Ezekiel36
New Living Translation
1“Son of man, prophesy to Israel’s mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord!
2This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying, ‘Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!’
3Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, making you the property of many nations and the object of much mocking and slander.
4Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by the surrounding nations.
5This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My jealous anger burns against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder.
6“Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am furious that you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations.
7Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I have taken a solemn oath that those nations will soon have their own shame to endure.
8“But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit for my people—for they will be coming home again soon!
9See, I care about you, and I will pay attention to you. Your ground will be plowed and your crops planted.
10I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people.
11I will increase not only the people, but also your animals. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
12I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their territory. You will never again rob them of their children.
13“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The other nations taunt you, saying, ‘Israel is a land that devours its own people and robs them of their children!’
14But you will never again devour your people or rob them of their children, says the Sovereign Lord.
15I will not let you hear those other nations insult you, and you will no longer be mocked by them. You will not be a land that causes its nation to fall, says the Sovereign Lord.”
16Then this further message came to me from the Lord:
17“Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by the evil way they lived. To me their conduct was as unclean as a woman’s menstrual cloth.
18They polluted the land with murder and the worship of idols, so I poured out my fury on them.
19I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived.
20But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought shame on my holy name. For the nations said, ‘These are the people of the Lord, but he couldn’t keep them safe in his own land!’
21Then I was concerned for my holy name, on which my people brought shame among the nations.
22“Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations.
23I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord.
24For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.
25“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.
26And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
27And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.
28“And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God.
29I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops of grain, and I will send no more famines on the land.
30I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines.
31Then you will remember your past sins and despise yourselves for all the detestable things you did.
32But remember, says the Sovereign Lord, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!
33“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will repopulate your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
34The fields that used to lie empty and desolate in plain view of everyone will again be farmed.
35And when I bring you back, people will say, ‘This former wasteland is now like the Garden of Eden! The abandoned and ruined cities now have strong walls and are filled with people!’
36Then the surrounding nations that survive will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruins and replanted the wasteland. For I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do what I say.
37“This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am ready to hear Israel’s prayers and to increase their numbers like a flock.
38They will be as numerous as the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the Lord.”
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Ezekiel 36.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The land shall be delivered from heathen oppressors. (1-15). The people are reminded of former sins, and promised deliverance. (16-24). Also holiness, and gospel blessings. (25-38).
vv1-15
Those who put contempt and reproach on God's people, will have them turned on themselves. God promises favour to his Israel. We have no reason to complain, if the more unkind men are, the more kind God is. They shall come again to their own border. It was a type of the heavenly Canaan, of which all God's children are heirs, and into which they all shall be brought together. And when God returns in mercy to a people who return to him in duty, all their grievances will be set right. The full completion of this prophecy must be in some future event.
vv16-24
The restoration of that people, being typical of our redemption by Christ, shows that the end aimed at in our salvation is the glory of God. The sin of a people defiles their land; renders it abominable to God, and uncomfortable to themselves. God's holy name is his great name; his holiness is his greatness, nor does any thing else make a man truly great.
vv25-38
Water is an emblem of the cleansing our polluted souls from sin. But no water can do more than take away the filth of the flesh. Water seems in general the sacramental sign of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost; yet this is always connected with the atoning blood of Christ. When the latter is applied by faith to the conscience, to cleanse it from evil works, the former is always applied to the powers of the soul, to purify it from the pollution of sin. All that have an interest in the new covenant, have a new heart and a new spirit, in order to their walking in newness of life. God would give a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, complying with his holy will. Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul, as the turning a dead stone into living flesh. God will put his Spirit within, as a Teacher, Guide, and Sanctifier. The promise of God's grace to fit us for our duty, should quicken our constant care and endeavour to do our duty. These are promises to be pleaded by, and will be fulfilled to, all true believers in every age.
Key Words
אַתָּה: thou and thee, or (plural) ye and you
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָדָם: ruddy i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)
נָבָא: to prophesy, i.e. speak (or sing) by inspiration (in prediction or simple discourse)
הַר: a mountain or range of hills (sometimes used figuratively)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
דָּבָר: a word; by implication, a matter (as spoken of) or thing; adverbially, a cause
כֹּה: properly, like this, i.e. by implication, (of manner) thus (or so); also (of place) here (or hither); or (of time) now
Cross References
Ezekiel 36Paul directly quotes the Greek version of this idea: God's name is blasphemed among Gentiles because of them.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Ezekiel directly alludes to the spies' infamous report that Canaan is 'a land that eateth up the inhabitants.'
Supported by JFB
Moses' classic warning that God does not bring Israel in for their own righteousness or uprightness.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Ezekiel's earlier parallel promise of a unified heart, new spirit, and taking away the stony heart.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole, JFB
Edom's boastful claim over Israel's desolate land, which directly provokes the divine response in chapter 36.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The consistent redemptive-historical principle that God acts to prevent His name from being profaned among heathen.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The ceremonial sprinkling of clean water for purification from defilement, typifying spiritual cleansing.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
New Testament fulfillment of the promise of internal spiritual renewal under the New Covenant.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The foundational New Covenant parallel of God putting His law/Spirit directly within His people's hearts.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallel promise that under David (Messiah), Israel will walk in God's judgments and observe His statutes.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
The profound shame, remembrance of evil, and self-loathing that accompanies God's sovereign establishment of His covenant.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Isaiah's comforting promise that God will comfort Zion, making her wilderness like Eden.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
The insulting 'Aha!' of surrounding nations over Jerusalem's destruction, triggering God's jealousy.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The community lamentation over becoming a reproach, scorn, and derision to surrounding heathen nations.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Prophetic parallel of rebuilding the ancient waste places and raising up foundations of many generations.
Supported by JFB