Ezekiel 20

Eze 20:1-49.

REJECTION OF THE

ELDERS'

APPLICATION TO THE

PROPHET:

EXPOSURE OF

ISRAEL'S

PROTRACTED

REBELLIONS, NOTWITHSTANDING

GOD'S

LONG-SUFFERING

GOODNESS:

YET

WILL

GOD

RESTORE

HIS

PEOPLE AT

LAST.

1. seventh year, &c.--namely, from the carrying away of Jeconiah

(Eze 1:2; 8:1).

This computation was calculated to make them cherish the more ardently

the hope of the restoration promised them in seventy years; for, when

prospects are hopeless, years are not computed [CALVIN].

elders . . . came to inquire--The object of their inquiry, as in

Eze 14:1,

is not stated; probably it was to ascertain the cause of the national

calamities and the time of their termination, as their false prophets

assured them of a speedy restoration.

3. The chapter falls into two great parts:

Eze 20:1-32,

the recital of the people's rebellions during five distinct periods: in

Egypt, the wilderness, on the borders of Canaan when a new generation

arose, in Canaan, and in the time of the prophet.

I will not be inquired of by you--because their moral state precluded

them from capability of knowing the will of God

(Ps 66:18;

Pr 28:9;

Joh 7:17).

4. Wilt thou judge? . . . judge--The emphatical repetition expresses,

"Wilt thou not judge? yes, judge them. There is a loud call for

immediate judgment." The Hebrew interrogative here is a command, not a prohibition

[MAURER]. Instead of spending time in teaching

them, tell them of the abomination of their fathers, of which their own

are the complement and counterpart, and which call for judgment.

5, 6. The thrice lifting up of God's hand (the sign of His oath,

Re 10:5, 6;

Ex 6:8,

Margin;

Nu 14:30;

to which passages the form of words here alludes) implies the solemn

earnestness of God's purpose of grace to them.

made myself known unto them--proving Myself faithful and true by the

actual fulfilment of My promises

(Ex 4:31; 6:3);

revealing Myself as "Jehovah," that is, not that the name was

unknown before, but that then first the force of that name was

manifested in the promises of God then being realized in

performances.

6. espied for them--as though God had spied out all other lands, and

chose Canaan as the best of all lands

(De 8:7, 8).

See

Da 8:9; 11:16, 41,

"the glorious land"; see Margin, "land of delight," or,

ornament"; "the pleasant land," or "land of desire,"

Zec 7:14,

Margin.

glory of all lands--that is, Canaan was "the beauty of all lands";

the most lovely and delightful land; "milk and honey" are not the

antecedents to "which."

7. Moses gives no formal statement of idolatries practised by Israel

in Egypt. But it is implied in their readiness to worship the golden

calf (resembling the Egyptian ox, Apis)

(Ex 32:4),

which makes it likely they had worshipped such idols in Egypt. Also, in

Le 17:7,

"They shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils (literally,

seirim, 'he-goats,' the symbol of the false god, Pan), after whom

they have gone awhoring." The call of God by Moses was as much to them

to separate from idols and follow Jehovah, as it was to Pharaoh to let

them go forth.

Ex 6:6, 7

and Jos 24:14,

expressly mention their idolatry "in Egypt." Hence the need of their

being removed out of the contagion of Egyptian idolatries by the

exodus.

every man--so universal was the evil.

of his eyes--It was not fear of their Egyptian masters, but their

own lust of the eye that drew them to idols

(Eze 6:9; 18:6).

8, 9. then I said, I will . . . But, &c.--that is, (God speaking in

condescension to human modes of conception) their spiritual degradation

deserved I should destroy them, "but I wrought (namely, the

deliverance 'out of . . . Egypt') for My name's sake"; not for their

merits (a rebuke to their national pride). God's "name" means the

sum-total of His perfections. To manifest these, His gratuitous mercy

abounding above their sins, yet without wrong to His justice, and so to

set forth His glory, was and is the ultimate end of His dealings

(Eze 20:14, 22;

2Sa 7:23;

Isa 63:12;

Ro 9:17).

11. which if a man do, he shall . . . five in

them--not "by them," as though they could justify a man,

seeing that man cannot render the faultless obedience required

(Le 18:5;

Ga 3:12).

Ro 10:5;

but there the design is to show that, if man could obey all

God's laws, he would be justified "by them"

(Ga 3:21);

but he cannot; he therefore needs to have justification by "the Lord

our righteousness"

(Jer 23:6);

then, having thus received life, he "lives," that is, maintains,

enjoys, and exercises this life only in so far as he walks "in"

the laws of God. So

De 30:15, 16.

The Israelites, as a nation, had life already freely given to them by

God's covenant of promise; the laws of God were designed to be the means

of the outward expression of their spiritual life. As the natural life

has its healthy manifestation in the full exercise of its powers, so

their spiritual being as a nation was to be developed in vigor, or else

decay, according as they did, or did not, walk in God's laws.

12. sabbaths, . . . a sign between me and them--a kind

of sacramental pledge of the covenant of adoption between God and His

people. The Sabbath is specified as a sample of the whole law, to show

that the law is not merely precepts, but privileges, of which the

Sabbath is one of the highest. Not that the Sabbath was first

instituted at Sinai, as if it were an exclusively Jewish ordinance

(Ge 2:2, 3),

but it was then more formally enacted, when, owing to the apostasy of

the world from the original revelation, one people was called out

(De 5:15)

to be the covenant-people of God.

sanctify them--The observance of the Sabbath contemplated by God was

not a mere outward rest, but a spiritual dedication of the day

to the glory of God and the good of man. Otherwise it would not be, as

it is made, the pledge of universal sanctification

(Ex 31:13-17;

Isa 58:13, 14).

Virtually it is said, all sanctity will flourish or decay, according as

this ordinance is observed in its full spirituality or not.

13. in the wilderness--They "rebelled" in the very place where death

and terror were on every side and where they depended on My miraculous

bounty every moment!

15. I swore against them

(Ps 95:11; 106:26)

that I would not permit the generation that came out of Egypt to enter

Canaan.

16. The special reason is stated by Moses

(Nu 13:32, 33; 14:4)

to be that they, through fear arising from the false report of the

spies, wished to return to Egypt; the general reasons are stated

here which lay at the root of their rejection of God's grace; namely,

contempt of God and His laws, and love of idols.

their heart--The fault lay in it

(Ps 78:37).

17. Nevertheless--How marvellous that God should spare such sinners!

His everlasting covenant explains it, His long-suffering standing out in

striking contrast to their rebellions

(Ps 78:38;

Jer 30:11).

18. I said unto their children--being unwilling to speak any more to

the fathers as being incorrigible.

Walk ye not in . . . statutes of . . . fathers--The traditions of the

fathers are to be carefully weighed, not indiscriminately followed. He

forbids the imitation of not only their gross sins, but even their

plausible statutes [CALVIN].

19. It is an indirect denial of God, and a robbing Him of His due, to

add man's inventions to His precepts.

20.

(Jer 17:22).

21. Though warned by the judgment on their fathers, the next generation

also rebelled against God. The "kindness of Israel's youth and love of

her espousals in the wilderness"

(Jer 2:2, 3)

were only comparative (the corruption in later times being more

general), and confined to the minority; as a whole, Israel at no time

fully served God. The "children" it was that fell into the fearful

apostasy on the plains of Moab at the close of the wilderness sojourn

(Nu 25:1, 2;

De 31:27).

23. It was to that generation the threat of dispersion was proclaimed

(De 28:64;

compare

Eze 29:4).

25. I gave them . . . statutes . . . not good--Since they would not

follow My statutes that were good, "I gave them" their own

(Eze 20:18)

and their fathers' "which were not good"; statutes spiritually

corrupting, and, finally, as the consequence, destroying them.

Righteous retribution

(Ps 81:12;

Ho 8:11;

Ro 1:24;

2Th 2:11).

Eze 20:39

proves this view to be correct (compare

Isa 63:17).

Thus on the plains of Moab

(Nu 25:1-18),

in chastisement for the secret unfaithfulness to God in their hearts,

He permitted Baal's worshippers to tempt them to idolatry (the ready

success of the tempters, moreover, proving the inward unsoundness of

the tempted); and this again ended necessarily in punitive

judgments.

26. I polluted them--not directly; "but I judicially gave

them up to pollute themselves." A just retribution for their

"polluting My sabbaths"

(Eze 20:24).

This

Eze 20:26

is explanatory of

Eze 20:25.

Their own sin I made their punishment.

caused to pass through the fire--FAIRBAIRN translates, "In their presenting

(literally, 'the causing to pass over') all their first-born," namely,

to the Lord; referring to the command

(Ex 13:12,

Margin, where the very same expression is used). The lustration

of children by passing through the fire was a later abomination

(Eze 20:31).

The evil here spoken of was the admixture of heathenish practices with

Jehovah's worship, which made Him regard all as "polluted." Here, "to

the Lord" is omitted purposely, to imply, "They kept up the outward

service indeed, but I did not own it as done unto Me, since it was

mingled with such pollutions." But English Version is

supported by the similar phraseology in

Eze 20:31,

see on

Eze 20:31.

They made all their children pass through the fire; but he names

the first-born, in aggravation of their guilt; that is, "I had

willed that the first-born should be redeemed as being Mine, but they

imposed on themselves the cruel rites of offering them to Molech"

(De 18:10).

might know . . . the Lord--that they may be compelled to know Me as

a powerful Judge, since they were unwilling to know Me as a gracious

Father.

27-29. The next period, namely, that which followed the

settlement in Canaan: the fathers of the generation existing in

Ezekiel's time walked in the same steps of apostasy as the generation

in the wilderness.

Yet in this--Not content with past rebellions, and not moved with

gratitude for God's goodness, "yet in this," still further they

rebelled.

blasphemed--"have insulted me" [CALVIN].

Even those who did not

sacrifice to heathen gods have offered "their sacrifices"

(Eze 20:28)

in forbidden places.

28. provocation of their offering--an offering as it were purposely

made to provoke God.

sweet savour--What ought to have been sweet became offensive by

their corruptions. He specifies the various kinds of offerings, to show

that in all alike they violated the law.

29. What is the high place whereunto ye go?--What is the meaning of

this name? For My altar is not so called. What excellence do ye see

in it, that ye go there, rather than to My temple, the only lawful place

of sacrificing? The very name, "high place," convicts you of sinning,

not from ignorance but perverse rebellion.

is called . . . unto this day--whereas this name ought to have been

long since laid aside, along with the custom of sacrificing on high

places which it represents, being borrowed from the heathen, who so

called their places of sacrifice (the Greeks, for instance, called

them by a cognate term, Bomoi), whereas I call mine Mizbeaach, "altar." The very name implies the place is not that sanctioned by Me,

and therefore your sacrifices even to ME there (much more those you

offer to idols)

are only a "provocation" to Me

(Eze 20:28;

De 12:1-5).

David and others, it is true, sacrificed to God on high places, but it

was under exceptional circumstances, and before the altar was set up on

Mount Moriah.

30. The interrogation implies a strong affirmation, as in

Eze 20:4,

"Are ye not polluted . . . ? Do ye not commit?"

&c. Or, connecting this verse with

Eze 20:31,

"Are ye thus polluted . . . and yet (do ye expect that) I

shall be inquired of by you?"

31. through the fire--As "the fire" is omitted in

Eze 20:26,

FAIRBAIRN represents the generation here referred

to (namely, that of Ezekiel's day) as attaining the climax of guilt

(see on

Eze 20:26),

in making their children pass through the fire, which that former

generation did not. The reason, however, for the omission of "the fire"

in

Eze 20:26

is, perhaps, that there it is implied the children only "passed

through the fire" for purification, whereas here they are actually

burnt to death before the idol; and therefore "the fire" is

specified in the latter, not in the former case (compare

2Ki 3:27).

32. We will be as the heathen--and so escape the odium to which we

are exposed, of having a peculiar God and law of our own. "We shall

live on better terms with them by having a similar worship. Besides, we

get from God nothing but threats and calamities, whereas the heathen,

Chaldeans, &c., get riches and power from their idols." How literally

God's words here ("that . . . shall not be at all") are fulfilled in the

modern Jews! Though the Jews seemed so likely (had Ezekiel spoken as an

uninspired man) to have blended with the rest of mankind and laid aside

their distinctive peculiarities, as was their wish at that time, yet

they have remained for eighteen centuries dispersed among all nations

and without a home, but still distinct: a standing witness for the truth

of the prophecy given so long ago.

33. Here begins the second division of the prophecy. Lest the

covenant people should abandon their distinctive hopes and amalgamate

with the surrounding heathen, He tells them that, as the wilderness

journey from Egypt was made subservient to discipline and also to the

taking from among them the rebellious, so a severe discipline (such as

the Jews are now for long actually undergoing) should be administered

to them during the next exodus for the same purpose

(Eze 20:38),

and so to prepare them for the restored possession of their land

(Ho 2:14, 15).

This was only partially fulfilled before, and at the return from

Babylon: its full and final accomplishment is future.

with a mighty hand, . . . will I rule over you--I will assert My right

over you in spite of your resistance

(Eze 20:32),

as a master would in the case of his slave, and I will not let you be

wrested from Me, because of My regard to My covenant.

34. The Jews in exile might think themselves set free from the "rule"

of God

(Eze 20:33);

therefore, He intimates, He will reassert His right over them by

chastening judgments, and these, with an ultimate view, not to destroy,

but to restore them.

people--rather, "peoples."

35. wilderness of the people--rather, "peoples," the various

peoples among whom they were to be scattered, and about whom God

saith

(Eze 20:34),

"I will bring you out." In contrast to the literal "wilderness of

Egypt"

(Eze 20:36),

"the wilderness of the peoples" is their spiritual wilderness

period of trial, discipline, and purification while exiled among the

nations. As the state when they are "brought into the wilderness of the

peoples" and that when they were among the peoples "from" which God was

to "bring them out"

(Eze 20:34)

are distinguished, the wilderness state probably answers partially to

the transition period of discipline from the first decree for their

restoration by Cyrus to the time of their complete settlement in their

land, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. But the full and

final fulfilment is future; the wilderness state will comprise not only

the transition period of their restoration, but the beginning of their

occupancy of Palestine, a time in which they shall endure the sorest of

all their chastisements, to "purge out the rebels"

(Eze 20:38;

Da 12:1);

and then the remnant

(Zec 13:8, 9; 14:2, 3)

shall "all serve God in the land"

(Eze 20:40).

Thus the wilderness period does not denote locality, but their

state intervening between their rejection and future

restoration.

plead--bring the matter in debate between us to an issue. Image is

from a plaintiff in a law court meeting the defendant "face to face."

Appropriate, as God in His dealings acts not arbitrarily, but in most

righteous justice

(Jer 2:9;

Mic 6:2).

36.

(Nu 14:21-29).

Though God saved them out of Egypt, He afterwards destroyed in the

wilderness them that believed not

(Jude 5);

so, though He brought the exiles out of Babylon, yet their wilderness

state of chastening discipline continued even after they were again in

Canaan.

37. pass under the rod--metaphor from a shepherd who makes his sheep

pass under his rod in counting them

(Le 27:32;

Jer 33:13).

Whether you will or not, ye shall be counted as Mine, and so shall be

subjected to My chastening discipline

(Mic 7:14),

with a view to My ultimate saving of the chosen remnant (compare

Joh 10:27-29).

bond of . . . covenant--I will constrain you by sore chastisements

to submit yourselves to the covenant to which ye are lastingly

bound, though now you have cast away God's bond from you. Fulfilled

in part,

Ne 9:8, 26, 32-38; 10:1-39;

fully hereafter

(Isa 54:10-13; 52:1, 2).

38.

(Zec 13:9; 14:2).

purge out--or, "separate." Hebrew, barothi, forming a designed

alliteration with "berith," the covenant; not a promise of

grace, but a threat against those Jews who thought they could in exile

escape the observation and "rule" of God.

land of Israel--Though brought out of the country of their sojourn

or exile (Babylon formerly, and the various lands of their exile

hereafter) into the literal land of Palestine, even it shall be to

them an exile state, "they shall not enter into the land of Israel,"

that is, the spiritual state of restored favor of God to His covenant

people, which shall only be given to the remnant to be saved

(Zec 13:8, 9).

39. Equivalent to, "I would rather have you open idolaters than

hypocrites, fancying you can worship Me and yet at the same time serve

idols"

(Am 5:21, 22, 25, 26;

compare

1Ki 18:21;

2Ki 17:41;

Mt 6:24;

Re 3:15, 16).

Go ye, serve--This is not a command to serve idols, but a judicial

declaration of God's giving up of the half-idol, half-Jehovah

worshippers to utter idolatry, if they will not serve Jehovah alone

(Ps 81:12;

Re 22:11).

hereafter also--God anticipates the same apostasy afterwards, as

now.

40. For--Though ye, the rebellious portion, withdraw from My worship,

others, even the believing remnant, will succeed after you perish, and

will serve Me purely.

in mine holy mountain--

(Isa 2:2, 3).

Zion, or Moriah, "the height of Israel" (pre-eminent above all

mountains because of the manifested presence of God there with

Israel), as opposed to their "high places," the worship on which

was an abomination to God.

all--not merely individuals, such as constitute the elect Church now;

but the whole nation, to be followed by the conversion of the Gentile

nations

(Isa 2:2,

"all nations;"

Ro 11:26;

Re 11:15).

with--rather, "in all your holy things"

[MAURER].

41. with--that is, in respect to your sweet savor (literally, "savor

of rest," see on

Eze 16:19).

Or, I will accept you (your worship) "as a sweet savor" [MAURER],

(Eph 5:2;

Php 4:18).

God first accepts the person in Messiah, then the

offering

(Eze 20:40;

Ge 4:4).

bring . . . out from . . . people, &c.--the same words as in

Eze 20:34;

but there applied to the bringing forth of the hypocrites, as well as

the elect; here restricted to the saved remnant, who alone shall be at

last restored literally and spiritually in the fullest sense.

sanctified in you before . . . heathen--

(Jer 33:9).

All the nations will acknowledge My power displayed in restoring you,

and so shall be led to seek Me

(Isa 66:18;

Zec 14:16-19).

43. there--not merely in exile when suffering punishment which makes

even reprobates sorry for sin, but when received into favor

in your own land.

remember--

(Eze 16:61, 63).

The humiliation of Judah

(Ne 9:1-38)

is a type of the future penitence of the whole nation

(Ho 5:15; 6:1;

Zec 12:10-14).

God's goodness realized by the sinner is the only thing that leads to

true repentance

(Ho 3:5;

Lu 7:37, 38).

44. The English Version chapter ought to have ended here,

and the twenty-first chapter begun with "Moreover," &c., as in the

Hebrew Bible.

for my name's sake--

(Eze 36:22).

Gratuitously; according to My compassion, not your merits. After having

commented on this verse, CALVIN was laid on his

death bed, and his commentary ended.

45-49. An introductory brief description in enigma of the destruction

Eze 21:1-32.

46. south . . . south . . . south--three different Hebrew words,

to express the certainty of the divine displeasure resting on the region

specified. The third term is from a root meaning "dry," referring to

the sun's heat in the south; representing the burning judgments of God

on the southern parts of Judea, of which Jerusalem was the capital.

set thy face--determinately. The prophets used to turn themselves

towards those who were to be the subjects of their prophecies.

drop--as the rain, which flows in a continuous stream, sometimes

gently

(De 32:2),

sometimes violently

(Am 7:16;

Mic 2:6,

Margin), as here.

forest--the densely populated country of Judea; trees representing

people.

47. fire--every kind of judgment

(Eze 19:12; 21:3,

"my sword";

Jer 21:14).

green tree . . . dry--fit and unfit materials for fuel alike; "the

righteous and the wicked," as explained in

Eze 21:3, 4;

Lu 23:31.

Unsparing universality of the judgment!

flaming flame--one continued and unextinguished flame. "The glowing

flame" [FAIRBAIRN].

faces--persons; here the metaphor is merged in the reality.

49. Ezekiel complains that by this parabolic form of prophecy he

only makes himself and it a jest to his countrymen. God therefore in

Eze 21:1-32

permits him to express the same prophecy more plainly.