Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted

With the fall of Jerusalem now complete Ezekiel has turned his focus towards God's promised restoration. Ezekiel 34 and following lays out in wonderful detail how God will restore his people by not only giving them godly leaders but a new heart and a willingness to obey him. They will one day be a blessing to the nations the way they were always supposed to have been. For the exiled Israelites there could be no true restoration, however, without a return to the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
In Ezekiel 35:1-36:15 God deals with the threat that Edom (Mount Seir) poses to the land as it seeks to posses that which has been left vacant by the exile. In a reversal of his prophecy against the mountains of Israel in Chapter 6 Ezekiel is now told to prophesy against Mount Seir (Edom) and to the mountains of Israel. God, despite having left his sanctuary and come to be with His exiled people in Babylon is still present in the land and has heard the blasphemy of Edom and the other surrounding nations and will act to preserve His holy name. He will drive them out making it possible for Israel to return again to the land and posses it. As with his other promises of restoration however, this is not a mere return to the land as it was that is promised. Rather, in words reminiscent of Genesis and the account of Eden the land itself will also be renewed! It will provide abundant life and protection for God's people. When God renews and restores He does so completely!