“Polluted Before The Heathen”
Ezekiel 20
1. And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to enquire of the Lord, and sat before me.
2 Then came the word of the Lord unto me, saying,
3 Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you.
4 Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:
5 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God;
6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:
7 Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
8 But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
9 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt.
10 Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness.
11 And I gave them my statutes, and shewed them my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.
12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them.
14 But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out.
15 Yet also I lifted up my hand unto them in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands;
16 Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths: for their heart went after their idols.
17 Nevertheless mine eye spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness.
18 But I said unto their children in the wilderness, Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols:
19 I am the Lord your God; walk in my statutes, and keep my judgments, and do them;
20 And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.
21 Notwithstanding the children rebelled against me: they walked not in my statutes, neither kept my judgments to do them, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; they polluted my sabbaths: then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
22 Nevertheless I withdrew mine hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23 I lifted up mine hand unto them also in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the heathen, and disperse them through the countries;
24 Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols.
25 Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live;
26 And I polluted them in their own gifts, in that they caused to pass through the fire all that openeth the womb, that I might make them desolate, to the end that they might know that I am the Lord.
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After reading Ezekiel 20, I was speechless. I kept trying to wrap my head around all that was mentioned.
God, in relation to His people, was not only going to allow that which happened — He was even going to have an active hand in it.
And … He lays out in exact detail why they had brought it all upon themselves … in spite of all He had done for them.
Sooooooooo …
Does anyone else besides me see themselves in these verses? Or let me say it this way: It looks like you can get the people out of Egypt but it’s really difficult to get Egypt out of the people.
Fair assessment?
Let me offer a couple self-assessment questions:
*Are we still carrying Egypt around with us?
I trow yes.
*Have we, in all honesty, completely left Egypt behind?
I trow no.
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Before I read Ezekiel 20 this morning I asked God, as I always do, to speak to me and work within me. However, I wasn’t expecting to find myself in this chapter like I did.
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Hindsight is a great thing. I’m a great “Monday Morning Quarterback.” I can always tell everybody else what to do with great clarity (so I think). But not so with me.
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I read how God’s people in the past were so messed up and wonder how it’s possible …
Until …
A passage like this snaps my head around and makes me take a good hard look at my life.
And as I did, I found that in my own ways I am actually strolling right along in step with the people mentioned in the passage above.
No, I’m not like they were in every exacting detail. But, I do find myself in the narrative of verses — if not in action at least in spirit.
And … I’m not too pleased about that.
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When it comes to God’s name, He takes it very seriously. His name represents who and what He is and … since we bear His name He monitors us to make sure we are good representations on His behalf.
In order to do that He, for our sake and His, tries to make course corrections so we won’t shipwreck our lives and discredit His name beyond repair. And the truth is, even though we may be saved, we still have our old-man the flesh to contend with.
And sadly …
Our flesh seems to be alive and doing quite well. Therefore God, our loving Abba Father, steps into His role as disciplinarian to save us from our own self-implosion. ——
That just made me think of the third verse from the hymn: Come Thou Fount Of Every Blessing.
Oh, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee:
prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.
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Focal Point:
*We, just like every generation of God’s people, have wandering hearts that are prone to leave the God we love. That’s why this hymn was written. The author knew his own propensities and those of others.
*We must acknowledge our own propensities as well.
Why?
*For the purity of our own physical and spiritual well-being. Otherwise if we don’t, we risk the danger of becoming polluted like a stagnant body of water which is no longer of any use.
*For the purity of God’s name. None of us wants to devolve into a state where we potentially could pollute God’s precious name before the heathen.
And yes …
As in the days of Ezekiel, there are heathen in our midst needing of a drink from The Well of Living Waters.
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Concluding thoughts:
If we live, look, act, behave — in other words:
*If we aren’t much different than the average lost sinner we come in contact with …
*If, therefore, we’re tainting, polluting God’s name …
Then what?
Well then …
Nobody wants to drink from a bucket of pure well-water if it’s offered to them in a polluted ladle, do they?
Probably not.
Let’s allow the truth of God’s Word to filter out the impurities in our lives. Then we’ll be fit vessels able to offer a pure drink of water from the bucket of God’s salvation.
Unsaved people are in desperate need of:
A Few Good …
Unpolluted Bucket Ladles.
Is that you? Is that me? Can we HANDLE THE TRUTH of Ezekiel 20 in relation to who we are and what we are according to God’s assessment?