Charles Spurgeon Commentary Ezekiel 36:30-36

"And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. Then shall ye remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. Nor for your sake do I [this], saith the Lord Jehovah, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be builded. And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation 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 fortified and inhabited. Then the nations that are left round about you shall know that I, Jehovah, have builded the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Jehovah, have spoken it, and I will do it." — Ezekiel 36:30-36 (ASV)

And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen. Then shall you 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, says the Lord GOD, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.

Thus says 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 that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.

Prayer will always go with the divine working. Where God means to save, He sets men praying. Those who are saved intercede for others, and others who are as yet unsaved feel the need of the blessing and begin to cry for it, and the blessing comes.

As the black cloud forebodes the shower, so does the gathering spirit of prayer always foreshadow the coming blessing. Heaven and earth may pass away, but the memorial of Jehovah always is “The God that heareth prayer.” He is the God whose arm is always moved by the prayer of man.

Did not Moses stand between them and vengeance, so that God said, Let me alone, as if He had said, “I cannot destroy them while you pray”? Did not Elijah open and shut the windows of heaven by his prayer? Nothing is impossible to those who know how to inquire of God believingly.