Ezekiel 11:17

Eze 11:17 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.

Ver. 17. I will even gather you from the people.] How impossible or improbable soever you may think it, and those of Jerusalem pronounce it. The prophet Isaiah in many chapters of his gospel, which beginneth at Eze 40:1-49, setteth himself to cheer up these poor captives with good hopes of a return, after a little while, paulisper, as some render the word megnat in the foregoing Eze 11:16.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Eze 11:17-20. I will even gather you from the people — This might be, in some degree, fulfilled in those that returned from captivity, but the perfect completion of this promise must be referred to the time of the expected general restoration of the Jewish nation. And they shall come thither — They who assemble upon Cyrus’s proclamation first, and they who afterward assemble upon Darius’s, shall overcome all difficulties, perform their journey, and come safely to their own land. And they shall take away all the detestable things thereof — Shall abolish superstition and idolatry from the temple, the city, and the country, and shall live pure from all the pollutions with which the land had been formerly defiled. But this promise also ultimately respects the future conversion of the Jews, as do those contained in the next two verses. And I will give them one heart — A heart entire for me, the living and true God, and not divided, as their hearts were formerly, among many gods; a heart firmly fixed and resolved for my worship and service, and not wavering; steady and uniform, and not inconstant, and inconsistent with itself. And hence they shall serve me with one consent, Zep 3:9. And I will put a new spirit within them — A disposition of mind agreeable to the new circumstances into which, in the course of my providence, I will bring them. Observe, reader, all that are regenerated have a new spirit: a spirit entirely changed from what it was before: they act from new principles, walk by new rules, and aim at new ends. A new name, a new profession, new opinions, or new modes of worship will not serve without a new spirit. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature: see the margin. And I will take away the stony heart out of their flesh — Out of their corrupt nature. Their hearts shall no longer be dead and dry, hard and unfeeling, but tender and apt to receive good impressions, and deeply sensible of, and affected with, things spiritual and divine. These are the same evangelical promises as we read in the other prophets, particularly Jer 32:39. “The insensibility of men, with regard to religious matters, is often ascribed to the hardness of their hearts. God promises here to give them teachable dispositions, and to take away the veil from their hearts, as St. Paul expresses it, 2Co 3:16; the same temper being indifferently expressed either by blindness or hardness of heart.” — Lowth. That they may walk in my statutes — In their whole conversation; and keep my ordinances — In all acts of religious worship. These two particulars must go together, and not be separated; and those to whom God has given a new heart, and a new spirit, will make conscience of both, and then the following promise shall be fulfilled, They shall be my people, and I will be their God: the ancient covenant, which seemed to have been broken and forgotten, shall be renewed. By their idolatry and other sins, they appeared to have cast God off; and by their being sent into captivity, and divers other punishments, God seemed to have cast them off; but when they are cured of their idolatry and various vices, and delivered from their captivity and other calamities, God and Israel own one another again: God, by his good work in them, makes them his people; and then, by the tokens of his good-will toward them, shows them that he is their God.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11:17 The exile in Babylon would last only until God had exercised his judgment. After this, there would be a new exodus of God’s people from the nations where they had been scattered back to the land of Israel. Their land, which was currently being stolen from them by those who remained in Judah, would be restored to them.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(Eze 28:25; Eze 34:13; Eze 36:24).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Now God expresses the effect of his grace. In the last verse he had said that he would be a sanctuary. I have reminded you that these words ought not to be understood of a visible place in which God was worshipped, but of that hidden influence by which he cherishes his people. But if the exile had been perpetual, that promise might seem vain. Why then did God protect his people in exile, if he wished them to be consumed there? because otherwise his covenant would have been in vain. Therefore lest any one should object that God deceives his faithful ones, when he pronounces that he would be their sanctuary, he now points out its result, viz., that he would restore them to their country. Therefore, says he, I will collect you from the people, and gather you from the nations to which ye have been, driven, and I will give you the land of Israel Since therefore a return to their country was a certain pledge of God’s love, hence he announces that they should at length return On the whole the restitution of the Church is promised, which should confirm God’s covenant. In it had been said to Abraham, I will give this land to thee and to thy seed for ever. (Genesis 13:15; and Genesis 17:8.) God, therefore, to show his covenant still remaining entire and secure, which he had interrupted for a short time, here speaks concerning this restoration. And as to the Prophet so often inculcating the name of God, and relating his orders in God’s name, and directing his discourse to the captives, this tends to confirm his message, because in such a desperate state of things it was difficult to wait patiently for what the Prophet taught, viz., that a time would come when God would collect them again, and recall them home. Hence the faithful were admonished that they must consider God’s power, and put their trust in this prophecy. It follows —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(17) I will give you the land of Israel.—Again in contrast to the people of Jerusalem, who claimed the land as their own exclusive possession. They shall be cast out; the exiles whom they despised shall be gathered again and possess the land. (Comp. Num_14:3; Num_14:31-32, where when the people refused the Divine command to take possession of the land, and feared that their little ones should be a prey, the doom came that they should all themselves perish in the wilderness, but their little ones should inherit the land.)

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

17–20. But this time of privation for the exiles shall come to an end. They shall be gathered out of the countries, and the land of Israel given to them; from which they shall remove all its abominations. They shall receive a new heart to walk in the Lord’s commandments; and he shall be their God and they his people.

give you the land of Israel] Those left in the country said: The land is given unto us. They shall be cast out and the land again given to those now in exile. The flower of the nation had been carried away in the captivity of Jehoiachin. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel regard the exiles as the hope of the nation and speak bitterly against the population remaining at home; comp. the former’s parable of the very naughty figs (ch. 24), and the latter’s scornful questions, ch. Eze_33:24-26. Cp. ch. Eze_28:25, Eze_34:13, Eze_36:24.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Therefore thus saith the Lord God, I will even gather you from the people,.... The Babylonians, Medes, and Persians, where they had been carried captive:

and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered; that is, out of Chaldea and Media, out of which they should come in a body, and not singly, or in small numbers, as they did when Cyrus issued out his proclamation:

and I will give you the land of Israel; not only the Jews of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, but many of the ten tribes came out of Babylon with Zerubbabel, and settled in the land of Israel; and hither they came also in later times, even those that settled in other countries; at their several festivals, and about such time more especially that the Messiah was expected, and continued there; and this will have a fuller completion at the restoration of the Jews in the latter days.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Say; add to the former apology this promise.

The Lord God; the faithful and eternal God, the supreme and sovereign Lord.

I will gather; by my advice and hand they were scattered, and by my hand they shall be gathered.

Assemble you; and to confirm them, it is added in different words, and the promise is repeated, and thus it was punctually performed, Ezr 1:1-4, with Eze 8:15.

I will give you the land of Israel; though your brethren do say you are not to dwell at Jerusalem, nor inherit the land, yet my purpose is otherwise, and I do promise you, that you who followed my counsel, and now are in Babylon, you, or your seed, shall return and inherit Canaan. All this was so worded, that some have thought it no groundless inquiry whether any of those that went with Zedekiah into captivity, or only such as went with Jeconiah, did return out of captivity; and though it is most probable some did, yet of the returners the far greater part were of those that with Jeconiah were gone into captivity.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

17. I will even gather you from the people — The history of the Jewish captives was peculiar. They alone, of all the nations carried to Babylon and then scattered into many countries, preserved their national characteristics intact and went back to their old home a strong, united people. “Nor were it, perhaps, too much to say, having respect to the issues of things, that the dispersion of the Israelites among the nations was fraught with as much blessing for the Church and the world as even their original settlement in Canaan.” — Fairbairn.

I will give you the land of Israel — Not those remaining in Jerusalem, who trusted to the external forms of the temple sacrifices, or to their idols, or to Egypt for help, but those who were carried away from the temple, and developed a purer and more spiritual faith amid the penitential fires of captivity, should ultimately possess the holy land. The Jerusalemites scorned the exiles (Eze_11:15), and would not listen to their counsels or pay any attention to their prophets; but, in fact, these exiles represented the true Israel. They were the remnant which should finally be saved and to whom Jehovah would give the land, from which they would remove all detestable idol images (1Ki_11:5; 1Ki_11:7; 2Ki_23:13), and their abominable accompaniments (Eze_11:18).

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

I will give you the land of Israel. The marginal references in the Authorized Version show how entirely Ezekiel was following in the footsteps of his master Jeremiah, as he had done in those of Isaiah, in their prophecies of restoration. Here also the law of" springing and germinant accomplishments" finds its application. Ezekiel (Eze_47:13-23; Eze_48:1-35) has his ideal of a new geographical Israel, as of a new local temple, a land from which idolatrous shrines and high places have disappeared. St. Paul (Rom_9:11) clings to the thought of a restoration of the literal Israel, even while he strips it of Ezekiel"s geographical limitations.

Restoration and reunion.

I THE DIVINE PRESENCE SECURES FUTURE SALVATION. The promise that God will be with his children in exile "as a Sanctuary" (ver. 16) is immediately followed by the assurance that he will bring them back to their land. It is not for nothing, then, that the poor exiles have the Sanctuary that is better than Solomon"s splendid temple God"s very presence. If God is with us, the future is ours. God is not only a Stay and a Comfort today, he holds the key of tomorrow. Therefore God only needs to be a Sanctuary for "a little while." Our light affliction "endureth but for a moment." The presence of God should make the hardship of the moment doubly endurable, first because of its own immediate help, and. secondly on account of the cheering prospects it opens out. The light of such a future should throw back rays of comfort into the darkest experience.

II THE FUTURE SALVATION IS TO BE A GREAT RFSTORATION. God will bring the exiles home again. This implies two things.

1. Deliverance from evil. The Jews were scattered among heathen peoples whose alien temper and domineering spirit were sources of trouble; e.g. Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Sin plunges us into hurtful conditions. For wholesome discipline God"s true people may be thrown into circumstances of persecution and peril. but this will not be forever. If the Son of God is with the three in the furnace, he will deliver them from it.

2. Restoration to the old home. The exiles are to return to Canaan. Souls exiled from the kingdom of heaven by sin will, when pardoned and renewed (see ver. 19), be restored to the privileges which were the birthright of all for all have been children, and "of such is the kingdom of heaven."Further, those who have been thus far restored may well feel the need of a more perfect recovery to the home of God, since this earth is not heaven, and here the people of God are "pilgrims and strangers" seeking "another country, that is, a heavenly." God"s perfect restoration includes the bringing of his children home to heaven.

III THE GREAT RESTORATION INCLUDES PERFECT REUNION. The nation was scattered; the promise is that it shall be reunited. Sin divides; redemption unites. All evil has a disintegrating influence on national and family life. Its root is selfishness, and selfishness implies severance. But love is the source of the better life, and love is the closest bond of union.

1. National reunion. So with the Jew. A nation will be safe against internal strife when Christian principles are followed.

2. The reunion of mankind. War is a vast and hideous fruit of selfish sinful passions and narrow hardheartedness. Christianity, if triumphant, would kill war by miring the nations in brotherhood, thus bringing "peace on earth.

3. The reunion of individuals. In restoration to God we learn patience, sympathy, and charity in regard to our fellow men.

4. The reunion of families. This begins on earth in pure home love. But it will be completed in the great restoration of families when all can meet in the home beyond the grave.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.