Ezekiel 20:4

4 “Son of man, bring charges against them and condemn them. Make them realize how detestable the sins of their ancestors really were.

Ezekiel 20:4 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:4

Wilt thou judge them, son of man?
&c.] Excuse them, patronise them, defend their cause, and plead for them? surely thou wilt not; or rather, wilt thou not reprove and correct them, judge and condemn them, for their sins and wickedness? this thou oughtest to do: wilt thou judge [them]?
this is repeated, to show the vehemency of the speaker, and the duty of the prophet: cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
the sins they committed, which were abominable in themselves, and rendered them abominable unto God, and what came upon them for them; by which they would be led to see the abominable evils which they also had been guilty of, in which they had imitated their fathers, and what they had reason to expect in consequence of them.

Ezekiel 20:4 In-Context

2 Then this message came to me from the LORD :

3 “Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will tell you nothing!’

4 “Son of man, bring charges against them and condemn them. Make them realize how detestable the sins of their ancestors really were.

5 Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD : When I chose Israel—when I revealed myself to the descendants of Jacob in Egypt—I took a solemn oath that I, the LORD, would be their God.

6 I took a solemn oath that day that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them—a good land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.