Ezekiel 20:4

Ezekiel 20:4 says, Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:  I don’t believe this meant that Ezekiel was to judge the people with an attitude of superiority to them, but he was to make God’s judgment of their actions known to them.  As Christians, we are not called on to judge other people, though at times God may call on us to point out that their actions are not in accordance with God’s law, especially if they profess to be Christians but don’t follow His law.  

Verse five adds, And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God;  God said Ezekiel was to remind the people of Israel that He had delivered them from bondage in Egypt at which time they entered into a covenant relationship with Him, acknowledging that He alone was God.  The current generation had evidently forgotten that.  As individual Christians and as the church as whole, we cannot forget that God alone is God.  He alone has the ability to lift us from the death penalty of sin.   

Verse six continues. In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:  God said that He had not only bought them out of captivity in Egypt, but He had brought them to a land flowing with milk and honey that He had chosen for them.  When we are freed from the death sentence of sin by accepting His gift of salvation, we become a part of the kingdom of God and one day we will live in a land that has everything we need.  That is our heavenly home.   

Verse seven states, Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.  God then reminded the people of Israel that when He delivered them to the land flowing with milk and honey that they were to cast out every idol and worship Him alone. This is still His command to Christians today.  If we are born-again believers, we need to be careful we don’t allow anything in our life to become more important than God.   

Verse eight adds, But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.  God said that since the people of Israel rebelled against Him and had started worshipping idols when they were in Egypt that He had first thought to pour out His wrath against them.  We will feel God’s wrath if we do not accept His gift of salvation, even if we profess ourselves to be a Christian nation.  God’s wrath was not at individual Israelites but as the nation as a whole.  Those who were still obedient to Him would still be under His protection spiritually even if they were caught up in the overall punishment of the nation.  We as followers of Christ will always be spiritually protected by God, even if the whole nation suffers from His wrath.  

Verse nine continues, But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.  God said His wrath against Israel was because they were known as His people and yet were bringing dishonor to His name by turning away from Him and worshipping false gods in the sight of people who were not known as His people.  God is never going to be pleased with us as a nation that calls itself a Christian nation or as individuals who call themselves Christians but then bring dishonor to Him by not obeying His commandments.   

Ezekiel 20:1

Ezekiel 20:1 says. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and sat before me.  Matthew Henry says that chapter eighteen dealt with the people of Israel's presumptions about God and this chapter deals with their hypocritical inquires to Him.  Neither is a good thing.  This occurred in the seventh year of the captivity of Israel by Babylon and about the second year of Ezekiel’s prophesying to the people.  Certain elders of Israel came to ask Ezekiel about something, which we will learn later on was that since they didn’t have a temple and worshipping God was forbidden if they would be right in worshipping other gods.  Even if all church buildings were to be destroyed and it was declared illegal to worship God, we as followers of Christ would never be justified in worshipping anyone but the one true God.   

Verse two adds, Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,  We aren.t even told what these elders had to ask at this point, but God was already giving Ezekiel the message to give to them.  I believe that as long as we are relying on the leadership of the Holy Spirit, He will always give us the message to speak to anyone who inquires of us about God.  

Verse three continues, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you.  God told Ezekiel that he was to ask the elders if they came to inquire about Him and then told him to tell the elders that He would not be questioned by them.  They weren’t there to repent and seek God’s will for their lives and the nation but were there to question if what God had told them about His being the only God was true.  If we come to God to get Him to endorse what we want instead of seeking His will in our lives, He is not going to listen to us. 

Ezekiel 19:10

Ezekiel 19:10 says, Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.  God then said that their mother had been like a vine in the blood that was planted by the water and was fruitful.  For a time, this was true of Israel.  The people of Israel remained faithful to God because they were descendants of David and because of the covenant he had made with God.  We will never be saved by who our parents are but will only be saved by the blood of Christ shed for our sins if we accept Him as our Savior and Lord.   

Verse eleven adds, And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.  God basically said that for a time when the people of Israel were faithful to Him that she flourished.  If we are a born-again believer, then we should be flourishing spiritually.   

Verse twelve continues, But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.  God then said that instead of flourishing, that when the people of Isreal turned away from Him and started worshipping false gods that they were plucked up, cast down, and the east wind dried up their fruit.  The root was not plucked up, so God’s promise was still with them.  They were no longer a powerful nation to be feared, but they were a defeated nation that was doing nothing to bear fruit for God.  Even as followers of Christ, if we stop being obedient to Him, we may be defeated as witness for Him if we do not live by faith in Him.  Still, if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ, we will never be forever defeated spiritually.   

Verse thirteen states, And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.  God said that now instead of being planted in the promised land thst Israel was once again planted in the wilderness, which is where their lack of faith had left them once before.  As followers of Christ, I believe that we are forever saved, but we may once more wander around in a spiritual wilderness if we are not obedient to God, and if we are in the wilderness of sin, we will stop bearing fruit for Him.   

Verse fourteen adds, And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.  God said that their strong rod, the prophets of God, were no longer with them.  When the people of Israel stopped listening to His prophets, God quit sending them, though at this time there was still a few prophets left.  If we are to be a Christian nation, we must always put God and His word first, and if we turn away from Him to follow other gods, we may find ourselves defeated.  Like the people of Israel then, if this happens, we should lament for what has happened.