Ezekiel Chapter 20:32-37
"What you have in your mind shall never be, when you say, ‘We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries, serving wood and stone.’
“As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you" (Ezekiel 20:32-33).
Israel wanted to be like the other nations who worshiped false gods, but God said to them, "Make no mistake, as surely as I live, I will pour out my fury on you and will rule over you."
Just as God brought Israel into the wilderness for judgement after being led out of Egypt, He promised to do the same to those of Ezekiel's generation. He said that He will gather them together in the wilderness after being scattered, and there in the coutroom of the wilderness, He will plead His case with them face to face (Ezekiel 20:35-36).
God would make them "pass under the rod" and bring them "into the bond of the covenant" (Ezekiel 20:37). Leviticus 27 is one of the only other places in Scripture that contains the term "pass under the rod". The chapter is about redeeming people and property which are dedicated to God, and the verse that contains the term says that the tenth tithe of the herd or flock that "passes under the rod" shall be holy to the Lord (Leviticus 27:32).
To be "passed under the rod" seems to be a term of judgement or chastisement. The Israelites had to judge, or "pass under the rod", whether the animals they were sacrificing were the first born, and were clean and spotless. If they were then they would be devoted to God and could not be sold or redeemed by the Israelites because they had been made holy to the Lord. Israel was going to be judged on whether or not they were clean or unclean and whether or not they were "holy to the Lord."
In another passage about "the rod", the Messianic Psalm 89, describes God's promise to David, of the King and the eternal covenant that will come through his dynasty. Verse 30-32 is very similar to Ezekiel 20:37:
[30] “If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, [31] If they break My statutes And do not keep My commandments, [32] Then I will punish their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity with stripes.
[33] Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail. [34] My covenant I will not break, Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. [35] Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David: [36] His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me; [37] It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
If David's "sons" - his descendants - depart from Him and His ways, He will punish them with "the rod", however, He is faithful and will not break His covenant with David to establish His eternal kingdom where those who have faith are His people and He is their God.
Ezekiel 20:38
The Israelites who rebel and sin against God would be purged from the land and would not enter Israel when they were released from Babylonian captivity (Ezekiel 20:38).
This "purging" of the Israelite rebels meant that they were going to be cut-off from Israel and killed so they would not be able to return to the land and enter it. The prophet Amos said that Israel would be sifted like grain through a sieve, and all the sinners who did not believe the prophets and said, "calamity shall not overtake or confront us", would die by the sword (Amos 9:9-10).
The prophet Zechariah said that 2/3 of the Israelites in the land would be cut off and die, and that the remaining 1/3 would be left there. He would bring them through the fire, refine them as silver is refined, and test them as gold is tested. They would call on His name and He would answer them (unlike the elders who came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord whom He would not answer). He will say, "This is my people", and they will say, "The Lord is my God" (unlike the Israelites who Ezekiel was ministering to who denied God and worshiped other gods) (Zechariah 13:8-9).
When this happened, then Israel would know that God is the LORD (Ezekiel 20:38).
Ezekiel 20:39-40
Ezekiel 20:39-44 - God said to Israel through Ezekiel to go and serve their idols if they will not obey Him, but then in contrast, He commanded them not to do so, but to turn to Him by no longer profaning His holy name with their gifts and their idols.
He goes on to say,
[40] "For on My holy mountain, on the mountain height of Israel,” says the Lord God, “there all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require your offerings and the first fruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy things" (Ezekiel 20:40).
Before giving an explanation, let's also look at what Isaiah said,
[2] Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.[3] Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isaiah 2:2-3).
Both passages contain the mountain of the Lord, and both passages say that many people are going to come to it and serve God there (Ezekiel says "all the house of Israel, all of them in the land", and Isaiah says "all nations shall flow to it").
In the Old Testament, the mountain of God is Mt. Sanai, where the old covenant was made with Israel, but in the New Testament it is Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem which is the bride of the Lamb, who is the ekklessia, who are registered in heaven by way of the new, and better covenant:
[22] But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, [23] to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, [24] to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel (Hebrews 12:12-24).
Revelation 21:9-11, and verse 24 says about the mountain,
[9] Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” [10] And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, [11] having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal...
[24] And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it.
Ezekiel's passage says that there on the mountain, God will accept all the house of Israel who are in the land, and there He will require their offerings and the first fruits of their sacrifices, together with all their holy things. The offerings and sacrifices were made at the temple. Isaiah's passage mentions the temple where it says that "the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established on the top of the mountains."
Under the old covenant, the Lord’s house was the temple. Under the new covenant, the temple is Christ and it is also the body of the Christian which is inhabited by the Holy Spirit (Revelation 21:22; John 2:19-21; 1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 6:16). There is no longer any need for a temple like they had in the Old Testament. In fact, God destroyed it because it is no longer needed and it was an offense to Him because He had sent His Son to be the once for all sacrifice. Yet he was despised and rejected.
To sum it all up, Ezekiel 20:40 and Isaiah 2:2-3 are prophesying of the "latter days" when all of the house of Israel (house of Jacob) which consists of many nations, are going to come to God's holy mountain and serve Him there - the holy mountain being the New Jerusalem, which is the wife of the Lamb, which is the ekklessia.
Ezekiel 20:41-42
Ezekiel continues describing the promise of God's restoration of Israel. He said that He would accept them as a sweet aroma when He gathered them out from the countries where they had been scattered and that He would be hallowed (sanctified; set apart) in them among the Gentiles (Ezekiel 20:41).
When God brings them into the land of Israel, the country that He promised to give to their fathers, they shall know that He is the Lord (Ezekiel 20:42).
There, they shall remember their evil ways in which they were defiled, and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight because of all the evils which they had committed. Then they shall know that He is the Lord when He has dealt with them for His name's sake, not according to their wicked ways or corrupt doings (Ezekiel 20:43-44).
From Ezekiel's perspective, a remnant of Israel was going to be regathered in the land after they had been scattered throughout the nations due to the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities. This was a type and a shadow of God's bigger promise, which was also from Ezekiel's perspective: A remnant of Israel who are scattered throughout the nations are one day going to be regathered to inherit the land that God had promised to Abraham's Seed. The land is not a small sliver of real estate in the middle east, but it is the entire earth where Jesus reigns as King, and where those who have faith will reign with him for eternity (Matthew 5:5; Psalms 25:13; Psalms 37; Psalm 82:8; Isaiah 60:21).
That Israel will know that God is the Lord is a theme that God repeated over and over through Ezekiel. This Israel who is the Lamb’s bride will know that God is the Lord. The prophet Jeremiah often used a similar phrase that he said would be the new covenant between God and Israel. This phrase was, "I shall be their God and they shall be my people."
[33] But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jeremiah 31:33).
Not only does Jeremiah use this phrase, but it is recorded in many places throughout the Bible, and is a central theme of the Bible. God wanted a kingdom of people who knew Him, and who wanted to know Him. He wanted to be their God and their King. That is what He set them apart from the other nations for.
[16] As God has said: “I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” (2 Corinthians 6:16)
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God" (Revelation 21:3).
The confusing thing about Jeremiah's prophecy of the new covenant, that is misunderstood by most Christians today, is that he said that God will make a covenant with "the house of Israel." This has led many Christians to believe that the new covenant is going to be made with Jews and the secular, geopolitical nation of Israel, at some point in the future. It is typically believed to take place during the end times.
However, in context of the Bible in its entirety, with proper exegesis, with an understanding that Jesus's blood is the blood of the new covenant, and that Israel and the old covenant were types and shadows of the kingdom of God and the new covenant, it is not difficult to see that Jeremiah is not speaking of a new covenant between God and Jews only in the end times, but it is between God and all who have faith in Jesus - Jew and Greek - and it has already been made through Jesus's blood. All who have faith in Christ are "the house of Israel" now.
When Jeremiah and the other prophets were predicting that Israel was going to be His people and that He was going be their God, that they would have His word written on their hearts, that He was going to gather them from every nation and bring them into the land, they were referring to how things were going to be under the new covenant, for the ekklessia in its entirety, not only Jews, and not only the current geoploitical nation of Israel. Only those who have faith in Christ are in the new covenant with God. Only they are His people who worship Him as their God, and who have His word written on their hearts. Only those who have faith in Christ are going to be gathered from every nation, tribe, and tongue, and inherit the land that God promised to Abraham. Those who have faith are the children and seed of Abraham and are the ones to whom the promises are given. Those who have faith in Christ are the "house of Israel" that Jeremiah and the prophets are referring to when they are predicting the way things will be under the new covenant.
So, when Ezekiel says that Israel will know that God is the Lord, he is referring to those who have faith in Christ. We know the history, and we know that even after the remnant of Israel returned from Babylon, most of them turned away from God. They never knew God or even wanted to know God.
When He sent Jesus to them, they denied that he was the Christ, and they killed him as they had done to many of the other prophets whom God had sent to try to persuade them to turn back to Him. The apostle John wrote:
[22] Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. [23] Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:22-23).
Israel denied the Son and continues to do so today. Therefore, they did not nor do not, have the Father either. They were and are antichrist according to the apostle John and his definition of antichrist. They were not for Christ, but they were against Christ, or anti-Christ.
Jesus himself was not any less harsh with Israel. He called them a "brood of vipers" and "children of the devil" in reference to the serpent in the garden who was the devil (Matthew 23:33; John 8:44).
When they were persuading Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus, Pilate asked them, "Do you want me to crucify your King?" and they responded, "We have no king but Caesar", thereby rejecting Jesus as their King. They also wanted Pilate to remove the words, "King of the Jews", from the sign that he nailed to the cross, again rejecting Jesus as their King.
When Pilate gave them the option to release either Jesus "Son of the Father", or Barabbas "son of the father", they chose Barabbas, who was the son of their father the devil, over Jesus who is the Son of God the Father (John 18:39-40).
After Pilate "washed his hands" of Israel's murderous intentions, "all the people answered and said, 'His blood be on us and on our children'” (Matthew 27:25). This is significant because Israel took responsibility for killing Jesus and they brought down curses upon themselves and upon their future generations by doing so. And lest some are of the opinion that it was only the Pharisees and religious leaders who opposed Jesus, the apostles and writers who recorded the accounts wrote that "all the people" and "the multitudes" did these things (Matthew 27:20,25; Luke 23).
The point is, Israel as a whole has never had any interest in knowing God, or being His people, and therefore only a remnant of Israel have ever and will ever know that God is the Lord as Ezekiel says. This is similar to what King Jesus said, "The path is narrow and difficult, and only a few will find it" (Matthew 7:14).
Ezekiel 20:43
When Israel knows that God is the Lord, they will realize what they have done and they will loathe themselves for it (Ezekiel 20:43).
When they understand that God is Lord, they will realize how they have sinned against Him and have grieved Him by worshipping false gods and by participating in the murder of His Son by rejecting Him as their God and King. When they realize these things, they will loathe themselves for it and will deeply regret what they have done, causing them to repent and seek God's forgiveness. Until they understand that, they will continue to reject Him and worship false gods.
Ezekiel 20:44
God will justly deal with them for His name's sake (Ezekiel 20:44).
Israel was not conducting themselves as God's kingdom of people whom He had set apart from the other nations. They were an extremely wicked people who were not exalting God, but dragging His name through the mud. Therefore, He justly dealt with them for His name's sake in 722 B.C. when He sent Assyria to conquer the northern kingdom, in 586 B.C. when He sent Babylon to conquer the southern kingdom, and in 70 A.D. when He sent Rome to defeat them and destroy their city and their temple.
Ezekiel 20:45-49
God instructed Ezekiel to "set His face toward the south" and to prophesy against it and the forest land of the south. Ezekiel was in Babylon north of Judah, so he was to set his face south toward Judah. This was judgement coming against Judah. God said that the entire region of Judah was going to be destroyed by fire that could not be quenched, and that everyone would see that it was He who kindled the fire. He wanted everyone to know that their destruction was His doing, and that nothing could be done to stop it from happening or to change His mind (Ezekiel 20:45-48).
After relaying this message to them, Israel responded to Ezekiel by saying that he is only speaking parables to them, that is, he is not speaking the truth to them. They did not believe that what Ezekiel said was true, which was their typical response to the true prophets (Ezekiel 20:49).
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