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Ezekiel 20:33
Verse
Context
Judgment and Restoration
32When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.33As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you. 34With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered.
Sermons
Art KatzArt KatzArt Katz
John F. WalvoordSummary
Commentary
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Here begins the second division of the prophecy. Lest the covenant people should abandon their distinctive hopes and amalgamate with the surrounding heathen, He tells them that, as the wilderness journey from Egypt was made subservient to discipline and also to the taking from among them the rebellious, so a severe discipline (such as the Jews are now for long actually undergoing) should be administered to them during the next exodus for the same purpose (Eze 20:38), and so to prepare them for the restored possession of their land (Hos 2:14-15). This was only partially fulfilled before, and at the return from Babylon: its full and final accomplishment is future. with a mighty hand, . . . will I rule over you--I will assert My right over you in spite of your resistance (Eze 20:32), as a master would in the case of his slave, and I will not let you be wrested from Me, because of My regard to My covenant.
John Gill Bible Commentary
As I live, saith the Lord God,.... The form of an oath; the Lord swears by his own life, used more than once before; it supposes something of moment, and the certain performance of it: surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm; from which none can escape, and which none can withstand: and with fury poured out: like floods of water, in a violent hasty shower of rain; it denotes the abundance of divine wrath, and the sudden and sure execution of it: will I rule over you; not in a gentle and merciful way, but with great rigour and severity; though they had contrived to withdraw themselves from under his domination and government, by joining with the Gentiles, and conforming to their laws and customs, and complying with their religious rites and idolatrous practices; yet they should not be able to accomplish their designs; they should be so far from being free men, as they promised themselves, that whereas they did not choose to be his voluntary and faithful subjects, he would keep a watchful eye and a strict hand over them as rebels, and rule them with a rod of iron, as well as with a sceptre of righteousness; and would be King over them, and they should be subject to his authority, whether they would or not.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
The design which was now on foot among the elders of Israel was that the people of Israel, being scattered among the nations, should lay aside all their peculiarities and conform to those among whom they lived; but God had told them that the design should not take effect, Eze 20:32. Now, in these verses, he shows particularly how it should be frustrated. They aimed at the mingling of the families of Israel with the families of the countries; but it will prove in the issue that the wicked Israelites, notwithstanding their compliances, shall not mingle with them in their prosperity, but shall be distinguished from them for destruction; for idolatrous Israelites, that are apostates from God, shall be sooner and more sorely punished than idolatrous Babylonians that never knew the way of righteousness. Read and tremble at the doom here passed upon them; it is backed with an oath not to be reversed: As I live, saith the Lord God, thus and thus will I deal with you. They think to make both Jerusalem and Babylon their friends by halting between two; but God threatens that neither of them shall serve for a rest or refuge for them. I. Babylon shall not protect them, nor any of the countries of the heathen; for God will cast them out of his protection and then what prince, what people, what place, can serve to be a sanctuary to them? God was Israel's King of old, and had they continued his loyal subjects he would have ruled over them with care and tenderness for their good, but now with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over them, Eze 20:33. That power which should have been exerted fore their protection shall be exerted for their destruction. Note, There is no shaking off God's dominion; rule he will, either with the golden sceptre or with the iron rod; and those that will not yield to the power of his grace shall be made to sink under the power of his wrath. Now when God is angry with them, though they may think that they shall be lost in the crowd of the heathen among whom they are scattered, they will be disappointed; for (Eze 20:34) I will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, as, when the rebels are dispersed in battle, those that have escaped the sword of war are pursued and brought together out of all the places whither they were scattered, to be punished by the sword of justice. They shall be brought into the wilderness of the people (Eze 20:35), either into Babylon, which is called a wilderness (Eze 19:13), and the desert of the sea (Isa 21:1), or into some place which, though full of people, shall be to them as the wilderness was to Israel after they came out of Egypt, a place where God will plead with them face to face, as he pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of Egypt (Eze 20:36), - where their carcases shall fall and where he will swear concerning them that they shall never return to Canaan, as he did swear concerning their fathers that they should never come into Canaan, - where he will avenge the breach of his law with as much terror as that with which he gave it in the wilderness of Sinai. Note, God has a good action against apostates, and will find not only time, but a proper place, to plead with them in upon that action, a wilderness even in the midst of the people for that purpose. II. Israel shall be no more able to protect them than Babylon could; nor shall their relation to God's people stand them in any more stead for the other world than their compliance with idolaters shall for this world; nor shall they stand in the congregation of the righteous any more than in the congregation of evil-doers; for there will come a distinguishing day, when God will separate between the precious and the vile; he will cause them, as the shepherd causes his sheep, to pass under the rod, when he tithes them (Lev 27:32), that he may mark which is for God. God will take particular notice of each of them, one by one, as sheep are counted, and he will bring them into the bond of the covenant (Eze 20:37); he will try them and judge of them according to the tenour of the covenant, and the difference made between some and others by the blessings and curses of the covenant. Or it may refer to those among them that repented and reformed; he will cause them to pass under the rod of affliction, and, having done them good by it, he will bring them again into the bond of the covenant, will be to them a God in covenant, and use them again as heirs of promise. 1. He will separate the wicked from among them (Eze 20:38): "I will purge out from among you the rebels, who have been a grief and scandal to you, and who have by their rebellions brought all these calamities upon you." The judgments of God shall find them out, and their naming the name of Israel shall be no shelter to them. They shall be brought out of the countries where they sojourn, and shall not have that rest in them which they promised themselves. But they shall not enter into the land of Israel, nor enjoy the benefit of that rest which God has promised to his people. Note, Though godly people may share with the wicked in the calamities of the world, yet wicked people shall have no share with the godly in the heavenly Canaan; but it shall be part of the blessedness of that world that they shall be purged out from among them, the tares from the wheat, the chaff from the corn, Eze 13:9. But wherever these idolaters of the house of Israel were contriving to worship both God and their idols, thinking to please both, God here protests against it (Eze 20:39), as Elijah had done in his name: "If the Lord be God, then follow him, but, if Baal, then follow him; if you will serve your idols, do, and take what comes of it; but then do not pretend relation to God and a religious regard to him, nor pollute his holy name with your gifts at his altar." Spiritual judgments are the sorest judgments. Two of that kind of judgments are threatened in this verse against those that were for dividing between the God of Israel and the gods of the nations: - (1.) That they should be given up to the service of their idols. To them he said ironically, "Since you will not hearken unto me, go you, serve every one his idols, now that you think it will be for your interest, and hereafter also. You shall go on in it. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone; let him take his course, and see what he will get by it at last." Note, Those who think to serve themselves by sin will find in the end that they have but enslaved themselves to sin. (2.) That they should be cut off from the service of God and communion with God: "You shall not pollute my holy name with your vain oblations, Isa 1:11. You bring your gifts in your hands, wherewith you pretend to honour me, but at the same time you bring your idols in your hearts, and therefore you do but pollute me, which I will not suffer any more," Amo 5:21, Amo 5:22. Note, Those are justly forbidden God's house that profane his house. 2. He will separate them to himself again. (1.) He will gather them in mercy out of the countries whither they were scattered, to be monuments of mercy, as the incorrigible were gathered to be vessels of wrath, Eze 20:41. Not one of God's jewels shall be lost in the lumber of this world. (2.) He will bring them to the land of Israel, which he had promised to give to their fathers; and the discontinuance of their possession shall be no defeasance of their right; it is the land of Israel still, and thither God will bring them safely again, Eze 20:42. (3.) He will re-establish his ordinances among them, will set up his sanctuary in his holy mountain, which is here called the mountain of the height of Israel; for, though the Mount Zion was none of the highest mountains, yet the temple there was one of the highest honours of Israel. It is promised that those who preserved their integrity, and would not serve idols, in other lands, shall return to their prosperity and shall serve the true God in their own land: All of them in the land shall serve me. Note, It is the true happiness of a people, and a sure token for good to them, when there is a prevailing disposition in them to serve God. Whereas God had forbidden the idolaters to bring their gifts to his altar, of these he will require offerings and first-fruits, and will accept them, Eze 20:40. What he does not require he will not accept, but what is done with a regard to his precepts he will be well pleased with. He will accept them with their sweet savour, or savour of rest (Eze 20:41), as being very grateful to him and what he takes a complacency in; whereas, to hypocritical worshippers, he says, I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. (4.) He will give them true repentance for their sins, Eze 20:43. When they find how gracious God is to them they will be overcome with his kindness, and blush to think of their bad behaviour towards so good a God: "There, in my holy mountain, when you come to enjoy the privileges of that again, there shall you remember your doings, wherein you have been defiled." Note, The more conversant we are with God's holiness the more we shall see of the odious nature of sin. There you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight. Note, Ingenuous evangelical repentance makes people loathe themselves for their sins, as Job 42:5, Job 42:6. (5.) He will give them the knowledge of himself: They shall know by experience that he is the Lord, that he is a God of almighty power and inexhaustible goodness, kind to his people and faithful to his covenant with them. Note, All the favours we receive from God should lead us into a more intimate acquaintance with him. (6.) He will do all this for his own name's sake, notwithstanding their undeservings and ill-deservings (Eze 20:44); he has wrought with them, that is, wrought for them, wrought in favour of them, wrought in concurrence with them, they doing their endeavour; he has wrought with them purely for his name's sake. His reasons were all fetched from himself. Had he dealt with them according to their wicked ways and their corrupt doings, though they were the better and sounder part of the house of Israel, he would have left them to be scattered and lost with the rest; but he recovered and restored them for the sake of his own name, not only that it might not be polluted (Eze 20:14), but that he might be sanctified in them before the heathen (Eze 20:41), that he might sanctify himself (so the word is); for it is God's work to glorify his own name. He will do well for his people that he may have the glory of it, that he may manifest himself to be a God pardoning sin and so keeping promise, that his people may praise him, and that their neighbours may likewise take notice of him, as they did when God burned again their captivity, Psa 126:3. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them.
Ezekiel 20:33
Judgment and Restoration
32When you say, ‘Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,’ what you have in mind will never come to pass.33As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you. 34With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered.
- Scripture
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Span-12 Art's Testimony
By Art Katz1.3K1:10:08TestimonyISA 43:1EZK 20:33ACT 17:27EPH 1:17REV 12:11In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the evangelization of the Jewish people. He challenges the idea of following a formula or step-by-step approach in witnessing to Jews, emphasizing that it is a matter of ultimate importance, just like preaching. The speaker shares his personal experience of encountering a man who spoke profound truths and a simple girl who demonstrated the light of God, leading to his own salvation. He also references biblical passages that highlight the significance of reaching out to the Jewish people and the need to see things as God sees them.
Russ-02 израиль ицарст
By Art Katz58052:20IsraelEZK 20:33In this sermon, the speaker discusses the theme of morning, sadness, sorrow, and everlasting joy. He references Ezekiel chapter 20, verse 33, to emphasize that in the midst of crisis, people can meet God face to face. The speaker explains that God can be in many places at the same time through the church in the nations, which should show forth His face and not just religious responsibility. He highlights the importance of the church in fulfilling the restoration of all things spoken by the prophets, particularly the restoration of the nation back to God. The speaker concludes by urging the audience to embrace their mandate as the church and participate in the prophetic event of God's ruling from the holy hill of Zion.
Russ-03 будущего кризи
By Art Katz48947:18IsraelEZK 20:33EZK 36:26AMO 9:9MAT 25:41MAT 25:44In this sermon, the speaker discusses the power of God's word and the role of the Son of Man in prophesying. The speaker emphasizes the importance of trusting in the power of God's life and not relying on our own cleverness. They also highlight the concept of being dead with Christ and experiencing newness of life. The sermon concludes with a prayer for strength and a reminder to prioritize the spirit over the mind.
Part 9: Amillennial Eschatology
By John F. Walvoord0EZK 20:33MAT 25:312CO 5:92PE 2:4REV 20:4REV 20:11John F. Walvoord delves into the influence of amillennialism on eschatology, highlighting the stark contrast it poses to premillennial eschatology. He discusses the diverse systems within amillennialism, such as modern liberal theology, Roman Catholic theology, and conservative Reformed theology, emphasizing the lack of unity within amillennialism on major issues. Walvoord explores modern liberal eschatology's rejection of a future millennial kingdom on earth and its spiritualizing approach to Scripture, contrasting it with Roman Catholic eschatology's more literal interpretation of judgment, resurrection, and ultimate bliss for the saints.
Why Do the Jewish People Continue to Suffer?
By Denis Lyle0EZK 20:33Denis Lyle preaches on the ongoing suffering of the Jewish people, attributing it to both the power of Satan, who hates the Jewish race for bringing the Savior into the world, and the refining purpose of God to prepare Israel for the Messiah. The sermon delves into the detailed prophecy in Daniel 11, highlighting the accuracy of the predictions that have been fulfilled throughout history, showcasing God's omniscience and control over future events. The passage emphasizes the agony of the Jewish nation, the authority of the Lord over history, and the importance of living life for God rather than earthly treasures.
- Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
- John Gill
- Matthew Henry
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
Here begins the second division of the prophecy. Lest the covenant people should abandon their distinctive hopes and amalgamate with the surrounding heathen, He tells them that, as the wilderness journey from Egypt was made subservient to discipline and also to the taking from among them the rebellious, so a severe discipline (such as the Jews are now for long actually undergoing) should be administered to them during the next exodus for the same purpose (Eze 20:38), and so to prepare them for the restored possession of their land (Hos 2:14-15). This was only partially fulfilled before, and at the return from Babylon: its full and final accomplishment is future. with a mighty hand, . . . will I rule over you--I will assert My right over you in spite of your resistance (Eze 20:32), as a master would in the case of his slave, and I will not let you be wrested from Me, because of My regard to My covenant.
John Gill Bible Commentary
As I live, saith the Lord God,.... The form of an oath; the Lord swears by his own life, used more than once before; it supposes something of moment, and the certain performance of it: surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm; from which none can escape, and which none can withstand: and with fury poured out: like floods of water, in a violent hasty shower of rain; it denotes the abundance of divine wrath, and the sudden and sure execution of it: will I rule over you; not in a gentle and merciful way, but with great rigour and severity; though they had contrived to withdraw themselves from under his domination and government, by joining with the Gentiles, and conforming to their laws and customs, and complying with their religious rites and idolatrous practices; yet they should not be able to accomplish their designs; they should be so far from being free men, as they promised themselves, that whereas they did not choose to be his voluntary and faithful subjects, he would keep a watchful eye and a strict hand over them as rebels, and rule them with a rod of iron, as well as with a sceptre of righteousness; and would be King over them, and they should be subject to his authority, whether they would or not.
Matthew Henry Bible Commentary
The design which was now on foot among the elders of Israel was that the people of Israel, being scattered among the nations, should lay aside all their peculiarities and conform to those among whom they lived; but God had told them that the design should not take effect, Eze 20:32. Now, in these verses, he shows particularly how it should be frustrated. They aimed at the mingling of the families of Israel with the families of the countries; but it will prove in the issue that the wicked Israelites, notwithstanding their compliances, shall not mingle with them in their prosperity, but shall be distinguished from them for destruction; for idolatrous Israelites, that are apostates from God, shall be sooner and more sorely punished than idolatrous Babylonians that never knew the way of righteousness. Read and tremble at the doom here passed upon them; it is backed with an oath not to be reversed: As I live, saith the Lord God, thus and thus will I deal with you. They think to make both Jerusalem and Babylon their friends by halting between two; but God threatens that neither of them shall serve for a rest or refuge for them. I. Babylon shall not protect them, nor any of the countries of the heathen; for God will cast them out of his protection and then what prince, what people, what place, can serve to be a sanctuary to them? God was Israel's King of old, and had they continued his loyal subjects he would have ruled over them with care and tenderness for their good, but now with a stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over them, Eze 20:33. That power which should have been exerted fore their protection shall be exerted for their destruction. Note, There is no shaking off God's dominion; rule he will, either with the golden sceptre or with the iron rod; and those that will not yield to the power of his grace shall be made to sink under the power of his wrath. Now when God is angry with them, though they may think that they shall be lost in the crowd of the heathen among whom they are scattered, they will be disappointed; for (Eze 20:34) I will gather you out of the countries wherein you are scattered, as, when the rebels are dispersed in battle, those that have escaped the sword of war are pursued and brought together out of all the places whither they were scattered, to be punished by the sword of justice. They shall be brought into the wilderness of the people (Eze 20:35), either into Babylon, which is called a wilderness (Eze 19:13), and the desert of the sea (Isa 21:1), or into some place which, though full of people, shall be to them as the wilderness was to Israel after they came out of Egypt, a place where God will plead with them face to face, as he pleaded with their fathers in the wilderness of Egypt (Eze 20:36), - where their carcases shall fall and where he will swear concerning them that they shall never return to Canaan, as he did swear concerning their fathers that they should never come into Canaan, - where he will avenge the breach of his law with as much terror as that with which he gave it in the wilderness of Sinai. Note, God has a good action against apostates, and will find not only time, but a proper place, to plead with them in upon that action, a wilderness even in the midst of the people for that purpose. II. Israel shall be no more able to protect them than Babylon could; nor shall their relation to God's people stand them in any more stead for the other world than their compliance with idolaters shall for this world; nor shall they stand in the congregation of the righteous any more than in the congregation of evil-doers; for there will come a distinguishing day, when God will separate between the precious and the vile; he will cause them, as the shepherd causes his sheep, to pass under the rod, when he tithes them (Lev 27:32), that he may mark which is for God. God will take particular notice of each of them, one by one, as sheep are counted, and he will bring them into the bond of the covenant (Eze 20:37); he will try them and judge of them according to the tenour of the covenant, and the difference made between some and others by the blessings and curses of the covenant. Or it may refer to those among them that repented and reformed; he will cause them to pass under the rod of affliction, and, having done them good by it, he will bring them again into the bond of the covenant, will be to them a God in covenant, and use them again as heirs of promise. 1. He will separate the wicked from among them (Eze 20:38): "I will purge out from among you the rebels, who have been a grief and scandal to you, and who have by their rebellions brought all these calamities upon you." The judgments of God shall find them out, and their naming the name of Israel shall be no shelter to them. They shall be brought out of the countries where they sojourn, and shall not have that rest in them which they promised themselves. But they shall not enter into the land of Israel, nor enjoy the benefit of that rest which God has promised to his people. Note, Though godly people may share with the wicked in the calamities of the world, yet wicked people shall have no share with the godly in the heavenly Canaan; but it shall be part of the blessedness of that world that they shall be purged out from among them, the tares from the wheat, the chaff from the corn, Eze 13:9. But wherever these idolaters of the house of Israel were contriving to worship both God and their idols, thinking to please both, God here protests against it (Eze 20:39), as Elijah had done in his name: "If the Lord be God, then follow him, but, if Baal, then follow him; if you will serve your idols, do, and take what comes of it; but then do not pretend relation to God and a religious regard to him, nor pollute his holy name with your gifts at his altar." Spiritual judgments are the sorest judgments. Two of that kind of judgments are threatened in this verse against those that were for dividing between the God of Israel and the gods of the nations: - (1.) That they should be given up to the service of their idols. To them he said ironically, "Since you will not hearken unto me, go you, serve every one his idols, now that you think it will be for your interest, and hereafter also. You shall go on in it. Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone; let him take his course, and see what he will get by it at last." Note, Those who think to serve themselves by sin will find in the end that they have but enslaved themselves to sin. (2.) That they should be cut off from the service of God and communion with God: "You shall not pollute my holy name with your vain oblations, Isa 1:11. You bring your gifts in your hands, wherewith you pretend to honour me, but at the same time you bring your idols in your hearts, and therefore you do but pollute me, which I will not suffer any more," Amo 5:21, Amo 5:22. Note, Those are justly forbidden God's house that profane his house. 2. He will separate them to himself again. (1.) He will gather them in mercy out of the countries whither they were scattered, to be monuments of mercy, as the incorrigible were gathered to be vessels of wrath, Eze 20:41. Not one of God's jewels shall be lost in the lumber of this world. (2.) He will bring them to the land of Israel, which he had promised to give to their fathers; and the discontinuance of their possession shall be no defeasance of their right; it is the land of Israel still, and thither God will bring them safely again, Eze 20:42. (3.) He will re-establish his ordinances among them, will set up his sanctuary in his holy mountain, which is here called the mountain of the height of Israel; for, though the Mount Zion was none of the highest mountains, yet the temple there was one of the highest honours of Israel. It is promised that those who preserved their integrity, and would not serve idols, in other lands, shall return to their prosperity and shall serve the true God in their own land: All of them in the land shall serve me. Note, It is the true happiness of a people, and a sure token for good to them, when there is a prevailing disposition in them to serve God. Whereas God had forbidden the idolaters to bring their gifts to his altar, of these he will require offerings and first-fruits, and will accept them, Eze 20:40. What he does not require he will not accept, but what is done with a regard to his precepts he will be well pleased with. He will accept them with their sweet savour, or savour of rest (Eze 20:41), as being very grateful to him and what he takes a complacency in; whereas, to hypocritical worshippers, he says, I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. (4.) He will give them true repentance for their sins, Eze 20:43. When they find how gracious God is to them they will be overcome with his kindness, and blush to think of their bad behaviour towards so good a God: "There, in my holy mountain, when you come to enjoy the privileges of that again, there shall you remember your doings, wherein you have been defiled." Note, The more conversant we are with God's holiness the more we shall see of the odious nature of sin. There you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight. Note, Ingenuous evangelical repentance makes people loathe themselves for their sins, as Job 42:5, Job 42:6. (5.) He will give them the knowledge of himself: They shall know by experience that he is the Lord, that he is a God of almighty power and inexhaustible goodness, kind to his people and faithful to his covenant with them. Note, All the favours we receive from God should lead us into a more intimate acquaintance with him. (6.) He will do all this for his own name's sake, notwithstanding their undeservings and ill-deservings (Eze 20:44); he has wrought with them, that is, wrought for them, wrought in favour of them, wrought in concurrence with them, they doing their endeavour; he has wrought with them purely for his name's sake. His reasons were all fetched from himself. Had he dealt with them according to their wicked ways and their corrupt doings, though they were the better and sounder part of the house of Israel, he would have left them to be scattered and lost with the rest; but he recovered and restored them for the sake of his own name, not only that it might not be polluted (Eze 20:14), but that he might be sanctified in them before the heathen (Eze 20:41), that he might sanctify himself (so the word is); for it is God's work to glorify his own name. He will do well for his people that he may have the glory of it, that he may manifest himself to be a God pardoning sin and so keeping promise, that his people may praise him, and that their neighbours may likewise take notice of him, as they did when God burned again their captivity, Psa 126:3. Then said they among the heathen, The Lord has done great things for them.