16 God's Message came to me: 17 "Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they polluted it by the way they lived. I poured out my anger on them because of the polluted blood they poured out on the ground. 18 And so I got thoroughly angry with them polluting the country with their wanton murders and dirty gods. 19 I kicked them out, exiled them to other countries. I sentenced them according to how they had lived. 20 Wherever they went, they gave me a bad name. People said, 'These are God's people, but they got kicked off his land.' 21 I suffered much pain over my holy reputation, which the people of Israel blackened in every country they entered.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Ezekiel 36:16-21
Commentary on Ezekiel 36:16-24
(Read Ezekiel 36:16-24)
The restoration of that people, being typical of our redemption by Christ, shows that the end aimed at in our salvation is the glory of God. The sin of a people defiles their land; renders it abominable to God, and uncomfortable to themselves. God's holy name is his great name; his holiness is his greatness, nor does any thing else make a man truly great.