What is the meaning of Ezekiel 20:31? When you offer your gifts • Israel kept bringing offerings meant for the Lord, yet the formality was empty because the heart was corrupt (Isaiah 1:11-13; Amos 5:21-23). • The outward act of “gifts” could not mask inner rebellion; God always asks for obedience over ritual (1 Samuel 15:22; Micah 6:6-8). • Even today, external religion without genuine devotion remains offensive to God (Matthew 15:8). Sacrificing your sons in the fire • This refers to child sacrifice to Molech, a practice God had explicitly forbidden (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 12:31). • Such cruelty showed how far the nation had drifted; they adopted the darkest customs of the surrounding culture (2 Kings 16:3; Jeremiah 32:35). • The horror underscores that sin blinds and hardens, leading people to do the unthinkable while believing they are still religious (Romans 1:24-25). You continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day • Ezekiel delivered this message during exile, yet idolatry still persisted in hearts and homes (Ezekiel 14:3-5; 23:30). • Defilement was not a past event but an ongoing pattern; sin unconfessed compounds over time (Psalm 106:36-39; Hosea 4:17). • The phrase “to this day” warns that habitual sin, if unchecked, can become a generational stronghold (Exodus 20:5-6). So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? • God questions the logic of people seeking guidance while clinging to sin (Proverbs 1:28-30; Isaiah 59:1-2). • Unrepentant idolatry blocks fellowship; prayer becomes hypocrisy when hearts remain obstinate (Psalm 66:18; Ezekiel 20:3). • Genuine consultation with God requires surrender and repentance, not mere inquiry (James 4:8-10). As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you! • The solemn oath “as surely as I live” stresses the certainty of God’s refusal (Hebrews 6:13). • Divine silence is a grave judgment: when God stops speaking, disaster soon follows (1 Samuel 28:6; Lamentations 2:9). • Yet this refusal is disciplinary, meant to drive the people to repentance so the relationship can be restored (Ezekiel 33:11; Hosea 5:15). summary Ezekiel 20:31 exposes the hypocrisy of presenting offerings while committing the most detestable sins, including child sacrifice. God calls out the ongoing defilement of idolatry and declares that unrepentant hearts forfeit the privilege of His counsel. The passage warns that external worship cannot coexist with hidden rebellion; it urges genuine repentance so that fellowship with the living God can be renewed. |
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