Ezekiel 36:1-7 – It is important to build our life wisely.

Personification is a figure of speech. It is widely used in Ezekiel 36. In personification, non-human objects are assigned human qualities. Here in Ezekiel 36, we see human qualities being assigned to the land, the mountains, the valleys, the ravines, cities, etc.

The promised land was God’s gift to Israel, His covenant people. Though it was given to them, they were found unfaithful. They did not keep their covenant agreement with God and flirted with the false gods of the land. God had to deal with them and allowed their land to be dispossessed by their enemies.

However, the nations that had dispossessed them of the land coveted and claimed the land - the mountains, the valleys, and the ravines - to be theirs. They had shown much contempt for the way they treated the land. And God had spoken against them in Ezekiel 25-32. Even in our reflection on chapter 35, we saw how God was against Mount Seir.

God’s plan was to restore the land to His people. The message of Ezekiel 36 had to do with the restoration of the land to Israel. The land given to Israel had been desecrated and suffered much reproach at the hands of those nations. Comforting His people, God wanted them to know that the land given to them was His and He was not going to tolerate how the enemy nations had ravaged it. They would not be getting away scot-free. He would deal with them for what they had done to the land.

Contemplating what happened to the land, the gift of God to Israel would confirm the folly of the covenant people. A good land given to them had to endure much contempt because of their unfaithfulness. Though God would restore the land, it had to endure dispossession, and destruction by foreigners because of His people’s disobedience.

Like the land given to Israel, our life is God’s gift to us. It is needful that we build it rightly. Don’t let it be dispossessed. We need to steward it appropriately. Be wise, use the right material such as gold, silver, and precious stones to build it. Don’t build it with wood, hay, or stubbles.