Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 36:22
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.
22. do not this for your sakes ] Not for what Israel has been or deserved. The ref. is to Israel’s past history; such a meaning as that it is not for any interest which he has in Israel or in order to benefit them that Jehovah delivers them, but only to magnify his own name is entirely extraneous to the passage and a distortion of its sense. Cf. Isa 43:22-28; Isa 48:9-15. “Name” is not equivalent to person, but is a reflection or expression of the person; hence all that is due to the person or can be said of it, is due to the name and can be employed of it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
I do not this, which I have done, sparing you and preserving you, and giving you favour in the sight of the heathen; nor do I that I am about to do for you, returning you to Judea, planting you, increasing you, and establishing you, and making you a blessing; I do not this for your sake, you deserve no such kindness from me.
For mine holy names sake; my infinite mercy is the spring and fountain; the vindicating my name from all imputation of weakness or unfaithfulness, and the magnifying the glory of my goodness, wisdom, truth, and power, are the reasons on which I do what I do for Israel.
Which ye have profaned; brought under suspicion with the heathen, who think that the only and almighty God should do better for his own and only people!
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. not . . . for your sakesthatis, not for any merit in you; for, on the contrary, on your part,there is everything to call down continued severity (compare Deu 9:5;Deu 9:6). The sole and sure groundof hope was God’s regard to “His own name,” as the God ofcovenant grace (Ps 106:45),which He must vindicate from the dishonor brought on it by the Jews,before the heathen.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Therefore say unto the house of Israel,…. This is an order to the prophet, the son of man, Eze 36:17:
thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel; what he hereafter promises to do for them, both with respect to things temporal and spiritual; which he did, not on account of any deserts or worthiness in them; for they had none, having done nothing to merit his favour, but, on the contrary, everything to provoke the eyes of his glory:
but for my holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the Heathen, whither ye went; for the honour of his holy name, for the glory of his holy word, holy worship, and holy religion; all which were traduced and reproached among the Heathen, by reason of the ungodly behaviour of the Jews.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
D. The Return to the Land 36:2238
TRANSLATION
(22) Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: I am not doing this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name which you have defiled among the nations to which you came. (23) And I will sanctify My great name which has been profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD (oracle of the Lord GOD) when I am sanctified in you before their eyes. (24) For I shall take you from the nations, and I will gather you from all the lands, and I will bring you unto your own land. (25) And I will sprinkle upon you clean water, and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. (26) And I will give to you a new heart, and a new spirit will I place within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh, and give you a new heart. (27) And My Spirit I will put within you, and I will bring it about that you will walk in My statutes, and that you will keep and do My ordinances. (28) And you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God. (29) And I will save you from all your uncleanness; and I will call unto the grain, and will increase it, and will not bring famine upon you. (30) And I will increase the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, in order that you may no longer receive the reproach of famine among the nations. (31) Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your deeds which were not good; and You shall loathe yourselves in your sight on account of your iniquities and your abominations. (32) Not for your sake will I do this (oracle of the Lord GOD), be it known to you; be ashamed and confounded because of your ways, O house of Israel. (33) Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause cities to be inhabited, and the waste places to be built up. (34) And the desolate land shall be tilled instead of remaining a desolation in the sight of all who pass by. (35) And they shall say: This land which was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. (36) And the nations that remain round about you shall know that I the LORD have built the ruined places, and planted the places that were desolate; I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it. (37) Thus says the Lord GOD: I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them; I will increase them with men like a flock. (38) As a holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed times, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
COMMENTS
Israel did not deserve or merit salvation from exile and restoration to their homeland. But it was necessary as part of Gods long-range plan, to re-establish the divine reputation. Since His name was inseparably connected with the fortunes of Israel, positive divine action on behalf of His people was imperative (Eze. 36:22). By restoring Israel to the land of Canaan God would sanctify His name, i.e., set it apart for awe and reverence. The restoration of Israel would prove that the Babylonian captivity was not due to Gods weakness. The nations would come to know the God of Israel as truly the great I AM, Yahweh, when they witnessed the sudden reversal of the fortunes of His devoted followers (Eze. 36:23-24).
Those who would participate in the great ingathering would enjoy wonderful spiritual blessings. They would be cleansed of their uncleanness. The forgiveness of sin is here compared to the ritual purification by water (Eze. 36:25). As a result of this cleansing they would receive a new heart a tender and responsive heart of flesh to replace the stony heart which had so long been impervious to divine pleas and warnings. They would also receive an indwelling Spirit (Eze. 36:26), the Holy Spirit of God. This indwelling Spirit would enable Gods people to walk the path of obedience (Eze. 36:26).
Nine glorious consequences follow upon the spiritual regeneration of Israel Gods people:
1. Gods people would dwell in the land which God had given to the Patriarchs.
2. The redeemed nation would belong to God as His special possession.
3. The Lord would be their God in the special sense in which He is the God of all who love and obey Him (Eze. 36:28),
4. They would enjoy some measure of security in this new status. By the power of the indwelling Spirit, God would save them from uncleanness, i.e., He would help them to overcome their tendency to lapse into sin.
5. God would summon, as if miraculously, the grain, and He would restore the fertility of the land. Fruit trees as well as grain fields would yield their abundant harvests. Famine which periodically had plagued the Canaan of old would be a thing of the past (cf. Eze. 34:26-29). No more would non-believers be able to bring reproach on Gods people on this account (Eze. 36:29-30).
6. The redeemed people of God would totally loathe and abhor their former life of sin and rebellion (cf. Eze. 6:9). They would make a complete break with their past life of rebellion (Eze. 36:31).
7. These people would realize that they had not merited or deserved the blessing which they had received from the hand of God. Their salvation would be a pure act of divine grace. It is, therefore, appropriate that they be ashamed of their past con duct which, if dealt with by God in absolute justice, would have demanded complete and final rejection (Eze. 36:32).
8. The day of cleansing would be marked by the repopulation of the desolate land of Canaan (Eze. 36:33). Even those areas thought by passers-by to be beyond reclamation would be productive again (Eze. 36:34). The transformation in the land would cause amazement on the part of those outside the nation. The once ugly and barren land suddenly would become as beautiful as the garden of Eden; the ruined and defenseless cities would be filled and fortified (Eze. 36:35). The other nations would recognize the hand of God in all this. God through His prophets had announced beforehand what He would do. He who cannot lie always performs His word. Thus it is that through the fulfillment of prophecy non-believers come to see the works of God in history (Eze. 36:36).
9. The redeemed of the Lord, a small band at first, would pray for an increase in numbers. One of the principal concerns of those who know the Lord as savior is that others might share in the blessings of salvation. God here promises to hear that prayer and answer it (Eze. 36:37). As the city of Jerusalem swarmed with sacrificial animals before one of the appointed national festivals, so would the waste areas reclaimed by Gods people swarm with men. The fulfillment of this promise would strengthen the faith of Gods people in their God (Eze. 36:38).
The promises of the repopulation of Canaan began to be fulfilled in the return of the Jews to Canaan in 538 B.C. But earthly Canaan was but a type of that better country promised to and anticipated by the people of God from the time of Abraham (Heb. 11:9-10; Heb. 11:16). The return to Canaan after Babylonian exile was at the same time a fulfillment of a promise and the down payment of a promise. True Israelites, through faith in Christ, have left the bondage of the world and have come into spiritual Canaan (Heb. 12:22). Properly understood Eze. 36:22-38 points to the spiritual realities of this present Gospel age.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(22) Not . . . for your sakes, . . . but for mine holy names sake.Comp. Exod. xxxii; Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 9. This is the constant burden of Gods teaching to His people throughout their history. Hence it is an idle objection to the Scripture narrative that it represents Israel as the favourite of heaven, and is thus just like the human legends of every other ancient nation. In fact, this narrative is unlike any other. It speaks of God as having chosen one nation as the means of accomplishing His purpose for the salvation of the whole world, but continually chastising them for their sins, again and again setting aside the mass of them, and restoring and purifying and blessing a remnant, not for their own sake, but for the accomplishment of His own holy purpose and promise, thus sanctifying His name.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 36:22. I do not this for your sakes It cannot be denied, that it became the goodness of the God, to preserve the doctrine of the unity amidst an idolatrous world. But this could not have been effected according to God’s plan of governing the moral world, but by a separation of one part from the rest; nor could such a separation be made any otherwise, than by bringing that part under God’s peculiar protection. The consequences of which were, great temporal blessings. Now, as some one people must needs be selected for this purpose, it seems most agreeable to our ideas of divine wisdom, which commonly effects many ends by the same means, to make the blessings attendant on such a selection the reward of some high-exalted virtue in the progenitors of the chosen people. The separation was made for the sake of mankind in general; though one people became the honoured instruments, in reward of their fathers’ virtues. And this is the language of the Scriptures, especially in this passage, where God promises to restore the Israelites after a short dispersion. “Thus saith the Lord, I do not this for your sakes, but for mine holy name’s sake.”
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Eze 36:22 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.
Ver. 22. I do not this for your sakes. ] To do good without respect of desert is royal, yea, it is divine.
But for mine own holy name’s sake.] God maketh our utter unworthiness a foil to set forth the freeness of his love, in making us worthy whom he found not so.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Eze 36:22-32
22Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, 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 where you went. 23I will vindicate 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 the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. 24For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. 25Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26Moreover, 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. 27I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. 28You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God. 29Moreover, 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. 30I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the produce of the field, so that you will not receive again the disgrace of famine among the nations. 31Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations. 32I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Lord GOD, let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel!
Eze 36:22-32 Eze 36:22 captures the essence of the new covenant (cf. Luk 22:20; 1Co 11:25; Galatians 3, 4; Heb 8:6-13; Heb 10:15-18)! Notice the things He will do to reestablish His reputation (cf. Eze 36:23).
1. I will take you from the nations and bring you back to Canaan, Eze 36:24
2. I will sprinkle clean water on you and cleanse you from filthiness and idolatry, Eze 36:25
3. I will give you a new heart and a new spirit, Eze 36:26
4. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to obey My covenant, Eze 36:27
5. I will be your God in the Promised Land, Eze 36:28
6. I will forgive and restore covenant fruitfulness, Eze 36:29-30
7. YHWH will do this to reveal Himself (Eze 36:32). His people will be grieved over their sin (Eze 36:31-32).
Eze 36:25 sprinkle clean water on you Remember that Ezekiel was a trained priest who would be familiar with water as a symbol of spiritual cleansing (e.g., Exo 29:4; Exo 30:18-21; Lev 1:9; Lev 1:13; Lev 6:28; Lev 8:6; Lev 8:21; Lev 14:5-6; Lev 14:8-9; Lev 14:51-52; Lev 15:5-8; Lev 15:10-11; Lev 15:21-22; Lev 15:27; Lev 16:4; Lev 16:24; Lev 16:26; Lev 16:28; Lev 17:15; Lev 22:6; Num 5:17-27; Num 8:7; Num 19:7-9; Num 19:13; Num 19:17-21). Some commentators think this text, which links water and Spirit, is the key OT background to Joh 3:5 (see F.F. Bruce, Answers to Questions, pp. 67-68).
Eze 36:26 I wi11 give you a new heart The balance is seen in Eze 18:31 (see full note there), where the Israelites are commanded to make themselves a new heart (cf. Eze 11:19; Jer 31:31-34). God always comes in grace, but humans, empowered by YHWH’s grace, must respond. The heart (see Special Topic: Heart ) was the center of the intellect as the spirit was the source of life. When both are used together, it refers to the entire person.
Eze 36:27 I will put My Spirit within you This is setting the stage for the Spirit in chapter 37. He is the sign of the new age (see Special Topic: Spirit in the Bible and Special Topic: Personhood of the Spirit , cf. Eze 37:14; Eze 39:29; Isa 42:1; Isa 44:3; Isa 59:21; Joe 2:28-29). This is rare text where the Spirit is personalized and internalized (cf. Eze 37:14; Eze 39:29; Isa 11:2; Isa 32:15; Isa 44:3; Isa 59:21; Jer 32:36-41; Joe 2:28-29; Acts 2). This is New Covenant terminology! This is a precursor to the concept of a Trinity (see Special Topic: The Trinity ), which is so difficult to contemplate in connection with monotheism.
For good articles on the Spirit in the OT see
1. Hard Sayings of the Bible, pp. 273-274
2. Christian Theology, 2nd ed., by Millard J. Erickson, pp. 881-885
Eze 36:28 my people, and I will be your God These are covenant terms (cf. Eze 11:20; Eze 14:11; Eze 37:23; Eze 37:27), which show that YHWH has reestablished the covenants of the Patriarchs and Moses.
Eze 36:30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree This refers to the covenant blessings (cf. Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28).
Eze 36:31 You will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves This refers to the repentance of the covenant people (cf. Eze 6:9; Eze 16:61; Eze 16:63; Eze 20:43; Jer 22:22; Jer 31:19). Repentance, faith, obedience (cf. Deu 30:1-3), and perseverance are covenant requirements of the OT and NT. Justification must not be separated from sanctification! Both are gifts from God in which believers must participate (cf. Eze 36:20).
Eze 36:32 YHWH wants His people to acknowledge their sin. This verse has three commands.
1. let it be known, BDB 393, KB 390, Niphal IMPERFECT used in a JUSSIVE sense
2. be ashamed, BDB 101, KB 116, Qal IMPERATIVE
3. be confounded, BDB 483, KB 480, Niphal IMPERATIVE
Eze 36:32 is a crucial theological message.
1. YHWH is going to act for His name’s sake, not for Israel’s glory.
2. Israel must repent. The new covenant is also conditional on repentance, faith, obedience, and perseverance (cf. Eze 6:9; Eze 16:63; Eze 20:43; Jer 31:18).
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
not . . . for your sakes, &c. Reference to Pentateuch (Deu 7:7, Deu 7:8; Deu 9:5-7). App-92. Compare Psa 106:8; Psa 115:1, Psa 115:2.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Eze 36:22-24
Eze 36:22-24
“Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I do not this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.”
THE SPIRITUAL RESTORATION OF ISRAEL
(Eze 36:22-31)
“Which hath been profaned … which ye have profaned among the nations …” (Eze 36:23). Let it be observed that the profanation is here indicated in its double nature, derived from the blasphemous words of the pagans, and from the conduct of Israel also. Not only did those citizens in pagan lands profane God’s name, the word of the Lord states, “which ye have profaned.”
There is not a more eloquent passage in the Bible stressing the fact that, in the last analysis, salvation was undeserved by ancient Israel, even as it is also undeserved in the New Israel. There is no such thing as a salvation from God being merited, deserved, or earned by the ones saved. The best Christians on earth are still unprofitable servants (Luk 17:10), even as were the citizens of ancient Israel. The reason for ancient Israel’s return from captivity was not their merit, but the glory of God as required by his eternal purpose.
“I will bring you into your own land …” (Eze 36:24). Yes indeed, God did it through his servant Cyrus, just as he had promised more than a century earlier. There cannot possibly be any doubt that such an event as Cyrus’ sending Israel back to Palestine would have been hailed as a signal act of God all over the world. The reestablishing of Israel in Canaan was a giant step indeed toward the redemption of the reputation of Jehovah as the God of all nations. What a shame it was that Israel’s response was so inadequate, yet sufficient for God’s purpose.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
Eze 36:32, Deu 7:7, Deu 7:8, Deu 9:5-7, Psa 106:8, Psa 115:1, Psa 115:2
Reciprocal: Deu 9:4 – Speak not Jos 7:9 – what wilt thou 2Sa 7:22 – Wherefore 1Ki 20:28 – ye shall know 2Ki 19:34 – for mine Psa 25:11 – thy Psa 31:3 – for thy Isa 37:35 – for mine Isa 43:25 – for mine Isa 57:18 – have Jer 14:21 – for Eze 20:9 – I wrought Eze 20:14 – General Eze 20:44 – when I Eze 28:26 – and they Dan 9:19 – thine
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
ALL OF GRACE
I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for Mine holy names sake.
Eze 36:22
There was an ineffaceable distinction between the mountains of Israel and Mount Seir, because the chosen people were in living covenant with Jehovah. He was for them, and would multiply men over the waste lands. He would even do better for them than at the beginnings. This is Gods way with His own. If it is needful to chastise them, He does not permanently reject, and He is particularly careful to bring them up out of their graves into a royal and wealthy place.
I. Gods reason of mercy is in Himself.You cannot find the reason of Gods perpetual restoring mercy in anything that is in your heart. He loves us, because He will love us: He restores us, because His honour is implicated; He will at last bring us to glory, because it must never be said by His foes and detractors that He undertook more than He could complete. It would be to His eternal dishonour, if it could be said that evil was too strong for Him to cope with it; and the creature whom He had made, too weak and helpless for Him to redeem.
II. The return of Israel to Canaan was a small thing compared with the gracious work of inward renewal.They had been commanded to make a new heart and spirit (Eze 18:31). Here God promises to do what He had enjoined. He will do this for us all, sprinkling our heart from an evil conscience, cleansing us by the indwelling fire of the Holy Spirit from all filthiness and idols, replacing the stony, unimpressible heart with a humble, teachable, and tender one. His grace can turn stones into living flesh, and the result shall be floods of penitential tears. Let us pray for these blessings to be ours, that those around us may acknowledge His hand.
Illustration
I have climbed, let me suppose, through a narrow mountain-pass. It was glad, confident morning when I started, and with every step I took the scene became more enchanting, and my spirits rose. But the prospect contracted. The hills closed in on me. The sun was hidden. A cold wind swept through the defile. My spirits drooped, and I could only doggedly plod along. But, by and by, the mountains opened out again; the pass was over; and under my feet stretched a fairer landscape than that which thrilled me at the first.
To-day I may be in the gloomy chasm. My spiritual youth lies behind, and I am walking through an unlovely land. But my God is able and willing to conduct me forth from the pass into a region of fertility and beauty. Let me pray Him to do it. It will delight His own heart to respond to my cry.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Eze 36:22. The house of Israel will be receiving better treatment than it deserves when God comes to its rescue and puts an end to the captivity. But the holy name of the Lord Is at stake and He must restore It to its proper position in the eyes of the world. Ye have profaned does not mean the Israelites purposely beiitted Gods name while in Babylon, for the opposite was the case. Psalms 137 shows the deep regard they had for everything that pertained to Him. But the mere fact that Gods people had to be cast among the heathen because of their unfaith-fulness was a reproach to His name.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
36:22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not [this] for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my {m} holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the nations, to which ye went.
(m) This excludes from man all dignity and means to deserve anything by, seeing that God refers the whole to himself and that only for the glory of his holy Name.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The method of Israel’s restoration 36:22-32
"The next verses in the chapter are among the most glorious in the entire range of revealed truth on the subject of Israel’s restoration to the Lord and national conversion." [Note: Feinberg, p. 209.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
Ezekiel was to tell the Israelites that it was in spite of them that He would act for them; He would deliver them for the sake of His own reputation that they had profaned (cf. Eze 20:39). He would vindicate His reputation as being a holy (unique) God when He proved Himself such in the sight of the nations (cf. Exo 5:2; Exo 9:16; Exo 32:11-18; Lev 18:21; Lev 20:3; Lev 22:31-33; Num 14:13-19; Deu 29:1 to Deu 30:10).