Chapter 20 of Ezekiel provides a powerful history lesson with a purpose.
I encourage you to watch our video on YouTube today, where Rudy Ross shares insights into the significance of the date mentioned in the first verse and its connection to key historical events across time. I had never encountered this information before, and I deeply appreciate Rudy’s expertise and Jewish heritage, which bring added depth to our discussion.
In the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, certain elders of Israel came to consult the Lord and sat down before me (Ezekiel 20.1).
Once again, the elders of Israel, who had been exiled to Babylon in 597, came to Ezekiel seeking to understand the fate of Jerusalem and their lives in exile.
And the word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God: Why are you coming? To consult me? As I live, says the Lord God, I will not be consulted by you (Ezekiel 20.2-3).
Later in Ezekiel’s book, we learn how the King of Babylon consulted three different forms of divination to decide which direction to take in his conquest of the nations surrounding Israel.
If Israel’s leaders were attempting anything similar to Nebuchadnezzar’s practices, it would be deeply offensive to God. Unlike the king of Babylon’s pagan ways of predicting the future, God would certainly refuse to be put in the same category as the Babylonian idols.
Instead of predicting the future, God reinterpreted Israel’s history to reveal how, at every crucial moment, the nation had turned away from Him. Their ongoing unfaithfulness over the years was the root cause of the impending disaster facing Jerusalem.
Israel in Egypt
We can assume that 400 years of slavery harmed the Israelites in multiple ways. Yes, they were oppressed as slaves, but they were also exposed to Egypt’s idols.
Living in such a culture would make it nearly impossible to avoid the influence of Egyptian idolatry, and indeed, they were affected by it.
A casual reading of the Bible reveals the profound impact the Exodus had on both Hebrew and Christian faith. However, despite this momentous event—freeing a million slaves from Egyptian tyranny—it did not erase the idol worship they had adopted from their captors.
Instead of highlighting the positive aspects of the Exodus, God directs Ezekiel to emphasize the negative responses of the people to His actions among them.
The word “abominations” feels out of place when considering the mighty act of God freeing His people from slavery and choosing them to be His own possession in the world.
Will you judge them, mortal; will you judge them? Then let them know the abominations of their ancestors and say to them:
Thus says the Lord God: On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob—making myself known to them in the land of Egypt—I swore to them, saying, “I am the Lord your God.”
On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands (Ezekiel 20.4-6).
God could say of the Israelites, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” (Amos 3:2).
Unfortunately, God could also point to their unfaithfulness at every stage of their relationship with Him.
And I said to them, “Cast away the detestable things on which your eyes feast, every one of you, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.”
But they rebelled against me and would not listen to me; not one of them cast away the detestable things on which their eyes feasted, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt (Ezekiel 20.7-8).
God used four distinct verbs to describe how His treasured people refused to abandon their devotion to the gods of Egypt.
Ezekiel acts as a historian, guiding the people in 590 BC through the different stages of Israel’s history. At each point, he observes a recurring pattern: the people consistently refuse to abandon their idols to serve the true and living God.
Idols in 2024
When we consider idols in 2024, we don’t need to picture small statues or carvings. Instead, we can think of anything we place as a substitute for God. Everyone likely has some form of idolatry in their life.
The question for us is: will we recognize it and remove it, as God counseled His people to do?
As we work to identify the idols in our lives, let’s remember that, like the ancient Israelites, we often adopt them from the surrounding culture.
In America today, the “big three” idols are money, sex, and power. Even as followers of Christ, we may find ourselves pursuing these things as if they’re essential.
There are likely many other idols we hold, but we can start by asking ourselves: what have we absorbed from our culture that we feel we can’t live without and that we place above our devotion to God?
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
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