Welcome to Bible Fiber, where are we encountering the textures and shades of the biblical tapestry. I am Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization devoted to sharing the story of the people of Israel, both ancient and modern.
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This week we are studying Ezekiel 35 and 36. In the previous chapter, Yahweh restated his loyalty to the covenant people as a nation. In Chapters 35 and 36, he reasserts his commitment to the land of Israel.
Mount Seir
God instructs the prophet to direct his prophecy against Mount Seir (35:1-3). As the capital of Edom, Mount Seir represents the descendants of Esau, Israel’s perpetual foe. This oracle seems out of place, as God has already declared punishment for Edom in the Oracles Against the Nations (25:12-14). Why is Ezekiel reiterating God’s disapproval of Edom when this could have been tacked on to Chapter 25’s mini-oracle?
The answer lies in the literary structure of the entire book. In the judgment portion of Ezekiel’s message, God instructed him to prophesy against the mountains of Israel (6:1-3). The mountains, hills, valleys, and ravines would all experience God’s wrath for hosting idol-worshiping Israelites with their pagan shrines and altars. In Ezekiel’s salvation portion, however, he reverses the curse on Israel’s mountains by shifting the punishment to Mount Seir.
Certainly, the exiled audience heard reports of the Edomites encroaching on their abandoned properties and capitalizing on Jerusalem’s misfortune. They plundered the city, captured Judean refugees, and handed them over to the Babylonians. While Israel suffered in exile, Edom seemed to thrive. The Edomites aimed to annex the land of both Israel and Judah, which Ezekiel refers to as the “two nations” and “two countries” (35:10). The Abrahamic land promise had been denied to their patriarch, Esau, in favor of Jacob, fueling their resentment. Israel’s exile led the Edomites to believe they could finally reclaim the birthright they felt was unjustly taken from them. God condemned their lack of compassion for Israel during its most tragic moments, declaring he would destroy Edom because they “cherished an ancient enmity and gave over the people of Israel to the power of the sword” (35:5). Their actions during the Babylonian assault displayed a sense of betrayal due to their kinship with Israel.
The Edomites’ actions during Jerusalem’s conquest particularly incited divine disapproval as they celebrated the city’s downfall and sought to exploit it for their gain (Psalm 137:7). Before Israel returned to the land, God promised judgment against Edom. The Edomites believed the land of Israel would become theirs by default (35:10-13). However, God declared that this assumption disregarded his sovereignty over Israel. In his omniscience, he heard their blasphemous claims that the land was now theirs to devour (35:12). Despite Israel’s failings and the subsequent exile, God remained dedicated to protecting the land for Israel’s eventual return.
When the Edomites rejoiced over Israel’s ruin, they directly challenged Yahweh. Consequently, he would make their land desolate. The Edomites failed to understand that God is the true owner of the covenant land; he repeatedly refers to it as “my land,” even though he entrusted Israel with its care. Seizing any part of the land equates to stealing from Yahweh.
When Edom is mentioned in the Bible, it refers not only to historical Edom and a paradigm for all godless nations that oppose God’s people. Edom represents those who stand against God and his chosen representatives. Each enemy nation that antagonizes the Jewish people today follows the path of Edom. Although the “Edoms” of the world may experience moments of success, they will ultimately be defeated while Israel is preserved. (To learn more about the longstanding feud between Israel and Edom, listen to the Obadiah episode.)
Israel’s mountains
In Chapter 36, Ezekiel shifts his focus to the mountains of Israel. Edom’s cursed mountains serve as a contrast to Israel’s blessed mountains. God acknowledges that Israel has become a mockery among the nations due to its desolate land and ruined cities. Despite their enemies plundering them and the fact that they “suffered the insults of the nations” (36:6), God promises to vindicate his people. Once the time of judgment is over and the covenant relationship is restored, God vows to bless the entire land of Israel. Until then, he will personally protect it, preventing Edomite settlement in the vacated territories. When the Israelites return, the land will be even better than they remember.
God announces, “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot out your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they shall soon come home” (36:8). Going beyond the Deuteronomic blessings, Ezekiel promises that the land will erupt with fruitfulness, surpassing any previous period of fertility. The years of rebellion have led to a loss of productivity in the land, but Israel will become like the Garden of Eden (36:35). This renewal will not only affect agriculture. Displaced people from both Israel and Judah will return, and the population will surge (36:12). Ezekiel paints a vivid picture of Jerusalem’s streets teeming with people and animals, reminiscent of a festive celebration (36:38).
In earlier judgment speeches, God warned that he was against the land and had turned his face from it. Now, addressing the land, he says, “See now, I am for you; I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown” (36:9).
Israel’s renewal
In a personal dialogue with Ezekiel, Yahweh reminds the prophet why he cast Israel out of the land in the first place (36:16-21). The fault lies not with God but with the people themselves. God compares Israel’s idolatry to the impurity of a menstruating woman, stating that he could no longer tolerate the land’s defilement. He says, “When the house of Israel lived on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds; their conduct in my sight was like the uncleanness of a menstrual period” (36:17).
As a priest, Ezekiel understood this language of ritual impurity. According to Levitical law, a menstruating woman was forbidden from entering the Temple or Tabernacle, and anything she touched or sat on during this time became ritually unclean (Lev. 15:19-24). After seven days, she would undergo a purification ritual to regain ritual cleanliness.
In the Hebrew scriptures, the land of Israel is not merely viewed as a geographical location; it is seen as a divine gift and an integral part of God’s covenant with his chosen people. The land’s welfare is directly tied to the spiritual and moral condition of the people. When the Israelites were faithful to God and followed his commandments, the land prospered, yielding abundant harvests and providing security. Conversely, when the people strayed from God’s ways, the land suffered through drought, famine, or invasion. This principle is highlighted in passages like Deuteronomy 11:13-17, where obedience to God is linked to rainfall and agricultural abundance, while disobedience results in the land withholding its produce.
To our modern, spiritualized understanding of an omnipresent God, the idea of divine investment in a specific piece of land may seem strange. However, in the ancient Near Eastern context, gods were often associated with territories. The uniqueness of the Israelite belief lies in the fact that their God, while connected to a specific land, is also understood to be the supreme creator of all the earth.
When the people worshipped idols and committed acts of violence, they contaminated the land. Their wickedness necessitated a divine response. There was no need for a theological crisis among the Israelites. Yes, God had promised the land of Canaan to Abraham’s descendants, and the covenants had not been permanently canceled. Instead, God executed the punishment he had warned them about since the time of Moses. Nevertheless, he would bring them back to the land, not because of their own merit, but out of his good grace.
Yahweh’s reputation
After 586 BCE, the nations looked derisively on Israel, a gaggle of stateless refugees living in exile. For the first fifteen verses, God acknowledged the impact of the exile on Israel. He then pivoted and asks Israel to consider the impact of the exile on him.
Because Israel was defeated and deported, the nations assumed Yahweh was either too weak to defend his people or that he had abandoned them. They concluded that the god of the Babylonians, Marduk, was more powerful than Yahweh. In the ancient Near Eastern mindset, the defeat of a nation signaled the defeat of its god. The exiles struggled with the theological ramifications of the destruction of their city and temple, but so did their neighbors. What kind of God would allow for such horror and humiliation? Ezekiel’s job was to reexplain the sovereignty of God in light of the exile and the return.
God declared to Ezekiel that Israel’s unrestrained disobedience and subsequent exile profaned his name, leading other nations to question his power and faithfulness (36:22-32). God could not endure the sullying of his reputation. To rectify this, God promised to gather Israel from all nations and return them to their homeland. He reminded Ezekiel that it was not because the Israelites deserved rescue. They had not been so spiritually transformed by the exile that they merited return to their homeland. He said, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came” (36:22).
God acting on behalf of his own glory is not egocentric. God seeks his own glory, because he is glorious. Everything else on earth is unworthy of our praise. If the status of his name in the world was so important to him, it must also be our number one priority.
Through these actions, God will demonstrate his power, faithfulness, holiness, and sovereignty to the watching world. By miraculously restoring Israel in the sight of the nations, their regathering will demonstrate God’s holiness.
When they return to the land, Yahweh will take the initiative in cleansing them and helping them start anew. He did not wait for them to get their lives in order or to attain a streak of obedience. He said, “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you” (36:25). The sin that had dirtied them would be washed away. A menstruating woman was restored to normal camp life and ritual participation once she had been cleansed. God was going to remove all the outer impurities from his people. The author of Hebrews called Christians to a full cleansing before approaching God as well. He exhorted, “Let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22).
To address their inner impurity, Yahweh would remove their heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh (36:26). In addition, he was going to give them a new spirit, empowering them to obey his decrees faithfully (36:27). A heart and spirit transplant were the only way they could go forward. With these tools, they would not repeat the mistakes of the past. The prophet Jeremiah also anticipated the returnees getting circumcised hearts (Jer. 4:4, 31:31-34). This was the gospel according to Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
The passage concludes with the prediction that Israel will remember their past sins and feel deep remorse. With humble hearts and responsive spirits, they would be revolted by their past misdeeds. God said, “Then you shall remember your evil ways and your dealings that were not good, and you shall loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominable deeds” (36:31).
Even though God forgave them and cleansed them, he did not want them to forget their sins. Shame cycles that only trigger negative emotions have no purpose. However, the shame Israel felt sprang from a positive repentance and recommitment. True interior reform begins with a recognition of failure and looking sin in the face. Our past lives represent the darkness that we no longer want to enter. In this way, their recognition of past sins as a source of shame is a good sign that they understood the fullness of their pardon and brought forth gratitude. Afterall, the “meek shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5).
The law and the prophets have consistently urged Israel to reach a higher level of faith and heartfelt devotion. Christians often criticize Judaism for being overly focused on the law, which they believe may diminish the significance of faith. In fact, there is less of a stark distinction between the Old and New Testaments than many believers realize.
The law and the prophets consistently called the Israelites to a deeper, more heartfelt devotion to God, not just a superficial adherence to rules and regulations. The Israelites were repeatedly urged to not just follow the letter of the law, but to internalize it and live it out of genuine faith and love for God. Many Christians overstate the contrast between the Old Testament focus on law and the New Testament emphasis on faith. The New Covenant ushered in by Jesus placed a great emphasis on grace and faith, but the Old Testament also contains profound examples of faith, trust, and devotion to God that go beyond mere legal observance. Both Testaments call God’s people to a deeper, more sincere relationship with him, expressed through a combination of faithful obedience and heartfelt devotion.
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Until next week, Am Israel Chai!