Visions of the Kingdom: Week 23

Ezekiel 20:27-49: Rebellion in the Land

• 20:30 "will you defile youself" - a rhetorical question. They continued to defile themselves.
• 20:31 "I will not be consulted by you" - God gives no further revelation when we refuse to obey what we already have.
• 20:32 "what you have in mind will never come to pass" - God will bring them out of idolatry in spite of themselves, as he brought them out of Egypt, or brought Lot out of Sodom.
• 20:35 "wilderness of the nations" - the exile is seen as a reversion to wilderness life. "face to face" with no mediator like Moses to shield them.
• 20:37 "under the rod" - how a Shepherd sorts sheep as they come into the fold.
• 20:38 "purge the rebels" - as in the wilderness wanderings before Caanan.
• 20:46 "set your face" - literally, "spit toward the South"
• 20:47 "negev" - desert. "the forest of the Negev" - ancient Judah was covered with trees. Now it is not - a literal fulfilment. Since the Negev is south of Judah, it is sometimes used as a synonym for "south". "green and dry" - a figure of the righteous also suffering in the judgement. Luke 23:26-31 1 Peter 4:18
• 20:49 "telling parables" - the elders refuse to believe