Ezekiel 36:22

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. I DO NOT THIS FOR YOUR SAKES - i:e., not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part there is everything to call down confirmed severity (cf. ). The sole and sure ground of hope was God's regard to "His own name," as the God of covenant-grace, which He must vindicate from the dishonour brought on it by the Jews before the pagan ()....

16-24 The restoration of that people, being typical of our redemption by Christ, shows that the end aimed at in our salvation is the glory of God. The sin of a people defiles their land; renders it abominable to God, and uncomfortable to themselves. God's holy name is his great name; his holiness is his greatness, nor does any thing else make a man truly great....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 36:1 The present chapter is entirely devoted to the consolation of Israel, though its parts are derived from two separate "words" of Jehovah. Ezekiel 36:1 belong to the "word" which opened with the first verse of the preceding chapter; Ezekiel 36:16 begins another "word," which only closes at Ezekiel 37:14. The subject of the first part is the comfort offered to Israel in the destruction threatened against the heathen, and in the blessings promised to her land and people. Ezekiel

THEREFORE SAY UNTO THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL,.... This is an order to the prophet, the son of man, Ezekiel 36:17: THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, I DO NOT THIS FOR YOUR SAKES, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL; what he hereafter promises to do for them, both with respect to things temporal and spiritual; which he did, not on account of any deserts or worthiness in them; for they had none, having done nothing to merit his favour, but, on the contrary, everything to provoke the eyes of his glory: BUT FOR MY HOLY NAME'S SAKE, WHICH YE HAVE PROFANED AMONG THE HEATHEN, WHITHER YE WENT; for the honour of his holy name, for the glory of his holy word, holy worship, and holy religion; all which were traduced and reproached among the Heathen, by reason of the ungodly behaviour of the Jews....

Ezekiel 36:16. _Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land._ All through Scripture we are told that God has great regard to the honour of his holy name. «The Lord thy God is a jealous God.» And this is no small blessing to us, f

Ezekiel 36:1. With this chapter the great prophetic utterances of Ezekiel begin concerning the future restoration and blessing of Israel. From here on to the end of the book, all is still unfulfilled, nor can it be fulfilled until the Lord Jesus Christ comes again and is enthroned as King. The first seven verses (Ezekiel 36:1)announce once more the future judgment of Israel's enemies. Then comes the promised return to the land Ezekiel 36:8. The mountains of Israel, barren so long, shall be inhabited again. Israel's past sins and chastisement are reviewed in Ezekiel 36:16, and then comes that great message of restoration and blessing th

THE CLEANSING AND RENEWING OF THE PEOPLE. This is a passage of peculiar interest and importance, carrying us as it does far into the mind and theology of Ezekiel. First, we are reminded that Israel's sins of bloodshed (whether child sacrifice or judicial murder) and idolatry had obliged Yahweh to drive them into exile. In this way they had profaned His holy name among the nations, who, according to ancient notions, naturally regarded Him as a worthless God, because apparently weak and unable to protect His people. To vindicate His holiness, therefore, and to reassert His reputation, as it were, in the eyes of a world which misunderstands Him and fails to recognise the moral reasons for His temporary rejection of Israel, He decrees and arranges for her restoration to her own land. But the significant thing in Ezekiel is that He is said to do this not out of love for Israel, but for His ho...

NOT... FOR YOUR SAKES, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deuteronomy 7:7; Deuteronomy 7:8; Deuteronomy 9:5). App-92. Compare Psalms 106:8; Psalms 115:1; Psalms 115:2....

Not for Israel's sake but for his own name's sake does Jehovah do all this in behalf of his people The passage is remarkable and deserves to be studied almost more than any other part of Ezek. when one is seeking to understand his general conceptions. It exhibits his philosophy of history (cf. ch. 20), and also describes with great beauty the principles of Jehovah's redemption of his people, and how step by step this shall be accomplished. The prophet reviews the history of the people from the beginning, running it out till it is lost in its eternal issues, and shewing how it will read to all the nations of the earth the true lesson of that which Jehovah, the God of Israel, is, and leave ineffaceable impressions on the mind of his own people. First, Ezekiel 36:16. The history with its significance up to Israel's final restoration. The people defiled the land with their idolatries an

I DO NOT THIS FOR YOUR SAKES— It cannot be denied, that it became the goodness of the God, to preserve the doctrine of the unity amidst an idolatrous world. But this could not have been effected according to God's plan of governing the moral world, but by a separation of one part from the rest; nor could such a separation be made any otherwise, than by bringing that part under God's peculiar protection. The consequences of which were, great temporal blessings. Now, as some one people must needs be selected for this purpose, it seems most agreeable to our ideas of divine wisdom, which commonly effects many ends by the same means, to make the blessings attendant on such a selection the reward of some high-exalted virtue in the progenitors of the chosen people. The separation was made for the sake of mankind in general; though one people became the honoured instruments, in reward of their f...