Ezekiel 20:3-4 — Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be enquired of by you. Wilt thou judge them, son of man, wilt thou judge them? cause them to know the abominations of their fathers:

Myra and I were talking about these verses in our devotional time today. “Why,” she asked, “did God need to tell them this? They were leaders, surely they knew what they had done?” Well it’s a good question.
When I reflected on it, I thought this was another example of how God shows His character. In this particular instance, God shows Himself as gracious judge and loving father.
I’m sure that, like me, you have seen plenty of occasions — real and fictional — when a judge passes sentence. Very often the judge will recite quite fully the offense for which the offender is being sentenced, and then to prescribe the sentence. There is a twofold point — to ensure that there can be no doubt as to why punishment is needed and of the justice of the penalty.
God is a different kind of judge however. He makes His remarks but provides, as it were, a “suspended” sentence. He’s not, as it were, going to bring the full force of His judgment on the repeating offenders — but He is withdrawing His favor.
It was the way that God tempers justice with mercy that reminded me of how He presents Himself as a loving father. Do you remember the passage in Hebrews?
“And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?” (Hebrews 12:5-7)
It has been argued that God’s refusal to counsel the elders of Israel on this occasion was His carrying out of their sentence. I’m not so sure. To me it seems more like a loving father saying “Look, they’ve come to me, but they’re not sincere are they? If they were sincere they’d give up their idols! Ezekiel, you tell them. Make it clear that they need to repent …”
It seems silly, in a way, to say it — but only God mixes perfect justice and perfect mercy. Only God is the father who truly disciplines with perfect love. To be truly effective both justice and discipline must be fully explained. So He does.