercise.
I. THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO THE PRAYERS OF GOD‘S PEOPLE. The fact that explicit promises have been given is a fact familiar to every reader of Scripture. These promises are numerous and repeated. They have respect to the varied wants of men, and accordingly are characterized by a wonderful and very precious variety. Blessings so valuable and so desirable may well be sought with earnestness and importunity.
II. THE PRAYERS OF GOD‘S PEOPLE ARE THE CONDITION OF THE OBTAINING OF GOD‘S BLESSING. This affirmation rests upon the plain declarations of God’s Word. “Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find.” It rests also upon reason. The best gifts of God are of such a nature that they cannot be bestowed irrespectively of the moral condition, the spiritual attitude of the recipient. They are not material, they are not conferred as by mechanical, physical law. God opens the heart that it may receive the benefits he waits to bestow.
III. THE PRAYERS OF GOD‘S PEOPLE ARE THE OCCASION OF GOD‘S CARRYING OUT HIS PURPOSES OF MERCY. We have looked at the matter from the human side, but it must be regarded also from the Divine side. The All-wise himself propounds his own terms; he carries out his intentions of mercy in the way that seems good to him. “For this moreover will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.” For reasons which are only very partially within our powers of comprehension, this is the ordinance, the arrangement of Jehovah himself. We may be content to understand that which is within our range, to trace the bearing of prayer upon our religious interests, and to learn from experience its reasonableness as respects ourselves. And we must, in childlike faith, accept upon God’s authority what is beyond our limited powers with any completeness to comprehend.
IV. THE PRAYERS OF GOD‘S PEOPLE ARE REQUIRED AND COMMANDED BY HIM WHO IS THE GIVER OF THE PROMISES. With one hand our Father in heaven offers the gifts; with the other hand he delivers to his Church his written and express command. “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full;” “Pray without ceasing;” “If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him!”T.
HOMILIES BY J.D. DAVIES
Eze 36:1-15
The material creation sharing in the fortunes of men.
Man has a many-sided nature. He is linked with the past history of angels and with the past history of the entire universe. His interests and fortunes are interwoven with the material creation and with the dynamic forces of nature. He has an interest in heaven and in hell. The intelligences of the universe are interested in him, and he is interested in them.
I. THE LAND OF CANAAN IS HONORED BY A DIVINE COMMUNICATION. It is a reasonable conclusion that the main interest God felt in the mountains and hills of Palestine arose from their use as a home and storehouse for his people. Yet it is proper that we should regard God as finding a pleasure in the hills and valleys on account of their native beauty. They were the workmanship of his hand, and there is every reason why he should find pleasure in his creations. The long, past history of their internal structure was open to his eye, and the beauty of their clothing was to him a delight. But why should he dispatch to these unconscious mountains a prophetic messenger? Without doubt, this was intended as a rebuke to the people who had grievously disregarded his messages. It was as if he said indirectly to the nation, “It is vain to speak longer to your stony ears. I turn away in sorrow, and address my message to the unconscious earth. The very mountains will give me better audience than you have done. If I speak to the dew, it will obey. If I speak to the fragrant soil, it will yield its fruit. If I speak to the mountains, they will put on verdure and beauty. But, alas! if I speak to the intelligent sons of Jacob, they turn deaf ears and rebellious wills to my gracious voice! O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!” By such methods of rebuke God endeavors to bring conviction home to the consciences of the people.
II. THE LAND OF CANAAN WAS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR IN ISRAEL‘S PAST RENOWN. This land had been specially selected by God as the most fitting scene for the training of the Hebrew nation. It was the glory of all lands, the envy of surrounding nations. Compared with the territory north, or east, or south, it was splendidly fertile, while its mountains made it a secure fortress. The diversity of hill and vale gave it peculiar beauty and served to exhilarate the mind. The mountain-peaks drew heavenward men’s thoughts. According to the known law, that the physical features of a country mould unconsciously the character of the inhabitants, Canaan had been a benefit to the Jewish tribes. The land was a contrast to the soft, fertile loam of Egypt. The relaxing climate of Lower Egypt, together with the wondrous facility of obtaining large crops, made the people indolent and effeminateimpatient of arduous exertion. In Palestine a totally different condition of things prevailed. For the most part the operations of husbandry were severe. The sides of the hills required to be built in terraces in order to retain the soil. But climate and soil were congenial for almost every kind of fruit. It was a territory in which it was scarcely possible for one to grow rich; it was a territory eminently suitable for the development of hardy and industrious peasants. Especially the land was singularly dependent upon the periodic rainfall. For, devoid of rain and dew, the olives dropped withered and unripe, the vines were blighted, the young corn was shriveled. Hence, in an eminent degree, the people hung in constant dependence on the good will of God. He held in his hand the helm of their prosperity.
III. THE LAND OF CANAAN HAD SHARED IN ISRAEL‘S DISCOMFITURE AND SHAME. Frequent invasions on their borders had made their homes and crops insecure, and, without security for obtaining crops, men will not sow their fields. Frequent absence also, to serve on the battle-field, drew away the young men from quiet husbandry. Such losses in such a country soon became serious. A diminution in their produce left them unable and unwilling to pay tribute to their foreign conquerors, and this resulted in fresh invasion. Step by step the land went out of cultivation. The terraces on the hillsides were neglected. The people forget God, and God withdrew the light of his favor. The mountain-slopes, denuded of soil, soon became bald, bleached rocks. The high reputation for fertility which the land had enjoyed was gone. Its excellence and glory departed. Sharon was no longer a fold for flocks. Carmel laid aside her bridal garments of floral beauty. Jackals and foxes and hyenas infested the land. With the degradation of the elect people came the degradation of the elect land.
IV. THE LAND OF CANAAN WAS ABOUT TO SHARE IN ISRAEL‘S NEW PROSPERITY.
1. In proportion to the infamy the land had endured was to be the fertility again to be enjoyed. The prosperity should not only rise to the former level; it should greatly surpass it. The infallible promise was made directly to every part and branch of the territory. God had a tender regard for every mountain and valley, for every river and plain; each should be enriched and gladdened by his favoring smile. The shame of the heathen should be outbalanced by corresponding reputation and honor. On condition of the faithfulness of the people this revival of prosperity should be enduring.
2. God speaks in language adapted to the age. By any other mode of speech God could not have been understood; and in such a case he may as well not have spoken. As men were stimulated to great exertions by a sentiment of national jealousy, so, in accommodation to imperfect men, God speaks of himself as stirred to activity by the fire of jealousy. Such jealousy was only another form of considerate love. It had no respect to himself. It was a jealous regard for the good of Israel, a jealous desire to fulfill his ancient promises.
3. These pledges of good were redeemed in the centuries which followed Israel‘s restoration. The land was reclaimed from the ravages of wild beasts. Cities and villages were rebuilt. Many parts of Canaan became fertile as a garden. Confessedly, we feel a disappointment that the revival of prosperity was not more complete, nor more abiding. But this was due alone to the folly and guilt of the people. In every promise of God there underlies a moral condition. For him to give unmingled blessing to evil-doers would be a fresh evil and an encouragement to sin. The actual fortunes of Canaan, in the later centuries, prove the faithfulness of God and the fickleness of the people.D.
Eze 36:16-32
A vision of the true golden age.
Up to this point God had been revealing more clearly his active righteousness to Israel; and this with a view to arouse their drugged and drowsy consciences. The equity and justice of his scepter had been vividly portrayed. The keen edge of his judicial sword had been felt. Some movements of better feeling in the exiles were apparent. And now God hastens to foster penitential sentiments with a promise of generous kindness. Further revelations of his great nature are made. The excellence of his grace is unveiled to the opening eye of the penitents. Stupendous condescension is shown. God himself will undertake the renovation of human nature. He will go down to the very root of the evil. He will transform the innermost principles in the minds of the people, and so qualify them for national restoration and national prosperity. And he will do this mainly that he may set before the world the wealth of goodness and kindness which constitutes his glory. “I do this for my holy Name’s sake, saith the Lord.”
I. ISRAEL‘S ARRAIGNMENT.
1. The gravamen of the accusation is idolatry. Than idolatry, no greater affront can be put upon God, no greater evil can be wrought. God was deposed from his rightful throne, and senseless matter elevated into his place. The perfect will of God was set aside for the vain fancies of wicked men. The devil was preferred to Jehovah.
2. Idolatry was a system of active vice. It did not represent merely a change of belief; it was the enthronement and deification of vice. Public sanction was given to lust and unchastity. The marriage-tie was dissolved. The temple of God was desecrated with animal lust. The barbarous rites of idolatrous worship served to crush every tender feeling and to make men fiends. Wrong soon lost its hideous features in the eyes of men. They became inhuman, cruel, quarrelsome, murderous. Human life lost its sanctity, and the land was stained with blond.
3. Idolatry‘s fruits were most offensive to God. In order to convey to men an approximate idea of this offensiveness, God was compelled to borrow an illustration from the most loathsome thing familiar to men. As if he had said, “Picture to yourselves the thing most repulsive to your senses; this thing will feebly convey the idea of disgust I feel towards this monstrous crime.” A common dung-hill is fragrance itself compared with the moral foulness of idolatry; and dead to every virtuous instinct must be the man who can endure it.
II. ISRAEL‘S ARRAIGNMENT LED TO SEVEREST PENALTY.
1. A discharge of God‘s anger. “I poured out my fury upon them.” The long-gathering storm of just indignation burst upon them as torrents from a broken reservoir. This is God’s own account of his conduct, and he speaks, as usual, after the manner of a man. The violent anger of a man under a strong sense of injury has its correspondence in God, save that in God it is filled with the element of righteousness, and is in exact proportion to the sinner’s deserts.
2. It embraced the dissolution of the covenant. The covenant made with Abraham and renewed with the Israelites was founded on a moral condition. That condition had been broken and abandoned by the nation; hence God publicly testified that he was no longer bound. The land of Canaan ceased to be held by Divine covenant; and, as the result of the broken compact, the Assyrians took possession. Pledges and contracts between God and man, wantonly violated, are surely followed by gravest disaster. This should teach all men the reality and the value of righteousness.
3. The penalty, though severe, was strictly equitable. “According to their doings I judged them.” The fullest equity in God’s dealings is guaranteed
(1) by the qualities of his nature and
(2) by the well-being of all the moral intelligences of his kingdom.
Every act of loving obedience shall be rewarded. Every deed of rebellion shall be punished according to the most equitable scale. And in this category is registered every secret design, as well as every overt deed.
III. THIS MANIFESTATION OF JUSTICE OVERSHADOWED THE BENIGNANT NATURE OF GOD. “They profaned my holy Name.” It is a great responsibility to bear the Name of Goda great responsibility to belong to his kingdom. We carry his reputation in our hands. Mankind will judge him by what they see in us. If they discover in us selfishness, avarice, lust, they will conclude that our God is not over-righteous. If we, for our sins, are chastised, men will shrink from serving such a Master. Such was the case in the olden time among all the peoples that dwelt in the vicinity of Palestine. They said contemptuously, “This Jehovah, who conquered Canaan for his people, was, not able to retain it for them! Or else, he is a God easily offended! He chooses a nation for his favor one day, and casts it off on the morrow! Or else, his justice is so severe that we prefer to keep aloof from him!” Such were the judgments of men. But this was the result of ignorance. This was derogatory to God. This prejudiced the public mind against just conceptions of God. Now, it had been God’s high design to unveil gradually to mankind all the fullness of his naturehis strong affection, the riches of his mercy, his self-sacrificing grace. Did men but know him thoroughly, one great hindrance to confidence and obedience would be removed. Most surely he deserves our allegiance; he is infinitely worthy of our trust. Therefore God had pity upon his Name; for his Name is the sum-total of his goodness. Men were suffering, because they did not know Godwere misled by erroneous views of his character. Hence God resolved to adopt another planto make a grand experiment. He will make a new covenant with the people, and will write his laws on the tablet of their hearts. He will yet conquer their rebellions with his abounding grace.
IV. THE GRAND EXPERIMENT OF KINDNESS; viz. a gracious renewal of human nature.
1. The first step is cleansing. “From all your idols will I cleanse you.” A disposition of repentance was already apparent. Many were beginning to ask how deliverance could be obtained; and, before they asked, the remedy is announced. God will undertake to purge out the virus of disease, and if he undertakes it, the change will be effectual. He will go to the root of the matter. The love of idols shall be rooted out of the heart; and, the root being killed, all the fruits will disappear. The instrument to be employed is the Truththe revelation of Divine mercy. This is the “clean water” mentioned. To the same effect David declared, “The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.” And Jesus the Christ affirmed, “Now ye are clean, through the word which I have spoken unto you.”
2. The next step is heart-renovation. “A new heart also will I give you.” By the mystic power or’ his grace God produces gradually a complete change in the moral principles of every penitent man. New light enters the mind. Sin is seen in its loathsomeness. A gracious influence from heaven softens the dispositions of the heart. Feeling becomes tender. The tastes cluster round nobler objects. God is seen to be supremely good, and new affections begin to entwine round him. Old habits of evil are dissevered. New inclinations and aspirations are engendered. Step by step the man rises out of his dead self into a new life. “Old things pass away, and all things” within him “become new.”
3. A further step is the indwelling of God‘s Spirit in the man. This is an anticipation of the new dispensation, more fully developed at Pentecost; this is the highest, noblest gift God can impart. In a word, this is spiritual evolution. On Adam God breathed, and he “became a living soul.” But this is a new departure. The Spirit of God finds an entrance into the human soul, and works therein a new creation. All the dispositions of God are gradually reproduced. The man learns to think as God thinks, to feel as God feels, to love as God loves, to act as God acts. Then God’s will is done, and God’s image is reflected in the man as a face is reflected in a mirror.
4. A further step is national restoration. The man who truly loves God learns to love his fellow-man; and this bond of mutual love was the very thing wanted to weld the Hebrews into a nation. A people can safely be trusted with national prosperity only when they are loyal to God. The whole land of Palestine was a kind of enlarged temple, and only a consecrated people are fitted for a consecrated place. The old covenant, in its essential principles was to be restored. God would give himself to the people; they would give themselves up to him.
5. Material prosperity. “I will call for the corn, and will increase it.” Soul-prosperity is the foundation; temporal fortune is the superstructure. “All things are ours if we are Christ’s” “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.” In Palestine ‘the state of the harvest-field was a mirror in which men saw the smile or the frown of God. To obedient Jews, land-fertility was secured by an inviolable pledge of Jehovah. The windows of heaven were opened; the vines were embellished with splendid clusters; the very mountains seemed to send out rills of oil from the olive-groves.
V. THE FINAL AIM OF THIS STUPENDOUS CHANGE; Viz. to reveal God’s Name. In other words, to make known to the world his wealth of goodness. That the purpose and aim of Jehovah in this grand experiment might be made clear, it is stated both positively and negatively. “Not for your sakes do I this,’ saith God, “but for my holy Name’s sake.” A full and accurate knowledge of God is hope and inspiration to men. If only the state of feeling in a man’s heart be right, then in proportion as God is known, he will be admired, trusted, loved, served. If the soil of the heart be broken up and pulverized, the knowledge of God, like living seed, will grow and flourish and bear a rich harvest of fruit. “They that know thy Name will put their trust in thee.” This heart-knowledge of God brings eternal life. Misunderstanding of God brings fear, bondage, misery, hell. The glory of God and the good of men are twin-purposestwo sides of the same coin. God’s will is man’s salvation. As we know God experimentally, we aspire to be like God, we yearn to do his will, heaven is begun within.D.
Eze 36:32-38
Prosperity suspended on human prayer.
In the previous verses God has disclosed a new scheme of spiritual tactics. He will lay siege to man’s heart with the artillery of love. He will touch and melt his will. He will gently, yet powerfully, dispose him to obedience. Yet God will not reduce man to a machine. He will not coerce his will. Men shall not become passive instruments under God’s hand. There shall be place for human thought, human choice, human effort. “I will yet be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them.”
I. GOD‘S GIFTS ARE BESTOWED IN A DEFINITE ORDER. “Order is heaven’s first law.” In nature and in human nature, God works from the center outwards. Jerusalem was such a center. The home is a center. Man’s soul is a centera center for himself, his family, his fortunes, his contemporary society.
1. Soul-cleansing is the root-blessing. This embraces cleansing from the love of sin, the power of sin, the stain and curse of sin. The animal part of our nature is kept in subjection to the spiritual. The old fountain of evil is cleansed. The real man no longer lives in the cellar and scullery of his nature; he prefers now to live and move in the capacious rooms abovein the great halls of reason and conscience.
2. A better social life. They “shall dwell in the cities.” It is easier to live a godly life in a garden than in a city, but that sequestered life would be narrow and poor and weak. In the city temptations and hindrances abound; and he who surmounts them is raised into a higher plane of life. Men of pure and lofty tastes constitute a society that is fruitful in goodness. They shall be cemented in strong and vital ties for mutual security and mutual help.
3. Agricultural fertility. The Jews were devoted to the pursuits of husbandry; hence fertility in the field was their greatest earthly prosperity. This fertility would be the more highly prized because of its contrast with recent desolation. That which had been like a desert was to be prolific and beauteous as the virgin soil of Eden. The last vestige of the curse was to vanish. With the smallest measure of labor shall come the largest measure of increase.
4. Growing population. An unmistakable mark of national prosperity is increase of men. The stalwart and athletic youth would not be slain on the battle-plain, nor decimated by pestilence, nor destroyed by ruinous vice. Just as the streets of Jerusalem were crowded with flocks in the time of the Passover, brought thither for the Paschal feast, so should the towns and villages teem with hale and sinewy men. “I will increase them with men like a flock.”
5. Renown among the neighboring nations. “The heathen shall know” that Jehovah is the real Source of prosperity. They had learnt to think of him as an austere Ruler, or as indifferent respecting his people’s weal. Truer thoughts of God and of God’s goodness shall displace the old ideas. They shall understand God’s high designs, and shall admire and praise. To serve such a God will be counted true honor.
II. GOD‘S GIFTS ARE PLEDGED BY AN INFALLIBLE PROMISE. The advantages of making this prosperity a matter of promise was manifold.
1. It would sustain their hope. In their exiled state, they were in danger of yielding to sullen despair. Adversity had demoralized them. They had well-nigh lost heart.
2. It would encourage wise effort. The bright prospect of a golden age would stimulate them to exertion. They could the better bear the ills of banishment when they knew these were only for a time. They would more bravely face the toils of another journey homeward when they knew what splendid prosperity was guaranteed.
3. It would more clearly unfold God‘s moral intention in their adversity. That defeat and its consequent hardships were no mere caprices on God’s part. Nor had he wholly abandoned them. The judgment, though severe, was disciplinary. It was moral medicine, destined to produce better health. Hence a window was opened through which they gained an insight into God‘s heart.
4. The promise gave them a grasp upon God. They well knew his faithfulness. No word of his had ever failed, nor ever would. If he had fulfilled his threats of evil, much more would he fulfill his promises of good.
III. GOD‘S GIFTS ARE SUSPENDED UPON HUMAN PRAYER.
1. This was an honor conferred upon men. God takes imperfect men into partnership with himself. Great though his power may be, he loves to ally himself with men, so that he may inspire them with a sacred ambition, and lift them to a higher level of life. He would have us to feel a responsibility respecting the welfare of mankind. This expands both mind and heart.
2. Prayer itself is salutary. No other occupation of the human mind is so salutary. There is hope for the lowest sunk, if he has begun to pray. Prayer generates humility. It dissolves self-trust and fosters trust in God. It enhances the value of God’s gifts if we have to ask for them. Prayer serves to purify and elevate the nobler emotions. It brings our wills into submission to the Eternal Will.
3. The most successful prayer is united prayer. The request must be made “by the house of Israel.” This union of hearts in prayer promotes sympathy, brotherly love, concord, cooperation. Social piety is fostered. The whole people is prepared for the blessing. The furrows are opened to receive the heavenly rain. This announcement forecasts that of the New Testamentthat if “two shall agree on earth as touching anything they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”D.
HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON
Eze 36:1-15
Encouragement in exile.
Israel was in a very deplorable condition. It was away from its native land, in the power and in the service of the enemy; its own “inheritance” was peopled by a poor and weak remnant; it was the prey and the butt of the merciless mocker; its fortunes were low, its heart was sad indeed; it could not sing the Lord’s song in such a strange land as that in which it was exiled. But after words of condemnation comes the language of hope. The prophet of God is commissioned to break into their gloom with some beams of promise. Here are gracious words from his mouth; here is a prophecy delivered to “the mountains of Israel,” which may well have filled the hearts of the people of God with great joy and gladness. The lessons we glean from the passage (Eze 36:1-15) are
I. THAT SOMETHING HAS LEFT US WHEN AN ENEMY HAS DONE HIS WORST. As Matthew Henry well remarks, the mountains, the hills, the rivers, and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the forsaken cities (verse 4) “remained to be spoken to these the Chaldeans could not carry away with them.” They might deport and depopulate, but they could not destroy the land which Jehovah had given to his people. Still the mountains stood, and still the rivers ran, and still the valleys stretched beneath the sun and received the rains of heaven.
1. Our human enemy may do much to harm us, but his power is very limited after all. At the most and the worst, he can but kill the body; after that he hath no more that he can do.” He cannot kill the soul; he cannot take away faith, or love, or peace, or hope from the human heart; he cannot rob us of our real inheritance.
2. Or if our spiritual enemy injures us in a more deadly way than the tyrant or the persecutor can do; if he gain dominion over us and rob us of our rectitude, and so of our peace and rest in God; even then there remains a spiritual nature which is capable of redemption; the soil remains, which, sown again with the good seed of the kingdom, may yet bring forth very precious fruit.
II. THAT THE TENDENCY OF SIN IS TO A DANGEROUS EXTREME. Edom and other heathen lands carried their enmity and their cruelty so far that they brought down upon themselves the righteous anger of God. “Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side,” etc. (verse 3), “therefore, thus saith the Lord, surely in the fire,” etc. (verse 5). These persecuting nations had succeeded only too well; they had filled their hands with spoil, and their souls with spiteful pleasure (verse 5); and the extremity to which they pushed their triumph led to their discomfiture. Such is sin everywhere. It leads to extravagance and excess; to a most guilty and ruinous indulgence; or to a high-handed arrogance and blasphemy which call forth the deep displeasure of the righteous God, and bring down the strong, stern hand of judgment. When we once give way to temptation, of whatever kind it be, we enter a path which leads and lures us on much further than we at first meant to go; and the end of it is condemnation and doom.
III. THAT GOD PITIES HIS PEOPLE, THOUGH THEY SURFER AT his OWN HAND. It was God who caused the children of Israel to lose their heritage and to be carried away as they were. Their sorrows were the penalty of their sin; it was the hand of the Lord that was laid upon them. Yet their distressing condition called forth the Divine compassion. It was in mercy, in true pity, that he saw them “bearing the shame of the heathen’ (verse 6; see verse 15). Even though it is in virtue of God’s own righteous laws that we “are minished and brought low,” that we suffer in the flesh or in the spirit, in circumstance or in soul, as the consequence of our wrongdoing, even then, in our straits and in our misery, in our bondage and in our degradation, we are the objects of Divine compassion. God likes not to see his children suffer and “bear shame” as they do. And he sends the messenger of mercy that bids us rise from our wretchedness and ruin and return unto himself.
IV. THAT EVERYTHING MAY BE RECOVERED WHEN GOD IS ON OUR SIDE. (Verses 8-15.) When God says, “I am for you, and I will turn unto you,” what is there that we may not hope for? Then the land of Israel might look to be retilled and resown, to yield its fruit as in the best days that were; to be repeopled by those who had a right to walk upon its hills and to cultivate its villages; it should no longer be a grave for the dead, but a home for the living. And when we turn in penitence and in faith to God, and he turns in mercy and in grace to us, what is there that we may not hope for? What glorious spiritual restoration is within our reach!the peace which no earthly good can either give or take away: the joy which abides and which blesses while it lasts; the excellency of character and of life which makes us take rank with the children of God everywhere; the hope which is full of immortality.C.
Eze 36:16-21
God’s Name and ours.
The most striking thought contained in these words is God’s regard for the honor of his own Name. But there are two truths which claim attention.
I. TWO THINGS WHICH INCUR HIS HIGH DISPLEASURE. The pouring out of his “fury” is, of course, language which is accommodated to our human feelings; but it speaks of the Divine displeasure existing in a very high degree; and the two evils which excite it are:
1. Perverted piety; the giving to another the glory due to himself: idolatry (Eze 36:18).
2. Inhumanity. “They had shed blood upon the land” (Eze 36:18). The wanton taking of human life is the darkest and saddest form of cruelty; but it is by no means the only one which meets the severe rebuke of God. All forms of unkindness or of wrong, by which men’s circumstances are reduced or their spirits are wounded, call down his reproach and bear their penalty.
II. ONE ESPECIAL FORM OF PENALTY. God “scattered“ the Israelites; he caused them to be “dispersed through the countries” (Eze 36:19). The evil which they suffered in Babylon was negative rather than positive. They were not ill treated there. The misery of it lay in its unhomeliness. They were far from their own landfrom Mount Zion and its glorious temple, from the happy services and holy institutions which made their childhood and their youth what they were; they were exiles, dwelling in “a strange land.” This is the constant penalty of sin. It causes us to dwell afar off from God; we lose our sense of nearness to him; we are in no spiritual home; we are in the hand and in the land of the enemy. It is not that earth is far from heaven; it is that sin is far from righteousness; it is that the disloyal subject, the unfilial child, is far from his gracious Sovereign, far from his heavenly Father.
III. GOD‘S SOLICITUDE CONCERNING HIS NAME. “They profaned my holy Name” (Eze 36:20); “I had pity for my holy Name” (Eze 36:21). Why should God be concerned thus “for his Name?” Knowing, as we do, that God is love, and that he lives not for himself, but for the good of his universe, we cannot believe that this Divine solicitude has any selfishness at the root of it. We conclude that its explanation is in the fact that it is of vital consequence to the world that he should be rightly regarded and truly honored. It is so in both aspects, affirmative and negative.
1. It is a boundless blessing when God is known and understood; when, therefore, he is honored and obeyed; and when, therefore, all the priceless blessings of obedience are secured.
2. It is an immeasurable evil when God is misrepresented and misunderstood; when his Name is profaned, and men think of him as he would not be thought of; when his Name is associated with weakness, or with indifference, or with injustice, or with any kind of wrong. Then comes irreverence, and all the long train of evils that accompany itirreligion, disobedience, rebellion, degradation, ruin, death. We may well pray, “Hallowed be thy Name;” for as men speak of God, and as they think of him and know him, so will they order their lives and construct their character and choose their destiny. We ought, similarly, to be concerned about our name. Not that it is the part of a wise man to covet notoriety; that is weakness rather than wisdom. To wish to be notorious is simply selfish, and to be notorious is to stand on the same ground with many of the very worst men that ever strove and sinned. But we should be concerned so to live that our name, however far it may go, may be associated with all that is pure and good and wise; that such influence as God gives us to exert may all go into the right scale; that whenever and wherever we do speak or strike, we may speak what is true and strike for justice and humanity; that the issue of our lives shall be a brave and faithful witness for God, for the kingdom of Jesus Christ; that no man shall find a shelter for anything that is base or immoral behind our name; that many men may walk more steadily along the path of life or work more devotedly in the fields of usefulness because our name lends some strength to virtue and to holy service.C.
Eze 36:26-28
The three elements of piety.
The Israelites were “profaning the Name’ of Jehovah in the lands through which they were dispersed. But this could not be permitted to remain. For the sake of his own Divine Name, the sacredness of which was of such vital moment to mankind (see previous homily), God would work a gracious revolution (Eze 36:21-23). And what he would do is this:
1. He would work within their hearts an entire change of thought and feeling, removing their strong stubbornness and replacing it with a childlike sensibility.
2. He would thus lead them to live in purity and uprightness before the eyes of those among whom they dwelt. Thus would he magnify his holy Name.
3. Then he would restore them to the old relation which they had forfeited by their sin; they should be again his people, and he would be their God, dwelling among them and ruling over them in peace and righteousness. We have here the three constantly recurring elements of true piety.
I. INWARD RENEWAL. (Eze 36:26.) Consisting of:
1. Sensibility taking the place of indifference or stubborn rebelliousness. Instead of the “stony heart” is the “heart of flesh;” instead of an utter, brutish disregard of Divine claims or a perverse and froward determination to reject them, is the “new heart,” the “new spirit” of openness of mind, willingness which ends in eagerness to learn of God, responsiveness of feeling when he speaks, tenderness of conscience under the spoken truth of Christ.
2. Humility taking the place of pride or careless unconcern; a sense of past sin and of present unworthiness; the inward conviction that God has not been remembered, reverenced, served, trusted, as he should have been, and that life has been stained with many errors, faults, shortcomings, transgressions; a spirit of true penitence and shame; a voice, not loud but deep, says within the soul, “I have sinned.”
3. Consecration instead of selfishness. The heart turns away from selfishness and from worldliness toward God, toward the Divine Redeemer, whom it receives gladly and fully as the Savior of the soul, as the Sovereign of the life.
II. OUTWARD RECTITUDE. “I will cause you to walk in my statutes,” etc. (Eze 36:27). The obedience which springs from mere dread of penalty is of very small account; but that which proceeds from a loyal and a loving heart is worth everything. The Divine Son, who was also a Servant, could say, “I delight to do thy will; thy Law is within my heart.” And when the new spirit or the new heart is within us, we can speak in the same strain. Our piety passes, with perfect naturalness, from the reverent thought to the right word; from the grateful feeling to the upright action, from the consecrated spirit to the devoted and useful life. We obey God’s word because we honor himself; we keep the commandments of Christ because we love our Lord (Joh 14:15, Joh 14:21, Joh 14:23). If the Spirit of God be in us we shall bring forth the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22, Gal 5:23). Of the commandments of Christ, to which, by his own words or by those of his apostles, he has attached the greatest weight, as indispensable to the Christian life and as the condition of his acceptance, we must include purity, truthfulness, sobriety, honesty, reverence, lovethe love which forbears, which pities, which succors in time of need.
III. HEAVENLY INTERCOURSE, (Eze 36:28.) While still inhabitants of earth, our citizenship is to be in heaven (see Php 3:20). God is to be our God, and we are to be his people. All human and earthly relationships are to find their highest and best illustration in those which are “in the heavens,” which are spiritual and eternal. Communion between ourselves and our Father in heaven is to be common and constanta daily, an hourly incident through all our life and in all our circumstances and conditions. Far below and far above all other things, we are to be the children and the heirs of God, we are to be the servants of Jesus Christ, we are to bear witness to his truth, we are to promote the coming of his kingdom on the earth.C.
Eze 36:33-37
The period of spiritual prosperity.
The promised restoration and prosperity of Israel very fitly portrays the condition of spiritual well-being in the Church of Christ. It is marked by four things.
I. SPIRITUAL STABILITY. “I will cause you to dwell in the cities“ (Eze 36:33). They were not to be as travelers who are always moving, sleeping beneath the trees or the stars, or as men, that pitch their tents for a few days and pass on; they should “dwell in the cities. It is one sign of a healthy moral condition when we reach some permanency of principle and of feeling; when we are not “driven with the wind and tossed,” but abide where we are, dwelling in the strong cities of assured conviction, of peace, of sacred joy, of blessed hope. It is the man who has learnt much of God and has attained to no small measure of heavenly wisdom whom we know where to find, on whose constancy we may depend, who is “steadfast and immovable.”
II. FRUITFUL ENERGY. The wastes shall be builded, and the desolate land shall be tilled” (Eze 36:33, Eze 36:34). Before the Churches of Christ there lie sad and desolate wastessouls that are in ruins and urgently need to be restored; large stretches of manhood that are now uncultivated, but that would yield a very precious harvest if only the seed of heavenly truth were sown. The great work to which these Churches should have addressed themselves with utmost earnestness and zeal is the work of human restoration, of sacred culture. The fields lie fallow and are barren; the land is desolate; mankind is not yielding its fruit, though there are boundless capacities slumbering in the soil. But when the breath of Divine inspiration is felt by the Church, and the pulse of a Divine life is beating within it, then does it go forward in the fullness of its faithfulness and its pity, and the wastes are builded and the land is tilled.
III. IMPRESSIVENESS AND INFLUENCE. (Eze 36:35, Eze 36:36.) A Christian Church may not be composed of those whose outward behavior contrasts greatly with what it once was; for its members may be those who have “been with Christ from the beginning.” Nevertheless, it ought to be a distinctively and unmistakably holy community; a society of men and women who are recognized by “all that pass by” as those that love righteousness and hate iniquity; as those that are seriously and earnestly endeavoring to translate the will of Christ into their daily and their public life; as those whose whole conduct is governed by Christian principle; as those who are intent upon the elevation of their country and of their race, whatever sacrifice of time, or money, or strength it may require to accomplish it. Then would the great Name of Jesus Christ be magnified, and men would know that he was the Lord, the Lord of all power and grace.
IV. PRAYERFULNESS. (Eze 36:37.) God will have his children near to him in reverential and grateful thought, and he desires that they ask him for the help and the blessings they need at his hand. He will “be inquired of.” As soon as we reach a point where we begin to think of independence, we are in spiritual danger. The wise, safe, prosperous condition, both of the individual and of the Church, is that of constant nearness to God and a deep sense of dependence upon him. The upward look and the earnest prayer become us well; and they not only become us, but they secure for us the responsive bounty and blessing of God.C.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
CHAPTER 36
1And thou, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah. 2Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because the enemy says over you, Aha! and the everlasting heights have become a possession for us; 3Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because, because make desolate [is said to you], and they snap after you round about, that ye may be [become] a possession to the remnant of the heathen, and ye are lifted up on the lip of the tongue and 4are become a peoples talk [a calumny]; Therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the, valleys, to the desolate ruins and to the forsaken cities, which have become a prey [booty] and a derision to 5the remnant of the heathen who are round about; Therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken regarding the remnant of the heathen and regarding the whole of Edom, who gave themselves My land for a possession, in joy of the whole heart, in contempt of 6soul, on account of its pasturage, for a prey. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My fury, because ye have borne the reproach of the heathen; 7Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I, I have lifted up My hand; surely the heathen that are round about you, they shall bear their 8shame. And ye mountains of Israel shall give your foliage and bear your fruit to My people Israel; for they draw near to come. 9For, behold, I come 10to you, and turn Myself to you, and ye are tilled and down. And I multiply upon you men, the whole house of Israel, all of it; and the cities are 11inhabited and the ruins built. And I multiply upon you man and beast, and they multiply themselves and are fruitful, and I settle you [make you inhabited] as at your origin, yea, I do you good more than in your beginnings, 12and ye know that I am Jehovah. And I make men walk over you, My people Israel, and they shall possess thee, and thou art to them for an inheritance, and thou shalt no more make them childless. 13Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because they say to you, A devourer of men art thou, and hast made 14thy people childless; Therefore shalt thou no more devour men, and no more 15make thy people stumble,sentence of the Lord Jehovah. And I will no more let be heard against [over] thee the reproach of the heathen, and thou shalt no more bear the contumely [mockery, scorn] of the nations, and shalt no 16more make thy people stumble,sentence of the Lord Jehovah. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, 17Son of man, the house of Israel were dwelling on their land, and they defiled it by their way and by their works, as the uncleanness of the monthly separation was their way before Me. 18And I poured out My fury upon them on account of the blood which they 19shed upon the land, and by their foul idols defiled they it. And I dispersed them among the heathen, and they were scattered in the lands; according to 20their way and according to their works have I judged them. And it came to the heathen whither they came, and they profaned the name of My holiness, since it was said of them, Jehovahs people are these, and out of His land 21have they gone forth. And I felt pity for the name of My holiness, which they, the house of Israel, profaned among the heathen whither they came. 22Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Not for your sakes act I, O house of Israel, but on account of the name of My 23holiness, which ye profaned among the heathen whither ye came. And I sanctify My name, the great, the profaned among the heathen, which ye profaned in their midst, and the heathen know that I am Jehovah,sentence of the Lord Jehovah,when I sanctify Myself on [in] you before their [your] eyes 24And I take you out of the heathen, and gather you out of all lands, and 25bring you into your land. And I sprinkle upon you clean water, and ye become clean from all your defilements [uncleannesses, Eze 36:17 sq.], and from all your foul idols will I cleanse you. And I give you 26a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I take away the heart of stone out of your 27flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And My Spirit will I put within you, and cause that ye shall walk in My statutes, and keep and do My judgments. 28And ye dwell in the land which I have given to your fathers, and are to Me 29a people, and I will be to you a God. And [yea] I help you from all your defilements, and I call to the corn and multiply it, and will not send upon 30you hunger. And I multiply the fruit of the tree, and the produce of the field, that ye may no longer have to bear the reproach of hunger among the 31heathen. And ye remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and loathe your own faces, for your iniquities and for your abominations 32Not for your sakes act I,sentence of the Lord Jehovah,be it known to you; be ashamed, yea, shame yourselves away from your ways, O house of Israel. 33Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, In the day of My cleansing you from all your iniquities, I make the cities inhabited, and the ruins shall be built. 34And the desolated [devastated] land shall be cultivated, instead of being 35a waste in the eyes of every passer-by. And they say, This land, the desolated, is become as the garden of Eden, and the ruined and desolated and 36demolished cities are securely inhabited. And the heathen that are left round about you know that I, Jehovah, built the demolished [cities], and planted the desolated [land]; I, Jehovah, spoke and did. 37Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will still in regard to this let Myself be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them; I will multiply them in men as a flock. 38As a flock of sacred rites, as the flock of Jerusalem in her festal seasons, so shall the ruined cities be full of flocks of men, and they know that I am Jehovah.
Eze 36:2. Sept: …
Eze 36:3. … . . Vulg.: quod desolati estis et conculcati per circuitum(Another reading: .)
Eze 36:4. … . . . . , . . . .
Eze 36:5. Another reading: c. and , Sept.: … . Vulg.: et ex animo, et ejecerunt eam ut vastarent.
Eze 36:8. Sept.: … . , .
Eze 36:10. … .
Eze 36:12. … . Vulg.: et non addes ultra, ut absque eis sis.
Eze 36:13. … . , Vulg.: et suffocans gentem tuam.
Eze 36:14. Vulg.: Gentem tuam non necabis ultra
Eze 36:17. Sept.: … . . . . . . .
Eze 36:19. … .
Eze 36:20. Another reading: , so the old translations.
Eze 36:21. . Et peperci nomini
Eze 36:23. Another reading: and (so also the Masora).
Eze 36:31. Sept.: … .
Eze 36:32. Sept.: … . .
Eze 36:35. … .
Eze 36:37. … Vulg.: invenient meAnother reading: , active (Syr. Arabs.)
Eze 36:38. …
[In this chapter we have a continuation of the present great theme of the prophetIsraels prospective revival and prosperity as the Lords covenant-people. But it treats of this under different aspects. In the first section (Eze 36:1-15) the prophet unfolds the essential distinction between Israel and Edom with the other nations of heathendom, in that the former had, what the others had not, an interest in the power and faithfulness of God, in consequence of which Israels heritage must revive and flourish, and the hopes of the heathen concerning it must be disappointed. In the next section (Eze 36:16-21) the reason is given why the Lord had for a time acted toward His land and people as if their connection with Him was an evil rather than a blessing; it is traced up to the incorrigible wickedness of the people, and the necessity of Gods vindicating the cause of His holiness by exercising upon them the severity of His displeasure. Then in another section (Eze 36:22-33) the purpose of the Lord for their future good is unfoldedHis purpose for His own names sake to revive His cause among His people, and that in the most effectual manner, by first renewing their hearts to holiness, and then by restoring them to a flourishing condition outwardly. And in a short concluding section (Eze 36:34-38) the general result is summed up, and the impressions noticed which the whole was fitted to produce upon the minds of others.Fairbairns Ezekiel, p. 386.W. F.]
EXEGETICAL REMARKS
Eze 36:1-15.The Mountains of Israel.
After that Ezekiel 35, which is connected with the one that follows as antithesis and thesis, has already (Eze 36:12) introduced the mountains of Israel, parallel to Mount Seir (again Eze 35:15 for the last time), and reminding us of Ezekiel 6 (comp. also Eze 33:28), as that to which the prophecy before us is directly addressed, they now form the immediate theme of the divine sayings.
Eze 36:1. , see on Eze 6:2. Here, too, by the mountains of Israel it is not the land that is characterized after its most prominent part, but, as Eze 36:2 will immediately show, the mountains come into consideration according to their religious signification for Israel.
Eze 36:2. The phrase: thus saith the Lord Jehovah, which, when one cannot put ones self in the position of those concerned, is repeated to weariness in our chapter, belongs to its peculiarities. It is intended not only to contradict the saying of the adversary, but still more to contravene what the poor doubting heart itself says, when looking at that which the eyes see; at the same time the divine comfort appears in presence of this visibility as a comfort solely in word, as correspondingly in the closing part of the chapter the name of the Lord will come forth above all.The enemy is, as the word implies, he who turns himself against any one, in the connection here Edom (Eze 35:10), but in the signification developed Ezekiel 35; hence, as we go on farther, illustrated also by the heathen round about (Eze 36:5; Eze 25:3; Eze 25:8; Eze 25:12).Comp. on Eze 25:3. That the everlasting heights refer primarily to the temple is clear; at the same time, however, Zion will have to be viewed as the seat of the everlasting royal dominion. An allusion to the inmost and most tender feelings of Israel (Schmieder). [Hvernick refers to Gen 49:26 (Deu 33:15), according to which the mountains are held to stand in relation to the promises of Israel as imperishable memorials of the patriarchs blessing. Hengst: The natural mountains as a figure of the unchangeable grandeur of which Israel boasted, because it had in the Eternal its protector and the guarantee of its own perpetuity (Psa 125:2).]Eze 35:10.
Eze 36:3. Ewald directs attention to the first five repetitions of therefore, because the grounds against these enemies always press on anew before the discourse becomes calmer, and will have it observed that, as in Eze 5:12 sq., sacred numbers (Eze 3:5) fit into one another, and that in various ways, as for most certain assurance; there is a threefold address to the mountains; and the assignment of reasons has five steps in its process.Ezekiel 21:14, 33. , see Eze 13:10. (Ewald, Ausf.-Lehrb. 8th ed. p. 611), according to Gesenius, properly nom. verbale, but here only for the inf. Kal of transitive: to devastate. [Ewald: they snap and puff at you round about. Hitzig: they puff and snap after you, under a mistaken comparison of Isa 42:14 from ] Now if it cannot be rendered: they devastate you (Keil), and will scarcely be rendered, with Hengst.: ye are devastated, then perhaps the most obvious thing is, in accordance with Eze 35:12; Eze 35:14 sq., to think of the standing: make desolate, desolation! They appear to the enemy round about as a morsel ready for swallowing, that they are already a possession for the remnant of the heathen, as is more definitely explained to he. The presupposition in (what remains after defeat) is the judgment inflicted by the Chaldeans. As with a little brotherly love the injury received would have kept them back, so with their enmity against Israel it goaded them on to commit still farther injury to indemnify themselves on Israel., according to Rosenm., imperf. Niph. from (to be lifted or taken up); according to Ewald, intransitive imperf. Kal from (Aramaic, to press in, to go in); according to Hitzig, 2d plur. Kal from , for (ye are gone up). The lip as instrument, the tongue as originator; the former having as its parallel calumny, and the latter, people; so that is not = talk, and not a personification for talkers, as Klief. thinks, yet it need not be tautology (Gesen.), or =; speech, people (Hvern.).
Eze 36:4. Eze 6:3. (The mountains are for the land what the heads of the tribes are for the people, as it were the elders, the venerable fathers of the land, to whom the word of the Lord which is applicable to the whole land is announced, Schmieder.) The mention of particulars is meant to point to the eye which observes all, the divine care which beholds each and all, over which only a human eye weeps, or on the contrary rejoices. As a prey points back to the beginning of Eze 36:3, so a derision points to its close.
Eze 36:5.The fire of my jealousy reminds of Eze 35:11.Eze 35:15.Ch. 25 and 35 also testify that Jehovah has spoken in this manner.Comp. Eze 25:6; Eze 25:5, although the application here is somewhat different. Ewald: in mortal contempt. Hitzig: contempt from the soul (?)., according to Gesenius, an Aramaic infinitive from , in order to empty it (the uninhabited land) for a prey. But what would be still there to empty? Ewalds translation: in order to drive it out for pillage, is quite as unsuitable. Hitzig does better, taking, it as a substantive, but wrongly in the sense of produce, and according to a peculiar construction translating: in order to plunder () its produce. Hengst. (Cocc.): that its environs should be a prey to them. But which environs? of the land? Hence he is obliged to substitute the capital as the centre! The signification pasturage would at least be simpler; and the emptied land is in keeping with this, and is consequently a desirable prey. [Many interpret also: on account of the expulsion of the land (land for people), Eze 31:11, whereby it (now again the land) has become a prey.]
Eze 36:6. , hence as the native home of Israel, with precursory reference to the return of the people, Eze 36:8 sq., 28 sq.Partly a repetition of Eze 36:4.
Eze 36:5. The reproach is to be understood of words (invectives, Eze 36:3-4) as well as of deeds.
Eze 36:7. Eze 20:5. The attitude of swearing, yet not that alone, but also a sign of the intended action.The roles shall change. Eze 36:6, Eze 16:52. Upon the heathen the reproach shall abide, but not upon the land which they have thus reproached to its inhabitants !
Eze 36:8. The honour to be restored to the land is represented as the causing of it to yield leaves and fruit; Hengst. thinks: leaves and branches as food for cattle, while the fruit is for man. can only be individuals concerned of the people. Of the seventy years of Jeremiah, twenty had already elapsed (Eze 33:21) (Hengst.).
Eze 36:9. Because hitherto (as late as Eze 34:10) employed in a hostile sense, an explanation follows the (Deu 11:12). The sowing shows that the work of cultivation is the subject spoken of, hence already with reference to men.
Eze 36:10. Then farther in correspondence with the cultivation of the land is the peopling of it. , antithesis to Eze 35:15.
Eze 36:4.
Eze 36:11. To the men also cattle.Gen 1:28. A new creation-blessing, as it were (Hvern.). The more than indicates the figurative in the manner of expression (Deu 30:5), as does also the fact that the mountains are addressed.
Eze 36:12 rounds off as commerce () what has been said of the peopling, after there has previously been a rural population with tilling of fields and rearing of cattle, and a town population with building of ruins; and the mention is made of the abiding, enduring possession of the land (, as inheritance)., what must be meant is the land, mountains and all; masc., which (Eze 36:5) may be also, as afterwards fem. gen.The make childless, said of the land, may also be referred to the wild beasts introduced in consequence of its desolation (Eze 5:17; Eze 14:15).
Eze 36:13. What is here said has in reality as little to do with Num 13:32 (observe, however, the statement of motive there) as with 2Ki 2:24 (a mere particular case). The promised land was neither in itself of such a kind (Deu 8:7 sq., Eze 11:10 sq.), nor, without giving a forced meaning, can we, with Hengst., understand a reference to its position between Asiatic and African powers; but what is here said to the mountains of Israel (as previously, Eze 36:12, of the land) is directed against the reproach, the scorn of the heathen (Eze 36:15), who would draw an inference from the desolation of the capital against its holy character as this land of divine promise. The reference here made to Numbers 13. can only be this, that what the adversaries say appears as a repetition of the unbelieving speech of those spies ( ), with which they brought out (comp. here Eze 36:3); hence here somewhat in the sense of: Israel should have stayed away from it, not have come into the land, not have trod on the trap (birdlime) of the promise. [Ewald: an exterminator of men art thou, and an unnatural mother of thy people wast thou. Hvern.: a swallower of men, and making nations (Israel and Judah) childless. Hitzig observes: is said of a motherto bring children dead into the world, or to kill them afterwards. But is it, then, the children of the land, and not rather of the inhabitants, that are here spoken of?] The land is desolation, fit now only for pasture (Eze 36:5), thinks and says the surrounding heathen world. In opposition to this there was forcibly set forth the cultivation of the land already and the peopling of it with men, to whom the cattle (Eze 36:11) were only an adjunct; also the rebuilding of the ruins, in view, however, of the cities being again inhabited (Eze 36:10). But the sight of the desolation of the land took this general form in the mind and the mouth of the heathen, that this promised land consumes those who receive it, and especially that it can be no possession for their children, and consequently no inheritance. Comp. on this what was said in reference to the wilderness, Num 14:16; Deu 9:28; Exo 32:12 sq. (Ezekiel 20). To this repeated reproaching, which is at the same time a reproaching of the name of Jehovah as the promiser of the land,especially, however, to the second part of it (Eze 36:12-13), the making childless, a statement immediately, Eze 36:12, explained perfectly by: and thou art to them for an inheritance,
Eze 36:14 forms a parallel, with repetition only of the phrase: to devour men. The alliterative (, Piel instead of), making to stumble (to fall), of the Kethib is significant, for thus is brought to view what the heathen standpoint of reproach so entirely overlooked, what, when the promised land had to be spoken of, should have been said of its abundance and beauty, namely, that thereby, by the misuse of its resources, it had been the occasion of Israels sin and downfall; and thus also a preparation is already made for speaking of, first, the profaning, and then the sanctifying of the name of Jehovah treated of in the course of the chapter. (Keil: if the consuming of the population stands connected with the stumbling, then the people are devoured by the consequences of their sins, that is, by judicial punishments, sterility, pestilence, and war, etc.) And inasmuch as Israel is now to possess the land abidingly, hence in his descendants, , to make childless, is accordingly not repeated. This decides as completely as possible against the Qeri (also against Hitzig); while, moreover, is repeated in Eze 36:15 without Qeri in the Hiphil. [Hengst. understands the stumbling in the sense of the Qeri, and evidently under the influence of Hitzigs absurd objection, as signifying to make unfortunate!]
Eze 36:15. According to another translation: and I will no longer make thee hear (Keil).
Eze 36:6; Eze 36:3-4.
Eze 36:16-38. Profanation of the Name of Jehovah by Israel (Eze 36:16-21), and Sanctification of it by Jehovah Himself (Eze 36:22-38).
Eze 36:16. A new word of God, but, as we have seen, prepared for by what has preceded (Eze 36:14-15).
Eze 36:17 begins with a retrospect into the moral history of the house of Israel, for which comp. Lev 18:28; Num 35:34; Jer 2:7.Their way, their walk, as the expression their works explains (Eze 14:22-23), and renders still more clear. (from ) is: rejection = abhorrence, abomination, Eze 7:19 sq.; then: separation= purification, especially the monthly purification of a woman by separation, issue of blood (Leviticus 15). Gesen., on the other hand, explains the word by uncleanness, i.e., an unclean issue of blood. Comp. besides Isa 64:5 [6]. Yet not, however, as the most loathsome uncleanness (Keil)it is in reality the natural peculiarity of womanbut the comparison appears to be used on account of the blood, as Eze 36:18 makes obvious. Concerning the tenses comp. Hitzig. In Eze 36:17 a habitual state in the past, on which the action in Eze 36:18 breaks in. Eze 7:8.Eze 22:3; Eze 22:6; Eze 33:25.Comp. on Eze 6:4 (Eze 8:10). Murder and idolatry, with reference to the first commandment of the first table and the first of the second (Hengst.).
Eze 36:19. Eze 22:15.Eze 7:3; Eze 7:8.
Eze 36:20. The singular is interpreted by Hengst. of the fate spoken of in Eze 36:19, namely, the news (!) of it, although he goes on giving the following turn: the news came at the same time with themselves; they were the embodied intelligence. Keil understands it more simply as meaning the house of Israel. Hitzig, like the ancient versions, reads the plural, which, however, should be doubly avoided. That they themselves came to the heathen is repeatedly expressed in what follows, and that for the very purpose of explaining the fact therewith connected, the actual profanation of the name of the Lord by Israels presence there. As in their own land, so also outside of it. The name of My holiness is not simply: the holy name of Jehovah, but the name in which His holiness is manifest, so that by it man names His holiness, and hence the Holy God Himself. The profanation is traced home to the Jews as originators, as occasion of the saying which follows; and hence it is said indefinitely , so that the heathen, who certainly also desecrated the name of Jehovah in their mouth, are yet not looked upon as the desecrators of the name of His holiness, but the Jews [Hengst.: not by their doing, Rom 2:24, but by their suffering, because they had brought on the fate by their active desecration], who, moreover, unrepentingly remained silent concerning their sin and guilt. They just came where they came; and with their impenitence gave there the impression merely of wretched, unfortunate, deceived, betrayed beings, in whom the blame was not to be sought, but in their God, who was powerless in comparison with the gods of the heathen, or unfaithful to His chosen people. has also been interpreted interrogatively by various expositors. is as much as to say: and they have run away out of Jehovahs land which He had promised to them, where He dwelt among them; so that their having gone might be ironically held as a voluntary departure.
Eze 36:21. is: to draw ones self together, to bend over () any one, to incline ones self to him; hence: to compassionate him. [Hvern, wrongly: and I spared for My holy names sake (Sept.). The Vulgate is confused. Rosenm.: I will take care for it, so that it shall not come to harm. In this striking expression also lies something more active than: to have compassion (Klief.), or as Hengst.: I had pity for My, sq.] What follows shows what is contained in this prophetic preterite.
Eze 36:22. There is first the announcement, which is at the same time an explanation of the divine pity, as His pitying of Himself in harmony with His holiness, in short, as a holy love,an explanation which cuts off everything possible with men. The self-existent majesty of the Holy One of Israel, who stands in need of no one, says: (Deu 9:6). Neither in Israels virtue, nor yet in his misery, is there now any ground for Jehovah to act. Israel has no qualification whatever. , namely, what I do,thus spoken absolutely, denoting the pure action, just as is specially suitable here. He does it, however, for glory and honour to ( , dat. comm.) His name.
Eze 36:23. The acting of Jehovah is expressed and here announced as a sanctifying, i.e. of My holiness as expressed in My name, securing due weight to it, so that it shall not simply be named as name, but evidently experienced as fact. In its being the name of His holiness lies the necessity, when the people who can thus name God do not sanctify it, but on the contrary only contribute everywhere to its profanation, that then Jehovah should take in hand the sanctification of His name and thereby of Himself ()., together with the following , makes observable the infinite grandeur as well as the omnipotence which are able to secure due regard for themselves (Jos 7:9; Mal 1:11). That we might well expect: before their (instead of: before your) eyes, which reading is almost universally preferred, Hengst. also acknowledges, but finds, however, the thought of the manifest salvation better expressed in those immediately concerned. These, however, are not the Jews, because they have beheld the misery (Job 19:27), but the heathen as spectators of the profanation of the divine name by the Jews (Eze 20:41; Eze 28:25). The Jews part in the matter is sufficiently expressed by (in your persons).
[The expression: when I sanctify Myself in you before your eyes, for which many critical authorities, both ancient and modern, would substitute before their eyes, namely, those of the heathenthis expression creates no difficulty to a person who enters thoroughly into the import of the passage. For it points to the fact that Israel, as well as the heathen, needed the manifestation in question of Jehovahs righteousness. It must be done first before the eyes of the people, who by their depravity had lost sight of Gods real character; and then what was seen by them experimentally would also be seen reflectively by the heathen who dwelt around. This twofold perception of Gods character is also brought out in other passages of our prophet; as in Eze 20:41-42 : And I will be sanctified in you before the eyes of the heathen, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Fairbairns Ezekiel.W. F.]
Eze 36:24. The first thing in this self-sanctification of Jehovah is an act of power, which puts an end to the outward occasion for the saying in Eze 36:20, and to the actual profanation of the name of His holiness among the heathen (Eze 11:17; Eze 20:34; Eze 20:41).
Eze 36:25. The next thing, to which the first only subserves, is the raising up of Israel inwardly to a holy nation, so that (Eze 36:23) signifies: in them, as well as: on them; this, too, is a forth-putting, yea, the most mighty forth-putting of power, because wrought in the core of the national life. In Eze 36:24, Israels justification before the heathen; in Eze 36:25, Israels sanctification in himself as also among the heathen.The sprinkling, as it will be in respect to a nation the only imaginable method of lustration, so, moreover, from the clean water( cannot be = ) it cannot in the least point to the rite with the ashes, Numbers 19 (Hengst.); it would be preferable, with Hvern., to think of Num 8:7 sq., but there also is something different from what clean water expresses here. The latter is meant expressly to symbolize the idea of purification, and specially from all etc., the of the people, which, if not directly explained, is yet illustrated by ; the sprinkling, again (comp. Exodus 25.), is doubtless meant to signify an act of consecration. Because sacrificial blood is not mentioned here, but such emphasis is laid on clean water, the best known means of purification, and also the most suitable for stains which show outwardly, we are as little at liberty to import without farther mediationas Hengst. attempts under citation of Isa 53:11; Isa 52:15New Testament ideas into our chapter as into Eze 11:19 sq. (see Comm. there). Neither does Psalms 51 coincide with our passage. The immediate sense of our verse is: That Jehovah leads back Israel from exile into their own land, and consecrates them there to be a people, since the punishment, so characteristic for the sin that occasioned it, is shown to be removed by the bringing of them again into their own land; the forgiveness of sin thereby already proclaimed at once evinces and manifests itself as purification of the people, and the people (as in point of fact took place after the exile) put from them their old life, especially their idolatry (Eze 11:18; Eze 18:31). Certainly not without some ground has Abarbanel referred back to the comparison of the issue of blood used in Eze 36:17.As to how Eze 36:26 is to be understood, comp. on Eze 11:19. Instead of the new heart here, is mentioned there, and only the new spirit is spoken of; while here both heart and spirit (as Eze 18:31) appear as new, whereby the religious moral regeneration of the nation, a national restoration, is placed in prospect. It is very consonant to the priestly character to portray the new community as a truly spiritually purified band of Levites or priests, Isa 61:6 (Hvern. ?).
Eze 36:27. Since Jehovahs Spirit is put , and thus is brought to pass that Israels conformity to law in walk and honesty of dealing return again, therefore the new spirit of Eze 36:26 is primarily to be understood as a divine spiritual impulse back to the law of Jehovah (Eze 11:20).
Eze 36:28. By the dwelling in the land, etc. (the renewal of old gifts), we are reminded of the close of Ezekiel 35. [Kliefoth here looks forward as far as the last times, since God will gather out of the whole world His people, who are still scattered in a quite different manner and far wider in the world, and will place them in the heavenly Canaan, free them absolutely from sin (Eze 36:25), and as absolutely renew them inwardly (Eze 36:26), and by both acts as absolutely sanctify them (Eze 36:27).] Comp. Lev 25:18; Lev 26:12.
Eze 36:29. is by anticipation understood Messianically (Mat 1:21) by those resolved to find the New Testament ordo salutis in Ezekiel, interpreted of the divine protection (Eze 34:22), or, by way of distinction from Eze 36:25, referred to the consequences of the defilements of Israel. The expression rather sums up the foregoing, which regarded the people, while now, subjoined to Eze 36:28, a transition is made to the land. Idolatry disappears, and the promises concerning the land are fulfilled, Eze 34:29. (The opposite, although in the same figure, we find in 2Ki 8:1.)
Eze 36:30. Eze 34:27; Eze 34:29.
Eze 36:31. Eze 20:43; comp. on Eze 6:9. The anti-heathen abhorrence and loathing became national, and still speaks out of its distorted pietism in Pharisaism. If the gospel order of salvation were to be sought in Eze 36:25 sq., then we would rather expect to find here joy in the Holy Ghost (Lev 26:40).
Eze 36:32. Comp. on Eze 36:22.That this acting of Jehovah, irrespective of them, is still so particularly placed before and inculcated on them, is, however, by no means designed to leave the Jews undisturbed, as if they might simply wait for the things which would come upon them and happen to them; but as the love of God, without worthiness deserving it, certainly excludes any merit on the part of man, yet should so much the more awaken to reception and love in return, so there is attached to the promise here the imperative, repeated with additional emphasis, in relation to the family, the household of Israel.
Eze 36:33. Eze 36:25.Hitzig translates : then I again erect the cities, make them to sit instead of lying, since he denies that it ever (Isa 54:3) signifies: to make inhabited. So also Hengstenberg always: sit, in contrast to: lie prostrate, and here: cause to sit. Gesenius, Ewald, etc., on the other hand, support the causative signification, as: to cause that one sit, dwell therein, to make inhabited. Keil: make stocked with inhabitants.
Eze 36:34. Eze 36:9.Eze 35:3; Eze 6:14.Eze 5:14.
Eze 36:35. are those individualized from Eze 36:34. ( only here,= , but probably fem.) Observe the antithesis to Eze 35:12; Eze 35:9, and the probable allusion in Eden to Edom (Eze 31:8-9; Gen 13:10; Isa 51:3; Joe 2:3). From this allegorical way of speaking, Hengstenberg justly rejects the idea of the restoration of Canaan to a really paradisaic glory.Ewald: flourish, well fortified. Hengst.: sit fortified; whereas a city whose wall is broken lies on the ground. According to another translation, said of the inhabitants, who feel themselves secure, protected therein as in fortresses. (Comp. on Eze 38:11.)
Eze 36:36. The heathen brought in as left (the remnant of the heathen, Eze 36:3) are, on the contrary, made known only by the judgments that have passed over them, but by no restitution. Comp. Eze 17:24.
Eze 36:37. Eze 14:3 (1Sa 28:6-7). On , comp. on the opposite, the (Eze 36:32; Eze 36:22).The landwell, we are again in it, but where are the people? This question Jehovah will answer by actual () increase (Eze 36:10 sq.), in that He will show them as a flock (Ezekiel 34; Mic 2:12). [While Hitzig takes as in apposition to (them, the men, as a flock), Kliefoth translates incorrectly: that they became the flock of mankind.] Hvernick cites Bochart for the particularly great increase of flocks of sheep. (Comp. also Eze 34:31.) But what Eze 36:38 says on this is more significant. According to Hengstenberg, formal mention is made of the festivals in general, but the connection (as Mar 15:6) points to the great accumulation of sheep at the passover (2Ch 35:7), with which the abundance in men of restored Israel is compared. (Thus the Chaldee.) Hengstenberg translates: as consecrated flocks of sheep (the people of the saints of the Lord), and seeks the fulfilment in the Church of Christ rather than in the times between the exile and Christ. that is, of hallowed ones, in this sense: of sacrificial beasts (Rom 12:1); whereby the reference to the consecration of the people (Eze 36:25) gains confirmation. The people is embraced in its chief points of worship, Deu 16:16.
DOCTRINAL REFLECTIONS
1. The comparison of our chapter with Ezekiel 6 indicates that, in considering the mountains of Israel, especially when they are by the best interpreter, the enemy, sneeringly termed the everlasting heights, we are not to direct our attention to the mountainous character of the Holy Land. Palestine is a hilly country, which leans upon the towering heights of Lebanon and Hermon; but this conformation did not so much qualify it for its significance in the Old World, so that we might at once recur to that, as its position on the boundaries of Asia, Africa, and Europe, and again its peculiar isolation, while occupying such a position in the centre of the Old World. In considering this position of the land, its littleness, ridiculed as is well known by Cicero, and from which the Roman statesman would infer the little god of the Jews, has as little, or rather as much, to say as the grain of mustard seed in the parable, Matthew 13. The focus of the concave mirror is, in like manner, merely a point. The outward littleness of the Holy Land only compels us to one thing, and that is, to keep always in view its spiritual significance. As, then, for such a view, its separation from the other countries, and again, at the same time, its position in the midst of them (Eze 5:5) (the former, that amid the universal blowing of the world and the nations there might be a protecting hand before the light; the latter, that when the light burst forth, its brilliancy might easily shine in all directions), claim our attention much more than its mountainous character,so under the everlasting heights, the mountains of Israel, Zion, as seat of the Davidic-Messianic kingdom (Psalms 2), and the temple-mountain, in so far as Israel worshipped what it knew (John 4), and the , must come into consideration (Eze 34:26; Isa 2:2; Mic 4:1); however beautifully that reads which has been said by Schmieder, accordant, no doubt, with natural human feeling, while citing Psa 90:2 and Job 15:7, and referring to the ways and manners of mountaineers, and the thread of remembrances, especially Israels (Genesis 22; 1 Kings 18).
2. The antithesis of Seir places before our eyes the rugged mountain height and the rude mountain strength, that is, exactly the things which have no value for enduring victory, for abiding blessing in the higher order of things.
3. The combating of the allegorizing method of explanationfor example, by J. A. Crusius, from whom Rosenmller quotes when commenting on our chapteris unquestionably in the right against the arbitrary extravagances and exaggerations of Cocceius and his followers; but where the Bible language in general is symbolical, with the prophets, above all, a symbolical way of speaking will be conceded. A natural or historical sub-stratum on which the symbolical is based is supposed with the symbolical itself. Consequently, all that is here said in Ezekiel has a fulfilment in the time after the exile. On the other hand, modern apocalypticism, by its converting the letter of prophecy into future revelations of any and every kind, sets itself against the apocalyptic mode of expression, the characteristic of which is certainly not literality. The national physiognomy of Israel, as Genesis traces it back to Adam, the father of all men, indicates a reference to humanity as a whole. This reference prevails in Noahs prophetic discourse, Genesis 9, when Japhet is destined to dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan, the son of Ham, to be a servant in the house. The Holy Land fits in with Abraham to this symbolism of the nation, and Abraham is to be a blessing (as is said in Genesis 12 : to all the families of the earth, Adamah), through his seed, which is Christ, as the apostle says in Galatians 3 Hence humanity in Christ will also be the theological point of view in the case of the land of Israel. So long as He who is (Rom 10:4) was not born in the land of promise, the land remained, in respect to the realization of the blessing of Abraham to the race of Adam, a prophetic symbol of the earth, just as the nation was symbolico-prophetic for the nations of mankind. The land of Israel is also (from ), and, like the legal nationality of Israel, has its final fulfilment in Christ. As His beatitudes (Matthew 5) assign to His people the kingdom of heaven, so also do they the inheritance of the land. Hitherto out of Israel shines humanity, and representatively for it the Son of man, the true Israel. The Christian interpretation of the people of Israel as the Church, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, embraces now also the Holy Land in the signification of the land of glory, paradise, and Eden. From the standpoint of the fulfilling of Israel as to its universal human signification by Christ, the Old Testament outward expression of the letter, that is, what is said propdeutically and pdagogically in accordance with the economy of the Old Covenant, in the style of the people and the land, may remain in its full force; but what is given with the idea of Israel, namely, that the promises in question are to be fulfilled in a very different sense from the outward literal sense, that they are to be fulfilled in spirit and in truth,this even the literal expression itself demands from its unmistakable depth of meaning, which often makes plainly ridiculous a merely literal interpretation, whether looking to the time after the exile, or to the very last time. All the prophets and the law prophesied until John, the baptizer of Christ (Mat 11:13; Luk 16:16). And what Christ said (John 4) of worshipping at Jerusalem: the hour cometh, and now is, bears witness to the Messianic (Christological) and in general the spiritual sense of the Old Testament letter; as the setting of it free from every temporary limitation as to place or nation bears witness to its sense for eternity, and to the spiritual interpretation as that which is at the same time interpretation in truth, the true understanding, so that the Christian truth of the prophecies is also to be regarded as their true and full reality. The Jewish Christianity of individual expositors (e.g. of Baumgarten) is not the Old Testament Christianity of the prophets.
4. On Eze 3:17 the characteristic individualization was noted as a mark of the time; but that which is peculiar to the Christological utterances of our prophet (Introd. 9), his putting of the Christological thought, as Ezekiel 40 sq., in the form of Palestinian worship, and so generally in the manner of the people and land of Israel, is always to be adhered to. Fundamentally, the latter form was only that of the law as early as Exo 20:12. But when the Son of man, of the seed of David according to the flesh, realized the kingdom of Israel as eternalwhen, by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, His gift of prophecy became the common property of mankind, then, as with the worshipping in spirit and in truth, the peculiar localization of the sanctuary and the priestly service, always accomplished for the time, ceased; Israel also could, in whatever part of the earth, consider themselves as in their own land, and so much the more as their true King had (John 18) witnessed the good confession of the supra-mundane nature of His kingdom before the representative of the Roman earthly world-power. For the Israel of fulfilment Canaan lay, in the first instance, in the world above with Christ, as the apostle Paul says in Php 1:23, where also paradise is (Luk 23:43; 2Co 12:4); and in this world only, in the renewal of heaven and earth according to the Christian hope. So, likewise, the true, the fulfilled nationality of Israel is to be sought for in the Christian world, in humanity, according to the Spirit of Christ; now in measure, in fulness only hereafter, Rev 21:3.
5. Schmieder sums up the moral guilt of Edom as threefold: (1) taking possession at his own hand; (2) doing this in a bad frame of mind, with malignant joy and scornful laughter; (3) doing this not to keep and cultivate the land (for which man was ordained of God in paradise), but to devastate and plunder it.
6. It belongs to the local colour of the land, that, when it is spoken of distinctively, its fruitfulness also is spoken of. Comp. for climate and nature of the soil, the well-known passages of Scripture. Writers in the first century still bear witness to what heathens and Jews of former times celebrated with one accord, the immense population of the land, corresponding to its great fertility. At present, indeed, Jerusalem, the largest city of Palestine, has scarcely more inhabitants than the smaller towns of Galilee had in the time of Josephus.
7. On the parallel minatory prophecy in Ezekiel 6 it was observed (p. 94) how Israels idolatrous self-righteousness is broken in pieces in every way by Gods judgment. A parallel observation will correspond to the kernel and inmost contents of our chapter, namely, that divine grace alone will restore Israel, land and peoplethe latter especially, in the way of Jehovahs sanctifying His own name. In this, Israels misery is as little the motive as any righteousness on the side of Israel. What befalls the heathen, indeed, with respect to Israel, happens to them because they have insulted in His people the name of Jehovah revealed in Israel. Hence the fundamental reference which Jehovah takes is finally Himself. Israel, as has been repeatedly said, four times in succession (in the cosmic number, Eze 36:20-23), gave by their exile, and hence by their misery, occasion for the profanation of the name of Jehovah. Their misery made the heathen sin against Jehovah; thus it was viewed, but by no means as cause of the divine pity. What is said of pity is Jehovahs pity for His own name, Eze 36:21. The divine love appears not as compassion in relation to misery, but the misery itself appears as sin, so that the reference is taken simply to sin; the divine love appears purely as grace.
8. Hvernick emphasizes this, that the holiness of God forms the centre of the discourse before us; but he makes too little account of the holiness of Jehovah, when he makes no more of it than the relation therein established of God to the evil, So also it is not acutely thought, when, in explanation of Eze 36:1-15, that the punitive judgment threatened against the heathen must have its ultimate explanation from the holiness of God, Hvernick places the essence of heathenism in assailing the holiness of God. It must be observed, however, that heathenism knows nothing of Gods holiness. The name of Jehovahs holiness, as the expression, chosen three times in succession (according to the number of the godhead, Eze 36:20-22), and which is not to be resolved into the holy name of Jehovah, significantly runs, is even as name (as Beck justly observes) the expression with living power of the divine presence in revelation, so that by the name of Jehovahs holiness this revelation of God as adapted exclusively to Israel is set forth; hence, as to the transgressions of the heathen, no direct relation of them to the holiness of God is expressed, but a misapprehension of the revelation of the holy in Israel, consequently a relation to Israel as the people of Jehovah. The holiness of God has, however, so much the more significance in our chapter, as the setting of it forth in Israel is thoroughly in accordance with what is thus emphasized, that what Jehovah does (Eze 36:22; Eze 36:32) He does for His own sake. For Gods holiness is the real intrinsic ideality of God, His harmoniousness of essence, as it manifests itself also in this, that He makes Himself known in a church of His pure divine consciousness, and preserves and perfects this church in the ideality of its pure essence, until by it the world is restored to perfection in the real ideality, the personal harmoniousness of essence (P. Lange, Pos. Dogm. p. 95). By setting forth the holiness of God, as is done in our chapter, Ezekiel puts himself in harmony with Isaiah (p. 41).
9. Lange observes on the holiness of God, that the concept of it is mediated to us through the Old Testament almost more than any other concept; the leading thought of the Hebrew view of the world is holiness; the , or , is He who is pure in essence, true to Himself, corresponding to His name. Lange finds the mythologico-typical reflection of holiness in ideality, the leading thought of the Hellenic view of the world, just as he calls the Greek culture the mythologico-typical counterpart of the theocracy.
10. Because love, which is God, is holy, breaking of the law, and still more the dishonouring of divine benefits, as in Eze 36:16 sq., can expect no support or indulgence in Him, the righteous God, the Founder and Guardian of right (Lange). Since He as the Holy One, who is the absolute opposite of the evil, can originate nothing evil, so contrariety to Him as such, and especially misuse of His gifts, here of the land, can find no encouragement with the Holy One of Israel, the Giver of righteous recompense. Since the native land of a people, especially like Israel, may be misused as the in relation to heaven or higher interests than the earth, the corresponding righteous opposition and reaction of the holiness of God will be either deterioration of such a land (failure of crops and the like), or expulsion of the people from it, or both. So, too, the earth must finally pass away for mankind, although for the people of God there is hope of a new earth. The latter gives proof of Gods truth and faithfulness, which, keeping promise, provides for the need of finite spirits not only a corporeity, but also a locality in harmony therewith, according to the purpose of His wise and holy will; and perhaps this is typified also in Israels possession of the land in the signification of their native land. But with God not only is goodness accompanied by justice, as that according to which God gave Israel scope and opportunity to expel (exile) themselves from their land among the heathenjust as man can procure hell for himselfand thus left as well as gave their right to Israel, but divine justice as revelation of Gods holiness is more than mere retribution; it becomes on and in the sinner self-sanctification of God.
11. As the Holy One, Jehovah is the God of Israel (Lev 11:44 sq.); and it is only in keeping with this relation that Israel, His people, have to appear before Him, not merely in symbolical but still more in legal moral purity of life, above all in that they keep themselves religiously pure from idols. It is not only this mutual relation that results to Israel from the fact that their God is the Holy One, but also that, so long as the relation of the Holy One to Israel has not ceased, in like manner the holiness of this people is not to be surrendered; hence that, as on them by exile and by restoration, so in them Jehovah will sanctify His name or Himself. The command: Be ye holy, for I am holy, contains (says Hvernick) at the same time the promise of the realization of a holy kingdom of God as surely as God Himself is holy. But God reveals Himself as the Holy One not merely in condemning evil and destroying the offender, but also in the extirpation of evil and the transformation and renewal of the sinner by virtue of a new divine breath of life, the spiritual creation of God in man.
12. Sanctification implies in general that something is removed from its common worldly relations. Since this does not usually take place without reference to sinful concomitants, the symbolical act of washing readily connects itself with sanctification; but it is by no means to have a merely negative interpretation, as annulling of the false profane world-relation of the object (Lange), especially when, as here in Ezekiel, no mention is made of the positive symbol of anointing; which, moreover, does not symbolize induction into the service of the Lord, the restoration of the true religious world-relation, but the divine equipment for the service of the Lord. Even in itself, and still more from its thus standing alone, washing will represent purification, which is consecration.
13. Jehovah sanctifies Himself on Israel before the eyes of the rest of the world (Eze 36:23), in that by taking and gathering Israel out of all nations and countries He actually places them again as His people in the land of promise (Eze 36:24). Jehovah sanctifies Himself in Israel, hence in Israels own consciousness, by making them experience, as a fresh national dedication, a moral and religious purification. The expressions employed are to be interpreted as referring to the nation as such, and not to single individuals; we have not so much to understand spiritual states of mind as to think of national regeneration. But if what has been already remarked on Ezekiel 9 suffices as to the letter for our chapter also and Ezekiel 18, the sprinkling of the clean water in Eze 36:25 symbolizes the national moral and religious cleansing of Israel, and the new heart in Eze 36:26 is nothing else than a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone in the flesh; yet in Eze 36:27 the Spirit of Jehovah (), which the new spirit within Israel is interpreted to mean, points beyond Eze 11:19 (Eze 18:31); the Holy One of Israel appears as the spirit of Israel, just as God as Spirit of the Church and indweller in the human heart is preeminently the Holy One (Nitzsch). And although Eze 36:25 sq. in relation to Eze 36:8 sq. may be taken as complement of the promise given there, or even as the condition for the promised inheritance continuing to the children, and hence parallel thereto (Eze 36:24 carrying out the declaration: for they draw near to come, Eze 36:8), yet we are not hindered from making the Messianic salvation of the people, as the true and full sanctification of Jehovah in as well as on them, shine forth behind all this (p. 24), and the clean water of Eze 36:25 approximates to the Holy Ghost (Joe 2:28 sq.). Comp. Umbreit.
14. The true essence of the Messianic time, says Hvernick, its very kernel, from which all its other blessings flow, and its entire glory unfolds itself, is the purification of the people. At the time of Christ this idea was deeply rooted in the national consciousness, and John the Baptist unquestionably adapted to it his rite of lustration, the .
15. Jesus could (Joh 3:5) refer to Eze 36:25 sq. of our chapter, namely, that water and spirit are requisite for regeneration for the kingdom of God, which truth the master in Israel (Eze 36:10) should have known. For Ezekiel teaches here in clear words that Israel had to receive another and new heart and spiritthat it had to be sprinkled with clean water by the Spirit of God. Thus should a master in Israel have known regarding water and spirit in this relation (Cocceius).
16. Striking is the word of the prophet, and pointing exactly to the times of Christian fulfilment,the people of the new planting shall never again experience the reproach of hunger among the heathen. A deep saying, when we divest it of its allegorical covering, and understand by it the eternal appeasing of hunger of spirit. It was indeed a reproach to Israel, that, nourished as they were by the divine food of life in the words of Moses and the prophets, they went after the imaginary gods of the heathen, and, being carried away into the countries of strangers, were obliged to suffer hunger in a dry land, etc. (Umbreit).
HOMILETIC HINTS
Eze 36:1 sq. The mountains of Israel not only figures, but also places of the promises to Israel.Word and name of the Lord; the former the revelation of His will, the latter the revelation of His nature.
Eze 36:2. Thus they mocked at the promises of God, as if their eternity were now come to an end (Berl. Bib.).The scorn of the world an old experience.Thus were the prophets and Christ reproached, and the Lord said that men would speak all manner of evil against His disciples, Mat 5:11, and Paul, that we should be a spectacle to the world, 1Co 4:9 (Heim-Hoffmann).All things may and shall work for good to Christians, Rom 8:28 (Cr.).The wicked also shall have an eternity, but of what kind? Just the eternity into the possession of which they have put themselves, according as their works deserve, as death is the wages of sin.
Eze 36:3 sq. God knows, sees, and hears the misery of His children; that must comfort them, therefore they cannot despair.How ready men often are not only to count up the sufferings of others, but also in their talk to exaggerate them still more! (Starck.)
Eze 36:5 sq. What God calls His cannot be lost for ever. He is jealous with but also for His possession.God lets His people be stricken only by whom He will; one cannot simply open the mouth and devour them at pleasure.
Eze 36:8 sq. Thus shall the ruined churches bring fruit, wine, and bread, that is, the mysteries of doctrine, to the profit of the people, that they may no longer be rude and ignorant, but a people taught of God. Therefore the spiritual husbandmen, vine-dressers, till and sow diligently. With the plough of fear they turn up the soil of the heart, in which they sow the new word of the gospel, whereby the forsaken churches become planted anew; and these are the mountains which the Lord addresses (Heim-Hoffmann).When He appeared in the holy land who could say of Himself, Come unto Me, ye who labour and are heavy laden, He far outshone Solomon in all his glory (Hengst.).The wicked have no cause to rejoice over the chastisement of Gods children, Jer 48:27 (Starke).The affairs of the people of God are never in so bad a state that God should be unable to set them right again; nay, experience has taught that the Church after persecution only increases so much the more (O.).They are far wrong who consider a great increase of men as a curse, because it gives rise to want and distress. God can nourish many as well as few, and we should live moderately, avoid endeavouring to surpass others in expenditure, and seek for concord in families, etc. (Luther).
Eze 36:12 sq. The promised good is always to be understood with the condition that men repent, Mal 3:7 (Starke).The self evident condition is, that they do not fill up the measure of their sins anew. There is no charter of immunity against Ye would not (Hengst.).How often is the country or a district made to bear the blame when there comes a pestilence among men or cattle, when, however, it should be known that sin gaining the upper hand provoked Gods wrath thereto (O.).As already observed by Jerome, the Jews refer this to a kingdom of a thousand years, when Jerusalem shall be built and the temple of the latter chapters of our prophet erected; while in the opinion of others, the fulfilment took place under Zerubbabel, which cannot possibly be the case, as also Jerome grants, and then compares the Christian Chiliasts with the Jewish dreamers of their millennium. Hence we must abide by the spiritual interpretation regarding these blessings promised to the people, to which we are directed besides by Christ and the apostles (Luther).
Eze 36:16 sq. Mans previous course of action is the cause of Gods subsequent course of action, Jer 2:19 (Starke).The goodness of God invites us to repentance, but not to evil-doing and pride (Starck).We shall have to give account not only because of the evil which we have done, but also for the good things which we have had.The earth should not be full of wickedness and folly, but full of the knowledge of the Lord and of love unfeigned.The world is perfect throughout where man does not come in to disturb it.In our impure acting our impure nature also always comes forth. Storms clear the air, an observation which bears application in regard to the judgments of God.
Eze 36:19. The scattering power of sin; in truth, it scatters the souls of men into the whole world, and that is already their judgment which sinners have to experience.
Eze 36:20. With the sinner goes also his curse, his other shadow.Our misfortunes and mistakes are very often Gods sentence on our transgressions, which, indeed, are best known to Him and ourselves.How much blasphemy against God and offence against the truth do not those very persons occasion who are called to make Gods word and name honoured, acknowledged, and exalted above the world!To have regard to the enemy,a point to be well attended to for the walk of the friends of God in this world.Thus this chapter teaches us how the first petition of the Lords prayer should be understood. The name of the Lord, to wit, is hallowed as well by the prosperity of the elect, which may obtain even under the cross, as by their purification from sin (Richter).A bad life ought not to put good doctrine in question.
Eze 36:21 sq. God His own justification in this world (Theodicy).God sanctifies His name among men by benefits as well as by judgments and punishments (Starck).So saints are accustomed to pray who put no trust in their own merit, but humbly entreat God to look to His own name, that it may be praised and sanctified. But Christ is the holy name of God, for whose sake God is gracious to us; whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Heim-Hoffmann).
Eze 36:24. We shall come home out of this world.Gathering even in the midst of the scattering of this world is of the grace of God.
Eze 36:25 sq. It is God alone who can truly convert us to Himself, and purify our hearts by His almighty Spirit, Jer 31:18 (Tb. Bib.).Without true purification from sin no one can come into real union and communion with God, Isa 1:16 sq. (Starke).No unclean person shall enter into the New Jerusalem, Revelation 22, hence our cleansing has to take place in this life (Starck).Purification must precede the filling of men with the new spirit. David in the first place supplicates God to wash him quite clean from his guilt, and then prays for the creation in him of a clean heart and of a new sted-fast spirit, Psalms 51 (Umbreit).The prophets frequently reproach the Jews, as a stiff-necked people, that they will not hearken to the word of the Lord. Here, on the contrary, a heart and spirit which shall be new is promised to them, that they may not henceforth live after their former custom, but begin a new manner of life, so that the old and disobedient heart of stone may become the new but pliant and submissive heart (Luther).The heart of stone does not bear bending according to Gods will, whereas the heart of flesh is soft, and of such a texture that God can impress into its understanding a living knowledge, into its will a voluntary obedience, and into the inclinations a holy order (Starke).Our heart and inward parts are designed to be occupied as an abode by God Himself, Joh 14:23 (Starck).For the furniture with which God is accustomed to furnish His abode in man, see Gal 5:22.Of flesh and fleshly (carnal) are two different things; the former may be dealt with, the latter becomes always harder (Starck).The new birth does not consist in annihilating the man, nor in the entire removal of sinful corruption and of the old Adamic disposition, but in the creation of an entirely new disposition and nature, 2Co 5:17; Gal 6:15; Eph 4:24 (Starke).God gives the Holy Ghost and all the riches of grace not for gold, but He gives all things without price to all who ask Him for them, Isaiah 55 (Cr.).
Eze 36:27. The Holy Ghost is not inactive in the regenerate, but active and powerful, Rom 8:15 sq. (Starke).First the inward and then the outward change is Gods order, while we men always proceed in the reverse order.What good, however, a man does is not his, but Gods work in him, Php 2:13 (Starke).
Eze 36:28 sq. To the heavenly among men there is no lack even on earth; to him who has what alone is worth having nothing shall be wanting.So long as Christ was not born in the land of promise, the land of promise had to be also the home of Israel. Since the time that Christ is in heaven, only heaven can be the true home of the true Israel.The regenerate man stands in the covenant of grace with God (Starke).
Eze 36:30. God will not only finally redeem us from all distress of body and soul, but will also free us from all reproach; so, then, we do not in vain believe in a resurrection of the body and an eternal life.
Eze 36:31. In conversion man regains his memory.A man can be of good courage when he loathes himself.Loathing is not a sign of sickness only, but in matters spiritual it is a sign of convalescence.The loathing of oneself, the requital of self-complacency.Our life must become sorrow to us, otherwise sorrow will not become life to us.
Eze 36:32 sq. Grace works shame, and so much the more as it makes the wilderness a paradise, the beggar a king, and the sinner a priest.Blessed shame (Schmieder).We boast of nothing in Christ, and we boast of all things.
Eze 36:35 sq. The last sentence of the world on the people of God will be its own self-condemnation, just as it will be our justification. It will not be in vain that we have comforted ourselves with God in this world.Our help stands in the name of the Lord.The comfort of the Church, that God is Builder and Planter.Yea, this is the honour of the holy name of God. He, the Creator, who created what was not, is also the Restorer, who creates anew that which was ruined and laid waste by the guilt of disobedient creatures (Schmieder).
Eze 36:37 sq. But the men of this flock shall also be as the sheep, that is, no wild beasts shall be among them; hence it follows that God will purify His Church from these noxious animals (Cocc.).
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
CONTENTS
The Prophet is drawing in this Chapter a striking contrast between the nations that know not God, and his people, to whom He hath manifested himself.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
This is a most solemn and striking Sermon of the Prophet. Surely it carries with it decisive testimonies under what gracious influence it was delivered. It appears, that in consequence of the Lord’s chastening his people the enemy triumphed: Aha, aha, so would we have it! But, saith the Lord, have they by their wiles tempted you to evil, and now do they triumph over you for this shall not be. And then follows a string of the most blessed promises. Reader! do not overlook the personal interest every child of God hath in this scripture. All that belong to Christ, are part of Christ, and all the promises in him, are yea and Amen. And that is not of the smallest kind which the Lord gave concerning the reproaches of his people, by the Prophet: Isa 25:6-8 ; 2Co 1:20 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
The Outlook of the Optimist
Eze 36:11
To this doctrine which our text embodies might be given the name of prophetic optimism. There is an optimism that is temperamental. And then there is a very shallow optimism that is happy because it. is half blind. I need hardly tell you that prophetic optimism is never based upon deliberate ignorance. It is based on the fact that underneath all change are the arms of the everlasting God.
I. This same feature this strong and virile optimism is found in the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the changes He wrought in it, and the new application He gave it, are a striking example of how He fulfilled the prophets. To Ezekiel, the basis of optimism is God’s sovereignty; but to Jesus, the basis of optimism is God’s love. To Ezekiel, the brighter future is for Israel, but in the teaching of Christ it is for one wandering child. It is because God is our Father and we are His children, that He will do better unto us than at the beginning.
II. I am quite aware that in actual experience the message of our text seems often contradicted. If our text had said, I shall make thee happier than at thy beginnings, there might have been some ground for quarrelling with Scripture; but our text says, I shall do better for thee, and that is a very different thing.
Think of the life of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is a signal instance of the fulfilment of this promise in the teeth of much that seems to contradict it. We recognize that the straight road to kingship was through the misery and woe of Calvary.
III. Notice too that here, in the sharpest manner, the leadership of evil differs from that of God. It is one strange mark of everything that is evil, that its tomorrow leaves us worse than yesterday. The truth is that sin would have no power save for the fact that its beginnings are very sweet. Had it been harsh or repulsive at the outset, the world would never have needed a Redeemer.
IV. I like to think, too, that our text holds good of all the social relationships of life when these are based on God. It is not only to us as individuals but to us in the tender comradeships of earth, that God says, I will do better unto you than at your beginnings.
Let us never forget that our whole life is really a beginning. To me life is inexplicable and meaningless unfair, unequal, unbalanced, and unjust unless we are to carry on elsewhere the task which here with such toil and tears we have begun.
G. H. Morrison, The Unlighted Lustre, p. 244.
References. XXXVI. 11. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2125. XXXVI. 16, 17. T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 1. XXXVI. 17. Ibid. pp. 24, 44. XXXVI. 18, 19. Ibid. pp. 63, 83. XXXVI. 23, 24. T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, pp. 141, 155, 171. XXXVI. 24. Ibid. p. 190. XXXVI. 25. Ibid. pp. 211, 231. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii. No. 1921. XXXVI. 25, 26, 27. T. De Witt Talmage, Sermons, p. 138. XXXVI. 25-31. S. Baring-Gould, Sermon-Sketches, p. 70. XXXVI. 25-38. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Ezekiel, p. 19.
A New Heart
Eze 36:26
I. The Great Gift. The heart is the nature in the sacred terminology of this text. God promises a new inner nature to His people.
1. This is a needed gift. The heart is the root and fount of all things. With what finality and power our Lord described the fundamentality of the heart! ‘out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings’. And the Bible is equally thorough in all its teachings. Always its deep solicitude is concerning the heart. Hence all manner and types of heart are described in Scripture: a ‘wicked heart,’ a ‘pure heart,’ a ‘true heart,’ a ‘broken heart,’ a ‘clean heart,’ a ‘perfect heart’.
We see, too, the deep necessity of this gift when we realize our sinfulness. In this very verse, God delineates our heart as it now is. He describes it as a ‘stony’ heart. Bishop Lightfoot in pathetic apostrophe speaks of ‘my sullied heart,’ and he speaks for us all.
2. A new heart can only come as a Divine gift. ‘I’ will give you it, saith Jehovah.
And what a precious gift this is! In a new heart lies the secret of a wealthy inner life. All generous impulses, all sublime ideals, all lofty and strenuous purposes depend upon a new heart.
The secret of a noble outer life lies here also. All outflowing of goodness is from this fountain alone.
3. It is an assured gift. God speaks without reservation. He says He ‘will’ give it, and He will give it ‘you ‘. It is assured to all who desire it.
II. The Great Giver’s Mode of Bestowing this Gift.
1. God delights to give by promise. Faith is God’s stern and imperative and constant demand. To faith and faith alone His riches come. And yet faith itself is His gift so entirely do we live under grace.
2. God gives this glorious gift instrumentally. He gives a new heart by means of prayer.
God gives this gift by the Holy Spirit. He says in the following verse, ‘And I will put My spirit within you’. When we are ‘born again’ we are born of the Holy Spirit.
God gives this gift by means of His Word. But God also uses His Word as preached as an agency for the imparting of this gift. This is the supreme purpose of preaching.
Devout reading is often used of God for the giving of a new heart.
All the means of grace are sanctified of God to the same noble purpose.
By very varied means God fulfils His Word and gives His people a new heart. Do not limit the Holy One of Israel to what are accustomedly called the means of grace.
Dinsdale T. Young, The Travels of the Heart, p. 253.
References. XXXVI. 26. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv. No. 212; vol. viii. No. 456; vol. xix. No. 1129. Bishop J. Percival, Sermons at Rugby, p. 169. Canon Fleming, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xli. 1892, p. 219. T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, pp. 255, 276, 295. XXXVI. 26, 27. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii. No. 1046. R. E. Hutton, The Crown of Christ, vol. ii. p. 75. XXXVI. 27. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No. 251; vol. xxxvii. No. 2200; vol. liii. No. 3048. T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, pp. 822, 339. XXXVI. 28, 29, 30. Ibid. p. 381.
Eze 36:31
This I found my Soul’s desire, even to cast itself at the foot of Grace, by Prayer and Supplication. But, oh! ’twas hard for me now to bare the Face, to pray to this Christ for mercy, against whom I had thus most vilely sinned. ‘Twas hard work, I say, to offer to look Him in the face against whom I had so vilely sinned; and, indeed, I have found it as difficult to come to God by prayer, after backsliding from Him, as to do any other thing.
Bunyan, Grace Abounding, p. 175.
Fob we endure the tender pain of pardon.
Mrs. Meynell.
References. XXXVI. 31. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xlvii. No. 2743. W. L. Watkinson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxix. 1906, p. 342. XXXVI. 32. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v. No. 233. XXXVI. 36. T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 397.
Eze 36:37
In the second part of The Pilgrim’s Progress, Reliever encourages the women to proceed: ‘To go back again you need not; for in all places where you shall come, you will find no want at all, for in every of my Lord’s Lodgings which He has prepared for the reception of His Pilgrims, there is sufficient to furnish them against all attempts whatsoever. But as I said, He will be enquired of by them to do it for them; and ’tis a poor thing that is not worth asking for.’
References. XXXVI. 37. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii. No. 138. T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 419. XXXVI. 37, 38. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii. No. 1307. C. Perren, Revival Sermons in Outline, p. 171. XXXVII. 1. C. Brown, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxxi. 1907, p. 280. XXXVII. 1-10. J. Laidlaw, Studies in the Parables, p. 205. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. x. No. 582. XXXVII. 1-14. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Ezekiel, p. 26. J. McNeill, Regent Square Pulpit, vol. iii. p. 97.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Mount Seir
Eze 35
Mount Seir represents Edom; Edom represents Esau. Idumea and Edom, found in this chapter, are one and the same, to all practical intents. Edom was the enemy of Israel: the record of their associations is a record of hatred and blood. We have in the third verse what may be termed the severe aspect of God. Behold the goodness and the severity of God! We would gladly curtain off the frowning countenance, and ignore it, and say, God is love; his mercy endureth for ever, and his face is brighter than the shining of the sun, there is no cloud in all the lustre of his countenance. We might talk so: we should talk ignorantly, superstitiously, falsely. We had better, as wise men, take in the whole case; our testament will lose nothing in music and in grandeur by retaining in it the words “the wrath of the Lamb.” We would rather not have such words, if we were to consult our sentiment, our feeling; but we are to consult history, philosophy, the right of things, and the reality of the economy under which we live. We are, therefore, forced to say, that God can be severe in aspect, terrible in judgment, that his hand is weighty, and when it falls upon the nations they are crushed like a moth.
What a blast of fire is this? When God is against a mountain or a city or a man, what is the issue? These are the words:
“I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate. I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate” ( Eze 35:3-4 ).
That is what God means by being “against” a man. Here is an instance of sublime personification. The mount stands for the nation, the people, the whole idea Edomitish. Yet is there not something contemptuous in the personification? He makes all the people into a mountain a heap of mud. What else is a mountain when viewed physically and materially? He turns the people one upon another, so to say, and having made a great mountain of them, he addresses the mountain as impersonal, and says, “I am against thee.” The language itself is full of suggestion. “I am”: there is life; life against matter; life against materialism; the living God against the dead mountain. He will tear it to pieces. Life can tear to pieces anything it can lay its hands upon. A child could waste a mountain. Its little fingers could carry it all away; give it time enough, and the mountain cannot withstand the child. Herein, as we have often had occasion to see, man is greater than any mountain. Measured in stature, where is the man? Far away, all but invisible; yet the man says to the mountain, I will climb thee, I will stand on thy top and wave the banner of victory, and will tunnel thee and drive fire and iron right through the heart of thee. What must it be then when God is against a man, a mountain, a nation? He has so many resources; we cannot calculate his armoury; the weapons of war at the disposal of God are more than the number of his chariots, and they are set down at twenty thousand. He can blight the mind, he can baffle the memory, he can make the feeling callous: he can so work upon the parent’s eyes that the parent shall not know his own child when they stand face to face; he can waste wealth, he can take the sunshine out of prosperity, he can separate chief friends. To God there are no giants; the mightiest of the Samsons of the world is as a frail insect.
It is, therefore, one of two things: God is either for us or against us. Is not the place and relation occupied by man to God largely determined by the man himself? Does not God plead for friendship? does he not ask for alliance? Hath it not pleased the Eternal to assume the attitude of a suppliant, and to say, Why will ye die? why will ye not live? why will ye not come unto me and have life? I wait to be gracious: behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man open the door I will come in? God does relieve man of responsibility. It may please man to have some crabbed and intricate theory, some metaphysical conception of human will, that enables him to relieve the pressure of the sense of responsibility, and to take refuge in the roofless hut of destiny and fate, to be lost and damned: but the Lord never consents to that reasoning. The Lord’s speech to obdurate man is always a speech involving a challenge or involving a remonstrance and a persuasion. God never says to any man, Thou art fated to be damned, and therefore I will not plead with thee. Taking the Bible as the basis of our evidence, we have God evermore pleading with man, as if man were of consequence to him, as if when he lost man he lost part of himself.
Does God give no reason for his frowning? Is his anger arbitrary? Is he a God of moods, so that we know not in what temper he will awake? It hath pleased the Lord to give an account of himself, and to say when he is against any man why he assumes the attitude and the policy of hostility.
“Because” [this is the reason, and the reason always covers the necessity of the case. Peril is no bigger than sin] “because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end: therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee” ( Eze 35:5-6 ).
Here is reason, here is justice, here is the husbandman who will reap the harvest which he sowed with his own hands. Be not deceived, God is not mocked: with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again; whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap; with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged. Your case shall be determined, as it were, by yourself; as ye have done to others, so shall it be done unto you. Here in the original grammar there is a play upon words. It hath pleased God in the inscrutableness of his speech to man to mock man with his own verbs and substantives; it hath pleased God to make a caricature of man’s grammar by sneering at him through his own syntax. “Edom” means red, the red of blood; God says, As thou hast been Edom, so shall all others be Edom to thee, red for red, blood for blood: “I am against thee.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
The Lord knew the argument which Edom had conducted in his own soul. The Lord quotes our own words against us. We have whispered them in confidence; the Lord has heard them every one, and he thunders them from the housetop: “Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it… Therefore ” Why can we not have one hour’s conference in absolute secrecy and exclusion from God? Why may we not whisper “murder” ? What is this in the very air that hates the secrecy of blood, and that says, I am listening, and every drop of blood you pledge yourselves to take I shall speak of with thunder and lightning?
Why was God so jealous lest Edom should take Judah and Israel? The reason is given in Eze 36:10 : “Whereas the Lord was there.” Edom thought to take the two nations, Judah and Israel, and do as he pleased with them. The Lord will not have sacrilege without punishing it. You cannot take away the true Church without having to account for it in some form; because God is in it. We should be very careful how we touch places that have been consecrated by noble usage, by high custom, by solemn prayer; it may be right sometimes to take them down stone by stone or to remove them elsewhere, but we should do so with reverent thought and with reverent hands. Edom said he would take Judah and Israel, forgetting mayhap that “the Lord was there,” and that he had to reckon with the Lord. That is what man always forgets; that is to say, man always forgets the divine element, the supernatural presence the mysterious element in life that will not be measured, that cannot be touched, imponderable, invisible, immortal, inevitable. The rich fool said, “Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry”: but God said Never forget that a monologue is but a one-sided talk, and that one-sided talk is out or place in a universe that is governed by a living Sovereign, an ever-present, ever-watching, ever-listening Father. Men want to wrest things out of the hands of God; men try to invert destiny or to reverse providence. This miracle lies beyond the reach of human power. He is foolish who ignores election. Everything is settled and determined as to the purpose of God, but that purpose is a purpose of love and inclusion and universal blessing, if men will accept the overtures of condescending and gracious Heaven. We believe in the election of nations; we believe in the call of men to do particular work; we believe in the destiny of the race. God is Judge and Sovereign, Father and Ruler. The days of our years are appointed; the bounds of our habitation are fixed; the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord; the very hairs of your head are all numbered. God is not a God on one aspect or side of his character; he is always God, never less than God: the Lord reigneth.
What miracles of consolation there are! When God says “I am for you,” what does he mean? Will he give us an account of his favour as he has given us an account of his opposition? We have that account in Ezekiel 36 :
“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 wastes shall be builded.” [Will he do anything more?] “And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit.” [Aught more?] “And I will settle you after your old estates.” [Aught more?] “And will do better unto you than at your beginnings….” [He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”] “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 henceforth bereave them of men” ( Eze 36:9-12 ).
When does God give short measure? When did he give otherwise than pressed down, heaped up, running over? This is the consolation of Heaven; this is the measure of the divine benison. That blessing is to be physical: “Ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit.” God does not fear to associate his name with our daily food. Why should we eat bread unblest by our own thanksgiving and prayer? God is not ashamed to have his name connected with the daily loaf and with the daily goblet of water. When we go to the harvest-field we should think we are going to church; when we go to the well of springing water we should think we are going to a fountain rising in heaven. Your harvests are God’s; your fields are the green ways leading up to his sanctuary. Blessed are they whose bread and whose water are blessed, whose bed is an altar, whose home is a church. Not only physical, but social: “I will multiply men upon you,… and the wastes shall be builded.” God would have all the earth inhabited. He would build men into organisations and brotherhoods; he would establish fraternities of souls. The Lord is never ashamed to associate himself with social economy, social purity, social progress. Not only physical and social, but municipal “And the cities shall be inhabited.” Cities have not a good history; cities had a bad founder. The foundations of cities were laid by a murderer. But it hath pleased God to accept many human doings, and to purify them and ennoble them and turn them to purposes sanctified and most beneficial. The Lord never set a king over anybody with his own real consent. He gave the people the desire of their hearts, and plagued them every day since they got the answer, So he accepts the city, and he will do what he can with the municipalities, to inhabit them, and direct them, and purify them. Here is the area within which this divine consolation is to operate; it is physical, it is social, it is municipal: at every point God touches us with his rising light.
The Lord never concludes simply within the letter. At the last he invariably says something that opens up a distant and ever-receding because ever-enlarging horizon. He says in this instance, “I will do better unto you than at your beginnings.” He is able, let us say again with rising thankfulness, to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. The Church constantly exclaims, Thou hast kept the good wine until now! We never can get in advance of God. When we have reaped our most abundant harvest, he says, This is only an earnest of the harvest you shall one day possess; I will do more for you and better unto you than at your beginnings. When does God move backwards? When does God give less and less to the children that love him and obey him? Whenever did the Lord cry, It is enough; further blessing you cannot have? Take all the types and illustrations supplied in Biblical history, and we shall ever find that the supply on the part of God never failed. Bring forth vessels now, said the prophet, and fill them: and they came to the last but two, the last but one, the very last of all, and when it was full, then the oil ceased, plenty of oil for the vessels, none for the floor; plenty for use, none for waste. It is our vessels that give out, it is not the oil of the divine love that is exhausted. I will do better better better. It is the refrain of the divine song of divine government We never touch the horizon; as we approach, it recedes: so we never touch the fulness of the divine blessing. Answered prayer is only another promise that the next prayer shall have a larger answer if itself represent a larger capacity and a larger love.
Then let us grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us be no longer thoughtless; let us no longer limit the Holy One of Israel, saying, The Lord hath made an end of his revelation, the Lord hath no more grace to give, no more love to show; he has given us the Cross. Paul says, If he has freely given us the Cross, it is not an end, it is a beginning, with the Cross he will also freely give us all things. In one sense the Cross is the culmination of love; in another sense it is the genesis of God’s affection. The Lord cannot be exhausted. His providence is ascending, expanding, deepening. This is the way of the Lord. Oh that we had hearkened unto his commandments and kept his law! then had our peace flowed like a river, and our righteousness had been as the waves of the sea.
We have not begun to know what God does for us; we have been too prone to yield ourselves to the seducer and the tempter when he told us that the age of miracles was past. That tempter waits to persuade us that all the great epochs of history are closed: the miracles are closed, inspiration is closed, communion with God in a very endearing sense of presence is closed. Why, then, it were better to have lived in the days of the prophets than in the days of the apostles, and better to have lived in the days of the apostles than to live under the full dispensation of the Holy Spirit. Is God’s a narrowing policy, a self-withdrawing, self-depleting economy? or does it move out in the other way, enlarging, expanding, heightening, advancing? Let those testify who have lived with God. We do not here at this particular juncture of the argument want the critic’s opinion; he ought not to have any opinion about such subjects, he is a dog in the sanctuary: when we come to these great heights and these close applications and inquiries we want the testimony of experience. When, therefore, we ask the question, Does God enclose himself in ever-narrowing paths, or does he pursue his gracious way in ever-expanding courses of graciousness and kindness? we await not the evidence of the critic, but the experience of the man who daily lives with God.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
XVIII
PROPHECIES OF THE RESTORATION
Ezekiel 33-39
The subject of this chapter is Ezekiel’s prophecies of the restoration of Israel. Jeremiah (Jeremiah 30-33) gave a similar group of prophecies, and in the book of Isaiah (40-66) we find this same theme: The restoration of Israel and its future glory. Here Ezekiel discusses the same theme.
We saw in the last chapter that Ezekiel had, in a prophetic way, disposed of the foreign nations, the enemies of Israel, having predicted the entire overthrow of all those who had been the means of Israel’s downfall with the exception of Babylon. He gave no direct prophecy of the downfall of Babylon, only an indirect one prophesying her rule over Egypt for about forty years, which implied that he believed that Babylon would fall at the end of that period. Thus it may be seen that these chapters on the restoration of Israel are in their logical place in his prophecies. He had predicted the fall of Jerusalem, the capital, and the scattering of the people among all the nations. Then he predicted the fall of all the nations that were her enemies, and having finished with them, the way was made clear for his predictions regarding the future of Israel. He devotes these seven chapters to the blessed age, the messianic age, which follows the return of Israel from her exile in these foreign lands.
The great function of the prophet is here set forth. He is to be a watchman (Eze 33:1-20 ). The figure, of course, is an Oriental one. It was the custom in those lands to build a watchtower on the border of their territories, or at the approaches to their cities, or near their great centers, and appoint a man to stand upon the watchtower and when he saw an army coming he was to blow his trumpet and warn the people. There were many throughout Israel and all Oriental lands. The prophet transfers the figure to spiritual functions as regards the people of Israel.
The duty and responsibility of the watchman are set forth in Eze 33:1-6 , which are easy to comprehend and which need not be commented upon except that the watchman has the responsibility for the lives of those over whom he watches. If he sees the foe coming and warns, his duty is done. If he sees the foe coming and does not warn and any of the inhabitants lose their lives, their blood shall be required at his hands because he had failed in his duty. He shall suffer as a result of that failure.
This duty and responsibility were impressed upon Ezekiel thus: The Lord speaks unto Ezekiel and says, “So thou, son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel. …. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shall surely die, and thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thy hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he turn not from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but thou hast delivered thy soul.”
A glance at the situation will explain this more clearly. Ezekiel in Eze 18 , prophesied and brought before the people that great doctrine of individual responsibility and liberty. He exploded the old theory that a man is the slave of his environment and must necessarily suffer for the sins of his fathers. It is not necessary that he should perish because of the sins of his fathers. Ezekiel brought before them the great doctrine that Jehovah does not will the death of any man; that Jehovah has given to all men the privilege and possibility of repenting and if they repent and turn, the penalties of their past sins or their father’s sins are forever abrogated and they are free from them. The doctrine of individualism is there set before us, and this chapter is an application of that principle.
Ezekiel now realizes that, since his nation is destroyed, their capital in ruins, the center of religious worship is gone, that his duty is to speak to individuals; that now it is with individual Israelites. His duty is to warn them of their own sins and the dangers that are consequent upon their sins. He is not to speak to the nation in the mass any more, but he is to deal with individuals and put each individual upon his own personal responsibility and relationship to God. He can thereby prepare the people to return to the land and begin anew the nation God has purposed they should become.
The condition of the minds of the people is that of despondency, making the prophet’s appeal of no effect. Eze 33:10-20 , especially in Eze 33:10 , we have the condition of their minds set forth: “Thus ye speak, saying, Our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live?” This indicates at once that the people were in a state of despair. They had no hope; they believed that their doom was inevitable; that it was useless for them to think of enjoying fellowship with God and life any more. To counteract that complaint and that condition of mind, Ezekiel brings before them four great principles which are found in the remainder of this section, and I will embody the substance of these verses in these four statements:
1. That Jehovah desires that men shall live.
2. That man is not irrevocably bound by the past, but may repent.
3. That men are to come to God individually and thus come into the new Israel.
4. That men are judged more by what they are than by what they have been.
Let us now discuss the theme, occasion, and date of the prophecy of Ezekiel in Eze 33:21-33 . On hearing of the fall of Jerusalem, Ezekiel announces the conditions of return. These conditions are moral and religious. In Eze 33:21 we have the date of this prophecy: the twelfth year, that is one year after the fall of Jerusalem, tenth month and fifth day of the month, almost eighteen months after the fall. He says, “One that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.” Some find a chronological difficulty here. Some of the ancient versions say it was in the eleventh year and tenth month, which means that Ezekiel heard of the fall of Jerusalem six months after that event occurred. According to this account of Ezekiel it was a year and six months. It seems to them almost incredible that it would require eighteen months for the news of that great event to reach the prophet and much more likely, he received the news at the end of six months, that being ample time for the caravans to reach Babylon and the news to spread. But it is better to take it as it stands, allowing for probable delays on the part of this messenger in getting to Babylon.
Now, after he received news that the city was smitten, he had a word to say to the people that remained in Palestine; that remnant spoken of in Jeremiah (40-44), Ezekiel addresses in Eze 33:23-29 . Note verse Eze 33:24 : “Son of man, they that inhabit those wastes of the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance,” which seems to refer to the miserable remnant that was left at Mizpah, Bethlehem, and various other places. They say, “Abraham was one, only one, and he inherited the land, but we are many and the land is given us for an inheritance.” Their idea is that since to Israel was given this land, and they were the nucleus of Israel, and since Abraham being only one, developed into such a large nation, they who are many have as many more chances of developing into a great nation, and therefore they remain in Palestine believing that they will become a great nation and possess the land for all the future. The people who said that were still practicing their idolatry. Ezekiel says, “Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured; and they that are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence.”
In Eze 33:30-33 , we have the effect of Ezekiel’s prophecies upon the people with whom he dwelt, there by the river Chebar in Babylon. Here is a passage of great comfort to a preacher sometimes. Ezekiel has now become popular and he is drawing fine congregations; the people are flocking to hear him, and they say, verse Eze 33:30 : “And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people talk of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.” And he goes on to say how they came and heard the words but did them not, for with their mouth they show much love but their heart goeth after their gain. They have a great many good things to say to their preacher but their hearts go after their gain. “And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not.” “Fine sermon, very lovely song, prayed splendidly,” they say but they never think of heeding what the preacher says.
The evil shepherds are described (Eze 34:1-10 ). They feed themselves, not the flock. Jeremiah had something to say regarding those evil shepherds. Ezekiel has a strong denunciation of them in these ten verses. These shepherds feed themselves and care for themselves, but care nothing for the sheep, and the sheep wander through the forests and the deserts and upon every high hill and are scattered among all the nations of the earth and there are none that seek after them to bring them back. As a result the shepherds are denounced verse Eze 34:10 : “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”
But Jehovah takes care of his sheep after disposing of the evil shepherds. Jehovah will undertake the care of the flock in the restoration period (Eze 34:11-19 ). Notice particularly verse Eze 34:11 : “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.” Latter part of verse Eze 34:12 : “So I will seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.” Verse Eze 34:15 : “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord God.” Jehovah says that he will be the shepherd. He makes no reference here to a messianic Saviour, the Christ, or King that is to come. He himself is going to do it. And then in Eze 34:17-22 , Jehovah says that he is going to separate and distinguish between different parts of the flock.
Verse Eze 34:17 : “I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the he-goats.” He is going to see that the leaders among the people of Israel are not like cattle that go down to the stream and drink and muddy the water, thus making it unfit for the others to drink. Jehovah is going to distinguish between them and see that they are in their proper places. Then from Eze 34:23-31 it says that Jehovah will raise up David as Shepherd and there shall be great prosperity. He said before, “I will be the Shepherd,” but now he says, “I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.” This is messianic and refers to the work of Christ. In the latter part of Eze 34:26 , he describes the prosperity that shall come: “There shall be showers of blessing.” Here is where the words of the song, “There Shall Be Showers of Blessing,” came from. The prophet continues the magnificent description of the prosperity of the country and how all shall flourish under the rule and care of this great Shepherd, David, not David himself in person, but a member of his dynasty and of his family, who is Christ, our Lord.
There is a prophecy against Edom in Eze 35 . The substance of this chapter is this: Mount Seir, or Edom, had sinned against Judah and Jerusalem at the time of her calamity (Eze 35:5 ). He charges Edom with two sins: (1) “Thou hast had a perpetual enmity”; (2) “Thou hast given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity.” When Edom, or Mount Seir, found Israel down, they trampled on her as hard as they could. Eze 35:10 mentions a third sin, and that is (3) “Thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries (northern and southern Israel) shall be mine, and we will possess it.” The point is this: When Israel was deported to Babylon and the country left desolate, the Edomites came from the south and took possession of all the land of Judah they possibly could and began to inhabit and make it their possession. Because of that the prophet’s denunciation is buried against them, prophesying the downfall of their capital and their country. It was necessary for the prophet to do this. They were encroaching upon Israel, and they must be driven forth from the land to make way for Israel.
Then there is a prophecy concerning the land of Israel in Eze 36:1-15 . This is the counterpart, or the other side, of the prophecy (6) where he denounced the mountains of Israel because they were the high places of worship and predicted their desolation and overthrow. In the future age, the mountains of Israel shall be delivered out of the hand of the enemies, and they shall become abundantly fruitful. Notice, especially, verse Eze 36:8 : “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,” i.e., “Ye shall till and sow and I will multiply men upon you; all the house of Israel, and the cities shall be inhabited and the waste places shall be builded.” Then he says, “And I will multiply upon you man and beast,” carrying forward his glowing description of the prosperity and fruitfulness of the land.
In Eze 36:16-23 the prophet says that Jehovah will do this thing for his name’s sake and in honor of his own holy name: “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God: 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.”
In Eze 36:24-38 , we have the restoration and regeneration of Israel. Here we come to the New Testament ground, in the gospel dispensation. This is Ezekiel’s deepest, sweetest, and best prophecy. This passage calls to mind a notable challenge of Alexander Campbell, substantially in these words: “The whole world is challenged to produce even one passage in any part of God’s Word, from Genesis to Revelation, proving that God ever commanded prophet, priest, preacher, or layman to sprinkle or pour water just water pure water, on man, beast, or thing as a moral ceremonial or religious rite.” In response to the challenge the one passage cited was this scripture, Eze 36:25 . Of course it was easy for Mr. Campbell to show the irrelevancy of this passage. It does not meet the requirements of the challenge because:
(1) It is not a command of God to any man to do any sprinkling whatever, but an express declaration of some kind of sprinkling that God himself will do.
(2) The clean water of the text was not even in its type just water, but was a compound called the water of purification whose recipe is found in Num 19:1-10 . This was a liquid compound of ashes and water. A red heifer was burned. Into the burning was cast cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet cloth. The ashes of this burning were gathered up and mingled with water and this mixture was called the water of cleansing, or of purification.
(3) The typical efficacy of this mixture was in the ashes of the red things burned: the red heifer, the red cedar wood, red hyssop, and scarlet cloth; red signified blood. The antitype is the blood of Christ, Heb 9:13-14 : “For if the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
(4) The whole passage in Eze 36:21-38 refers to those last gospel days when the Jews, long disobedient, blinded, and scattered, will be gathered and saved, as set forth by Paul (Rom 11:25-36 ). This salvation will be of grace (Eze 36:22 ). It will be by regeneration (Eze 36:25-26 ). This regeneration will produce a spirit of obedience (Eze 36:27 ). This regeneration consists of at least two parts, cleansing and renewal. The cleansing (Eze 36:25 ) is effected by the application of Christ’s blood typified by the water of purification, the antitype of which is the blood of Christ (Heb 9:13-14 ; 1Jn 1:7 ). The renewal (Eze 36:26 ) is the change of man’s nature. Both of these ideas appear in Joh 3:5 : “Except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” This is one birth. It is the Spirit birth. The water signifies cleansing; the Spirit, renewal. The same ideas appear in Tit 3:5 : “The washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” In none of these passages is there the slightest reference to baptism.
Now let us consider the vision of dry bones (Eze 37:1-14 ) and its interpretation. What are these dry bones? Is this a literal resurrection from the dead, or is this a conversion, a spiritual resurrection? It is not either. Eze 37:11 gives the clue to the interpretation. These bones are the house of Israel. What makes them so dry? “Behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are clean cut off.” They have no hope whatever as to the resurrection, or renewal of their national existence. They were saying, “We are scattered among all the nations. Our city and our capital is gone and there is no hope for our nation and our people any more.” Nationally or religiously, they were as dry bones which had no hope of a resurrection. Now there is no distinct reference to any resurrection of the body, nor of any spiritual regeneration. It is national.
The prophet was required to preach to them. He preached and the bones began to come together and he kept on preaching and flesh came upon them, and by and by they stood up. The whole house of Israel raised to a new national life and existence! Then he kept on preaching and the result was as we see in verse Eze 37:14 : “I will put my spirit within you and ye shall live and I shall place you in your own land and ye shall know that I am Jehovah.” That was fulfilled to some extent in the return of the 50,000 after the decree of Cyrus, but it was never completely fulfilled. An army of about 50,000 whose spirit Jehovah stirred up, returned at first, and that stirring up was the result of the preaching of Ezekiel and Jeremiah and the study of the latter part of the book of Isaiah. The figure of the resurrection is used in Eze 37:12 , thus: “I will open your graves and cause you to come out of your graves,” but the graves are national graves, not literal. This is referred to by Paul (Rom 11:15 ) as a resurrection and contemplates the final gathering of the Jews before the millennium.
The union of Judah and Israel is symbolized in Eze 37:15-28 : “Take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim.” These two sticks he joined together. This is a symbolic action similar to many other actions of Ezekiel which we have already considered. The meaning of it is this: “Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his companions; and I will put them with it, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand.” Jeremiah prophesied the same thing; so did Isaiah in substance; so did Hosea; so did Amos, Micah, and Zephaniah.
It was the belief of all the prophets that when Israel returned from exile it would be one nation, a united nation. Ezekiel goes on, “I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.” In Eze 37:24 the king is called “David my servant,” that is, one of his descendants; a member of his dynasty shall be king over them and they shall have one shepherd. Then he says, “I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them.” Verse Eze 37:27 : “My tabernacle also shall be with them; and they shall be my people,” all of which has its fulfilment in the millennial age. This reminds us of Rev 21:3 .
An account of the invasion of Gog and Magog is found in Ezekiel 38-39. This is the picture of the last and final struggle of all the nations with God. We find that John refers to the same struggle in Rev 20:7-9 : “When the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to the war: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up over the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down out of heaven and devoured them.” Ezekiel says, Eze 38:2 : “Son of man, set thy face toward Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Rosh, Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,” nations lying probably away to the north of Israel on the borders of the Caspian and Black Seas representing the great barbarian hordes that infested central Asia and northern Armenia on the very outskirts of the then known world. “I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed and in full armor, a great company with buckler and shield, all of them handling swords.”
What does this mean? Ezekiel is picturing the millennial age, the messianic age, and away in the future after the glorious age has been in progress, for how long we cannot tell, he sees this vision of the final struggle. Israel has been enjoying the blessedness of that age for centuries and the nations around her have been destroyed. The nations lying far off on the outskirts of the world now rouse themselves for a final onslaught on God’s kingdom. “And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates.” Thus the people are unprotected; they are living in the messianic age when all is peace and harmony. “I will go to them that are at rest.” What for? “To take the spoil and to take the prey.” This is the final conflict of the barbarian nations of the world with their vast hosts, against the messianic kingdom.
What is to be the result? We find in Eze 38:17-23 , Ezekiel says the prophets have for a long time been prophesying of this very thing, though we do not have any distinct reference to the prophecy. As Gog, with his hosts, encompasses the whole land of Israel and surrounds the city, then Ezekiel says in the latter part of Eze 38:18 , “My wrath shall come up into my nostrils . . . I will rain upon him, and upon his hordes, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone.” That is to be the end of Gog and his innumerable hordes.
Then we have this statement, Eze 39:4 : “Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy hordes and the peoples that are with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.” And in Eze 39:9 , he says, “And they that dwell in the cities of Israel shall go forth, and shall make fires of the weapons and burn them, both the shields and the bucklers, the bows and the arrows, and the handstaves, and the spears, and they shall make fires of them seven years.” Eze 39:12 says that the people of Israel are going to bury all those that fall and they are to be seven months burying the dead, and are to have a rule that when any person finds a bone he is to set up a mark by it until the body has been buried outside in the valley. Then we have the feast of all the birds of the air and the beasts of the field upon the slain. The chapter closes with a description of Israel’s restoration (Eze 39:28-29 ). The best commentary on the destruction of Gog is found in that short passage, in Rev 20 , where John pictures Satan as raising an insurrection among all the nations of the world at the close of the millennium. Ezekiel pictures it as taking place a long while after the restoration and the blessed messianic age. (See the author’s discussion of this subject in his book on Revelation.)
QUESTIONS
1. What is the theme of this section and where do we find the same subject discussed in Jeremiah and Isaiah?
2. Show the logical order of these prophecies.
3. What is the great function of the prophet and how is it here set forth?
4. What is the duty and responsibility of the watchman?
5. How was this duty and responsibility impressed upon Ezekiel?
6. What is the condition of the minds of the people and how does the prophet meet it?
7. What is the theme, occasion, and date of the prophecy of Ezekiel in Eze 33:21-33 , and what is the chronological difficulty here and its solution?
8. Whom does the prophet address in Eze 33:23-29 , what the occasion of this address and what the prophet’s message to them?
9. What is the effect of Ezekiel’s preaching on the people in exile (Eze 33:30-33 )?
10. How are the evil shepherds described in Eze 34:1-10 , what the prophet’s denunciation of them and how does Jehovah take care of his sheep?
11. What is the prophecy against Edom in Eze 35 and why?
12. What is the prophecy concerning the land of Israel in Eze 36:1-15 ?
13. What is the motive of Jehovah in doing all this (Eze 38:16-23 )?
14. Expound Eze 36:24-38 , showing the controversy about it, and its true interpretation in the light of the New Testament.
15. What the vision of dry bones (Eze 37:1-14 ) and what its interpretation?
16. How is the union of Judah and Israel symbolized and what the glorious picture that follows (Eze 37:15-28 )?
17. Give an account of the invasion of Gog and Magog and the result (Ezekiel 38-39). Discuss fully.
Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible
Eze 36:1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD:
Ver. 1. Prophesy to the mountains of Israel. ] Better things than thou didst to Mount Seir in the foregoing chapter. See Isa 3:10-11 . See Trapp on “ Isa 3:10 “ See Trapp on “ Isa 3:11 “
Ye mountains.
“ Nemo adeo ferus est qui non mitescere possit,
Si modo culturae patientem accommodet aurem. ”
– Horace
Ezekiel Chapter 36
Following the denunciation of mount Seir Jehovah now addresses Himself to the personified mountains of Israel and declares the consolation in store for them, whatever the proud malice of the Edomite might have said against them.
“Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah.” (Ver. 1)
It is well to bear in mind that in Israel of old it was a question of government under the revealed name of Jehovah, but on the conditions of law, which, being taken up by man in the flesh, could only issue as it did in ruin. Now it is a wholly different state of things; for on a rejected Christ, who is the Son of God, the assembly is built, His body and bride in grace pure and absolute, and hence formed out of believers, Jews and Gentiles indiscriminately, who are destined to be with Him on high and reign with Him over the earth. But the government of the world in Israel is not abandoned by God for ever. He will take Israel up once more at the coming of the Lord, the glorious Son of man, and display His government perfectly then to His own glory under the new covenant, and hence on a principle superior to the weakness or the evil of the creature. This will be the epoch and turning-point of the world’s blessing, not merely as now grace gathering out of it for heavenly glory with Christ, but judgment returning to righteousness on earth, and all the upright following it. Hence the second advent of the Lord for the world is characterized by the execution of judgments; and the rather as all scripture shows that the state of the earth will just before it be one of unexampled evil in apostasy, not only the rebellious rejection of the truth, but the great lie consummated of man sitting as God in the temple of God. And God will deal not with the most flagrant offenders only, but with each and all who have risen up against Him, when He delivers and exalts His ancient people still justly abased because of their sins.
To this time these prophecies look onward, whatever may have been their partial application in the past. If Israel will come forth from their hiding-place for His mercy, so will Edom for His judgment. I mean now of course for the judgment of the quick, not of the dead, which will follow at the close of all when the wicked of every age and clime shall rise again and be judged by the Son of man.
But here it is the earth dealt with, not that eternal judgment; and the prophet was to speak comfort to the long desolate mountains of Israel. For God has not made the earth or man upon it to be ever the victims of sin and sorrow, of vanity and corruption. He will surely show Himself a deliverer from all the mischief Satan has wrought; but there must be judgment as well as mercy, and both we see here. Had the enemy taunted the land of Israel, saying Aha, even the ancient heights are become our possession? (Ver. 2) Jehovah’s answer through His prophet is, “Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might become a possession unto the residue of the nations, and ye are taken up on the lips of talkers, and a reproach of the people therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah: thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys.” (Vers. 3, 4)
If the unuttered taunt is recorded before Jehovah, how much more that malicious boasting over the needed humiliation of Israel and the consequent desolation of the land, as if it were their victory over the only true God! But He heard and was soon warned by His servant the prophet; yet was He slow to judge. But His hand will ere long make good what His mouth then declared; and a yet more tremendous downfall yet awaits the haughty Edomite. The unbelieving Jews may divert their maledictions to their so-called christian adversaries meanwhile; for both Jews and Christendom have lost all simplicity and consequently power of faith in the word of God. But neither good nor evil have perished from before His eyes. Edom and Israel but slumber in the dust and will soon come forth, Edom with still indomitable pride and vengeance, Israel at length repentant and subdued by the patient infinite grace of God. And then in this world shall each race receive its portion in that day, and Edom finally by the hand of Israel. (Compare Isa 11:10-14 ; Isa 34 ; Isa 35 ; Isa 63 ; Obadiah)
For it would be a sorrowful and unworthy conception of that day, were it only viewed as divine wrath dispensing its death-blows on the wicked. Nor does the prophecy hold out such monotony of gloom, but contrariwise the dark ways of man’s iniquity followed by the judgment, and ushering in the day, of Jehovah. “Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of 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 wastes shall be builded: and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, 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 henceforth bereave them of men. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations; therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord Jehovah. Neither will I cause men to bear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord Jehovah.” (Vers. 6-15)
The Lord thus pledges His oath, jealous for the blessing of Israel and indignant at their reproach not yet come, still continued from the heathen. In vain do men apply such glowing words to the return from Babylon, which was but an earnest of what is coming for the entire people. Can any one who respects scripture and knows the facts pretend that the Lord multiplied men on the mountains of Israel, “all the house of Israel, even all of it?” (Ver. 10) Such words seem expressly written to guard souls from such meagre and misleading views. Did Jehovah settle the returned remnant after their old estate, and do good more than at their beginning? (Ver. 11) Did the land, did the mountains, become Israel’s inheritance and no more bereave them? (Ver. 12) Do we not know that under the fourth empire a still worse destruction came and a longer dispersion, instead of the land devouring no more, neither bereaving its own nations nor bearing the insult of the Gentiles any more? (Ver. 15)
No! the fulfilment of the prophecy is yet to come, but come it will as surely as Jehovah lives and has thus sworn through His prophet concerning the land of Israel. To suppose that the gospel or the church is meant by such language is very far from simplicity or intelligence.
In the next message of Jehovah the moral reasons are stated why the land of Israel was left desolate, and themselves dispersed among the nations; the dishonour they did to His name even there; finally His restoring grace with its effects on the heart and ways of Israel, as well as His power in renewing their land to more than pristine prosperity and fruitfulness, Jehovah being sanctified by all before the nations.
“And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. And I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols [wherewith] they had polluted it; and I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These [are] the people of Jehovah, and are gone forth out of his land.” (Ver. 16-20) Such was Israel’s way in the land and out of it, everywhere a shame to Him who chose them as His own, idolatrous corruption and murderous violence in Canaan, profaning His name among the nations. And what did He against whom they had sinned? He is Jehovah and changes not: therefore were they not consumed. Nay, He had pity for the name which they had outraged. and He would sanctify it and be sanctified in them. As He says here, “But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; I do not [this] for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I [am] Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” (Ver. 21-24)
When and how this work of divine grace was to be wrought, we need not conjecture; nor does it now want elaborate discussion to determine. There are landmarks which make the answer quite plain. The return from Babylon was no fulfilment, but at most an earnest; for then only a numerically inconsiderable remnant returned. Ezr 9 in no way takes the same ground nor claims to be what the faithful looked for, any more than later still Neh 9 . They speak in one of “our bondage,” in the other of being “servants this day; and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the food thereof, behold, we are servants in it; and it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress.” How far this falls short of what is pledged by Ezekiel should require no argument “For I will take you out from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.” The mass of Israel remained after the decree of Cyrus up and down the nations.
But there is a further and clearer proof that it has not yet been fulfilled, for it is added, “Then will I 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 stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, 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.” (Ver. 25-28) Was the Jew, not to speak of Israel, then cleansed from all his filthiness? Malachi tells a different tale; and so in fact did our Lord prove in person. Here when fulfilled we have no less a blessing promised than the new birth of the Jewish people. God will give them a new heart and a new spirit, take away the heart of stone, and give a heart of flesh. He will put His Spirit within them, and cause that they shall walk in holy obedience, they His people, and He their God. It is the grossest exaggeration to assume that this has ever yet been accomplished, though in addition to this is an allusion to these verses in our Lord’s words in Joh 3:5 : most real, yet wholly distinct from its predicted application.
But there is more. For the prophet proceeds to say that this blessedness in store for Israel will include outward favour and earthly abundance in a way never known before. “I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.”
It is in vain to fritter away this prediction of restored and increased fertility, or to treat it as either incredible or not an effect of Divine power extraordinarily shown, as being beneath the attention of God. The New Testament shows us the principle in Rom 8 . The groaning creation is yet to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. But this is under no message of the gospel, but a fruit of Divine power when Christ is no longer hidden but appears in glory and the sons of God are revealed too. The difference here is that the apostle connects this blessed deliverance with the revelation of the risen saints, the prophet with the restoration and renewal of Israel.
But further, it is grace alone which, applied by the Holy Spirit to the soul, produces true fear of God and judgment of self. “There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.” It is this too which as here leads Israel to abhor and confess their past iniquities with a full heart. How glad are they to bow to His sovereignty who uses it in saving mercy! “Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that [were] not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I [this], saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate 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 become] fenced, [and] are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I Jehovah build the ruined [places], and plant that that was desolate: I Jehovah have spoken [it], and I will do [it.] Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; I will yet [for] this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do [it] for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I [am] Jehovah.” (Ver. 29-38) Thus will Jehovah wipe off all reproach from without to the praise of His own name, while He works feelings and ways suitable to repentance in Israel. Nothing approaching this was experienced by the returned remnant; and those who were brought under the gospel were called into other and better blessings which induced many to get rid of their houses and lands. There was no rebuilding of the once desolate cities as a part of their heritage. But God will surely make good every word when the day comes to restore the kingdom to Israel.
Under the law Israel was ruined; under the gospel there is neither Jew nor Greek, but union with Christ in heaven; when the kingdom is manifested in power, they will be restored to their land and cities, no longer waste, but under the blessing and glory of Jehovah.
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 36:1-12
1And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2Thus says the Lord GOD, Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ 3therefore 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.’ 4Therefore, 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, 5therefore 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. 6Therefore 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.’ 7Therefore thus says the Lord GOD, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves endure their insults. 8But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. 9For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. 10I 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. 11I 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. 12Yes, I will cause menMy people Israelto walk on you and possess you, so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’
Eze 36:1 As usual Ezekiel starts a new vision with YHWH addressing him directly (i.e., son of man). This literary marker is usually accompanied by IMPERATIVES. In this chapter
1. prophesy, BDB 612, KB 655, Niphal IMPERATIVE, cf. Eze 36:3; Eze 36:6 (Niphal PERFECT in Eze 4:7)
2. say, BDB 55, KB 65, Qal PERFECT (often Qal IMPERATIVE in Eze 12:10-11; Eze 12:23; Eze 12:28; Eze 17:9; Eze 17:12)
3. hear, BDB 1033, KB 1570, Qal PERFECT, cf. Eze 13:2 where all three are used. This command is repeated in Eze 36:4.
O mountains of Israel Earlier in Ezekiel’s prophecies (chapter 6) this same idiom (unique in Ezekiel) is negative (i.e., judgment).
Eze 36:2 The arrogance of the surrounding nations over the demise of YHWH’s people and their annexing her lands causes Him to act!
Aha This INTERJECTION (BDB 210) expresses joy at another’s demise (cf. Psa 35:21; Psa 35:25; Eze 25:3; Eze 26:2; Eze 36:2).
the everlasting heights Often the mountains are used as one of God’s two permanent witnesses, but here they are used as a personification of Israel and the blessings to come. It is ironical that the same word heights, bamoth (BDB 119), was used of the high places of Canaanite fertility worship (cf. Eze 20:29). This phrase may imply that the surrounding nations see Palestine as an especially blessed place (i.e., fruitful, cf. Deu 11:11).
Eze 36:3 therefore Notice that Eze 36:3-7 all start with the ADVERB so or thus (BDB 485), when used with a PREPOSITION means that being so or therefore (e.g., Num 16:11; Eze 11:4; Eze 37:12; Eze 38:14).
for good cause they have made you desolate This is a confession and recognition of the sins of God’s people that resulted in the exile.
Judah’s condition is described in three INFINITIVES.
1. desolate, BDB 1030, KB 1563, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT used in two senses
a. be desolate, Eze 6:4; Eze 20:26; Eze 25:3; Eze 29:12; Eze 30:7; Eze 30:12; Eze 30:14; Eze 32:15; Eze 33:28; Eze 36:4
b. be appalled, Eze 3:15; Eze 4:17; Eze 26:16; Eze 27:35; Eze 28:19; Eze 32:10
2. crushed or trampled upon, Qal INFINITIVE ABSOLUTE, cf. Psa 56:2; Psa 57:4; Psa 94:5; Isa 3:15; Amo 2:7; Amo 8:4
3. become the possession (possession, BDB 440, cf. Exo 6:8; Eze 11:15; Eze 25:10; Eze 33:24; Eze 36:2; Eze 36:5), BDB 224, KB 243, Qal INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT
the talk and whisperings of the people This refers to amazement of the reproach of those who live near or pass by (cf. Eze 36:15; Eze 34:29; Deu 28:57; Psa 44:9-16; Jer 18:16). The people speak of defeated Judah as they did of her God (cf. Eze 34:12-13).
Eze 36:4 God addresses His devastated land (i.e., its covenant people). God’s people had become exactly the opposite (i.e., a prey [BDB 103] and a derision [BDB 541]) of what He intended for them to be to the nations.
Eze 36:5 This is a summary verse expressing God’s sorrow in judging His own covenant people (i.e., jealousy is a love word). But now He will judge those who
1. took His people’s land
2. rejoiced over their downfall
3. disrespected (scorn of soul) them
4. drove them out of the Promised Land
These surrounding nations are the very ones Ezekiel addresses (except Babylon) in Ezekiel 25-32.
My land YHWH owns all lands by creation (cf. Exo 19:5), but He uniquely claims a special ownership of Canaan (cf. Eze 38:16; Lev 25:23; Isa 14:25; Jer 2:7; Joe 1:6; Joe 3:2).
Eze 36:7 I have sworn This is literally lift up my hands, which was an idiomatic way of referring to an oath (cf. Eze 20:5-6; Eze 20:15; Eze 20:23; Eze 20:28; Eze 20:42; Eze 44:12; Eze 47:14). Often YHWH’s oath is stated as as I live, declares the Lord.
Eze 36:8 Oh mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear fruit for My people This is the opposite of what the mountains of Edom will do (cf. Eze 35:3; Eze 35:7; Eze 35:15). This is a fulfillment of Eze 17:23; Eze 34:26-29 (cf. Isaiah 4; Isa 27:6).
Eze 39:9 I am for you The covenant will be restored. YHWH will be with and for His people again. The promises of Deuteronomy 28 will be actualized.
I will turn to you As is so often the case, Ezekiel uses phrases from Leviticus 26 or Deuteronomy 27-29. This phrase is in Lev 26:9.
Eze 36:10-15 This reflects the promises of Deuteronomy. It implies that the covenant is renewed and is being obeyed! These blessings are for a repentant and obedient Israel!
1. multiply men on you
2. cities reinhabited
3. waste places rebuilt
4. multiply man and beast
5. treat you better than at the first
6. possess Canaan as an inheritance
7. no loss of children
8. no more insults from the surrounding nations
9. no more stumbling on Israel’s part
Eze 36:10 all the house of Israel, all of it This speaks of the reuniting of the thirteen tribes of Israel (cf. Eze 37:21-22; Jer 3:18; Jer 50:4).
Eze 36:12 you This is a personification of the Promised Land (i.e., the mountains of Israel or the everlasting heights). YHWH has been addressing them in Eze 36:1 through Eze 36:15.
never again bereave them of children This phrase may link back to the spies’ report found in Num 13:32 or YHWH’s judgment from Jer 15:7. If so, it refers to famine, plague, sword, and wild beasts.
The VERB bereave (BDB 1013, KB 1491, Piel INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) is repeated in Eze 36:13 and possibly Eze 36:14 (MT notes Kethiv, [written], shall not stumble, BDB 505, , but Qere [read], shall not bereave, ), possibly just the author using a wordplay. This threat was first used in Lev 26:22 (cf. Deu 32:25). Ezekiel often used Leviticus 26 as a source for his vocabulary. Children were seen as a gift from YHWH, but for covenant disobedience He takes them away. However, a new day has come and no longer will the children be taken!
What now follows refers to the yet future Restoration of the People and Land of Israel and Judah, as shown in the Structure above.
son of man. See note on Eze 2:1,
mountains of Israel. See Eze 6:1-7; Eze 36:1.
the LORD. Hebrew. Jehovah. App-4,
Shall we turn in our Bibles now to Eze 36:1-38 as we continue our study in this very fascinating prophecy.
In chapter 36 Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy to the mountains of Israel. Now this is the second time he prophesied to the mountains of Israel. The first time was back in chapter 6, and he was prophesying the desolations that would come to the mountains of Israel and to the cities because they had built the high places on the mountains and worshipped the false images, idols, and gods. And thus he spoke about the mountains being made desolate. That prophecy was fulfilled and the mountains of Israel remained desolate for nineteen centuries. Now again he prophesies to the mountains of Israel, but this prophecy has to do with a work of God in making now the desolate mountains inhabited. And so there is quite a contrast between this prophecy in chapter 36 and the prophecy in chapter 6 where the desolation of the mountains was described and now the restoration from the desolation.
Say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession: Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they have made you desolate, and they have swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are the infamy of the people: Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, and to the rivers and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, against all of Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, say to the mountains and to the hills, to the rivers and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because you have borne the shame of the heathen: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up my hand, Surely the heathen that are round about you, shall bear their shame. But ye, O mountains ( Eze 36:2-8 )
It took him quite a while to get to the message to the mountains, but he finally made it.
But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of 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 of the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded: And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginning: and ye shall know that I am the LORD ( Eze 36:8-11 ).
And so the restoration of the nation Israel is here being prophesied. And if you go over to Israel today, surely you can see the fulfillment of these prophecies as the waste places are now inhabited. As they have built so many cities, as they have planted so many beautiful orchards and cultivated the fields, and this land that laid wasted and desolate for many centuries has now been reclaimed. The marshy valleys have been drained and have become very fertile, fruitful fields. And so, it’s exciting to take this thirty-sixth chapter of Ezekiel in your lap and go over to Israel and see how God has fulfilled this particular prophecy concerning the mountains of Israel.
Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; they shall possess thee, thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men. For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations; therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave the nations any more, saith the Lord GOD. Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord GOD. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land ( Eze 36:12-17 ),
And now God is telling the reason why the land became desolate for so long.
they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured out my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of the land. But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went ( Eze 36:17-22 ).
Now the Lord is telling the reason why the dispersion took place and they were scattered is because of the blood that they had shed in the land, because of their worship of idols, and God had scattered them into the many different countries. But God said when they were scattered they profaned God’s name. That is, because of their actions and attitudes they caused people to hate and curse God. They said, “Oh, these are the people of God and look at what they are doing.”
And so, you remember when David sinned with Bathsheba, when the prophet rebuked David for this sin, one of the indictments that the prophet made against him is he said, “You have caused the enemies of God to blaspheme.” You see, these people were to be God’s representatives. God intended that they represent Him. But they misrepresented Him. And thus, people were cursing God because of their actions. You say, “Oh, that’s terrible.” But wait a minute. You are now God’s representatives. You see, you go by the name of a Christian and as a Christian you represent God. But if you’re out there ripping off people or cheating people or you’re out there lying or deceiving or getting involved in these kind of things, then you are misrepresenting God and people are cursing God and blaspheming God because of what you are. You see, God has been so misrepresented by those people who were called by His name. All the way through people have a false concept of God because people supposedly representing God have so misrepresented God that people say, “Well, if they’re a Christian then I don’t want anything to do with it. I don’t need it.” It is an awesome thing to realize that we are God’s representatives and people are drawing their opinions of God from what they see in us.
Now as a representative of God, God holds me responsible for how I represent Him. God doesn’t appreciate being misrepresented. As Moses found out. For when Moses went out before the people angry and struck the rock with his rod and said, “Must I strike this rock again and give you water?” Though the water came, God said, “Moses, I want to talk to you. Moses, I can’t let you go into the Promise Land.” “Why, Lord? That’s been the ambition of my life.” “Moses, you failed to represent Me before the people. You misrepresented Me out there. You went out there all angry in a huff, smiting the rock in anger. I’m not angry with them, Moses. They think I am because of what you did. They think I’m upset with them and angry. I’m not upset and angry with them, Moses. I know they need water. I want to give them water. But they think I’m angry and upset because you’re My representative and you went out there in a huff and did your little thing. And so, Moses, I just can’t let you take the people into the land.” And Moses was robbed of his lifelong ambition because he failed to represent God there at the water of Meribah.
Now you are God’s representative and that’s a heavy responsibility to be God’s representative, but that’s what we are. And the people are drawing their conclusion of Christianity, of Jesus Christ, from what they see you do. That’s heavy. God help us that we will be proper representatives of our Lord. That people will come to know that He is so loving, that He is so kind, that He wants to help, that He will go out of His way to help. And let us, O God, be a true representation of what You are to the world around us who so desperately need to know the truth about God.
Paul writing to the Corinthians said, “You are my living epistle, and you are known and read of all men” ( 2Co 3:2 ). People may never pick up a Bible to crack its pages, they may never read the Bible, but they’re reading your life. And they’re drawing their opinions of Jesus Christ by what they see in you.
Now, God said when Israel was scattered into the nations, they profaned the name of the Lord. They caused people to hate God. They didn’t represent God in those nations where they were scattered, and so people were cursing God and cursing the name of God. And so God now declares, “Look, not for your sake I’m going to bring you back. Not because you’re so good or you’re deserving, but for My name’s sake I’m going to do it. My name that has been profaned among the heathen.”
“And thus saith the Lord God,” verse Eze 36:22 , “I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake which you have profaned.”
And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes ( Eze 36:23 ).
So He refers to this time when He will be sanctified in them before the eyes of the world. We’ll get to that when we get to chapter 38.
Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all of your filthiness, from all of your idols, I will cleanse you. Also I’ll give you a new heart, a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh ( Eze 36:25-26 ).
Jeremiah prophesied the day was going to come when God would no longer write His law upon tables of stone but upon the fleshly tablets of our heart. God is saying, “I’m going to take out the stony heart. I’m going to put in a heart of flesh.” That is, God will make His will known to us by planting in our heart His desires and His purposes. Now you know the glorious thing about serving the Lord and following the Lord that you find that this particular psalm is true. The Bible said, “Delight thyself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart” ( Psa 37:4 ). Well, what that psalm doesn’t say, but what is also true, that as you begin to delight yourself in the Lord, the Lord begins to redirect the desires of your heart. According to that which He wants and according to that which He has purposed. So that doing the will of God becomes really the most glorious thing of your entire existence. It becomes the fulfillment of your dreams and of your desires. And it’s marvelous.
Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, My burden is light” ( Mat 11:30 ). We see people going around talking about, “Oh, God laid this heavy burden on me. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to stand up under it.” Wait a minute. If you’ve got a heavy burden that’s pushing you down into the ground, you better take a close look at that burden. It didn’t come from Him. He said, “My burden is light.” We take upon ourselves, many times, things that the Lord didn’t really put on us. Or we let men put things on us and pressure us into things that aren’t really of God. I think of all of the poor people who have been pressured by their churches in pledges. Especially if they say, “Let’s make a faith pledge.” That’s even worse, because there are many people who are straining under a sense of obligation to God because I made a pledge and they’re straining and being pressed by it, and it’s become a heavy yoke on them. A heavy burden. It’s not of the Lord. His yoke is easy. His burden is light. Peter said, “Let’s not put a heavy yoke on the people, which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear.” And yet the heavy yokes that men will put on you. But when the yoke gets hard and the burden is heavy, know that it’s not the Lord’s. It’s something that you have taken on yourself, or you have allowed people to put on you, but not really from God.
God puts His desires now in our heart so that we can honestly say with Jesus, “I delight to do thy will, O Lord.” I don’t know how many times during the week I just kick back and just start praising the Lord and thanking the Lord for all that He’s done for me. For the joy and blessedness of the life that I have. It’s just overwhelming to me. The goodness and the blessing of God. And every once in a while I’ll just go, “Oh no!” And if anybody’s around, they say, “What’s happening?” “Oh, I’m just thinking about how good God is. Unreal, beautiful, you know.” My son said, “Dad, why don’t you retire? You don’t have to keep going sixteen hours a day. Why don’t you retire? Kick back, Dad. Why don’t you move to Hawaii and retire? You can do it.” I said, “But what would I do?” I love so much doing what I’m doing. My wife gets after me because I want to come out here on my day off. She says, “You always figure out a way to go out there on your day off.” But it’s just such a joy, such a blessing. For God has written His law in my heart. It’s just the delight and the joy of life to be doing that which God has in mind for you to do. No heavy burden, no big strain. It’s a delight; it’s a joy.
And so God says, “I will write. I will give them a new heart, a heart of flesh. Take away that heart of stone.”
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them ( Eze 36:27 ).
Why? Because God’s Spirit is in me. That power of His Spirit to do His statutes, to keep His judgments.
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. I also will save you from all of your uncleanness: I will call for the corn, I will increase it, I won’t lay any famine upon you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree, increase the field, and ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD ( Eze 36:28-32 ),
Not because you’re so deserving or you’re so good, but it’s just God’s grace.
be it known unto you: be ashamed and be confounded for what you have done, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I also will cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden ( Eze 36:32-35 );
Oh, the Sharon valley, the Sharon plain, the valley of Megiddo, waste desolate marshland, they’re like the Garden of Eden, so lush and so beautiful. This prophecy is fulfilled. You can go over and just travel around Israel and see how verdant and productive that little land is.
the ruined cities have become fenced, and inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that which was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it ( Eze 36:35-36 ).
Well, you can’t get much stronger than that. And He did, He’s done it.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them as men like a flock. As the holy flock, and as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD ( Eze 36:37-38 ).
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Eze 36:1-7
ISRAEL’S RETURN TO PALESTINE;
AND THE NEW COVENANT
This chapter falls into two major divisions: (1) the external restoration of Israel to their homeland (Eze 36:1-15), and (2) the spiritual restoration of Israel (Eze 36:16-38). The smaller subdivisions will be noted below in our commentary.
THE DESTRUCTION OF ALL EDOM
Eze 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” (Eze 36:1; Eze 36:4; Eze 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. 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.
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 …” (Eze 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 …” (Eze 36:5). This emphasizes the connection with Ezekiel 35. “Edom here stands as a representative of all pagan nations.
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.
In contrast with Mount Seir the prophet placed the mountains of Israel, as he delivered the word of the Lord to them. They had been the scorn of their enemies, who had made them desolate and swallowed them up. Therefore Jehovah would proceed against these enemies, and deliver Israel from their oppression. As a result of such deliverance, the whole land, its mountains and its hills, its water courses and its valleys would be made abundantly fruitful. Men would be multiplied, the cities inhabited, and the waste places built.
In the midst of this promise of deliverance comes a great revelation of the secret of all: “Behold, I am for you.” The prophet was then charged to explain this prediction of ultimate restoration by first affirming that their own sin caused their suffering.
Then anew and with greater clearness, he declared the reason for their restoration. Jehovah had pity for His holy name, and both by reprobation and restoration moved toward the sanctification of His name among the nations.
The prophet then declared the method of their restoration. Gathered by God out of all countries, the people would be cleansed inwardly and spiritually, and be enabled to do right by being brought into a new fellowship with the Spirit of God.
The results of the restoration would be their repentance and the return of all that prosperity which through sin they had forfeited, and, consequently, a renewal of their witness to the nations round about of truth concerning Jehovah.
Chapter Thirty-six
Born Of Water And Of The Spirit
We have seen already that Israels glorious future as a nation settled in the land of Palestine under Messiahs beneficent and righteous rule, depends primarily upon the return of the remnant to God. Not until they are regenerated by the Spirit and the Word will they be prepared to enter into fulness of blessing. This comes out very clearly in the present chapter. Undoubtedly our blessed Lord had this portion of Scripture in mind when, after informing Nicodemus of the importance of new birth by water and the Spirit, He gently reproved him for his ignorance in not knowing these things; for had he but apprehended the teaching given here he would have understood what the Saviour meant when He spoke of the new birth of water and of the Spirit in order that one might enter into the kingdom of God.
The first part of our chapter has to do with the coming restoration of the people to the land-a restoration which, as we know, has begun even now, although in unbelief, and will never bring settled peace to Israel until they return in heart to the Lord Himself.
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 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 derision to the residue of the nations that are round about; therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Surely in the fire of My jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed My land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all 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 to 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-vers. 1-7.
Observe that in this message the prophet is commanded to address himself directly to the mountains of Israel: that is, he speaks rather to the land itself than to the people, and this of course that the people may learn from his message what God has in store for Palestine in the latter days. In the light of what has happened within the last thirty years we can almost apply these words literally to the present time, but they will have a more complete fulfilment later on. Already has that land, which lay desolate so long, begun to answer to the description given in this chapter of what God is yet to do for it.
Throughout the long centuries of Gentile dominion Palestine has been made desolate; the enemies of Israel have swallowed her up on every side, and one great power after another has dominated the land of which Jehovah said so long ago, The land shall not be sold for ever: for the land is Mine (Lev 25:23). Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Egyptian, Syrian, Roman, Turk, and other powers have fought for pos- session of Palestine. God has taken note of all the bitter enmity that these nations have manifested toward Israel, and He will never overlook the manner in which they have made Palestine a prey. Their attitude toward the land of the people of Jehovahs choice has stirred the fire of His jealousy, so that He has declared His judgments against all nations that seek to take possession of that land and bring His people into bondage. He has sworn in His indignation and concern for Israel, that as they have borne the shame of the nations so the nations themselves, who have been the cause of Israels distress, should be put to shame in the coming day of the Lord. At that time the land will be freed from the treading down of the Gentiles, and the remnant of Israel will return to it, a chastened and repentant people.
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 henceforth 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 thee hear 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-vers. 8-15.
Still addressing the mountains of Israel, Ezekiel predicts that in Gods due time great forests shall once more cover them and orchards yield their fruit to the people of Israel, for they are at hand to come.
For two millennia the mountains of Israel have to a great extent been denuded of their forests, only a few groves have remained of the once famous cedars of Lebanon, but during the past three decades, under the British mandate, a great movement has been set on foot for the reforestation of the mountains, and millions of trees have been planted-all this in preparation for the coming back to their own land of Gods ancient people.
If we did not know that God has something more for Israel than simply her restoration as a nation, we might think that these verses are now having a complete fulfilment. That which we see is in perfect accord with what is presented here, but it is simply a beginning of that which God has in mind, and which will have complete fulfilment after the great tribulation is past and Messiah has appeared in glory. Then the city shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded. That land which lay desolate, a great desert with just here and there a fruitful oasis, will increase in abundance with orchards, vineyards, dairy farms and other evidences of the divine pleasure. At the present time such renewed conditions are the wonder of the world, but we must remember that the time of Jacobs trouble is in the future. Much that is being done will be undone because .of the wars that are to ravage that land in the time of the end; but eventually all will be literally fulfilled as indicated here, and Israel shall possess their former inheritance and never again be bereaved of her children.
Because of the manifold conflicts in which Palestine has been involved, the nations have considered it a devourer of men, and it has seemed as though there was no possibility of Israels rehabilitation, but Gods Word is sure, and He will see that every prophecy is fulfilled to the letter. In the coming day of glory the land shall be able to sustain in abundant measure a great population who, through the entire kingdom age, will flourish in peace and happiness. The nations of the world will no longer reproach Israel nor cause them to stumble, but will recognize the fact that they are indeed the people of Jehovah.
All their past sufferings and those which they are yet to undergo in that awful hour of the great tribulation when the vials of the wrath of God will be poured out upon the earth, are the result of the sins to which they have given themselves.
Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they denied 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, whither 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 his land. But I had regard for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they went-vers. 16-21.
When God gave Palestine to Israel in the beginning, He warned them against following after the customs of the nations out of which He had delivered them, and of those nations that surrounded their territory, but they paid no heed to this, and so the land became defiled by their evil ways and their wicked actions. Because of this, God poured out His wrath upon them. Innocent blood had been shed in libation to their idols, thus defiling the land even more: therefore God gave them a baptism of blood in righteous retribution. He scattered them among the nations and dispersed them through the lands of the earth, judging them according to their evil ways. When thus scattered among the Gentiles, instead of returning in heart to Him, they profaned His holy name, even as the Apostle Paul tells us in the Epistle to the Romans, The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you (2:24). Though they had thus dishonored Him, He still preserved His watch over them and made it impossible for their enemies to destroy them utterly.
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, saith the Lord 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. 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 stony 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 all your uncleannesses: 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 tree, 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 your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations-vers. 22-31.
Not for their own sake was Jehovah to act but for the glory of His holy name which they had profaned. In order to sanctify that great name He pledged Himself to carry out the promise of restoration. When the day comes that His Word in this regard is fulfilled all nations will recognize the fact that Jehovah has kept His covenant, and thus His name will be sanctified before their eyes. Note the particularity of the promises in regard to their regeneration. The Lord has declared, I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then in accordance with our Lords words to Nicodemus, He declares, I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols. We know from other scriptures that this refers to the washing of water by the Word. In Psa 119:9 we read, Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy word. When that Word is received by Israel and takes effect, it will result in the cleansing of their ways and thus fit them to enter again into fellowship with God.
A new heart, He says, will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. This is the new birth of which Jesus spoke to Nicodemus. Had Nicodemus been as careful a student of the Prophets as his profession implied, being a doctor of the law, he would not have been bewildered when Jesus spoke of being born of water and of the Spirit. He would have understood that the Word of God was to be applied to the hearts and consciences of the people in the power of the Holy Spirit. The stony heart of unbelief would be taken from them, and God would give them a heart of flesh. Moreover, He promised to put His own Spirit within them and cause them to walk in His statutes and delight in His ordinances. Just as truly as Scripture teaches the second coming of Christ so it predicts the second coming of the Holy Spirit. He came at Pentecost to baptize believers into one Body and to dwell in the Church, empowering it for testimony. He will be poured out from on high in the day of Israels restoration, and will indwell the regenerated people who will then be gathered back to their land, never more to be rooted out of it. In that day God will own them as His people, and He will be their God. The Lo-Ammi sentence of Hos 1:9 will then be repealed, and those whom He refused to acknowledge as His own during the long dispersion will be recognized by Him again when they have come back to Him in confession of sin and recognition of His righteousness. Thus, they will be saved from all their uncleannesses, and it will be the delight of Jehovah to pour out upon them every temporal mercy as well as spiritual blessing: then they will look back over the years of their wanderings, and as they remember their evil ways and their doings, they will loathe themselves in their own sight because of these iniquities and abominations.
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 all 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 it, and I will do it-vers. 32-36.
All Gods dealings in regard to Israels future blessing will be in pure grace; nothing will be on the ground of merit, for they have merited only judgment. They will be ashamed and confounded as they reflect on their failures and His manifold mercies. The Lord will show by His care for them in temporal things how fully He has cleansed them from their iniquities and forgiven all their sins. Their cities will be inhabited; their waste places will be built; their former desolate lands will be covered with fruitful farms and orchards; and the nations that once looked upon them with contempt will exclaim with amazement as they behold the land that was once desolate, and as they see formerly ruined cities rebuilt and inhabited, It is become like the garden of Eden. It is an unimpeachable testimony to the power and the faithfulness of Jehovah the God of Israel, who never calls back His word, but who declares, I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and I will do it.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: For this, moreover, will I he 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 flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Jehovah-vers. 37, 38.
In view of these manifold promises of future blessing, God would have His people Israel take all these things to heart and turn to Him even now, confessing their sin and looking to Him to hasten the fulfilment of His Word. This should ever be the effect of prophetic testimony upon the soul. It was never the thought of God simply to occupy the people with future events, what we might call the political aspect of prophetic fulfilment, but rather that the promises made might exercise the heart of those who read them and humble them before God, turning them to Him in contrition of heart and confession of sin, that thus they might enter even now into the reality of the blessedness of iniquities forgiven, and fellowship with God enjoyed.
Eze 36:16-17
I. This portion of Scripture, extending onwards from the sixteenth verse, presents an epitome or outline of the Gospel. (1) In Eze 36:17 we have man sinning. (2) In Eze 36:18 we have man suffering. (3) In Eze 36:19 man appears an object of mercy, but I had pity. (4) In Eze 36:22 man is an object of free mercy-mercy without merit; 1 do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel. (5) In Eze 36:24 man’s salvation is resolved on. (6) In Eze 36:25 man is justified. (7) In Eze 36:26-27, man is renewed and sanctified. (8) In Eze 36:28 man is restored to the place and privileges which he forfeited by his sins.
II. Notice the party who is commissioned to deliver God’s message. “Son of man,” says the Lord. “Son of man” is so constantly sounded both in the ears of Ezekiel and in ours that it forces on our attention this remarkable fact that God deals with man through the instrumentality of man, and by men communicates His will to men. In this arrangement observe- (1) The kindness of God to man; (2) the honour conferred on man; (3) the wisdom of God.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 1.
Eze 36:17
I. Look at man sinning. “Ye have defiled the land.” The text sets sin before us as a defilement, and it is the only thing that in the eye of God does deform and defile us.
II. Look at the nature of the defilement. (1) It is internal. (2) It is universal. (3) It is incurable.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 23.
Leaving the question of original, to speak of actual, sin we remark:-
I. Apart from derived sin, we have personal sins to answer for.
II. The guilt of these actual sins is our own.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 43.
Reference: Eze 36:17.-T. Guthrie, Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 42.
Eze 36:18-19
Assuming that God is love, it may be asked, How does that harmonise with the text? How is it to be reconciled with words where God represents Himself as pouring down His fury like a thunder-shower, and scattering His people in a storm of indignation, as light and worthless chaff blown away upon the wind. How, it may be asked, does this consist with God’s love and mercy? Now, there is no greater mistake than to imagine that God, as a God of justice and a God of mercy, stands in antagonism to Himself. It is not mercy, but injustice, which is irreconcilable with justice. It is cruelty, not justice, that stands opposed to mercy. Like two streams, which unite their waters to form a common river, justice and mercy are combined in the work of redemption. On Calvary, mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace embrace each other. Observe-
I. That God is slow to punish. He does punish; He shall punish; with reverence be it spoken, He must punish. Yet no hand of clock goes so slow as God’s hand of vengeance. Where, when God’s anger has burned hottest, was it ever known that judgment trod on the heels of sin? A period always intervenes, room is given for remonstrance on God’s part and repentance upon ours. The stroke of judgment is indeed like the stroke of lightning, irresistible, fatal; it kills-kills in the twinkling of an eye. But the clouds from which it flashes are slow to gather, and thicken by degrees; and he must be deeply engaged with the pleasures, or engrossed in the business, of the world, whom the flash and peal surprise. Heeded or unheeded, many are the warnings you get from God.
II. Observe how God punished His ancient people. Look at Judah sitting amid the ruins of Jerusalem, her temple without a worshipper and her streets choked with the dead; look at that bound, weeping, bleeding remnant of a nation, toiling on its way to Babylon, and may I not warn you with the Apostle: “If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He spare not thee”?
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 60.
Although the permission of sin is a mystery, the fact of its punishment is no mystery at all; for while every answer to the question, How did God permit sin? leaves us unsatisfied, to my mind nothing is plainer than this, that, whatever was His reason for permitting it to exist, God could not permit it to exist unpunished. In proof of this, I observe-
I. The truth of God requires the punishment of sin. “Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little,” God has recorded His irrevocable resolution, not in one but in a hundred passages, and reiterated in a thousand ways the awful sentence: “The soul that sinneth it shall die.”
II. The love of God requires that sin should be punished. Divine love is no blind divinity: that love being as wise as tender, sinners may rest assured, that out of mere pity to them, God will neither sacrifice the interests, nor peril the happiness, of His people. Love herself,-bleeding, dying, redeeming love-with her own hand will bar the door of heaven, and from its happy, holy precincts exclude all that could hurt or defile.
III. Unless sin is to be awfully punished, the language of Scripture appears extravagant.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 79.
Eze 36:22
The text divides itself into two branches: first, what does not; secondly, what does; move God to save us. To the first question our answer is-Not anything in us; to the second-His regard to His own holy Name.
I. The doctrine that God is not moved to save man by any merit or excellence of his, is a truth of the highest importance and consequence to sinners. Man must be emptied of self before he can be filled with grace. We must be stripped of our rags, before we can be clothed with righteousness; we must be unclothed, that we may be clothed upon; wounded, that we may be healed; killed, that we may be made alive; buried in disgrace, that we may rise in grace.
II. It is as important for the saint as for the sinner to remember that he is not saved through personal merit or for his own sake. When age has stiffened its bark and fibres, if you bend a branch into a new direction, it is long before it loses the tendency to resume its old position. Even so, when God has laid hands upon us, and grace has given our earthly soul a heavenward bent, how prone it is to start back again! Who, that has endeavoured to keep his heart with diligence, has not felt and mourned over the tendency to be working out a righteousness of his own, to be pleased with himself, and, by taking some satisfaction from his own merits, to undervalue those of Christ?
III. This doctrine, while it keeps the saint humble, will help to make him holy. As the tree grows best skyward that grows most downward, the lower the saint grows in humility. the higher he grows in holiness. Piety and pride are not less opposed to each other than light and darkness.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 116.
Eze 36:22
In entering upon the question, What moved God to save man? let us-
I. Attend to the expression “My Name’s sake.” This is a most comprehensive term. It indicates much more that what, in common language, is involved in a name. The Name of God comprehends everything which directly or remotely affects the Divine honour and glory.
II. We are to understand that the motive which moved God to save man, was regard to His own glory. Grace glorifies man, no doubt; but for what purpose? that he may glorify God. It saves man, but saves him that he may sing, not his own praises, but a Saviour’s. It exalts man, but exalts him that, like an exhalation, sun-drawn from the ground and raised to heaven, each of us may form a sparkling drop in the bow which encircles the head that God crowns with glory, and man once crowned with thorns.
III. Observe, that in saving man for His “holy Name’s sake,” or for His own honour and glory, God exhibits the mercy, holiness, love, and other attributes of the Godhead. The truth is, that God saves man for much the same reasons as at first He made him. The whole fabric of creation appears to prove that Jehovah delights in the evolution of His powers, in the display of His wisdom, love, and goodness; and just as it is to the delight which God enjoys in the exercise of them that we owe this beautiful creation, so it is to His delight in the exercise of His pity, love, and mercy, that we owe salvation, with all its blessings.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 99.
Eze 36:23
I. The mercy of God is glorified in redemption.
II. In redemption, God is glorified in the complete discomforture of all His and our enemies. (1) He is glorified by Satan’s defeat. (2) He is glorified by the time and manner of it. (3) He is glorified in the instrument of that defeat.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 167.
Eze 36:23-24
Passing over the special application of these words to the Jews and looking at them in their prophetical connection with the scheme of redemption, I remark-
I. That God might have vindicated His honour and sanctified His Name in our destruction. Two methods of glorifying His Name are open to God. He is free to choose either; but by the one or the other way He will exact His full tale of glory from every man. In Egypt, for instance, He was glorified in the high-handed destruction of His enemies; and in the same land, by the high-handed salvation of His people. He might, at the fall, have vindicated His justice by swift and unsparing vengeance-by destroying the whole human family. He did so, in the case of fallen angels. He might have meted out the same measure to fallen men.
II. God sanctifies His Name and glorifies Himself in our redemption. It is easy to destroy-to destroy character, virtue, life, anything. It needs but a devil to ruin the spirit, but it needs a Divinity to redeem it. It needs but a villain to steal virtue, it needs a Divine power to restore the stolen jewel. As man’s glory is more illustrated by curing than by killing, so God’s glory is more pre-eminent in our redemption than it had been in our final and everlasting ruin.
III. The scheme of redemption is eminently illustrative of the attributes of Jehovah. It illustrates (1) His power, (2) His wisdom, (3) His holiness, (4) His justice.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, pp. 137, 151.
Eze 36:24
I. In carrying out the work of redemption, God will call His people out of the world.
II. The power of Divine grace is strikingly displayed in this effectual calling.
III. God will make up the number of His people. “I will gather you out of all countries.”
IV. We are assured that God will bring all His people to glory, by the fact that His own honour, as well as their welfare, is concerned in the matter.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 185.
Eze 36:25
I. God’s people are not chosen because they are holy; they are chosen that they may become holy.
II. In redemption, the saved are not justified by themselves, but by God.
III. We are not justified or cleansed from the guilt of sin through the administration or efficacy of any outward ordinance.
IV. We are justified, or cleansed from the guilt of sin by the blood of Christ. “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, pp. 205, 224.
Reference: Eze 36:25.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1921.
Eze 36:26
I. The old heart is taken away and a new one put in its place. The substitution of one heart for another implies an entire change in the character and current of our affections. Now a change may be simply a reform, or extending farther, it may pass into a revolution. The spiritual change, which we call conversion, is not a mere reform. It is a revolution. It changes the heart, the habits, the eternal destiny of an immortal being. For the old mischievous laws which it repeals, it introduces a new code of statutes; it changes the reigning dynasty, wrenches the sceptre from a usurper’s hand, and banishing him forth of the kingdom, in restoring the throne to God, restores it to its rightful monarch.
II. Consider the view which our text gives of the natural heart. It is a heart of stone. “I will take the stony heart out of your flesh.” Notice some of the characteristic properties of a stone. (1) A stone is cold. But what stone so cold as that in man’s breast? Sin has quenched a fire that once burned bright and holy there, and has left nothing now on that chill hearth, but embers and ashes-cold as death. (2) A stone is hard. Fire melts wax, but not stone; water softens clay, but not stone; a hammer bends the stubborn iron, but not stone. Stone resists these influences; and emblem of a heart crushed, but not sanctified by affliction, it may be shattered into fragments or ground to powder, yet its atoms are as hard as ever. (3) A stone is dead. It has no vitality, no feeling, no power of motion. It lies where it is laid; speak to it, it returns no answer; weep to it, it sheds no tears; image of a lost and loved one, it feels not the grief that itself can move. How many sit in the house of God as unmoved! Careless as spectators who have no concern in what takes place before them, they take no interest in anything that was done on Calvary; one would think it is of stones, and yet it is of living men that these words are spoken: “Having eyes, they see not; having ears, they hear not; neither do they understand.” T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 268.
Eze 36:26
(with 2Co 5:17, and Rev 21:5)
I. Human hearts unappeasably cry out after change. Something new we all need, and because we need, we crave for it; and what we crave after, we hope for. The old we have tried, and it is not enough. In the future there may be what we need, and so long as there is a future, there is hope; but the past is dead. Now the best lesson which the years can teach us is, perhaps, this one, that the new thing we need is, not a new world, but a new self. No change can count for much to a man save one which changes him.
II. At this point the Gospel meets us. It is the singular pretension of the Christian Gospel that it does make men new. It professes to alter character, not as all other religious and ethical systems in the world have done, by mere influence of reason or of motives, or by a discipline of the flesh; it professes to alter human character by altering human nature. The Gospel is a message from Him who made us, that He is among us re-making us. Out of the fact of the Incarnation springs the hope of our renewal. God now is not outside of mankind, but inside. From the inside He can work and does work, renewingly. A race which includes God need not despair of Divine life; it can be divinely re-created from within itself. “The Head of every man is Christ.” He that is in Christ is a new creature. Attach yourself to Him; hang on by Him. He is God in man, renewing man; and He will renew you in this new year.
III. Let us stir ourselves up to compare the life we are this day leading with the life we should lead were we made new by the Holy Ghost. Set the one against the other. Spiritual things are distasteful, and we drag ourselves to religious duty; we ought to rejoice in the Lord and run in His pleasant paths. This world absorbs and conquers us; we ought to rule it and use it for heaven. Internal restlessness and dissatisfaction with ourselves gnaw our hearts, but the saints have peace. “A new heart will I give you.” Do we not need it? Shall we not, every one of us, go to this daring much-promising Man, who claims to regenerate his fellows, and say: “Never men needed this renewing more than we do. Give us a new temper and a new spirit; yea, a new self, Lord, like Thyself.”
IV. Change the man and you change his world. The new self will make all around it as good as new, though no actual change should pass on it; for, to a very wonderful extent, a man creates his own world.
J. Oswald Dykes, Sermons, p. 249.
I. When God gives a new heart, our affections are engaged in religion. The Gospel is accommodated to our nature; its light is adapted to our darkness; its mercy to our misery; its pardon to our guilt; its comforts to our griefs, and in substituting the love of Christ for the love of sin, in giving us an object to love, it meets our constitution and satisfies the strongest cravings of our nature. It engages our affections, and in taking away an old heart, supplies its place with a new one and a better.
II. Consider the new heart. It mainly consists in a change of the affections as they regard spiritual objects. In obedience to a Divine impulse, their course is not only in a different, but in a contrary, direction; for the grace of God works such a complete change of feeling, that what was once hated you now love, and what was once loved you now loathe; you fly from what you once courted, and pursue what you once shunned.
III. In conversion God gives a new spirit. By this change (1) the understanding and judgment are enlightened; (2) the will is renewed; (3) the temper and disposition are changed and sanctified.
IV. In conversion God gives a heart of flesh. In conversion a man gets (1 a warm heart; (2) a soft heart; (3) a living heart.
V. By conversion man is ennobled.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 287.
References: Eze 36:26.-T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 247; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 62; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iv., No. 212; vol. viii., No. 456; vol. xix., No. 1129; Ibid., Evening by Evening, p. 230; D. B. James, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vi., p. 125. Eze 36:26, Eze 36:27.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1046; J. Sherman, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 13.
Eze 36:27
In considering the new life which the believer lives in obedience to the law of God, I remark:
I. It is a willing obedience. Many movements take place in the universe independent of any will but that of God. The sap ascends the tree, the planets revolve round the sun, the stars rise and set in the heavens, the tides flow and ebb upon our shores, and nature walks in God’s statutes, keeping His judgments and doing them, moved to obedience by no will but His. So soon, however, as, leaving inaminate matter below, we ascend into those regions where mind or even instinct and matter are united, we discover a beautiful and benevolent law, by virtue of which God at once secures the happiness and provides for the welfare of His creatures. He so orders it that their will is in perfect harmony with their work; their inclinations with their interests; and their instincts with the functions which they are called on to perform. The nature of the redeemed is so accommodated to the state of redemption, their wishes are so fitted to their wants, their hopes to their prospects, their aspirations to their honours, and their will to their works, that they would be less content to return to polluted pleasures than the beautiful butterfly to be stripped of its silken wings, and condemned to pass its days amid the old foul garbage, its former food.
II. This is a progressive obedience. To “walk” is expressive of progress in grace. (1) In this image God’s people find comfort and encouragement. (2) This image stimulates to exertion, as well as comforts under failure.
III. This willing and progressive obedience is the sign and seal of salvation. The descent of the Spirit is still the evidence of sonship; its sign, however, is not a dove perched upon the heads of God’s people, but the dove nestled within their hearts. By His Spirit God creates them “anew in Christ Jesus unto good works;” and by these-by the fruits of a holy life, by the joys of a Holy Ghost, by the advancing stages of a holy progress, His Spirit witnesses with their spirit that they are sons of God. A witness this as certain, and therefore as satisfactory, as the voice of the skies, or the verdict of final judgment.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 329.
Eze 36:27
I. The Holy Spirit is the great agent in conversion and sanctification. Man cannot be saved unless elected, nor elected without the Father; nor saved unless redeemed, nor redeemed without the Son; nor saved unless converted, nor converted without the Spirit. Our necessities are those of the cripple-of that man who, for thirty years, sat uncured by Bethesda’s pool, nor took his anxious eyes off the water as he waited for its first stir and ruffle. Many a time the cripple had seen the sudden spring, and heard the loud plunge, as some neighbour flashed into the water; and as the cured left the scene, many a time had he followed them with envious eyes. Even so, although seated by the fountain, where sins are lost and sinners washed, we need some one, so to speak, to help us in. In the words of Paul we are “without strength,” and it is to help us to seek, to believe in, to love-in one word, to embrace the Saviour-that God puts His Spirit within us. For this end He fulfils the promise, “My grace shall be sufficient for thee,” and my strength made perfect in weakness.
II. God’s Spirit is not only given to His people, but dwells in them. Speaking of the man that loves Him, our Lord said, “We will come unto him.” This promise is one which He fulfils in the daily communications of His word and spirit. Earth has no lovers who meet so often as Jesus and His bride. The lowliest and poorest Christian God honours with daily visits.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 313.
References: Eze 36:30, Eze 36:31.-Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Ecclesiastes to Malachi, p. 291. Eze 36:32.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. v., No. 233.
Eze 36:36
I. The text announces a most important truth.
II. This truth imparts certain comforts to a true Christian. (1) Through his confidence in this truth the believer commits all his earthly cares to God. (2) Through his confidence in the truth of the text the believer is sustained amid the trials of life. (3) Through his confidence in the truth of the text the believer cheerfully hopes and patiently waits for heaven.
III. Both nature and providence illustrate the truth of my text.
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 410.
Reference: Eze 36:36.-J. Bardsley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 305.
Eze 36:36-37
I. Prayer is founded on knowledge. Before we can speak to God we must know God. “How shall they call,” the Apostle asks, “on Him in whom they have not believed?” Even the prayer of the heathen, so far as it is prayer, rests upon knowledge. (1) Let the man who would pray aright begin by studying his Bible. Let him first acquaint himself with God, and then speak to Him. The Word of God tells us in a thousand manners what He is in Himself, and what He is in His doings towards the children of men. He who would ask of God must first know God, and he must carry that knowledge into the asking. He must never ask of God anything which it would contradict the character of God to grant. The prayer which presupposes knowledge must also be a prayer which recognizes and remembers it. (3) In Christ, God is revealed; and upon the knowledge of Christ, therefore, is prayer to God founded. The words with which Christian supplication is always winged and speeded-through Jesus Christ our Lord-are a perpetual memento of that first condition of prayer, that it be founded on the true knowledge of God, and carry that knowledge with it to the mercy-seat of God’s Presence.
II. Prayer founded on knowledge is prompted by desire. The man who asks of God must desire too.
III. Prayer, founded on knowledge and prompted by desire, must be bounded by promise. The promise of which we speak is no single, separate utterance; no number, no multitude, of bare, literal engagements, which must be found somewhere in the bond, and then rehearsed by page and clause, as the justification of the particular demand. The promise of God, like the revelation of God, like the counsel of God, like the character of God, is at once ample to magnificence and simple even to unity. There is no limit to prayer but promise, and no limit to promise but the soul’s good.
C. J. Vaughan, Voices of the Prophets, p. 158.
Eze 36:37
The text summons us to prayer. Constant prayer, unceasing watchfulness are what our interests imperatively demand. These the Christian life requires, and these the crown of redemption rewards.
I. Nature itself teaches us to pray. Like our intuitive belief in the existence of the soul, or in man’s responsibility, there seems to be lodged in every man’s breast, what I may call an instinct to pray, and an intuitive belief in the efficacy of prayer. Prayer must be natural, because it is universal. Man is, as it were, instinctively moved to cast himself into the arms of God, to seek Divine help in times of danger, and in times of sorrow to weep on the bosom of a Father who is in heaven.
II. Notice some difficulties connected with this duty. (1)The decrees of God, say some, render prayer useless. Are not all things, they ask, fixed by these decrees-irrevocably fixed? This objection is not honestly, at least not intelligently, entertained by any man. For, if the objection is good against prayer, it is good against many things besides. If it stops action in the direction of prayer,-it ought to stop the wheels of our daily business. If a good objection against prayer, it is an equally good objection to sowing, ploughing, taking meat or medicine, and a thousand other things. (2) Others, more earnest and honest, reading that “without faith it is impossible to please God,” say that from want of faith, their prayers must be useless. Most false reasoning. The Apostle says, “I will that men pray everywhere.” “God will have all men to be saved.” We take the simple word, nor trouble ourselves about the metaphysics of the question.
III. Prayer must be earnest. Prayers without wishes are like birds without wings; while the eagle soars away to heaven, these never leave the ground. If you would have your prayers accepted, they must be arrows shot from the heart.
IV. Prayer is powerful. Prayer changes impotence into omnipotence; for, commanding the resources of divinity, there is nothing it cannot do, and there is nothing it need want. It has just two limits. The first is that its range is confined to the promises; the second, that God will grant or deny our requests as is best for His glory and our good.
V. Prayer is confident. “Jesus, our High Priest, has entered within the veil, and having reconciled us to God, we have boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.”
T. Guthrie, The Gospel in Ezekiel, p. 369.
References: Eze 36:37.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. iii. No. 138; Ibid., Morning by Morning, p. 50; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ix., p. 187. Eze 36:37, Eze 36:38.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxii., No. 1304; J. Sherman, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 347.
Eze 36:1-38. With this chapter the great prophetic utterances of Ezekiel begin concerning the future restoration and blessing of Israel. From here on to the end of the book, all is still unfulfilled, nor can it be fulfilled until the Lord Jesus Christ comes again and is enthroned as King. The first seven verses (Eze 36:1-7)announce once more the future judgment of Israels enemies. Then comes the promised return to the land Eze 36:8-15. The mountains of Israel, barren so long, shall be inhabited again. Israels past sins and chastisement are reviewed in Eze 36:16-20, and then comes that great message of restoration and blessing through grace in that day when their once rejected King returns and they bow before Him. The characteristic words in Eze 36:23-28 are the words I will do. It is the word of sovereign grace. Eighteen times Jehovah says what He will do. They are the I wills of Israels hope and coming glory.
He will gather them from among the nations and all countries and bring them back to their own land. Only a superficial expositor can speak of a fulfillment when they returned from Babylon. But even if this were so, though it is not, the verses which follow have never been fulfilled in the past. The cleansing of the nation is next promised: I will sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean. It refers us to the water mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, which was sprinkled with a hyssop on the unclean, typifying the precious blood of Christ in its cleansing power Heb 9:13-28; Heb 10:22. Thus, when the people of Israel believe on Him and look upon Him whom they pierced Zec 12:10, they will be cleansed. In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness Zec 13:1. Then follows the promise of the new birth of Israel. A new heart will I also give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. The stony heart is to be taken away and they will receive a heart of flesh. Our Lord had this passage in mind when He talked with Nicodemus about the new birth. Nicodemus, the teacher in Israel, was ignorant of the fact that this new birth for Israel is necessary in order to be in that coming kingdom and to receive its blessings. Therefore the Lord said to him, If I have told you earthly things (about Israel and the new birth as the way into the kingdom) and ye believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? (the heavenly blessings which follow His sacrificial death).
A beautiful order is discernible in this and the succeeding prophecies:
(1) Restoration of the land Eze 36:1-15.
(2) of the people Eze 36:16 to Eze 37:28.
(3) judgment on Israel’s enemies. Eze 38:1 to Eze 39:24. Afterward follows that which concerns the worship of Jehovah that He may dwell amongst His people.
the mountains: Eze 6:2, Eze 6:3, Eze 33:28, Eze 34:14, Eze 37:22
hear: Eze 36:4, Eze 36:8, Eze 20:47, Eze 37:4, Jer 22:29
Reciprocal: Lev 26:42 – and I will Jos 11:16 – the mountain 1Ki 13:2 – O altar Psa 148:9 – Mountains Isa 44:23 – glorified Jer 29:11 – thoughts Jer 29:14 – and I will turn Eze 18:2 – the land Eze 19:9 – that his Eze 21:2 – against Eze 38:8 – the mountains Mic 6:1 – contend
Eze 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.
Section 3 (Eze 36:1-38; Eze 37:1-28).
Restoration and reorganization.
We have now the work of restoration, of reorganization, accomplished first of all in the land once more becoming Israel’s. Jehovah claims it from its would-be possessors, and gives it back to Israel. But, that they may enjoy it, a deeper work must be done in the nation itself, and thus we have the Lord sprinkling clean water upon them to make them clean, and putting within them a new heart and a new spirit. In the third place we have the resurrection of the nation as such, their political resurrection, the embodiment in a fitting manner of the new life; and for this Judah and Ephraim, so long sundered, must come together. God can lose nothing of that which, through grace, is now to be owned as His. There must be no final triumph of the power of evil anywhere. The work of restoration is thus to be completed; but the seal of their new condition and the perfect blessing which is to be theirs forever -the return of the glory of God, which Ezekiel had seen depart, but which henceforth is to be in brighter display in the restored city -remains yet to be given us. It has a place by itself, therefore, as the crown of their blessed condition when the city itself shall be known upon earth as the dwelling-place of God with man, Jehovah Shammah, “The Lord is there.”
1. We have, first of all, Jehovah’s word to the land itself. This is in plain connection with the claim which the Edomite enemy had made to possess it. It must be vindicated from this reproach, therefore. The land is really Jehovah’s land, and He certainly has never forfeited it, and will never give it up to those who are His enemies. Israel are to possess it upon the surest ground possible -that of God’s grace. They are to be sojourners with Him, to be His guests, and thus to know all the resources of His hand, as well as the full protection necessitated by this relationship.
Thus Ezekiel is instructed now to prophesy to 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 have become ours in possession: therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because, yea, because they have made you desolate, and have swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession to the remnant of the nations, and ye are taken up on the lips of talkers, and the defamation of the people; therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah.” These mountains have been addressed before, in the sixth chapter, but in far other terms. They were then the seats of an idolatry which dared to lift its head in a special manner in the high places of the land. Desolation had come upon them, therefore; and the enemy had taken it up as a reproach both to them and to Jehovah Himself. But these mountains of Israel, very far from being what we have seen Mount Seir to be (the indication of the folly of Esau’s choice and the barrenness of the portion which had thus become his own), were characteristically verdant and fruitful mountains, the places of pasture for the flock; they also were in testimony to the condition of a people whom Jehovah owned as His: round about whom He stood as the mountains round about Jerusalem. Their foundations must be upon the earth, but their tops were lifted high into the light and glory of heaven. How different from their condition since! -a reproach, in their present barrenness, in the sight of those that look upon them -the types, as so many suppose, of the hopeless forfeiture of all things by the people to whom they belonged! How often Jehovah declared here that He has pledged Himself by His never-to-be-broken word, to their revival!
That word therefore takes in all the land: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and to the hills, to the water-courses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and the cities that are forsaken, which have become a prey and a derision to the remnant of the nations that are round about; therefore, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the remnant of the nations, and against the whole of Edom who have appointed my land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with spite of soul, to take possession of it for a prey.” This is all that the enemy could do. Make it yield its fruit to him, he could not; and already we see this in the long Sabbaths in which the land has rested while Israel has been banished from it. To none of the nations would it yield its strength, and the people who are in present possession are just those who can be readily characterized as mere plunderers, and nothing else. But this suits, in the meanwhile, Jehovah’s purpose. With all this, they are as it were, His watchmen against the intrusion of those who might take it up with more serious intent to make their own out of it. The hordes that sweep over it still, the government under which it remains and under which everything like prosperity is impossible, all this is but the sign that the land is still waiting for her true inhabitants.
The prophet is instructed, therefore, to speak to the mountains and to the hills, to the water-courses and to the valleys, and to declare to them that they shall yet shoot forth their branches and yield their fruit to His people Israel, as a people who are at His hand, ready to come. The people, as we know, are kept as distinct as ever they were, under the same repression meanwhile as their land has been. Jerusalem is to “be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” If we see, as surely we do see now, the people gathering back, and the land sought to by them for a new occupation, we have in all this the proof that God is ready to turn His face towards them and to their land alike. It would then be seen far other than as the eye of the stranger has seen and the scoff of the infidel has declared it, a land that has but devoured its inhabitants. It is to be, as the faithfulness of God is pledged to make it, a land that shall be “the glory of all lands,” a land upon which His eye rests continually: “I will multiply men upon you -all the house of Israel, the whole of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built, and I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and be fruitful.” Thus has God pledged Himself; and, as in other cases, if He restore it is not merely to the old fruitfulness, to the condition at the beginning, but to one far better than at the beginning. The reproach of the nations shall be entirely removed from it, and His glory shall be more fully seen than ever where men have assumed to see His dishonor.
2. The prophet now turns from the land to the people themselves. The condition of the land was but the reflection of their own condition. If Joshua sees the people flee before their enemies, and in astonishment and dismay falls before God to ask, “And what wilt Thou do for thy great name?” the sufficient and only answer is, “Israel hath sinned.” But Israel has resisted the lesson of their scattered condition, and have turned it even into a matter of self-glorying as if it were the sins of others that they were bearing and making atonement for! Thus they have interpreted Isa 53:1-12. God here asserts against them that it is judgment on account of their condition. They have defiled the land with their idolatry, and He scattered them among the nations, and they have been dispersed through the countries. According to their ways and according to their doings He has judged them: nor can they say that it was for their sin before they were carried captive into Babylon, but that since then they have been clear. They were, in fact, permitted to go back into their land, in order that they might, with the lesson of their past before them, receive the One who alone could atone for the iniquities they had committed. But to these sins they have added the crowning sin of rejecting Him who came to them, afore-announced by the prophets, with the signs and wonders with which God sealed the testimony that He gave. Thus they have bought for themselves an Aceldama with the price of His betrayal. Thank God, for this also there can be and will be forgiveness; for grace shall yet manifest itself for them above all their sins! But how vain to plead that that to which the prophet looks on here, was the termination of their scattered condition -a condition which was expressly the judgment for their sins -when we go on to that which follows here! Have they ever been taken from among the nations and gathered out from all the countries and brought to their own land? Have they ever, with a new heart and a new spirit, entered upon the possession of that from which they are no more to be alienated? It is impossible honestly to read a prophecy such as we have here and not to see that the scattering which began at Babylon has never really come to its end for God; but that they are still abiding, as Hosea declared they should abide, “many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim” (Hos 3:4). Their idolatrous ensigns have indeed passed from them; but recover themselves from that in which their sins have involved them, they never can until, as another prophet has declared, “they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for an only son . . . In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness”(Zec 12:10; Zec 13:1). God will fulfil His word, but only in His appointed way, and the cleansing of His people can only come when He sprinkles upon them that “clean water” which, as a type of old, declared the virtue of a sacrifice before completed -not a work of atonement as then newly wrought, but the verity of that which, blessed be God, still abides for them when faith in them shall be able to claim it.
There is a remarkable connection here between the 51st psalm and the prophet’s declaration. This is the answer from God to their prayer, as it is prophetically given us in the psalm referred to. The prayer is: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psa 51:7; Psa 51:10). Put this in connection with the promise here: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean . . . and I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit will I put within you.” How plainly the one corresponds to the other, while there is indeed, as one might expect, a greater fulness in the answer than in the prayer! That this 51st psalm is, in fact, the voice of the people when they shall turn to God in the latter days, has been seen by many, and the proof of it has been fully given elsewhere. (See Psa 51:1-19, Notes.) It was David’s voice that utters it, no doubt, but the personal application to himself is plainly not all, and this “Purge me with hyssop” clearly refers to the language in Ezekiel -to that sprinkling which is for cleansing from defilement with the dead, and speaks of a more terrible defilement of the people, and of God’s provision for it in a sacrifice whose virtue, as already said, still abides for them. It is like that other remarkable ordinance for the day of atonement, when the sins of the people are carried away by the scape-goat, which does not make atonement for them, but which is identified with an atonement already made. (See Lev 16:1-34, Notes.) The priest has carried in the blood of the offering for them -the blood of the first goat; but no answer as to it comes forth for them while the priest is himself hidden in the sanctuary into which he is entered. When he comes out again, the scapegoat (identified with the first goat in the work which has been accomplished before, and which is not repeated) carries away the iniquities of the nation to a land cut off. Thus, in fact, Israel will be met by the power and virtue of an atonement made before our Great High Priest passed into heaven. There He remains, and so long as He remains there hidden from them, Israel have practically no atonement for them nationally. Their sins are not put away.
How perfectly this is in keeping with the sprinkling of water in which are the ashes of a sacrifice before offered -the memorial of a before-accomplished work. It is then only that this word is carried out: “From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you.” They abide as yet under the condemnation of their sins, as it is plain that nationally a new heart and a new spirit, which are the accompaniment of this, have never yet become theirs. Had it been so, that which follows immediately here would have taken place, and a fulness of blessing would be theirs, in which their whole condition would bear witness to the reality of what God is yet to do for them. It is not mere reformation; it is no work such as man can perform. If David witnesses that God must create in him a clean heart, so the promise here declares: “I will give you a new heart.” It is the new heart that He will give which can alone alter their condition, a new heart which is itself the effect of a new spirit put within them.
The words at once remind us of the Lord’s declaration to Nicodemus, that the Israelite also needed to be born again in order to inherit the kingdom of God. Water and Spirit the Lord puts together in these words: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” “born of the Spirit” implies, therefore, a new spirit in the person so born -a new and divine nature from the Almighty Worker of every true work that has ever been done in man. (See Joh 3:1-36, Notes.)
For this, the heart of stone must be taken out of the flesh, that a heart of flesh -a true feeling and tender heart -may be theirs. To this is added the blessed assurance: “I will put my Spirit within you,” and thus, as the glory rests upon Jerusalem itself in the days that we are so shortly to contemplate, there is to be for all His saved among the people a personal assurance of this glorious reality. “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments and do them.” Then follows that for which only now they are fit, and are secure in it: “Ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”
The increase of the land follows as a necessary consequence. Israel’s portion is in the earth, and therefore nature itself is a witness to the relation in which they stand to God. It has been largely a witness against them, as we know. It is yet to bear testimony of another kind. Christians are taken out of the world, and are strangers and pilgrims in it: their portion is elsewhere. But, alas, with Christians also there can be a reproach of famine, which is the index of how they stand with God. How many have gone down to Egypt, as Abraham did of old, because of a famine in their own things! Our land is indeed “the glory of all lands;” but it is, above all things, a dependent land, and if we are not in communion with God we have less than any others; for the world is a wilderness for us, however much we may dream of plenty in it, while our own portion, though not denied us, surely, can yet be found only by those who dwell in it. The word is still for us, “Dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.” It is not so much the knowledge of the evil we have brought upon ourselves that brings repentance, but, in its full character, it is the wonder of the Lord’s grace that does so; as the apostle says, ‘ The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance,” so it will be when Israel shall have been brought back into their land by the mercy of God, and find His abundant welcome in the light of His glorious presence. They shall indeed remember their evil ways and their doings that were not good, and loathe themselves for their iniquities and abominations.
Meanwhile God is acting for Himself, as He declares here. He is in a measure doing in Israel what we shall know in a still brighter scene and in all its fulness, when God shall show “the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” It is not only for their sakes or for our sakes that God takes up any, but He delights to make Himself known in all that He is -the depths of the riches of His wisdom as well as of His love. Thus He has a sure ground upon which to act, and we have an unchallengeable blessing,which never can be forfeited. If God is going to show “the exceeding riches of His grace,” where can we limit that? What wondrous revelations are implied here! It is good, while we are thinking of all the prophet here sets before us, to realize that they are but the figures of the things which belong to us -not indeed in the sense in which so many would make them figures, as depriving Israel of their just title to them, for the apostle of the Gentiles has assured us that these Old Testament promises belong to his “kinsmen according to the flesh:” it seems idle, therefore, to discuss whether these promises do belong to Israel. The earth at that time will be, as it were, a reflection of the heavens that are opened over it. But we shall have to trace this more fully in our prophet when we reach the final chapters. There is no confusion between the earthly and the heavenly spheres of blessing, and there is no excuse for any making confusion. Correspondence there is indeed, and we shall find many a lesson in seeking to trace this.
God has not forgotten man and the earth, and He is not going to drop it out of sight and have done with it. It is the scene of His own Son’s sufferings, and the earth itself has been purchased by Him. It shall therefore be redeemed, not done away. The millennial blessing itself is but a step to the full glory of it. It is its regeneration time, according to the Word elsewhere (Mat 19:28), the time when evil shall be put down and righteousness shall rule, but not yet the time when it will be utterly banished. That there comes between this and the time of full blessing, the passing away of the heavens and earth to be replaced by new heavens and a new earth, has been misapprehended so as to make a great mistake in the way. The earth passes -is to be changed -just as the body passes from the corruptible to the incorruptible, from the state of dishonor which sin has caused, to the state of glory; but the identification of the risen man with the man who toiled and suffered and sinned upon earth is no less complete on this account. We speak of a “new man” when we do not mean another man in the strict sense of the word; so we speak of “a new earth” which will indeed be that, as every one shall realize, yet not another earth, but the earth made new -a realized fulfilment of God’s thoughts with regard to the earth when He created it. We do not go on to that here. Save in a single expression, Old Testament prophecy is limited to the millennium as its outlook, and then that kingdom shall have begun in which, under the rule of Him who is the perfect Revealer of the mind of God, that which is eternal will be perfected. What we have here is, on the one side, the trial of man still, but, on the other, God is finally inviting (by the display of all this beauty and the manifestation of His truth and grace) men to enjoy it. Revelation assures us that even then, as there will be hearts obdurate to it all the way through, so there will be a final outbreak even under those glorious skies. It is the necessary manifestation of what has been kept down by power throughout the millennial reign, in order that judgment may make the clean work which it must finally do that perfect blessing may come in.
And what a witness to man will be that which we find here; 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!” There is no room for doubt or question any longer but that Jehovah has done this. There will be no skeptics or atheists in those days; yet, alas, the enmity of man’s heart will not be removed even by that wondrous vision. “The nations that shall be left round about you shall know that I Jehovah build the ruined places, and plant that which was desolate. I Jehovah have spoken it, and will do it.”
That which follows immediately is not necessarily a condition that God will “yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them;” but, rather, the assurance that they will. It does not involve, as some seem to imagine, that the actual unbelief of the nation at the present time has set aside such promises as these which have been given them. The Lord goes on imme diately with His assurances, which certainly do not rest upon any foundation less broad than that upon which He has set them. God is acting for the glory of His name, and who shall disappoint Him? “I will increase them with men,” He says, “like a flock, as the holy flock; as the flock of Jerusalem at her appointed times; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that I am Jehovah.”
3. We have still to see this restoration of Israel stamped as a resurrection; God bringing them out of a condition in which even to themselves all hope is lost. They are but as the dry bones of the slain, of which, if the question be raised, “Can these bones live?” the answer can only be in God’s hands. The new life of the nation is truly a resurrection. The stamp which God is putting upon all things here is to be put distinctly upon this people yet. It will not be by their own efforts or achievements -as they are thinking and planning now -that they will become all that the prophets have declared that they shall become. Nothing but the quickening breath of God can accomplish it for them, and for this they have yet to be brought down into the dust, even after all that they have suffered for these centuries, in order that they may learn their needed lesson of abasement and may learn the grace to which, as they shall finally own, they owe everything.
(1) We have two parts in this chapter: First, new life in the Spirit is given to the nation which thus becomes miraculously reorganized; while, in the second part we have what must be in order for this, the healing of the long breach between Judah and Ephraim, so that the nation as a whole shall re-attain its unity and under the true David, from whom, alas, they have alike gone astray. “The hand of Jehovah was upon me, and Jehovah carried me out in the Spirit, and set me down in the midst of a valley, and it was full of bones; and He caused me to pass by them round about, and behold, there were very many on the face of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.” There is no mingling here of the dead and the living as the prophet sees them. They are altogether those from whom not merely life is departed, but who are the mere dry and scattered relics of the dead. The prophet is challenged by the question: “Son of man, can these bones live?” To man of course this is impossible. The passage from death to life has never been achieved, save by the power of God alone; and this, spite of all their present thoughts, is the condition out of which God at last revives them. It is not the actual condition of the nation at present in which, as we know, there are yet those who live -live spiritually. “Blindness in part is happened unto Israel.” It is true that these are, in the mind of God, no more part of the people according to the flesh; they have lost their Jewish hopes, to find in the loving mercy of God far better ones. When the Lord shall have removed His present people to Himself, the Church, this state of things will be ended. The nation will be then, in their rejection of Christ, utterly dead. The prophet answers: “O Lord Jehovah, Thou knowest,” and then he is bidden to give Jehovah’s word to the dry bones themselves. The nation is to be thus new born by the word of God, and from the dead. Every step here is a true creative work of God: “Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live; and I will put sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live.” And then comes once more the refrain, -for this alone is what can make it truly life: “Ye shall know that I am Jehovah.”
So the prophet prophesies and sees the miracle wrought -the wondrous miracle of resurrection. He sees the bones come together and the flesh cover them, and the form given, while yet there is no breath’ from on high. But then he is told to prophesy to the winds, the type, as we know, in the Lord’s words, of the Spirit; and from the four winds, the breath comes into these slain, and now they live. These that, but a moment since, were mere inanimate and scattered wrecks of departed life, are now at once an exceeding great army, the hosts of the Lord.
The prophet is not left in doubt about the vision. The bones are the whole of the house of Israel, and in a condition in which they are made to realize at last that, as to themselves, there is no hope any longer. They are not only dead, as the prophet has seen them, but in their graves, buried and gone. But this is the stamp which God puts upon everything in nature. The evening dies into the night before the morning springs out of it. The earth itself will have to find its dissolution before it comes to that new earth in which dwelleth righteousness. Ezekiel’s wheel is going round; it is ordained to abase all the glory of man in order that man may come at last to true glory. In resurrection alone can everything be stable, as that which manifests the power of evil already met and conquered, and no foe to meet again. God has done it all Himself; He has taken upon Himself the whole burden of it! How strange a work He has wrought in order that He might lift creation into the glory that yet shall be, every Christian knows. And Israel shall know who it is that has done this, that He is indeed Jehovah, when He has opened their graves and caused them to come up out of their graves and put His Spirit in them that they may live. The blessing still keeps to the old sphere of promise for them; as an earthly people the earth is their destiny. “I will bless you,” says the Lord, “in your own land.” Then shall prophecy find its full witness and have the eternal seal upon it: “Ye shall know that I Jehovah have spoken it, and have done it, saith Jehovah.”
(2) One thing remains which must not be omitted. The ancient and unnatural strife between Judah and Ephraim must and will surely pass away if all this is to be; and the complete assurance of it is given “The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, And thou, son of man, take thee one stick and write upon it: For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions. Then take another stick, and write upon it: For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions; and join them one to another into one stick, and they shall become one in thy hand.”
The people are Jews, for us now; that is, they are all of Judah; and the question has even been asked whether such coming together did not find its accomplishment long ago, when the people returned out of captivity in Babylon. Thus we are told with regard to the prophetess Anna, in our Lord’s day, that she was of the tribe of Asher; and it is thought that other intimations are given that the ten tribes, so often spoken of as “the lost tribes,” have become merged long since into this one Jewish race. But this will not do for the prophecy here, and assuredly it will not do for God. It is distinctly in their own land, and under the King whom God will raise up to them, when God shall be once more manifestly their God, His sanctuary set in the midst of them forever, that this prophecy shall find its accomplishment. There is a universal gathering: “Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the nations whither they are gone and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one King shall be king to them all, and they shall be no more two nations; neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.” That the time of all this is future should need no argument, nor should it need one that the promise to which God has appended no condition here (but which He affirms He will Himself fulfil) can never be set aside by any unfaithfulness of the people of whom He speaks, a people whose unfaithfulness has been all contemplated (and realized) from the beginning. Faithless as they may be, the time will come, as God has announced it, when they shall no more defile themselves with their idols nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions, but He will save them out of their dwelling places wherein they have sinned, and they shall be His people and He will be their God.
The former shepherd-king comes again before us here, David, “the Beloved.” This keeper of sheep has celebrated in his psalms, as we well know, Jehovah Himself in this character, and realized wondrous things from it: “Jehovah is my Shepherd; I shall not want.” This is God’s thought of rule, as Christ, the true Shepherd, fully manifests it so that even if He take the rod of iron, as e will do in the time near to come, it will be to “tend” or shepherd the nations with it. Here is one with whom rule is ministry, and subjection to Him is subjection to eternal love itself. Thus when God at last shall be able to show all that is in His heart, in the times contemplated here, how shall it in fact be shown? When they shall dwell in the land as their unalienable inheritance, they and their children and their children’s children forever; and David, “the Beloved,” himself the servant of Jehovah, shall be their prince forever. The One who claims obedience shall be the One who has milked in obedience, and that at all cost to Himself, and in devotedness to all the interests of His people.
Thus the “covenant of peace” shall be made with them -“He has made peace by the blood of His cross.” Thus it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and “I will bless them,” says the Lord, “and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” This last remains for full expansion by the mouth of Ezekiel himself, but divine love lingers upon it: “My tabernacle also shall be over them” -those covering wings which once they refused, but of which they shall yet know the blessedness -“and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah that sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.”
Eze 36:1. Son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel The prophet had been ordered, Eze 6:2, to set his face toward the mountains of Israel, and to prophesy against them. Then God was coming forth to contend with his people; but now he is returning in mercy to them, and his prophet must speak good and comfortable words to these mountains; and what he saith to them, he saith to the hills, to the valleys, to the desolate wastes in the country, and to the cities that were forsaken, Eze 36:4, and again, Eze 36:6. The people were gone, some one way and some another; nothing remained there to be spoken to but the places, the mountains and valleys: these the Chaldeans could not carry away with them. Now to show the mercy God had in reserve for the people, the prophet is to speak of him as having a regard for the country, which if the Lord had been pleased for ever to abandon, he would not have called upon it to hear his word, nor would he have showed it such things as these.
Eze 36:1-15. The Restoration and Renewal of Israels Land.This chapter is brilliant with hope and promise. First comes a fine apostrophe (Eze 36:1-15), tremulous with emotion (cf. Eze 36:4), to the mountain land of Israel (contrast ch. 6). Mocked and desolated as it had been by the enemy, and especially by Edom, Yahweh, whose own honour has been involved in these insults to His land, solemnly vows that the enemy shall be overtaken by the doom which they had brought upon Israel (Eze 36:1-7). His favour, however, would restore Israels mountain land, which, in the near future (Eze 36:8) would be more fertile, prosperous, and populous than ever before. Never again, as in the days gone by, would she devour her people (Eze 36:13) by war, or pestilence, or infertility (Eze 36:8-15). (For to cast it out in Eze 36:5, read perhaps to possess it.) At this point the vision of the renewed land glides naturally into a vision of the renewed people, thus preparing the way for ch. 37.
The establishment of Israel in the land 36:1-15
This part of the prophecy of the preparation of the Promised Land sets forth what God would do for Israel. It contains the opposite of the curses against Israel warned of in chapter 6, and it contrasts Israel’s glorious destiny with the terrible fate of Edom in chapter 35.
"The chapter contains the most comprehensive enunciation of the plan of redemption to be found in this book, setting forth all the factors that comprise God’s plan of salvation." [Note: Ibid., p. 205.]
"Ezekiel 36 parallels the New Covenant God promised to Israel and Judah in Jeremiah 31. This covenant includes at least three specific elements: (a) restoration to the land (Eze 36:24; Jer 31:27-29), (b) forgiveness of sin (Eze 36:25; Jer 31:34), and (c) the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit (Eze 36:26-27; Jer 31:33)." [Note: Dyer, in The Old . . ., p. 690.]
"The future of Israel [in chapters 36 and 37] can be summarized in four words: restoration, regeneration, resurrection, and reunion." [Note: Wiersbe, p. 227.]
Yahweh commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the mountains of Israel (in contrast to Mount Seir, cf. Eze 6:1-14). The reason was threefold. First, Israel’s enemy had spoken against her (cursed her, cf. Gen 12:3) by rejoicing that the everlasting heights (mountains) of the land had come into their possession (cf. Eze 6:3; Eze 20:29). The Hebrew word bamoth, usually translated "high places," the places where pagan altars stood in Israel, more generally, and here, refers to the mountains themselves. Second, the enemy of Israel had destroyed her for good reason, namely, her sinfulness. Third, now she was the possession of the nations of the world and the subject of their scorn (cf. Deu 28:37; Jer 24:9). They talked publicly and privately about her fate. This prophecy concerns the land of Israel primarily, not the people of Israel.
JEHOVAHS LAND
Eze 35:1-15; Eze 36:1-38
THE teaching of this important passage turns on certain ideas regarding the land of Canaan which enter very deeply into the religion of Israel. These ideas are no doubt familiar in a general way to all thoughtful readers of the Old Testament; but their full import is scarcely realised until we understand that they are not peculiar to the Bible, but form part of the stock of religious conceptions common to Israel and its heathen neighbours. In the more advanced Semitic religions of antiquity each nation had its own god as well as its own land, and the bond between the god and the land was supposed to be quite as strong as that between the god and the nation. The god, the land, and the people formed a triad of religious relationship, and so closely were these three elements associated that the expulsion of a people from its land was held to dissolve the bond between it and the god. Thus while in practice the land of a god was coextensive with the territory inhabited by his worshippers, yet in theory the relation of the god to his land is independent of his relation to the inhabitants; it was his land whether the people in it were his worshippers or not. The peculiar confusion of ideas that arose when the people of one god came to reside permanently in the territory of another is well illustrated by the case of the heathen colony which the king of Assyria planted in Samaria after the exile of the ten tribes. These settlers brought their own gods with them; but when some of them were slain by lions, they perceived that they were making a mistake in ignoring the rights of the god of the land. They sent accordingly for a priest to instruct them in the religion of the god of the land; and the result was that they “feared Jehovah and served their own.” {2Ki 17:24-41} It was expected no doubt that in course of time the foreign deities would be acclimatised.
In the Old Testament we find many traces of the influence of this conception on the Hebrew religion. Canaan was the land of Jehovah {Hos 9:3} apart altogether from its possession by Israel, the people of Jehovah. It was Jehovahs land before Israel entered it, the inheritance which He had selected for His people out of all the countries of the world, the Land of Promise, given to the patriarchs while as yet they were but strangers and sojourners in it. Although the Israelites took possession of it as a nation of conquerors, they did so in the consciousness that they were expelling from Jehovahs dwelling-place a population which had polluted it by their abominations. From that time onwards the tenure of the soil of Palestine was regarded as an essential factor of the national religion. The idea that Jehovah could not be rightly worshipped outside of Hebrew territory was firmly rooted in the minds of the people, and was accepted by the prophets as a principle involved in the special relations that Jehovah maintained with the people of Israel. {Jos 11:19; Hos 9:3-5} Hence no threat could be more terrible in the ears of the Israelites than that of expatriation from their native soil; for it meant nothing less than the dissolution of the tie that subsisted between them and their God. When that threat was actually fulfilled there was no reproach harder to bear than the taunt which Ezekiel here puts into the mouth of the heathen: “These are Jehovahs people-and yet they are gone forth out of His land”. {Eze 36:20} They felt all that was implied in that utterance of malicious satisfaction over the collapse of a religion and the downfall of a deity.
There is another way in which the thought of Canaan as Jehovahs land enters into the religious conceptions of the Old Testament, and very markedly into those of Ezekiel. As the God of the land Jehovah is the source of its productiveness and the author of all the natural blessings enjoyed by its inhabitants. It is He who gives the rain in its season or else withholds it in token of His displeasure; it is He who multiplies or diminishes the flocks and herds which feed on its pastures, as well as the human population sustained by its produce. This view of things was a primary factor in the religious education of an agricultural people, as the ancient Hebrews mainly were. They felt their dependence on God most directly in the influences of their uncertain climate on the fertility of their land with its great possibilities of abundant provision for man and beast, and on the other hand its extreme risk of famine and all the hardships that follow in its train. In the changeful aspects of nature they thus read instinctively the disposition of Jehovah towards themselves. Fruitful seasons and golden harvests, diffusing comfort and affluence through the community, were regarded as proofs that all was well between them and their God; while times of barrenness and scarcity brought home to them the conviction that Jehovah was alienated. From the allusions in the prophets to droughts and famines, to blastings and mildew, to the scourge of locusts, we seem to gather that, on the whole, the later history of Israel had been marked by agricultural distress. The impression is confirmed by a hint of Ezekiels in the passage now before us. The land of Canaan had apparently acquired an unenviable reputation for barrenness. The reproach of the heathen lay upon it as a land that “devoured men and bereaved its population.” {Eze 36:13} The reference may be partly (as Smend thinks) to the ravages of war, to which Palestine was peculiarly exposed on account of its important strategic situation. But the “reproach of famine” {Eze 36:30; Cf. Eze 34:29} was certainly one point in its ill fame among the surrounding nations, and it is quite sufficient to explain the strong language in which they expressed their contempt. Now this state of things was plainly inconsistent with the amicable relations between the nation and its God. It was evidence that the land lay under the blight of Jehovahs displeasure, and the ground of that displeasure lay in the sin of the people. Where the land counted for so much as an index to the mind of God, it was a postulate of faith that in the ideal future when God and Israel were perfectly reconciled the physical condition of Canaan should be worthy of Him whose land it was. And we have already seen that amongst the glories of the Messianic age the preternatural fertility of the Holy Land holds a prominent place.
This conception of Canaan as the Land of Jehovah undoubtedly has its natural affinities with religious notions of a somewhat primitive kind. It belongs to the stage of thought at which the power of a god is habitually regarded as subject to local limitations, and in which accordingly a particular territory is assigned to every deity as the sphere of his influence. It is probable that the great mass of the Hebrew people had never risen above this idea, but continued to think of their country as Jehovahs land in precisely the same way as Assyria was Asshurs land and Moab the land of Chemosh. The monotheism of the Old Testament revelation breaks through this system of ideas, and interprets Jehovahs relation to the land in an entirely different sense. It is not as the exclusive sphere of His influence that Canaan is peculiarly associated with Jehovahs presence, but mainly because it is the scene of His historical manifestation of Himself, and the stage on which events were transacted which revealed His Godhead to all the world. No prophet has a clearer perception of the universal sweep of the divine government than Ezekiel, and yet no prophet insists more strongly than he on the possession of the land of Canaan as an indispensable symbol of communion between God and His people. He has met with God in the “unclean land” of his exile, and he knows that the moral government of the universe is not suspended by the departure of Jehovah from His earthly sanctuary. Nevertheless he cannot think of this separation as other than temporary. The final reconciliation must take place on the soil of Palestine. The kingdom of God can only be established by the return both of Israel and Jehovah to their own land; and their joint possession of that land is the seal of the everlasting covenant of peace that subsists between them.
We must now proceed to study the way in which these conceptions influenced the Messianic expectations of Ezekiel at this period of his life. The passage we are to consider consists of three sections. The thirty-fifth chapter is a prophecy of judgment on Edom. The first fifteen verses of chapter 36 (Eze 36:1-15) contain a promise of the restoration of the land of Israel to its rightful owner. And the remainder of that chapter presents a comprehensive view of the divine necessity for the restoration and the power by which the redemption of the people is to be accomplished.
I.
At the time when these prophecies were written the land of Israel was in the possession of the Edomites. By what means they had succeeded in effecting a lodgment in the country we do not know. It is not unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar may have granted them this extension of their territory as a reward for their services to his army during the last siege of Jerusalem. At all events their presence there was an accomplished fact, and it appeals to the mind of the prophet in two aspects. In the first place it was an outrage on the majesty of Jehovah which filled the cup of Edoms iniquity to the brim. In the second place it was an obstacle to the restoration of Israel which had to be removed by the direct intervention of the Almighty. These are the two themes which occupy the thoughts of Ezekiel, the one in chapter 35 and the other in chapter 36. Hitherto he had spoken of the return to the land of Canaan as a matter of course, as a thing necessary and self-evident and not needing to be discussed in detail. But as the time draws near he is led to think more clearly of the historical circumstances of the return, and especially of the hindrances arising from the actual situation of affairs.
But besides this one cannot fail to be struck by the effective contrast which the two pictures-one of the mountain land of Israel, and the other of the mountain land of Seir-present to the imagination. It is like a prophetic amplification of the blessing and curse which Isaac pronounced on the progenitors of these two nations. Of the one it is said:-
“God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth,
And abundance of corn and wine.” {Gen 27:28}
And of the other:-
“Surely far from the fatness of the earth shall thy dwelling be,
And far from the dew of heaven from above.” {Gen 27:39}
In that forecast of the destiny of the two brothers the actual characteristics of their respective countries are tersely and accurately expressed. But now, when the history of both nations is about to be brought to an issue, the contrast is emphasised and perpetuated. The blessing of Jacob is confirmed and expanded into a promise of unimagined felicity, and the equivocal blessing on Esau is changed into an unqualified and permanent curse. Thus, when the mountains of Israel break forth into singing, and are clothed with all the luxuriance of vegetation in which the Oriental imagination revels, and cultivated by a happy and contented people, those of Seir are doomed to perpetual sterility and become a horror and desolation to all that pass by.
Confining ourselves, however, to the thirty-fifth chapter, what we have first to notice is the sins by which the Edomites had incurred this judgment. These may be summed up under three heads: first, their unrelenting hatred of Israel, which in the day of Judahs calamity had broken out in savage acts of revenge (Eze 35:5); second, their rejoicing over the misfortunes of Israel and the desolation of its land (Eze 35:15); and third, their eagerness to seize the land as soon as it was vacant (Eze 35:10). The first and second of these have been already spoken of under the prophecies on foreign nations; it is only the last that is of special interest in the present connection. Of course the motive that prompted Edom was natural, and it may be difficult to say how far real moral guilt was involved in it. The annexation of vacant territory, as the land of Israel practically was at this time, would be regarded according to modern ideas as not only justifiable but praiseworthy. Edom had the excuse of seeking to better its condition by the possession of a more fertile country than its own, and perhaps also the still stronger plea of pressure by the Arabs from behind. But in the consciousness of an ancient people there was always another thought present; and it is here if anywhere that the sin of Edom lies. The invasion of Israel did not cease to be an act of aggression because there were no human defenders to bar the way. It was still Jehovahs land, although it was unoccupied; and to intrude upon it was a conscious defiance of His power. The arguments by which the Edomites justified their seizure of it were none of those which a modern state might use in similar circumstances, but were based on the religious ideas which were common to all the world in those days. They were aware that by the unwritten law which then prevailed the step they meditated was sacrilege; and the spirit that animated them was arrogant exultation over what was esteemed the humiliation of Israels national deity: “The two nations and the two countries shall be mine, and I will possess them, although Jehovah was there” (Eze 35:10 : cf. Eze 35:12-13). That is to say, the defeat and captivity of Israel had proved the impotence of Jehovah to guard His land; His power is broken, and the two countries called by His name lie open to the invasion of any people that dares to trample religious scruples underfoot. This was the way in which the action of Edom would be interpreted by universal consent; and the prophet is only reflecting the general sense of the age when he charges them with this impiety. Now it is true that the Edomites could not be expected to understand all that was involved in a defiance of the God of Israel. To them He was only one among many national gods, and their religion did not teach them to reverence the gods of a foreign state. But though they were not fully conscious of the degree of guilt they incurred, they nevertheless sinned against the light they had; and the consequences of transgression are never measured by the sinners own estimate of his culpability. There was enough in the history of Israel to have impressed the neighbouring peoples with a sense of the superiority of its religion and the difference in character between Jehovah and all other gods. If the Edomites had utterly failed to learn that lesson, they were themselves partly to blame; and the spiritual insensibility and dulness of conscience which everywhere suppressed the knowledge of Jehovahs name is the very thing which in the view of Ezekiel needs to be removed by signal and exemplary acts of judgment.
It is not necessary to enter minutely into the details of the judgment threatened against Edom. We may simply note that it corresponds point for point with the demeanour exhibited by the Edomites in the time of Israels final retribution. The “perpetual hatred” is rewarded by perpetual desolation (Eze 35:9); their seizure of Jehovahs land is punished by their annihilation in the land that was their own (Eze 35:6-8); and their malicious satisfaction over the depopulation of Palestine recoils on their own heads when their mountain land is made desolate “to the rejoicing of the whole earth” (Eze 35:14-15). And the lesson that will be taught to the world by the contrast between the renewed Israel and the barren mountain of Seir will be the power and holiness of the one true God: “they shall know that I am Jehovah.”
II.
The prophets mind is still occupied with the sin of Edom as he turns in the thirty-sixth chapter to depict the future of the land of Israel. The opening verses of the chapter (Eze 36:1-7) betray an intensity of patriotic feeling not often expressed by Ezekiel. The utterance of the single idea which he wishes to express seems to be impeded by the multitude of reflections that throng upon him as he apostrophises “the mountains and the hills, the watercourses and the valleys, the desolate ruins and deserted cities” of his native country (Eze 36:4). The land is conceived as conscious of the shame and reproach that rest upon it; and all the elements that might be supposed to make up the consciousness of the land-its naked desolation. the tread of alien feet, the ravages of war, and the derisive talk of the surrounding heathen (Edom being specially in view)-present themselves to the mind of the prophet before he can utter the message with which he is charged: “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; Behold, I speak in My jealousy and My anger, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen: therefore I lift up My hand, Surely the nations that are round about you-even they shall bear their shame” (Eze 36:6-7).
The jealousy of Jehovah is here His holy resentment against indignities done to Himself, and this attribute of the divine nature is now enlisted on the side of Israel because of the despite which the heathen had heaped on His land. But it is noteworthy that it is through the land and not the people that this feeling is first called into operation. Israel is still sinful and alienated from God; but the honour of Jehovah is bound up with the land not less than with the nation, and it is in reference to it that the necessity of vindicating His holy name first becomes apparent. There is what we might almost venture to call a divine patriotism, which is stirred into activity by the desolate condition of the land where the worship of the true God should be celebrated. On this feature of Jehovahs character Ezekiel builds the assurance of his peoples redemption. The idea expressed by the verses is simply the certainty that Canaan shall be recovered from the heathen dominion for the purposes of the kingdom of God.
The following verses (Eze 36:8-15) speak of the positive aspects of the approaching deliverance. Continuing his apostrophe to the mountains of Israel, the prophet describes the transformation which is to pass over them in view of the return of the exiled nation, which is now on the eve of accomplishment (Eze 36:8). It might almost seem as if the return of the inhabitants were here treated as a mere incident of the rehabilitation of the land. That of course is only an appearance caused by the peculiar standpoint assumed throughout these chapters. Ezekiel was not one who could look on complacently
“Where wealth accumulates and men decay”;
nor was he indifferent to the social welfare of his people. On the contrary we have seen from chapter 34 that he regards that as a supreme interest in the future kingdom of God. And even in this passage he does not make the interests of humanity subservient to those of nature. His leading idea is a reunion of land and people under happier auspices than had obtained of old. Formerly the land, in mysterious sympathy with the mind of Jehovah, had seemed to be animated by a hostile disposition towards its inhabitants. The reluctant and niggardly subsistence that had been wrung from the soil justified the evil report which the spies had brought up of it at the first as a “land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof.” {Num 13:32} Its inhospitable character was known among the heathen, so that it bore the reproach of being a land that “devoured men and bereaved its nation.” But in the glorious future all this will be changed in harmony with Jehovahs altered relations with His people. In the language of a later prophet, {Isa 42:4} the land shall be “married” to Jehovah, and endowed with exuberant fertility. Yielding its fruits freely and generously, it will wipe off the reproach of the heathen; its cities shall be inhabited, its ruins rebuilt, and man and beast multiplied on its surface, so that its last state shall be better than its first (Eze 36:11). And those who till it and enjoy the benefits of its wonderful transformation shall be none other than the house of Israel, for whose sins it had borne the reproach of barrenness in the past (Eze 36:12-15).
III.
The next passage (Eze 36:16-38) deals more with the renewal of the nation than with that of the land; and thus forms a link of connection between the main theme of this chapter and that of chapter 37. It contains the clearest and most comprehensive statement of the process of redemption to be found in the whole book, exhibiting as it does in logical order all the elements which enter into the divine scheme of salvation. The fact that it is inserted just at this point affords a fresh illustration of the importance attached by the prophet to the religious associations which gathered round the Holy Land. The land indeed is still the pivot on which his thoughts turn; he starts from it in his short review of Gods past judgments on His people, and finally returns to it in summing up the world-wide effects of His gracious dealings with them in the immediate future. Although the connection of ideas is singularly clear, the passage throws so much light on the deepest theological conceptions of Ezekiel that it will be well to recapitulate the principal steps of the argument.
We need not linger on the cause of the rejection of Israel, for here the prophet only repeats the main lesson which we have found so often enforced in the first part of his book. Israel went into exile because its manner of life as a nation had been abhorrent to Jehovah, and it had defiled the land which was Jehovahs house. As in chapter 22 and elsewhere, bloodshed and idols are the chief emblems of the peoples sinful condition; these constitute a real physical defilement of the land, which must be punished by the eviction of its inhabitants: “So I poured out My wrath upon them [on account of the blood which they had shed upon the land, and the idols wherewith they had polluted it]: and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries.”
Thus the Exile was necessary for the vindication of Jehovahs holiness as reflected in the sanctity of His land. But the effect of the dispersion on other nations was such as to compromise the honour of Israels God in another direction. Knowing Jehovah only as a tribal god, the heathen naturally concluded that He had been too feeble to protect His land from invasion and His people from captivity. They could not penetrate to the moral reasons which rendered the chastisement inevitable; they only saw that these were Jehovahs people, and yet they were gone forth out of His land (Eze 36:20), and drew the natural inference. The impression thus produced by the presence of Israelites amongst the heathen was derogatory to the majesty of Jehovah, and obscured the knowledge of the true principles of His government which was destined to extend to all the earth. This is all that seems to be meant by the expression “profaned My holy name.” It is not implied that the exiles scandalised the heathen by their vicious lives, and so brought disgrace on “that glorious name by which they were called,” {Jam 2:7} although that idea is implied in Eze 12:16. The profanation spoken of here was caused directly not by the sin but by the calamities of Israel. Yet it was their sins which brought down judgment upon them, and so indirectly gave occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. There were probably already some of Ezekiels compatriots who realised the bitterness of the thought that their fate was the means of bringing discredit on their God. Their experience would be similar to that of the lonely exile who composed the forty-second psalm:-
“As with a sword in my bones, mine enemies reproach me;
While they say daily unto me,
Where is thy God?”. {Psa 42:10}
Now in this fact the prophet recognises an absolute ground of confidence in Israels restoration. Jehovah cannot endure that His name should thus be held up to derision before the eyes of mankind. To allow this would be to frustrate the end of His government of the world, which is to manifest His Godhead in such a way that all men shall be brought to acknowledge it.
Although He is known as yet only as the national God of a particular people, He must be disclosed to the world as all that the inspired teachers of Israel know Him to be-the one Being worthy of the homage of the human heart. There must be some way by which His name can be sanctified before the heathen, some means of reconciling the partial revelation of His holiness in Israels dispersion with the complete manifestation of His power to the world at large. And this reconciliation can only be effected through the redemption of Israel. God cannot disown His ancient people, for that would be to stultify the whole past revelation of His character and leave the name by which He had made Himself known to contempt. That is divinely impossible; and therefore Jehovah must carry through His purpose by sanctifying Himself in the salvation of Israel. The outward token of salvation will be their restoration to their own land (Eze 36:24); but the inward reality of it will be a change in the national character which will make their dwelling in the land consistent with the revelation of Jehovahs holiness already given by their banishment from it.
At this point accordingly (Eze 36:25) Ezekiel passes to speak of the spiritual process of regeneration by which Israel is to be transformed into a true people of God. This is a necessary part of the sanctification of the divine name before the world. The new life of the people will reveal the character of the God whom they serve, and the change will explain the calamities that had befallen them in the past. The world will thus see “that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity,” {Eze 39:23} and will understand the holiness which the true God requires in His worshippers. But for the present the prophets thoughts are concentrated on the operations of the divine grace by which the renewal is effected. His analysis of the process of conversion is profoundly instructive, and anticipates to a remarkable degree the teaching of the Old Testament. We shall content ourselves at present with merely enumerating the different parts of the process. The first step is the removal of the impurities contracted by past transgressions. This is represented under the figure of sprinkling with clean water, suggested by the ablutions or lustrations which are so common a feature of the Levitical ritual (Eze 36:25). The truth symbolised is the forgiveness of sins, the act of grace which takes away the effect of moral uncleanness as a barrier to fellowship with God. The second point is what is properly called regeneration, the giving of a new heart and spirit (Eze 36:26). The stony heart of the old nation, whose obduracy had dismayed so many prophets, making them feel that they had spent their labour for nought and in vain, shall be taken away, and instead of it they shall receive a heart of flesh, sensitive to spiritual influences and responsive to the divine will. And to this is added in the third place the promise of the Spirit of God to be in them as the ruling principle of a new life of obedience to the law of God (Eze 36:27). The law, both moral and ceremonial, is the expression of Jehovahs holy nature, and both the will and the power to keep it perfectly must proceed from the indwelling of His Holy Spirit in the people, It is thus Jehovah Himself who “saves” the people “out of all their uncleanness” (Eze 36:29), caused by the depravity and infirmity of their natural hearts. When these conditions are realised the harmony between Jehovah and Israel will be completely restored: He will be their God, and they shall be His people. They shall dwell forever in the land promised to their fathers; and the blessing of God resting on land and people will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that they receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations (Eze 36:28-30).
Having thus described the process of salvation as from first to last the work of Jehovah, the prophet proceeds to consider the impression which it will produce first on Israel and then on the surrounding nations (Eze 36:31-36). On Israel the effect of the goodness of God will be to lead them to repentance. Remembering what their past history has been. and contrasting it with the blessedness they now enjoy, they shall be filled with shame and self-contempt, loathing themselves for their iniquities and their abominations. It is not meant that all feelings of joy and gratitude will be swallowed up in the consciousness of unworthiness; but this is the feeling that will be called forth by the memory of their past transgressions. Their horror of sin will be such that they cannot think of what they have been without the deepest compunction and self-abasement. And this sense of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, reacting on their consciousness of themselves, will be the best moral guarantee against their relapse into the uncleanness from which they have been delivered.
To the heathen, on the other hand, the state of Israel will be a convincing demonstration of the power and godhead of Jehovah.. Men will say, “Yonder land, which was desolate, has become like the garden of Eden; and the cities that were ruined and waste and destroyed are fenced and inhabited” (Eze 36:35). They will know that it is Jehovahs doing, and it will be marvellous in their eyes.
The last two verses seem to be an appendix. They deal with a special feature of the restoration, about which the minds of the exiles may have been exercised in thinking of the possibility of their deliverance. Where was the population of the new Israel to come from? The population of Judah must have been terribly reduced by the disastrous wars that had desolated the country since the time of Hezekiah. How was it possible, with a few thousands in exile, and a miserable remnant left in the land, to build up a strong and prosperous nation? This thought of theirs is met by the announcement of a great increase of the inhabitants of the land. Jehovah is ready to meet the questionings of human anxiety on this point: He will “let Himself be inquired of” for this. The remembrance of the sacrificial flocks that used to throng the streets leading to the Temple at the time of the great festivals supplies Ezekiel with an image of the teeming population that shall be in all the cities of Canaan when this prophecy is fulfilled.
Such is in outline the scheme of redemption which Ezekiel presents to the minds of his readers. We shall reserve a fuller consideration of its more important doctrines for a separate chapter. One general application of its teaching, however, may be pointed out before leaving the subject. We see that for Ezekiel the mysteries and perplexities of the divine government find their solution in the idea of redemption. He is aware of the false impression necessarily produced on the heathen mind by Gods dealings with His people, as long as the process is incomplete. On account of Israels sin the revelation of God in providence is gradual and fragmentary, and seems even for a time to defeat its own end. The omnipotence of God was obscured by the very act of vindicating His holiness; and what was in itself a great step towards the complete revelation of His character came on the world in the first instance as an evidence of His impotence. But the prophet, looking beyond this to the final effect of Gods work upon the world, sees that Jehovah can be truly known only in the manifestation of His redeeming grace. All the enigmas and contradictions that arise from imperfect comprehension of His purpose find their answer in this truth, that God will yet redeem Israel from its iniquities. God is His own interpreter, and when His work of salvation is finished the result will be a conclusive demonstration of that lofty conception of God to which the prophet had attained.
Now this argument of Ezekiels illustrates a principle of wide application. Many objections that are advanced against the theistic view of the universe seem to proceed on the assumption that the actual state of the world adequately represents the mind of its Creator. The heathen of Ezekiels day have their modern representatives amongst dispassionate critics of Providence like J. S. Mill, who prove to their own satisfaction that the world cannot be the work of a being answering to the Christian idea of God. Do what you will, they say, to minimise the Evils of existence, there is still an amount of undeniable pain and misery in the world which is fatal to your doctrine of an all-powerful and perfectly good Creator. Omnipotence could, and benevolence would find a remedy; the Author of the universe, therefore, cannot possess both. God, in short, if there be a God, may be benevolent, or He may be omnipotent; but if benevolent He is not omnipotent, and if omnipotent He cannot be benevolent. How very convincing this is-from the standpoint of the neutral, non-Christian observer! And how poor a defence is sometimes made by the optimism which tries to make out that most evils are blessings in disguise, and the rest not worth minding! The Christian religion rises superior to such criticism mainly in virtue of its living faith in redemption. It does not explain away evil, nor does it profess to account for its origin. It speaks of the whole creation groaning and travailing in pain together even until now. But it also describes the creation as waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. It teaches us to discover in history the unfolding of a purpose of redemption the end of which will be the deliverance of mankind from the dominion of sin and their eternal blessedness in the kingdom of our God and His Christ. What Ezekiel foresaw in the form of a national restoration will be accomplished in a world-wide salvation, in a new heavens and a new earth, where there shall be no more curse. But meanwhile to judge of God from what is, apart from what is yet to be revealed, is to repeat the mistake of those who judge Jehovah to be an effete tribal deity because He had suffered His people to go forth out of their land. Those who have been brought into sympathy with the divine purpose, and have experienced the power of the Spirit of God in subduing the evil of their own hearts, can hold with unwavering confidence the hope of a universal victory of good over evil; and in the light of that hope the mysteries that surround the moral government of God cease to disturb their faith in the eternal Love which labours patiently and unceasingly for the redemption of man.
THE CONVERSION OF ISRAEL
IN one of our earlier chapters (Chapter 5 above) we had occasion to notice some theological principles which appear to have guided the prophets thinking from the beginning. It was evident even then that these principles pointed towards a definite theory of the conversion of Israel and the process by which it was to be effected. In subsequent prophecies we have seen how constantly Ezekiels thoughts revert to this theme, as now one aspect of it and then another is disclosed to him. We have also glanced at one passage. {Eze 36:16-38} which seemed to be a connected statement of the divine procedure as bearing on the restoration of Israel. But we have now reached a stage in the exposition where all this lies behind us. In the chapters that remain to be considered the regeneration of the people is assumed to have taken place; their religion and their morality are regarded as established on a stable and permanent basis, and all that has to be done is to describe the institutions by which the benefits of salvation may be conserved and handed down from age to age of the Messianic dispensation. The present is therefore a fitting opportunity for an attempt to describe Ezekiels doctrine of conversion as a whole. It is all the more desirable that the attempt should be made because the national salvation is the central interest of the whole book; and if we can understand the prophets teaching on this subject, we shall have the key to his whole system of theology.
1. The first point to be noticed, and the one most characteristic of Ezekiel, is the divine motive for the redemption of Israel-Jehovahs regard for His own name. This thought finds expression in many parts of the book, but nowhere more clearly than in the twenty-second verse of the thirty-sixth chapter: “Not for your sakes do I act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.” {Eze 36:22} Similarly in the thirty-second verse: “Not for your sakes do I act, saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” {Eze 36:32} There is an apparent harshness in these declarations which makes it easy to present them in a repellent light. They have been taken to mean that Jehovah is absolutely indifferent to the weal or woe of the people except in so far as it reflects on His own credit with the world: that He accepts the relationship between Him and Israel, but does so in the spirit of a selfish parent who exerts himself to save his child from disgrace merely in order to prevent his own name from being dragged in the mire. It would be difficult to explain how such a Being should be at all concerned about what men think of Him. If Jehovah has no interest in Israel, it is hard to see why He should be sensitive to the opinion of the rest of mankind. That is an idea of God which no man can seriously hold. and we may be certain that it is a perversion of Ezekiels meaning. Everything depends on how much is included in the “name” of Jehovah. If it denotes mere arbitrary power, delighting in its own exercise and the awe which it excites, then we might conceive of the divine action as ruled by a boundless egotism, to which all human interests are alike indifferent. But that is not the conception of God which Ezekiel has. He is a moral Being, one who has compassion on other things besides His own name, {Eze 36:21} one who has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he should turn from his way and live. {Eze 18:23; Eze 33:11} But when this aspect of His character is included in the name of God, we see that regard for His name cannot mean mere regard for His own interests, as if these were opposed to the interests of His creatures; but means the desire to be known as He is, as a God of mercy and righteousness as well as of infinite power.
The name of God is that by which He is known amongst men. It is more than His honour or reputation, although that is included in it according to Hebrew idiom; it is the expression of His character or His personality. To act for His names sake therefore, is to act so that His true character may be more fully revealed, and so that mens thoughts of Him may more truly correspond to that which in Himself He is. There is plainly nothing in this inconsistent with the deepest interest in mens spiritual well-being. Jehovah is the God of salvation, and desires to reveal Himself as such; and whether we say that He saves men in order that He may be known as a Saviour, or that He makes Himself known in order to save them, does not make any real difference. Revelation and redemption are one thing. And when Ezekiel says that regard for His own name is the supreme motive of Jehovahs action, he does not teach that Jehovah is uninfluenced by care for man; if the question had been put to him, he would have said that care for man is one of the attributes included in the Name which Jehovah is concerned to reveal.
The real meaning of Ezekiels doctrine will perhaps be best understood from its negative statement. What is meant to be excluded by the expression “not for your sakes”? It might no doubt mean, “not because I care at all for you”; but that we have seen to be inconsistent with other aspects of Ezekiels teaching about the divine character. All that it necessarily implies is “not for any good that I find in you.” It is a protest against the idea of Pharisaic self-righteousness that a man may have a legal claim upon God through his own merits. It is true that that was not a prevalent notion amongst the people in the time of Ezekiel. But their state of mind was one in which such a thought might easily arise. They were convinced of having been entirely in the wrong in their conceptions of the relation between them and Jehovah. The pagan notion that the people is indispensable to the god on account of a physical bond between them had broken down in the recent experience of Israel, and with it had vanished every natural ground for the hope of salvation. In such circumstances the promise of deliverance would naturally raise the thought that there must after all be something in Israel that was pleasing to Jehovah, and that the prophets denunciations of their past sins were overdone. In order to guard against that error Ezekiel explicitly asserts, what was involved in the whole of his teaching, that the mercy of God was not called forth by any good in Israel, but that nevertheless there are immutable reasons in the divine nature on which the certainty of Israels redemption may be built.
The truth here taught is therefore, in theological language, the sovereignty of the divine grace. Ezekiels statement of it is liable to all the distortions and misrepresentations to which that doctrine has been subjected at the hands both of its friends and its enemies; but when fairly treated it is no more objectionable than any other expression of the same truth to be found in Scripture. In Ezekiels case it was the result of a penetrating analysis of the moral condition of his people which led him to see that there was nothing in them to suggest the possibility of their being restored. It is only when he falls back on the thought of what God is, on the divine necessity of vindicating His holiness in the salvation of His people, that his faith in Israels future finds a sure point of support. And so in general a profound sense of human sinfulness will always throw the mind back on the idea of God as the one immovable ground of confidence in the ultimate redemption of the individual and the world. When the doctrine is pressed to the conclusion that God saves men in spite of themselves, and merely to display His power over them, it becomes false and pernicious, and indeed self-contradictory. But so long as we hold fast to the truth that God is love, and that the glory of God is the manifestation of His love, the doctrine of the divine sovereignty only expresses the unchangeableness of that love and its final victory over the sin of the world.
2. The intellectual side of the conversion of Israel is the acceptance of that idea of God which to the prophet is summed up in the name of Jehovah. This is expressed in the standing formula which denotes the effect of all Gods dealings with men, “They shall know that I am Jehovah.” We need not, however, repeat what has been already said as to the meaning of these words. Nor shall we dwell on the effect of the national judgment as a means towards producing a right impression of Jehovahs nature. It is possible that as time went on Ezekiel came to see that chastisement alone would not effect the moral change in the exiles which was necessary to bring them into sympathy with the divine purposes. In the early prophecy of chapter 6 the knowledge of Jehovah and the self-condemnation which accompanies it are spoken of as the direct result of His judgment on sin, {Eze 6:8-10} and this undoubtedly was one element in the conversion of the people to right thoughts about God. But in all other passages this feeling of self-loathing is not the beginning but the end of conversion; it is caused by the experience of pardon and redemption following upon punishment. {Eze 16:61-63; Eze 20:43-44; Eze 36:31; Eze 20:32} There is also another aspect of judgment which may be mentioned in passing for the sake of completeness. It is that which is expounded in the end of the twentieth chapter. There the judgment which still stands between the exiles and the return to their own land is represented as a sifting process, in which those who have undergone a spiritual change are finally separated from those who perish in their impenitence. This idea does not occur in the prophecies subsequent to the fall of Jerusalem, and it may be doubtful how it fits into the scheme of redemption there unfolded. The prophet here regards conversion as a process wholly carried through by the operation of Jehovah on the mind of the people; and what we have next to consider is the steps by which this great end is accomplished. They are these two-forgiveness and regeneration.
3. The forgiveness of sins is denoted in the thirty-sixth chapter, as we have already seen, by the symbol of sprinkling with clean water. But it must not be supposed that this isolated figure is the only form in which the doctrine appears in Ezekiels exposition of the process of salvation. On the contrary forgiveness is the fundamental assumption of the whole argument, and is present in every promise of future blessedness to the people. For the Old Testament idea of forgiveness is extremely simple, resting as it does on the analogy of forgiveness in human life. The spiritual fact which constitutes the essence of forgiveness is the change in Jehovahs disposition towards His people which is manifested by the renewal of those indispensable conditions of national well-being which in His anger He had taken away. The restoration of Israel to its own land is thus not simply a token of forgiveness, but the act of forgiveness itself, and the only form in which the fact could be realised in the experience of the nation. In this sense the whole of Ezekiels predictions of the Messianic deliverance and the glories that follow it are one continuous promise of forgiveness, setting forth the truth that Jehovahs love to His people persists in spite of their sin, and works victoriously for their redemption and restoration to the full enjoyment of His favour. There is perhaps one point in which we discover a difference between Ezekiels conception and that of his predecessors. According to the common prophetic doctrine penitence, including amendment, is the moral effect of Jehovahs chastisement, and is the necessary condition of pardon. We have seen that there is some doubt whether Ezekiel regarded repentance as the result of judgment, and the same doubt exists as to whether in the order of salvation repentance is a preliminary or a consequence of forgiveness. The truth is that the prophet appears to combine both conceptions. In urging individuals to prepare for the coming of the kingdom of God he makes repentance a necessary condition of entering it; but in describing the whole process of salvation as the work of God he makes contrition for sin the result of reflection on the goodness of Jehovah already experienced in the peaceful occupation of the land of Canaan.
4. The idea of regeneration is very prominent in Ezekiels teaching. The need for a radical change in the national character was impressed on him by the spectacle which he witnessed daily of evil tendencies and practices persisted in, in spite of the clearest demonstration that they were hateful to Jehovah and had been the cause of the nations calamities. And he does not ascribe this state of things merely to the influence of tradition and public opinion and evil example, but traces it to its source in the hardness and corruption of the individual nature. It was evident that no mere change of intellectual conviction would avail to alter the currents of life among the exiles; the heart must be renewed, out of which are the issues both of personal and national life. Hence the promise of regeneration is expressed as a taking away of the stony, unimpressible heart that was in them, and putting within them a heart of flesh, a new heart and a new spirit. In exhorting individuals to repentance Ezekiel calls on them to make themselves a new heart and a new spirit, {Eze 18:31} meaning that their repentance must be genuine, extending, to the inner motives and springs of action, and not be confined to outward signs of mourning. But in other connections the new heart and spirit are represented as a gift, the result of the operation of the divine grace. {Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26-27}
Closely connected with this, perhaps only the same truth in another form, is the promise of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. {Eze 36:27; Eze 37:14} The general expectation of a new supernatural power infused into the national life in the latter days is common in the prophets. It appears in Hosea under the beautiful image of the dew, {Hos 14:5} and in Isaiah it is expressed in the consciousness that the desolation of the land must continue “until spirit be poured upon us from on high.” But {Isa 32:15} no earlier prophet presents the idea of the Spirit as a principle of regeneration with the precision and clearness which the doctrine assumes in the hands of Ezekiel. What in Hosea and Isaiah may be only a divine influence, quickening and developing the flagging spiritual energies of the people, is here revealed as a creative power, the source of a new life, and the beginning of all that possesses moral or spiritual worth in the people of God.
5. It only remains for us now to note the twofold effect of these operations of Jehovahs grace in the religious and moral condition of the nation. There will be produced, in the first place, a new readiness and power of obedience to the divine commandments. {Eze 11:20; Eze 36:27} Like the apostle, they will not only “consent unto the law that it is good”; {Rom 7:10} but in virtue of the new “Spirit of life” given to them, they will be in a real sense “free from the law,” {Rom 8:2} because the inward impulse of their own regenerate nature will lead them to fulfil it perfectly. The inefficiency of law as a mere external authority, acting on men by hope of reward and fear of punishment, was perceived both by Jeremiah and Ezekiel almost as clearly as by Paul, although this conviction on the part of the prophets was based on observation of national depravity rather than on their personal experience. It led Jeremiah to the conception of a new covenant under which Jehovah will write His law on mens hearts; {Jer 31:33} and Ezekiel expresses the same truth in the promise of a new Spirit inclining the people to walk in Jehovahs statutes and to keep His judgments.
The second inward result of salvation is shame and self-loathing on account of past transgressions. {Eze 6:9; Eze 16:63; Eze 20:43; Eze 36:31-32} It seems strange that the prophet should dwell so much on this as a mark of Israels saved condition. His strong protest against the doctrine of inherited guilt in the eighteenth chapter would have led us to expect that the members of the new Israel would not be conscious of any responsibility for the sins of the old. But here, as in other instances, the conception of the personified nation proves itself a better vehicle of religious truth from the Old Testament standpoint than the religious relations of the individual. The continuity of the national consciousness sustains that profound sense of unworthiness which is an essential element of true reconciliation to God, although each individual Israelite in the kingdom of God knows that he is not accountable for the iniquity of his fathers.
This outline of the prophets conception of salvation illustrates the truth of the remark that Ezekiel is the first dogmatic theologian. In so far as it is the business of a theologian to exhibit the logical connection of the ideas which express mans relation to God, Ezekiel more than any other prophet may claim the title. Truths which are the presuppositions of all prophecy are to him objects of conscious reflection, and emerge from his hands in the shape of clearly formulated doctrines. There is probably no single element of his teaching which may not be traced in the writings of his predecessors, but there is none which has not gained from him a more distinct intellectual expression. And what is specially remarkable is the manner in which the doctrines are bound together in the unity of a system. In grounding the necessity of redemption in the divine nature, Ezekiel may be said to foreshadow the theology which is often called Calvinistic or Augustinian, but which might more truly be called Pauline. Although the final remedy for the sin of the world had not yet been revealed, the scheme of redemption disclosed to Ezekiel agrees with much of the teaching of the New Testament regarding the effects of the work of Christ on the individual. Speaking of the passage Eze 36:16-38 Dr. Davidson writes as follows:-
“Probably no passage in the Old Testament of the same extent offers so complete a parallel to New Testament doctrine, particularly to that of St. Paul. It is doubtful if the apostle quotes Ezekiel anywhere, but his line of thought entirely coincides with his. The same conceptions and in the same order belonging to both, -forgiveness (Eze 36:25); regeneration, a new heart and spirit (Eze 36:26); the Spirit of God as the ruling power in the new life (Eze 36:27); the issue of this, the keeping of the requirements of Gods law; {Eze 36:27; Rom 8:4} the effect of being under grace in softening the human heart and leading to obedience (Eze 36:31; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 7:1-25); and the organic connection of Israels history with Jehovahs revelation of Himself to the nations.” {Eze 36:33-36; Rom 11:1-36}
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: Grant’s Numerical Bible Notes and Commentary
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary