God now explains His actions. The people had defiled the land by their conduct. When they were scattered they profaned the Lord's name wherever they went. Ie the circumstances changed, but it made no difference to the fruit of the people. In our own lives the fruit we produce is not determined by our circumstances, but by our hearts. On the one hand it is no use blaming circumstances, for changing them will not change us, and so will not change the fruit. On the other, we need never fear, for circumstances do not determine the outcome of our lives. Our hearts determine the outcome of our lives. If our hearts are in tune with God's heart, then we will be overcomers, whatever the circumstances.
God then states quite clearly that the things he is about to do are done for the sake of His name, not for our sake. At first this may offend us, or make us think that this then is just a selfish act on God's behalf and that He doesn't really care about us. However, we get a better picture of what God means if we consider the words of Jesus when He tells us that if we try to save our lives we will lose them, but if we lose our lives for His sake we will find them. The root of the fall, of rebellion, is thinking that we can live life by our own efforts, by our own wisdom. When we do this we have to "live for our sake", we become self-centred. We focus everything on "me", not always in a selfish manner, but we think we are the centre of it all. When we come to God, we are to make Him the centre of it all. We live for Him, we make Him the focus and the centre. We are not to worry about our own reputation, but only about His Name. Paradoxically, when we do this we find that we have more freedom, more independence, more life. Just as Jesus says we will.
God outlines what He will do, and we see that it is actually for our good. He will restore us, and cleanse us. He will give us a new heart, a heart of flesh. He will give His Spirit to us, and the Spirit will lead us to do His will. We see all this in the gospel. Christ died for our sins, and we are cleansed by His blood. Moreover, He gives us the Holy Spirit, who comes to live within us and we are born again.
This will lead to fruitfulness in our lives. God again emphasises that He is not doing this for our sake. Why does He say this? Well, we often see people whose lives benefit from something God does, they may even have been believers. But then they think that God has done this for their sake, and they once again start to live life for their own sake, in their own strength. We can only live if we live for God.
When we do turn to God it brings complete restoration, and we become people who spread blessing around us.
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