Scripture Daily

Context No. 1259 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Context · Reflection

Ezekiel 36:13-21: in context

13“‘The Lord GOD says: “Because they say to you, ‘You are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation;’ 14therefore you shall devour men no more, and not bereave your nation any more,” says the Lord GOD. 15“I won’t let you hear the shame of the nations any more. You won’t bear the reproach of the peoples any more, and you won’t cause your nation to stumble any more,” says the Lord GOD.’” 16Moreover the LORD’s word came to me, saying, 17“Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and by their deeds. Their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols. 19I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. I judged them according to their way and according to their deeds. 20When they came to the nations where they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, ‘These are the LORD’s people, and have left his land.’ 21But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations where they went.

God promises to restore the land of Israel, so that it will no longer be called a devourer of its people. Then he explains why judgment had come: when Israel lived in the land, they defiled it with their sins and their idols and their bloodshed, so God poured out his wrath and scattered them among the nations. But there was a further problem. When the scattered people arrived among the nations, they profaned God's holy name, because people said of them, these are the LORD's people, yet they had to leave his land. God's own reputation was tarnished by his people's exile. And so, God says, I had concern for my holy name, which Israel had profaned among the nations.

The turning point in this passage is the phrase, I had concern for my holy name. Israel's exile had a consequence beyond their own suffering: it made God look weak or unfaithful to the watching nations. Outsiders concluded that the God of Israel either could not keep his people in their land or had abandoned them, and so God's name was dishonored among the peoples by the failure of his people. That is a sobering thought, that the lives of God's people affect how the world sees God himself. When those who bear his name live in a way that ends in ruin and reproach, the world draws conclusions about God, and his name is profaned. And it is precisely for the sake of his name that God will act to restore them, not because they have earned it, they had not, but so that his own reputation, tied to his people, will be vindicated. There is both warning and comfort in this. The warning is that we carry God's name before a watching world, and how we live reflects on him. The comfort is that God's commitment to his own name is a surer ground for our restoration than our own worthiness; he will act to vindicate his name, and we are caught up in that.

Do I remember that I carry God's name before a watching world, so that how I live reflects on him, and do I rest in the truth that his commitment to his own name is surer ground for my hope than my own worthiness?

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