TO WHOM AND ABOUT WHOM DOES EZEKIEL 36 SPEAK?
In fact, in Ezekiel 36 God speaks to the Jews; but also to the Land of Israel. Why does God speak to the mountains, valleys and elements in the Land of Israel? I don't know that. But I do know that God had made a Covenant with the Land of Israel, and we see that here:
"Then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and I will also remember my covenant with Abraham; and I will remember the land (Leviticus 26:42)"
God will remember not only the Jews to return them to their land, but he will also remember his oath to restore the land of Israel so that it will be like a garden of Eden.
The time in which God is going to restore all of Israel physically; it will be both the land and the people. At that time he will also punish all non-Jews who have taken over the inheritance of the Jews. And that oath of punishment is valid for the Edomites, the Romans, the Christians, the Arabs or Muslims, etc. That is to say to all those who conquered the Holy Land throughout history. After that the Eternal God says in his oath that "Hamas" will never again be heard of.
Isaiah 60:18 Hamas will never again be heard of in your land, there will be no more violence, nor desolation nor destruction within your borders; but you will call your walls Salvation, and your doors Praise.
What does Hamas mean? The first time we saw this word was in Genesis, that was the word that God had used as one of the reasons why he was going to destroy the Earth through the Flood. As it is written, the entire Earth has been filled with Hamas..
“Genesis 6:13 Then God said to Noah, “I have decided to put an end to all flesh, because the earth is full of Hamas because of them; and behold, I am going to destroy them all...
According to the wise sages, the word Hamas, which many have translated as violence, really means; not only violence but kidnappings and violence; especially violence against victims such as women, children and the elderly, that includes raping the victims and butchering them.
And who is the text referring to when it accuses Edom, and all the surrounding nations? And Who are the remnants of the nations living in the land of Israel that the text accuses of stealing the Land of Israel?
Edom was Jacob's brother also called Esau, but this Edom mentioned here is rather the Romans and the Western nations, that is, the nations that since the conquest by Rome keep preventing the Jews from returning to their full inheritance. And the remnants of the nations are the so called Palestinians and Muslims who continue to claim that the Land of Israel belongs to them, they are the remnants from the last conquest (The Muslims and Ottoman Empire).
RESTORATION OF ISRAEL IN ITS LAND AND IN ITS CITIES
Ezekiel 36
36 You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say to them: O Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy said of you:
Hey! also the eternal heights have been given to us by inheritance;
3 Prophesy therefore and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they have devastated you and have swallowed you up from every side, so that you would become an inheritance for the remnants of the nations, and it has fallen into their mouths.
4 Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and to the hills, to the streams and to the valleys, to the ruins and desolated and forsaken cities, which were made a spoil and ridicule by the other nations all around;
5 Therefore thus says the Lord God
6 Therefore prophesy over the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and to the hills, and to the streams and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, in my jealousy and in my fury I have spoken, because They have borne the disgrace of the nations. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord God:
I have raised my hand, I have sworn that the nations that are around him will bear his disgrace.
8 But you, O mountains of Israel, will bear its branches and bear its fruit for my people Israel; because they are close to come. 9 For behold, I am for you, and I will return to you, and you will be plowed and sown. 10 And I will multiply among you men, the whole house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited, and the ruins will be built. 11 I will multiply men and livestock upon you, and you will be multiplied and increase; and I will make them dwell as they used to do of old, and I will do them greater good than in their beginnings; and they will know that I am the Eternal. 12 And I will make men walk over you, my people Israel; and they will take possession of you, and you will be their inheritance, and I will never kill them again.
you will bear the children.
13 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say of you: You have been an eater of men, and a slayer of the children of your nation; 14 Therefore you will no longer devour men, and you will never again kill the children of your nation, says the Lord GOD. 15 And I will no longer make you hear the insults of the nations, nor will you again bear the insults of the people, nor will you cause the children of your nation to die again, says the Lord GOD.
16 The word of the LORD came to me, saying: 17 Son of man, while the house of Israel dwelt in his land, he defiled it with his ways and with his works; His path before me was like the filth of a menstruating woman. 18 And I poured out my anger on them for the blood they shed on the land; because they defiled her with her idols. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands; I judged them according to their ways and according to their works. 20 And when they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, saying to each other:
These are the people of the Eternal, and from his land they have come. 21 But I have been grieved to see my holy name profaned by the house of Israel among the nations where they went.
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have come. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am sanctified in you before your eyes. 24 And I will take them from among the nations, and gather them from all lands, and bring them into their own country. 25
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have come. 23 And I will sanctify my great name, profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them; and the nations will know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when I am sanctified in you before your eyes. 24 And I will take them from among the nations, and gather them from all lands, and bring them into their own country. 25
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be cleansed from all your filthiness; and I will cleanse them of all their idols. 26 I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the heart of stone from their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and keep my precepts, and do them. 28 You will live in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you will be my people, and I will be your God.
29 And I will keep you from all your uncleanness; and I will call the wheat, and multiply it, and I will not make you hungry. 30 I will also multiply the fruit of the trees, and the fruit of the fields, so that you will never again receive the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 And you will remember your evil ways, and your acts that were not good; and you will be ashamed of yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations.
32 I do not do it for you, says the Lord God, know it well; Be ashamed and ashamed of your iniquities, O house of Israel.
33 Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse them from all their iniquities, I will also cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 And the desolate land will be plowed, instead of having remained desolate in the eyes of all who passed by. 35 And they will say:
This land that had been desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and these cities that were deserted and desolate and ruined are now fortified and inhabited. 36 And the nations that remain around them will know that I rebuilt what was torn down, and planted what was desolate; I the Eternal have spoken, and I will do it.
37 Thus says the Lord GOD: I will still be sought by the house of Israel, to do this to them; I will multiply men as flocks multiply. 38 Like the consecrated sheep, like the sheep of Jerusalem at its solemn festivals,
So the desert cities will be filled with flocks of men; and they will know that I am the Eternal.
