Ezekiel's Visions of the Coming Glory.

So much is said about the coming glory for the nation, which is the special object of God's love and favor, that no reference to the structural character of the Scriptures would be complete without a special study given to it.
What Is Glory?
A primary question is, "What is glory?" In a general way, and in a Biblical sense, Glory is the excellence of anything in display, hence, "The heavens declare the glory of God," that is, the excellence of His creative skill. Of Christ it is said, in His first miracle in turning the water into wine, "He manifested His glory"—the glory of His power to change things.
The word glory occurs twenty-four times in Ezekiel. Three different Hebrew words are used. The word in Ezekiel 1: 28; 3: l 2, 23; 8: 4; 9: 3; 10: 4; 11: 22, 23; 31: 18; 39: 21; 43: 2, 4, 5; 44: 4, means copiousness, splendor, and comes from a root which signifies weight, to be heavy, and is rendered glory in referring to the influence of Joseph's position in Egypt (Gen. 45: 13). The glory of personal worth is what is meant.
Another word rendered glory in Ezekiel 20: 6, 15; 25: 9; 26: 20; signifies prominence, beauty, and is used to describe the beauty of the head of the herd of deer and is rendered roebuck (Deuteronomy 12: 15), beauty (Ezekiel 7: 20), and pleasant (Daniel 8: 9). The glory of personal beauty.
The third word for glory, and which is found in Ezekiel 24: 25, signifies an ornament as a thing of beauty, and is used to describe the high priest's robes of glory and beauty (Exodus 28: 2), and is rendered fair and beautiful in Ezekiel 16: 12, 17, 39; 23: 26, 42. The glory of anything or anyone in attractiveness. These words are found in several descriptive settings.
''The glory of Jehovah" embodies the thought of what Jehovah is, what He is in the essence of His Being, as the Unchanging One, and the display of His excellence (see Ezekiel 1: 26-28).
"The glory of the God of Israel" reveals Him as the God of Power, in His relationship to Israel, in His might to punish or to love, or in His providential dealings (Ezekiel 9: 3).
The glory of a land, of a country, and of the trees of the Garden of Eden (Ezekiel 20: 6, 15; 25: 9; 31: 18), declare the beauty of His skill in the magnificence of His display as manifested in His productiveness in nature.
The glory is also seen by others as revealed to the nations, in what Jehovah does in redeeming Israel by His love and grace (Ezekiel 39: 21-23) .
The Glory of a Restored Land.
A whole section is given in a wonderful and detailed address to the land (Ezekiel 36: 1-15). The address is arresting in many particulars, but specially in three. The way in which the Lord reveals Himself as the "Lord GOD," what He calls "the land," and in what He promises to it.
The Lord calls Himself "The Lord God." Twice in the section the Lord as "Jehovah" is mentioned. "The word of the Lord" (a) and "Ye shall know I am the Lord." (b) It will be noticed "GOD" in these sentences is in capitals, and wherever "Lord" or "God" is thus printed "JEHOVAH" is meant.
Ten times, "The Lord God" is mentioned (Ezekiel 36 verses 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14, 15). "God" in these ten times, is found in capitals, and, therefore, "JEHOVAH" is designated, but "Lord" is not found in capitals, therefore it is not Jehovah. The title is "Adonahy." “Adonahy" means the proprietor. Therefore, those names and titles suggest two reasons why God claims the land. First, because as the Proprietor, the land belongs to Him; and second, because as Jehovah, He is found in covenant relationship to it, for He has pledged to give it to Abraham and his seed.
What the Lord calls the land.
Four times He speaks to the land, and addresses it as "The," or "Ye mountains of Israel" (Ezekiel 36: 1, 4, 8), once as "My land" (5) once as "The land of Israel" (6) and once as "Thou land" (13). Israel being addressed, identifies the land with the whole nation, and Jehovah saying it is "My land" identifies Him with it as well. Therefore, the Lord will claim His property for His people.
Jehovah's promise to the land.
He gives seven gracious "I wills" of promise.
“I will" of Promise: "For behold I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown" (9). Jehovah's promises are His pledge of His performances.
"I will” of Prosperity: "And I will multiply men upon thee, all the house of Israel, even all of it, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded" (10). Waste and wickedness are cause and· effect. Where wickedness works, waste will follow. But when God works, prosperity ensues.
"I will" of Profit: "And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring fruit" (11). Addition is good, but multiplication is better.
“I will" of Permanency: "And I will settle you after your old estates" (11). The benedictions of the past are beacons of the future.
"I will" of Partnership (11): "And I will do better unto you than at your beginnings, and ye shall know, I am Jehovah." We get to know the Lord by what He does.
“I will'' of Possession (12): "And I will cause men to walk upon you, even My people Israel, and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them." Land and people are mutually possessed, and each finds a satisfaction in the other.
"I will" of Power: "Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the nations anymore, neither shalt thou hear the reproach of the people anymore, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God" (15). Being a power for good, good to others must follow.
Thus, we see the "land,'' yielding its fruits freely and generously, will wipe off the reproach of the heathen; its cities will be inhabited; its ruins rebuilt, and man and beast multiplied on its surface, so that its last state will be better than its first. And those who till it and enjoy the benefits of its wonderful transformation will be none other than the house of Israel, for whose sins it had borne the reproach of barrenness in the past.
Therefore, as one has said, "That amongst the glories of the Messianic age, the preternatural fertility of the Holy Land stands prominent."
The Glory of a Restored People.
Ezekiel's prophecies have a charm and a character of their own. He is the prophet with Judah in exile. He declares the visions he had were those he received by "the river of Chebar" (Ezekiel 1: 1; 3: 23). Like Daniel and John, he received his visions of coming glory while in banishment. God's stars of hope shine the brightest when the night is darkest. The bow of His promises is seen in the dark cloud of His providence.
Ezekiel's outlook has to do with "the whole house of Israel." If he had written the Book of Ezekiel at the dictation of his own reason, he would have confided his natural thought to that section of the nation called Judah, for Ezekiel was with that portion of the nation in captivity. God's outlook is always a broad look. Man cramps himself in the gully of an overshadowed and rocky pass of his own conceptions, but the Lord leads out to view the broad landscape of His comprehensive purpose, and the glorious heavens of His shining glories as focused in the Bright and Morning Star. Because Ezekiel had received from the Lord, he was able to speak "unto them of the captivity, all the things which the Lord had showed" him (Ezekiel 11: 25). We can only tell out what we receive. He who listens to the Lord has always something to say for Him.
There are at least sixteen distinct references to the glory of Jehovah or "Lord" and "the God of Israel," and these separate sentences are not haphazard, but of design, for the Lord keeps with Israel in spite of all their sin, for as Jehovah, He cannot give up His people.
To trace the golden line of glory is to find what holds the Revelation together as a compact whole. The prophet first sees "the glory of Jehovah" as identified with the living creatures, or cherubim, of His administrative power in Jehovah's dealings (Ezekiel 1: 1-28), who are moved by the Spirit of God in His power (1: 20), and they in turn, move the mystic wheels of the Lord's revolving purpose in His dealings with the nations and Israel (1: 20, 21).
Then the prophet saw "the glory of the Lord in His place" (3: 12), which was in the holiest of all. Then the glory departs from the inner shrine to the threshold of the temple (9: 3; 10: 4). Then "the glory of Jehovah" departs from the threshold and hovers over the temple at the location of the cherubim (10: 18). Then the "glory of the God of Israel" lingers at "the door of the east gate" (10: 19). And then the glory is seen over the city and over the Mount of Olives (11: 23). There is no further reference to the glory until the time when the Lord returns in His glory to reign as stated in Ezekiel 43: 2-5.
Between these references, the sin of Israel and the nations is made known, and coming judgment; and also promises of Jehovah's restoring grace to Israel, and the acknowledgment of what He does for His people by the nations. The hovering of the glory of the Lord over the Temple, reluctantly stopping at its threshold, staying over the city and mountain, reveals the reluctance in the heart of Jehovah to leave His people. He will not stay with His people in their sin. Sin in any people is an offence to God, but sin in His people is a double offence, a transgression, iniquitous and rebellious.
When God has to write "Ichabod" (The glory is departed) (1 Samuel 4: 21), over any people, they are in the hell of His curse. A wasted and emaciated man rotting on his legs, through sensualism and drink, is a picture of a wasted and worsted nation, in the paralysis of its iniquity. Swift punishment follows relentlessly at the heels of sacrilegious sin (1 Samuel 4: 11-17).
Yet Jehovah has not "cast off" His people for ever, although for the time being, they are not "spared," but under the "severity" of God, and yet under His goodness (Romans 11: 15-25).
Let us carefully read and ponder Ezekiel 36: 16-38 and read without any comment till we have read and studied.
"Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings; their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore, I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: and I scattered them among the heathen and they were dispersed through the countries, according to their way and according to their doings, I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the Lord and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus, saith the Lord God. I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleanness, and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. Thus, saith the Lord God: In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that was desolate; I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus, saith the Lord God: I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men, and they shall know that I am the Lord."
Think of the words Jehovah uses to describe the sins of Israel:
"Defilement" of their doings (Ezekiel 36: 17, 19).
"Uncleanness" of their ways (17, 29).
"Pollution" by their idols (18).
"Profanement" of Jehovah's name (20, 21, 22, 23).
"Filthiness" of their heart (25).
"Stony heart" of unbelief (26).
"Evil ways" of action (31).
"Iniquities" of perverseness (31, 33).
"Your own ways" of self-will (32).
Their sins acted in three directions, as sin always does. It polluted the people themselves, defiled others, and profaned the name of Jehovah.
Yet, we say again, Jehovah pledges Himself, and for His own sake, to restore His people (Ezekiel 36: 22).
The "I Wills" of Promise.
Ezekiel 36: 23-30, 33, 36, 37.
In the above section there will be found no less than eighteen "I wills" of promise. They suggest the following new things:
A New Affirmation.
When the reason of God's action is found in Himself, we may be sure of its accomplishment; and when He goes out of His way to do a new thing, we are arrested by the language of His assuring promises.
In the past, Jehovah told Israel if they would obey His words and follow His behests, then His blessing would rest upon the nation; but if there was failure, then the flail of punishment would be felt (see Leviticus 26). Jehovah now does a new thing in grace, and He says He will bless Israel for "Mine holy name's sake," and He further declares, "I will sanctify my great name" (Ezekiel 36: 22, 23). An old body was once asked, "Tell me why God loved you." She replied, "I don't know; I suppose He loved me because He would love me." When the reason of God's grace is found in Himself, there is no reason why He should not bless; but there is the best of reasons why we should be blessed. So, Jehovah will bless His people because He wills to do it.
"There must be some way by which His name can be sanctified before the nations, some means of reconciling the partial revelation of His holiness in Israel's dispersion with the complete manifestation of His power to the world at large. And this reconciliation can only be effected through the redemption of Israel."
The Lord declares, He will vindicate the sanctity of His name and perform what He has said; and since He has said what He will do, it must be performed. Those who accept what Jehovah says, and rest in His Word, find a resting place to their soul's satisfaction; but those who resist His Word, rush against a buttress which breaks them to their consternation and condemnation.
A New Act.
"For I will take you from among the nations (R.V.), and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land" (Ezekiel 36: 24). Professor Skinner remarks: "The final reconciliation must take place on the soil of Palestine. The kingdom of God can only be established by the return of Israel and Jehovah to their own land; and their joint possession of that land is the seal of the everlasting covenant of peace that subsists between them."
Mark the emphatic statement. There is, first of all, His electing grace—"I will take you." He lays hold of His people by His mighty power, as one lays hold of another who is in danger. Then He says, "I will gather you" indicating His action is warmed with His love.
As the mother bird gathers her brood under her wings so the Lord will gather His people to Himself. Then His bringing His own to Himself and the land suggests a holy determination to carry His purpose through; for He says, "And will bring you into your own land." This next act of grace is backed by the determination of His love.
A New Ablution.
Constant cleansings are demanded from the people by the Lord, under the law, as the Book of Leviticus constantly enjoins; but when the Lord brings Israel back to their land, He says, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you" (v. 25). Two things Jehovah says He will remove, the inward impurity of uncleanness and the outward idols of abomination. The state of the soul within leads to a wrong worship without. Idolatry and impurity are always the twin sisters of iniquity. The thoroughness of the Lord's ablution is forcibly expressed, "From all your filthiness, and all your idols." There are no half measures with grace. When the Lord blesses, He blesses without stint or compromise. There are no reservations allowed by the Lord. He not only removes the guilt of sin, but He cleanses from its pollutions too, and dethrones all who have usurped His place.
A New Addition.
"A new heart will I give you" (v. 26). God's givings always grace the receivers and make them like to the gift bestowed. The heart stands for the mind of understanding, the will of decision, and the affection of love. The old heart of self-determination and unbelief, with which Stephen charged the nation—"Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye" (Acts 7: 51)—will be removed, and the new heart of love and response, will follow the cleansing and sanctification.
A New Animation.
"And a new spirit will I put within you" (v. 26). The "new spirit" must not be confused with the "new heart," and the Holy Spirit. "The new spirit," is a new nature, or disposition. Unless the life within dominates the flesh without, its disposition will sway the man. "The stony heart" of the old nature is sinful and deceitful, but the heart of flesh of the new nature is like the spirit which animates it. When the new graft is united to the old stock of a fruit tree, the nature of the Victoria plum will produce like to its kind and will master the old stock of the sloe tree.
A New Administrator.
"I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them" (v. 27). Man's heart and mind are wrong; hence, he comes to wrong conclusions and errs in his judgment. Man forms laws on the statute book of his government, but he is often biased by his own interests. But when the Spirit administers in the quickened spirit, and rules in the heart, then man is ruled by His casual power; hence, walks according to the statutes of God's law, and is kept to the judgments of His findings. Thus, Israel will be propelled and impelled to do the things which are pleasing to Jehovah, even as the stranded boat lying on the sands is lifted by the power of the incoming tide.
A New Affection.
"And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Leviticus 26: 12: Ezekiel 37: 27; 2 Corinthians 6: 16). When we get this declaration of relationship, it signifies more than a mere statement of relationship, it indicates a people who are yielding loving obedience to their God, and the consequent complacency of affection, with which He loves His people. God loves all men with the love of compassion, but He only loves those who are pleasing to Him with the love of approbation or delight. From this it will be seen, communion of heart and interest is meant. When two parties mutually love each other, there is harmony in the home; hence, marriage without love is immoral; but when love burns in two persons, then they fuse together in a common purpose, even as the fire fuses two pieces of metal together. and makes them one, under the power of the hammer. Thus, it will be with Israel and Jehovah.
A New Acquisition.
Ezekiel 36: 29. 30, gives a square of "I wills" in relation to God's doings in connection with the people and the land: "I will also save you from all your uncleanness, and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, and ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the nations." The thought in this passage is the uncleanness of sin's pollution being removed, it will cause Jehovah's blessing to rest upon the toilers on the land, and the result will be an increase of productiveness from the earth. Sin and famine have ever been cause and effect. The cause of the withdrawal of the former and latter rain was sin, as Jeremiah declared, "Thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness, therefore the showers have been withholden, and there hath been no latter rain" (Jeremiah 3: 2, 3); but when the Lord restores His people and takes pity, He says, "Behold, I will send you corn and wine and oil and ye shall be satisfied therewith." . . . "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God . . . He will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first month." (All these rains are necessary for the production of the crops.) "And the floors shall he full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil."  "And ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied." Read the whole of Joel 2: 12-29, and it will be seen that the land is told not to fear, but to be glad and rejoice, for the Lord will do great things. Why? Because the people will have repented and turned to Jehovah, and "then" it is "Jehovah will be jealous for his land and pity his people."
A New Abiding.
"Thus saith the Lord God, in the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. Then the nations . . . shall know that I, Jehovah, build the ruined places, and plant that was desolate, I Jehovah hath spoken it, and will do it" (Ezekiel 36: 33-36).
When we call to mind that the promise given to Abraham, relative to the land, covers an area of 300,000 miles, we can understand the 30.000 miles of Palestine's area is a very small territory. Then in the greater area, there are vast tracks of desert and desolate places, which are beyond human repair, irrigation, and cultivation. When we keep in mind these facts, we can understand there must occur some great convulsion in nature to alter these desolate places, and make them like "the garden of Eden." From the prophetic Word we know, according to Zechariah 14, there will be a great earthquake, which will cause the mountain of Olives to be split in two, and a "great valley" to be formed, and the land will be "lifted" up, and from Jerusalem shall go forth "living waters."
From Ezekiel 47: 1-12, we have a descriptive representation of a wonderful river which has its rise in the sanctuary of the rebuilt temple, and which waters are associated with "the altar"; and wherever those sanctuary waters flow, in their increasing volume and force, there will be fertility and abundance. Such is the widespread reach of these healing and life-giving waters, that wherever they flow, they minister healing and productive qualities, that all are for ''meat and medicine." Not without suggestive allusion is the reason given that all is said to be "Because their waters issued out of the sanctuary" (Ezekiel 4: 1, 12).
In this body of statement, telling of outward growth and beauty, is there not an inner suggestion of fact, namely, that from the altar of Christ's atoning death, and the sacrificial waters of His holy sacrifice and passion, there is produced and secured all spiritual blessings to land, to people, and to the individual? Professor Skinner has finely expressed this thought. He says, ''While the whole land of Israel is to be renewed and made to minister to the good of man in fellowship with God, the main stream of fertility is expended in the apparently hopeless task of reclaiming the Judean desert and purifying the Dead Sea. It is an emblem of the earthly ministry of Him who made Himself the Friend of publicans and sinners, and lavished resources of His grace and the wealth of His affection on those who were deemed beyond ordinary possibility of salvation."  Dr. F. E. MARSH. England.
“The Alliance Weekly” Oct. 11, 18, 25, 1930