Bible Strands
Ezekiel 20:36
Just 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.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses the exiled house of Israel through Ezekiel, drawing a direct parallel between past and present divine reckoning. He speaks at a moment of prophetic warning, linking the wilderness experiences of their ancestors to their current historical situation.
The words — נִשְׁפַּטְתִּי (nishpat-ti) means "I entered into judgment," and כֵּן (ken) means "so," structuring the verse as a comparative declaration. The text explicitly states God judged their ancestors in the wilderness of Egypt, establishing a pattern for His present action.
The thread — This judicial motif recurs in Numbers 11:1 and 1 Corinthians 10:5, both documenting divine reckoning during wilderness wanderings. Ezekiel 20:13 also records ancestral rebellion, but correctly locates that rebellion in the wilderness rather than in Egypt.
Why it lands — The text demands acknowledgment that God’s past disciplinary actions apply directly to the current generation. Readers must recognize that covenant failure triggers consistent judicial response, not arbitrary punishment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
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.
Cross-references
- Numbers 11:1 Soon the people began to complain about their hardship in the hearing of the LORD, and when He heard them, His anger was kindled, and fire from the LORD blazed among them and consumed the outskirts of the camp.
- 1 Corinthians 10:5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 20:13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness.
- Ezekiel 20:21 But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness.
- Exodus 32:7 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves.
- Numbers 14:1 Then the whole congregation lifted up their voices and cried out, and that night the people wept.
- Numbers 16:1 Now Korah son of Izhar, the son of Kohath son of Levi, along with some Reubenites—Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab, and On son of Peleth—conducted
- Numbers 25:1 While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- Psalms 106:15 So He granted their request, but sent a wasting disease upon them.