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God‘s future dealings with His people:
(1) in judgment Ezekiel 20:32-38;
(2) in mercy Ezekiel 20:39-44.
Ezekiel 20:32
The inquirers had thought that if Jerusalem were taken, and the whole people became sojourners in a foreign land, they would cease to be a separate nation. In their love for idolatry some may have even desired this. But more probably they thought that this very consequence precluded the possibility of such a catastrophe. God answers that He will not allow them to become as the pagan, but this will only subject them to severer trial and stricter rule.
Ezekiel 20:33
The expressions “a mighty hand, stretched out arm” carry back the thoughts to Egyptian bondage Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15; but then it was for deliverance, now for judgment “with fury poured out.”
Ezekiel 20:35
The wilderness of the people - A time of probation will follow, as before in the wilderness of Sin, so in the “wilderness of the nations” among whom they will sojourn (not the Babylonians) “after” that captivity. This period of their probation is not over. The dispersion of the Jews did not cease with the return under Zerubbabel; but in our Saviour‘s time they were living as a distinct people in all the principal places in the civilized world; and so they live now. God is yet pleading with them “face to face,” calling them personally to embrace those offers which as a nation they disregarded.
Ezekiel 20:37
To pass under the rod - i. e., to be gathered into the flock Micah 7:14.
The bond - The shepherd collects the flock, and separates the sheep from the goats, which are rejected. Compare Romans 11:7-11.
Ezekiel 20:39
Strong irony. Some prefer another rendering: “Go ye, serve ye every one his idols, yet hereafter ye shall surely hearken unto me, and shall no more pollute My Holy Name etc.” In this way, this verse is introductory to what follows.
Ezekiel 20:40
This points to the consummation indicated by the vision of the temple.
In the mountain of the height - Or, Upon a very high mountain Ezekiel 40:2. Compare Isaiah 2:2-3.
The house of Israel, all of them - All the separation between Israel and Judah shall cease. This points to times yet future, when in Messiah‘s kingdom Jews and Gentiles alike shall be gathered into one kingdom - the kingdom of Christ. Jerusalem is the Church of Christ Galatians 4:26, into which the children of Israel shall at last be gathered, and so the prophecy shall be fulfilled Revelation 21:2.