Ezekiel 36
Summary for Ezek 36:1-15: 36:1-15 a The destruction of Edom (ch 35 b) would prepare the way for the restoration of the mountains of Israel, reversing the devastation threatened in ch 6 c.36:2 d The ancient heights of Israel could not be stolen by their enemies because the Lord had given them to his people.
Summary for Ezek 36:6-7: 36:6-7 e The period of enduring the shame of mockery and plundering would now be over for Israel, and Israel’s enemies would soon endure their own shame by being mocked and plundered.
Summary for Ezek 36:8-11: 36:8-11 f When God’s people returned, Israel would experience an increase in population and fruitfulness, fulfilling the creation mandate of Gen 1:28 g.
Summary for Ezek 36:12-13: 36:12-13 h God had intended for the land to provide abundantly for his people and their offspring; instead, it had robbed them of their children and devoured its own people. This was the direct result of Israel’s failure to keep the terms of the covenant, which led to the Lord’s judgment being imposed upon them with catastrophic results for them and their children (see 5:17 i). Now that the people were being transformed, they would receive the covenant blessing of a fruitful land.
Summary for Ezek 36:16-38: 36:16-38 j Ezekiel reminded his hearers of their guilt and their need for God to change their hearts. In the future, God would cleanse his people.
• Objects and people are divided in the Old Testament into the categories of “clean” and “unclean,” “sacred” and “profane” (see thematic note for Clean, Unclean, and Holy at end of chapter). God had made Israel clean, while the Gentile nations had remained unclean. Then Israel as a nation became unclean because of their bloodshed and idolatry, which defiled the land. Because they behaved like the unclean nations, Israel’s punishment of being scattered among the nations was fitting. In the future, God would make them clean so that he could dwell among them again. The other nations, seeing his holiness in his people, would once again know that he is the Holy One. In the New Testament, God’s redemption through Christ redraws the lines between clean and unclean (see Acts 10:15 k). The Gentiles are no longer outside of God’s grace; they too can receive the Holy Spirit and become clean. Jews and Gentiles together now make up the one people of God in Christ. Those who are in Christ Jesus are not only clean, but also holy by virtue of his priesthood. Therefore, they are able to come boldly into God’s presence and experience his grace (Heb 12:18-29 l).
36:17 m Covenant curses had come to Israel because God’s people had defiled ... their own land by their sinful behavior.
• A menstrual cloth became polluted by contact with a woman’s monthly flow of blood. This natural process was not sinful, but it was defiling in the same way that any loss of bodily life-fluids such as blood, sweat (see study note on 44:17-19), or semen made people ceremonially unclean (see Lev 15 n).
36:18 o Israel had made the land unfit for God’s presence through murder and the worship of idols. As a result of their covenant breaking, they were expelled from the land and scattered among the nations (see Deut 29:22-28 p).
36:20 q This scattering also brought shame on the Lord’s holy name. It was not so much the behavior of the exiles that robbed the Lord of his glory, but the very fact that they were in exile, insofar as it made the surrounding nations conclude that Israel’s God had been unable to keep them safe in his own land.
Summary for Ezek 36:21-24: 36:21-24 r Out of concern for his own holiness, God sent Israel into exile. Concern for the honor of his holy name would lead him to gather them again to the land. Israel did not deserve this return from exile; it was simply a manifestation of the Lord’s holiness and power in the sight of the nations. Israel could not remain forever outside the land that God had sworn to give to Abraham and his descendants.
36:25 s It was not enough to bring Israel back to the land; they would also become a new, transformed Israel. God would sprinkle them with clean water to cleanse them from all of the impurities that had defiled the land. Such sprinkling with water was a routine part of Jewish purification ceremonies (see Num 19 t); it symbolized a fresh start, with their old sins washed away.
36:26 u The Lord’s renewal of his people was not merely an outward cleansing; the Lord would give Israel a new heart and a new spirit (11:19 v; 18:31 w). The heart and spirit are the sources of the thoughts and will that underlie action. Their stony, stubborn heart would now become a tender, responsive heart, ready to serve the Lord. The spirit of rebellion would be replaced with a spirit of obedience.
Summary for Ezek 36:27-28: 36:27-28 x The Spirit of God would create life and light out of darkness and chaos (cp. Gen 1:2 y), producing an entirely new ability to follow God’s decrees and ... regulations. In the past, the Spirit of God had empowered people for specific tasks of service to the Lord (see Judg 3:10 z; 1 Sam 16:13 aa). In the future, a more widespread empowerment by God’s Spirit would enable his people to lead holy lives (see Joel 2:28-29 ab). This renewed people would again live in Israel and make it fit for God’s presence to dwell among them once again.
Summary for Ezek 36:29-32: 36:29-32 ac This transformation would bring the blessings of the covenant made with Moses, not its curses, and a new glory among the surrounding nations. This blessing would cause God’s people to be profoundly ashamed of their past and to appreciate both their lack of merit and God’s overwhelming grace.
Summary for Ezek 36:35-38: 36:35-38 ad The restored land would become like the Garden of Eden, the ultimate symbol of fertility and fruitfulness. The original garden would be enhanced by restored cities, overflowing with renewed humanity like Jerusalem’s streets at the time of her festivals. The greatest blessing, however, would be God’s willingness to hear Israel’s prayers once more. He had once refused to listen to his rebellious people (14:3 ae; 20:3 af), but now the Lord would turn his face toward them and hear their cries. The proof of this would be the number of people in the rebuilt cities who would acknowledge that the Lord is God.
Thematic note: Clean, Unclean, and Holy
The rites and regulations establishing cleanness and uncleanness were to distinguish Israel from the surrounding nations. To understand a rationale behind these regulations, one suggestion has been that unclean things are associated with death or the ground (see, e.g., Lev 21:1 ag, 11 ah; 22:8 ai). Recent studies, however, suggest the principle of “normalcy.” God is a God of order. Things that are normal in God’s order are called “clean” and are “permitted.” Abnormal things would be unfit for food or offerings and would be “unclean.” A normal land animal would be a vegetarian (see Gen 1:30 aj). A normal human body would have no infections or discharges. A normal piece of cloth would have no mildew on it. If abnormalities occurred, the animal, person, or cloth was unclean.
What is unclean is not sinful but represents a kind of unworthiness that cannot come in contact with what is holy (e.g., Lev 11:44-45 ak). If it is cleansed, it acquires the potential for holiness; it may be dedicated to God and become holy. If what is holy (such as the Sabbath) is treated like something common, God is blasphemed and the thing is profaned. If what is clean becomes unclean, it is defiled and requires cleansing. Some things, such as unclean animals, fish, or birds, remain unclean by definition and can never be cleansed, and, thus, can never become holy.
In the new covenant, things that were previously unclean have been declared clean (Acts 10:15 al, 28 am, 45 an). Yet God is still a God of order (1 Cor 14:33 ao) and wants worship to be conducted in an orderly way (1 Cor 14:40 ap). While God’s grace is abundant to repentant sinners, some things are still repulsive to his holiness and should never be brought into his presence (e.g., Ananias and Sapphira’s offering; see Acts 5:1-11 aq).
Passages for Further Study
Gen 7:2 ar; Lev 11:1–15:33 as; 21:1-23 at; 22:3-8 au; Num 19:1-22 av; Deut 14:1-21 aw; 21:1-9 ax; Pss 19:9 ay; 24:3-4 az; 51:7-10 ba; Isa 52:11 bb; Matt 8:2-4 bc; John 13:10-11 bd; Acts 10:9-28 be; Heb 9:13-15 bf, 23 bg
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