Thought from today’s Bible reading from Ezekiel 35-37.
After punishing the people for their sins, God revealed to Ezekiel that He was going to restore them to their land. But it is important to notice why God was going to restore them.
“Therefore 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. I 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. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land”‘” (Ezekiel 36:22-24).
God wanted the people of Israel to clearly understand the reason why He was restoring them to their land. It was not because of them and what great works they had accomplished. Rather, it was because of God and His desire that His name not be profaned among the nations.
There are at least two lessons for us in this passage:
- We must exhibit humility – The kindness that God extends to us has not been earned on our part, but is extended through His grace (cf. Ephesians 2:8; Romans 6:23).
- Glorifying God must be our top priority – The primary purpose in God’s actions was to cause men to glorify Him and not profane His name. This reminds us that we must diligently strive to glorify God – even in the face of personal suffering (1 Peter 4:16) – and serve Him “with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28).
God is worthy of all honor and praise that can be given to Him. Man should be grateful for any kindness which is shown to him by God. Let us not ever try to switch those roles – believing we are worthy of honor and praise and that God should just appreciate whatever we choose to give Him. Many in the world have reversed these roles in their minds. We must not conform to the world. Be humble and glorify God.
Tomorrow’s reading: Ezekiel 38-39
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
