Ezekiel 36 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Ezekiel 36 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
A specific date is not provided for the prophecy in chapter 36.
Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:
Amon (642-640 BC)
Josiah (640-609 BC)
Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)
Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)
Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)
Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)
WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY
Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.
Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.
Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.
Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.
Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.
Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.
Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.
Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.
Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.
Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.
Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.
Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.
Ezekiel 15 – God compared the citizens of Jerusalem to useless vine wood that was good for nothing except to burn.
Ezekiel 16 – God compared his people to a young woman who he had raised and cared for. When she grew up, she turned her back on God and prostituted herself with foreign nations and idols.
Ezekiel 17 – Ezekiel spoke a parable to the people of Judah about two great eagles. The parable indicated that the King of Judah would betray Babylon and be uprooted by them.
Ezekiel 18 – The people of Judah were accusing God of punishing them for the sins of their ancestors. God clarified that each man was responsible and would be held accountable only for his own sins.
Ezekiel 19 – God lamented the unfaithfulness of His people through two laments, the lament of the lion cubs and the lament of the vine.
Ezekiel 20 - The elders of Israel wanted to consult with God, but God refused them based on their continual and cyclical rebellion against His laws. God spoke of His future judgement on Judah and His future grace that would restore the nation.
Ezekiel 21 – Ezekiel spoke of the sword of the Lord that God had sharpened to punish Judah. The king of Babylon stood at a fork in the road, and God was going to direct him and his army to Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 22 – God condemned Judah for a litany of sins and their total neglect of any attempt to keep His commands. He told them He would melt them down like metal within the furnace of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 23 – God illustrated the unfaithfulness of Israel and Judah with a story about two sisters, Oholah and Oholibah.
Ezekiel 24 – God compared Jerusalem to a corroded pot that would be emptied and melted down. In the second half of the chapter, Ezekiel’s wife died, and God instructed him not to mourn for her publicly as a sign of the fate of the citizens of Jerusalem and their beloved city.
Ezekiel 25 – God prophesied against Ammon, Edom, Seir, Moab, and the Philistines.
Ezekiel 26 - God prophesied against the city of Tyre. God was going to judge them by bringing the nations against them and destroying them. Babylon would attack first, followed by the Greeks under the command of Alexander the Great (332 BC).
Ezekiel 27 – God described the downfall of the city of Tyre. His judgement on them was going to take them from the mountain of wealth, power, and influence, down to obscurity in the depth of the sea, never to rise again.
Ezekiel 28 - God rebuked the king of Tyre, because in his pride, he elevated himself to the status of a God. Some believe the language is comparing the downfall of Tyre’s king to the fall of Satan. God promised to restore Judah, but Tyre would never be restored.
Ezekiel 29 - A prophecy against Egypt and the pride of Pharaoh. Pharaoh was like a dragon in the Nile, but God would draw him out with a hook and cast him into the desert. God would humble Egypt to a lowly nation and give them over to the Babylonians.
Ezekiel 30 - A prophecy against Egypt. The day of the Lord’s judgement would be a day of doom for Egypt. God would bring the nations against Egypt to crush their pride, throw down their idols, take their wealth, and diminish their nation. God said He had broken pharaoh’s arm so he could not take up a sword to defend his nation.
Ezekiel 31 - God warned Egypt by reminding them of the fate of the Assyrian Empire. Assyria was like a mighty ceder, tall and formidable. But when they grew proud, God chopped them down. God told Pharaoh He would do the same to Egypt.
Ezekiel 32 - Pharaoh, like a dragon in the sea, would be caught in God’s net and thrown into the desert to die. The inhabitants of Egypt would be sent down to Sheol with the Assyrians and all the evil nations who went before her.
Ezekiel 33 - Ezekiel was reminded of his role as a watchman. God invited the people of Judah to choose life, because He had no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The people accused God of being unjust. God said He would judge each according to their deeds. A fugitive from Jerusalem came to Ezekiel and informed him of the fall of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 34 – God rebuked the bad shepherds of Israel for neglecting his flock and scattering them among the nations. The Lord promised to send His “servant David” as a better shepherd.
Ezekiel 35 - A prophecy against Mount Seir (Edom). God was going to judge Seir because they encouraged and relished in the slaughter of the people of Judah. God’s anger was going to make Sier a desolate and uninhabited place.
OUTLINE:
PROPHECY TO THE MOUNTAINS OF ISRAEL (36:1-15):
The land of Israel (the Promised Land) had been crushed by her enemies, and the fate of her inhabitants had been the talk of the nations. Foreign nations made God’s land into the object of their evil gossip and mockery.
The land had been the prey of every country that surrounded it.
In response to the land being “desolate and crushed” from every side, God promised the mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys of Israel that He would avenge them.
God would punish its neighboring nations and cause the earth of Israel to flourish. He assured the Promised Land that its people would “soon come home” (36:8).
The Lord promised to restore the land, till it, sow it, and make it fruitful in both men and animals.
The destroyed parts of Israel and Judah would be rebuilt, and the empty cities would be repopulated.
GOD’S HOLY NAME, HIS SPIRIT, AND A HEART OF FLESH (36:16-38):
When the people of Israel and Judah lived in the Promised Land, they defiled it with their sins, and God consequently scattered them.
Even after being punished and scattered, the people of God continued disrespected His name amongst the nations of their exile.
God needed to vindicate His holy name throughout the earth.
God announced what He would do to vindicate it, and He made it clear that although Israel and Judah would benefit from it, it had nothing to do with them deserving it.
God was going to take His people from their lands of exile and bring them back to the Promised Land. There He would purge the sin from the land by giving His people His Spirit and new hearts.
Their stubborn hearts of stone would be taken out, and God would give them hearts of flesh.
God’s Spirit would cause them to walk in His statues and obey His rules (36:27).
It would be God, not their own willpower, that would deliver them from their sinfulness (36:29).
God would restore their land and their population, so much so that they would say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden” (36:35).
Towards the end of the chapter, God reminded them again of His motivations for this restoration, He said, “It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel” (36:32).
APPLICATION:
Self-righteousness needs to be foreign from the minds of all of God’s people.
God was going to bless Israel and Judah, but it had nothing to do with how good they were. As we see in the text, God made a point to clarify how bad they were!
Our situation as Christians isn’t much different. God doesn’t offer us salvation because we are so good, He offers it in spite of our badness because He is so good!
It’s so easy to fall into the mistake of comparing yourself to other Christians and comparing your faithfulness with theirs to elevate yourself in your own mind.
Instead of doing that, compare yourself to these people in the Old Testament, because without God making you new, without His Spirit, and without Jesus to save you in spite of yourself, you’d look a lot like these Jews who God was condemning.
