Ezekiel 20

REVIEW QUESTIONS

When are the prophecies of Chapter s 20-21 to be dated?

What historical events probably triggered the utterances in these two Chapter s?

In what sense did Ezekiel become a judge of Israel?

What new information about the Egyptian sojourn of Israel is brought out by Ezekiel?

Why did God spare His people time and again when they so manifestly deserved destruction?

What does it mean to profane the name of God?

What gracious provisions did God bestow on Israel in the Wilderness? HOW did Israel respond to those provisions?

What happened at Baal-peer?

How did God punish Israel in Canaan for rejecting His Law?

In what sense did the ancestors of Israel blaspheme God once they were brought into Canaan?

What is a bamah?

Why did God refuse to allow the elders of Israel to inquire of Him?

Why does God promise the restoration of Israel in this section?

How does Ezekiel describe the worship of the restored remnant?

What was the new wilderness into which God was about to take His people?

Explain the parable of the forest fire.

How did Ezekiel’s audience react to his use of parables? What did Ezekiel do about this?

How did Ezekiel dramatize the agony which the news of Jerusalem’s fall would cause?

What action likely accompanied Ezekiel’s song of the sword?

What was the significance of the prophet slapping his hands together?

What did God have to say to the king of Babylon in chapter 21.

What objects did Ezekiel use to dramatize how the king of Babylon would be guided to attack Jerusalem?

What prophecy did Ezekiel make about the future of the house of and throne of David?

Why does Ezekiel include a brief note about the destruction of Ammon at this point in the book?

Ezekiel 20:1-4

Chapter Ten

ISRAEL: PAST AND FUTURE 20:1-21:32

Eleven months intervene between Ezekiel’s last series of oracles and the present utterances. He has effectively shattered Judah’s insane hope that judgment would never fall on Jerusalem. Every argument put forth in objection to his dogmatic assertion of imminent judgment has been rebutted. Ezekiel may have passed the past eleven months in silence.

Late in the summer of 591 B.C. news of Egyptian military victories in Africa spawned new delusions of deliverance among the Jews in Judah and in Babylon. King Zedekiah was now looking to Egypt for assistance against Babylon. Sometime between the end of 591 B.C. and the summer of 589 B.C. Zedekiah formally severed his allegiance to Nebuchadnezzar. The question uppermost in the minds of the captives was, What bearing would this political realignment have on the fortunes of Judah? In response to this unasked question Ezekiel speaks of (1) the past corruption of the nation (Ezekiel 20:1-29); (2) the future restoration of Israel (Ezekiel 20:30-44); and (3) the imminent judgment of Jerusalem (Ezekiel 20:45 to Ezekiel 21:32).

I. ISRAEL’S PAST CORRUPTION 20:1-29

After a brief introduction to this section (Ezekiel 20:1-4), Ezekiel traces Israel’s waywardness through the period of Egyptian bondage (Ezekiel 20:5-9), wilderness wandering (Ezekiel 20:10-26), and settlement in the land of Canaan (Ezekiel 20:27-29).

A. Introduction 20:1-4

TRANSLATION

(1) And it came to pass in the seventh year, the fifth month, the tenth day of the month that certain men of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD; and they sat before me. (2) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (3) Son of man, Speak unto the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Are you coming to inquire of Me? As I live, I will not be inquired of by you (oracle of the LORD). (4) Will you judge them, will you judge them, O son of man? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.

COMMENTS

This section begins with a new date which apparently includes all the material in Chapter s 20-23. The last note of time was in Ezekiel 8:1, and eleven months and five days have passed. Ezekiel has now functioned in his prophetic office for two years, one month and five days. Converted into terms of the modern calendar the date of this section would be August 14, 591 B.C. On this date certain elders of Israel[339] approached Ezekiel in order to inquire of the Lord through him (Ezekiel 20:1). They obviously hoped to receive from him some optimistic assurance that the time of deliverance was at hand.

[339] The elders in Ezekiel 8:1 were said to have been of Judah. Ezekiel seems to use the terms Israel and Judah interchangeably.

In the presence of his guests Ezekiel received a new revelation (Ezekiel 20:2). He has an answer for the inquirers, but it was not what they expected. Instead of indulging their curiosity regarding the times and the seasons of future divine activity, Ezekiel launched into a stern sermon, the theme of which is the persistent rebellion of Israel against leadership of the Lord. Whatever their specific query was, God regarded it as impertinent and irrelevant. God through Ezekiel had already made it abundantly clear that Jerusalem was doomed for destruction. God was not interested in hearing their requests, He wanted to see their repentance! That which sinful men want to hear from the Lord is not always what they need to hear (Ezekiel 20:3).

By means of a double question (Will you judge them, will you judge them?) God commissions Ezekiel to sit as a judge in the trial of His people Israel. He is to recount to the elders all the abominations of their fathers (Ezekiel 20:4), and that not in parables as in chapter 16, but in a very factual way. The plight of the nation and the necessity of the impending doom would become clear to his auditors through this sad survey of Israel’s history.

Ezekiel 20:5-9

B. Israel in Egypt 20:5-9

TRANSLATION

(5) Say unto them, Thus says the Lord GOD: In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up My hand to them, saying, I am the LORD your God. (6) In that day I lifted up My hand to them to bring them from the land of Egypt unto the land which I sought out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the beauty of all lands; (7) and I said unto them, Let each man cast away the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. (8) But they rebelled against Me, and they did not want to listen to Me; every man did not cast away the detestable things of his eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I thought to pour out My wrath upon them, to exhaust My anger on them in the midst of the land of Egypt. (9) But I took action for the sake of My name, that it might not be profaned before the nations among whom they were, to whom I made Myself known so as to bring them out from the land of Egypt.

COMMENTS

Ironically, Israel’s case history began in Egypt, the same country to which she was now appealing for aid. There God chose Israel to be His very own people. It was there that God bound Himself by an oath to the seed of Jacob, i.e., he confirmed the covenant made with Jacob, and with Isaac and Abraham before him. The process of selection began with His self-revelation to Moses at the, burning bush (cf. Exodus 6:2; Exodus 6:7). Then God swore with an oath (lifted up My hand) that He would be Israel’s God (Ezekiel 20:5). He further swore that He would bring Israel out of Egyptian bondage and into a very special land a land flowing with milk and honey. The comparative fertility of Canaan, its geographical features and climate, made this land the beauty of all lands (Ezekiel 20:6).

The Lord made one single requirement of those He chose as His people, viz., that they cast aside the detestable things (idols) and that they not defile themselves with idolatrous practices. They must recognize Yahweh alone as God (Ezekiel 20:7). However, even this basic commandment was totally ignored (Ezekiel 20:8 a). The Pentateuch says nothing about the religious life of the Hebrews during the Egyptian period. Their later history would lead one to conclude that they were far from successful in maintaining their distinctive religious heritage in Egypt.[340]

[340] See Joshua 24:14. The episode of the golden calf at the foot of Sinai (Exodus 32:4) shows to what extent heathenism had influenced the thinking of Israel.

On the strict principle of justice Israel should have perished in Egypt (Ezekiel 20:8). But had the Israelites perished in Egypt, the heathen would not have attributed it to divine retribution, but to His lack of power to redeem His people. God would not allow His great name to be thus profaned in the sight of the nations. God had revealed Himself to Israel and publicly through Moses had announced His intention to bring them out of Egypt. The Egyptians knew all this. Had no redemption taken place, Israel’s God would forever have been held in contempt in the land of Egypt. Therefore, in bringing Israel out of Egypt God was acting in His own self-interest. He acted for His name’s sake (Ezekiel 20:9). To misunderstand God’s nature, to regard Him less highly than He ought to be regarded, is to profane His name. It is the duty of the new Israel, as it was of the old Israel, to see that God’s name is not profaned through inadequate witness to His nature and His truth.[341]

[341] Taylor, TOTC, p. 158.

Ezekiel 20:10-26

C. Israel in the Wilderness 20:10-26

TRANSLATION

(10) And I brought them out from the land of Egypt, and brought them unto the wilderness. (11) And I gave to them My statutes, and My ordinances I made known to them, which if a man do them, he shall live by them. (12) And also My sabbaths I gave to them to become a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctified them. (13) But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes, and they spurned My ordinances, which if a man do them, he shall live by them. My sabbaths they profaned exceedingly, and I intended to pour out My wrath upon them in the wilderness to consume them. (14) But I took action for the sake of My name, that it might not be defiled before the nations before whom I brought them out. (15) And also I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them unto the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, the beauty of all the lands; (16) because they rejected My judgments, and in My statutes they did not walk, and they defiled My sabbaths, for after their idols their heart did go. (17) But My eye had pity upon them from destroying them, and I did not make a complete end of them in the wilderness. (18) And I said unto their sons in the wilderness: Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their ordinances, and with their idols do not defile yourselves. (19) I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, and keep My ordinances, and do them; (20) and sanctify My sabbaths that they may be signs between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your god. (21) But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor did they keep My ordinances to do them, which if a man will do them, he shall live by them; they profaned My sabbaths; and I intended to pour out My wrath on them to finish My fury on them in the wilderness. (22) And I withdrew My hand, and took action for the sake of My name, that it would not be defiled in the sight of the nations before whom I brought them out. (23) Also I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness to scatter them among the nations and to disperse them in the lands; (24) because My ordinances they did not perform, and My statutes they rejected, and My sabbaths they profaned, and their eyes were after the gods of their fathers. (25) And also I gave to them statutes which were not good, and ordinances whereby they could not live. (26) And I defiled them with their gifts, in that they consecrate all who open the womb, that I might destroy them, that they might know that I am the LORD.

COMMENTS

God’s concern for His name prevailed over His desire to rid Himself of that rebellious people. He brought them out of Egypt and into the wilderness (Ezekiel 20:10). At Mt. Sinai He graciously gave to that people His Law. In keeping this law one could find the key to life, i.e., he would prosper materially and spiritually. National faithfulness to that Law would result in social happiness and political stability (Ezekiel 20:11). As further evidence of His gracious concern, God ordained the sabbath[342] as an outward sign of His covenant with Israel. Every observance of the sabbath was an affirmation of their relationship to Him (Ezekiel 20:12; cf. Exodus 31:17).

[342] The text reads sabbaths and may include the various festivals as well as the weekly sabbath.

Within days of the gracious giving of the Law, Israel rebelled against the Lord in the incident of the golden calf. The Book of Numbers contains numerous examples of the times when Israel murmured against the Lord. Direct violation of the sabbath is recorded on two occasions (Exodus 16:27; Numbers 15:32), but that sacred day was defiled by attitude again and again. Because Israel had spurned God’s gracious wilderness gifts to His people, He was fully prepared to destroy them there and then (Ezekiel 20:13). However, again for the sake of His name His reputation among the heathen nations he refrained from executing His wrath (Ezekiel 20:14).

While God did not completely destroy the nation in the wilderness, He did swear that the guilty generation which showed such lack of faith at Kadesh-barnea (Numbers 13-14) could not enter the land of promise (Ezekiel 20:15). Because they had defiled the law of God and secretly had craved for their idols in their heart, God sentenced that generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years (Ezekiel 20:16). Yet God did not make a full end of Israel at that time (Ezekiel 20:17). Those under the age of twenty survived that disciplinary death march.

God warned that new generation not to follow in the sinful paths of their fathers (Ezekiel 20:18), but rather to recognize His absolute divinity. He earnestly pled with them through Moses to obey the divine law (Ezekiel 20:19) and to faithfully observe the sabbaths as an outward sign and reminder that they were indeed God’s people (Ezekiel 20:20). Unfortunately that new generation was every bit as bad as the former one. At Baal-peer in their very first exposure to Canaanite Baal worship, the men of that new generation rushed headlong into the vilest form of degrading worship (Numbers 25:1-9; Hosea 9:10). God was of a mind to destroy the nation entirely (Ezekiel 20:21). However, for the sake of His own self-interest for the sake of his reputation among surrounding nations God relented (withdrew My hand; Ezekiel 20:22).

Though Israel survived her wilderness wandering, divine discipline was again necessary. The sentence of destruction was commuted. Instead, at some point in the future this nation would be scattered among other lands and countries (Ezekiel 20:23). The time and manner of that dispersion is not specified. The long periods of oppression during the period of the Judges probably were the first step in the fulfillment of this threat. Attacks by neighboring nations during the monarchy period resulted in God’s people being deported far and wide (cf. Amos 1:6; Amos 1:9; Joe 3:1-8). The culmination of this threatened dispersion was the deportation of the northern tribes by the Assyrian kings,[343] and the removal of captives from Judah by Nebuchadnezzar.[344]

[343] The two main Assyrian deportations occurred in 745 B.C. by Tiglath-pileser III, and in 722 B.C. by Sargon.

[344] Four deportations by Nebuchadnezzar are recorded In Scripture The first was in 605/604 B.C. and the last in 582 B.C. See Jeremiah 52:30.

The generation which was brought into Canaan also rejected God’s holy law and went after idols (Ezekiel 20:24). God gave them over to the consequences of their own sinful desire. He punished their sin by means of their sin. As they went ever deeper into the baser forms of idolatry, they brought themselves under statutes and judgments of a different sort. The pagan religious code which they adopted as their own did not contribute to health, happiness and well-being (life), but rather became a vicious and demanding taskmaster (Ezekiel 20:25). Stephen describes this situation when he says, God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven (Acts 7:42), He punished them by permitting them to do what they really wanted to do.

All the material gifts which God bestowed upon His people were permitted by Him to be defiled in the debasing worship of Baal. They rejected God’s law of dedicating their first born to the Lord (Exodus 13:2) and replaced it with the horrible practice of child sacrifice (cf. Ezekiel 16:21). The ultimate end of such perverse pagan practices would be national destruction. Only then would Israel realize that Yahweh was the only God (Ezekiel 20:26).

Ezekiel 20:27-29

D. Israel in Canaan 20:27-29

TRANSLATION

(27) Therefore speak unto the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed Me, in that they have dealt treacherously with Me. (28) For when I brought them to the land which I lifted up My hand to give unto them, then they saw every high hill, and every leafy tree, and they made sacrifices there, and gave there the provocation of their offering, and placed there their sweet savor, and they poured out their drink offerings. (29) Then I said unto them: What is the high place to which you are going? So its name is called Bamah (high place) unto this day.

COMMENTS

In addition to their wickedness in Egypt and in the wilderness, the fathers had continued their sinning when they were in their own land. In fact they blasphemed, i.e., committed a cardinal sin against the Lord; they dealt treacherously with him, i.e., broke the most solemn kind of commitment to Him (Ezekiel 20:27). No sooner had they, by God’s mercy, entered the land of Canaan, they promptly appropriated to themselves the heathen hill-top shrines and adopted the Canaanite ways of worship. The leafy trees were desirable for the sinful orgies which accompanied sacrifices to Baal. Their offerings which should have been a sweet savor to the Lord were in reality an irritation or provocation which only engendered the divine anger (Ezekiel 20:28).

Some day the Jews would have to give an account of their worship conduct. What is the high place to which you are going? Ezekiel asks in Ezekiel 20:29. Who authorized you to go there? What business do you have there? In spite of the repeated condemnation of high place worship still those shrines existed throughout the land. The bamah or high place was still very much a part of the worship scene in Judah, These prostitution chapels had not yet been abolished in the land.

Ezekiel 20:30-44

II. ISRAEL’S FUTURE RESTORATION 20:30-44

TRANSLATION

(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).

COMMENTS

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 (Ezekiel 20:30-31).

[345] That immolation of the children is intended, and not just ritual purification, is made clear by Jeremiah 19:5.

The attitude among the exiles was reprehensible. In Ezekiel 20:32 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.

God was about to intervene in Israel’s 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 (Ezekiel 20:33) by leading them in judgment into another wilderness experience (cf. Hosea 2:14 f; Hosea 12:9). The Babylonian exile was Israel’s second wilderness period. When the discipline was over, God would gather His people (Ezekiel 20:34). Israel would by no means lose her identity among the nations!

The exact prophetic import of Eze 20:35-38 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 Ezekiel 20:34 God states the general principle that He will in His own good time gather His people. Ezekiel 20:35-38 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 (Ezekiel 20:35-36).

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 Leviticus 27:32 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 (Ezekiel 20:37). 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.

The land of restored Israel would be a land of righteousness. Those who had rebelled against God’s 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 (Ezekiel 20:38).

In prophetic irony Ezekiel now called upon the house of Israel to go ahead with their idolatry. They cannot thereby frustrate God’s ultimate purpose for a holy people. The day would come when God’s holy name would no longer be profaned by idolatrous practices (Ezekiel 20:39).

In Ezekiel 20:40 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. Micah 4:1-2; Isaiah 2:2-3). He sees a united nation (all of them) Israel and Judah worshiping on Mt. Zion (My holy mountain). He sees a holy people rendering acceptable service and sacrifice to their God. Gone forever are the heathen influences which marred the worship of his own day. Heave offerings,[346] offerings of firstlings,[347] and other gifts would be required by God and willingly offered by His redeemed people (Ezekiel 20:40).

[346] Heave offerings (terumah) are mentioned in Exodus 29:27; Leviticus 7:14 and many other places.

[347] The first of your gifts would include the first-ripe grain (Deuteronomy 26:2 ff.), the firstborn of the cattle and the redemption fee for firstborn male children (Exodus 13:2; Exodus 13:12 ff,), and the first portion of the dough (Numbers 15:20 f.).

Ezekiel foresees seven consequences of the new relationship between God and His people:

1. The sacrifices which Israel offers to God would be considered a sweet savor by the Lord, i.e., would be pleasant in His sight.

2. God accepts Israel, i.e., acknowledges them as His own.

3. In and through that restored remnant God’s name would be sanctified, i.e., respected and revered, by surrounding nations (Ezekiel 20:41). God’s name is sanctified when He is manifested and recognized as holy (Leviticus 10:3; Numbers 20:13), Even the heathen would recognize that God’s dealings with Israel had been holy and just,

4. Israel would realize without doubt that they had been restored to Canaan through the might of God. They would willingly acknowledge that He, and none other, is God (Ezekiel 20:42).

5. It would be obvious to the remnant that God keeps His word. He had sworn to give to their father the land of Canaan. Through sin Israel forfeited the right to live in that Holy Land. Now God would give them a second chance in Canaan (Ezekiel 20:43).

6. Remnant Israel would remember their past failings and loathe themselves for the abominations which they had com mitted prior to the captivity (Ezekiel 20:43). In spite of repentance and forgiveness, the redeemed man can never forget that he is a sinner saved by grace.

7. Remnant Israel would realize that their change in fortunes was not due to their own merits. They deserved to perish. How ever, for the sake of His name, the gracious God had ransomed the house of Israel (Ezekiel 20:44).

Ezekiel 20:45-49

III. ISRAEL’S IMMINENT JUDGMENT 20:45-21:32

In the Hebrew Bible Ezekiel 20:45 becomes the first verse of chapter 21. Clearly this is a better arrangement than that adopted by the Authorized Version and subsequent English translations. What is said in Ezekiel 20:45-49 has no connection with what has immediately preceded, but rather sets the stage for what follows in chapter 21. Ezekiel starts out with another parable (Ezekiel 20:45 to Ezekiel 21:7) which may be entitled The Parable of the Forest Fire. To his parable he adds a song about a sword (Ezekiel 21:8-17). This song becomes the springboard for two oracles dealing with the words of the king of Babylon (Ezekiel 21:18-27), and the sword which would one day fall upon Ammon (Ezekiel 21:28-32).

A. The Parable of the Forest Fire 20:45-21:7

TRANSLATION

(45) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (46) Son of man, set your face toward the South, and preach unto the South, and prophesy unto the forest of the field of the South. (47) And say to the forest of the South, Hear the word of the LORD. Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I am about to kindle against you a fire, and it shall consume every green tree in you, and every dry tree, and it shall not be quenched, a flaming flame; and all faces from the south to the north shall be seared by it. (48) And all flesh shall see that I am the LORD when I burn it, and it shall not be quenched. (49) And I said, Ah Lord GOD! They are saying to me, Is he not a maker of parables? (1) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (2) Son of man, Set your face toward Jerusalem, and preach toward the sanctuaries, and prophesy unto the land of Israel; (3) and say to the land of Israel, Thus says the LORD: Behold, I am against you, and I will bring out My sword from its sheath, and I will cut off from you both righteous and wicked. (4) Because I will cut off from you righteous and wicked, therefore My sword shall go out from its sheath against all flesh from the south to the north. (5) And all flesh shall know that I the LORD have brought out My sword from its sheath; it shall not return any more. (6) And as for you, son of man, sigh; with the breaking of loins, and with bitterness You shall sigh before their eyes. (7) And it shall come to pass when they say unto you: Why are you sighing? Then you shall say: Because of the tidings, for it comes; and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall droop and every spirit shall be faint, and all knees shall drip water; behold it comes, and it shall be done (oracle of the Lord GOD).

COMMENTS

In another revelation from the Lord (Ezekiel 20:45), Ezekiel was told to direct his attention, verbally and perhaps physically as well, toward the south. He was to preach[348] the word of the Lord in that direction. The whole of Judah is the forest of the south which Ezekiel was to address in this utterance (Ezekiel 20:46). That entire forest would be consumed by an unquenchable fire kindled by God Himself. Fire here is symbolic of the devastation wrought by the Chaldean armies. What few righteous there might have been (every green tree) as well as the hardened sinners (every dry tree) would be affected by that conflagration. From one end of the land to the other every face would be seared by the hot flames of judgment (Ezekiel 20:47). That destruction would be of such proportions that the entire world would recognize it as an act of divine judgment (Ezekiel 20:48).

[348] Preach here in the Hebrew is literally, drop your word. This was a technical expression used to designate prophetic utterances. The same word is used in Amos 7:6 and Micah 2:6; Micah 2:11.

Ezekiel’s audience was not so spiritually perceptive as to be able to grasp the significance of this parable and others like it (cf. chaps. 15-17). In fact it would appear that his auditors were holding Ezekiel up to ridicule because of his use of the parabolic method. He could hear them whispering to one another and referring to him as a maker of parables (lit., a riddler or riddles). With sorrow, exasperation and perhaps indignation, Ezekiel turned to God in a brief narrative prayer. No petition is directly stated; but Ezekiel is obliquely requesting that he be permitted to put his parable into plain language (Ezekiel 20:49).

After an interval of undetermined duration, God granted the unspoken request of his prophet (Ezekiel 20:1). He was to preach toward Jerusalem, the holy places and the land of Israel[349] (Ezekiel 20:2). Ezekiel was to announce that God had assumed a posture of hostility toward the land of Israel (Behold I am against you). The divine sword of judgment (the fire in the parable) was about to come out of its sheath. Both wicked and righteous were to be cut off (Ezekiel 20:3). Ezekiel had already taught that as regards to final judgment the righteous would not be destroyed with the wicked (chap. 18). But of necessity in temporal judgments the entire population of an area would be affected. Other peoples besides Israel would feel the effect of the sword of the Lord which at this point in time was wielded by the Chaldeans (Ezekiel 20:4). Even the foreign nations would realize that they had experienced a divine judgment. The sword of the Lord would not return unto its sheath until the destructive work assigned to it was complete (Ezekiel 20:5).

[349] In Ezekiel 20:46 three different Hebrew words are translated south Here in 21.2 the symbolic significance of those three words is explained.

Ezekiel was deeply moved by this revelation, and he was told not to hide his emotion. As in other instances (Ezekiel 4:4; Ezekiel 5:1-4) he was to dramatize in his own person the coming calamity. He was to assume the role of a mourner whose sighs were so deep that they seem to break his loins, i.e., he is to bend double as though smitten with great pain in the abdomen. This agonizing sigh was to be done before their eyes so as to provoke questions. When asked about his bitter sighing, he was to explain that this was but an example of what all the exiles would do when they got the message from Jerusalem that the Temple had been destroyed. The prophet, because of his special relationship to God, had already heard those tidings through revelation. Five years later all the exiles would hear that same message from some one who had barely escaped the fallen city. With the loss of the Temple all hopes of return to Jerusalem would be smashed. Four expressions set forth the physical and psychological reaction to the news of Jerusalem’s destruction (1) every heart shall melt; (2) all hands shall be slack; (3) every spirit shall be faint; and (4) all knees shall drip with water, i.e., kidney functions would not be able to be controlled. Nonetheless, that bad news was coming, and when it came it would prove to be a true account of what had actually happened in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 20:7).