Ezekiel 20:3

3 Human one, speak to Israel's elders and say to them, The LORD God proclaims: Have you come to petition me? As surely as I live, I reject your petitions. This is what the LORD God says!

Ezekiel 20:3 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:3

Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them,
&c.] Give them this for an answer from me: thus saith the Lord God, are ye come to inquire of me?
no; not seriously, heartily, and in good earnest, determining to abide by the advice and counsel that might be given; or how can you have the face to inquire of me, when guilty of such abominations? [as] I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you;
knowing their wickedness and hypocrisy, which were detestable to him, and therefore would not hear what they had to say, nor give them any answer, or direct them what they should do. Sad is the case of persons when the Lord will not be inquired of by them! it is plain he has no favours to bestow upon them; for, when he has, he will put them upon inquiring of him for them, to do them unto them, ( Ezekiel 36:37 ) ; this was the case of Saul, whom God, when he inquired of him, would not answer in any of his usual ways, ( 1 Samuel 28:6 ) .

Ezekiel 20:3 In-Context

1 In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of Israel's elders came to inquire of the LORD. As they were sitting with me,
2 the LORD's word came to me:
3 Human one, speak to Israel's elders and say to them, The LORD God proclaims: Have you come to petition me? As surely as I live, I reject your petitions. This is what the LORD God says!
4 Will you judge them, human one, will you judge them? Then expose to them the detestable practices of their ancestors.
5 Say to them, The LORD God proclaims: On the day I chose Israel, I swore a solemn pledge to the descendants of Jacob's household. When I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I swore a solemn pledge: I am the LORD your God.
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