Chapter 20 of Yechezkel is one of the great chapters of rebuke in the book: a historical scroll of reckoning that the Holy One, Blessed be He, lays before the elders of Israel, from the day He chose the nation in Egypt down to the prophet's own time. The chapter opens with elders coming to inquire of Hashem, and it immediately becomes clear that this is not an inquiry seeking guidance, but an attempt to evade responsibility. From here on, the prophet details the chain of rebellions: in Egypt, in the wilderness, among the generation of the children, and in the Land; and he delivers the response to their claim that the Holy One, Blessed be He, had supposedly abandoned them and therefore no longer had any claim against them. In this lesson, we will follow the order of the opening pesukim, guided primarily by the commentaries of the Malbim, Rashi, and the Radak.
וַיְהִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַשְּׁבִיעִית בַּחֲמִשִׁי בֶּעָשׂוֹר לַחֹדֶשׁ בָּאוּ אֲנָשִׁים מִזִּקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לִדְרֹשׁ אֶת־יְהֹוָה וַיֵּשְׁבוּ לְפָנָי׃ - And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that men of the elders of Israel came to inquire of Hashem, and sat before me.
Yechezkel specifies an exact date: the seventh year, the fifth month, the tenth day of the month. Men from the elders of Israel come to inquire of Hashem, sitting before him to ask questions. The true nature of their request quickly becomes clear. Rashi explains that "to inquire of Hashem" here refers to praying for their needs; and they came with a claim: if He does not listen to us, then neither should we be punished for the sins we commit.
And what was the foundation of their claim? Chazal say: they told him, He has already sold us, so He has no hold over us. Once the Holy One, Blessed be He, has sold us, what more can He demand of us? And they offered a parable: a servant whose master sold him, or a woman whose husband divorced her - does either one have any claim on the other? If a man divorces his wife and later comes and says to her, "You are betraying me" - what betrayal could there be? She is divorced, and what connection do you still have to her? So they claimed: the Holy One, Blessed be He, complains against us that we are unfaithful and worship idols, but He divorced us, exiled us, and sent us away; so what grievance can He still hold against us for not keeping His commandments? To this claim there is an explicit answer in the words of the prophet: "Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, with which I sent her away?" and likewise later in this chapter: "And that which enters your mind shall not come to pass" - all of which we will see as a refutation of their arguments.
The Malbim cites the Abarbanel: Yehoyachin was exiled eleven years before the destruction of the Temple, and at the beginning of the fifth year of his exile, Yechezkel experienced his first vision. From that point on, until the Churban, he was shown a vision and prophetic sight concerning the Jewish people each year. The Malbim adds that although other prophecies came as well, at the start of each year Yechezkel would receive one prophetic vision.
In the seventh year, the Holy One, Blessed be He, orchestrated for the elders to come, and this was on the tenth of the fifth month - the month of Av. Now, the main burning of the House of our God took place on the tenth; we mourn on the ninth because the catastrophe began toward evening on the ninth, but the majority of the conflagration was on the tenth. It turns out, then, that the date we are dealing with here is the day of the Churban itself, years before it was destroyed. It was precisely on this day that they came to him, asking him to pray for the Beis HaMikdash not to be destroyed, and the Holy One, Blessed be He, responded that He would not accept their prayer nor allow Himself to be inquired of by them.
In Seder Olam it is taught that these were Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah. However, according to the Malbim's explanation in Chapter 14, this refers to wicked elders, not the righteous among the Jewish people. The righteous are termed "the elders of Yehudah," whereas here the text states "the elders of Israel." In Yehudah there were entire eras of those who served Hashem; by contrast, in Israel, ever since Yarov'am, there was never a period of true servants of Hashem: all their kings were wicked, and the leadership and conduct of the people followed the path of wickedness. Therefore, when "the elders of Israel" are mentioned, it refers to those who acted wickedly, whereas righteous leaders are called "the elders of Yehudah." According to this explanation, the people coming to present their arguments are specifically the wicked ones, which aligns with the words of Chazal that they came and claimed: if Hashem has abandoned us and driven us away, what grievance can He still hold against us? He has forsaken us, so we may do whatever we please.
וַיְהִי דְבַר־יְהֹוָה אֵלַי לֵאמֹר׃ בֶּן־אָדָם דַּבֵּר אֶת־זִקְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם כֹּה אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה הֲלִדְרֹשׁ אֹתִי אַתֶּם בָּאִים חַי־אָנִי אִם־אִדָּרֵשׁ לָכֶם נְאֻם אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה׃ - And the word of Hashem came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, Thus says the Lord Hashem: Are you coming to inquire of Me? As I live, I will not be inquired of by you, says the Lord Hashem.
"Are you coming to inquire of Me?" - Did you truly come to inquire of Me? For your intention is not to inquire of Hashem; your intention is not to know His ways and understand His conduct, like that request of "Make known to me Your ways" in order to walk in His paths. Your intention is merely to lighten your burden, to make allowances for yourselves. Therefore, "As I live, if I will be inquired of by you" - I will not be inquired of by you to answer your questions, for you have no genuine desire to draw close to Hashem, blessed be He.
Rashi raises a striking point here: here it says, "As I live, if I will be inquired of by you," whereas later in the book it says, "I will let Myself be inquired of by the house of Israel" - meaning that the Holy One, blessed be He, will indeed respond to them. How is this possible? Rashi explains: this is one of the places that teach us that the Holy One, blessed be He, relents from evil. Concerning something good, the Holy One, blessed be He, never retracts, except for one case brought in the Gemara; but concerning bad - "and Hashem relented of the evil," and regarding such matters it is said, "Did He say and will He not do?": the Holy One, blessed be He, said and will not do, when it is something bad. Even though it is a decree from Heaven, and even though "He said," ultimately He will not do it. This is a tremendous novel insight, since "As I live" is the language of an oath; yet we see that even with an oath there is a circumstance where the Holy One, blessed be He, relents, when the oath is for harm. "If I will be inquired of by you" was for harm, and in the end the Holy One, blessed be He, changed His stance and let Himself be inquired of by them.
הֲתִשְׁפֹּט אֹתָם הֲתִשְׁפּוֹט בֶּן־אָדָם אֶת־תּוֹעֲבֹת אֲבוֹתָם הוֹדִיעֵם׃ - Will you judge them, will you judge, son of man? Make known to them the abominations of their fathers.
Targum translates "Will you judge them" as "Will you rebuke them" - that is: do you wish to rebuke them for their evil deeds? And not only that, but also make known to them the abominations of their fathers - that this anger is not from today; their fathers angered Me long ago.
The Malbim explains that they came to the prophet with two possibilities: either to inquire of Hashem, or that the prophet himself should judge them according to the laws of the Torah. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: If they are not coming to inquire of Hashem, but only that you judge them - "Will you judge them, son of man," from the perspective that you are a human being, you will be the judge and judge them. For judgment according to the laws of the Torah was given to man on earth, and it is according to his intellect and his knowledge of Hashem's Torah, not according to prophecy. "Make known to them the abominations of their fathers" - inform them that they strayed from the path already from the days of their fathers. That is to say: had they come to seek Me and mend their ways, I would have given you a prophecy for them, and I would have spoken with them and taught you how to lead them on the proper path and straighten their ways in My service. But since this is not the reality, and instead they come to raise claims and have no desire to know the ways of Hashem, then you, as a human being, rebuke them for their corrupt deeds and the deeds of their fathers.
וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵיהֶם כֹּה־אָמַר אֲדֹנָי יֱהֹוִה בְּיוֹם בׇּחֳרִי בְיִשְׂרָאֵל וָאֶשָּׂא יָדִי לְזֶרַע בֵּית יַעֲקֹב וָאִוָּדַע לָהֶם בְּאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם וָאֶשָּׂא יָדִי לָהֶם לֵאמֹר אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם׃ - And you shall say to them: Thus said the Lord Hashem: On the day I chose Israel, and lifted My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, and lifted My hand to them, saying, I am Hashem your God.
From here the words of rebuke begin: already from the day I chose Israel, from the time I chose the Jewish people and sent them prophets - and the prophets were Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam - already from then you did not listen and did not accept My words. And as we will see further on, already at the time when I lifted My hand to take them out of the land of Egypt, I told them, "Cast away, every man, the abominations of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt," yet "they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me." Already in Egypt I had rebuke against you; already there I sent My prophets and you did not listen.
If so, why did the Holy One, blessed be He, take them out of Egypt anyway? The Midrash says: this resentment was suppressed before the Omnipresent for nearly nine hundred years, from those who were in Egypt until the days of Yechezkel, and His love covered over them. Because Hashem's love was great, His love covered over it and He continued to sustain them, to redeem them, to give them the Torah, and to bring them into the Land of Israel. But now, when they sinned excessively, that resentment was aroused - that very resentment from back then. And regarding this it is said, "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions": the animosity of now stirs up the ancient strife, whereas when there is love, love covers all transgressions.
This is a very familiar dynamic: when two people quarrel, and a confrontation arises between a husband and wife, and now something stirs up anger, they start remembering: "What you did to me after the wedding," "and what your mother told me after the Sheva Berachot" - married for thirty years, and everything is still remembered! The woman keeps ledgers and remembers everything, because woman was created from bone, and bone cannot be erased or rubbed out; man is from dust, so one can bring water, wash it away, and it is gone, but woman is from bone and it is engraved. The same is true here: the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them, the anger you arouse now awakens the ancient anger, for already from long ago I approached you with words of rebuke through My prophets, and you did not listen.
"And I lifted My hand" - Radak explains that this is the language of an oath: I swore to them to give the land, to give it to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and to give it to the seed of Yaakov, who are their children - that same nation that was in Egypt. "And made Myself known to them" - I became known to them through the prophets I sent to them.
The Malbim explains that there are two distinct matters here. "On the day I chose Israel" - this refers to the aspect of chosenness: the Holy One, blessed be He, saw Israel's virtue, that they were worthy of the resting of the Shechinah and of having the Divine presence cling to them. "To the seed of the house of Jacob" - this is from the perspective of being Jacob's offspring: even if they themselves were not entirely worthy, after all is said and done they were the descendants of the holy Patriarchs, and I had sworn and bound Myself to the Patriarchs to redeem their children. Corresponding to these two matters came the two halves of the verse: corresponding to "on the day I chose Israel" - from the perspective that you possessed virtue and were worthy of Divine Providence and the Divine presence - comes "and I made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt," meaning that the Divine presence was revealed to you and I sent Moses to you to perform signs and wonders for you. And corresponding to "and lifted up My hand to the seed of the house of Jacob" - from the perspective of the holy Patriarchs - comes "and lifted up My hand to them, saying, I am the Lord your God," meaning that I have already long been the Lord your God, from of old, to be a God unto you.
בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא נָשָׂאתִי יָדִי לָהֶם לְהוֹצִיאָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם אֶל־אֶרֶץ אֲשֶׁר־תַּרְתִּי לָהֶם זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ צְבִי הִיא לְכׇל־הָאֲרָצוֹת׃ - On that day I lifted up My hand to them, to bring them forth from the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey; it is the glory of all lands.
"I lifted up My hand to them" - I swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, that is, to the land that I had chosen and scouted for them, the finest of lands. "Tzevi" (glory) signifies splendor and desirability, and also derives from the word for will or desire (ratzon) - something that one desires and covets. And what is the special desirability of the land? Radak explains: because it occupies the central climate zone, which is superior to all other regions, and its climate is temperate and better than that of all lands.
Some people say: If Hashem loved us so much, why didn't He place us in Switzerland? Look at those mountains, look at all that green! But when did you visit Switzerland? In the summer. Have you ever tried being there in the winter? It is like stepping into a freezer for more than half the year. True, it is lovely to visit in the summer, everything is green after the snow melts, the air is pleasant, it lacks the sweltering heat of a New York or Israeli summer, and it is not for nothing that Rebbes travel to Davos; but how many months does that last? Beyond that, for the rest of the year, people there can barely step outside their homes. Merely visiting a place, seeing it, and declaring "how beautiful" is not enough.
In contrast, the Land of Israel lies in the middle climate zone, which is superior to all other regions, and its climate is temperate and better than that of all lands. How many countries have a dry, desert-like, tropical climate at one end and snowy weather at the other - all within a stretch of land merely a few hundred kilometers long? In such a compact space, you have Eilat on one end and Mount Hermon on the other. The winter here is not harsh, the summer is not unbearable, the climate is temperate, and the crops that can be grown here span every variety: desert crops from the Arava on one hand, and cold-climate produce on the other, such as apples in the Golan Heights. Thus, it is indeed a land flowing with milk and honey, "it is the glory [tzevi]." Moreover, "tzevi" also connotes desire and covetousness - everyone desires it; and one can see how intensely nations have coveted it throughout history. What do they have to look for here? Rather, everyone seeks the center of the Middle East, the Land of Israel, which serves as a crossroad between continents. "It is the glory of all lands" - a place that everyone desires and seeks. Targum Yonatan translates "tzevi" as "tushbechta," the most praiseworthy of all lands. And all of this applies on a physical level, not to mention the spiritual virtues found in the Land of Israel that exist in no other land: the sanctity of the Land, the atmosphere of the Land of Israel ("avira d'Eretz Yisrael"), and "the eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year."
The Malbim explains that ever since He brought them out of Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, took them under His direct individual Providence: He brought them out with signs and wonders, brought them to the land He had scouted for them, all through complete Divine Providence. And He says: Behold, I took this nation like the planting of a grapevine, to plant it in the most special place, in the Land of Israel, which flows with milk and honey; and I provided all your physical needs so that you would be free solely to serve Hashem - every man under his vine and under his fig tree, with their hearts entirely devoted to His service, just as it was in the days of Solomon and in the days of Hezekiah.
וָאֹמַר אֲלֵהֶם אִישׁ שִׁקּוּצֵי עֵינָיו הַשְׁלִיכוּ וּבְגִלּוּלֵי מִצְרַיִם אַל־תִּטַּמָּאוּ אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם׃ - And I said to them: Cast away every man the detestable things of his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt; I am the Lord your God.
And who told them this back in Egypt? Rashi explains: Aaron prophesied to them even before the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed Himself to Moses at the burning bush. This is what Moses meant when he said, "Send, I pray You, by the hand of him whom You will send" - send by the hand of the one You are accustomed to sending, who has been sent up until now, namely Aaron. We learn this even more explicitly from what the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Eli: "Did I plainly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt?" - that I revealed Myself to your father's house, to the house of Aaron, while they were in Egypt. Aaron prophesied to the people of Israel while still in Egypt, and Aaron was older than Moses. Radak likewise writes: He told them through the prophets they had in Egypt prior to Moses; while some of our Sages maintain that this refers to Moses himself, and according to this, it was a prophecy delivered through Moses.
And why did the verse specifically mention "the detestable things of his eyes" - what is the connection between detestable idols and the eyes? Radak explains: because the eyes lead a person to sin, as it is stated, "and that you seek not after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you go astray." Likewise, it is said later in this chapter, "for their heart went after their idols," and "their eyes were after their fathers' idols." Our Sages say: the eye and the heart are the two agents of sin. An agent (sarsor) is an intermediary: the eye and the heart broker the sin to the organs of action. The eye sees, the heart covets, and the limbs carry it out. It follows that were it not for the eye, a person would not be drawn to sin at all, for every attraction begins with seeing. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, says, "My son, give me your heart," and the Midrash adds: if you give Me your eyes, you are Mine, you belong to Me. For without the eyes, a person does not wander, does not look, is not drawn, and does not lust. But when a person walks about and looks - "Look at that new car he bought," "Did you see that he added another story to his house?" - all this seeing causes him to begin craving, desiring, and longing; and above all, forbidden sights of immorality and the like. Therefore, "cast away every man the detestable things of his eyes" - cast away the abominations of the eyes, the eyes that stray after detestable things. "And do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt" - the "gilulim" refers to the idolatry of Egypt; do not defile yourselves with them, for they were immersed in the idols of Egypt and engaged in their idolatry.
The Malbim explains that the Holy One, blessed be He, made a condition with them: from now on they were to be holy unto their God and not be like the rest of the nations of the world, and this holiness had to encompass two areas. First, to sanctify themselves in deed, for matters of idolatry were accompanied by indulgence in immorality. We have already explained previously that wherever idolatry is mentioned, immorality is mentioned alongside it - "your harlotries." And why? The Vilna Gaon (Gra) explains: we have a tradition that wherever there was idolatry, there was also a house of prostitution, and the pagan priests would draw worshippers to idolatry through licentious celebrations. If you observe Hashem's commandments you are restricted, whereas in idolatry everything is permitted and liberal, and in this way they would entice people to come to them. That is why one frequently finds the link between promiscuity and idolatry. Thus, "cast away every man the detestable things of his eyes" - that they not be drawn after the immorality associated with the eyes. And the second matter is "and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt," which refers to the actual practice of idolatry itself, the belief in falsehood and vanity. The Malbim clarifies that both "shikutzim" (detestable things) and "gilulim" (idols) represent idolatry, but the difference is that "shikutzim" are images that arouse licentiousness and promiscuity - statues and figures fashioned to incite lust, which is why it says "the detestable things of his eyes" - while "gilulim" are the actual idols of worship. This holds true wherever "shikutzim" and "gilulim" are mentioned together.
וַיַּמְרוּ־בִי וְלֹא אָבוּ לִשְׁמֹעַ אֵלַי אִישׁ אֶת־שִׁקּוּצֵי עֵינֵיהֶם לֹא הִשְׁלִיכוּ וְאֶת־גִּלּוּלֵי מִצְרַיִם לֹא עָזָבוּ וָאֹמַר לִשְׁפֹּךְ חֲמָתִי עֲלֵיהֶם לְכַלּוֹת אַפִּי בָּהֶם בְּתוֹךְ אֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃ - But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me; every man did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them, to spend My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.
A brief grammatical note before the explanation: "לְכַלּוֹת אַפִּי בָּהֶם" (to spend My anger against them) - here the letter beit has a dagesh, even though elsewhere it is weak (rafeh). The rule is that a letter of the beged kefet group at the beginning of a word takes a dagesh, and if the preceding word ends with one of the open vowel letters (alef-hei-vav-yud), it causes the dagesh to drop - but all this applies only when the words are linked by a conjunctive cantillation mark. Here, there is a disjunctive accent (ta'am mafsik) on "אַפִּי", and therefore the vowel letter does not cancel the dagesh, so the dagesh remains in the letter beit.
And regarding whom was it said, "But they rebelled against Me" in Egypt? Rashi explains: the wicked, who constituted the vast majority of Israel, who died during the three days of darkness. Concerning this it says, "And the Children of Israel went up armed (chamushim) out of the land of Egypt" - one out of five according to the most conservative view; some say one out of fifty, and some say one out of five hundred. At any rate, certainly not everyone who was in Egypt left, and if not everyone left, it follows that the majority remained behind. And how large was this majority? Even according to the most conservative estimate - eighty percent. It turns out, therefore, that it is exceedingly accurate to say, "But they rebelled against Me and would not listen to Me": eighty percent of the people of Israel refused to listen, and they perished during the three days of darkness.
The Malbim notes a precise distinction: "They rebelled against Me" - what I commanded them not to do, they went and did. "And would not listen to Me" - what I commanded them to do, they did not heed and did not perform. Both elements are present here. "Every man did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes" - "detestable things" (shikutzim) refers to corrupt deeds of immorality, concrete actions in practice, and these they did not cast away. "Nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt" - "idols" (gilulim) refers to heresy, for they believed in the idolatry of Egypt, and this they did not abandon.
"Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them, to spend My anger against them" - and what is the difference between wrath (chemah) and anger (af)? The Malbim has already explained this distinction several times: chemah is internal, whereas af is external. Just as rage (ketzef) is manifest outwardly, so is af; as in "and his wrath (chamato) burned within him" - chemah is internal. But af is external, for when a person becomes enraged, his nostrils flare and become heated, as in the expression "For a fire is kindled in My nostril (be'api), and it burns to the depths of Sheol." When both internal wrath and outward fury combine - "to pour out My wrath upon them, to spend My anger against them" - then total destruction ensues, an absolute annihilation in the midst of the land of Egypt.
וָאַעַשׂ לְמַעַן שְׁמִי לְבִלְתִּי הֵחֵל לְעֵינֵי הַגּוֹיִם אֲשֶׁר־הֵמָּה בְתוֹכָם אֲשֶׁר נוֹדַעְתִּי אֲלֵיהֶם לְעֵינֵיהֶם לְהוֹצִיאָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרָיִם׃ - But I acted for the sake of My Name, that it should not be desecrated in the sight of the nations among whom they dwelt, in whose sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
And what prevented this destruction? The Holy One, blessed be He, says: Despite all this, "I acted for the sake of My Name" - I acted so that My Name would not be desecrated, "that it should not be desecrated in the sight of the nations among whom they dwelt." For if I do not redeem them, My Name will be desecrated in the eyes of the nations in whose midst they live. And why? "In whose sight I had made Myself known to them" - I made Myself known to them, to the people of Israel, before the eyes of the nations. The nations heard from the prophets that the Holy One, blessed be He, promised repeatedly to redeem the people of Israel; and suddenly they would see that He does not redeem them, and they would say: He is weak, He lacks the power. Those prophecies that were delivered - the nations heard them as well, for as we noted, there were prophecies while they were still in Egypt. And what was the content of that promise? "To bring them out of the land of Egypt" - I pledged to bring them out. Consequently, so that My Name would not be desecrated, I am, so to speak, obligated to redeem them now.
Radak explains that prophets had already been promising to bring them out even before Moshe Rabbeinu, peace be upon him - such as Aharon and others who prophesied to them previously. Radak adds: but once Moshe Rabbeinu came to them on God's mission, they did not persist in their evil deeds. That is, unlike what we saw earlier, Radak holds that from the moment Moshe arrived to prophesy, they no longer continued in their corrupt ways, and everything described here refers to the period prior to his arrival. His proof is the verse, "And the people believed; and when they heard that Hashem had remembered the Children of Israel" - meaning they believed Moshe on account of the signs he performed before their eyes, which the earlier prophets had not done.
Yet Radak himself adds that he does not disregard the words of our Sages, who record that even after Moshe Rabbeinu came to them on God's mission, there were still wicked individuals among them who did not repent of their evil ways. Indeed, it is mentioned here that they died during the three days of darkness, and after the darkness there were further plagues - culminating in the plague of the firstborn. And what was said right before it? "Draw out and take for yourselves sheep" (Shemot 12:21), which Chazal expound as: "Draw your hands away from idolatry." Thus, even when the time came to take sheep for the Pesach offering, they still needed to be warned about idolatry. Furthermore, even after they withdrew from it, when they reached the sea, what did the sea argue against them? "These are idolaters and those are idolaters!" And what did Michah bring with him deep into the sea? The idol. It turns out that even as they stood on the shore of the sea and walked through the sea, the taint of idolatry still accompanied them.
Rather, it seems we must explain that this is a matter of proportions and degrees. When speaking here of the wickedness in Egypt, it refers to the eighty percent who died in the darkness. Afterwards, the twenty percent who remained were certainly purified on an entirely different level. Granted, they still had to be told, "Draw your hands away from idolatry," but this was not on the same level as the eighty percent who preceded them. Within that twenty percent, there were still some who had a slight lingering attachment to idolatry, which is why it was necessary to say "draw your hands away" - it did not say to them, "Do not worship idols," which would imply that they were actively worshiping, but merely that they should withdraw their hands. And when they reached the sea, where immense merit was required for the waters to split, it was enough that a few individuals held onto idolatry, or that they were not completely purified of it, for the sea to argue that they were unworthy. The proof is that only one idol, the idol of Michah, crossed through the sea; we do not find that any other idolatrous objects crossed through the sea with the rest of them. The others simply were not completely purified of it - but this is not comparable to the earlier state of "every man did not cast away the detestable things of their eyes," where eighty percent actively worshiped idols. Here we are dealing with different levels, entirely different quantities and percentages, and different spiritual degrees, which is why they are considered two distinct situations.
The elders of Israel come to Yechezkel on the very day of the future destruction, not to seek Hashem and mend their ways, but to argue that the Holy One, Blessed be He, has already cast them out and no longer has any claim upon them. To this, the Holy One, Blessed be He, responds, "As I live, I will not be inquired of by you," and commands the prophet to judge them using human reason and to make known to them the abominations of their ancestors. From here, the rebuke unfolds: from the day Israel was chosen - a choice based both on their own virtue and on their being the seed of the house of Yaakov - Hashem revealed Himself to them in Egypt, swore to bring them out to the finest and most praiseworthy of lands, and commanded them to cast away the detestable things of their eyes and not defile themselves with the idols of Egypt. Yet they rebelled and spurned Him; they did not cast them away, nor did they forsake them, until His wrath was nearly poured out upon them within Egypt - and only "for the sake of My Name," so that Hashem's Name would not be desecrated in the eyes of the nations who had heard the promise of redemption, did He redeem them. From this we learned how great the power of sight is to give birth to sin, how closely intertwined immorality and idolatry are, and how much chessed is contained in the conduct of "Shall He say and not do?" - that the Holy One, Blessed be He, relents from decreeing harm.