@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 14:3
0; 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). "By them" is the expression indeed in @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 1:5); 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 by fire and sword, detailed more explicitly in @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.