Ezekiel 20:12 Komentář

In this chapter, I. The prophet is consulted by some of the elders of Israel (Eze 20:1). II. He is instructed by his God what answer to give them. He must, 1. Signify God's displeasure against them (Eze 20:2, Eze 20:3). And, 2. He must show them what just cause he had for that displeasure, by giving them a history of God's grateful dealings with their fathers and their treacherous dealings with God. (1.) In Egypt (Eze 20:5-9). (2.) In the wilderness (v. 10-26). (3.) In Canaan (Eze 20:27-32). 3. He must denounce the judgments of God against them (Eze 20:33-36). 4. He must tell them likewise what mercy God had in store for them, when he would bring a remnant of them to repentance, re-establish them in their own land, and set up his sanctuary among them again (Eze 20:37-44). 5. Here is another word dropped towards Jerusalem, which is explained and enlarged upon in the next chapter (Eze 20:45-49).

INTRODUCTION TO EZEKIEL 20 The prophecy in this chapter is occasioned by some of the elders of Israel coming to inquire of the Lord; when the prophet is bid to tell them that he would not be inquired of by them. The reason of which were their abominations he is ordered to make known unto them, Eze 20:1; and then proceeds the narration of them; first of what their fathers committed in Egypt; of God's goodness to them, and their ingratitude; how that though he promised and swore that he would bring them from thence, when he charged them to abstain from the idolatry of that people where they were, nevertheless they did not, for which he threatened them with his wrath to consume them; yet such was his goodness as to spare them, and bring them out of that land, Eze 20:5; being brought out of Egypt into the wilderness, the Lord gave them statutes and ordinances to observe, particularly sabbaths, as a sign between him and them, but these they despised and broke; wherefore the Lord threatened to consume them in the wilderness, and not bring them into the land of Canaan; yet such was his kindness and mercy to them, that he did not make an utter end of them in the wilderness, Eze 20:10; and whereas he exhorted their posterity not to imitate their parents, but to walk in his statutes and judgments, and observe his sabbaths, yet they would not; which drew out his resentment against them, and he threatened to scatter them among the Heathens; but, for his name's sake, that that might not be polluted among the heathen, he spared them, and did not cut them off, only gave them up to do things very pernicious to them, Eze 20:18; and even when they were brought into the land of Canaan, they were guilty of blasphemy against God, and of idolatry on every high hill they saw, Eze 20:27; but whereas it might be objected, what is all this to the present generation? it is observed, that they imitated their fathers, and were guilty of the same idolatries, and therefore the Lord would not be inquired of by them, Eze 20:30; and threatens to rule them with fury, and plead with them, as he had pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness, Eze 20:32; nevertheless he suggests that there would be a remnant among them, when he should have purged the rebels and transgressors from them, that he would deal graciously with in a covenant way; who should serve him in his holy mountain, where he would require and accept their sacrifices, in whom he would be sanctified; and who should know him, and loathe themselves, when made sensible of the distinguishing favours bestowed upon them, Eze 20:37; and the chapter is closed with a prophecy dropped against Jerusalem, denouncing utter destruction on it, Eze 20:45.

Moreover, also, I gave them my sabbaths,.... The Targum is, "the days of the sabbaths;'' or sabbath days, the seventh day sabbaths, which recurring throughout the year are many; but, besides these, there were the year of remission, for the seventh year sabbath; and the jubilee year, the great sabbath of all, once in fifty years; yea, Kimchi thinks the feasts, such as the passover, &c. are included: now these are distinguished from the statutes and judgments, or the precepts of the law, which were of a moral nature; these being ritual and ceremonial, and were peculiar to the Jews, and continued but for a while; however, they were gifts, and valuable ones, of considerable use and significance: to be a sign between me and them; of his being their God, and they being his people; of his favour and good will to them, and of the, obligations they were under to him; of his having separated and distinguished them from all other nations of the world; these sabbaths being only given to them as a memorial of their deliverance out of Egypt, and as a pledge of their entering into the land of rest; and of the future rest to be enjoyed by Christ, and in heaven, to all eternity; for these were shadows of things to come, Col 2:16; that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them; separate them from other nations, and, by such means and opportunities, begin and carry on the work of sanctification in them; for the sabbaths, and the services of them, were useful to such purposes; as Lord's days, and the work of them, are now.

For indeed the sabbath did at first confer many and great benefits; for instance, it made them gentle toward their household and humane; it taught them God’s providence in the creation; as Ezekiel says, it trained them by degrees to abstain from wickedness and disposed them to regard the things of the Spirit.

(Verse 10 and following) Therefore I expelled them from the land of Egypt, and brought them into the desert, and gave them my commandments, and showed them my judgments, which a man should do and live by them. Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. But the house of Israel provoked me in the desert. They did not walk in my commandments and they cast away my judgments, which a man should do and live by them, and they greatly violated my Sabbaths. Therefore, I said that I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness and consume them, and I did so for the sake of my name, so that it would not be profaned in the sight of the nations, from whom I had brought them out. These things are said to those who were brought out of Egypt into the wilderness: that, having been freed from the vices of the Egyptians, they might more easily fulfill the commandments of God in the solitude and observe his judgments and keep the Sabbath. These things were given as a sign between the one who gave them and those to whom they were given, as the Scripture says: And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: And you, command the Israelites, saying: See, and keep my Sabbaths, which is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you, and keep the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Whosoever violates it shall be put to death. Everyone who works on it shall have that soul cut off from among his people (Exod. XXXI, 13, 14). Therefore, the Sabbath and circumcision are given as a sign of the true Sabbath and true circumcision: so that we may know that we must rest from the works of the world and circumcise not the flesh, but the heart. Thus, by working for six days, we rest on the seventh day, doing nothing else day and night except acknowledging that everything we live is owed to the Lord, and at the return of the week, we consecrate ourselves entirely to His name, so that through the sanctification of the day, we may remember the Lord who sanctifies us. The Lord gave these commandments and statutes and the observance of the Sabbath in the desert, so that those who did them would live by them and not go beyond them, as promised in the Gospel. They violated them, not once or a little, but greatly, so that the extent of the violation would be shown. Therefore, he said and decided in his mind to pour out his anger upon them in the desert and consume them, as he spoke to Moses: 'Leave me, and in my anger, I will destroy them.' (Exodus 32:10). But he did not want to do it, sparing the Egyptians and the other nations, so that they would not be scandalized, and waiting for the repentance of those he had mercy on. And it should be noted that when he spoke to the Israelites after the offense that he said, 'I did it for the sake of my name, so that it would not be violated in the presence of the nations from which I expelled them.' At that time, they were still in the midst of those nations, as they had not yet left. But now, after they have left, it is said, 'From the nations from which I expelled them.'

It is this truth that we shall realize perfectly when we shall be perfectly at rest and perfectly see that it is he who is God.

A deputation of the elders of Israel, as usual, in their distress, came to request Ezekiel to ask counsel of God, Eze 20:1. In reply to this, God commands the prophet to put them in mind of their rebellion and idolatry: In Egypt, Eze 20:2-9, in the wilderness, vv. 10-27, and in Canaan, Eze 20:28-32. Notwithstanding which the Lord most graciously promises to restore them to their own land, after they should be purged from their dross, Eze 20:33-44. The five last verses of this chapter ought to begin the next, as they are connected with the subject of that chapter, being a prophecy against Jerusalem, which lay to the south of Chaldea, where the prophet then was, and which here and elsewhere is represented under the emblem of a forest doomed to be destroyed by fire, Eze 20:45-49.

I gave them my Sabbaths - The religious observance of the Sabbath was the first statute or command of God to men. This institution was a sign between God and them, to keep them in remembrance of the creation of the world, of the rest that he designed them in Canaan, and of the eternal inheritance among the saints in light. Of these things the Sabbath was a type and pledge.

REJECTION OF THE ELDERS' APPLICATION TO THE PROPHET: EXPOSURE OF ISRAEL'S PROTRACTED REBELLIONS, NOTWITHSTANDING GOD'S LONG-SUFFERING GOODNESS: YET WILL GOD RESTORE HIS PEOPLE AT LAST. (Eze. 20:1-49) seventh year, &c.--namely, from the carrying away of Jeconiah (Eze 1:2; Eze 8:1). This computation was calculated to make them cherish the more ardently the hope of the restoration promised them in seventy years; for, when prospects are hopeless, years are not computed [CALVIN]. elders . . . came to inquire--The object of their inquiry, as in Eze 14:1, is not stated; probably it was to ascertain the cause of the national calamities and the time of their termination, as their false prophets assured them of a speedy restoration.

sabbaths, . . . a sign between me and them--a kind of sacramental pledge of the covenant of adoption between God and His people. The Sabbath is specified as a sample of the whole law, to show that the law is not merely precepts, but privileges, of which the Sabbath is one of the highest. Not that the Sabbath was first instituted at Sinai, as if it were an exclusively Jewish ordinance (Gen 2:2-3), but it was then more formally enacted, when, owing to the apostasy of the world from the original revelation, one people was called out (Deu 5:15) to be the covenant-people of God. sanctify them--The observance of the Sabbath contemplated by God was not a mere outward rest, but a spiritual dedication of the day to the glory of God and the good of man. Otherwise it would not be, as it is made, the pledge of universal sanctification (Exo 31:13-17; Isa 58:13-14). Virtually it is said, all sanctity will flourish or decay, according as this ordinance is observed in its full spirituality or not.