Holiness and the Name of God
Text: Ezekiel 36:16-27
Introduction: Proverbs 22:1 says, "A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold." Now of course what’s being talked about here is not really a quality name, although if you’re thinking about one for a future baby to be born to your family, I would like to recommend "Kerry." It’s very versatile! No, we recognize that the writer of Proverbs is not referring to one’s name, but rather one’s reputation, and of course, we all agree that reputations matter. Have you ever considered how difficult it is to shake a bad reputation? Consider the case of a substitute teacher of a 4th grade class at the Fuller School in south Chicago. On May 9, 1994, a group of students accused him of sexually molesting several of them. By that afternoon the school board had met and promised to bring in counselors for the children. By evening the story was all over the local news broadcasts. But the next day police investigators came and interviewed 14 of the children, and authorities determined the charges were false. Apparently the children made their false accusation because the substitute teacher threatened to report their unruliness. One radio announcer reported that a child had promised to give his classmates a dollar if they would join in the lie. Speaking to this problem, Jackie Gallagher, a spokeswoman for the Teachers Union said, "Sexual abuse charges are one of the hazards of the profession--a new one. Kids get sharper. It is akin to putting glue on a teacher’s chair twenty years ago." The Teachers Union president said that exonerating the teacher doesn’t always make things better. "What usually happens when a person is accused of this kind of thing is they’re exonerated by the board publicly but then later, quietly, they’re let go." IT’S HARD TO RESTORE A GOOD REPUTATION even when we’ve done nothing to tarnish it.
I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but the church is the visible representation of Christ to the world (See Acts 1:8-- We are Christ’s witnesses). So it is not out of line to say that people will develop an opinion of Jesus based on the evidence we present. The question we must ask ourselves today is, "What kind of reputation have we established for Him?" In the text that was read this morning, we see that the same thing was happening with regard to the nation of Israel. They were building the reputation of Yahweh to the nations. The only problem was that they were doing a lousy job of it. Let’s take a moment and look at this passage and see what went wrong.
Background: The Israelites, a holy nation (See Exodus 19:6), were given a holy land (See Psalm 78:51-54) which was made so by the presence of a holy God (See Exodus 3:5) with a holy name (See Exodus 36:22). Yet they failed to acknowledge and honor His holy name (Contrast with Exodus 20:7 and Matthew 6:9) and instead tarnished His reputation among the nations by engaging in their pagan practices. As a result the Jews were the objects of God’s wrath, first through the Assyrians and then, later, through the Babylonians. It was during this latter time that Ezekiel was commissioned by God to prophecy about their return. In the passage we’re looking at today, Yahweh addresses the prophet and reviews what happened and, then, reveals His plan.
I. What did Israel do (See Ezekiel 36:16-19)? They defiled God’s name. The word for "defile" means to render something unclean. When something was declared to be unclean it was consider unworthy of being used for holy purposes (See Leviticus 10:10). Ezekiel likened it to a woman’s period, which made her unclean (See Leviticus 15:19-24). Any contact with the realm of death, either through the loss of bodily life-fluids (e.g. blood, semen etc.) or touching a corpse made one unfit to be in contact with the realm of life. In effect, they made God seem to be unholy and, instead, ordinary and common, How did they do this?
A. They committed two specific crimes that polluted the land (See Ezekiel 36:18). Note that there was no ambiguity regarding these offenses when it came to the Law of God. They were forbidden by Him.
1. They committed murder (See Ezekiel 20:26; Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 18:10; Leviticus 18:21). The Israelites sacrificed their children to the Molech, the sun god of the Babylonians.
2. They committed idolatry (See Ezekiel 22:3-4; Exodus 20:4-6). The action of presenting their children to Molech was not just murder, but also idol worship as this false god was nothing more than the fabrication of the Babylonians.
B. Because they did this, God dispersed them among the nations (See Ezekiel 36:19). God punished them by scattering Israel among the nations where they were free to pursue their rebellion to their heart’s content but it would not result in their satisfaction. Quite the contrary, Israel would mourn the day they rebelled (See Deuteronomy 28:64-67). Application: Have you ever noticed that sin holds out the promise of satisfaction without ever achieving it? It looks so good, but it is always destructive. Illustration: The Mexican man who loaded the scrap metal from a southern Arizona junk pile into his beat-up pickup truck bed was excited. This big haul would mean food on the table and money in his pocket once he transferred the metal into cash at the scrap metal recycler in Mexico. As the truck pulled onto the highway, little steel balls from an antique dental X-ray machine began to drop onto the ribbed bed of the truck. These tiny, radioactive marbles bounced among the shifting sheets of metal and rolled back and forth in the truck bed. Some of them spilled along the highway. After the scrap metal had been transformed into pesos, the man hurried back to his village, metal balls still rolling in the grooves of the truck bed. In no time at all the children discovered the shiny, bright treasures—and the game of marbles was a popular sport in the village. The balls were a coveted addition to any child’s collection of glassies, cat’s eyes, peewees, and jumbos. Before long, many in the town began to complain of similar symptoms: red rash, fatigue, loss of hair, vomiting. After many months and several deaths in the village, the truth was discovered: dozens of people were suffering from severe radiation poisoning. The pretty little balls, held, traded, and treasured, turned out to be both delightful and deadly. Scripture clearly teaches us that the wages of sin is death. Yet too many times, we think we can play with it like a child with marbles and not be hurt. Eventually, however, it will destroy us.
II. What did the nations do (See Ezekiel 36:20-21)? When the Jews settled in their lands, they formed God’s reputation among the people through their actions. Unfortunately, the nations arrived at flawed and misguided conclusions concerning the nature of God because of Israel’s sinful testimony. The assumption made by ancient Near Eastern cultures was that the god of any people was responsible to defend them and their land. When Israel was scattered among the nations, they concluded that God had willingly abandoned His people or that He was incapable of defending them against the superior might of Marduk, the god of Babylon. The first option challenged Yahweh’s integrity. The second challenged His sovereignty. In either case, His reputation was profaned among the nations. Application: It is right to be concerned about the reputation of God in the world! Moses intercession on behalf of Israel in Exodus 32:11-12 was really an appeal to maintain God’s standing among the Egyptians. Are you concerned about the opinions lost people are forming about your God through the witness you’re having among them? I’m guessing that we would all answer this affirmatively. I can’t help but wonder, however, if our unbelieving friends and acquaintances would see it the same way. Illustration: According to recent Barna survey 84% of America claims to be born again. We would think that this would really affect our values. However, here’s what we learn about Mosaics, Busters and Boomers ranging from 18-57 years old: 67% find nothing wrong with gambling; A slightly higher percent (69%) find nothing wrong with living with someone of the opposite sex without being married; 1 out of 2 (50%) think it’s okay to have an abortion; Approximately 45% percent believe it’s acceptable to look at pictures of nudity or explicit sexual behavior, use profanity and get drunk; Nearly 4 out of 10 say that having a sexual relationship with someone of the same sex is okay; but only 22% approve using drugs not prescribed by a doctor. To be fair only 84% of these people profess to be born again, but that is still an alarmingly high number of Christians who are embracing sin and in the process dragging the reputation of God through the mud among their unbelieving friends. If you wonder how you’re doing, ask a non-Christian acquaintance what he or she has learned about Christian values by spending time with you.
III. What did God do (See Ezekiel 36:22-27)? He vindicated His holy name not by another round of wrath poured out on Israel but by a demonstration of His grace. The people of God, who were once holy, had become desecrated, and so, needed to be reconsecrated! God determined to bring them back to the land He had given them. But before this could happen, He had to do two things:
A. First, He cleansed them (See Ezekiel 36:24-25). God would purify them from their sin. The language used here is used elsewhere of the consecration of priests (See Exodus 29:4) and Levites (See Numbers 8:6-7). The water symbolized an internal cleansing from sin performed by God. It was a necessary condition to reestablishing the spiritual relationship between Israel and their God (See Hebrews 10:22).
B. Then, He sanctified them (See Ezekiel 36: 26-27). God removed Israel’s heart of stone and provided for them a new one of flesh, a soft and tender one that was responsive to His will. In addition, He put a new spirit (His Spirit--See John 14:16) within them that would result in a lifestyle characterized by holiness. Then, they would be able to obey Him. Application: What a surprise to Ezekiel this message of God must have been! God deliberately set aside His wrath and acted graciously toward His people for His name’s sake. God is doing the same thing today. There is a day of wrath that is coming (See Romans 2:5), but God has intentionally delayed it that we might become trophies of His grace. Psalm 23:3 tells us why: "He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake." (Present the Gospel and an invitation to receive Christ.)
Conclusion: There is but one hope that we have for restoring the reputation of God in this world. We must trust God to do something for us that we are incapable of doing for ourselves...to cleanse us from sin and to provide the power to live holy lives for His name’s sake. Beth Murray shares, "During a play which our youth group wrote and performed at a conference, the actor who was playing the part of a leper started across the stage. He waved people away from himself and yelled, "Unclean, unclean!" As he was doing this, a fake rubber hand flew out of his sleeve and onto the floor. The actor who played Jesus then entered the scene and picked up the rubber hand. Walking over to the leper and tapping him on the shoulder, he suggested, "Excuse me, but you look like you could use a hand!" Couldn’t we all! The One who can make a leper clean is the same One who can make us clean and give us a new heart and a new spirit.
