how the culture has molded the Israelites into their mold. Just like in today's time, our culture has molded us into its mold in the way we think a lot. And we probably need to change a lot of ways of our thinking. When you come to Ezekiel 19, which we've already gone over, we've looked at how there's no hope in trusting those that are left in Judea. There's no hope in trusting King Zedekiah. The exiles are basically left, according to Ezekiel, what he said. There's no human hope. No hope. So, when you come to chapter 20 and verse 1, what you see there, there's a date given. It says, It came to pass in the seventh year and the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, as certain of the elders came to inquire of the Lord and sat before me. Here's a time frame. It's around July or August of the year 591 B.C. The last time a date was given was back in chapter 8 in verse 1, if it's written in chronological order. That means in 11 months, that was back in 590 B.C., 11 months have transpired from chapter 8 all the way to chapter 20. That's 11-month time period. and the elders are coming to ask of the Lord. They want to inquire of the Lord. They want to ask the Lord a question. Now, what are they going to ask Him? What's on their mind? You know what? The Word of God don't reveal it because it's not important. The Lord don't want to hear their questions. Notice what he says in verse 2 and 3. Then came the Word of the Lord unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. Are you coming? To inquire of me as I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired by you." You're coming to ask a question of me? I'm not going to let you ask a question from me, is what he says. Boy, that's pretty bold. That's kind of stunning when you think maybe they were going to ask, how long are we in exile? What's our hope? Where is our hope at? What should we be looking for? What God basically says, you're not going to ask me no questions. I'm the one that sets the agenda. I am the one who's in control. John Calvin wrote of this passage of Scripture. He said, God saw their lack of holy desires to know and do God's will. Therefore, God says, no answer, no questions. In Jeremiah 29, which was a contemporary right there with Ezekiel, down in verse 13, God says, you shall seek me and find me when you shall search for me with all of your heart. Only at that point, and that's true today, will God hear our questions. When we seek Him, that's when we'll find Him, when we search with all of our heart. Don't expect answers if you're flippant. And don't expect answers if you're like these, if you're lacking holy desires to know and do God's will. What Ezekiel is told to do, he's told in basically reviews of history. Look back over time. Look at what God has done and look at what you have done. In verse 4, "'Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers.'" Let them know what's happened. Say unto them in verse 5, "'Thus saith the Lord God, in the day when I chose Israel.'" In other words, these are my covenant people. I make covenant with them. and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up my hand unto them, saying, I am the Lord your God." He had a relationship with them. And all the way down to verse 10, he's going to talk about their history when they were in Egypt. Now, we'll read over these verses, and notice what it says when they were in Egypt. In the day that I lifted up mine hand, in verse 6, unto them, to bring them forth out 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 the lands, 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." While the children of Israel were in Egypt, notice here, and I believe this is the only time I've noticed it in God's Word, while they were in Egypt, they had adopted the false gods of the Egyptians. And God told them, don't defile yourselves with them. And it says in the very next verse, they rebelled against me. In other words, they took unto them all the images of the culture and they sucked in the culture. And the culture molded them into the shape that culture was in. Just like today, our culture is molding us and shaping us. They rebelled against me. They wouldn't listen to me. They did not, every man, cast away the abomination of their eyes. Neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, I'm going to pour out my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt." Now, here is just the first setting that he's showing. These people, the Israelites, instead of desiring God's promise, they wanted to get comfortable with the culture. They wanted to trust in these gods and make these gods their gods. They deserved God's wrath, didn't they? But notice what God does in verse 9, but I wrought, or I worked. God says, here's what I did. They deserved my wrath, but I worked for my name's sake. And let me tell you, this is why God works, and this is why God works in your life, my life. Why he does what he does, he does it for his namesake, 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. Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the wilderness. They deserved God's wrath. What did God do? God delivered them. That's a little unusual, but notice the reason he did it. He did it for the glory of his name and the glory of his promise. God's name was at stake. The people deserved death and punishment, the wrath of God. But God defended his great name, so he brought them out of Egypt. Now, the next section, what it does, it covers the children of Israel in their history, the timeframe when they're in the wilderness. God delivered them from Egypt, but he brought them through the wilderness. Now, this section covers verses 10 through 26. And notice here, as this part's given, it says that God gave them a rulebook, the standard to live by. Notice what it says in verse 11, "'And I gave them My statutes, I showed them My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.'" Here's how you ought to live. You go by this, you live. This is how you should be living. It's what God's telling them. He's giving them instructions. "'Moreover, also I gave unto them My Sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctified them.'" I'm the Lord that separates you and sets you apart. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness." Now, they rebelled in verse 8. Here, in verse 13, they're rebelling again. They rebelled in Egypt. They're rebelling in the wilderness. You remember what they did in the wilderness? Right after they got out of Egypt, they built that golden calf. You know what? That was one of the false gods of the Egyptians. And they kept it in their minds So the imagery was made before them in the wilderness. They rebelled against me in the wilderness. They walked not in my statutes. They despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them. Here's how you should live, as God's saying. My Sabbaths they greatly polluted. Then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness to consume them. Here, he makes the same comment. And you know what they also did? They committed sexual immorality. You find that Bel-Pior, and thousands of them died. What was their response? They rebelled against God. And what you find in verse 14, how God worked. How did God work? He worked the same way He did back in verse 9. I worked for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted for the heathen in whose sight I had brought them out." In other words, God's wrath was not poured out upon him like he could have poured out, but he worked for his name's sake. 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 the lands. God's working mercifully toward these sinners. He's showing grace just like He shows me and you continually. Here God says, I'm not going to bring you into the land, because you despise my judgments and walk not in my statutes, you pollute my Sabbaths. For their heart went after the idols. Nevertheless, mine eyes spared them from destroying them, neither did I make an end of them in the wilderness." That generation. They produced another generation. That other generation come up in verse 18. Here is that next generation. And what was their response? God said to them, to the children that come up in the wilderness. Walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the Lord your God. Walk in my statutes. Keep my judgments. Do them. Hallow my Sabbaths. They shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. Notwithstanding, how do they respond? The children rebelled against me." Do you notice the consistent behavior here? They walked not in my statues, neither keep my judgments unto them, which if a man do, he shall live in them." Here's how you're supposed to live. But they polluted my Sabbaths. Then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness. How did God work? Nevertheless, I withdrew mine hand and worked for my namesake. You notice the consistency of God's mercy and grace. God's consistently defending his name. That it should not be polluted in the sight of the heathen, in whose sight I brought them out. God delivered them in front of all these nations. They rebelled against God, but God defended his great name. In verse 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, because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, polluted my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their father's idols. Wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live. God's going counteractive to them here. I polluted them in their own gifts, and that they caused to pass through the fire all that opened the wound." In other words, they began sacrificing their children to false gods. And God polluted their gifts, that I might make them desolate to the end that they might know that I am the Lord. God gave them the law, but the law condemned them. God told them they're doing wrong. This child sacrifice. If you can think about it, if you put yourself back in that culture in that day and time, what would they offer false gods? You think about it, they would offer the false gods the best thing they could think of to try to appease the false gods. What was the best thing that they had? The best thing they had was their children. Boy, I'm going to offer my kids up. Now, maybe they perverted the Word of God. Maybe they looked at when Abraham was called to offer up Isaac, and maybe they twisted the Scripture to think, maybe I should offer up my child. You remember God said to the children of Israel, the first ones that come forth from the womb, they are to be unto the Lord. Now, that wouldn't mean to kill them, but maybe they twisted the Scripture to meet their false gods and try to appease God at the same time. They perverted religions, what they did, into fleshly desires. Look at verse 27, "'Therefore, son of man, speak unto the house of Israel, saying to them, Thus saith the Lord God, Yet in this your fathers have blasphemed me.'" They blasphemed God, in that they have committed a trespass against me. They offered sacrifices to the Baal and Asherah, the Canaanite gods and goddesses. You remember, these are the ones God drove out of the land because of their ungodly practices, and they're coming in and they're changing and they're bringing in the ungodly practices. Wow! Verse 28, "'For when I had brought them into the land, for the which I lifted up my 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 savor and poured out their drink offerings.' And then in verse 29, God said unto them, "'This is a high place whereinto ye go.' The name thereof is called Bama, What is bema? It means high place, unto this day. Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Are you polluted after the manner of your fathers, and commit your whoredom after their abominations? For when you offer your gifts, when you make your sons to pass through the fire, you pollute yourselves with all your idols, even unto this day. And shall I be inquired of you? You're going to ask me questions, O house of Israel? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of you. I'm not going to hear your questions. and that which comes into your mind shall not be at all. That, you say, we will be as the heathen, as the families of the countries to serve wood and stone." You see what they're saying? I'm going to be like the other countries. I'm going to be like the other nations. I'm going to be like the other cultures. These cultures were molding them into their mindset. And you know what? Isn't that what God's warned us against over in Romans chapter 12? Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. How are we conformed to this world? You know what a good illustration of this is? You ever make Jell-O? You put it in a mold and you make that Jell-O a certain shape? We visited the Kentucky chocolate candy place today. Boy, they got boxes of molds. They make candy in all kinds of shapes. Fascinating. They let you sample it, too. Can you tell? It was good stuff. But you know what they were doing with those molds? They were shaping something into the shape they wanted it in, and that's what the culture does with people today. That's why God warns, even in the New Testament, be not conformed to this world. Don't let it put you into its mold. but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, which only comes through the Word of God." The culture was forming them into a worldly mold. It seems like they never learned from God's blessings, God's mercies, His promises, His guidance, all of His judgments. It seems like they just didn't get it. There was a cycle of rebellion. You see that? There's Egypt, then there's the wilderness, then it keeps on going. But you know what? There's a book written just that does the same thing in the book of Judges. You remember how they were gone into bondage? They cried unto God. God delivered them by a great judge. He ruled for a short time. He died. They went back into sin. They went back into bondage. That cycle goes all through the book, over and over. And here, it was like a microcosm of the whole history of Israel. It's kind of like a small picture of it. Why does God not just smite them? Why does God's wrath just not come down upon them? You know, he's already mentioned it three times. I work for my name. God works to bring glory to his name. Here's why God's work continues the same way. Here's why you and I are not destroyed, totally consumed, is because God works to bring glory to his name. And you know what? He respects the promise that he made, the covenant that he's made. In verses 29 through 32, you see the idolatry. You see the rebellion. In verse 32, you see how they wanted to be like others. In verse 33, all the way down to verse 44, what you have is kind of a future picture. And in this future picture, different people would translate it or interpret it in different ways. But what it's simply saying, God's going to deliver again. In the same fashion that he brought Israel out with the exodus, God's going to deliver in a mighty way. Notice it says in 33 and 34. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand and with a stretched-out arm and with fury poured out will I rule over you. I will bring you out from the people. I will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered with a mighty hand and a stretched-out arm with fury poured out." God's going to deliver in a mighty way again is what he's saying. God's going to deliver. Then you get in verses 35 through 38. This is another future thing, I believe. Some people put it all the way to the end of time. I believe it goes into the New Testament. The Lord starts His kind of church. As He starts that kind of church, the gospel starts to go forth. And notice it says, I'm going to bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord God. I will cause you to pass under the rod. What does it mean to cause to pass under the rod? Think back with me. They were shepherds back in that day and time. They kept sheep. You know how they kept sheep when they put them in the sheepfold at night? They would pass under the rod one sheep at a time. They'd go under the rod. You know what they were doing? They were counting to make sure they got all the sheep. You know what? God's going to make them pass under the rod. You know what God says? He's not going to lose near one. He's got them all. He knows each and every one of us by name. And not one's going to be missing, and not one's going to lose their salvation. Not one of them's going to die and go to hell. He says, I will cause you to pass under the rod. I'll bring you into the bond of the covenant. I will purge out from among you the rebels. What about those that are Rebelling. What about those that are transgressors? He says, I'm going to bring them forth out of the country where they sojourned. They shall not enter into the land of Israel. You shall know that I am the Lord God. In other words, there's no way they're going to make it. If they rebel and they're disobedient, it shows they're not God's sheep. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God, Go ye, serve every one his idols, and hereafter also, if you will not hearken unto me, but pollute ye my holy name no more with your gifts and with your idols. For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, All of them in the land serve me. There will I accept them. There will I require your offerings, the first fruit of your oblations. With all your holy things, I will accept you with your sweet savor. When I bring you out from the people and gather you out of the countries wherein you've been scattered, I will be sanctified in you before the heathen." God's delivering those sheep. They're coming in. The gospel goes forth. God brings his sheep in. And you remember your ways, all your doings wherein you've been defiled, you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that you have committed." As people are called with the Gospel, you know what? Those that are genuine, they hate their evil ways. They've turned from their sins. They loathe the evil that they used to do. Look back at your life. If you've been born again, don't you hate the evil ways that were in your past? Here's that remnant God's saving. You shall know that I am the Lord when I have worked with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, not according to your corrupt doings. O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God. The only worship that God will accept is when those line up with God concerning His salvation. And you know who's exalted in salvation? It's Jesus Christ. And only as we line up with Him, that's the only worship that's accepted. Here is the remnant. You know what? God has called us. And He's the one that's keeping us. And it's only because of His mercies and grace, just like to those in the Old Testament, That's the only reason we're kept. It's because of the promise of God. May we cherish His promises. May we cherish that more than what the world has to offer. The Israelites wanted what the world had to offer. There's a lot of people in our day and time want what the world has to offer. May we cherish the precious truth of God's Word. as it's found in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Let's have a word of prayer. Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we do pray that it would find lodging in our hearts. And Lord, we pray that Your Word, we would cherish the promises, and ultimately the promise of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, may our worship be acceptable unto You. We ask that you'd help us not to be rebellious. Lord, we ask that you'd help us to walk in your ways. Forgive us where we failed you. Guide us by your Spirit. Give us sight to see your working for your great namesake. Give us understanding. Lord, as we go through this life, help us to see your mighty hand at work. that we will give you glory for it, for you alone are worthy. For Christ's sake, amen. You are dismissed.