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rebuilt and replanted

Ezekiel 36:33-36 (JDV)

Ezekiel 36:33 ” ‘This is what the Lord Yahveh says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt.
Ezekiel 36:34 The land that had been a sinister desolation will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of everyone who passes by.
Ezekiel 36:35 They will say, “This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and demolished are now fortified and inhabited.”
Ezekiel 36:36 Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, Yahveh, have rebuilt what was demolished and have replanted what was desolate. I, Yahveh, have spoken and I will do it.

rebuilt and replanted

Blake writes: “As the nations had talked about the deserted and desolated condition of Judah, so they would be constrained to remark on the great change wrought by Jehovah when He caused the land again to be tilled and to become like the garden of Eden. Once again Jerusalem shall be filled with people, even as by the flocks that were in the past days sent up for sacrifice. This illustration is very appropriate to one like our prophet, who was also a priest, and who must have remembered the sacred feasts of his city, and particularly the great Passover celebrations of Josiah’s reign” (200).

As a priest, Ezekiel knew all about the good old days, when the land was both lush and unblemished by war. As a prophet, he called on his listeners to believe in a God who can reverse the damage caused by sin and violence.

LORD, use us to revive our land — starting with its present spiritual desolation.

Blake, Buchanan. How to Read the Prophets. Part IV. Ezekiel. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1844.