10<\/strong>. First half of the verse is wanting in LXX.<\/p>\n The probation in the wilderness. The promise was forfeited by those to whom it was first conditionally made, but was renewed to their children.<\/P> Eze 20:11<\/B><\/span><\/P> The statutes were given on Mount Sinai, and repeated by Moses before his death (Exo 20:1<\/span> ff; Deu 4:8<\/span>).<\/P> In them – <\/B>Or, through them: and in Eze 20:13<\/span>.<\/P> Eze 20:12<\/B><\/span><\/P> See Exo 31:13<\/span>. The Sabbath was a sign of a special people, commemorative of the work of creation, and hallowed to the honor of Yahweh, the covenant-God. As man honored God by keeping the Sabbath holy, so by the Sabbath, God sanctified Israel and marked them as a holy people. Therefore to profane the Sabbath was to abjure their Divine Governor.<\/P> Eze 20:13<\/B><\/span><\/P> My sabbaths they greatly polluted – <\/B>Not by actual non-observance of the sabbatical rest in the wilderness, but in failing to make the day holy in deed as well as in name by earnest worship and true heart service.<\/P> Eze 20:18<\/B><\/span><\/P> The book of Deuteronomy contains the address to the children of those who perished in the wilderness. The whole history of Israel was a repetition of this course. The covenant was made with one generation, broken by them, and then renewed to the next.<\/P> Eze 20:25<\/B><\/span><\/P> The judgments whereby they should not live are those spoken of in Eze 20:18<\/span>, and are contrasted with the judgments in Eze 20:13<\/span>, Eze 20:21<\/span>, laws other than divine, to which God gives up those whom He afflicts with judicial blindness, because they have willfully closed their eyes, Psa 81:12<\/span>; Rom 1:24<\/span>.<\/P> Eze 20:26<\/B><\/span><\/P> To pass through – <\/B>The word also means to set apart, as the firstborn to the Lord Exo 13:12<\/span>. They were bidden to set apart their firstborn males to the Lord. They caused them to pass through the fire to Moloch. An instance of their perversion of Gods laws.<\/P> <\/p>\n Verse 10<\/span>. I caused them to go forth<\/B><\/I>] Though greatly oppressed and degraded, they were not willing<\/I> to leave their house of<\/I> bondage<\/I>. I was obliged to force them away<\/I>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Wherefore, <\/B>Heb. And<\/I>. <\/P> I caused them to go forth<\/B>; removed all obstacles, furnished them with all necessaries, went before them, and showed them the way they should go, as is expressed, Exo 13:17<\/span>. <\/P> And brought them; <\/B>I brought; it was not Mosess error, though Pharaoh thought so, Exo 14:3<\/span>,4<\/span>, but the peculiar conduct of God, Exo 14:2<\/span>. <\/P> Into the wilderness; <\/B>a barren, sandy part of the country, the borders of Egypt towards the Red Sea; yet having mountains which shut them in on both sides, and frontier garrisons near them: and as he brought them in, so he conducted them out of these straits, though here it is not mentioned. <\/P> <\/p>\n Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt<\/strong>,…. It was the Lord that brought them out from thence with a mighty hand and outstretched arm; that obliged Pharaoh to let them go, and gave them favour in the eyes of the Egyptians, that they went out unmolested by them:<\/p>\n and brought them into the wilderness<\/strong>; before they went into the land of Canaan; here they had freedom from their bondage, and were in a wonderful manner provided for by the Lord, guided, supported, preserved, and at last brought to the promised land.<\/p>\n Behaviour of Israel in the Desert<\/p>\n Eze 20:10<\/span>. And I led them out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the desert; <\/em> Eze 20:11<\/span>. And gave them my statutes, and my rights I made known to them, which man is to do that he may live through them. <\/em> Eze 20:12<\/span>. I also gave them my Sabbaths, that they might be for a sign between me and them, that they might now that I Jehovah sanctify them. <\/em> Eze 20:13<\/span>. But the house of Israel was rebellious against me in the desert: they did not walk in my statutes, and my rights they rejected, which man is to do, that he may live through them, and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned: Then I thought to pour out my wrath upon them in the desert to destroy them. <\/em> Eze 20:14<\/span>. But I did it for my name’s sake, that it might not be profaned before the eyes of the nations, before whose eyes I had led them out. <\/em> Eze 20:15<\/span>. I also lifted my hand to them in the desert, not to bring them into the land which I had given (them), which floweth with milk and honey; it is an ornament of all lands, <\/em> Eze 20:16<\/span>. Because they rejected my rights, did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths, for their heart went after their idols. <\/em> Eze 20:17<\/span>. But my eye looked with pity upon them, so that I did not destroy them, and make an end of them in the desert.<\/em> – God gave laws at Sinai to the people whom He had brought out of Egypt, through which they were to be sanctified as His own people, that they might live before God. On Eze 20:11<\/span> compare Deu 30:16<\/span> and Deu 30:19<\/span>. Eze 20:12<\/span> is taken almost word for word from Exo 31:13<\/span>, where God concludes the directions for His worship by urging upon the people in the most solemn manner the observance of His Sabbaths, and thereby pronounces the keeping of the Sabbath the kernel of all divine worship. And as in that passage we are to understand by the Sabbaths the actual weekly Sabbaths, and not the institutions of worship as a whole, so here we must retain the literal signification of the word. It is only of the Sabbath recurring every week, and not of all the fasts, that it could be said it was a sign between Jehovah and Israel. It was a sign, not as a token, that they who observed it were Israelites, as Hitzig supposes, but to know (that they might know) that Jehovah was sanctifying them, namely, by the Sabbath rest – as a refreshing and elevation of the mind, in which Israel was to have a foretaste of that blessed resting from all works to which the people of God was ultimately to attain (see the comm. on Exo 20:11<\/span>). It is from this deeper signification of the Sabbath that the prominence given to the Sabbaths here is to be explained, and not from the outward circumstance that in exile, when the sacrificial worship was necessarily suspended, the keeping of the Sabbath as the only bond which united the Israelites, so far as the worship of God was concerned (Hitzig). Historical examples of the rebellion of Israel against the commandments of God in the desert are given in ex. Eze 32:1-6<\/span> and Num 25:1-3<\/span>; and of the desecration of the Sabbath, in ex. Eze 16:27<\/span> and Num 15:32<\/span>. For the threat referred to in Eze 20:13<\/span><\/em>, compare Exo 32:10<\/span>; Num 14:11-12<\/span>. – Eze 20:15<\/span> and Eze 20:16<\/span> are not a repetition of Eze 20:13<\/span> (Hitzig); nor do they introduce a limitation of Eze 20:14<\/span> (Kliefoth). They simply relate what else God did to put bounds to the rebellion after He had revoked the decree to cut Israel off, at the intercession of Moses (Num 14:11-19<\/span>). He lifted His hand to the oath (Num 14:21<\/span>.), that the generation which had come out of Egypt should not come into the land of Canaan, but should die in the wilderness. Therewith He looked with pity upon the people, so that He did not make an end of them by following up the threat with a promise that the children should enter the land. , as in Eze 11:13<\/span>.<\/p>\n The Privileges and Sins of Israel.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 592.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness. 11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if<\/I> a man do, he shall even live in them. 12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am<\/I> the LORD<\/B> that sanctify them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if<\/I> a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. 15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them,<\/I> flowing with milk and honey, which is<\/I> the glory of all lands; 16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness. 18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols: 19 I am<\/I> the LORD<\/B> your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them; 20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am<\/I> the LORD<\/B> your God. 21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if<\/I> a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name’s sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth. 23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries; 24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers’ idols. 25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were<\/I> not good, and judgments whereby they should not live; 26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire<\/I> all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am<\/I> the LORD<\/B>.<\/P> The history of the struggle between the sins of Israel, by which they endeavoured to ruin themselves, and the mercies of God, by which he endeavoured to save them and make them happy, is here continued: and the instances of that struggle in these verses have reference to what passed between God and them in the wilderness, in which God honoured himself and they shamed themselves. The story of Israel in the wilderness is referred to in the New Testament (1Co 10:1-33<\/span>; Heb 3:1-19<\/span>), as well as often in the Old, for warning to us Christians; and therefore we are particularly concerned in these verses. Observe,<\/P> I. The great things God did for them, which he puts them in mind of, not as grudging them his favours, but to show how ungrateful they had been. And we say, If you call a man ungrateful, you can call him no worse. It was a great favour, 1. That God brought them forth out of Egypt<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 10<\/span>), though, as it follows, he brought them into the wilderness<\/I> and not into Canaan immediately. It is better to be at liberty in a wilderness than bond-slaves in a land of plenty, to enjoy God and ourselves in solitude than to lose both in a crowd; yet there were many of them who had such base servile spirits as not to understand this, but, when they met with the difficulties of a desert, wished themselves in Egypt again. 2. That he gave them the law upon Mount Sinai (v.<\/I><\/span> 11<\/span>), not only instructed them concerning good and evil, but by his authority bound them from the evil and to the good. He gave them his statutes,<\/I> and a valuable gift it was. Moses commanded them a law that was the inheritance of the congregation of Israel,<\/I> Deut. xxxiii. 4<\/I><\/span>. God made them to know his judgments,<\/I> not only enacted laws for them, but showed them the reasonableness and equity of those laws, with what judgment they were formed. The laws he gave them they were encouraged to observe and obey; for, if a man do them, he shall even live in them;<\/I> in keeping God’s commandments there is abundance of comfort and a great reward. Christ says, If thou wilt into enter life,<\/I> and enjoy it, keep the commandments.<\/I> Though those who are the most strict in their obedience are thus far unprofitable servants that they do no more than is their duty to do, yet it is thus richly recompensed: This do, and thou shalt live.<\/I> The Chaldee says, He shall live an eternal life in them.<\/I> St. Paul quotes this (Gal. iii. 12<\/span>) to show that the law is not of faith,<\/I> but proposes life upon condition of perfect obedience, which we are not capable of rendering, and therefore must have recourse to the grace of the gospel, without which we are all undone. 3. That he revived the ancient institution of the sabbath day, which was lost and forgotten while they were bond-slaves in Egypt; for their task-masters there would by no means allow them to rest one day in seven. In the wilderness indeed every day was a day of rest; for what need had those to labour who lived upon manna, and whose raiment waxed not old? But one day in seven must be a holy rest (v.<\/I><\/span> 12<\/span>): I gave them my sabbaths to be a sign between me and them<\/I> (the institution of the sabbath was a sign of God’s good-will to them, and their observance of it a sign of their regard to him), that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.<\/I> By this God made it to appear that he had distinguished them from the rest of the world, and designed to model them for a peculiar people to himself; and by their attendance on God in solemn assemblies on sabbath days they were made to increase in the knowledge of God, in an experimental knowledge of the powers and pleasures of his sanctifying grace. Note, (1.) Sabbaths are privileges, and are so to be accounted; the church acknowledges as a great favour, in that chapter which is parallel to this and seems to have a reference to this (Neh. ix. 14<\/span>), Thou madest known unto them thy holy sabbaths.<\/I> (2.) Sabbaths are signs; it is a sign that men have a sense of religion, and that there is some good correspondence between them and God, when they make conscience of keeping holy and sabbath day. (3.) Sabbaths, if duly sanctified, are the means of our sanctification; if we do the duty of the day, we shall find, to our comfort, it is the Lord that sanctifies us,<\/I> makes us holy (that is, truly happy) here, and prepares us to be happy (that is, perfectly holy) hereafter.<\/P> II. Their disobedient undutiful conduct towards God, for which he might justly have thrown them out of covenant as soon as he had taken them into covenant (v.<\/I><\/span> 13<\/span>): They rebelled in the wilderness.<\/I> There where they received so much mercy from God, and had such a dependence upon him, and were in their way to Canaan, yet there they broke out in many open rebellions against the God that led them and fed them. They did not only not walk in God’s statutes,<\/I> but they despised his judgments<\/I> as not worth observing; instead of sanctifying the sabbaths, they polluted them, greatly polluted them; one gathered sticks, many went out to gather manna on this day. Hereupon God was ready sometimes to cut them off; he said, more than once, that he would consume them in the wilderness.<\/I> But Moses interceded, so did God’s own mercy more powerfully, and most of all a concern for his own glory, that his name might not be polluted and profaned among the heathen<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 14<\/span>), that the Egyptians might not say that for mischief he brought them thus far, or that he was not able to bring them any further, or that he had no such good land as was talked of to bring them to, Exo 32:12<\/span>; Num 14:13<\/span>, c. Note, God’s strongest reasons for his sparing mercy are those which are fetched from his own glory.<\/P> III. God’s determination to cut off that generation of them in the wilderness. He who lifted up his hand<\/I> for them (<i>v.<\/span> 6<\/span><\/U><\/span>) now lifted up his hand against them;<\/I> he who by an oath confirmed his promise to bring them out of Egypt now by an oath confirmed his threatenings that he would not bring them into Canaan (Eze 20:15<\/span>; Eze 20:16<\/span>): I lifted up my hand unto them,<\/I> saying, As truly as I live, these men who have tempted me these ten times shall never see the land which I swore unto their fathers,<\/I>Num 14:22<\/span>; Num 14:23<\/span>; Psa 95:11<\/span>. By their contempt of God’s laws, and particularly of his sabbaths, they put a bar in their own door; and that which was at the bottom of their disobedience to God, and their neglect of his institutions, was a secret affection to the gods of Egypt: Their heart went after their idols.<\/I> Note, The bias of the mind towards the world and the flesh, the money and the belly (those two great objects of spiritual idolatry), is the root of bitterness from which springs all disobedience to the divine law. The heart that goes after those idols despises God’s judgments.<\/P> IV. The reservation of a seed that should be admitted upon a new trial, and the instructions given to that seed, v.<\/I><\/span> 17<\/span>. Though they thus deserved ruin, and were doomed to it, yet my eye spared them.<\/I> When he looked upon them he had compassion on them, and did not make an end of them,<\/I> but reprieved them till a new generation was reared. Note, It is owing purely to the mercy of God that he has not long ago made an end of us.<\/I> This new generation is well educated. Moses in Deuteronomy reported and enforce the laws which had been given to those that came out of Egypt, that their children might have them as it were sounding in their ears afresh when they entered Canaan (v.<\/I><\/span> 18<\/span>): “I said unto their children in the wilderness,<\/I> in the plains of Moab, Walk in the statutes of your God and walk not in the statutes of your fathers;<\/I> do not imitate their superstitious usages nor retain their foolish wicked customs; away with their vain conversation, which has nothing else to say for itself but that it was received by the tradition of your fathers,<\/I> 1 Pet. i. 18<\/I><\/span>. Defile not yourselves with their idols,<\/I> for you see how odious they rendered themselves to God by them. But keep my judgments<\/I> and hallow my sabbaths,<\/I>” Eze 20:19<\/span>; Eze 20:20<\/span>. Note, If parents be careless, and do not give their children good instructions as they ought, the children ought to make up the want by studying the word of God so much the more carefully and diligently themselves when they grow up; and the bad examples of parents must be made use of by their children for admonition, and not for imitation.<\/P> V. The revolt of the next generation from God, by which they also made themselves obnoxious to the wrath of God (v.<\/I><\/span> 21<\/span>): The children rebelled against me<\/I> too. And the same that was said of the fathers’ rebellion is here said of the children’s,<\/I> for they were a seed of evil-doers. Moses told them that he knew their rebellion and their stiff neck,<\/I> Deut. xxxi. 27<\/I><\/span>. And Deut. ix. 24<\/span>, You have been rebellious against the Lord from the day that I knew you. They walked not in my statutes<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 21<\/span>); nay, they despised my statutes,<\/I> v.<\/span> 24<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. Those who disobey God’s statutes despise them, they show that they have a mean opinion of them and of him whose statutes they are. They polluted God’s sabbaths,<\/I> as their fathers. Note, The profanation of the sabbath day is an inlet to all impiety; those who pollute holy time will keep nothing pure. It was said of the fathers (v.<\/I><\/span> 16<\/span>) that their heart went after their idols;<\/I> they worshipped idols because they had an affection for them. It is said of the children (v.<\/I><\/span> 24<\/span>) that their eyes went after their fathers’ idols;<\/I> they had grown atheistical, and had no affection for any gods at all, but they worshipped their fathers’ idols<\/I> because they were their fathers’ and they had them before their eyes. They were used to them; and, if they must have gods, they would have such as they could see, such as they could manage. And that which aggravated their disobedience to God’s statutes was that, if they had done them, they might have lived in them<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 21<\/span>), might have been a happy thriving people. Note, Those that go contrary to their duty go contrary to their interest; they will not obey, will not come to Christ, that they may have life, John v. 40<\/span>. And it is therefore just that those who will not live and flourish as they might in their obedience should die and perish in their disobedience. Now the great instance of that generation’s rebellion and inclination to idolatry was the iniquity of Peor,<\/I> as that of their fathers was the golden calf.<\/I> Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel,<\/I> Num. xxv. 3<\/I><\/span>. Then there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, which, if it had not been seasonably stayed by Phinehas’s zeal, had cut them all off; and yet they owned, in Joshua’s time, We ware not cleansed from that iniquity unto this day,<\/I>Jos 22:17<\/span>; Psa 106:29<\/span>. Then it was that God said he would pour out his fury upon them<\/I> (v.<\/I><\/span> 21<\/span>), that he lifted up his hand unto them in the wilderness,<\/I> when they were a second time just ready to enter Canaan, that he would scatter them among the heathen.<\/I> This very thing he said to them by Moses in his parting song, Deut. xxxii. 20<\/span>. Because they provoked him to jealousy with strange gods,<\/I> he said, I will hide my face form them;<\/I> and (Eze 20:26<\/span>; Eze 20:27<\/span>) he said, I would scatter them into corners, were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy,<\/I> which explains this (Eze 20:21<\/span>; Eze 20:22<\/span>), I said I would pour out my fury upon them,<\/I> but I withdrew<\/I> my hand for my name’s sake.<\/I> Note, When the corruptions of the visible church are such, and so provoking, that we have reason to fear its total extirpation, yet then we may be confident of this, to our comfort, that God will secure his own honour, by making good his purpose, that while the world stands he will have a church in it.<\/P> VI. The judgments of God upon them for their rebellion. They would not regard the statutes and judgments by which God prescribed them their duty, but despised them, and therefore God gave them statutes and judgments<\/I> which were not good,<\/I> and by which they should not live,<\/I> v.<\/span> 25<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. By this we may understand the several ways by which God punished them while they were in the wilderness–the plague that broke in upon them, the fiery serpent, and the like–which, in allusion to the law they had broken, are called judgments,<\/I> because inflicted by the justice of God, and statutes,<\/I> because he gave orders concerning them and commanded desolations as sometimes he had commanded deliverances, and appointed Israel’s plagues as he had done the plagues of Egypt. When God said, I will consume them in a moment<\/I> (Num. xvi. 21<\/span>), when he said, Take the heads of the people and hang them up<\/I> (Num. xxv. 4<\/span>), when he threatened them with the curse and obliged them to say Amen<\/I> to every curse (Deut. xxvii. 28<\/span>), then he gave them judgments by which they should not live.<\/I> More is implied than is expressed; they are judgments by which they should die. Those that will not be bound by the precepts of the law shall be bound by the sentence of it; for one way or other the word of God will take hold<\/I> of men, Zech. i. 6<\/span>. Spiritual judgments are the most dreadful; and these God punished them with. The statutes and judgments which the heathen observed in the worship of their idols were not good, and in practising them they could not live; and God gave them up to those. He made their sin to be their punishment, gave them up to a reprobate mind,<\/I> as he did the Gentile idolaters (Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n