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Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Ezekiel 20:10-26

The history of the struggle between the sins of Israel, by which they endeavoured to ruin themselves, and the mercies of God, by which he endeavoured to save them and make them happy, is here continued: and the instances of that struggle in these verses have reference to what passed between God and them in the wilderness, in which God honoured himself and they shamed themselves. The story of Israel in the wilderness is referred to in the New Testament (1 Cor. 10:1-33; Heb. 3:1-19), as well as... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Ezekiel 20:12

Moreover, also, I gave them my sabbaths ,.... The Targum is, "the days of the sabbaths;' or sabbath days, the seventh day sabbaths, which recurring throughout the year are many; but, besides these, there were the year of remission, for the seventh year sabbath; and the jubilee year, the great sabbath of all, once in fifty years; yea, Kimchi thinks the feasts, such as the passover, &c.; are included: now these are distinguished from the statutes and judgments, or the precepts of the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 20:12

I gave them my Sabbaths - The religious observance of the Sabbath was the first statute or command of God to men. This institution was a sign between God and them, to keep them in remembrance of the creation of the world, of the rest that he designed them in Canaan, and of the eternal inheritance among the saints in light. Of these things the Sabbath was a type and pledge. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Ezekiel 20:12

Verse 12 Besides the law God here commends his Sabbaths, which we know to be only a part of His law: nay, whoever compares the commandments one by one, will at first sight perceive more weight in others than in the fourth. For what is the meaning of that commandment, You shall not have any strange god? You shall not make any idols? Afterwards, Do not take God’s name in vain? (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7.) I answer, that the Prophet takes one precept of the law the better to explain what I have... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:1-32

Unacceptable prayer. The exact date is given as a voucher for truthfulness. The prophet committed to writing at once what had occurred. The people are yet divided by distance—part dwell in Judaea and tart in Chaldea. In a spirit of vain curiosity the eiders of the exiled part approach the prophet to inquire after the destined fortunes and fate of their nation. Had they sought for guidance or help to amend their lives, their prayer had been successful. God does not pander to a spirit of... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:10-17

The memory of the wilderness of Sinai. The circumstances employed by the Most High to make Israel a nation were of the most marvellous and romantic kinds. Psalmists and prophets, nay, even Christian apostles and deacons, looking back upon the events of early Israelitish history, felt the fascination of the ancient story, of the emancipation from Egypt, and of the lengthened discipline of the wilderness, by which the tribes were welded into a nation and fitted for the possession of the land... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:10-26

God, and Israel in the wilderness. "Wherefore I caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt," etc. The chief teachings of this section of the chapter may be developed under the following heads. I. THE KINDNESS OF GOD IN HIS DEALINGS WITH HIS PEOPLE . This is brought into our notice in four respects. 1 . In the deeds which be wrought for them . "l caused them to go forth out of the land of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness." Their emancipation... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Ezekiel 20:12

I gave them my sabbaths, etc. As in Exodus 31:12-17 , the sabbath is treated as the central sign (we might almost say sacrament) of the Jewish Church, not only as a mark differencing them from other nations, but as between Jehovah and them , a witness of their ideal relation to each other, a means of making that ideal relation a reality. read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Ezekiel 20:10-26

The probation in the wilderness. The promise was forfeited by those to whom it was first conditionally made, but was renewed to their children.Ezekiel 20:11The “statutes” were given on Mount Sinai, and repeated by Moses before his death (Exodus 20:1 ff; Deuteronomy 4:8).In them - Or, through them: and in Ezekiel 20:13.Ezekiel 20:12See Exodus 31:13. The Sabbath was a sign of a special people, commemorative of the work of creation, and hallowed to the honor of Yahweh, the covenant-God. As man... read more

Joseph Benson

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Ezekiel 20:12

Ezekiel 20:12. Moreover, I gave them my sabbaths Including the weekly sabbaths, the sabbatical years, and all the solemn days of divine worship, in which no servile work was to be done: to be a sign between me and them A sign of their being peculiarly my people, and to distinguish them from all other people, as the worshippers of me, Jehovah, who in six days made heaven and earth, and all things therein, and rested the seventh day; and also of my delivering them out of their state of... read more

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