Ezekiel 33:23

"And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, they that inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. Wherefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes unto your idols, and shed blood: and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abominations, and ye defile every one his neighbor's wife; and shall ye possess the land? Thus shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely they that are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him that is in the open field will I give to the beasts to be devoured; and they that are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence. And I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through. Then shall they know that I am Jehovah, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed."

GOD'S MESSAGE FOR THE ARROGANT REMNANT IN JUDEA (Ezekiel 33:23-29)

The necessity for God's destruction of that arrogant remnant yet in Palestine was lodged in their influence upon the captives in Babylon. The group in Judea claimed Palestine and all of the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant as theirs by right of inheritance. They were "the seed of Abraham!" The problem was that they had not learned one thing from all the punishment God had brought upon Israel. They were still idolaters, adulterers, blood=eaters, murderers, and truly the sons of the devil in the same manner as their successors (the Pharisees) were so designated by Jesus. Would they inherit the land? No way! was the word God had for them.

As Skinner said, "That remnant in Judea afford one more instance of the boundless capacity of the Jewish race for religious self-delusion, and their no less remarkable insensibility to that in which the essence of religion lay."[10]

The delusion of the fragment of Israel left in Palestine after the fall of the city of Jerusalem was due to their misunderstanding of the Mosaic covenant. If they had ever read the Book of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 28) Moses had told them categorically that, if they did not obey all the commandments of the Mosaic covenant, that God would pluck them off the land I (Deuteronomy 28:63).

Moreover Ezekiel here cited a whole catalogue of their violations of the sacred covenant. How could they, for a moment, dare to believe that they were indeed the true heirs of God's promise to Abraham?

God's verdict was no! The judgments of the Mosaic covenant (Deuteronomy 27:28; 29:25-29, etc.) were at that very time being executed against Israel. Those left in Judea would die by the sword, by disease, or fall prey to wild animals (v. 27). Their arrogant pride would cease (v. 28). The land would become a desolation (vv. 27,28). Most importantly of all, God's purpose for judgment upon his people would be accomplished; they would come to know that he was their God when these judgments were executed (29).[11]

In addition to the sword, pestilence, and wild beast assault upon the conceited Judean remnant, "There would also be another deportation of some of them into Babylonian captivity in 583/82."[12]

Regarding the arrangement of this chapter, it is evident that verses 23ff were addressed to the prophet after the fugitive arrived with the news of the fall of the city; but verses 1-20 preceded that event, serving as the renewal of his prophetic commission to Israel, and also resulting in the cessation of the prophet's dumbness. That, of course, is the reason why the date appears where it does in 5:21.

Abraham was one, and he inherited the land ..." (v. 23). There was nothing wrong with this argument, except the false notion that the wicked remnant in Judea entertained regarding themselves, namely that they were Abraham's seed, when as a matter of fact, they were not sons of Abraham at all, but sons of the devil.

The complete fulfillment of the Abrahamic promises is accomplished in the New Israel who have inherited all things through Jesus Christ, not a literal Palestine, of course, but "the kingdom of God." (Galatians 3:2).

"Ye stand upon your sword ..." (Ezekiel 33:26). "This means that they followed the doctrine that `might makes right.' Assassinations were one of the instruments of their policy (Jeremiah 41)."[13]

"Ye work abominations ..." (Ezekiel 33:26). "The word here is used in a feminine construction, indicating not merely the open idolatry practiced in Judea, but also the orgiastic rites that accompanied it."[14]