The visit of Israel’s elders to Ezekiel and God’s message to them
20
📚And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me.20:1 This was five years before the capture of King Zedekiah and the burning of Jerusalem.⚜
2 📚Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 📚“Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Have you come to inquire of me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.
4 📚“Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers, 5 📚and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: In the day that I chose Israel, and lifted up my hand to swear to the offspring of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand to swear to them, saying, I am the LORD your God, 6 📚in the day that I lifted up my hand to swear to them to bring them 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.
7 📚Then I said to them, ‘Throw away, each of you, the abominations that attract his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’
8 📚“But they rebelled against me, and would not listen to me. They did not all throw away the abominations that attracted their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will pour out my fury on them, to spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’ 9 📚But I acted for my name’s sake 📖, so that it would not be profaned before the nations among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
20:7-9 This description of events in Egypt is not given anywhere else in the Bible. While in Egypt Israel began to worship the gods of Egypt (Josh 24:14). Even though God promised them deliverance from slavery and freedom in their own land, the love of idolatry remained in them. Later this bore evil fruit in the shameful acts of Ex 32:1-6. On God’s anger see Num 25:3; Ps 90:7-11.⚜
10 📚Therefore I caused them to go out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness, 11 📚and I gave them my statutes and showed them my judgments, by which a man will live, if he does them. 12 📚And I also gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
13 📚“But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, by which a man will live, if he does them. And they greatly profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 📚But I acted for my name’s sake, so that it would not be profaned before the nations, in whose sight I brought them out.
20:14 Verse 9.⚜
15 📚But I also lifted up my hand to swear to 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, 16 📚because they had despised my judgments, and did not walk in my statutes, but profaned my Sabbaths. For their heart went after their idols.
20:16 Verses 7,8; Ezek 14:3.⚜
17 📚Nevertheless my eye spared them instead of destroying them, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 📚But I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not walk according to the statutes of your fathers, or observe their judgments, or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 📚I am the LORD your God. Walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them, 20 📚and hallow my Sabbaths, for they are a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God”.
21 📚“However, the children rebelled against me. They did not walk according to my statutes, or keep my judgments to do them, by which a man will live, if he does them. They profaned my Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my fury on them, to spend my anger against them in the wilderness.
20:18-21 The second generation was little (or no) better than the first generation which came out of Egypt.⚜
22 📚But I withdrew my hand, and acted for my name’s sake, so that it would not be profaned in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
20:22 Verses 9,14,44.⚜
23 📚I also lifted up my hand to swear to them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries, 24 📚because they had not put my judgments into effect, but had despised my statutes, and had profaned my Sabbaths, and because their eyes went after their fathers’ idols. 25 📚Therefore I also gave them statutes that were not good, and judgments they could not live by,
26 📚and I let them pollute themselves by their own gifts, letting them cause the firstborn to pass through the fire to their idols, so that I might make them desolate, so that they might know that I am the LORD.’
20:26 Verse 31; Ezek 16:20. If only they would see the evil of their horrible acts and come to a knowledge of God their abandonment to evil would serve a good purpose.⚜
27 📚“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: Also in this your fathers blasphemed me, by being unfaithful to me. 28 📚For when I had brought them into the land, concerning which I lifted up my hand swearing to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and there they offered their sacrifices, and there they made offerings that provoked me. There too they offered their fragrant incense and there poured out their drink offerings. 29 📚Then I said to them, “What is this high place to which you go?’ ” And its name is called Bamah to this day.
20:4-29 A recounting of Israel’s sinful history. Compare Ezek 16:1-52; 23:1-49; Ps 78:8-64; 106:7-48.⚜
20:27-29 Israel in the land was no better than it had been in Egypt or in the desert (Ps 78:55-58; 106:34-39). “Bamah” (v 29) – means “high place”.⚜
30 📚“Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: Will you defile yourselves like your fathers? And act like a prostitute with their abominations? 31 📚For to this very day when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you.
20:30-31 Israel in Ezekiel’s day was no better than any previous generation.⚜
32 📚“And what comes into your mind will never happen, your saying ‘We will be like the nations, like the tribes of other countries, worshipping wood and stone.’
20:32 This attitude was one of the foundation stones of their sinful, rebellious way of life. Compare 1 Sam 8:5. They did not wish to be what God called them to be – a distinct, separate, holy people (Ex 19:5-6; Deut 7:6). They wanted to conform to the world’s standards and not be regarded as different. Do we not see the same attitude in many Christians today?⚜
33 📚As I live, says the Lord God, I will certainly rule you with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
God promises to restore Israel
34 📚And I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. 35 📚And I will bring you into the wilderness 📖 of the peoples, and there I will plead my case with you face to face, 36 📚as I pleaded it with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead it with you, says the Lord God.
20:36 Verses 8-10.⚜
37 📚And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant 📖, 38 📚and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and those who transgress against me. I will bring them out of the country where they live, but they will not enter the land of Israel; and you will know that I am the LORD.
20:37-38 Jer 33:13. As a shepherd counts his sheep and separates them from those which are not his, so God will do to the people of Israel. Compare Num 14:26-35.⚜
39 📚“As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord God: Hereafter, if you will not listen to me, go, each of you serve his idols, but do not profane my holy name any longer with your gifts, and with your idols.
20:39 The first part of this verse is what Israel determined to do; the second part what God was determined to work in them.⚜
40 📚For in my holy mountain, on the high mountain of Israel, says the Lord God, all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, will serve me. There I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, with all your holy things. 41 📚I will accept you with your fragrant incense, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered. And I will show myself holy among you before the nations. 42 📚And you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country concerning which I lifted up my hand to swear to give it to your fathers. 43 📚And there you will remember your ways, and all your deeds, in which you have been defiled, and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for all the evils that you have committed.
44 📚And you will know that I am the LORD, when I deal with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways or according to your corrupt deeds, O house of Israel, says the Lord God”.
20:33-44 As for Israel, God here declares that He will never let them be like other peoples of earth. What they wanted would never happen. He would not deal with them as He dealt with other nations. He had a purpose toward them and He was determined to fulfill it. This is true also of individual believers (see Ps 73:12-14).⚜
20:40-44 A gracious promise of restoration to their land. Not only so, but a promise that as a nation they would be freed from idolatry to serve God and be enabled to offer acceptable sacrifices. Above all they would come into a fuller knowledge of both themselves (v 43) and God (vs 42,44).⚜
Prophecy against the southland
45 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 46 📚“Son of man, set your face toward the south, and utter your words toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the southland, 47 📚and say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord God: See, I will kindle a fire 📖 in you, and it will devour every green tree and every dry tree in you. The blazing fire will not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north will be scorched by it. 48 📚And all flesh will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it. It will not be quenched”.
20:45-48 A prophecy of the complete destruction of that part of the kingdom which remained in the land. It is compared to a forest. The kingdom was the southern kingdom in relation to Israel, the northern kingdom. Also it was south of the armies of Babylon which always invaded from the north.⚜
49 📚Then I said, “Ah Lord God! They say of me, ‘Is he not just speaking parables?’ ”
20:49 Ezekiel evidently thought that speaking in parables would give unbelievers more opportunity to reject and mock him.⚜