Ezekiel 20:31

For when ye offer your gifts, when ye make your sons to pass through the fire, ye pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day: and shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you. WHEN YE MAKE YOUR SONS TO PASS THROUGH THE FIRE. As "the fire" is omitted in , Fairbairn represents the generation here referred to (namely, that of Ezekiel's day) as attaining the climax of guilt (see note, ), in making their children pass through the fire, which that former generation did not. The reason, however, for the omission of "the fire" in is, perhaps, that there it is implied the children only "passed through the fire" for purification, whe...

He follows up the same sentiment, that it was a monstrous sin that they so perniciously remained fixed in the perverse imitation of their fathers: for they had been drawn off from their lusts by God’s numerous chastisements, and then they pretended to be afterwards disposed to obedience: God therefore here says, _why, then, by offering your gifts, do you make your sons pass through the fire, and pollute yourselves with all your idols even to this day? _For this question concerns what is quite incredible and worthy of the greatest surprise, since there was no way of reconciling the sufferings of the Israelites in exile with their remaining obstinate in their wickedness. But the Prophet here again deprives them of that vain pretense with which they covered themselves in offering their gifts: he concedes to them what was true, yet, at the same time, he objects, that _they passed their sons...

27-32 The Jews persisted in rebellion after they settled in the land of Canaan. And these elders seem to have thought of uniting with the heathen. We make nothing by our profession if it be but a profession. There is nothing got by sinful compliances; and the carnal projects of hypocrites will stand them in no stead....

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....

The probation in the land of Canaan from their entry to the day of Ezekiel. Ezekiel 20:27 YET IN THIS - It was an aggravation of their guilt that they defiled with idolatry the land given them for their glory. Ezekiel 20:29 BAMAH - The Hebrew word for “high place.” Another instance of the perversion of God’s laws. When the Israelites first entered Canaan they were to set up the “tabernacle” on a “high place,” and upon this and upon no other they were to worship Yahweh (1 Samuel 9:12 ff; 1 Kings 3:4). But the Israeli

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...

FOR WHEN YE OFFER YOUR GIFTS,.... And sacrifices to idols. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, THE FIRSTFRUITS OF YOUR GIFTS; it may design their firstborn; see Ezekiel 20:26 as the following clause seems to explain it: WHEN YE MAKE YOUR SONS TO PASS THROUGH THE FIRE; or between two fires to Moloch, as their fathers had done before them; YE POLLUTE YOURSELVES WITH ALL YOUR IDOLS, EVEN UNTO THIS DAY; by worshipping idols, or dunghill gods, as the word signifies, as often observed; they defiled themselves with those filthy things, which they continued to do to that very day, and so became more and more polluted; and were as their fathers had been, and therefore must expect to be used in like manner: AND SHALL I BE INQUIRED OF BY YOU, O HOUSE OF ISRAEL? can you think that I will suffer you t

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,

YOUR SONS. Some codices, with two early printed editions, read "your sons and your daughters"....