Ezekiel 20:1-44, Israel’s History of Idolatry

Thomas Kidd, writing for John Piper’s Desiring God, says,

In the wake of the 2016 election, evangelicalism went from being America’s most controversial religious movement to its most reviled one. The overwhelming support for Donald Trump among self-identified white evangelical voters unleashed a wave of vitriol against evangelicals, who (to critics) had thrown off their religious masks to reveal a racist, misogynist, and power-grabbing agenda. President Trump’s election also generated an often-acrimonious debate among scholars about whether embracing “Trumpism” was an aberration for white evangelicals, or instead a natural outgrowth of what the movement always has represented.

He gives a helpful history of Evangelical political development. Are we guilty, as Israel was, of tying our hopes to political leaders?

In the seventh year, in the fifth month on the tenth day, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh, and they sat down in front of me.

The Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary notes:

This date has been correlated with external events. Some scholars associate the visit of the elders of the exiled community with the prediction made by the false prophet Hananiah in the fifth month of the regnal year of the Judean king Zedekiah, who announced that within two years the exile would be over, implying that Jehoiachin and his fellow Judeans would return home from the Babylonian exile (Jer. 28:1 – 4). Ezekiel’s prophecy would therefore have been issued in July-August 593 b.c.

Others have correlated this oracle with a state visit by Psammetichus II of Egypt (595 – 589 b.c.) to the Levant in his fourth regnal year, which would have fallen in late 592 or early 591 b.c. In this case Ezekiel’s compatriots may have come to see Ezekiel for a reassuring word from the Lord that this Egyptian show of force would result in a weakening of Nebuchadnezzar’s hold on Jerusalem and Judah.

Both explanations may be pertinent as the probable historical background of this oracle. The query directed to Ezekiel by the elders in Babylon may have been somewhat to the effect of asking if the current overtures to Egypt by Jerusalem would succeed so that Nebuchadnezzar would be defeated, allowing the exiles to return to their homeland.

2 Then the word of Yahweh came to me: 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: Have you come to inquire of me? As surely as I live, I will not let you inquire of me, declares the Sovereign Yahweh.’

4 “Will you judge them? Will you judge them, son of man? Then confront them with the detestable practices of their ancestors 5 and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore with uplifted hand to the descendants of Jacob and revealed myself to them in Egypt. With uplifted hand I said to them, “I am Yahweh your God.” 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of Egypt into a land I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands. 7 And I said to them, “Each of you, get rid of the vile images you have set your eyes on, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God.”

8 “‘But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; they did not get rid of the vile images they had set their eyes on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in Egypt. 9 But for the sake of my name, I brought them out of Egypt. I did it to keep my name from being profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they lived and in whose sight I had revealed myself to the Israelites. 10 Therefore I led them out of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws, by which the person who obeys them will live. 12 Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I Yahweh made them holy.

13 “‘Yet the people of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not follow my decrees but rejected my laws—by which the person who obeys them will live—and they utterly desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and destroy them in the wilderness. 14 But for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them—a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful of all lands— 16 because they rejected my laws and did not follow my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths. For their hearts were devoted to their idols. 17 Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or put an end to them in the wilderness. 18 I said to their children in the wilderness, “Do not follow the statutes of your parents or keep their laws or defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am Yahweh your God; follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 20 Keep my Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us. Then you will know that I am Yahweh your God.”

21 “‘But the children rebelled against me: They did not follow my decrees, they were not careful to keep my laws, of which I said, “The person who obeys them will live by them,” and they desecrated my Sabbaths. So I said I would pour out my wrath on them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 But I withheld my hand, and for the sake of my name I did what would keep it from being profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, 24 because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents’ idols. 25 So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live; 26 I defiled them through their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn—that I might fill them with horror so they would know that I am Yahweh.’

The Israelites who came out of Egypt at the Exodus brought with them idols. Yahweh instructed them to destroy them, but they did not, showing their dependence on other gods. They died in the wilderness, and their children were to be the ones who entered the holy land, or as God said, “the most beautiful of all lands.” But they too succumbed to idolatry and, as their parents, failed in their keeping of Sabbath. The “statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live,” likely refers to subjection to foreign domination that God used to discipline them. And the defiling of them through “their gifts—the sacrifice of every firstborn,” refers to their adopting of their neighbors’ worship of Molech, who demanded child sacrifices. This discipline was designed to fill them with horror and move them back to Yahweh.

27 “Therefore, son of man, speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: In this also your ancestors blasphemed me by being unfaithful to me: 28 When I brought them into the land I had sworn to give them and they saw any high hill or any leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, made offerings that aroused my anger, presented their fragrant incense and poured out their drink offerings. 29 Then I said to them: What is this high place you go to?’” (It is called Bamah to this day.)

Yahweh continued to be faithful to Israel so as not to profane His name in the eyes of the other nations, but even once they got control of Canaan, the land God swore to them, they blasphemed God by their unfaithfulness of idolatry.

30 “Therefore say to the Israelites: ‘This is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: Will you defile yourselves the way your ancestors did and lust after their vile images? 31 When you offer your gifts—the sacrifice of your children in the fire—you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. Am I to let you inquire of me, you Israelites? As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Yahweh, I will not let you inquire of me.

These Israelites who have come to Ezekiel for a word from Yahweh are still as guilty of idolatry as their forefathers. They do not sincerely want to hear from Yahweh. He has been speaking through Ezekiel of their sure judgment, but they still want to believe that it won’t occur, that their princes will deliver them through alliance with Egypt.

32 “‘You say, “We want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.” But what you have in mind will never happen. 33 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Yahweh, I will reign over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. 34 I will bring you from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered—with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. 35 I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations and there, face to face, I will execute judgment upon you. 36 As I judged your ancestors in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, declares the Sovereign Yahweh. 37 I will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant. 38 I will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me. Although I will bring them out of the land where they are living, yet they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am Yahweh.

Yahweh promises that He will restore Israel to the land after their exile and deportation under Babylon’s rule. But there will be a yet future judgment of them and removal from the land to purge the rebellious ones. This may be a reference to Israel’s expulsion from the land in A.D. 70 by the Romans, something Jesus also predicted (Luke 21).

39 “‘As for you, people of Israel, this is what the Sovereign Yahweh says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols. 40 For on my holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Sovereign Yahweh, there in the land all the people of Israel will serve me, and there I will accept them. There I will require your offerings and your choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices. 41 I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations. 42 Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land I had sworn with uplifted hand to give to your ancestors. 43 There you will remember your conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evil you have done. 44 You will know that I am Yahweh, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices, you people of Israel, declares the Sovereign Yahweh.’” (Ezekiel 20:1-44)

Yahweh speaks ironically, telling Israel to do what they want to do, serve idols, but promising them that He will bring them back to serving Him again in Israel. They will repent of their “conduct and all the actions by which you have defiled yourselves,” and recognize Yahweh as their sovereign.

We keep looking for false hope that God will overlook our foolishness and the ways we have profaned God’s name among unbelievers. He must discipline us and fill us with horror before, it appears, we will repent.