Ezekiel 36:16–20

In the next message of Jehovah He gives the moral reasons why the land of Israel was left empty and the people themselves scattered among the nations. He tells of the dishonour they did to His name even there. Finally He tells of His restoring grace, with its effects on the heart and ways of Israel, and of His power to renew their land to more than its first prosperity and fruitfulness, with Jehovah honoured as holy by all before the nations.

Verses 16-20 review Israel's past sins and the discipline that fell on them. Then comes that great message of restoration and blessing through grace, in the day when their once rejected King returns and they bow before Him. The characteristic words in verses 23-28 are the words "I will do." It is the word of sovereign grace. Eighteen times Jehovah says what He will do. They are the "I wills" of Israel's hope and coming glory.

This was Israel's way inside the land and outside it. Everywhere they were a shame to the One who chose them as His own: idol worship and murderous violence in Canaan, and dishonour to His name among the nations. And what did He do, the One they had sinned against? He is Jehovah and He does not change; that is why they were not destroyed. No, He had pity for the name they had insulted, and He would sanctify it and be sanctified in them.

The land is Jehovah's land. He has never forfeited it, and He will never give it up to His enemies. Israel are to hold it on the surest ground there is — the ground of God's grace. They are to live there as guests staying with Him, and so to know all the resources of His hand, and the full protection that this relationship brings.

The prophet now turns from the land to the people themselves. The state of the land was only the reflection of their own state… But Israel has refused the lesson of their scattered condition. They have even turned it into a matter of boasting, as if they were bearing the sins of others and making atonement for them! That is how they have read Isaiah 53. God asserts against them here that it is judgment because of their condition.

Israel had defiled the land and profaned the name of Jehovah, and Jehovah scattered them among the nations. Even in this His name would be profaned through their wickedness, because the nations would say, "These are the people of Jehovah, and they have gone out of His land." But Jehovah would step in and sanctify His great name before the nations. He would do it by bringing His people back from among them and cleansing them from all their filth, by taking away the hardness of their hearts, giving them His Spirit, and making them walk in His laws.

When Israel failed to sanctify His name, God declared that He would sanctify His own name. (See Ezekiel 36:16-23.) So also with His servants. If they do not glorify Him in the testimony entrusted to them, He will glorify Himself in them through the discipline of His hand… This is a very important principle. It should teach us that, even when God honours us with a place as servants, He does not need us at all to accomplish His purposes.

This was Israel's way, both in the land and out of it. Everywhere they were a shame to Him who chose them as His own — idolatrous corruption and murderous violence in Canaan, and the profaning of His name among the nations. So what did the One they had sinned against do? He is Jehovah and He does not change. That is why He did not consume them.

The whole chapter shows the terrible physical condition sin has brought man into. The discharges mentioned were therefore evidence that sin is present in man's nature, with the curse on it. They made man and woman unclean in God's sight. "Not only actions we can avoid defile us, but also workings of nature we cannot help. They defile in such a way and to such a degree that they need, just as deliberate acts of sin do, the cleansing of water and the atoning blood of a sin offering."

God asserts here against them that the judgment came because of their own condition. They have defiled the land with their idolatry. He scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. According to their ways and according to their doings He has judged them.

If they did not keep these laws, the land would "vomit you out." God had set the land apart as His own "holy land." That land would throw out the nations living in it, because they worshipped idols and evil spirits. It could do the same to Israel if they sank to the same level.

Israel had defiled the land and profaned the name of Jehovah, and Jehovah had scattered them among the nations. Even in this His name would be profaned by their vileness. The nations would say, "These are the people of Jehovah, and they have gone out of His land." But Jehovah would step in and sanctify His great name in front of the nations. He would bring His people back from among them and cleanse them from all their filthiness.

This is an unchangeable principle of how He acts. For example, in Ezekiel, after the account of Israel's evil conduct during their captivity, we read: "And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the nations, which you have profaned among them."

Israel will then be restored to the land because of God's sovereign goodness. If He had dealt with them according to their sins, they would have perished. Again and again in their long history, they have deserved God's unsparing judgment. But their blessing rested on His promises to Abraham and on His own counsels of love, and it was bound up with the honour of His Name. So time and again, when He might have consumed them, He spared them, to vindicate the honour of His great and holy Name.

This was Israel's way in the land and out of it. Everywhere they were a shame to Him who chose them as His own. In Canaan there was idolatrous corruption and murderous violence, and among the nations they profaned His name.

Israel has resisted the lesson of their scattered condition. They have even turned it into a matter of self-glorying, as if they were bearing the sins of others and making atonement for them. God here asserts against them that it is judgment because of their own condition. They have defiled the land with their idolatry. He scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. He has judged them according to their ways and according to their doings. Nor can they claim that the judgment was only for their sin before the captivity in Babylon, and that since then they have been clear.

The subject of all these prophecies is the land, and the blessings of God upon the land of Israel. This land belonged to the Lord, and He would not have it defiled. He drives Israel out of it in judgment. When He has cleansed the people, He makes both the nations and Israel understand His ways in this matter.

Israel had defiled the land and profaned the name of the Lord, and He had scattered them among the nations. And even in this, their vile conduct would profane His name, because the nations would say, "These are the people of the Lord, and yet they have gone out of His land."

God puts the nation's past failure before them so that they may own it before Him. But then God remembers that His name is involved, and for His holy name's sake He delivers them.

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake that I act, O house of Israel, but for the sake of My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came." These are the nations God had scattered them among, judging them "according to their ways and according to their doings" (v. 19).

Though the Lord could do no more for Israel, He can, for His own sake, do the wonderful work in them of turning their hearts to Himself. And this will happen. "Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you." … God alone has life in Himself; He alone can give life.

As Jesus showed Nicodemus, a teacher in Israel, the new birth was necessary even for the enjoyment of earthly blessings. As a teacher in Israel, he ought to have known this from the testimony of the prophets.

This was Israel's way in the land and out of it. Everywhere they were a shame to Him who chose them as His own. In Canaan it was idolatrous corruption and murderous violence. Among the nations it was profaning His name. And what did He do — the One against whom they had sinned? He is Jehovah and He does not change; therefore they were not consumed. Instead, He had pity for the name they had outraged, and He would set it apart as holy and be sanctified in them.

Jehovah had humbled and struck Israel in judgment. He used the nations as the rod of His anger, but they never considered that. Mocking and boasting, they blasphemed Jehovah's name. Surely He counted for less than their own idol-gods. He could not defend or save His professed people! They gloried in ruining the land and the people that bore that name. Israel had made Jehovah bear the load of their sins, so their sins dishonoured His name among the Gentiles. The very judgments His holiness had to bring on His sinful people ended in His dishonour in the eyes of the nations.

God puts the nation's past failure before them so that they may own it before Him. The nations said, "These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of His land." But then God remembers that His name is involved, and He delivers them for His holy name's sake. Then, as He had shown Nicodemus, the new birth was necessary even for the enjoyment of earthly blessings. As a teacher in Israel, Nicodemus ought to have known this from the testimony of the prophets.

The return from Babylon was no fulfilment, but at most a first instalment. Only a small remnant returned then. How far this falls short of what Ezekiel pledges should need no argument: "I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land." Most of Israel stayed scattered among the nations after the decree of Cyrus.

The result is summed up in one solemn statement: the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of the religious man. The Apostle is speaking of the Jew, but what he says is equally true of the professing Christian. The corruptions and degraded practices of professing Christendom are what have mainly provoked unbelievers to blaspheme. Men would not have become Christians just because Christians were consistent in practice. But if Christians lived out what they professed, men would have no occasion to blaspheme God.

Ezekiel had declared that the people of Israel profaned the name of God among the Gentiles. They were captives in a foreign land, showing by their evil ways what they were. Now, before God can sanctify His name through their restoration, the Lord taught His disciples about the opportunity and the service given to them. By their good works, the people around them would glorify their Father who is in the heavens. As His people, Israel should have shown the Gentiles what pleased God. As His children, the disciples should be illustrations of the moral character of their Father.