He spoke to the mountains. The land had been defiled with its high places and all things bad. And now the mountains were desolate and gleefully taken over by the enemies of Israel.
Israel had been sent into exile and nations like Edom couldn’t be happier. This is especially bitter because the Edomites were cousin peoples to Israel but yet were more than eager to see Israel destroyed.
The LORD told Ezekiel to speak to the mountains and tell them that they would once again be inhabited. People would dwell on them and cultivate the land. There would be life, fruitfulness, righteousness and joy once again. Their story would not end with being desolation.
Here are his rich promises to them:
24 “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
He would take their hearts of stone and turn them into hearts of flesh. This theme will be paralleled in the next chapter with the Valley of Dry Bones. But he will bring that which is lifeless and hard to be tender before him. He will cause them to hunger after rightousness.
What the LORD was doing was speaking prophetically about the people of Israel. This is to say that he was saying that Israel would once again return to the land. The land would be fruitful and full of life once again. It would NOT be because of Israel’s sake (v. 32), but cause of His great name.
I find encouragement in this as I read it.
God never forsook Israel. Even though they were under the harshest of discipline, God never forsook his people. He still cared for them, tended them and even was going to bring them back. God never forsakes his people. Even when they undergo discipline. That’s encouraging.
Now remember God accepts upon nations as a group of people and not necessarily individuals. Individuals suffer and die. God is speaking about them as a group of people. It was and is more of a group culture than the US.
There is a question in here though that I think deserves to be answered. Is God such an egomaniac that he does things just to protect his name and reputation? That is a question that some have asked. He is always doing things to protect his name.
First of all God is holy. He is not like us. He is good and there’s nothing not good in Him. We are the ones who are unholy.
Second, the protection of his name and reputation has direct impact on the peoples of the earth. If the peoples do not believe He is who He says He is, then they are tempted to turn to other gods and worship them.
Third, His name is holy. I don’t know that we truly understand in Western culture the power of name. I remember in the days of old your name meant something. You ddin’t defile the family name. Parents would raise their children to live honorable lives to respect the honor of the family name. Not so much anymore.
We are in a different time, culture and even a different day. I don’t believe God was an ego-maniac to care for the reputation of His name among the peoples. Because people knowing His identity and His power draws people to Him and to righteousness. A bad name spreads to people.
God doesn’t need people to know His name for His sake. This is what ego-maniacs do. But He wants people to know his name for our sake, the people’s sak,e the nation’s sake. Because that is what drives us to Him and creates peace and
