Ezekiel 36:8

36:1-15 Those who put contempt and reproach on God's people, will have them turned on themselves. God promises favour to his Israel. We have no reason to complain, if the more unkind men are, the more kind God is. They shall come again to their own border. It was a type of the heavenly Canaan, of which all God's children are heirs, and into which they all shall be brought together. And when God returns in mercy to a people who return to him in duty, all their grievances will be set right. The full completion of this prophecy must be in some future event.

But ye, O mountains of Israel,.... Literally understood, as appears by what follows; for though they could not hear what was said, the proprietors of them could, now in captivity; and the efficacy of the word should be seen on them, producing the following effects: ye shall shoot forth your branches; that is, the trees that grew upon them should; the vines, and the olive trees, planted on hills and mountains, as was usual, as appears from the mount of Olives, and other places: and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; not only put forth branches, but bear fruit; and which should be given to the right owners, the people of Israel, and not to the Heathens, who had claimed the ancient mountains for their possession: for they are at hand to come; the Israelites; either by repentance, as Kimchi; or by a return from the Babylonish captivity, which was about forty or fifty years after this prophecy; and which was but a shadow and figure of their restoration in the latter day, yet to come; which might be said to be at hand, or near, with respect to God, with whom two or three thousand years are as nothing. The Targum is, "for the day of my redemption is near to come.''

Ezekiel 36:8-12 . But ye, O mountains of Israel, shall yield your fruit, &c. — Here the land of Judea is ordered to provide for the sustenance of the people of Israel, who were about to return out of captivity to dwell there again: for, says the prophet, they are at hand to come — That is, the deliverance of my people shall be effected in a short time. This prophecy seems to have an immediate reference to the return of the Jews from Babylon; but there can be no doubt, as Calmet justly observes, that it has also a further reference, even to the general return of the Israelites, and to the kingdom of the Messiah; the longest distance of time that the things of this world can extend to being but a moment in respect of eternity. For I am for you, and will return unto you, &c. — I will send down again my blessing upon you, and favourable seasons; and cause you to be inhabited, so that you shall again be cultivated and fruitful. This is also addressed, as it were, to the land of Judea. And the cities shall be inhabited — The cities and towns that lie in ruins shall be built again. And I will multiply upon you man and beast — As God, in his judgments, threatened to cut off man and beast from the land, ( Ezekiel 14:17 ,) so here he promises to replenish it with both. And will do better unto you than at your beginning — In bestowing upon you the blessings of the gospel, the promises of which were first made to the Jews and to their children, Acts 2:39 .

The words may likewise imply, that God would give them a more lasting and secure possession of their land than ever they had before: see the following verses. Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you — O mountains, or land of Israel, Ezekiel 36:8 . And thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men — That is, thou shall no more be remarkable for thy inhabitants dying in uncommon numbers, by pestilence, the sword, and famine.

Verse 8. - For they are at hand to come . Keil and Plumptre make the subject of the verb the material blessings in which Israel's prosperity is depicted as consisting, viz. the foliage and fruit her mountains were soon to bear for the people of Jehovah. The majority of expositors believe the subject to be the people whose return from exile was in this way declared to be approaching. Nor is there any reason why Ezekiel should not have represented the return from exile as an event soon to take place, since of the seventy years of captivity predicted by Jeremiah ( Jeremiah 25:11 ) at least twenty years had passed, if its commencement be dated from the fourth year of Jehoiakim ( Ezekiel 33:21 ); and the fulfillment of Jehovah's promise was to the prophet so much a matter of certainty ( Ezekiel 11:17 ) that his fervent imagination conceived it as at hand. Ezekiel 36:8

8 . at hand to come ] The presentiment of the prophet is that the restoration of the people and the age to which all these promises which he gives (ch. 33–37) belong is close at hand. 8–15 . Positive promise to the mountain-land of Israel. In the age of the regeneration, which is at the door, it shall be luxuriantly fruitful ( Ezekiel 36:8-9 ), and populous ( Ezekiel 36:10-12 ); it shall no more kill its inhabitants with scarcity ( Ezekiel 36:13-14 ), nor any more be subject to the reproach of the nations on this account ( Ezekiel 36:15 ).

Shall shoot; shall be fruitful, and send forth the branches, trees, plants, herbs, and grass, that are proper for you, and these branches shall not have leaves only, but they shall bring forth their fruit. They are at hand; the time will come, yea is near, when my people shall come out of Babylonish captivity to resettle in their own land. I will perform my word, and give them assured peace, and this will not be long ere it is begun at least.

8. they are at hand to come—that is, the Israelites are soon about to return to their land. This proves that the primary reference of the prophecy is to the return from Babylon, which was "at hand," or comparatively near. But this only in part fulfilled the prediction, the full and final blessing in future, and the restoration from Babylon was an earnest of it.

The Devastation of Edom Ezekiel 35:1. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Ezekiel 35:2. Son of man, set thy face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, Ezekiel 35:3. And say to it, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will deal with thee, Mount Seir, and will stretch out my hand against thee, and make thee waste and devastation. Ezekiel 35:4. Thy cities will I make into ruins, and thou wilt become a waste, and shalt know that I am Jehovah. Ezekiel 35:5. Because thou cherishest eternal enmity, and gavest up the sons of Israel to the sword at the time of their distress, at the time of the final transgression, Ezekiel 35:6. Therefore, as truly as I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, I will make thee blood, and blood shall pursue thee; since thou hast not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue thee. Ezekiel 35:7. I will make Mount Seir devastation and waste, and cut off therefrom him that goeth away and him that returneth, Ezekiel 35:8. And fill his mountains with his slain; upon thy hills, and in thy valleys, and in all thy low places, those pierced with the sword shall fall. Ezekiel 35:9. I will make thee eternal wastes, and thy cities shall not be inhabited; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Ezekiel 35:10. Because thou sayest, The two nations and the two lands they shall be mine, and we will take possession of it, when Jehovah was there; Ezekiel 35:11.