Albert Barnes Commentary Ezekiel 20:32-44

"and that which cometh into your mind shall not be at all, in that ye say, We will be as the nations, as the families of the countries, to serve wood and stone. As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out, will I be king over you: and I will bring you out from the peoples, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with wrath poured out; and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face. Like as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I enter into judgment with you, saith the Lord Jehovah. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the land where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. As for you, O house of Israel, thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Go ye, serve every one his idols, and hereafter also, if ye will not hearken unto me; but my holy name shall ye no more profane with your gifts, and with your idols. For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. As a sweet savor will I accept you, when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country which I sware to give unto your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have polluted yourselves; and ye shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have dealt with you for my name`s sake, not according to your evil ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord Jehovah." — Ezekiel 20:32-44 (ASV)

God’s future dealings with His people:

1. In judgment (Ezekiel 20:32–38);
2. In mercy (Ezekiel 20:39–44).

Regarding Ezekiel 20:32, the inquirers had thought that if Jerusalem were taken, and the whole people became exiles 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 like the pagans, but this will only subject them to more severe trial and more strict rule.

Concerning Ezekiel 20:33, the expressions “a mighty hand, stretched out arm” recall the Egyptian bondage (Deuteronomy 4:34; Deuteronomy 5:15); but then it was for deliverance, now for judgment “with fury poured out.”

Regarding 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 reside (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 Savior’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 still pleading with them “face to face,” calling them personally to embrace those offers which as a nation they disregarded.

Concerning Ezekiel 20:37: To pass under the rod — that is, 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. .

Regarding Ezekiel 20:39, this is strong irony. Some prefer another rendering: “Go you, serve you every one his idols, yet hereafter you shall surely listen to me, and shall no more pollute My Holy Name etc.” In this way, this verse is introductory to what follows.

Ezekiel 20:40 points to the fulfillment indicated by the vision of the temple. In the mountain of the height — or, Upon a very high mountain (Ezekiel 40:2). .

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 both Jews and Gentiles 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).