Ezekiel 20:35-36
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD.
English Standard Version (ESV)
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The phrase "wilderness of the peoples" isn't just about a physical location, but a spiritual state. God is bringing them into a place of isolation among other nations, not to abandon them, but to confront them directly and unhindered, "face to face," so they can finally grasp the gravity of their choices.
God declares He will bring His people out from among the nations, not back to their land immediately, but into a "wilderness of the peoples" where He will confront them directly. This echoes their past wilderness experience but signifies a time of divine judgment and discipline amongst the nations themselves, away from any false reliance on worldly powers. It's a stark confrontation, preparing them for future restoration after this season of reckoning.
God declares He will bring His people into a 'wilderness of the peoples.' What does this strange place mean?
This 'wilderness of the peoples' isn't a physical desert like the one Israel wandered in after Egypt. Instead, it refers to a state of being scattered and isolated among various nations, stripped of their familiar surroundings and any false security.
Stripped Bare
Imagine being in a foreign land, surrounded by people you don't understand, with no one to turn to but God. This is the 'wilderness of the peoples.' It’s a place where their reliance on human alliances and worldly wisdom is exposed and judged. God’s people are driven into this condition to confront their sin without intermediaries or distractions.
God's Presence in Exile
Just as God met Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, He promises to meet His people in this spiritual wilderness. It's a place of profound isolation, but also a place where God's hand is undeniably present, leading them to face His judgment and, ultimately, His discipline.
The phrase 'face to face' sounds intimate, but here it precedes a judgment. What does this mean for how God deals with His people?
When God declares He will 'enter into judgment with you face to face,' He means He will deal with them directly, openly, and without disguise. This isn't about hiding judgment; it's about making it undeniable.
Unveiling the Truth
This direct confrontation mirrors the intensity of God meeting Israel at Mount Sinai. However, here it signifies a decisive reckoning. God isn't using human intermediaries to deliver His verdict. He's stepping into the arena, so to speak, to expose their rebellion and administer His justice in a way that leaves no room for excuse or denial.
A Righteous Reckoning
This 'face to face' encounter underscores God's righteous character. It’s a demonstration that His judgment is not arbitrary but a deliberate and personal response to their covenant unfaithfulness. While painful, this direct confrontation is also the path toward purification and eventual restoration.
Understand the original words
midbar · Hebrew Noun
A desolate or uncultivated place, often used in Scripture as a place of testing, refinement, and intimate meeting between God and His people.
mishpat · Hebrew Noun
A legal or theological process of adjudicating sin; God’s active intervention to settle accounts with His people according to His righteous standards.
panim el panim · Hebrew Phrase
A metaphor for direct, personal, and unavoidable encounter with God; it signifies a stripping away of all pretenses before the Divine Judge.
shaphat · Hebrew Verb
A formal legal process where God evaluates the deeds, hearts, and fidelity of His people, often resulting in discipline, vindication, or sentencing based on His covenant standards.
This prophecy comes at the height of the Babylonian exile, a profound crisis that scattered God's people. Ezekiel's message of a future 'wilderness of the peoples' speaks to a period of divine judgment and purification among the nations, echoing the original wilderness sojourn but now amidst the wider world.
722 BC
Assyrian Conquest of Israel
The Northern Kingdom of Israel is conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and its population is exiled, marking the beginning of a long period of dispersion for the Israelite people.
605 BC
First Babylonian Deportation
Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon begins deporting Judean elites, including young men like Daniel, to Babylon after a victory at Carchemish. This signifies the start of Judah's Babylonian exile.
597 BC
Second Babylonian Deportation
Following a revolt in Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar deports more Judeans, including the prophet Ezekiel and King Jehoiachin, to Babylon. This event directly precedes Ezekiel's prophetic ministry from exile.
c. 586 BC— this verse
Fall of Jerusalem and Temple Destruction
The Babylonians destroy Jerusalem and its Temple, intensifying the exile and scattering the remaining population across the Babylonian empire and beyond.
This passage also uses the intimate phrase 'face to face' to describe Moses' direct communication with God, paralleling the intense personal confrontation God promises with Israel in the wilderness.
Hosea 2:14-15Hosea speaks of God leading Israel back into a 'wilderness' where He will speak 'tenderly' to them, echoing Ezekiel's theme of God personally dealing with His people in a desolate place after their unfaithfulness.
Deuteronomy 5:4This verse is the likely source of Ezekiel's 'face to face' language, where God spoke directly to Israel at Mount Sinai, highlighting the gravity of God's direct engagement with His people.
Jeremiah 31:2Jeremiah describes God's love for Israel as leading them into the wilderness to grant them rest, mirroring Ezekiel's vision of God initiating a purifying encounter in a wilderness setting after their exile.
Revelation 17:15This New Testament passage describes waters as 'peoples and multitudes and nations and languages,' offering a symbolic lens to understand Ezekiel's 'wilderness of the peoples' as a place of judgment among diverse populations.
gillEzekiel 20:35: "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face."
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people,.... Into Babylon, and into captivity there, which they thought to avoid by fleeing to other countries. Some think that those inhospitable nations are meant, Syro-media, Caspia, Hyrcania, Iberia, and others, into which many of the Jews were brought, who sought to live elsewhere than at Babylon; and others are of opinion tha…
ellicottEzekiel 20:35: "And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face."
(35) Into the wilderness of the people. —As in the past there was a period of probation and discipline in the wilderness, so shall there be in the future. The similarity is insisted upon in Ezekiel 20:36 , and the phrase “face to face” is taken from Deuteronomy 5:4 , not to show that the Lord will interpose again with the same sensible manifestations, but will plead with them i…
The phrase "wilderness of the peoples" isn't just about a physical location, but a spiritual state. God is bringing them into a place of isolation among other nations, not to abandon them, but to confront them directly and unhindered, "face to face," so they can finally grasp the gravity of their choices.
God declares He will bring His people out from among the nations, not back to their land immediately, but into a "wilderness of the peoples" where He will confront them directly. This echoes their past wilderness experience but signifies a time of divine judgment and discipline amongst the nations themselves, away from any false reliance on worldly powers. It's a stark confrontation, preparing them for future restoration after this season of reckoning.
God declares He will bring His people out from among the nations, not back to their land immediately, but into a "wilderness of the peoples" where He will confront them directly. This echoes their past wilderness experience but signifies a time of divine judgment and discipline amongst the nations themselves, away from any false reliance on worldly powers. It's a stark confrontation, preparing them for future restoration after this season of reckoning.
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539 BC
Cyrus the Great Conquers Babylon
The Persian king Cyrus conquers Babylon, creating the Persian Empire and issuing a decree allowing exiled peoples, including the Jews, to return to their homelands.
516 BC
Completion of the Second Temple
Many Jewish exiles return to Jerusalem and complete the rebuilding of the Temple, symbolizing a partial restoration but not the end of their historical struggles.
"And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will enter into judgment with you face to face. As I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with yo…" — The phrase "wilderness of the peoples" isn't just about a physical location, but a spiritual state. God is bringing them into a place of isolation among other nations, not to abandon them, but to con…
