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Welcome to Bible Fiber, where we are encountering the textures and shades of the biblical tapestry through twelve Minor Prophets, two reformers, and one exile. I am Shelley Neese, president of The Jerusalem Connection, a Christian organization devoted to sharing the story of the people of Israel, both ancient and modern.
This week we are studying Ezekiel 20. Through parables, fables, laments, allegories, and riddles, the prophet spent the previous five chapters undermining the exiles’ ingratitude and blame shifting. However, Ezekiel must have grown tired of delivering opaque messages (20:49). In Chapter 20, Ezekiel broke from a long streak of metaphorical language and finally delivered a straightforward history lesson. By recasting their history from God’s viewpoint, Ezekiel’s overview contrasts Israel’s chronic rebellion with God’s persistent mercy.
Elder’s inquiry
In August 591 BCE, two years after Ezekiel’s commissioning by the River Chebar and 11 months after his Jerusalem vision, a contingent of elders paid Ezekiel a visit (20:1). Perhaps they were the same elders who had earlier approached Ezekiel (14:1-2). In that instance, the prophet accused the elders of secretly worshipping idols in their hearts (14:3). The chapter does not identify the new delegation’s inquiry or explain their motivation for seeking prophetic counsel. Either way, the audacity of seeking an oracle incensed Yahweh. He declared, “I will not be consulted by you” (20:2). Rather than sending them away, God put the elders in the hot seat, directing Ezekiel to “let them know the abominations of their ancestors” (20:4).
In a long divine speech, Ezekiel divided Israel’s history into four distinct periods: the generation in Egypt, two generations in the wilderness, the generation after the conquest, and the exiled generation. By selectively recounting history, Ezekiel veered from Israel’s traditional narrative. Although the foundational stories of Abraham’s election, the Israelites’ deliverance from Egypt, their endurance in the wilderness, and the miracle of the conquest were all true, Ezekiel considered them to be inadequate for instilling confidence. He adjusted his historical recounting to highlight the deep roots of their apostasy and the persistent faithlessness throughout the generations.
Egypt generation (20:5-9)
Ezekiel’s history lesson skips the patriarchal period and jumps right to the Exodus. God chose Israel and made himself known to the house of Jacob while they were slaves in Egypt (20:5). In his grace, he swore to them he would rescue them from Egypt and bring them to the land tenderly described as “flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all the lands” (20:6). Throughout the passage, Ezekiel explains how God took every initiative in establishing the covenant relationship. His only requirement was that before delivering them to the promised land, they must cast out their detestable idols from Egypt (20:7).
The Egypt generation possessed the Abrahamic covenant but had not yet received the Mosaic law. God did not hold them accountable to the laws and decrees given at Sinai. However, at the very least, the Abrahamic covenant required exclusive devotion to the one true God. According to Ezekiel, they failed the loyalty test.
The book of Exodus does not describe the spiritual condition or religious practices of the Israelites while they were in Egypt. Ezekiel’s oracle addresses this historical gap, possibly drawing from an oral history not recorded in the Torah. According to Ezekiel, the Israelites’ problem with idolatry began in Egypt. The allure of the diverse Egyptian pantheon was evidently too strong for them to resist during their four centuries in Egypt.
The Exodus tradition depicts a dramatic confrontation between Yahweh and Pharaoh, with the Israelites caught in the middle. According to Ezekiel’s analysis, God sent a series of supernatural plagues to demonstrate His power over the Egyptian deities and to show His supremacy to the wayward Israelites. Each plague targeted a specific Egyptian god. For instance, turning the Nile River into blood was a direct challenge to Hapi, the Egyptian god of the Nile. After Yahweh defeated Pharaoh and his gods, He urged the freed Israelites to abandon their idols and follow Him. However, Ezekiel recounts, “not one of them cast away the detestable things on which their eyes feasted, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt” (20:8).
Ezekiel’s revelation about Israelite idol worship in Egypt adds important context to the golden calf episode at Mount Sinai. According to Exodus 32, the Israelites became anxious due to Moses’s prolonged absence on Mount Sinai. They demanded that Aaron make them a golden calf so they could have a visible deity to worship. Aaron quickly complied, creating the calf from their gold jewelry. The Israelites then worshipped the calf, attributing their deliverance from Egypt to this man-made idol rather than to Yahweh. This act was a direct affront to God. In the Exodus account, the golden calf episode seems sudden, as if the Israelites’ sin arose solely from impatience. However, Ezekiel’s revisionist history suggests that their idol worship at Mount Sinai was a return to the practices they had followed in Egypt for centuries.
After the golden calf incident, Yahweh threatened to wipe the Israelites out and start fresh with a new people. To Ezekiel, Yahweh recalls, “I thought I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned” (20:8-9). The passage is referencing the moment in Exodus that Moses pleaded with God to cancel his punishment (Ex. 32:11-14). Moses’s line of reason was not that the Israelites deserved to be spared. He asked God to preserve Israel in the interest of his own reputation among the nations. How would the Egyptians react if God saved the Israelites from Egypt only to destroy them in the wilderness? Moses’s point was effective enough, so God relented.
Wilderness generation (20:10-17)
After the events at Sinai, God watched over the Israelites during the wilderness years, dwelling among them, forming and shaping them into a nation. The finest gift he gave the generation in Egypt was freedom. The finest gift he gave the wilderness generation was his covenant. By God’s design, Jews are supposed to perceive the Mosaic laws as divine guidance for seeking holiness, living ethically, and maintaining their bond with God and each other. Yahweh intended what he gave them at Sinai to be a blessing, not a burden.
To the wilderness generation, the memory of God’s meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai should have been fresh (Ex. 19:16-19). As they had waited at the base of the mountain, they witnessed thunder and lightning and a thick cloud resting on the mountain top. They felt the earth tremble and heard the voice of God. After witnessing supernatural events, Yahweh rightly expected total obedience. Instead, the wilderness generation was the first to receive God’s laws, and the first to disregard his laws.
Yahweh told Ezekiel, “The house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness; they did not observe my statutes but rejected my ordinances, by whose observance everyone shall live, and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned” (20:13). According to Ezekiel, the Israelites desecrated the Sabbaths even in the wilderness, despite God providing for all their needs.
Ezekiel goes further than the Torah tradition which only mentions one instance of Sabbath-breaking during the wilderness wanderings. When a man was caught gathering firewood on the Sabbath, the community, under Moses and Aaron’s leadership, stoned him to death (Num. 15:32-36). This story suggests that the Israelites took Sabbath observance seriously, but Ezekiel presents a different view.
By detailing Israel’s many sins during the wilderness period, Ezekiel deviated from the prophetic tradition that idealized this era. Prophets like Hosea, Amos, and Jeremiah used the wilderness years as a symbol to call the nation back to a purer, more faithful relationship with God. They depicted the wilderness period as one of intimacy and devotion, as the nation depended on Yahweh for food and shelter. Hosea wished for Israel to return to the days of her youth (Hos. 2:15), and Jeremiah described the wilderness period as the honeymoon of the covenant relationship (Jer. 2:2-3). In contrast, Ezekiel’s portrayal of this period is far from a romantic recollection of the early days.
Like an ancient version of Malcolm Gladwell, Ezekiel employed revisionist history to challenge established views. By leaving out the patriarchs, godly judges, and obedient kings, he highlighted the persistent issues of idolatry and disloyalty. Ezekiel showed that these problems were more severe than previously realized and had always been. Nevertheless, he acknowledged that God was more patient and merciful than the Israelites had ever recognized.
By God’s grace, he did not annihilate Abraham’s descendants and start over. However, he allowed them to face the consequences of their rebellion. Yahweh told Ezekiel, “My eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make an end of them in the wilderness” (20:17). God withheld his punishing hand for the sake of his own name and his reputation among the nations (20:9,14,22,44).
Second wilderness generation (20:18-26)
After the first wilderness generation, Ezekiel exposited the history of “their children in the wilderness,” a reference to the second wilderness generation (20:18). God’s mood grew more frustrated with each successive generation. He repeated the same imperative: “Follow my statutes, be careful to observe my ordinances, and hallow my Sabbaths that they may be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I the Lord am your God” (20:19-20).
Ezekiel emphasized Sabbath observance as one of the most critical commandments, highlighting it five times. The Sabbath was one of Yahweh’s highest commands. While Yahweh established the Sabbath for all humanity from the time of Adam, it served as a special sign of the covenant people’s sanctification. It is notable that Ezekiel always used the plural “Sabbaths” when referring to the command. The plural term encompassed not only the weekly Sabbath but also the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year. According to Ezekiel, God’s people had defiled all of these. For an Israelite, breaking the Sabbath was akin to rejecting a divine gift and denying the unique relationship with their Creator. God’s promise was that observing the Sabbath would foster a deeper reliance on their Creator (Ex. 31:13-17).
Jewish tradition often personifies the Sabbath as a bride or queen. On Friday evenings, congregants recite the sixteenth-century liturgical poem “Lecha Dodi,” which means “Come, my beloved.” This poem invites the Jewish people to welcome the Sabbath as a beautiful bride. During the last stanza, the congregation often stands and turns to the doorway, symbolically greeting the Sabbath. According to this romantic imagery, if Israel neglects the Sabbath, it is as if the nation has stood Yahweh up at the altar.
In Ezekiel’s historical account, God prohibited the wilderness generation from entering Canaan because they were neglectful of his laws, and they broke the Sabbaths. God would not let rebellious people take possession of the promised land. Ezekiel’s analysis differs slightly from the Torah tradition. According to the book of Numbers, the first wilderness generation lost their privilege of entering the promised land because they lacked faith. Moses sent twelve spies, one from each tribe, to explore Canaan and report back on the land and its inhabitants (Num. 13:1-20). After forty days, the spies returned with their findings. They confirmed that the land was fertile and desirable, but the current occupants were strong and lived in fortified settlements. Fear and despair overtook the Israelite encampment. Because of their lack of faith, God vowed that the current generation would never return to the promised land.
Frustrated with the second wilderness generation’s failure to reform, God told Ezekiel, “I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries” (20:23). This account from Ezekiel exposed the reality of Israel’s situation and dispelled any illusions about a glorious past. Even before the Israelites settled the land, God knew he would one day have to expel them for their disobedience.
Chapter 20 includes a contentious verse that seems to suggest that God set the people up for failure with bad laws. Ezekiel states, “Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live” (20:25). However, it’s implausible that Ezekiel meant the Mosaic laws were faulty, given that his entire book emphasizes obedience to God’s laws. Ezekiel’s rhetoric often tends towards the extreme. He builds a case that, because of the people’s persistent corruption, God permitted them to pursue their own destructive paths, forsaking his good laws for bad ones. The most egregious example of their distortion of divine commands was the practice of child sacrifice, which they falsely believed God demanded as a sign of devotion (20:26).
Ezekiel shares a theology that closely resembles Paul’s in Romans 1. Persistent disobedience can create such a divide between God and His creation that God gives humans “over in the desires of their hearts” and permits them to exchange “the truth about God for a lie” (Rom. 1:24-25). Both Ezekiel and Paul assert that when the covenant people turn away from God, He allows them to follow their own desires, leading to their own ruin. In Ezekiel, the Israelites defiled themselves through idol worship and breaking the covenant. In Romans, Paul describes humanity as worshipping creation instead of the Creator.
Settled generation (20:27-31)
Ezekiel’s tone becomes increasingly bitter as he recounts the history of the settled generation. Despite being gifted with the promised land by God, they misused the land to further their treachery. Just as they had adopted idolatrous practices in Egypt, they did the same in Canaan, dedicating every hill and tree to false gods made of wood and stone (20:28, 32). Their persistent temptation was to conform to the pagan religions of the surrounding nations, despite their call to be distinct (20:32).
Given Ezekiel’s earlier focus on personal responsibility in Chapter 18, it seems contradictory to blame the exiled generation for the sins of their ancestors. However, Ezekiel presents his contemporaries in Tel Abib as part of a continuous cycle of rebellion. They were as guilty as their ancestors because they repeated their sinful patterns. Ezekiel highlighted this by stating, “you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day” (20:31). Each generation added more to the barrier they had built between themselves and Yahweh.
Ezekiel’s historical accounts follow a pattern of God’s kindness being met with rebellion, which then leads to divine discipline. Throughout history—whether in Egypt, the wilderness, Canaan, or exile—every generation turned away from Yahweh. For the first three generations, God refrained from severe punishment to protect His own name. However, to those in Babylonian exile, Ezekiel conveyed that their judgment was both justified and long overdue.
Word of hope (20:32-44)
Exile was not Yahweh’s last act. Taking the initiative, God promised he would repeat all his mighty acts of the past. Only this time, he would separate and purify a remnant. His goal is to lead the dispersed exiles out of captivity and into the wilderness, launching a fresh exodus. God promised, “I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm” (20:34). God portrayed his coming intervention as the new exodus, intentionally using Exodus phraseology like “mighty hand and outstretched arm” (20:34). During their new period of wilderness wandering, God said, “I will enter into judgment with you face to face” (20:35). During the first exodus, God only spoke with Moses face to face (Ex. 33:11). In this rendition of the exodus, God did not need a mediator such as Moses. Instead, he will directly encounter his people.
Ezekiel did not designate a specific wilderness where he would bring the exiles. The wilderness likely symbolized a destination where God separated the righteous from rebels. God described the sifting process as a shepherd taking inventory of his sheep: “I will make you pass under the staff and will bring you within the bond of the covenant” (20:37). The staff was a shepherd’s instrument of correction. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus mirrored Ezekiel’s image of the ingathering and judgement by also using shepherd language. Jesus said, “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Matt. 20:37).
Ezekiel’s message brought hope to those who repented and reformed. The wilderness period would purify them. Free of distractions and the temptation of assimilation, they could devote themselves to Yahweh once more. In return, God would ratify a new covenant and reign as king over the purified nation (20:33). All those who preferred to keep their idols, rather than worship and obey Yahweh, would remain in the wilderness and not take part in the new exodus. Ezekiel prophesied, “I will purge out the rebels among you and those who transgress against me; I will bring them out of the land where they reside as aliens, but they shall not enter the land of Israel” (20:38).
The remnant’s return to the covenant land would firmly establish God’s rule. God emphasized that the physical land of Israel played a crucial role in his plan for the new age of mercy. Only once they retook the land would they fully recognize and worship Yahweh. Only in Jerusalem would he accept their offerings. Ezekiel pronounced, “For on my holy mountain, the mountain height of Israel, says the Lord God, there all the house of Israel, all of them, shall serve me in the land; there I will accept them” (20:40).
God’s ultimate plan included universal recognition of his sovereignty and his name. When he restored the remnant, the nations would take note. God said, “I will manifest my holiness among you in the sight of the nations” (20:41). Despite centuries of rebellion, Ezekiel’s good news is that nothing can stop God’s restoration plan. His grace will prevail.
Thank you for listening and please continue to take part in this Bible Reading Challenge. Join us next week in studying the rest of Ezekiel 20 and Ezekiel 21. Also, one more thing. If you like Bible Fiber and it has been helpful to you on your own journey of biblical literacy, please leave a review for the podcast on Apple podcasts or Spotify, or wherever you listen. It helps others find the show.
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