God Will Restore Israel
June 3, 2022
Commentary
God promised the exiles in Babylon that He would continue to be with them even though they were not in Jerusalem (vv. 14-15). This was a major concern to the Jews because they believed that God was present primarily in the temple. However God assured them that He would continue to be their God regardless of where they were in this world. The most comforting words spoken by the Lord thus far, in this prophecy, are found in this passage(vv. 16-21). The Jews will be taken captive, but also preserved, regathered, given the land, and converted upon their return.
God says that the Jews in captivity are the faithful ones, and those in Jerusalem are the sinful and wicked ones. This was the opposite of the people’s perception. God provided a sanctuary for this idolatrous remnant, even though they worshiped in the Jerusalem temple. However in reality they would find no true sanctuary, but the faithful exiles, even though they were far from home, would be protected by God (v. 16). In other words, our external circumstances do not truly indicate our standing with God. Those who appear safe and secure may be far from Him, while those going through difficult times may be safely under God’ spiritual protection.
“One heart” indicates a unanimous singleness of purpose (v. 19). This new life can only be the work of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s work, but we must recognize and turn from sin. When we do, God will give us new motives, new guidelines, and new purpose.
Application
God will evaluate my life by my faith and obedience. I can depend on God to keep me safe if I pledge myself to His care.
Ezekiel 11:14– 25 (NET)
14 Then the Lord’s message came to me: 15 “Son of man, your brothers, your relatives, and the whole house of Israel, all of them are those to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away from the Lord; to us this land has been given as a possession.’
16 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I have removed them far away among the nations and have dispersed them among the countries, I have been a little sanctuary for them among the lands where they have gone.’
17 “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When I regather you from the peoples and assemble you from the lands where you have been dispersed, I will give you back the country of Israel.’
18 “When they return to it, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations. 19 I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them; I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies and I will give them tender hearts, 20 so that they may follow my statutes and observe my regulations and carry them out. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But those whose hearts are devoted to detestable things and abominations, I hereby repay them for what they have done, says the Sovereign Lord.”
22 Then the cherubim spread their wings with their wheels alongside them while the glory of the God of Israel hovered above them. 23 The glory of the Lord rose up from within the city and stopped over the mountain east of it. 24 Then a wind lifted me up and carried me to the exiles in Babylonia, in the vision given to me by the Spirit of God.
25 So I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.