Ezekiel 20:14

14 But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.

Ezekiel 20:14 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:14

But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be
polluted before the Heathen (See Gill on Ezekiel 20:9); who would be ready to say it was for want of power, or faithfulness, or, goodness, that he did not bring them into the promised land; or there was no such land to bring them to God's own glory was concerned, and that is his ultimate end in all he does; and is of more weight with him than any other argument whatever: in whose sight I brought them out;
from Egypt, into the wilderness; this was done publicly in the sight of the Egyptians, they urging them to be gone.

Ezekiel 20:14 In-Context

12 I also gave them my weekly holy rest days, my "Sabbaths," a kind of signpost erected between me and them to show them that I, God, am in the business of making them holy.

13 "'But Israel rebelled against me in the desert. They didn't follow my statutes. They despised my laws for living well and obediently in the ways I had set out. And they totally desecrated my holy Sabbaths. I seriously considered unleashing my anger on them right there in the desert.

14 But I thought better of it and acted out of who I was, not by what I felt, so that I might be honored and not blasphemed by the nations who had seen me bring them out.

15 But I did lift my hand in a solemn oath there in the desert and promise them that I would not bring them into the country flowing with milk and honey that I had chosen for them, that jewel among all lands.

16 I canceled my promise because they despised my laws for living obediently, wouldn't follow my statutes, and went ahead and desecrated my holy Sabbaths. They preferred living by their no-god idols.