Eze 11:18 | KingComments | STEP | The inhabitants of Jerusalem see the removed ones as rejected by God, while they consider themselves the faithful Jews. To their presumption, God responds with promises for those who are carried away into exile ( ). These are the first promises of restoration in this book. God may have removed them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, but there He will be with them. They may be deprived of the beautiful temple and the service therein, but He Himself will be a sanctuary for them in the foreign land (cf. ). They will experience His presence in a special way. For them, the presence of God is no longer connected to a particular building (cf. ). In the time in which we live, a time in which the children of God are also scattered (cf. ), it is a great encouragement for us to know and experience that the Lord Jesus wants to be a sanctuary for us, even if we are only a few ( ). For the exiles, He will be a sanctuary only for a little while. “Little while” can also mean “limited”. That He is a limited sanctuary for them in Babylon, then, should be understood to mean that they have no temple and cannot perform temple service and have no place to go during the feasts of the LORD. As a result, they are limited in the expressions of their service to God. But God Himself is their sanctuary and that, of course, cannot be limited. For those who put their trust in Him, He does not limit Himself to a building and statutes. That He will be their sanctuary for a little while, in the sense of for a short time, in the countries to which they are scattered, implies that the exile will come to an end. To this thought connects the next verse, in which the promise of return to their land is given ( ). He will gather them out of all the countries to which they have been driven, and will give them the land of Israel. Here the LORD gives this promise even before the whole people are removed out of the land. A first, provisional fulfillment, on a very small scale, is the return of a remnant in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. In our days, we experience in the return of the Jews to their land the beginning of the final fulfillment of this promise in the end time. When the final fulfillment takes place, the Jews will remove idols and idolatry from the land ( ). Those abominable idols and abominations are the things that the antichrist will introduce. This situation will arise in Israel after the rapture of the church. That they return and remove idolatry is the result of the new heart the LORD gives them ( ; cf. ). He gives that new heart in place of their heart of stone. The giving of new life and a new spirit is His work. Only God can change a sinner. A heart of stone is stolid and hard. A fleshly heart is one that responds to the Word of God with faith and obedience. Because of that new heart, they will live from a different spirit. They will have one heart. This means that all double-mindedness and hypocrisy are gone ( ). It also means that they will live in unity, that they will serve the LORD one in mind and one in feeling. God is foretelling a spiritual renewal here ( ). Then they will obey Him and respond to His desires ( ). The connection between them as His people and Him as their God ( ; ) will then be fully restored to the great joy of God and also of His people. This will become a reality in the realm of peace. Exiles who do not repent and those who have not been taken away and remain in Jerusalem persist in their idolatry ( ). They go with their hearts “after their detestable things and abominations”. Literally it says: “And to the heart of their detestable things and their abomination their heart goes.” Gods of silver and gold have no heart, no life. Demons do. The hearts of the demons and the hearts of the idol worshipers connect. The LORD will cause them to perish in their own abominable acts.

‏ Ezekiel 11:18

Promise of Restoration

The inhabitants of Jerusalem see the removed ones as rejected by God, while they consider themselves the faithful Jews. To their presumption, God responds with promises for those who are carried away into exile (Eze 11:16). These are the first promises of restoration in this book. God may have removed them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, but there He will be with them. They may be deprived of the beautiful temple and the service therein, but He Himself will be a sanctuary for them in the foreign land (cf. Isa 57:15a).

They will experience His presence in a special way. For them, the presence of God is no longer connected to a particular building (cf. Jn 4:21 ; 24). In the time in which we live, a time in which the children of God are also scattered (cf. Jn 11:52), it is a great encouragement for us to know and experience that the Lord Jesus wants to be a sanctuary for us, even if we are only a few (Mt 18:20).

For the exiles, He will be a sanctuary only for a little while. “Little while” can also mean “limited”. That He is a limited sanctuary for them in Babylon, then, should be understood to mean that they have no temple and cannot perform temple service and have no place to go during the feasts of the LORD. As a result, they are limited in the expressions of their service to God. But God Himself is their sanctuary and that, of course, cannot be limited. For those who put their trust in Him, He does not limit Himself to a building and statutes.

That He will be their sanctuary for a little while, in the sense of for a short time, in the countries to which they are scattered, implies that the exile will come to an end. To this thought connects the next verse, in which the promise of return to their land is given (Eze 11:17). He will gather them out of all the countries to which they have been driven, and will give them the land of Israel.

Here the LORD gives this promise even before the whole people are removed out of the land. A first, provisional fulfillment, on a very small scale, is the return of a remnant in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. In our days, we experience in the return of the Jews to their land the beginning of the final fulfillment of this promise in the end time.

When the final fulfillment takes place, the Jews will remove idols and idolatry from the land (Eze 11:18). Those abominable idols and abominations are the things that the antichrist will introduce. This situation will arise in Israel after the rapture of the church.

That they return and remove idolatry is the result of the new heart the LORD gives them (Eze 11:19; cf. Deu 30:5-6). He gives that new heart in place of their heart of stone. The giving of new life and a new spirit is His work. Only God can change a sinner. A heart of stone is stolid and hard. A fleshly heart is one that responds to the Word of God with faith and obedience.

Because of that new heart, they will live from a different spirit. They will have one heart. This means that all double-mindedness and hypocrisy are gone (Psa 86:11). It also means that they will live in unity, that they will serve the LORD one in mind and one in feeling.

God is foretelling a spiritual renewal here (Eze 36:24-26). Then they will obey Him and respond to His desires (Eze 11:20). The connection between them as His people and Him as their God (Jer 11:4 ; Jer 24:7 ; Jer 30:22 ; Jer 31:1 ; 33 ; Jer 32:38; Eze 14:11 ; Eze 36:28 ; Eze 37:23 ; 27) will then be fully restored to the great joy of God and also of His people. This will become a reality in the realm of peace.

Exiles who do not repent and those who have not been taken away and remain in Jerusalem persist in their idolatry (Eze 11:21). They go with their hearts “after their detestable things and abominations”. Literally it says: “And to the heart of their detestable things and their abomination their heart goes.” Gods of silver and gold have no heart, no life. Demons do. The hearts of the demons and the hearts of the idol worshipers connect. The LORD will cause them to perish in their own abominable acts.