Ezekiel 20

In this chapter we again hear God telling the leaders of Israel that He will no longer listen to there inquiries toward Him (v.3). Why? because of their hypocrisy. He follows in verses 5-29 by giving a historical breakdown of Israel and their continual refusal to live according to the covenant they had made with Him, showing them how they have always continued on in their abominations and idolatry. Yet, God has always been longsuffering toward them. Now, however, He states that He is done listening. In verses 30-32 God asks them the direct question, "are you continuing on in the sins of your father's"? He knows that they are, so He tells them He will not hear them. 

God, as always, does not leave them with a hopeless message. He reveals to them in the rest of the chapter how He'll restore Israel to purity through His judgments. He will remove all of those who practice evil. He'll cause them to realize how defiled they've become. 

There are a couple verses in this chapter that jump out at us as Sabbath keepers. They are almost a repeat of each other. These verses are verses 12 and 20. Both verses refer them back to "My Sabbaths" and that they are "a sign between Me and you". In verse 12 He says, "that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them." God is here reminding Israel that He gave them a Sabbath that they might always remember their God and what He has done for them, that He is the one Who sanctifies them and provides for their every need, and that they can rest in Him. Also, that they are His special, peculiar people. The Sabbath was a sign to symbolize just that. 

We still today have that special sign between us and our God. It is a weekly reminder of our great Creator and that we can do nothing of ourselves. He is the one who sanctifies us. He is the one Who has set us apart to be His peculiar people. You see, Israel was a nation who supposedly followed the God Jehovah, but in verse 32 God makes this statement about them, "What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, 'We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.'" We have to ask ourselves this same question, do we proclaim the name of God yet choose to still live like everyone around us? Do we still do the things that unbelievers do? Or do we observe the Sabbath for the right reasons, because God has called us out to be His special people who do not conform to the things around us and therefore keep the Sabbath as a sign of our gratefulness and commitment to Him, a sign that we know that He is the Lord our God.