Ezekiel 20:1

EZEKIEL 20-23

FINAL PROPHECIES BEFORE THE FALL OF JERUSALEM

REHEARSAL OF THE SINS OF ISRAEL

It is impossible to include in this work any complete study of all that comes to view in this chapter. The Holy Bible itself is devoted in a large measure to the record of the sins of the Chosen People, who repeatedly, murmured, rebelled, rejected and disobeyed God's commandments. It would be nearly impossible just to count the apostasies that repeatedly marked Israel's history, and the numberless times when God overlooked their transgressions, renewed the covenant with a succeeding generation, or even blessed them (when justice required their punishment), doing so "for his name's sake," that is, to avoid what would have been the cry of pagan nations that Jehovah was unable to preserve and bless Israel.

Therefore, we shall handle much of the material here in an abbreviated form. A great many of the sins of Israel mentioned in this chapter have already received extensive comment in our Commentaries on the Pentateuch, the Minor Prophets, the Major Prophets, and the Book of Joshua. "The date of this chapter is July-August. 591 B.C.";[1]

"And this is also the date of what follows through Ezekiel 23."[2] "This date was only eleven months and five days after the date given in Ezekiel 8:1, twenty-five months and five days after Ezekiel's call to the prophetic office (Ezekiel 1:2), and twenty-nine months after the blockading of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 24:1)."[3] This record of the sins of the Chosen People constitutes, "A literal presentation of that which is described figuratively in Ezekiel 16."[4]

It is an amazing historical coincidence that, "According to Jewish tradition, the fifth month on the tenth day of the month was the date of the `Sentence of Wandering' pronounced upon Israel in Numbers 14:29, also the date upon which the Temple was burnt by the Chaldeans (Jeremiah 52:12,13); and, according to Josephus, the date when the Romans burnt the Temple in 70 A.D."[5]

The historical background of this section (through Ezekiel 23) found the Jews of the captivity rejoicing over the victory of the Egyptians in the Sudan, and in the rumors that Pharaoh-Passammetic would soon conquer Palestine. This news, coupled with the knowledge that Zedekiah would soon transfer his loyalty to Pharaoh instead of Nebuchadnezzar, heightened their hope that their captivity would soon end.[6]

The text does not reveal the nature of the question that the elders intended to ask Ezekiel, but it very likely originated in their vain hope of an early end of their captivity.

Ezekiel 20:1-4

"And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Jehovah, and sat before me. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Is it to inquire of me that ye are come? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers."

Whatever the question of the elders might have been, it was certainly unworthy of the Lord's attention. The wickedness of the whole nation from its beginning until that instant was so great that they deserved no communication whatever from the Lord.

"Wilt thou judge them, wilt thou judge them ..." (Ezekiel 20:4)? The true meaning is this emphatic command is given in the next clause. "Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers." "The Hebrew word here does not mean merely `to judge.'"[7] It also includes the meaning of prosecuting a cause before a tribunal; and that was what Ezekiel was instructed here to do.

These four chapters constitute the demonstration that, "The wickedness of Judah was now full."[8] Under the figure of a great fire that would burn up the whole land of Israel, Ezekiel outlined in the concluding portion of the chapter the inevitable result of their overflowing wickedness. The purpose of rehearsing all the sins of Israel was twofold. (1) It showed the absolute necessity and justice of their punishment; and (2) it also showed the infinite patience, longsuffering, forbearance and mercy of God so tenderly exhibited during long centuries of his dealings with them.