Ezekiel 36:16

"Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. Wherefore I poured out my wrath upon them for the blood which they had poured out upon the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols; and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they came unto the nations, wither they went, they profaned my holy name, in that men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah, and are gone forth out of the land. But I had regard for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, whither they went."

THE REASON FOR ISRAEL'S PUNISHMENT (Ezekiel 36:16-21)

"As the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity ..." (Ezekiel 36:19). The significance of this comparison lies in the fact that the Mosaic law required that a woman "in her uncleanness" was separated from the congregation (Leviticus 15:19ff), the point being in the case of Israel that their "uncleanness" was of a type that required them to be separated from the land of Israel.

"When they came into the nations ..." (Ezekiel 36:20). This paragraph points out that the continued profanation of the name of Jehovah in those countries where Israel had been scattered was due to what the citizens of those nations were saying.

"In that the men said of them, These are the people of Jehovah ..." (Ezekiel 36:20). The implication of pagan enemies in such remarks was that Jehovah was an incompetent and impotent god, unable to protect his people. Although not mentioned by Ezekiel here, Israel was to blame for the blasphemy that rose among the pagan nations in other ways. Paul clearly stated in Romans 2:21-24 that, "The Jews were thieves, adulterers, robbers of temples, idolaters, and transgressors of the law, and that they dishonored the name of God," by reason of whom, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles." What Ezekiel says here in no way nullifies what Paul said.

The principal teaching of this whole paragraph is that the conduct of Israel, not only when they dwelt in Palestine, but afterward in the countries where they were scattered, fully justified and even demanded that God remove them from the promised land.