Old Testament Commentary - Ezekiel 36

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 36 In the last days all the house of Israel shall be gathered to their own lands—The Lord will give them a new heart and a new spirit—They shall have his gospel law.
1 ALSO, thou son of man, prophesy unto the ^amountains of Israel^a , and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD: 2 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the ^aenemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in ^bpossession^a:	1^a prophesy unto the mountains of Israel This is not just a prophesy unto Judah, the kingdom of the Jews. It is a prophesy unto the House of Israel. When it speaks of the mountains of Israel, it speaks of the hill and mountainous country of Israel, particularly that of the House of Israel, the mountains of Ramah, which is of Ephraim. One must recognize that the truth mother of Israel is Rachel. It is her that wept for her children who were slain of Herod (Matthew 2:18) (See also Messiah ben David ~ Messiah ben Joseph). Too often when one such as Ezekiel or Jeremiah prophesies their prophesy is taken unto the Jews only and the Kingdom of Judah when in fact the prophesy in unto the House of Israel and more particularly unto Ephraim and his companions and to Judah only as it is included in that broader respect. 2^a the ancient high places are ours in possesion Now to one who is speaking and writing about 600 B.C. and does live concurrent with the lands of Jerusalem and of Israel, what could possibly be meant by 'ancient high places'? One can only suspect that Ezekiel is not speaking of Jerusalem and Israel but of the land of the 'ancients', even those ancient of days, such as Adam and Enoch. Now were is the ancient high places of such as Adam? We know that Adam lived upon the lands which are now North America. There for are not the 'ancient high places' in the meaning of Ezekiel such as the 'mountains of the land of Adam'? And America, the Land of Joseph, is the land of the ancient high places which are in our possession today as those who are of the scattered seed and remnant of the house of Joseph, even Ephraim and Manasseh.
3 Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because *they have made you* desolate^a*, 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 ^arivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate ^bwastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and ^cderision to the residue of the heathen that are round about; 5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my ^ajealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all ^bIdumea, 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.	*3^a they have made you* desolate** The Assyrians have made Israel desolate, even the mountains or Ramah of Israel, of Ephraim. Babylon will only make the single hill of the city of Jerusalem desolate, the whole of the mountains of Israel were made desolate in the scattering of the ten tribes of Israel, even the Kingdom of Israel which is the Kingdom of Ephraim and his companions. Ezekiel is direction his address to Ephraim, that is the kingdom of Israel, as does the whole of verse 4 so further verify.
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 ^ashame 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 ^abranches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are ^bat hand to come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will ^aturn 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 ^ainhabited, and the ^bwastes shall be ^cbuilded: 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 ^aestates, 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 ^apossess 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 ^abereaved 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.
16 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they ^adefiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the ^buncleanness of a removed woman.
18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had ^ashed upon the land, and for their ^bidols wherewith they had ^cpolluted it: 19 And I ^ascattered them among the ^bheathen, and they were ^cdispersed through the countries: according to their way and ^daccording to their doings I judged them. 20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they ^aprofaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
21 ¶ But I had ^apity for mine holy ^bname, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your ^asakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy ^bname's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the ^aheathen, 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 ^bsanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and ^agather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own ^bland.
25 ¶ Then will I ^asprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your ^bfilthiness, and from all your ^cidols, will I cleanse you. 26 A ^bnew ^bheart also will I ^cgive you, and a new ^dspirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony ^eheart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my ^aspirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28 And ye shall dwell in the ^aland that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will ^acall for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 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.
31 Then shall ye ^aremember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your ^biniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. 33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; 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.
34 And the ^adesolate land shall be ^btilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the ^agarden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become ^bfenced, and are inhabited. 36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD ^abuild the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will ^bdo it.
37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be ^aenquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the ^aholy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem^a in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.	38^a the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem Jerusalem like Zion can be a specific place as well as being a more general degsignation of the people, followers, kingdom or community of Christ, his church and those of his gospel. Here then Jerusalem, as in Zechariah chapter 3:2, denotes those who are the followers of Jehovah, his people and not just the specific land location of the city of Jersalem in the land of Israel.