Ezekiel 20 Study Notes

20:1 As in 8:1 and 14:1, a delegation of elders came to Ezekiel’s home seeking an oracle from the Lord. It had been almost eleven months since the vision of the abominations of the temple in 8:1. The date indicated is 591 BC.

20:2-3 God refused to respond to their questions. Rather, he had his own message for them.

20:4 Like chaps. 16 and 23, chap. 20 presents a negative view of Israel’s history; unlike them, it does not use allegory.

20:5 The phrase I swore an oath is literally “I raise my hand in oath.” The uplifted hand (vv. 5,15,23,42) was apparently a gesture used when a person made an oath (36:7; 44:12; 47:14; Ex 6:8; Neh 9:15; Ps 106:26). The phrase descendants of Jacob’s house is a reference to all Israel (i.e., Israel and Judah; see 37:25). The statement made myself known to them in the land of Egypt recalls the Lord’s encounter with Moses in Ex 6:2-8, where Yahweh swore by oath and revealed his name. Ezekiel portrayed the Israelites in Egypt, not the patriarchs, as the recipients of the oath. Israel’s history as a nation began in Egypt where God chose her. He took an oath to bring his people into the fruitful and glorious land that he had promised Abraham (Gn 12:7; Ex 3:8,13-18; Jr 3:19).

20:6 Though one would expect the Hebrew term nathan (“give”) in the phrase a land I had searched out for them, the verb tur (“search”) is used instead. This term is taken from the desert wandering accounts, where the Lord went before the Israelites, scouting places for them to rest or camp (Nm 10:33; Dt 1:33). The phrase a land flowing with milk and honey occurs in Ex 3:8,17; 13:5; 33:3; Lv 20:24; Nm 13:27; Dt 6:3; 11:9; 26:9; 27:3; Jos 5:6; Jr 11:5; 32:22 (cp. Dt 1:25; 8:7-9). Deuteronomy 8:7-10 and Jr 3:19 describe the natural beauty of the land of Israel. Its true significance, however, was its designation as God’s dwelling place (Dt 12:5,11).

20:7 The idols of Egypt became Israel’s idols as well. Joshua 24:14 also mentions that the Israelites had worshiped foreign gods. On Israel’s idolatry in Egypt, see Lv 17:7; 18:3; Ps 106:7; Ezk 23:3; Am 5:25-27.

20:8 Their act of ignoring the word of the Lord (unwilling to listen to me) demonstrated the inward attitude of the people toward God.

20:9 God’s name would be degraded if he did not perform what he had proposed for the nation of Israel. Moses had used this same argument effectively in his intercession for Israel after the golden calf incident and in the wilderness (Ex 32:12; Nm 14:16).

20:10 The reference to the wilderness evokes the judgments God had to execute upon his rebellious people (Ex 32:15-35; Nm 11; 14:10-38; 16:31-50; Ps 106:7-48).

20:11 The phrase the person who does them will live by them appears to come from Lv 18:5. Deuteronomy 30:15-19 states forcefully that to follow the commandments is to choose life and blessing; not to follow them is to choose death and cursing. Obedience to the law was the response of a person who realized how much God loved him. This truth is similar to Jesus’s statement, “If you love me, you will keep my commands” (Jn 14:15).

20:12 The prophet, in harmony with Is 58:13-14 and with Moses himself (Ex 20:8-11), commanded the Israelites to sanctify the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a visible manifestation of the Mosaic covenant (Is 56:1-8). With its regular one-day-in-seven observance, the Sabbath was at cross-purposes with the nature-based calendars of the pagans, which revolved around the seasons and phases of the moon. The Sabbath was a perpetual reminder of the Lord’s covenant with his people.

20:13-14 The Sabbath was profaned if it was not observed (Jr 17:21-23) or was improperly observed (Am 8:5).

20:15 The phrase I swore to them is literally “I lifted up my hand.” The upraised hand was used earlier in reference to God’s oath to bring the chosen people into the promised land (v. 5). Now the expression is used to refer to the solemn oath that this generation would never enter (v. 15). Later, Ezekiel used the formula to describe God’s announcement that the people would go into exile (v. 23).

20:16-17 Israel failed at one point to enter the land of Canaan because of unbelief (Nm 14) expressed in four specific violations: they rejected my ordinances, profaned my Sabbaths . . . did not follow my statutes . . . went after their idols.

20:18-20 The statutes and ordinances of their fathers were not literal but referred to their practices.

20:21 The rebellion of the second generation refers to acts of apostasy following the incident of the spies during the wilderness wanderings; in particular, the events at Meribah (Nm 20) and Baal Peor (Nm 25).

20:22 See vv. 9,14.

20:23-24 This oath that God swore could refer to the Lord’s words through Moses in Lv 26:14-46 and Dt 28; 32. It is also alluded to in Ps 106:27. God made this oath before his people had even entered the land.

20:25-27 One of the ways that God punishes sin is to abandon people to it so that they suffer its consequences. Thus the statutes and ordinances in this verse refer to the futile and blameworthy commandments of the pagan religions to which Israel had turned. These laws “required” the Israelites to sacrifice every firstborn (v. 26), a practice condemned by God (Lv 20:1-5). These statutes and ordinances devastated rather than blessed the people who obeyed them. In Ezk 14:9 God said he intentionally deceived false prophets. Similarly, the present passage says God gave the rebellious people worthless and unprofitable statutes (cp. Is 63:17). Ongoing disobedience leads to ever greater sin, until God finally turns people over to deception (Ps 81:12; Ezk 14:9; Ac 7:42; Rm 1:24-25; 2Th 2:11). Even in judgment, the rebellious came to know that God is the Lord. The phrase they sacrificed every firstborn in the fire refers to the child sacrifices made by followers of the god Molech. According to pagan perception, sacrifices made to a god put that god in your debt, such that the god was bound to act favorably toward you.

20:28-29 These practices were common in pagan worship (Dt 12:2; 2Kg 16:4; Jr 3:6; 17:2; Hs 4:13).

20:30-31 The primary apostasy of the nation of Israel was idolatry—violation of the first commandment. This transgression demonstrated Israel’s rebelliousness, and it was a clear violation of the covenant. The history of Israel from its very beginnings is a history of turning from God. All humans, no matter their nationality or ethnicity, share in the same sin nature that leads to this rebellion.

20:32 Here we find an allusion to the account of the choice of the initial Israelite king in 1Sm 8. This led to the election of Saul as Israel’s first king. The designation of the heathen gods as wood and stone should have been enough to signal that these heathen gods were mere fictions. The same expression occurs in Dt 4:28; 28:36.

20:33 The phrase as I live recalls the language of Ex 6:6, which describes God’s opposition to Egypt and its pharaoh. A strong hand and outstretched arm calls to mind God’s strength in delivering his people from Egypt (Dt 4:34; 5:15; 7:19; 11:2; 26:8; Ps 136:12). Ironically, now his hand and arm will bring wrath rather than deliverance for his people.

20:34 The phrase I will bring you from the peoples that describes Israel’s exodus from Egypt is now given a new twist. The ferocity that was once unleashed upon Egypt will now be turned against rebellious Israel to force her to accept God’s kingship over her in the land.

20:35-36 Israel’s exile among the nations is compared to the wilderness tradition in the book of Numbers. God’s restoration of Israel would be like a return to the desert through which she journeyed on her way to the promised land (Hs 2:14).

20:37-38 The phrase pass under the rod appears to be an allusion to the Levitical law of counting animals for the tithe (Lv 27:32-33). While the selection in Leviticus was for dedication, here it is for destruction. God uses this metaphor to portray the purge of Israel that will take place when the temple is destroyed.

20:39 Desecrations of the holy name are recorded in Lv 18:21; 20:3; 21:6; 22:32.

20:40 The phrase on my holy mountain occurs only here in the book of Ezekiel. It refers to Jerusalem or Zion (Ps 2:6; 3:4; 15:1; Is 11:9; 56:7; 57:13; 65:11; Ob 16; Zph 3:11). The reference to the high mountain of Israel in Ezk 17:22-23 and 40:2 also relates to Jerusalem, anticipating a renewed Israel at worship on a high mountain in chaps. 40-48. The term serve is a technical word for priestly ministry; thus, this expression (serve me in the land) is in harmony with the goal established at Mount Sinai—that the created nation would be a kingdom of priests (Ex 19:6).

20:41-42 The Lord will accept the people as a soothing or pleasing aroma, an expression used of God’s response to an animal sacrifice. Only here in the OT is the expression used in reference to people as a soothing aroma. This paves the way for Paul’s application of the expression to the church in 2Co 2:14-16. In Eph 5:2 the term refers to Christ.

20:43 Ezekiel’s expression you will loathe yourselves for all the evil things you have done describes a thorough repentance (6:9; 16:63; 36:31; Lk 15:17-19). Such a humiliating experience was the surest antidote against the pride that had led Israel again and again to rebel against God. Perceiving God in his holiness and majesty causes one to abhor one’s sinful ways (Jb 42:5-6; Is 6:5).

20:44 The first fulfillment of this promise (when I have dealt with you for the sake of my name) took place immediately after the exile. It also awaits a future fulfillment, according to Paul in Rm 11:25. When used in application to morality, the term corrupt acts occurs elsewhere only in Gn 6:11-12 where it describes the corruption of the human race before the flood.

20:45-46 The orientation in the phrase face the south and preach against it would be from the north, the direction of a Babylonian invasion.

20:47-49 The prophetic image of fire for judgment is particularly evident in Am 1-2. It has already been used by Ezekiel in connection with the covenant metaphor of the vine (Ezk 15:4-7; cp. 19:12,14). Fire is routinely a means of divine punishment in the Bible (Gn 19:23-28; Dt 28:24; 32:22; Rv 20:15). Ezekiel complained that he was not being taken seriously because he was speaking in parables, so in chap. 21 God will clearly interpret any previous symbolic language.