Its Not About You! by Daniel Jolliff

As we have studied through Ezekiel, we have come to a distinct turning point. Up to now, the prophet has been explaining to the people why God had been so hard on them. Ezekiel has pointed out that God did not abandon them. God is the One punishing them with such severity. Last week we began to see the glimmer of hope as Ezekiel 34 revealed that God would take the Israelites back to their home country and that He would personally shepherd His sheep. God promises the Messiah, the servant of David that would come and care for God’s sheep, His people Israel. After such a long and scathing rebuke regarding their idolatry, immorality, and lust for violence, this renewed hope must have come as a great relief to them.
But God does not want there to be any confusion regarding their return to the land. In the past, their understanding of their relationship with God was wrong. They thought that God was like the pagan gods, easily manipulated to pour out only good gifts as long as He was appeased with the rituals and sacrifices of His religion. God promises to take them back to their land, but He gives them notice that there are going to be some relational changes and some misunderstandings corrected.
After God promises the Israelites that He will return them to their land, He explains His motivation with crystal clarity, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations you have gone…” Before the destruction of Jerusalem, the Israelites had the notion that God would keep His covenant with them even when they were not keeping their part of it. They did not understand that they were God’s chosen people for the purpose of reflecting God to the nations. God has made it clear that they were not reflecting Him and His Character, thus, they were punished and removed. The fact that He is returning them to their land is not because of anything they have done, but rather because of Who God is.
Do we take “God’s Holy Name” seriously? Do we recognize that we have died to self and no longer live for ourselves? Do we realize that once we made the commitment to follow Christ, the question is no longer “what do I want, but “what does God want me to do?” If we could truly live our lives this way, imagine what great things God would to through us in this community. May God grant us a greater faith in Him, and the ability to put that faith into practice in a practical way that glorifies God

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