Ezekiel 36:34

_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._ NO JFB COMMENTARY ON THESE VERSES....

25-38 Water is an emblem of the cleansing our polluted souls from sin. But no water can do more than take away the filth of the flesh. Water seems in general the sacramental sign of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost; yet this is always connected with the atoning blood of Christ. When the latter is applied by faith to the conscience, to cleanse it from evil works, the former is always applied to the powers of the soul, to purify it from the pollution of sin. All that have an interest in the new covenant, have a new heart and a new spirit, in order to their walking in newness of life. God would give a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, complying with his holy will. Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul, as the turning a dead stone into living flesh. God will put his Spirit within, as a Teacher, Guide, and Sanctifier. The promise of God's grace to fit us for o...

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 36:1 The present chapter is entirely devoted to the consolation of Israel, though its parts are derived from two separate "words" of Jehovah. Ezekiel 36:1 belong to the "word" which opened with the first verse of the preceding chapter; Ezekiel 36:16 begins another "word," which only closes at Ezekiel 37:14. The subject of the first part is the comfort offered to Israel in the destruction threatened against the heathen, and in the blessings promised to her land and people. Ezekiel

AND THE DESOLATE LAND SHALL BE TILLED,.... The land of Judea, which lay desolate during the captivity, and which now is under the dominion of the Turks, and in a ruinous state, shall be manured and cultivated, and become fruitful, as it formerly was: or the people of the Jews, who, in a spiritual sense, are like barren and uncultivated ground; these shall have the fallow ground of their hearts ploughed up, and the seeds of grace, truth, and righteousness, shall be sown in them, and they shall bring forth the fruit of good works: WHEREAS IT LAY DESOLATE IN THE EYES OF ALL THAT PASSED BY: as the land of Canaan now does to every traveller in it, that observes it, and compares it with what it once was; and as the present state of the Jews is, in the eyes of every Christian pilgrim and traveller, that takes notice of their blindness and ignorance, their unbelief and hardness of heart....

Ezekiel 36:16. _Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 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. 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: 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. 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._ All through Scripture we are told that God has great regard to the honour of his holy name. «The Lord thy God is a jealous God.» And this is no small blessing to us, f

Ezekiel 36:1. With this chapter the great prophetic utterances of Ezekiel begin concerning the future restoration and blessing of Israel. From here on to the end of the book, all is still unfulfilled, nor can it be fulfilled until the Lord Jesus Christ comes again and is enthroned as King. The first seven verses (Ezekiel 36:1)announce once more the future judgment of Israel's enemies. Then comes the promised return to the land Ezekiel 36:8. The mountains of Israel, barren so long, shall be inhabited again. Israel's past sins and chastisement are reviewed in Ezekiel 36:16, and then comes that great message of restoration and blessing th

THE CLEANSING AND RENEWING OF THE PEOPLE. This is a passage of peculiar interest and importance, carrying us as it does far into the mind and theology of Ezekiel. First, we are reminded that Israel's sins of bloodshed (whether child sacrifice or judicial murder) and idolatry had obliged Yahweh to drive them into exile. In this way they had profaned His holy name among the nations, who, according to ancient notions, naturally regarded Him as a worthless God, because apparently weak and unable to protect His people. To vindicate His holiness, therefore, and to reassert His reputation, as it were, in the eyes of a world which misunderstands Him and fails to recognise the moral reasons for His temporary rejection of Israel, He decrees and arranges for her restoration to her own land. But the significant thing in Ezekiel is that He is said to do this not out of love for Israel, but for His ho...

Not for Israel's sake but for his own name's sake does Jehovah do all this in behalf of his people The passage is remarkable and deserves to be studied almost more than any other part of Ezek. when one is seeking to understand his general conceptions. It exhibits his philosophy of history (cf. ch. 20), and also describes with great beauty the principles of Jehovah's redemption of his people, and how step by step this shall be accomplished. The prophet reviews the history of the people from the beginning, running it out till it is lost in its eternal issues, and shewing how it will read to all the nations of the earth the true lesson of that which Jehovah, the God of Israel, is, and leave ineffaceable impressions on the mind of his own people. First, Ezekiel 36:16. The history with its significance up to Israel's final restoration. The people defiled the land with their idolatries an

D. The Return to the Land 36:22-38 TRANSLATION (22) Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name which you have defiled among the nations to which you came. (23) And I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD (oracle of the Lord GOD) when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. (24) For I shall take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you unto your own land. (25) And I will sprinkle upon you clean water, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. (26) And I will give to you a new heart, and a new spirit will I place within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a new heart. (27) And My Spirit...

THE LAND OF ISRAEL IN THE FUTURE Ezekiel 35 is an introduction to Ezekiel 36, the connexion being shown by Ezekiel 36:5. The claim of Edom to the land having been repudiated (Ezekiel 35), its reoccupation by Israel is promised (Ezekiel 36:1), and the reason of the restoration is explained (Ezekiel 36:16). _(A) THE PUNISHMENT OF EDOM'S PRESUMPTION (EZEKIEL 35)_ Edom has already