PLANT OF RENOWN

After the challenging message to the nation in the earlier parts of Ezekiel we are so refreshed to read these bright promises in Ezekiel chapter 34. The Messiah is the Righteous Branch, the Shepherd, and the Plant of Renown.

Ezekiel’s outbursts of joy seem to transport him out of those grim times into the coming age when Israel will be experiencing the benefits of the new covenant: ‘there shall be showers of blessing’, Ezek. 34. 26. The Holy Spirit’s influence will flood the land with light, life, joy, peace, and power.

In that day a crop of the fruits of righteousness will be manifest among God’s people. Whether this is a true Divine title is debateable. The New King James Version has this translation of verse 29: ‘I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore’. Adam Clarke favours the expression ‘a plantation to the name’.

However, as we have said, the verses indicate a significant change in the fortunes of the nation. Where once there was shame and suffering, v. 29, there are now ‘showers of blessing’, v. 26. Their experience of hunger, v. 29, has been replaced as ‘the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase’, v. 27. When, once, they lived in fear under the bondage and yoke of others, ‘they shall no more be a prey to the heathen’, v. 28, and ‘they shall be safe in their land’, v. 27. To whom do they owe this transformation? Who is responsible for bringing physical security, the blessings of improved weather, abundant harvests, and political peace?

The answer is given to us in verse 30, ‘I the Lord their God am with them’. Only He could bring about such a change in every aspect of their lives. Clearly, the passage is speaking of the millennial reign of Christ. It is the period in the nation’s history when it will be restored to its land, its every foe defeated, and its Messiah reigning. That will be a time of unrivalled blessing and benefit. Then, the land and the nation will be a garden of renown and the one who reigns in their midst a true Plant of Renown.