This lesson must begin by reading Ezekiel 36:22-38. Ezekiel's work as God's prophet came at an extremely difficult time. The world as Israel knew it was crumbling. Assyria fell. Babylon grew in power. Egypt tried to reassert itself as one of the major world powers. In these international clashes, much too often Palestine was the battlefield.
It is essential for students to begin today's study with their focus on this text. Our basic objective is to grow in understanding of the meaning of God's sovereignty. Hopefully, this lesson will lead us to a higher level of thought. Increased understanding begins by recognizing some facts. (1) The world that existed in Israel's past was coming apart. (2) The nations who were "major players" in Israel's world order in the past were changing. (3) As those nations struggled for supremacy, Israel's homeland was often the convenient battlefield. [When possible, people fight wars in another nation's territory.] Ezekiel became a prophet when Israel just started experiencing the unthinkable.
It was bad enough for a Jew to live in this period. Yet, for Ezekiel, it was worse. When Babylon defeated Jerusalem, Ezekiel was among the first group of Jewish captives sent to Babylon. In Babylon among the Jewish captives from Jerusalem, he received his prophetic call. Jerusalem still stood, the temple was intact, and many felt "the worst has passed." Ezekiel's first responsibility was to inform Israelites the impossible was certain to occur: (1) the city of Jerusalem would fall and (2) the temple would be destroyed. This was horrible news for the captives!
Encourage your students to consider the mindset of those first Jewish captives. (1) They likely were horribly depressed. They were forced to leave their own country and people to settle in a strange country among strange people hundreds of miles from their nation. (2) They probably cherished memories of their country, their holy city, and their temple. They could imagine themselves "at home" in good times. (3) Their hope likely centered in the fact that (a) Jerusalem [their home] and the temple would be there when they returned and (b) their situation as captives was temporary--some day they would return home.
Then God's prophet dashed their memories and hopes. Their home city would be destroyed. The temple would be destroyed. Neither would remain if it were possible to return some day. Their captive status would not end quickly. Imagine how that revelation intensified their depression!
When that happened, it was Ezekiel's responsibility to restore hope among captive Israelites by reasserting God's promises. God could and would cause Israel to be restored in remarkable ways. God could and would give a dead nation life again.
When the worst became reality, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed, when most Israelites were captives in Babylon, Ezekiel's role reversed. His second role was to give hope to a demoralized, depressed people. These depressed, defeated people placed their hope and confidence in their identity in the past. Ezekiel challenged them to place hope in their God.
For a prophet, two tasks are among his most difficult challenges. Difficult task one: convince God's people the unthinkable [that is also the undesirable] unavoidably will happen. To the exiles and Jerusalem's citizens, the city's fall and the temple's destruction was unthinkable. God could not allow either of those things! Suggesting He would allow both of those things was preposterous! That was God's city! That was God's temple! Israel was God's nation! They were the descendants God promised Abraham! Massive destruction was impossible! If they secured protection by aligning themselves with "the right side," they would avoid catastrophe.
Emphasize the difficulty of convincing people who were certain they were God's people that they would endure unthinkable conditions. It is too easy for such people to conclude, "That cannot happen to us--we are God's people!"
Difficult task two: restore hope in God's people after the unthinkable [and undesirable] unavoidably happened. When the dust settled, Jerusalem was burned, the temple was destroyed, and most living Israelites were captives in Babylon. The nation of Israel was dead! Hope was gone! There was no future! Israelites were dry bones in a valley--not corpses, but bones dead so long that they were dry. Israel would never live again!
Emphasize the difficulty of convincing people who were certain they were God's people [but feeling abandoned by God] that God is their source of hope. Common reasoning among people in all ages who were convinced they were God's people: "If we were so repulsive to God before this catastrophe happened to us, why should we think that God cares about us now?"
Ezekiel wrote today's text to give captive Israelites hope. Israel would be renewed. It would happen because God willed it, not because Israel deserved it. Note Ezekiel's emphasis on God's sovereignty. Why should captive Israelites in Babylon dare place confidence in a promised renewal of their nation? Because they deserved to return to their homeland? No. Because military might would rescue them some day? No. Because they would form the right alliances with other nations that placed them "on the right side" at the "right time"? No. Then why should they place confidence in Ezekiel's prophetic promise of renewal? God was sovereign, and the sovereign God willed it. They would not make it happen. Other nations would not make it happen. God would make it happen. Simply stated, it would happen because God said it would happen.
Carefully note why Ezekiel said Israel should place hope in God. (1) The reason was not Israel's worthiness. Israel had no worthiness before God. (2) The reason was not Israel's importance. For centuries, Israel concluded God was active among them because of their significance and importance. That was not true! It never had been true! Israel was informed before they entered Canaan such was not true. Consider Deuteronomy 9:4-6, Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, 'Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,' but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.
(3) Ezekiel's reason was God. From Israel's beginning, God declared His holiness, His love, His faithfulness, and His trustworthiness through His work among the Israelites. Israel's huge mistake: they thought God was active among them because of their significance. God was active in Israel because of His significance.
Christians as God's church urgently need to understand this and take note of it in their service to God. Placing the emphasis on us is disastrous. The emphasis must be placed on God.
Note the stress on God causing Israel's renewal in order for God to vindicate Himself.
Let Ezekiel's statements as God's prophet speak for themselves.
Ezekiel 36:22, "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."
Note God specifically declared He would not act for Israel's sake, but for the sake of His holy name. Israel had misrepresented Him to the nations. The result was that the nations had no respect for His holiness.
Ezekiel 36:23, "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."
God would "set the record straight" among the nations. Israel's misrepresentation of Him caused nations to regard Him as an unholy God. God would demonstrate His holiness in a way they could not mistake.
Ezekiel 36:24 "For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land."
God would do what the current nations regarded an impossibility: He would gather Israel and return them to their land.
Ezekiel 36:32 "I 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!"
Only when God did this would Israel realize how awful they had been and accept responsibility for their wickedness. Only then would they understand that God's work in Israel was not about Israel but about God.
Ezekiel 36:36 "Then the nations that are left round about you will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted that which was desolate; I, the Lord, have spoken and will do it."
This statement closes the chapter: Ezekiel 36:38 ". . . Then they will know that I am the Lord."
The result of God's rescue: the nations would know God is the Lord."
And how will Israel react to God's renewal? Ezekiel 36:31 "Then 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."
Only when people realize God's work among them is about God, not about them, do they began to see their arrogance and be ashamed.
Take note of Ezekiel's [writing in God's voice] emphasis on "I." "I will sprinkle clean water on you and cleanse you from all your filthiness" (v 25). "I will give you a new heart and spirit and remove your heart of stone" (v 26). "I will put My Spirit in you and cause you to live in My instructions" (v 27). "I will save you from all your uncleanness" (v 29).
Note what God would do: cleanse them, give them a new heart and spirit, put His Spirit in them, save them. This powerfully addresses the common misperception "that God did His work; now it is up to us." God never ceases to be active. Without God's active involvement in our minds, hearts, and lives, we do not have the ability to produce cleansing, new hearts, God's Spirit in us, or salvation. God actively works in people in all those concerns.
Why would God do this? "You have misrepresented Me among the nations. Therefore I will vindicate the holiness of My great name. When I do this the nations will know that I am the Lord" (v 23). God made two facts undeniably plain: (1) "I, God, will do this because I must vindicate My holy name (v 22); (2) "I, God, will not do this for your sake, but [by context] for the sake of My holy name" (v 32).
Again, God would do this to represent Himself in declaring His holiness because Israel had misrepresented Him.
God's will happens because God is God! He is patient. He is forgiving. He is merciful. Yet, He is determined. The moment would come when His holiness and His supremacy were vindicated among the nations. The moment will come when His holiness and supremacy are vindicated among the nations. In spite of us, our arrogance, our evil, and our misrepresentations of God, it will be obvious to the nations that God is God. It is not about us. It is about Him.
It is extremely urgent that people understand God's presence and work among people in all ages has been and is about God, not about those people (including us!) God's actions among people from the formation of Israel to the resurrection of Jesus are God's Self-declarations about Himself to enable the nations [all people] to understand Him.
Discussion Question: Discuss ways that American Christians often misrepresent God to the nations.
Possible points of discussion:
Substituting American religious history concerning America's restoration movement as the thrust of the gospel rather than teaching people about Jesus Christ.
Making human concerns of greater significance than revealing God to people.
Creating a connection between materialism and the gospel rather than spirituality and the gospel.
Causing people to conclude from our teachings that American ways in American churches is the only way to show faith and be faithful.
Link to Student Guide
Lesson 6