What role do "nations all around" play in the context of Ezekiel 36:4? Setting of Ezekiel 36 • Ezekiel 36 follows a series of prophecies of judgment on Israel’s neighboring peoples (Ezekiel 25–32). • Chapter 35 speaks against Mount Seir (Edom), then 36 turns to promise Israel’s restoration. • Verse 4 pinpoints the “mountains and hills” that have been “plundered and ridiculed by the nations all around”. Nations All Around: Who Are They? • The phrase refers to Israel’s immediate neighbors—Edom, Ammon, Moab, Philistia, Tyre, Sidon, and others encircling the land (cf. Ezekiel 25:1–17; 28:20–26). • These peoples had opportunistically moved in after Babylon’s invasion, seizing territory, mocking, and exploiting Israel’s desolation. Their Immediate Actions Against Israel • Plundering the land: “You became the possession of the rest of the nations” (Ezekiel 36:3). • Ridiculing God’s people: “the object of people’s gossip and slander” (v. 3). • Claiming Israel’s heights: “The ancient heights have become our possession” (v. 2). • Treating ruins as spoil: “desolate ruins and abandoned cities” (v. 4). God’s Use of the Nations as Instruments of Discipline • The surrounding nations could act only because God permitted them as tools of judgment for Israel’s sin (Deuteronomy 28:36–37; Isaiah 10:5–6). • Their encroachment fulfilled covenant warnings while highlighting that God remained sovereign over Israel’s fate. Accountability and Coming Judgment on Those Nations • Divine wrath now turns toward them: “Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations… who appropriated My land for themselves” (Ezekiel 36:5). • Promise of retribution: “I will raise My hand against them” (v. 7). • Pattern echoed elsewhere: “All who devour you will be devoured” (Jeremiah 30:16). Contrast: Israel’s Restoration vs. Nations’ Reproach • Israel’s land will again be tilled and sown (Ezekiel 36:9–11), while surrounding nations will bear their shame (v. 7). • What they mocked becomes evidence of God’s faithfulness: “Then the nations left all around you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed” (v. 36). Broader Biblical Pattern • Egypt, Assyria, Babylon—all used, all judged (Isaiah 19; 10:12; Jeremiah 50–51). • God disciplines His people yet defends His covenant: “I will be jealous for My holy name” (Ezekiel 39:25). Implications for Understanding God’s Covenant Faithfulness • God guards His land and people even when they are under discipline. • Surrounding nations serve His purposes but never escape His justice. • Israel’s eventual vindication magnifies the LORD before “the nations all around,” proving His sovereignty and the literal certainty of His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. |
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