Ezekiel 20:16

“Because they despised my judgments, and walked not in my statutes, but polluted my sabbaths, &c.] Which were just causes of divine resentment and anger; (see Gill on “<262013>Ezekiel 20:13”); for their heart went after their idols; which they had served in Egypt; and that led them off from the true worship and service of God; no man can serve two masters; if he holds to the one, and his heart is towards him, he will despise the other; and yet these idols were no other, as the word signifies, than dunghill gods, as in (<262016>Ezekiel 20:16); and such are all worldly things, in comparison of God, that the heart of man is going after.”

“The special reason is stated by Moses (Num 13:32-33; Num 14:4) to be that they, through fear arising from the false report of the spies, wished to return to Egypt; the general reasons are stated here which lay at the root of their rejection of God's grace; namely, contempt of God and His laws, and love of idols. their heart--The fault lay in it (Psa 78:37).”

“The probation in the wilderness. The promise was forfeited by those to whom it was first conditionally made, but was renewed to their children. Ezekiel 20:11 The “statutes” were given on Mount Sinai, and repeated by Moses before his death (Exodus 20:1 ff; Deuteronomy 4:8). In them - Or, through them: and in Ezekiel 20:13. Ezekiel 20:12 See Exodus 31:13. The Sabbath was a sign of a special people, commemorative of the work of creation, and hallowed to the honor of Yahweh, the covenant-God. As man honored God by keeping the Sabbath holy, so by the Sabbath, God “sanctified” Israel and marked them as a holy people. Therefore to profane the Sabbath was to abjure their Divine Governor. Ezekiel…”

“they: Eze 20:13, Eze 20:14 for their: They still had a hankering after the idolatries they had learned in Egypt, to which they added new idols, which they had seen in countries through which they had travelled, as those of the Midianites, Amorites, etc. Eze 20:8, Eze 14:3, Eze 14:4, Eze 23:8; Exo 32:1-8; Num 15:39, Num 25:2; Amo 5:25, Amo 5:26; Act 7:39-43 Ezekiel 20:17”