Ezekiel 20:39-44 – To become who He has made us to be

In Ezekiel 20, we see that the people of Israel had been rebellious from the very start. Verses 5-9 describe their rebellion in Egypt. To deal with them, God then led them into the wilderness. Even there in the wilderness, they did not stop rebelling against God. Verses 10 -17 describe the rebelliousness of the first generation before verses 18-26 describe the same tendency of the second generation. According to verses 27-29, their rebelliousness continued in the promised land. The lives of God’s covenant people were marked by a series of disloyalty to their covenant Lord.

Even during the time of the Prophet Ezekiel, God had to deal with and judge His covenant people. Verses 30-32 show the present group as disloyal, much like their ancestors before them. As their King, the Lord in verses 33-38 says He would cause another exodus not to deliver them but to judge and purge them. After that, as their King, He would restore and set them on His mountains as described in 39-44.    

In our reflection on Ezekiel 20:39-44, we first sense God’s exasperation as Ezekiel spoke with the elders who came to inquire of him. In verse 39, God sarcastically challenged them in an irony. He was telling them not to pretend that they were worshipping Him when they were not. Hypocrisy, God asserted would multiply their sins.

When God had dealt with the people’s idolatrous tendencies in Babylon, those He had purged and those who had renewed their bond with Him would return to worship Him in Jerusalem. Their renewed life would lead them to live for God. Verses 40-44 look beyond the exile. They would return to the land and many things would be set in order between God and them. The house of Israel would then serve the Lord in faithfulness on the mountain, meaning Mount Zion. There the Lord would accept them, their worship, and the sacrifices they would offer to Him. He would show Himself holy to them by His presence. The renewed bond would cause them to regret their past. Then they would fully understand the Lord and His grace.  They would know that He dealt with them not according to their evil ways but according to His mercy and grace. Not to destroy them but to develop them. 

It is true that the grace of God will never leave us where we are but take us to where we should be. God’s dealing with His people is the story of what God wants to do for and through us. He wants to transform us so that we will truly know Him. As the gardener, God will prune and purge us to make us more fruitful. He does it not to destroy us but to help us become the person we should be in Him.