Unknown
Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
36:16-38 Restoration for the Sake of God's Name. This key passage sets out in concentrated form Ezekiel's entire theology. It is one of the primary restoration passages, though it also contains an analysis of human failure that calls for divine judgment. It carries forward some ideas from the preceding "mountain" oracles, in particular the joint restoration of land and people, and the silencing of blasphemous taunts. Far overshadowing these, however, are the towering claims of the supremacy of a holy God. The impurity of God's people impelled him to scatter them (vv. 16-21). This in turn led to derision (v. 20), so in order to vindicate his reputation, God was moved to act on behalf of his people (vv. 22-32). The restoration of the land of Israel silences the nations, compelling them to recognize the true God (vv. 33-36), just as the flourishing of Israel confirms their recognition of their own God (vv. 37-38).
36:16-21 State of Impurity. With v. 15 ending on the note of reproach being lifted, this return to scrutinize Israel's failings initially jars. However, this account of Israel's impurity is the basis on which God's intervention to restore his people must be understood. The metaphor of menstrual impurity (v. 17; see Lev. 15:19-30) is likewise jarring, but Ezekiel uses it for at least two reasons:
36:22-32 Divine Intervention: A New Spirit. This theologically central passage is often compared to Jeremiah's "new covenant" text (Jer. 31:31-34; cf. 32:36-41). The overtones carried by Jeremiah's language resonate with political loyalty. Ezekiel's overtones, by contrast, have to do with ritual purity, as Ezek. 36:17-19 bears out. The structure of this passage reinforces its message. The outer verses relate the responses of God (vv. 22-23) and people (vv. 31-32). Nested within the next layer are the movements of return and purification brought about in renewal (vv. 24-25, 28-30). At the heart of the passage is the divine gift of the new heart and spirit, which enables right response (vv. 26-27). The physical return was only the beginning of the fulfillment for these prophecies.
36:22-23 It is not for your sake. The fundamental reason given for God's acting on Israel's behalf is not grace and mercy (though it is gracious and merciful) but to uphold the sanctity and greatness of God's reputation: but for the sake of my holy name. Although the "recognition formula" (will know that I am the Lord, v. 23; cf. Introduction: Style) is used repeatedly throughout the book of Ezekiel, here its significance is made plain. It is not just that Israel's God is "great" and "holy;" it is also imperative that God be given the recognition and respect, indeed the honor, that he is due. To vindicate the holiness of God's great name is also to "hallow his great name" (cf. Matt. 6:9) and is contrasted to "profaning his name" (i.e., treating it, and so him, as not holy).
36:24-25 The restoration of God's reputation first requires the external renovation of his people. God's actions are naturally sequential: gathering and return (v. 24) precede cleansing (v. 25). Purification with clean water echoes God's earlier cleansing of his people (16:4, 9) and once again relates to ritual cleansing in the Mosaic law (cf., e.g., Lev. 17:15-16; 22:6; Num. 19:19-21). The reference to cleansing by sprinkling "clean water on you" recalls the cleansing by sprinkling for touching a dead body (Num. 19:13, 20), perhaps suggesting that the idols of Ezek. 36:25 are comparable to dead things. Many interpreters see this picture of cleansing by water as the background to Jesus' words in John 3:5, "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"; cf. the mention of "my Spirit" in Ezek. 36:27. Thus, Ezekiel's prophecy refers both to outward cleansing by a ceremony and to inward, spiritual cleansing.
36:26-27 God's initiative moves from external to internal with the gift of a new heart and new spirit (see 11:19; cf. 18:31). The outer purification will be no use without the inner disposition to live rightly before God (36:27). The connection of "water" (v. 25) and "Spirit" (v. 27) lies behind John 3:5. I will put my Spirit within you predicts an effective inward work of God in the "new covenant."
36:28-30 With God's people now graced with an inclination to keep faith with God, so too there will be an enduring habitation of the land (v. 28)--this time with no occasion for it to prove "treacherous" (cf. vv. 13-14). The conjunction of restoration of people and land is a continuing theme through this part of Ezekiel (see e.g., 34:25-31). The restoration of the people to the land is symbolic of, and probably implies the reality of, the return of the people to live in the presence of God, knowing once again his blessings on their lives (see 36:27).
36:31-32 you will loathe yourselves. The response of the renewed people is to see themselves as God sees them. not for your sake. The assertion of God acting for his own sake repeats and confirms the basis of God's action spelled out already in v. 22, thus bracketing this overtly theological account of renewal.
36:33-36 Land Renewed. As seen in vv. 28-30, the land enjoys the benefits of the people's cleansing (v. 33). The impact on the land is not simply on its fertility (vv. 34-35). The cityscape is renewed as well as the landscape (v. 33). The mention of Eden (v. 35) emphasizes the nature of this act as re-creation (see 28:13; cf. 37:1-14). One appointed function of Israel's experience in the land was to show the whole world a restored Edenic life, lived in God's presence and with his blessing.
36:37-38 Populace Increased. The flourishing of the people in terms of a flock recalls the pastoral imagery of ch. 34 (see also 37:24). Applying the metaphor to a flock for sacrifices (36:38) may seem ironic, but the imagery suggests not impending death but festivals and great numbers, all set aside for God. Then they will know. The recognition formula (cf. Introduction: Style) is a fitting conclusion to a passage in which recognizing the true God is seen to be paramount.
