21 And the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept mine ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live by them; they profaned my sabbaths: and I said I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish mine anger against them in the wilderness.
But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned: and I said I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: none of them cast away the abominations of his eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I thought to pour out my fury upon them, so as to accomplish mine anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
and the people spoke against God, and against Moses, Why have ye brought us up out of Egypt that we should die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and no water, and our soul loathes this light bread.
And I gave them my statutes, and made known unto them mine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them.
and for a time of about forty years he nursed them in the desert.
And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every ùgod, and speak monstrous things against the ùGod of ùgods; and he shall prosper until the indignation be accomplished: for that which is determined shall be done.
And Israel abode in Shittim; and the people began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab. And they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods; and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself to Baal-Peor; and the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel. And Jehovah said to Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up to Jehovah before the sun, that the fierce anger of Jehovah may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said to the judges of Israel, Slay every one his men that have joined themselves to Baal-Peor. And behold, a man of the children of Israel came and brought a Midianitish woman to his brethren, in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of the whole assembly of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, and rose up from among the assembly, and took a javelin in his hand, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent-chamber, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her belly. And the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
And I will accomplish my fury upon the wall, and upon them that daub it with untempered [mortar], and will say unto you, The wall is no [more], neither they that daubed it,
Jehovah hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath consumed the foundations thereof.
And they provoked [him] to anger with their doings; and a plague broke out among them. Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgment, and the plague was stayed; And that was reckoned unto him for righteousness, from generation to generation, for evermore. And they moved him to wrath at the waters of Meribah, and it went ill with Moses on their account; For they provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips.
Go, inquire of Jehovah for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book which is found; for great is the wrath of Jehovah that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of Jehovah, to do according to all that is written in this book.
And when Jehovah sent you from Kadesh-barnea, saying, Go up and take possession of the land which I have given you, ye rebelled against the word of Jehovah your God, and ye believed him not, nor hearkened to his voice. Ye have been rebellious against Jehovah from the day that I knew you.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Ezekiel 20
Commentary on Ezekiel 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
In this chapter,
Eze 20:1-4
Here is,
Eze 20:5-9
The history of the ingratitude and rebellion of the people of Israel here begins as early as their beginning; so does the history of man's apostasy from his Maker. No sooner have we read the story of our first parents' creation than we immediately meet with that of their rebellion; so we see here it was with Israel, a people designed to represent the body of mankind both in their dealings with God and in his with them. Here is,
Eze 20:10-26
The history of the struggle between the sins of Israel, by which they endeavoured to ruin themselves, and the mercies of God, by which he endeavoured to save them and make them happy, is here continued: and the instances of that struggle in these verses have reference to what passed between God and them in the wilderness, in which God honoured himself and they shamed themselves. The story of Israel in the wilderness is referred to in the New Testament (1 Co. 10 and Heb. 3), as well as often in the Old, for warning to us Christians; and therefore we are particularly concerned in these verses. Observe,
Eze 20:27-32
Here the prophet goes on with the story of their rebellions, for their further humiliation, and shows,
Eze 20:33-44
The design which was now on foot among the elders of Israel was that the people of Israel, being scattered among the nations, should lay aside all their peculiarities and conform to those among whom they lived; but God had told them that the design should not take effect, v. 32. Now, in these verses, he shows particularly how it should be frustrated. They aimed at the mingling of the families of Israel with the families of the countries; but it will prove in the issue that the wicked Israelites, notwithstanding their compliances, shall not mingle with them in their prosperity, but shall be distinguished from them for destruction; for idolatrous Israelites, that are apostates from God, shall be sooner and more sorely punished than idolatrous Babylonians that never knew the way of righteousness. Read and tremble at the doom here passed upon them; it is backed with an oath not to be reversed: As I live, saith the Lord God, thus and thus will I deal with you. They think to make both Jerusalem and Babylon their friends by halting between two; but God threatens that neither of them shall serve for a rest or refuge for them.
Eze 20:45-49
We have here a prophecy of wrath against Judah and Jerusalem, which would more fitly have begun the next chapter than conclude this; for it has no dependence on what goes before, but that which follows in the beginning of the next chapter is the explication of it, when the people complained that this was a parable which they understood not. In this parable,
Now observe,