CHAPTER XX _A deputation of the elders of Israel, as usual, in their_ _distress, came to request Ezekiel to ask counsel of God_, 1. _In reply to this, God commands the prophet to put them in mind_ _of their rebellion and idolatry: In Egypt_, 2-9, _in the wilderness_, 10-27, _and in Canaan_, 28... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:3. _I WILL NOT BE INQUIRED OF BY YOU._] I will not hear you. I will have nothing to do with you.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:4. _WILT THOU JUDGE THEM_] If thou wilt _enter into any_ _discussion with them_, show them _the abomination of their fathers_. The whole chapter is a consecutive history of the _unfaithfulness_ _ingratitude, rebellion_, and _idolatry_ of the Jews, from the earliest times to that day... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:5. _I CHOSE ISRAEL_] They did not choose _me_ for _their God_, till I had chosen _them_ to be _my people_. _I LIFTED UP MINE HAND_] I bound myself In a covenant to them to continue to be their God, if they should be faithful, and continue to be my people. Among the Jews the _juror_... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:6. _TO BRING THEM FORTH OF THE LAND OF EGYPT_] When they had been long in a very disgraceful and oppressive bondage. _A LAND THAT I HAD ESPIED FOR THEM_] God represents himself as having _gone over different countries_ in order to _find_ a comfortable residence for these people, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:7. _CAST YE AWAY - THE ABOMINATIONS_] Put away all your idols; those incentives to idolatry that ye have looked on with delight.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:8. _THEY DID NOT - CAST AWAY_] They continued attached to the _idolatry_ of Egypt; so that, had I consulted my _justice_ only, I should have consumed them _even in Egypt_ itself. This is a circumstance that Moses has not mentioned, namely, their provoking God by their idolatry, _aft... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:9. _BUT I WROUGHT FOR MY NAME'S SAKE_] I bare with them and did not punish them, lest the heathen, who had known my promises made to them, might suppose that I had either broken them through some caprice, or was not able to fulfil them.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:10. _I CAUSED THEM TO GO FORTH_] Though greatly oppressed and degraded, they were not _willing_ to leave their _house of_ _bondage_. I was obliged to _force them away_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:11. _I GAVE THEM MY STATUTES_] I showed them what they should do in order to be safe, comfortable, wise, and happy; and what they should avoid in order to be uninjured in body, mind, and possessions. Had they attended to these things, they should have _lived by them_. They would hav... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:12. _I GAVE THEM MY SABBATHS_] The religious observance of the Sabbath was the _first statute_ or _command_ of God to men. This institution was _a sign between God and them_, to keep them in remembrance of the creation of the world, of the _rest_ that he designed them in Canaan, and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:13. _BUT THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL REBELLED_] They acted in the _wilderness_ just as they had done in _Egypt_; and he spared them there for the same reason. See Ezekiel 20:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:15. _I LIFTED UP MY HAND_] Their provocations in the wilderness were so great, that I vowed never to bring them into the promised land. I did not _consume_ them, but I _disinherited_ them. Ezekiel 20:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:18. _BUT I SAID UNTO THEIR CHILDREN_] These I chose in their fathers' stead; and to them I purposed to give the inheritance which their fathers by disobedience lost.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:22. _I WITHDREW MINE HAND_] I had just lifted it up to crush them as in a moment; for they also were idolatrous, and walked in the steps of their fathers.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:25. _I GAVE THEM ALSO STATUTES_ THAT WERE _NOT GOOD_] What a foolish noise has been made about this verse by _critics_, believers and infidels! How is it that God can be said "to give a people statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they could not live?" I answer, in _th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:26. _I POLLUTED THEM IN THEIR OWN GIFTS_] I _permitted_ them to pollute themselves by the offerings which they made to their idols. Causing their children to pass through the fire was one of those _pollutions_; but, did God ever _give them a statute_ or _judgment_ of _this kind_? No... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:29. _WHAT_ IS _THE HIGH PLACE_] מה הבמה _mah habbamah_, "what is the high place?" What is it good for? Its being a _high_ _place_ shows it to be a _place of idolatry_. I called it במה _bamah_, to mark it with _infamy_; but ye continue to frequent it, even while it is called במה _bam... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:31. _YE POLLUTE YOURSELVES_] This shows the sense in which God says, Ezekiel 20:26, "I polluted them in their own gifts." They _chose_ to pollute themselves, and I _permitted_ them to do so. See on Ezekiel 20:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:32. _AND THAT WHICH COMETH INTO YOUR MIND_] Ye wish to be naturalized among _idolaters_, and make a part of such nations. But this _shall not be at all_; you shall be preserved as a _distinct_ _people_. Ye shall not be permitted to mingle yourselves with the people of those countrie... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:35. _I WILL BRING YOU INTO THE WILDERNESS OF THE PEOPLE_] I will bring you out of your captivity, and bring you into _your own_ _land_, which you will find to be a _wilderness_, the consequence of your crimes. _THERE WILL I PLEAD WITH YOU_] There I will be your king, and rule you w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:37. _I WILL CAUSE YOU TO PASS UNDER THE ROD_] This alludes to the custom of _tithing_ the _sheep_. I take it from the rabbins. The sheep were all penned; and the shepherd stood at the door of the fold, where only one sheep could come out _at once_. He had in his hand a _rod_ dipped... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:38. _I WILL PURGE OUT FROM AMONG YOU THE REBELS_] The incorrigibly wicked I will destroy; those who _will not_ receive him whom I have appointed for this purpose as the Saviour of Israel. And I will gather you _who believe_ out of all the countries where you sojourn, and bring you i... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:39. _GO YE, SERVE YE EVERY ONE HIS IDOLS_] Thus, God _gave_ them _statutes that were not good_, and _judgments whereby they could_ _not live_, by thus _permitting_ them to take their own way, serve their gods, and follow the _maxims_ and _rites_ of that abominable worship.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:40. _FOR IN MINE HOLY MOUNTAIN_] The days shall come in which all _true_ ISRAELITES shall receive HIM whom I have _sent_ to be the _true sacrifice_ for the life of the world; and shall bring to Jerusalem - the _pure Christian Church_, their offerings, which I will there accept, for... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:42. _AND YE SHALL KNOW_] Shall acknowledge _that I am_ _Jehovah_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:43. _AND THERE SHALL YE REMEMBER YOUR WAYS_] Ye shall be ashamed of your past conduct, and of your long opposition to the Gospel of your salvation. These promises may, in a certain limited sense, be applied to the restoration from the Babylonish captivity; but they must have their... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:46. _SET THY FACE TOWARD THE SOUTH_] Towards _Judea_, which lay south from Babylon, or Mesopotamia, where the prophet then dwelt. _THE FOREST OF THE SOUTH FIELD_] The _city of Jerusalem_, as full of inhabitants as the forest is of trees.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:47. _I WILL KINDLE A FIRE_] I will send war, "and it shall devour every green tree," the most eminent and substantial of the inhabitants; and _every dry tree_, the lowest and meanest also. _THE FLAMING FLAME SHALL NOT BE QUENCHED_] The fierce ravages of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chald... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:48. _ALL FLESH_] All the people shall see that this war is a judgment of the Lord. _IT SHALL NOT BE QUENCHED._] Till the whole land shall be utterly ruined.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Ezekiel 20:49. _AH LORD GOD_] O my God, consider my situation; who will believe what I shall say? They put the evil day far from them. _DOTH HE NOT SPEAK PARABLES?_] הלא ממשל משלים הוא _halo memashshel_ _meshalim hu_, "Is not he a maker of parables?" Is it not his custom to deal in _enigmas_?... [ Continue Reading ]