Rebellious People of God

Ezekiel 20:1-26 

1 It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me. 2 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you."' 4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known to them the abominations of their fathers.

5 "Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, I am the LORD your God.' 6 On that day I raised My hand in an oath to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, 'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands. 7 Then I said to them, 'Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.' 8 But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, 'I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.' 9 But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

10 "Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. 11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live by them.' 12 Moreover I also gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them. 13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live by them'; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out. 15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, 'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands, 16 because they despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless My eye spared them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

18 "But I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19 I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; 20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'

21 "Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live by them'; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness. 22 Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23 Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries, 24 because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers' idols.

25 "Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live; 26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I might make them desolate and that they might know that I am the LORD."'

Here God holds Israel accountable for their rejection and rebellion against Him after all Je had done for them.  The LORD called them and told them His holy name as Yahweh, the One who is self existent in Him.  He made a covenant agreement with them to deliver from the enslavement of Egyptian bondage into a land that He personally had searched out and chosen for His chosen ones, 'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all nations.  He instructed His people to turn away from the idols of Egypt where they were in bondage to not defile their calling to holiness as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:15-16) according to His word covenanted with them.  They rebelled and held onto those false gods in willing disobedience as they rejected His word and all the blessings they had been promised if they were faithful to Him and worshiped no other but God alone (Exodus 20:3-5).  They refused to discard the abominations and defiled their once holy bodies with immortality and set up idols in the temples of their hearts and bodies.  They made their worship unclean by their willful and unrepentant sin and broke the covenant of works to follow his word which said, if a man does, he shall live by them.  This meant conversely that not following His word meant death instead.  They chose badly for death instead of life in following the LORD according to His word.  How many times did the LORD plead with them through the prophets to choose life but they chose their pride and passing pleasures of sin (Hebrews 11:25) to avoid facing the fact that none can keep all the Law perfectly (Romans 3:19-20, James 2:10) as required (Galatians 3:10-12, 23-24)?  They lacked faith, they did not trust God’s providence and provision to give them faith and forgiveness in His grace and sought their own justification instead of in the Messiah to come.  Even though they ran after their idols, He still did not destroy them but called each new generation to learn from their bad examples and follow Him according to His word instead.  That was grace.  We also are offered grace in our rebellious lost state of not trusting His word if we turn from sin to Him in Christ according to His great mercy of grace in His work to keep every point of the Law for us as we are quite unable to do.  Resting in His work is the Sabbath we are called to as they were, and our attempts to evade the accountability of judgment only makes us unclean in attempting to earn our salvation.  We are instead to know that He is the LORD as we know the Lord in His Son who is our sacrifice for sin and the High Priest ministering salvation to us by his perfect works of obedience which we can never accomplish.  Trust and follow Him.  That is the lesson we can learn here from their example according to His word.  He will make a New Covenant of grace with us which we cannot break (Galatians 3:15-17) and He promised not to annul (John 10:28-29) or allow anyone else to break.  The rebellion of Israel left only a remnant to be delivered; our rebellion is answered in Christ for them and us by the faith displayed in Abraham (Galatians 3:8-9) to take God at His word in the finished work of His Son as a certain hope for all who trust in Him according to His gospel word of hope which is good news indeed!