Ezekiel 36:1-15--Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel

Ezekiel 36:1-15
English Standard Version

Prophecy to the Mountains of Israel
36 “And you, son of man, prophesy to 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 said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession,’ 3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD: Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, 5 therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.

8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. 10 And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11 And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12 I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. 13 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children,’ 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord GOD. 15 And I will not let you hear anymore the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD.”

---

The LORD returns the focus to Israel--specifically the Promised Land that all these other nations were jealous of and trying to acquire for themselves or trying to make desolate so that the children of Israel would have no place to return to.  The LORD says that He will do to Edom and all these other nations what they have desired to do to Israel.  They will be destroyed, their land will become desolate and others will disposes them of their land, because they did not have an eternal covenant with the LORD for their Land like Israel does with the Land of Canaan.  Israel's right to the Land is not because they have ancient claim to it, they won it in battle or they acquired it by treaty (we can historically point to all these things as true), but because the LORD who is the Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth and all that is in them has given them the deed to this land by eternal unconditional covenant.  The Land will always belong to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and will never belong to anyone else.

What is desolate wasteland now will once again flourish and be full of people.  The cities would be rebuilt and repopulated.  No longer will the name of Israel be a word that makes people spit to clean out their mouths after saying it.  People will come to the Beautiful Land once again and they will even come to see the rebuilt Temple and come to offer sacrifices and worship the LORD.  The Land will be restored but so will the purpose of the Land.  God will dwell with His people and He will bless them and use them in that special place to accomplish His eternal, covenant plan for not just themselves, but all peoples of all nations and all times.  Other nations will know that He is the LORD because of their destruction, but Israel is to know He is the LORD by not only their judgment, but their restoration.  One final great promise here is that the LORD will keep them from sin.  The other nations want to see Israel stumble and fall and become wicked so they will be cursed, but the LORD will protect His people from the temptations of the world.  No longer will they be given to idolatry like the pagans around them.  They will have other problems that come from within, but they will have less issues with the external influences of the Gentile nations because the LORD will have removed many of those evil influences (though there always seem to be more to replace them, eventually the LORD will remove all the evil influences when He makes a new and perfect place for the people He has perfected).