Ezekiel 36:11

Ezekiel 36:11 says, And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.  God then said that He was going to bless them with people and animals and that they would be even better off than before materially.  I don’t believe that we can take this promise to Israel then and say that if we put our faith in God that He is going to make us materially rich, but we will be spiritually better off than we were before.  God also said that when He caused this to happen that the people of Israel would know that He is God.  We cannot be a Christian without knowing that God is the only God and that He provides the only way to salvation.   

Verse twelve adds, Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.  God said that He was going to cause the people of Israel to walk in their own land once more.  They had been scattered throughout the world, but He was going to assemble them in the promised land once more.  As followers of Christ, we are scattered throughout the world today, but one day, God is going to gather us all together in our heavenly home.  God also said that when this happened that His people would no longer be bereaved because of their status in the world, and as Christians, when God calls us home to glory, we will no longer be bereaved. 

Verse thirteen states, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations:   God said that the land of Israel devoured or destroyed people while it lay desolate.  This was because the people of Israel had been defeated or devoured by other nations instead of being a land that protected them.  In effect, this was a judgment on God Who had given them the land but seemingly hadn’t protected the people of Israel.  Of course, they failed to understand that it wasn't the land or God Who had caused the defeat of the Israelites but their own sin that had.  If we are spiritually defeated today, we cannot blame it on the place we live and we especially cannot blame it on God.  It will always be our personal sin that causes us to be defeated spiritually.   

Verse fourteen adds, Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God.  God said that since other people claimed that Israel had devoured other nations that this would no longer happen.  Israel was to prosper once more in peace and not in war.  I believe that God still expects us as followers of Christ to reach out to the world with His message of forgiveness in peace and not to reach out to them with the destruction of war.   

Verse fifteen continues, Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God.  God said that He was going to cause the people of Israel to no longer bear the shame or reproach of the heathen because of their having caused them to fall.  We as Christians and as a nation called a Christian nation are not called to destroy those who don’t believe in God but to reach out to them with the love of God and call on them to repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  If we destroy them when they are unsaved, we have helped send them away to everlasting destruction. 

Ezekiel 36:5

Ezekiel 36:5 says, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey.  God said that He had a message for those who thought they had defeated His people.  This message is still true today and we as followers of Christ must share it with the world as a warning to their coming fate if they do not repent and come to God.    

Verse six adds, Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:  God said that His prophecy was to be against all those who oppressed His people because He is a jealous God and who watches over His people and will not allow any others to destroy them forever.   

Verse seven continues, Therefore thus saith the Lord God; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.  God said that He had lifted up His hand against the heathen around the people of Isreal and that the heathen would bear the shame of their own failure to obey Him and also for trying to destroy His people.  When God’s judgment comes, everyone who has not accepted His gift of salvation will bear the shame of their own guilt.  I believe that those who have accepted His gift of salvation and then at times do not obey God’s word to them will also bear shame for their actions when His judgment comes, but they will still be a part of His kingdom.   

Verse eight states, But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.  God said that when He sent His judgement on the heathen that His people would flourish.  This was not everyone who was born in Israel but was everyone who was born in Israel and had put their faith in Him.  It was those who were spiritual Israelites.  We may be born in what is called a Cristian nation or into a family that is considered a Christian family, but this does not make us a part of God’s people.  Only those who individually accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord will ever be a part of God’s people.   

Verse nine adds, For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:  God said that since He was for them that the people of Isreal would be tilled and sown, or made ready to bear fruit for Him.  The land had been cursed because of the disobedience of the people of Israel, but it would now be productive again.  If we are to be spiritually productive today, we must be obedient to God in all that we say and do.   

Verse ten continues, And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:  God said that He was going to once again cause the nation of Isreal to be prosperous.  Their houses would be rebuilt and their cities inhabited by His people once more.  I don’t believe that we can say that if we put our faith in God that we will always flourish materially every day, but we will have a home in heaven where we one day will.  It will always depend on our accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, though. 

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.