Concern for My Holy Name

Sermon Series: “All the Families of the Earth” - pt. 13

Scripture Passage: Ezekiel 36.16-38

Big Idea: God’s protection of His name will show the nations that He is the One True God

Parental discipline is an art. If it were a science, parents would be able to simply insert the prescribed formula and enjoy the predictable results. Mom’s and Dad’s, however, raise children not guinea pigs. Children have personalities that respond differently to the same prompts and stimuli. A lecture may be effective for one child while having no good results on another child. Some children will see the trouble experienced by their older siblings and make choices to avoid those troubles while others simply follow their brothers or sisters into the same trouble. 

Israel was God’s stubborn child. Throughout the Old Testament we read about God’s paternal relationship with His chosen people. There were highs and lows, twists and turns. God would deliver the people from certain situations only to have them plunge right back into sin. God would allow them to experience hardship and oppression as a disciplinary move. At every turn God’s people seemed to resist the lessons from their kind and loving Father. 

After Solomon’s reign, the nation split into two separate kingdoms. The ten northern tribes were called Israel, while the two southern tribes took the name Judah. Wholly given to sin and rebellion, God gave the ten northern tribes to Assyria in 722 B.C. Judah, on the other hand, experienced times of revival, obedience, and strong leadership that was sensitive to the Lord’s demands. Finally, however, they too were given by God for exile in Babylon starting in 605 B.C. and continuing in three stages until 586 B.C. 

Ezekiel was from the priestly line but was taken into exile in the earliest of these deportations. God appeared to this prophet leading him into a ministry of warning the people of God’s displeasure and predicting ultimate destruction of Jerusalem after God’s presence left the Temple. Later in his prophecy, however, we see a glimmer of hope offered to the people. Our passage discusses that future hope. 

Since God’s concern was not solely His relationship with Judah, He conducted that parental relationship in full view of the surrounding nations. While Judah could have displayed God’s glory in continual blessings for them as an obedient people, their rebellion forced God’s disciplinary hand. Judah’s sin profaned God’s reputation in the perception of the other nations so God took measures to correct those perceptions.

God demonstrated balance in His judgment. He would bring His wrath on Judah’s enemies for their sin and presumption as well (Ezekiel 36:1-7). God followed the promise of future judgment for her enemies with four promises regarding Judah and the land. First, they would return to the land and find it once again productive (8-9). Second, upon their return the population of Judah would grow rapidly 10-11). Third, once again the people would possess the land as their inheritance from the Lord (12-14). Finally, the restored people would not face scorn and ridicule any longer (15). 

In this restoration we will see God’s redemptive goals for Judah as well as the nations. God never loses sight of His desire to bring lost people to Himself through His work in His people.

God’s protection of His name will show the nations that He is the One True God.

God protects His name in two ways.

1. God protects His name in the punishment of the sinner. (16-20)

When God charged Judah with sin, He described their offense in severe language. He said that they “defiled” the land (17, 18). He graphically described their behavior as “menstrual impurity” (17). More frequently in this passage He said that their sin “profaned” His name (20, 21, 22, 23). His general charge was that they had defiled the land with their “conduct and actions” (17, 19). They brought God anger on themselves with their bloodshed (18) and had further defiled the land with their idolatry (18). Though they were God’s people, He expelled them from the land because of their sin (20). 

God’s disciplinary actions may serve multiple purposes. First, God’s holiness demands that sin be punished. Some terrible circumstances are the direct result of the punishment of sin. There are good and appropriate discussions around the much needed reform of the justice system. Some of these discussions seek to find the most efficient ways to bring restitution and restoration to both victim and perpetrator. In these discussions, however, we must not lose sight of the fact that some actions should simply be punished because of the evil involved. At other times the punishment comes from the natural consequences of the action. For instance, society may not punish an adulterer with jail time for his/her infidelity, but their broken relationships and broken families serve as the natural consequences or punishment for the sin. 

Second, God’s punishment often hopes to bring sinners to repentance and change. God’s discipline in the life of sinful people is His merciful intervention in their drift away from God’s design for their lives. In this way, God interacts with us like a Father. As a father disciplines his children, what seems at the moment to be an act of harsh anger, turns out to be a favor of grace and mercy. It would be most unloving of a father to allow his children to act wrong with no consequences. Undisciplined children become undisciplined adults who are menaces to society. 

Third, God’s punishment of sin not only desires to teach that sinner, but also those who are watching. Ultimately, God’s concern for the nations drove Him to act in defense of His Holy name. That defense meant that the nations who saw Judah’s sin also needed to see Judah experience the consequences of that sin. Their title as “God’s chosen people” did not give them license to disobey God and disregard His principles. In His grace and mercy to the surrounding nations, God, who would have taught the nations through blessing Judah in their obedience, now would teach them through punishing Judah for her disobedience. 

God’s summary principle for Israel was that their discipline preserved the greatness of His name. The nations could not be allowed to think that the One True God would tolerate sin without punishment. He forcefully reminded them, “Then I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel profaned among the nations where they went (21).” Before you think that God’s concern for His name seems selfish, remember what is at stake. Salvation can only come from God. If Israel profaned His name through disobedience and idolatry, and the surrounding nations witnessed this defilement go unpunished, they would never understand God as the source of salvation. In this case, the preservation of God’s name was the preservation of hope for Israel and the nations. 

This same idea of discipline applies to individuals as well as it did for the nation of  Judah. In Proverbs we learn something about God’s process with those He loves. We read, “Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline; 12 for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights (Proverbs 3:11–12).” Centuries later the author of Hebrews would echo the same principle, going so far as to quote these verses in Hebrews 12:5-6. God loves you too much to allow you to live in sin without experiencing the consequences. Your best route to change and blessing is repentance and renewed obedience. 

2. God protects His name in the restoration of the sinner. (21-38)

God not only protects His name through the punishment of the sinner, but also through the restoration of the sinner. It is in the restoration of the sinner that sinful humanity finds hope. We read God’s intent from Ezekiel’s pen… “Therefore, say to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the Lord God says: It is not for your sake that I will act, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you profaned among the nations where you went. 23 I will honor the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. The nations will know that I am the Lord—this is the declaration of the Lord God—when I demonstrate my holiness through you in their sight (22-23).” Again you see God’s concern for the nations. This concern is not new but is a recurring echo from God’s promise in Genesis 12:3. 

Hope builds as the passage continues… “ ‘For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries, and will bring you into your own land. 25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine on you. 30 I will also make the fruit of the trees and the produce of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer experience reproach among the nations on account of famine. 

31 “ ‘You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and detestable practices. 32 It is not for your sake that I will act—this is the declaration of the Lord God—let this be known to you. Be ashamed and humiliated because of your ways, house of Israel (24-32)!”

In this passage God presented eight changes that would come for Judah/Israel that would be a blessing for their relationship with God and strengthen their witness to the nations. 

First, God would gather the exiled people back into the land He originally promised them (24). This was an act of mercy because the people had forsaken their covenant with God and He would have been righteous to have simply voided the promises.

Second, He promised to cleanse the people from their sins and idolatry (25).

Third, having cleansed the people, God would continue by giving them a new heart and a new spirit (26). In this context “spirit” is a new attitude toward the things of God.

Fourth, God would place His Spirit within them (27). This was the work of the Holy Spirit, not merely a changed attitude but the continual presence of God. 

Fifth, Judah and its people would again live among the nations as the people of God. He would restore fellowship with those who had disobeyed and dishonored Him (28). Sixth, God would rescue the people from their moral filth (29). Seventh, He would preserve the restored nation to full favor by protecting them from future famine (29-30). Finally, in their restored form, God would cause the people to experience a new perspective on their sins and evil practices so that they would come to despise the wickedness that formerly characterized them (31-32). 

Though Ezekiel lived during the same time as Jeremiah, Jeremiah would have preceded him in prophetic ministry. This passage in Ezekiel strongly echoes the New Covenant that Jeremiah foretold… “Look, the days are coming” —this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”,—the Lord’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them” —this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin (Jeremiah 31:31-34).” This “New Covenant” signaled the arrival of a new phase in God’s redemptive work. It is because of the work of the Spirit, giving us new hearts that we experience “regeneration” or “new birth” as God’s people. 

In restoring the rebellious people of Judah, God would display His mercy as well as His transformative power. This would create an indelible picture of His saving grace in the cultural memory of the surrounding nations. Listen to God’s heart near the end of the passage… “Then the nations that remain around you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt what was demolished and have replanted what was desolate. I, the Lord, have spoken and I will do it (36).” 

In the final verses of the chapter God summarized His coming restoration of the nation. His final statement encapsulated God’s desire for the impact His restorative work would have on Judah. He said, “Then they will know that I am the Lord (38).” Israel/Judah was the initial target of God’s redemptive work. That work would spill over into salvation for all the families of the earth. Judah, however, had failed miserably as God’s people, but He would restore them as a testimony of mercy and grace. Surely in the wake of such Divine favor the people would conclude that Jehovah is truly the Lord. 

Consider: 

How have you responded to the work of God in your life? Have you embraced His love in faithful obedience? Have you shown those around you the blessings of God upon those who follow His ways? Or has your story taken a different path?

Have you become an example of those who presume upon God’s mercy and grace? When you repent, God offers full restoration to fellowship with Him. Those around you will read your story and determine how it reflects upon God. Will your story show those around you that God protects His name by punishing sin? Will those around you see your story and conclude, “God is a God of mercy and grace!”? However your story goes, you live in relation to God, and others will navigate by your story. What will your story teach them?

Final thought… Our relationship with God is always a testimony to those around us. 

by Dr. David Outlaw, November 30, 2025 at Mt View Baptist Church.