The Jealousy of God for His Geography Text: Ezekiel 36:1-15
Introduction: When the Rocks Cry Out
We live in a spiritualized, gnostic age, even within the church. We are comfortable with God being concerned about souls, about ethereal things, about what happens in the sweet by and by. But we get squeamish when the Bible talks about God's fierce, proprietary love for dirt. For geography. For real estate.
The enemies of God have always understood this better than we have. They know that to conquer a people, you must take their land, occupy their holy places, and mock their inheritance. The battle for the world is not just a battle for ideas; it is a battle for ground. It is a battle for culture, for institutions, for nations, for cities, and yes, for the very mountains and hills. The enemies of God see a desolate church, a compromised testimony, a scattered people, and they say, "Aha! The everlasting heights have become our possession." They believe they have taken God's holy mountain and turned it into their pagan high place. They think the inheritance is theirs now.
Ezekiel 36 is a prophecy delivered to a people in exile. Their land was a wasteland, their cities were ruins, and the surrounding nations were picking over the bones like vultures, gloating. And into this despair, God does something extraordinary. He doesn't just speak to the prophet or to the people. He commands the prophet to speak directly to the land itself. He preaches a sermon to the mountains.
This is not poetry. This is covenant theology at its most tangible. The land itself is a covenant partner. It was promised to Abraham. It rejoices in obedience and it vomits out the wicked for their defilement. The very ground is a witness. And when the people have been faithless, and the land lies desolate, and the enemies of God are gloating, God Himself rises to defend His own reputation, which is tied to His people and to His land. He speaks in the fire of His jealousy, not just for His people, but for His property. This passage is a divine declaration that God cares about the physical world He made, He is jealous for the inheritance He promised, and He will act in history to restore both His people and His place.
The Text
“Now as for you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say, ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh. Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Because the enemy has spoken against you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The everlasting heights have become our possession,’ therefore prophesy and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “For good reason they have made you desolate and bruised you from every side, that you would become a possession of the rest of the nations, and you have been taken up in the speech of their tongue and the rumors of the people.” ’ ” Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Lord Yahweh. Thus says Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the forsaken cities which have become plunder and objects of scoffing to the rest of the nations which are round about, therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, “Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted gladness and with scorn of soul, to drive it out for plunder.” Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, “Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I have spoken in My jealousy and in My wrath because you have borne the dishonor of the nations.’ Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘I have sworn that surely the nations which are around you will themselves bear their dishonor. But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. I will multiply on you man and beast; and they will multiply and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited as you were formerly and will treat you better than at the first. Thus you will know that I am Yahweh. And I will cause men, My people Israel, to walk on you and possess you so that you will become their inheritance and never again bereave them of children.’
“Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because they say to you, “You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,” therefore you will no longer devour men and no longer bereave your nation of children,’ declares Lord Yahweh. I will not let you hear dishonor from the nations anymore, nor will you bear reproach from the peoples any longer, nor will you cause your nation to stumble any longer,” declares Lord Yahweh.’ ”
(Ezekiel 36:1-15 LSB)
The Divine Indictment (v. 1-7)
God begins by commanding Ezekiel to address the inanimate creation as if it were a sentient being.
"O mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh." (Ezekiel 36:1)
The mountains are called to attention. Why? Because they have been witnesses to Israel's sin, to God's judgment, and now to the enemy's blasphemous taunts. The enemy's charge is twofold: "Aha!" which is the cry of malicious joy over another's downfall, and the claim that "The everlasting heights have become our possession." This is more than a land grab. The "everlasting heights" were God's dwelling places, the high places where He was to be worshiped. The enemy is claiming to have conquered not just Israel, but Israel's God. They are claiming His holy places as their own.
God acknowledges the reality of the situation. He says it was "for good reason" that they were made desolate. This was God's judgment for Israel's sin. But God's righteous judgment is one thing; the enemy's arrogant, gossiping appropriation of the land is another. They have become the subject of "the speech of their tongue and the rumors of the people." The story being told in the nations is that Yahweh is weak and His inheritance is up for grabs.
This is where God's holy anger ignites. He addresses the whole landscape, the mountains, hills, ravines, valleys, wastes, and forsaken cities. He sees the plunder, He hears the scoffing, and He responds:
"Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations and against all Edom..." (Ezekiel 36:5)
God's jealousy is not the petty, insecure envy of men. It is the righteous, covenantal zeal of a husband for his wife, a king for his kingdom, a creator for his creation. God is jealous for His own name and honor. He specifically names Edom, the brother nation descended from Esau. Their sin was particularly heinous because they rejoiced at Jerusalem's fall. They gave God's land to themselves "with wholehearted gladness and with scorn of soul." Their glee in God's apparent defeat was an intolerable affront.
Therefore, God speaks in His wrath. The dishonor that His land and people have borne will be returned to the nations. He swears an oath that they will bear their own dishonor. This is the unwavering principle of God's justice: as you have done, so shall it be done to you. The scoffers will become the scoffed.
The Great Reversal (v. 8-12)
After declaring judgment on the nations, God turns with tender grace to His own land. The pivot is stunning.
"But you, O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come." (Ezekiel 36:8)
While the surrounding nations are prepared for shame, the mountains of Israel are commanded to prepare for glory. They are to become fruitful again. Notice the reason: for God's people. The land and the people are inextricably linked in God's covenant plan. The restoration of the land anticipates the restoration of the people. This is not a promise of disembodied, spiritual bliss. It is a promise of a restored creation, a fruitful inheritance for a redeemed people.
God declares His disposition: "For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you." This is the heart of the gospel. For God to be "for us" is everything. When He turns His face toward us, the result is life, cultivation, and fruitfulness. The desolation is reversed. The land will be cultivated and sown. The population will explode, "all the house of Israel, all of it." This is a promise of total restoration.
And the restoration is not merely a return to a former state. It is an upgrade. "I will... treat you better than at the first." God's grace doesn't just fix what was broken; it elevates it. The glory of the new covenant in Christ far surpasses the glory of the old. The final restoration of all things will be a world unimaginably more glorious than the first Eden.
The ultimate purpose of all this activity, this judgment and restoration, is theological. "Thus you will know that I am Yahweh." God acts in history, in geography, in agriculture, and in demographics so that His character as the faithful, sovereign, promise-keeping God will be known. His people will walk on the land, possess it as their inheritance, and the land will no longer be a place of death or bereavement for them. The curse is reversed into a blessing.
Redeeming the Reputation (v. 13-15)
Finally, God addresses the slander that has been attached to the land itself.
"Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of men and have bereaved your nation of children,' therefore you will no longer devour men..." (Ezekiel 36:13-14)
The land had gotten a bad name. Because of the covenant curses, because of the judgment of sword, famine, and pestilence, the land of promise had begun to look like a land of death. It seemed to "eat" its inhabitants. This was the report of the faithless spies in Numbers 13, and now it had become the verdict of the nations.
God promises to redeem the land's reputation. He will heal it. It will once again be a place of life and security. The internal problem, the curse, will be removed. But the external problem, the dishonor from the nations, will also be silenced. "I will not let you hear dishonor from the nations anymore, nor will you bear reproach from the peoples any longer." God will so spectacularly bless His people in their land that the mouths of all mockers will be stopped. The vindication will be total and public.
Conclusion: Christ, Our Fruitful Land
This is a glorious promise for exiled Israel, but its fulfillment echoes down through the ages and finds its ultimate reality in the Lord Jesus Christ. In our natural state, we are the desolate land. We are barren wastes, ruined cities, plundered by our enemy the devil, and an object of scoffing. We are fruitless, dishonored, and our reputation is that we are a people who "devour" one another in bitterness and sin.
But God, in the fire of His jealousy for the honor of His own name, has spoken against our enemies. He sent His Son to bear our dishonor. On the cross, Jesus was made a reproach. He was scoffed at. He bore the curse that should have made our lives and our land barren forever.
And because of Christ's work, God now turns to us and says, "Behold, I am for you." In Christ, God turns His face to us. The Holy Spirit comes to cultivate the hard, fallow ground of our hearts. He plants the seed of the Word, and He causes us to be fruitful. He rebuilds the ruined places of our lives. He promises a restoration that is better than our original state. We are not just returned to a state of innocence; we are made sons of God, joint heirs with Christ.
The Church is now the Israel of God. This world is the territory we are called to possess. We are to be fruitful and multiply, filling the earth with disciples, building Christian households, churches, and communities. As we do this, we claim the "everlasting heights" not for ourselves, but for Christ the King. We should expect the world to scoff. They will look at our small beginnings, our struggles, and our failures, and they will say, "Aha!"
But God has sworn an oath. He will vindicate His people. He will make us fruitful. And He will silence the reproach of the nations. The day is coming when the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. The mountains of the whole earth will hear the word of the Lord, and they will belong to Him. This promise to the mountains of Israel is our promise. It is the promise that God's kingdom is a physical, tangible, geographical reality that will one day fill all in all. And all will know that He is Yahweh.