Ezekiel 36:16-38

The theme of these verses is Yahweh’s vindication of his Name; he will

restore his honour by fulfilling his covenant promises—restoring his
spiritually cleansed and transformed people to the Promised Land.

Context
Unlike the previous chapter, ch. 36 is much easier to account for in terms of the balanced
structure of the book. All four of its oracles deal in one way or another with the restoration
of Israel to the land, and hence are at home in a part of the book where restoration is the
dominant theme (i.e. chs 34ff.). Furthermore, the oracle to the mountains of Israel in vv.
1-15 balances the oracle against those same mountains in 6:1-10, and the third oracle,
with its new covenant language, balances the new covenant passage of 11:14-21. The
‘mountain’ theme of chapters 6 and 36 reaches its climax in the final vision of divine glory
at the end of the book. There in 40:2 Ezekiel is transported to the land of Israel and set
down upon ‘a very high mountain’, on which he sees the holy city. The land, now
completely purged of uncleanness (an important theme in both chs 6 and 36) has
become again the holy land—one vast sanctuary consecrated to God (cf. Exod 15:17). Or
to put it another way, the land is one vast holy mountain (cf. Isa 11:9).

Structure

Chapter 36 has two main parts: vv.1-15 and vv.16-38 (the latter is made up of three
distinct subunits: vv.16-32, vv.33-36, and vv.37-38).

As we have seen (see previous notes), the first oracle, vv. 1-15, is a companion piece to
the oracle against the mountains of Edom in ch. 35. Notice the explicit reference back to
‘[all of] Edom’ in v.5. Edom will be judged in order that Israel may be blessed. Thus the
focus of the first part of ch. 36 (vv.1-15) is the transformation of the land

Verses 16-38 constitute a distinct unit introduced by the message reception formula of
v.16: ‘The word of the LORD came to me’. Within the larger unit there are three
separate oracles (of salvation), all introduced by the messenger formula (‘Thus says the
Lord God’; cf. vv.22, 33 and 37).

Verses 17-21 seems to be an historical explanation which introduces the first oracle (so
Allen) or all three oracles (so Block). 161 Examples of similar introductions to oracles can
be found elsewhere in the book.

The first oracle (vv.22-32) focuses on the transformation of the people. The mountains will
no longer be hostile, barren and unfruitful, but fruitful, populated, and friendly to their
inhabitants. The people will no longer have stony hearts, but hearts of flesh, renewed by
the Spirit. So—new land, new people.

The final two oracles of ch. 36 (vv.33-36 and 37-38) stress the effect that this will have on
both the nations round about and on Israel itself. Both will know that Yahweh is God (see
vv. 36, 38).

For attempts to explain the present arrangement of the material in terms of literary
expansions, as well as the text-critical complications arising from the omission of vv.23b-
38 in the oldest LXX manuscript, see the concise discussion in Allen (pp.177-78) and the
more extended discussion in Block (pp.337-43).
Ezek. 36:16 The word of the LORD came to me:
17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived
in their own land, they defiled it by their ways
and their deeds. Their ways before me were like
the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual
impurity. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon
them for the blood that they had shed in the
land, for the idols with which they had defiled it.
19 I scattered them among the nations, and
they were dispersed through the countries. In
accordance with their ways and their deeds I
judged them. 20 But when they came to the
nations, wherever they came, they profaned my
holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These
are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to
go out of his land.’ 21 But I had concern for my
holy name, which the house of Israel had
profaned among the nations to which they
came.

Ezek. 36:22 “Therefore say to the house of

Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your
sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act,
but for the sake of my holy name, which you
have profaned among the nations to which you
came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my
great name, which has been profaned among
the nations, and which you have profaned
among them. And the nations will know that I
am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when
through you I vindicate my holiness before their
eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and
gather you from all the countries and bring you
into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean
water on you, and you shall be clean from all
your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I
will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new
heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And
I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh
and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put
my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in
my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will
be your God. 29 And I will deliver you from all
your uncleannesses. And I will summon the
grain and make it abundant and lay no famine
upon you. 30 I will make the fruit of the tree
and the increase of the field abundant, that you
may never again suffer the disgrace of famine
among the nations. 31 Then you will remember
your evil ways, and your deeds that were not
good, and you will loathe yourselves for your
iniquities and your abominations. 32 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.

Ezek. 36:33 “Thus says the Lord GOD: On the

day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I
will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the
waste places shall be rebuilt. 34 And the land
that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being
the desolation that it was in the sight of all who
passed by. 35 And they will say, ‘This land that
was desolate has become like the garden of
Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined
cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ 36 Then
the nations that are left all around you shall
know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the
ruined places and replanted that which was
desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I
will do it.

Ezek. 36:37 “Thus says the Lord GOD: This also

I will let the house of Israel ask me to do for
them: to increase their people like a flock. 38
Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at
Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall
the waste cities be filled with flocks of people.
Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Major Theological Themes

• Defilement and cleansing. Note again the priestly categories of Ezekiel’s thought.
The most defiling thing for Ezekiel is pagan worship. It is from this that Israel will be
 cleansed under the new covenant (36:25). The goal towards which the book moves
is pure worship.

• The only solution for the problem of sin in human hearts is radical surgery
performed by God himself. Spiritual life comes only by the infusion of God’s Spirit.

• Yahweh’s concern for his Name. This is the basis of his action towards both Israel
and the nations (see 36:20-21, 22, 23, 31, 32). This emphasis is very strong in
Ezekiel. As Block observes, God’s actions in human history are driven by revelatory
aims: that his people and the world may know that he is Yahweh’ (p.366).

• The absolute reliability of God and his covenant promises. However things may
have appeared to the exiles and the surrounding nations, God had not abrogated
his covenant. Rather, his promises still stand and will be fulfilled.