Ezekiel 20 - Bible Study, Explanation, and Application
Ezekiel 20 Bible Study
TIMELINE:
This chapter is dated to the 7th year of the exile of King Jehoiachin, 590 or 589 BC. Jehoiachin had been king in Judah but was dethroned by the Babylonians and taken as a captive.
Below is a list of kings of Judah and dates for their reign:
Amon (642-640 BC)
Josiah (640-609 BC)
Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum, 609 BC)
Jehoiakim (initially known as Eliakim, 609-598 BC)
Jehoiachin (also known as Jeconiah or Coniah, 598-597 BC)
Zedekiah (His reign ended when Babylon conquered Judah, (597-586 BC)
WHAT WE STUDIED PREVIOUSLY
Ezekiel 1 – Ezekiel had a vision of 4 living creatures, 4 wheels, and God’s throne.
Ezekiel 2 – God commissioned Ezekiel to be a prophet to his rebellious countrymen.
Ezekiel 3 – The end of the heavenly vision. Ezekiel ate a scroll of God’s words, and God called him to be a watchman over the people of Judah.
Ezekiel 4 – Ezekiel prophesies with an object lesson in the street by laying on his side for 430 days, eating rations of bread, and creating a siege scene with a brick that represents Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 5 – After the 430 days, Ezekiel cut off his hair divided it up into 3 parts and used it as a symbol for what would happen to the people of Jerusalem.
Ezekiel 6 – Ezekiel prophesies against the idol worshipers in Judah, telling them their bodies will be thrown at the feet of their powerless gods.
Ezekiel 7 – God spoke to Ezekiel about the day of His judgement. The end was near for the citizens of Jerusalem, and their doom was on the horizon.
Ezekiel 8 – Ezekiel saw a vision of the Temple in Jerusalem. God guided him through the courts and gates of the Temple and showed him the secret idolatries that filled God’s house.
Ezekiel 9 – God sends a man with a writing case to mark the foreheads of those who hated the idolatries of Judah. Afterwards, God sends 6 executioners to kill everyone in Jerusalem who didn’t have the mark.
Ezekiel 10 – God’s glory departed the inner sanctuary of the Temple and ascended to His throne carried by the 4 living creatures.
Ezekiel 11 – God announced judgement on the wicked rulers of Judah. They thought they were safe in Jerusalem, like meat in a cauldron, but God promised to bring them out for death and captivity. At the end of the chapter, God spoke of a future day, when He would regather a remnant of His people and give them a new heart and new spirit.
Ezekiel 12 – Ezekiel prophesied about the downfall of King Zedekiah by carrying his possessions out of his house as if he were going into exile. God promised that His judgement was near, and anyone who suggested otherwise would be put to shame.
Ezekiel 13 – God confronted the false prophets and sorceresses amongst the people of Judah. The false prophets falsely claimed to speak with the authority of God, and the sorceresses hunted the souls of God’s people through witchcraft and divination.
Ezekiel 14 – God condemned the elders of Judah who harbored love for idols in their hearts. He told Ezekiel Jerusalem would not be spared even if righteous men like Noah, Daniel, and Job lived there.
Ezekiel 15 – God compared the citizens of Jerusalem to useless vine wood that was good for nothing except to burn.
Ezekiel 16 – God compared his people to a young woman who he had raised and cared for. When she grew up, she turned her back on God and prostituted herself with foreign nations and idols.
Ezekiel 17 – Ezekiel spoke a parable to the people of Judah about two great eagles. The parable indicated that the King of Judah would betray Babylon and be uprooted by them.
Ezekiel 18 – The people of Judah were accusing God of punishing them for the sins of their ancestors. God clarified that each man was responsible and would be held accountable only for his own sins.
Ezekiel 19 – God lamented the unfaithfulness of His people through two laments, the lament of the lion cubs and the lament of the vine.
OUTLINE:
THE ELDER’S COME TO EZEKIEL (20:1-3):
As in Ezekiel 14, the elders of Israel approached Ezekiel hoping to “inquire of the Lord.”
God had a message for them, but it probably wasn’t one they wanted to hear.
GOD RECOUNTS THE CONTINUAL DISOBEDIENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL (20:4-32):
God warned the people of Israel to avoid idolatry when they were slaves in Egypt, but they disregarded His instructions (20:4-8).
God considered pouring out His wrath on them and destroying them, but He refrained for the sake of His name (20:9).
After leading the Israelites out of Egypt, God gave them His rules, laws, and Sabbaths, but they didn’t walk in the ways of God, and they profaned the Sabbath (20:10-17).
God considered destroying them in the wilderness, but He refrained for the sake of His name (20:14).
When the first generation of Israelites who left Egypt died, God told their children to honor and obey Him, but their children also ignored the Lord (20:18-21)
God considered destroying them, but He refrained for the sake of His name (20:22).
When God finally brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, they built altars to idols and blasphemed God.
Ezekiel asked the elders of Israel why thy persisted in the abominations of their forefathers. They defiled themselves just like their relatives and they had learned nothing from their examples.
Because of this persistence disobedience, God told the elders of Israel He would not hear their inquiry (20:1).
THE RESTORATION OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL (20:34-44):
God was going to judge the nation as He did the Israelites in Moses’ day.
He would lead them out of their land and into a “wilderness of peoples.” There He would discipline them and purge the wicked from among them.
When this was done, God promised to restore His people and Jerusalem.
All the house of Israel would serve God (this has a fulfillment in Judah’s return from Babylon, but probably a fuller fulfillment in the Church age).
God would do this, not because His people deserved restoration, but for the sake of His name.
PROPHECY AGAINST THE SOUTH (20:46-49):
Ezekiel was told to look to the southland, to the Negeb, and prophesy against it.
God said He would start a fire in the south that would devour everything, an unquenchable blazing flame.
Ezekiel complained to the Lord that the people were calling him a “maker of parables,” probably because he often spoke in figures of speech rather than plainly.
APPLICATION:
God’s glory and God’s name are a big theme in this chapter. God saved His people so that His name and reputation wouldn’t be tarnished among the nations.
God’s glory, His reputation, and His name should matter to us.
God has given us the privilege of being His children. We bear His name. And that comes with a big responsibility, namely the responsibility to behave in a way that reflects well on God and makes Him look good.
We don’t want to be the son or the daughter who goes out and shames their family name.
Before we act, before we speak, and before everything we do we need to ask whether our actions will make God’s name look great or make it look bad.
