Ezekiel 20:1-29 I will not be enquired of by you
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.
In the book of James we learn that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, but here we see there sins you can commit that are so heinous to God He will refuse to listen to you or be enquired of by you. This brings to mind the Lord saying “an evil and adulterous generation seeks a sign”. This chapter will elaborate on that. Because when the disciples asked the Lord for the sign of His coming He answered them in great detail.
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.
Quite simple, do you want God to be your God, do you want Him to hear your cry and answer you? Get rid of the abominations of your eyes and forsake the idols of Egypt. Give yourself wholly to the Lord. What is the apostasy? It is rebellion. What is it when people argue that some words of the Bible are out of date? It is rebellion.
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.
We have the word of God, we have the mighty things God has done, we have His Spirit and still God’s people rebelled.
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.
This reminds me of Hebrews where God swore that they should not enter into His sabbath rest.
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.
This reminds me of the old “it’s one, two, three strikes your out in the old ball game”. While in Egypt it was strike one, in the wilderness it was strike two.
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.
The Lord became furious, you can see with each offense His anger increased yet He withheld His hand so that His name would be hallowed. As Moses said, if He had released His fury the heathen would have said it is because He was unable to bring them into the land.
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.
Wow, bet you didn’t see that coming. If you get the Lord angry enough He will allow us to be led astray, we will get statutes that are not good, like Roe v Wade. You’ll get judgements that will make it hard for you to live like opening the border, mandating the vaccine, etc. The purpose of all this is to make us desolate because in the end that when we have come to the end of our rope only then will we know that Jesus is Lord.
27 Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me, in that they have committed a trespass against me. 28 For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to them, then they saw every high hill, and all the thick trees, and they offered there their sacrifices, and there they presented the provocation of their offering: there also they made their sweet savour, and poured out there their drink offerings. 29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name whereof is called Bamah unto this day.
That is right, same Bamah as Barak O Bamah. The name Barak means lightning and Bamah means high place. Barak O’Bama means lightning falling from a high place, just like the verse in the gospels. So many Christians blaspheming the Lord, justifying abortion, justifying the profane and vile laws. In the apostasy they don’t do what they ought to do and they have done what they ought not to have done.