[As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out, will I reign over you.
Israel had decided to stop being God's people and to blend in with the nations around them. This verse is God's sworn answer. It raises two questions: why does He describe His own kingship in the language of wrath, and when does it happen?
Israel was scattered among the nations, and would gladly have stayed there. One writer shows what God does instead:
Israel, always ready to abandon Jehovah, would have used that scattering to become like the nations around them. But God comes in at the end in His own ways. He keeps the people separate despite themselves. He will gather them out from among the nations and bring them into the wilderness, as when He led them out of Egypt. There He will cut off the rebels, sparing a remnant, and they alone shall enter the land.
So the verse that sounds like abandonment is a refusal to abandon. God holds His claim over a people who no longer want it.
Both phrases go back to the exodus, when God brought Israel out of Egypt. One writer presses what they mean here:
He will gather them out from the peoples and the countries where they are still scattered. This will not be by quiet, moral, or gospel means, but with a mighty hand and with an outstretched arm, and with outpoured fury. Then He will bring them into the wilderness of the peoples, and hold judgment over them face to face, as He once dealt with their fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt... It is sovereign grace, but reigning through righteousness.
The last line is the key. Wrath is not the opposite of grace here. It is the road grace takes when it refuses to overlook rebellion.
God speaks this oath to the whole nation, not only to Judah. One writer draws out who that includes:
This is the general judgment of the nation, and in fact of the ten tribes as distinct from Judah. They, as a body, were not guilty of the rejection of the blessed Lord. They had been long scattered for their rebellion against Jehovah. They will be brought back. But they will pass as a flock under the rod of the covenant. The rebels will be purged out, and only the spared remnant will enter the land.
Commentators differ on the timing. One writer ties the verse first to the judgments falling on Israel in Ezekiel's own day:
The judgments about to be poured out on Israel at that time, and perhaps those that will fall upon the nation under antichrist, are found in verse 33.
The oath does not stop at wrath. It ends with a people who know who has been dealing with them, and why:
They will then be accepted and know Jehovah, and the promises to the fathers will be accomplished — not only in us who now believe and go to heaven at Christ's coming, but in the children of Israel on the earth. They will indeed repent then, and only because of the mercy of God, who acts freely above the evil of His creatures for His own sake. If He did not, to be a sinner would be to be ruined with no remedy and no hope.
That last line reaches every reader. A God who only gave people what they deserved would leave no one any hope.
- Refusal. Israel wanted to melt into the nations. God's oath is the answer: He keeps them separate despite themselves.
- Force. "Mighty hand" and "outstretched arm" are exodus words. The regathering comes by power, not by quiet or gospel means.
- Righteousness. The fury is not the opposite of grace. It is sovereign grace reigning through righteousness, sifting rebels from the remnant.
- Reach. The oath covers the whole scattered nation. One writer reads it of the ten tribes, brought back and purged before they enter the land.
- Result. God's kingship ends in a people who know Him and repent. He acts for His own sake — and that is the only hope any sinner has.
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 fury poured out;
Ezekiel 20 retraces Israel's story: God's grace in bringing them out of Egypt, and their rebellion against Him. Verse 34 turns to the future. God will gather them again, in the language of the exodus, but with wrath poured out.
One writer traces the chapter in a few lines, from Israel's past to their future.
Ezekiel 20 begins a new prophecy which ends in Ezekiel 23. God reminds Israel that He brought them out of the land of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands. They had rebelled on their road to that land in the wilderness. Still, He says, His eye spared them instead of destroying them, and He did not make an end of them in the wilderness. Despite all His grace they had polluted themselves, and God determined to scatter them among the nations. But God would fulfil all His purposes, and would yet re-gather them.
Commentators read this gathering as still ahead. One of them contrasts it with the way people expect to regain the land.
Here we are carried on to what is still future. They are now scattered in the countries and among many peoples. Yet with reviving hope they are turning once more to the land which God is keeping empty for them. They expect to take quiet possession of it, to get it as a mere matter of trade and by successful politics. But that is not what God has in mind for them. They have yet to face the record of their history, and unrepented of, that record can only be faced in judgment.
One writer spells out how God will do this gathering, and how He will not.
He will gather them out from the peoples and the countries where they are still scattered. This will not be by quiet, moral, or gospel means, but with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with outpoured fury. Then He will bring them into the wilderness of the peoples, and plead with them, or hold judgment over them, face to face. So He dealt with their fathers long ago in the wilderness of the land of Egypt.
Commentators differ on who the poured-out wrath falls on. Kelly holds it over Israel, face to face. Another writer splits the verse in two.
The Lord foretells Israel's recovery here, looking down the centuries. God's arm is outstretched for the recovery of Israel, His fury poured out against the enemies of His people.
Verse 34 is only the first step. What follows sorts out who reaches the land, and it holds two truths together.
It is sovereign grace, but reigning through righteousness. So He cuts the rebels off from the Israel of God, and those who transgress against Jehovah are no longer to be with His people. He will cause them to go out of the country where they are staying, but not one will enter the land of Israel.
Another writer names why the scattering lasted so long, and what meets them on the way back.
They had been long scattered for their rebellion against Jehovah. They will be brought back, but passed as a flock under the rod of the covenant, the rebels purged out, and only the spared remnant enter the land.
The wilderness stage ends in a bond. One writer names which covenant that is.
When Israel are called back from among the nations, God will bring them into the wilderness before they enter the land. There they pass "under the rod," and He brings them again into covenant relationship with Himself. But it will be a new covenant, the one the Lord speaks of in Jeremiah 31:31-34, founded on the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:28).
The language of this verse reappears in the New Testament, put to a different use.
Here again the Holy Spirit led the apostle to borrow words from various parts of the Old Testament, especially Isaiah 52:11, Ezekiel 20:34, 2 Samuel 7:8, 14, Isaiah 43:6… It is here to encourage each believer to obey His word, as the earlier words were for enjoying His presence together… "I will receive you, and will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters." This is our new relationship in positive blessing, and it supposes that God has given us the divine nature.
- Gathered. God Himself brings the scattered people out. The promise waits on His hand, not on politics or a land deal.
- By power. God gathers with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, not by quiet or gospel means. Commentators differ on whether the wrath falls on Israel or on their enemies.
- Through the wilderness. The road runs through the wilderness, where God judges them face to face, as He did their fathers after Egypt.
- Under the rod. God sifts the rebels out on the way. Sovereign grace reigns, but it reigns through righteousness, and only the spared remnant enters the land.
- Into covenant. Those who remain enter a new covenant, founded on the blood of Christ. God speaks the same "I will receive you" to believers now.
and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there will I enter into judgment with you face to face.
God gathers His scattered people, but He does not put them straight into their land. First He brings them into a wilderness and meets them there face to face. Commentators ask two things of this meeting: who exactly God is speaking to, and what He is doing.
At this point the focus moves off Jerusalem and onto the whole nation.
But it is in verse 35 that we see one of the great and distinctive announcements in this new word of Jehovah... Here it is the people as a whole, Israel rather than the Jews; and their special future is of the deepest interest. It is with them — not with the remnant in the land and city — that God will rehearse the history of the chosen nation. First He will gather them out from the peoples and the countries where they are still scattered. He will not do this by quiet, moral, or gospel means, but with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and fury poured out. Then He will bring them into the wilderness of the peoples, and plead with them, or hold judgment over them, face to face — as of old, when He dealt with their fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt.
Darby marks off two groups with different histories behind them.
This is the general judgment of the nation, and in fact of the ten tribes as distinct from Judah. They, as a body, were not guilty of rejecting the blessed Lord. They had long been scattered for their rebellion against Jehovah. God will bring them back, but He will pass them as a flock under the rod of the covenant. He will purge out the rebels, and only the spared remnant will enter the land. They will not go through the special tribulation of the final half week, nor come under Antichrist. They are dealt with in the national government of God.
Is this still future? One writer says yes — and that it cuts across how Israel now hopes to come home.
Here the prophecy carries us on to what is still future. They are now scattered in the countries and among many peoples. Yet with reviving hope they are turning once more to the land, which God is indeed keeping vacant for them. They expect to find quiet possession, to get it as a mere matter of trade and successful politics. But that is not what God has in mind for them; they have yet to face the record of their history, and if they do not repent of it, they can only face it in judgment.
One writer finds the pattern in Jacob, whom God met on his way home.
So God will gather them out, but only into a condition like Jacob's when He brought Jacob their father out of Padan-aram. Jacob had to meet the consequences of the sin that had driven him there. And for that sin, if God is to step in for him, He must wrestle with him Himself. So the nation too must know Peniel before they can know Bethel.
The wilderness is not only a place of sifting. One writer points to Christ, who walked that same road first.
When He came to earth He identified Himself in grace with Israel's history: the stay in Egypt, and the testing in the wilderness. Israel had been the object of God's preserving care there, and He walked that same ground. His faithfulness shone in contrast to Israel's failure. This was so that He might, in a very real way, be able to sympathise with His people, and to support and help their hearts in days to come. In those days God will again bring them out of the lands of their oppression and cause them to pass through the wilderness (see Ezekiel 20:34-35; Isaiah 11:16; Hosea 2:14), before settling them in the land He had promised them.
So who finally arrives in the land?
The wicked will be purged out from among them before they reach the land of Israel. It would appear from this that all of the ten tribes who actually enter the land will be godly people, brought back by the Lord's own power.
Kelly puts the principle in one line:
It is sovereign grace, but reigning through righteousness.
- Gathered. God brings His scattered people out by a mighty hand — the exile ends by His power, not by their planning.
- Detained. The wilderness of the peoples lies between the gathering and the land. They must face their record before they enjoy the promise.
- Confronted. "Face to face" is Peniel for a whole nation — God wrestling with them Himself, as He once did with Jacob on his way home.
- Accompanied. The Lord walked Egypt and the wilderness first, in grace, so He can support His people when they pass that way again.
- Sifted. The rod separates rebels from the remnant. Grace reigns through righteousness, and only the godly enter the land.
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.
In this chapter God promises to gather the scattered nation out of the countries and bring them into a desert. There He will deal with them as He once dealt with the generation that left Egypt. (Older translations say "plead" here, which is why some writers quote it that way.)
Nothing in Israel's past answers to this description, and one commentator ties that fact to the nation's own expectations about returning to the land.
"And I will bring you into the wilderness, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face." This clearly carries us on to something still future. They are scattered now in the countries and among many peoples, yet with reviving hope they are turning back once more to the land that God is indeed keeping empty for them. They expect to take quiet possession of it, to get it by mere trade and by successful politics. But that is not what God has in mind for them. They still have to face the record of their history, and if they have not repented of it, they can only face it in judgment.
The chapter speaks to "the house of Israel." One writer separates that group from Judah, and gives each a different place of judgment.
First, it is most plain that this chapter looks on to the final and glorious restoration of Israel... Second, it is the house of Israel as distinguished from Judah. There is this notable difference in the Lord's ways with them. Judah committed their great wickedness, whether idolatry or the rejecting of Christ, in the land, so it is there that their judgment will take place... Israel, on the other hand, had failed earlier and had a different judgment, and this spared them from this terrible sin. So they must, as it were, live their history over again. The Lord will plead with them in the wilderness once more, and there cut off the rebels before they reach the land again, never to be removed, but planted there for ever... Lastly, I think there is this distinction in the wildernesses of verses 35 and 36: the future scene of dealing with the rebellious may be more varied than the past — not merely "the wilderness of the land of Egypt," but "of the peoples," whichever road they come by.
The same writer calls this meeting a rehearsal of the nation's whole story, and names the power that brings them to it.
God will rehearse the history of the chosen nation with them — not with the remnant in the land and city. First He gathers them out from the peoples and the countries where they are still scattered. He does this not by quiet, moral, or gospel means, but with a mighty hand, with an outstretched arm, and with outpoured fury. Then He will bring them into the wilderness of the peoples, and plead or hold judgment over them face to face, just as He once dealt with their fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt. And there He makes them pass in review, as a shepherd passes his sheep under the rod, and so brings them into the bond of the covenant. It is sovereign grace, but reigning through righteousness.
One writer reaches back further than Egypt, to Jacob himself.
So God will gather them out, but only into a state like the one He brought their father Jacob into when He led him out of Padan-aram. Jacob had to face the results of the sin that had driven him there, and if God is to step in for him, He must wrestle with him Himself. So the nation too must know Peniel before they can know Bethel.
At Peniel Jacob wrestled with God and came away limping. At Bethel God confirmed His promises to him.
Judgment is not the last word here. The same writer names both its aim and its work.
It is for mercy, and yet through judgment; for mercy will once more triumph over judgment. But the judgment must itself do a necessary work: "I will purge out from among you the rebels and those who transgress against Me, and I will bring them out of the land where they live as strangers, but they shall not enter the land of Israel; and you shall know that I am Jehovah."
The place of this sifting matters. It happens on the road, not after arrival.
The Lord will restore them by His own hand, and the wicked will be purged out from among them before they reach the land of Israel... It would appear from this that the whole part of the ten tribes that enters the land will be made up of godly people. The Lord's own power will bring them back.
- Record. A history they never repented of cannot be left behind. They "can only face it in judgment," and that is what the desert meeting is for.
- Repeat. Israel must "live their history over again." The desert years after Egypt are the pattern for their final return.
- Face to face. God does not delegate this. As with Jacob, "He must wrestle with him Himself"; Peniel comes before Bethel.
- Sift. God purges the rebels on the road, not in the land. So everyone who enters is godly, brought back by the Lord's own power.
- Mercy. The whole process is "for mercy, and yet through judgment" — sovereign grace reigning through righteousness, and ending in "the bond of the covenant."
And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, but they shall not enter into the land of Israel and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.
God's answer to a people who wanted to be like the nations is not abandonment but a reckoning. He promises to restore Israel, yet He warns that some He gathers will never enter the land — raising the question of who the "rebels" are, and why the sorting happens outside the land.
Commentators place this scene ahead of us, not behind. The gathering is forceful, not gentle. God brings them into the wilderness to deal with their history face to face.
He will gather them out from the peoples and countries where they are still scattered. This will not be by quiet, moral, or evangelistic means. It will be with a mighty hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured fury. Then He will bring them into the wilderness of the peoples and hold judgment over them face to face. He dealt with their fathers in the same way long ago in the wilderness of the land of Egypt.
One writer explains why the land cannot be won by politics or property. An unsettled account stands in the way.
They are now scattered in the countries and among many peoples. Yet with reviving hope they are turning once more to the land, which God is indeed keeping vacant for them. They expect to find quiet possession, and to get it as a mere matter of trade and successful politics. But that is not what God has in mind for them. They have yet to face the record of their history, and that record, unrepented of, can only be faced in judgment.
The purging of verse 38 follows the rod of verse 37. The image is a shepherd's. One writer gathers other places where this rod appears.
In Ezekiel 20:37 we read, "I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant." In Jeremiah 33:13-14, the LORD speaks of His flock as counted under the rod, saying "I will fulfill the promise I made." In Micah 7:14 we have the words, "Shepherd your people with your staff, the flock of your inheritance." God has comfort in mind for His earthly people as He passes them under the rod. He deals with them in this way because they are His…
The sorting happens inside Israel, not between Israel and the nations. Being an Israelite by birth does not settle the question.
It is sovereign grace, but reigning through righteousness. So God separates the rebels from the Israel of God. Those who transgress against the LORD are no longer to be among His people — for even Israelites are not lumped together with the sinners of the nations.
The exclusion is not the end of the story. One writer reads the severity as serving mercy, and warns that reaching the land is not by itself safety.
It is for mercy, and yet through judgment; for mercy will once more triumph over judgment. But the judgment must itself do a necessary work. This is not, of course, the whole history of the people in that day soon to come. Some will no doubt return to their land and hold a certain possession of it for a while. But it will end in a worse condition than ever, as they give themselves to an idolatry more terrible than anything yet seen among them.
God does not deal with every part of Israel in the same way. One writer contrasts a judgment carried out inside the land with rebels who never arrive there at all.
Instead of two parts being cut off in the land, the rebels — that is, the disobedient and rebellious among them — will not enter Canaan at all. God does with them as He did with Israel after they rebelled when they came out of Egypt.
Another writer shows why the place matters. The remnant of Judah suffer in the land for what they did there.
How strikingly this contrasts with the destiny of the remnant of Judah, who are to suffer for their specific sins in the land! There they refused the Christ of God who came in the Father's name; there they will receive the Antichrist who is to come in his own name.
The outcome explains the method. God keeps the land clean by sorting people before they reach it.
As they pass under the rod, God purges out the rebels. They are not allowed to enter the land of Israel, for all who enter there will serve the LORD. He will accept them and the offerings they present to Him. In that day Israel will be a nation set apart to the LORD their God before the face of all the nations.
- Gathered — God brings His scattered people out by power, not by persuasion. Their first stop is the wilderness, not the land.
- Counted — the rod is a shepherd's rod. He passes them under it because they are His, and the counting brings correction with it.
- Purged — God draws the line inside Israel itself. He separates the rebels from the Israel of God, and birth alone secures nothing.
- Mercy — the judgment does "a necessary work." It clears the way for mercy to triumph rather than replacing it.
- Known — the verse ends where the chapter aims. Everyone who enters the land serves Him, and the nations see who He is.