Called to Be Different

The charge against Jerusalem is not that they broke rules. It is that they copied the neighbours.
You have not walked in my statutes, God says, but have acted according to the rules of the nations around you. Heiser calls this an interesting statement within the divine council worldview - because Israel was meant to be the kingdom of priests designed to live in such a way as to attract the nations back to God.
Instead they chose to live like the nations already allotted to other powers. The vocation was inverted, and judgment follows in the next verse.
Scripture links:
- Ezekiel 11:12 - you have acted according to the rules of the nations around you.
Israel was not asked to be different for its own sake. It was asked to be different because somebody was supposed to be watching.