Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Ezekiel 20:40
For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
40. Resumes Eze 20:34-38, and carries these verses a step further to the restoration ( Eze 20:41).
your offerings ] Always rendered oblations in Ezek., except ch. Eze 48:8. The idea expressed by the word appears in ch. 45 and 48, where it is used of the portion of the land devoted to special and sacred uses. “Firstfruits,” marg. chief, i.e. the best of your offerings.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 40. For in mine holy mountain] The days shall come in which all true ISRAELITES shall receive HIM whom I have sent to be the true sacrifice for the life of the world; and shall bring to Jerusalem – the pure Christian Church, their offerings, which I will there accept, for they will give me thanks for my unspeakable gift.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The gifts of idolaters, and all their painted stuff, God rejected in the former verse; now he encourageth the upright, those that feared, and obeyed, and waited on him. Mine holy mountain; Zion, holy hill, Psa 2:6; holy by designation, and Gods own appointing it for his temple and presence.
The height of Israel: the hypocrites, you have your high places, I abhor them; my church hath its high place, but it is the Mount Zion I have loved and chosen, called the height: it was the glory of Israel, and though lower than many other hills, yet it was above them all for Gods peculiar presence there.
All the house of Israel; redeemed by me, whom I have brought out of Babylon according to promise, the returned captivity.
All of them: it is doubled to insure them.
In the land; their own land, and their fathers land.
Serve me; not idols, but the God of their fathers.
Accept them; delight in them, and in their sacrifices.
Require your offerings: when I have brought you into, and blest you in, the land, then I will require your offerings as formerly; your first-fruits, your tithes, in a word, all your holy gifts: you shall see my temple built, Jerusalem filled with inhabitants, the land of Israel planted with seed of man and beast, my worship restored, and you shall go up with joy, carrying your holy things, and I will there accept them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
40. ForThough ye, therebellious portion, withdraw from My worship, others, even thebelieving remnant, will succeed after you perish, and will serve Mepurely.
in mine holy mountain(Isa 2:2; Isa 2:3).Zion, or Moriah, “the height of Israel” (pre-eminent aboveall mountains because of the manifested presence of God there withIsrael), as opposed to their “high places,” theworship on which was an abomination to God.
allnot merelyindividuals, such as constitute the elect Church now; but the wholenation, to be followed by the conversion of the Gentilenations (Isa 2:2, “allnations;” Rom 11:26;Rev 11:15).
withrather, “inall your holy things” [MAURER].
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God,…. Alluding to Mount Zion, or Moriah, on which the temple was built, on the highest part of the land of Israel, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe; here the Gospel church is meant, comparable to a “mountain” for its firmness and durableness; said to be a “holy” one, because consisting of holy persons, performing holy worship to a holy God; and represented as “high”, being established, as it will be in the latter day, upon the top of the mountains, and be very visible and glorious:
there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: when all Israel shall be saved, or converted; and, the rebels and transgressors being purged away from them, they shall join themselves to the Gospel church, and in it serve the Lord, according to the rules of the Gospel, and the ordinances of it; even all of them that shall enter into their own land and dwell in it; the rest being not admitted to it:
there will I accept them; their persons, and their sacrifices of prayer and praise, being offered up, in the name and faith of Christ, that altar which sanctities every gift; see Isa 56:7:
and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things; meaning the offering up of their persons: bodies, and souls, as a living, holy, and acceptable sacrifice, which he would require of them as their reasonable service; together with all holy duties of prayer, praise, and beneficence; sacrifices with which God is well pleased through Christ and his sacrifice; and which are the only sacrifices he now requires under the Gospel dispensation; for ceremonial ones he does not require, seek after, enjoin, or accept; these are done away and made void by the sacrifice of his son; only it may be observed, as in other places and prophecies of Gospel times, that New Testament worship is expressed by the phrases, forms, and usages suited to the Old Testament; see
Ps 40:6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
God now directs his address to the elect, or the remnant in whom he wished his Church to survive. Thus far he has spoken of the whole body of the people: he says, although he should free them from the hand of the Gentiles, yet that redemption would be but partial, because they should perish in the desert, and never enjoy the promised land. On the whole, he shows that those to whom a free return to their own country was given were no less strangers than if they had been exiles at the time, and always remained outlaws, since their impiety prevented their restoration. God now addresses the true Israelites, who were not only naturally descended from their fathers, but were genuine and spiritual children, as Paul distinguishes between those sons of Abraham born according to the flesh and to promise. (Rom 9:7.) For this reason also it is said in Psa 73:0. — And surely God is good to Israel — to those who are upright in heart for the Prophet here asserts that God is gracious towards the Israelites; but since many hypocrites boast themselves to be members of the Church, for the sake of correcting them, he restricts the sentence, and does not reckon any, as true Israelites except the upright in heart. So the same thing is repeated in Psa 15:0 and Psa 24:0. — Who shall ascend into the mount of the Lord? But the perfidious and the wicked did mingle themselves with the sincere worshipers; yet the Prophet excludes them from the list of the faithful, since he says that none should have a fixed station in God’s sanctuary unless the sound in heart and the clean in hand. In the same sense also the Prophet formerly taught, that although hypocrites proudly boasted themselves to be God’s people, yet their names were not written in the secret catalogue of the righteous. (Eze 13:9.) We now see how well those things which seem inconsistent agree together, namely, that the Lord’s redeeming Israel from the tyranny of the Gentiles would not profit them, and yet, that they should come into the mountain of Israel and worship him sincerely. Israel is here placed before us in a twofold light: for many were Israelites in name; but here the Prophet is treating of the elect, whom Paul calls a remnant of grace. (Rom 11:5.)
In the mountain, says he, of my holiness, in the lofty mountain of Israel. He does not call the mountain high, because it was loftier than others, for we know that there were many lofty mountains in the land of Judea; and Zion was but a small hill; but we have elsewhere seen that it was preferred to lofty mountains, because it excelled in dignity. Here our Prophet does not regard the height of Mount Zion, but the singular glory with which it was adorned; as if he had said that God resided there, and his glory shone forth over all the loftiness of the world. Meanwhile I do not doubt that this epithet is obliquely opposed to the high places, which were consecrated everywhere, as we saw before. Since, therefore, the people had erected altars in all elevated places of all kinds, here God opposes one lofty mountain to all these, whose height had deceived those wretched men who thought themselves when there, nearer to heaven. This, therefore, is the reason why he calls it a high mountain. He says, there shall the whole house of Israel worship me, the whole, I say, in the land. It is not surprising that the whole house of Israel is placed here without exception, because, as I have said, the Prophet does not comprehend all those who boasted in that title, but he only means the pure worshipers of God, who were the spiritual children of Abraham. But here God describes the agreement in faith among all the faithful, as if he had said that the people would be fresh, and would not follow various speculations, as they formerly wandered, each after his own superstitions, but there should be one common rule for all. So we are taught by this passage that our worship does not please God except we are bent upon a simple agreement of faith, and the celebration of his name with our mouth. The impious often subscribe to different modes of belief, but they have no regard to God: but, here we must hold the principle, that God cannot be worshipped unless the doctrine of his law flourishes. The whole house of Israel, I say, in the land. He signifies by these words that the whole land of Israel, so long contaminated by much filth, should be so sacred that the pure and perfect worship of God should alone be beheld there. In the land, then, purged from all defilement’s by which it was before polluted, he adds a promise, there will I be propitious to you. We formerly saw that all the people’s sacrifices were rejected, and that for one reason, because they mixed them with their own inventions. Now, God pronounces that he would be propitious to them, because he will be purely worshipped, and his service shall no longer be vitiated by the perverse comments of men. We here see, therefore, that God’s complacency or favor is accompanied with a detestation of all superstitions, as we have often mentioned previously. As, therefore, God abominates whatever is added to the simple teaching of the law, so he asserts that he will be propitious where he is purely worshipped according to the law. He adds, and there will I require your oblations: the person is changed, but the sense flows on readily: he says, I will require your oblations: he puts one kind of oblation, but he includes them all, as will be seen at the end of the verse. Although I confess that two different kinds of offering are signified by the words, תרומה, theromeh, and, תנופה, thenopheh, yet they are often taken for any kind of offering when used separately, a part being put for the whole, as I have said. He says, then, that the offerings were grateful to him, and he implies that by the word requiring, because we have seen that the people’s gifts were refused when corrupted by foreign superstitions, and God is said to exact the gifts which he approves. And the first-fruits of your gifts, he says, that is, the flower or excellence of your gifts, in all your sanctifications, that is, in all my worship. It signifies, on the whole, when the Israelites betake themselves to the simple doctrine of the law, their obedience is so grateful to God, that their gifts please him, their offerings are taken into account, and their whole worship is accepted. It now follows —
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(40) In mine holy mountain.See note on Eze. 17:23. The former prophecy was distinctly Messianic; in this, taken by itself, there is nothing which might not refer to the restoration from the exile. Yet in view of the parallelism and connection between the two, we can hardly avoid the supposition, that in predicting the restoration the prophetic eye looked beyond to the greater glory of the Christian dispensation, of which that restoration was a type. But, however this may be, it is not necessary to explain any of the expressions in this passage as looking for their direct and immediate fulfilment beyond the restoration under Zerubbabel.
All the house of Israel.It has already been shown (see notes on Eze. 2:3; Eze. 4:3) that the existing nation is recognised as constituting Israel, except where special occasion arises for distinguishing between the ten tribes and the two. Here Israel is used throughout for the people whom the prophet is directed to address (Eze. 20:39), as is further shown by the parallel, all of them in the land. Though the restored nation was made up chiefly of Judah and Benjamin, there were also among them considerable remnants of the other tribes; and it is declared that the offerings of them all shall be alike acceptable.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
40. The first fruits of your oblations The best; the chief offerings they can give.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For in my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, says the Lord Yahweh, there will all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you as a sweet savour when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.”
In contrast with the disobedient and the rebels there will yet be those who once again serve God faithfully. The whole of Israel, yes ‘all of them’, will serve Him in the land. Note here what is meant by ‘all Israel’. It is those who remain after the rebels have been purged out and the disobedient excluded. Here already we have the seeds of the doctrine which Paul will expand in Romans 9-11. Not all Israel are the true Israel. Only those who respond and obey are the true Israel.
‘In my holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel.’ ‘The mountain’ was the term used to depict the whole of the mountain region of Israel from north to south, here described as ‘the mountain of the height of Israel’. This might seem therefore to be referring to the land of Israel as a whole. Thus we need not necessarily see it as limited to, although it includes, Mount Zion. It is true that in Isa 27:13; Isa 56:7; Isa 66:20; Joe 2:1; Joe 3:17; Zep 3:11; Zec 8:3 ‘the holy mountain’ is Mount Zion. But Mount Zion was all inclusive. Indeed His people in exile could be called ‘Zion’ (Zec 2:7). Thus the whole mountain region was all God’s holy mountain, set apart for Himself and for His people. It was ‘the mountain of His inheritance’ (Exo 15:17).
Mount Zion was seen anyway as inclusive of all the territory that surrounded it. Compare how in Psa 78:68 ‘the mount Zion which He loved’ is the tribe of Judah, the ‘chosen’ tribe, over against the remainder of Jacob’s descendants, so that ‘He loves the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob’ (Psa 87:2). The ‘beloved mountain’ therefore there refers to His chosen ones. Mount Zion was central because it was seen as the site of God’s earthly dwellingplace, where God was with all His people, but it was a part of the whole mountain range of Israel, which was His inheritance.
Israel would indeed return there to prepare the way for the coming of the One Whom God would send and through those who responded to Him God’s name would be sanctified, revealed as holy and unique, among all the nations.
‘There will all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me in the land. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.’ To these rebellious people making their enquiries before Ezekiel God promised that one day there would be those who would truly serve Him in the land. All those who were truly His people would serve Him. They would be accepted, and from them He would require complete fulfilment of the covenant and active and true worship, and the giving to God of what was His. Ezekiel as a priest saw it in terms of the priestly offerings, but we may see it as symbolic of offerings of praise and thanksgiving and spiritual worship.
‘I will accept you as a sweet savour when I bring you out from the peoples, and gather you out of the countries in which you have been scattered, and I will be sanctified in you in the sight of the nations.’ One day God would again receive His people ‘as a sweet savour’, something welcome and pleasant and acceptable, who would bring honour to His name. This found partial fulfilment in those who served God faithfully after the restoration in the four hundred years before Christ, and final fulfilment in the ministry of Christian Jews to the world in the early church throughout the known world. Having been gathered to the mountain of Israel they had been prepared by Jesus for their worldwide task.
So in the end God would triumph. Once again we have in tension the idea of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility, with God’s sovereignty prominent.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
DISCOURSE: 1109
RESTORATION OF THE JEWS, AND THE CONVERSION OF A SOUL, COMPARED
Eze 20:40-44. In mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord God, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will. I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the first-fruits of your oblations, with all your holy things. I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries wherein ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for the which I lifted up mine hand to give it to your fathers. And there shall ye remember your ways, and all your doings, wherein ye have been defiled; and ye shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for all your evils that ye have committed. And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have wrought with you for my names sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God.
THE history of the Jews, whether retrospective or prospective, is extremely interesting; not only as abounding in events more wonderful than all the histories of the whole world beside, but particularly as illustrating the dealings of God with the souls of men, at the present day, and in all ages, to the very end of time. Of the retrospective part, such as their bringing out of Egypt, and their sojourning in the wilderness, and their introduction into the promised land, we shall have no occasion to speak at this time: but to the things predicted concerning them, all of which are as certain as if they were already past, and which therefore may be called their prospective history, we would now direct your attention, and especially with a view to illustrate from them the conversion of our souls to God.
Let me, then, point out,
I.
The effect which the restoration of the Jews will hereafter produce on them
They shall assuredly be restored to God, and to their own land, in due season
[From all the countries, whither they have been driven, shall they be gathered: and they shall, in their own land, be restored to the worship, and the favour, of their God The terms in which their services are foretold, correspond with the ordinances which are prescribed by the Mosaic Law But they are intended to express only that spiritual worship, which, under the Christian dispensation, we render unto God. These they will render from their inmost souls; and from God will they receive, as formerly, the most favourable tokens of his acceptance ]
The effects produced on them by their restoration will be truly blessed
[They have been the most stiff-necked of any people; and even at this day are remarkable for the hardness of their hearts: but at that day they will be broken-hearted, and contrite in a very extraordinary degree. The recollection of their having crucified the Lord of Glory will pre-eminently lead to this [Note: Zec 12:10.]: and their views of their own extreme baseness will be exceeding deep [Note: Compare Eze 16:63; Eze 36:31. with ver. 43.]
Their knowledge of God, too, will be proportionably enlarged. Their opportunities of knowing God have been hitherto most unprofitably employed: but in that day, when they shall see all the predictions concerning them so wonderfully fulfilled, they will be made to acknowledge, with more genuine feeling than ever, that Gods grace has been magnified towards them; and that they themselves are, above all people upon earth, the most wonderful monuments of his grace ]
In all this are shadowed forth,
II.
The effects which the conversion of our souls will infallibly produce on us
There is a considerable resemblance between the restoration of the Jews, and the conversion of a soul to God
[From a dark and wicked world is every soul brought in its conversion to God [Note: Joh 15:19; Joh 17:14.] And from that moment it enjoys sweet communion with God, in all the exercises of prayer and praise [Note: 1Jn 1:3.] Then does God manifest himself unto the soul as he does not unto the world [Note: Joh 14:22.], and communicates unto it all the blessings both of grace and glory [Note: 1Jn 5:14-15.] ]
And in the effects produced on them is there also a very strict resemblance
[From conversion flows such a deep humiliation of soul as was never experienced before. The need of a broken and contrite spirit may have been long acknowledged; but the reality of it is never felt, till the soul is brought to a saving faith in the Lord Jesus. Then the wonders of redeeming love are seen; and all the evils of the heart and life are felt as heightened and aggravated by the consideration of them: so that the soul actually lothes and abhors itself as a very mass of iniquity [Note: Job 40:4; Job 42:6.]
From it also is derived such a knowledge of God as the soul never before had any conception of. The perfections of God may have all been acknowledged before, in a speculative way; but now the soul realizes them, and feels itself a living witness and monument of them all Especially does it then see the sovereignty of God, as exercised in the communications of his grace to men. Once, perhaps, the idea of Gods sovereignty was painful to the mind: but now it comes with a power and sweetness that cannot be described. The believer needs not now be told that he has not been dealt with according to his deserts: he knows full well where he should have been, if God had not been exceeding abundant in mercy towards him: and from his inmost soul he gives all the glory of his salvation to God alone The one subject of thanks giving amongst the heavenly hosts is the continued subject of his song on earth [Note: Rev 1:5-6.] ]
Let me, then, urge you all to seek this conversion:
1.
It is that by which God is to be glorified on earth
[To the Jews, God says, I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. They, when converted to God, will be most distinguished monuments of Gods power and grace; yea, and of his truth and faithfulness also. And such, brethren, are ye to be, at this time: ye are to be as lights shining in a dark world. And such should be the change visible in you, as persons turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that all who behold you may glorify God in you. Especially let them see, that the mercies vouchsafed to you, so far from puffing you up with pride, are the means of humbling you in the dust before God, and of filling you with the most self-denying love to man Ye are to be epistles of Christ, known and read of all men [Note: 2Co 3:2-3.]: and so is your light to shine before men, that all who behold you may glorify your Father who is in heaven [Note: Mat 5:16.]]
2.
It is that by which alone your souls can be saved
[There must be in you a separation from the world, from worldly maxims, worldly habits, and worldly company. All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world; and is utterly to be renounced; since, if you love the world, the love of the Father is not in you [Note: 1Jn 2:15-16.]. To God, also, must you be brought: so as to walk before him, and to seek all your happiness in communion with him. You must also, to your latest hour, be abased before him in dust and ashes; and maintain upon your souls such a sense of his excellency, as must be to you a very foretaste of heaven itself. True, indeed, all this is not learned at once: but, as a child, at its first coming into the world, possesses all the parts of a man, so must all these things be begun in you, if ever you would approve yourselves as children of the living God O, seek of God that grace that shall be sufficient for you; and know, that, as his future mercies to the Jews will not be obstructed by their past obduracy, so neither shall the descent of his grace on you be prevented by any unworthiness of yours, if only you will cry to God in his Sons name, and flee to Christ for refuge, as to the hope that is set before you. Of those who come to God in the name of Christ, not one shall ever be cast out.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Nothing can be more striking in proof that love and grace and mercy are at the bottom of all the Lord’s corrections to His people, than what those verses express. The Lord’s holy mountain, namely, the Gospel Church, shall be the place where Jesus will bring all His redeemed, and where they shall all be accepted in Him. The sweet savour of His person, blood, and righteousness, will be the one gracious cause wherefore they shall all be gathered, and all blessed, and made everlastingly happy.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Eze 20:40 For in mine holy mountain, in the mountain of the height of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, there shall all the house of Israel, all of them in the land, serve me: there will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, and the firstfruits of your oblations, with all your holy things.
Ver. 40. For in mine holy mountain. ] In my Church, and among my faithful people, for to these he now speaketh comfort.
There will I accept them.
And there will require your offerings.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
in the mountain: i.e. Mcriah and Lion. See App-68. Compare Isa 2:2; Isa 5:4, Isa 5:1-7; Isa 62:1-9; Isa 65:17-25; Isa 66:20-23.
require = seek.
offerings = heave offerings. Hebrew. terumah. App-43.
firstfruite of your oblations: i.e. firstfruit gifts or presents. Hebrew. mas’eth. Not the same word as in Ch. Eze 44:45, and it, which isterumah = heave offering.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
in mine: These predictions received a partial accomplishment by the restoration of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity; but they seem chiefly to relate to the establishment of the Christian church, and more especially to the future conversion of the Jews, and their restoration to their own land. Eze 17:23, Psa 2:6, Psa 68:15, Psa 68:16, Isa 2:2, Isa 2:3, Isa 66:20, Jer 31:12, Joe 3:17, Joe 3:18, Oba 1:16, Mic 4:1, Mic 4:2, Heb 12:20-22, Rev 21:10
there shall: Eze 37:22-28, Isa 56:7, Isa 60:7, Isa 66:23, Zec 8:20-23, Mal 1:11, Mal 3:4, Rev 12:1, Heb 13:15, 1Pe 2:5
firstfruits: or, chief
Reciprocal: Exo 22:29 – shalt not delay Lev 1:3 – at the Lev 17:4 – bringeth Deu 12:6 – your burnt Deu 26:2 – That thou shalt Deu 33:11 – accept 2Sa 24:23 – The Lord Son 7:12 – there will I give thee Isa 30:19 – dwell Isa 57:13 – my holy Eze 17:22 – upon Eze 28:14 – upon Eze 34:26 – my hill Eze 39:25 – the whole Eze 43:27 – I will accept
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Eze 20:40. This and some following verses predict the return from captivity. Mountain in symbolic language means a government. After the captivity the Lords people were to return to their own land and restore the religious way of life that was directed by the law. There . . . offerings. While in Babylon the Lord would not accept any sacrifices from his people, but when they will have returned to their own country their offerings will be received.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Eze 20:40-42. For in my holy mountain, &c. The holy hill of Zion, holy through Gods appointing it for the place of his temple. The mountain of the height of Israel See Eze 17:23; Mic 4:1. Though mount Zion was not one of the highest mountains of Israel, yet God manifesting his presence there in his temple, it was more honoured than any of their other mountains. Lowth, and several other commentators, think the Christian Church is here meant, and termed Gods holy mountain in allusion to the temple at Jerusalem, built upon mount Moriah, a part of mount Zion; (see notes on Eze 17:23, and Isa 2:2;) and that the prophet here foretels the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, and their union with the converted Gentiles in the church of God. At the same time, however, they suppose that, upon their conversion and return to their own country, certain privileges shall belong to the earthly Jerusalem, as the metropolis of that nation. There shall all the house of Israel, all of them, serve me That is, all the house of Israel that are restored, shall serve me in Jerusalem. There shall be no more any such separation as when the ten tribes forsook the worship of God at Jerusalem. There will I accept them, and there will I require your offerings, &c. Requiring signifies the same with accepting, by a metonymy of the cause for the effect; just as seeking is sometimes used for finding: see Isa 65:1. In the same sense, God is said not to require such instances of worship as he takes no delight in, Isa 1:11. Offerings signify in general every thing devoted to Gods service. Those who suppose that the prophet is here foretelling the conversion of the Jews to Christianity, consider him as expressing the Christian worship by those religions oblations which were proper to his own time; as the other prophets frequently describe the state of the Christian Church, by representations taken from the Jewish temple and service. See Lowth. I will accept you with your sweet savour This is mentioned in opposition to the sweet savour of their offerings to idols. The words may be rendered, I will be pleased with you, as with a sweet savour; or, as with the savour of an offering of atonement. When I bring you out Or, as it may be better rendered, When I have brought you out from the people; that is, either, 1st, When I have brought you back out of captivity to your own land; or, 2d, When I have converted you to Christ, and united you to the Christian Church. And I will be sanctified in you before the heathen I shall procure honour to my name by the wonderful works, whether of justice or mercy, which I will show toward you; and the nations shall consider me as a great and holy God, when they shall observe my deliverance of you, and your obedience to me. And ye shall know that I am the Lord Or, Jehovah; that is, He who causeth that TO BE which he hath said SHALL BE, and who fulfilleth his promises. When I shall bring you into the country, &c. Into the land which I sware to give to your fathers and their posterity: see Eze 20:5.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
At that future time, all Israel would serve the Lord, specifically on the holy mountain where the temple stood (cf. Isa 27:13; Isa 56:7; Isa 66:20; Joe 2:1; Joe 3:17; Zep 3:11; Zec 8:3). Then the Lord would accept their offerings of worship, their special gifts to Him, and all the things that they devoted to Him because they had repented (cf. chs. 40-48).