{"id":74004,"date":"2020-05-03T10:26:20","date_gmt":"2020-05-03T07:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=74004"},"modified":"2023-11-27T02:11:12","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T00:11:12","slug":"points-to-ponder-ezekiel-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/points-to-ponder-ezekiel-20\/","title":{"rendered":"Points to Ponder – Ezekiel 20"},"content":{"rendered":"
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  1. A matter of time<\/em>. There is a date to this prophecy: \u201cIn the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month\u201d (v. 1), which is essentially the 9th of Av in the seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin. In about two years, the siege will begin; in four, the Temple will be destroyed. Ezekiel is already speaking of the return. But not in a very comforting way\u2026<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Bad laws<\/em>? According to verses 25-26, part of the punishment is God deliberately causing Israel to fail. This is not the first time this has happened in the Biblical text: that\u2019s how it was with Pharaoh (Exodus 7), and with the sons of Eli (I Sam. 2), and even according to Elijah (I Kings 18), that\u2019s what happened during Ahab\u2019s time. That might be what\u2019s happening now to the people. God has tricked the people with a law that he gave. According to the context, the issue was how to apply the law of the first-born – \u201cWhen they set aside every first issue of the womb, I defiled them by their very gifts\u201d (v. 26). Apparently the people interpret the law to mean sacrificing their children. And thus: \u201c I gave them laws that were not good and rules by which they could not live\u201d (v. 25). But there are also other interpretations.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. There\u2019s a desert on the way<\/em>. The Exodus from Egypt led through a desert. The return from the Exile will also go through a desert, \u201cthe desert [or wilderness] of the peoples\u201d (v. 35). And just like in the generation of the previous desert, the sinners will not reach the promised land.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. There are more right answers<\/em>. Why will Israel return from the Exile? According to this chapter, it\u2019s not because of merit – but the opposite. This is the way to deal with the deep sin, to judge the people, and only at the end of the long process, to achieve the necessary correction, and the awareness that \u201cI am the LORD.\u201d But that\u2019s not the only answer. We have already heard about the approach that speaks of love and mercy that accompany the redemption. Even Ezekiel will speak differently after the Destruction. 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