Ezekiel 36:21

Ezekiel 36:21 says. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.  God said He would have pity on the nation of Israel because they were known as His people.  If the world was judging God’s power based on how the people of Israel fared in the world, and they were being allowed to be defeated because of their sin, then people might believe that God was powerless.  For this reason, He was going to restore them.  God may allow people who are called Christian to prosper for His glory, but if they are Christians in name only, they will never prosper spiritually.   

Verse twenty-two adds, 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.  Again, God said that when He restored the house of Israel, it would be for His glory and not theirs.  When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, it will always be for His glory and not our own, yet we too often seem to believe that if we profess to be a follower of Christ that the world should glorify us instead of our calling on them to give Him the glory.   

Verse twenty-three continues, And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.  God said that even though the heathen had profaned His name, and I believe that ths means the people of Israel when they turned away from living in obedience to God as well, would see God’s name glorified once more.  He was not doing this so that the people of Israel would be glorified but so that the people of around them would know that He is God.  Still, this would only be a physical restoration and not a spiritual one if the people of Israel didn’t repent and put their faith in God once more.  If we profess to be a Christian nation or even a Christian personally and are not truly putting our faith in Him, He may allow us to prosper materially for a period of time to keep us from profaning His name, but this will always be a physical restoration and not a spiritual one.   

Verse twenty-four concludes, For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.  God said to keep His name from being profaned that He was going gather the people of Israel from all nations and bring them back to the promised land.  Still, this did not mean that the people of Israel by their own merit were better than anyone else, but since they were known as God's people, He was going to restore them physically as a nation for His glory.  God may bless those who profess to be Christians today materially if the world is profaning His name by their defeat, but if they do not repent and return to Him, it will be but a temporary restoration.  It is only when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord that we can be restored to God spiritually, and until we do, no matter how much He may bless us because we claim to be His people, it will only be a temporary blessing.     

Ezekiel 36:16

Ezekiel 36:16 says, Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,  God’s word continued to come to Ezekiel, just as I believe it will to Christians today.  We should hear God’s directions for us not just once or occasionally but every day.   

Verse seventeen adds, 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. God told Ezekiel that when the people of Israel lived in their own land, the land that He had given them, that they defiled it by doing what they wanted to do instead of living up to their covenant relationship with Him.  If we are defeated spiritually today, it will be because we have chosen to go our way instead of following God's guidance.   

Verse eighteen continues, 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:  God said that their defeat had come because He had poured out His fury on their disobedience and failure to repent and return to following Him in obedience to their covenant relationship with Him..  Even as followers of Christ, if we don’t live by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we can find ourselves temporarily defeated spiritually today, but we will still be a part of God’s people.  The people of Israel still continued to be God’s chosen people through which He would reveal Himself to the world, but when they turned away from doing this, that didn’t keep them from being defeated.  If we are going to be spiritually successful in the world today, we must always be obedient to God.   

Verse nineteen states, 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.  God said He allowed the people of Israel to be scattered throughout the other nations, but He still judged them according to their actions;  Even if they were scattered, those who still remained true to their covenant relationship with God were still His people.  It doesn’t matter where we are in the world today, and even if we are defeated physically or even imprisoned, if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are still a part of God’s kingdom and already have the everlasting victory through our faith in Him.    

Verse twenty adds, 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.   God said that those people of Israel who had followed the way of the heathen had profaned His holy name.  If we who profess to be followers of Christ follow the ways of the world, especially in times of adversity, we profane the name of God and He will not overlook this. 

Ezekiel 36:11

Ezekiel 36:11 says, And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the Lord.  God then said that He was going to bless them with people and animals and that they would be even better off than before materially.  I don’t believe that we can take this promise to Israel then and say that if we put our faith in God that He is going to make us materially rich, but we will be spiritually better off than we were before.  God also said that when He caused this to happen that the people of Israel would know that He is God.  We cannot be a Christian without knowing that God is the only God and that He provides the only way to salvation.   

Verse twelve adds, Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.  God said that He was going to cause the people of Israel to walk in their own land once more.  They had been scattered throughout the world, but He was going to assemble them in the promised land once more.  As followers of Christ, we are scattered throughout the world today, but one day, God is going to gather us all together in our heavenly home.  God also said that when this happened that His people would no longer be bereaved because of their status in the world, and as Christians, when God calls us home to glory, we will no longer be bereaved. 

Verse thirteen states, Thus saith the Lord God; Because they say unto you, Thou land devourest up men, and hast bereaved thy nations:   God said that the land of Israel devoured or destroyed people while it lay desolate.  This was because the people of Israel had been defeated or devoured by other nations instead of being a land that protected them.  In effect, this was a judgment on God Who had given them the land but seemingly hadn’t protected the people of Israel.  Of course, they failed to understand that it wasn't the land or God Who had caused the defeat of the Israelites but their own sin that had.  If we are spiritually defeated today, we cannot blame it on the place we live and we especially cannot blame it on God.  It will always be our personal sin that causes us to be defeated spiritually.   

Verse fourteen adds, Therefore thou shalt devour men no more, neither bereave thy nations any more, saith the Lord God.  God said that since other people claimed that Israel had devoured other nations that this would no longer happen.  Israel was to prosper once more in peace and not in war.  I believe that God still expects us as followers of Christ to reach out to the world with His message of forgiveness in peace and not to reach out to them with the destruction of war.   

Verse fifteen continues, Neither will I cause men to hear in thee the shame of the heathen any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the people any more, neither shalt thou cause thy nations to fall any more, saith the Lord God.  God said that He was going to cause the people of Israel to no longer bear the shame or reproach of the heathen because of their having caused them to fall.  We as Christians and as a nation called a Christian nation are not called to destroy those who don’t believe in God but to reach out to them with the love of God and call on them to repent and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.  If we destroy them when they are unsaved, we have helped send them away to everlasting destruction.