They Shall Know: One Reason God Does What He Does
“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 the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
-Ezekiel 36:22-23, ESV
Why does God do what He does? In one sense, this is a dangerous question. God’s ways and thoughts are as high above us as the heavens are above the earth (Isaiah 55:8-9). But while the secret things belong to God alone, what He has revealed in His Word belongs to us (Deuteronomy 29:29)—and He has actually revealed much about why He acts as He does. One reason appears 72 times in Ezekiel: that both God’s people and enemies would know that He is God. Many of these are in the context of judgment on the Jews and their neighbors, but some are in the context of blessing as well.
The Theme of Ezekiel
Many parts of the Old Testament are challenging for various reasons, but when it comes to comprehension, the prophets have an unparalleled level of difficulty. This is especially true of Ezekiel, who prophesied during the Babylonian exile. The exile happened over many years before coming to its climax with the destruction of Jerusalem. Thus, many who were left doubted that God would actually cause the city to be destroyed, so it is to them that God speaks through Ezekiel. The book begins with a startling vision of God’s glory that has puzzled commentators for centuries. In this vision, he is called by God to go and prophesy to His stubborn and rebellions people (Ezekiel 2:3). Then God gives a string of prophecies against the Jews, calling out their sins and warning of the coming siege and ultimate destruction of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4-7) before showing Ezekiel a vision of Jerusalem and its sin culminating with the departure of God’s glorious presence from the Temple—first out of the Holy of Holies then out of the Temple complex and finally from Jerusalem entirely via the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 8-11 cf. Zechariah 14:4). The prophecies then focus on the sins of the people and their leaders as well as the coming destruction of Jerusalem and complete exile of the people (Ezekiel 12-23). When the siege of Jerusalem begins, Ezekiel’s wife dies (Ezekiel 24) and the focus of prophecy shifts to judgment against Israel’s neighbors: Amon, Moab, Edom, and Philistia (Ezekiel 25) then Tyre and Sidon (Ezekiel 26-28) and Egypt (Ezekiel 29-32). God then returns to judgment against Israel when Jerusalem falls (Ezekiel 33-34) before condemning Edom again (Ezekiel 35). The focus of the prophecy then shifts to the restoration of God’s people with the promise of their return from exile and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 36) that would be a mass spiritual resurrection in which God would dwell with and unify His people (Ezekiel 37). God then decrees destruction against Gog (Ezekiel 38-39), ending with the last “they shall know” of the book:
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery they have practiced against me, when they dwell securely in their land with none to make them afraid, when I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them from their enemies’ lands, and through them have vindicated my holiness in the sight of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, because I sent them into exile among the nations and then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nations anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.
-Ezekiel 39:25-29, ESV
The book ends with God showing Ezekiel a detailed vision of a new Temple (Ezekiel 40-42) with the glory of God returning in a mirror of its earlier departure (Ezekiel 43). The vision then details a restored priesthood and a righteous Prince (Ezekiel 44). This Prince would rule a restored Holy Land centered on the Temple, complete with a river flowing from the Temple and trees bearing fruit year-round with leaves healing the nations (Ezekiel 45-48 cf. Revelation 22). It is within this context that God repeatedly declares that He will both judge Israel and their neighbors and restore Israel so that everyone will know that He is the LORD.
The Sin of Israel…and Us
Before we look at the ways that people will know that the LORD is God, we need to pause to consider the sins of Judah that bring God’s condemnation throughout Ezekiel. We have previously seen how Judah sinned by choosing to obey some of God’s commands while disobeying others. Judah would ultimately commit the same sins as Israel, listed in Ezekiel 22. They shed much innocent blood, treated parents with contempt, extorted foreigners, wronged widows and orphans, despised the Sabbath, slandered others, and worshipped idols. They were sexually promiscuous, took bribes, extorted others, and ultimately forgot God. This brought about God’s wrath through the Babylonians who ultimately destroyed Jerusalem, killing most of the Jews and carrying the rest into captivity. Four centuries later, they would add to this sin by murdering Jesus Christ and then persecuting His Church. God promised to destroy anyone who destroys His Church (1 Corinthians 3:17), so Jesus decreed that God’s wrath for every drop of innocent blood spilt in the Old Testament would fall on the Jews (Matthew 23:35) who had forgotten how God had restored them from the Babylonian exile and instead made themselves enemies of God and His true People.
Now, before I am accused of antisemitism, I must make one thing very clear: I am not talking about the Jews of today. The Jews of the First Century murdered Jesus and persecuted His Church, thereby putting themselves under the curse of God’s wrath. Throughout Scripture, we see that God shows extraordinary patience in delaying His wrath, but also that it will come. God’s wrath builds to a climax, after which point it is complete. So God tells Ezekiel that He will spend (Ezekiel 13:15, 20:8) and satisfy (Ezekiel 16:38) His wrath. The First Century Jews were destroyed when God poured out His wrath on them with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. Just as the Jews of today have no special blessing since they have been replaced by the Church as the visible representation of God’s people, they also have no special curse. With the destruction of the guilty First Century Jews, the last distinction between Jews and Gentiles was removed, so all have sinned against God and all find grace in Jesus Christ. Finally, when faced with any declaration of judgment against the Jews in Scripture, we must not be proud but fear, remembering that God did not spare them so He will not spare us if we fall away (Romans 11:19-22). Plus, we commit many of the same sins. Our abomination of abortion is worse than their human sacrifice. Our glorification of sex puts theirs to shame, not to mention our abhorrent embrace of homosexuality and gender confusion. The American Church has its own pantheon of idols, ignores the Sabbath, and disregards both the Law and New Testament commands, overlooking or even celebrating a myriad of other sins. So Ezekiel likewise calls us to repent or God will show us and the world that He is God by destroying us as He destroyed the Jews of Ezekiel’s day and the First Century. One way or another, He will make Himself known.
God’s People Will Know Him When They Are Judged
The first way God makes Himself known in Ezekiel is to His People when He judges them, including the first use of the phrase. God declares that when Jerusalem is destroyed, the Jews will become keenly aware that He is God:
Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity….Thus shall my anger spend itself, and I will vent my fury upon them and satisfy myself. And they shall know that I am the LORD—that I have spoken in my jealousy—when I spend my fury upon them.
-Ezekiel 5:11,13, ESV
Another example comes at the end of a parable depicting Israel and Judah as two adulterous sisters. At this point, Judah had already seen God’s wrath poured out on Israel with the annihilation of the northern tribes by Assyria, so when they saw the same thing happening to then, they would know that God was likewise judging them for their sin:
And the host shall stone them and cut them down with their swords. They shall kill their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses. Thus will I put an end to lewdness in the land, that all women may take warning and not commit lewdness as you have done. And they shall return your lewdness upon you, and you shall bear the penalty for your sinful idolatry, and you shall know that I am the Lord GOD.”
-Ezekiel 23:47-49, ESV
When God judges His people, He proves that He is God through his sovereignty over all people and events, displaying His justice, and that He is true to His Word. Ever since the Mosaic covenant curses (Deuteronomy 28), God had promised this destruction as punishment for sinning against Him, so when He fulfills those promises, He is declaring Himself to be God.
God’s People Will Know Him When Prophecies Are Fulfilled
Another way God’s people know that He is God is when He fulfills specific prophecies. The Jews were convinced that they would die during the siege in Jerusalem, but God said they would instead be judged at Israel’s border.
You shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the LORD. This city shall not be your cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in the midst of it. I will judge you at the border of Israel, and you shall know that I am the LORD. For you have not walked in my statutes, nor obeyed my rules, but have acted according to the rules of the nations that are around you.”
-Ezekiel 11:10-12, ESV
So as they were being led captive out of Jerusalem to Riblah—over 200 miles away—the exiles would know that God was sovereign over every detail. As the siege was happening, God told Ezekiel that his wife would die suddenly, commanding him not to publicly mourn for her. This was a sign that the Jews in Jerusalem would likewise not mourn since death would be so prevalent all around them: “Thus shall Ezekiel be to you a sign; according to all that he has done you shall do. When this comes, then you will know that I am the Lord GOD.” (Ezekiel 24:24). Only our omniscient and omnipotent God can orchestrate every detail like that, so when He fulfills specific prophecies He declares Himself to His people.
God’s People Will Know Him When He Redeems Them
God certainly shows who He is though His judgment, but He shows Himself even more through His work of salvation, redemption, and restoration. While the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon certainly displayed God’s power, in a sense it is not all that remarkable: powerful nations destroyed and displaced other nations all the time. But for a nation to be destroyed and its people scattered to then be restored and brought back to their original land would be unprecedented. Yet that is exactly what God promised to do to the Jewish exiles who survived His judgment—and it would be even more remarkable than the exodus (Jeremiah 16:14-15). He was essentially resurrecting a nation: “And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people” (Ezekiel 37:13). Even more amazing is the promised spiritual resurrection: “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD” (Ezekiel 37:14). As God’s people experience His amazing grace, it brings about faith and repentance with both gratitude and a profound consciousness of sin:
And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all your deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you shall loathe yourselves for all the evils that you have committed. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, declares the Lord GOD.”
-Ezekiel 20:42-44, ESV
In salvation, God declares who He is in ways mere judgment cannot, but an understanding of judgment enhances that declaration. When the diamond of salvation is held against the black velvet of judgment, the many facets of God’s character are put on dazzling display. After all, it was after the golden calf incident that God gave Moses this glorious description of Himself:
The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”
-Exodus 34:6-7, ESV
This declaration would lack much of its luster if divorced from consciousness of sin through judgment. Mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13), so the more we understand the magnitude of that judgment, the more we will appreciate the triumph of mercy. The exiles knew they should have perished in the siege or in captivity, but instead God brought them back to the Promised Land. And on top of that, God promised to not only restore them but to bless them far beyond their former state. At the end of another parable describing Judah as an adulteress, God says this: “I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the LORD, that you may remember and be confounded, and never open your mouth again because of your shame, when I atone for you for all that you have done, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 16:62-63). Here, God promises the Jews will be blown away by His grace as they recall their former sins and appreciated the magnitude of God’s atonement. The Sabbath should have that effect as well (Ezekiel 20:12,20). God’s justice and mercy should similarly impact us. The fact that we are so infrequently blown away by the Gospel is evidence that we don’t truly understand it.
All People Will Know Him When He Judges the Nations
This juxtaposition of justice and mercy is always a hallmark of God’s work of judgment and salvation for His people, but for those who are not His people the judgment itself displays to them—and to God’s people—who God is. So God’s decrees of judgment against the surrounding nations include numerous statements that both they and the Jews would know that the LORD is God when that judgment is seen (Ezekiel 25:5-17, 28:22-26, 29:9-21, 30:8-26, 35:4-12, 38:14-39:14). God’s judgment against those who are not His people is therefore devoid of the mercy that accompanies judgment of His own people. He is still merciful in delaying judgment, but His mercy in this case does not extend to salvation. So God’s judgment on the nations should cause us to be all the more thankful for His mercy on us and should drive us to pray that God’s enemies would repent of their sins, trust in Christ, and thereby become His people.
One of the primary reasons in Scripture that God pours our His wrath—and accomplishes salvation for us—is to show us and the world who He is. Observing His judgment and mercy should leave us in awe of His nature and of the Gospel, keep us humble in remembering our sin, and be forever grateful that He has elected us to be His people rather than His enemies. So let us stand in awe of God’s nature as displayed by His mercy and judgment and take comfort in His sovereignty, knowing that while He is satisfied in His justice, He truly delights in His mercy:
“And you, son of man, say to the house of Israel, Thus have you said: ‘Surely our transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we rot away because of them. How then can we live?’ Say to them, As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel?” -Ezekiel 33:10-11, ESV
