23rd November 2023 – Ezekiel 20:5-26
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.
We should not miss, for example, the implication in 7 that Israel was involved in idolatrous practices while in captivity in Egypt and that they had absorbed much of Egyptian idolatry. When it was put like this, we begin to see something that perhaps might otherwise have been passed over in the reading of Exodus, and we ask ourselves. how did they think up the golden calf at Mount Sinai? Where did they get that idea from? Ideas do not simply materialise 'out of the blue', without relation to anything that has gone before. There was idolatry in their hearts, that is why they made the golden calf; and the idolatry was in their hearts because it had been in their practice in Egypt, although we are not told about it in Exodus. This is indeed inspired insight into the sacred record, comparable to the insights given us in Hebrews 11 which constitute an inspired commentary on the lives of the heroes of faith in Old Testament times. One thinks, for example, of what is said there about the story of Jacob: 'By faith Jacob when he was dying blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff' (Hebrews 11:21). One's reaction to this verse must first of all surely be, 'Is this all that the writer has to say about that wonderful story? What of Bethel, and what of Peniel, to mention but two of the great crisis points of the patriarch's experience?' Yet from the Apostle's particular standpoint, that of faith, the most significant thing in Jacob's life took place when he was dying, for it was then that he passed on the blessing and the promise to his posterity. It took God all that time to make Jacob useable for that purpose. This is one of the supreme values of such a chapter.
22nd November 2023 – Ezekiel 20:5-26
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,…
21st November 2023 – Ezekiel 20:1-4
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:…
20th November 2023 – Ezekiel 19:1-14
19 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched;in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs.3 And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young…
19th November 2023 – Ezekiel 19:1-14
19 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched;in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs.3 And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young…
18th November 2023 – Ezekiel 19:1-14
19 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched;in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs.3 And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young…
17th November 2023 – Ezekiel 19:1-14
19 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched;in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs.3 And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young…
16th November 2023 – Ezekiel 18:21-32
21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that…
15th November 2023 – Ezekiel 18:5-20
5 “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— 6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbour’s wife or…
14th November 2023 – Ezekiel 18:1-4
18 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? 3 As I live, declares the…