Christian teaching

We saw that Ezekiel 36 was in important background text for understanding the meaning of the first request – “hallowed be your name.”

Ezekiel 36:22-24 says,

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.”

There is a hallowing process that God uses to glorify his name: 1. God acts; 2. through and for his people; and 3. the nations come to know and glorify God. This is what we are asking for when we pray this first request  – that God would act in this way.

But the Ezekiel text goes on in vs. 25-28 and shows us that there is a connection between the hallowing request and the kingdom request:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

How does God glorify his name? God does it precisely by bringing forth his kingdom. Notice the parallel in Ezekiel 36 to what we looked at in the teaching on “Your kingdom come.” God brings forth his kingdom by acting in power:

• To set the captives free. In Ezekiel 36:24/28 Israel is brought out of exile into its own land
• To spiritually transform us. In Ezekiel 36:26-27 Israel is  spiritually transformed. They receive a new heart. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you,
• The result is that God’s will is done. In Ezekiel 36:27 Israel is caused to do God’s will as a result of God’s action.  “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.”

So it is through these action on behalf of his people – through bringing the kingdom into reality for them, that God’s name is hallowed before the nations.

Other observations:

• Is Jesus’ ministry of calling Israel out of captivity and to new life in the kingdom a parallel to this text or even a direct fulfillment of this text (as N.T. Wright never ceases to say)?
• In Ezekiel 36 this was an unfaithful people. God acted to bring them out of captivity. But with his faithful ones, for instance Jesus, God acts through them to bring others out of captivity.
• The other parts of the Lord’s prayer are probably not connected to this text as some seek to do.

William