Old Old Story

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream - Daniel 2

2010-10-27T12:48:00.002-04:00

Daniel 2:1 "And in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar dreamed dreams, wherewith his spirit was troubled, and his sleep brake from him." See the last chapter of II Chronicles for a time prospective.

The problem with this dream is that the king does not remember it, only that it was very troubling. The king wants someone to tell him the dream and what it means. Of course, it is an impossible task for mere humans. Yet, the king demanded that his wise men tell him the dream and the meaning or he is going to put them all to death. That would have included Daniel.

v2 Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to show the king his dreams. So they came and stood before the king."

I suppose these people had it pretty good so long as they could make up a convincing meaning for the king's dreams. But they are on the spot now, they have no way to fake this one. So they tell the king that he is asking something that no other king would ask of anyone. Well, Nebuchadnezzar is not just another king. He is the big boss and tells them that they will not have time to make up something.

v9 "But if ye will not make known unto me the dream, there is but one decree for you; for ye have prepared lying and corrupt words to speak before me, till the time be changed, therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that ye can show me the interpretation thereof."

We find that they failed the test that the king put forth and so the decree went out to kill the lot of them. Daniel heard the news and asked to see the king.

v16 "Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would show the king the interpretation."

It would appear that Daniel has put himself on the spot but we must remember that Daniel is a man of faith and the first thing he did was gather his praying friends together to help him seek the Lord's help.

v18 "That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon."

We now know that Daniel did get help and that the dream was revealed to him. He did not go immediately off to tell the king but rather stayed long enough to give the Lord thanks.

v20 "Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his;"

Daniel did not take credit for the wisdom he received but rather remembered where his help came from.

Daniel told the king that the wise men could not reveal the dream but

v28 "But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these:

King's Meat Daniel 1

2010-10-22T10:18:00.002-04:00

Daniel 1:8 "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

I don't think it was that they could not have had better food from the market but rather that the meat and drink from the king's table was eaten in the name of their false gods and that is what Daniel objected to. He did not want to eat in the name of the false gods.

The key to this verse in that Daniel "purposed in his heart" . He had his mind made up before he had to confront the decision. But, he still had an attitude of humility with his keepers.

We should note strongly that the Lord had prepared the way for Daniel.

v9 "Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs."

Still the prince of the eunuchs was reluctant to agree with Daniel's request. Upon reading closely we discover that there was another eunuch put over Daniel by the name of Melzar. He did give Daniel and his three friends three days to prove themselves.

v12 Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days, and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink."

(pulse is vegetable type food, in some cases it talks of peas and such but here probably vegetables in general)

So after ten days Daniel and his friends were examined and found to look better than those who ate the king's meat.

v15 "And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat."

Again the Lord prepared their way and gave them the wisdom they would need to give meaning to the dreams of the king later.

v17 "As for these four children God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom, and Daniel and understanding in all visions and dreams."

It was finally time for the children to appear before the king where he talked with them. These four passed with flying colors. It says that Daniel continued until the first year of King Cyrus. It is now the second year of Nebuchadnezzar."

Request

2010-09-22T12:37:00.002-04:00

I have a tag at the bottom of each post which makes it easy to tell a friend about this Bible study. It is not an in depth study but if you are in a hurry and need a subject to think about during the day. It is quick and easy to read over a study. Please tell someone once in a while. Thank you.

The Names - Daniel 1

2010-09-22T12:16:00.003-04:00

Daniel 1:6-7 "Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah of Abednego."

I feel sure that there were more Hebrew children who did well and remained true to God but we are given these as examples. They stirred up quite a fuss in the Chaldean kingdom.

The meanings:

Daniel - God is judge. Belteshazzar - the lord's leader. (Don't confuse this name with the son of Nebuchadnezzar whose name is very similiar and was Belshazzar, notice the 'te' in Daniel's name.

Hananiah - Jehovah is gracious. (Nice name) . Shadrach - Royal (?) the meaning is a perhaps.

Mishael - who is what God is? Meshach - can't find a meaning for that name

Azariah - Jehovah is keeper Abednego - servant of Nego

These are wonderful names, that is the original names. It is no wonder they wanted to change them, otherwise every time they called the boys, they would be calling out an attribute of the one true God. However, Daniel kept his original name most of the time. God is judge.

v8 "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

Daniel did not wait 'for the right time' to do what he felt was right. He started right off and it seems to me, in a quiet manner. He made friends or rather God gave him favor which allowed him to prove that serving God was a good way.

Daniel - Child, Leader and Prophet

2010-09-21T12:52:00.002-04:00

Daniel 1:1 "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it."

We have studied the story how Nebuchadnezzar came and took Jerusalem under the will of God as punishment for their sin. It is the beginning of the captivity.

The king took back treasures to Babylon from the Lord's house. I'm sure he meant them as bounty but it turned out to be for safe keeping of the items.

The king also took some of the most promising children back with him to teach and to be in his company. Daniel was one of these children.

v2 "And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God; which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god, v3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;"

So not only are the treasures of the Lord's house preserved but also the king's seed is preserved. The bloodline is preserved.

Daniel came to Babylon as a child full of wisdom. The first part of the book is about the challenges he faced along with his friends. Then, we see him in his adult life as a leader after interrupting some very important dreams or visions of the king. He had his fair share of trials but is finally established. Then we see the visions Daniel saw and the explanation of them.

The book of Daniel should be studied along with the book of Revelation to help with an understanding of the end times.

v4 "Children in whom was no blemish, but well-favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongues of the Chaldeans."

Daniel had a good resume to start with but he improved on it. He also had the blessing of his Heavenly Father who answered the prayers he prayed. Daniel was a man of faith as illustrated by his statement to the king that God would show the vision.

Oblation - Ezekiel 48

2010-09-14T10:31:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 48:21 "And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof. See Revelation 21:3 and Joshua 18:1

It is, of course, appropriate that the book of Ezekiel end with an offering (oblation) for the prince. We know him and the coming king, Jesus Christ. This chapter should be read in conjunction with Revelation 22.

It tells of the dividing of the land of Canaan. I expect for the kingdom age but I am not sure. The words of this chapter are beautiful but there is still a bit of a cloud that is taken off in Revelation. It is amazing to me that our unworthy generation is able to see things that were kept from the old prophets. We are blessed.

Zadok, the priest, is given special mention because he did not go astray as the other Levites did. He is therefore allowed to approach the Lord.

v11 "It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray."

Although Zadok was of the priesthood, we see here a distinction between him and the Levites. It is like when the kingdom was divided and it became Israel and Judah. It is now Zadok and the Levites.

It is noted that Joseph gets two portions in the names of his sons.

v5 "And by the border of Manaseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim."

And so we end Ezekiel with a very appropriate verse. In the beginning of Ezekiel we saw the glory of the Lord depart the temple, then in the end we saw the glory of the Lord return. Oh happy day. Now we find another name for the city and it ought to be a joyous name.

v35 "It was round about eighteen thousand measures; and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there."

And that makes all the difference, to know that the LORD is there.

The book of Daniel is next.

River Too Wide & Lots of Fish - Ezekiel 47

2010-09-10T08:19:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 47 : 5 "Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over; for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over."

I saw the Mississippi at the mouth where it runs into the gulf. The waters are wide and move with the force of hundreds of miles of water behind it. It was frightening and magnificent at the same time. If it had not been muddy, it might have been a good comparison to this river.

v2 "Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side."

I'm thinking this is a clouded picture of the New Jerusalem we read about in Revelation. I should back up and get the first verse.

v1 Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward; for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar."

We are often pointed eastward in these passages. Ever looking toward the place where the prince is to stand.

Revelation 22:1 "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

In Ezekiel, a man is showing Ezekiel these things, in Revelation, a man is showing John. I don't think he was an ordinary man though.

The rest of the chapter deals with dividing the land for the twelve tribes.

I did like one passage especially. It was about the fish in the river. My son, in heaven, would like this.

v10 "And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many."

From Engedi to Eneglaim, I might could catch a fish there.

Prince at the Post - Ezekiel 46

2010-09-09T07:08:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 46:2 "And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate; then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening."

v3 "Likewise, the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons."

What some have called superstition may have come about from this very chapter of Ezekiel. I have heard during my life that if you go in a door you should leave by the same door. In this chapter, it is commanded to leave by a different door than where they came in. It is a good example of how things get turned around.

v9 "But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; and he that entereth by way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it.

I think this has to do with organization. If you can picture two lines going and coming from the temple. It would be difficult for everyone to get through if they turned against the traffic and there would be a log jam at the gates.

Remember, all Israel was to go to Jerusalem at certain times of the year.

The prince was different, he was to enter and leave by the same way.

v8 "And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof."

Now look at the following verse. As sons, Christians have a great inheritance. We join Christ as children of the Father.

v16 "Thus saith the LORD GOD; If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the inheritance thereof shall be his sons'; it shall be their possession by inheritance."

Ephesians 3:6 "That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel;"

But, of course, our passage is concerning the temple activities when it is restored. I do believe that there are parallels with our spiritual worship.

Prince and Priests - Ezekiel 45

2010-09-07T07:42:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 45:17 "And it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, and meat offerings, and drink offerings, in the feasts, and in the new moons, and in the sabbaths, in all solemnitles of the house of Israel: he shall prepare the sin offering, and the meat offering, and the burnt offering, and the peace offerings, to make reconciliation for the house of Israel."

Upon my first reading, I did not notice that it is now the prince that is preparing the offerings. We can go on down to verse 19 and the priests come in.

v19 "And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering, and put it upon the posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court."

My reference Bible takes me to I Peter 2:24 "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed."

When Jesus was being accused and Pilate reasoned with the priests the priests made a profound statement: Matthew 27:25 "Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us, and on our children."

I know they meant that they would take the blame but the statement was prophetic in a way. Jesus blood is the way to eternal life and those who come to him are cleansed by the blood.

Jesus has become prince and priest to us.

When Jesus was condemned for sins he did not commit, he was being condemned for the sins we did commit. The priest, unknowingly, prepared a sin offering, a peace offering and those other offerings, when they beat and crucified Jesus. He was the lamb of God, offered for our sins. Can you see as they beat Him and his blood was sprinkled round about.

Chapter 45 tells us many details of how the land was to be divided with a portion set aside for the priest and the holy place. It also sets the measurement, just measurements, as well as the offerings.

One final note: v18 "Thus saith the Lord God; In the first month, in the first day of the month, thou shalt take a young bullock without blemish, and cleanse the sanctuary."

v21 "In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten."

Luke 22:7-8 "Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed, And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat."

So, as we study through the Bible, the Old Old Story, can you see that the blood of the lamb on the door posts to save the first born, the sacrifices in the tabernacle and temple were all pointing to the cross of Calvary where redemption was purchased for mankind by the blood of the Lamb of God. There can be no other explanation.

Levites - Ezekiel 44

2010-09-02T08:38:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 44:4 "Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house; and I looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell upon my face."

We leave the eastern gate where the prince shall enter and go toward the north where Ezekiel saw the reverse of earlier scripture. In the beginning of Ezekiel, the glory of the Lord departed the temple but now we see the vision of the return. I suspect this event is still to take place.

Then we see the office of priesthood narrowed to one family of the house of the Levites.

v15 "But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the LORD GOD:"

So the entire tribe of Levites can no longer enter into the most holy place, that is left for the children of Zadok who was faithful.

The Levites who went after idols and offered sacrifice to them will remain in service but are not to approach to the Lord.

v11 "Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house; they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them."

The balance of the chapter concerns the rules for the priests. It is good to know the rules before hand so there will be no mistakes.

v30 And the first of all the firstfruits of all things, and every oblation of all, of every sort of your oblations, shall be the priest's, ye shall also give unto the priest the first of your dough, that he may cause the blessing to rest in thine house."

Eastern Gate

2010-08-30T07:58:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 43:4 "And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east."

C10v19 "And the cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight; when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and everyone stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above."

So, initially, we see the glory of the Lord departing from the temple. In chapter 43, Ezekiel sees a vision of the glory returning. I believe this to be at a future time. Although, Jesus is said to have entered at the eastern gate because of the route he would have taken from the Mount of Olives.

The eastern gate is also called: Golden Gate, Gate of Mercy, Gate of Eternal Life, Beautiful Gate. As well as, names in other languages.

In the pictures I saw, the gate leads directly into the temple.

v10 "Thou son of man, show the house to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern."

The chapter tells further measurements for the altar and the ordinances. Then comes the sanctification of the altar.

V20 "And thou shalt take of the blood thereof, and put it on the four horns of it, and on the four corners of the settle, and upon the border round about; thus shalt thou cleanse and purge it."

Another generation is learning what has already been taught in previous times. It is no less important.

v27 "And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings, and I will accept you, saith the LORD GOD." See Lev. 9:1

In studying this subject, we would be going into the time lines of prophecy. More learned men are better at that. I think they were going through these procedures during the time of Christ but it had again become a matter of profit.

Jesus offered himself but was rejected by the nation Israel. He did, however, offer Himself as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. The crucifixion of Christ did not stop his mission. His kingdom is, nevertheless, established on a spiritual level which should also be manifest on a physical level as well.

Chambers & the four sides - Ezekiel 42

2010-08-26T08:36:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 42:1 "Then he brought me forth into the utter court, the way toward the north; and he brought me into the chamber that was over against the separate place, and which was before the building toward the north."

I believe I am correct in saying that all things in the temple point toward the most holy place. The chambers were where the priests could change clothes and prepare the offerings. They had to wear holy garments to enter the most holy and other garments to go out to the people.

v14 "When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people."

There is no foolishness here. A precise pattern is laid out for priests to make the transition from the sinful world and the holy place. We must remember that the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23) A sinful person cannot appear before God without the blood being applied to atone for sin.

Under the law, which is what we are studying, it was the blood of animals offered often. IN the New Testament it is the blood of Christ offered once and for all.

Hebrews 2:9 "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."

So upon accepting Christ as our atonement for sin, the only chamber we have to open up is the chamber of our heart.

Temple Chambers - Ezekiel 41

2010-08-25T08:12:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 41:1 "Afterward he brought me to the temple, and measured the posts, six cubits broad on the one side, and six cubits broad on the other side, which was the breadth of the tabernacle."

Ah, the patience of the Lord. We have seen these details given before but this is a new generation. I believe history tells us that the second temple was modified to be 1/3 larger as the first was twice the size of the tabernacle. I do not know the significance of these changes. I believe the addition of the court for the gentiles has great importance and may point to the inclusion of the gentiles in the salvation plan.

v7 "And there was an enlarging, and a winding about still upward to the side chambers: for the winding about of the house went still upward round about the house: therefore the breadth of the house was still upward, and so increased from the lowest chamber to the highest by the midst."

These details may seem unnecessary but they are not. I suppose we could think of meeting an important person. We would perhaps notice the lawn upkeep, the color of the walls in the first room we visited, the long hall we walked down, the place we waited for our appointment. Then finally, the doors are opened, we enter through a doorway and there he is.

So it must be to enter the temple, knowing that beyond the trappings in the holiest place, the Lord is waiting to greet us. We'd remember the details.

v26 "And there were narrow windows and palm trees on the one side and on the other side, on the sides of the porch, and upon the side chambers of the house, and thick planks."

Measuring the City - Ezekiel 40

2010-08-23T08:18:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 40:1 "In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither."

Now Ezekiel is brought to the city of Jerusalem in the 25th year of their captivity. He is given very precise measurements for the rebuilding. It goes on for the next couple of chapters. Scofield advises that this is the kingdom age. I do not doubt that the measurements will be used when the temple is rebuilt for the kingdom age.

My notion is that this was a result of Nehemiah's prayer in the 20th year.

Nehemiah 1:1 "The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace."

In the next chapter it mentions the 20th year of king Artaxerxes so which 20th is Nehemiah referring to. I think it was the 20th year of captivity but I'm not sure.

To answer Nehemiah's prayer, he would need to have the building specifications when he went to Jerusalem. I think it is wonderful how it was all worked out.

v5 "And behold a wall on the outside of the house round about, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits long by the cubit and an handbreadth: so he measured the breadth of the building, one reed; and the height, one reed."

See also Revelation 11 "And there was given me a reed like unto a rod; and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein."

So in studying this, we should know that earthly things of God, hence, the tabernacle, the temple, are made on the pattern of heavenly things. Even in the measurements of chapter 11, the court is not measured:

v2 "But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months."

Well, just about any subject can challenge the mind if we set out to learn all the details. I suggest picking a subject and ponder it for long hours. You may gain insight that will be used later.

This chapter goes on for 49 verses with details and measurements. It may not mean much to the average reader but to a builder, the details are what makes the building stand.

v49 "The length of the porch was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits, and he brought me by the steps whereby they went up to it; and there were pillars by the post, one on this side, and another on that side."

Gog & Magog - Ezekiel 38

2010-08-20T08:13:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 38:2 "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meschech and Tubal, and prophesy against him."

In the next two chapters we deal with a subject that is too large for the format of this study. There are many scripture references that should be looked at to attempt to understand the subject.

First of all, it should be noted that these passages speak to the future, the end of time and the last attempt to wipe out Israel. It can be studied in conjunction with Armageddon, Rev. 16, the real end not the movie.

Meschech and Tubal are Moscow and Tobolsk according to my reference Bible notes.

References for further study: Revelation 20:8,14:14-20,19:17-21, Matthew 24: 14-30, Zechariah 12:1-4

v8 "After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste; but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them."

It will a time of the judging of the nations. A time of terrible fear upon the earth. I believe and hope that this takes place after the rapture of the church which no doubt will cause great confusion among the unsaved left behind.

v19 "For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be great shaking in the land of Israel;"

I believe we would all have to agree that God has shown great patience with the world and its disrespect for Him and each other. When the final days start there will be no end until all is accomplished that God has said. There will be no intermission until he says so. It shall be a dreadful day for many.

Matthew 24:21 "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

v29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: v30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven;..."

In a previous chapter we saw where the Lord told Israel that 'he was for them', but here concerning Gog, we hear the Lord say 'I am against thee'.

So, a large subject has opened up before us. It is a subject that should sober the most carefree among us. There is to be an end to it all. We should, with all our efforts to prepare for things of this life, give serious attention to the affairs of eternity.

Dry Bones - Ezekiel 37

2010-08-19T07:46:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 37:1 "The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones."

People often seek a sign in spiritual things but I doubt we could take such a sign as Ezekiel got.

To be picked up and put down in a valley full of bones would be shocking to me.

I like this chapter because it shows that what is impossible with men, is very possible with the Lord. He can take what seems completely used up and revive it.

v4 "Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD."

I don't find it strange, but some might, that in a previous chapter we heard the Lord telling Ezekiel to prophesy to the mountains that they would be filled with people again and now that these bones would live again.

v7 "So, I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone."

I see a glimpse of resurrection day for the saints. Our loved ones who have gone to the grave will some day be pulled together to rise from the grave in an instant. Nothing is too hard for God.

v9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."

Nothing is too hard for God.

v13 "And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves."

The balance of the chapter talks about the reunion of Judah and Israel into one nation again under one king. A grand day it shall be.

Israel - The Land - Ezekiel 36

2010-08-16T08:33:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 36:8 "But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel for they are at hand to come."

I'm not sure if this refers to the end of the captivity or a future time when the glory of Israel is restored at the coming of Christ as their king.

It, nevertheless, tells of a time after the cleansing when the land will again yield in abundance. The people will have a heart for God and the heathen will no longer abuse the land or claim it as their own.

v11 "And I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bring fruit, and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD."

The Lord has attached his name to Israel. Israel turned to idols and thus shamed themselves and almost the name of the Lord. That will all change.

v18 "Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they hand polluted it:"

v22 "Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen whither ye went."

Up until now they are going by the law of Moses which is outward toward inward. It relies on the person making the law their life. It was imperfect as the New Testament tells us. There is to be a new way. Christians know it as the plan of salvation where the Spirit of God works from the inside toward the outward.

It changes a person from the inside out.

v26 "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."

The book of Hebrews explains it well.

Hebrews 7:19 "For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God."

So in the place of the blood of animals, we have the perfect sacrifice of the Son of God, The Lamb of God who offered himself one time for all time for our sins.

Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

Once the New Testament is accepted as truth, it is impossible not to see that many of the Old Testament scriptures refer to Jesus Christ and a new and better way. He came as a lamb and not as a warrior. His purpose was not to deliver us from a government but to deliver us from the wages of sin.

v38 "As the holy flock, as the flock of Jerusalem in her solemn feasts; so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am the LORD."

Seir - Ezekiel 35

2010-08-12T08:08:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 35:5 "Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:"

Seir is an area extending from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea and was occupied by the descendants of Esau. Seir also sometimes means Edom.

So the old hatred is still alive here. While Israel is weak from the chastisement of God, Esau takes advantage. But they are called on their transgression.

v15 "As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD. "

It is a saying that I have heard often, 'I may discipline my own but they are mine, so hands off.'

Israel had a special place in the heart of God but he still cares what goes on in other nations.

v13 "Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them."

Good Shepherd - Ezekiel 34

2010-08-11T07:12:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 34:11 "For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out."

The flock has been taken away from those who used it for gain for themselves.

The Lord has taken on the role of the shepherd for his people. He has always looked after them but with the use of under shepherds. Now, he is taking the direct role of shepherd.

It was still a mystery, somewhat, when he wrote the next verse I will give. I believe when he says David, he is referring to the descendant of David after the flesh, the Christ.

v23 "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd."

Refer here to John chapter 10.

John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd giveth is life for the sheep."

Hosea 3:5 "Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days."

Also in this chapter we have the covenant of peace mentioned. Who would not want peace in a land that has always know war.

v25 "And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods."

Then the verse that brought on a song that I have often heard sung in church.

v26 "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing."

It is a wonderful chapter. It speaks of when Christ shall reign and there will be no more danger of being attacked or carried away into captivity.

No doubt, the mighty warriors of Israel and Judah were feeling pretty low about this time. They had been stripped and dragged away in chains and made to serve. The last verse tells them that they are still men and things will change.

v31 "And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD.

Bad Shepherd - Eekiel 34

2010-08-09T08:41:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 34:2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?"

For the priests, the resources that came in were taken as their income. I suppose they became wealthy, for a time, yet, they cared not for the people. It says later in the chapter that, not only did they eat the good grass but they tread down what was left.

v18 "Seemeth it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, but ye must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but ye must foul the residue with your feet?"

They took what they wanted and spoiled what was left.

A shepherd has a responsibility to care for the sheep. Not just the healthy sheep but those who have become injured or are sick.

v4 "The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them."

I am glad that some pastors and preachers are realizing that injured Christians are like injured soldiers in the battle field. If they are cared for, they will recover to fight another day. Christians get injured, lost on their way. It is not right to just write them off as lost causes. They should be sought for and restored.

v6 "My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill; yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them."

So, the flock is taken away from the shepherds and we will learn in the next lesson about the Good Shepherd who took the flock and cared for it.

Watchman - Ezekiel 33

2010-08-06T07:44:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 33:31 "And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness."

v32 And , lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not.

v33 "And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them."

Ezekiel 33 is a very solemn chapter. It tells of the responsibility of the prophet to say what the Lord told him to. It points out that the people may not believe but that the prophet has delivered his own soul. Thus the phrase often used by preachers that 'I delivered my soul.'

v4 "Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head."

Before Israel went into Canaan to possess the land, there was preparation for battle. The trumpet was used. There were signals set up to assemble and others which meant different things. It was a very effective way for all the people to act in unison. But if someone were in a dangerous place and the trumpet sounded for everyone to move to another place and that person was not paying attention, they could be there alone when the danger came.

So here, the watchman and the trumpet are used to describe the state of iniquity and whether or not a person would turn from that iniquity when they heard the warning. IN this case, the trumpet was the voice of the prophet.

v14 "Again, when I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; ... he shall surely live, he shall not die. v16 None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live."

The chapter also deals with the righteous turning the other way or trusting in their own righteousness. These words point to Christ and our dependence on his righteousness alone.

Pharaoh - Ezekiel 32

2010-08-05T08:11:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 32:2 "Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou are like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas; and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy fee, and fouledst their rivers."

After that some of Judah fled to Egypt, the king of Babylon invaded. It was the final chapter in the greatness of Egypt. Egypt is still there but the majesty of the Pharaoh's is gone.

Also, in studying this chapter I was drawn back to Tyre where the king set himself up to be God and was judged. There we studied the doings of Satan. Here we see also the presence of Satan as a beast in the river whose carcass was to be dragged on land for the fowls to feed on. It is symbolic of the end of the dragon.

Job 41:24 "His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece of the nether millstone. v31 "He maketh the deep to boil like a pot; he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment." v23 The flakes of his flesh are joined together; they are firm in themselves; they cannot be moved."

Ezekiel 29:4 "But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of the rivers shall stick unto thy scales."

So before God, there is a weakness in all things created.

Pharaoh is going to be defeated although I suppose he believed otherwise until the end.

Other nations will notice with trembling the fall of Egypt:

v24 "There is Elam and all her multitude round about her grave, all of them slain,... v26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all her multitude; her graves are round about him; v29 There is Edom, her kings, and all her princes, which with their might are laid by them that were slain...

The pronouncement to Pharaoh is a terrible statement in that it was so tragic for him - that he would join these other nations who did not acknowledge God as their only God.

v31 "Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army slain by the sword, saith the Lord GOD."

Assyria - Ezekiel 31

2010-08-04T08:16:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 31:3 "Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs."

In speaking to Egypt, the Lord told Ezekiel to tell Egypt about Assyria and their majesty. Upon doing so, it should have been clear to Egypt that even the greatest can be brought down.

Assyria was one of four great kingdoms (monarchies) of the time. It sat where Kurdisten now stands but spread far and wide. It is also related to Nineveh where tablets with a strange form of writing has been dug up in recent years.

v5 "Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth."

Assyria is compared to the garden of God, Eden.

v8 "The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chestnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty."

But even this greatness came to nought under the judgment of God. So, Egypt would be no exception.

v16 "I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth."

It is God who raises up nations and who has the power to cast them down.

v18 "To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the neither parts of the earth; thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD."

Egypt - scattered - Ezekiel 30

2010-08-02T08:16:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 30:26 "And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD."

We often see these words in Ezekiel 'and they shall know that I am the LORD'. Oh how much trouble we would avoid if only we would acknowledge the Creator of the universe and all that is in it. Man is proud and we'd like to think that we were the makers of our own destiny, the captain of our own ship. We should never forget that the Lord made the sea we sail on and the wood that the ship is made from.

v3 "For the day is near, even the day of the LORD is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen."

As it was in the day of Noah, so it was with Egypt, so it is in our time. A day of judgment comes, like the clock ticking toward midnight. We are powerless to stop it.

v4 "And the sword shall come upon Egypt, and great pain shall be in Ethiopia, when the slain shall fall in Egypt, and they shall take away her multitude, and her foundations shall be broken down."

I think every great nation that has stood on earth must have thought that they could not be brought down. Babylon seemed indestructible. Egypt seemed indestructible. There are strong nations on earth today. Those that do not forget God and those who honor God will stand the test of time.

Egypt was Israel's crutch, their go to nation until God took away that crutch so Israel would turn to him alone.

v19 "Thus will I execute judgments in Egypt; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Egypt's allies were also taken away so that Egypt had no one to call to support them.

v6 "Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down; from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD."

Well it was a terrible time in the whole area. It went back to Israel turning to idols instead of honoring God. The land paid a great price.

Egypt - desolation - Ezekiel 29

2010-07-30T07:40:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 29:3 "Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself."

There is that boosting again. Of course, we are talking about Egypt in the times of Ezekiel.

There were two basic reasons why Egypt came under judgment here. One is that they did not give God the glory for their good fortune. The river/rivers were the source of the riches of Egypt. We all know about the Nile. I believe there was at one time a river system that made the land rich. I don't know much about what Egypt is like now.

Another reason is that Israel was bad about turning to Egypt when they were in distress instead of turning to God as they should have. But Egypt took advantage in those times and hurt Israel.

Therefore, Egypt was given to Nebuchadrezzar as his wages for the work in Tyre.

Once Egypt was made a base nation, Israel would no longer turn to them as they did when Egypt was full of power and splendor.

II Kings 18:21 "Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him."

So, we can see, in these studies, that during this time the face of the whole region changed tremendously. There was greatness all around but it went to Babylon under the judgment of God.

v13 "Yet, thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered; v14 And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom."

v19 "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army."

I would like to have seen these nations in their glory days. It must have been a sight to behold. But they rejected or turned from the Lord GOD and it cost them their kingdoms.

Tyre - Judgment - Ezekiel 28

2010-07-28T07:46:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 28:13 "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold; the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created."

While this is the judgment of the port city Tyre, it also talks of the judgment of Satan. What better place to set himself up than at the crossroads of the world (of that day).

We see a glimpse into the spiritual part of things. Behind every evil work is Satan.

v2 "Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God."

People can think great things about themselves. Sometimes people who are close to a person of authority get to thinking that they are the one of power. Satan was a cherub in the mountain of God but he was a created being and not God. He had the power that God gave him.

v17 "Thy heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee."

We might say that he became very proud of himself and just did not think correctly because he had his eyes on his own beauty (which God made) and not on God.

So, it was with Tyre. The nations came to trade and I expect the prince took a share of all the trades. He became very rich but failed to remember that the little island/city of Tyre made little compared to what was traded. Without the traffic from the nations, they would be selling purple to the occasional traveler.

But perhaps the prince sat in his penthouse and watched as people of all journeyed there to trade. Perhaps, he thought to himself, I am doing all this, these people are coming to me. He was wrong of course.

v15 "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."

Tyre - Trading Partners - Ezekiel 27

2010-07-27T08:43:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 27:3 "And say unto Tyre, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God, O Tyre, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty."

Tyre was a great city. They traded with about everybody. There trade extended inland and across the sea. They were famous for their purple die which was often reserved for kings and nobles.

This chapter tells us many of the nations they traded with and the particular products they sold or traded. I think the purpose is to show the greatness of the fall that they had because they had grown so arrogant that the prince felt he was a god.

It tells of the fine wood used in their ships:

v5-6 "They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir; they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee, Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory brought out of the isles of Chittim."

Then it tells of the specialist who did the work.

v8 "The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were thy mariners; thy wise men, O Tyre, that were in thee, were thy pilots."

From Egypt came fine linen. v7
From Togarmah came the horses and horsemen and mules. v14
Syria came with emeralds, purple, embroidered work and fine linen, coral and agate.

It goes on to cover, it seems to me, everything. As for food, the land of Canaan was its source.

v17 "Judah and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants; they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil and balm."

So Tyre was like the center of a wheel with nations all around coming and going. It was a great city and probably very beautiful but they tried to lift themselves up a to high and great was their fall.

Tyre - Ezekiel 26

2010-07-26T08:07:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 26:2 "Son of man, because that Tyre hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:"

The next three chapters deal with Tyre. First the judgment, then the greatness, then the leader of the city and his great sin.

Tyre was a port city of great riches. David had good relations with king Hiram and traded with him for the buildings he built.

First we find that they were speaking boastfully about the fall of Jerusalem. Later we will find that the prince thought of himself as God.

Ezekiel 28:2 "Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyre, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:"

Tyre was a center of trade, perhaps the greatest of the day. Nations traded there from far and wide. But because of their boasting and pride they are judged.

v7 "For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people."

This was the beginning of their great fall. They were finally totally defeated by Alexander the Great and are not a small insignificant city under Turk rule.

v21 "I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more; though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord God."

Even though there is a small city there, the majesty and the city that it was, has vanished.

Those Who Rejoiced Over Israel's Problems - Ezekiel 25

2010-07-22T08:42:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 25:6 "For thus saith the Lord God; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel: v7 Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, ..."

It was the Lord's decision to punish Israel and Judah. It was not the business of the surrounding nations which rejoiced at the fall of the kingdom. So, because of the arrogance they too were punished.

We should take note in regard to our own lives and the lives of others. Sometimes a fellow Christian might be going through something either as chastening or as a test. We should be careful not to make comments like 'I knew that was going to happen' or 'They had that coming.' We may sometimes have thoughts but they need to be rebuked and prayed about before they bud.

Here we start a list of those who were punished for glorying over Israel's problems:

v3 "And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord God: Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity, v4 Behold therefore, I will deliver thee to the men of the east..."

v8 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;..."

v12 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah..."

v15 "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;"

I think some of these nations saw Israel and Judah in a weakened state and decided to get back at them for all the times when they were defeated by a strong nation. That was taken up by the Lord himself.

I think we in this part of the country might sometimes think that some other countries have had no dealings with the one true God. But they have.

v17 "And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them."

Ezekiel's Wife - Ezekiel 24

2010-07-21T08:37:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 24:16 "Son of man, behold, I take away from thee thee desire of thine eyes with a stroke, yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down."

I find this a tough chapter. A prophet is indeed worthy of our respect.

The illustration is of Israel and Judah who are lost to the Lord as they turn to idols and are punished with captivity and the loss of their homeland. Ezekiel looses his wife in this chapter but is not allowed to mourn just as the Lord will not mourn for the punishment that Israel is receiving. At least, there is to be no outward show of grief.

v2 "Son of man, write thee the name of the day, even of this same day; the king of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem this same day."

We are referred back to II Kings 25:1 and Jeremiah 39:1

II Kings 25:1 And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about."

Jeremiah 39:1 reads basically the same. It was a specific date to be remembered.

Then we have the parable of a pot. It is filled with meat and cooked but not drained leaving the scum in the pot. Then that which is left is cooked until it is gone.

v6 "Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the bloody city, to the pot whose scum is therein, and whose scum is not gone out of it! bring it out piece by piece; let no lot fall upon it."

Throughout these various accounts of the fall of Jerusalem there is one statement that I see a lot and it is all about Israel remembering who their God is. 'They shall know that I am the LORD."

v27 "In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD."

v18 "So I spake unto the people in the morning; and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded."

Aholah and Aholibah - Ezekiel 23

2010-07-20T07:47:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 23:4 "And the names of them were Aholah the elder, and Aholibah her sister: and they were mine, and they bare sons and daughters. Thus were their names, Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah."

My helps dictionary uses Aholibah as the nation Judah also. At this time of the captivity, most of the people of Judah were drawn into Jerusalem. Aholah means 'her own tent' while Aholibah means 'my tent in her'. The latter perhaps referring to Jerusalem being the tent within Judah but I'm not sure.

The comparison is two sisters Samaria (Israel after the division) and Judah. First Samaria was unfaithful to God then upon seeing the sins of Samaria, Judah followed as well with unfaithfulness.

It is a stinging story of how the two sisters followed after the sins of the nations which surrounding them instead of following the teachings they had received in the wilderness and after.

v22 "Therefore, O Aholibah, thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will raise up thy lovers against thee, from whom thy mind is alienated, and I will bring them against thee on every side: v23 The Babylonians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, and Shoa, and Koa and all the Assyrians with them: all of them desirable young en, captains and rulers, great lords and renowned, all of them riding upon horses."

The sins of Israel did not start in Canaan, as we have learned, they started in Egypt. We can remember when Moses brought them out and the times were hard. They looked and longed for Egypt again. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the commandments, they built the calf. In all this, the Lord did not destroy them so that the heathen would not see their punishment. But still, they could not keep from looking back to Egypt.

The punishment, now, was for a purpose.

v27 "Thus will I make thy lewdness to cease from thee, and thy whoredom brought from the land of Egypt: so that thou shalt not lift up thine eyes unto them, nor remember Egypt any more."

The application for Christians is that we should do as Paul did 'forgetting those things which are behind'. It is not possible to hang onto the desire to be part of the world system and be totally devoted to the will of God.

Think about it. Can a person go in two directions at the same time?

I John 1:15 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

Princes and Prophets - Ezekiel 22

2010-07-16T07:59:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 22:27 "Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain."

v26 "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things;...

v6 "Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone were in thee to their power to shed blood."

The structure of leadership has dissolved into a quest for personal gain. The fault for the attitude of the people is laid on the leadership while making no excuse for the sin of the people.

The sins are many and are listed one by one. The Lord has said that he would not correct Israel while in Egypt or the wilderness because he had claimed them as his own and did not want to shame them in the presence of the enemy. That's what I got from previous chapters.

Now Israel took advantage and turned from God and worshipped idols. It was not just innocent mischief. Children were burned to please false gods, the laws of God were broken one by one. The strangers were mistreated. Even the house of God and the precious things were used for personal gain.

v8 "Thou hast despised mine holy things... v9 In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood...v12 In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood..." And many more. These comments were directed at the princes of Israel.

Further it tells how the priests participated with them. It also tells of the prophets who told the leaders that they were doing just fine and every thing would be just fine.

v28 "And her prophets have daubed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying Thus saith the Lord God, when the LORD hath not spoken."

The Apostle Paul told us to 'study to be quiet'. It would have behooved the prophets to say nothing rather than lie about God telling them something.

It became so bad that the Lord gave us this verse to summarize the situation in Israel.

v30 "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it but I found none."

There was no Moses to plead for the people or a David to stand at the threshing floor and say that he was the man who should be punished instead of the people.

Sword & Diadem - Ezekiel 21

2010-07-14T08:29:00.005-04:00

Ezekiel 21:25-27 "And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high.

"I will overturn, overturn, over turn, it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him."

In this chapter, we see again the end of the kingship of Israel but with some added information. The crown is removed until someone comes to whom it belongs. It refers to the coming king, the Lord himself who shall descend with a shout.

It also tells of the Lord taking out his sword and shining it up.

v9 "Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus saith the LORD; Say, A sword, a sword is sharpened, and also furbished: v10 It is sharpened to make a sore slaughter; should we then make mirth? it contemneth the rod of my son, as every tree."

furbish: to give a new look to, renovate, to make lustrous.

So a new kingship is announced the old is taken away.

contemn: despise.

In the book of Revelation, we see Him come.

Revelation 11:17 "Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned."

His Name's Sake - Ezekiel 20

2010-07-13T08:12:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 20:1 "And it came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat before me."

Remember the Lord told Ezekiel that to tell the elders that He would not speak to them because they had idols still in their heart. So here, the Lord tells Ezekiel to deal with them.

v3 "Son of man, speak unto the elders of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Are ye come to inquire of me? As I live, saith the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you."

This chapter takes Ezekiel back through the history of Israel so that he can tell them the reason they are where they are. It begins in Egypt where they were told to cast off their idols but they did not. It tells of the wilderness where they were given the commandments and to cast off idols but they did not. It tells of Canaan where they were blessed but still they returned to their idols.

The Lord told them that it was because of His own name's sake that he spared them all those times. Also, because the Lord had claimed them as His own, he did not want to punish them in the sight of the heathen.

v9 "But I wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be polluted before the heathen, among whom they were, in whose sight I made myself known unto them, in bringing them forth out of the land of Egypt."

Like sheep who must learn discipline for their own good. The Lord here promises Israel that they will learn and that they will turn from their wickedness.

v37 "And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant;"

These words are spread through other verses: v38 "And I will purge..." v35 "I will bring..." v41 "I will accept..."

The Lord is not bringing all this about because Israel has been so good, no, but for His own name's sake. We often refer to our children as our name's sake. So, too, could this be that Jesus as God's son is also His name's sake. I've heard the prayer often, 'for Jesus' sake, Amen'.

I'm glad for Jesus and His righteousness, for I certainly could not get to heaven on my own merits.

v44 "And ye shall know that I am the LORD when I have wrought with you for my name's sake, not according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord God."

Lamentation for the Princes of Israel - Ezekiel 19

2010-07-12T08:13:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 19:2 "And say, what is thy mother? A lioness; she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. v3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men."

This lamentation is concerning two kings who reigned in the latter years of the kingdom. They were both sons of Josiah (who was a good king). The first Johahaz reigned but for a short time and was taken away by the Pharaoh of Egypt. Eliakim was put in his place and his name changed to Jehoiakim by Pharaoh.

v4 "The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt."

Eliakim became king and did as other kings and fought wars, etc.

v8 "Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit."

The scepter is the symbol of power. It tells us here that the 'mother' had many who could hold the scepter and that there were strong rods for the scepters. But then even the mother was destroyed.

v12 "But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong rods were broken and withered, the fire consumed them."

The first verse tells us who the mother was: Israel. In one place, when the enemy was confronting Israel (when they were coming into the kingdom), someone said they all have the face of a king.

v1 "Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,"

Read also II kings 23:34 and surrounding verses.

Sour Grapes - Ezekiel 18

2010-07-09T08:03:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 18:2 "What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?"

There were some bad expressions on the faces in the land. No doubt, anyone going through could see the attitude of the people by their expression and the proverb used to describe them.

The Lord goes on to explain that if the people do right, they will not be punished and will have no reason for long faces.

v4 "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

v5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right, ... he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God."

The chapter reviews the elements of the law that was given to the people. The final word is that every person bears his own sin and it is not passed up or down in the family.

v20 "The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shalt the father bear the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."

It tells us that we shall stand before God individually. I think it also tells us that our family ties are not the issue but rather how we conduct ourselves.

The plea is for Israel to turn from their wickedness. It has not changed that the wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23.

It is so obvious that we need a Savior. Man is of sinful nature and cannot pull himself up. Much of what we learn in the Old Testament shows us the need for the New. We need someone who was pure enough to take our place. It was and is Jesus.

v32 "For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."

Eagles & Twigs - Ezekiel 17

2010-07-08T08:07:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 17:3 "And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar;

v4 "He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants."

These stories are beautiful to me. I do not understand the exact meaning but I can see Jesus here. He is telling a truth with a story just as he did in the New Testament.

Telling of two eagles, I believe this first one is Israel and the second one is Babylon. I cannot be sure.

v12 "Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell the, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;"

It seems that the purpose for the invasion of Judah was to bring down the mighty nation so that it would again learn to trust the Lord. They rebelled again by going to Egypt for help.

v14 "That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand."

v17 "Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons."

So Judah was suppose to yield to the captivity but they went to Egypt for help. This caused judgment on Egypt as well and the destruction of many.

There is hope in the chapter.

v24 "And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I the LORD have spoken and have done it."

God's chosen people are to learn that they serve the true God who is able to tear down the mighty and do the impossible with that which seems useless. "...have made the dry tree to flourish..."

Isaiah 53:4 Isaiah 53:2 "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: ...."

Nativity - Ezekiel 16

2010-07-07T08:30:00.005-04:00

Ezekiel 16:6 "And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live."

Chapter 16 is a chapter that should be read in it's entirety. It is a picture of Jerusalem as a newborn baby, neglected until the Lord came by, then raised up and decked out in fine linen and jewels.

v9 "Then washed I thee with water; yea, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil."

It is a picture of a child cast out and unwanted. Then the Lord passed by.

v5 "None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee, but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born."

I think of the song "When Jesus passed by my way." I don't know if that is the title. But the Lord does care for the outcast. He does have time to stop and take note of our needs. Just think of the blind man who sat by the roadside begging. Jesus stopped to fill his need. So did the Lord with Jerusalem. He cared for them.

Jerusalem turned from the Lord after all this loving care and worshipped things instead of the One who was taking care of them. The chapter goes on to compare Jerusalem to a wife who turned to another but found not fulfillment for her desires.

v15 "But thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on everyone that passed by; his it was."

Besides being unfaithful, Jerusalem took the children and sacrificed them to idols.

v21 "That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?"

These are the sins of Jerusalem, recounted to the people so that the might remember and know why they were uprooted from their homeland and taken into captivity.

v38 "And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy."

After all this, Jerusalem will be remembered and there is hope in this chapter as well.

v60 "Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. See Exodus 2:24 and Hosea 2:15

Vine - Ezekiel 15

2010-07-06T08:14:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 15:6 "Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem."

In this chapter, we understand the vine. It was made to be burned int he fire for fuel. It seems there was no other good use for the vine. Jerusalem is now described as being like the vine, good only to be used for fuel in the fire.

For those who have studied only the New Testament, this statement must seem strange. I, myself, have been trying to reconcile the chapter with New Testament scripture. For in the New Testament, the vine is all important.

John 15:1- "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman."

We know that grapes grow on vines and that wine was / is made from grapes. So it was used for fuel when pulled from the forest and for other purposes when tended. I believe the mystery is that even the vine is can be purposeful in the Father's hands. On the one hand, if the Father decrees, it is used for fuel. On the other hand, if the Father decrees, the vine is used for productive purposes.

Jesus adopted the role of the vine. Perhaps because as the vine in the forest had little respect, so he had little respect on earth, at least from the powers of this world.

v2 "Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit."

So, we see that bearing good fruit determines the purpose of the vine. One that bears good fruit is nourished and cared for. The branches that do not bear are cut away and burned so that they do not draw nourishment from the good branches that are producing fruit.

In our chapter, Jerusalem has become a branch that bears only bad fruit. What would we do with a fruit tree that never produced anything but rotten fruit or no fruit at all. God owns the trees and so can make these decisions concerning the trees or vines. (A vine is considered a tree in the Bible.)

John 5:5 "I am the vine, (Jesus) , ye are the branches; He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing."

Jerusalem, the capitol of Israel was part of that great nation that the Lord choose as his own. He built the nation and brought into Canaan. It seems much like a man moving from one area to another and taking along a cutting of a prized apple tree or grape vine. He places it in good soil and waits for good fruit.

Jerusalem brought forth bad fruit. Not at first, but the fruit went bad and so, we have this chapter where the vine is cast into the fire.

v8 "And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God."

Three Men - Ezekiel 14

2010-07-01T07:30:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 14:16 "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God."

One thing struck me in this verse. Ezekiel is receiving this prophesy during the captivity and that is when Daniel was living his life in captivity. (We will study about Daniel later.) But the Lord put him in this group of three righteous men. Two from the olden days. Daniel must have had great favor with the Lord and indeed he did.

I believe the point here is that when God starts his judgment on a people, it is bound to be carried out regardless of who prays. Although he has great respect for someone, His will must be carried out. So even Noah, Daniel or Job could not stop this judgment.

Now in the first part of the chapter some elders have come to Ezekiel, it seems they were wanting to find out what God had in mind for the future. The problem with them was that they had not turned lose of their idol worship even though there may have been no images, they still held idols in their heart.

v1 "Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me."

v3 "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face; should I be inquired of at all by them?"

People cannot come to God for a new life when they hold on to their old life. The first step is repentance which means to 'turn from'.

v6 "Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, Repent and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations."

The same is true for this generation. As I've said, people cannot make a deal with God. We must come under His conditions. It starts with recognizing that we are sinners and then a willingness to turn from that sin.

Because these men held sin in their heart, the Lord answered thus:

v8 "And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD."

There will be a few that remain who will encourage the hearts of the captives. It is called the remnant. These are such people as Daniel and others who stayed true to God.

v23 "And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord God."

I am encouraged by some young families coming up who honor the Lord. It seems at times that there is nothing but Hollywood and meanness in the world. Then, I find there are those who have taught their children properly and those children are raising families to fear the Lord. It is an encouragement to me.

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Like Foxes - Ezekiel 13

2010-06-30T08:33:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 13:4 "O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts."

We have established that Jerusalem is to fall at this time. The false prophets are saying that everything will be just fine, so go ahead and build houses and go on with your life. We know that Jeremiah was in the kings house telling them that captivity was coming and to prepare. Not so with the false prophets who deceived the people and they did not prepare.

v3 "Thus saith the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!"

It shows that leaders are held responsible for what they tell the people. Leaders have a greater responsibility because they have the care and safety of those under them in their hands.

v6 "They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith; and the LORD hath not sent them; and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word."

A person with a strong personality can bend the truth and add a lot of stuff that was not there. You know, some people you just want to believe because you like them so much. Truth is, if it does not match up with the Bible, it is wrong. The Bible says that without charity the words mean nothing. (I Corinthians 13) So, if a person speaks with venom in their heart and voice, they are obviously wrong according to the Bible.

Jeremiah was not the polished person that the false prophets were, at least, he did not have the popular message. He did not just sit around and figure out what to tell the people so it would please them. On the other hand the false prophets told the people that everything would be fine and that is what they wanted to hear. Wouldn't we all?

v8 "Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord God."

So then they are compared to a wall in this chapter where the wall is daub with every falsehood they could think up.

v10 "Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar; v11 Say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that it shall fall; there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it."

It goes on to talk about the women who are busy sowing pillows and kerchiefs for evil purpose. That practice is denounced as well. So, not only those who are outspoken with deceit but also those who support them are held accountable.

It seems that the most important enemy was within the walls of Jerusalem and was not the army outside. This verse tells of deliverance, not from Babylon but from the false prophets.

v23 "Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations; for I will deliver my people out of your hand; and ye shall know that I am the LORD."

Isn't it a shame that God had to take Israel out of the promise land to get them out of the idol worship business?

v5 "Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in teh battle in the day of the LORD."

Days are at Hand - Ezekiel 12

2010-06-29T07:41:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 12:1 "The word of the LORD also came unto me saying v2 Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not; for they are a rebellious house."

In this chapter we see two issues covered. One the day Zedekiah left the castle and was captured. Second, dealing with the immediate fulfilment of the true prophesy.

Ezekiel was to pack his stuff and dig a hole under the wall and leave with his head covered to illustrate how Zedekiah left Jerusalem. Jeremiah 39.

v5 "Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. v6 In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight; thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel."

There was a saying in Jerusalem that the things prophesied were 'far off' and therefore not to be worried over. The Lord said that was not to be anymore.

v22 "Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?"

v23 "Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision."

We often wait for a day, perhaps dread a day that is coming. Maybe it is the dentist we dread or a holiday we look forward to. They seem so far away. Then the days pass and before you know it, the day is here and we have to deal with it for good or bad.

So, it was for Israel, they had heard the prophets but felt that the day would come much later. As with Hezekiah, he was okay with the fact that destruction would come after he was gone. But in our studies, the day came for fulfilment and Israel was not ready.

v28 "Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; There shall none of my words be prolonged anymore, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord God."

Could today be the day?

New Spirit & Heart - Ezekiel 11

2010-06-25T08:27:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 11:19 - 20 "And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God."

In Jeremiah we saw the physical goings on in Jerusalem. We saw one prophet who told the truth to the king and the people. There were many who failed to warn the people and prophesied to them things they themselves made up. In Ezekiel, we see the spiritual side of things. As the leaders turned the house of God into a temple of idol worship, we see the Lord moving out. It is a time when there seems no hope. Then we come to these two verses where hope is revived.

v5 "And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel, for I know the things that come into your mind, everyone of them."

Whoops! They must have thought if they kept it in the head it would be a secret. Not so. Here the Lord reminds us that he knows our intent and our thoughts. I think that is why some were given the mark and spared in the last chapter because the Lord knew the sins of Israel grieved them in their heart and mind.

Pelatiah is given special mention as one that deceived the people:

v13 "And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaliah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord God! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"

This leads to the voice of hope in Ezekiel's ears. Those who came out of this judgment would be given a new heart to replace the stony one. Also, we have a promise that the Lord would not forsake them:

v16 "Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary int he countries where they shall come."

A little sanctuary... hope that the Lord would be there where ever they went.

I thing these things were suppose to be told to the people so that the story would go around and be remembered.

v25 "Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had showed me."

Glory of the LORD - Ezekiel 10

2010-06-24T07:39:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 10:4 "Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory."

This is in contrast to back in Solomon's day of building the temple, then the Lord was coming in, now he is leaving the house. I picture him sitting in his chariot then getting up to walk out of the temple. It was a sad day for Israel.

v1 "Then I looked, and behold in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne."

Now the one on the throne speaks to the man in linen. He is to get fire from under the throne. The chapter goes into a description of the cherubim, cherub and the wheels after the brief glimpse of the one on the throne. It is understandable, eyes of flesh could not capture the beauty of Him, nor are they allowed to do so. The glory from Him is so great that the best the writer can do is describe the brightness of gems that we consider, perhaps, the most beautiful things on earth.

v2 "And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and aid, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight."

The only way I could possibly name what Ezekiel saw upon which the Lord's throne stood, is that I think of it as a living chariot. The description is there to read, here in chapter 10. I don't know how much we are suppose to understand.

From what I can visualize, I see the Lord stepping down off this 'living chariot' and walking out of the temple. BUT that is just my thoughts.

v20 "This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubim."

v18 "Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim."

I admit that I am a writer and do see things in story form. In reading this over and over, the sight I saw was the Lord sitting upon the cherubim, then stepping down to walk out of the house built for him, then being back on the cherubim again after he left the threshold.

Man Clothed in Linen - Inkhorn - Ezekiel 9

2010-06-23T09:10:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 9:4 "And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof."

We find in this chapter that there were those in Jerusalem who did not like what was going on in the city. They sighed and cried over their city. We realize also that the Lord is aware of those who sin and those who hold fast to their fast.

These six men, mentioned here, seem to be the angelic watchmen over the city. That is just my view.

v1 "He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with is destroying weapon in his hand."

It says man but this may be for Ezekiel's benefit. Remember we are seeing a vision through the eyes of Ezekiel.

v2 "And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar."

Like soldiers called to the one in charge, they stood awaiting their command.

The first to receive orders was the man in linen with the inkhorn.

v3 "And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side?

My Bible refers me back to Leviticus 16:4 where it talks of the manner of Aaron's dress.

"He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh...these are holy garments..."

The job given to the man in linen was to go through the city and find those who sighed and cried and to put a mark on them. Next we have the other five and their orders:

v5 "And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him; through the city, and smite, let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; v6 Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house."

These are very solemn scriptures. This house was built for the Lord. It had been defiled. We see here that the Lord has already moved from the altar to the threshold. He is leaving the house. It is sad. As we have already seen from the abominations committed by the people, it was justified.

v11 "And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying I have done as thou hast commanded me."

Not only was this a very real event where the Lord judged Israel but it should serve as an example of the judgment that awaits this world. Those who push God away and serve other gods will face similar judgment. I am so thankful for the grace of God that he sent his Son to make a way of salvation for us. It is not the mark from that inkhorn that we have but the blood of God's very son upon our souls, so that, when judgment comes we know that it cannot touch those where the blood has been applied. That is those who have accepted Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he made to bring salvation. Amen.

Sanctuary Defiled - Ezekiel 8

2010-06-22T07:29:00.005-04:00

Ezekiel 8:6 "He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations."

I believe I have it right that Ezekiel is at the river Chebar but is carried in the spirit to see the things he saw at this time. And so Scofield agrees that these were visions of Ezekiel looking back to what 'had' happened so that Israel would know why they were in captivity.

v3 "And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy."

I picked up on three verses which tell of particular sins:

v9 "And he said unto me Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. v10 So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed upon the wall round about."

That reminds me of the tombs of Egypt which have been opened where drawings were found on the walls and images were set up. Israel was suppose to be worshipping the one true God but at least Egypt did not pretend.

v5 "...and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry." I should have listed that first but I do not know what the image of jealousy was.

v14 "Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz."

This shows us that it was not just some few sneaking off to do a bad thing, it was all of them. Tammuz was a Syrian idol.

v16 "And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east."

Ezekiel is sitting with the elders of Israel. No doubt, these images will be told them and therefore spread throughout Israel in captivity, so that they (the new generation) will know why they are in captivity.

v18 "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."

That's the end of this chapter. I was thinking that when Israel does come back to God and leaves captivity to rebuild Jerusalem, they should have a hate for idol worship in their hearts. If they can see that it was because of idol worship or rather turning from God that caused them to loose their great nation and become subjects, THEN it should keep them from turning to idols ever again.

Morning is Come - Ezekiel 7

2010-06-21T08:59:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 7:10 "Behold the day, behold, it is come; the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded."

"...ye shall know that I am the LORD."

We live in a time when there is a lot of nonchalant (Webster: giving an effect of unconcern or indifference) attitude toward the Bible and the awesomeness of God. I had a friend once, whom I had been trying to get to come to church, tell me that 'he and God had a deal worked out', as if he could elevate himself to a position of negotiation with God.

Although, (I am thankful) Jesus was God and is God, and came down to fulfill the plan of salvation through his blood on the cross and his victory over death and the grave, we should remember that God is God and we are his creation. When he says that a day will come when every knee shall bow to Him, He is not giving us a multiple choice question. He is stating a fact.

In this passage, we are at the end of all the warnings. The debate is over. Judgment has come.

v2 "Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land."

The day of repentance was yesterday, today is the day of judgment.

v3 "Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations."

Thank God for salvation. I know I will surely fall upon my face at the judgment. I hope that He will lift me up as he did the prophets so that I might stand. I long to see his face and understand those things I have not understood. It will be an awesome day when the stain of sin is stripped away and we can see clearly.

This chapter is filled with words to describe the end that has come:

v7 "..morning is come..." Morning can be a great time unless there is something that you have to do on that day that you have been dreading. I was so upset on the day of my appointment to have what I knew was cancer, checked out that I could not get out of bed. I had to go another day.

v10 "Behold, the day, behold, it is come, the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded."

v11 "Violence is risen...v12 The time is come, the day draweth near..."

v14 "They have blown the trumpet... v15 The sword is without..."

v23 "Make a chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence."

There are many things going on in our country that are displeasing to God. I know this because the Bible speaks against those things. Truth does not change. People's opinions change but the truth abides.

No doubt, when judgment comes people will turn the palms of their hands up and say "what'd I do" but it will be too late on that day.

v27 "...they shall know that I am the LORD."

They Shall Know... - Ezekiel 6

2010-06-16T07:45:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 6:14 "So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD."

The people have forgotten. In one place, it says that the people have turned their back toward the Lord. A nation that has known God is more likely (or so it seems to me in scripture) to reap the judgment of God. It would take many scriptures to explain what I mean by that.

In this chapter, there is a description of the horror of judgment upon Israel. Some nations, like people, seem to harden themselves even more rather than learn from chastisement. It is sad.

The one theme that starts in this chapter is the phrase "they shall know that I am the LORD..." it is repeated over and over.

v3 "And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord God; Thus saith the Lord God to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a swrod upon you, and I will destroy your high places."

The high places are where Israel worshipped idols.

Hair - Ezekiel 5

2010-06-15T08:23:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 5:12 "A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee; and a third part shall fall by the sword, round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them."

In this chapter, Ezekiel is again to use an illustration to describe what is to happen to Israel. Ezekiel is instructed to shave his hair and divide it into three parts to represent the children of Israel or perhaps more specifically, those that are left in the land and Jerusalem.

v1 "And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair."

The next verse tells what Ezekiel is to do with the hair. It represents v12 where God tells what he will do with the children of Israel.

v2 "Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them."

A small portion of hair was to be hidden under Ezekiel's clothes. After which, he was to cast them into a fire.

Judgment has come to Jerusalem.

In this chapter, God explains how he has brought Jerusalem forth in sight of the nations and exalted the city. Yet not even those nations around them have sinned as they have.

v6 "And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them."

It goes no to describe the very bad conditions of a siege. It was so bad that the Lord said he had never done it before nor would do again.

v9 "And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do anymore the like, because of all thine abominations."

I remember reading about Abraham, Issac and Jacob and the promises made to them. I remember their mischief and their faith. From that heritage a nation was born to love God. But they were easily deceived and tempted by the pagan beliefs of the land they possessed. It is for these sins that they are being judged.

v11 "Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord God, Surely because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity."

Later we will see what they were doing in the sanctuary that was dedicated to the Lord. We will also see as the glory of the Lord departs the place.

Example - Ezekiel 4

2010-06-14T07:57:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 4:1-2 "Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and portray upon it the city, even Jerusalem; And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about."

This is a great description of a siege against a city. Jerusalem was a very great city. Maybe you have see the great stones used to build the walls.

Ezekiel was to draw the image of the siege taking place. The battering rams were probably large trees cut near the site and put on wheels to ram into the gates over and over until they gave way. If I remember correctly, the mount was dirt piled up until it reached the top of the wall so that men could walk right up to the top.

v3 Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city; and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel."

Inside the city, the false prophets are telling the people that everything will be fine. The enemy will leave or be defeated but God has said something different. Israel is to be led into captivity by this enemy. They will not be delivered. The iron pan represents a siege that is not going to be moved.

v4 "Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it; according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity."

Being a prophet was a tough calling. Ezekiel must have suffered considerable pain as he illustrated what was going on with his very body. It was hard to get Israel to listen but there was to be a record in very plain language for them to remember their sin and sin's cost.

v5 "For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days; so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel."

As a reference my Bible takes me back to Numbers 14:34 where a day is used for a year as recompense for iniquity. "After the number of the days in which ye searched the land, even forty days, each day for a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my breach of promise." This was when the spies went into Canaan and Israel became afraid and would not believe and so wandered in the wilderness until that generation died, except for a few.

That example should have been something Israel remembered.

It goes on to describe Ezekiel's days as he carries out God's instructions. It was telling what it would be like in Jerusalem during these hard days.

v16 "Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment."

Watchman - Ezekiel 3

2010-06-11T07:59:00.002-04:00

Ezekiel 3:17 "Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me."

It is the same command in Jeremiah 6:17. "Also, I set watchmen over you, saying hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken."

It might be easy to be the watchman if everyone would just listen to you when you sounded the warning that danger was on the way. The thing is that they were warned and not necessarily that they heeded the warning.

v7 "But the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted."

See John 15:20

Ezekiel is given a roll of a book so that when he eats it and takes it to heart, he will be able to speak the words of the Lord to the people of Israel.

v 3b "...and it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness." See also Revelation 10:9

So the Lord told Ezekiel right off that Israel was hardhearted and that they would not listen but he was to, nevertheless, sound the warning so that he, himself, has at least obeyed the Lord.

v18 "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand." see Timothy 4:16

So this is the burden of the prophet Ezekiel, he is to sound the warning or those he should have warned will be his responsibility. It is an awesome burden.

The same held true if there was a righteous man and he turned toward wickedness and the Lord placed a warning in his path. If there was no warning there (the watchman) then:

v21 "Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul."

Here the Lord takes Ezekiel apart into the plain to talk with him. From there he starts his mission as one shut up in his house, neither moving nor speaking for many days.

v26 "But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear; for they are a rebellious house."

The Call - Ezekiel 2

2010-06-09T07:28:00.006-04:00

Ezekiel 2:7 "And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious."

I can wonder what Ezekiel was doing with his life before that day. He surely had some plans of his own. He is perhaps still in some shock over current events. Maybe, he was just going about making the best of the situation. Perhaps he was just pondering what to do as he was down by the river Che'bar. When

"The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel..."

Ezekiel has seen the vision of which we can only make an effort to describe as in chapter 1. Then the LORD speaks:

v1 "And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee."

So, why did he have to be told to stand on his feet:

Chapter 1, verse 28 "...I fell upon my face,..."

We will notice that Ezekiel had a real physical reaction to such an awesome sight. He had to have some help getting up.

v2 "And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me."

The commission: v3 "And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day."

The person who will go is specific: Ezekiel, Son of man, thee.

The people he is to speak to is specific: Children of Israel

The problem: They have transgressed against me (God).

How have they transgressed:

v4 "For they are impudent children and stiffhearted..."

What is Ezekiel to say to them:

v4 "...and thou shalt say unto the, Thus saith the Lord God."

The excuses are skipped over and the resolution is wrapped up in this verse:

v5 "And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them."

It would seem that Ezekiel had just been called to a glorious position in life. He was to be a prophet. We will see later that the only glory in his mission was is obedience.

v6 "And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house."

Okay Ezekiel you are called and you will speak my words. The people may or may not heed them but speak anyway so they know you were there. It will be tough. They are rebellious and the conditions may be tough. Then a verse of caution for the priest/prophet.

v8 "But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house; open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee."

So the written word was laid out for Ezekiel and in it were "...lamentations, and mourning, and woe."

In this book, we will see very specific sights that depict the rebellion and idol worship of Israel. One phrase that comes up most often is this:

"...Ye shall know that I am the LORD."

Vision - Ezekiel 1

2010-06-07T08:29:00.004-04:00

Ezekiel 1:4 "And I looked and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire."

Ezekiel is a glimpse at the awesomeness of God so far as a fleshly person can experience. So far as I know, there have been few people who experienced this visual contact with the Almighty. I do not say that they saw God but that they were in his presence and saw the human comprehension of such a close encounter. In all that I can remember, the men had to be revived before they could continue.

v5 "Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man. v6 And everyone had four faces, and everyone had four wings."

Revelation 4:6 "And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal; and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind."

Revelation 4:3-4 "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold."

Some people doubt that Jesus was God. They want him to appear in his heavenly majesty so that they might believe. Instead, He appeared to us in human form and displayed a most awesome character of himself, his love. As we can see from these verses, we are not yet ready to see God in all his glory.

Israel has turned there back on God in our study. Ezekiel is now able to describe to them just what an awesome God they are turning from to serve idols.

My Bible helps says that the diggings in the area explain the visions Ezekiel saw. I differ with them. I think the images were a result of the visions Ezekiel saw. Not the other way around.

v14 "The living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning." See Zech 4:10

By the time you said there they are they were somewhere else.

These are the happenings around the person of God. As Moses met God in the dark cloud to receive the law, so we have not seen God in his greatness. I mean that in the physical sense. We have met God, if we are Christians, in the spiritual sense in the person of Jesus Christ.

Next we have the story of the wheel in the wheel and we get closer to the person of God.

v16 "The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the color of beryl; and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel."

Ezekiel seemed at a loss for words to describe what he saw and I can understand it. I have trouble picturing it in my mind even as I read it.

v17 "When they went, they went upon their four sides; and they turned not when they went."

You should read the whole event. Look at this verse.

v21 "When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels."

In all this, it seems that there could be no more awesomeness to behold but these are the things surrounding the majesty of God.

The throne rises above this and again we are limited as to what we can behold and live.

v27 "And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about."

I sometimes plant a little garden spot when I feel well enough. It is just a small spot compared to our acreage. I go and tend it as I can. A person visiting would not even notice it unless I pointed it out. Such is the image I get of earth when I read these verses. We are quite small when it comes to the greatness of God. YET, he considers us important. He loves us so much that he died for us on a cruel cross. It is beyond my understanding.

v28 "As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake."

Ezekiel - Introductions

2010-05-28T07:54:00.003-04:00

Ezekiel 1:1 "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." See also II Kings 23:3 II Kings 24:11-16

We need to understand who Ezekiel was and when he lived. For this I must look to a couple of Bible scholars for help.
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Scofield: "Ezekiel is the voice of God to "the whole house of Israel". As opposed to some being either to Judah or the Ten Tribes, etc.

He preached for 21 years. He was there before the destruction of Jerusalem and lived among the people in a community near a river called Chebar.

Ezekiel uses symbols to illustrate his words.
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Comprehensive Bible Helps:

Ezekiel was the son of a priest and a priest himself. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah. (So we see that Jeremiah was not alone as I thought before.) His father was the priest Buzi. He was educated in Judea. He had a house and lost his wife suddenly. Tradition says he was murdered.

The symbols were a mystery until statues were unearthed in recent history that were similar to what he described. The Jews recommended not reading the book until they were 20 years old.
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Ezekiel's words from God were to remind the people of the national and personal sins of the nation so that they would know why they were in captivity. It is also a book of hope that the nation will again be reborn and their oppressors would be punished.

v4 "And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it , and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire." See Isaiah 21:1 Jeremiah 23:19.

The Longing - Lamentations 5

2010-05-27T08:04:00.004-04:00

Lamentations 5:18 "Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it."

Here seems to be a look back at Zion from captivity, but I cannot be sure. I've wondered if Jeremiah made it to Babylon or if he just knew the heart of the people there.

They are turning back to the Lord.

v16 "The crown is fallen from our head; woe unto us, that we have sinned!"

This verse makes me think they are now in Babylon:

v5 "Our necks are under persecution: we labor, and have no rest."

A historical statement looking back to the happenings in Jerusalem.

v9-11 "We got our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. v12 Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honored."

So a terrible time has ended. Captivity is being endured. The good part of this chapter is that the people are acknowledging their sin against God.

v21 "Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old."

A prayer that shall be answered and was answered in part with the returning to build the wall.

Fury Accomplished - Lamentations 4

2010-05-27T07:53:00.002-04:00

Lamentations 4:2 "The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter!"

My note on this verse is: 'Better we humble ourselves, than for God to do it.'

This chapter refers back to the pitiful sight of a city under siege. Starvation was in all the city. People who had been privileged were now wandering the streets looking for food. Children were deserted or worse.

v5 "They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets; they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills."

That is what sin will do. It will take you to the heights and let you crash in your own filth. Israel trusted in idols. They were praying to the air but now what they trusted in is useless.

God raised them up. When they turned from Him, he took his hand away and they crashed.

v11 "The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof."

So the punishment is over and now the path to restoration.

v20 "The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen."

Submission to captivity but now returning to the shadow of his care. Progress.

A note to Edom to not glory over Israel's punishment...

v21 "Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and halt make thyself naked."

Faithfulness - Lamentations 3

2010-05-25T07:44:00.005-04:00

Lamentations 3:22-23 "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."

Very often a passage will start off as a statement and end up in a prayer of thanksgiving or praise, as if the one talking has been given insight while they were speaking. Psalm 23 is such a passage.

In studying Jeremiah and Lamentations (same author) we need to keep in mind that Jeremiah was sort of like a conduit between Israel and the Lord. He spoke the complaints of Israel during this time of suffering. He also spoke the words of the Lord. With that in mind, we should remember that Jeremiah was a man. He suffered like anyone else. He was a man of emotion. He felt what was going on and expressed it with tears and sadness and sometimes anger.

Here are my notes I took to summarize this in my own mind: Jeremiah is upset over the judgment in chapter 2 verse 20 until he is thrown in the dungeon by his people in chapter 3 verse 53, then he was praying for them to be punished in chapter 3:64.

2:20 "Behold, O LORD, and consider to whom thou hast done this. Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span long? shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary of the LORD? See also 4:10

3:53 "They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me." See also Jeremiah 38:6.

3:64 "Render unto them a recompense, O LORD, according to the work of their hands."

So we see that Jeremiah's attitude changed as he went through these events. He was rescued from the dungeon but he learned some things. He learned just how evil the people had become. He learned that there is mercy when he was pulled from the dungeon. I learned that I am glad that the Lord is in charge because our moods change with circumstance. We would not be good judges.

Jerusalem is under siege. In this type of warfare, the enemy simply encamps around a city and waits for the inhabitants to either starve or surrender. Jeremiah had been begging them to submit to the enemy so that they could survive. The false prophets told them that they would see victory if they would but hang on. Jeremiah was right, the false prophets were wrong.

The Lord gave measured judgment. Israel had committed grievous sins but He still wished to preserve them as a nation.

v48 "Mine eye runneth down with rivers of water for the destruction of the daughter of my people."

Remember that Jeremiah expressed (often) the heart of God through these events.

Jeremiah 2:13 "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

Jeremiah 5:19 "And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours."

Chapter 3 of Jeremiah.

His Right Hand - Lamentations 2

2010-05-19T07:59:00.005-04:00

Lamentations of Jeremiah 2:3 "He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel, he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about."

(horn in the Old Testament is used to depict power, honor and glory)

I hear it over and over, 'why does God let this or that bad thing happen'. The thinking is reversed. The mighty hand of God holds back harm to us. It is when we run out of his protection that the enemy descends on us. We must remember that we live in an unfriendly world. Christians are in a foreign land because our citizenship is in heaven.

So in this chapter we are told that the right hand of God was drawn back and the enemy came in because of Israel's rebellion.

v1 "How hath the LORD coveted the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not his footstool in the day of his anger!"

There is no question of the love the LORD has for Israel. He raised them up and planted them in Canaan. He raised them up to the greatest nation on earth. It troubled him to punish Israel, yet he declared it in the beginning that chastening would happen if they rebelled against him.

As if from the heart of God:

v11 "Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, my liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of the daughter of my people; because the children and the sucklings swoon in the streets of the city."

I think of Calvary and the suffering Jesus Christ suffered so that we would not have to suffer them. His heart was broken for us.

v22 "Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about, so that in the day of the LORD's anger none escaped nor remained: those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine enemy consumed."

As a Christian we can find much comfort in the words of the Old Testament, it should be noted that the New Testament is a new and better way that tells us of the grace we are under and the way a Christian should live. Let me say it like this, The law was outward to the inward parts, the Christian (grace) is inward to the outward.

I'm afraid man people take the grace of God for granted but there will come a day when the door of grace will close forever. The same Jesus who died for us and lived that humble life on earth will be the judge as in the days of Israel that we have studied about. It will be a terrible day when the world is judged, we can all see the sin around us and know that that judgment will be harsh. We can read about it in Revelation, the last book in the Bible.

I plead with you that you would learn of this time of grace and take advantage of the love of God before it is too late.

Misery of Jerusalem - Lamentations 1

2010-05-18T07:22:00.003-04:00

Lamentations of Jeremiah 1:1 ""How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!" (subordinate)

There can be no doubt that the punishment was just. Israel, Judah and Jerusalem had turned to idols. They were committing hideous acts in the name of those idols.

v18 "The LORD is righteous, for I have rebelled against his commandment: hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow, my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity."

This are the words of a broken heart. As we remember past studies, with the glory of king David and Solomon, we can think of the great buildings overlaid with gold and the processions as they came to worship. All that is lost.

v3 "Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction..."

v4 "The ways of Zion do mourn..."

v6 "And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is departed..."

v7 "Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction...all her pleasant things that she had in the days of old..."

v12 "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, wherewith the LORD hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger."

But remember the previous books we have studied and we will agree that

v18 "The LORD is righteous..."

The Book of Lamentations of Jeremiah - intro

2010-05-14T07:24:00.002-04:00

Jeremiah 3:22-23 "It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness."

Scofield describes the book like this: "...it is the disclosure of the love and sorrow of Jehovah for the very people whom He is chastening - a sorrow wrought by the Spirit in the heart of Jeremiah."

Jeremiah 13:17 "But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; and ine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because the LORD's flock is carried away captive."

From my Comprehensive Bible Helps: Chapters 1, 2 and 4 have 22 verses, each corresponding to the Hebrew alphabet, each verse beginning with the corresponding letter. The fifth chapter has 22 verses with the letters but not in order of the alphabet. The third chapter has three verses under each letter.

Lamentations is about Jerusalem and Judah. It is about necessary punishment but with no joy found in administering that punishment.

v1 "How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people! how is she become as a widow! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary!"

tributary: subordinate, secondary, dependent

I Kings 10:23 "So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom."

Zedekiah and Jehoiachin - Jeremiah 52

2010-05-13T09:28:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 52:1 "Zedekiah was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah."

I do not think that was the same Jeremiah who wrote the book.

We come to the close of the book of Jeremiah. He prophesied during the time of the end of the Jewish kingdom in Judah. He also prophesied during the captivity. He suffered at the hands of the authorities for the truth he spoke but was given his freedom by Nebuchadrezzar. He went down to Egypt and I lost his trail from there. I wonder if he made it to Babylon and met Daniel or if he went back to Judah to help in the vineyards. I do not know.

I have learned from studying this book again. I learned that Nebuchadrezzar is probably the correct spelling of the king of Babylon's name although we pronounce it Nebuchadnezzar as it was first spoken by the Hebrews.

Zedekiah was the last reigning king of Judah. However, I think Johoiachin lived the longest as described in the last part of this chapter. The real name of Zedekiah was Mettaniah. Zedekiah being given to him by Nebuchadrezzar.

Many names of the Jews were changed in Babylon. Perhaps, it was another way to wipe out their heritage. Fortunately, many remembered and kept up with their family names. I expect some who chose to stay in Babylon, when Nehemiah came back to rebuild the wall, forgot their names. Who knows, except God, where the descendants are today.

This chapter is also found in II Kings 24 and II Chronicles 36. It is the end of an era for Israel and mentioning it three times seems most appropriate.

v31-34 "And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evilmerodach, king of Babylon in the first year of his reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of prison, And spake kindly unto him and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon, And changed his prison garments, and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of is life. And for his diet, there was a continual diet given him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life."

Babylon - Jeremiah 51

2010-05-12T09:18:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 51:1 "Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind;"

At the end of the 70 years of captivity, Babylon will be judged. I missed a verse in the last chapter that is a good summary of why.

Chapter 50:38 "A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up; for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols."

There are still artifacts of the greatness of Babylon as well as legions. The picture of the place is quite different. It is dried up. I do not know but I am thinking that the river must have had a different course during the time of this great kingdom city.

v7 "Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken; the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad."

Babylon could be a long study, but I will highlight only a few verses. I suggest commentaries and books of history to further fill in the details.

v58 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, and her high gates shall be burned with fire; and the people shall labour in vain, and the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary."

To form a mental of the city, we can see from this verse that the walls were great and perhaps the gates were of fine wood from some foreign land. Sometimes great heaps of dirt are the remains of something magnificent.

Also we can see that the people tried to save the city but were not able to do so. They became weary.

v64 "And thou shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her and they shall be weary, Thus far are the words of Jeremiah."

Revelation 18:21 "And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all."

The Bible Sscholar Scofield tells us that Babylon is used symbolically to represent world power in the last days (our days).

Back to Zion - Jeremiah 50

2010-05-10T07:32:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 50:4-5 "In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten."

This is a prophecy from Jeremiah. He is looking forward to the end of the 70 years of captivity. Most of the original captives have probably died by now. When they left Zion, the people were worshipping idols and all sorts of things. I doubt there was much teaching going in in the households about Israel and Judah and the ways of the LORD. But in this prophecy there is a longing for the homeland which most of them have not even seen.

v2 "Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not; say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces."

The punished for rebellion is now over and those who took the Lord's punishment to the extreme of their own volition are now going to be punished. I cannot guess when this chapter may have been written. Jeremiah may have been in Egypt at the time but we cannot tell from this writing. Babylon is going to fall though.

v9 "For lo, I will raise and cause to come against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the north country; and they shall set themselves in array against her; from thence she shall be taken; their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain."

Verse 11 explains it for us, as to why the Chaldeans are being judged after they did the Lord's bidding.

v11 "Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls,"

It seems to be that Babylon has gotten proud and boastful as if they brought themselves to greatness. They took the punishment of God's chosen beyond what God intended. We learned that the captivity was to be an instrument to keep Israel together as a people while the land laid in sabbath. The Chaldeans gave out their own punishment.

The passage is a lament over the condition of Israel.

v17 "Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away; first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones."

v18 "Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria."

Then the Promise:

v19 "And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan and his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and Gilead."

I am bringing my people home.

Not only that but I will take away their sin.

v20 "In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found; for I will pardon them whom I reserve."

I do not think this prophecy has been completely fulfilled. They came back to build the wall again (Nehemiah) but we will have to study more. There are references to Babylon in Revelation which are not all together clear to me. I do believe there was a physical Babylon and I believe there is a spiritual Babylon where the same things worshipped in the old nation are carried forward to a broader kingdom that worshipped or worships the same way. See Revelation. I will leave this difficult subject to the expert Bible scholars of prophecy.

I will leave this chapter with these two verses.

v33-34 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; The children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together: and all that took them captives held them fast; they refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of hosts is his name; he shall thoroughly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon."

Ammonites to Elam - Jeremiah 49

2010-05-06T09:34:00.005-04:00

Jeremiah 49:39 "But it shall come to pass in the latter days; that I will bring again the captivity of Elam, saith the LORD."

I've heard the term 'latter days' mentioned all my life. What it tells me is that someday it will all end and there will be a brand new day. Amen.

In this chapter we start with the Ammonites.

There were several Ammon's in the Bible. I'm not clear which one refers to the area by that name.

Amos 1:13 "Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they might enlarge their border:" So we see the Lord does remember the innocent.

I remember the Bible saying that Esau is Edom. It refers to him and to the land of Edom.
Also called Idumea when referring to the land.

v7 "Concerning Edom, thus saith the LORD of hosts, Is wisdom no more in Teman? Is counsel perished from the prudent? Is their wisdom vanished?"

So there is judgment on Edom but there is a note concerning the children.

v11 "Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me."

Amos 1:11 "Thus saith the LORD; For three transgression of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath forever;"

We have heard that name in our news many times.

What does Amos say:

Amos 1:3 "Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron;"

Kedar was a son of Ishmael. Ishmael was the son of Abraham by Haggar. Father of many of the tribes of Arabia.

v28 "Concerning Kedar and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall smite, thus saith the LORD; Arise ye, go up to Kedar and spoil the men of the east."

Elam ( I believe this one refers to the descendant of Shem) settled in Persia.

v35 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold I will break the bow of Elam, the chief of their might."

v38 "And I will set my throne in Elam, and will destroy from thence the king and the princes, saith the LORD."

I believe the Lord is referring to the coming defeat of Babylon mentioned in the next chapter.

Moab's Judgment - Jeremiah 48

2010-05-05T07:23:00.005-04:00

Jeremiah 48:38 "There shall be lamentation generally upon all the housetops of Moab and in the streets thereof: for I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no pleasure, saith the LORD."

Moab is made up of the descendants of Lot and his eldest daughter. It is divided into three parts: The Land of Moab, The field of Moab and The Plains of Moab.

Verse 7 gives some insight into the reason for the judgment.

v7 "For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy treasures, thou shalt also be taken and Chemosh shall go forth into captivity with his priests and his princes together."

Chemosh: the national idol of Moabites. See Numbers 21:20

Numbers 21:29 "Woe to thee, Moab! thou art undone, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons that escaped, and his daughters, into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites."

In II Kings 23:13 Chemosh is called "...the abomination of the Moabites..."

Isaiah chapter 13 also describes the Moabites and their judgment.

Amos 2:1 "...because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime;"

So we an see from these scriptures that the land of Moab was a rich country but they worshipped idols and disregarded the commands of the Lord. They also did things that were directly against the Lord. They also had a heritage which regarded the Lord once, they were the descendants of Lot who walked beside Abraham.

They are given the distinction they have chosen, that being their idol worship of Chemosh.

v46 "Woe be unto thee, O Moab! the people of Chemosh perisheth: for thy sons are taken captives, and thy daughters captives."

These are not the most cheerful reading for me. The Lord created the earth and the heavens to do with as he pleases. He is truly an awesome God. He does not divide the earth up and say this is mine and that is theirs. It all belongs to Him and we would all do well to know that.

Philistines Judgment - Jeremiah 47

2010-05-04T09:16:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 47:1 "The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote Gaza."

We have entered into s series of chapters that tell of the judgment on various nations. It shows us that the entire region was shaken during the time Judah was taken into captivity. We will have to visit other books of the Bible to recall the reasons for the judgments.

v4 "Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines, and to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper that remaineth; for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphor."

Amos 1:9 "Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Tyrus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they delivered up the whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly covenant;"

Some of what was going on is found in II Chronicles 28:16-18 "At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives. The philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah and had taken Bethshemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof; and they dwelt there."

Not that I need to explain, but we can see that these judgments were not without a cause.

It also illustrates that although judgment is sometimes mercifully slow in coming, it will come.

Pharaoh and Nebuchadrezzar - Jeremiah 46

2010-05-03T07:23:00.002-04:00

Jeremiah 46: 1-2 "The word of the LORD which came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Gentiles; Against Egypt against the army of Pharaohnecho king of Egypt which was by the river Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezar king of Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah." See also II Kings 23:29

This begins several chapters which talk about judgments against various peoples. The words seem to encourage the armies to come together so that the judgment is sure. It reads like some of the plays I've heard with its flow of words. It leaves no doubt as to where and when it happened.

v10 "For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries; and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood; for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates."

satiate: to satisfy fully or to excess

Pharaoh had become, according to history, no just a king but was worshipped as a god. They also had many gods of animals and part animals as we see in the stories of the tombs. It is a part of history that seems to have stopped suddenly.

v24 "The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded; she shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the north."

Not only was Egypt defeated by Nebuchadrezzar but the land was changed when they cut down great forest of trees.

v23 "They shall cut down her forest, saith the LORD, though it cannot be searched; because they are more than the grasshoppers, and are innumerable."

For the remnant of Judah that came to Egypt, the chapter closes with a word for them.

v28 "Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, saith the LORD; for I am with thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished."

Special attention goes to the beloved of the Lord. These are the times before Christ came to redeem the world. The last part of the Bible is called the New Testament. It represents a change in how the world is dealt with. It includes a time of grace when people can turn to Christ for salvation. The book of Revelation takes us beyond this time of grace to a time when the world is judged. Everyone should consider themselves seriously while we are given this gift of grace. I prefer this time of grace to the violent times we read about in the Old Testament and in history.

Romans 3:24 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

Baruch - Jeremiah 45

2010-04-30T07:20:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 45:2 "Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch; v3 Thou didst say, Woe is me now! for the LORD hath added grief to my sorrow; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest."

There are several Baruch's mentioned in this area of the Bible. This one, I believe, is still talking about the one Jeremiah used as a scribe when he was in prison.

There must have been some event which caused Baruch to get stressed. I'm thinking that it had something to do with his relationship to Jeremiah, i.e. he was seen as helping Jeremiah and it is obvious that the leaders did not think much of Jeremiah.

v5 "And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not; for behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh saith the LORD; but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest."

I looked for the word 'prey' but found only Webster's definition which was not much help to me. I gather from this passage that things were not going to be peachy for Baruch but his life would be spared.

What I find amazing about this chapter is that the LORD would take a moment to send Baruch a message with all that was going on. Nations are falling, God's beloved Judah is being led into captivity. Yet he takes a moment to give some comfort to his servant and that of Jeremiah's. We do, after all, have Jeremiah's words preserved here.

So, the Lord is well able to deal with the masses and still pay attention to us as individuals. That's very comforting.

Psalm 136:1 "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever."

Open Refusal to Obey by People - Jeremiah 44

2010-04-29T07:52:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 44:16 "As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee."

See Exodus 5:2 Romans 2:3-9

We that is quite plan. They have completely rejected God's instructions to them which were given for their good.

They argue with Jeremiah. They argue that while they worshipped the 'queen of heaven' (Don't know where they got that from - probably Egypt) things were good. Then when they stopped burning incense and stuff things got bad. They Bible does not bear that up but that is the way they want to remember it.

v4 "Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate."

I have tried to do some study on the various gods where a woman depicts their image. They go by various names as well, usually altered to fit the local society. It is a long study.

v19 "And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men?" referchapter 7:18

c7:v18 "The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger."

My Topical Reference says 'queen of heaven' was a name given to the moon by the Hebrews. and refers us to Ashtoreth who was a Syrian goddess, mentioned with Baal and Astarte goddess of the moon. So it is Syrian instead of Egyptian.

Caution: Study of the various gods is not necessary to understanding the scriptures. It is enough to recognize that there is only one true God. The God that made heaven and earth. Study of these false gods can lead the mind into very evil places and cause great harm. It is enough to be aware of their impotence and then learn about the real God.

Back to our chapter. Most of those who went down to Egypt did not survive their judgment. Yet a few did escape and return to Judah.

v28 "Yet a small number that escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah that are gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know whose words shall stand, mine or theirs."

v30 "Thus saith the LORD,..."

I have not yet found out if Jeremiah left Egypt with the small number that escaped or died in Egypt as some believe.

Johanan Refuses to Obey - Jeremiah 43

2010-04-28T08:56:00.006-04:00

Jeremiah 43:7 "So they came into the land of Egypt; for they obeyed not the voice of the LORD; thus came they even to Tahpanhes."

Tahpanhes: a city in Egypt on a branch of the Nile.

The chapter comes after Jeremiah told the remnant that they would be safe in Judah. The leaders accused Jeremiah of being deceived by Baruch, you remember the scribe who wrote down what Jeremiah told him and the book that was burned.

v3 "But Baruch the son of Neriah setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry us away captives in Babylon."

They, apparently, remember the time of Joseph when Israel was protected in Egypt but have forgotten the many years of slavery there and that they had to be delivered by Moses.

They have also 'forgotten' their promise to obey what ever word Jeremiah brought from the LORD. I think often we pray to tell God what to do rather than to submit to his wisdom in doing the thing we need instead of the thing we want.

As a reminder of the words Jeremiah spake from the LORD, a witness was set up in Egypt.

v9 "Take great stones in thine hand and hide them in the clay in the brick kiln, which is at the entry of Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of Judah;"

These were a material symbol of a prophecy spoken by Jeremiah that on that very spot the king of Babylon would sit after he had conquered Egypt and dealt with the remnant of Judah for disobeying the LORD.

v11 "And when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for death to death; and such as are for captivity to captivity; and such as are for the sword to the sword."

I do not know really, why Egypt tried to come to Judah's rescue earlier nor why they want to shelter them now. I'd think that after the Red Sea and the pestilence inflicted on them because of Israel that they would shun them. Now, the king of Babylon is coming.

v12 "And I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt; and he shall burn them, and carry them away captives: and he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd putteth on his garment; and he shall go forth from thence in peace."

Well, it is a far cry from the greatness when David and Solomon were kings. Those kings honored God in their doings and the kingdom was great. The people turned to idols and the kingdom fell. It should be clear which way was best.

Next chapter, tells of the arrogance of the people. They are no longer ashamed of their transgression but lash out.

Safety Promised in Judah - Jeremiah 42

2010-04-27T08:42:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 42:10 "If ye will still abide in the land, then will I build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up, for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto you." See here.

Repent: turn from

In summary: Jerusalem has fallen and the king of Babylon has left Gedaliah governor. Baalis sent Ishmael to kill Gedaliah and he did so. Johanan went after Ishmael with a group of men and rescued those he had taken but Ishmael got away.

In this chapter, the people are gathered together and they have asked Jeremiah to ask the Lord what they should do and promised that they would do it.

Jeremiah's message is for them to remain in Judah and the Lord would protect them. Johanan and others do not accept the message and so set their faces to go into Egypt.

v15-16 "And now therefore hear the word of the LORD, ye remnant of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into Egypt, and go to sojourn there; Then it shall come to pass, that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye shall die."

The Lord is willing to let the remnant remain in Judah and to bless them there and pretty much begs them not to go down to Egypt. They are altogether turned from the Lord in their hearts by this time. Fear and idol worship drive them as we will see later.

v19 "The LORD hath said concerning you, O ye remnant of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt; know certainly that I have admonished you this day."

In the next chapter we will see the response of the leaders of the remnant to Jeremiah and thus to the Lord. I know it broke his heart.

It seems that they no longer trusted the prophets words to them from the Lord.

v22 "Now therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye desire to go and to sojourn."

As parents, we often make this speech to our have grown children. "You are headed into trouble by doing those things that you should not do."

Gedaliah Dead - Jeremiah 41

2010-04-26T08:00:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 41:2 "Then arose Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land."

Jerusalem has fallen. The king of Babylon has made Gedaliah governor. The remnant were promised that they would be safe in Judah if they submitted to the governorship. Jeremiah was there and he had said all along that Judah should do so. But Ishmael, probably out of jealousy, came after the battle was over and sat down to eat with Gedaliah, then rose up and killed him and all the Jews with him. Then I guess he went back under the rock he crawled from under.

Then , not knowing the deed that was done, there came some men to make offerings at the house of the LORD where Gedaliah was. Ishmael was not only a murderer but a liar as well.

v6 "And Ishmael the son of Nethaniah went froth from MIzpah to meet them, weeping all along as he went; and it came to pass as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam. v7 And it was so, when they came into the midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew them, ..."

Ishmael carried away the women that were left and went back where he came from.

Johanan was left to deal with the situation. He gathered men and went after Ishmael and slew him and recovered the women. But Johanan was now afraid of the Chaldeans since Ishmael had also slain some of them and Johanan thought the people might be blamed.

v17 "And the departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt."

I don't read of anything good that happened to Israel when they went into Egypt. We'll see in following studies.

I wonder what good things would have happened to their offspring had they stayed in the area of Bethlehem and had been there when Jesus was born.

Psalm 41:9 "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me."

Gedaliah Governor of Judah - Jeremiah 40

2010-04-22T09:13:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 40:5 "Now while he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, whom the king of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, and dwell with him among the people: or go wheresoever it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go."

The Chaldeans are leaving Judah and have left Gedaliah in charge as governor. A man who was of the princes of Judah (the fallen government) is not pleased with this arrangement, perhaps he still wants to be king, and so sets a trap for Gedaliah who was for peace as best they could manage under the Chaldeans.

v9 "And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying Fear not to serve the Chaldeans; dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you."

It sounds a lot like the instructions given by Jeremiah for the king to surrender to the Chaldeans to preserve his life.

Then appears two men: Johanan who was for Gedaliah. Ishmael sent by Baalis (king of Ammonites) to kill Gedaliah.

v15 "Then Johanan the son of Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying Let me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and no man shall know it; wherefore should he slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish?"

But Gedaliah would not believe Johanan. I suppose he felt like everyone wanted to just live quietly for a change. But he was wrong and we will follow the story in the next chapter.

v16 "But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing; for thou speakest falsely of Ishmael." And by doing so, he signed his own death warrant. Tomorrow the next part of the story.

Jerusalem Fails - Jeremiah 39

2010-04-21T07:38:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 39:2 "And in the eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth day of the month, the city was broken up."

Zedekiah has been king for nine years when the king of Babylon laid siege to the city, then after about two years they entered the city. These two years or so were are very bad time for Jerusalem. It could have been avoided if they had listened to Jeremiah and the words of the Lord.

v4 "And it came to pass, that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate betwixt the two walls; and he went out the way of the plain."

At this point, there was no mercy from the Chaldeans. They broke up the city, killed the sons of Zedekiah and put out the kings eyes, leading him away in chains to Babylon.

v8 "And the Chaldeans burned the king's house, and the houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls of Jerusalem."

So a great kingdom, created and built up by the LORD, is brought down because they turned from the LORD and would not be corrected.

As for Jeremiah, he remained with the remnant that was left.

v12 "Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee." So said Nebuchadrezzar to the captain of the guard.

As for Ebedmelech the Ethiopian who helped Jeremiah and saved his life. He was given a good word from the Lord.

v17 "But I will deliver thee in that day, saith the LORD: and thou shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou art afraid."

v18 "For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto thee; because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the LORD."

Saved with Rotten Rags & Clouts -Jeremiah 38

2010-04-20T07:19:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 38:12 "And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so."

The princes do not like the message of surrender brought by Jeremiah. The message is to save the people alive by following God's plan but the princes are set on fighting which would be to the death. So they put Jeremiah in a dungeon which sounds like a well-type hole where there was mire but no drinkable water or food. He would surely die there.

v4 "Therefore the princes said unto the king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death; for thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking such words unto them; for this man seeketh not the welfare of this people, but the hurt."

They had it wrong. They thought by killing the messenger, the message would not be effective. The thing is, the plan would go forward, Jeremiah was there because of the mercy of the Lord in wanting to save some of the people.

v7 Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king's house, heard that they had put Jeremiah int he dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; v8 Ebedmelech went forth out of the king's house, and spake to the king saying,"

Ebedmelech: servant of the king

So Ebedmelech took thirty men and went to where Jeremiah was left in the dungeon. We should not the name dungeon as used in its original purpose which I expect was a dumping place for human waste.

Ebedmelech did not have the fine cords the princes used to let Jeremiah down into the mire but he used what he could find. Some old rotten rags and discarded pieces of cloth were tied together to make a cord and it was let down to Jeremiah. Then, he was pulled up.

Sometimes it seems there is no one or nothing to help in our time of need. God often uses the most unlikely person and the seemingly useless things to fulfill his purpose.

v13 "So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon; and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison."

The king called Jeremiah secretly to find out what the word from the Lord was. It had not changed.

v17"...If thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live,...v18 But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand."

Zedekiah, king of Judah - Jeremiah 37

2010-04-16T08:08:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 37:1 "And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah."

Coniah is a whole other story. Zedekiah is king and Jerusalem is in the end days. The Chaldeans have besieged Jerusalem but Pharaoh's army is on the way so the Chaldeans pull out. It seems that Jerusalem is saved.

v5 "Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem."

Meanwhile, Jeremiah tried to leave the city to go into the land of Benjamin but the princes thought he was going over to the Chaldeans and arrested him. So he is in prison in the scribes house which is nothing more than a dungeon.

v17 "Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there any word from the LORD? And Jeremiah said, There is: for, said he, thou shalt be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon."

Jeremiah is plan with the king. He asked him where the prophets were that told him everything was going to be just peachy. He also asked Zedekiah to not put him back in the dungeon. So he was allowed to stay in the court of the prison.

v21 "Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street until all the bread in the city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison."

We should note since the Chaldeans are retreating and Pharaoh's seems to be coming to the rescue that there was a word from the Lord on the matter.

v10 "For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained but wounded men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire."

Judah has rejected God and his words from Jeremiah and the Chaldeans are the instrument of their punishment. It was to happen as God said it would.

Burning of the Book - Jeremiah 36

2010-04-15T07:34:00.005-04:00

Jeremiah 36:1 "And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah King of Judah, that this word came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, saying v2 Take thee a roll of a book, and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, from the day I spake unto thee from the days of Josiah, even unto this day."

In this chapter, we get a good sense of what it was like back then. I will set the stage, so to speak:

Johoiakim is in the winterhouse warming by a fire.
Jeremiah is locked up in prison.
The princes are gathered together in the king's house.
Baruch is a scribe called by Jeremiah to take down the words.

v8 "And Baruch the son of Neriah did according to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading in the book the words of the LORD in the LORD's house."

Another person, Michaiah heard the words and went to tell the princes who called for Baruch and told him to sit down and read the words to them.

v13 "Then Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the people."

Upon hearing the words, the princes sent for Baruch to hear it first hand.

v15 "And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read it in our ears. So Baruch read it in their ears."

The princes were afraid when they heard the words and decided the king needed to hear them. So they told Baruch to hide and to hide the book but some and speak the words to the king. They also told Jeremiah to hide but they must have had to take him out of the place where he was being held.

v19 "Then said the princes unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah, and let no man know where ye be."

v22 "Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month; and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him."

So now they are reading to the king from the book. It is Jehudi reading now.

v23 "And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth."

Then the sad words: v24 "Yet they were not afraid, ..."

Jehoiakim was twenty-five when he became king so he would be about twenty-eight or nine now. II Chronicles 36 tells about him. It tells us that Johoiakim was punished for this deed but the words of the book were preserved.

v32 "Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Johoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and there were added besides unto them many like words."

So the burning ended up increasing the size of the book.

A Father's Commandment - Jeremiah 35

2010-04-14T08:54:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 35:14 "The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed, for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment, notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking but ye hearkened not unto me."

Here we have a comparison between an earthly father and our Heavenly Father. In dealing with Israel to turn from their wicked ways, the Lord sent prophet after prophet, 'rising early' to entreat Israel to turn from idols and obey the Lord's commands. They would not. But here is a man who commanded his children to not, nor never, drink wine and they obeyed.

v5 "And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine."

They all knew Jeremiah. Upon the Lord's command he had brought the wine into a chamber of His house to offer it to the children of Rechab. Even at that, they refused saying that their father(Jonadab) told them not to. Furthermore, they said, he told us not to build houses and live in tents and until we fled into the city, we lived in tents. We did not build houses as our father commanded.

v8 "Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; v9 Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: v10 But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us."

The illustration here is that if a family can obey the command of their earthly father, surely it is not too hard for Israel to obey the commands of God who led them out of bondage into the promised land.

There was a reward for Jonadab the son of Rechab. v19 "Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me forever." His blood line would continue always.

Jonadab : whom Jehovah impels. Also, given as Jehonadab (whom God incites) Son of Shimeah, the brother of David. II Samuel 13:3,5,32,35 II Kings 10:15

Liberty taken Away - Jeremiah 34

2010-04-13T07:30:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 34:15 "And ye were now turned, and had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor; and ye had made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name. v16 But ye turned and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure, to return and brought them unto subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids."

The original covenant is found in Exodus 21:2. I suppose there were a number of reasons why a person could become a servant. He may have had a bad year and lost his home and crops. Being a servant would be a way for them to remain in the homeland and get a new start. The deal was that they would go free after a set time. These people were obeying the rule by letting them go free but then they would bring them under their authority immediately after.
They obeyed the letter of the law.

Exodus 21:2 "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing."

I believe if we looked back we would find that the Jews were confronted with the 'commandments' as a whole, then in one chapter only the sabbath was mentioned, then in this chapter it was the liberty of the servants that they had failed in. One by one they broke the commandments and covenant that they agreed to.

Their punishment was that they would be given over to the enemy and would die except for Zedekiah, king of Judah.

v4 Yet hear the word of the LORD, O Zedekiah kind of Judah; Thus saith the LORD of thee, Thou shalt not die by the sword; But thou shalt die in peace; and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee, so shall they burn odors for thee; and they will lament thee, saying Ah lord! for I have pronounced the word, saith the LORD."

These one-by-one offenses show clearly to Israel that their punishment is justified. Jeremiah's book, he was commanded to write, will serve as a reminder when Israel looks back to the captivity.

A Promise - Jeremiah 33

2010-04-09T07:16:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 33:3 "Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."

It is hard to talk to someone who will not talk to you. So it was with Israel. The Lord had tried to talk with them but as it says in another chapter, they had turned their back to him.

But here is a promise that if they would call to him, He would answer. It was in the captivity that a young man did just that and he was shown 'great and mighty things'. His name was Daniel.

Daniel 9:3 " And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes; v4 And I prayed..."

As promised an angel fought his way to Daniel and told Daniel of many thing that were to come.

Daniel 10:14 "Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days; for yet the vision is for many days."

Daniel had been reading the book of Jeremiah when he decided to seek God's face diligently to find out the future of his people.

Here in Jeremiah and this chapter, the promise is continued that after the 70 years Judah and Israel would return to claim their homeland.

v7 "And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and will build them, as at the first."

Sometimes, in trying to understand the details of these chapters, it might be easy to overlook a major truth. That truth is that God will perform what he says he will perform. He said in our text verse that he would answer when he is sought with a true heart. The story of Daniel bears that out. We can hold that fact in our heart.

v14 "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah."

It is the same God that we, as Christians, serve. He made us many promises. One was that He would return someday and he will.

He goes on to compare His covenant with the day and the night. It goes on and on. And with the sands of the sea. He says if you (earthlings) can break the covenant of the night or day then it might be possible for His covenant with David to be broken.

v21 "Then may also my covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the Levites the priests, my ministers."

He is saying that they will be gone from the land but only for the time specified by Him.

Jeremiah in Prison - Jeremiah 32

2010-04-08T07:51:00.006-04:00

Jeremiah 32:2 "For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was in the king of Judah's house. (See Nehemiah 3:25)

In these books of the Bible, the kings and the prophets, there is usually, if not always, two points of reference. In the Kings and Chronicles it most often tells the year of reign of the king of Judah and the king of Israel. In Jeremiah, it tells the year of the reign of the king of Judah and the king of Babylon. It is a double reference which takes care of the overlap and lapse of the king ships and leaves no doubt as to when the events took place. Refer back to chapter 24 where it was the first year of king Nebuchadrezzar's reign.

Zedekiah, king of Judah, is mad at Jeremiah because Jeremiah prophesied that the king would be carried away. As if to avoid the fulfillment of the prophecy, the king locked up the messenger.

v7 "Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is thine to buy it." See also the book of Ruth.

I believe this is for a witness. The evidence of the purchase was to be done before witnesses and the evidence buried in an earthen vessel to 'keep for many days'. I believe until after the 70 years of captivity when it would show the confidence in Jeremiah's prophesy which was actually the Lord's words.

v9 "And I bought the field of Hanameel my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver."

After this was done, Jeremiah prayed to the Lord.

v17 "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:"

Those things which seem impossible when we face them are merely another act which the Lord can perform at his will.

v27 "Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is there any thing too hard for me?"

Jeremiah answered that question for us. There is not.

So again we are given the reason why the captivity must take place.

v33 "And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching the, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction."

I know Israel went through a lot, as recorded in the Bible. It is good for us that those things were recorded for we learn a lot about God and his heart from reading the stories. How little we would know were it not for the Old Testament.

New Covenant - Jeremiah 31

2010-04-07T07:27:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 31:33 "But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."

I believe this refers to the giving of the Holy Spirit to dwell within the new born Christian. No longer is it just a set of rules to follow but a person from within that tells what is right and wrong.

This chapter reminded me of the Song of Solomon. It tells of the love the LORD has for Israel.

v3 "The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."

Then he goes on to describe how it will be in Israel after the time of trouble. The people will do well and the land will be fertile.

v12 "Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd; and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all."

This is a wonderful message of hope delivered to Israel at the time of their captivity. It was hope for their children. What better hope can a man have than that his children do well?

v17 "And there is hope in thine end, saith the LORD, that thy children shall come again to their own border."

Israel as a nation has sinned, worshipped idols and turned from the Lord. The nation is being chastened. These words seem to be directed at the families and of a more personal nature.

v16 "Thus saith the LORD; Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the LORD; and thy shall come again from the land of the enemy."

I don't know if I got it right or not, but it seems like the scene when a parent has to correct a child with spanking. The child weeps and it hurts the parent but the punishment must stand if the child is to be helped in life.

So, this is not the abandonment of Israel. The Lord was angry but has not forsaken.

v37 "Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD."

Of course, we know it is impossible to measure those things. A parent who loves cannot totally cast away their child. If they do, there was no love in the first place. The Lord loves Israel. He has proved it over and again. And now, as a Christian, we are partakers in that love. And that is wonderful.

Trouble & Comfort - Jeremiah 30

2010-04-06T07:35:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 30:1-2 "The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD God of Israel, saying Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book."

From our studies, we remember that there were other prophets which were false prophets during the time that Jeremiah was preaching. I find no books by their name. Jeremiah's words from the LORD have stood the test of time. We can look back and Israel can look back and see that Jeremiah was the true prophet and that the words of the LORD were true.

V 3 "For, lo, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah saith the LORD; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it."

Seventy years is a long time and so we know that most of those taken into captivity will not return (did not return) but the nation returned.

Israel is afraid and trembling. The people are afraid. There is a lot of comfort in this chapter for them. Although this verse stands out:

v7 "Alas, for that days is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it."

For the sake of space, I will hit some highlights:

v11 "...and will not leave thee altogether unpunished."

v17 "For I will restore health unto thee, and will heal thee of thy wounds..."

v19 "...they shall not be few, I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small."

v20 "...I will punish all that oppress them."

v22" And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." See also Ezek. 36:28

So the book is written. We can look back at the words and say that it was so. This verse perhaps also refers to a future time when Israel will look back at many things that are written and will consider them.

v24 "The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it."

It reminded me of an old song: We will understand it better by-and-by.

70 Years in Captivity - Jeremiah 29

2010-04-02T06:59:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 29:13 "And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

It was a simple truth. Those who went off to Babylon into captivity would be preserved as a nation. Those who rebelled against the captivity (the plan to keep unity) were slain and scattered. The false prophets are dealt with severely because their lives gave the people false hope. If the people believed they were going to be there only a short time they would not settle down and raise families and thus the nation would die.

v5 "Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of them; v6 Take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; that ye may be increased there, and not diminished."

That was God's plan and that was what was going to happen. The people should accept it and have a life there.

I could have titled this 'The Devil Goes to Babylon' because false prophets were right there telling lies again. Jeremiah sent them a letter..

v15 "Because ye have said, The LORD hath raised us up prophets in Babylon...v17 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil." See chapter 24 8&10.

This spoke to the people who were left in Judah who refused to leave.

All this trouble on Israel is because of their rebellion against the LORD, lest we forget. They had turned to idols. I expect those who were now telling a false prophesy were the same ones guilty of promoting the evil to the people in the first place. Nevertheless, the people followed.

These troubles are to bring Israel back to God. As the text verse says "...when ye shall search for me with all your heart." The generation that left Israel will die and another generation will have a family before they return to their homeland. Hopefully, the corruption will be gone out of them.

The balance of the chapter deals with some of the false prophets: Ahab the son of Kolaiah, Zedekiah the son of Maaseiah, and Shemaiah the Nehelamite who got their sentence in a letter.

v23 "Because they have committed villainy in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken lying words in my name, which I have not commanded them; even I know, and am a witness, saith the LORD. (Zeph 3:4)

My Books

Amen Jremiah 28

2010-04-01T08:01:00.003-04:00

Jeremiah 28:6 "Even the prophet Jeremiah said, Amen: the LORD do so; the LORD perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring again the vessels of the LORD's house, and all that is carried away captive, from Babylon into this place."

The dispute is over the treasures of the Lord's house. The false prophet is saying they will be back in two years. He guarantees it. Jeremiah has been trying to tell them that they will be in captivity for 70 years along with those who submit to the yoke of Babylon. Nevertheless, Jeremiah says Amen to the boost of the false prophets. I think it would have been pleasing to Jeremiah if it had been true.

v1 "And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and in the fifth month, tht Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the hosue of the LORD, in the presence of the priests and of all the people, saying v2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon."

Hananiah really stepped over the line with his remarks. We know from the last chapter that God send Jeremiah out with a wooden yoke to illustrate the yoke that the children of Israel would be under in Babylon but were assured that it would be broken after a set time. Hananiah shortened the time by about 68 years. He also took the wooden yoke off Jeremiah and broke it.

v3 "Within two full years, will I bring again into this place all the vessels of the LORD's house, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and carried them to Babylon;"

Well, he was wrong. Jeremiah presented to him a test.

v9 "The prophet which prophesieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known that the LORD hath truly sent him."

v10 "Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it."

He went on with his speech and I suppose it pleased the people and he had favor with them. But he would not live to see that his prophesy did not come true.

v14 "For thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and they shall serve him; and I have given him the beasts of the field also."

v17 "So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the seventh month."

It had to be a difficult thing for Jeremiah to be the only one in the kingdom who brought bad news even though it was the truth. Israel was to go into captivity to keep them together as a nation. Those who rebelled were scattered. Nebuchadnezzar was the instrument of the Lord to carry out this plan.

My books.

Carried to Babylon - Jeremiah 27

2010-03-30T07:12:00.002-04:00

Jeremiah 27:22 "They shall be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day that I visit them, saith the LORD; then will I bring them up, and restore them to this place."

For us, God's plan does not seem like the best plan when it involves pain on our part. The cleft of the rock may not seem like a very good place until the storm comes.

Jeremiah told the people to submit to the captivity. There were false prophets who told them not to submit and that every thing would be fine if they would just resist. God's plan was for them to go into captivity and stay together until the day he brought them back into Canaan.

The slavery days in Egypt were a trying time and no doubt very bad times for families. But out of that pain came forth a nation. Where 70 entered Egypt, a nation came out. There is travail with birth.

Here is the message sent out to the surrounding area from the LORD:

v5-6 "I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. (Isaiah 45:12) v6 And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him."

God is very specific. Nebuchadnezzar (notice the name now has an 'n' instead of an 'r') would reign then his son and his son's son. God has given all nations to him and his sons, Those who do not submit will be consumed. v8. The LORD even calls Nebuchadnezzar his servant. So the false prophets were wrong.

The purpose of the captivity was punishment in in one respect but also was to preserve the nation.

v9 "Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of Babylon.

Many wonderful stories came out of the time of the captivity. We will read them later, the Lord willing.

I'm reminded of Acts where the persecution came and the preachers were dispersed into other nations. I wonder if they would have stayed in Jerusalem where it all happened, if the persecution had not come. It is a bitter cup but the gentiles have the gospel.

So, in compassion, the message is again sent out so that everyone knows the right thing to do.

v17 "Hearken not unto them; serve the king of Babylon, and live, wherefore should this city be laid waste?

Shiloh Remembered - Jeremiah 26

2010-03-26T07:49:00.006-04:00

Jeremiah 26:6 "Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth."

We will remember Shiloh (not the Civil War site) in the Bible as the place where the tabernacle and the ark once sat. The Philistines defeated Israel there and took the ark. Thousands of Israelites were slain. I Samuel 4:10-

Shiloh: (the place of rest) a city Judges 21:19 17 miles north of Jerusalem. Joshua 18:1 Where , the Tabernacle was set up and remained for 300 years.

The message of this chapter is that the priests and council did not like the message God sent Jeremiah to deliver, so they sought to kill Jeremiah.

v3 "If so be they will hearken, and turn every ma from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings."

The message was one of warning and compassion. But the leaders held fast to their sinful ways and would not repent but rather wanted to kill Jeremiah as if that would solve their problem. It is the old "kill the messenger" mentality.

v8 "Now it came to pass, when Jeremiah had made an end of speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets, and all the people took him, saying, Thou shalt surely die."

So there was a hearing for Jeremiah with the princes as the sort of court. At first, the people went with the priests and prophets but then they changed sides and went with the princes who were to let Jeremiah live. For Jeremiah stood firm.

v16 "Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; This man is not worthy to die; for he hath spoken to us in the name of the LORD our God."

So then the elders spoke up.

v17 "Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying."

They reminded the people of Micah and how Hezekiah responded to his message in a good way. And of Urijah who also had a strong message for Israel. So the elders were Jeremiah's defenders and Jeremiah lived a long life.

v24 "Nevertheless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with Jeremiah that they should not give him into the hand of the people to put him to death."

It must have surely been an intense day. The priests and prophets were taking it on themselves to judge Jeremiah until the princes heard the commotion and came up the hill to see what was going on. Then as the people swayed from one opinion to the other, the elders finally stood up.

The Cup of Fury - Jeremiah 25

2010-03-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

Jeremiah 25:15 "For thus saith the LORD God of Israel unto me; Take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it."

This seems to be the final warning before the captivity. (We will read on to see.) Jeremiah tells them, I got up early to warn you but you would not listen. Now, the day is at hand.

Proverbs 1:25 "But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and y our destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer, they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD: They would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof."

So from Proverbs we see a picture of the conditions before the captivity of Israel. The Lord appealed to the people and the leaders but they would not listen. Now, He is angry.

v7 "Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt."

Jeremiah was told to take the cup around to various nations. We are given a list in verses 18-26. I believe it was a symbolic cup to tell them that there was no escape from what was to come. They must drink of the cup.

v28 "And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Ye shall certainly drink."

v32 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth, from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth."

It was, undoubtedly, to be a great time of upheaval. But there is an end to it. Isn't it true, that if we can see an end to something, we can hope at least.

v12 "And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations."

So, although Babylon is used to punish Israel, they themselves will receive judgment in 70 years. You can study Daniel to learn what it was like for those who remained true to God.

Two Baskets of Figs - Jeremiah 24

2010-03-23T06:55:00.002-04:00

Jeremiah 24:1 "The LORD showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple o f the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon."

(Note: I noticed that in Jeremiah the king of Babylon's name was spelled with an 'r' after Nebuchad- while in Daniel it is an 'n' and makes the name as we pronounce it today.)

We have in this chapter a very simple illustration. One basket of figs would go off into captivity in Babylon and would be looked after by the LORD. The other basket of figs would try to stay in Jerusalem/Judah but would be scattered far and wide, never to return.

Jeremiah preached that trouble was coming but the local prophets preached that everything was just fine and not to worry. Jeremiah apparently told the people to submit to the king of Babylon. It was chastisement and so would have been the correct thing to do.

v5 "Thsu saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them tht are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the chaldeans for their good."

The last phrase being key "for their good." and "I have sent".

v7 "And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart."

People sometimes drift away from the LORD. It is then that as children they are punished. Punishment not from hate but from love. Punishment that is meant to draw the children back to doing the right thing. So it was with Israel, the remnant.

Not so for those who rebelled.

v9 "And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them."

If one just picked up the Bible and read this passage without reading the previous chapters, it would seem a cruel thing. But look back and it will be justified.

II Kings 24:4 "And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon."

Just one verse that tells of the evil that was going on in Israel.

They had been given a way to avoid this captivity and the scattering:

II Chronicles 7:14 "If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

But they would not.

Pastors & Prophets - Jeremiah 23

2010-03-19T08:11:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 23:25 "I have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name saying, I have dreamed, I have dreamed."

Hebrews 4:13 "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do."

Of course, it means the Lord is watching.

This chapter deals with pastors and prophets who have told the people lies. The lie mentioned is that everything was going to be alright when in fact the enemy was at the door.

v1 "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD."

Pastors of our time are due the rest due their station. They have a great responsibility. The good ones have given up what ever life they may have had to devote their time and energy to a group of people who may or may not follow his teachings.

The caution here is that pastors are not to make stuff up. They are to preach what the Bible says, or as the Bible says what 'Thus saith the Lord." There are many truths in the Bible. As much as they have been preached for over 2000 years, they are still fresh and appropriate for our time.

v2 "Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold I will visit upon you the evil of your doings saith the LORD."

The people are being scattered for their disobedience but they were led by some people who made up things out of the imagination of the heart. There will be a new day when a righteous leader will come.

v5 "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice int he earth."

We are talking about the Messiah. He came to Jerusalem and was rejected but with purpose. It was to provide a time of grace for the Gentiles and all the world to come to Christ. When that work is finished, He will return to the throne of David.

v6 "In his days, Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."

Oh for that day to come. It is Israel's day but it is also the Christians day when our hope is come and we escape this wicked world.

(These studies have a lot to say about the rebellion of Israel but it is not meant as criticism. It is meant as a history review. We as Christians and as a Christian nation have done no better in staying by Bible teachings, as a whole. There are still the faithful and I am thankful for them.)

The balance of the chapter is devoted to the subject of the pastors' and prophets' misleading of the people.

v17 "They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you."

That shoots in the foot some of the modern day preaching of prosperity. Some say, 'just send us your money and you will in turn receive abundance and be healed and reap mountains of rewards on this earth in this life', or something like that. That is not necessarily true. We will be blessed but it may be peace in our heart instead of a piece of property, it may be joy over the well-being of another instead of complete health for ourselves. Christ was perfect, yet he suffered for the glory beyond the cross.

So if you have a dream, tell a dream. The truth comes from the Lord and we have it written down for us.

v28 "The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream; and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the LORD."

There we have it, a caution to lead the people correctly.

Josiah's Sons - Jeremiah 22

2010-03-18T07:57:00.005-04:00

Jeremiah 22:2 "And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates."

v3 "Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place."

Josiah started his reign when he was 8 years old and reigned for 31 years then was wounded in battle and died when he was 39. He was a good king.

He had several sons which were not good leaders. The Bible says they did evil.

v11 "For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more;" See I Chronicles 3:15 where he is also called Jeheahaz in Chronicles 36:4.

Well, some of the names were changed by Jeremiah, probably to show their standing at the time. It was common in the Bible to depict character or some other meaning i.e. Jeremiah 20:3 with Pashur changed to Magormissabib after he smote Jeremiah.

Shallum or Jeheahaz reigned 3 months and was carried away never to return.

v18 "Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying Ah my brother! or Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or Ah his glory!"

v24 "As I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;"

Coniah is called Jehoiachin in II Chronicles 36:5. Again, Jeremiah is using another name. I think it could have been a way to wipe them from history or to separate them from the great kings of Judah at least. It does serve to confuse the tracing of their history. See all II Kings 24:12.

Verse 30 tells us the final judgment.

v30 "Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah."

We can again read the Kings and Chronicles to see the evil things going on when these people were kings.

Hezekiah was a good king. His son Manasseh was evil. Amon his son did evil. Josiah, his son was a good king and followed Hezekiah's example.

II Chronicles 34:27 "Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God... v28 Behold I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same.

35:25 "And Jeremiah lamented for Josiah: and all the singing men and the singing women spake of Josiah in their lamentations to this day, and made them an ordinance in Israel; and behold they are written in the lamentations. (4:20)

Although there were some good kings during the end, before the captivity, there were also evil kings which reigned over the end and they expressed the evil that caused the judgment to come.

Life and Death - Jeremiah 21

2010-03-17T07:22:00.004-04:00

Jeremiah 21 : 8 "And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the LORD; Behold I set before you the way of life and the way of death."

This verse illustrates why we should always read scripture in its context. We would think of this verse (for the Christian) as a choice between choosing salvation or rejecting salvation. That is not the case for this verse.

v9 "He that abideth in this city shall die by the sword, and by the famine and by the pestilence; but he that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey."

Jerusalem is surrounded and the judgment of God is being finalized. Under a siege, a city is basically starved out. The enemy knows that if they wait long enough, the people inside will run out of food. Disease will set in and victory will come without a frontal assault.

In the first part of the chapter, the very man who smote Jeremiah (Pashur) was sent by the king to Jeremiah to try to get some help for their situation. It must have pressed on the man's ego to have to go to Jeremiah.

v1 "The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD, when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur, the son of Melchiah, and Zephaniah, the son of Maaseiah the priest, saying,"

The Bible makes it clear who these men were that went to Jeremiah. It is important to have a witness with credentials.

They did not hear what they wanted to hear.

v4 "Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Behold I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans, which besiege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this city.

v5 "And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath."

After begging Israel to repent of their idol worship and the form of 'obedience' they had, the LORD has had enough of rebellion and it is time for chastisement. I find it interesting that the LORD still introduces himself as the LORD God of Israel. They knew who he was.

v14 "But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, saith the LORD; and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour all things round about it."

See the Kings for the story.

He Smote a Prophet - Jeremiah 20

2010-03-16T07:19:00.005-04:00

Jeremiah 20:1-2 "Now Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the LORD, heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD."

First off, it was the previous chapter Pashur was referring to where Jeremiah broke the vessel in the valley of the son of Hinnom causing it to be a place of death and the origin of the name for everlasting punishment that we have in our New Testament (which is hell).

Secondly, Pashur did not like the prophesy and got angry enough to hit Jeremiah over it. He tossed him in the stocks then called for him the next day.

It is amazing to me that the governor of the house of the LORD would have stocks so handy, that he would smite a prophet and be so far from God that he would hurt the messenger instead of being concerned about the message. It shows how far away from God they really were.

v3 "And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto him, The LORD hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magormissabib."

These are important names. Pashur means freedom. Magormissabib means 'terror on every side'. So by the symbolic name change the destiny of this priest governor is changed for his actions toward the prophet of God.

v4 "For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends; and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it: and I will give all Judah into the and of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword."

v5 "Moreover I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labors thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon." See II Kings 20.

We see in these verses the surroundings of the governor Pashur stripped away. He looses his friends and the treasures he apparently regarded as his own taken away. Now we see his personal sentence.

v6 "And thou, Pashur and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity: and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies."

Now, he learns that he will loose his position, his life and that he will not be buried in the precious tombs of Zion where the kings are buried. As we will see in the next chapter, he will live long enough to ponder these things.

The balance of the chapter deals with Jeremiah and the distress he must have felt over the situation, for he said he tried not to speak of it anymore but that it was a fire inside him and he could not refrain.

v9 "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name, But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay."

He seems to feel very depressed for it was a depressing situation. He had to tell the truth but he stood as the only human who told the people the truth. Yet, he knew the outcome, that captivity was coming. Maybe he said to himself, as we do, 'what's the use'. But he kept on. He even wondered why he was born. After all, it was Jeremiah's nation too.

v18 "Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame?"

Even prophets get discouraged. Yet he kept on. see I Kings 19:10

Broken Vessel - Jeremiah 19

2010-03-11T07:34:00.004-05:00

Jeremiah 19:11 "And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again, and they shall bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury."

I pondered this chapter as I prayed for my family this morning. I had already read it over several times but the broken vessel seemed so final. I wondered what lesson there was and what hope there was for a broken vessel.

First we should keep it in context. What was Tophet anyway? It was a place in the valley of Hinnom where human sacrifices were offered to Molech. It is also known as the place of the sun, the place of fire, the valley of slaughter. The sacrifice of infants to fire-gods was kept up here. eventually after Josiah spread bones there to stop the practice it became a cesspool for the sewage of Jerusalem. It became Gehenna to indicate the place of eternal suffering. It is translated hell in the gospels.

v1 "Thus saith the LORD, go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests v2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee."

There was a reason why such judgment was pronounced here. As we saw from the bit of history above, it was an evil place. Israel had turned to gods and idols and every kind of worship that they could imagine.

v4 "Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;"

We have here a nation that has been built by God and protected by God. Yet they have turned from him and even forgotten him. Forsaken is a sad word.

Then, I returned to the broken vessel and wondered what lesson of good could I draw from it. Then I thought of the potter in his shop. I have heard of how they would from time to time pick up a piece of a broken vessel and use it to shape a new vessel they were making. Then I thought of Israel in the Bible and the church. Isn't it true that, as Christians, we draw heavily from the Old Testament and the history of the people of Israel.

In a way, we are shaped by the broken vessel Israel. We learn from their greatness and their great God. We, as a church, are a new vessel shaped by the old.

Even broken Christians can shape other Christians. Every life is a lesson that others can learn from. Even the 'don't does' of others can be a warning to those who would do right.

We look at their greatness and their turning away. We look at the lovingkindness of God toward them and the stern chastening they received. From these stories, we learn much about ourselves and the importance of the sacrifice Christ made. We are indeed sinful and hopeless on our own. It took a sinless person to die for our many transgressions.

Try as we may to do the right thing and live a good life, we are still prone to turn back to sin or to yield to temptations. Thank God, we have a refuge, a city of refuge, a place to run when we come to ourselves and see that we have wrong God. We also forgiveness and a place to start over. We do not have to be the broken vessel in the valley of Hinnom.

Being a Christian is a better way.

I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

He is justified in doing so because Christ took our place and carried our sins to the cross.

Potter's House - Jeremiah 18

2010-03-10T07:37:00.008-05:00

Jeremiah 18:2 "Arise, and go down to the potter's house; and there I will cause thee to hear my words."

The Bible is full of stories and examples to explain a hard truth. Jeremiah is sent to the potter's house to illustrate to him what is happening to Israel and why. The potter is making a vessel but something is wrong. It is not the potter that is in error.

v4 "And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the Potter to make it."

The vessel was marred. We have to retrace the history of Israel and that of humanity. We must remember the garden where Adam and Eve yielded to temptation putting a stain and impurity into man. We must remember the journey from Egypt where Rachel hid the instruments of idol worship to take on their journey. We must remember the actions of Israel when they entered Canaan and disobeyed by not doing away with ALL the inhabitants. The result was that idol worship was still in the land and it gradually made its way into the lives of the people.

v6 "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD, Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."

We might, at first glance, see a potter who was ready to cast aside the piece he was making. But the potter being a professional sees that even though the vessel he intended is not possible, upon turning the clay, he sees another possibility. He does not cast aside the clay but continues to work with it until he creates a second vessel, not the original design but still a vessel. At no time here do we see the clay out of the potter's hand.

v7-8 "At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. "

The point here is that it is in the power and the right of the potter to do with as he pleases with the clay. It should be no surprise that the LORD deals kindly with the clay and makes it again. It should also be noted that in remaking the clay, it must be remolded, pulled apart, packed together, flooded with water in just the right places, the impurities plucked out. I am not a potter but I can imagine that it might be necessary to flatten the clay in order to pick out the impurities.

The we go back to the reality of the rebellion of the people.

v15 "Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble int heir ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; ....v17 I will scatter them..."

I have but touched on the potter and the clay. To clarify the statement for those who may not have studied the Bible. The Potter is the LORD and we are the clay. He molds us as he sees fit. Can the clay tell the potter what to do? We can no more tell our heavenly Father what to do.

The potter knows the clay.

Hope - Jeremiah 17

2010-03-09T08:01:00.005-05:00

Jeremiah 17:7-8 "Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit."

It is such a wonderful passage of scripture. It is no wonder that some people go through the storms of life and seem to be unshaken. They are looking not out across the barrenness of a waterless world but at the cool waters of the river of life which began when we are saved and runs through the street of New Jerusalem.

Here in the midst of judgment and with the enemies at the gate and captivity, like a dark cloud overhead, is hope.

v1 "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond; it is graven upon the table of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;"

But the children have not been taught the commandments and to fear God.

v2 "Whilst their children remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the high hills."

When Israel goes away into foreign countries and are standing naked before other nations, these words will be branded on their hearts to remember why they are no longer in their great nation.

Jeremiah is sent to proclaim the what and why of the events.

v4 "And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not; for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever."

It is not a lite thing the Lord does. He did not just fly over and decide that the nation was doing some things wrong. He searched what was in their heart and saw their intentions.

v9-10 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."

So, it is a righteous judgment that is made. It is like the honest person who is caught in a wrong and suffers some consequence : "I deserved that." He says.

The summary is found in verse 13 and should be a reminder and a warning for us all.

v13 "O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters."

Well, I don't know if this is what that means but it does give an example: Israel forsook the LORD and much has been written of their tragic history since that day. The glory of the kingdom and the captivity. Still there is hope for those who trust the LORD.

We should not be too quick to judge Israel, that has been done by the just judge, we should consider that it also applies to an individual life. When we forsake the LORD, we always serve the consequence.

Lost Favor - Jeremiah 16

2010-03-08T07:28:00.004-05:00

Jeremiah 16:13 "Therefore will I cast you out of this land into a land that ye know not, neither ye nor your fathers; and there shall ye serve other gods day and night; where I will not show you favor."

I have experienced a little of the strange land feeling while I was in the military. I remember pulling into a harbor and seeing a large Buddha sitting on a hill overlooking the harbor. The image was about as large as the hill it sat upon. Of course, coming from the Bible belt of the USA, I was shocked to see something besides the cross representing religion. It was strange to me but I was in a land accustomed to the image.

So it must have been for Israel when they were carried away into captivity and saw images of strange gods at every turn. But in this chapter they are still being offered hope.

v15 "But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers."

In summary, the generation being addressed here was raised by fathers that did not teach them the ways of the commandments. In some cases their were good teachers but the children rebelled. In general, the people are worshipping idols. The consequence will be much like when the children of Israel failed to believe good after the report from the spies in Exodus and that generation died in the wilderness except for the few who did believe.

v17 "For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face, neither is there iniquity hid from mine eyes."

Look at these two verses. At great cost, the people Israel are learning a hard lesson that there is but one LORD.

v20-21 "Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is THE LORD."

Israel has been chosen by God.

Forsaken - Jeremiah 15

2010-03-04T07:41:00.003-05:00

Jeremiah 15:6 "Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting."

I don't know why I thought of this but maybe it has some bearing. An old preacher told the story: "A young man who had been raised by loving parents was in rebellion against them. He even became abusive. Still wishing to enjoy the benefits of food on the table and a warm place to sleep with a roof over his head. He stayed home but disrupted the household and disregarded the wishes of his parents. One day the dad stood in the sons way at the door as he was about to go on another of his nightly 'adventures'. He would come staggering in sometime in the night. The dad said you are not leaving this house tonight. "I'm a man, I can do as I please!" He cried. The son pushed, shoved and struck out at his dad. The dad responded with a fist to the young man's chin and the son went down. The son looked up and said "But you are my daddy and I'm just a child." The dad replied: "You were a man a minute ago."

Israel was rebellious and disrespectful to God but they still wanted a protecting hand and blessings without having to follow any rules. Now is judgment day and payday is tough sometimes.

v1 "Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth."

Years of loving them, caring for them and blessing them have passed. The LORD is repaid with the sad word "FORSAKEN".

v4 "And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem."

Jeremiah pleads but to no avail. It is as if Jeremiah were given to Israel as a defense attorney but the guilt is undeniable. The sentence sure unless there is repentance.

The plea: v18 "Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?"

The answer: v19 "Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them."

Do you have the picture? Israel wants the blessings but not will not stop worshipping idols. Guidelines have been set down and conditions for blessings. They were agreed to by Israel. God has not changed, they did. So, we go on. It would be good to jump back to the Kings and Chronicles to review how it was while Jeremiah represented the LORD in the land.

False Prophets - Jeremiah 14

2010-03-03T07:59:00.003-05:00

Jeremiah 14:14 "Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart."

Jeremiah seems to be wondering about what he is told to tell the people. One the one hand the LORD is telling him that there will be great trouble and Jeremiah is suppose to convey that message to the people. But all the other prophets are telling the people that everything will be alright and that there will be peace in the land.

Patiently the LORD explains that the false prophets did not get their information from him.

Here are some of the things Jeremiah was to tell them v3 "...no water..." v4 "...no water..." v6 "...no grass..." It is a picture of gloom and doom that Jeremiah is told to tell the people. The false prophets, on the other hand, are telling them all is well, just keep doing what you are doing.

v9 "Why shouldest thou be as a man astonished, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not."

Jeremiah must surely know that he has a direct line with God, that he has the true message. At the same time, it must have been a hard message to absorb when he remembers the greatness of Israel and the way it was before the rebellion against God.

It is not that the LORD cannot save. It is that Israel is going under judgment and the LORD chooses not to save at this time in order to teach Israel a lesson.

v13 "Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. "

The big difference: Jeremiah says 'Thus saith the Lord" while the false prophets put in the big "I". The false prophets have neither the ability or the authority to make such a statement and the Lord calls them lairs.

v15 "Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed."

The chapter ends with a plea for the LORD to not turn against Israel.

v21 "Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory; remember, break not thy covenant with us."

It shows that Israel has not been listening to the words sent to them through the prophets. The verse on the one hand lifts up the Lord, then accuses Him of breaking the covenant when it is Israel that is worshipping idols and has turned away plea after plea to repent.

The answer next.

Pride - Jeremiah 13

2010-03-01T07:50:00.003-05:00

Jeremiah 13:9 "Thus saith the LORD, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem."

Pride is a subject that could take up many pages. Here we discuss the pride that is associated with arrogance. It is not, (I don't think) the way we use the word when we speak of our children.

Pride: conceit; haughty behavior - I think is the definition we are looking for.
arrogance: offensive exaggerating one's own importance

My thought on the matter is that we can be blessed by God to do certain things which put one in a position of leadership (and power) then the individual forgets that it is through God's power that they do what they do and begin to feel it is within themselves that they perform. That is arrogance and pride.

Proverbs 8:13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."

Proverbs 16:18 "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."

So we find Jerusalem and Judah about to fall. They have been begged to turn back to God even while the enemy is approaching with a great army, but they would not. After Jeremiah reasoned with God in the last chapter, we find here and illustration of the pride of Judah and Jerusalem.

v1 "Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water."

v4 "Take the girdle that thou hast got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates and hide it there in a hole of the rock."

So Jeremiah does as he is told and after some days he is instructed to go and get the linen cloth and he sees how it is soiled and good for nothing. Such is the pride of Judah and Jerusalem, the LORD tells him.

v11 "For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear."

He goes on to say that the people will be drunk and staggering against each other and there will be no pity for them. The kingdom is lost because of pride. Although a physical enemy is approaching, the real enemy is within the nation itself.

v23 "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."

v27 "I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?"

II Kings 24:15 "And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon."