I will prove the holiness of my great name which you have profaned among the nations. In what did the holiness of God’s name consist? Or rather, how did the community God is addressing through the prophet profane God’s holy name? God and God’s name are synonymous. In God’s name, we get to understand who God is. Everything that can be known about God is summed up in God’s name. As such, the holiness of God’s name is actually the holiness of God. We find the holiness of God stressed in a special way in the prophetic and law books, in those passages where God was either giving instructions to the people on how they were to conduct themselves (cf. Leviticus 11:44, 45, 19:2, 20:26; Deuteronomy 23:14) or when God was reminding the people of their special call and identity (cf. Ezekiel 36:23, 39:7).
The sons and daughters of Israel were elected and set apart by God to be an example to other nations. Their election was both a privilege and a responsibility: they were called to be God’s ambassadors. They were to show other nations who God is by the way in which they conducted themselves. The nations could only learn about God’s generosity, unconditional love, kindness, and justice from the Israelites (be holy [read kind, just, loving, forgiving] because I am holy [kind, just, loving, forgiving]). As long as the Israelites showed kindness, forgiveness, justice, and love, they were representing God. By extension, this also meant that the moment they stopped living these qualities, they had stopped being holy, that is, they sinned. By sinning, they profaned God’s name. And it is because of their sins that they were hauled into exile where their captors mocked and reviled their God. Instead of showing the holiness of God to the people, the Israelites ended up soiling God’s name. They had failed in their call. Instead of proving the holiness of God, they made it a laughing stock.