Ezekiel 36:16

36:16-24 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.

Verse 16. - The oracle, commencing with this verse and extending to Ezekiel 37:14 , has an ultimate connection with that which precedes. Having predicted a golden age in the future for Israel, when her people should have returned from banishment her cities should again be inhabited and her fields cultivated, the prophet is directed (1) to explain that the ground of this would not have in any worthiness Jehovah should behold in Israel, who had rather in the past been punished and dispersed (vers. 16-20), but only in the regard he, Jehovah , should have for his own holy Name or character (vers. 21-24); (2) to intimate that this glorious period should be accompanied by a moral and spiritual renovation of the people, which, however, could and therefore would be brought about only by God himself giving them a new heart and a new spirit, again for his own Name's sake (vers. 25-32), and which, when attained, should lead to a prosperity so unparalleled as to recall the pristine splendors of earth's paradisiacal condition, and convince the heathen that should then be sharers in Israel's felicity that Jehovah alone was God (vers. 33-38); and (3) to remove all doubt from the people's minds as to the possibility of this happening by the vision of the dry bones ( Ezekiel 37:1-14 ). Verses 16-20. - That Israel's restoration should not be brought about on account of Israel's merit, the prophet shows by briefly rehearsing the story of Israel's demerit, as the reason of her exile.

16–38 . 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 36:16-24 . The history with its significance up to Israel’s final restoration.—The people defiled the land with their idolatries and bloodshed ( Ezekiel 36:17 ), therefore the fury of Jehovah was kindled and he poured it out upon them, scattering them among the nations ( Ezekiel 36:18-19 ). By these disasters which the people brought upon themselves they “profaned” Jehovah’s name among the heathen. The nations, ignorant of the nature of Jehovah, and incapable of divining the moral principles of his rule of the world and of his people, attributed the calamities of Israel to the feebleness of their God, who was unable to defend them, saying, these are the people of Jehovah, and they are gone forth out of his land.

Thus the greatness and power of Jehovah, who is God alone, was detracted from, and the knowledge of him by the nations—which he wills in all that he does to convey to them—was delayed or frustrated ( Ezekiel 36:20 ). Therefore for the sake of his holy name he will interpose and turn the fortunes of his people, that he may be sanctified in the eyes of the nations and known by them to be God omnipotent ( Ezekiel 36:21-24 , cf. Ezekiel 36:35-36 ). Secondly, Ezekiel 36:24-38 . The history of Jehovah’s restoration of his people and their full redemption in its successive steps, with the eternal impressions which this history will engrave upon the people’s minds.—In the prophet’s view Jehovah must vindicate himself in the eyes of the nations by the restoration of Israel, not because he is a mere tribal god who will do something for his people, but because he is God alone, and his manifestation of himself to the nations of the world is the goal towards which all history runs. Jehovah “sanctifies” himself in the sight of the nations not only by convincing them of his power, but even more if possible by displaying his moral rule of his people (cf. Ezekiel 39:23-24 ), and by the spiritual regeneration which he works among them ( Ezekiel 36:25 seq .).

14. bereave—so the Keri, or Hebrew Margin reads, to correspond to "bereave" in Eze 36:13; but "cause to fall" or "stumble," in the Hebrew text or Chetib, being the more difficult reading, is the one least likely to come from a corrector; also, it forms a good transition to the next subject, namely, the moral cause of the people's calamities, namely, their falls, or stumblings through sin. The latter ceasing, the former also cease. So the same expression follows in Eze 36:15, "Neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more."

The Salvation of Israel Founded upon Its Sanctification Because Israel has defiled its land by its sins, God has scattered the people among the heathen; but because they also profaned His name among the heathen, He will exercise forbearance for the sake of His holy name (Ezekiel 36:16-21), will gather Israel out of the lands, cleanse it from its sins, and sanctify it by the communication of His Spirit, so that it will walk in His ways (Ezekiel 36:22-28), and will so bless and multiply it, that both the nations around and Israel itself will know that He is the Lord (Ezekiel 36:29-38). - This promise is shown by the introductory formula in Ezekiel 36:16 and by the contents to be an independent word of God; but it is substantially connected in the closest manner with the preceding word of God, showing, on the one hand, the motive which prompted God to restore and bless His people;, and, on the other hand, the means by which He would permanently establish the salvation predicted in Ezekiel 34 and Ezekiel 36:1-15. - The kernel of this promise is formed by Ezekiel 36:25-28, for which the way is prepared in Ezekiel 36:17-24, whilst the further extension is contained in Ezekiel 36:29-38. Ezekiel 36:16-21 The Lord will extend His forbearance, for the sake of His holy name, to the people who have been rejected on account of their sins. - Ezekiel 36:16. And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Ezekiel 36:17.