36:16-21
So we have just heard that the enemies of Israel will be defeated and will trouble Israel no more. But they were only part of the problem, indeed they were a symptom of the problem, rather than being the problem itself. The real problem was the sin of Israel. When they lived in the land of Israel they defiled it (v17). The attacks of other nations and the dispersal of Israel to various nations was an act of the wrath of God, His judgement upon their sinfulness. They even profaned the name of the Lord in the nations they were dispersed to. The lands they went to knew that they had been cast out of Israel. “I had concern for my name ...” Now we will read that the things that God is going to do are being done for the sake of His Name. We might jar at this, thinking it is rather presumptuous of God, rather egotistical of Him. But such a reaction demonstrates the corruption in our own hearts. God is worthy of praise, and not to praise Him is a hideous thing. God is first in all things. He is the creator, we are the created. We really need to get a hold of this crucial distinction.
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