But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the Lord, and yet they had to go out of his land.’ But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. “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.
Ron Daniel comments on Ezekiel 36:20-23
The Jews were carried off into captivity, which made the other nations say, “What’s the deal? Aren’t these ‘God’s people’? If their God is so great, then why were we able to remove ‘God’s people’ from ‘God’s land’ that He supposedly gave to them?” God’s response is that He would not tolerate this profaning of His name. He tells Israel that He is about to act – not for their sake, but for the sake of His name. He is going to “vindicate the holiness” of His name. In Hebrew, that is just the one word (Kaw-DASH), meaning “make holy, consecrate, sanctify.” God is going to insure that His name is set apart from all the other so-called gods of the nations. He is going to prove Himself strong by bringing the Jews back into the land in plain sight of the nations.
Knowing God through His Word ... Day by Day 