The Lord's recovery of His people is by life. In Ezekiel 33, God set up a watchman. In Ezekiel 34, God Himself came in to be the Shepherd, to search for His people, to seek them out, to bring them back, and to cause them to enjoy all the riches of Christ. Following this, in Ezekiel 35, the Lord reminded us once more of the need to condemn our old man, speaking a second time concerning the judgment of God upon Edom. In the previous section, Edom was judged, but because the old man is very difficult to deal with, the judgment had to be repeated. It may be that yesterday you condemned your old man, and you received judgment upon it. But this morning your old man has returned to pay you a nice, subtle visit. You had been recovered and brought back to the good land into the rich enjoyment of Christ. You thought your old man was fully condemned and judged yesterday, but you did not realize that he came back without giving you any notice. He came in without knocking and is with you this morning. While you are in the enjoyment of Christ, he is still with you hating everything of God, God's Word, and God's people.
Several times in Ezekiel 35, it says that Edom and his company were happy to see Israel desolate (35:12, 15). They were waiting to possess the two nations of Israel and Judah, claiming them as their own. To the Lord, of course, they were speaking nonsense, because He was going to exercise His judgment over them again.
We must learn this lesson. While we are being recovered, we have to judge our old man again and again. The judgment upon Ammon, Moab, Tyrus, Zidon, and Egypt may be once for all. But the judgment upon Edom cannot be once for all. Our old man must be judged repeatedly until the day of the redemption of our body. This is the reason that between Ezekiel 34 and 36 which are so wonderful and so positive, there is a black chapter. Ezekiel 35 is really black because the judgment upon Edom comes once more. The judgment must be repeated because Edom has returned. Although you condemned him, judged him, and chased him away, he is back. Therefore, you must cooperate to exercise God's judgment once more upon the old man.
Ezekiel 36:8-12, 15 promises the recovery of the good land, the restoration of the full enjoyment of the riches of Christ. Whenever we backslide, we lose the rich enjoyment of Christ. Although we can never lose Christ Himself, we can lose our enjoyment of Him. Christ Himself is rich, yet we may lose the enjoyment of His riches. Praise the Lord! In the Lord's recovery, there is the restoration of the enjoyment of the riches of Christ.
In the Lord's recovery there are always two aspects: the outward aspect and the inward aspect. By way of illustration, let us suppose that you had fallen away from Christ, away from the church life, and away from the fellowship with the brothers, that you had become involved with gambling, sports, or other sinful, worldly things. But one day the Lord sought you, brought you back to Himself, and restored your fellowship with the saints. This is the outward aspect of the Lord's recovery. At the same time, however, the Lord would also do an inward work. He not only would bring you back to the good land, He would also recover you inwardly. The second part of Ezekiel 36 shows the inward aspect of the Lord's recovery. To be recovered back to the church life and back to the fellowship with Christ is only the outward aspect. You still need the inward aspect of the Lord's recovery which is covered in 36:22-30.