Context No. 2899 of 4322 · Ezekiel

Ezekiel 20:13-20: in context

13“‘“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They didn’t walk in my statutes and they rejected my ordinances, which if a man keeps, he shall live in them. They greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out. 15Moreover also I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands, 16because they rejected my ordinances, and didn’t walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn’t destroy them. I didn’t make a full end of them in the wilderness. 18I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Don’t walk in the statutes of your fathers. Don’t observe their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. 19I am the LORD your God. Walk in my statutes, keep my ordinances, and do them. 20Make my Sabbaths holy. They shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’

God rehearses Israel's history in the wilderness, and it is a story of rebellion. They rejected his statutes, profaned his Sabbaths, and their hearts went after idols, so that he threatened to pour out his wrath and consume them. And yet, he says, I acted for my name's sake, that it not be profaned before the nations. My eye spared them, and I did not make a full end of them.

Two things run through this. God's mercy is tied to his own name and character, not to Israel's deserving; over and over they earned destruction, and over and over he spared them for his name's sake. And he refuses to bind the children to the fathers' sins, calling a new generation to fresh obedience: I am the LORD your God, walk in my statutes. The cycle of rebellion could have ended the whole story, but God's commitment to his own name keeps a door propped open.

When I have earned the end of God's patience, do I understand that his mercy rests on his own faithfulness, not on my deserving?

Sources

Ezekiel 20:17: "Nevertheless my eye spared them, and I didn't destroy them. I didn't make a full end of them in the wilderness."
Psalm 106:8: "Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power known."
Isaiah 48:9: "For my name's sake, I will defer my anger, and for my praise, I hold it back for you."