Ezekiel 20:12

12 And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them {so they would know} that I, Yahweh, [am] [the one] sanctifying them.

Ezekiel 20:12 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:12

Moreover, also, I gave them my sabbaths
The Targum is,

``the days of the sabbaths;''

or sabbath days, the seventh day sabbaths, which recurring throughout the year are many; but, besides these, there were the year of remission, for the seventh year sabbath; and the jubilee year, the great sabbath of all, once in fifty years; yea, Kimchi thinks the feasts, such as the passover are included: now these are distinguished from the statutes and judgments, or the precepts of the law, which were of a moral nature; these being ritual and ceremonial, and were peculiar to the Jews, and continued but for a while; however, they were gifts, and valuable ones, of considerable use and significance: to be a sign between me and them;
of his being their God, and they being his people; of his favour and good will to them, and of the, obligations they were under to him; of his having separated and distinguished them from all other nations of the world; these sabbaths being only given to them as a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt, and as a pledge of their entering into the land of rest; and of the future rest to be enjoyed by Christ, and in heaven, to all eternity; for these were shadows of things to come, ( Colossians 2:16 Colossians 2:17 ) ; that they might know that I [am] the Lord that sanctify them;
separate them from other nations, and, by such means and opportunities, begin and carry on the work of sanctification in them; for the sabbaths, and the services of them, were useful to such purposes; as Lord's days, and the work of them, are now.

Ezekiel 20:12 In-Context

10 And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and I brought them to the desert,

11 and I gave my statutes to them, and my regulations I made known to them, which, if a person does them, then he will live by them.

12 And also my Sabbaths I gave to them to be a sign between me and between them {so they would know} that I, Yahweh, [am] [the one] sanctifying them.

13 "But in the desert the house of Israel rebelled against me; {they did not walk in my statutes}, and they rejected my regulations, which, if a person does them, he will live by them, and they greatly profaned my Sabbaths, and I decided to pour out my rage on them in the desert to destroy them,

14 and I acted for the sake of my name, [that it] not be profaned before the eyes of the nations {before whom I brought them out}.

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "know"