Ezekiel 6:8-10

B. A Confident Expectation 6:8-10

TRANSLATION

(8) But I will leave a remnant, in that you shall have those who escaped the sword among the nations when you are scattered among the lands. (9) And those of you who escape shall remember Me among the nations where they have been taken captive, that I was shattered by their adulterous heart which turned aside from Me, and by their eyes which committed adultery after their idols; and they shall loath themselves in their sight for the evils which they committed, for all their abominations. (10) And they shall know that I am the LORD; not in vain have I said that I would do this evil to them.

COMMENTS

Not all would die in the carnage and bloodshed which would befall Judah. A remnant would survive on foreign soil (Ezekiel 6:8). In the midst of the thundering severity of God's wrath the prophet underscores the tenderness of God's mercy. The nation is rejected and is doomed for extinction; faithful individuals would be spared. These godly souls would become the prototype and the nucleus of the New Testament Israel of God.[177] The nation would die in 587 B.C., but faith would live on. Four facts about the remnant are brought out in these verses:

[177] Key passages for the study of the remnant theme in the Old Testament are Isaiah 1:9; Isaiah 10:20, Jeremiah 43:5; Zephaniah 2:7; Zephaniah 3:13, Zechariah 10:9; Romans 9:6; Romans 9:13; Ezekiel 11:5.

1. This remnant would remember the Lord among the nations where they had been taken captive. The word remember implies more than the recollection of past events. The exiles would seek to restore their relationship to God by repentance.

2. When they remember the Lord, the remnant for the first time would come to realize the anguish[178] which their loving Father had experienced when they with adulterous hearts turned away from Him to cast their lustful eyes upon pagan idols. Those wanton hearts would be changed. In the fires of punishment and persecution the surviving remnant was purged of impurity,

[178] Literally, I have been broken or shattered. The RSV has followed some of the ancient versions by rendering, when I have broken their whorish heart.

3. The remnant would come to loath themselves for the evils which they committed. They would then regard all their idols as abominations (Ezekiel 6:9). Abomination is a favorite term of Ezekiel for a practice which led to religious impurity. He uses this term mainly of idolatry, but sometimes of adultery.

4. The remnant will know in that day that Yahweh is sovereign God. His word had not been spoken in vain (Ezekiel 6:10). The ultimate aim of the national chastisement was to produce a faithful remnant. God's purpose would thus be accomplished.