I mentioned in an article from a couple of weeks ago that one of remaining things I want to do before sharing my thoughts on Ezekiel 38 & Ezekiel 39 is to become completely comfortable with Ezekiel 20:33-20:38, which again says the following:
- Eze 20:33 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you:
- Eze 20:34 And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out.
- Eze 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
- Eze 20:36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
- Eze 20:37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
- Eze 20:38 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, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
The article from a couple of weeks ago focused on primarily on the term “wilderness of the people” in Ezekiel 20:35. I presented three theories I’ve considered concerning where the “wilderness of the people” might be located. Here are the locations I mentioned:
- The wilderness of the Sinai
- The mountains of Israel
- Somewhere in the nations
I’ve had the opportunity over the past couple of weeks to further evaluate these theories. Today I provide an update on the progress I’ve made towards understanding where the “wilderness of the people” may be located during these past couple of weeks.
- I found that there are a lot of yet to be fulfilled Bible prophecy verses which align with various aspects of Ezekiel 20:33-44.
Jeremiah 31:2 references the remnant of Israel and the wilderness. The verse mentions that the remnant of Israel “found grace in the wilderness” and are survivors of “the sword”.
- Jer 31:1 At the same time, saith the LORD, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.
- Jer 31:2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
The detail that those who will find grace in the wilderness are survivors of sword implies that a purge may take place in the wilderness. The idea of a wilderness purge harkens back to Ezekiel 20:35-38, which says that the Lord will purge the rebels and transgressors in “the wilderness of the people”:
- Eze 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
- Eze 20:36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD
- Eze 20:38 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, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
This leads to Amos 9:9-10, two verses which caught my attention shortly after I published my previous article on Ezekiel 20:35. Amos 9:9-10 references the End Times purge of the house of Israel by comparing the purge to the sifting of grain.
- Amo 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
- Amo 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
There are a couple of key details in Amos 9:9-10 that I found particularly interesting:
- Amos 9:10 says that “all the sinners” of the house of Israel shall die by “the sword” while Amos 9:9 says that “yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth” (or in other words, there will be a remnant of the house of Israel which will remain after the sift/purge). Taken together, Amos 9:9-10 implies that the remnant of the house of Israel will not die by the sword.
- This is reminiscent of Jeremiah 31:2 where it says that there will be a remnant that will have survived the sword.
Amo 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
Amo 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
|
Jer 31:2 Thus saith the LORD, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
|
The parallel between Amos 9:9-10 and Jeremiah 31:2 is important because it potentially can help us better understand where the “wilderness” of Jeremiah 31:2 or even the “wilderness of the people” of Ezekiel 20:35 may be located. Amos 9.9 suggests that the End Times purge of the house of Israel shall take place “among all the nations”.
- Amo 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
After comparing Amos 9:9-10 and Jeremiah 31:2 with Ezekiel 20:34-38, I now strongly lean towards the view that the “wilderness of the people” mentioned in Ezekiel 20:35 is located somewhere in the nations.
- Consequently, I think it is unlikely that the “wilderness of the people” is located on the mountains of Israel.
Yet, I am not 100% sure how large of geographic area the “wilderness of the people” encompasses.
- I don’t think the “wilderness of the people” is located in the wilderness of the Sinai because it is difficult to see how Israel would gather there, but a location like Jordan cannot be ruled out, especially when considering Isaiah 16:1-4 and Daniel 11:41. However, does the “wilderness of the people” represent one specific area of the nations or does it encompass more than one specific area?
One might be tempted to argue that the “wilderness of the people” encompasses “all of the nations” based on what Amos 9:9 says about the house of Israel being sifted “among all the nations”. Anyone who wants to spend any of their spare time to analyze this possibility might find this comparison worth considering:
Eze 20:35 And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face.
Eze 20:36 Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 20:37 And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant:
Eze 20:38 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, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
|
Amo 9:9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
Amo 9:10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
|
I am in the process of trying to figure out the geographical scope of the “wilderness of the people”. Please feel free to share your thoughts on where you think the “wilderness of the people” is located or anything else related to this topic. I’m always curious about what people think on matters like this.
1 comments: (+add yours?)
Jeremiah 50 is about the destruction of Babylon, but in reading it, you see that it is not only speaking about Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon, it is speaking about Babylon the Whore from Revelation. It speaks about Israel and Judah setting their faces toward Jerusalem, and coming together to seek the Lord and enter into a perpetual covenant with Him. God tells them to flee Babylon. He says that there will be a search for the iniquity of Israel and the sins of Judah, but they will not be found for God will pardon those that He reserves. We know that this passage is referring to the future, as Israel did not go into captivity in Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon. They had been dispersed and lost during the Assyrian captivity. They will not come together with Judah until the end of the age before the millennium. I am sure you realize that Israel are not Jews. Only Judah are Jews. Israel or Ephraim as it is sometimes referred to in prophecy are hidden somewhere in the world and will be called out in the end times. Also they enter into a perpetual covenant, which must include the Messiah, so this must be toward the end of Daniel's 70th week as the Jews do not come to Christ until late in the game. As this therefore must refer to the end times because of all this, we know that a remnant that is saved out of Israel/Judah has been in the wilderness of Babylon for at least the duration of the tribulation, as they are told to flee it before it is destroyed. That doesn't mean all of the remnant, but at least some of the remnant must be there. So one of the wildernesses must be Babylon. Now the question becomes, who is Babylon? And if Israel has to flee Babylon before it is totally destroyed, that places the total destruction of Babylon somewhere close to the end of Daniel's week. That at least is the logical conclusion I come to given the circumstances. What say ye?
Post a Comment