Ezekiel 20:17

Ezekiel 20:17 says, Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.  God said that by His mercy He did not destroy the people of Israel in the wilderness.  He had rescued them from slavery in Egypt, and they immediately turned away from living in obedience to Him, so He would have been justified in slaying them.  God has already saved everyone from the penalty of sin, but if we do not accept His gift of salvation when we first hear about it, He would be justified in just allowing us to die forever separated from Him, but by His mercy, He will continue to call us to salvation.  Of course, as with the people of Israel in that day, He may declare that some people are never going to be obedient to Him and just look to the next generation for those who would be a part of His kingdom.   

Verse eighteen adds, But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:  God said that He told the children of these disobedient people to not walk in the statutes of their fathers, who were worshipping false gods and denying God.  Even if our parents are worshipping false gods, God is still going to call us to salvation.   

Verse nineteen continues, I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;  God told these children to keep His statutes and to be obedient to Him.  Though keeping God’s law will not save us, we need to keep them once we have accepted God’s gift of salvation.   

Verse nineteen concludes, And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.  They were to keep God’s sabbaths holy as a sign of their being in a covenant relationship with Him.  Keeping the sabbath, or the Lord’s Day as we celebrate today, holy should be a sign to the people of the world that we are in a covenant relationship with God.  This does not save us, but it is a sign of our obedience to God.   

Ezekiel 20:10

Ezekiel 20:10 says, Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness.  God had Ezekiel remind the people of Israel that He had brought them out of slavery in Egypt and into the wilderness.  Of course, they were supposed to only be wilderness for a short period of time on their way the promised land, but they turned away from God and started worshipping idols once again, so they ended up being in the wilderness for forty years.  If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we are on the way to the promised land.  We just need to remain true to God to keep from wandering spiritually in the wideness once more.  

Verse eleven adds, And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. God said that He gave them His laws and showed them His judgments which would enable them to live if they followed them.  God showed them what would happen if they did good by following His laws and also showed them what would happen if they didn’t, and they still rebelled against Him.  I believe that God lets everyone know what will happen if they obey His commandments and put their faith in Jesus Christ and what will happen if they don’t, but too many people refuse to obey God’s laws.  Of course, we cannot be saved by just obeying God’s law, because we will never obey them all.  That is why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to be born as a man and live in perfect obedience to God’s law so that He could be an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of all mankind.   

Verse twelve continues, Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.  God said He also gave them His sabbaths as a sign between the people of Israel and Him to let the world know that He was their God and He sanctified them.  When we gather on Sunday, the Lord’s Day which we celebrate as His sabbath, we testify to the relationship between God and us, which is why we should be faithful in attending church, but we often eliminate times of worship because it is too much trouble, and when we do, we make a statement to the world, but it is a negative one.    

Verse thirteen states, But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.  God said that even though He had delivered them from bondage in Egypt, even before getting to the promised land that they rebelled against Him.  He also said He poured out His wrath on them, which meant that they were not allowed to go into the promised land.  They were God’s people in name only and not because they were obedient to Him.  There are many professed Christians today who have never established a spiritual relationship with God by accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, and even if we have done so, there are times when we fail to live by God’s law.  God is always going to pour out His wrath on disobedience to His laws, and the question then becomes whether we will face His wrath on our own or face Him with Jesus Christ having borne His wrath for us.   

Verse fourteen adds, But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.  God said that He wrought for His name’s sake that He would not let the disobedience of the people of Israel who were known as His people bring dishonor to His name by allowing them to continue to live in disobedience to Him which would bring dishonor to His name.  As followers of Christ, we need to obey God's  commandments so that we do not bring dishonor to His name, but many things that Christians do today bring dishonor to God’s name, and one day they will have to answer for it. 

Verse fifteen continues, Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all land.  God said that since they were disobedient to Him that He was not going to bring them into the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey, but that they would die in the wilderness.  If we do not accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will always be wandering around in the wilderness of sin.   

Verse sixteen concludes, Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.  God said that this was because of their actions in rebelling against Him.  We have all rebelled against God at one time another, and the only way that we can enter the promised land of heaven is we confess our sins and accept Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. 

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.