Ezekiel 20

Ezekiel 20 ISRAEL: PAST AND FUTUREEleven months intervene between Ezekiel’ s last series of oracles and the present utterances. He effectively had shattered Judah’ s insane hope that judgment will never fall on Jerusalem. Every argument put forth in objection to his dogmatic assertion of imminent judgment had been rebutted. Ezekiel may have passed the past eleven months in silence.

Late in the summer of 591 B.C. news of Egyptian military victories in Africa spawned new delusions of deliverance among the Jews in Judah and in Babylon. King Zedekiah was now looking to Egypt for assistance against Babylon. Sometime between the end of 591 B.C. and the summer of 589 B.C., Zedekiah formally severed his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. This question was uppermost in the minds of the captives was, What bearing will this political realignment have on the fortunes of Judah? In response to this unasked question, Ezekiel speaks of (1) the past corruption of the nation (Ezekiel 20:1-29); (2) the future restoration of Israel (Ezekiel 20:30-44); and (3) the imminent judgment of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 20:45 to Ezekiel 21:32). ISRAEL’S PAST Ezekiel 20:1-29 After a brief introduction to this section (Ezekiel 20:1-4), Ezekiel traces Israel’ s waywardness through the period of Egyptian bondage (Ezekiel 20:5-9), wilderness wandering (Ezekiel 20:10-26), and settlement in the land of Canaan (Ezekiel 20:27-29). Introduction (Ezekiel 20:1-4) Time of the oracle (Ezekiel 20:1 a): It came to pass in the seventh year, the fifth month, the tenth day of the month… This section begins with a new date that apparently includes all the material in chs 20-23. Ezekiel has now functioned in his prophetic office for two years, one month and five days. Converted into terms of the modern calendar the date of this section will be August 14, 591 Circumstances of the oracle (Ezekiel 20:1 b): that certain men of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD. They sat before me. Certain elders of Israel approached Ezekiel in order to inquire of the Lord through him, i.e., seek the interpretation of a current event. This is now the third time that these elders have come to Ezekiel (cf. Ezekiel 8:1; Ezekiel 14:1). On this occasion they may have been seeking a prediction on the outcome of Zedekiah’s overtures to Egypt. The initial oracle (Ezekiel 20:2-3): The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (Ezekiel 20:3) Son of man, Speak unto the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you coming to inquire of me? As I live, I will not be inquired of by you (oracle of the LORD). In the presence of his guests, Ezekiel received a new revelation (Ezekiel 20:2). The characteristic address of the prophet as son of man, i.e., mortal man, stands in stark contrast to the transcendent Yahweh. The double use of the personal name Yahweh (GOD; LORD) in v 3 underscores this point. Ezekiel had an answer for the inquirers, but it was not what they expected.

Whatever their specific query was, God regarded it as impertinent and irrelevant. God through Ezekiel already had made it abundantly clear that Jerusalem was doomed for destruction. He was not interested in hearing their requests. God wanted to see their repentance! That which sinful men want to hear from the Lord is not always what they need to hear. The divine oath formula (as I live) stresses that the request of the elders ran counter to Yahweh’s very being.

The shape of the oracle (Ezekiel 20:4): Will you judge them? Will you judge them, O son of man? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers. The Lord’s objection to the elder’s third inquiry is essentially the same as in Ezekiel 14:4. By means of a double question (Will you judge them? Will you judge them?) God commissions Ezekiel to sit as a judge in the trial of his people Israel. He is to recount to the elders all the abominations of their fathers (Ezekiel 20:4). He was not to use parables as in ch 16. He was to reveal their sin in a straight forward manner. The plight of the nation and the necessity of the impending doom will become clear to his auditors through this sad survey of Israel’ s history. Israel in Egypt (Ezekiel 20:5-9) Instead of indulging the elders’ curiosity regarding the “ times and the seasons” of future divine activity, Ezekiel launched into a stern sermon, the theme of which is the persistent rebellion of Israel against leadership of the Lord.

God’s selection (Ezekiel 20:5-7) The pledge of choice (Ezekiel 20:5): Say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day when I chose Israel, I lifted up my hand to the seed of the house of Jacob. I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand to them, saying, I am the LORD your God. Ironically, Israel’ s case history began in Egypt, the same country to which she was now appealing for aid. There God chose Israel to be his very own people. It was there that God bound himself by an oath to the seed of Jacob, i.e., he confirmed the covenant made with Jacob, and with Isaac and Abraham before him. The process of selection began with his self­revelation to Moses at the, burning bush (cf. Exodus 6:2; Exodus 6:7). Then God swore with an oath (lifted up my hand) that he was Israel’ s God.

The pledge of inheritance (Ezekiel 20:6): In that day I lifted up my hand to them to bring them from the land of Egypt unto the land that I sought out for them, flowing with milk and honey, that is the beauty of all lands. Yahweh further swore that he would bring Israel out of Egyptian bondage and into a very special land— a land flowing with milk and honey, language that was first used by God to describe Canaan in Exodus 3:8. This is the land that Yahweh sought out for Israel. The comparative fertility of Canaan, its geographical features and climate, made this land the beauty of all lands (Ezekiel 20:6; cf. Jeremiah 3:19). The double mention in Ezekiel 20:5-6 of the physical gesture associated with swearing an oath enhances the impression of Yahweh’s commitment to Israel’s welfare.

The plea for fidelity (Ezekiel 20:7): I said unto them, Let each man cast away the detestable things of his eyes. Do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. The Lord made one single requirement of those he chose as his people, viz., that they cast aside the detestable things (idols). They must not defile themselves with idolatrous practices. They must recognize Yahweh alone as God. Israel’s rebellion (Ezekiel 20:8 a): But they rebelled against me. They did not want to listen to me. Every man did not cast away the detestable things of his eyes. They did not forsake the idols of Egypt. Even the basic commandment was totally ignored. The Pentateuch says nothing about the religious life of the Hebrews during the Egyptian period. Joshua, however, alluded to the gods the Israelites served in Egypt (Joshua 24:14) God’s reaction (Ezekiel 20:8-9)

His initial intention (Ezekiel 20:8 b): Then I thought to pour out my wrath upon them, to exhaust my anger on them in the midst of the land of Egypt. On the strict principle of justice, Israel should have perished in Egypt. His long-range concern (Ezekiel 20:9): But I took action for the sake of my name, that it might not be profaned before the nations among whom they lived, to whom I made myself known so as to bring them out from the land of Egypt. Had the Israelites perished in Egypt, the heathen would not have attributed it to divine retribution. They would have concluded that Yahweh lacked power to redeem his people. God will not allow his great name to be thus profaned in the sight of the nations.

God had revealed himself to Israel. Publicly through Moses he had announced His intention to bring them out of Egypt. The Egyptians knew all this. Had no redemption taken place, Israel’ s God would forever have been held in contempt in the land of Egypt. Therefore, in bringing Israel out of Egypt, God was acting in his own self-interest. He acted for his name’ s sake.

To misunderstand God’ s nature— to regard him less highly than he ought to be regarded— is to profane his name. “ It is the duty of the new Israel, as it was of the old Israel, to see that God’ s name is not profaned through inadequate witness to his nature and his truth." Israel in the Wilderness (Ezekiel 20:10-26) God’s gracious gifts (Ezekiel 20:10-12) Gave them deliverance (Ezekiel 20:10): I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and brought them unto the wilderness. God’ s concern for his name prevailed over his desire to rid himself of his rebellious people. He brought them out of Egypt and into the wilderness.

Gave them the law (Ezekiel 20:11): I gave to them my statutes, and my ordinances I made known to them, which if a man do them, he will live by them. At Mount Sinai God graciously gave to Israel his law. In keeping this law, one could find the key to life, i.e., he could prosper materially and spiritually. National faithfulness to that law would have resulted in social happiness and political stability. Gave them the sabbaths (Ezekiel 20:12): Also my sabbaths I gave to them to become a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctified them. As further evidence of his gracious concern, God ordained the Sabbath as an outward sign of his covenant with Israel. Every observance of the Sabbath was an affirmation of their relationship to him (cf. Exodus 31:17).

Sin of the first generation (Ezekiel 20:13-17) Israel’s sin described (Ezekiel 20:13 a): But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes, and they spurned my ordinances, which if a man do them, he will live by them. my sabbaths they profaned exceedingly. Within days of the gracious giving of the law, Israel rebelled against the Lord in the incident of the golden calf. The Book of Numbers contains numerous examples of the times when Israel murmured against the Lord. Direct violation of the Sabbath is recorded on two occasions (Exodus 16:27; Numbers 15:32), but that sacred day was defiled by attitude again and again.

God’s reputation (Ezekiel 20:13-14): I intended to pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness to consume them. (Ezekiel 20:14) But I took action for the sake of my name, that it might not be defiled before the nations before whom I brought them out. Because Israel had spurned God’ s gracious wilderness gifts to his people, he was fully prepared to destroy them there and then. However, again for the sake of his name— his reputation among the heathen nations— he refrained from executing his wrath.

Israel’s punishment (Ezekiel 20:15-16): And also I lifted up my hand to them in the wilderness, that I will not bring them unto the land that I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the beauty of all the lands; (Ezekiel 20:16) because they rejected my judgments. In my statutes they did not walk. They defiled my sabbaths, for after their idols their heart did go. While God did not completely destroy the nation in the wilderness, He did swear that the guilty generation that showed such lack of faith at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 13-14) could not enter the land of promise (Ezekiel 20:15). Because they had defiled the law of God and secretly had craved for their idols in their heart, God sentenced that generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Ezekiel 20:16).God’s mercy (Ezekiel 20:17): But my eye had pity upon them from destroying them. I did not make a complete end of them in the wilderness.

Because of his mercy, God did not make a full end of Israel at that time. Those under the age of twenty survived that disciplinary death march. Sin of the second generation (Ezekiel 20:18-22) God’s commandments (20:18-20): I said unto their sons in the wilderness: Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers. Do not observe their ordinances. With their idols do not defile yourselves. (Ezekiel 20:19) I am the LORD your God. Walk in my statutes. Keep my ordinances, and do them. (Ezekiel 20:20) Sanctify my sabbaths that they may be signs between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God. God warned the new generation not to follow in the sinful paths of their fathers (Ezekiel 20:18), but rather to recognize his absolute divinity. He earnestly pled with them through Moses to obey the divine law (Ezekiel 20:19) and faithfully to observe the sabbaths as an outward sign and reminder that they were indeed God’ s people (Ezekiel 20:20).

Israel’s rebellion (Ezekiel 20:21 a): But the children rebelled against me. They did not walk in my statutes. They did not keep my ordinances to do them, which if a man will do them, he will live by them. They profaned my sabbaths. Unfortunately the new generation was every bit as bad as the previous one. At Baal-peor, in their very first exposure to Canaanite Baal worship, the men of that new generation rushed headlong into the vilest form of degrading worship (Numbers 25:1-9; Hosea 9:10).

God’s reaction (Ezekiel 20:21-22): I intended to pour out my wrath on them to finish my fury on them in the wilderness. (Ezekiel 20:22) I withdrew my hand. I took action for the sake of my name, that it will not be defiled in the sight of the nations before whom I brought them out. God was of a mind to destroy the nation entirely. However, for the sake of his own self-interest— for the sake of his reputation among surrounding nations— God relented (withdrew my hand). Consequences of rebellion (Ezekiel 20:23-26) Dispersion (20:23-24): Moreover I lifted up my hand to them in the wilderness to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands; (Ezekiel 20:24) because my ordinances they did not perform, and my statutes they rejected, and my sabbaths they profaned, and their eyes were after the gods of their fathers. Although God chose not to destroy Israel, the national rebellion had two serious consequences, each introduced by moreover. First, God swore on oath (lifted up my hand) that he would scatter them to various lands (Ezekiel 20:23). The time and manner of that dispersion was not specified. The long periods of oppression during the period of the judges probably were the first step in the fulfillment of this threat. Attacks by neighboring nations during the monarchy period resulted in God’ s people being deported far and wide (cf.

Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9; Joe 3:1-8). The culmination of this threatened dispersion was the deportation of the northern tribes by the Assyrian kings, and the removal of captives from Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. The exile was a just punishment because the generation that was brought into Canaan also rejected God’ s holy law and went after idols (Ezekiel 20:24).

Degradation (Ezekiel 20:25-26): Moreover I gave to them statutes that were not good, and ordinances whereby they could not live. (Ezekiel 20:26) I defiled them with their gifts, in that they consecrate all who open the womb, that I might destroy them, that they might know that I am the LORD. Second, God punished Israel’s national rebellion by giving them over to the consequences of their own sinful desire. Yahweh punished their sin by means of their sin. He gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances whereby they could not live. As they went ever deeper into the baser forms of idolatry, they brought themselves under saetutes and judgments of a different sort. The pagan religious code that they adopted as their own did not contribute to health, happiness and well being (life), but rather became a vicious and demanding taskmaster (Ezekiel 20:25).

Stephen describes this situation when he says, “ God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven” (Acts 7:42). God punished his people by permitting them to do what they really wanted to do. All the material gifts that God bestowed upon his people were permitted by him to be defiled in the debasing worship of Baal. Israel rejected God’ s law of dedicating their firstborn to the Lord (Exodus 13:2). They replaced it with the horrible practice of child sacrifice (cf. Ezekiel 16:21).

The ultimate end of such perverse pagan practices was national destruction. Only then would Israel realize that Yahweh is the only God (Ezekiel 20:26).

Israel in Canaan(Ezekiel 20:27-29) Treacherous betrayal (Ezekiel 20:27): Therefore, speak unto the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have dealt treacherously with me. In addition to their wickedness in Egypt and in the wilderness, the fathers had continued their sinning when they were in the land of Canaan. In fact they blasphemed, i.e., committed a cardinal sin against the Lord; they dealt treacherously with him, i.e., broke the most solemn kind of commitment to him. Illicit worship (Ezekiel 20:28): For when I brought them to the land that I lifted up my hand to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every leafy tree, and they made sacrifices there. They gave there the provocation of their offering. They placed there their sweet savor, and they poured out their drink offerings. No sooner had they, by God’ s mercy, entered the land of Canaan, they promptly appropriated to themselves the heathen hill-top shrines. They adopted the Canaanite ways of worship. The leafy trees were desirable for the sinful orgies that accompanied sacrifices to Baal. Their offerings, that should have been a sweet savor to the Lord, were in reality provocation that only engendered the divine anger. Pointed inquiry (Ezekiel 20:29): Then I said unto them: What is the high place to which you are going? So its name is called Bamah (high place) unto this day. Someday the Jews will have to give an account of their worship conduct. What is the high place to which you are going? Ezekiel asks. Who authorized you to go there? What business do you have there? In spite of the repeated condemnation of high place worship, still those shrines existed throughout the land. The bama or high place was still very much a part of the worship scene in Judah.ISRAEL’S FUTURE Ezekiel 20:30-44 Hypocrisy of the Leaders (Ezekiel 20:30-32) Their actions (Ezekiel 20:30-31): Therefore, say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: In the way of your fathers you have defiled yourselves. You are whoring after their abominations. (Ezekiel 20:31) When you offer your gifts, in making your sons to pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, unto this day. Will I allow you to inquire of me, O house of Israel? As I live (oracle of the Lord GOD), I will not allow you to inquire of me. Ezekiel replied to the request of the visiting elders by reviewing the past corruption of Israel; now he applies this teaching to the present and future of the nation. How can these representatives of the nation expect to receive encouraging divine responses to their inquiries when the abominable practices of idolatry continued to that very day?

The present generation had defiled itself after the manner of their fathers by offering gifts to Baal. They even caused their children to pass through the fire, i.e., offered them as burnt offerings to Molech. How could God suspend or cancel the threat of judgment when they continued to defile themselves by such degrading religious practices? Their defilement drove a wedge between them and their God. Under present circumstances, he refused to be inquired of by them, i.e., he will grant them no special insight into what the immediate future held in store beyond the threats that he had already announced through his prophet. Their attitude (Ezekiel 20:32): That which goes up on your spirit will not be, because you are saying, We will be like the nations, as the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone. The attitude among the exiles was reprehensible. Ezekiel reads the hearts of the inquirers. Being humiliated, subject to foreign domination, and driven from their homeland, they now felt free to join in the worship of their neighbors. How was it possible for them to continue to render homage to Yahweh when his temple was so far away, and when all public acts of worship to him were restricted to that temple? If the temple were destroyed, they thought, then the one restraint on the idolatries that they loved will be removed, and that by God himself.

According to their perverse logic, if God wanted their continued allegiance, he will have to preserve the temple, and quickly restore them to Canaan. However, God will not allow this perverse purpose to stand. Those who thought the distinctive character of Israel should be lost in exile were doomed to disappointment. Purging of the Sinners (Ezekiel 20:33-38) Gathering of Israel (Ezekiel 20:33-34): As I live (oracle of the Lord GOD), surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out I will reign over you. (Ezekiel 20:34) I will bring you out from the peoples, and I will gather you from the lands where you were scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. God was about to intervene in Israel’ s history with the same mighty hand and outstretched arm as saved them at the Exodus (Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15). He will show himself again to be king over this people (Ezekiel 20:33) by leading them in judgment into another wilderness experience (cf. Hosea 2:14; Hosea 12:9). The Babylonian exile was Israel’ s second wilderness period. When the discipline was over, God will gather his people (v 34). Israel will by no means lose her identity among the nations! Purpose of exile (Ezekiel 20:35-38) Remonstration (Ezekiel 20:35-36): I will bring you unto the wilderness of the peoples. I will plead with you there face to face. (36) As I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, thus will I plead with you (oracle of the Lord GOD). The exact prophetic import of Eze 20:35-38 is in dispute. Some commentators understand these verses to be predicting that after the Babylonian exile, Israel will be brought into another dispersion. It is better, however, to regard the wilderness of peoples as yet another reference to the Babylonian captivity. In Ezekiel 20:34 God states the general principle that he will, in his own good time, gather his people.

Ezekiel 20:35-38 tells how that will come about. In the wilderness of Egypt, God constituted Israel as a nation. In the Babylonian wilderness he will reconstitute them as a nation. There they will come face to face with God. He will plead with them, i.e., remonstrate and reason with them, through those harsh circumstances, through the voice of conscience, and through the stern preaching of men like Ezekiel. Purgation (Ezekiel 20:37-38): I will cause you to pass under the rod. I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. (38) I will purge out from you the rebels, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out from the land of their sojourn. Unto the land of Israel they will not come. You will know that I am the LORD. Not all those who were carried off to the wilderness of exile will be coming home.

The captives will be scrutinized by the Good Shepherd, and caused to pass under the rod. The allusion is to Leviticus 27:32 where every tenth sheep that passed under the rod of the shepherd was to be consecrated to the Lord. The select sheep of Israel will be brought into the bond of the covenant (Ezekiel 20:37). The apostasy had cancelled the blessings set forth in the Sinai covenant. The chastisement of exile, for those who will accept it, will serve the purpose of restoring that broken relationship with God. The land of restored Israel will be a land of righteousness.

Those who had rebelled against God’ s authority, and who had transgressed against him, will be purged from the nation. They will not be allowed to re-enter the land of Canaan. God might bring them out of the land where they were presently sojourning, but he will by no means allow them to re­enter Canaan. When be brought them back, the chastened remnant will know that he truly was Yahweh, the God of covenant faithfulness (Ezekiel 20:38).

Restoration to the Land (Ezekiel 20:39-41) Challenge to the sinners (Ezekiel 20:39): As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go, serve each his idols, even because you have not hearkened unto me; but my holy name you will not profane again with your gifts and with your idols. In prophetic irony Ezekiel now called upon the house of Israel to go ahead with their idolatry. They cannot thereby frustrate God’ s ultimate purpose for a holy people. The day will come when God’ s holy name no longer will be profaned by idolatrous practices. Picture of the cleansed people (Ezekiel 20:40-41): For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel (oracle of the Lord GOD) there all the house of Israel, all of them, will serve me in the land. There I will accept them. There I will require your heave offerings, and the first ofyour gifts, with all your holy things. (Ezekiel 20:41) With your sweet savor, I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you from the lands where you were scattered. I will be sanctified in the sight of the nations. Ezekiel passes on from the earlier stages of the restoration to speak of its consummation. He sees Israel as a mighty mountain (mountain of the height of Israel) or nation of the world (cf.

Micah 4:1-2; Isaiah 2:2-3). He sees a united nation (all of them)— Israel and Judah— worshiping on Mount Zion (my holy mountain). He sees a holy people rendering acceptable service and sacrifice to their God. Gone forever are the heathen influences that marred the worship of his own day. Heave offerings, offerings offirstlings, and other gifts will be required by God. They will be willingly offered by his redeemed people (Ezekiel 20:40).

Ezekiel foresees several positive consequences of the new relationship between God and his people. First, the sacrifices that Israel offers to God are considered a sweet savor by the Lord, i.e., will be pleasant in his sight. Second, God accepts Israel, i.e., acknowledges them as his own. Third, through that restored remnant, God’ s name is sanctified, i.e., respected and revered, by surrounding nations (Ezekiel 20:41). God’ s name is sanctified when he is recognized as holy (Leviticus 10:3; Numbers 20:13). Even the heathen come to recognize that God’ s dealings with Israel had been holy and just. Spiritual Enlightenment (Ezekiel 20:42-44) Enlightenment about God (Ezekiel 20:42): You will know that I am the LORD when I bring you unto the land of Israel, unto the land that I lifted up my hand to give to your fathers. Because of the positive experiences of the preceding verses, Israel is spiritually enlightened. The recognition formula (you will know) at the beginning and end of this unit forms an envelope full of encouraging developments.

Remnant Israel realizes without a doubt that they had been restored to Canaan through the might of God. They willingly acknowledge that he, and none other, is God. Remnant Israel recognizes that God keeps His word. He had sworn to give to their fathers the land of Canaan. Through sin Israel forfeited the right to live in that holy land. Now God will give them a second chance in Canaan. Enlightenment about themselves (Ezekiel 20:43-44): And there you will remember your ways, and all your deeds by which you were defiled. You will loathe yourself in your eyes for all your evils that you have done. (Ezekiel 20:44) You will know that I am the LORD when I deal with you for the sake of my name, not according to your evil deeds, nor according to your corrupt ways, O house of Israel (oracle of the Lord GOD). Remnant Israel remembers past failings. They loathe themselves for the abominations that they had committed prior to the captivity (Ezekiel 20:43). In spite of repentance and forgiveness, the redeemed man can never forget that he is a sinner saved by grace. Remnant Israel realizes that their change in fortunes was not due to their own merits. They deserved to perish. However, for the sake of his name, the gracious God had ransomed the house of Israel (Ezekiel 20:44). PARABLE OF THE FOREST FIREEze_20:45-49 In the Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel 20:45 becomes the first verse of ch 21. Clearly this is a better arrangement than that adopted by the Authorized Version and subsequent English translations. What is said in Ezekiel 20:45-49 has no connection with what immediately precedes, but rather sets the stage for what follows in ch 21. God’s Directive (Ezekiel 20:45-47 a): The word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (Ezekiel 20:46) Son of man, set your face toward the south, Preach unto the south. Prophesy unto the forest of the field of the south. (Ezekiel 20:47) Say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD. In another revelation from the Lord (Ezekiel 20:45), Ezekiel was told set your face toward the south. This prophetic formula was previously used in Ezekiel 6:2 and Ezekiel 13:17. Ezekiel was to direct his attention, verbally and perhaps physically as well, toward the south. He was to preach the word of the Lord in that direction.

These instructions are given to Ezekiel from the perspective of the Babylonian army that will approach Jerusalem from the north. The whole of Judah is the forest of the south that Ezekiel was to address in this utterance (Ezekiel 20:46). Judah’s Devastation (Ezekiel 20:47-48): Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to kindle against you a fire. It will consume every green tree in you, and every dry tree. It will not be quenched, a flaming flame. All faces from the south to the north will be seared by it. (48) All flesh will see that I am the LORD when I burn it.

It will not be quenched. The entire forest will be consumed by an unquenchable fire kindled by God Himself. Fire here is symbolic of the devastation wrought by the Chaldean armies. What few righteous there might have been (every green tree), as well as the hardened sinners (every dry tree), will be affected by that conflagration. From one end of the land to the other, every face will be seared by the hot flames of judgment (Ezekiel 20:47). That destruction will be of such proportions that the all flesh, i.e., the entire world, will recognize it as an act of divine judgment (Ezekiel 20:48).

Ezekiel’s Complaint (Ezekiel 20:49): Then I said, Ah Lord GOD! They are saying to me, Is he not a maker of parables? Ezekiel’ s audience was not so spiritually perceptive as to be able to grasp the significance of this parable and others like it (cf. chs 15-17). His auditors were holding Ezekiel up to ridicule because of his use of the parabolic method. He could hear them whispering to one another and referring to him as a maker of parables (lit., a riddler of riddles). With sorrow, exasperation and perhaps indignation, Ezekiel turned to God in a brief narrative prayer. No petition is directly stated; but Ezekiel is obliquely requesting that he be permitted to put his parable into plain language (Ezekiel 20:49).Ezekiel Chapter TwentyVerse 1 Ezekiel 20-23FINAL BEFORE THE FALL OF OF THE SINS OF ISRAELIt is impossible to include in this work any complete study of all that comes to view in this chapter. The Holy Bible itself is devoted in a large measure to the record of the sins of the Chosen People, who repeatedly, murmured, rebelled, rejected and disobeyed God’s commandments. It would be nearly impossible just to count the apostasies that repeatedly marked Israel’s history, and the numberless times when God overlooked their transgressions, renewed the covenant with a succeeding generation, or even blessed them (when justice required their punishment), doing so “for his name’s sake,” that is, to avoid what would have been the cry of pagan nations that Jehovah was unable to preserve and bless Israel. Therefore, we shall handle much of the material here in an abbreviated form. A great many of the sins of Israel mentioned in this chapter have already received extensive comment in our Commentaries on the Pentateuch, the Minor Prophets, the Major Prophets, and the Book of Joshua. “The date of this chapter is July-August. 591 B.C.”;[1]“And this is also the date of what follows through Ezekiel 23."[2] “This date was only eleven months and five days after the date given in Ezekiel 8:1, twenty-five months and five days after Ezekiel’s call to the prophetic office (Ezekiel 1:2), and twenty-nine months after the blockading of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 24:1)."[3] This record of the sins of the Chosen People constitutes, “A literal presentation of that which is described figuratively in Ezekiel 16."[4]It is an amazing historical coincidence that, “According to Jewish tradition, the fifth month on the tenth day of the month was the date of the Sentence of Wandering' pronounced upon Israel in <a href="/bible/parallel/NUM/14/29" class="green-link">Numbers 14:29</a>, also the date upon which the Temple was burnt by the Chaldeans (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/52/12" class="green-link">Jeremiah 52:12-13</a>); and, according to Josephus, the date when the Romans burnt the Temple in 70 A.D."[5]The historical background of this section (through Ezekiel 23) found the Jews of the captivity rejoicing over the victory of the Egyptians in the Sudan, and in the rumors that Pharaoh-Passammetic would soon conquer Palestine. This news, coupled with the knowledge that Zedekiah would soon transfer his loyalty to Pharaoh instead of Nebuchadnezzar, heightened their hope that their captivity would soon end.[6]The text does not reveal the nature of the question that the elders intended to ask Ezekiel, but it very likely originated in their vain hope of an early end of their captivity. <a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/20/1" class="green-link">Ezekiel 20:1-4</a>"And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and sat before me. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Is it to inquire of me that ye are come? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers."Whatever the question of the elders might have been, it was certainly unworthy of the Lord's attention. The wickedness of the whole nation from its beginning until that instant was so great that they deserved no communication whatever from the Lord. "Wilt thou judge them, wilt thou judge them ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/20/4" class="green-link">Ezekiel 20:4</a>)? The true meaning is this emphatic command is given in the next clause. "Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers." "The Hebrew word here does not mean merely to judge.’"[7] It also includes the meaning of prosecuting a cause before a tribunal; and that was what Ezekiel was instructed here to do. These four chapters constitute the demonstration that, “The wickedness of Judah was now full."[8] Under the figure of a great fire that would burn up the whole land of Israel, Ezekiel outlined in the concluding portion of the chapter the inevitable result of their overflowing wickedness. The purpose of rehearsing all the sins of Israel was twofold. (1) It showed the absolute necessity and justice of their punishment; and (2) it also showed the infinite patience, longsuffering, forbearance and mercy of God so tenderly exhibited during long centuries of his dealings with them. Verse 5 “And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah; In the day when I chose Israel, and sware unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I sware unto them, saying, I am Jehovah your God; in that day, I sware unto them to bring them forth out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. And I said unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Jehovah your God. But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me; they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. 9 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.“ISRAEL’S WERE IDOL IN EGYPTNo other scripture pinpoints this phase of Israel’s history; but there is ample evidence of the truth of it throughout the Bible. The worship of the Golden Calf was nothing but a throwback to Egyptian idolatry (Exodus 32). “A land that I had searched out for them …” (Ezekiel 20:6). The land of Canaan is called, “the glory of all lands,” both here and again in Ezekiel 20:15. From the standpoint of its location, this is especially true, being in fact adjacent to three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa. Also, the ancient fertility and productivity of Palestine were, at one time, the best on earth. Many changes since those early times have no doubt altered that situation today. “I wrought for my name’s sake …” (Ezekiel 20:9). This is a reference to the fact that God on several occasions did not judge Israel according to what they certainly deserved; but, that in order to prevent the pagan nations from questioning God’s ability to protect his people, simply went on and blessed them in spite of their sins. Two examples of this are found in Exodus 32:12 and in Numbers 14:16. There are at least two examples of Israel’s rebellion in Egypt: (1) the first, when they demanded of Moses, “Who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? and the second, when they rebelled against Moses and Aaron (Exodus 5:11). “The idols of Egypt they did not forsake …” (Ezekiel 20:8). Joshua, the great leader who led the Chosen People into Canaan speaks of this (Joshua 24:14). The problem, from God’s standpoint, in this chapter was, “How could God vindicate his moral character by punishing rebellion, and at the same time preserve his honor in the eyes of the world.”?[9] We are happy indeed that Cooke gave the correct answer to this problem: “The punishment would come, all right, but there would be a restoration, involving a striking act of power that would prove to all the world that Jehovah is indeed the only God."[10] That world-shaking event, of course, was the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and the establishment of a New Israel of God, an Israel without any racial tones whatever, but composed of Jews, Gentiles, and people of every tongue and tribe and nation. This is a very important admission from one of the most credible of the radical critics; because it explains why prophecies of blessing, restoration and salvation always follow the denunciations found so often in the prophets, and that those prophecies of doom and salvation always came from the mouth of the same prophet, whoever he was. Verse 10 “So I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. And I gave them my statutes, and showed them mine ordinances, which, if a man do, he shall live in them. Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; and they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected mine ordinances, which, if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said, I will pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.

Moreover I sware unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands; because they rejected mine ordinances, and walked not in my statutes, and profaned my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols. Nevertheless mine eye spared them, and I destroyed them not, neither did I make a full end of them in the wilderness.“ISRAEL AGAINST GOD IN THE “Sabbaths, a sign between me and them …” (Ezekiel 20:12). Behold here the true status of the sabbath. It was never given to all mankind, but to Israel only, as a sign between them and God. It was not revealed to Adam, who never heard of it, but to Moses (Nehemiah 9:13). “Their heart went after their idols …” (Ezekiel 20:16). The martyr Stephen mentions Israel’s worshipping the host of heaven (Acts 7:42) during the period of their wilderness wandering. “Their heart went after their idols …” (Ezekiel 20:16). “Israel in Canaan might have deserved this sweeping condemnation, but not Israel in the wilderness; because only two outbreaks of idolatry are recorded, namely that of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32), and that at Baal-Peor (Numbers 24-25)."[11] Such a comment is incorrect, because it is founded upon the false notion that Numbers records all that Israel did during the forty years of their sentence of waiting to enter Canaan. As a matter of fact, very little of what Israel did during that generation is recorded; because any significance of what that evil generation did was lost in their rebellion against God. And the very few instances where such details as the Golden Calf and the fiasco at Baal-Peor are mentioned, they are reported only, “For our information upon whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11). The total history of all of Israel’s wickedness would probably have required a dozen volumes the size of the Biblical Numbers! Thus, there is no reason whatever to accept a comment that questions the blame here laid by God’s prophet upon Israel. All of the incidents actually reported of that forty-year period in the wilderness probably took place in a time period of a few weeks or months, there being no effort whatever to provide a full history of that lost four decades. Verse 18 “And I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am Jehovah your God: walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God. But the children rebelled against me; they walked not in my statutes, neither kept mine ordinances to do them, which, if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth. Moreover I sware unto them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; because they had not executed mine ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.

Moreover also I gave them statutes that were not good, and ordinances wherein they should not live; and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am Jehovah.“THE OF THE SECOND “And I said unto their children …” (Ezekiel 20:18) This appears to be the second generation of the wilderness wanderers. They did not respond, but after the manner of their fathers, “rebelled against God” (Ezekiel 20:21). Baal-Peor is the only proof that is needed to demonstrate their total apostasy. In fact, God would have totally destroyed them at that time, except for the consideration that His holy name would have been profaned by the nations. Instead, he made another covenant with Israel, the wicked children of the first generation, and under Joshua, led them into Canaan. “Scatter them among the nations …” (Ezekiel 20:23). “Nine centuries were to pass before this threatened scattering took place; but that God actually did as he promised is evidenced today in the Jewish community in every city on the earth."[12]“I gave them statutes that were not good …” (Ezekiel 20:25). This is a reference to the judicial hardening that came to Israel, similar to that which Paul mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:11, “God sends them a strong delusion that they all might be damned, etc.” There is even a hint here as to the mechanics of the deception that came upon them. God’s law had indeed commanded that “The first-born of both man and beast were sacred unto God and were to be offered as a burnt-offering to God” (Exodus 13:12). However, there was an exception made in the case of human beings, as every student of the scripture knows. The ordinance was perverted to allow the sacrifice of children who were passed through the fire to Molech!. “It is perfectly self-evident here that we must not understand that these ordinances which were no good' is a reference to anything whatever in the Mosaic Law; because the reference here is not to God's holy law at all, but to the wicked Israel's perversion of it."[13]We must not suppose that Israel was innocent in this perversion of God's Word. "Ezekiel gives us to understand that it was, "Due to judicial blindness inflicted by God Himself."[14]Verse 27 "Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: In this moreover have your fathers blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. For when I had brought them into the land, which I sware to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every thick tree, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offerings; there also they made their sweet savor, and they poured out there their drink offerings. Then I said unto them, What meaneth the high place whereunto ye go? So the name thereof is called Bama unto this day."WICKED ISRAEL'S FOR PAGAN SHRINESDespite the fact of God's having set up his holy altar at a specific location and having given the most solemn prohibitions against worshipping or sacrificing elsewhere, and in spite of God's having forbidden the Jews to honor or retain any of the pagan shrines and altars in Palestine, they nevertheless spared all the pagan shrines, and installed others. Note the fourfold repetition of the word "there" in <a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/20/28" class="green-link">Ezekiel 20:28</a>. It was especially an affront to the God of Israel that his people would patronize and even prefer to worship at such high places, rather than at God's true altar. Of course, it was the licentious worship of the pagans which they at once adopted and included along with God's worship that was the great attraction for Israel. Blasphemy against God? Of course; it was blasphemy of the worst kind, because it connected the holy name of the Lord Jehovah with all the immorality and debaucheries of paganism. "Bama ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/EZK/20/29" class="green-link">Ezekiel 20:29</a>). "This is a Hebrew word meaning High-Place.’ The tops of high hills were used by the pagans for their idolatrous worship; and in response to that, Moses prohibited the use of them even for the worship of God."[15]Verse 30 “Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Do ye pollute yourselves after the manner of your fathers? and play the harlot after their abominations? And when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, do ye pollute yourselves with all your idols unto this day? and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you; and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, in that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.““Do ye pollute yourselves …” (Ezekiel 20:30-31)? These interrogatives demand an affirmative answer, making it evident that apostate Israel’s rejection of God was complete. Verse 32 indicates that the “elders” had already decided to adopt paganism and forsake the worship of God altogether. Ezekiel thundered the message, “Such a thing shall not be at all”! Verse 33 “As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you. And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather ye out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, saith the Lord Jehovah. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the land of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that trespass against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not hearken unto me; but my holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and your idols. For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there I will accept them and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.““I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples …” (Ezekiel 20:35).

This new wilderness was not a geographical wilderness like the wilderness of Egypt, but a wilderness, “of strange peoples, unusual social customs, etc."[16] It was the wilderness of their captivity in Babylon; and the vast majority of Israel would not pass that test, any more than their fathers had passed it in the former wilderness. The most of them, enamored with the wealth and splendor of Babylon, would never leave for any return to Palestine, even when free to do so. Such persons were described by Cooke as, “Separated by the refining process, and not allowed to participate in the restoration."[17]We agree with Keil who saw this ultimate gathering from the wilderness of the peoples, “As the gathering of the true Israel from the heathen world, which will ultimately be fulfilled in their conversion to Jesus Christ."[18]However, we cannot accept Keil’s statement that, “The principal fulfillment is still future, when Israel as a nation shall be converted to Christ."[19] The Bible nowhere says that any nation whatever shall ever be converted to Christ. “Go ye, serve every one his idols …” (Ezekiel 20:39). This is the same kind of commandment that God gave to Judas Iscariot, when he said, “What thou doest, do quickly.” God never restrains anyone from evil who has already made up his mind to sin. That would appear to be the condition of those elders who sat in front of Ezekiel. A feature of this chapter here is the unchanging purpose of God to redeem all mankind through the posterity of Abraham, as he said at the beginning (Genesis 12:3). Many of Abraham’s literal posterity will have no part of God’s intention; but God will do it in spite of them. Jamieson paraphrased the thought of Eze 20:40 - “Although you, the rebellious portion of Israel, withdraw from my service, others of the believing remnant, will succeed after you perish, and will serve God purely."[20]“In the mountain of the height of Israel, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me …” (Ezekiel 20:40). As Cook noted, “All separation between Israel and Judah shall cease. This points to the times yet future, when in Messiah’s kingdom, Jews and Gentiles alike shall be gathered into the kingdom, the kingdom of Christ."[21]Verse 41 “As a sweet savor will I accept you when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I sware to give unto your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have polluted yourselves; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have dealt with you for my name’s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah.“The purity and morality of the Christian religion will so discipline the minds and hearts of men, that all of God’s children under the new covenant will despise and deplore the evil ways that marked the behavior of men in pre-Christian times. Verse 45 “And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field in the South; and say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of Jehovah; thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I will kindle the fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming fire shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burnt thereby. And all flesh shall see that I, Jehovah, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched. Then said I, Ah Lord Jehovah! they say of me, Is he not a speaker of parables?“PARABLE OF THE GREAT FOREST FIREThis parable emphatically teaches the total destruction of Jerusalem. If there could be any doubt of what is prophesied, the following chapter spells it out in language so blunt and specific as to shock the evil men who pretended not to understand it. Incidentally, the Hebrew Bible begins the following chapter with verse 45 here; but we choose to discuss this paragraph in the same chapter where we find it in our English Bibles. “The riddle here was easy to solve, and Ezekiel was dealing with a sharp-witted people; but the sinful men who heard it simply did not wish to understand it, therefore they claimed it was too difficult to interpret. Ezekiel at once took that pitiful excuse away from them with the devastating message of the “Song of the Sword” in the following chapter."[22]“The fire … shall devour every green tree and every dry tree …” (Ezekiel 20:47). Ezekiel 21:3 reveals that the green tree and the dry tree here stand for the wicked and the righteous, both of whom will perish in the forthcoming holocaust. It is regrettable that some scholars jump to the conclusion that this contradicts what the prophet said in Ezekiel 18 regarding the fact of God’s judgments being strictly on an individual basis. However, such errors are due to the false interpretation of what God said there through Ezekiel. The “death” mentioned there as the penalty of wickedness is not temporal, at all, but eternal. Failure to see that, enables a scholar such as McFadyen to write that, “This rather conflicts with his theory of individual retribution which he so fully expounded in Ezekiel 18."[23] Canon Cook accurately explained that, “The equity of God is fully vindicated in the fact that the `death’ prophesied here was only temporal, while the death promised to the disobedient in Ezekiel 18 is eternal."[24]

Ezekiel 20:1

Ezekiel 20:1. Seventh year is dated from the dethroning of Jehoiacliin, at which time Ezekiel was taken into Babylon. This sitting of the elders of Israel is similar to the instance given in Ezekiel 14:1.

Ezekiel 20:2

Ezekiel 20:2. The Lord, being aware of the purpose of these elders, will tell the prophet how to address them,

Ezekiel 20:3

Ezekiel 20:3. The speech was to be about the Bame as was given at the former instance. These people were not worthy of the attention they could have received had their conduct been of the proper kind.

Ezekiel 20:4

Ezekiel 20:4. Ezekiel was told to refer them to the abominable conduct of their fathers. This would not have been held against them had they profited by the mistakes of their fathers and learned the lesson that such an example teaches.

Ezekiel 20:5

Ezekiel 20:5. With this verse the Lord begins an account of his dealings with Israel from the time they saw His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt.

Ezekiel 20:6

Ezekiel 20:6. The history starts with the time the people were preparing to leave the land where they had been for four centuries. Lifted up mine hand refers to the means the Lord used to procure the release of his people from the land of bondage. Glory of all lands denotes the general desirableness of the land of Canaan, but which God had reserved for his own people.

Ezekiel 20:7

Ezekiel 20:7. The Egyptians were idol worshipers and during a stay among them of several centuries the Israelites had taken up with the corrupt practices. As they were leaving that country the Lord admonished them to cut off the evil manner of life. I am the Lord your God should have been sufficient reason for their giving up the vain gods of the heathen from whom they had just been rescued.

Ezekiel 20:8

Ezekiel 20:8. The children of Israel did not obey the admonition to put away their idolatrous interests. They had not been made free from Egypt but a few weeks until they made the golden calf, suggested no doubt by their life in that country. Yea, even before getting out of that land they manifested an inclination to cling to their evil practices and the Lord’ s anger was provoked to the uttermost.

Ezekiel 20:9

Ezekiel 20:9. But He would not bring his chastisement upon them while in that land, for to do so would be a pollution in the midst of the heathen. Such is the meaning of what God wrought for his name’ s sake by showing the divine power in the midst of that nation that had been accustomed to devotions paid to idol gods.

Ezekiel 20:10

Ezekiel 20:10. After thus demonstrating his love for his people, God sent them forth out of that country to travel a while in the wilderness.

Ezekiel 20:11

Ezekiel 20:11, There is very little practical difference between statutes and judgments. The first refers especially to a fixed law to be enforced upon the subjects, the second considers the ability and right of the Lord to decide what is the proper conduct. In the application of them both to man the whole thought is that God knows best what is good for man and has arranged a code of rules for his conduct. The result of such a life will be that man will live in the sense of enjoying the favor and protection of God. The propriety of some Of these laws may be evident to the human mind while others would have to be accepted upon faith in God’s wisdom.

Ezekiel 20:12

Ezekiel 20:12. This language refers to the time the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt. Of that time it is said by the Lord, “ I gave them my sabbaths.” This means that the observance of the sabbath days had not been required of God’ s people. Moreover, Nebemiah 9: 14 indicates they had not even known about such a practice as keeping a sabbath day prior to the law of Moses. It was to be a sign between tbe Lord and his people. The word means something visible as an evidence of a relationship between the parties Involved. By observing the sabbath days the children of Israel showed to the world that God was guiding them in their program of life.

Ezekiel 20:13

Ezekiel 20:13. This verse describes in a general way the spirit of lawlessness displayed by the children of Israel soon after they were released from Egypt. Despised my judgments means they belittled them and treated them aa if they were unimportant. The extent of their error is denoted by the Lord’s words that the very rules which the Israelites belittled were so important that a man might live in them.

Ezekiel 20:14

Ezekiel 20:14. But I wrought means the Lord worked out his plan in order that His name would not be disgraced in the minds of the heathen.

Ezekiel 20:15

Ezekiel 20:15. The men responsible for the conspiracy against the Lord were all caused to die in the wilderness, thus being unable to reach the land of promise.

Ezekiel 20:16

Ezekiel 20:16. When men rebel against tbe righteous commandments of the Lord it is generally due to some other interests. In thi9 case the verse ex- piains it by saying ffteir heart went after their idols.

Ezekiel 20:17

Ezekiel 20:17, God chastised his people while in the wilderness and many thousands of them died. But the nation as a whole was not wiped out but succeeded In reaching the land promised to their fathers.

Ezekiel 20:18

Ezekiel 20:18. The children were not to be punished for the sins of their fathers unless they followed in the evil ways set before them, and even then it would be in punishment for their own conduct and not for that of the fathers. For this reason they were admonished not to walk in the statutes of their fathers nor serve their idols.

Ezekiel 20:19

Ezekiel 20:19. Being the Lord God of these people was cited as the reason they should walk in the statutes and judgments He had given them.

Ezekiel 20:20

Ezekiel 20:20. Sabbath as a sign is explained at verse 12.

Ezekiel 20:21

Ezekiel 20:21. This verse is a repetition of the charge of rebellion previously made against the children of Israel.

Ezekiel 20:22

Ezekiel 20:22. Withdrew mine hand means God refrained his hand from punishing his people as they deserved. This was done for the sake of His own name that it might not be polluted in the midst of the heathen.

Ezekiel 20:23

Ezekiel 20:23. Lifted up mine hand here is figurative and refers to the Lord’ s determination to punish his nation finally by scattering them among the heathen.

Ezekiel 20:24

Ezekiel 20:24. The children of Israel turned away from the taw of God, then became devoted to idols.

Ezekiel 20:25

Ezekiel 20:25. It might puzzle us to read that God would give people a law that was not good. The key to the verse is the sense in which the word gave is used. The lexicon says the original has a wide range of meanings. One way in which a thing may be “given” is to step out of the way and let a person who is stubborn have his own way in Order that he may be taught a lesson by his own experience. God has used such a plan more than once when his creatures persisted in walking according to their own rules which are designated statutes in this verse. (See Psalms 81:12; Acts 7:42; Romans 1:24; 2 Thessalonians 2:11.)

Ezekiel 20:26

Ezekiel 20:26. I polluted them denotes that God pronounced his people as a polluted group because Of their idola trous practices. They had stooped to the most abominable form of the heathen worship, that of offering human sacrifices.

Ezekiel 20:27

Ezekiel 20:27. The word translated blasphemed is defined “to revile” in the lexicon, and it has also been rendered “ reproach” in other passages in the King James version. God regarded it as a reproach against Him for his own people to take up with idols.

Ezekiel 20:28

Ezekiel 20:28. This verse is a description of the idolatrous conditions the Israelites found in Palestine when they entered it. They had been warned against just such things and hence had no reason to be taken by surprise. However, they fell right in with the situation and participated in all the abominable practices of the heathen.

Ezekiel 20:29

Ezekiel 20:29, Bamah Is a word of Indefinite origin and occurs only in this place. It is used in a derisive manner with reference to the high places that were approached hy idolatrous worshipers.

Ezekiel 20:30

Ezekiel 20:30. The question form of the language really was intended as an accusation of the things named. The generation of Ezekiel’ s day were accused of following in the footprints of their sinful forefathers.

Ezekiel 20:31

Ezekiel 20:31. With all these pollutions clinging to these people they were in no position to come to God for information. They had already be littled the instruction that was offered them in their law, hence it would be inconsistent for them to approach the Lord as sincere inquirers.

Ezekiel 20:32

Ezekiel 20:32. They had determined in their own mind to be as the heathen who served false gods that were made of wood and stone. They were foolish enough to think they could succeed and continue as a nation while relying on such false gods. But this verse informs them that such a Lhing shall not he at all.

Ezekiel 20:33

Ezekiel 20:33. This verse through 37 (Ezekiel 20:33-37) is a prediction of the captivity. The rule to be had over them was to be accomplished through the Babylonians in whose land they were to dwell throughout the historic 70-year captivity.

Ezekiel 20:34

Ezekiel 20:34. The captivity was intended to act as a season of discipline for the rebellious people of God. While in that state they were destined to feel the fury of Him whom they had disobeyed.

Ezekiel 20:35

Ezekiel 20:35. Wilderness of the people Is a figure of speech, based on the event when they were led out from Egyptian bondage into the wilderness. (See verse 10.) The present passage applies to the history connected with their exile in Babylon.

Ezekiel 20:36

Ezekiel 20:36. In this verse the Lord makes his own comparison between the lime of Egypt and that of Babylon.

Ezekiel 20:37

Ezekiel 20:37. Pass under the rod is another flgure of speech and the meaning is that God would take account of his people. The flgure is drawn from the practice of a shepherd who caused his sheep to pass under his rod as he counted them. The ones thus enumerated were to be retained as heirs to the covenant that promised a restoration t.o the favor of God after the chastisement of the captivity had met its purpose.

Ezekiel 20:38

Ezekiel 20:38. The principal Item in this purpose mentioned in the preceding verse was the cure of idolatry and that is the subject of this verse. Purge out from among you the rebels refers to those who would still be favorably disposed toward idolatry. They were to he weeded out from the other Jews and also be drawn away from the land of Babylon. However, they were not to be permitted to reenter the land of Israel since only those who were weaned from idols were to be thus rewarded. This helps to explain why only a remnant was permitted to return (Ezra 2:64).

Ezekiel 20:39

Ezekiel 20:39. This verse should be considered in connection with verse 25. It was a part of the treatment for idolatry that the nation be compelled to continue its corrupt practice even while in captivity.

Ezekiel 20:40

Ezekiel 20:40. This and some following verses predict the return from captivity. Mountain in symbolic language means a government. After the captivity the Lord’ s people were to return to their own land and restore the religious way of life that was directed by the law. There . . . offerings. While in Babylon the Lord would not accept any sacrifices from his people, but when they will have returned to their own country their offerings will be received.

Ezekiel 20:41

Ezekiel 20:41. By accepting and blessing the offerings of the Jews in Jerusalem, the heathen would have before them the evidence of the high standing of that people.

Ezekiel 20:42

Ezekiel 20:42. Another evidence of the favor of God will he the fact of the restoration of the Jews to the land from which they had been taken 70 years before.

Ezekiel 20:43

Ezekiel 20:43, The outstanding effort of the captivity was to rid the Jewish nation of the corruption of idolatry. (See the historical note on this subject in connection with comments on Isaiah 1:25, volume 3 of this Commentary.)

Ezekiel 20:44

Ezekiel 20:44. Israel did not receive the severe treatment her conduct deserved, which is the meaning of not according to your wicked ways. But the Lord wished to take care of his good name and hence held back part of his fury.

Ezekiel 20:45-46

Ezekiel 20:45-46. The 10-tribe kingdom had been in exile for more than a century. It was known in history as the northern kingdom as it related lo the kingdom of Judah. The latter was in the south part of Palestine, and as Ezekiel was writing its capital had not been destroyed, hence the present passage directed at Jerusalem as the south.

Ezekiel 20:47

Ezekiel 20:47. The imagery of a forest was selected for the present passage hence the destruction of the kingdom of Judah was spoken of as the burning of the trees.

Ezekiel 20:48

Ezekiel 20:48. Shall not be quenched means that. God’ s decree to overthrow the kingdom of Judah was bound to go through.

Ezekiel 20:49

Ezekiel 20:49. Ezekiel expressed a fear that this form of speech would not be taken seriously by his people; that they might, think he was speaking with no end in view.