Explore the Bible: December 19

Judges • Ezekiel 20:1-14

By Wayne VanHorn

Reading Ezekiel 20:1 – 24:27 will provide an excellent overview of the final group of judgment passages the Lord commanded Ezekiel to proclaim against the people of Judah. I teach my students at Mississippi College that God always judges sin, even when the sinners are numbered among His people.

Judah’s refusal to repent of their sins and turn back to God led Him to send them into exile, where they were forced to contemplate “the high cost of low living,” as one preacher so aptly put it.

Confronted (Ezek. 20:1-4). Ezekiel dated many of his prophecies. Ezek. 20:1 introduces the fourth dated prophecy, which occurred in the fifth month, tenth day, of the seventh year, approximately August 591 BC.

The significance of the date in this case was that the prophecy preceded the fall and destruction of Jerusalem five years later in 586 BC. Even today, God warns sinners in advance of His judgments.

Ezekiel’s prophecy came as a result of an inquiry on the part of Israel’s elders. The message opened with a repudiation of the idea that the elders could inquire of the Lord any time they desired, without having repented of their sins (20:2-3).

The phrase, “the word of the Lord came to me,” occurs 48 times in the Hebrew text of Ezekiel, stressing the divine authority of the prophet’s communications.
God then questioned Ezekiel, twice asking, “will you judge them?” causing them to know the abominations of their ancestors. Thus, Ezekiel 20:4 demonstrated that Israel’s sin had a long history, extending several generations into the past.

God’s judgment therefore was neither impulsive nor arbitrary. God had patiently awaited His people’s repentance; judgment was His response to their stubborn refusal.

Early signs (Ezek. 20:5-9). A prominent feature of these verses is the emphasis on God swearing an oath to His people, promising to deliver them from Egyptian bondage and leading them into the promised land, “a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands” (Ezek. 20:5-6).

The statements, “I swore an oath,” and “I swore,” render the Hebrew clause, “I lifted up my hand,” an aspect of oath-taking similar to witnesses at a trial in our modern courtrooms promising to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In swearing an oath to His people, God voluntarily bound Himself to their benefit. Delivering the people and providing a land for them was out of the overflow of His grace.

God’s oath to deliver and provide for them came with a stipulation — they had to acknowledge Yahweh as the one and only true God. They were to demonstrate their loyalty to Him alone by throwing away the abhorrent things they prized and by not defiling themselves with Egypt’s idols (Ezek. 20:7).

Interestingly, Exodus 12:12 reminded them that the plagues on the Egyptians were “judgments against all the gods of Egypt.” God always judges sin; how and when are His business.

The people unfortunately rebelled against God. Unwilling to listen to Him, they retained things abhorrent to God and kept their Egyptian idols (20:8). However, God acted in a way that upheld the honor of His name, delivering His people out of Egypt (20:9).

Repeated rebellion (Ezek. 20:10-14). God led His people into the wilderness and gave them His statutes and ordinances. He promised, “the person who does them will live by them” (20:10-11). God is always good for His word.

Moreover, God gave His people the Sabbaths — permission to rest — as a sign between Him and them (20:12). His purpose was that they would know He was the Lord who consecrated them, literally “making them holy.”

As in Egypt, so also in the wilderness the people rebelled against the Lord, failing to walk in His statutes and rejecting His ordinances (20:13). The reader is reminded a second time, “if a man observes them, he will live.”

God’s faithful promise of life as juxtaposed to the unfaithfulness of the people foreshadowed the awful judgment they were bringing upon themselves. The people even profaned the Sabbath days. Once again, God threatened to pour out His wrath on them in the wilderness, putting an end to them.

Thus, three times in Ezekiel 20 God considered pouring out His wrath on His sinful people (20:8, 13, 21). All three times, He opted to uphold the honor of His name and spared His people (20:9, 14, 22). Judgment would come, but not before the people had yet more time to repent.

VanHorn is dean of the School of Christian Studies & the Arts at Mississippi College, Clinton.