20 In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me: 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God, Is it to enquire of me that you come? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you. 4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Let them know the abominations of their fathers,
The date given in 1 refers to the seventh year from the time of the first captivity (in 597 BC) i.e. 590, and still a few years before the final movement to Babylon in 586. The elders of Israel came once again to Ezekiel (as they had done in 14:1) seeking a word from the Lord. The word they are given is one of judgment, and one that asserts the righteousness of that judgment by rehearsing the entire history of the people of God from the beginning. Ezekiel is commanded to state the Lord's case against them - which is done in the remainder of the chapter - and it is in view of this that the Lord says, 'Therefore they have no right to come and consult Me. I will not be enquired of by such a people, with such a history, who are confirming the previous history of their forefathers in their own attitudes today'. We are not told the nature of the elders' enquiry - perhaps it was a question such as we have seen in chapter 18, when people were saying, 'Is it fair of God to deal thus with us, the way of the Lord is not equal?' If so, it is little wonder that God is angry with them, for to speak thus was surely an evidence of the blindness in their hearts to the enormity of their sin. It is in this context that we must understand the interpretation of Israel's history that now follows.