Main Idea: God’s transformed people should live for His glory and fame.
A Look at the Text:
The future would be very different for God’s people than it would be for the nations around them. Mount Seir, Edom, was targeted for His judgment. God would make it a desolation and waste (Ezek. 35:3-4). For the people of Edom rejoiced at the downfall of Israel (Ezek. 35:15), even joining Nebuchadnezzar’s side. As a result, they would not only miss out on inhabiting the land of Israel, but they would be destroyed.
Contrasting this, there was a future hope for Israel. While presently they were destroyed, their mountains would shoot forth new branches bearing fruit, and Israel would return home again (Ezek. 36:8). God was for them (Ezek. 36:9). They would be multiplied in the land once more (Ezek. 36:10-15).
Although God’s name was profaned through Israel’s sin and dispersion (Ezek. 36:16-21), God was going to act in the future for the sake of His name (Ezek. 36:22-23).
He would gather them from the nations (Ezek. 36:24). He would cleanse them (Ezek. 36:25). He would make a new covenant with them, granting them new hearts and the indwelling of His Spirit so that they might obey His laws (Ezek. 36:26-27). Once more, they would inhabit their land, and in light of God’s promise, they could have hope.
Bringing it Home:
The New Covenant hope was that God would not merely shape the external, but the internal. He wouldn’t simply tell His people what to do or not to do, but would shape what they desired to do.
In Christ, God has grafted Gentile peoples into Israel (Rom. 11:11). He has made a new people, Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:15), a people who are to be a reflection of their God.
God’s reputation was tarnished by the sins and subsequent exile of Israel. As a result, He determined that under the New Covenant things would be different.
Under the New Covenant, the believer is indwelt by His Spirit and made into a new creation in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). We aren’t simply converted, but we are regenerated and made spiritually alive. In Christ, God gives us both the will and the power to do as He pleases (Phil. 2:13).
Let us know then that this life transformation is intended to abound to God’s glory and not His shame. If He has made us new, we ought to walk in that newness of life (Rom. 6:4), striving to bring no dishonor to His name through our actions.
Challenge:
Do I respect the connection between God’s reputation and the lifestyles of His people?