Ezekiel 36
Introduction
Ezekiel 36 divides naturally into two movements: a promise of restoration to the mountains of Israel (vv. 1--15) and the promise of a new heart and a new spirit for God's people (vv. 16--38). The first half forms a deliberate counterpart to chapter 35's oracle of judgment against Mount Seir (Edom). Where Edom's mountains are sentenced to desolation because they gloated over Israel's ruin, Israel's mountains are promised fruitfulness and repopulation because God's honor is at stake. The structural pairing -- judgment on Edom's mountains, then restoration for Israel's mountains -- reveals that God's justice and mercy are not opposed but inseparable: the same act that punishes the oppressor vindicates the oppressed.
The second half of the chapter (vv. 16--38) contains widely quoted and debated verses. After explaining that Israel's exile was deserved -- they defiled their own land with bloodshed and idolatry -- God announces that he will act, not for Israel's sake, but for the sake of his own holy name, which Israel profaned among the nations. What follows is a sequence of divine promises: regathering from exile, sprinkling with clean water, a new heart of flesh to replace the heart of stone, God's own Spirit placed within them to cause obedience, and restoration to the covenant relationship and the promised land. These verses (especially vv. 25--27) stand alongside Jeremiah 31:31-34 and Joel 2:28-29 as a direct anticipation of the new covenant and the gift of the Holy Spirit. They have been central to Reformed theology's doctrine of regeneration, to Wesleyan theology's vision of entire sanctification, and to virtually every Christian tradition's account of how God transforms the human heart.
Promise to the Mountains of Israel (vv. 1--8)
1 "And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD. 2 This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the enemy has said of you, 'Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,' 3 therefore prophesy and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says: Because they have made you desolate and have trampled you on every side, so that you became a possession of the rest of the nations and were taken up in slander by the lips of their talkers, 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD. This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, to the desolate ruins and abandoned cities, which have become a spoil and a mockery to the rest of the nations around you. 5 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: Surely in My burning zeal I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who took My land as their own possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, so that its pastureland became plunder. 6 Therefore, prophesy concerning the land of Israel and tell the mountains and hills, the ravines and valleys, that this is what the Lord GOD says: Behold, I have spoken in My burning zeal because you have endured the reproach of the nations. 7 Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: I have sworn with an uplifted hand that surely the nations around you will endure reproach of their own. 8 But you, O mountains of Israel, will produce branches and bear fruit for My people Israel, for they will soon come home.
1 "And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel and say: Mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD! 2 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because the enemy has said of you, 'Aha! The ancient high places have become ours as a possession,' 3 therefore prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Because indeed they have made you desolate and crushed you from every side, so that you became a possession for the remnant of the nations and you were taken up on the lips of gossips and the slander of peoples -- 4 therefore, mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the abandoned cities that have become plunder and a laughingstock to the remnant of the nations all around -- 5 therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Surely in the fire of my jealousy I have spoken against the remnant of the nations and against all of Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with the joy of their whole heart and with contempt of soul, in order to drive out its inhabitants as plunder. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the soil of Israel and say to the mountains and to the hills, to the ravines and to the valleys: Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, in my jealousy and in my fury I have spoken, because you have borne the disgrace of the nations. 7 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: I myself have raised my hand in oath -- surely the nations that are around you will themselves bear their disgrace. 8 But you, mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for my people Israel, for they are near to coming home.
Notes
The command to prophesy "to the mountains" is a striking rhetorical device. Ezekiel personifies the land itself as a victim that has suffered abuse and needs to hear a word of comfort. This mirrors the structure of Ezekiel 35, where the mountains of Seir were addressed as the enemy. The contrast is deliberate: Edom's mountains receive a death sentence; Israel's mountains receive a promise of life.
In verse 2, the Hebrew בָּמוֹת עוֹלָם ("ancient heights" or "eternal high places") carries a double resonance. The word בָּמוֹת can refer to topographical high places or to the cultic high places where worship occurred. The enemy's taunt is that these storied, ancient sites now belong to them -- a claim that strikes at both the geographical and the spiritual identity of Israel.
The word קִנְאָה ("jealousy/zeal") in verses 5--6 is a covenant term. God's קִנְאָה is not petty jealousy but the fierce protective passion of a husband for his wife or a king for his people. It is the same word used in Exodus 20:5 and Exodus 34:14 to describe God's exclusive claim on Israel's loyalty. Here it burns against the nations who have violated what belongs to God.
Verse 5 singles out Edom (אֱדוֹם) from among the nations because of the particular cruelty of Edom's betrayal. As Israel's "brother" nation (descended from Esau, Genesis 25:30), Edom's seizure of Judah's land during the Babylonian conquest represented a uniquely bitter treachery. The phrase בִּשְׂמְחַת כָּל לֵבָב ("with the joy of the whole heart") and בִּשְׁאָט נֶפֶשׁ ("with contempt of soul") captures both the glee and the disdain with which Edom acted. This connects directly to the extended oracle against Edom in Ezekiel 35 and to the prophecy of Obadiah 1:10-14.
The oath gesture in verse 7 -- נָשָׂאתִי אֶת יָדִי ("I have raised my hand") -- is the language of solemn covenant oath-taking (cf. Deuteronomy 32:40, Ezekiel 20:5-6). God swears that the roles will be reversed: the nations that heaped disgrace on Israel will themselves bear disgrace.
The Land Restored and Repopulated (vv. 9--15)
9 For behold, I am on your side; I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown. 10 I will multiply the people upon you -- the house of Israel in its entirety. The cities will be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will fill you with people and animals, and they will multiply and be fruitful. I will make you as inhabited as you once were, and I will make you prosper more than before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12 Yes, I will cause My people Israel to walk upon you; they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer deprive them of their children. 13 For this is what the Lord GOD says: Because people say to you, 'You devour men and deprive your nation of its children,' 14 therefore you will no longer devour men or deprive your nation of its children, declares the Lord GOD. 15 I will no longer allow the taunts of the nations to be heard against you, and you will no longer endure the reproach of the peoples or cause your nation to stumble, declares the Lord GOD."
9 For behold, I am for you, and I will turn toward you, and you will be tilled and sown. 10 And I will multiply people upon you -- all the house of Israel, all of it -- and the cities will be inhabited, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 11 I will multiply upon you people and animals, and they will increase and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and I will do more good to you than in your beginnings. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12 I will cause people to walk upon you -- my people Israel -- and they will possess you, and you will be their inheritance, and you will no longer bereave them of children. 13 Thus says the Lord GOD: Because they say to you, 'You are a devourer of people, and you have been one who bereaves your nation of children,' 14 therefore you will no longer devour people, and your nation you will no longer bereave, declares the Lord GOD. 15 And I will no longer let the disgrace of the nations be heard against you, and the reproach of the peoples you will no longer bear, and your nation you will no longer cause to stumble, declares the Lord GOD."
Notes
The phrase הִנְנִי אֲלֵיכֶם ("Behold, I am for you") in verse 9 is the exact reversal of the judgment formula used elsewhere in Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 5:8 and Ezekiel 21:3, God says הִנְנִי אֵלַיִךְ ("Behold, I am against you"). The same grammatical construction now carries the opposite meaning: God turns his face toward Israel's land in favor rather than in wrath.
The language of verse 11 -- וְרָבוּ וּפָרוּ ("they will increase and be fruitful") -- deliberately echoes the creation blessing of Genesis 1:28 and the patriarchal promises of Genesis 17:6. The restoration of the land is presented as a new creation, a fresh beginning that fulfills the original mandate to fill the earth. God promises not merely to restore the land to its former state but to surpass it: וְהֵטִבֹתִי מֵרִאשֹׁתֵיכֶם ("I will do more good than in your beginnings").
The accusation that the land "devours people" and "bereaves its nation" (vv. 13--14) echoes the report of the faithless spies in Numbers 13:32, who said the land of Canaan was "a land that devours its inhabitants." This old slander, originally voiced by Israelites too fearful to trust God's promise, has now become a taunt on the lips of the surrounding nations. God promises to silence it permanently.
The word שַׁכֵּל ("to bereave of children") is an emotionally charged term in Hebrew, used of a mother losing her offspring. By applying it to the land itself, Ezekiel personifies the land as a bereaved mother -- or, in the mouths of the mockers, as a mother who kills her own children. God's promise is that this cycle of loss and shame will end.
Israel's Defilement and the Profanation of God's Name (vv. 16--21)
16 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 17 "Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman's impurity. 18 So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19 I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and deeds. 20 And wherever they went among the nations, they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.' 21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.
16 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 17 "Son of man, the house of Israel, when they were dwelling on their own soil, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds. Like the uncleanness of a menstruating woman was their way before me. 18 So I poured out my fury upon them for the blood they had shed upon the land and for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the lands. According to their ways and according to their deeds I judged them. 20 And when they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that it was said of them, 'These are the people of the LORD, yet from his land they had to go out.' 21 But I had compassion on my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.
Notes
The comparison to טֻמְאַת הַנִּדָּה ("the uncleanness of menstrual impurity") in verse 17 draws on the Levitical purity system (Leviticus 15:19-30). This is not a negative statement about women but a powerful ritual analogy: just as menstrual impurity rendered a person temporarily unable to participate in sacred space, so Israel's moral corruption rendered the entire land unfit for God's presence. The point is that Israel's sin was not incidental but pervasive -- it contaminated everything it touched.
Verse 18 specifies two grounds for God's wrath: הַדָּם ("the blood") they shed on the land and גִּלּוּלֵיהֶם ("their idols") with which they defiled it. The word גִּלּוּלִים is Ezekiel's characteristic term for idols, appearing nearly forty times in the book. It is deliberately contemptuous, likely derived from a root meaning "dung" or "pellets" -- the prophet refuses to dignify the idols with a neutral term.
Verse 20 reveals a devastating irony: Israel's exile, which was God's just punishment for their sin, itself became a cause of further profanation of God's name. The nations looked at Israel and drew the logical conclusion: "Their God could not protect them; they had to leave his land." God's reputation among the nations -- his שֵׁם קָדְשִׁי ("my holy name") -- was damaged not only by Israel's sin but by the visible consequences of God's own judgment upon that sin.
In verse 21, the verb וָאֶחְמֹל ("I had compassion/concern") is striking. God's motivation for acting is not pity for Israel but jealous concern for his own name. This sets up the central theological argument of the next section: God will restore Israel not because they deserve it but because his own honor demands it.
God Acts for His Name's Sake: The New Heart and New Spirit (vv. 22--27)
22 Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. 23 I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations -- the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
22 Therefore, say to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake that I am about to act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will sanctify my great name that has been profaned among the nations, which you profaned in their midst. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I demonstrate my holiness through you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you to your own soil. 25 And I will sprinkle upon you clean water, and you will be clean. From all your uncleannesses and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will place within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And my Spirit I will place within you, and I will cause it that in my statutes you walk and my ordinances you keep and do.
Notes
The twice-repeated declaration לֹא לְמַעַנְכֶם אֲנִי עֹשֶׂה ("It is not for your sake that I am about to act") in verses 22 and 32 frames the theology of the entire passage. God's ultimate motivation in salvation is not human merit or even human need but the vindication of his own name. This is not divine egotism; it is the foundation for grace. If God acted for Israel's sake, their restoration would be contingent on their worthiness. Because God acts for his own name's sake, restoration is certain despite Israel's unworthiness.
Verse 25 uses priestly purification language. The verb וְזָרַקְתִּי ("I will sprinkle") is the technical term for the ritual sprinkling performed by priests (Leviticus 1:5, Numbers 19:18-19). The מַיִם טְהוֹרִים ("clean water") recalls the purification ritual involving the ashes of the red heifer mixed with living water in Numbers 19, which cleansed those who had been contaminated by contact with death. God himself now becomes the priest who performs the purification -- a radical departure from the Levitical system where human priests mediated cleansing. The imagery signals that what no human priesthood could accomplish, God will do directly.
Verse 26 contains a striking image. The לֵב חָדָשׁ ("new heart") and רוּחַ חֲדָשָׁה ("new spirit") represent a total internal transformation. In Hebrew anthropology, the לֵב ("heart") is not the seat of emotion alone but the center of thought, will, and decision-making. A "new heart" means a fundamentally renewed capacity for knowing and choosing God. The contrast between לֵב הָאֶבֶן ("heart of stone") and לֵב בָּשָׂר ("heart of flesh") is vivid and physical: stone is dead, impenetrable, and unresponsive; flesh is alive, soft, and sensitive to touch. The problem with Israel was not ignorance of the law but inability to respond to it -- a constitutional hardness that no amount of external instruction could overcome.
Verse 27 resolves a tension within the book of Ezekiel itself. In Ezekiel 18:31, God commands Israel, "Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit!" -- as though the transformation were within human power. Here in 36:26--27, God declares, "I will give you a new heart... I will put my Spirit within you" -- revealing that what God commands, God also provides. The verb וְעָשִׂיתִי ("I will cause/make") in verse 27 is extraordinary: God does not merely invite obedience; he עָשָׂה ("causes") it. His Spirit does not simply inform or encourage but produces the very obedience that the law demands. This connects directly to Jeremiah 31:33 ("I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts") and finds its New Testament fulfillment in Romans 8:3-4 and Galatians 5:16-18.
The progression from verse 25 through verse 27 follows a careful theological logic: first cleansing (v. 25), then transformation (v. 26), then empowerment (v. 27). God deals with guilt before he deals with nature, and he deals with nature before he calls for conduct. This sequence -- justification, regeneration, sanctification -- has been recognized by theologians across traditions as reflecting the order of salvation.
Interpretations
The promises of verses 25--27 are debated texts in Protestant theology, touching on the nature of regeneration, the role of the Holy Spirit, and the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation.
Reformed/Calvinist theology reads these verses as a definitive statement of monergistic regeneration -- God alone is the active agent in the new birth, and the transformed heart is entirely his work. The "heart of stone" cannot soften itself; only God can remove it and replace it with a responsive "heart of flesh." This text, alongside John 3:3-8 and Ephesians 2:4-5, is cited as evidence that regeneration precedes faith: God must first give the new heart before a person can believe and obey. The divine "I will" repeated throughout the passage leaves no room for human contribution to the initial act of spiritual transformation. Calvin himself appealed to this passage in his discussion of effectual calling.
Wesleyan/Arminian theology also affirms that the new heart is God's gift and that human beings cannot transform themselves. However, Wesleyans emphasize that God's prevenient grace enables a genuine human response. The tension between Ezekiel 18:31 ("make yourselves a new heart") and 36:26 ("I will give you a new heart") is resolved not by collapsing one into the other but by affirming both: God's grace makes possible what God's command requires, but the human person genuinely cooperates with that grace through repentance and faith. Wesleyans also see in the sprinkling of clean water (v. 25) and the indwelling Spirit (v. 27) a promise that extends beyond initial conversion to entire sanctification -- the Spirit's ongoing work of purifying the heart from the power as well as the guilt of sin.
Both traditions agree on the essential point: fallen human beings cannot save themselves, and the transformation described here is fundamentally God's initiative and God's achievement. The passage stands as one of the clearest Old Testament witnesses to the doctrine that salvation is by grace.
The Covenant Restored and Shame Remembered (vv. 28--32)
28 Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you. 30 I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD -- let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your ways, O house of Israel!
28 And you will dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you will be my people and I will be your God. 29 And I will save you from all your uncleannesses. I will call to the grain and multiply it, and I will not place famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will never again bear the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will feel loathing within yourselves over your iniquities and over your abominations. 32 It is not for your sake that I am about to act -- let this be known to you! Be ashamed and disgraced because of your ways, house of Israel.
Notes
Verse 28 contains the covenant formula in its classic form: וִהְיִיתֶם לִי לְעָם וְאָנֹכִי אֶהְיֶה לָכֶם לֵאלֹהִים ("you will be my people, and I will be your God"). This formula runs like a golden thread through the entire Bible, from Genesis 17:7-8 through Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:12, Jeremiah 31:33, and ultimately to Revelation 21:3. Its placement here, after the promise of the new heart and new spirit, shows that the covenant relationship depends not on Israel's moral performance but on God's transforming work within them.
The personification of the grain in verse 29 is striking. God says he will וְקָרָאתִי אֶל הַדָּגָן ("call to the grain") -- as though the grain were a servant summoned by its master. This language portrays God's sovereignty over nature in personal terms: the earth's fruitfulness is not an impersonal mechanism but a response to the Creator's command.
Verse 31 describes a paradoxical response to grace: the more Israel experiences God's undeserved mercy, the more they will remember and be revolted by their own sin. The verb וּנְקֹטֹתֶם ("you will feel loathing/disgust") is visceral -- it describes the physical sensation of nausea or revulsion directed at oneself. True repentance, in Ezekiel's theology, is not the cause of restoration but its fruit. Israel does not repent in order to earn God's favor; rather, God's gracious restoration produces a repentance so deep that it includes self-loathing over past sin.
The second occurrence of "not for your sake" (v. 32) functions as a theological guardrail. Lest anyone think that the promised blessings of verses 28--30 are a reward for Israel's worthiness, God emphatically repeats: this is not about you. The command to "be ashamed and disgraced" is not a punishment but an invitation to the kind of humility that grace alone can produce.
The Land as Eden Restored (vv. 33--38)
33 This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through. 35 Then they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.' 36 Then the nations around you that remain will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was destroyed, and I have replanted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it. 37 This is what the Lord GOD says: Once again I will hear the plea of the house of Israel and do for them this: I will multiply their people like a flock. 38 Like the numerous flocks for sacrifices at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts, so the ruined cities will be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD."
33 Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited and the ruins to be rebuilt. 34 And the desolate land will be tilled, instead of being a desolation in the eyes of everyone who passes by. 35 And they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the ruined and desolated and demolished cities are now fortified and inhabited.' 36 And the nations that remain around you will know that I, the LORD, have rebuilt what was demolished and have planted what was desolate. I, the LORD, have spoken and I will do it. 37 Thus says the Lord GOD: Yet again I will let myself be sought by the house of Israel to do this for them -- I will multiply them with people like a flock. 38 Like the flock of holy offerings, like the flock of Jerusalem at her appointed feasts, so will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. And they will know that I am the LORD."
Notes
The comparison to גַּן עֵדֶן ("the garden of Eden") in verse 35 is the climax of the chapter's vision of restoration. The desolate land will not merely return to normal productivity but will become paradise-like. This Eden imagery connects Ezekiel's vision to the wider prophetic tradition of eschatological restoration, found also in Isaiah 51:3 ("He will make her wilderness like Eden") and ultimately in Revelation 22:1-3, where the tree of life reappears alongside the river of life. For Ezekiel, the restoration of the land is nothing less than a reversal of the curse -- a return toward the original creation ideal.
The dual verbs in verse 36 -- בָּנִיתִי ("I have rebuilt") and נָטַעְתִּי ("I have planted") -- echo the language of Jeremiah 1:10, where the prophet is commissioned "to uproot and to tear down... to build and to plant." What Jeremiah was called to announce in judgment, Ezekiel now announces in restoration. The emphatic closing formula אֲנִי יְהוָה דִּבַּרְתִּי וְעָשִׂיתִי ("I, the LORD, have spoken and I will do it") underscores the certainty of the promise: God's word is self-fulfilling.
The image of the צֹאן קָדָשִׁים ("flock of holy offerings") in verse 38 is unique in the Old Testament. It evokes the sight of Jerusalem during the great pilgrimage festivals -- Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles -- when enormous flocks of sheep and goats were driven through the streets to the temple for sacrifice. The ruined cities will one day teem with people the way Jerusalem once teemed with sacrificial animals at festival time. The comparison is both vivid and deeply hopeful: the scene of greatest worship will become the model for the scale of restoration.
Verse 37 uses a remarkable expression: עוֹד זֹאת אִדָּרֵשׁ לְבֵית יִשְׂרָאֵל ("yet again I will let myself be sought by the house of Israel"). The verb דָּרַשׁ in the niphal form means "to allow oneself to be sought" or "to be consulted." Despite Israel's long history of rejecting God, he will once again open himself to their prayers. This is not a demand that they earn his attention but a promise that the door of petition remains open.
Interpretations
The restoration of the land described in verses 33--38 raises the question of literal versus typological fulfillment, a point of significant disagreement within Protestantism.
Dispensational interpreters see these promises as referring specifically to the future millennial kingdom, when national Israel will be regathered to the physical land, the land will experience supernatural fertility, and the Edenic conditions described here will be literally realized. The post-exilic return under Zerubbabel and Ezra, while a partial fulfillment, did not match the scale or the Edenic character described here. The full fulfillment awaits Christ's second coming and the establishment of his earthly reign.
Covenant theology tends to read these promises as finding their ultimate fulfillment in the new creation. The "garden of Eden" language points not to a restored Middle Eastern geography but to the consummated kingdom of God, where the curse is fully reversed (Revelation 21:1-5, Revelation 22:1-3). The multiplication of people "like a flock" finds its fulfillment in the ingathering of believers from every nation. Some covenant theologians acknowledge a typological significance to the modern state of Israel without seeing it as the direct fulfillment of these particular promises.
Both approaches recognize that the chapter's ultimate horizon is eschatological -- pointing beyond any historical return from exile to a final, definitive act of God that restores not only a people but the creation itself.