Our Father Hallowed Be Thy Name

Jesus taught His disciples to pray that God’s Name be hallowed. To hallow is to set something apart as being above all others. To treat it as holy! The first commandment is to love God with all one’s substance. When somebody deeply loves another, he or she treats that person’s name as very precious. Like music to their ears!

In Ezekiel 19:1, the Lord calls Ezekiel to take up a lament for the princes of his people. In fact, large portions of the books of the prophets are laments. They lament for the way people who are called by God’s Name have profaned His Name. Has the Holy Spirit ever blessed you to lament over the ways in which God is mistreated? I thank the Lord for lamentations. Nothing gets better until we lament over the ways in which we have grieved God, ask Him to forgive us, and ask Him to help us love Him as we should.

In this article, I will highlight some of the ways in which God’s Name is not hallowed. May the Heavenly Father grant you grace and peace through His Son Jesus Christ to listen to His voice speaking through His holy Word.

One passage particularly caught my attention in this prophecy. In Ezekiel 22:19-22, the Lord said to those who were profaning His Name, “I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. ...I will leave you there and melt you. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury on you.” This sounds like a nuclear holocaust, or worse, hell. Which is what we deserve when we treat our Creator and Redeemer as trash. In such a case, we are the trash, not He.

“Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, and say: ‘What is your mother? A lioness: she lay down among the lions; among the young lions she nourished her cubs. She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion; he learned to catch prey, and he devoured men. The nations also heard of him; he was trapped in their pit, and they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.” Ezekiel 19:1-4

The princes in this passage refer to the sons of King Josiah. Josiah was a godly king, but his sons did not hallow God’s Name. They defiled His Name by the evil deeds that they committed.

God refers to Judah as a lioness, but this is not a compliment. She is destructive. The young lion she brought up refers to King Jehoahaz, In 609 BC, the King of Egypt took him captive to Egypt.

“When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. He roved among the lions and became a young lion; he learned to catch prey; he devoured men. He knew their desolate places and laid waste their cities; the land with its fullness was desolated by the noise of his roaring. Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side and spread their net over him; he was trapped in their pit. They put him in a cage with chains and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him in nets, that his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.” Ezekiel 19:5-9

Lioness Judah replaced her captive lion cub with another cub. The second cub refers to King Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim threw a scroll of Jeremiah’s prophecies into his fireplace. God gathered the nations against Jehoiakim under the leadership of the King of Babylon. They threw him out of Judah. He died while being carried into captivity and was buried with the burial of an ass.

“She has no strong branch—a scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.” Ezekial 19:14

Thus, lioness Judah had no more cubs, no more princely sons from the line of King Josiah to reign over her. That is, until Jesus Christ, who descended from King Josiah’s family tree was born. Jesus Christ reigns in righteousness. He committed no sin. He gave His life for people. Praise the Lord.

“Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their fathers.” Ezekiel 20:4

The Lord called Ezekiel to judge his people’s behavior and to make known to them how abominable their ways were to God. If someone didn’t do it, they would never realize how far from God they had fallen.

“I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments... I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments. ...Their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.” Ezekiel 20:11-13, 16-17

God revealed to Israel His statues and judgments. He did not do this at that time for any other nation. He also gave them Sabbath Days where they could rest from their work. He provided enough supplies during six days of work for them to rest on the seventh so that they could enjoy a day with Him once a week. But they despised God’s Name, His Word and His rest day. They judged themselves unworthy of His presence and clung to material things which could not satisfy.

“I am the Lord your God: walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” Ezekiel 20:19-20

The Lord God Almighty Creator and Sustainer of the universe commanded them to walk inside of the lines of His commandments and to judge as He judges, but they ignored Him. The Sabbath Day was a sign, like a marriage ring between them, but they cast it off, and no longer observed it.

“Therefore, I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live; and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 20:25-26

So, God let them be ruled by the laws of the sinful world, and to be judged by the sinful world. If they didn’t do particular sins, and be proud of it, they were judged by those around them as unholy and worthless. They were even expected to burn their firstborn children in fires to idols.

“I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to face. Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you, says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 20:35-36

The wilderness here refers to captivity in Babylon. This is where God brought them to their senses and made them to acknowledge and forsake their previous sinful ways.

“I will purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 20:38

Praise God for purging rebellion against Him out of us!

“I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers. And there you shall remember your ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have dealt with you for My Name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt doings, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 20:41-44

God promised to return them to the land of Israel after their captivity in Babylon, but when He did, they would return with a heart to hallow His Name. They would loathe themselves for the way that they had mistreated God previously, and they would KNOW hat HE IS GOD.

“Then I said, ‘Ah, Lord God! They say of me, ‘Does he not speak parables?’” Ezekiel 20:49

God refers to Ezekiel as the son of man in various passages. Here, he says that he is known by the people as one who speaks parables. The pre-incarnate Christ was speaking through Ezekiel. Prophecy is a good thing. Prophecy is Christ being embodied in people both by word and deed.

“Sigh, therefore, son of man, with a breaking heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. And it shall be when they say to you, ‘Why are you sighing?’ that you shall answer, ‘Because of the news; when it comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,’ says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 21:6-7

Yes, we should sigh when people are not hallowing the Name of God, because life will not end well for them or for us who are among them. News will come that will melt our hearts, make us faint, and weaken our knees. God will bring it to pass.

“The king of Babylon stands at the parting of the road... he will bring their iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.” Ezekiel 21:21, 23

The King of Babylon could have taken his mighty army and attacked another nation not Israel, but because they had been defiling the Name of God, God compelled him to come against Israel so that they would realize their sins against God and repent.

“Exalt the humble and humble the exalted. Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.” Ezekiel 21:26-27

The Lord is well able to humble those who refuse to be humbled, and overthrow those who assume no one can overthrow them. The One to whom all glory is due is Christ. He is the King who reigns in righteousness. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him one day as king. His Name shall be honored. We shall hallow the Name of God.

“You have caused your days to draw near and have come to the end of your years.” Ezekiel 22:4

Isreal had no one to blame but themselves for all the tribulation that came to them.

In what ways were the princes of Israel, King Josiah’s sons, lion cubs...

“Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. ...They have made light of father and mother ...they have oppressed the stranger ...they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. ...despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. ...slandered ...shed blood ...committed lewdness ...uncovered their fathers’ nakedness ...violated women ...committed abominations with neighbor’s wife ...lewdly defiled daughter-in-law ...violated sister ... took bribes to shed blood ...took usury ...profited from your neighbors by extortion ...have forgotten Me, says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 22:6-12

Thus, God will judge them...

“Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. Can your heart endure, or can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the Lord, have spoken, and will do it. I will scatter you among the nations, disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from you. You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 22:13-16

“The Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a furnace; they have become dross from silver. Therefore thus says the Lord God: because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so, I will gather you in My anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. Yes, I will gather you and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have poured out My fury on you.” Ezekiel 22:17-22

The Lord also judged Judah’s false prophets as roaring lions and as devourers of people.

“And the Word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘Son of man, say to her: you are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation. The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst. Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. ...seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, thus says the Lord God, when the Lor had not spoken. The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore, I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have recompensed their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord God.” Ezekiel 22:23-31

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Prophet of God who stood in the gap for Israel and for us Gentiles. He lived a perfect life and then, gave His life as a ransom for us all. Thus, we should hallow His Name and proclaim His Name to all nations.