Charles Spurgeon Commentary Ezekiel 36:22-23

"Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I do not [this] for your sake, O house of Israel, but for my holy name, which ye have profaned among the nations, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which hath been profaned among the nations, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the nations shall know that I am Jehovah, saith the Lord Jehovah, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes." — Ezekiel 36:22-23 (ASV)

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the LORD GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the LORD GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

Brethren, what must God think of a nation like ours which has come to be called by his name, although it so little deserves that great honour? What, I say, must he think of the fact that if there are any vices yet unknown, white men will teach them to the heathen, and when the heathen have heard the Gospel, the great sources of doubt are the white men – Englishmen.

Very often the greatest oppressors will spring from our own nation. Certainly, we hold the belt for drunkenness, and where our fellow countrymen go, the name of Christianity is debased among the heathen. The Muslim says of such a man, "He has been drunk and turned a Christian." I will grant that much that is said is said unwisely, untruthfully, and slanderously in exaggeration, for these men are no Christians.

They do not know the Lord. It is not a Christian country: it is a heathen country, as some of us know, not only by what we read, but by what we see and hear. Can you walk the streets without hearing blasphemies more wicked than might be heard in any streets under heaven? This is a heathen country, but yet it has somehow come to be thought to be a Christian country; and therefore its conduct is bringing dishonour upon the name of the Most High.

Oh! that he would have pity upon that name, and interpose, and once more establish the truth and set up a throne of righteousness, and turn the hearts of the people to himself in this country! Oh! that it were so, for his great name's sake! He cannot bless us for our own sakes, for we deserve nothing but his wrath; but, oh! that he would once again have pity upon his holy name that is profaned, and bless this, our land. The Lord goes on to say concerning his people: –