Ezekiel 36 Study Notes: God Promises Israel a New Heart
God promises that Israel’s mocked and ruined mountains will again be farmed and filled with people. He scattered Israel for defiling the land, but for the sake of His holy name He will gather them, wash them clean, give them new hearts and His own Spirit, and make the land flourish like Eden.
General
In 36:5, which nation does God single out by name for taking His land as a possession with glee and contempt?
Answer: Edom
Chapter 36 opens with a prophecy addressed to Israel’s mountains themselves, together with their hills, ravines, valleys, ruins and empty towns (36:1, 4). An enemy had gloated that Israel’s ancient heights now belonged to it, and the surrounding nations had trampled the land, taken it over and made it the subject of slander (36:2-3). Speaking in burning zeal, God names Edom in particular, the nation descended from Esau and settled in the hill country of Seir (Genesis 36:8), which had seized His land with delight and scorn and plundered its pastures (36:5). Chapter 35 had already announced judgment on Edom, also called Mount Seir, for claiming Israel and Judah as its own (35:10) and for rejoicing when Israel’s inheritance became desolate (35:15). God swears that the nations who shamed Israel will bear shame themselves (36:7), just as Obadiah warned Edom that its deeds would return on its own head (Obadiah 1:15).
- Ezekiel 36:2-3 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,”The enemy gloats over Israel’s heights, and the surrounding nations trample and slander the land.
- Ezekiel 36:5 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder.”God names Edom among the nations that took His land with glee and contempt.
- Genesis 36:8 (BSB)“So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.”Genesis identifies Esau with Edom and places him in the hill country of Seir.
- Ezekiel 35:10 (BSB)“Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there,”The oracle against Mount Seir had already charged Edom with claiming both Israel and Judah for itself.
- Ezekiel 35:15 (BSB)“As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”Edom celebrated the ruin of Israel’s inheritance, and God answers that Edom itself will be made desolate.
- Obadiah 1:15 (BSB)“For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head.”Another prophet warns Edom that what it did to others will come back on its own head.
Theological
Which nation is named in 36:5 as having appropriated the LORD’s land with joy and scorn?
Answer: Edom
The oracle is addressed to Israel’s mountains and their landscape, now ruins and abandoned towns (36:1, 4). The enemy’s boast that the ancient heights were its possession, and the nations’ trampling and slander of the land (36:2-3), provoke God’s burning zeal. Edom, the nation descended from Esau (Genesis 36:8), is singled out for annexing the LORD’s land with wholehearted glee and contempt (36:5). This takes up the judgment of chapter 35, where Mount Seir claimed both kingdoms despite the LORD’s presence there (35:10) and exulted over Israel’s desolation (35:15). The land belongs to the LORD, and those who seize it face His oath that they will bear their own reproach (36:7), the same principle of measure-for-measure judgment Obadiah announces against Edom (Obadiah 1:15).
- Ezekiel 36:2-3 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said of you, ‘Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,’ therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers,”The enemy gloats over Israel’s heights, and the surrounding nations trample and slander the land.
- Ezekiel 36:5 (BSB)“Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder.”God names Edom among the nations that took His land with glee and contempt.
- Genesis 36:8 (BSB)“So Esau (that is, Edom) settled in the area of Mount Seir.”Genesis identifies Esau with Edom and places him in the hill country of Seir.
- Ezekiel 35:10 (BSB)“Because you have said, ‘These two nations and countries will be ours, and we will possess them,’ even though the LORD was there,”The oracle against Mount Seir had already charged Edom with claiming both Israel and Judah for itself.
- Ezekiel 35:15 (BSB)“As you rejoiced when the inheritance of the house of Israel became desolate, so will I do to you. You will become a desolation, O Mount Seir, and so will all of Edom. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”Edom celebrated the ruin of Israel’s inheritance, and God answers that Edom itself will be made desolate.
- Obadiah 1:15 (BSB)“For the Day of the LORD is near for all the nations. As you have done, it will be done to you; your recompense will return upon your own head.”Another prophet warns Edom that what it did to others will come back on its own head.
General
What reason does God give in 36:22-23 for the restoration He is about to work for Israel?
Answer: He would act for His holy name, not for Israel’s sake
God says plainly that He is not acting for Israel’s sake but for His holy name, which they had dishonored in the lands of their exile (36:22). He will show that His great name is holy, and the nations will recognize Him as the LORD when He displays His holiness through Israel before their eyes (36:23). He repeats the point in 36:32 so it cannot be missed. Israel’s return would not be a reward for good behavior; it would rest on God’s concern for His own glory. Ezekiel had already announced the same principle: Israel would know the LORD when He dealt with them for His name’s sake and not as their wicked ways deserved (20:44). Isaiah records God saying that He acts for His own sake and will not give His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11), and the psalmist confesses that God saved Israel for His name’s sake to display His might (Psalm 106:8). Because God’s mercy rests on His own name rather than their worth, it is secure.
- Ezekiel 36:22-23 (BSB)“Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.”God declares that He will act for His holy name and show its holiness before the nations.
- Ezekiel 36:32 (BSB)“It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!”God repeats that the coming restoration is not for Israel’s sake.
- Ezekiel 20:44 (BSB)“Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.””God says Israel will know Him when He deals with them for His name rather than as their deeds deserve.
- Isaiah 48:11 (BSB)“For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.”God insists that He works to guard His own honor and will share His glory with no one else.
- Psalm 106:8 (BSB)“Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.”The psalmist confesses that God saved Israel for His name’s sake, to display His might.
Theological
What ground does the LORD give in 36:22-23 for His coming act of restoration?
Answer: He would act for His holy name, not for Israel’s sake
The LORD explicitly denies that Israel is the ground of His action: He will act for His holy name, which Israel dishonored in exile (36:22). His aim is to vindicate the holiness of His great name, so that the nations know He is the LORD when He is shown holy through Israel before their eyes (36:23); 36:32 repeats the disclaimer. The restoration is therefore wholly of grace, grounded in God’s own glory and not in any merit, repentance or suffering on Israel’s part. The same rationale runs through the book (20:44) and through Scripture: God acts for His own sake and does not yield His glory to another (Isaiah 48:11), and He saves for His name’s sake to display His power (Psalm 106:8). Salvation that rests on God’s name rather than the recipient’s worth is as secure as the name itself.
- Ezekiel 36:22-23 (BSB)“Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.”God declares that He will act for His holy name and show its holiness before the nations.
- Ezekiel 36:32 (BSB)“It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!”God repeats that the coming restoration is not for Israel’s sake.
- Ezekiel 20:44 (BSB)“Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD.””God says Israel will know Him when He deals with them for His name rather than as their deeds deserve.
- Isaiah 48:11 (BSB)“For My own sake, My very own sake, I will act; for how can I let Myself be defamed? I will not yield My glory to another.”God insists that He works to guard His own honor and will share His glory with no one else.
- Psalm 106:8 (BSB)“Yet He saved them for the sake of His name, to make His power known.”The psalmist confesses that God saved Israel for His name’s sake, to display His might.
General
What does God promise to take out of His people and replace in 36:26?
Answer: Their stony heart, exchanged for a living, tender one
God promises to give His people a new heart, together with a new spirit inside them. He will take out their stony heart, hard and unresponsive to Him, and replace it with a tender heart of flesh, alive and able to respond (36:26). This is regeneration, which means God giving new spiritual life to people who cannot produce it themselves. In 18:31 God had commanded Israel to make themselves a new heart along with a new spirit; the command shows what they needed, and 36:26 shows that God is the one who gives it. Jesus told Nicodemus that entry into God’s kingdom requires a new birth through water and the Spirit’s work (John 3:5), words that echo this promise. Paul says God saved us in His mercy, by the cleansing new birth and the renewing work of the Holy Spirit, not because of our good deeds (Titus 3:5), and he contrasts tablets of stone with human hearts written on by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:3).
- Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”God promises to replace His people’s hard, stony heart with a living one, along with a new spirit.
- Ezekiel 18:31 (BSB)“Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?”God had commanded Israel to make a new heart, a command that exposes the need 36:26 shows God meeting.
- John 3:5 (BSB)“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”Jesus teaches that entry into God’s kingdom requires a new birth by water and the Spirit.
- Titus 3:5 (BSB)“He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”Paul credits salvation to God’s mercy, which cleanses and renews people by the Holy Spirit apart from anything they had done.
- 2 Corinthians 3:3 (BSB)“It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”Paul says the Spirit of the living God writes on people’s hearts rather than on stone.
Theological
In 36:26, what does God promise to remove and replace within His people?
Answer: Their stony heart, exchanged for a living, tender one
The promise is a sovereign heart transplant: God gives a new heart along with a new spirit, removing the stony heart and giving a living heart of flesh (36:26). The stony heart is the natural condition of fallen people, unresponsive to God and unable to change itself; the remedy is regeneration, which God alone performs. The command of 18:31 to fashion a new heart along with a new spirit exposes Israel’s inability and responsibility, while 36:26 reveals God as the giver of what He commands. Jesus’ teaching to Nicodemus on new birth through water and the Spirit’s work (John 3:5) echoes this cluster of promises, Paul grounds salvation in the Spirit’s regenerating renewal rather than in our righteous deeds (Titus 3:5), and he sets tablets of stone against hearts inscribed by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:3). Regeneration precedes and produces the obedience described in 36:27.
- Ezekiel 36:26 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”God promises to replace His people’s hard, stony heart with a living one, along with a new spirit.
- Ezekiel 18:31 (BSB)“Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?”God had commanded Israel to make a new heart, a command that exposes the need 36:26 shows God meeting.
- John 3:5 (BSB)“Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”Jesus teaches that entry into God’s kingdom requires a new birth by water and the Spirit.
- Titus 3:5 (BSB)“He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”Paul credits salvation to God’s mercy, which cleanses and renews people by the Holy Spirit apart from anything they had done.
- 2 Corinthians 3:3 (BSB)“It is clear that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”Paul says the Spirit of the living God writes on people’s hearts rather than on stone.
General
According to 36:20, how did Israel’s scattering among the nations bring dishonor on God’s holy name?
Answer: The nations said the LORD’s people had been forced from His land
To profane God’s name means to treat it as common or dishonor it. Wherever the exiles went, the nations remarked that these were the LORD’s people, yet they had been forced out of His land (36:20). The scattering itself became a reason for outsiders to sneer, as if Israel’s God had been unable to keep His people or had abandoned them. God says He was concerned for His holy name, which Israel had dishonored in the lands where they went (36:21). This is not new: back in Egypt God had held back judgment so that His name would not be dishonored before the watching nations (20:9), and later He promises that He will no longer let His holy name be profaned (39:7). Paul draws on Scripture to make the same point about God’s people in his own day: their sins lead outsiders to speak evil of God’s name (Romans 2:24).
- Ezekiel 36:20-21 (BSB)“And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.”Israel’s exile leads the nations to speak scornfully of the LORD, and God is concerned for His holy name.
- Ezekiel 20:9 (BSB)“But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.”While Israel was still in Egypt, God acted so that His name would not be dishonored before the watching nations.
- Romans 2:24 (BSB)“As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.””Paul cites Scripture to show that the sins of God’s people cause outsiders to speak evil of God’s name.
- Ezekiel 39:7 (BSB)“So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”God promises to stop the dishonoring of His holy name, so that the nations will recognize Him.
Theological
In what way did the exiles profane the LORD’s holy name among the Gentiles, according to 36:20?
Answer: The nations said the LORD’s people had been forced from His land
Israel’s presence among the nations as a defeated, deported people became an occasion for the Gentiles to disparage the LORD: these were His people, and yet they had been expelled from His land (36:20). The judgment Israel’s sin made necessary was read by the nations as weakness or failure in Israel’s God. God’s response is concern for His holy name, profaned by Israel among the nations (36:21). The same motive governed His dealings with Israel in Egypt, where He restrained judgment so His name would not be profaned before the nations (20:9), and it governs His later promise to make His holy name known and no longer let it be profaned (39:7). Paul uses the same scriptural charge against those who boast in the law while breaking it, whose conduct causes the Gentiles to revile God’s name (Romans 2:24).
- Ezekiel 36:20-21 (BSB)“And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.”Israel’s exile leads the nations to speak scornfully of the LORD, and God is concerned for His holy name.
- Ezekiel 20:9 (BSB)“But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.”While Israel was still in Egypt, God acted so that His name would not be dishonored before the watching nations.
- Romans 2:24 (BSB)“As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.””Paul cites Scripture to show that the sins of God’s people cause outsiders to speak evil of God’s name.
- Ezekiel 39:7 (BSB)“So I will make My holy name known among My people Israel and will no longer allow it to be profaned. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.”God promises to stop the dishonoring of His holy name, so that the nations will recognize Him.
General
According to 36:17-19, why did God pour out His fury on Israel and scatter them through other lands?
Answer: They had defiled the land with bloodshed and idols
God explains to Ezekiel that while Israel lived in its land, they made it unclean by their conduct and deeds (36:17). So He poured out His fury on them for the blood spilled in the land and the idols with which they had polluted it. He dispersed them through the nations and judged them by how they had lived (36:18-19). The exile was not bad luck or a sign that Babylon’s gods were stronger; it was God’s just sentence. The law had warned that shed blood defiles the land where the LORD lives among His people (Numbers 35:33-34), and that a land made unclean would throw Israel out just as it had thrown out the earlier nations (Leviticus 18:28). Ezekiel’s charges against Jerusalem name the same sins of bloodshed and feasting at idol shrines on the hills (22:9).
- Ezekiel 36:17-19 (BSB)““Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity. So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.”God explains the exile: Israel made the land unclean, so His anger fell on them and He drove them into other lands.
- Numbers 35:33-34 (BSB)“Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.””The law warned that murder defiles the land, since the LORD lives there with His people.
- Leviticus 18:28 (BSB)“So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you.”God had warned that a land made unclean would expel Israel just as it expelled the nations before them.
- Ezekiel 22:9 (BSB)“Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.”The charges against Jerusalem include violence and feasting at idol shrines on the hills.
Theological
What cause does God give in 36:17-19 for the outpouring of His wrath and Israel’s dispersion?
Answer: They had defiled the land with bloodshed and idols
The LORD traces the exile to Israel’s own conduct: they made the land unclean by their conduct and deeds (36:17). His wrath fell on account of the blood shed in the land and the idols that defiled it, and He scattered them and judged them as their deeds deserved (36:18-19). The exile is therefore retributive justice, not historical accident. The law had warned that bloodshed defiles the land in which the LORD dwelt (Numbers 35:33-34), and that a defiled land would expel Israel as it had expelled the Canaanite nations before them (Leviticus 18:28). Ezekiel’s indictment of Jerusalem names the same pairing of violence and shrine worship (22:9).
- Ezekiel 36:17-19 (BSB)““Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity. So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds.”God explains the exile: Israel made the land unclean, so His anger fell on them and He drove them into other lands.
- Numbers 35:33-34 (BSB)“Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.””The law warned that murder defiles the land, since the LORD lives there with His people.
- Leviticus 18:28 (BSB)“So if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it spewed out the nations before you.”God had warned that a land made unclean would expel Israel just as it expelled the nations before them.
- Ezekiel 22:9 (BSB)“Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.”The charges against Jerusalem include violence and feasting at idol shrines on the hills.
General
In 36:35, what will people passing by say about the land that had been left desolate?
Answer: It has turned into a garden like Eden
On the day God cleanses His people from their sins, He will resettle the towns and rebuild the ruins, and the land that lay waste will be farmed again (36:33-34). Those passing through will say that the desolate land now resembles Eden’s garden, with its ruined towns now fortified and lived in (36:35). The remaining nations will recognize that the LORD restored the ruins and replanted the barren ground; He has spoken, and He will do it (36:36). God also promises to multiply His people like the great flocks brought to Jerusalem for sacrifice at the feasts (36:37-38). Inner cleansing and the renewal of the land belong together. Isaiah gives the same picture of the LORD making Zion’s wilderness like Eden (Isaiah 51:3), and in chapter 34 God promises a planting of renown and calls His people the flock of His pasture (34:29, 31).
- Ezekiel 36:33-35 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through. Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’”On the day of cleansing God resettles the towns, and onlookers compare the land to Eden.
- Ezekiel 36:37-38 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock. Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.””God will multiply His people like the great flocks that filled Jerusalem at the feasts.
- Isaiah 51:3 (BSB)“For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.”Isaiah likewise promises that the LORD will turn Zion’s barren places into a garden like Eden.
- Ezekiel 34:29 (BSB)“And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.”In the shepherd prophecy God promises a renowned planting and an end to famine and scorn.
- Ezekiel 34:31 (BSB)“‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.””God calls His people the flock of His pasture, the same picture used in 36:37-38.
Theological
According to 36:35, how will onlookers describe the formerly desolate land?
Answer: It has turned into a garden like Eden
The renewal of the land is tied to the day of cleansing: when God cleanses Israel from all iniquity, He resettles the cities, rebuilds the ruins and causes the desolate land to be cultivated (36:33-34). Passersby will compare it to Eden and marvel at fortified, inhabited towns where ruins had been (36:35), and the surviving nations will recognize the LORD as the one who rebuilt and replanted (36:36). The chapter closes with God multiplying His people like the abundant flocks of Jerusalem’s appointed feasts (36:37-38). Moral renewal and the restoration of creation go together, a pattern Isaiah shares in the promise of Zion’s wilderness made like Eden (Isaiah 51:3), and which Ezekiel’s shepherd oracle anticipates with a renowned planting and a people who are God’s flock (34:29, 31).
- Ezekiel 36:33-35 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through. Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’”On the day of cleansing God resettles the towns, and onlookers compare the land to Eden.
- Ezekiel 36:37-38 (BSB)“This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock. Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.””God will multiply His people like the great flocks that filled Jerusalem at the feasts.
- Isaiah 51:3 (BSB)“For the LORD will comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; He will make her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song.”Isaiah likewise promises that the LORD will turn Zion’s barren places into a garden like Eden.
- Ezekiel 34:29 (BSB)“And I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they will no longer be victims of famine in the land or bear the scorn of the nations.”In the shepherd prophecy God promises a renowned planting and an end to famine and scorn.
- Ezekiel 34:31 (BSB)“‘You are My flock, the sheep of My pasture, My people, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord GOD.””God calls His people the flock of His pasture, the same picture used in 36:37-38.
General
How does God say His people will respond in 36:31 once He has cleansed and blessed them?
Answer: They will recall their evil ways and loathe themselves
After God cleanses His people and makes their grain and fruit plentiful so that famine no longer brings them shame (36:29-30), they will call to mind their wicked conduct and evil actions and loathe themselves for their sins (36:31). God then repeats that He is not acting for their sake, and He calls them to be ashamed of their ways (36:32). God’s kindness does not make them proud; it shows them how undeserved it is. Ezekiel had foretold the same response in 20:43 and 16:63, where God’s mercy leaves His people remembering and ashamed, with nothing to boast about. Paul speaks the same way about believers, who are now ashamed of the things they once did, things whose end was death (Romans 6:21).
- Ezekiel 36:31-32 (BSB)“Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!”Restored Israel remembers its sins with self-loathing, and God again says He is not acting for their sake.
- Ezekiel 20:43 (BSB)“There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done.”God foretells that His people will recall how they defiled themselves and be disgusted at their own wrongdoing.
- Ezekiel 16:63 (BSB)“so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.””When God makes atonement, His people remember and are ashamed, with nothing left to boast in.
- Romans 6:21 (BSB)“What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.”Paul says believers are now ashamed of the deeds they once did, which led only to death.
Theological
What response to restoring grace does 36:31 foretell in Israel?
Answer: They will recall their evil ways and loathe themselves
Grace precedes repentance here: after cleansing and material abundance (36:29-30), Israel remembers its evil ways and loathes itself for its iniquities and abominations (36:31). God then reiterates that He is not acting for their sake and summons them to shame (36:32). Unmerited favor does not breed presumption but humility and self-abhorrence, the humble repentance that follows God’s saving work rather than earning it. The same pattern appears in 20:43 and in 16:63, where God’s atonement leaves His people silenced by shame, and Paul describes believers ashamed of their former deeds, whose outcome is death (Romans 6:21).
- Ezekiel 36:31-32 (BSB)“Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations. It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!”Restored Israel remembers its sins with self-loathing, and God again says He is not acting for their sake.
- Ezekiel 20:43 (BSB)“There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done.”God foretells that His people will recall how they defiled themselves and be disgusted at their own wrongdoing.
- Ezekiel 16:63 (BSB)“so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.””When God makes atonement, His people remember and are ashamed, with nothing left to boast in.
- Romans 6:21 (BSB)“What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.”Paul says believers are now ashamed of the deeds they once did, which led only to death.
General
True or False: In 36:8-11 God tells Israel’s mountains that He stands against them and that their towns will stay empty.
Answer: False
This is false. Earlier the LORD had told Ezekiel to set his face against these same mountains and announce a sword against their high places, the hilltop shrines where idols were worshiped (6:2-3). Now the message is reversed. God tells the mountains that they will send out shoots and yield fruit for His people, who are about to come home, because He is on their side and turning toward them (36:8-9). They will be plowed and planted, the towns will be lived in again, the ruins rebuilt, and the land will do better than it did before (36:10-11). The land will stop being blamed for devouring its people (36:13-15). This echoes the covenant blessing, God’s promise to His people, that He would turn toward them and make them fruitful (Leviticus 26:9), and Amos’s picture of exiles rebuilding ruined towns and planting vineyards (Amos 9:14).
- Ezekiel 36:8-9 (BSB)“But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home. For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown.”God promises the mountains renewed harvests, because He is now on their side.
- Ezekiel 36:10-11 (BSB)“I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”People and animals will multiply on the mountains, and the towns and ruins will be rebuilt.
- Ezekiel 6:2-3 (BSB)““Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.”Earlier the prophet was told to face the same mountains and announce a sword against their shrines.
- Leviticus 26:9 (BSB)“I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you.”In the covenant blessings God promised to look on His people with favor and give them many descendants.
- Amos 9:14 (BSB)“I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.”Amos also foresees God’s people brought back to restore their towns and enjoy the produce of their own land.
Theological
True or False: According to 36:8-11, God declares Himself against Israel’s mountains and leaves their towns deserted.
Answer: False
This is false. The oracle deliberately reverses chapter 6, where Ezekiel was told to prophesy against Israel’s mountains and announce a sword on their high places (6:2-3). Now God declares that He is for the mountains and turning toward them; they will sprout and yield fruit for His people, whose return is near (36:8-9). Tilling, sowing, repopulation, rebuilt ruins and a prosperity exceeding the former days follow (36:10-11), and the land will be freed from the reproach of devouring its inhabitants (36:13-15). The language recalls the covenant blessing of Leviticus 26:9, where the LORD turns toward Israel to make them fruitful, and parallels the restoration promise of Amos 9:14. Judgment on the land was real, but it was not God’s final word.
- Ezekiel 36:8-9 (BSB)“But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home. For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown.”God promises the mountains renewed harvests, because He is now on their side.
- Ezekiel 36:10-11 (BSB)“I will multiply the people upon you—the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.”People and animals will multiply on the mountains, and the towns and ruins will be rebuilt.
- Ezekiel 6:2-3 (BSB)““Son of man, set your face against the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am about to bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.”Earlier the prophet was told to face the same mountains and announce a sword against their shrines.
- Leviticus 26:9 (BSB)“I will turn toward you and make you fruitful and multiply you, and I will establish My covenant with you.”In the covenant blessings God promised to look on His people with favor and give them many descendants.
- Amos 9:14 (BSB)“I will restore My people Israel from captivity; they will rebuild and inhabit the ruined cities. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit.”Amos also foresees God’s people brought back to restore their towns and enjoy the produce of their own land.
General
According to 36:27, what will result when God puts His Spirit within His people?
Answer: He will move them to follow His laws and decrees
God promises to put His own Spirit within His people and to cause them to walk in His statutes and carefully keep His ordinances, meaning His commands and rules for life (36:27). Obedience here is not the price of God’s gift; it is the result God Himself produces by His Spirit. Then they will dwell in the land He gave their ancestors, and the covenant bond will be complete: they will belong to Him as His people, and He to them as their God (36:28). God had made a similar promise in 11:19-20, where a new spirit and a tender heart lead to obedience. Jeremiah’s new covenant promise has God writing His law on His people’s hearts (Jeremiah 31:33), and Paul says that God is at work in believers to produce both the willing and the doing of what pleases Him (Philippians 2:13). God does not merely make obedience possible; He brings it about.
- Ezekiel 36:27-28 (BSB)“And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.”God promises His own Spirit within His people, producing obedience and covenant belonging.
- Ezekiel 11:19-20 (BSB)“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.”An earlier promise of a new spirit and a heart of flesh likewise leads to obedience and covenant belonging.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God Himself writes His law on His people’s hearts.
- Philippians 2:13 (BSB)“For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.”Paul teaches that God is at work within believers, producing both the desire and the doing.
Theological
What does 36:27 say the indwelling of God’s Spirit will produce?
Answer: He will move them to follow His laws and decrees
The LORD promises to place His own Spirit within His people and to cause them to walk in His statutes and carefully observe His ordinances (36:27). The obedience is God’s own doing: the Spirit does not merely enable obedience in principle but effectually produces it. This is grace that cannot fail of its purpose, issuing in the covenant formula of belonging (36:28). Obedience is what the new heart produces, not the condition for receiving it, a point already made in 11:19-20. Jeremiah’s new covenant has the LORD inscribing His law on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33), and Paul attributes both the will and the work of sanctification to God working within believers (Philippians 2:13).
- Ezekiel 36:27-28 (BSB)“And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.”God promises His own Spirit within His people, producing obedience and covenant belonging.
- Ezekiel 11:19-20 (BSB)“And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh, so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.”An earlier promise of a new spirit and a heart of flesh likewise leads to obedience and covenant belonging.
- Jeremiah 31:33 (BSB)““But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people.”In the new covenant God Himself writes His law on His people’s hearts.
- Philippians 2:13 (BSB)“For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.”Paul teaches that God is at work within believers, producing both the desire and the doing.
General
In 36:25, who does the cleansing of God’s people, and how is it pictured?
Answer: God Himself sprinkles pure water over them
After promising to gather His people from every country and bring them home (36:24), God says He will sprinkle them with clean water so that they are clean. He will cleanse them from all their impurities and all their idols (36:25). The cleansing is God’s own act; the people do not wash themselves, and no priest or ritual is named. Under the law, water was sprinkled on people made unclean so they could be purified (Numbers 19:18), and here God Himself is the one who purifies. Zechariah later foresees a fountain opened to cleanse God’s people from sin and uncleanness (Zechariah 13:1). The New Testament pictures believers’ hearts cleansed by sprinkling so that their conscience no longer accuses them (Hebrews 10:22), and Paul reminds the Corinthians that they were washed and made holy by God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11).
- Ezekiel 36:24-25 (BSB)“For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.”God promises to gather His people home and to cleanse them Himself from all impurity and idols.
- Numbers 19:18 (BSB)“Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain.”Under the law, water was sprinkled on people and things made unclean by contact with death.
- Zechariah 13:1 (BSB)““On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”Zechariah foresees a day when a fountain is opened to wash God’s people clean of their sin.
- Hebrews 10:22 (BSB)“let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”Hebrews pictures believers’ hearts cleansed by sprinkling so their conscience no longer accuses them.
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 (BSB)“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”Paul tells the Corinthians that they were washed and made holy by the Spirit of God.
Theological
According to 36:25, who performs Israel’s cleansing, and under what image?
Answer: God Himself sprinkles pure water over them
Following the promise of regathering (36:24), the LORD Himself sprinkles clean water on His people so that they are clean, purifying them from every impurity and every idol (36:25). The image draws on the purification rites of the law (Numbers 19:18), but the agent is God, not the priest and not the worshiper. Cleansing from defilement, both the guilt and the pollution of idolatry, is the first movement of the renewal that 36:26-27 continues. Zechariah anticipates a fountain opened for cleansing from sin and uncleanness (Zechariah 13:1), Hebrews speaks of hearts cleansed by sprinkling so that the conscience no longer condemns (Hebrews 10:22), and Paul grounds the believer’s washing and sanctification in Christ’s name and God’s Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:11).
- Ezekiel 36:24-25 (BSB)“For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.”God promises to gather His people home and to cleanse them Himself from all impurity and idols.
- Numbers 19:18 (BSB)“Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the furnishings, and the people who were there. He is also to sprinkle the one who touched a bone, a grave, or a person who has died or been slain.”Under the law, water was sprinkled on people and things made unclean by contact with death.
- Zechariah 13:1 (BSB)““On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”Zechariah foresees a day when a fountain is opened to wash God’s people clean of their sin.
- Hebrews 10:22 (BSB)“let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”Hebrews pictures believers’ hearts cleansed by sprinkling so their conscience no longer accuses them.
- 1 Corinthians 6:11 (BSB)“And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”Paul tells the Corinthians that they were washed and made holy by the Spirit of God.