John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 12:15

"And they shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall disperse them among the nations, and scatter them through the countries." — Ezekiel 12:15 (ASV)

Here God insults both Jews and Israelites who had united themselves. He says that He would display His power in such a way that they would be compelled to acknowledge Him, but to their own destruction. Experiential knowledge is sometimes attributed to the faithful, because when we are too slow to learn, God shows us His power by sure proofs.

But what is said here should be restricted to the reprobate and abandoned, who do not acknowledge God except in death. Yet Zedekiah was not entirely without the fear of God: he reverenced Jeremiah, and the seed of piety was not altogether extinct in his mind. As for the people, since they offered the daily sacrifice, they certainly cherished some opinion of God’s favor, and also of His power.

But because they despised the Prophets, they were altogether unsubdued and made a laughing-stock of their threats, and for this reason they are said not to acknowledge God. And we must diligently notice this. For the impious do not think themselves so stupid as to refuse God His just honor; yet when God calls them, they turn their backs: when He sets His message before them, even for their own advantage, they are not only deaf and stop their ears, but they are even riotous and deride all His threats like idle stories.

But it is certain that no knowledge of God can flourish when such contempt for His doctrine prevails. For this reason He now says, at length the Jews shall know, because this contempt hindered them from ascribing praise to God for His power; for they had been terrified by even His nod.

Jeremiah had assiduously instructed them in God’s Word, but they were so hardened that they treated it as nothing. The threat then is most grievous, as if God had said, "When I smite you with My hand, you shall feel Me to be God."

Let us learn then to acknowledge God promptly by faith, because this is the fitting opportunity for salutary knowledge. Let us not abuse His patience while He rages against us with an outstretched hand and fiercely pursues us.

Sometimes, indeed, He chastises His own people for their good; but when it happens that there is no hope of repentance for the reprobate, then He reduces them to nothing.