Ezekiel 20:25-26 – Did God command evil laws?

Problem: Ezekiel states, “I also gave them statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live; ²⁶ and I pronounced them unclean because of their gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire so that I might make them desolate, in order that they might know that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 20:25-26). Why would God command laws that “were not good”?

Solution: This doesn’t refer to God’s own laws, which are an expression of his perfect and moral nature. It is impossible for God to command evil, because his own moral nature prohibits this. Instead, these laws refer to the statutes of the nations. This is similar to Romans 1:24-28, where God says that he “gave them over” to their own depravity. Earlier in Ezekiel, we read, “Thus you will know that I am the Lord; for you have not walked in My statutes nor have you executed My ordinances, but have acted according to the ordinances of the nations around you” (Ezek. 11:12).

Posted by petra1000