Connect Ezekiel 36:38 with other biblical promises of restoration and multiplication. Ezekiel 36:38—Overflowing Flocks, Overflowing People “‘Like the flock for sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.’” Israel’s towns, once desolate after judgment, are promised a future so teeming with life that only the busiest pilgrimage season in Jerusalem could illustrate it. Scripture consistently reveals God’s heart to restore and multiply His people; Ezekiel 36:38 stands as one vivid snapshot within a larger album of covenant faithfulness. Promises First Spoken—Genesis Foundations • Genesis 12:2 – “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you.” • Genesis 15:5 – Abraham directed outside: “Count the stars... so shall your offspring be.” • Genesis 22:17 – “I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars... and like the sand on the seashore.” From the outset, restoration and multiplication are intertwined: God takes the barren and makes it abound. Legal Covenant Echoes—Deuteronomy’s Assurance • Deuteronomy 30:3-5 – After exile, the LORD “will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.” • The same covenant that warned of scattering guarantees regathering, prosperity, and numerical growth. Prophetic Voices—Restoration Refrains • Jeremiah 30:18-20 – “I will restore the fortunes of Jacob’s tents... Their children will be as in days of old, and their congregation will be established before Me.” • Isaiah 60:22 – “The least of you will become a thousand, and the smallest a mighty nation.” • Amos 9:15 – Israel “will never again be uprooted from the land I have given them.” • Zechariah 10:8 – “I will signal for them and gather them; surely I will redeem them, and they will be as numerous as they were before.” • Hosea 1:10 – “In the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” Each prophet layers fresh color on the same canvas Ezekiel paints: once-ruined cities brimming with life again. New Covenant Fulfillment—Spiritual and National • Ezekiel 36:26-27 (two verses earlier) promises a new heart and Spirit, showing multiplication isn’t merely numeric; it’s also spiritual vitality. • Joel 2:24-26 links abundant harvests to the outpoured Spirit (Joel 2:28-29). In the New Testament, the same principle expands: • John 10:10 – “I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.” • Acts 2:47 – “The Lord added to their number daily.” • 2 Corinthians 9:10 – God “will supply and multiply your seed for sowing.” While Ezekiel’s promise is literal for Israel’s land and people, it also foreshadows the church’s explosive growth and the ultimate kingdom fullness. Character of God Displayed—Why He Multiplies • Faithfulness to covenant (Psalm 105:8-11) • Desire for His glory to fill the earth (Habakkuk 2:14) • Compassion for the afflicted (Isaiah 49:13-14) • Proof that “they will know that I am the LORD.” Every restoration miracle becomes a living billboard for God’s identity. Living the Promise—Takeaways for Today • Ruins are God’s raw material for restoration. • He doesn’t merely replace; He multiplies—turning scarcity into festival crowds. • The same Spirit who gathers Israel now gathers hearts worldwide, adding daily to His flock. • Confidence in future glory fuels present obedience; what He pledged in Genesis and reiterated through Ezekiel will culminate in the New Jerusalem teeming with redeemed multitudes (Revelation 7:9-10). Ezekiel 36:38 assures that God’s story moves from desolation to abundance, from scattered bones to overflowing cities, guaranteeing that His people—Israel and all who are grafted in—will one day stand as living proof: “then they will know that I am the LORD.” |
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