Ezekiel 36 commentary

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.

The restoration of that people, being typical of our redemption by Christ, shows that the end aimed at in our salvation is the glory of God. The sin of a people defiles their land; renders it abominable to God, and uncomfortable to themselves. God's holy name is his great name; his holiness is his greatness, nor does any thing else make a man truly great.

Water is an emblem of the cleansing our polluted souls from sin. But no water can do more than take away the filth of the flesh. Water seems in general the sacramental sign of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost; yet this is always connected with the atoning blood of Christ. When the latter is applied by faith to the conscience, to cleanse it from evil works, the former is always applied to the powers of the soul, to purify it from the pollution of sin. All that have an interest in the new covenant, have a new heart and a new spirit, in order to their walking in newness of life. God would give a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, complying with his holy will. Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul, as the turning a dead stone into living flesh. God will put his Spirit within, as a Teacher, Guide, and Sanctifier. The promise of God's grace to fit us for our duty, should quicken our constant care and endeavour to do our duty. These are promises to be pleaded by, and will be fulfilled to, all true believers in every age.

CHAPTER 36

Eze 36:1-38. Israel Avenged of Her Foes, and Restored, First to Inward Holiness, Then to Outward Prosperity.

The distinction between Israel and the heathen (as Edom) is: Israel has a covenant relation to God ensuring restoration after chastisement, so that the heathen's hope of getting possession of the elect people's inheritance must fail, and they themselves be made desolate (Eze 36:1-15). The reason for the chastisement of Israel was Israel's sin and profanation of God's name (Eze 36:16-21). God has good in store for Israel, for His own name's sake, to revive His people; first, by a spiritual renewal of their hearts, and, next, by an external restoration to prosperity (Eze 36:22-33). The result is that the heathen shall be impressed with the power and goodness of God manifested so palpably towards the restored people (Eze 36:34-38).

1-2. mountains of Israel--in contrast to "Mount Seir" of the previous prophecy. They are here personified; Israel's elevation is moral, not merely physical, as Edom's. Her hills are "the everlasting hills" of Jacob's prophecy (Ge 49:26). "The enemy" (Edom, the singled-out representative of all God's foes), with a shout of exultation, "Aha!" had claimed, as the nearest kinsman of Israel (the brother of their father Esau), his vacated inheritance; as much as to say, the so-called "everlasting" inheritance of Israel and of the "hills," which typified the unmoved perpetuity of it (Psa 125:1, 2), has come to an end, in spite of the promise of God, and has become "ours" (compare De 32:13; 33:15).

3. Literally, "Because, even because."

swallowed you up--literally, "panted after" you, as a beast after its prey; implying the greedy cupidity of Edom as to Israel's inheritance (Psa 56:1, 2).

lips of talkers--literally, "lips of the tongue," that is, of the slanderer, the man of tongue. Edom slandered Israel because of the connection of the latter with Jehovah, as though He were unable to save them. De 28:37, and Jr 24:9 had foretold Israel's reproach among the heathen (Da 9:16).

4. Inanimate creatures are addressed, to imply that the creature also, as it were, groans for deliverance from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Ro 8:19-21) [Polanus]. The completeness of the renewed blessedness of all parts of the land is implied.

derision--(Psa 79:4).

5. to cast it out for a prey--that is, to take the land for a prey, its inhabitants being cast out. Or the land is compared to a prey cast forth to wild beasts. Fairbairn needlessly alters the Hebrew pointing and translates, "that they may plunder its pasturage."

6. the shame of the heathen--namely, the shame with which the heathen cover you (Psa 123:3, 4).

7. lifted ... mine hand--in token of an oath (Eze 20:5; Ge 14:22).

they shall bear their shame--a perpetual shame; whereas the "shame" which Israel bore from these heathen was only for a time.

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.

10. wastes builded--Is 58:12; 61:4; Am 9:11, 12, 14, where, as here (Eze 34:23, 24), the names of David, Messiah's type, and Edom, Israel's foe, are introduced in connection with the coming restoration.

11. do better ... than at your beginnings--as in the case of Job (Job 42:12). Whereas the heathen nations fall irrevocably, Israel shall be more than restored; its last estate shall exceed even its first.

12. to walk upon you--O mountains of Israel (Eze 36:8)!

thee ... thou--change from plural to singular: O hill of Zion, singled out from the other mountains of Israel (Eze 34:26); or land.

thou shall no more ... bereave them of men--Thou shalt no more provoke God to bereave them of children (so the ellipsis ought to be supplied, as Ezekiel probably alludes to Jr 15:7, "I will bereave them of children").

13. Thou land devourest up men--alluding to the words of the spies (Nu 13:32). The land personified is represented as doing that which was done in it. Like an unnatural mother it devoured, that is, it was the grave of its people; of the Canaanites, its former possessors, through mutual wars, and finally by the sword of Israel; and now, of the Jews, through internal and external ills; for example, wars, famine (to which Eze 36:30, "reproach of famine among the heathen," implies the allusion here is).

14. bereave--so the Keri, or Hebrew Margin reads, to correspond to "bereave" in Eze 36:13; but "cause to fall" or "stumble," in the Hebrew text or Chetib, being the more difficult reading, is the one least likely to come from a corrector; also, it forms a good transition to the next subject, namely, the moral cause of the people's calamities, namely, their falls, or stumblings through sin. The latter ceasing, the former also cease. So the same expression follows in Eze 36:15, "Neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more."

17. removed woman--(Le 15:19, &c.).

18-19. The reason for their removal was their sin, which God's holiness could not let pass unpunished; just as a woman's legal uncleanness was the reason for her being separated from the congregation.

20. profaned my holy name, when they--the heathen

said to them--the Israelites.

These, &c.--The Israelites gave a handle of reproach to the heathen against God, who would naturally say, These who take usury, oppress, commit adultery, &c., and who, in such an abject plight, are "gone forth" as exiles "out of His land," are specimens of what Jehovah can or will effect, for His people, and show what kind of a God this so-called holy, omnipotent, covenant-keeping God must be! (Is 52:5; Ro 2:24).

21. I had pity for mine holy name--that is, I felt pity for it; God's own name, so dishonored, was the primary object of His pitying concern; then His people, secondarily, through His concern for it [Fairbairn].

22. not ... for your sakes--that is, not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part, there is everything to call down continued severity (compare De 9:5, 6). The sole and sure ground of hope was God's regard to "His own name," as the God of covenant grace (Psa 106:45), which He must vindicate from the dishonor brought on it by the Jews, before the heathen.

23. sanctify--vindicate and manifest as holy, in opposition to the heathen reproaches of it brought on by the Jews' sins and their punishment (see on Eze 36:20).

sanctified in you--that is, in respect of you; I shall be regarded in their eyes as the Holy One, and righteous in My dealings towards you (Eze 20:41; 28:22).

24. Fulfilled primarily in the restoration from Babylon; ultimately to be so in the restoration "from all countries."

25. The external restoration must be preceded by an internal one. The change in their condition must not be superficial, but must be based on a radical renewal of the heart. Then the heathen, understanding from the regenerated lives of God's people how holy God is, would perceive Israel's past troubles to have been only the necessary vindications of His righteousness. Thus God's name would be "sanctified" before the heathen, and God's people be prepared for outward blessings.

sprinkle ... water--phraseology taken from the law; namely, the water mixed with the ashes of a heifer sprinkled with a hyssop on the unclean (Nu 19:9-18); the thing signified being the cleansing blood of Christ sprinkled on the conscience and heart (He 9:13, 14; 10:22; compare Jr 33:8; Ep 5:26).

from all your idols--Literal idolatry has ceased among the Jews ever since the captivity; so far, the prophecy has been already fulfilled; but "cleansing from all their idols," for example, covetousness, prejudices against Jesus of Nazareth, is yet future.

26. new heart--mind and will.

spirit--motive and principle of action.

stony heart--unimpressible in serious things; like the "stony ground" (Mt 13:5, 20), unfit for receiving the good seed so as to bring forth fruit.

heart of flesh--not "carnal" in opposition to "spiritual"; but impressible and docile, fit for receiving the good seed. In Eze 18:31 they are commanded, "Make you a new heart, and a new spirit." Here God says, "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you." Thus the responsibility of man, and the sovereign grace of God, are shown to be coexistent. Man cannot make himself a new heart unless God gives it (Php 2:12, 13).

27. my spirit--(Eze 11:19; Jr 32:39). The partial reformation at the return from Babylon (Ezr 10:6, &c.; Ne 8:1-9:38) was an earnest of the full renewal hereafter under Messiah.

28. ye ... my people, ... I ... your God--(Eze 11:20; Jr 30:22).

29. save ... from all ... uncleannesses--the province of Jesus, according to the signification of His name (Mt 1:21). To be specially exercised in behalf of the Jews in the latter days (Ro 11:26).

call for ... corn--as a master "calls for" a servant; all the powers and productions of nature are the servants of Jehovah (Psa 105:16; Mt 8:8, 9). Compare as to the subordination of all the intermediate agents to the Great First Cause, who will give "corn" and all good things to His people, Ho 2:21, 22; Zec 8:12.

30. no more reproach of famine among the heathen--to which their taunt (Eze 36:13), "Thou land devourest up men," in part referred.

31. remember your ... evil ways--with shame and loathing. The unexpected grace and love of God, manifested in Christ to Israel, shall melt the people into true repentance, which mere legal fear could not (Eze 16:61, 63; Psa 130:4; Zec 12:10; compare Jr 33:8, 9).

35. they shall say--The heathen, who once made Israel's desolation a ground of reproach against the name of Jehovah Himself (Eze 36:20, 21); but now He so vindicates its sanctity (Eze 36:22, 23) that these same heathen are constrained to acknowledge Israel's more than renewed blessedness to be God's own work, and a ground for glorifying His name (Eze 36:36).

Eden--as Tyre (the type of the world powers in general: so Assyria, a cedar "in the garden of God, Eden," Eze 31:8, 9), in original advantages, had been compared to "Eden, the garden of God" (Eze 28:13), from which she had fallen irrecoverably; so Israel, once desolate, is to be as "the garden of Eden" (Is 51:3), and is to be so unchangeably.

36. Lord ... spoken ... do it--(Nu 23:19).

37. I will yet for this be inquired of--so as to grant it. On former occasions He had refused to be inquired of by Israel because the inquirers were not in a fit condition of mind to receive a blessing (Eze 14:3; 20:3). But hereafter, as in the restoration from Babylon (Ne 8:1-9:38; Da 9:3-20, 21, 23), God will prepare His people's hearts (Eze 36:26) to pray aright for the blessings which He is about to give (Psa 102:13-17, 20; Zec 12:10-14; 13:1).

like a flock--resuming the image (Eze 34:23, 31).

38. As the holy flock--the great flock of choice animals for sacrifice, brought up to Jerusalem at the three great yearly festivals, the passover, pentecost, and feast of the tabernacles.

Prophesy unto the mountains of Israel - This is a part of the preceding prophecy though it chiefly concerns the Jews. In it they are encouraged to expect a glorious restoration, and that none of the evil wishes of their adversaries should take place against them.

Because the enemy hath said - The Idumeans thought they would shortly be put in possession of all the strong places of Israel; the ancient high places shall be ours.

Therefore - thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, etc. - They shall neither possess mountain nor valley, hill nor dale, fountain nor river; for though in my justice I made you desolate, yet they shall not profit by your disasters. See Eze 36:5-7.

For they are at hand to come - The restoration of the Jews is so absolutely determined that you may rest assured it will take place; and be as confident relative to it, as if you saw the different families entering into the Israelitish borders. It was near at hand in God's determination, though there were about fifty-eight of the seventy years unelapsed.

Ye shall be tilled and sown - The land shall be cultivated as it formerly was, when best peopled and at peace.

I will multiply upon you man and beast - The agriculturalist and the beast of burden.

And will do better unto you than at your beginnings - I agree with Calmet, that it would be difficult to show the literal fulfillment of this prophecy from the days of Zerubbabel to the birth of Christ. The colouring is too high for that period; and the whole falls in better with Gospel than with Jewish times.

When the house of Israel dwelt in their own land - Had they continued faithful to me, they had never been removed from it: but they polluted it with their crimes; and I abhorred the land on that account, and gave both them and it up to the destroyers.

And when they entered unto the heathen - So bad were they, and so deeply fallen, that they profaned the Lord's name among the heathen; and, on their account, the true God was blasphemed. These, say they, are the people of Jehovah! O what an abominable people are these! and what a being must that God be who can have and own such for his people!

I will sanctify my great name - By changing your hearts and your conduct, I shall show my hatred to vice, and my love to holiness: but it is not for your sakes, but for my holy name's sake, that I shall do you good in your latter days.

I will take you from among the heathen - This does not relate to the restoration from Babylon merely. The Jews are at this day scattered in all Heathen, Mohammedan, and Christian countries. From these they are to be gathered, and brought to repossess their own land.

Then - At the time of this great restoration - will I sprinkle clean water upon you - the truly cleansing water; the influences of the Holy Spirit typified by water, whose property it is to cleanse, whiten, purify, refresh, render healthy and fruitful.

From all your filthiness - From every sort of external and internal abomination and pollution.

And from all your idols - False gods, false worship, false opinions, and false hopes.

Will I cleanse you - Entirely separate you.

A new heart also will I give you - I will change the whole of your infected nature; and give you new appetites, new passions; or, at least, the old ones purified and refined. The heart is generally understood to mean all the affections and passions.

And a new spirit will I put within you - I will renew your minds, also enlighten your understanding, correct your judgment, and refine your will, so that you shall have a new spirit to actuate your new heart.

I will take away the stony heart - That heart that is hard, impenetrable, and cold; the affections and passions that are unyielding, frozen to good, unaffected by heavenly things; that are slow to credit the words of God. I will entirely remove this heart: it is the opposite to that which I have promised you; and you cannot have the new heart and the old heart at the same time.

And I will give you a heart of flesh - One that can feel, and that can enjoy; that can feel love to God and to all men, and be a proper habitation for the living God.

And I will put my Spirit within you - To keep the heart of flesh alive, the feeling heart still sensible, the loving heart still happy. I will put my Spirit, the great principle of light, life, and love, within you, to actuate the new spirit, and to influence the new affections and passions; that the animal spirit may not become brutish, that the mental powers become not foolish. I will put my Spirit within you, so that as the new spirit may influence the new heart, so will My Spirit influence Your new spirit, that each may have a proper mover; and then all will be pure, regular, and harmonious, when passion is influenced by reason, and reason by the Holy Ghost.

And the cause shall be evidenced by the effects; for I will cause you to walk in my statutes - not only to believe and reverence my appointments relative to what I command you to perform; but ye shall walk in them, your conduct shall be regulated by them. "And ye shall keep my judgments;" whatsoever I enjoin you to avoid. And ye shall do them - ye shall not only avoid every appearance of evil, but keep all my ordinances and commandments unblamably.

Here is the salvation that God promises to give to restored Israel; and here is the salvation that is the birthright of every Christian believer: the complete destruction of all sin in the soul, and the complete renewal of the heart; no sin having any place within, and no unrighteousness having any place without. "But where are they that are thus saved?"

Ans. Wherever true Christians are to be found. "But I know many true Christians that have not this salvation, but daily mourn over their evil hearts?"

Ans. They may be sincere, but they are not true Christians; i.e., such as are saved from their sins; the true Christians are those who are filled with the nature and Spirit of Christ. But I will ask a question in my turn: "Do those you mention think it a virtue to be always mourning over their impurities?" Most certainly. Then it is a pity they were not better instructed. It is right they should mourn while they feel an impure heart; but why do they not apply to that blood which cleanses from all unrighteousness, and to that Spirit which cleanses the very thoughts of the heart by his inspiration? Many employ that time in brooding and mourning over their impure hearts, which should be spent in prayer and faith before God, that their impurities might be washed away. In what a state of nonage are many members of the Christian Church!

Ye shall be my people - Wholly given up to me in body, soul, and spirit.

And I will be your God - To fill you with love, joy, peace, meekness, gentleness, longsuffering, fidelity and goodness, to occupy your whole soul, and gratify your every desire.

I will also save you from all your uncleannesses - I repeat it; "I Will save you from all your sins."

Ye shall receive no more reproach of famine - Ye shall be daily and hourly fed with the bread that endures unto eternal life. "But will not those get proud, who are thus saved, if there be any such? and will they not undervalue the blood of the covenant, for then they shall not need it?" Ans. Hear what the Lord saith: -

Then shall ye remember your own evil ways - Ye shall never forget that ye were once slaves of sin, and sold under sin; children of the wicked one; heirs to all God's curses, with no hope beyond hell. Such cleansed people never forget the horrible pit and the miry clay out of which they have been brought. And can they then be proud? No; they loathe themselves in their own sight. They never forgive themselves for having sinned against so good a God, and so loving a Savior. And can they undervalue Him by whose blood they were bought, and by whose blood they were cleansed? No! That is impossible: they now see Jesus as they ought to see him; they see him in his splendor, because they feel him in his victory and triumph over sin. To them that thus believe he is precious, and he was never so precious as now. As to their not needing him when thus saved from their sins, we may as well say, as soon may the creation not need the sustaining hand of God, because the works are finished! Learn this, that as it requires the same power to sustain creation as to produce it, so it requires the same Jesus who cleansed to keep clean. They feel that it is only through his continued indwelling, that they are kept holy, and happy, and useful. Were he to leave them the original darkness and kingdom of death would soon be restored.

This land that was desolate by sin, is become like the garden of Eden by righteousness - Satan's blast is removed; God's blessing has taken place.

Then the heathen - They shall see how powerful Jehovah is, and how fully he saves those who come unto and worship him.

Thus saith the Lord God - In answer to the question, "Who shall have such blessings?" we say, they that pray, that seek earnestly, that strive to enter in at the strait gate. "Thus saith the Lord, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel." Neither Jew nor Gentile shall be thus saved who do not earnestly pray to God; and for this thing; for this complete salvation; this setting up of the kingdom of Christ upon earth, and particularly in their own souls.

As the holy flock - The Church of Christ, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

The flock of Jerusalem - The Jerusalem that is from above, the city of the living God, the place where his Majesty dwells. As they came in ancient times to the solemn national feasts so shall they come when they have fully returned unto the Lord, and received his salvation by Christ Jesus.

I do not ask my reader's pardon for having considered this most beautiful chapter as relating, not to the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, but to the redemption under the new covenant by Jesus Christ. There is no period of the Jewish history from that time until now, to which it can be applied. It must belong to the Gospel dispensation, and if the Jews will still refuse, contradict, and blaspheme, let no Christian have any fellowship with them in their opposition to this Almighty Savior. Let none be indifferent to his salvation; let all plead his promises; and let the messengers of the Churches proclaim to the Christian world a Free, a Full, and a Present Salvation! And may great grace rest upon themselves, and upon all their flocks!

The mountains - The inhabitants being in captivity, speak to the mountains, that is, the land of Judah, and Israel, which was a country full of mountains.

Because the enemy - Many were the enemies of God's people; but they so conspired in one design, that the prophet speaks of them as one, and particularly of Edom.

Swallowed - Devoured you, as hungry beasts devour their prey. Ye are taken up - You are the subject of all their discourse. An infamy - Ever branding you as infamous.

Lifted up mine hand - Sworn in my wrath. The heathen - The Moabites, Ammonites, and Idumeans.

At hand - The time is near, when my people shall come out of Babylon to settle in their own land.

And thou - O land of Canaan. Bereave - Consume thine inhabitants.

They - The heathen round about.

Therefore - I will so bless thee, O land, that thou shalt bring forth and breed up many sons and daughters, and this reproach shall cease for ever.

By their doings - By their carriage, and whole conversation. As the uncleanness - Or as one cut off from the congregation, because of some great sin.

Entered - When they were come into Babylon. Profaned - They sinned. They - Their heathen neighbours. Them - The profane Jews. These - These profane slaves, call themselves the people of the Lord and say, he gave them the land out of which they are driven.

But I had pity - For these sins I had just cause to cut them off; but I had pity, for the glory of my name: had I destroyed them, the heathen would have concluded against my omnipotence, and my truth.

I will sanctify my great name - They gave the heathen occasion to think meanly of me, but I will shew I am as great as good. When God performs what he hath sworn by his holiness, then he sanctifies his name.

Sprinkle - "This signifies both the blood of Christ sprinkled upon their conscience, to take away their guilt, as the water of purification was sprinkled, to take away their ceremonial uncleanness and the grace of the spirit sprinkled on the whole soul, to purify it from all corrupt inclinations and dispositions."

A new heart - A new frame of soul, a mind changed, from sinful to holy, from carnal to spiritual. A heart in which the law of God is written, Jer 31:33. A sanctified heart, in which the almighty grace of God is victorious, and turns it from all sin to God. A new spirit - A new, holy frame in the spirit of man; which is given to him, not wrought by his own power. The stony - The senseless unfeeling. Out of your flesh - Out of you. Of flesh - That is, quite of another temper, hearkening to God's law, trembling at his threats, moulded into a compliance with his whole will; to forbear, do, be, or suffer what God will, receiving the impress of God, as soft wax receives the impress of the seal.

My spirit - The holy spirit of God, which is given to, and dwelleth in all true believers. And cause you - Sweetly, powerfully, yet without compulsion; for our spirits, framed by God's spirit to a disposition suitable to his holiness, readily concurs. Ye shall keep - Be willing; and able to keep the judgments, and to walk in the statutes of God, which is, to live in all holiness.

Ye shall dwell - Observe: then, and not before, are these promises to be fulfilled to the house of Israel. And I will be your God - This is the foundation of the top - stone of a believer's happiness.

I will also save you - I will continue to save you. From all your uncleannesses - Salvation from all uncleannessess, includes justification, entire sanctification, and meetness for glory. The corn - All necessaries comprised in one.

And they - Strangers, or foreigners.

Enquired of - Though I have repeated so often my promise to do this, yet it is their duty to intreat it, to wait on me, and then I will do it.

As the holy flock - Flocks designed to holy uses. In her solemn feasts - These flocks were for quality, the best of all; and for numbers, very great, on the solemn feasts. Thus shall men multiply, and fill the cities of replanted Judea. And the increase of the numbers of men is then honourable, when they are all dedicated to God as a holy flock, to be presented to him for living sacrifices. Crowds are a lovely sight in God's temple.

1 ALso thou Son of man, prophesie unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the Word of the LORD:

And Heb.

Declare from me, and in my word.

The Inhabitants wasted, or in captivity speak concerning the Mountains, that is the land of Iudah, and Israel, which was a countrey full of mountains, which were now horrid, unplanted.

What farther revenge I will take on Edom, and on other Nations, that wasted you, this continued to the end of the 6th. verse. And hear what good I will do to you; this from the 7th. to the end of the chapter.

The severe judgments against your Enemies, his gracious promises to you.

Marginal references: chap. 6.2.; chap. 6.2.

2 Thus saith the Lord God, Because the Enemy hath said against you, Aha , even the antient high places are ours in Possession .

Many were the Enemies of Gods people, but they so conspired in one design, with one consent, and were so one in their humours and enmity and carriage, the Prophet speaks of them as one, and particularly of Edom.

Rejoycingly and with insulting Pride, as Ammon did chap. 25.3. and Tyre did chap. 26.2. which see.

The everlasting Hills, but this is common with other Hills, whose foundations, as the[illegible: 1 letter]e of Israel, are from the beginning, and shall be to the end; That they aim at, is a deriding of Israel, who by promise from God claimed these mountains, as a perpetual inheritance, but were now cast out of it, and they hereby tax the God of Israel, as not keeping his promise, so they blaspheme God, and insult over his people.

Our Right, as of the elder house, now Conquerors, and Feu dataries to him, that hath subdued them, thus they pretend right to justifie their injustice.

We are now where we should have been these 1160 years or more, where we thought we would be one time or other, in spite of them, and all their boasts of their God, we are where we will keep, and none shall put us out, Such impious brags were their Sin, and are implied in the words.

3 Therefore prophesie 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 t[illegible: 1 letter] the residue of the heathen, and ye are taken up in the lips of talkers, and are an infamy of the people.

Edomites, and others with them.

First broken your strength, wasted your Cities, and burn[illegible: 1 letter] the Temple, and way lay'd you to cut off them that were escaped at last.

Devoured you, as hungry Beasts devour the prey.

From all coasts of the land through the whole.

That such of the heathen, who remain'd here, might have what they no where else could have, being the scum and worst of men, an inheritance, and possession, so unnatural was Edom, that cast out his own kindred, to bring in the vilest of men, and the most barbarous strangers.

You are th[illegible: 1 letter] subject, on which wild, and foul mouths discourse, which is explain'd

In that the people ever talk'd of them with reproach, and branding them as infamous, this was foretold to Israel, Ier. 24.9. and they were advised to prevent it.

Marginal references: Heb. because [illegible: 1 word] because.; Or, ye are made [illegible: 1 word] come upon the [illegible: 1 word] of the tongue.

4 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.

Now are added a particular of Hills, Valleys, &c. whereas before onely the Mountains were mention'd, but by them the whole land was understood, and to assure them thereof all parts are here particularly mention'd, all that the Enemy wasted, shall be repair'd, all that he took away, shall be restor'd in kind, and those he derided shall be vindicated. Their Estates repair'd, Cities rebuilt and filled, their credit, and honour clear'd, and vindicated. Their deliverance should be compleat and full.

Marginal references: Or, bottoms, [illegible: 1 word] d[illegible: 1 letter]les.

5 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Surely in the fire of my jealousie 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.

In the Heb. 'tis in form of an oath.

In my hot displeasure.

Threatned ruin and desolation to them.

Against all the Nations that are and have been enemies to Israel.

The Land, in which the Edomites dwelt, the Heb. is Edom.

Have given, or delivered, help'd to take the land from my people and then left it in the hand of the Chaldeans in hope it should be given back to them for their possession.

Transported with joy, Iacobs children put out, though heathen came in to possess the Land.

With rancorous Minds swelling with hatred and from that acting with utmost Vigour, to slay the inhabitants, that there might be no pretenders to the land, but that they might inherit it.

Marginal references: chap. 38.19.

6 Prophesie 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 jealousie, and in my fury , because ye have born the shame of the heathen.

See ver. 4. let. s. which is the same with this verse.

See ver. 5. let. u. no difference in the thing exprest, tho' a little difference in the expressing of it, there 'twas the fire of my jealousie, here in my jealousie, and in my Fury.

Which ver. 5. is, being a derision to the residue of the heathen, these loaded them with reproaches, and expos'd them to contempt, and Israel could not prevent it, they were forced to bear it.

7 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, surely the heathen that are about you , they shall bear their shame.

Sworn in my wrath, but in my truth also, Deut. 32.40. and when men did swear solemnly, they did heretofore use this rite, Gen. 14.22.

Moabites, Ammonites, and Idumeans shall be repay'd in their own Coin; I will, as sure as I am God, as sure as I can, so surely I will make them a Taunt, a Proverb, and a curse among men.

8 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.

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 onely, but they shall bring forth their▪ fruit.

The time will come, yea is near, when my people shall come out of Babyloni[illegible: 1 letter]h Captivity to resettle in their own land. I will perform my word, and give them assured peace, and this will not be long, ere 'tis begun at least.

9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown.

Favour you, and am pacified towards you, or I come towards you with Redemption, that your old inhabitants may return to you with singing.

Look towards you with regard to what hath been, and is your estate, your sufferings, which were less then you deserved, yet were the greater because ye are mine, your inhabitants gave me the back, and sinned against me, and I turn'd the back on you, and regarded you not, then all darkness cover'd you, now my face shall be towards you, and you shall prosper, and be fruitful to the comfort of those, that shall dwell in you, and plough and sow you.

11 And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase a d bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you then at your beginnings; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

I will give spiritual blessings instead of Temporal, and Messiahs Kingdom shall hasten to you instead of that which was abolished, in whatsoever this better consisted; 'tis certain God perform'd his word.

These Ver[illegible: 1 letter]es contain much the same promise of future good▪ which God engageth to do for Israel after their return out of Babylon. He will multiply men upon the Mountains of Israel, he will increase them; now▪ le[illegible: 1 letter]t any should reply there had been men too many on the Mountains, even all the heathen▪ God addeth, they shall be all of them of the house of Israel, Iews ▪ and they should settle, build the wasted Cities, not Ierusalem onely, but other [illegible: 1 letter]ities also, even wasted houses shall be built; you shall have large [illegible: 2 letters]ocks of Cattle, that your condition shall be as in dayes of old.

12 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.

For years past since your Captivity, wild devouring beasts ra[illegible: 1 letter]ged up and down, but now men instead of such, shall walk up and down in the mountains of Israel, I will take away the beasts from off you, and bring men upon you.

A People, that are mine by covenant, whom I will own, my Israel.

Edom boasted, he would possess you, O Mountains, but not Edom, or Heathens▪ your own antient dwellers shall possess [illegible: 1 letter]ou, even Abraham's seed.

For perpetuity, as inheritances are.

O land of Canaan

Consume[illegible: 1 letter] and destroy thine inhabitants.

13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; because they say unto you, thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy Nations,

The heathen round about, the enemies of Israel accuse the land of destroying its natives, and bring an evil report on it.

Either by intestine wars, or forreign invasions, or by unhealthful air, or by multitude of wild beasts, or by barrenness and Famin, thou killest them, art like a womb that conceives often, but almost as often miscarrieth, as the word implyeth.

Hast consumed thy nations, so the French, deprived them of their hope of increasing in numbers of men, as a miscarrying womb deprives a Family of hoped children.

14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord GOD.

I will so bless thee, O land, that thou shalt bring forth and breed up many Sons and daughters, thou shalt see thy childrens children increase, and this reproach shall cease for ever.

Marginal references: Or, cause to fall.

15 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 fa[illegible: 1 letter]l any more, saith the Lord GOD.

Ver. 6. let. s. and ver. 13. let. [illegible: 1 letter]. x.

Ver. 13. let. y.

This Verse is a confirmation of what was promised in 12, 13, 14. verses, all which is doubled for more assurance, and each part already explicated.

Marginal references: chap. 34.29▪

17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way, and by their doings their way was before me, as the uncleanness of a removed woman.

In fulness, ease, and security as in days past they did.

Brought in much sin, and great guilt upon the land. i. e. on themselves, who dwelt there, and sinned greatly.

Leaving my Law, despising my Counsel, forsaking my Worship and Temple.

By their carriage, and practices in their whole conversation.

Or as one excommunicate, and cut off from the Congregation, because of some great sin. Or▪ since Idolatry is so often compar'd to Fornication, and Whoredom, possibly it may be here the filthiness of Spiritual Whoredom, I hated, and loathed the filthiness of their ways as I would the impurity of a whor[illegible: 1 letter]sh woman prostituting her self for gain. The word may include the reward of a Whore, as it doth Ezek. 16.33.

18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the bloud that they had shed upon the land, and for their Idols wherewith they had polluted it.

These and other sins were the true cause, that the land was emptied of men, there was no ground for the Heathens alumny.

I was angry with them, and the effects of my anger were such, as made the land and cities desolate.

For Murthers committed in the land, and frequently charged on them, Ezek. 22.3, 6.9, 12, 27. and chap. 23.45.

Idolatry was another of their sins, which brought desolation on them.

19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the Countreys: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them:

My hand scatter'd them, and what hand can retain the inhabitants, that God will t[illegible: 1 letter]ng out?

Driven away, as chaste before the wind.

As their ways and doings provoked me, and deserved what I brought on them, so I judged them, and punisht them with desolation.

20 And when they entred unto the heathen whither they went, these profaned my holy name, when they said to them, these are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.

When they were come into Babylon, and entred into familiarity with the inhabitants, as neighbours.

Did profanely sin against those precepts of my law, which heathens did know, venerate, and observe better, then the Iews, or it may include the misery, their sins had brought them to, which misery reflected upon their God in the opinion of the Heathen.

Their Heathen Neighbours.

The miserable and profane Iew.

With taunt, and cutting reprimand: These, These Captive Slaves, that are most forlorn of men, will have it, that their God is the Lord, the mighty, and the good God, the true and faithful one, that gave them the Land out of which they are driven. If he be good, as they boast, how comes it to pass his people are in such ill state? Or, is he not able to better their state? Was he weak, and could not keep them in their own Land? Or doth he falsifie his word? You miserable Iews, say what this meaneth. But, by their impure life, they open'd the mouths of the Heathen more to Blaspheme, and call the Holiness of God into question; when they saw his people so unholy, they concluded as is the people, so is their God, and this, as it was a great offence, and Scandal to the Heathen, so it was a great dishonour to God.

Marginal references: Isa. 52.5. Rom. 2.24.

21 But I had pity for mine holy name , which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen whither they went.

I spared them, who in captivity continued to sin greatly against me, and for which sins I had just cause to cut them off; but I had pity.

For my own sake, and for the glory of my Name: had I destroyed them the heathen would have concluded against my Omnipotence, and my truth. I preserved, I reduced, I re-establisht them for the honour of my Mercy, Truth and Power.

22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy names sake , which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went.

Which I have done sparing you, and preserving you, and giving you favour in the sight of the Heathen: Nor do I that I am about to do for you, returning you to Iudaea, planting you, increasing you, and establishing you, and making you a blessing, I do not this for your sake, you deserve no such kindness from me.

My infinite Mercy is the spring and fountain, the vindicating my name from all imputation of weakness or unfaithfulness, and the magnifying the glory of my Goodness, Wisdom, Truth and Power, are the reasons, on which I do, what I do for Israel.

Brought under suspicion with the Heathen, who think that the onely and almighty God, should do better for his own and onely people!

23 And I will sanctifie my great name which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD , saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

By clearing it up and removing the Objection that the Iews Sufferings and Sins among the Babylonians had raised.

They g[illegible: 1 letter]ve the Heathen occasion to think meanly, and contemptibly of me, but I will shew I am as Great as Good, in both infinite.

See ver. 20. let. p. and ver. 22. let. z.

God chargeth the Iews with the Blasphemies the Heathen cast on God, the Iews were the cause of them, and they are therefore justly imputed to the Iew.

By what I do, the Heathen shall know what I am, and from the great and good things I do for you, performing my Promises, and purifying you, shall see I am Great, Good, Faithful and Holy; then shall I be sanctifyed in you, as I have been profaned by you in their eyes; and so 'twas, Psal. 127.2.

Marginal references: Or, [illegible: 1 word].

24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countreys, and will bring you into your own land.

The Heathen purpose, as Pharaoh did, to detain you Servants, think it impossible any power should take you out of their hand, or break the yoke, but I will do it, I will by omnipotent hand rescue you from their power.

They were scatter'd so through 127 Provinces, that the heathen judged it impossible to reassemble them, but God will do this too.

So many difficulties lay in their way of getting into their own Land, that they thought them insuperable, so long Journey, so many Enemies, and strong, crafty, and malicious, so weak, poor, and unarmed people, &c. yet all these shall not prevent me; I will bring them safe to their own Land, and settle them. When this is done, they shall confess, and the Heathen shall confess, that I am Great, Good, Wise and Faithful to my promise; a God not like theirs, but worthy to be thought well of, and to be spoken well of, to be praised, and obey'd.

Marginal references: chap. [illegible: 2 letters]

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness and from all your Idols will I cleanse you.

He alludes to the sprinklings under the Law, perhaps to that Num. 19.9. which was for purification of sin; and 19, 20. verses. So God will purifie them from their guilt.

Some think it may refer to Baptismal water, if so, 'tis to the blood of Christ, signified by it, and this, say best Expositors, is here intended, and this is the blood of sprinkling Heb. 12.24.

When Sin is remitted, the Person is indeed clean, both in account of God and Christ.

Tho' they have been many of all sorts, and among all ranks of men, yet multitude of sins shall not hinder me from pardoning.

That notorious great Abomination, your multiply'd Idolatry, I will pardon that also that ye may be clean. Thus Remission of Sin is promised.

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh .

A renewed frame of Soul, a disposition, and mind changed, from sinful to holy, from evil to good, from carnal to spiritual. See chap. 11.19. let. g. A heart in which the law of God is written as Ier. 31, 33. It is a sanctified heart, in which the Almighty Grace of God is victorious, and turns it from sin to God.

God takes it to himself, as indeed it is his onely work, vide chap. 11.19.

This is exegetical, and tells us what the new heart is, 'tis a new holy frame in the spirit of man, which is put in him, not found in him, given to him, not wrought by his own power.

Stubborn, senseless, untractable heart, that receives no kindly impressions from Word, Providences, or the Spirit of God in its ordinary operations, and influences, that hardens it self in a day of Provocation, that is hardned by the deceitfulness of Sin; this evil heart shall be taken away, and God will do, who onely can do it.

Out of your flesh, put for the man.

That is a heart different from the stony hard heart, quite of other temper and frame, hearkning to Gods Law, trembling at his Threats, by gentlest Providences moulded to a compliance with his will; to forbear, do, be or suffer what God will, receiving the impress of God, as softned wax receiveth the impress of the Seal.

27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my Judgments and do them.

Else-where pour out, God will give, as freely, so abundantly.

The holy Spirit of God, which is the Immediate Principal cause of that change of an old heart into new, and of hard into soft, by the efficient cause we may know the effect, and understand what a New Heart is, and what the New Spirit is, when we know they are wrought in us by the Spirit of God, which is given to, and dwelleth in the Saints, which makes them Saints, and then abideth with them.

Sweetly, Powerfully, Successfully, yet without compul[illegible: 1 letter]ion; for our spirits, framed by Gods Spirit to a disposition suitable to the Spirits Holiness, readily concurreth, and co-worketh.

Be willing and ready, able and in your degree sufficient to keep the judgments, and to walk in the statutes of God, which is to live Holiness.

Marginal references: chap. 11.[illegible: 1 letter]

28 And ye shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Spiritual blessings promised in ver. 25, 26, 27. are now followed with temporal blessing[illegible: 1 letter] ▪ so Earth doth follow Heaven, ye shall dwell; God add[illegible: 1 letter] this to his taking, gathering, and bringing into the land, [illegible: 1 word]. 24. when they are there, they shall settle and continue proprietors, po[illegible: 1 letter]se[illegible: 1 letter]sing their own houses and Lands.

They were greatly pleas'd to think, Canaan their land was by God given to their Fathers; in this land under this character you shall dwell: The land that by promise to Abraham, was your right, 134[illegible: 1 letter] years or near it.

As your Fathers were, who reverenced, loved, worshipped, obey'd and believed in me.

As I was their God to Protect, Guide, Comfort, and Enrich, &c. vide chap. 11.20. let. p. to perform promise to their Faith and Patience, and so you shall inherit the blessing.

29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses : and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

Salvation from all uncleannesses includeth Justification in our Pardon, Sanctification the renewing our Minds, somewhat of Adoption in peace and hope, and a consummate Glorification in Heaven, that State of a[illegible: 1 letter]solute purity, all this God gives, when he is our God.

Corn, all necessaries for aliment comprised in one, and these brought to them at Gods Call which they will hear, Psal. 105.16.40. H[illegible: 1 letter]. 2.21, 22.

This is Gods Arrow, he shoots it, where 'tis, he layeth it, but his people shall, neither have it their Misery or their Reproach any more: As in next verse.

Perhaps the former part of this Verse would have been better joyned with the former verse, as a glorious fruit of Gods taking them to be his people, and his condescending to be their God.

Marginal references: chap. 34.29.

30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the Field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.

The former part of this verse explain'd, see chap. 34.27. and 8, 9, 10. ver. of this Chap. The latter part explain'd in ver. 29.

31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath your selves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

When I have given you my Spirit, renewed your hearts, brought you by miraculous mercy out of Captivity in a strange Land unto Liberty in your own.

Call to mind, review, and examine all your past life.

Ways opposite to Gods, therefore both their own by choice, and also evil in their very nature, the ways the Prophets condemned, and threatned, as chap. 22. and Ier. 3.5. &c.

It is a Meiosis, not Good, i. e. exceeding evil like, yea worse, then other Nations, chap. 5.6. then Sodom, chap. 16.46.

See chap. 6.9. Your mind shall abhor what you loved, and deeply grieve at what you rejoyced in, when Swine, ye wallowed in mire, when made sheep, you shall as much fear, and fly from it.

Not in sight of others, but Repentance in the chief parts lieth more retired and inward, and loaths sins that are in the heart, tho' none ever knew them beside God and his own Soul. This fruit is the first and most sure sign of true Repentance.

Marginal references: chap. 16.61, 63.; Lev. 26.39. chap. 20.43.

32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord GOD; be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

To a Self-exalting people, who have too high thoughts of themselves, this is a necessary Monition; we are all like the Iews, proud of somewhat we have not, vide ver. 22. an old disease, and we long since warned of it, as well as they, Deut. 9.5, 6.

Shame and Confusion, Self-abhorrence, and deepest Humiliation, that will become you, for you have walked stubbornly in your own ways, tho' I would have reclaimed you, and did call you back from them by my Prophets.

33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.

Sin committed, that deserveth, and sin imputed, that doth bring down Judgments on the sinner, so did the Iews sins, and continued the Punishment in those Judgments, until a Pardon take away Guilt, and then Judgments will be removed; so here, pardoned Captives return to, and dwell in their own Cities; Sin unpardoned wasted the Countrey, but Sinners repenting and pardon'd shall build the wastes. Sin unpardon'd leaves the land Untilled and Barren, but pardon'd ones shall Plough, Sow, Reap, and Eat.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate, is become like the Garden of Eden : and the waste and desolate and ruin'd cities are become fenced and are inhabited.

Strangers, or Forreigners, who had heard or seen the sad wastes, and now either hear or see the replanting of it, and how it succeedeth.

See the phrase, chap. 28.13. most fruitful, pleasant, and desireable. This is true of the Church of Christ without an H[illegible: 1 letter]p[illegible: 2 letters]b[illegible: 1 letter]le, but here 'tis to be accommodated by a comparative, thus, that good s[illegible: 1 letter]ate the Iews are now in, compar'd with what they were in, is as an Eden to a Wilderness.

Not [illegible: 1 letter]nely built for habitation, but fortified for defence.

Marginal references: Isa. 51.3.

36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know, that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.

That were not carried away and dispersed, whether they were Tyrians, Zidonians on the North, or Ammon, and Moab, and the Philistins, and Edo[illegible: 1 letter]ites Eastward and Southward, these remnants of the heathen shall see and confess a Peculiar Providence of God toward the Iews, in their flourishing so greatly upon their return.

Marginal references: chap. 17.24. and 22.14. and 37.14.

37 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them, I will increase them with men like a flock.

Though I have repeated so often my promise to return them, to rebuild, to multiply them, yet they shall know, 'tis their duty to intreat it, to wait on me, and then I will give a merciful answer, and do it. Thus Daniel pray'd, when he knew the return was sure and near. Or else it may be thus; Above all this, or yet more than all this, I will be found of them, when they do seek me, thus 'tis a promise made to their prayer, in the other 'tis a requiring them to pray, so they shall increase as a Flock.

38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Flocks designed to holy uses, as Sacrifices, and therefore farther described by the place where they are, Ierusalem.

The occasion, and time, solemn Feasts, either the three annual great Feasts, or you may take in the daily Sacrifices. These Flocks were for quality, the best of all, and for numbers, very great, on the solemn Feasts. 30000 at once▪ of Lambs and Kids in Iosiahs time, and many more at the passeover in after times. Thus should men multiply, and fill the cities of replanted Iudaea.

Marginal references: Heb. flock of holy things.

Eze 36:1-15

The Restoration and Blessing of Israel

Eze 36:1. And thou, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, Mountains of Israel, hear the word of Jehovah: Eze 36:2. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because the enemy saith concerning you, Aha! the everlasting heights have become ours for a possession: Eze 36:3. Therefore prophesy, and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because, even because they lay you waste, and pant for you round about, so that ye have become a possession to the remnant of the nations, and have come to the talk of the tongue and gossip of the people: Eze 36:4. Therefore, ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Jehovah: Thus saith the Lord Jehovah to the mountains and hills, to the low places and valleys, and to the waste ruins and the forsaken cities, which have become a prey and derision to the remnant of the nations round about; Eze 36:5. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Truly in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the remnant of the nations, and against Edom altogether, which have made my land a possession for themselves in all joy of heart, in contempt of soul, to empty it out for booty. Eze 36:6. Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the low places and valleys, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, in my jealousy and fury have I spoken, because ye have borne the disgrace of the nations. Eze 36:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I, I have lifted up my hand; truly the nations round about you, they shall bear their disgrace. Eze 36:8. But ye, ye mountains of Israel, shall put forth your branches, and bear your fruit to my people Israel; for they will soon come. Eze 36:9. For, behold, I will deal with you, and turn toward you, and ye shall be tilled and sown. Eze 36:10. I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel at once; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruins built. Eze 36:11. And I will multiply upon you man and beast; they shall multiply and be fruitful: and I will make you inhabited as in your former time, and do more good to you than in your earlier days; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. Eze 36:12. I will cause men, my people Israel, to walk upon you; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be an inheritance to them, and make them childless no more. Eze 36:13. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because they say to you, “Thou art a devourer of men, and hast made thy people childless;” Eze 36:14. Therefore thou shalt no more devour men, and no more cause thy people to stumble, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 36:15. And I will no more cause thee to hear the scoffing of the nations, and the disgrace of the nations thou shalt bear no more, and shalt no more cause thy people to stumble, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah.

This prophecy is uttered concerning the land of Israel, as is plainly declared in Eze 36:6; whereas in Eze 36:1 and Eze 36:4 the mountains of Israel are mentioned instead of the land, in antithesis to the mountains of Seir (Eze 35:1-15; see the comm. on Eze 35:12). The promise takes throughout the form of antithesis to the threat against Edom in Eze 35:1-15. Because Edom rejoices that the Holy Land, which has been laid waste, has fallen to it for a possession, therefore shall the devastated land be cultivated and sown again, and be inhabited by Israel as in the former time. The heathen nations round about shall, on the other hand, bear their disgrace; Edom, as we have already observed, being expanded, so far as the idea is concerned, into all the heathen nations surrounding Israel (Eze 36:3-7). In Eze 36:2, האויב, the enemy, is mentioned in quite a general manner; and what has already been stated concerning Edom in Eze 35:5 and Eze 35:10, is her predicted of the enemy. In Eze 36:3 and Eze 36:4 this enemy is designated as a remnant of the heathen nations; and it is not till Eze 36:5 that it is more precisely defined by the clause, “and all Edom altogether.” The גּוים round about (אשׁר, Eze 36:4, compared with Eze 36:3) are the heathen nations which are threatened with destruction in Ezekiel 25 and 26, on account of their malicious rejoicing at the devastation of Jerusalem and Judah. This serves to explain the fact that these nations are designated as שׁארית הגּוים, the rest, or remnant of the heathen nations, which presupposes that the judgment has fallen upon them, and that only a remnant of them is left, which remnant desires to take possession of the devastated land of Israel. The epithet applied to this land, בּמות, everlasting, i.e., primeval heights, points back to the גּבעות עולם of Gen 49:26 and Deu 33:15, and is chosen for the purpose of representing the land as a possession secured to the people of Israel by primeval promises, in consequence of which the attempt of the enemy to seize upon this land has become a sin against the Lord God. The indignation at such a sin is expressed in the emotional character of the address. As Ewald has aptly observed, “Ezekiel is seized with unusual fire, so that after the brief statement in Eze 36:2 'therefore' is repeated five times, the charges brought against these foes forcing themselves in again and again, before the prophecy settles calmly upon the mountains of Israel, to which it was really intended to apply.” For יען בּיען, see the comm. on Eze 13:10. שׁמּות is an infinitive Kal, formed after the analogy of the verbs ה'ל (cf. Ewald, §238 e), from שׁמם, to be waste, to devastate, as in Dan 8:13; Dan 9:27; Dan 12:11, and is not to be taken in the sense of נשׁם, after Isa 42:14, as Hitzig supposes. שׁאף, to pant for a thing; here it is equivalent to snapping at anything. This is required by a comparison with Eze 36:4, where היה לבז corresponds to שׁמּות ושׁאף, and ללעג to 'תּעלוּ על שׂפת וגו. In the connection שׂפת לשׁון, שׂפה signifies the lip as an organ of speech, or, more precisely, the words spoken; and לשׁון, the tongue, is personified, and stands for אישׁ לשׁון (Psa 140:12), a tongue-man, i.e., a talker.

In Eze 36:4 the idea expressed in “the mountains of Israel” is expanded into mountains, hills, lowlands, and valleys (cf. Eze 31:12; Eze 32:5-6); and this periphrastic description of the land is more minutely defined by the additional clause, “waste ruins and forsaken cities.” אם לא in Eze 36:5 is the particle used in oaths (cf. Eze 5:11, etc.); and the perfect דּבּרתּי is not merely prophetic, but also a preterite. God has already uttered a threatening word concerning the nations round about in Ezekiel 25, 26, and Eze 35:1-15; and here He once more declares that they shall bear their disgrace. אשׁ קנאח is the fiery jealousy of wrath. כּלּא is an Aramean form for כּלּהּ (Eze 35:15). For בשׁאט נפשׁ, see Eze 25:6. In the expression למען מגרשׁהּ לבז noisserp, which has been rendered in various ways, we agree with Gesenius and others in regarding מגרשׁ as an Aramean form of the infinitive of גּרשׁ, with the meaning to empty out, which is confirmed by the Syriac; for מגרשׁ cannot be a substantive, on account of the למען; and Hitzig’s conjecture, that לבז should be pointed לבז, and the clause rendered “to plunder its produce,” is precluded by the fact that the separation of the preposition למען ל, by the insertion of a word between, is unexampled, to say nothing of the fact that מגרשׁ does not mean produce at all. The thought expressed in Eze 36:6 and Eze 36:7 is the following: because Israel has hitherto borne the contempt of the heathen, the heathen shall now bear their own contempt. The lifting of the hand is a gesture employed in taking an oath, as in Eze 20:6, etc. But the land of Israel is to receive a blessing. This blessing is described in Eze 36:8 in general terms, as the bearing of fruit by the mountains, i.e., by the land of Israel; and its speedy commencement is predicted. It is then depicted in detail in Eze 36:9. In the clause כּי קרבוּ לבוא, the Israelites are not to be regarded as the subject, as Kliefoth supposes, in which case their speedy return from exile would be announced. The כּי shows that this cannot be the meaning; for it is immediately preceded by 'לעמּי ישׁ' yb , which precludes the supposition that, when speaking of the mountains, Ezekiel had the inhabitants in his mind. The promised blessings are the subject, or the branches and fruits, which the mountains are to bear. Nearly all the commentators have agreed in adopting this explanation of the words, after the analogy of Isa 56:1. With the כּי in Eze 36:9 the carrying out of the blessing promised is appended in the form of a reason assigned for the general promise. The mountains shall be cultivated, the men upon them, viz., all Israel, multiplied, the desolated cities rebuilt, so that Israel shall dwell in the land as in the former time, and be fruitful and blessed. This promise was no doubt fulfilled in certain weak beginnings after the return of a portion of the people under Zerubbabel and Ezra; but the multiplying and blessing, experienced by those who returned from Babylon, did not take place till long after the salvation promised here, and more especially in Eze 36:12-15.

According to Eze 36:12, the land is to become the inheritance of the people Israel, and will no more make the Israelites childless, or (according to Eze 36:14) cause them to stumble; and the people are no more to bear the contempt of the heathen. But that portion of the nation which returned from exile not only continued under the rule of the heathen, but had also in various ways to bear the contempt of the heathen still; and eventually, because Israel not only stumbled, but fell very low through the rejection of its Saviour, it was scattered again out of the land among the heathen, and the land was utterly wasted...until this day. In Eze 36:12 the masculine suffix attached to וירשׁוּך refers to the land regarded as הר, which is also the subject to היית and תּוסף. It is not till Eze 36:13, Eze 36:14, where the idea of the land becomes so prominent, that the feminine is used. שׁכּלם, to make them (the Israelites) childless, or bereaved, is explained in Eze 36:13, Eze 36:14 by אכלת, devouring men. That the land devours its inhabitants, is what the spies say of the land of Canaan in Num 13:32; and in 2Ki 2:19 is it affirmed of the district of Jericho that it causes משׁכּלת, i.e., miscarriages, on account of its bad water. The latter passage does not come into consideration; but the former (Num 13:32) probably does, and Ezekiel evidently refers to this. For there is no doubt whatever that he explains or expands שׁכּלם by אכלת אדם yb. Although, for example, the charge that the land devours men is brought against it by the enemies or adversaries of Israel (אמרים לּכם, they say to you), the truth of the charge is admitted, since it is said that the land shall henceforth no more devour men, though without a repetition of the שׁכּל. But the sense in which Ezekiel affirms of the land that it had been אכלת אדם, and was henceforth to be so no more, is determined by וגויך לא תכשׁלי אוד, thou wilt no more cause thy people to stumble, which is added in Eze 36:14 in the place of משׁכּלת גּויך היית in Eze 36:14. Hence the land became a devourer of men by the fact that it caused its people to stumble, i.e., entangled them in sins (the Keri תּשׁכּלי for תכשׁלי is a bad conjecture, the incorrectness of which is placed beyond all doubt by the לא־תכשׁלי עוד of Eze 36:15). Consequently we cannot understand the “devouring of men,” after Num 13:32, as signifying that, on account of its situation and fruitfulness, the land is an apple of discord, for the possession of which the nations strive with one another, so that the inhabitants are destroyed, or at all events we must not restrict the meaning to this; and still less can we agree with Ewald and Hitzig in thinking of the restless hurrying and driving by which individual men were of necessity rapidly swept away. If the sweeping away of the population so connected with the stumbling, the people are devoured by the consequences of their sins, i.e., by the penal judgment, unfruitfulness, pestilence, and war, with which God threatened Israel for its apostasy from Him. These judgments had depopulated the land; and this fact was attributed by the heathen in their own way to the land, and thrown in the teeth of the Israelites as a disgrace. The Lord will henceforth remove this charge, and take away from the heathen all occasion to despise His people, namely, by bestowing upon His land and people the blessing which He promised in the law to those who kept His commandments. But this can only be done by His removing the occasion to stumble or sin, i.e., according to Eze 36:25. (compared with Eze 11:18.), by His cleansing His people from all uncleanness and idols, and giving them a new heart and a new spirit. The Keri גּוייך in Eze 36:13, Eze 36:14, and Eze 36:15 is a needless alteration of the Chetib גּויך. - In Eze 36:15 this promise is rounded off and concluded by another summing up of the principal thoughts.

The Salvation of Israel Founded upon Its Sanctification

Because Israel has defiled its land by its sins, God has scattered the people among the heathen; but because they also profaned His name among the heathen, He will exercise forbearance for the sake of His holy name (Eze 36:16-21), will gather Israel out of the lands, cleanse it from its sins, and sanctify it by the communication of His Spirit, so that it will walk in His ways (Eze 36:22-28), and will so bless and multiply it, that both the nations around and Israel itself will know that He is the Lord (Eze 36:29-38). - This promise is shown by the introductory formula in Eze 36:16 and by the contents to be an independent word of God; but it is substantially connected in the closest manner with the preceding word of God, showing, on the one hand, the motive which prompted God to restore and bless His people;, and, on the other hand, the means by which He would permanently establish the salvation predicted in Ezekiel 34 and Eze 36:1-15. - The kernel of this promise is formed by Eze 36:25-28, for which the way is prepared in Eze 36:17-24, whilst the further extension is contained in Eze 36:29-38.

Eze 36:16-21

The Lord will extend His forbearance, for the sake of His holy name, to the people who have been rejected on account of their sins. - Eze 36:16. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Eze 36:17. Son of man, the house of Israel dwelt in its land, and defiled it with its way and its doings; like the uncleanness of the unclean woman, was its way before me. Eze 36:18. Then I poured out my fury upon them on account of the blood which they had shed in the land, and because they had defiled it through their idols, Eze 36:19. And scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed in the land; according to their way and their doings I judge them. Eze 36:20. And they came to the nations whither they came, and profaned my holy name, for men said of them, “These are Jehovah’s people, and they have come out of His land.” Eze 36:21. And so I had pity upon my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations whither they came. - The address commences with a description of the reasons why God had thrust out His people among the heathen, namely, on account of their sins and idolatrous abominations, by which the Israelites had defiled the land (cf. Lev 18:28 and Num 35:34). Their conduct resembled the most offensive uncleanness, namely, the uncleanness of a woman in her menstruation (Lev 15:19), to which the moral depravity of the people had already been compared in Isa 64:5. - In Eze 36:18 the consequence of the defiling of the land by the people is introduced with the impression ואשׁפּך. In Eze 36:17, ויטמּאוּ is the continuation of the participle ישׁבים; and the participle is expressive of the condition in the past, as we may see from the words 'ואשׁפּך וגו. The simile in Eze 36:17 is an explanatory, circumstantial clause. For Eze 36:18, compare Eze 7:8, and for 'על הדּם וגו, Eze 22:3, Eze 22:6. The last clause, “and through their idols they have defiled it,” is loosely appended; but it really contains a second reason for the pouring out of the wrath of God upon the people. For Eze 36:19, compare Eze 22:15. ויּבוא in Eze 36:20 refers to בּית־ישׂראל; but there is no necessity to read ויבאוּ on that account. It is perfectly arbitrary to supply the subject proposed by Kliefoth, viz., “the report of what had happened to Israel” came to the heathen, which is quite foreign to the connection; for it was not the report concerning Israel, but Israel itself, which came to the heathen, and profaned the sacred name of God. This is not only plainly expressed in Eze 36:21, but has been already stated in Eze 36:20. The fact that the words of the heathen, by which the name of God was profaned, are quoted here, does not prove that it is the heathen nations who are to be regarded as those who profaned the name of God, as Kliefoth imagines. The words, “these are Jehovah’s people, and have come out of His (Jehovah’s) land,” could only contain a profanation of the holy name of God, if their coming out was regarded as involuntary, i.e., as an exile enforced by the power of the heathen; or, on the other hand, if the Israelites themselves had denied the holiness of the people of God through their behaviour among the heathen. Most of the commentators have decided in favour of the former view. Vatablus, for example, gives this explanation: “if their God whom they preach had been omnipotent, He would not have allowed them to be expelled from His land.” And we must decide in favour of this exposition, not only because of the parallel passages, such as Num 14:16 and Jer 33:24, which support this view; but chiefly on account of the verses which follow, according to which the sanctification of the name of God among the nations consists in the fact that God gathers Israel out of its dispersion among the nations, and leads them back into His own land (vid., Eze 36:23 and Eze 36:24). Consequently the profanation of His name can only have consisted in the fact that Israel was carried away out of its own land, and scattered in the heathen lands. For, since the heathen acknowledged only national gods, and regarded Jehovah as nothing more than such a national god of Israel, they did not look upon the destruction of the kingdom of Judah and the carrying away of the people as a judgment of the almighty and holy God upon His people, but concluded that that catastrophe was a sign of the inability of Jehovah to defend His land and save His people. The only way in which God could destroy this delusion was by manifesting Himself to the heathen as the almighty God and Lord of the whole world through the redemption and glorification of His people. ואחמל על־שׁם ק: so I had pity, compassion upon my holy name. The preterite is prophetic, inasmuch as the compassion consists in the gathering of Israel out of the nations, which is announced in Eze 36:22. as still in the future. The rendering, “I spared (them) for my holy name’s sake” (lxx, Hävernick), is false; for חמל is construed with על, governing the person or the thing toward which the compassion is shown (vid., Eze 16:5 and 2Ch 36:15, 2Ch 36:17).

Eze 36:22-28

For His holy name’s sake the Lord will bring Israel back from its dispersion into His own land, purify it from its sins, and sanctify it by His Spirit to be His own people. - Eze 36:22. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I do it not for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the nations whither ye have come. Eze 36:23. I will sanctify my great name, which is profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, so that the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, when I prove myself holy upon you before their eyes. Eze 36:24. I will take you out of the nations, and gather you out of all lands, and bring you into your land, Eze 36:25. And will sprinkle clean water upon you, that ye may become clean; from all your uncleannesses and from all your idols will I cleanse you, Eze 36:26. And I will give you a new heart, and give a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. Eze 36:27. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and keep my rights, and do them. Eze 36:28. And ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to your fathers, and shall become my people, and I will be your God. - These verses show in what way the Lord will have compassion upon His holy name, and how He will put an end to the scoffing thereat, and vindicate His honour in the sight of the heathen. “Nor for your sake,” i.e., not because you have any claim to deliverance on account of your behaviour (cf. Isa 48:11 and Deu 9:6), but for my holy name’s sake, i.e., to manifest as holy the name which has been profaned among the heathen, I do it, namely, what follows from Eze 36:23 onwards. The Lord will sanctify His name, i.e., show it to be holy by proving Himself to be holy upon Israel. קדּשׁ is not equivalent to glorify, although the holiness of God involves the idea of glory. Sanctifying is the removing or expunging of the blots and blemishes which adhere to anything. The giving up of His people was regarded by the heathen as a sign of the weakness of Jehovah. This blot through which His omnipotence and glory were dishonoured, God would remove by gathering Israel out of the heathen, and glorifying it. Instead of לעיניכם, the ancient versions have rendered לעיניהם. This reading is also found in many of the codices and the earliest editions, and is confirmed by the great Masora, and also commended by the parallel passages, Eze 20:41 and Eze 28:25, so that it no doubt deserves the preference, although לעיניכם can also be justified. For inasmuch as Israelites had despaired in the midst of their wretchedness through unbelief, it was necessary that Jehovah should sanctify His great name in their sight as well. The great name of Jehovah is His almighty exaltation above all gods (cf. Mal 1:11-12). The first thing that Jehovah does for the sanctification of His name is to bring back Israel from its dispersion into its own land (Eze 36:24, compare Eze 11:17 and Eze 20:41-42); and then follows the purifying of Israel from its sins. The figurative expression, “to sprinkle with clean water,” is taken from the lustrations prescribed by the law, more particularly the purifying from defilement from the dead by sprinkling with the water prepared from the ashes of a red heifer (Num 19:17-19; compare Psa 51:9). Cleansing from sins, which corresponds to justification, and is not to be confounded with sanctification (Schmieder), is followed by renewal with the Holy Spirit, which takes away the old heart of stone and puts within a new heart of flesh, so that the man can fulfil the commandments of God, and walk in newness of life (Eze 36:26-28; compare Eze 11:18-20, where this promise has already occurred, and the necessary remarks concerning its fulfilment have been made). - With regard to the construction 'עשׂה את אשׁר , to make or effect your walking, compare Ewald, §337 b.

Eze 36:29-38

The Lord will richly bless, multiply, and glorify His people, when thus renewed and sanctified. - Eze 36:29. And I will save you from all your uncleannesses, and will call the corn, and multiply it, and no more bring famine upon you; Eze 36:30. But I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that ye will no more bear the reproach of famine among the nations. Eze 36:31. But ye will remember your evil ways, and your deeds which were not good, and will loathe yourselves on account of your iniquities and your abominations. Eze 36:32. Not for your sake do I this, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, be this known to you; be ye ashamed and blush for your ways, O house of Israel! Eze 36:33. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, In the day when I shall cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will make the cities inhabited, and the ruins shall be built, Eze 36:34. And the devastated land shall be tilled instead of being a desert before the eyes of every one who passed by. Eze 36:35. And men will say, This land, which was laid waste, has become like the garden of Eden, and the desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. Eze 36:36. And the nations, which have been left round about you, shall know that I Jehovah build up that which is destroyed, and plant that which is laid waste. I, Jehovah, have said it, and do it. Eze 36:37. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, I will still let myself be sought by the house of Israel in this, to do it for them; I will multiply them, like a flock, in men; Eze 36:38. Like a flock of holy sacrifices, like the flock of Jerusalem on its feast-days, so shall the desolate cities be full of flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Jehovah. - The words 'הושׁעתּי , I help or save you from all your uncleannesses, cannot be understood as relating to their purification from the former uncleannesses; for they have already been cleansed from these, according to Eze 36:25. The טמאות can only be such defilements as are still possible even after the renewing of the people; and הושׁע, to help, means to guard them against any further recurrence of such defilements (cf. Eze 37:23), and not to deliver them from the consequences of their former pollutions. But if God preserves His people from these, there is no longer any occasion for a fresh suspension of judgments over them, and God can bestow His blessing upon the sanctified nation without reserve. It is in this way that the further promises are appended; and, first of all, in Eze 36:29 and Eze 36:30, a promise that He will bless them with an abundant crop of fruits, both of the orchard and the field. “I call to the corn,” i.e., I cause it to come or grow, so that famine will occur no more (for the fact, compare Eze 34:29).

In consequence of this blessing, Israel will blush with shame at the thought of its former sins, and will loathe itself for those abominations (Eze 36:31); compare Eze 20:43, where the same thought has already occurred. To this, after repeating what has been said before in Eze 36:22, namely, that God is not doing all this for the sake of the Israelites themselves, the prophet appends the admonition to be ashamed of their conduct, i.e., to repent, which is so far inserted appropriately in the promise, that the promise itself is meant to entice Israel to repent and return to God. Then, secondly, in two strophes introduced with 'כּה אמר יי, the promise is still further expanded. In Eze 36:33-36, the prophet shows how the devastated land is to be restored and rebuilt, and to become a paradise; and in Eze 36:37 and Eze 36:38, how the people are to be blessed through a large increase in their numbers. Both of these strophes are simply a further elaboration of the promise contained in Eze 36:9-12. הושׁיב, causative of ישׁב, to cause to be inhabited, to populate, as in Isa 54:3. לעיני כּל־עובר, as in Eze 5:14. The subject to ואמרוּ in Eze 36:35 is, “those who pass by.” For the comparison to the garden of Eden, see Eze 31:9. בּצוּרות is a circumstantial word belonging to ישׁבוּ: they shall be inhabited as fortified cities, that is to say, shall afford to their inhabitants the security of fortresses, from which there is no fear of their being expelled. In Eze 36:36 the expression, “the heathen nations which shall be left round about you,” presupposes that at the time of Israel’s redemption the judgment will have fallen upon the heathen (compare Eze 30:3 with Eze 29:21), so that only a remnant of them will be still in existence; and this remnant will recognise the work of Jehovah in the restoration of Israel. This recognition, however, does not involve the conversion of the heathen to Jehovah, but is simply preparatory to it. For the fact itself, compare Eze 17:24. הדּרשׁ, to let oneself be asked or entreated, as in Eze 14:3. זאת, with regard to this, is explained by לעשׂות . What God will do follows in 'ארבּה ותו. God will multiply His people to such an extent, that they will resemble the flock of lambs, sheep, and goats brought to Jerusalem to sacrifice upon the feast days. Compare 2Ch 35:7, where Josiah is said to have given to the people thirty thousand lambs and goats for the feast of the passover. כּצּאן אדם does not mean, like a flock of men. אדם cannot be a genitive dependent upon צאן, on account of the article in כּצּאן, but belongs to ארבּה, either as a supplementary apposition to אותם, or as a second object, so that ארבּה would be construed with a double accusative, after the analogy of verbs of plenty, to multiply them in men. Kliefoth’s rendering,, “I will multiply them, so that they shall be the flock of men” (of mankind), is grammatically untenable. צאן קדשׁים, a flock of holy beasts, i.e., of sacrificial lambs. The flock of Jerusalem is the flock brought to Jerusalem at the yearly feasts, when the male population of the land came to the sanctuary (Deu 16:16): So shall the desolate cities be filled again with flocks of men (compare Mic 2:12).

God's Compassion for Israel. (b. c. 587.)

1 Also, thou son of man, prophesy unto the mountains of Israel, and say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord : 2 Thus saith the Lord God ; Because the enemy hath said against you, Aha, even the ancient high places are ours in possession: 3 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: 4 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; 5 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. 6 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: 7 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. 8 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. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown: 10 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: 11 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 . 12 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. 13 Thus saith the Lord God ; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations; 14 Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God . 15 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 .

The prophet had been ordered to set his face towards the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them, ch. vi. 2. Then God was coming forth to contend with his people; but now that God is returning in mercy to them he must speak good words and comfortable words to these mountains, v. 1 and again v. 4. You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord; and what he says to them he says to the hills, to the rivers, to the valleys, to the desolate wastes in the country, and to the cities that are forsaken, v. 4 and again v. 6. The people were gone, some one way and some another; nothing remained there to be spoken to but the places, the mountains and valleys; these the Chaldeans could not carry away with them. The earth abides for ever. Now, to show the mercy God had in reserve for the people, he is to speak of him as having a dormant kindness for the place, which, if the Lord had been pleased for ever to abandon, he would not have called upon to hear the word of the Lord, nor would he as at this time have shown it such things as these. Here is,

I. The compassionate notice God takes of the present deplorable condition of the land of Israel. It has become both a prey and a derision to the heathen that are round about, v. 4. 1. It has become a prey to them; and they are all enriched with the plunder of it. When the Chaldeans had conquered them all their neighbours flew to the spoil as to a shipwreck, every one thinking all his own that he could lay his hands on (v. 3): They have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the heathen, to the residue of them, even such as had themselves narrowly escaped the like desolation. No one thought it any crime to strip an Israelite. Turba Romæ sequitur fortunam ut semper—The mob of Rome still praise the elevated and despise the fallen. It is the common dry, when a man is down, Down with him. 2. It has become a derision to them. They took all they had and laughed at them when they had done. The enemy said, "Aha! even the ancient high places are ours in possession, v. 2. Neither the antiquity, nor the dignity, neither the sanctity nor the fortifications, of the land of Israel, are its security, but we have become masters of it all." The more honours that land had been adorned with, and the greater figure it had made among the nations, the more pride and pleasure did they take in making a spoil of it, which is an instance of a base and sordid spirit; for the more glorious and prosperity was the more piteous is the adversity. God takes notice of it here as an aggravation of the present calamity of Israel: You are taken up in the lips of talkers and are an infamy of the people, v. 3. All the talk of the country about was concerning the overthrow of the Jewish nation; and every one that spoke of it had some peevish ill-natured reflection or other upon them. They were the scorning of those that were at ease and the contempt of the proud, Ps. cxxiii. 4. There are some that are noted for talkers, that have something to say of every body, but cannot find in their hearts to speak well of any body; God's people, among such people, were sure to be a reproach when the crown had fallen from their head. Thus it was the lot of Christianity, in its suffering days, to be every where spoken against.

II. The expressions of God's just displeasure against those who triumphed in the desolations of the land of Israel, as many of its neighbours did, even the residue of the brethren, and Idumea particularly. Let us see, 1. How they dealt with the Israel of God. They carved out large possessions to themselves out of their land, out of God's land; for so indeed it was: "They have appointed my land into their possession (v. 5), and so not only invaded their neighbour's property, but intrenched upon God's prerogative." It was the holy land which they laid their sacrilegious hands upon. They did not own any dependence upon God, as the God of that land, nor acknowledge any remaining interest that Israel had in it, but cast it out for a prey, as if they had won it in a lawful war. And this they did without any dread of God and his judgments and without any compassion for Israel and their calamities, but with the joy of all their hearts, because they got by it, and with despiteful minds to Israel that lost by it. Increasing wealth, by right or wrong, is all the joy of a worldly heart; and the calamities of God's people are all the joy of a despiteful mind. And those that had not an opportunity of making a prey of God's people made a reproach of them; so that they were the shame of the heathen, v. 6. Every body ridiculed them and made a jest of them; and the truth is they had by their own sin made themselves vile; so that God was righteous herein, but men were unrighteous and very barbarous. 2. How God would deal with those who were thus in word and deed abusive to his people. He has spoken against the heathen; he has passed sentence upon them; he has determined to reckon with them for it, and this in the fire of his jealousy, both for his own honour and for the honour of his people, v. 5. Having a love for both as strong as death, he has a jealousy for both as cruel as the grave. They spoke in their malice against God's people, and he will speak in his jealousy against them; and it is easy to say which will speak most powerfully. God will speak in his jealousy and in his fury, v. 6. Fury is not in God; but he will exert his power against them and handle them as severely as men do when they are in a fury. He will so speak to them in his wrath as to vex them in his sore displeasure. What he says he will stand to, for it is backed with an oath. He has lifted up his hand and sworn by himself, has sworn and will not repent. And what is it that is said with so much heat, and yet with so much deliberation? It is this (v. 7), Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame. Note, The righteous God, to whom vengeance belongs, will render shame for shame. Those that put contempt and reproach upon God's people will, sooner or later, have it burned upon themselves, perhaps in this world (either their follies or their calamities, their miscarriages or their mischances, shall be their reproach), at furthest in that day when all the impenitent shall rise to shame and everlasting contempt.

III. The promises of God's favour to his Israel and assurances given of great mercy God had in store for them. God takes occasion from the outrage and insolence of their enemies to show himself so much the more concerned for them and ready to do them good, as David hoped that God would recompense him good for Shimei's cursing him. Let them curse, but bless thou. In this way, as well as others, the enemies of God's people do them real service, even by the injuries they do them, against their will and beyond their intention. We shall have no reason to complain if, the more unkind men are, the more kind God is—if, the more kindly he speaks to us by his word and Spirit, the more kindly he acts for us in his providence. The prophet must say so to the mountains of Israel, which were now desolate and despised, that God is for them and will burn to them, v. 9. As the curse of God reaches the ground for man's sake, so does the blessing. Now that which is promised is, 1. That their rightful owners should return to the possession of them: My people Israel are at hand to come, v. 8. Though they are at a great distance from their own country, though they are dispersed in many countries, and though they are detained by the power of their enemies, yet they shall come again to their own border, Jer. xxxi. 17. The time is at hand for their return. Though there were above forty years of the seventy (perhaps fifty) yet remaining, it is spoken of as near, because it is sure, and there were some among them that should live to see it. A thousand years are with God but as one day. The mountains of Israel are now desolate; but God will cause men to walk upon them again, even his people Israel, not as travellers passing over them, but as inhabitants—not tenants, but freeholders: They shall possess thee, not for term of life, but for themselves and their heirs; thou shalt be their inheritance. It was a type of the heavenly Canaan, to which all God's children are heirs, every Israelite indeed, and into which they shall shortly be all brought together, out of the countries where they are now scattered. 2. That they should afford a plentiful comfortable maintenance for their owners at their return. When the land had enjoyed her sabbaths for so many years, it should be so much the more fruitful afterwards, as we should be after rest, especially a sabbath rest: You shall be tilled and sown (v. 9) and shall yield your fruit to my people Israel, v. 8. Note, It is a blessing to the earth to be made serviceable to men, especially to good men, that will serve God with cheerfulness in the use of those good things which the earth serves up to them. 3. That the people of Israel should have not only a comfortable sustenance, but a comfortable settlement, in their own land: The cities shall be inhabited; the wastes shall be builded, v. 10. And I will settle you after your old estates, v. 11. Their own sin had unsettled them, but now God's favour shall resettle them. When the prodigal son has become a penitent he is settled again in his father's house, according to his former estate. Bring hither the first robe, and put it on him. Nay, I will do better unto you now than at your beginnings. There is more joy for the sheep that is brought back than there would have been if it had never gone astray. And God sometimes multiplies his people's comforts in proportion to the time that he has afflicted them. Thus God blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning, and doubled to him all he had. 4. That the people, after their return, should be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the land, so that it should not only be inhabited again, but as thickly inhabited, and as well peopled, as ever. God will bring back to it all the house of Israel, even all of it (observe what an emphasis is laid upon that, v. 10), all whose spirits God stirred up to return; and those only were reckoned of the house of Israel, the rest had cut themselves off from it; or, though but few, in comparison, returned at first, yet afterwards, at divers times, they all returned; and then (says God) I will multiply these men (v. 10), multiply man and beast; and they shall increase, v. 11. Note, God's kingdom in the world is a growing kingdom; and his church, though for a time it may be diminished, shall recover itself and be again replenished. 5. That the reproach long since cast up on the land of Israel by the evil spies, and of late revived, that it was a land that ate up the inhabitants of it by famine, sickness, and the sword, should be quite rolled away, and there should never be any more occasion for it. Canaan had got into a bad name. It had of old spued out the inhabitants (Lev. xviii. 28), the natives, the aborigines, which was turned to its reproach by those that should have put another construction upon it, Num. xiii. 32. It had of late devoured the Israelites, and spued them out too; so that it was commonly said of it, It is a land which, instead of supporting its nations or tribes that inhabit it, bereaves them, overthrows them, and causes them to fall; it is a tenement which breaks all the tenants that come upon it. This character it had got among the neighbours; but God now promises that it shall be so no more: Thou shalt no more bereave them of men (v. 12), shalt devour men no more, v. 14. But the inhabitants shall live to a good old age, and not have the number of their months cut off in the midst. Compare this with that promise, Zech. viii. 4. Note, God will take away the reproach of his people by taking away that which was the occasion of it. When the nation is made to flourish in peace, plenty, and power, then they hear no more the shame of the heathen (v. 15), especially when it is reformed; when sin, which is the reproach of any people, particularly of God's professing people, is taken away, then they hear no more the reproach of the people. Note, When God returns in mercy to a people that return to him in duty, all their grievances will be soon redressed and their honour retrieved.

God's Compassion for Israel. (b. c. 587.)

16 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. 18 Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: 19 And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 20 And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord , and are gone forth out of his land. 21 But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 22 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God ; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord , saith the Lord God , when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

When God promised the poor captives a glorious return, in due time, to their own land, it was a great discouragement to their hopes that they were unworthy, utterly unworthy, of such a favour; therefore, to remove that discouragement, God here shows them that he would do it for them purely for his own name's sake, that he might be glorified in them and by them, that he might manifest and magnify his mercy and goodness, that attribute which of all others is most his glory. And, the restoration of that people being typical of our redemption by Christ, this is intended further to show that the ultimate end aimed at in our salvation, to which all the steps of it were made subservient, was the glory of God. To this end Christ directed all he did in that short prayer, Father, glorify thy name; and God declared it was his end in all he did in the immediate answer given to that prayer, by a voice from heaven: I have glorified it, and I will glorify it yet again, John xii. 28. Now observe here,

I. How God's name had suffered both by the sins and by the miseries of Israel; and this was more to be regretted than all their sorrow, which they had brought upon themselves; for the honour of God lies nearer the hearts of good men than any interests of their own. 1. God's glory had been injured by the sin of Israel when they were in their own land, v. 17. It was a good land, a holy land, a land that had the eye of God upon it. But they defiled it by their own way, their wicked way; that is our own way, the way of our own choice; and we ourselves must bear the blame and shame of it. The sin of a people defiles their land, renders it abominable to God and uncomfortable to themselves; so that they cannot have any holy communion with him nor with one another. What was unclean might not be made use of. By the abuse of the gifts of God's bounty to us we forfeit the use of them; and, the mind and conscience being defiled with guilt, no comfort is allowed us, nothing is pure to us. Their way in the eye of God was like the pollution of a woman during the days of her separation, which shut her out from the sanctuary and made very things she touched ceremonially unclean, Lev. xv. 19. Sin is that abominable thing which the Lord hates, and which he cannot endure to look upon. They shed blood and worshipped idols (v. 18) and with those sins defiled the land. For this God poured out his fury upon them, scattered them among the heathen. Their own land was sick of them, and they were sent into other lands. Herein God was righteous, and was justified in what he did; none could say that he did them any wrong, nay, he did justice to his own honour, for he judged them according to their way and according to their doings, v. 19. And yet, the matter being not rightly understood, he was not glorified in it; for the enemies did say, as Moses pleaded the Egyptians would say if he had destroyed them in the wilderness, that for mischief he brought them forth. Their neighbours considered them rather as a holy people than as a sinful people, and therefore took occasion from the calamities they were in, instead of glorifying God, as they might justly have done, to reproach him and put contempt upon him; and God's name was continually every day blasphemed by their oppressors, Isa. lii. 5. 2. When they entered into the land of the heathen God had no glory by them there; but, on the contrary, his holy name was profaned, v. 20. (1.) It was profaned by the sins of Israel; they were no credit to their profession wherever they went, but, on the contrary, a reproach to it. The name of God and his holy religion was blasphemed through them, Rom. ii. 24. When those that pretended to be in relation to God, in covenant and communion with him, were found corrupt in their morals, slaves to their appetites and passions, dishonest in their dealings, and false to their words and the trust reposed in them, the enemies of the Lord had thereby great occasion given them to blaspheme, especially when they quarrelled with their God for correcting them, than which nothing could be more scandalous. (2.) It was profaned by the sufferings of Israel; for from them the enemies of God took occasion to reproach God, as unable to protect his own worshippers and to make good his own grants. They said, in scorn, "These are the people of the land, these wicked people (you see he could not keep them in their obedience to his precepts), these miserable people—you see he could not keep them in the enjoyment of his favours. These are the people that came out of Jehovah's land, they are the very scum of the nations. Are these those that had statues so righteous whose lives are so unrighteous? Is this the nation that is so much celebrated for a wise and understanding people, and that is said to have God so nigh unto them? Do these belong to that brave, that holy nation, who appear here so vile, so abject?" Thus God sold his people and did not increase his wealth by their price, Ps. xliv. 12. The reproach they were under reflected upon him.

II. Let us now see how God would retrieve his honour, secure it, and advance it, by working a great reformation upon them and then working a great salvation for them. He would have scattered them among the heathen, were it not that he feared the wrath of the enemy, Deut. xxxii. 26, 27. But, though they were unworthy of his compassion, yet he had pity for his own holy name, and a thousand pities it was that that should be trampled upon and abused. He looked with compassion on his own honour, which lay bleeding among the heathen, on that jewel which was trodden into the dirt, which the house of Israel, even in the land of their captivity, had profaned, v. 21. In pity to that God brought them out from the heathen, because their sins were more scandalous there than they had been in their own land. "Therefore I will gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land, v. 24. Not for your sake, because you are worthy of such a favour, for you are most unworthy, but for my holy name's sake (v. 22), that I may sanctify my great name," v. 23. Observe, by the way, God's holy name is his great name. His holiness is his greatness; so he reckons it himself. Nor does any thing make a man truly great but being truly good, and partaking of God's holiness. God will magnify his name as a holy name, for he will sanctify it: I will sanctify my name which you have profaned. When God performs that which he has sworn by his holiness, then he sanctifies his name. The effect of this shall be very happy: The heathen shall know that I am the Lord when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes and yours. When God proves his own holy name, and his saints praise it, then he is sanctified in them, and this contributes to the propagating of the knowledge of him. Observe, 1. God's reasons of mercy are all fetched from within himself; he will bring his people out of Babylon, not for their sakes, but for his own name's sake, because he will be glorified. 2. God's goodness takes occasion from man's badness to appear so much the more illustrious; therefore he will sanctify his name by the pardon of sin, because it has been profaned by the commission of sin.

The Promise of a New Heart; The Promise of Sanctifying Grace; Promised Blessings Must Be Prayed for. (b. c.  587.)

25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. 31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God , be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. 33 Thus saith the Lord God ; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. 34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. 35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited. 36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. 37 Thus saith the Lord God ; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the Lord .

The people of God might be discouraged in their hopes of a restoration by the sense not only of their unworthiness of such a favour (which was answered, in the foregoing verses, with this, that God, in doing it, would have an eye to his own glory, not to their worthiness), but of their unfitness for such a favour, being still corrupt and sinful; and that is answered in these verses, with a promise that God would by his grace prepare and qualify them for the mercy and then bestow it on them. And this was in part fulfilled in that wonderful effect which the captivity in Babylon had upon the Jews there, that it effectually cured them of their inclination to idolatry. But it is further intended as a draught of the covenant of grace, and a specimen of those spiritual blessings with which we are blessed in heavenly things by that covenant. As (ch. xxxiv.) after a promise of their return the prophecy insensibly slid into a promise of the coming of Christ, the great Shepherd, so here it insensibly slides into a promise of the Spirit, and his gracious influences and operations, which we have as much need of for our sanctification as we have of Christ's merit for our justification.

I. God here promises that he will work a good work in them, to qualify them for the good work he intended to bring about for them, v. 25-27. We had promises to the same purport, ch. xi. 18-20. 1. That God would cleanse them from the pollutions of sin (v. 25): I will sprinkle clean water upon you, which signifies both the book of Christ sprinkled upon the conscience to purify that and to take away the sense of guilt (as those that were sprinkled with the water of purification were thereby discharged from their ceremonial uncleanness) and the grace of the Spirit sprinkled on the whole soul to purify it from all corrupt inclinations and dispositions, as Naaman was cleansed from his leprosy by dipping in Jordan. Christ was himself clean, else his blood could not have been cleansing to us; and it is a Holy Spirit that makes us holy: From all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you. And (v. 29) I will save you from all your uncleannesses. Sin is defiling, idolatry particularly is so; it renders sinners odious to God and burdensome to themselves. When guilt is pardoned, and the corrupt nature sanctified, then we are cleansed from our filthiness, and there is no other way of being saved from it. This God promises his people here, in order to his being sanctified in them, v. 23. We cannot sanctify God's name unless he sanctify our hearts, nor live to his glory, but by his grace. 2. That God would give them a new heart, a disposition of mind excellent in itself and vastly different from what it was before. God will work an inward change in order to a universal change. Note, All that have an interest in the new covenant, and a title to the new Jerusalem, have a new heart and a new spirit, and these are necessary in order to their walking in newness of life. This is that divine nature which believers are by the promises made partakers of. 3. That, instead of a heart of stone, insensible and inflexible, unapt to receive any divine impressions and to return any devout affections, God would give a heart of flesh, a soft and tender heart, that has spiritual senses exercised, conscious to itself of spiritual pains and pleasures, and complying in every thing with the will of God. Note, Renewing grace works as great a change in the soul as the turning of a dead stone into living flesh. 4. That since, besides our inclination to sin, we complain of an inability to do our duty, God will cause them to walk in his statutes, will not only show them the way of his statutes before them, but incline them to walk in it, and thoroughly furnish them with wisdom and will, and active powers, for every good work. In order to this he will put his Spirit within them, as a teacher, guide, and sanctifier. Note, God does not force men to walk in his statutes by external violence, but causes them to walk in his statutes by an internal principle. And observe what use we ought to make of this gracious power and principle promised us, and put within us: You shall keep my judgments. If God will do his part according to the promise, we must do ours according to the precept. Note, The promise of God's grace to enable us for our duty should engage and quicken our constant care and endeavour to do our duty. God's promises must drive us to his precepts as our rule, and then his precepts must send us back to his promises for strength, for without his grace we can do nothing.

II. God here promises that he will take them into covenant with himself. The sum of the covenant of grace we have, v. 28. You shall be my people, and I will be your God. It is not, "If you will be my people, I will be your God" (though it is very true that we cannot expect to have God to be to us a God unless we be to him a people), but he has chosen us, and loved us, first, not we him; therefore the condition is of grace, is by promise, as well as the reward; not of merit, not of works: "You shall be my people; I will make you so; I will give you the nature and spirit of my people, and then I will be your God." And this is the foundation and top-stone of a believer's happiness; it is heaven itself, Rev. xxi. 3, 7.

III. He promises that he will bring about all that good for them which the exigence of their case calls for. When they are thus prepared for mercy, 1. Then they shall return to their possessions and be settled again in them (v. 28): You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. God will, in bringing them back to it, have an eye not to any merit of theirs, but to the promise made to the fathers; for therefore he gave it to them at first, Deut. vii. 7, 8. Therefore he is gracious, because he has said that he will be so. This shall follow upon the blessed reformation God would work among them (v. 33): "In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, and so shall have made you meet for the inheritance, I will cause you to dwell in the cities, and so put you in possession of the inheritance." This is God's method of mercy indeed, first to part men from their sins, and then to restore them to their comforts. 2. Then they shall enjoy a plenty of all good things. When they are saved from their uncleanness, from their sins which kept good things from them, then I will call for the corn and will increase it, v. 29. Plenty comes at God's call, and the plenty he calls for shall be still growing; and when he speaks the word the fruit both of the tree and of the field shall multiply. As the inhabitants multiply the productions shall multiply for their maintenance; for he that sends mouths will send meat. Famine was one of the judgments which they had laboured under, and it had been as much as any a reproach to them, that they should be starved in a land so famed for fruitfulness. But now I will lay no famine upon you; and none are under that rod without having it laid on by him. Then they shall receive no more reproach of famine, shall never be again upbraided with that, nor shall it ever be said that God is a Master that keeps his servants to short allowance. Nay, they shall not only be cleared from the reproach of famine, but they shall have the credit of abundance. The land that had long lain desolate in the sight of all that passed by, that looked upon it, some with contempt and some with compassion, shall again be tilled (v. 34), and, having long lain fallow, it will now be the more fruitful. Observe, God will call for the corn and yet they must till the ground for it. Note, Even promised mercies must be laboured for; for the promise is not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage our industry and endeavour. And such a blessing will God command on the hand of the diligent that all who pass by shall take notice of it, with wonder, v. 35. They shall say, "See what a blessed change here is, how this land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, the desert turned again into a paradise," Note, God has honours in reserve for his people to be crowned with sufficient to counterbalance the contempt they are now loaded with, and in them he will be honoured. This wonderful increase both of the people of the land and of its products is compared (v. 38) to the large flocks of cattle that are brought to Jerusalem, to be sacrificed at one of the solemn feasts. Even the cities that now lie waste shall be filled with flocks of men, not like the flocks with which the pastures are covered over (Ps. lxvi. 13), but like the holy flock which is brought to the courts of the Lord's house. Note, Then the increase of the numbers of a people is honourable and comfortable indeed when they are all dedicated to God as a holy flock, to be presented to him for living sacrifices. Crowds are a lovely sight in God's temple.

IV. He shows what shall be the happy effects of this blessed change. 1. It shall have a happy effect upon the people of God themselves, for it shall bring them to an ingenuous repentance for their sins (v. 31): Then shall you remember your own evil ways and shall loathe yourselves. See here what sin is; it is an abomination, a loathsome thing, that abominable thing which the Lord hates. See what is the first step towards repentance; it is remembering our own evil ways, reflecting seriously upon the sins we have committed and being particular in recapitulating them. We must remember against ourselves not only our gross enormities, our own evil ways, but our defects and infirmities, our doings that were not good, not so good as they should have been; not only our direct violations of the law, but our coming short of it. See what is evermore a companion of true repentance, and that is self-loathing, a holy shame and confusion of face: "You shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, seeing how loathsome you have made yourselves in the sight of God." Self-love is at the bottom of sin, which we cannot but blush to see the absurdity of; but our quarrelling with ourselves is in order to our being, upon good grounds, reconciled to ourselves. And, lastly, see what is the most powerful inducement to an evangelical repentance, and that is a sense of the mercy of God; when God settles them in the midst of plenty, then they shall loathe themselves for their iniquities. Note, The goodness of God should overcome our badness and lead us to repentance. The more we see of God's readiness to receive us into favour upon our repentance the more reason we shall see to be ashamed of ourselves that we could ever sin against so much love. That heart is hard indeed that will not be thus melted. 2. It shall have a happy effect upon their neighbours, for it shall bring them to a more clear knowledge of God (v. 36): "Then the heathen that are left round about you, that spoke ignorantly of God (for so all those do that speak ill of him) when they saw the land of Israel desolate, shall begin to know better, and to speak more intelligently of God, being convinced that he is able to rebuild the most desolate cities and to replant the most desolate countries, and that, though the course of his favours to his people may be obstructed for a time, they shall not be cut off for ever." They shall be made to know the truth of divine revelation by the exact agreement which they shall discern between God's word which he has spoken to Israel and his works which he has done for them: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. With us saying and doing are two things, but they are not so with God.

V. He proposes these things to them, not as the recompence of their merits, but as the return of their prayers.

1. Let them not think that they have deserved it: Not for your sakes do I this, be it known to you (v. 22, 32); no, be you ashamed and confounded for your own ways. God is doing this, all this which he has promised; it is as sure to be done as if it were done already, and present events have a tendency towards it. But then, (1.) They must renounce the merit of their own good works, and be brought to acknowledge that it is not for their sakes that it is done; so, when God brought Israel into Canaan the first time, an express caveat was entered against this thought. Deut. ix. 4-6, It is not for thy righteousness. It is not for the sake of any of their good qualities or good deeds, not because God had any need of them, or expected any benefit by them. No, in showing mercy he acts by prerogative, not for our deserts, but for his own honour. See how emphatically this is expressed: Be it known to you, it is not for your sakes, which intimates that we are apt to entertain a high conceit of our own merits and are with difficulty persuaded to disclaim a confidence in them. But, one way or other, God will make all his favourites to know and own that it is his grace, and not their goodness, his mercy, and not their merit, that made them so; and that therefore not unto them, not unto them, but unto him, is all the glory due. (2.) They must repent of the sin of their own evil ways. They must own that the mercies they receive from God are not only not merited, but that they are a thousand times forfeited; and therefore they must be so far from boasting of their good works that they must be ashamed and confounded for their evil ways, and then they are best prepared for mercy.

2. Yet let them know that they must desire and expect it (v. 37): I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel. God has spoken, and he will do it, and he will be sought unto for it. He requires that his people should seek unto him, and he will incline their hearts to do it, when he is coming towards them in ways of mercy. (1.) They must pray for it, for by prayer God is sought unto, and enquired after. What is the matter of God's promises must be the matter of our prayers. By asking for the mercy promised we must give glory to the donor, express a value for the gift, own our dependence, and put honour upon prayer which God has put honour upon. Christ himself must ask, and then God will give him the heathen for his inheritance, must pray the Father, and then he will send the Comforter; much more must we ask that we may receive. (2.) They must consult the oracles of God, and thus also God is sought unto and enquired after. The mercy must be, not an act of providence only, but a child of promise; and therefore the promise must be looked at, and prayer made for it with an eye of faith fastened upon the promise, which must be both the guide and the ground of our expectations. Both these ways we find God enquired of by Daniel, in the name of the house of Israel, when he was about to do those great things for them; he consulted the oracles of God, for he understood by books, the book of the prophet Jeremiah, both what was to be expected and when; and then he set his face to seek God by prayer, Dan. ix. 2, 3. Note, Our communion with God must be kept up by the word and prayer in all the operations of his providence concerning us and in both he must be enquired of.

CHAP. XXXVI.

Ver. 1. PRopheſie to the mountains of Iſrael] Better things then thou didſt to Mount Seir in the foregoing Chapter. See Iſa. 3.10, 11. with the Notes.

Ye mountains] That is, ye Mountainers, qui fere aſperi atque inculti. Sed Nemo aedeò ferus eſt qui non miteſcere poſſit, Hor.Si moaò culturae patientem accommodet aurem.

Ver. 2. Becauſe the enemy hath ſaid] The Church fareth the better for her enemies petulancies and inſolencies againſt her.

Even the ancient high-places] Or the everlaſting Altitudes. Judaea lay high: the Church is much higher.

Are ours in poſſeſſion] Thus the Edomites triumphed before the victory: So did the Spaniards in 88, and God heard them, as chap. 35.13. for he is All-ear, All-eye, &c. He is jealous for his people, Zach. 1.14. and jealouſy is quick-ſighted, quick-conceited.

Ver. 3. Becauſe they have] Heb. Becauſe and Becauſe, importing earneſtneſſe and heat of indignation. So Levit. 26.43.

And ye are taken up in the lips of talkers] Heb. Ye are made to aſcend upon the lip of the tongue, and upon the evil fame of the people. God takes it extream ill, that his people ſhould be traduced and diffamed; which yet hath been their lot in all ages; but he will not fail to vindicate them, and to avenge them.

Ver. 4. Therefore thus ſaith the Lord God to the mountains] For men there were hardly any left, or not very fit to be dealt with, See ver. 1.

Which became a prey] To thoſe man-eaters, ver. 3. qui diruerunt & devoraverunt, who did eat up Gods people as they eat bread, Pſal. 14.4. making themſelves merry with their miſery.

Ver. 5. Surely in the fire of my jealouſy] Jealouſy is hot as hell, Cant. 8 6. it is implacable, Prov. 6.34, 35. and very vindictive. See Zech. 1.14. with the Notes. Here God ſwears he will be even with theſe Edomites.

Which have appointed my land] This the Lord hath never done with; ſo ill he took it.

Ver. 6. Say unto the mountains and to the hills] To thoſe lifeleſſe creatures he directeth his ſpeech, to ſhew that every creature groaneth and waiteth for the redemption of our bodies: It fareth the better alſo in this life preſent, for the Elects ſake: as it was once curſed for mans ſin, and hath lain bed-ridden, as it were, ever ſince.

Becauſe ye have born the ſhame of the Heathen] This, the Lord could not bear with any patience.

Ver. 7. I have liftd up mine hand] Sworn ſolemnly. Men when they ſweare do ſo, as taking God to witneſſe. Three fingers they do oft lift up and hold down two, to ſignify, ſaith Lavater, that God who is Three in One, hath prepared a place in heaven for ſuch as ſwear rightly; but will thruſt down to hell, thoſe that forſwear themſelves.

They ſhall bear their ſhame] They ſhall be paid home in their own coyn, be overſhot in their own bow, be covered with their own confuſion.

Ver. 8. Ye ſhall ſhoot forth your branches] Re-flouriſh and fructify: the Chriſtian Churches (thoſe ſpiritual mountains) ſhall eſpecially, Rev. 22.2.

For they are as hand to come] To come home out of Captivity, or to return to God by repentance. The fall of Antichriſt cannot be far off.

Ver. 9. For behold I am for you] Or I come to you, and I come with a Cornucopia in mine hand.

Ver. 10. All the houſe of Iſrael, even all of it] The Iſrael of God in the Kingdom of the Meſſiah, totum totum, quantum quantum, not one of them ſhall be miſſing.

Ver. 11. And will do better unto you] This muſt neceſſarily be underſtood of ſpiritual bleſſings by Chriſt: for temporals, they never had the like to thoſe in the dayes of Joſhua, David, Solomon, Hezekiah, &c.

Ver. 12. Thou ſhalt be their inheritance] Yea a type and pledge of that heavenly inheritance, 1 Pet. 1.4. Rev. 21. & 22.

And thou ſhalt no more henceforth bereave them] Provoke God to bereave them.Terra abortiens populos.

Ver. 13. Thou land devoureſt up men] ſc. By peſtilence, famine, ſword, evil beaſts: thou art an unlucky land, an unbleſt country,Girald. Cambrenſ. feral and fatal to thine inhabitants. Heſiod ſaith the like of his country Aſcr[illegible: 1 letter]; and Another, of St. David's in Wales, that it is a place neither pleaſant, fertile, nor ſafe. Strabo ſaith the like of Judaea; but with a deſpightful mind, as ver. 5. Thoſe malevolent Spyes ſaid no leſs, Numb. 13.

Ver. 14. Neither bereave thy nations any more] Either by conſuming them, or ſpewing them out, as Levit. 18.28. & 20.22. & 26.20, 22. See what is ſaid of heaven, Rev. 22.3, 4, 5.

Ver. 15. Neither will I cauſe men to hear] I will cut off all occaſions: and remove all ſuch ſtumbling-blocks as whereat the nations daſh and ſplit themſelves.

Ver. 16. Moreover the word] See chap. 18.1.

Ver. 17. When the houſe of Iſrael] Ʋbique Scriptura vindicat gloriam Dei, maxime autem hoc loco; Oecol. This place of Scripture doth ſingularly ſet forth the glory of Gods grace, whilſt it ſheweth that mans deſtruction is wholly of himſelf, his help only of God.

As the uncleanneſſe] As a menſtruous clout, abhorred by all.

Ver. 18. For the blood which they had ſhed] Theſe two groſſe ſins are inſtanced, viz. murther, and idolatry; leſt they ſhould plead, as Jer. 2.35. I have not ſinned, or as Hoſ. 12.8. In all my works they ſhall find none iniquity in me: that were ſin.

Ver. 19. And I ſcattered them among the Heathen] Whoſe idols they had worſhipped, and whoſe manners they had imitated.

Ver. 20. Theſe are the people of the Lord] And theſe are the fruits of their religion. Are theſe the holy people? &c. Lactantius complaineth of his times, Lactant. de opific. Dei. pr[illegible: 1 letter]aem. Eraſm. in Lactant. that Gods Truth was evil ſpoken of by the Heathen, becauſe Chriſtians lived looſly and leudly. Whereupon Eraſmus cryeth out, O rem miſeram! Oh lamentable! Even in thoſe purer times the piety of Chriſtians was ſo much abated, that the Goſpel was therefore evil ſpoken of, for the evil lives of many that profeſſed it. What marvel then, ſaith he, that Turkes cry out upon us? that the banks of blaſphemy are broken down in perſons diſaffected to the power of godlineſs?

Ver. 21. But I had pitty for my holy name] So he hath ſtill: or elſe it would be wide enough with us. Some render it I ſpared, or tendered mine holy name: and to free it from thoſe imputations, I freely forgave my people and reeſtabliſhed them.

Ver. 22. I do not this for your ſakes] To do good without reſpect of deſert, is royal; yea it is divine.

But for mine own holy names ſake] God maketh our utter unworthineſs a foile to ſet forth the freeneſſe of his love, in maki[illegible: 1 letter]g us worthy whom he found not ſo.

Ver. 23. And I will ſanctifie my great Name] I will recover my reputation among the heathen, by declaring my juſtice in your puniſhment, and my mercy in your reſtauration. God, as he is moved by his own grace to do his people good, ſo he aimeth therein at his own glory.

Ver. 24. For I will take you, &c.] I will effectually call you out of darkneſs into my marvellous light, and cull you out from this wicked world. And this is the firſt thing that God here promiſeth to his Covenanters. More then this, he promiſeth them in the following verſes, Juſtification, Sanctification, and Preſervation, or Proviſion of temporal bleſſings, that nothing may be wanting to them that may make them happy. We ſhould be oft counting of this coyn, telling of this treaſure.

Ver. 25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you] He alludeth to the legal purifications; eſpecially that made by the aſhes of a red cow mixed with running water, wherewith the people were ſprinkled, and ſo cleanſed from legal defilement, Num. 19. Semblably the Saints, ſprinkled with Chriſts blood from an evil conſcience, by the byſſop-bunch of faith, and ſo waſhed with clean water, (Heb. 10.22.) in baptiſme (the ſaving vertue whereof is permanent, 1 Pet. 3.21.) are juſtified and ſanctified, 1 Cor. 6.11. This bleſſed ſprinkling David prayeth for, Pſal. 51. The Baptiſt alſo and others sprinkled thoſe whom they baptized: both to anſwer the [illegible: 2 letters]pes of the Law, Epiſt. 83. and this prediction of the Prophet, underſtood by Hierom of Baptiſme; which is a viſible ſign and ſeal of our being waſhed from the filth of ſin by the merit and Spirit of Jeſus Chriſt, Tit. 3.5.

Ver. 26. A new heart alſo will I give you] For the old heart will never hold out the hardſhip of holineſs: the old fab[illegible: 1 letter]ike muſt be taken down, and a new ſet up. See chap. 11.19. a new man both in conſtitution and converſation one muſt be, or elſe he is no man in Chriſt, 2 Cor. 5.17.

And I will take away the ſtony heart] The natural heart, which is hard and refractary; to every good work reprobate. Hord is that which reſiſteth the touch. The old heart is inflexible to Gods Spirit, inſenſible of his word and judgements, and impenetrable to his grace.Aug. Where then is mans freewill? Garriant illi, nos credamus: there is no ſuch thing, beleeve it. Nature is wholly ſtony: it is God alone that of theſe ſtones raiſeth up children to Abraham.

And I will give you an heart of fleſh] i. e. Tractable and capable of Divine impreſſions, ready to every good work, Tit. 3.1.

Ver. 27. And I will put my ſpirit within you] Qui mulcendo & molliendo, who by melting and mollifying your hard hearts, ſhall bring you to a better obedience.

And cauſe you to walk in my statutes] Lex jubet, gratia juvat: God undertaketh for himſelf and his people too, viz. to work in them what he requireth of them. Therefore it is an everlaſting covenant, ordered in all things: and the fruits of it are ſure mercies, compaſſions that faile not, &c. See on chap. 11.20.

A Lap.Ver. 28. And ye ſhall dwell in the land] i. e. In Judaea, or rather in the Church, which began in Judaea, ſaith the Jeſuite well; the Church of Rome then is not the mother-Church; no, though we take it in its Primitive purity.

Ver. 29. I will alſo ſave you from all your uncleanneſſes] This is oft promiſed, becauſe not eaſily beleeved. No article of our Creed it ſo much oppoſed by Satan, as that of the forgiveneſs of ſin by Chriſts merits: which is the very life and ſoul of a Church. All the former Articles of the Creed are perfected in this, and all the following articles are effects thereof: hold it faſt therefore.

And I will call for the corn] I have it at my call: and a Mandamus from me will do it at any time. See Hoſ. 2.21, 22. with the Note.

And lay no famine] Which comes alſo at God Almighty his call, Pſal. 105.16.

Ver. 30. That ye ſhall receive no more reproach] The heathen were oft twitting Gods people with their outward wants and croſſes, as if cauſed by their Religion. So the perſecutors did by the Primitive Chriſtians, and ſo the Papiſts ſtill deal with the New-Goſpellers, as they ſcornfully call the reformed Churches.

Ver. 31. Then ſhall ye remember] The goodneſs of God ſhall lead you to repentance: ſo many mercies heaped upon ſo undeſerving, nay ſo ill-deſerving creatures, ſhall bring you to a deep deteſtation of your iniquities.

Your own evil wayes and your doings that were not good] There are ſome things, ſaith one, that we can hardly forget, viz. our ſorrows and our pleaſures, as Eſau: ſome things we can hardly remember, as our faults, and our friends, as Joſephs Butler. Auguſtine was famous (ſaith another) for two of his works; his Retractations, which are the confeſſions of his errours: and his Confeſſions, which are the Retractations of his life. See chap 20.43.

And ſhall loath your ſelves] Or,Litigabitis intra vos contra ſtagitia veſtra. ye ſhall look upon your ſelves as worthy to be destroyed. Or, ye ſhall ſcold within your ſelves againſt your iniquities.

Ver. 32. Not for your ſakes] See on ver. 22.

Be aſhamed] Abaſhed and abaſed, as was Ezra, chap. 9.6. Ephraim, Jer. 31.19. the Publican, Luk. 18.

Ver. 33. I ſhall have cleanſed you] See on ver. 29.

I will alſo cauſe you to dwell] See ver. 28.

Ver. 34. And the deſolate land ſhall be tilled] As now, bleſſed be God, it is in the Palatinate, and other parts of Germany, though now is no ſmall danger of a new war: quod Dominus avertat.

Ver. 35. This land] Such a change can God ſoon make for worſe or better. Fear him therefore: fear the Lord and his goodneſs, Hoſ. 3.5.

Ver. 36. Then the heathen] Haec jam ex parte facta ſunt, ſaith Oecolampadius. This day is this Scripture fulfilled in our eyes: the ruined Churches are reedified, and the matter well amended by this bleſſed Reformation: and Rome knows it.

Ver. 37. I will yet for this be enquired of] i. e. Though I have promiſed my people all theſe boones, yet I look they ſhould put my promiſes in ſuit, by praying them over. Prayer is an indiſpenſable duty, and muſt not on any pretence whatſoever be neglected.

I will encreaſe them with men like a flock] Plenty of men and ſtore of children is a great bleſſing of God: yet ſome are ready to ſay of them, as that Ruſtick did of his afflictions, when he was told they were Gods love-tokens,Luther. Ah quam velim alios amare, non me.

Ver. 38. As the holy flock] The ſheep that came up for ſacrifice, at the Paſſeover eſpecially: ſo will I multiply the ſheep of Chriſt the true Shepherd.