16 The word of the Lord came to me: 17 “Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their ways and their deeds. Their ways before me were like the uncleanness of a woman in her menstrual impurity. 18 So I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood that they had shed in the land, for the idols with which they had defiled it. 19 I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries. In accordance with their ways and their deeds I judged them. 20 But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ 21 But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came.
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 the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.
Ezekiel now gives us an historical interlude, in which he surveys the past experience of his people. The reason, we are told, why they had been scattered and dispersed into captivity was that they had sinned in God's sight, and forfeited the right to be called His people. The heathen nations spoke contemptuously of the God of Israel because of their profaning of His Name. It is for this reason that God now says, 'I had pity for mine holy name ... I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake ...' (21, 22). This may sound somewhat harsh or unfamiliar to us - and, indeed, if it were a human being speaking, it would be open to misunderstanding; but for God to be concerned with His own glory is the rightest thing in the whole universe. The fact that we think this strange is a measure of how man-centred we are in our thinking. The greatest thing in the world is the glory of God's great name, it is literally the only thing that matters, and the only ultimately justifiable cause for doing anything. There is something very amazing and mysterious about the fact that God acts in mercy towards men, not because there is anything in them that calls it out, but because of His great name. That is how God acts: He brings glory to His name in manifesting His mercy towards those who have forfeited the right to mercy. Nor does this militate against any idea of the divine love, for His love is not in question here, and not under discussion. His judgment of His people had reflected on His name, causing the heathen to think lightly of a God who allowed them to be treated so; therefore, to rehabilitate His name among the heathen, He now proceeded to rescue and restore them, renewing His covenant with them.