For My Name's Sake Text: Ezekiel 36:22-38
Introduction: The Scandal of Divine Glory
We live in an age where the gospel has been thoroughly domesticated. It has been housebroken, declawed, and turned into a therapeutic tool for personal fulfillment. The modern evangelical message, more often than not, places man at the center of the story. God is presented as a lonely deity, pacing the floors of heaven, desperately hoping that you, in your infinite wisdom and personal autonomy, will finally choose Him. Salvation is about your needs, your decision, your best life now. God exists to solve your problems, and the whole cosmic drama hinges on you.
This passage in Ezekiel is a divine demolition of that entire man-centered framework. It is a bucket of ice-cold, sovereign water to the face of our therapeutic, self-esteem religion. Here, God declares His motives for salvation, and they have precious little to do with us. He is not acting because Israel is so lovely, so promising, or so deserving. In fact, He goes out of His way, twice, to state the opposite in the most blunt terms possible: "It is not for your sake."
God's ultimate motive in redemption is the vindication of His own holy name. Israel, through their rampant idolatry and rebellion, had profaned the name of Yahweh among the nations. Their sin, and their subsequent exile, had become a public relations disaster for the God of Abraham. The surrounding pagans looked at the pathetic state of God's chosen people and concluded that their God was either powerless or faithless. "Some god," they would sneer, "He can't even protect His own people in His own land." God's reputation, His glory, was being dragged through the mud of international opinion. And so, God decides to act. He decides to save. But He does it to set the record straight about who He is. Salvation is God's global press release, a cosmic demonstration of His own character, power, and holiness. This is profoundly offensive to our pride, but it is the very bedrock of true, biblical grace.
The Text
"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, to which you have come. I will prove the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh," declares Lord Yahweh, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. And I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments. And you will inhabit the land that I gave to your fathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. Moreover, I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call for the grain and multiply it, and I will not bring a famine on you. I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field so that you will not receive again the reproach of famine among the nations. Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves to your own faces for your iniquities and your abominations. I am not doing this for your sake," declares Lord Yahweh, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and feel dishonor for your ways, O house of Israel!"
'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt. The desolate land will be cultivated instead of being a desolation in the sight of everyone who passes by. And they will say, 'This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste, desolate, and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited.' Then the nations that remain all around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, Yahweh, have spoken and will do it."
'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "This also I will let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do for them: I will increase their men like a flock. Like the flock for holy offerings, like the flock at Jerusalem during her appointed times, so will the waste cities be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am Yahweh."'"
(Ezekiel 36:22-38 LSB)
The Divine Motive: God's Reputation Management (vv. 22-23, 32)
The central, repeated, and unavoidable point of this entire passage is God's motive.
"It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned..." (v. 22)
"I am not doing this for your sake," declares Lord Yahweh, "let it be known to you..." (v. 32)
God is a divine egoist, and this is our only hope. If God's love were dependent on our loveliness, we would all be damned. If His actions were contingent on our performance, He would have no reason to act at all. But because God's highest commitment is to His own glory, He will not let His name be permanently tarnished by the failures of His people. He binds Himself to a rebellious people by a covenant, and when they fail, His reputation is on the line. He will save them, not because they have cleaned up their act, but in order to vindicate the holiness and faithfulness of His own character before a watching world.
This is the essence of grace. Grace is not God seeing some hidden potential in us. Grace is God seeing a grand opportunity to display His own magnificence by rescuing people who deserve nothing but wrath. He proves Himself holy, not by destroying them as they deserve, but by remaking them from the inside out. The goal is explicit: "Then the nations will know that I am Yahweh." Our salvation is a tool for God's evangelism. It is a billboard erected in the sight of the pagan nations, declaring the power and mercy of the one true God.
The Divine Method: A Cascade of "I Wills" (vv. 24-28)
Because the motive is entirely God's, the method is also entirely God's. This section is a stunning, waterfall-like cascade of divine promises. Count the "I will" statements. This is not a negotiation. This is not a cooperative project. This is a unilateral, sovereign invasion of grace.
"And I will take you... gather you... and bring you..." (v. 24)
Salvation begins with God's effectual call. He takes the initiative. He reaches into the nations, into the pigsty of our rebellion, and He takes us, gathers us, and brings us to Himself. This is election, plain and simple.
"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you..." (v. 25)
This is justification. It is a picture of ritual purification, but it points to the definitive cleansing accomplished by the blood of Jesus Christ. God does not make us cleanable; He makes us clean. He removes the filth of all our idolatries and uncleanness in a single, decisive act of forensic pardon.
"Moreover, I will give you a new heart... I will remove the heart of stone... and give you a heart of flesh." (v. 26)
This is regeneration. This is the miracle of the new birth. The fundamental problem with fallen man is not his environment or his education; it is his heart. The natural heart is a "heart of stone", it is dead, cold, unresponsive to God. You can preach to a stone, but it will not respond. You can command a stone to love, but it cannot. God's solution is not to polish the stone or to give it a list of rules. His solution is a divine heart transplant. He removes the dead stone and replaces it with a living "heart of flesh," one that is soft, alive, and able to respond to Him.
"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes..." (v. 27)
This is sanctification, powered by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. God does not just give us a new heart and then leave us to our own devices. He moves in. He puts His own Spirit within us, and the Spirit then provides the power for obedience. Notice the language: "and cause you to walk." This demolishes any notion of sanctification by sheer willpower. Our obedience is the result of the Spirit's work in us. Grace is not just the starting pistol; it is the fuel for the entire race.
The result of this divine invasion is the restoration of the covenant relationship: "so you will be My people, and I will be your God" (v. 28). This is the goal of all of God's work: to have a people for His own possession, living in fellowship with Him.
The Divine Result: Repentance and Restoration (vv. 29-38)
What does this radical, God-centered grace produce? Two things: genuine repentance in the hearts of His people and glorious restoration in the sight of the world.
"Then you will remember your evil ways... and you will loathe yourselves to your own faces for your iniquities and your abominations." (v. 31)
Notice the order. God cleanses them, gives them a new heart, and then they truly repent. True, godly repentance is not a precondition for grace; it is the fruit of grace. When you have been given a new heart and have seen the staggering, unmerited kindness of God, you then look back at your sin for what it truly is: a vile offense against a glorious and holy God. This "loathing" is not morbid self-pity. It is a healthy, God-centered shame for having profaned His name. It is the natural reaction of a new heart when it contemplates its old ways.
But this grace does not just renew hearts; it renews the world. God promises to save them from uncleanness and then to "call for the grain and multiply it" (v. 29). He will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field. The land, which was desolate because of their sin, will be cultivated again. The ruined cities will be rebuilt and inhabited. The transformation will be so dramatic that the watching world will say, "This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden" (v. 35).
This is a picture of the comprehensive nature of the Kingdom of God. The gospel is not just about saving souls for heaven. It is about the restoration of all things under the Lordship of Christ. When God saves a people, He begins to heal their land, their economy, their culture. The advance of the gospel in history brings blessing and fruitfulness in its wake. This is the postmillennial promise. God's ultimate purpose is to make the whole earth His Edenic temple, filled with His glory.
And what is the final, resounding note? It is the same as the first. "Then the nations that remain all around you will know that I, Yahweh, have rebuilt the ruined places... Then they will know that I am Yahweh" (vv. 36, 38). The entire project, from the inward heart transplant to the outward cultural renewal, is for one ultimate purpose: the glory of God's name. Our salvation, our sanctification, and the flourishing of our communities are all meant to be an undeniable testimony to a watching world that Yahweh, He is God. He has spoken, and He will do it.