John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 6:8

"Yet will I leave a remnant, in that ye shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries." — Ezekiel 6:8 (ASV)

Yet here another promise is added, which may temper the bitterness of so sorrowful a prophecy. For until now God shows that He burns with indignation against the land of Israel, so that He determined to destroy it, since it was polluted everywhere, and at all corners. Nothing could therefore be hoped for, if Ezekiel had spoken precisely; therefore a promise is added in mitigation—I will leave a remnant, says He, that you may have some who escape the sword; that is, that some of you may survive.

But how? God does not promise simple pardon, so that He may leave the Israelites quiet and safe in the land, but He says that their safety will be in exile. From this, therefore, we gather that they were so depraved that they were unable to obtain pardon, because God says that His patience was their scorn and aversion. Although, therefore, He gives the Israelites some hope of favor, yet He also admonishes them that they could not obtain safety in any other way, except by a kind of death, namely exile.

I will leave a remnant, He says, of you, who shall escape the sword; but how? Whom will the enemy have spared so that they do not change their place? No, He says, when you shall be dispersed among the Gentiles. He promises them life, therefore, but a wretched one, because it was united with exile. But God’s favor cannot be sufficiently appreciated from these words, unless what immediately follows is added.