Ezekiel 20 Study Notes

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.