Ezekiel 20: Can't Stop Sinning? You're in Good Company

"But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned

in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out." Ezekiel 20:14

Have you ever felt as if you just can't stop sinning? Don't worry, you're in good company. Paul seemed to be wrestling with that same problem in Romans 7, and we certainly see the Israelites wrestling with it here.

In Ezekiel 20, we find another one of Ezekiel's great "oracles" to the nation of Israel. This speech has an interesting context. Amidst one morning while Ezekiel was eating his Lucky Charms and watching the morning news, some "elders" of the town knocked on his door and asked if they could speak to him in order that they might "inquire of the LORD." In other words, these elders came to Ezekiel looking for God to answer their questions. Yet, rather than receiving answers to their questions, God led Ezekiel to ask them a question instead: "Is it to inquire of me that you come?"

God's point, as fleshed out in the rest of the chapter, is this: that the elders of Israel have no right to make an inquiry to God, and God has no obligation to answer them. Why is this so? Well, I'm glad you asked, because that is what the thrust of the chapter is about. Ezekiel, speaking God's Word, goes on a long monologue about how the leaders of Israel have greatly failed in the past. Even before God delivered them from Egypt, Israel had sinned against him, and so they continued to after the Exodus, in the wilderness, and even (and most greatly) in the Promised Land. Yet, Ezekiel's point is also this, that every single time, God had forgiven them, that is, "for the sake of my [God's] name."

Forgiveness "for the sake of [God's] name" is an idea that I would like to dwell on here for a moment. So often, we think that we deserve God's forgiveness, but let's stop and think about that for a moment. Ask yourself: what's the definition of forgiveness? Put simply, forgiveness is the free pardon of sin. Note that first word: free. In other words, the very definition of forgiveness is that it is not deserved. When you sin, you deserve judgment, yet forgiveness is the absence of judgment.

Thus, if we don't "deserve" God's forgiveness, there must be another reason by which he forgives us, that is, over and over and over and over again, just like he did for Israel. We find that reason in Ezekiel 20: "for the sake of my [God's] name." The point here being argued is this: God never forgave Israel because they deserved it, but rather for his own glory. When God forgave Israel, the peoples of the earth could see the goodness and graciousness of the God of Israel. If God were to destroy Israel (completely) after they had sinned, what would that say about God and his people in the sight of the nations? This was, in fact, Moses' argument that he used on Mt. Sinai so that God might not destroy the Israelites. Yet here, we find it again: that God forgives for the sake of his name, that he might be glorified in the free pardon of his people, and that he might be seen as a gracious God in the sight of the nations.

Truly not much is different in our lives, is it not? Have you ever asked yourself why God has forgiven you? Surely it wasn't because of your good deeds--you had none! Yet for his own glory and praise, God has forgiven you. Yet, let us notice, there are surely more reasons for God's salvation work on our account, namely his love for his chosen people (Eph 1-2). Yet we miss the Gospel when we do not remember the great glory that our God gets when he forgives us.

In application today, let us be comforted by this truth: God's forgiveness is grounded in his glory. God does not forgive us because we deserve it, but for the glory of his holy name. Thus, we do not need to fear when we've sinned, for if God is truly our God, and we is his child, he will be faithful to forgive us, in order that he might show his character to the nations and glorify himself.

Yet, let us be careful. For the same God who promises to give mercy and restore is the same God who entered "into judgment with [Israel] face to face. . .I [God] will purge out the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against me" (Ezekiel 20:35-38). The God who is a God of mercy who pardons the repentant sinner is also a God of justice who slays the unrepentant sinner, and he receives glory from both of these things. Let us not presume on the Lord's kindness (Rom 2:4)!