Ezekiel 20

Ezekiel 19 is a lamentation (a song of mourning) for the princes of Israel. This chapter follows it by opening a new, dated section of prophecy. The elders come to inquire of God, but instead of answering them, God recounts the history of their fathers' rebellion.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 On the tenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year, certain elders come to inquire of the LORD. The LORD declares that he will not be inquired of by them and commands Ezekiel to cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.
• Verses 5–9 In Egypt, Israel did not obey the command to cast away their idols. Even so, the LORD brought them out so that his name would not be polluted before the heathen.
• Verses 10–17 In the wilderness he gave them his statutes and his sabbaths, but Israel rebelled. The LORD did not bring that generation into the promised land, yet he did not utterly destroy them.
• Verses 18–26 When their children also rebelled, the LORD swore to scatter them among the nations, and he says that he gave them "statutes that were not good."
• Verses 27–32 He rebukes them because, even after entering Canaan, they sacrificed on the high places and made their sons pass through the fire, practices that continue even to this day.
• Verses 33–44 He declares that he will gather his scattered people out of the countries, judge them in "the wilderness of the people," and purge out the rebels. He promises to accept those who remain upon his holy mountain.
• Verses 45–49 Ezekiel is commanded to prophesy against the forest of the south field, which will be consumed by a fire that shall not be quenched. Ezekiel laments that the people say of him, "Doth he not speak parables?"

Key Verses

• Ezekiel 20:12 "Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them." This is a representative verse describing the Sabbath as a sign of the covenant.
• Ezekiel 20:44 "And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought with you for my name's sake." This verse concludes the theme of "for my name's sake," which recurs throughout the chapter.

People and Places

• Ezekiel: A prophet of priestly descent who prophesied among the exiles in Babylon. God addresses him as "son of man" (that is, a human being).
• The elders of Israel: Leaders of the exilic community.
• Egypt and the wilderness: The setting of the chapter's retrospective on the Exodus and the wilderness period.
• The south: Identified in Ezekiel 21:2 as Jerusalem and the land of Israel.

Points for Reflection

• The "seventh year" in verse 1 is generally understood, as in Ezekiel 1:2, to be counted from the year King Jehoiachin was carried into captivity.
• Interpretations of the "statutes that were not good" in verse 25 differ. One view holds that God gave Israel over to the customs of the nations. Another holds that the people distorted the law requiring the dedication of the firstborn into the practice of child sacrifice. The practice of making children pass through the fire in verses 26 and 31 is commonly associated with the worship of Molech.
• The phrase in verse 11, "which if a man do, he shall even live in them," is the same expression found in Leviticus 18:5. Paul quotes this verse from Leviticus in Romans 10:5 and Galatians 3:12 when addressing the relationship between law and gospel.
• Denominations interpret the Sabbath sign of verses 12 and 20 differently. The Seventh-day Adventist Church cites these verses as grounds for observing the Saturday Sabbath. Most Protestant denominations that observe Sunday regard it as a sign given to Israel under the old covenant (see Sabbath and the Lord's Day).
• In the Hebrew Bible, verses 45–49 are numbered as Ezekiel 21:1–5.