What do people do with an uncontrollable God? Usually, people reject Him —reject what He says, and how He says what He says, and why He says and does the things He does.
But why does God do and say these things?
We turn to scripture and prophesy for answers…(BTW—not prophecy—this is not a prediction that may or may not occur. This is prophesy. Because what God claims will happen ALWAYS happens.)
Bear in mind also, that the world seems to be shaping up to fulfill certain prophesies. Most of these prophesies are uncomfortable, uncompromising, and dismal, while a few are filled with wonder and joy and peace and righteousness.
But mostly, the good part comes later.
Here is prophesy from an Old Testament priest, turned prophet, a man who did the workings of God reliably and truthfully, without adding anything of his own—or modifying—and without pride and ego. Ezekiel simply did as he was told by his loving God.
We begin in Ezekiel 36, and we’re going to flow through Ezekiel 37, 38, and 39 in upcoming Parts, to reveal certain events that will lead to a shocking conclusion. The timing of which is determined by the uncontrollable LORD God Almighty.
In Ezekiel 36 God tells the prophet (whom He calls son of man) to share certain Israeli past and future events, they’re mixed together in this chapter, but they are easy to discern because some have occurred already and some have not. Keep in mind that God also REUSES His prophesies (so to speak), which means some prophesies occur—and are valid—more than once:
Ezekiel 36:1-3—
“Now as for you, son of man, prophesy to Israel’s mountains and tell them, ‘Listen to this message from the LORD, you mountains of Israel: “This is what the LORD God says: ‘The enemy has been saying about you, “Good! The ancient heights are back in our possession!'”” “Therefore this is what you are to prophesy: ‘Here’s what the LORD God says, “You’ve been turned into a desolate wasteland and crushed by everyone who surrounds you for a very, very good reason. You’ve become the property of all the other nations and you’ve become the object of gossip and whispering campaigns of the nations.”‘”
Isn’t it interesting that God has chosen to talk to His creation, rather than to His people for this prophesy? The LORD God repeatedly spoke to His nation throughout the OT, but Israel refused to listen, and so He speaks His prophesies to His mountains instead! God also speaks this prophesy to the world, so they might listen, fully understand, and know.
For millennia Israel has rejected the LORD God, so He abandoned them over to the nations and the gods they chose to idolize—the nations who now surround them. God turned the promised land of milk and honey into a desolation, and it has been desolate for a very long time.
These surrounding nations delight in possessing the land that God set aside for Israel. And God tells the mountains of Israel that the wasteland and crushing by these nations is happening to the people Israel for a very, very good reason (we’ll get to that soon). God’s nation Israel is the property of all the other nations and His people are the object of gossip and whispering.
Nothing about this situation is pleasing to the LORD God. This was not His original intent for His people.
Ezekiel 36:4-6—
“Therefore listen to what the LORD God has to say, you mountains of Israel: ‘This is what the LORD God says to the mountains, to the hills, to the waterways, to the valleys, to the desolate wastelands, and to the abandoned cities that have become an object of derision to the mountains that surround you: “Because this is what the LORD God says: ‘Motivated by my burning zealousness, I have spoken against the rest of the surrounding nations, including Edom, who confiscated my land, taking possession of it with joyful enthusiasm and with animal-like malice, in order to plunder Israel’s pastures.’ “Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and speak to its mountains, hills, ravines, and valleys. Tell them, ‘This is what the LORD God says: “Pay attention! In My zealous anger I’m speaking because you’ve had to endure the mockery of the world’s nations.”””
God continues speaking to His mountains, but now He includes other parts of creation, as well. God makes it clear that this is an all-encompassing prophesy, and Ezekiel must make it known to everyone.
Take note regarding ’abandoned cities.’ When have Israel’s cities been completely abandoned, and looted, and left to waste, while the whole world laughed? The answer is in the next verse…
God shares strong feelings against the nations surrounding Israel, particularly Edom who took the promised land from the Israelites with a joy similar to hyenas fighting over a carcass. (Edom is present day Jordan, but the Edomites were destroyed—fulfilling three other prophesies—and the descendants absorbed into the surrounding Arab countries.)
What is the importance of all of this? God tells Israel to pay attention! He doesn’t like that His people have endured the mockery of nations throughout the world and throughout history.
God continues in Ezekiel 36:7 and 8:
“Therefore this is what the LORD God says: ‘I hereby raise My hand to swear this oath: the nations that surround you will have their own mockery to endure! But you mountains of Israel are going to sprout branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, because they’ll be coming soon.’”
This represents future events, for God will share in upcoming chapters how He will protect Israel. Meanwhile, the mountains within Israel have never been abundantly planted since the time God scattered Israel across the world.
God continues sharing His plans for the future in verses 9 through 15:
“Watch Me! I’m on your side! I’ll be turning in your direction, and you mountains will be plowed and planted. I’m going to make the entire house of Israel grow—every single member—and their cities will be inhabited with all the ruins rebuilt. I’ll make both the population and the livestock increase throughout your territories. They’ll increase and be fruitful. I’ll make your territories to be settled like you were in the past, and you will be treated better than you ever were before. At that time you will know that I am the LORD. I’ll lead My people, my nation of Israel, across you mountains, and they will take possession of you again, and you’ll be their inheritance once more. Never again will you leave them robbed of children. “This is what the LORD God says: ‘Because some have been saying to you, “You mountains have been devouring human beings and leaving people childless,” therefore you will no longer devour human beings or leave their nation childless,’ declares the LORD God. ‘I won’t let you hear other people mock you, and no nation will ever make you childless again,’ declares the LORD God.
These beautiful verses are God’s promise to His nation that they will dwell within their future kingdom, possessing the entire promised land of milk and honey. The nation will never again run and hide in the mountains, starving, losing their children, and suffering. They will be like Adam and Eve when God commanded the original couple to be fruitful and multiply. But much must occur first.
Then God addresses Israel and their behavior as a nation, and also as individual representatives of their LORD God. God instructs Ezekiel to remind them in chapter 36:16-21—
This message came to me from the LORD: “Son of man, when the house of Israel was living on their own land, they defiled it with their lifestyles and behavior; they were as disqualified to be with Me as a menstruating woman is to you. So I poured out my anger on them because of all the bloodshed throughout the land and because they had defiled it with their idolatry. Then I scattered them among the nations, dispersing them to other lands, just as their lifestyles and behavior deserved. That’s how I judged them. Nevertheless, when they arrived in those nations, they continued to profane My Holy Name. It was said about them, “These are the LORD’s people, even though they’ve left His land.’ I’ve been concerned about My Holy reputation, which the house of Israel has been defiling throughout all of the nations where they’ve gone.”
WHOA!!! The prophet Ezekiel faithfully records what the LORD God has spoken. Strong language filled with righteous anger. Israel defiled their own nation with foul corruption—poisoning, tainting, tarnishing—with profane and sacrilegious behaviors, as recorded in nearly every book of the OT.
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- Bloodshed
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- Idolatry
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- Lies
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- Cheating
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- Falsehoods
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- Sacrificing their children
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- Cannibalism
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- Scandals
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- Disdain
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- Refusals
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- Blatant disobedience against God…
So, in judgement God scattered the nation Israel—separating them from one another. And yet, even with the nation dispersed, individual Israelis arrived to their new nations and continued their ungodly behaviors against God and against their new nation. So much so, that in this prophesy God is concerned with how He is viewed by the rest of the world!
To this day Israelites continue in iniquity, and people around the world struggle to appreciate them. Anti-Semitism is at an all time high, and while these Israelis defile God, the world views God the same way they view His people—badly. How can they not? It’s human nature to lay blame and yet, God is telling everyone that this behavior is not who He is. Understand and know that the loving Abba Father Creator will not tolerate this behavior against His reputation forever.
And of course, all of us know and understand that there are many individuals worldwide who behave wrongly, badly, and unjustly, but they are not the issue here. (Although it would benefit people to avoid judging others, because God is the only One who knows what lies within a person’s heart. Amen.)
OK, back to the message: The LORD God of Israel will NEVER abandon His true people, despite how rebellious they are.
How do we know this?
By pattern recognition.
Throughout history, we witness a loving God providing for His people. He brings Israel forward. While they are being blessed God’s people rebel. They openly choose against Him. God calls them to return. They don’t. He calls them back again. They respond by choosing other gods. He judges and punishes. Then Israel turns back to God. He witnesses their return. They repent and promise never to choose against Him again. God blesses them. They rebel. They abandon Him. God gives them over to their abandonment. They sin. He separates Himself. And He returns to provide for His people.
Here is but a few of God’s ‘separations’ from His people Israel:
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- Forty years in the wilderness
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- Egyptian captivity
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- 70 years in Babylon
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- The 400-years
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- And the current, longest, and unbroken 2000+ years of silence.
This last separation occurred after Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem riding a donkey colt. God’s people Israel knew who Jesus was and they rejoiced and raised their hallelujahs, worshiping and singing hosannas to their long-awaited Messiah. A mere four days later, the sons of the devil (Matthew 23:15 and 33, John 8:44) convinced Israel to vote against their Messiah. They voted to spare the criminal Barabbas and crucify Jesus.
At the moment of Jesus’ death, God rent the veil in the Temple as His sign of separation from His nation, and 38 years later God stood by while Emperor Titus sent four Roman Legions to lay siege to Jerusalem. For nine months they proceeded to obliterate 1.5 million Jews who lived there. The Romans left not one Temple stone standing upon another—just as the OT and Jesus told them.
Why did God stand aside and allow Jerusalem to be destroyed?
Because throughout the OT, scripture passages clearly define all the signs indicating that the coming Messiah will be God’s Son! (Genesis 22:4, Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, Isaiah 53:9, 12, Psalm 16:10-11, 22:1, 31:5, 34:20, etc.) They knew Jesus was Messiah, and still they voted to have Him crucified.
BUT!!!…each time the LORD God judges His people Israel—HE ALWAYS CLAIMS ISRAEL AS HIS OWN. And not for Israel’s sake! Oh no! Rather, God is always faithful to His word, as we read in Ezekiel 36:22-32…
“Therefore tell the house of Israel, ‘This is what the LORD God says: “I’m not about to act for your sake, you house of Israel, but for the sake of My Holy reputation, which you have been defiling throughout all of the nations where you’ve gone. I’m going to affirm My great reputation that has been defiled among the nations (that is, that you have defiled in their midst), and those people will learn that I am the LORD,” declares the LORD God, “when I affirm My holiness in front of their very eyes. I’m going to remove you from the nations, gather you from all of the territories, and bring you all back to your own land. I’ll sprinkle pure water on you all, and you’ll be cleansed from your impurity and from all of your idols. I’m going to give you a new heart, and I’m going to give you a new spirit within all of your deepest parts. I’ll remove that rock-hard heart of yours and replace it with one that’s sensitive to Me. I’ll place My Spirit within you, empowering you to live according to My regulations and to keep my just decrees. You’ll live in the land that I gave to your ancestors, you’ll be My people, and I will be your God. In addition, I’ll deliver you from everything that makes you unclean. I’ll call out to the grain you plant, ordering it to produce abundant yields, and I will never bring famine in your direction. I’ll increase the yields of your fruit trees and crops so that you’ll never again experience the disgrace of famine that occurs in other nations. Then you’ll remember your lifestyles and practices that were not good. You’ll hate yourselves as you look at your own iniquities and loathsome practices. I won’t be doing any of this for your sake,” declares the LORD God, “so keep that in mind. Be ashamed and frustrated because of your behavior, you house of Israel!”
WOWZA!!!! Never EVER think that God will permanently abandon His true people Israel. No. He WILL come to their aid in His perfect timing. He WILL separate out who is and who is not His true people. And He WILL do this as the entire world looks on in awe and wonder.
For God is an uncontrollable God. He will do what He will do, as we read in Ezekiel 36:33-36—
“This is what the LORD God says: ‘At the same time that I cleanse you from all of your guilt, I’ll make your cities become inhabited again and the desolate wastelands will be rebuilt. The desolate fields will be cultivated, replacing the former wasteland that everyone who passed by in times past had noticed. They will say, “This wasteland has become like the garden of Eden, and what used to be desolate ruins are now fortified and inhabited.” Then the surviving people that live around you will learn that I, the LORD, have rebuilt these ruins and have cultivated these pastures that used to be desolate wastelands. I, the LORD, have spoken this, and I’m going to bring it about!”
Again, strong promises to God’s nation. And lastly, the LORD God makes another promise:
V37—“This is what the LORD God has to say: “I’m going to allow the house of Israel to ask anything they want from Me, including this: I’m going to increase their population as a shepherd increases his flock. The desolate cities will be filled with flocks of human beings, just like Jerusalem used to be filled with flocks of sheep during the times of the appointed festivals. Then they will know that I AM THE LORD.’”
This begs the overall question…What causes the future crisis that returns God back to Israel and His protection of her? A protection that all the world will witness? We learn more in Part 2.