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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Ezekiel 20:10 - 20:26
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In the Wilderness
v. 10. Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, in agreement with His merciful intention, and brought them into the wilderness, delivering them from oppression and preparing them for entry into the Land of Promise.
v. 11. And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, namely, in the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, which if a man do, he shall even live in them, for a perfect keeping of the Law would indeed merit eternal life. Cf Rom_10:5; Gal_3:12; Luk_10:28.
v. 12. Moreover, also, I gave them My Sabbaths, whose special observance was a distinction to the Jews, to be a sign between Me and them, in their ever-recurring celebration, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them, by separating them from the other nations of the world and by reminding them of the fact that the rest and contemplation of the Sabbath was a type of the greater and more wonderful rest prepared for the people of God. Cf Heb_4:9.
v. 13. But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness, repeating the former performance; they walked not in My statutes, and they despised My judgments, the general ordinances as well as the specific commands, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and My Sabbaths they greatly polluted, by disregarding their proper observance, Cf Exo_32:1-6; Num_25:1-3; Exo_16:27; Num_15:32. Then I said I would pour out My fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them, as He repeatedly stated. Cf Exo_32:10; Num_14:11-12.
v. 14. But I wrought for My name's sake, again working deliverance and refraining from striking in His wrath, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out, the Lord's explanation here agreeing exactly with the plea by which Moses effected the deliverance of the people whom he loved.
v. 15. Yet also I lifted up My hand unto them in the wilderness, in another solemn oath, Num_14:28, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands,
v. 16. because they despised My judgments and walked not in My statutes, but polluted My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols, as their fierce longing for the flesh-pots of Egypt indicated. Cf Num_15:39; Psa_78:37; Amo_5:25; Act_7:42-43.
v. 17. Nevertheless Mine eye spared them from destroying them, although all adults who had left the land of Egypt died in the wilderness, with the exception of Joshua and Caleb, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness, namely, by a sentence of total extermination, as He had threatened.
v. 18. But I said unto their children in the wilderness, whom He spared by a special act of His mercy, Walk ye not in the statutes, the idolatrous customs and usages, of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, the manner in which they pretended to do justice and practice righteousness, nor defile yourselves with their idols.
v. 19. I am the Lord, your God; walk in My statutes, as opposed to the self-appointed ordinances of men, and keep My judgments, the manner in which He chose to exercise righteousness, and do them;
v. 20. and hallow My Sabbaths, by knowing them according to their spirit, not only in outward form; and they shall be a sign between Me and you that ye may know that I am the Lord, your God.
v. 21. Notwithstanding the children, the younger generation, whom His mercy had spared, rebelled against Me; they walked not in My statutes, neither kept My judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted My Sabbaths, showing that in every way they followed the stubbornness and wickedness of their fathers. Then I said I would pour out My fury upon them to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness. Some of this is shown in the story of Israel's sojourn in the Plains of Moab, when they yielded to the wiles of the Midianitish women.
v. 22. Nevertheless I withdrew Mine hand, in sparing the sinners even then, 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, who were watching the progress of Israel with a great deal of interest.
v. 23. I lifted up Mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, in a solemn oath concerning also this generation, that I would scatter them among the heathen and disperse them through the countries, Cf Jer_15:4,
v. 24. because they had not executed My judgments, the decrees of His righteousness, but had despised My statutes and had polluted My Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols, in a continual desire to commit idolatry, in a strange eagerness to transgress the First Commandment.
v. 25. Wherefore I gave them also, in just retribution upon them, statutes that were not good, which brought them no deliverance, no blessings, and judgments whereby they should not live, which would, on account of their stubbornness, become stumbling-blocks to them;
v. 26. and I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, thereby consecrating their first-born children to Molech, the abomination of the Moabites, instead of offering them to Jehovah according to the manlier prescribed by Him, Exo_13:12, that I might make them desolate, visiting their obstinacy upon them in just this way, by letting the loathsome and revolting custom continue, since He had so emphatically forbidden it, Lev_18:21; Deu_18:10, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord. It was God's judgment upon the stubborn Jews that He permitted them to be dominated by the spirit of idolatry to such an extent that they were helpless in its power. At the same time His intention was, if possible, so to shock the Jews by the reflection of their loathsome customs that they might feel the unnaturalness of their conduct and turn to the Lord in true repentance.