The LORD said to all the house of Israel that the day was coming when he would take them from the nations and gather them to their own land – when he would sprinkle them with clean water – and cleanse them from their idols – when he would give them a new heart and put a new Spirit within them.
And the result would be that the desolate land would become like the garden of Eden – and the people of God would flourish.
He promises that he will increase their people like a flock! "Like the flock of holy things" (which means, as the ESV translates, "a flock for sacrifices") – "Like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of people."
There was a sense in which the restoration from Exile happened 70 years later. God's people were restored to the land – and the temple was rebuilt. And they certainly did better at avoiding idols – but it would be hard to see how they were sprinkled with clean water – it would be hard to see how the Spirit was poured out.
And the cities of Judah certainly didn't look like the garden of Eden... but they did still come to Jerusalem every year for the feasts – bringing their flocks...
And so John came baptizing in the wilderness saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."
John saw that Jesus was the fulfillment of Ezekiel 36. He was the Lamb of God – the sacrificial offering that would take away our sin. He was the one who would wash us – and cleanse us – and give us his Spirit!
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