Restoration Of Israel's People

INTRO

The goal of Revive School is based on Matthew 5:17. Revive School is broken up into segments, and right now, we are in the segment of the major prophets. The prophecy from the major prophets points to Jesus, the New David. Christ didn’t contradict what the prophets said, but rather, fulfilled their prophecies.

So far, we’ve seen the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel do drastic things to call attention to the Word that was coming from God. Sometimes the prophets can run together, and it becomes difficult to remember who did what. So, let’s review. In Ezekiel 30—32, Ezekiel gave oracles, warnings, and judgments that were about how Babylon would defeat Egypt.

Ezekiel 33:6 presents the picture of the watchman and was a new commissioning of the prophet. The role of the prophet was to continue to release the warning of what was to come.

Ezekiel 34 included new warnings because the false prophets continued to communicate that the people of Israel would get out of captivity quickly, which was not true. No matter how the people received the word from the true prophets, the prophets were still commanded by God to communicate the truth.

Ezekiel 35 holds prophecy against Edom and the Edomites, who were from the lineage of Esau. Mount Seir was another name for the land of Edom. The people of Edom would be removed so Israel could be restored. In Ezekiel 35:9, Ezekiel proclaimed perpetual judgment against the people of Esau. The area was to be destroyed so God could give the land back to His people. God was in control. Ezekiel was the mouthpiece for all of this.

TEACHING

Ezekiel 36:1: Verses 1–15 describe the restoration of the land. Most of the people had either been destroyed in Jerusalem or were in captivity in Babylon. Ezekiel was told to prophesy to the mountains of Israel. Ezekiel told the mountains to hear the Word of the Lord.

Ezekiel 36:2–15: In these verses, God spoke against the rest of the nations and all of Edom. These commands create a bigger picture of the restoration of Israel. There were people in the land who were not supposed to be there. Eventually, God’s zeal prevailed so the land would go back to the people of God. That land was going to see restoration and, for anyone who was in the land at the time, the message from God was that He was giving the land back to His people. The question was, when would all these things take place?

John MacArthur writes that in the “purposes of restoration (vv. 8–38), Israel’s land will be productive (vv. 8–9), populated (vv. 10–11), and peaceful (vv. 12–15). These features will be fully realized in the Messiah’s kingdom. The return from Babylon was only a partial fulfillment to come in the future kingdom.”¹ This was the opposite of what had happened to Edom.

In Ezekiel 33:21, Ezekiel had just heard news from a fugitive who came from Israel and said the city of Jerusalem had been taken. Jerusalem had fallen as Ezekiel had said. He proved he was a man of God. Now the people believed what he was saying.

The people heard Jerusalem had fallen. But now they heard from Ezekiel that Jerusalem would be restored, and they thought restoration would happen immediately. This meant more than just going back to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. This meant that there would be a harvest, and there would be safety, security, and abundance because the enemy was no longer there. In a way, the prophecy was still addressed to the Edomites. The people of God would now control the land. The killings would stop, the sacrificing to idols would stop, and the people of Israel would have a new freedom.

Ezekiel 36:15 wraps up the restoration of the land. The people of Israel would not have to endure captivity forever. God would take care of the Edomite problem as well as the problems with the other nations. Even as the people heard that Jerusalem had fallen, in the midst of those moments, God gave the people hope.

Ezekiel 36:16–38: Wiersbe identifies Ezekiel 36:16–38 as “Regeneration: The People Cleansed.”² For the next several verses Ezekiel looks to the past. Verses 16–31 is a unique section of Scripture because it looks back at why the Israelites were in captivity. In a context and setting from before their captivity, Ezekiel describes why they were in exile—they had defiled their land by their conduct and actions. Wiersbe said, “Israel was guilty of two great sins, the first of which was polluting God’s land (vv. 16–19). Their second sin was that of profaning God’s name before the Gentiles (vv. 20–23).”³ Because of the way they had lived, God poured out His wrath on them. Looking back, Ezekiel describes why the people were now in exile based on what they did in their land and why the people were scattered under God’s judgment.

When the people arrived in the lands where God had scattered them, they profaned the name of God. The people blamed God for scattering them. In verses 21–25, God told Ezekiel to tell the people they would be restored to the land, but it was not because of their actions. Wiersbe explains, “The Lord promises to change the people only because He desires to sanctify and glorify His great name (v. 22).”⁴

God would glorify His name through restoring the people of Israel back to their land. This was to be the cleansing from the old to the new. The people were to be given a new heart and would receive God’s Spirit (vv. 26-27). God would save the people from their uncleanness.

Ezekiel proclaimed God would remove the stubbornness of the people. He would work with the people of Israel in what was considered to be a new covenant. The Lord was giving His Holy Spirit to the Jewish people. The Spirit of God came to the people that embraced the new David.

CLOSING

MacArthur points out, “The gift of the ‘new heart’ signifies the new birth, which is regeneration by the Holy Spirit (cf. 11:18–20). The ‘heart’ stands for the whole nature. The ‘spirit’ indicated the governing power of the mind, which directs thought and conduct. A ‘stony heart’ is stubborn and self-willed. A ‘heart of flesh’ is pliable and responsive.”⁵

When individuals embrace the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the New David, they are given a new heart and a new spirit. When that happens, people experience the freedom that God speaks of in Ezekiel 36. The opportunity to embrace this message of Christ has already been placed before us. And God does all this for His glory.