30<\/strong>. Are ye polluted<\/em> ] do ye pollute yourselves?<\/p>\n 30, 31<\/strong>. The Lord will not give himself to be enquired of by such men. What they desire to know about others or themselves they shall be left in ignorance of; but he<\/em> has something to tell them regarding himself.<\/p>\n 30 44<\/strong>. Jehovah’s regard to his own name will fashion the history of the people to come as it has fashioned the past<\/p>\n Having reviewed the past and shewn the elders their own picture in the doings of their fathers, and how the thing which has fashioned the history in the past has been Jehovah’s regard for his own name, the prophet now comes to read to them the history of the future as the same regard of Jehovah to his name will model it.<\/p>\n First, Eze 20:30-34<\/em><\/span>. The Lord will not give any answer to such enquirers who follow the ways of their fathers. But they may be assured that their resolution to assimilate themselves to the heathen and become like them worshippers of wood and stone shall not be permitted to have effect. Jehovah will<\/em> assert his sovereignty over them, and will disentangle them out from among the heathen as he gathered their fathers from among the Egyptians.<\/p>\n Secondly, Eze 20:35-40<\/em><\/span>. He will bring them out from the nations into the wilderness of the peoples, as he brought their fathers into the wilderness of Egypt, and will plead with them anew as he pleaded with their fathers in days long ago and with the same result that the rebels among them shall fall in the wilderness, but the remnant shall again in the mountain height of Israel serve the Lord, who will accept them.<\/p>\n Thirdly, Eze 20:41-44<\/em><\/span>. And from this restoration these things shall follow: 1. Jehovah shall be sanctified, seen to be God and acknowledged by the nations ( Eze 20:41<\/em><\/span>). 2. Israel shall know what Jehovah is, when he fulfils his ancient promise to the fathers to give them this land ( Eze 20:42<\/em><\/span>). 3. They shall then lay to heart their past doings and lothe themselves ( Eze 20:43<\/em><\/span>). And 4. they shall see that not according to their evil has Jehovah dealt with them all through their history and in their restoration, but has wrought for his name’s sake ( Eze 20:44<\/em><\/span>).<\/p>\n The house of Israel; <\/B>those elders that were come to him, as Eze 20:1<\/span>, which see. They come to make inquiry, and now the prophet inquires of them, that their own conscience might make answer, and tell them what to expect: Your fathers, where are they? What became of some, that bore their iniquity? And what had become of the rest, if God had not withdrawn his hand? And all this hath been no warning to you, but, as they, so you, have polluted yourselves, and been idolaters. <\/P> <\/p>\n 30.<\/B> The interrogation implies astrong affirmation, as in Eze 20:4<\/span>,”Are ye not<\/I> polluted . . . ? Do ye not<\/I> commit?”&c. Or, connecting this verse with Eze20:31<\/span>, “Are ye thus polluted . . . and yet (do ye expectthat) I shall be inquired of by you?”<\/P><\/p>\n Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God<\/strong>,…. To the elders, as before:<\/p>\n are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers<\/strong>? they were:<\/p>\n and commit ye whoredoms after their abominations<\/strong>? spiritual adultery; that is, idolatry, in the same abominable manner? they did, as appears by what follows:<\/p>\n Now at length the Prophet openly attacks those by whom he was consulted. After showing that they sprang from impure fathers — which was sufficiently manifest from their never ceasing to provoke God in every age from the very beginning to the end — he turns their own language against them, and asks, whether they were polluted after the superstitions of their fathers? The old interpretation is “truly;” but ה, he, the mark of interrogation, does not allow of that. I am surprised at the rendering of some expositors, are you not polluted?” as if the word were הלוא, hel-va, for in my opinion they pervert the Prophet’s sense, for this would make him ask absurdly, what? are you polluted in the way of your fathers? and are you gone astray after their idols? For when they were in exile, that disinheriting ought to subdue them although they had been endued with a more than iron pride: and then they pretended to piety, when they came to the Prophet and desired to receive some consolation from him. Since, therefore, they pretended to some modesty, God here asks them how they could pollute themselves in the way of their fathers? what could it all mean? the things are quite contrary: you approach my servant as if you intended to submit your minds and your senses to my word; but when you so feign yourselves to be attentive to my answers, how does it happen that you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? This seems to me the Spirit’s meaning. You shall say, then, are you polluted in the way of your fathers? that is, are you so obstinate as not to reflect upon your course, and never to look back? for you see how severely God was revenged on your obstinacy: you now seek me in appearance, as if this were your only refuge; then how is it that you pollute yourselves in the way of your fathers? and why do you commit fornication after their idols? It now follows — <\/p>\n (Eze. 20:30-38<\/span>.)<\/p>\n EXEGETICAL NOTES.The prophet addresses the men of his day, showing that they are equally guilty with their fathers. They are to receive just retribution, and to be purified among the heathen.<\/p>\n Eze. 20:30<\/span><\/strong>. Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye whoredom, after their abominations?<\/strong> These interrogations are intended to imply a strong affirmative.<\/p>\n Eze. 20:31<\/span><\/strong>. Even unto this day.<\/strong> The note struck in the question of Eze. 20:29<\/span> is still maintained, not merely to express astonishment, but still more to compel self-reflection. I ask, what further communication you would have?(Lange<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Eze. 20:32<\/span>. We will be as the heathen<\/strong> They flattered themselves that the heavy judgments which the prophets had threatened would not be inflicted; that they could accept without molestation the state of the heathen, and the responsibility of the heathen. That which cometh into your mind shall not be at all.<\/strong> That wish is declared to be impossible, for they stood before God on a different foundation from the heathen around them. Here we have the announcement of their continued punishment. The heathen stood under the divine long-suffering (Rom. 3:25<\/span>); not so Israel, to whom God had so gloriously made Himself known. Wherein the heathen may prosper, therein Israel must decline. The designation of the heathen gods as wood and stone, alone sufficient to counteract the strange notion which attributed a real existence to the heathen gods, is taken from Deu. 4:28<\/span>; Deu. 28:36<\/span>.(Hengstenberg<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Eze. 20:33<\/span>. Surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you.<\/strong> Their thought was, that they should become like the heathen in the lands of the earth, to serve wood and stone; that is to say, we will become idolators like the heathen, pass into heathenism. This shall not take place; on the contrary, God will rule over them as King with strong arm and fury. The words, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched-out arm, are a standing expression in the Pentateuch for the mighty acts by which Jehovah liberated His people from the power of the Egyptians, and led them out of Egypt (Exo. 6:1<\/span>; Exo. 6:6<\/span>; Deu. 4:34<\/span>; Deu. 5:15<\/span>; Deu. 7:19<\/span>, etc.). By the introduction of the clause, with fury poured out, the manifestation of the omnipotence of God which Israel experienced in its dispersion, and which it was still to experience among the heathen, is described as an emanation of the divine wrath, a severe and wrathful judgment.(Keil)<\/em>. For the friendly and gracious government of God they have given Him little thanks, and have wickedly withdrawn from Him. As God, however, must come to His sovereign rights, so His sovereignty now assumes a terrible form.(Hengstenberg<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Eze. 20:34<\/span>. And will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered.<\/strong> Although Keil explains the leading out as neither local nor material, yet we do not understand it with him of a spiritual separation from the heathen world (to which they are immediately brought, Eze. 20:35<\/span>), lest they should be absorbed in it, etc., but of an aggravation of their exiled condition, a spiritual experience of it, so that they should know and feel that they as the people of God were once more in the wilderness, but not at all in the same sense as before (Deu. 8:15<\/span>; Deu. 32:10<\/span>).(Lange<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Eze. 20:35<\/span>. The wilderness of the people.<\/strong> In ancient time, Israel had been trained and disciplined in the literal wilderness (Deu. 8:15-16<\/span>); now God was about to send them to a new school of affliction, among the busy, populous world. There they would be made to feel their isolation severely. The wilderness is designated as the wilderness of the peoples, in contradistinction to the former wilderness, where was only the howling of wild beasts (Deu. 32:10<\/span>), lions, serpents, and the like (Deu. 8:15<\/span>; Isa. 30:6<\/span>). The new wilderness is one in which Israel is in the midst of the peoples, and can therefore be no ordinary wilderness, for wilderness and peoples exclude one another. It must rather be a symbolic or typical designation of the state of punishment and purification. The interchange of type and thing is in Eze. 20:36<\/span> separated. From the defect of historical notices concerning the state of the exiles, we cannot show the fulfilment of this prophetic announcement. It is natural, however, to suppose that the part taken by the exiles in the political intrigues of the home country brought upon them also severe sufferings.(Hengstenberg<\/em>.) There will I plead with you face to face.<\/strong> Jehovah threatens to deal with them as in open court by clearing those who had repented of their wickedness, and punishing the obstinate as He had done their fathers of old.(Henderson<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Eze. 20:36<\/span>. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt.<\/strong> They were not led into the wilderness of the peoples as a punishment; although on account of their disobedience it often became a place of punishment; but the divine intention was to try them, to prove them (Deu. 8:2<\/span>, etc.), from which resulted separation of individuals, purification, which was so strongly urged upon them in reference to Egypt, whither they were always looking back (Num. 20:5<\/span>; Num. 21:5<\/span>). (Lange<\/em>.)<\/p>\n Eze. 20:37<\/span>. And I will cause you to pass under the rod<\/strong> The reference is to the rod of a shepherd counting his sheep (Lev. 27:32<\/span>). A shepherd lets his sheep pass through under the rod for the purpose of counting them, and seeing whether they are in good condition or not (Jer. 33:13<\/span>). The figure is here applied to God. Like a shepherd, He will cause His flock, the Israelites, to pass through under His rod, i.e.,<\/em> to take them into His special care.(Keil<\/em>.) And I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.<\/strong> By this we are not merely to understand covenant punishments, but the covenant promises must also be included. For not only the threats of the covenant, but also its promises, are bonds<\/em> by which God trains His people. The Hebrew word is not only applied to burdensome and crushing fetters, but to the bonds of love as well (Son. 7:1-6<\/span>).(Keil<\/em>.) The bonds of Gods covenant are those of love (Hos. 11:4<\/span>).<\/p>\n Eze. 20:38<\/span>. The rebels.<\/strong> Those who would not have the Lord for their king (St. Luk. 19:14<\/span>; Luk. 19:27<\/span>). I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel.<\/strong> Canaan was called the land of their pilgrimage (Exo. 6:4<\/span>). They had debased the land which God gave them to dwell in by their idolatries, and so it became to them the land of bondage. Therefore God would bring them out of it, and send them to wander in the worlds wilderness. Through unfaithfulness they were unable to enter into Gods rest (Psa. 95:11<\/span>), that rest which remaineth only for those whose God is the Lord (Heb. 4:9<\/span>). The language here implies that the great body of the nation should be recovered from idolatry, and return to their native land, and that only a portion would continue in a state of rebellion against Jehovah, and consequently remain in exile (Henderson.)<\/em> And ye shall know that I am the Lord.<\/strong> This is the painful experience that will sooner or later force itself upon all those who despise salvation.(Hengstenberg.)<\/em><\/p>\n HOMILETICS<\/em><\/p>\n (Eze. 20:30-32<\/span>.)<\/p>\n GOD HIDING HIMSELF FROM ISRAEL PROFESSING TO SEEK HIM<\/p>\n The Elders professed that they had come to inquire of the Lord. But they came insincerely. That High-place still remained as a witness to their idolatries (Eze. 20:29<\/span>). In spite of the reformations under Hezekiah and Josiah, and the frequent warnings of the prophets, they worshipped false gods even in front of the Lords Temple (1Ki. 11:7<\/span>). Hence Gods final refusal, through His prophet, I will not be enquired of by you (Eze. 20:31<\/span>). Why did God hide Himself from His people, who, through these Elders, were professing to seek Him?<\/p>\n I. Because of their continuance in the sin of idolatry<\/strong>. They were polluted after the manner of their fathers (Eze. 20:30-31<\/span>). God encourages all who seek the truth in sincerity, even though it be through ignorance and superstition. But when the truth we seek is a delusion, which we wilfully followa mere idol, God hides His face from us. <\/p>\n 1. Idolatry obscures mans natural knowledge of God<\/em>. It leads the religious instinct astray, and into all that is debasing and vile. Though it may call in the aid of beauty and refinement, yet it has ever a degrading and downward tendency. <\/p>\n 2. Idolatry in the chosen people was the rankest transgression<\/em>. They were Gods people by vocation, by covenant, by special providence. This sin was, therefore, the worst that Israel could possibly commit. And it shewed further,<\/p>\n (1.) The power of bad example<\/em>. The corrupting influences of the idolatries around them. <\/p>\n (2.) The perils of all pomp and glaring externals in religion<\/em>. They were attracted by the outward and the sensual, which were the characteristics of heathen worship.<\/p>\n II. Because of the impossibility of their becoming in all respects like the heathen<\/strong>. They might imitate their customs, worship their idols, and sink down into their degraded condition; yet they could not be made to stand on the same footing before God. <\/p>\n 1. They could not get rid of their responsibility<\/em>. God had made Himself known unto them by revelation. Therefore they could not be judged<\/em> as the heathen, but by a different standard. Men will be judged by the highest standard revealed to them, and not by the lowest, which they have chosen in their sin and folly. <\/p>\n 2. Gods long suffering towards the heathen did not apply to Israel<\/em>. The patience which God showed towards the heathen could not be expected towards those who had higher religious advantages. <\/p>\n 3. It is impossible so to obliterate the past as though it had never been<\/em>. The memory of the past makes our whole life one. We cannot part from our former selves. However Israel might have sunk into idolatry, the fact of their glorious privileges in the past still remained. None of those who dwell in a land visited by the light of Gods Revelation can become, in all respects, like the heathen. We may choose the sins of heathenism, but we must be judged as those who have had opportunity for the knowledge of God.<\/p>\n (Eze. 20:37-38<\/span>).<\/p>\n 1. The Lord doth distinguish His people from others<\/em>. I will cause you to pass under the rod. I will examine which are sheep, and which are goats, and will sever the one from the other. Christ knew His sheep, His little flock, from all the goats of the mountains. When the men appeared with weapons of slaughter in their hands, and execution was to be upon Jerusalem, the Lord made His people to pass under the rod. He numbered them, and set His mark upon them, that they might not perish in the common calamity (Ezekiel 9<\/span>). <\/p>\n 2. Though Gods people do go out from Him, and violate the covenant, yet He will not let them so go, but will bring them under His power<\/em>. These had transgressed the covenant, broken the bonds, cast off the ways of God, thought to exempt themselves from His rule over them, but, saith the Lord, I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; you shall be under my power and law. Though I suffer Babylonians and other nations to be at their own disposal, yet it shall not be so with you who are my people with whom I am in covenant, and to whom I must be faithful whatever you are to me, and will be known to be your God and Sovereign. I will have account of you, and make you know that you are under my bonds, and not Babylonish ones. <\/p>\n 3. Gods dealings with His people is very different<\/em>. He brings them into the bonds of the covenant, to see what they are; if they be goats, wicked, He punishes them and purges them out; if they be sheep, though they have gone astray, He pardons them and enables them to yield to covenant obedience. He purged out the wicked by judgments and death, and preserved the others. The righteous were jewels, and therefore spared; the wicked were stubble, and therefore destroyed. <\/p>\n 4. Though the wicked be among the godly yet they shall not always be so<\/em>. I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me. It is Gods method, even here in this world, ofttimes to separate the wicked from the godly, to fan out the chaff from the wheat. <\/p>\n 5. Whatever mans thoughts are of the world, they are but sojourners therein<\/em>. I will bring them out of the land of their sojournings, were it Canaan or Babylon, they were no more than sojourners. Wicked men think they are heirs to, owners and lords of the earth (Psa. 49:11<\/span>). David, though king in Israel, yet acknowledgeth himself a sojourner, as all his fathers were. They spent a few days therein, and so passed away, and this was his condition. Let us look so upon ourselves, and pass the time of our sojourning here in fear (1Pe. 1:17<\/span>); and mind that city which hath foundations, out of which, if we be once possessed, we shall never be removed. <\/p>\n 6. When God brings His people into Canaan, He will shut out the wicked, they shall not enter into the land of Israel<\/em>. Others shall be brought in, but as for those who would be as the world, as the heathen, as Babylonians, they shall never come into Canaan. Canaan was the type of heaven, and this exclusion of these wicked ones, represents the exclusion of ungodly ones out of heaven. However, good and bad are mingled together in this world, and oft in the church, yet when God brings His people to the heavenly Canaan, no unclean thing shall enter there (Rev. 21:7<\/span>; 1Co. 6:9<\/span>). <\/p>\n 7. Mercies and judgments make God known experimentally<\/em>. Ye shall know that I am the Lord. God would purge out the rebels from the obedient; there was mercy. Keep them out of the land of Israel; there was judgment. The rebels should know and acknowledge Him to be Jehovah, being convinced with the equity of His judgments, and affected with the severity of them. The godly should do it, being convinced and affected with the nature, greatness, needfulness, and freeness of that mercy. Judgment upon these rebels was mercy to the godly; and mercy to the godly was mercy to the rebels; and both were brought to acknowledge the Lord. Mercies and judgments work most affectionately and effectually upon the godly; for it is said, Ye shall know, ye that are purged, ye that shall come to the land of Israel.(Greenhill<\/em>.)<\/p>\n (Eze. 20:35<\/span>).<\/p>\n And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. The history of the Jews is a surprising but most instructive history. These men have been the moral benefactors of the world by what they have said, by what they have done, by what they have suffered. Men have been blessed in them, and all generations have reason to call them blessed. In their prosperity they were the lights of the world; in their adversity they have been the instructors of it also. The subject arising from the text is, The mixed character of Divine dispensations. Not all judgment, lest we despair; nor all mercy, lest we presume. Affliction is here traced in its causes, design, consolations<\/em>.<\/p>\n I. The causes of affiiction<\/strong>. These are to be traced to human sinfulness. Israels sorrows are here traced to Israels sins. Though the righteous and wicked are both involved in the same calamities, yet God has different ends in the same dispensation. That which hardens the one, softens and sanctifies the other. The two chief sins of the Jews were<\/p>\n 1. The abuse of mercies<\/em> (Eze. 20:5-26<\/span>; Hos. 2:8<\/span>). Teaching that sins under or after peculiar mercies are greatly offensive to God. Jesus said, Go thy way, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. It is a remark respecting Solomons idolatries that he fell into them after the Lord had appeared unto him twice. The aggravations of Davids sin (2Sa. 13:7<\/span>). Sins under or after special mercies will meet with a severe rebuke. Nothing more distresses the conscience than the remembrance, in darkness, of abused light; in desertions, of neglected love. Great opportunities of service neglected, and great gifts unimproved, involve guilt. <\/p>\n 2. The abuse of trials<\/em>. This involves guilt, and calls down heavier afflictions. This constitutes the peculiar instruction of their history. They were now in captivity. The elders of Israel came to Ezekiel in the most hypocritical manner. They proposed to consult God about their joining the people of the country, abandoning their religious peculiarities, and conforming to the customs of the heathen. God would not be consulted, but instructs Ezekiel to detect and expose their hypocrisy. It seems they had not openly expressed the sentiment, but it was in their mind to say, we will be as the heathen to serve wood and stone. This calls down the threatening of the text (Eze. 20:32-35<\/span>). Religion is the best armour, but not the best cloak.<\/p>\n Guard against taking occasion from your afflictions of plunging into greater guilt. Many fail to improve their afflictions, but it is awful indeed to be the worse for them like Ahaz, who, in his distress, sinned yet more. It is a fearful thing to have hard hearts under softening providences, and to have proud hearts under humbling ones. We may say of affliction as Paul said of the Law, That which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. Mens hearts are of an anvil temper, made harder by affliction, and reverberate the blow. Guard against going farther from God under trials, against having recourse to sinful means and worldly appliances to extricate yourself from calamity, against despising the chastening of the Lord, or fainting when thou art rebuked of Him. This course will either call down greater judgments, or provoke God to withhold chastisement altogether: which is the greatest of all judgments. The wrath of God is then suffered to accumulate, till it breaks down all the fences and barriers that restrained it, and then comes upon us to the uttermost. They that will not fear shall feel the wrath of heaven. The rods shall be changed into scorpions. God shall wound the head of His enemies, and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses (Psa. 68:21<\/span>.) The chapter closes with solemn threatening (Eze. 20:47<\/span>.)<\/p>\n II. The design of affliction<\/strong>. God has designs of love in bringing them into the wilderness. Then will I plead with you face to face. He pleads with<\/em> them, not against<\/em> them. <\/p>\n 1. With convincing power<\/em>. He will be justified when He speaketh. Job complained against his friends, but not against God. David was dumb with silence when the hand of God was upon him. <\/p>\n 2. With compassionate tenderness<\/em> (Hos. 2:14-15<\/span>; Hos. 2:19-23<\/span>). <\/p>\n 3. With long forbearance and condescension<\/em>.<\/p>\n III. The consolations of which this state is susceptible<\/strong>. <\/p>\n 1. From the Author of affliction consolation is derived<\/em>. God brings us into the wilderness; He neither drives us there nor leaves us there. Affliction is not casual, but designed by Him who knows us better than we know ourselves. It springeth not from the dust. God pleads with us there. Better to hear His voice in thunder than to be deserted by him altogether. Better for Adam to be called from his hiding place by a voice of terror than to be allowed for ever to separate himself from God. It is rebuke, not destruction; mercy, not judgment; life, not death. It is the death of the sin, not the death of the soul. God says, I will allure her. <\/p>\n 2. From its design<\/em>. The design of affliction is to embitter sin, to separate the sin that God hates from the soul that He loves, to improve the character, to promote spirituality, to prevent greater sufferings, to inspire sympathy, to further usefulness, to prepare for higher enjoyments. God says, I withheld thee from sinning against Me (Gen. 20:6<\/span>). Paul was kept from pride, how? by the thorn in the flesh. God prevents us by the blessings of his goodness. By affliction, God promotes self-knowledge,<\/em> humbles us and proves us to know what is in our heart. I little thought, says one, that I was so proud till I was called to stoop; or so impatient till required to wait; or so easily provoked till I met with such an offence; or so rooted to earth till so much force was required to detach me from it. <\/p>\n 3. From its promised support<\/em>. I will be with thee in trouble. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. <\/p>\n 4. From its ascertained issue<\/em>.<\/p>\n IV. There are some special lessons to be learned<\/strong>. <\/p>\n 1. Take heed that you do not plunge yourself into a wilderness<\/em>. By careless, sinful, inconsistent conduct. Self-made troubles are hard to bear. <\/p>\n 2. If you are in scenes of difficulty, be anxious to converse with Him who brought you there<\/em>. Though He plead with you face to face, do not shun the intercourse, but submit, say, Show me wherefore thou contendest with me. <\/p>\n 3. Pray for those who are in the wilderness without a shepherd, and without a hope<\/em>. The heathen, the Jews, the ungodly, etc. <\/p>\n 4. Rejoice that the permanent home of Gods people is not the wilderness<\/em>. They are there but for a short time on their way to a better country.<\/p>\n II. ISRAELS FUTURE RESTORATION 20:3044<\/p>\n TRANSLATION<\/strong><\/p>\n (30) Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: In the way of your fathers you have defiled yourselves, and you are whoring after their abominations, (31) and when You offer your gifts, in making your sons to pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, unto this day; and shall I allow you to inquire of Me, O house of Israel? As I live (oracle of the Lord GOD) I shall not allow you to inquire of Me; (32) and that which goes up on your spirit shall not be; because you are saying, We shall be like the nations, as the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone. (33) As I live (oracle of the Lord GOD) surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out I will reign over you; (34) and I will bring you out from the peoples, and I will gather you from the lands where you were scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out; (35) and I will bring you unto the wilderness of the peoples; and I will plead with you there face to face. (36) As I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, thus will I plead with you (oracle of the Lord GOD). (37) And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. (38) And I will purge out from you the rebels, and those who transgress against Me; I will bring them out from the land of their sojourn, and unto the land of Israel they shall not come; and you shall know that I am the LORD. (39) As for you, O house of Israel, thus says the Lord GOD: Go, serve each his idols, even because you have not hearkened unto Me; but My holy name you will not profane again with your gifts and with your idols. (40) For in My holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel (oracle of the Lord GOD) there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve Me in the land; there I will accept them, and there I will require your heave offerings and the first of your gifts, with all your holy things. (41) With your sweet savor I will accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you from the lands where you were scattered; and I will be sanctified in the sight of the nations. (42) And you shall know that I am the LORD when I bring you unto the land of Israel, unto the land which I lifted up My hand to give to your fathers. (43) And there you shall remember your ways, and all your deeds by which you were defiled; and you shall loathe yourself in your eyes for all your evils which you have done. (44) And you shall know that I am the LORD when I deal with you for the sake of My name, not according to your evil deeds, nor according to your corrupt ways, O house of Israel (oracle of the Lord GOD).<\/p>\n COMMENTS<\/strong><\/p>\n Ezekiel replied to the request of the visiting elders by reviewing the past corruption of Israel; now he applies this teaching to the present and future of the nation. How can these representatives of the nation expect to receive encouraging divine responses to their inquiries when the abominable practices of idolatry continued to that very day? The present generation had defiled itself after the manner of their fathers by offering gifts to Baal and even causing their children to pass through the fire, i.e., offering them as burnt offerings to Molech.[345] How could God suspend or cancel the threat of judgment when they continued to defile themselves by such degrading religious practices? Their defilement drove a wedge between them and their God, and under present circumstances He refused to be inquired of by them, i.e., He would grant them no special insight into what the immediate future held in store beyond the threats which He had already announced through His prophet (Eze. 20:30-31<\/span>).<\/p>\n [345] That immolation of the children is intended, and not just ritual purification, is made clear by Jer. 19:5<\/span>.<\/p>\n The attitude among the exiles was reprehensible. In Eze. 20:32<\/span> the prophet reads the hearts of the inquirers. Being humiliated, subject to foreign domination, and driven from their homeland, they now felt free to join in the worship of their neighbors. How was it possible for them to continue to render homage to Yahweh when His Temple was so far away, and when all public acts of worship to Him were restricted to that Temple? If the Temple were destroyed, they thought, then the one restraint on the idolatries which they loved would be removed, and that by God Himself. According to their perverse logic, if God wanted their continued allegiance He would have to preserve the Temple and quickly restore them to Canaan. However, God would not allow this perverse purpose to stand. Those who thought the distinctive character of Israel would be and should be lost in exile were doomed to disappointment.<\/p>\n God was about to intervene in Israels history with the same mighty hand and outstretched arm as saved them at the Exodus. He would show Himself again to be king over this people (Eze. 20:33<\/span>) by leading them in judgment into another wilderness experience (cf. Hos. 2:14<\/span> f; Hos. 12:9<\/span>). The Babylonian exile was Israels second wilderness period. When the discipline was over, God would gather His people (Eze. 20:34<\/span>). Israel would by no means lose her identity among the nations!<\/p>\n The exact prophetic import of Eze. 20:35-38<\/span> is in dispute. Some commentators understand these verses to be predicting that after the Babylonian exile Israel would be brought into another dispersion. It is better, however, to regard the wilderness of peoples as yet another reference to the Babylonian captivity. In Eze. 20:34<\/span> God states the general principle that He will in His own good time gather His people. Eze. 20:35-38<\/span> tell how that would come about. As in the wilderness of Egypt God constituted Israel as a nation, so in the Babylonian wilderness He would reconstitute them as a nation. There they would come face to face with God. He would plead with them, i.e., remonstrate and reason with them, through those harsh circumstances, through the voice of conscience, and through the stern preaching of men like Ezekiel (Eze. 20:35-36<\/span>).<\/p>\n Not all those who were carried off to the wilderness of exile would be coming home. The captives would be scrutinized by the Good Shepherd and caused to pass under the rod. The allusion is to Lev. 27:32<\/span> where every tenth sheep which passed under the rod of the shepherd was to be consecrated to the Lord, The select sheep of Israel would be brought into the bond of the covenant (Eze. 20:37<\/span>). The apostasy had cancelled the blessings set forth in the Sinai covenant. The chastisement of exile, for those who would accept it, would serve the purpose of restoring that broken relationship with God.<\/p>\n The land of restored Israel would be a land of righteousness. Those who had rebelled against Gods authority and who had transgressed against Him would be purged from the nation. They would not be allowed to re-enter the land of Canaan. God might bring them out of the land where they were presently sojourning, but He would by no means allow them to re-enter Canaan. When be brought them back the chastened remnant would know that He truly was Yahweh, the God of covenant faithfulness (Eze. 20:38<\/span>).<\/p>\n In prophetic irony Ezekiel now called upon the house of Israel to go ahead with their idolatry. They cannot thereby frustrate Gods ultimate purpose for a holy people. The day would come when Gods holy name would no longer be profaned by idolatrous practices (Eze. 20:39<\/span>).<\/p>\n In Eze. 20:40<\/span> Ezekiel passes on from the earlier stages of the restoration to speak of its consummation. He sees Israel as a mighty mountain (mountain of the height of Israel) or nation of the world (cf. Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
The situation of Judea was remarkably adapted to the moral purposes God had in view. Placed in the centre of those great continents of the ancient world, at the head of the Mediterranean, and surrounded by those empires and dynasties which contended for the sovereignty of the East, they were happily so situated as to convey the light of truth in different directions. They were in the direct line of intercourse between the Assyrians and Egyptians, and a prominent object of attention to the Grecians and Romans. It was a place of great resort though little engaged in commerce. Frequent embassies were exchanged by the Jewish government and foreign nations, which rendered their laws and customs, and, above all, their Scriptures known.
But, strange to say, in their adversity they have been quite as useful as in their prosperity. In prosperity they held the lamp of truth to the view of the nations; in adversity they carried it wheresoever they wandered; a striking proof that if we will not voluntarily honour God in our enjoyments, He can make us honour Him in our distresses. In their very captivities<\/em> they were made a blessing. They were scattered for their own sins, but God brought a revenue of glory to Himself and a harvest of blessing to the world from that very event. God brought them, as the text says, into the wilderness of the nations<\/em>. They were scattered into all lands,many of them never returned, and the ten tribes still are mixed with the nations.<\/p>\nFuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n