John Calvin Commentary Ezekiel 20:40

"For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things." — Ezekiel 20:40 (ASV)

God now directs His address to the elect, or the remnant in whom He wished His Church to survive. Until now He has spoken of the whole body of the people: He says, although He would free them from the hand of the Gentiles, yet that redemption would be only partial, because they would perish in the desert and never enjoy the promised land.

On the whole, He shows that those to whom a free return to their own country was given were no less strangers than if they had been exiles at the time and had always remained outlaws, since their impiety prevented their restoration. God now addresses the true Israelites, who were not only naturally descended from their fathers but were genuine and spiritual children, as Paul distinguishes between those sons of Abraham born according to the flesh and to promise (Romans 9:7–9).

For this reason it is also said in Psalm 73, And surely God is good to Israel—to those who are upright in heart. For the Prophet here asserts that God is gracious towards the Israelites; but since many hypocrites boast of being members of the Church, to correct them, he restricts the statement and does not count any as true Israelites except the upright in heart.

So the same thing is repeated in Psalm 15 and Psalm 24: Who shall ascend into the mount of the Lord? But the perfidious and the wicked mingled with the sincere worshippers; yet the Prophet excludes them from the list of the faithful, since he says that none should have a fixed station in God’s sanctuary unless they are sound in heart and clean in hand. In the same sense, the Prophet also formerly taught that although hypocrites proudly boasted of being God’s people, yet their names were not written in the secret catalogue of the righteous (Ezekiel 13:9).

We now see how well those things which seem inconsistent agree: namely, that the Lord’s redeeming Israel from the tyranny of the Gentiles would not profit them, and yet that they would come into the mountain of Israel and worship Him sincerely. Israel is presented here in a twofold light: for many were Israelites in name, but here the Prophet is treating of the elect, whom Paul calls a remnant of grace (Romans 11:5).

In the mountain, he says, of My holiness, in the lofty mountain of Israel. He does not call the mountain high because it was loftier than others, for we know that there were many lofty mountains in the land of Judea, and Zion was only a small hill; but we have elsewhere seen that it was preferred to lofty mountains because it excelled in dignity.

Here our Prophet does not regard the height of Mount Zion, but the singular glory with which it was adorned; as if he had said that God resided there, and His glory shone forth over all the loftiness of the world. Meanwhile, I do not doubt that this epithet is obliquely opposed to the high places, which were consecrated everywhere, as we saw before.

Since, therefore, the people had erected altars in all kinds of elevated places, here God opposes one lofty mountain to all these, whose height had deceived those wretched men who, when they were there, thought themselves nearer to heaven. This, therefore, is why He calls it a high mountain.

He says, there shall the whole house of Israel worship Me, the whole, I say, in the land. It is not surprising that the whole house of Israel is mentioned here without exception, because, as I have said, the Prophet does not include all those who boasted of that title, but he only means the pure worshippers of God, who were the spiritual children of Abraham.

But here God describes the agreement in faith among all the faithful, as if He had said that the people would be renewed and would not follow various speculations, as they formerly wandered, each after his own superstitions, but that there would be one common rule for all. So we are taught by this passage that our worship does not please God unless we are committed to a simple agreement of faith and the celebration of His name with our mouths.

The impious often subscribe to different modes of belief, but they have no regard for God. But here we must hold the principle that God cannot be worshipped unless the doctrine of His law flourishes. The whole house of Israel, I say, in the land. He signifies by these words that the whole land of Israel, so long contaminated by much filth, would be so sacred that only the pure and perfect worship of God would be seen there.

In the land, then, purged from all defilements by which it was before polluted, He adds a promise: There will I be propitious to you. We formerly saw that all the people’s sacrifices were rejected, and for one reason: because they mixed them with their own inventions. Now, God pronounces that He would be propitious to them, because He will be purely worshipped, and His service will no longer be vitiated by the perverse comments of men.

We see here, therefore, that God’s pleasure or favor is accompanied by a detestation of all superstitions, as we have often mentioned before. Therefore, just as God abominates whatever is added to the simple teaching of the law, so He asserts that He will be propitious where He is purely worshipped according to the law.

He adds, and there will I require your oblations: the person is changed, but the sense flows on readily. He says, I will require your oblations; He mentions one kind of oblation, but He includes them all, as will be seen at the end of the verse.

Although I confess that two different kinds of offering are signified by the words תרומה, theromeh, and תנופה, thenopheh, they are yet often taken for any kind of offering when used separately, a part being put for the whole, as I have said.

He says, then, that the offerings were pleasing to Him, and He implies this by the word "requiring," because we have seen that the people’s gifts were refused when corrupted by foreign superstitions, and God is said to exact the gifts which He approves.

And the first-fruits of your gifts, He says—that is, the flower or excellence of your gifts—in all your sanctifications—that is, in all My worship.

It signifies, on the whole, that when the Israelites devote themselves to the simple doctrine of the law, their obedience is so pleasing to God that their gifts please Him, their offerings are taken into account, and their whole worship is accepted.