Ezekiel 36:1

Ezekiel 36:1 says, Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord:  God told Ezekiel he was now to prophesy to the mountains of Israel.  The first fifteen verses seem to apply to the temporal state of Israel and the rest to the spiritual state.  We should never be more concerned with our temporal state than we are with our spiritual state.  We can fail in this life and still be a part of God’s kingdom if we have asked for His forgiveness and have accepted His gift of salvation, but if we fail spiritually by never doing so, then we never will be.  Ezekiel was to speak words of comfort to the people of Israel even if they were currently in a deplorable condition.  If we are spiritually in a deplorable condition by failing to accept God’s gift of salvation or by failing to live in obedience to His word, He still offers us words of comfort if we repent and return to Him.   

Verse two adds, Thus saith the Lord God; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession:  God said that the enemies of Israel were boasting that they owned even the mountains of Israel.  Their enemies believed that they had totally defeated Israel and that Israel would never rise again.  As followers of Christ, our enemies may believe that they have defeated us forever if they take control of all our material possessions, but if we are still obedient to God, they will never defeat us spiritually and we will one day rise to glory with God.   

Verse three continues, Therefore prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that ye might be a possession unto the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people:  Ezekiel was then to tell the people that God was aware of their current state in the world.  Even if we lose everything in the world, even our life, due to being obedient to God, that does not mean that God is not still with us.  God knows what is going on in the world, and He does not always give victory to Christians.  Sometimes, Christians may lose everything they own and even be killed for their faith, but they are forever safe with God spiritually.  This is the good news that we need to share with lost people today as we invite them to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  Christianity should never be depicted as a way to material blessings today, but as a way to take up our cross daily as we die to wanting the things of this world if it means disobeying God’s word.   

Verse four concludes, Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes, and to the cities that are forsaken, which became a prey and derision to the residue of the heathen that are round about;   God continued to say that His word was to the broken people of Israel and all their land.  I believe this was to those who were still living by faith in their covenant with God and not just to these who were born in the land of Israel.  The people of Israel were only God's people because of their covenant relationship with Him and not just because they were born in Israel.  If we are followers of Christ today, even if we are broken and desolate in the world, God still has a massage of hope for us.     

Ezekiel 35:11

Ezekiel 35:11 says, Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.  God said that He was going to judge Moab by the same standard that they had judged other people.  They had seen themselves as superior to others and had destroyed or enslaved them, so God was going to do the same to them, but His judgment would be everlasting.  When this occurred, they would know too late that He is God.  We will all be judged by whether or not we have accepted God’s word or not, which should affect how we treat other people.  Those who do not accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord will be sent away to everlasting punishment just as they had sent others away to death or enslavement.  Though the soul will never die, those who are not followers of Christ will forever be enslaved in the pit of hell, and then they will know that God is God.   

Verse twelve adds, And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, and that I have heard all thy blasphemies which thou hast spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they are given us to consume.  God said that the people of Moab would know that He is God because they would be punished because of their actions against Israel, or God’s chosen people.   Though our ultimate judgment will be because of our relationship with Jessus Christ, those who have attempted to abuse or destroy His people, or Christians, will be held accountable for this as well.   

Verse thirteen continues, Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.  God said He had heard their boasting against Him.  Those who boast today that there is no God or that He isn’t the only God will one day be held accountable because God hears them when they boast about this.   

Verse fourteen states, Thus saith the Lord God; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.  God said that even if the whole world rejoiced at the power of Moab that He was going to make them desolate.  People may boast about their power today, even claiming to be more powerful than God, but one day, He is going to send them to the desolation of hell.   

Verse fifteen adds, As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the Lord.  God said that just as they had rejoiced at the desolation of Israel, He was going to make them desolate and then they would know that He is God.  I don’t believe that God rejoices over the everlasting destruction of those who will not put their faith in Jesus Christ, but He will allow them to go away to everlasting destruction one day, and then too late they will acknowledge that He is God.

Ezekiel 35:5

Ezekiel 35:5 says, Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:  God told the people of Moab why He was going to destroy them, and it was because they had shed the blood of the people of Israel after they had quit sinning, or had put their faith in God once more.  This is the same warning to those who persecute and even kill Christians today.   

Verse six adds, Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood, and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, even blood shall pursue thee.  God said that since they had shed the blood of His people unjustly that He was going to shed their blood.  One day, everyone will be held accountable for their sins if they haven't put their faith in Jesus Christ, and they will be forever separated from Him and those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ.  I don’t believe that this means those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ are then free to sin because their sins have already been forgiven though.  Salvation will never grant us the right to sin.   

Verse seven continues, Thus will I make mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it him that passeth out and him that returneth.  God said that He was going to cut off Mount Seir from everyone, those who had left and those who would try to return.  When God’s final judgment comes, everyone who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord will be cut off from the Promised Land forever, no matter where they may be in the world, and they will never be allowed in.   

Verse eight states, And I will fill his mountains with his slain men: in thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy rivers, shall they fall that are slain with the sword.  God said that no matter where the people of Mount Sier, or the people of Moab were, they were going to die by the sword.  Though those who refuse God’s gift of salvation may live highly successful lives in the eyes of the world, they are going to face the rest of their everlasting life suffering while separated from God, which is a much greater price to pay than just being killed physically.  

Verse nine adds, I will make thee perpetual desolations, and thy cities shall not return: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.   God said that when Moab fell that it would be forever.  They would never again be a nation, much less a powerful one.  When God’s judgment comes on the world, those who have not put their faith Jesus Christ will be forever separated from God.   He also said that then they would know that He is God, even though it would be too late.  This is true for all who do not accept His gift of salvation. 

Verse ten continues, Because thou hast said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas the Lord was there:  God said that this was going to happen because they had thought that they could possess the land of Israel and Judah.  God said these two nations would once again be His when the people there put their faith in Him once more.  We will never be saved from everlasting destruction based on anything other than our faith in Jesus Christ, and if we have put our faith in Him, no one can ever keep us from our everlasting life with Him.