Eze 20:10-26 | KingComments | STEP | Despite their idolatry in Egypt, God redeemed His people ( ). He has led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. There, at Sinai, He gives them His law ( ). If they keep His law, they will live ( ). Among the provisions of the law, the sabbath holds a special place ( ). The sabbath is the day of rest and God gives this day of rest as a special sign between Him and His people. Through the sabbath, Israel is set apart from all the nations in a special way. The sabbath is the sign that the LORD sanctifies them, that is, He thereby sets them apart from the other nations to be His people ( ). The exiles cannot keep many laws in Babylon because they have no temple there. Laws they can keep, for example, are the food laws – Daniel did so ( ) – and the sabbath. However, the people show themselves unworthy of this special sign of their relationship with God and do not keep the sabbath ( ). After their disobedience in Egypt, their stay in the wilderness is also marked by disobedience. They scorn and violate the statutes and ordinances that the LORD has given for life. The book of Exodus and the book of Numbers provide many examples of this. The sabbaths, of which the LORD says again “My sabbaths” ( ), are profaned by them. This profanation is so great and gross that the LORD says He will pour out His wrath upon them and annihilate them. The LORD must act for the sake of His Name ( ). His Name has been profaned by the people’s rebellion against Him. He cannot let their disobedience go unpunished. After all, He led Israel out of Egypt before the eyes of the nations to be His people. But they are not behaving as His people. Therefore, He must discipline them and put them to death, so that they will not come into the pleasant land, the glorious land, that He has given them ( ). They have profaned Him, on the one hand, by rejecting His ordinances and profaning His sabbaths and, on the other hand, by attaching with their hearts to their stink gods ( ). Despite their continual deviation from Him, He spares them so that He does not totally destroy them in the wilderness ( ). As punishment for their deviation, the entire first generation of those He led out of Egypt must fall in the wilderness. However, He spares their children in order to fulfill to them His promises. Will they be better than their fathers who all perished?

‏ Ezekiel 20:10-26

Israel’s Idolatry in the Wilderness

Despite their idolatry in Egypt, God redeemed His people (Eze 20:10). He has led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. There, at Sinai, He gives them His law (Eze 20:11). If they keep His law, they will live (Lev 18:5). Among the provisions of the law, the sabbath holds a special place (Eze 20:12). The sabbath is the day of rest and God gives this day of rest as a special sign between Him and His people.

Through the sabbath, Israel is set apart from all the nations in a special way. The sabbath is the sign that the LORD sanctifies them, that is, He thereby sets them apart from the other nations to be His people (Exo 31:13-16). The exiles cannot keep many laws in Babylon because they have no temple there. Laws they can keep, for example, are the food laws – Daniel did so (Dan 1:8) – and the sabbath.

However, the people show themselves unworthy of this special sign of their relationship with God and do not keep the sabbath (Eze 20:13). After their disobedience in Egypt, their stay in the wilderness is also marked by disobedience. They scorn and violate the statutes and ordinances that the LORD has given for life. The book of Exodus and the book of Numbers provide many examples of this. The sabbaths, of which the LORD says again “My sabbaths” (Eze 20:12), are profaned by them. This profanation is so great and gross that the LORD says He will pour out His wrath upon them and annihilate them.

The LORD must act for the sake of His Name (Eze 20:14). His Name has been profaned by the people’s rebellion against Him. He cannot let their disobedience go unpunished. After all, He led Israel out of Egypt before the eyes of the nations to be His people. But they are not behaving as His people. Therefore, He must discipline them and put them to death, so that they will not come into the pleasant land, the glorious land, that He has given them (Eze 20:15).

They have profaned Him, on the one hand, by rejecting His ordinances and profaning His sabbaths and, on the other hand, by attaching with their hearts to their stink gods (Eze 20:16). Despite their continual deviation from Him, He spares them so that He does not totally destroy them in the wilderness (Eze 20:17). As punishment for their deviation, the entire first generation of those He led out of Egypt must fall in the wilderness. However, He spares their children in order to fulfill to them His promises. Will they be better than their fathers who all perished?

Idolatry of the Children in the Wilderness

After the old generation has fallen in the wilderness, the LORD addresses the word to their children (Eze 20:18). He warns them not to follow the example of their fathers. He declares that He is the LORD their God and commands them to walk in His statutes and to keep His ordinances (Eze 20:19). He commands them to sanctify His sabbaths, as He commanded their fathers (Eze 20:20). Again, He speaks of the sabbath being a sign between Him and them and that by it they will know that He is the LORD their God.

Unfortunately, the children’s response is no different than that of their fathers. The children also rebel against Him (Eze 20:21; Num 25:1-9). There is no question with them, either, that they are faithfully observing His statutes and ordinances. And again the LORD points out that keeping those statutes and ordinances means life (Lev 18:5). He wants them to live. So they deliberately choose death by not caring about it. Instead of sanctifying the sabbaths they profane them. Thereby they arouse God’s wrath. He says that in the wilderness He will accomplish His anger against them and kill them.

But God in His mercy withdraws His hand, which was stretched out against them in wrath, and does not annihilate them (Eze 20:22). If He would kill them in the wilderness, His Name would be profaned before the eyes of the nations. Those nations could then say that He was unable to lead the people He led out of Egypt before their eyes also through the wilderness. Therefore, He wants to act differently with His people. He already swears in the wilderness that He will scatter them among the nations in all kinds of lands (Eze 20:23; Lev 26:33 ; 39; Deu 28:36 ; 64).

As the reason for this scattering, He mentions their disobedience to His ordinances, their rejection of His statutes, and the profaning of His sabbaths (Eze 20:24). This all led them to follow the same stink gods that their fathers followed. They are no better than their fathers. In response, God gives them over to their own will (Eze 20:25). They choose their own statutes to live by and God gives them up to it.

The meaning of the phrase that the LORD gives statutes that are not good and ordinances by which they can not live, is that He gives His people over to their own statutes and ordinances if they will not obey Him. He lets them go on their self-determined path. God punishes His people by allowing them to do what they like to do (Acts 7:42-43; Psa 81:11-12; Rom 1:24 ; 26 ; 28).

The gifts that the people offer to the idols, the LORD uses to pronounce them unclean (Eze 20:26). They even sacrifice their children as gifts to the idols. On this, God's wrath must come in full measure. The end of such depraved heathen practices is national devastation.

Even today, countless children are sacrificed to idols. We can think of the countless abortions that have been and are being done. How many children have not been aborted because the parents see children as an impediment to their personal enjoyment? The same is true when parents show their children a life that is full of greed, which is idolatry (Col 3:5), causing the children to turn away from the Lord and His way.