Vindication

Ezekiel 36:23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name … and the nations will know that I am the Lord when I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.

 I looked up the word “vindicate” in the dictionary because it is not a word we use very often in our daily language and I am glad I did so because it gave me much more food for thought as I meditated on this verse.  To vindicate means to clear, as from an accusation, to justify, or to defend against opposition, or to assert one’s right to a possession.  What great understanding as to what God is telling His people here!  He is accused, even in our day, of being an unloving or harsh dictator and His goal is to clear His name from such an accusation by saving people from sin and wickedness.  By His powerful actions of salvation and provision and His miraculous ways of rescuing people from spiritual and physical danger He is defending Himself to man and to Satan, and He is asserting His right to His children and to His holy name.  When I see God at work in my own life or in the lives of those around me, I am seeing God vindicate His great name.  And when I reach heaven, whether at death or at Jesus’ Second Coming, God will have vindicated His holiness completely, without question, for eternity.  And, as Ezekiel reminds us in just about every chapter of the book at least one time, then the nations will know that He is the Lord.  He has done, is doing, and will continue to do everything He can to convince people to worship Him and Him alone.