Year 9, Day 146: Ezekiel 20

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Ezekiel 20 is a return back to the familiar things in life.  People come to Ezekiel and ask him to give a prophetic word.  The leaders come and want to know what the Lord intends of them.

Ezekiel turns to the Lord, who simply says to remind them of their past.  God planted Abraham in the Promised Land.  There was rebellion, a famine, and the people landed in Egypt.  Several hundred years later, God brought them out of Egypt.  There was a rebellion and a generation died in the desert.  They entered the Promised Land, where they prospered for a time before there was a rebellion and the people demanded a king to be like the other nations.  Eventually, the people fell away from God and they are once again in judgement. 

The Word of the Lord is not hard to figure out!  God prospers us, we get too full of ourselves, we rebel, and we have to learn a hard lesson!  The pattern runs through nations, generations, communities, and even individual people.  We can all look at this very pattern and see it like ribbons running along the scope and breadth of humanity. 

Learn the lesson!  Stay close to the Lord’s ways and avoid the pitfalls of exile!

Before concluding, recognize the complaint that Ezekiel gives at the end.  The people are beginning to speak about him as the “maker of parables.”  In other words, the people aren’t understanding.  They aren’t getting it.  They are confused because they aren’t willing to learn the lesson.  The want to know the future, to know it precisely, and they want to be impatient about it.

Remember how Jesus used parables.  So many people think Jesus used parables to teach.  Ha!  Look at the parable stories.  The vast majority of the parables end in more questions!  When Jesus spoke in parables, He wasn’t trying to explain things, He was sorting and sifting through the people to see who really cares enough to find out what life is all about and who is simply looking for the easy way out.  The same thing is happening here with Ezekiel.  God is using the exile to sift and sort through the people and see who is willing to be refined.  Ezekiel is playing the part God asks of him exceptionally well, as frustrating as that might be.

<><