Vindicating God

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Opening Prayer

Dear God, when others see me fail, may they also see me honestly confess, and may they see me transformed to be like You.

Read Ezekiel 36:16-38

^[16] Again the word of the LORD came to me: ^[17] “Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct was like a woman’s monthly uncleanness in my sight. ^[18] So I poured out my wrath on them because they had shed blood in the land and because they had defiled it with their idols. ^[19] I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered through the countries; I judged them according to their conduct and their actions. ^[20] And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the LORD’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ ^[21] I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. ^[22] “Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, people 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 where you have gone. ^[23] I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes. ^[24] “‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. ^[25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ^[26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ^[27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ^[28] Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. ^[29] I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon you. ^[30] I will increase the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field, so that you will no longer suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. ^[31] Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices. ^[32] I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign LORD. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel! ^[33] “‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. ^[34] The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it. ^[35] They will say, “This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited.” ^[36] Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.’ ^[37] “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Once again I will yield to Israel’s plea and do this for them: I will make their people as numerous as sheep, ^[38] as numerous as the flocks for offerings at Jerusalem during her appointed festivals. So will the ruined cities be filled with flocks of people. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Meditate

“Holiness is the visible side of salvation” (Charles Spurgeon).

Think Further

As the failures of ancient Israel profaned God’s name among the nations (22), so also the inconsistencies of Christian churches too often unwittingly aid and abet strident atheist campaigns against God. However, as God promised to show the holiness of his great name by delivering his people from exile (23,24), so also he promises to show his holy otherness so powerfully to the world through a revived and consecrated church that even the godless might one day say, “God is really among you!” (1 Cor. 14:25). How awesome! How frightening! And how problematic! For in stark contrast to the biblical picture of “the Holy One,” the popular imagination conceives God as little more than a benign, somewhat larger-than-life Father Christmas. For Ezekiel, holiness is the most elemental quality of God, the quintessence of deity.

It is not only the world that has to be convinced of the holiness of God. For in the church also the biblical revelation of God and its implications can sometimes be an embarrassment. The pursuit of holiness is perhaps too often confused with a quest for happiness. For while we profess to know God, in practice we allow the contemporary idols of consumerism, self-help and self-fulfillment to have a higher claim on us. Like ancient Israel, our Achilles heel is idolatry (compare verses 18 and 25).

Despite worldly enmity and churchly hedonism, divine holiness is communicable (1 Pet. 1:16). The people of God are the media. The Holy Spirit provides the dynamic by effecting a dramatic change in us (25-27). He gives us a new heart, thereby delivering us from our self-obsession and moving us to live in ways that communicate a sense of God’s intense purity to those around us. Ask God’s Spirit to make you a carrier of divine holiness.

Apply

“Then the nations will know” (23). Pray that God will show you the precise role he wants you to play in helping the nations to know him.

Closing prayer

Lord, when the world looks at my life, may they see You radiating through me.

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