20:1–4 Most Israelites would have been proud of their nation’s long history, especially their relationship with the Lord, who had rescued them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the Promised Land. True, they had not always obeyed the Lord as they ought—the canonical histories of Israel are clear on that point—but overall they would have thought of their story fondly and proudly. In addressing the elders among the exiles, however, Ezekiel paints a much more negative view of the whole story, from beginning to end. His task is to “let them know the abominations of their fathers” (v. 4), and he does a very thorough job in explaining why the Lord will not allow himself to be inquired of by these men.

20:5–9 The first generation of Israel came to know the Lord in Egypt as a result of the Lord’s sovereign choice of them to be his people. The Lord committed himself to them in Egypt with an oath and revealed himself to them. The patriarchal stories are presumed as the background of this calling—since Israel is described as “the offspring of the house of Jacob” (v. 5) and the Abrahamic covenant underlies the promises of a fruitful land for his descendants to inhabit—but in Ezekiel’s retelling, Israel’s story as a nation really begins with the exodus, in which the Lord revealed himself to them in power (cf. Ex. 6:3). The Lord “chose”153 and called Israel and promised to bring them to a land flowing with milk and honey that he had “searched out”154 for them. There in Egypt the Lord challenged them to be devoted exclusively to him, casting away detestable things and not defiling themselves with Egyptian idols (cf. Deut. 29:17). A covenant relationship with the Lord had to be exclusive, for the Lord is a jealous God and would not share his people with other gods (Ex. 20:5).

Instead, the people did precisely the opposite of what he had commanded them, neither casting away their detestable things nor forsaking the idols of Egypt. From this perspective Israel’s rebellion did not begin at Marah (Exodus 15) or with the manufacture of the golden calf (Exodus 32); it was endemic from the beginning. Indeed, there are hints of just such a problematic spirit on the part of the Israelites already in passages such as Exodus 5:21; 6:9.

In response to their rebellion the Lord threatened to pour out his wrath upon Israel, bringing an end to them before they had even left Egypt. But the Lord refrained, not for their sake but for the sake of his own reputation. Had the Lord wiped his people out in Egypt, it would have seemed as if he were unable to fulfill his promises to Israel, and the Lord’s name would have been profaned among the surrounding nations as a result (Ezek. 20:9). Yet because of their sin the Lord did not immediately lead Israel out from Egypt into the land he had promised to give them. Instead he led them into the wilderness (v. 10), where they were judged for their sin—but that judgment was limited by the Lord, so that they were not wiped out.

20:10–17 The next generation’s story begins in the wilderness and follows the same pattern on a larger scale.155 The Lord revealed himself to them in the wilderness, just as he had revealed himself to their fathers in Egypt. He gave them his statutes and rules, just as he had instructed their fathers to stay away from idols (v. 11; cf. v. 7). These laws would lead to life and blessing, if Israel would keep them—not eternal life, to be sure, for no one perfectly keeps God’s law, but the blessing of life in the land under the Lord’s favor (cf. the repeated refrain “He shall live” in ch. 18).

In particular Ezekiel draws attention to the Sabbath law as a foundation of Israel’s distinctive relationship with her God. In Exodus 31:16 the Lord said to Moses, “The people of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, observing the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a covenant forever.” The Sabbath called God’s people to march to the beat of a different drum than their neighbors, whose calendars were regulated solely by the phases of the moon and agricultural seasons.156 The Sabbath was a reminder of their deliverance from bondage in Egypt (Deut. 5:12–15), as well as of their unique relationship to the God who created the universe out of nothing (Ex. 20:8–11). It was to be a sign that the Lord had “sanctified” them, set them apart from their neighbors as a holy nation (Ex. 19:6). “Sabbaths” (Ezek. 20:12) suggests that Ezekiel has in view not merely the weekly Sabbath but the whole ritual calendar by which Israel was to order their time around the events of redemptive history. But, as did the generation in Egypt, they chose the exact opposite of what the Lord had commanded—not walking in his statutes but rejecting his rules and profaning the Sabbaths greatly (v. 16). Instead of being holy and distinct, they became just like the nations around them.

Once again judgment was necessary, yet the Lord’s wrath was not poured out on them fully in the wilderness either. The Lord limited his judgment on that generation for the sake of his name, just as he had earlier (v. 14; cf. v. 9). That generation would never see the Promised Land—a land flowing with milk and honey (cf. Ex. 3:8)—because of its idolatry. But the Lord would still maintain a people for his name; even though an entire generation would die in the wilderness, this did not mean a full end for Israel as a nation (cf. Ezek. 11:13).

20:18–26 The cycle again repeats itself. The Lord spoke to the second wilderness “generation”—a period covering the time from their entry into the Promised Land down to Ezekiel’s own day—pressing them to turn away from their fathers’ rebellious ways and idols and toward the Lord’s life-giving paths (v. 18). This generation had received from their parents the Lord’s rules and statutes; what remained was to walk in them. Like the previous two generations, however, they rebelled against the Lord, rejecting his statutes and rules and profaning his Sabbaths (v. 21).

Yet again the Lord declared his judgment upon them but withheld the full execution of the sentence, so that his name would not be profaned among the nations. The hand that was earlier upraised in an oath to bring his people into the land (v. 6) was now raised in an oath that the Lord would scatter them out of that land among the nations (v. 23; cf. Deut. 28:64). This loss of the land would not be due to any failure on the Lord’s part but because of the people’s rejection of the Lord’s rules and statutes, neglecting his Sabbaths and pursuing their father’s idols.

Part of that judgment upon Israel came in the form of handing them over to “not good” statutes and laws that led to defilement and death rather than righteousness and life (Ezek. 20:25; contrast v. 11). It is noteworthy that these “not good” laws are not termed “my laws”: they are thus contrasted with the good laws the Lord gave them earlier. Because Israel rejected his wise rules and laws given by Moses in the wilderness, the Lord turned them over to the keeping of rules and laws that matched their desires—the rules and laws of their idols, with all the consequences that come with that. The end result was the very opposite of the divine design for Israel. The Lord’s “firstborn son” was rescued out of Egypt so that he could offer pure worship in the Promised Land (Ex. 4:22–23). But instead through her rebellion Israel ended up sacrificing her own firstborn sons to her idols in pursuit of defiled worship. Instead of enjoying the fruits of the land, the threat of inevitable exile hung over her.

In other words, the “not good” laws given to Israel by the Lord are not the canonical laws given to Moses: those are life-giving and good (Ezek. 20:11). But anyone who refuses to obey the Lord and gives oneself to idols does not thereby escape rules and laws. On the contrary, such idols are even more demanding than the Lord, requiring the death of firstborn children to satisfy their hunger for blood. Yet even in the midst of these rebellious choices Israel could not separate itself from the Creator and Redeemer God, who had chosen Israel to be his. The sovereign “I” of the Lord is pervasive throughout the narrative: it was the Lord who gave Israel good laws and the Lord who handed over the people in judgment to the death-giving laws of their idols that they preferred over him. The divine purpose is clear throughout all of this: “That they might know that [he is] the Lord” (v. 26).

20:27–31 The prophet now makes explicit the connection between the third generation and Israel’s subsequent history. He dismisses all the intervening generations with verses 27–29, noting that once the people entered the land, any high hill or green tree that they saw was sufficient excuse to pursue the idolatrous worship of the Baals and Asherahs (cf. 2 Kings 17:10). These became the location of the high places (Hb. bamah; Ezek. 20:29) where idolatrous sacrifices of food were offered to their gods. Then Ezekiel brings it up to date (“to this day”; v. 29), addressing the elders gathered in front of him and accusing them of following those old familiar patterns of spiritual adultery. Even though they live in a land with neither green trees nor lofty high places, they are still defiling themselves in exactly the same way with their idols, still sacrificing their own children in the fire (v. 31). Should the Lord allow himself to be inquired of by such idolaters? Certainly not!

20:32–38 The prophet does not lay out the patterns of Israel’s history simply in order to accuse his hearers of being like their forefathers in their sin and, therefore, also in the judgment they are experiencing. That comparison is certainly true: like their fathers, they have gone after idols and have therefore been scattered among the nations, as verse 23 anticipated. However, since the Lord chose Israel to be his firstborn son at the time of the exodus and attached his name to the nation (Ex. 4:22), Israel cannot simply choose to walk away and become like the nations in worshiping gods of wood and stone (Ezek. 20:32). The Lord may judge his people, but he can never abandon them completely to their own way. The echoes of 1 Samuel 8 are striking. Israel desired a king to lead them, like the nations around them had (1 Sam. 8:5). Samuel warned them that this rejection of the Lord as their King would have real and negative consequences (1 Sam. 8:11–18) but that even their rebellion would not thwart the Lord’s plans. He would give them the kings of his own choosing, good and bad.

In a similar way the Lord is honor bound to accomplish a new exodus from the nations for his people to safeguard the glory of his own name. He will bring his people out from among the nations with mighty hand and outstretched arm, just as in the first exodus (Ezek. 20:34; cf. Deut. 4:34). But just as the generation brought out of Egypt experienced his wrath and died in the wilderness, so too those brought out from the nations will face judgment in “the wilderness of the peoples” (Ezek. 20:35). Unlike the judgment in the wilderness, which consumed an entire generation, this new act of judgment will be discriminatory. The Lord will make Israel pass “under the rod,” like a shepherd separating his flock, purging the rebels and transgressors—those who neglect his rules and profane his Sabbaths, as their forebears did (v. 37). They will be excluded from the blessings of the covenant relationship with the Lord; they will meet him “face to face,” as Moses did (Ex. 33:11)—but for judgment, not blessing (Ezek. 20:35). Meanwhile, those who remain will subsequently form a purified remnant ready to worship the Lord, as he has purposed from the very beginning.

20:39–44 The bottom line for the present generation is expressed in Ezekiel 20:39. If the people desire to go and serve their gods of wood and stone, obeying their “not good” statutes instead of keeping the Lord’s life-giving law, the choice is open to them (v. 39; cf. Judg. 10:14). But they should understand the consequences of their choices. God will accomplish the goal of his covenant: to have a people who are wholeheartedly dedicated to offering pure worship to him on his holy mountain in Israel,157 in contrast to their present condition of offering defiled worship under every green tree and high place. In that day he will accept them and their offerings, in contrast to his refusal to be addressed by the elders (cf. Ezek. 20:3). Through that ultimately glorious reality the Lord will demonstrate his holiness powerfully among the nations. The oath made in verse 6 will be fulfilled in the events described in verse 42. But the intervening history matters as well: those who turn their backs on the Lord and prefer their idols will never enter that renewed land (cf. v. 38). What is more, even those who are part of that purified remnant will be ashamed of their sin, realizing the profound reality that their salvation is all of grace, for the sake of the Lord’s glory, not at all of their merit. The Lord’s concern for the honor of his own name is his people’s only hope of salvation.