33:23-24 The Lord informed the prophet about the attitude of the Jews still in the land. The few Jews who still lived in the waste places of the Promised Land were claiming that since God had promised that land to Abraham they were right in staying in it (cf. 11:15; Matt. 3:9; Luke 3:8; John 8:33, 39). But Jeremiah had told the Jews in the land to submit to the Babylonians (Jer. 40-44).
33:25-26 Ezekiel was to address the refugees who had brought the message of Jerusalem's fall and the other Israelites in the name of their sovereign Lord. Since the Jews did not keep the Mosaic Law (cf. Exod. 20:4-5, 13-14; Lev. 17:10-14; 19:26), did they have a right to possess the land? God had promised the land to Abraham's descendants, but He had also told them that they could only occupy their land if they obeyed the law that He had given them (cf. Deut. 27:28; 29:25-29).
33:27 The Lord assured the people that the Jews who remained in the land would die there by various means including the sword, beasts, and disease.
33:28-29 God promised to completely desolate the land and to humble the pride of His people. Even the mountains would be desolate, and travelers would not even pass through the land. Then they would know that He is God, when He desolated their land.
