In this last paragraph of Ezekiel 39, Israel is
restored by God. Gog and his host had been exterminated. Whatever fortune
Israel had lost would be restored to her. God’s mercy would also be shown to
His people. And He would zealously guard over His Holy name. Through
these verses, we cannot get away from seeing the blessings that one would enjoy
when one's relationship with God is restored.
Verse 26 says that when His people had dwelt securely in the land,
they would no longer remember their disgrace and all the treacheries they had
perpetrated against Him. This is grace. It is by way of saying that God had forgiven
and erased whatever effect of their sin committed against Him.
God’s people would be restored
to the land, and He would sanctify and make them His set-apart people. They
would, henceforth, live in close relationship with Him and He would be their
savior and redeemer.
Through all that had happened
to them, God’s covenant people would realize and know God, their covenant Lord. It was He who had
allowed the enemy to carry them into exile and then would bring them back into
their homeland, leaving none behind. There they would experience His presence
as He poured out His Spirit upon them.
While this passage talks about God’s
dealing with Israel and their restoration, it also anticipates ours. This is
the grace of God. In Christ and His work at Calvary, we are initiated into the
blessings of a restored relationship with God. In Him, we are reconciled to
God. Our sinful past is removed, and we are given a new life. In Second
Corinthians 5:17, that assurance is that in Christ our old sinful nature is
erased, and we have a new start to living. We can experience God’s perpetual
presence in our life.
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