Ezekiel 36
[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:
[Ezekiel 36:2] THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; BECAUSE THE ENEMY HATH SAID
AGAINST YOU, AHA, EVEN THE ANCIENT HIGH PLACES ARE OURS IN POSSESSION:
[Ezekiel 36:3] 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:
<<BECAUSE THEY HAVE MADE YOU DESOLATE>>: Ezekiel is speaking "UNTO THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL" (36:1) that were made desolate by the heathen Arab Palestinians and their forebears.
<<AND SWALLOWED YOU UP ON EVERY SIDE>>: They took it all. The Arabs do not want so much to help the Palestinians but rather they do not want the Jews to have their own land. As far as they are considered the more the Palestinians suffer the better. It makes god propaganda. The Europeans
mostly have the same attitude.
<<THAT YE MIGHT BE A POSSESSION UNTO THE RESIDUE OF THE HEATHEN>>: This
is the whole thing. They do not want the Land of Israel to be settled by the Jews. They are against the people of God because they hate the God of Israel.
[Ezekiel 36:4] 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;
[Ezekiel 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.
<<AGAINST THE RESIDUE OF THE HEATHEN, AND AGAINST ALL IDUMEA>>: The Romans were descended in part from Edomites. They destroyed Judah and
exiled its people. Other Edomites from the region of Idumea took possession
of part of the land in Byzantine times. Some of the Palestinians are
descended from these people. Red hair was a characteristic of both Judah
and Edom. A few of the most notorious Palestinian leaders (such as the
mufti in WWII and the mufti today) have had red hair. Hitler and many of
the Nazis were also descended from Edom. They tried to exterminate Judah.
They had plans to effectually exterminate the British people as we
explained in "The Tribes" (especially the 2nd edition).
[Ezekiel 36:6] 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:
[Ezekiel 36:7] THEREFORE THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; I HAVE LIFTED UP
MINE HAND, SURELY THE HEATHEN THAT ARE ABOUT YOU, THEY SHALL BEAR THEIR SHAME.
[Ezekiel 36:8] 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.
The sages (Sanhedrin 98a), quoting this verse, said that there is no more
certain indication of the approaching Redemption than that the Land of
Israel will return and once more give forth its fruits in good measure.
This is happening in our day.
[Ezekiel 36:9] FOR, BEHOLD, I AM FOR YOU, AND I WILL TURN UNTO YOU, AND YE SHALL BE TILLED AND SOWN:
[Ezekiel 36:10] 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:
[Ezekiel 36:11] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:12] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:13] THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; BECAUSE THEY SAY UNTO YOU, THOU LAND DEVOUREST UP MEN, AND HAST BEREAVED THY NATIONS:
<<THOU LAND DEVOUREST UP MEN>>: Over the centuries the Land of Israel was pretty much desolate, disease and famine stricken and had a reputation for being inhospitable and bad for settlement. This was because people of Israelite stock were not dwelling there.
[Ezekiel 36:14] THEREFORE THOU SHALT DEVOUR MEN NO MORE, NEITHER BEREAVE THY NATIONS ANY MORE, SAITH THE LORD GOD.
[Ezekiel 36:15] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:16] MOREOVER THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME UNTO ME, SAYING,
[Ezekiel 36:17] SON OF MAN, WHEN THE HOUSE OF
ISRAEL DWELT IN THEIR OWN LAND, THEY DEFILED IT BY THEIR OWN WAY AND BY THEIR
DOINGS: THEIR WAY WAS BEFORE ME AS THE UNCLEANNESS OF A REMOVED WOMAN.
[Ezekiel 36:18] WHEREFORE 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:
[Ezekiel 36:19] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:20] 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 HIS LAND.
Again, Ezekiel appears to be referring to Judah. In the Bible "Israel" very
often refers to the Lost Ten Tribes and "Judah", "Zion", or "Jerusalem"
pertain more to Judah though they too in some contexts can apply to all
Israel. Ezekiel is an exception. Technically "Judah" and the Lost Ten
Tribes together make up all Israel and either part could be referred to
alone as "Israel". Frequently in Ezekiel the term "Israel" appears to apply
more to "Judah" (i.e. the Jews) than to the Lost Israelites. Ezekiel is
exceptional in this.
[Ezekiel 36:21] BUT I HAD PITY FOR MINE HOLY NAME, WHICH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL HAD PROFANED AMONG THE HEATHEN, WHITHER THEY WENT.
There is an aspect perhaps relevant to the Lost Ten Tribes here. The Lost
Ten Tribes received Christianity and so became the same as all other
Christians. Amongst Christians however it so happens that most do not
really believe in the Bible per se. Their attitude is more that the Bible
has been superceded by their own ongoing revelation or tradition. I am
referring to the de facto level not necessarily to the official doctrine.
The "Anglo" peoples to a degree do however uphold the literal truth of the
Bible and represent it.
Yet by their actions and misbehavior they desecrate it in the eyes of others.
Nevertheless the verse at its simple level refers to Judah. Whatever Judah
does in the eyes of others Judah is known as the "People of the Book" and
it is a desecration of the name of God that Judah be in a bad state even if
it can be claimed that maybe on some level Judah may deserve it. God does
not want His name desecrated and God does not want Judah to be downtrodden
and persecuted.
[Ezekiel 36:22] 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 MINE HOLY NAME'S SAKE, WHICH YE HAVE PROFANED AMONG THE
HEATHEN, WHITHER YE WENT.
[Ezekiel 36:23] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:24] FOR I WILL TAKE YOU FROM AMONG THE HEATHEN, AND GATHER
YOU OUT OF ALL COUNTRIES, AND WILL BRING YOU INTO YOUR OWN LAND.
This message is pertinent also to the Lost Tribes and ties in with other
verses elsewhere. At first there will be a return to the Land and
recognition of belonging then reconciliation will take place. How this will
happen concerning the Lost Ten Tribes we do not know but it is prophesied
to take place and so will do so.
[Ezekiel 36:25] 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.
[Ezekiel 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.
This is the "New Covenant" spoken of in Jeremiah chapter 31 and there he is
definitiely speaking of both "Judah" and "Ephraim" together:
Remember the verses and what we wrote there:
[Jeremiah 31:31] BEHOLD, THE DAYS COME, SAITH
THE LORD, THAT I WILL MAKE A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, AND WITH
THE HOUSE OF JUDAH:
"A NEW COVENANT": This new covenant entails a change of human nature as
explained and will take place in the future. The New Covenant is to be made
with the united Tribes of Judah and Israel (the Ten Tribes) together.
[Jeremiah 31:32] NOT ACCORDING TO THE COVENANT
THAT I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS IN THE DAY THAT I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO
BRING THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; WHICH MY COVENANT THEY BRAKE, ALTHOUGH
I WAS AN HUSBAND UNTO
THEM, SAITH THE LORD:
[Jeremiah 31:33] BUT THIS SHALL BE THE COVENANT
THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL; AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAITH THE LORD,
I WILL PUT MY LAW IN THEIR INWARD PARTS, AND WRITE IT IN THEIR HEARTS; AND
WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
Three times a day a blessing is recited by religious Jews in the main
prayer for the return of the exiles including the Lost Ten Tribes. The
blessing refers to the blowing of a "great shofar" (translated as
"trumpet") and the Commentator "Etz Chaim" affirms that this is referring
to the future return of the Lost Ten Tribes. Cf. our commentary on Isaiah:
Isaiah (27:13) "AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT
DAY, THAT THE GREAT TRUMPET [shofar] SHALL BE BLOWN, AND THEY SHALL COME
WHICH WERE READY TO PERISH
[Hebrew: "Ovdim" also translatable as they who were lost"] IN THE
LAND OF ASSYRIA (i.e. Lost Ten Tribes), AND THE OUTCASTS (i.e. Jewish
Captives) IN THE LAND OF EGYPT, AND SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD IN THE HOLY
MOUNT AT JERUSALEM" [Isaiah 27:13].
Ezekiel is speaking about the same phenomenon concerning a fundamental
change in our own inner nature.
[Ezekiel 36:27] 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.
Note that keeping the judgments and statutes is spoken of as a duty in the Last Days.
[Ezekiel 36:28] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:29] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:30] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:31] THEN SHALL YE REMEMBER YOUR OWN
EVIL WAYS, AND YOUR DOINGS THAT WERE NOT GOOD, AND SHALL LOTHE YOURSELVES
IN YOUR OWN SIGHT FOR YOUR INIQUITIES AND FOR YOUR ABOMINATIONS.
<<SHALL LOTHE YOURSELVES IN YOUR OWN SIGHT FOR YOUR INIQUITIES>>: We will
all be ashamed of ourselves for the evil we have done and the good deeds we
could have done and decided not to. We all need the help of God to do what we should,
[Ezekiel 36:32] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:33] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:34] AND THE DESOLATE LAND SHALL BE TILLED, WHEREAS IT LAY DESOLATE IN THE SIGHT OF ALL THAT PASSED BY.
[Ezekiel 36:35] 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.
[Ezekiel 36:36] THEN THE HEATHEN THAT ARE LEFT ROUND ABOUT YOU SHALL
KNOW THAT I THE LORD BUILD THE RUINED PLACES, AND PLANT THAT THAT WAS DESOLATE:
I THE LORD HAVE SPOKEN IT, AND I WILL DO IT.
The rebuilding of the Land of Israel is a sign of God being involved in the
world and watching over mankind. It is a demonstration of Divine Providence.
[Ezekiel 36:37] THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD; I WILL
YET FOR THIS BE ENQUIRED OF BY THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL, TO DO IT FOR THEM; I
WILL INCREASE THEM WITH MEN LIKE A FLOCK.
[Ezekiel 36:38] 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 THE LORD
Ezekiel 37 speaks of dead bodies being resurrected. He than goes on to say
that God told him to take the stick (in Hebrew "etz" which can also mean
"wood", or "tree") and to write upon it, "For Judah and for the Children of
Israel who are joined to him", i.e. "For The Jews". He was told to take
another stick and write upon it, "For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for
all the House of Israel who are joined unto him" (37:16). He was then told
to join them together and they were to one (37:17).Bystanders saw Ezekiel
fulfill these symbolic actions and asked him what their meaning was? The
reply was that "Judah" and "Israel" (the Lost Ten Tribes) are destined to
be (37:19-21) gathered together into the land of Israel and there
re-united. They are to become one kingdom and one king shall rule over them
(37:22). This King will be either a descendant of David or King David
resurrected. They shall keep the Law (37:24). God will dwell amongst them
and the Tabernacle-Temple will be rebuilt (37:27-28).
We learn from this the two entities "Judah" and "Joseph" will remain
separate from each other until the end times. Commentators saw the niceties
of the Hebrew original in the above passage as indicating that: (a) The
re-unification must take place initially through our own initiative.
Ezekiel is told to take the sticks and write upon them and join them
together in his own hands but then God makes them one in HIS hand (37:19).
In the Last Days most of the nations of the world represented by Gog and
Magog will rage war on the United Kingdom of Israel and be defeated
(Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39).
EZEKIEL INDEX
CHAPTER 37
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