Ezekiel 36:1-15 Israel’s Mountains
God speaks to Israel’s mountains. The mountains that bear the scars of Israel’s judgment. They will once again be filled with life!
In this prophecy and the one preceding it, God speaks to the land itself. In the last one, I saw it as Him speaking to the people of Mt. Seir; not the mountain itself. But this prophecy certainly sounds like He is speaking directly to the land formations themselves.
God doesn’t single out one mountain this time. He speaks “to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities” (verse 4b). He gives them comfort after all they have suffered.
YES. The people suffered and died in these places. But the land is scarred by the events. It bears the physical scars of war as well as the scars to its reputation. It also suffered the uncertainty of its future. Who would occupy it now? Who did it belong to? And how would it recover from the damage inflicted?
It gives me great comfort to think about God speaking to the land itself. There is NOTHING that He doesn’t care about! The mountains, the trees, the animals, the plants, the water, the sky and air, AND the people. EVERYTHING He made He cares for.
God gave the mountains, the hills, the ravines, the valleys, the cities, the deserts, and even the wastes a secure future. But it was NOT a future for its own sake. It would not return to its pristine state and be left alone in peace. It would once again support His people. He promised the land that it would once again host His children and provide a good place for them. It would bring forth fruit and have abundant fields. It would be a place of safety where His children could rest. It would be a place where families could thrive and serve the Lord their God.
It is sad to see the devastation man, in his various endeavors, can cause to the land around him. Either for good or evil, what man does on this earth affects the very ground we walk on. God has given it amazing recuperative powers and the ability to adapt to new situations. HE believes it is important and cares for it though as He cares for ALL His creations. But He NEVER told man to ‘get out’ so the earth could revert back to its original beauty. God gave the earth to man to subdue it and to fill it. “And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28). This was man’s job from the beginning. NOT to ruin the earth but to use it to meet man’s needs.
Satan changed the ‘ownership agreement’ with the first sin. He cares nothing for God’s creations, beyond what he can take for himself; especially the glory. The earth would no longer shower man with its ‘fruits’. He would have to work for his ‘supper’. He would use what the earth yielded up for his own survival. The earth would continue yielding up its ‘fruits’ when it was cared for and worked with. But it was NEVER meant to be our security or salvation. Only God is. “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 51:6).
The earth WILL come to an end. God has already decreed it. He has given it a ‘lifespan’ too. We aren’t to hasten its end but neither are we to place its ‘continued existence’ above mans. The earth was made for man, not man for the earth. But BE CERTAIN that God cares about the earth and will call us to account for how we used what He has given us.
Father God, thank You for ALL the beauty You have made in this world! I love seeing the roses climbing in my tree every summer. I enjoy hearing the creek flowing just on the other side of the road from my front door. It’s awe inspiring to watch You refill it each year and to care for it during the summer heat. The sun overhead warms my face and provides energy for my home. The wind pollinates my apple trees, cools me in the summer months and chills me in the winter. It also provides life for my chickens as they fly to greet me each day. The grasses I have in my yard don’t have the strength I wish they did but that is something You have given to me to care for. I do all that I can to honor Your gifts, even if I don’t make the best use of them. I don’t plow my field or plant in it. But the cows that use it are grateful for the grass it yields for them.
I can’t imagine what this world would be like if You didn’t care for it! It would be ALL used up by now. Help me to do my best to care for the gifts You have given me; ALL of them. Make me a good steward.
