Ezekiel 36:16-19. 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.
When God comes forth to deal with men according to their deserts, there will always be times of dire distress. The land of Israel was made into a wilderness; the habitations of men were burnt by fire, the inhabitants fell by the sword, or they were carried away captive, and untold miseries became the lot of God's revolting people.
Ezekiel 36:20. 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.
For the heathen did not remember the sin of Israel; they only saw that they had been cast out of their land by their God, so they blamed Jehovah, and not his guilty people. Thus, God's holy name was doubly profaned.
Ezekiel 36:21. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
If the Lord could see no ground of mercy in them, yet, so full of mercy is he, that he would find a reason for exercising pity for his own name's sake. If lovingkindness cannot come to them by any other means, then it shall come for God's name's sake.
Ezekiel 36:22-24. 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. 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. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
He says that he will do this for his holy name's sake. If the heathen profaned that name because they saw Israel scattered, they should be made to eat their own words when God gathered Israel again to their own land.
Ezekiel 36:25-26. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
What grand language this is! How different it is from the stern commands of the law! The law says, «Make your hearts clean; put away the evil of your doings;» but the gospel covenant of grace says, «A new heart also will I give you, and I will cleanse you from all your iniquities.»
Ezekiel 36:27-30. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
What splendor of love is this to a people who, mind you, had done nothing whatever to deserve it, who were just as undeserving as in the day when the Lord smote them, and scattered them among the heathen! For no reason whatever but his own free grace, and for the glory of his holy name would God do these extraordinary deeds of love. What a wondrous God he is! Rightly do we sing,
«Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?»
Ezekiel 36:31-32. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe ourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations, Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
There was nothing for them to boast of in all the mercies they received. No merit of their own had brought them back the corn and oil; it was all of God's infinite sovereign grace because he will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion. How royally he talks like such a King as he is the Sovereign Lord of all!
Ezekiel 36:33-35. Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities if will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded. And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
As much as they noticed before the chastising hand of God, so much shall even the heathen be compelled to perceive the great goodness of God in restoring the land to all its former glory.
Ezekiel 36:36-37. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it. Thus saith the Lord God; I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them;
The blessing shall come, but not without prayer for it, not without a hopeful expectancy of it, not without a faithful belief in it: «I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them;»
Ezekiel 36:37-38. I will increase them with men like a flock. As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts;
Like the multitudes of lambs that were brought up to Jerusalem at the time of the passover, such should be the number of the chosen people once again.
Ezekiel 36:38. So shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
The result of all this wondrous mercy was to be, that they were to be ashamed of their former sins, and loathe their past iniquities, and so know the Lord as to turn from their evil ways, and live unto him.