Exposition of Ezekiel 30-48, Commentary on Ezechiel · Chapter 36 · Verses 33-35
Verſ. 33, 34, 35.
Thus ſaith the Lord God, In the day that I ſhall have cleanſed you from all your iniquities, I will alſo cauſe you to dwell in the Cities, and the waſtes ſhall be builded.
And the deſolate Land ſhall be tilled, whereas it lay deſolate in the ſight of all that paſſed by.
And they ſhall ſay, this Land that was deſolate, is become like the Garden of Eden, and the waſte, and deſolate, and ruined Cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
IN theſe Verſes the Lord proceeds in Temporal Promiſes, and tells them what he will do for them after he hath cleanſed them from their ſins.
1. Their Cityes and waſte places ſhall be re-edified.
2. Their Cityes ſhall be inhabited.
3. Tillage of the Land.
4. Such a choice bleſſing upon the Land, that it ſhould be thought like Eden.
Verſ. 33. In the day that I ſhall have cleanſed you from all your iniquities.
He ſpake of cleanſing them from all their filthineſſe in the 25. verſ. and of ſaving them from all their uncleanneſſes, in the 29. Iniquities here imports the ſame that filthineſſes and uncleanneſſes do there: The ſenſe is this, In the day that I ſhall forgive your ſins, free you frtm the guilt and puniſhment of them, by bringing y u out of Captivity into your own Countrey, then will I do ſuch things for you.
I will alſo cauſe you to dwell in the Cityes, and the waſtes ſhall be builded.
The Cityes and Places which by war and length of time were waſted and decayed, ſhould be built again, repaired and inhabited.
Verſ. 34. And the deſolate Land ſhall be tilled.
Canaan had layen deſolate many years, and kept many Sabbaths, there being none to Till it; but now God promiſes, It ſhould be ploughed, ſown, and yield encreaſe; as it is verſ. 29.
Whereas it lay deſolate in the ſight of all that paſſed by it.
There being no husbond-man to plough the Land, to dreſs the Vines, nor others to repair the waſte places, all lay deſolate, and the deſolateneſs thereof was ſeen by ſtrangers. Doubtleſs many Travellers turned aſide to ſee the deſolations of Jeruſalem, the Temple, and Cannan which had been ſo famous in the world, and when they came, they ſaw all overgrown with Thorns, Bryars, and Nettles.
Verſ. 35. This Land that was deſolate, is become like the Garden of Eden.
God would ſo bleſſe the Land of Canaan, and their labours in it, that it ſhould be like the Garden of Eden for order, plenty, & pleaſure. They who wondered before at the deſolateneſs of it ſhould wonder at the great alteration made there, they ſhould ſee order where was confuſion, plenty where was barrenneſs, and pleaſure where was nothing but abhorrencie.
And the waſte deſolate and ruined Cityes are become fenced and inhabited.
Many Cityes had been in the Land of Canaan, which Nebuchadnezzars Army and Forces had laid waſte, made deſolate, and utterly ruined; but after their return from Babylon, they were not only built, but fortified and fenced with walls.
Firſt, Obſerve;
When God pardons the ſins of his people, then he vouchſafeth them other mercies.
In the day that I ſhall have cleanſed you from all your iniquities, I will alſo cauſe you to dwell in the Cityes, and the waſtes ſhall be builded, and the deſolate Land ſhall be tilled. God would bleſs them with liberty, commodious habitations, and plenty of all things, 2 Chron: 7.14. I will forgive their ſins, and heal their Land. Pardon of ſin is a fundamentall mercy, and hath many other mercies following of it, Jer: 33.8, 9. I will cleanſe them from all their iniquity whereby they have ſinned againſt me; and I will pardon all their iniquities whereby they have ſinned, and whereby they have tranſgreſſed againſt me; and it ſhall be to me a name of joy, a praiſe, and an honour before all the Nations of the earth, which ſhall hear all the good that I do unto them; and they ſhall fear and tremble for all the goodneſſe, and for all the proſperity that I procure unto it. When God forgives his people their iniquities, he will take delight in doing them good, count it his honour, get himſelf a name throughout the earth by bleſſing and proſpering them, and Jeruſalem, or the Church which is meant by it, ſo that the enemies ſhall be afraid of that God and that people.
Secondly, Obſerve;
The beſt of Lands may be laid deſolate.
Canaan was a Land flowed with Milk and Honey, the glory of all Lands, Ezek: 20.6. And here it is called The deſolate Land; it was deprived of Men and Beaſts, of Cityes, Towns and Houſes, it was become a Wilderneſſe, for the ſins of the people it was brought into that condition, Zech: 7.11, 12. They were ſtubborn, hard-hearted, rebellious, and therefore God ſcattered them with a whirle-wind among all the Nations whom they knew not; and thus the Land was deſolate after them, that no man paſſed thorow nor returned, for they laid the pleaſant Land deſolate, verſ. 14. It was their ſins which made that Land of deſire, a Land of deſolation.
Thirdly, Obſerve;
Deſolate Lands ſhall not alwayes lye in that condition.
The deſolate Land ſhall be tilled. If Canaan lye deſolate ſeaventy years, at the end thereof ſhe ſhall be tilled; as ſhe had her time of lying fallow, ſo ſhould ſhe have her time of ploughing and ſowing. Behold, the dayes come, ſaith the Lord, that I will ſow the houſe of Iſrael, and the houſe of Judah with the ſeed of man, and with the ſeed of beaſt; and it ſhall come to paſſe, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to deſtroy, and to afflict; ſo will I watch over them to build, and to plant, ſaith the Lord, Jer. 31.27, 28. As God hath his dayes and times to lay waſte and to pluck up, ſo to build and plant; he compares men and beaſts here to ſeed, not only becauſe they do multiply themſelves, but alſo becauſe men by the help of beaſt ſhould till the Land and ſow it, whereupon it ſhould bring forth abundantly. And as God deals with deſolate Lands, ſo he doth with deſolate hearts, he hath his times to till and ſow them, as verſ. 15, 16, 17. Rachel wept and refuſed to be comforted; but what ſaid God to her? Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears, for thy work ſhall be rewarded, &c. God ſowed in her heart ſeeds of hope and comfort.
Fourthly, Obſerve;
What a great and wonderfull change God can make in a little time.
God can make a deſolate Land like a Garden, and the beſt of all Gardens, viz: The Garden of Eden, which was of Gods own planting, Gen: 2.8. The ſtrangers that ſaw Canaan in its deſolateneſs, even they ſhould ſee the change, and wonder at it; ſaying, This Land that was deſolate is become like the Garden of Eden, now there is beauty, plenty, and pleaſure in it; God can bring order out of confuſion, abundance out of barrenneſs, and delight out of deſolation. When the famine was ſo ſore in Samaria, that women did eat their own children, what a change did God make in a day? To morrow about this time ſhall a meaſure of fine Flower be ſold for a ſhekel, and two meaſures of Barley for a ſhekel, in the gates of Samaria; and it proved ſo, notwithſtanding that the Noble man ſaid, viz: If the Lord would make windows in Heaven, might this thing be? yea, it was, and his eyes ſaw it, 2 Kings 7. The Syrians fled, left their proviſions which were brought into Samaria, and made ſuch plenty there. When the Iſraelites wanted fleſh to eat in the Wilderneſs, did not God ſend Quails two Cubits high upon the face of the earth? Numb: 11.31. He can make a Deſert to bloſſom, and that abundantly, Iſa: 30.2.