THEOSISJerome of Stridon
And the Lord spoke to me, saying, O mortal, the people of Israel have lived in their own land, yet they have corrupted it through their actions and their idols; their ways are likened to the impurity of a woman during her purification. My anger has been unleashed upon them due to the bloodshed they have committed upon the earth; they have polluted it with their false deities. I have dispersed them among the nations and scattered them across the lands, judging them according to their deeds and their transgressions.
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When they arrived in the nations, they desecrated My holy name, for it was proclaimed of them, “They are the people of the Lord, who have come out of His land.” Yet I have been mindful to preserve My holy name, which the house of Israel has desecrated amidst the nations to which they have gone. Therefore, declare to the house of Israel: Thus says the Lord God, I will act not for your sake, but for the honor of My holy name that you have profaned among the nations. I will glorify My great name, which has been dishonored among the nations, so that they may know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord of Hosts, when I manifest My holiness among you in their sight.
I will gather you from the nations, bringing you from all places back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you will be purified from all your uncleanness; I will cleanse you from all your idols. A new heart I will give you, 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. I will put My Spirit within you, and I will cause you to walk in My statutes and observe My ordinances. You will inhabit the land that I gave to your ancestors, and you will be My people, and I will be your God. I will rescue you from all your impurities, providing abundant harvests and relieving you from famine. The trees will yield fruit, and the fields will produce bountifully, so you will no longer suffer dishonor from the nations due to hunger.
You will recall your wicked ways and your evil deeds, and you will loathe your iniquities and abominable practices. It's not for your sake that I will do this, declares the Lord God, so let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded because of your ways, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord God: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will restore your cities, and the desolate land that was a wasteland will be cultivated. When they say, “This desolate land has become like the Garden of Eden,” the ruined cities will be fortified and inhabited once again. The nations that remain around you will recognize that I, the Lord, have acted.
Thus says the Lord God: By this, the house of Israel will seek Me, and I will increase them like a flock of men, as a holy flock, resembling the flocks in Jerusalem during its feasts, so that the desolate cities will be filled with flocks of people, and they shall know that I am the Lord. The meanings are clear, and the entire significance of the mountains of Israel, initially barren but now revitalized, is expressed more distinctly. God outlines the reasons for allowing the people of Israel to be humbled, and in His mercy, He promises to return them to their land, granting them infinitely more than what was taken. Some Jews interpret this in light of the return during the reign of Zerubbabel under Cyrus, king of Persia, while others view it as a vision of the millennial kingdom, anticipating Christ’s arrival to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, a theme I will explore later in this prophecy. In the meantime, to avoid Jewish myths and endless genealogies, I will briefly outline this chapter’s sections and share my perspective as understood by the Church. The house of Israel, representing the Jewish nation, once inhabited their own land—the land promised to them after their exodus from Egypt—but they defiled it through their actions and idolatry, becoming tainted like the impurity of a woman in her time of purification.