Eze 20:18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
18. Unto their children. Verses 18–26 review the third part of Israel’s history—the generation that grew up in the wilderness under the influence of the legislation and institutions given at Sinai. The people were earnestly warned to avoid the sins of their fathers. That generation was the target audience for Deuteronomy’s speeches.
Eze 20:19 I am the LORD your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
Eze 20:20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God.
20. Hallow my sabbaths. See on v. 12. The Sabbath was there declared to be a sign that “I am the Lord that sanctify them.” Here it is a sign “that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” The Sabbath, coming with regularity every seventh day, was designed to keep God ever in remembrance (see PK 182). Had the Sabbath always been kept as God intended, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have been an idolater or an atheist (see PP 336). For other instances of the plural form, “sabbaths,” see Ex. 31:13; Lev. 23:38.
Eze 20:21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
21. The children rebelled. The sons followed the example of their fathers. Historical evidences are found in Num. 15–17. God threatened that He would destroy the whole congregation (Num. 16:21–45), but desisted for His name’s sake.
Eze 20:22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
Eze 20:23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
23. Scatter them. This threat should be understood in the light of the warnings of Lev. 26:33; Deut. 4:27; 28:64. The predicted exile did not come upon that immediate generation. Many centuries elapsed before the penalty was actually inflicted in its fullness. At the time of Ezekiel’s prophecy it had been fulfilled in part and was about to be completely accomplished.
ze 20:24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols.
Eze 20:25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
Statutes that were not good. These are not the “statutes, … which if a man do, he shall even live in them” (v. 11). They are not any part of the Mosaic law. This is evident from the reference to the consecration of children to Molech in v. 26. The statutes the people had adopted, which were not good, came from the heathen round about them. But how can it be said that God gave these to them?
In Bible figure, many acts are attributed to God, not with the idea that He performs them, but from the point of view that in His omnipotence and omniscience He does not prevent them. An understanding of this principle helps to explain many apparently contradictory statements, which, like the one here under consideration, seem to contradict flatly the Bible teaching that God’s character is pure and holy (see Isa. 63:17; 2 Thess. 2:11, 12).
Attempts have been made to apply this text to the multitude of ceremonies and ordinances of the Mosaic law, which, if Israel had been obedient and had loved to keep God’s commandments, would not have been required (see 5T 666, 667). But the provisions of the Mosaic code can hardly be designated “statutes that were not good,” for the former were already in existence when Ezekiel made this pronouncement. Furthermore, the ceremonial law was given by Christ Himself, and was worthy of its divine author. Paul himself declares this law glorious. The clearer light that we now possess should not lead us to despise that which was earlier given in types and symbols (see PP 367, 368).
It has also been suggested that the “statutes” described as “not good” refer to the permissive decrees of Heaven by which various heathen nations successively oppressed God’s people (see on Dan. 4:17). Such had been the case in the repeated Assyrian invasions of Judah (Isa. 8:7; 10:5, 6; cf. Isa. 5:25, 26; 9:11, 12; Amos 6:14), and was now being repeated under Nebuchadnezzar (Isa. 47:5, 6; cf. Isa. 42:24, 25; 60:10, 15; Jer. 1:11–16; 4:18; 5:15–19).
Eze 20:26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am the LORD.”
26. I polluted them. This clause should be understood in harmony with the statement in v. 25. God did not actually pollute the people; He only permitted them to suffer the consequences of their own course. In Bible figure God is frequently said to do that which He permits to be done or does not prevent. Some of the versions such as Luther’s and Van Ess’s introduce the permissive idea directly into their translation: “I permitted them to be polluted,” etc.
To pass through the fire. See on ch. 16:20.
Eze 20:27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “In this too your fathers have blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful to Me.
27. Blasphemed me. Verses 27–29 review the fourth period of Israel’s history—the longest of all periods, beginning with the entry into Canaan and reaching to the prophet’s day.
Eze 20:28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings.
Eze 20:29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day. 29. Bamah. The transliteration of the Heb. bamah, a word signifying “high place,” and so translated earlier in this verse. Some suggest a word play in the Hebrew, the word translated “go” ba’im, having a sound similar to bamah. On “high places” see on ch. 6:3.
Eze 20:30 Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom after their abominations?
30. Are ye polluted? The prophet now addresses his contemporaries and accuses them of the same sins that characterized their forefathers.
Eze 20:31 For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be enquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be enquired of by you.
Eze 20:32 And that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, that ye say, We will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone.
32. As the heathen. On the desire to be “like all the nations” that are round about see 1 Sam. 8:5, 20. The prophet here reads the secret aspirations of his inquirers and flatly contradicts their sordid ambitions. Possibly they flattered themselves that if they could be released from their spiritual responsibility as Jehovah’s chosen people they would escape the severe punishments that the prophets had threatened. They may have believed that if they simply accepted the state of the heathen, together with correspondingly smaller responsibilities, Jehovah would leave them alone.
But as it was, they felt that they were being continually disturbed with judgments on account of their unwillingness to accomplish their divine mission. The answer comes that this will not be at all, for Israel stands in a very different relationship to God from that of the heathen. Men are dealt with according to the light and privileges they have had.
God does not easily withdraw these privileges nor lightly abandon those for whom He has planned a high destiny. What He purposes and executes is for the good of those concerned, as they themselves will ultimately be led to admit. God continues to work with any who submit, and accomplishes His designs, though it be but with a remnant. This is the theme of the prophecy that follows.
Eze 20:33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
33. A mighty hand. A common expression in the Pentateuch for the mighty acts by which Jehovah liberated His people from the power of the Egyptians and led them out of Egypt (Deut. 4:34; 5:15; Deut. 7:19; etc.; cf. Ex. 6:1, 6). God is going to accomplish a new exodus.
Eze 20:34 I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out.
34. Bring you out. Verses 34, 35 refer to God’s new plan. The bringing out does not immediately bring the people into their own land. They are first to be separated from the people among whom they dwell. They will not be permitted to “be as the heathen” (v. 32).
Eze 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
35. Wilderness of the people. It is doubtful that any material wilderness is referred to, such as the Arabian or Syrian desert. The term “wilderness of the people” is vague. By contrast the former wilderness is described as a “waste howling wilderness” (Deut. 32:10), a dwelling place of fiery serpents and scorpions (Deut. 8:15).
Historically, the plan Ezekiel here mentions was never fulfilled, at least not to any significant degree. The spiritual regeneration that God was seeking to bring about among the captives did not materialize. Had these purposes been realized, and had the returning exiles under Zerubbabel been spiritually revived persons, how different the subsequent history of Israel would have been!
Eze 20:36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will plead My case with you,” says the Lord GOD.
Eze 20:37 “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;
37. To pass under the rod. A figure of the shepherd counting and sorting his flock (Lev. 27:32; Jer. 33:13). As in Matt. 25:33, the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The land of the restored Israel is to be a land of righteousness, and the rebels are not to enter it.
Eze 20:38 And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
Eze 20:39 As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me: but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts, and with your idols.
39. Serve ye every one. Compare Joshua 24:15. If, after warning, men still refuse obedience, there is nothing more that God can do. Coercion is contrary to His character. Hence He does not prevent them from serving their idols.
The language is similar to Rev. 22:11, which reads literally, “Let the unrighteous one do unrighteousness still, and the filthy person continue to be defiled.” Again, in Hosea 4:17 the prophet declares, “Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone.” Yet such decrees are not without emotions of sorrow. Adds the prophet, “How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? … My heart churns within Me; My sympathy is stirred” (Hosea 11:8).
Eze 20:40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
40. In mine holy mountain. That is, Mt. Zion, also called the “mountain of the height of Israel” here and in ch. 17:23 (see Ps. 2:6; Isa. 2:2–4; Micah 4:1–3). According to v. 39 of this chapter those who preferred their idols would be abandoned to follow their evil ways. Here those who are left are shown restored to their own country truly serving their God.
All the house of Israel. The glorious promises were to all, regardless of tribal affiliation. Yet the call was individualized and applied only to those who were willing to accept the new-covenant relationship.
Require your offerings. The ritual law would still be in force after the restoration, and hence the Christian Era is not primarily referred to. Nor did the restoration under Zerubbabel accomplish this prophecy. It is one of the conditional promises of future glory that were never realized because Israel never abandoned her sins. If the conditions had been met, the whole world might have been prepared for the coming of the Messiah, and how different the outcome of history would have been (see pp. 28–30)!
Eze 20:41 I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen.
Eze 20:42 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers.
Eze 20:43 And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed.
43. Ye shall lothe yourselves. This is the mark of the truly penitent. Those who seek to excuse their sins have not taken the first step toward true repentance. Job is an example of one who for a time sought to justify his course. It was only when a revelation of the character of God was portrayed before him that the contrast between his own sinfulness and the purity of his Maker became painfully apparent. In his agony he cried out, “Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).
Paul could never forgive himself for his course in persecuting the Christians. Years later he exclaimed, “I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God” (1 Cor. 15:19). Self-loathing over sins is one of the most effective antidotes for a future repetition of those sins. The reason we fall so repeatedly into the same errors is that we do not mourn over our sins.
Eze 20:44 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name’s sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.
Not according to. Salvation is and will ever be an unmerited gift. Our wicked ways have earned for us only death. There is no amount of “works” that the sinner can accumulate that will finally constitute him worthy of heaven. On the other hand there is no sin so great that it cannot be removed by sincere repentance and reformation. When the righteous man receives his rewards, all the sins that he has committed will not even be mentioned to him (see on ch. 18:22).
Eze 20:45 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
45. Moreover. In the Hebrew Bible vs. 45–49 form the opening to ch. 21. The KJV here follows the LXX, the Vulgate, the Syriac, and Luther’s version in its chapter division. The words “set thy face” seem to connect this section with ch. 21. The same phrase occurs in ch. 21:2.
Eze 20:46 Son of man, set thy face toward the south, and drop thy word toward the south, and prophesy against the forest of the south field;
46. Toward the south. The word “south,” occurring three times, represents three separate Hebrew words, all, however, synonymous. The expression here designates the land of Judah, which, although nearly due west from Babylon, was approached by the Babylonians from the north (see on Jer. 1:13).
Eze 20:47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
47. Every green tree. That is, persons of every class—the entire population. If the distinction is one of morality (see ch. 21:4), it should be remembered that in a national catastrophe all who comprise that nation, whether good or bad, suffer. The calamity does not necessarily represent eternal doom upon the individual. Man still has the privilege of personal salvation.
Eze 20:48 And all flesh shall see that I the LORD have kindled it: it shall not be quenched.
48. Not be quenched. The fire would be so fierce that no one would be able to extinguish it. Hence it would burn till it had accomplished its work of destruction. Then it would die of its own accord.
This same expression, applied to the fires of hell (Mark 9:43, 45), is taken by some to mean that the fires of hell will continue throughout all eternity. Another text shows that such an interpretation is erroneous, for the fire in Jerusalem lighted by the Chaldeans was not quenched (Jer. 17:27), though it died out when the work of devastation was accomplished.
Eze 20:49 Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?
49. Doth he not speak parables? The people desire to avoid the application of the prophecy to themselves by labeling it obscure. They pretend not to understand it.