Ezekiel 20:32

The Judgment Awaiting Israel of Purification among the Heathen Eze 20:32. And that which riseth up in your mind shall not come to pass, in that ye say, We will be like the heathen, like the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone. Eze 20:33. As I live, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah, with strong hand and with outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I rule over you. Eze 20:34. And I will bring you out of the nations, and gather you out of the lands in which ye have been scattered, with strong hand and with outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, Eze 20:35. And will bring you into the desert of the nations, and contend with you there face to face. Eze 20:36. As I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so will I contend with you, is the saying of the Lord Jehovah. Eze 20:37. And I will cause you to pass through under the rod, and bring you into the bond of the covenant. Eze 20:38. And I will separate from you the rebellious, and those who are apostates from me; out of the land of their sojourning will I lead them out, but into the land of Israel shall they not come; that ye may know that I am Jehovah. - העלה על רוּח, that which rises up in the spirit, is the thought that springs up in the mind. What this thought was is shown in Eze 20:32, viz., we will be like the heathen in the lands of the earth, to serve wood and stone; that is to say, we will become idolaters like the heathen, pass into heathenism. This shall not take place; on the contrary, God will rule over them as King with strong arm and fury. The words, "with strong hand and stretched-out arm," are a standing expression in the Pentateuch for the mighty acts by which Jehovah liberated His people from the power of the Egyptians, and led them out of Egypt (cf. Exo 6:…

In this chapter, I. The prophet is consulted by some of the elders of Israel (Eze 20:1). II. He is instructed by his God what answer to give them. He must, 1. Signify God's displeasure against them (Eze 20:2, Eze 20:3). And, 2. He must show them what just cause he had for that displeasure, by giving them a history of God's grateful dealings with their fathers and their treacherous dealings with God. (1.) In Egypt (Eze 20:5-9). (2.) In the wilderness (v. 10-26). (3.) In Canaan (Eze 20:27-32). 3. He must denounce the judgments of God against them (Eze 20:33-36). 4. He must tell them likewise what mercy God had in store for them, when he would bring a remnant of them to repentance, re-establish them in their own land, and set up his sanctuary among them again (Eze 20:37-44). 5. Here is another word dropped towards Jerusalem, which is explained and enlarged upon in the next chapter (Eze 20:45-49).

20:32-38 As in the past, Israel’s rebellion had led to God’s limited judgment, so that they were once again scattered among the nations. Earlier history made it clear that judgment would not be the end of the story, as the honor of God’s name required that he fulfill his promises despite his people’s sin. • Israel could never be like the nations all around . . . who serve idols of wood and stone (20:32). God had chosen them to be his and he would bring them back into the wilderness in a new exodus. It was not unmitigated good news, for a whole generation died in the wilderness after the first Exodus because of their sin. God would also judge and purge this generation in the wilderness, and those who were rebels, refusing to obey the Lord, would never enter the land of Israel. The wilderness of the nations would be their final resting place.