Ezekiel 36:22-38

D. The Return to the Land 36:22-38

TRANSLATION

(22) Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name which you have defiled among the nations to which you came. (23) And I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD (oracle of the Lord GOD) when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. (24) For I shall take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you unto your own land. (25) And I will sprinkle upon you clean water, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. (26) And I will give to you a new heart, and a new spirit will I place within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a new heart. (27) And My Spirit I will put within you, and I will bring it about that you will walk in My statutes, and that you will keep and do My ordinances. (28) And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God. (29) And I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call unto the grain, and will increase it, and will not bring famine upon you. (30) And I will increase the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, in order that you may no longer receive the reproach of famine among the nations. (31) Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your deeds which were not good; and You shall loathe yourselves in your sight on account of your iniquities and your abominations. (32) Not for your sake will I do this (oracle of the Lord GOD), be it known to you; be ashamed and confounded because of your ways, O house of Israel. (33) Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause cities to be inhabited, and the waste places to be built up. (34) And the desolate land shall be tilled instead of remaining a desolation in the sight of all who pass by. (35) And they shall say: This land which was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. (36) And the nations that remain round about you shall know that I the LORD have built the ruined places, and planted the places that were desolate; I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. (37) Thus says 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 with men like a flock. (38) As a holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed times, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

COMMENTS

Israel did not deserve or merit salvation from exile and restoration to their homeland. But it was necessary as part of God's long-range plan, to re-establish the divine reputation. Since His name was inseparably connected with the fortunes of Israel, positive divine action on behalf of His people was imperative (Ezekiel 36:22). By restoring Israel to the land of Canaan God would sanctify His name, i.e., set it apart for awe and reverence. The restoration of Israel would prove that the Babylonian captivity was not due to God's weakness. The nations would come to know the God of Israel as truly the great I AM, Yahweh, when they witnessed the sudden reversal of the fortunes of His devoted followers (Ezekiel 36:23-24).

Those who would participate in the great ingathering would enjoy wonderful spiritual blessings. They would be cleansed of their uncleanness. The forgiveness of sin is here compared to the ritual purification by water (Ezekiel 36:25). As a result of this cleansing they would receive a new heart a tender and responsive heart of flesh to replace the stony heart which had so long been impervious to divine pleas and warnings. They would also receive an indwelling Spirit (Ezekiel 36:26), the Holy Spirit of God. This indwelling Spirit would enable God's people to walk the path of obedience (Ezekiel 36:26).

Nine glorious consequences follow upon the spiritual regeneration of Israel God's people:
1. God's people would dwell in the land which God had given to the Patriarchs.

2. The redeemed nation would belong to God as His special possession.

3. The Lord would be their God in the special sense in which He is the God of all who love and obey Him (Ezekiel 36:28),

4. They would enjoy some measure of security in this new status. By the power of the indwelling Spirit, God would save them from uncleanness, i.e., He would help them to overcome their tendency to lapse into sin.

5. God would summon, as if miraculously, the grain, and He would restore the fertility of the land. Fruit trees as well as grain fields would yield their abundant harvests. Famine which periodically had plagued the Canaan of old would be a thing of the past (cf. Ezekiel 34:26-29). No more would non-believers be able to bring reproach on God's people on this account (Ezekiel 36:29-30).

6. The redeemed people of God would totally loathe and abhor their former life of sin and rebellion (cf. Ezekiel 6:9). They would make a complete break with their past life of rebellion (Ezekiel 36:31).

7. These people would realize that they had not merited or deserved the blessing which they had received from the hand of God. Their salvation would be a pure act of divine grace. It is, therefore, appropriate that they be ashamed of their past con duct which, if dealt with by God in absolute justice, would have demanded complete and final rejection (Ezekiel 36:32).

8. The day of cleansing would be marked by the repopulation of the desolate land of Canaan (Ezekiel 36:33). Even those areas thought by passers-by to be beyond reclamation would be productive again (Ezekiel 36:34). The transformation in the land would cause amazement on the part of those outside the nation. The once ugly and barren land suddenly would become as beautiful as the garden of Eden; the ruined and defenseless cities would be filled and fortified (Ezekiel 36:35). The other nations would recognize the hand of God in all this. God through His prophets had announced beforehand what He would do. He who cannot lie always performs His word. Thus it is that through the fulfillment of prophecy non-believers come to see the works of God in history (Ezekiel 36:36).

9. The redeemed of the Lord, a small band at first, would pray for an increase in numbers. One of the principal concerns of those who know the Lord as savior is that others might share in the blessings of salvation. God here promises to hear that prayer and answer it (Ezekiel 36:37). As the city of Jerusalem swarmed with sacrificial animals before one of the appointed national festivals, so would the waste areas reclaimed by God's people swarm with men. The fulfillment of this promise would strengthen the faith of God's people in their God (Ezekiel 36:38).

The promises of the repopulation of Canaan began to be fulfilled in the return of the Jews to Canaan in 538 B.C. But earthly Canaan was but a type of that better country promised to and anticipated by the people of God from the time of Abraham (Hebrews 11:9-10; Hebrews 11:16). The return to Canaan after Babylonian exile was at the same time a fulfillment of a promise and the down payment of a promise. True Israelites, through faith in Christ, have left the bondage of the world and have come into spiritual Canaan (Hebrews 12:22). Properly understood Ezekiel 36:22-38 points to the spiritual realities of this present Gospel age.