Ezekiel 36:25-38

25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.
26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you.
30 I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine.
31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.
32 I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!
33 “ ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it.
35 They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.”
36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.’
37 “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep,
38 as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Ezekiel 36:25-38 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 36

This chapter is a prophecy concerning the desolations of the land of Israel, and the causes of them; of the return of the people to it, and the fruitfulness of it; and of spiritual blessings bestowed upon them in the latter day. And first, for the comfort of the people of Israel, it is observed that their enemies that insulted them will suffer the vengeance of God's wrath, particularly the Edomites, Eze 36:1-7, that the land of Israel should again become fruitful, its cities rebuilt, men and beasts be multiplied upon it, and be no more liable to destruction, nor bear any more the reproach of the Heathen, Eze 36:8-15, the causes of its desolation and destruction, the sins of its inhabitants, especially bloodshed, idolatry, and profanation of the name of God, Eze 36:16-20, nevertheless the Lord promises to have mercy on them, and return them to their own land, not for their sakes, but for his own name's sake, Eze 36:21-24, then follow promises of spiritual blessings to them: as purification from all sin by the blood of Christ; regeneration by his Spirit and grace; and evangelical obedience as the fruit of that, Eze 36:25-27, and others of a mixed kind, respecting partly temporal and partly spiritual blessings, Eze 36:28-36, for all which it is expected of the Lord that he should be prayed unto for them; particularly their inhabitation in their own land, and the multiplication of them in it, with which the chapter concludes, Eze 36:37,38.

Cross References 27

  • 1. S Leviticus 14:7; S Leviticus 16:14-15; Hebrews 9:13; Hebrews 10:22
  • 2. S Psalms 51:2,7
  • 3. S Ezra 6:21
  • 4. Isaiah 2:18; Joel 3:21; Zechariah 3:4; Zechariah 13:2; S Acts 22:16
  • 5. Jeremiah 24:7
  • 6. S Jeremiah 5:3
  • 7. S Psalms 51:10; S Ezekiel 18:31; S 2 Corinthians 3:3; Ezekiel 11:19
  • 8. S Isaiah 44:3; Joel 2:29; John 3:5; Ezekiel 37:14
  • 9. S Ezekiel 18:21
  • 10. Jeremiah 50:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:8
  • 11. Jeremiah 30:22; Jeremiah 31:33
  • 12. S Ezekiel 11:17; S Ezekiel 14:11; Ezekiel 34:24; Ezekiel 37:14,27; Zechariah 8:8
  • 13. Ezekiel 34:29
  • 14. Leviticus 26:4-5; S Ezekiel 34:13-14; Ezekiel 34:27; Hosea 2:21-22
  • 15. Isaiah 6:5; S Jeremiah 31:19; S Ezekiel 6:9; Ezekiel 20:43
  • 16. Ezekiel 16:63
  • 17. Deuteronomy 9:5
  • 18. S Leviticus 16:30
  • 19. S Leviticus 26:31
  • 20. S Isaiah 49:8
  • 21. S Genesis 2:8; Joel 2:3
  • 22. Amos 9:14; Isaiah 51:3
  • 23. S Jeremiah 42:10; S Ezekiel 17:22; Ezekiel 22:14; Ezekiel 37:14; Ezekiel 39:27-28
  • 24. Zechariah 10:6; Zechariah 13:9
  • 25. Psalms 102:17; Jeremiah 29:12-14
  • 26. 1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chronicles 35:7-9
  • 27. S Exodus 6:2
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