36 “And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord God: Because the enemy said of you, ‘Aha!’ and, ‘The ancient heights have become our possession’, 3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God: Precisely because they made you desolate and crushed you from all sides, so that you became the possession of the rest of the nations, and you became the talk and evil gossip of the people, 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and the hills, the ravines and the valleys, the desolate wastes and the deserted cities, which have become a prey and derision to the rest of the nations all around, 5 therefore thus says the Lord God: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasture lands a prey. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations.7 Therefore thus says the Lord God: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.
8 “But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. 9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown. 10 And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt. 11 And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord. 12 I will let people walk on you, even my people Israel. And they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no longer bereave them of children. 13 Thus says the Lord God: Because they say to you, ‘You devour people, and you bereave your nation of children’, 14 therefore you shall no longer devour people and no longer bereave your nation of children, declares the Lord God. 15 And I will not let you hear any more the reproach of the nations, and you shall no longer bear the disgrace of the peoples and no longer cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord God.”
Here is a word to the mountains of Israel, in contrast to the word against Mount Seir. There it was judgment, and here it is mercy. It begins with a word about the ownership of the land. Edom wanted to annex the territories, saying that the ancient high places were theirs; but here God says that it is His land, and He gives it to whomsoever He will. One feels the sense of outrage and hot passion in Ezekiel's heart as he rehearses again and again the injustice of the surrounding nations in their assault upon Israel in their time of trouble. But now that the city has fallen and the judgment-stroke is complete, the triumph of mercy over wrath is very evident. Before, God had said, 'Behold, I am against you', but now He says 'Behold, I am for you' (9). Here is a land that has known the devastation of the enemy, that has known oppression, and desolation upon desolation, and now God is to move in might and power, breathing His Spirit upon that land, and Ezekiel is able to speak of it as being tilled and sown, and men being multiplied in it, with the cities being inhabited, and the waste places being rebuilt. We know that at the time of the restoration and return from exile this is what in fact happened - not without toil, and blood and tears and sweat, it is true, in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah; but it happened, and the prophets of that post-exilic period were able to say, 'The glory of the latter house shall be greater than the glory of the former'. And what was true in those days is assuredly true today and has been literally fulfilled in our generation, for the land has been tilled and sown in a way that had never been done for centuries, and men have multiplied and Israel's economy become buoyant and prosperous - and all because God's hand has been upon the events of the Middle East in our time.