John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 20:2-3

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Is it to inquire of me that ye are come? As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, I will not be inquired of by you." — Ezekiel 20:2-3 (ASV)

Here the Prophet is ordered to blame those elders, although they pretended to exceptional piety in inquiring of him: God says that they did not come with a right disposition. Many translate it differently—if I shall be found, or be entreated by you, or if I shall answer. Thus they understand the word, דרש, deresh, in a double sense: in the first clause, as meaning to seek or interrogate; but when "as I live, etc." is added, they do not understand the word to mean “to be sought” or “to be interrogated,” but “to answer” or “be entreated.” But this seems far-fetched, and in Ezekiel 14:3, a phrase quite similar to this was explained. From this we may gather that God is inveighing against the people’s hypocrisy rather than rejecting them and refusing to answer.

In that passage, the Prophet said that the elders came to consult him, as if they were his best disciples. But because Ezekiel might be deceived by that deceptive appearance, God confronts him and says, "Do you think that they come to inquire of me? They are fixed upon their idols, for their heart is towards them, and they raise their eyes to their own abominations": As I live, if they seek me, says he; that is, it is easy to convict them of bad faith when they come humbly to inquire of you.

For if they truly and sincerely sought me, they would renounce their idols and would no longer partake of their abominations; but they do not repent and remain obstinate in their wickedness. It is certain, therefore, that they are by no means sincere: there is no reason why you should delay them or trouble yourself about them, since their conduct is mere pretense.

So, therefore, in this passage God pronounced through his Prophet, Are you come to seek me?—that is, to consult me. I will not be inquired of by you, says he: the reason is because, as we saw in Ezekiel 14, they always remained the same. Since they were therefore at the greatest distance from God and remained wrapped up in their own abominations, their seeking God was only deceptive.

The conclusion is that God rejected them because, though they pretended to have a holy zeal, they were still perverse in their disposition. Hence, God refuses to act as a teacher towards them since they did not come to learn: this is one point. He then says, If I shall be inquired of by you.

And because their hypocrisy was disguised by various pretenses, God swears that their disposition was perverse, and that they did not come with pious and holy motives, and were neither teachable nor obedient, nor desirous of making progress, and therefore were unworthy of having him as their teacher. Now let us continue.