What follows in this chapter is another oracle against a foreign nation (cf. chs. 25-32). What is it doing here? Evidently the writer included this oracle here because it promises to desolate an enemy of Israel that wanted to occupy Israel's land, which God promised to return to His people (ch. 34).
"It may appear at first as though the present prophecy belongs to the oracles against foreign nations, but it is probably here as a point of contrast to chapter 36, that is, wrath for Mount Seir contrasted with blessing for the mountains of Israel."453
But why Edom? Probably Edom was representative of all the enemies of Israel who wanted to take over her land and was selected because of her long history of land squabbles with Israel (cf. Gen. 25:22-34; 27; 36:1; Num. 20:14-21; 24:15-19; 1 Sam. 14:47; 1 Kings 11:14-22; 2 Kings 8:21; 2 Chron. 20:1-23; 28:17; Ps. 137:7; Isa. 1:11-16; Lam. 4:21-22; Dan. 11:41; Amos 2:1; Obad. 10-14; Mal. 1:2-5). Edom was the nation that had longest and most consistently resisted Israel's occupation of the Promised Land. Therefore, if God was going to give Israel her land in the future, as He promised in chapter 34, He would have to deal with Edom and all other nations that opposed Israel's possession of it. This section assures the readers, both ancient and modern, that He will deal with opponents to Israel occupying her land by prophesying the destruction of Israel's greatest antagonist viewed as a representative of all such powers (cf. Matt. 25:31-46). Edomite invasions of Israel following the Babylonian decimation of Judah also made Edom a major topic of interest.454
"Edom was the prototype of all Israel's later foes. The destruction of Edom would signal the beginning of God's judgment on the whole earth based on that nation's treatment of Israel (cf. Gen. 12:3)."455
35:1-2 The Lord directed Ezekiel to prophesy about Mount Seir (Edom, Gen. 32:3; 36:8), to "set your face against"it.456Why did God refer to Edom as "Mount Seir"when in the oracle against Edom in 25:12-14 He simply called it "Edom?"Apparently He did so to highlight the contrasts between the mountains of Edom and the mountains of Israel, which He contrasted in chapter 35 and 36:1-15 (cf. 36:1).457Two oracles against Edom in one book also double the certainty of fulfillment (cf. Gen. 41:32).
35:3-4 Yahweh announced that He was opposed to Mount Seir (cf. 36:9), would stretch out His hand in judgment against it (cf. 6:14), and would turn it into a desolate waste. He would destroy its cities (cf. 36:10), and the Edomites would learn that He is God.
35:5 He would do this because the Edomites had been enemies of the Israelites throughout their history (cf. 25:12; Gen. 12:3). Furthermore, they had not helped their brethren Israelites in the time of their calamity, the time when God was punishing Israel, but had turned them over to their enemy, the Babylonians (cf. 2 Chron. 20:10; Ps. 137:7; Lam. 4:21-22).
35:6-7 For this reason, the sovereign Lord swore, He would turn the Edomites over to others who would shed their blood. Since they had not tried to prevent bloodshed in Israel, they would experience bloodshed in Edom. "Bloodshed"(Heb. dam, lit. blood) may be a play on Edom's name (Heb. edom, from adom, "to be red").458God would make Mount Seir a desolate waste, such a desolation that few people would visit it.
35:8-9 The Edomites would fall slain in all parts of their land (cf. 6:3, 7). They would never recover from this judgment, and their cities would remain uninhabited. This was a harsher fate than even what God inflicted on Egypt (29:14) or Ammon (Jer. 49:6). Then the Edomites would know that Yahweh is the only true God.
35:10 The Lord gave three more reasons for Edom's judgment (cf. v. 5). The Edomites had wanted to take over the lands of both Israel and Judah even though they were the lands of Yahweh (cf. 36:12). Ancient Near Easterners viewed the lands of nations as the domain of the gods of those nations. To take a nation was to overcome its god. Thus in trying to take over Israel's land Edom tried to discredit Yahweh since "the Lord was there,"it was His land (cf. v. 12). This in turn involved failing to recognize Yahweh as the only true God (v. 13).
35:11-13 Therefore, the sovereign Lord swore again (cf. v. 6), He would deal with them with the same anger, envy, and hatred that they had demonstrated toward the Israelites (cf. 36:5-6). People would know that He had done this when He judged them. This would teach them that the Lord had heard the hateful words that the Edomites had spoken against "the mountains of Israel"(cf. vv. 2, 3, 7, 15; 36:1, 4, 8). By speaking against the Israelites the Edomites had spoken against Yahweh since He was their God, and the Lord had heard them (cf. 36:5; Mal. 1:1-5).
35:14-15 The Lord would cause all the earth to rejoice when He made Edom a laughingstock in the world just as it had rejoiced when Israel became desolate (cf. 36:5). Mount Seir and all of Edom would become absolutely desolate (cf. 36:10). It would not exist when the Lord restored His people to their land. Then the Edomites would learn that Yahweh is God.
"The prediction has been literally fulfilled. Edom was first subjugated by Babylon, then Medo-Persia, and then in 126 B.C. by John Hyrcanus the Hasmonean, who compelled them to become Jews. There is no trace of the Edomites now, although their desolate cities can still be identified, as predicted by Obadiah (v. 18) and Jeremiah (49:13)."459
This part of the prophecy of the preparation of the Promised Land sets forth what God would do for Israel. It contains the opposite of the curses against Israel warned of in chapter 6, and it contrasts Israel's glorious destiny with the terrible fate of Edom in chapter 35.
"The chapter contains the most comprehensive enunciation of the plan of redemption to be found in this book, setting forth all the factors that comprise God's plan of salvation."460
"Ezekiel 36 parallels the New Covenant God promised to Israel and Judah in Jeremiah 31. This covenant includes at least three specific elements: (a) restoration to the land (Ezek. 36:24; Jer. 31:27-29), (b) forgiveness of sin (Ezek. 36:25; Jer. 31:34), and (c) the indwelling presence of God's Holy Spirit (Ezek. 36:26-27; Jer. 31:33)."461
36:1-3 Yahweh commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the mountains of Israel (in contrast to Mount Seir, cf. 6:1-14). The reason was threefold. First, Israel's enemy had spoken against her (cursed her, cf. Gen. 12:3) by rejoicing that the everlasting heights (mountains) of the land had come into their possession (cf. 6:3; 20:29).462Second, the enemy of Israel had destroyed her for good reason, namely, her sinfulness. Third, now she was the possession of the nations of the world and the subject of their scorn (cf. Deut. 28:37; Jer. 24:9). They talked publicly and privately about her fate.
36:4-5 Therefore the sovereign Lord had something to say to the whole land that had fallen prey to Israel's neighbor nations. Because Edom and the other nations had taken over the Lord's land joyfully and had scorned the Israelites, He would pronounce judgment on them in his hot jealousy.463Israel's enemies had dealt with her in their anger and envy (35:11), but now Yahweh would deal with them in His fierce jealousy over Israel's welfare.
36:6-7 Ezekiel was to announce to the whole Promised Land that Yahweh had spoken in His jealousy and wrath because Israel had suffered the insults of the nations (cf. Gen. 12:3). The nations round about Israel would surely have to endure the consequences of their insults against Israel.
36:8-9 Verses 8-15 contain four promises concerning the land. First, the land would become productive because the Israelites would soon come back into the land. Yahweh assured the land that He was for it, He would bless it, and it would become cultivated again instead of desolate and uninhabited. Formerly the Lord had said that He was against Mount Seir (35:3).
36:10-11 Second, the Lord promised to fill all the land with Israelites, to enable them to live in their cities and to rebuild the places that had become ruins (cf. 6:3, 5-7). Earlier the Lord promised to desolate all the land of Edom (35:15) and to lay waste her cities (35:4). The mountains of Israel would again become populated with people and animals that would become fruitful and multiply. The Lord would bless them more greatly than ever before. Then His people would know that He is God.
36:12 Third, the Lord would cause the people of Israel to take possession of these mountains as their inheritance and never leave them again (cf. Gen. 12:7). The Edomites had formerly purposed to possess these mountains (35:10).
36:13-15 The nations had accused the Promised Land of devouring its inhabitants (cf. Num. 13:32), but Yahweh would see that it no longer did that. Fourth, He would not allow the Israelites to hear insults from their neighbors any longer, to bear disgrace any longer, or to stumble in its affairs any longer. He would restore them to their prestigious position as His Chosen People (cf. Deut. 28:13; Zech. 8:13, 20-23).
All the connections between how God would deal with Israel relative to the nations illustrate the retributive justice of God. He would deal with the enemies of His people as they had dealt with Israel, and He would bless Israel in the very ways the nations sought to humiliate Israel.
A typical covenant theology interpretation follows.
"From the perspective of the New Testament, these promises all apply to the church as the new Israel. How could such seemingly materialistic images have relevance for God's people who are not a single earthly nation farming in a single part of the world? The answer is that they apply literally but not literalistically. The church may take great comfort in the fulfillment of the sort of greatness, confidence, certainty of success, and ultimate victory over all its foes that such a compound oracle (i.e., 35:1-36:15) guarantees. . . . We may instead rejoice that God has had in mind for us things that the eye had not seen nor the ear heard (1 Cor. 2:9)--things that the present description of the abundance of the mountains of Israel is intended only to symbolize."464
