What the Laws and Rulings of Ezekiel 20:25 Mean

Ezekiel 20:25 is quite the notorious verse that can be seen as contradictory, confusing, or as a smoking gun that God doesn't like his own law, and that the commandments are now done away with. But what is the real meaning of this Old Testament verse? Let's examine this Scripture to see for ourselves that this is not talking about Biblical law or the commandments.

Let's take a look at what it says in the common NIV version:

"I gave them other statutes that were not good, and laws through which they could not live." -Ezekiel 20:25

This is an easy verse to pull out to say that the law is not good. Pastors and Bible commentary alike will use this verse as some sort of once and for all statement that Biblical law was not a good thing (God himself is talking in this passage!), and that, therefore, we are now free from the commandments.

But shouldn't this interpretation give us pause? God is talking here and he says that he gave us something that wasn't good? Does that mess with our "God is good, all the time" theology? Doesn't it sound like God is just being mean here? Didn't Jesus have a parable about not giving bad gifts? Why would YHWH give his people something that was not good?

If we look at other versions of this verse. We will see slightly different wording, that makes a significant difference.

"I gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live." -Ezekiel 20:25 NKJV

I gave them up to, reads very differently from I gave them. This is not talking about laws or statutes from the Living God, but something else entirely. If we back up and take a look at the context we will have a better idea of what is meant by this statement.

The bulk of Ezekiel 20 is YHWH himself speaking. Early on in this passage (in verse 5), he brings up Israel in Egypt. He goes on to say (verse 7) that when he brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery, he told them to throw away all idols and abominations. "But they rebelled against me and would not obey me." Up until verse 25, the whole chapter is about Israel rejecting God's laws in order to serve idols. In Ezekiel 20:24 it says, "They had not done my right rulings, they rejected my laws, and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were on their fathers' idols."

Because of this context, we can see that the laws and rulings referred to in verse 25 don't mean Biblical law or the Levitical priesthood laws. If we read verse 25 as a stand alone verse, you could make the argument that laws of men - whether religious or governmental - fit the bill, but that's not the point either. The laws and rulings were about the power of idols and the corrupted nature of human flesh. These were what God gave his people up to. This passage is absolutely not saying that Biblical law was bad or that it took away life. It's saying that the paths of idolatry and serving our own flesh cannot lead to life.

We know for sure Ezekiel 20:25 isn't talking about Biblical law and the commandments because of verse 11.

"I gave them my laws and showed them my right rulings, which if a man does, he shall live by them." -Ezekiel 20:11

YHWH said that if a man does his laws, he shall live by them. This is the opposite of verse 25's laws, by which people cannot live. Both verses cannot be talking about the same laws. We see that this whole chapter is about his people willingly choosing to participate in idol worship, in spite of express warnings he had given them about this. This fits with the words of Romans.

"Therefore God gave them over to the sinful desires of their hearts to disrespect their bodies among themselves, who changed the truth of Elohim into lies, and worshipped and served the created rather than the Creator...because of this God gave them over to degrading passions." -Romans 1:24-26

Here is a New Testament passage that agrees with the idea that God let his people pursue their own desires and that his people chose to worship things besides the Creator. These are the things that don't lead to life...not the word of God or his instructions for living.

Psalm 81:9-12 echoes this idea as well.

"You shall have no foreign god among you; you shall not worship any god other than me. I am YWHH your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it. But my people would not listen to me; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices."

Once again, idolatry and pursuing our own desires at the expense of God's word is what is not good, and which doesn't lead to abundant life. Ezekiel 20 tells us that not only are the rulings and laws of God right, but they help us to live! Not only do the words of Ezekiel 20:25 not mean that Biblical commandments are bad or cumbersome, but this passage fits with the rest of Scripture, from Old Testament writings to the words of the Messiah and the letters of Paul, in that it calls for humanity to do what God says.

"I am YHWH your God. Walk in my laws. Guard my rulings and do them, and set apart my Sabbaths." -Ezekiel 20:19-20

More on understanding the Old Testament:
Four Distinctions We Need to Make to Understand Scripture
What You Should Know about the Levitical Priesthood
What Were the Sins of Jeroboam?

Five Things Every Believer Should Know About Easter

Here are five things every Believer should know about Easter:

1. Easter is not mentioned in the Bible. Literally the word 'Easter' is not found in Scripture. If you have a version of where e-a-s-t-e-r appear and are not followed immediately by an N, that is a bad translation. The Greek word that some Bibles use for 'Easter' is pascha, which means Passover. Easter is a different word entirely. And is a separate, man-made holiday which is not interchangeable with Passover.

2. The Messiah was not killed or resurrected on Easter. He was killed on Passover and resurrected on First Fruits. While these happen around the same time of year, they're not the same. Christmas happens near New Years Eve, but no one would say those holidays are interchangeable or the same. Easter was never intended to accurately represent the time of the Messiah's crucifixion or resurrection. It is a simple change to make to reschedule celebrations of the death and the resurrection of the Messiah to their Biblically appropriate feast times.

3. Many of its traditions are expressly prohibited by Scripture. Reading through Ezekiel 8 one time as a teenager it was eerie to realize what was being described sounded exactly like every Easter Sunday church service I had attended. A sunrise service where the sanctuary was filled with unclean animals. Those bunnies that are used to decorate churches and Easter baskets are unclean animals and do not belong on the house of YHWH. Ezekiel 8:17 says that the sunrise service is a "disgusting practice." The traditional Easter ham dinner is forbidden by Scripture, and the idea of an egg-laying bunny is anathema when Scripture says that animals shouldn't be mixed.

4. Scripture does not tell us to celebrate Easter. Nowhere in the Bible does it give us instructions to celebrate Easter. We are not told to color eggs or to teach children about a gift-bearing bunny. Nor are we told to call the Messiah's resurrection day Easter. The Messiah did not celebrate it and neither did the Disciples or anyone else in Scripture. The Bible contains over 31,000 verses, ample space for someone to mention this holiday, but it never comes up! However from Moses to Paul Scripture tells us to celebrate Passover. Learn the difference here.

5. The compromise of Easter undermines faith. What happens when you exchange truth for a lie? Does it matter if you swap out Passover for Easter? Romans 1:28 tells us that this exchange leads to a "reprobate mind, to do what it improper, and being filled with wickedness." I know none of us want that for ourselves or our families, so that's why it's important that we pay attention to the details and do things the way Scripture instructs. There is enough hypocrisy among believers, it's time to stop pretending the traditions of Easter are in the Bible and instead celebrate the death and resurrection of the Messiah when it actually happened and how Scripture instructs. Refuse to compromise on truth.