Ezekiel 36

Ezekiel 36:5

ISRAEL’S PAST SINS JUDGED AND FORGIVENIn chapter 36 we find that Israel’s past sins must be judged and forgiven before she can be restored to the land. God is determined that the wicked will not inherit the earth. He has made it clear: “…the meek …shall inherit the earth” (Mat_5:5). The meek are not inheriting it today. The wicked are the ones who have it, and they are the ones who are prospering. This chapter contains the prophecy concerning the fact that the land of Israel is to be restored. All you have to do is drive through that land, and you will know this prophecy is not yet fulfilled. A great many people like to think they see prophecy being fulfilled on every hand, but when God brings them back to the land, the land is to be blessed. It is not blessed today, my friend.

Ezekiel 36:6

“For they are at hand to come” could be translated “For they are soon to come.” “Soon” to God is different from what it is to us; after all, a day is as a thousand years with Him.

Ezekiel 36:16

Again may I emphasize that the land and the people belong together. The Mosaic Law was not only given to a people, it was given for a land.

Ezekiel 36:19

God says, “I scattered them among the heathen [the nations],” but listen to Him:

Ezekiel 36:21

You see, God has yet to defend His name in this earth. There are a great many people who ridicule the church today and the people who are in it. They blaspheme God because of it. God is going to justify Himself in this earth, and He is going to sanctify His name down here. Many take His name in vain today, but God says, “That’s going to stop, and you are going to honor Me.” This is His world, you see.

Ezekiel 36:26

God says what He is going to do. A change is going to take place. “A new heart also will I give you"they are going to be born again.

Ezekiel 36:27

This is what Joel meant in his prophecythere is a day coming when God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, not just some. The Spirit was poured out upon very few on the Day of Pentecost. All Peter said on that day was, “Don’t ridicule us and say we are drunk. This is like what Joel said is going to happen in the last days.” The Spirit has come upon a few, and today God is calling out a people for His name. The minute you turn to Christ, you are regenerated by the Holy Spirit; you are indwelt and baptized by the Holy Spirit; you are put in the body of believers. “In that day,” God says, “I’ll put My Spirit within you.”

Ezekiel 36:28

They will dwell in the land, and there will be prosperity in the land. God has promised to them physical blessings, just as He has promised to us spiritual blessings. This chapter concludes with a great prophecy:

Ezekiel 36:35

“And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden.” You can say that if you want to, but it wouldn’t be true today. “And they shall know that I am the LORD.” They don’t know that in Israel, they don’t know it in the United States, and they don’t know it in the world today. But the day is coming, my friend, when Israel will know that He is the Lord.