5 and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob, making myself known to them in the land of Egypt; I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God. 6 On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands.7 And I said to them, Cast away the detestable things your eyes feast on, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. 8 But they rebelled against me and were not willing to listen to me. None of them cast away the detestable things their eyes feasted on, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. 9 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt. 10 So I led them out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 I gave them my statutes and made known to them my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live.12 Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. 13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness. They did not walk in my statutes but rejected my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; and my Sabbaths they greatly profaned.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to make a full end of them. 14 But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 15 Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands, 16 because they rejected my rules and did not walk in my statutes, and profaned my Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless, my eye spared them, and I did not destroy them or make a full end of them in the wilderness.
18 “And I said to their children in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor keep their rules, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and be careful to obey my rules,20 and keep my Sabbaths holy that they may be a sign 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 and were not careful to obey my rules, by which, if a person does them, he shall live; they profaned my Sabbaths.
“Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them and spend my anger against them in the wilderness. 22 But I withheld my hand and acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, 24 because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. 25 Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, 26 and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the Lord.
The whole chapter is a remarkable summing up of Israel's history. There are five fairly unequal sections: in 5-9 we have the Egyptian captivity in the time of the Exodus; in 10-17 from the Passover and the emergence from Egypt up to Kadesh-Barnea; in 18-26 it is the forty years wilderness wandering; in 27-29 a brief summing up of the period from Joshua to Josiah; then in 30, 31, the reference is to those to whom Ezekiel was speaking at the time. Here is one of the notable chapters of the Old Testament from the point of view of historical summary, and it is paralleled by a number of similar chapters, such as Nehemiah 9, Psalm 78, Acts 7, to name but a few, which gives an inspired interpretation and commentary, in brief précis form of the entire history of Israel. The particular value of such a chapter lies in the fact that the history of Israel is such a vast canvas that it would be very easy for us not to see the wood for the trees, and we should be grateful for such passages which give a running commentary on the entire panoramic history of the people of God in the compass of a few verses. It is of enormous spiritual significance to be able to look at the bewildering variety of material which constitutes Old Testament history and to see a coherent thread running right through it from beginning to end. It is something that not everyone can do and, as we see at the end of the chapter, it is something that not everyone can understand either. In addition also to the panoramic view given us, there are particular insights given us here, and inspired interpretations, which are not readily apparent in the ordinary reading of that history, and we shall look at one or two instances of this in the next Note.