Ezekiel 20:13

13 And the house of Israel stirred me to wrath in desert; they went not in my commandments, and they casted away my dooms, which a man that doeth, shall live in those; and they defouled greatly my sabbaths. Therefore I said, that I would shed out my strong vengeance on them in desert, and waste them; (And the house of Israel stirred me to anger in the wilderness; they went not in my commandments, and they threw away my laws, which a person who doeth them, shall live in them; and they greatly defiled my sabbaths. And so I said, that I would pour out my strong vengeance upon them in the wilderness, and destroy them;)

Ezekiel 20:13 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 20:13

But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness,
&c.] Where they were wholly at the mercy of God, entirely dependent upon him; and miracles were wrought every day for the sustaining and preservation of, them from famine, wild beasts, and enemies; yet they rebelled against the Lord; provoked him bitterly by their manifold transgressions, their ingratitude, unbelief, and idolatry; and this not a few of them only, but the whole body of the people, the house of Israel, the whole family, and that for the space of forty years, ( Psalms 95:9 Psalms 95:10 ) ; they walked not in my statutes;
did not make them the rule of their walk and conversation, and steer the course of their lives and actions by them, as they ought to have done: and they despised my judgments;
as not worthy their notice and regard, as useless and unprofitable; nay, had an aversion to them, and a loathing of them, as the word ^F8 signifies; such is the corrupt and wicked heart of man; it is enmity against God and his law, and all that is good: which [if] a man do, he shall even live in them;
(See Gill on Ezekiel 20:11); and my sabbaths they greatly polluted;
or "profaned", or "[made them] common" ^F9; that is, with other days; by going out for manna on them; by gathering sticks upon them; by doing their own work, speaking their own words, and seeking their own pleasure, and worshipping false deities: then I said, I would pour out, my fury upon them in the wilderness to
consume them;
that they should not enter into the land of Canaan; as the generation that came out of Egypt were consumed in the wilderness, excepting two; as the Lord threatened, ( Numbers 14:35 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F8 (woam) "abjeoerunt", Pagninus; "reprobaverunt", Montanus.
F9 (wllx) "prophanarunt", Vatablus, Piscator, Cocceius.

Ezekiel 20:13 In-Context

11 and I gave to them my commandments, and I showed to them my dooms, which a man shall do, and live in those. (and I gave them my commandments, and I showed them, or I taught them, my laws, which a person shall do, and shall live because of them.)

12 Furthermore and I gave to them my sabbaths, that it should be a sign betwixt me and them, and that they should know, that I am the Lord hallowing them. (And furthermore I gave them my sabbaths, so that they would be a sign between me and them, and so that they would know, that I am the Lord who maketh them holy.)

13 And the house of Israel stirred me to wrath in desert; they went not in my commandments, and they casted away my dooms, which a man that doeth, shall live in those; and they defouled greatly my sabbaths. Therefore I said, that I would shed out my strong vengeance on them in desert, and waste them; (And the house of Israel stirred me to anger in the wilderness; they went not in my commandments, and they threw away my laws, which a person who doeth them, shall live in them; and they greatly defiled my sabbaths. And so I said, that I would pour out my strong vengeance upon them in the wilderness, and destroy them;)

14 and I did for my name, lest it were defouled before heathen men, from whom I casted them out in the sight of those. (and I did it for the sake of my name, lest it were defiled before the heathen, from whom I brought them out in their sight.)

15 Therefore I raised mine hand on them in the desert, that I brought not them into the land which I gave to them, the land flowing with milk and honey, the best of all lands. (And so I raised up my hand before them in the wilderness, and said that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, the land flowing with milk and honey, yea, the best of all lands.)