Ezekiel 20:3

Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. The chapter falls into two great parts, Ezekiel 20:1 and , where the chapter ought to end. In Ezekiel 20:1 there is the recital of the people's rebellions during five distinct periods: (1) in Egypt, (2) the wilderness, (3) on the borders of Canaan, when a new generation arose, (4) in Canaan, (5) and in the time of the prophet. I WILL NOT BE INQUIRED OF BY YOU - because their moral state precluded them from capability of knowing the will of God ...

Here the Prophet is ordered to blame those elders, although they pretended to rare piety in inquiring of him: God says that they did not come with a right disposition. Many translate otherwise — if I shall be found, or be en-treated by you, or if I shall answer: thus they take the word, דרש, _deresh_, in a double sense: in the first clause, for to seek or interrogate; but when it is added, as I live, etc., they do not take the word by “to be sought” or “interrogated,” but by “to answer” or “be entreated.” But this seems far-fetched and in Ezekiel 14:3, a phrase not unlike this was explained; and hence we may gather, that God rather inveighs against the people’s hypocrisy than rejects them, and refuses to answer. There the Prophet said that the elders came to consult him, as if they had been his best disciples; but as Ezekiel might be deceived by that deceptive picture, God meets him,

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....

ENQUIRE - As to the hope of deliverance from the Babylonians....

EXPOSITION EZEKIEL 20:1 A new date is given, and includes what follows to Ezekiel 23:49. The last note of time was in Ezekiel 8:1, and eleven months and five days had passed, during which the prophecies of the intervening chapters had been written or spoken. We may note further that it was two years one month and five days after the prophet's call to his work (Ezekiel 1:1.), and two years and five months before the Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem (Ezekiel 24:1). The immediate occasion here, as in...

SON OF MAN, SPEAK UNTO THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL, AND SAY UNTO THEM,.... Give them this for an answer from me: THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD, ARE YE COME TO INQUIRE OF ME? no; not seriously, heartily, and in good earnest, determining to abide by the advice and counsel that might be given; or how can you have the face to inquire of me, when guilty of such abominations? [AS] I LIVE, SAITH THE LORD GOD, I WILL NOT BE INQUIRED OF BY YOU; knowing their wickedness and hypocrisy, which were detestable to him, and therefore would not hear what they had to say, nor give them any answer, or direct them what they should do. Sad is the case of persons when the Lord will not be inquired of by them! it is plain he has no favours to bestow upon them; for, when he has, he will put them upon inquiring of him for them, to do them unto them, Ezekiel 36:37; this was the case of Sa

CHAPTER S 20-24 Further and Final Predictions Concerning the judgment of Jerusalem _ 1. Jehovah rehearses His mercies bestowed upon Israel (Ezekiel 20:1) _ 2. The impending judgment announced (Ezekiel 21:1) 3. Jerusalem's sins and whoredom (Ezekiel 22:1; Ezekiel 23:1) 4. The parable of the boiling pot and the last word (Ezekiel 24:1) Ezekiel 20:1. The chapter contains a divine retrospect and an arraignment of th

EZEKIEL 20. THE WICKED PAST AND THE BLESSED FUTURE. Ezekiel 20:1. A Sketch of Israel's Early Idolatries. It is now 590 B.C. Almost a year has elapsed since the last incident that was dated (Ezekiel 8:1): and as the doom draws nearer, the prophet grows fiercer. This lurid sketch of Israel's ancient sins, which partly recalls ch. 16, was occasioned by a visit of some elders (_cf. Ezekiel 8:1_, Ezekiel 14:1), who put to him a question which though not recorded, may perhaps be inferred from Ezekiel 20:32. It seems probable that, in disgust and despair,

SON OF MAN. See note on Ezekiel 2:1. UNTO. with. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Aramaean, Septuagint, and Vulgate, read' unto". THE ELDERS OF ISRAEL. In the Captivity; who were being deceived by false prophets who predicted. speedy return. SAITH THE LORD GOD. [is] Adonai Jehovah's oracle. See note on Ezekiel 2:4....

Introductory. Certain elders came to the prophet to enquire of the Lord, in the seventh year of the captivity of Jehoiachin and tenth day of the fifth month Aug. 590 b.c., four years before Jerusalem fell....