20:39 For now the Israelites to whom Ezekiel spoke could continue to practice idolatry, not with the Lord's blessing of course, but in the future they would listen to and obey the Lord. Then they would make His name common no longer with their unacceptable worship gifts and idolatry.
"Those who consistently reject God and his Word favor self-willed idolatry and immorality and are finally given over by him to reprobation (20:30-39), a process described in detail in Rom 1:24-28."289
20:40 At that future time, all Israel would serve the Lord, specifically on the holy mountain where the temple stood (cf. Isa. 27:13; 56:7; 66:20; Joel 2:1; 4:17; Zeph. 3:11; Zech. 8:3). Then the Lord would accept their offerings of worship, their special gifts to Him, and all the things that they devoted to Him because they had repented (cf. chs. 40-48).
20:41-42 The people would be as a soothing aroma to God when He regathered them to the Promised Land from where He had scattered them, and He would accept them. He would then prove that He is holy among the nations, namely, uniquely different from all the so-called gods. The Israelites would also recognize Him when He fulfilled His promise to the patriarchs to give them the Promised Land.
20:43-44 Back in the land then the Israelites would remember their past sins and loath themselves. They would also come to know the Lord for the kind of God He is because they would recognize how graciously He had dealt with them as a people.
The prospect of future grace, restoration, and blessing has always been the strongest motivation for present holiness (Rom. 2:4). This is why this message ends as it does.
