Ezekiel 20:1-26
Rebellion &
Restoration ~ Part 1
Open your Bibles to…
Jer. 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
And…
Jer. 31:17 There is hope in your future, says the LORD,
That your children shall come back to their own border.
Pray
Intro
√ Rebellion
In our last study of Ezekiel we looked at chapter 19, which
concluded the 2nd major
division of God’s message to the Jewish people regarding His coming
judgment of
Need for judgment ~ chapters 4-11
(
Need for discernment ~ chapters 12-19
(Don’t listen to the false prophets)
Need for perspective ~ chapters 20-24
(Present condition rooted in ancient corruption)
So, beginning in chapter 20 God begins a history lesson to help the Jewish captives gain a purified perspective of their rebellious past.
Ap. A purified perspective
We can all be like the Jewish people when it comes to having a somewhat distorted picture of our past!
It’s always easier to remember other people’s sins…
…than it is to have a clear picture of our own sins and just how bad we were!
I find especially true in marriage counseling!
It always amazes me how two people who were involved in the same fight have completely different, and sometimes contradictory, memories of how the event transpired!
So, may the Lord grant us each an accurate and purified perspective of our past so that we can take responsibility for our sins and seek His forgiveness.
√ Restoration
Despite the fact that God seems to have lost His patience with His people for their continued rebellion…
…none the less He reminds them of the promised hope of the restoration of
That is, despite all the bad news that Ezekiel must speak to
the children of
…God also gives him a message of a future hope to those who would heed God’s voice.
Reminding us again the God is not finished with
Ap. A future hope
The encouragement we find in this chapter is that no matter how painful our past, no matter how sinful our past…
…we’re reminded that God has saved us so that He might give us hope for a future that is so blessed that the prophets and apostles couldn’t find human vocabulary sufficient to describe it!
Rebellion in
Ezek. 20:1 It came
to pass in the seventh year, in the
fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders
of
Ezek. 20:2 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
√ Rebellion
in
Ezekiel gives us a time stamp of when it was that the elders who were in captivity with Ezekiel came to him seeking a word from the Lord.
Vs. 1 says…
“It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month”
In English that would be August 14, 591 BC, about 5 years
before the fall of
Ezekiel doesn’t record what it was that the elders wanted to know…
Probably because God was so disgusted with them for not receiving the word that He had already spoken that He doesn’t give them a chance to speak…
…or doesn’t consider it worth recording because of their rebellious attitude.
The important thing is the word that God speaks, certainly not what the elders had come for…
…but it’s what they needed to hear.
√ God’s answer
Ezek. 20:3 “Son of
man, speak to the elders of
Ezek. 20:4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their fathers.
Wow! Can I just say it’s a bad thing when God won’t take your questions! (ref. James 1:5)
Clearly God is none to pleased with the elders in captivity.
So, rather than allow them to bring their questions to Him, God instructs Ezekiel to communicate to them the depth of their sinful past!
“Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their fathers.” ~ vs. 4
The repeated phrase…
“Will you judge them”, “will you judge them”
…indicates the intensity of God’s frustration with the elders who continued to reject the idea that it was their sin and the sin of their ancestors that brought about God’s judgment!
They still wanted to blame someone else for their troubles, or believe that God would not actually do all that He said He would.
God is done playing their games!
So, God tells Ezekiel to review their past and how it is one
long indictment against them!
Rebellion in
Ezek. 20:5 “Say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD: “On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, ‘I am the LORD your God.’
Ezek. 20:6 On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, “flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands.
Ezek. 20:7 Then I
said to them, “Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his
eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of
Ezek. 20:8 But they rebelled against Me and would not
obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before
their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of
Ezek. 20:9 But I
acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles
among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring
them out of the
√ Rebellion
in
God reveals that when Moses came to deliver the nation of
…that the Jewish people had become idolaters!
Worse, when told to rid themselves of their idols and to embrace God as the only true God in the universe…
…they continued to hold onto and worship their idols.
Which idols?
“…nor did they forsake the idols of
The false god’s of
Let’s worship the false gods of
God also tells us that He was ready to destroy
…yet did not because He wanted to protect the integrity of His Name and demonstrate to the Egyptians that He is a merciful God.
“But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles…”
God’s Name is a reflection of His Character, merciful, full of grace, faithful to His people and slow to anger.
While the Israelites deserved God’s judgment for their idolatry…
…God spared them as a testimony to the Egyptians of His faithfulness.
We’ll see this theme repeated ~
So, Ezekiel reminds the elders of
Rebellion in the Wilderness ~ the parents (vs. 10-17)
Ezek. 20:10 “Therefore
I made them go out of the
Ezek. 20:11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, “which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’
Ezek. 20:12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
Ezek. 20:13 Yet the
house of
Ezek. 20:14 But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.
Ezek. 20:15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, “flowing with milk and honey,’ the glory of all lands,
Ezek. 20:16 because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.
Ezek. 20:17 Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
√ Rebellion in the Wilderness ~ the parents
This part of
The 10 spies turned the hearts of the people against Moses and they refused to obey God and enter the land.
So, God sent them to wander in the wilderness for the next 40 years until that whole generation was dead.
Yet, once more God did not destroy the people though they deserved death…
…why?
“But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles.” ~ vs. 14
Once again we find that God restrained His judgment on
Rebellion in the Wilderness ~ the children (vs. 18-24)
Ezek. 20:18 “But I said to their children in the wilderness, ‘Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
Ezek. 20:19 I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;
Ezek. 20:20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.’
Ezek. 20:21 “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.
Ezek. 20:22 Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out.
Ezek. 20:23 Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries,
Ezek. 20:24 because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols.
√ Rebellion in the Wilderness ~ the children
After the adults who rebelled at Kadesh Barnea had all perished in the wilderness…
…then God allowed their children who had grown to be adults to enter the Promised Land.
But according to God’s word here in Ezekiel many of the children also rebelled against God!
The specific incident is not described so we have to try and interpret the clues and see which incident best fits.
Note vs. 18…
“nor defile yourselves with their idols.”
And vs. 24…
“…their eyes were fixed on their fathers’ idols.”
The reference to idols may indicate that God is speaking of
the incident at Baal Peor when the children of
…and worshipped their gods as they did so (Numbers 25).
Yet, though God had the right to destroy them all (this time He did send a plague that killed 24,000!)…
…once again He restrained His hand for the sake of His Name ~ His reputation among the Gentiles as a God of mercy and grace.
So, Ezekiel reminds the elders that the nation rebelled against God while in the Wilderness.
Rebellion Leads to Trouble (vs. 25-26)
Ezek. 20:25 “Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live;
Ezek. 20:26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am the LORD.” ’
√ Rebellion leads to trouble
These two verses could be attached to the end of the previous section, but they don’t really fit.
Rather, to me anyway, they seem like a pause in the midst of God’s history lesson to allow the elders who had come to Ezekiel to reflect upon the consequences of their sin.
Note that God says…
“Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live…” ~ vs. 25
That is, God gave the people over to the religions of the false gods that they pursued.
There they discovered that the “statues”, or requirements of their idols were “not good” and that they couldn’t actually “live” by them!
The elders would have to admit that the false gods they had sought and served had brought about a miserable existence!
Ex. Child sacrifice
The primary attraction of the pagan religions of the Gentiles was that they promoted and encouraged unbridled sexual expression…
…as part of their “worship”!
The Canaanites would select a man each year who would be invited to spend time in the Temple of Baal where he would get to exhaust his sexual appetite on the priestess of Baal (a “centerfold” babe)…
…and get to justify his behavior because it was worship!
So, one can imagine that the Jews who had very strict rules regarding sexual expression found these other religions to be very tempting!
One problem ~ consequences!
Specifically unwanted children.
So, what did they do with all those babies? They incorporated child sacrifice as part of their religion! Note vs. 26…
“…they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire.”
God reminds the elders that their sin brought the terrible consequence of having to live by the gruesome statues of the false gods…
…including the killing of their own children by burning them to the false gods!
Ap. Sin always has consequences
The worst punishment (and sometimes best cure for sin) that God can give a person is to turn them over to their sin and its consequences!
Getting high or drunk may seem fun at first…
…until you find out that you can’t live without the drug and you’re reduced to doing anything to get enough money for your next high.
Sexual promiscuity may seem like freedom at first…
…until you find yourself confined to a Hospice suffering
Walking with God always lead to life, while serving the false gods of this world always leads to death.