The God Who Will Not Be Trifled With Text: Ezekiel 20:1-32
Introduction: Pious Inquirers and Hidden Idols
We begin with a scene of apparent piety. It is the seventh year of the exile, and some of the elders of Israel, the community leaders, have come to the prophet Ezekiel. They come to "inquire of Yahweh." On the surface, this looks good. It looks like a prayer meeting. It looks like a delegation of concerned leaders seeking a word from the Lord in a time of national crisis. They sit before the prophet, looking solemn and respectable. If you were to walk into the room, you would think, "Here are the faithful remnants, the serious ones."
But God is not impressed with the outward show. He sees past the long faces and the religious posture. He sees the heart, and the heart is rotten. God's response to their inquiry is a stunning, categorical refusal. He swears an oath: "As I live... I will not be inquired of by you." Why? Because you cannot come to God for directions when you have already plotted your own course. You cannot ask for His will when your heart is a shrine to a thousand other gods. These elders wanted a word from God, but they wanted it on their own terms. They wanted a divine consultation, not a divine confrontation. They wanted a blessing for their own projects, not a surrender to God's Lordship.
This is a perennial temptation for God's people. We want to add Jesus to our lives as a helpful accessory, a spiritual advisor, a cosmic life coach. But God will not be an accessory. He is Lord of all, or He is not Lord at all. He will not be inquired of by those who come with a Bible in one hand and a secret idol in the other. And so, instead of giving them the comforting word they wanted, God commands Ezekiel to become a prosecuting attorney. He is to put Israel on trial, and the charge is four generations of relentless, high-handed, covenant-breaking idolatry. The purpose is not to give them new information, but to "make them know the abominations of their fathers," which, as we will see, are their own abominations as well. This is not ancient history; it is their rap sheet. And it is ours.
The Text
Now it happened in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth of the month, that some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Yahweh and sat before me. And the word of Yahweh came to me saying, "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and say to them, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Do you come to inquire of Me? As I live," declares Lord Yahweh, "I will not be inquired of by you."' Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Make them know the abominations of their fathers and say to them, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "On the day when I chose Israel and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, I am Yahweh your God, on that day I swore to them, to bring them out from the land of Egypt into a land that I had selected for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. I said to them, 'Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and not do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am Yahweh your God.' But they rebelled against Me and were not willing to listen to Me; each one did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out My wrath on them, to spend My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among whom they lived, in whose sight I made Myself known to them by bringing them out of the land of Egypt...
(Ezekiel 20:1-32 LSB)
The Covenant Lawsuit: A History of Rebellion
God's refusal to be inquired of is the introduction to a blistering historical review. He takes Israel back to the very beginning, not to reminisce about the good old days, but to demonstrate that there were no good old days. The rebellion was baked in from the start. This is a covenant lawsuit with four main counts, corresponding to four generations of failure.
"On the day when I chose Israel... and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt... I said to them, 'Cast away, each of you, the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt...' But they rebelled against Me..." (Ezekiel 20:5-8)
Count one: Rebellion in Egypt. We tend to romanticize the Exodus story. We picture a nation of pious slaves, groaning under their bondage and crying out to God for deliverance. But God tells us the real story. Even in Egypt, before the Exodus, while God was making Himself known to them and swearing to save them, their hearts were already running after the mud-pie gods of their oppressors. God commanded them to cast away the "detestable things of his eyes," a phrase that points to the lust of the eyes, the visual appeal of idolatry. But they would not. Their rebellion was immediate. And God's wrath was kindled right there, in Egypt. He was ready to pour out His anger on them then and there. So why did He not? Not because of their repentance, but "for the sake of My name." God had attached His public reputation to this people, and to wipe them out in Egypt would have made Him look weak and foolish to the nations. So, for His own glory, He saved a nation of rebels.
Rebellion in the Wilderness
You might think that after witnessing the ten plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the destruction of Pharaoh's army, they would have learned their lesson. But no. God brings them into the wilderness and gives them His law.
"I gave them My statutes and made them know My judgments, which, if a man does them, he will live by them. And I also gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them... But the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness." (Ezekiel 20:11-13)
Count two: Rebellion in the wilderness. God gave them a good law, a law that brings life. He gave them the Sabbath, a sign of His sanctifying grace, a weekly reminder that He is the one who sets them apart. And what did they do? They rebelled. They rejected His judgments and "greatly profaned" His sabbaths. Their heart, God says, "continually walked after their idols." Notice the pattern. God's grace precedes their rebellion. His law is a gift. His Sabbath is a gift. And they trample these gifts underfoot to chase after their worthless idols. Once again, God says He was ready to pour out His wrath and destroy them completely. And once again, He relented "for the sake of My name." He had brought them out in the sight of the nations, and He would not have His name profaned.
The Children of Rebels
So that first generation died in the wilderness. God now turns to their children, the generation that would enter the promised land.
"I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers... I am Yahweh your God; walk in My statutes...' But the children rebelled against Me..." (Ezekiel 20:18-21)
Count three: The children's rebellion. God gives this new generation a direct, explicit warning. Do not be like your parents. Break the cycle. Their ways are death; My ways are life. But the children were chips off the old block. They rebelled, profaned the Sabbath, and ignored His law. And here, the judgment takes a darker turn. God not only threatens to pour out His wrath, but He also swears to scatter them among the nations, a prophecy of the very exile these elders were now experiencing.
And then we come to two of the most terrifying verses in all of Scripture. Because this generation was so determined to have their idols, God says, "I also gave them statutes that were not good and judgments by which they could not live; and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire" (vv. 25-26). This does not mean God authored the laws of Molech. This is the language of judicial hardening. It is what the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 1. When a people are so stubbornly set in their rebellion, God "gives them over." He removes His restraining grace and allows them to run headlong into the logical consequences of their sin. You want to follow the statutes of your fathers? Fine. God will give you over to them. You want to worship gods that demand the blood of your children? God will let you. He gives them over to their own depravity so "that they might know that I am Yahweh." It is a terrible and just judgment. When you insist on worshipping demons, God will let you experience what demonic worship is actually like.
Blasphemy in the Promised Land
After all this, God still keeps His promise. He brings them into the land He swore to give them. And the cycle of sin reaches its apex.
"Indeed, I brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, and they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and they offered there their sacrifices... there they gave the provocation of their offering." (Ezekiel 20:28)
Count four: Blasphemy in the land. In the very land that was to be the stage for displaying God's glory, they used its beauty as a backdrop for their idolatry. Every high hill became a pagan shrine. Every green tree became a place for their harlotry. They took the good gifts of God's creation and used them to blaspheme Him. God had given them a central place of worship, the tabernacle and later the temple, to protect them from this very syncretism. But they preferred the illicit thrill of the high places, the "Bamah," as the text says with a pun of disgust.
The Verdict in the Present
"Therefore, say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says Lord Yahweh, "Will you defile yourselves in the way of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things?... And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live," declares Lord Yahweh, "I will not be inquired of by you."'" (Ezekiel 20:30-31)
After this relentless historical indictment, God brings the gavel down on the elders sitting in front of Ezekiel. The question "Will you defile yourselves in the way of your fathers?" is pure, hot irony. They were already doing it. They were still practicing the same idolatry, even to the point of child sacrifice. And in the midst of this flagrant, unrepentant rebellion, they have the audacity to come and "inquire of Yahweh."
God's refusal is absolute. He will not play the part of a tame God. He will not be a spiritual consultant for a board of idolaters. His silence is a judgment. He then exposes their secret desire: "We will be like the nations, like the families of the lands, to minister to wood and stone" (v. 32). This is the heart of all apostasy. It is the desire for assimilation. It is the desire to be normal, to fit in with the world, to not be so peculiar. The modern church is riddled with this desire. We want to be respected by the world, to be seen as relevant and sophisticated. We want to be like the other nations. And God's answer is a thunderous "It will not happen." He will not allow His people to successfully apostatize. He will discipline, scourge, and scatter them, but He will not let them go. He will be King over them, even if it is a reign of judgment.
The Only Hope: For His Name's Sake
This is a bleak and brutal chapter. It is a mirror that shows us our own history, our own hearts. Generation after generation, grace is met with rebellion. So where is the good news? It is found in the one phrase that punctuates the entire history of failure: "But I acted for the sake of My name."
Our hope is not found in our ability to break the cycle of sin. Our hope is not found in our resolve to do better than our fathers. If that were the case, we would be utterly lost. Our only hope is found in the fact that God has bound His own reputation, His own glory, His own name, to the salvation of His people. He saves us not because we are lovely, but because He is jealous for His own honor.
This is the bedrock of the gospel. God's ultimate commitment is to His own glory. And the supreme act that He performed "for His name's sake" was to send His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the true Israel. He is the Son who never rebelled. He is the one who perfectly walked in God's statutes and kept His judgments. He is the one who honored the Sabbath. He is the one who lived by the law and did not die. And on the cross, He took upon Himself the wrath that we deserved for our generational idolatry, the wrath that God threatened to pour out in Egypt and in the wilderness.
And because of Christ, God does more than just relent for His name's sake. He promises later in this very book to give us a new heart, a heart of flesh, and to put His Spirit within us, causing us to walk in His statutes (Ezekiel 36:26-27). The only solution to the deep-rooted rebellion described in Ezekiel 20 is the supernatural, regenerating grace of God purchased by Christ. He does not just give us another chance. He gives us a new heart. And He does it all, from beginning to end, for the sake of His great name.