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Ezekiel 33-36 New Covenant Elaborated
Ezekiel 33-36 New Covenant Elaborated
Psalm 99:1-9 Holy God Who Forgives
Ps 99:1 “Yahweh reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He sits enthroned among the cherubim. Let the earth be moved. 2 Yahweh is great in Zion. He is high above all the peoples. 3 Let them praise your great and awesome name. He is Holy! 4 The King’s strength also loves justice. You do establish equity. You execute justice and righteousness in Jacob. 5 Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy! 6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests, Samuel among those who call on his name; they called on Yahweh, and he answered them. 7 He spoke to them in the pillar of cloud. They kept his testimonies, the statute that he gave them. 8 You answered them, Yahweh our God. You are a God who forgave them, although you took vengeance for their doings. 9 Exalt Yahweh, our God. Worship at his holy hill, for Yahweh, our God, is holy!“
Observations: 99:1-3 God's holiness, praised three times, ties this Messianic psalm together. Remember that the root idea of holiness is being separate or distinct, and in the case of God, emphasizes that He is separate from all other gods, in being the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth. For this alone, He should be praised, especially as He rules for the benefit of His people, and will rule over all when the Messiah comes.
99:4-5 God's holiness is also seen in His love and establishment of justice and righteousness on the earth, setting things right, rewarding good, and punishing evil. This is another cause for praise, particularly when demonstrated in Yahweh's care of the descendants of Jacob.
99:6-9 God's holiness is not only seen in His mighty nature, and just character, but in His relationship with His people, who call upon Him in prayer. Yahweh answers those rightly related to Him, as He did for Moses and Samuel. Aaron's mentioned to represent the priesthood. Verse 8 is worth meditating on, because it contains an important truth about God that flows from His character and justice, and is often forgotten today: God forgives sin against His word (given in verse 7), yet punishes or takes vengeance against their disobedient deeds. God covers over or atones for the death penalty of our sin, but lets us reap His mandated consequences so we'll stop rebelling against His holy word.
Application: Sin against a Holy and Just God has consequences, avoid them by doing what He revealed, including praising Him.
Prayer: Amen.
Proverbs 23:10-11 Defender for Hire
Pr 23:10 “ Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless: 11 for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.“
Observations: 23:10 The major reason many people don't engage in evil is because they don't think that they can get away with it. Widows and orphans are especially vulnerable to predators, who might encroach on the inheritance/fields of the defenseless.
23:11 But God is their strong defender. He will take up their cause against the wicked who seek to oppress them.
Application: In times of injustice, remember that God is our Defender, and seek His intervention.
Prayer: God, You are my Defender and Protector, please bring about justice in the cases where I'm being treated unfairly by those who don't fear You. Thanks. Amen.
Ezekiel 33-36 These chapters seek to lay the groundwork for God regathering and rebuilding His people after the exile. The Watchman passage is reiterated to emphasize the role of corporate reproof and individual responsibility in developing a holy nation. False shepherds and selfish sheep are lambasted, and God portrays proper shepherding, promising future care. The New Covenant is elaborated upon, specifying the behavior God desires in His people. Pride gets humbled, and God will exalt Himself as He restores His people.
Ezekiel 33 Warnings for God's People
10 You, Son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live? 11 Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel? 12 You, Son of man, tell the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins. 13 When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die.
14 Again, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is just and righteous; 15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is just and righteous; he shall surely live. 17 Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein. 19 When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is just and righteous, he shall live thereby. 20 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his ways.
21 It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck. 22 Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute. 23 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 24 Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25 Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land? 26 You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbor’s wife: and shall you possess the land? 27 You shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.
30 As for you, Son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from Yahweh. 31 They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain. 32 Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them. 33 When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes), then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.
Observations: 33:1-13 The watchman principles are reiterated from chapter 3. Pay special attention to 33:5 a wicked hypocrite (Ps 50) is warned by the watchman speaking the word of God; if he paid attention to the warning, he would have delivered/saved his soul from God's discipline of death. God gets no pleasure from the death of the wicked, and would much rather see them repent and live, but it's their choice. The righteous who sins will die if he/she doesn't repent. Trusting in one's former righteousness doesn't deliver from disciplinary death.
33:14-20 God has consistently called for His people to live justly and righteously (Isaiah 1:16-18,27). That encompasses being rightly related to God and others, and dealing with others as you would have them deal with you. God will judge everyone according to their ways, and we will reap what we've sown.
33:21-29 This is the simple record of the announcement of the fall of Jerusalem. The emphasis shifts to living righteously. The remnant thought they should surely possess the land because they were numerous, and Abraham was only an individual. What they're missing is that Abraham was righteous, and they violate the law and covenant, shedding innocent blood, eating blood, worshiping idols and being sexually immoral. These are the activities God curses rather than blesses.
33:30-33 God's people loved to gather and hear lovely songs and pleasant words, but they didn't obey them. When they reap judgment they will know that a prophet speaking for God had been in their midst.
James 1:21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 25 But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.
Application: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
Prayer: God, thanks that Your word provides warnings so I can turn from the path of cursing to that of blessing; don't let me deceive myself, but show me what You want me to do. Thanks. Amen.
Ezekiel 34 Selfish Shepherds and Showers of Blessings
34:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don’t feed the sheep. 4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 8 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them. 11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
17 As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats. 18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? 19 As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. 20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad; 22 therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 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. 24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken it. 25 I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them. 28 They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. 30 They shall know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh. 31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.
Observations: 34:1-16 God pronounces woe on the shepherds of His sheep who they let be scattered, and destroyed. They only looked out for their own interests, and not those of the sheep. God's sheep wandered on every high hill (engaged in sensual pagan idolatry), and were judged for it. It should be clear that God didn't view those disciplined and even destroyed in the exile and fall of Jerusalem as depraved pagans, but His own sheep, whom He would seek again and restore. The fault was laid at the feet of the greedy shepherds who didn't feed the sheep with God's word so they would live. Some of the tasks of the shepherd are listed: protection, healing, guidance to good pasture/food, and seeking the wandering/lost. God will perform these tasks for His sheep and then set up a shepherd, David over them (next section).
34:17-31 God will judge His flock, between those sheep who live for themselves, without regard for the welfare of the other sheep, and those who trust in Him. God will save and regather His flock, and put David as prince over them. David is meant literally and will be resurrected, or a Davidic descendant is intended, or this is a reference to the Messiah. The former is probably more in line with the context (prince, rather than shepherd or King; in 45:22 the prince there offers a sacrifice for his own sin, which would rule out the Messiah if Ezekiel is talking about the same prince.). God will make a covenant of peace with His sheep, and they will dwell securely in Jerusalem, under showers of blessings. This is yet future.
Application: Self-centered living, without regard for the welfare of others will not escape judgment by the Great Shepherd.
Prayer: God, may I have Your heart towards others, knowing You will judge me based upon how I've reflected Your love to them. Amen.
Ezekiel 35 He Who Gloats First, Grieves Last
10 Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas Yahweh was there: 11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you. 12 You shall know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour. 13 You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it. 14 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Observations: 35:1-15 God singles out Mount Seir in Edom for judgment for their perpetual enmity against Israel, and Himself. With insolent pride, anger, envy, and hatred, they rejoiced over Israel's destruction and magnified themselves against God. When the rest of the world rejoices, they will be desolate.
Application: Those who fight against God and His people will always lose in the long run.
Prayer: God, may I be humble in my dealings, with even my enemies, knowing that You are the one who settles the final score. Amen.
Ezekiel 36 New Covenant Elaboration
16 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols; 19 and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 20 When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of his land. 21 But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went. 22 Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went. 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26a I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you;
26b and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.
27a I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes,
27b and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them.
28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Nor for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel. 33 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by. 35 They shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. 36 Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it. 37 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Observations: 36:1-15 God has Ezekiel prophesy to the land that some thought was the cause of Israel's undoing. God says that Israel will be regathered and prosper in the land, so it isn't the land's fault.
36:16-38 The cause of Israel's demise was their uncleanness of their ways in God's sight, shedding innocent blood and idolatry. For His name's sake, to magnify His reputation (which Israel had profaned) in the eyes of the nations:
24 God will regather and replant Israel in the land;
25 Then He will cleanse them from the defilement of their sin and idols;
26a General to Specific: Give/assign them a new heart and new spirit
(general statement elaborated in the next two specific statements, followed by the results):
26b Heart: He will cause (Hiphil) their stony heart to depart and give them a sensitive heart;
27a Spirit: He will put His Spirit in them and cause them to walk in His statutes (Phil 2:13);
27b Result: They will keep His commands and do them;
28 Result of 27b: They will live in a loyal covenantal relationship with God
29-30 Result of 28: God will save them from all their uncleanness and bless them.
31-32 Result of 29-30: They will kick themselves for their rebellion.
A hallmark of the New Covenant is that Israel, as a nation, will keep God's law, something which only a few did previously. Those who have God's Spirit in them should will and do His pleasure, keeping His law (Phil 2:13). See other comments on a new heart in Ezekiel 11:19, 18:31, and the New Covenant (Isa 59:21; Jer 31:31). The promises of the New Covenant for Israel are yet future, when they will grieve for their sin and be permanently blessed by God.
Application: When God's Spirit has free reign in one's heart, they will walk according to the law.
Prayer: Lord, may my heart be sensitive to You and Your will, so that I will walk in Your ways, rejoicing in Your blessings, rather than grieving over my stupid sin. Amen.
Digging Deeper:
and the Last Four Things
{Death, Judgment, Hell, Glory}).
From Wikipedia
“Attributed to Hieronymus Bosch, completed around 1500 or later. The painting is oil on wood panels. The painting is presented in a series of circular images.
Four small circles, detailing "Death of the sinner", "Judgement", "Hell", and "Glory", surround a larger circle in which the seven deadly sins are depicted:
envy, greed, gluttony, sloth, extravagance (later, lust), and pride in scenes from everyday life rather than allegorical representations of the sins.[1]
At the centre of the large circle, which is said to represent the eye of God, is a "pupil" in which Christ can be seen emerging from his tomb.
Below this image is the Latin inscription Cave Cave Deus Videt ("Beware, Beware, God Sees").
Above and Below the central image are inscription in Latin of Deuteronomy 32:28-29, containing the lines "For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them," above, and "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!"”
God in a nutshell: God will bring Himself glory in the sight of the nations by regathering, resettling, and restoring Israel to the Promised Land, and blessing them there in the future. He will do heart surgery on Israel, through His Spirit, in making their heart tender to His word, so they will obey it. He will judge pride both outside Israel, and within her leaders and people. He holds individuals responsible for their sin, and others in the community responsible to warn them. He will shepherd His flock and bless them as promised.
Us in a nutshell: We can be incredibly selfish and brutish in seeking to get our needs met, rather than seeking to meet the needs of others (our needs have to be met by God for that to happen). We will be judged for using others to meet our needs, rather than having a relationship with God in which He meets our needs. When the Spirit is in a person's heart, and given free reign, that person will walk in God's ways, keeping the law as God desired. Those who dabble in sin, will totally regret it, loathing themselves after God cleans up their act.
Where to Go for More:
Truthbase.net
Ezekiel complete text
Ezekiel 33
33:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and tell them, When I bring the sword on a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and set him for their watchman; 3 if, when he sees the sword come on the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet, and doesn’t take warning, if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and didn’t take warning; his blood shall be on him; whereas if he had taken warning, he would have delivered his soul. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword come, and doesn’t blow the trumpet, and the people aren’t warned, and the sword comes, and take any person from among them; he is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. 7 So you, son of man, I have set you a watchman to the house of Israel; therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 8 When I tell the wicked, O wicked man, you shall surely die, and you don’t speak to warn the wicked from his way; that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he doesn’t turn from his way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.
10 You, son of man, tell the house of Israel: Thus you speak, saying, our transgressions and our sins are on us, and we pine away in them; how then can we live? 11 Tell them, As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn, turn from your evil ways; for why will you die, house of Israel? 12 You, son of man, tell the children of your people, The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day of his disobedience; and as for the wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turns from his wickedness; neither shall he who is righteous be able to live thereby in the day that he sins. 13 When I tell the righteous, that he shall surely live; if he trust to his righteousness, and commit iniquity, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered; but in his iniquity that he has committed, therein shall he die. 14 Again, when I say to the wicked, you shall surely die; if he turn from his sin, and do that which is lawful and right; 15 if the wicked restore the pledge, give again that which he had taken by robbery, walk in the statutes of life, committing no iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die. 16 None of his sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him: he has done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17 Yet the children of your people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal. 18 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall even die therein. 19 When the wicked turns from his wickedness, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby. 20 Yet you say, The way of the Lord is not equal. House of Israel, I will judge every one of you after his ways.
21 It happened in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped out of Jerusalem came to me, saying, The city has been struck. 22 Now the hand of Yahweh had been on me in the evening, before he who was escaped came; and he had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more mute. 23 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 24 Son of man, they who inhabit those waste places in the land of Israel speak, saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land: but we are many; the land is given us for inheritance. 25 Therefore tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: you eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood: and shall you possess the land? 26 You stand on your sword, you work abomination, and every one of you defiles his neighbour’s wife: and shall you possess the land? 27 You shall tell them, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: As I live, surely those who are in the waste places shall fall by the sword; and him who is in the open field will I give to the animals to be devoured; and those who are in the strongholds and in the caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 I will make the land a desolation and an astonishment; and the pride of her power shall cease; and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that none shall pass through. 29 Then shall they know that I am Yahweh, when I have made the land a desolation and an astonishment, because of all their abominations which they have committed.
30 As for you, son of man, the children of your people talk of you by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, everyone to his brother, saying, Please come and hear what is the word that comes forth from Yahweh. 31 They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain. 32 Behold, you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they don’t do them. 33 When this comes to pass, (behold, it comes), then shall they know that a prophet has been among them.
Ezekiel 34
34:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and tell them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, and you clothe yourself with the wool, you kill the fatlings; but you don’t feed the sheep. 4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought back that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with rigor you have ruled over them. 5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill: yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth; and there was none who searched or sought.
7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 8 As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of Yahweh: 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; and I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them. 11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep; and I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture; and on the mountains of the height of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie down in a good fold; and on fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down, says the Lord Yahweh. 16 I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them in justice.
17 As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats. 18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? and to have drunk of the clear waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? 19 As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet. 20 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad; 22 therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 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. 24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them; I, Yahweh, have spoken it. 25 I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land; and they shall dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. 26 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in its season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 The tree of the field shall yield its fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be secure in their land; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them. 28 They shall no more be a prey to the nations, neither shall the animals of the earth devour them; but they shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid. 29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they shall be no more consumed with famine in the land, neither bear the shame of the nations any more. 30 They shall know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh. 31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 35
35:1 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it, 3 and tell it, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and an astonishment. 4 I will lay your cities waste, and you shall be desolate; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 5 Because you have had a perpetual enmity, and have given over the children of Israel to the power of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time of the iniquity of the end; 6 therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will prepare you for blood, and blood shall pursue you: since you have not hated blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. 7 Thus will I make Mount Seir an astonishment and a desolation; and I will cut off from it him who passes through and him who returns. 8 I will fill its mountains with its slain: in your hills and in your valleys and in all your watercourses shall they fall who are slain with the sword. 9 I will make you a perpetual desolation, and your cities shall not be inhabited; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.
10 Because you have said, These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it; whereas Yahweh was there: 11 therefore, as I live, says the Lord Yahweh, I will do according to your anger, and according to your envy which you have shown out of your hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I shall judge you. 12 You shall know that I, Yahweh, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, They are laid desolate, they have been given us to devour. 13 You have magnified yourselves against me with your mouth, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard it. 14 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: When the whole earth rejoices, I will make you desolate. 15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do to you: you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 36
36:1 You, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of Yahweh. 2 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because the enemy has said against you, Aha! and, The ancient high places are ours in possession; 3 therefore prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because, even because they have made you desolate, and swallowed you up on every side, that you might be a possession to the residue of the nations, and you are taken up in the lips of talkers, and the evil report of the people; 4 therefore, you mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh: Thus says the Lord Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, to the desolate wastes and to the cities that are forsaken, which are become a prey and derision to the residue of the nations that are all around; 5 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed my land to themselves for a possession with the joy of all their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a prey. 6 Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and tell the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my wrath, because you have borne the shame of the nations: 7 therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: I have sworn, saying, Surely the nations that are around you, they shall bear their shame. 8 But you, mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people Israel; for they are at hand to come. 9 For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn into you, and you shall be tilled and sown; 10 and I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, even all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built; 11 and I will multiply on you man and animal; and they shall increase and be fruitful; and I will cause you to be inhabited after your former estate, and will do better to you than at your beginnings: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 12 Yes, I will cause men to walk on you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess you, and you shall be their inheritance, and you shall no more henceforth bereave them of children. 13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because they say to you, you are a devourer of men, and have been a bereaver of your nation; 14 therefore you shall devour men no more, neither bereave your nation any more, says the Lord Yahweh; 15 neither will I let you hear any more the shame of the nations, neither shall you bear the reproach of the peoples any more, neither shall you cause your nation to stumble any more, says the Lord Yahweh.
16 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 17 Son of man, when the house of Israel lived in their own land, they defiled it by their way and by their doings: their way before me was as the uncleanness of a woman in her impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out my wrath on them for the blood which they had poured out on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols; 19 and I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. 20 When they came to the nations, where they went, they profaned my holy name; in that men said of them, These are the people of Yahweh, and are gone forth out of his land. 21 But I had respect for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations, where they went. 22 Therefore tell the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I don’t do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations, where you went. 23 I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am Yahweh, says the Lord Yahweh, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 26 I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep my ordinances, and do them. 28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness: and I will call for the grain, and will multiply it, and lay no famine on you. 30 I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that you may receive no more the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you shall remember your evil ways, and your doings that were not good; and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations. 32 Nor for your sake do I this, says the Lord Yahweh, be it known to you: be ashamed and confounded for your ways, house of Israel. 33 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be built. 34 The land that was desolate shall be tilled, whereas it was a desolation in the sight of all who passed by. 35 They shall say, This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are fortified and inhabited. 36 Then the nations that are left around you shall know that I, Yahweh, have built the ruined places, and planted that which was desolate: I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and I will do it. 37 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: For this, moreover, will I be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them: I will increase them with men like a flock. 38 As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 29-32 Egypt Exiled; Pharaoh Executed
Ezekiel 29-32 Egypt Exiled; Pharaoh Executed
Psalm 98:1-9 Many Thanks
Ps 98:1 “Sing to Yahweh a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand, and his holy arm, have worked salvation for him. 2 Yahweh has made known his salvation. He has openly shown his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his hesed/loyal covenantal love and his faithfulness toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to Yahweh, all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing praises! 5 Sing praises to Yahweh with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody. 6 With trumpets and sound of the ram’s horn, make a joyful noise before the King, Yahweh. 7 Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein. 8 Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together. 9 Let them sing before Yahweh, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity/uprightness.“
Observations: 98:1-3 In another Messianic psalm, the author reflects on God's deliverance of His people and exhorts them to burst out in song. Our daily dependence upon God, and His works on our behalf, should result in multiple expressions of joy (not mumbled thanks for initial justification).
98:4-9 Reflecting on God's past acts of salvation leads the psalmist to look forward to the Messiah's future acts for which all creation will praise Him, especially when He comes to judge the world.
Application: The more we risk in trusting God, the greater our joy in praising Him for helping us.
Prayer: God, thanks for Your manifold and marvelous faithfulness to Your people. May I experience Your salvation daily, and sing for joy all my days. Amen.
Proverbs 23:6-9 Toxic Activities
Observations: 23:6 Craving anything temporal isn't the wisest course of action. Friends make any food delicous.
23:7 The first part of this verse is frequently quoted a little out of context to make an important point: What we think about and value determines who we are and what we do.
23:9 Warning fools is frequently a futile task. Pr 1:7 states that they despise wisdom and instruction; so if you have to, give them a watchman warning (Ezekiel 33) and then clear out to avoid the fallout.
Application: You will become and do what you desire. Want wisely.
Prayer: God, may I desire wisdom, faithfulness and truth more than dainty morsels of calories. Amen.
Ezekiel 29-32 This section of four chapters contains seven prophecies against Pharaoh and Egypt, saying that God will use Babylon to destroy them for their pride. Idolatry, wickedness, and failure to help Israel are secondary reasons. There is a little message of hope to Israel at the end of chapter 29, but other than that it's doom and gloom to Egypt and her allies. Unless poetic imagery of destruction is your thing, you could safely skip these chapters without missing anything and endangering your spiritual life.
Ezekiel 29 Pharaoh Falls; Egypt Judged for 40 Years
29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’ 4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales. 5 I’ll cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky. 6 All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you know that I am Yahweh broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs."
8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. 9 The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries." 13 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered; 14 and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom. 15 It shall be the base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. 16 It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh."’"
17 It came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for me, says the Lord Yahweh. 21 In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in their midst; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Observations: 29:1-16 God pronounces a forty year judgment against Pharaoh and Egypt, for pride, and being unsupportive of Israel. Then He will regather and resettle them so they would know that Yahweh is God.
29:17-20 God will deliver Egypt into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar as payment for his destruction of Tyre. Apparently the thirteen year siege left little spoil, so God will recompense him with the spoil of Egypt.
29:21 The chapter ends with a note of hope for Israel. God will cause “a horn to bud” for the house of Israel. In Psalm 132:7 (above) this phrase refers to the Davidic kingship, and thus some think it refers to the Messiah. But it could also refer to the beginning of the regaining of power through another leader, such as Daniel or Zerrubabel. If “in that day” refers to when Nebuchadnezzar destroys Egypt, then the Messiah identification is less likely. “Opening of the mouth” probably doesn't refer to Ezekiel's muteness (24:27), for that had ended years previously. It could refer to praise for God's action of being favorable to Israel, or additional prophecy. In any event, the promise is a token of God's favor toward Israel.
Application: God justly pays back those who do His will.
Prayer: Lord, thanks that Your justice extends to all You do, and I can expect You to repay me for my service of You. Amen.
Ezekiel 30 Judgment on Egypt's Allies
30:1 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Wail, Alas for the day! 3 For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations. 4 A sword shall come on Egypt, and anguish 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. 5 Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword. 6 Thus says Yahweh: They also who uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh. 7 They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. 8 They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed. 9 In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes. 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 13 I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. 19 Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
20 It happened in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt...22...and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. 25 I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Observations: 30:1-26 More devastation is announced for Egypt and this time her allies are included. Idolatry is added to the list of sins for which punishment falls. God will not only break the arms of Pharaoh, but strengthen the arms of Babylon. The end result is that people would know that Yahweh is God.
Application: Trusting in anything other than God is folly, because He will destroy all who fail to acknowledge and serve Him.
Prayer: God, earthly powers can be fearsome, but I fear You above all, and know that You are the God who judges the proud and unfaithful. Amen.
Ezekiel 31 Pharaoh Brought Down to the Pit
31:1 It happened in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: whom are you like in your greatness? 3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs. 4 The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: its rivers ran all around its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field. 5 Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth. 6 All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches all the animals of the field brought forth their young; and all great nations lived under its shadow. 7 Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty. 9 I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.
10 Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 11 I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness. 12 Strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. 13 On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches; 14 to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, even all who drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit. 15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth. 17 They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, that lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations. 18 To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 32 Pharaoh and Friends Fall
32:1 It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, you were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers. 3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net. 4 I will leave you on the land, I will cast you forth on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you. 5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height. 6 I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you. 7 When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. 8 All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord Yahweh. 9 I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall. 11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you. 12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed. 13 I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them. 14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord Yahweh. 15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Yahweh. 16 This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, says the Lord Yahweh.
17 It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. 19 Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. 20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. 22 Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword; 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. 24 There is Elam 26 There is Meshech, Tubal...their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. 30 There are the princes of the north, 31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh. 32 For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.
Observations: 31:1-18 In a rather elaborate parable, God compares the king of Assyria to the greatest cedar of Lebanon, which God brought down because of his pride and wickedness. Although he was the envy of the trees of the garden of Eden, strangers cut him down, and he lies in Sheol (the grave) in the lower parts of the earth, among the uncircumcised. A similar fate awaits Pharaoh who was comparable to him.
32:1-32 More of the same, with an extension to additional nations whom God will judge. The differences between the various nations are nullified in death, where it looks like there is a conscious existence.
Application: It's nothing for God to humble the mightiest on earth, and He will.
Prayer: God, may my heart not be lifted up in pride, or oppression, knowing that You know and judge all things. Amen.
Digging Deeper:
God in a nutshell: God is seen as the judge of all the earth, particularly singling out the powerful, prideful and those who oppress His people. He brings them down to the grave at the hand of His servants, whom He recompenses. He frequently strikes at the strength of those whom He judges.
Us in a nutshell: We need not fear those who are mighty, because God is mightier, and will judge them. We need not fear God's judgment if we are doing what pleases Him.
Where to Go for More:
Truthbase.net
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Ezekiel complete text
Ezekiel 29
29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak and say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’ 4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales. 5 I’ll cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the open field. You won’t be brought together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky. 6 All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and paralysed all of their thighs."
8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. 9 The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it’; 10 therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries." 13 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered; 14 and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom. 15 It shall be the base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. 16 It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh."’"
17 It came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for me, says the Lord Yahweh. 21 In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in their midst; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 30
30:1 The word of Yahweh came again to me, saying, 2 Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Wail, Alas for the day! 3 For the day is near, even the day of Yahweh is near; it shall be a day of clouds, a time of the nations. 4 A sword shall come on Egypt, and anguish 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. 5 Ethiopia, and Put, and Lud, and all the mixed people, and Cub, and the children of the land that is allied with them, shall fall with them by the sword. 6 Thus says Yahweh: They also who uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Seveneh shall they fall in it by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh. 7 They shall be desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are wasted. 8 They shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have set a fire in Egypt, and all her helpers are destroyed. 9 In that day shall messengers go forth from before me in ships to make the careless Ethiopians afraid; and there shall be anguish on them, as in the day of Egypt; for, behold, it comes. 10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also make the multitude of Egypt to cease, by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. 11 He and his people with him, the terrible of the nations, shall be brought in to destroy the land; and they shall draw their swords against Egypt, and fill the land with the slain. 12 I will make the rivers dry, and will sell the land into the hand of evil men; and I will make the land desolate, and all that is therein, by the hand of strangers: I, Yahweh, have spoken it. 13 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause the images to cease from Memphis; and there shall be no more a prince from the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. 14 I will make Pathros desolate, and will set a fire in Zoan, and will execute judgments on No. 15 I will pour my wrath on Sin, the stronghold of Egypt; and I will cut off the multitude of No. 16 I will set a fire in Egypt: Sin shall be in great anguish, and No shall be broken up; and Memphis shall have adversaries in the daytime. 17 The young men of Aven and of Pibeseth shall fall by the sword; and these cities shall go into captivity. 18 At Tehaphnehes also the day shall withdraw itself, when I shall break there the yokes of Egypt, and the pride of her power shall cease in her: as for her, a cloud shall cover her, and her daughters shall go into captivity. 19 Thus will I execute judgments on Egypt; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
20 It happened in the eleventh year, in the first month, in the seventh day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 21 Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and behold, it has not been bound up, to apply healing medicines, to put a bandage to bind it, that it be strong to hold the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and will break his arms, the strong arm, and that which was broken; and I will cause the sword to fall out of his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries. 24 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and put my sword in his hand: but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he shall groan before him with the groanings of a deadly wounded man. 25 I will hold up the arms of the king of Babylon; and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am Yahweh, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out on the land of Egypt. 26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.
Ezekiel 31
31:1 It happened in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude: whom are you like in your greatness? 3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with beautiful branches, and with a forest-like shade, and of high stature; and its top was among the thick boughs. 4 The waters nourished it, the deep made it to grow: its rivers ran all around its plantation; and it sent out its channels to all the trees of the field. 5 Therefore its stature was exalted above all the trees of the field; and its boughs were multiplied, and its branches became long by reason of many waters, when it shot them forth. 6 All the birds of the sky made their nests in its boughs; and under its branches all the animals of the field brought forth their young; and all great nations lived under its shadow. 7 Thus was it beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches; for its root was by many waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the fir trees were not like its boughs, and the plane trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like it in its beauty. 9 I made it beautiful by the multitude of its branches, so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied it.
10 Therefore thus said the Lord Yahweh: Because you are exalted in stature, and he has set his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 11 I will even deliver him into the hand of the mighty one of the nations; he shall surely deal with him; I have driven him out for his wickedness. 12 Strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: on the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the watercourses of the land; and all the peoples of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. 13 On his ruin all the birds of the sky shall dwell, and all the animals of the field shall be on his branches; 14 to the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves in their stature, neither set their top among the thick boughs, nor that their mighty ones stand up on their height, even all who drink water: for they are all delivered to death, to the lower parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with those who go down to the pit. 15 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: In the day when he went down to Sheol I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained its rivers; and the great waters were stayed; and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to Sheol with those who descend into the pit; and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in the lower parts of the earth. 17 They also went down into Sheol with him to those who are slain by the sword; yes, those who were his arm, that lived under his shadow in the midst of the nations. 18 To whom are you thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet you will be brought down with the trees of Eden to the lower parts of the earth: you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.
Ezekiel 32
32:1 It happened in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, in the first day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, take up a lamentation over Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tell him, you were likened to a young lion of the nations: yet you are as a monster in the seas; and you broke out with your rivers, and troubled the waters with your feet, and fouled their rivers. 3 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will spread out my net on you with a company of many peoples; and they shall bring you up in my net. 4 I will leave you on the land, I will cast you forth on the open field, and will cause all the birds of the sky to settle on you, and I will satisfy the animals of the whole earth with you. 5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains, and fill the valleys with your height. 6 I will also water with your blood the land in which you swim, even to the mountains; and the watercourses shall be full of you. 7 When I shall extinguish you, I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. 8 All the bright lights of the sky will I make dark over you, and set darkness on your land, says the Lord Yahweh. 9 I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I shall bring your destruction among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will make many peoples amazed at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for you, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of your fall. 11 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: The sword of the king of Babylon shall come on you. 12 By the swords of the mighty will I cause your multitude to fall; the terrible of the nations are they all: and they shall bring to nothing the pride of Egypt, and all its multitude shall be destroyed. 13 I will destroy also all its animals from beside many waters; neither shall the foot of man trouble them any more, nor the hoofs of animals trouble them. 14 Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord Yahweh. 15 When I shall make the land of Egypt desolate and waste, a land destitute of that of which it was full, when I shall strike all those who dwell therein, then shall they know that I am Yahweh. 16 This is the lamentation with which they shall lament; the daughters of the nations shall lament therewith; over Egypt, and over all her multitude, shall they lament therewith, says the Lord Yahweh.
17 It happened also in the twelfth year, in the fifteenth day of the month, that the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 18 Son of man, wail for the multitude of Egypt, and cast them down, even her, and the daughters of the famous nations, to the lower parts of the earth, with those who go down into the pit. 19 Whom do you pass in beauty? Go down, and be laid with the uncircumcised. 20 They shall fall in the midst of those who are slain by the sword: she is delivered to the sword; draw her away and all her multitudes. 21 The strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of Sheol with those who help him: they are gone down, they lie still, even the uncircumcised, slain by the sword. 22 Asshur is there and all her company; her graves are all around her; all of them slain, fallen by the sword; 23 whose graves are set in the uttermost parts of the pit, and her company is around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who caused terror in the land of the living. 24 There is Elam and all her multitude around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who are gone down uncircumcised into the lower parts of the earth, who caused their terror in the land of the living, and have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit. 25 They have set her a bed in the midst of the slain with all her multitude; her graves are around her; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for their terror was caused in the land of the living, and they have borne their shame with those who go down to the pit: he is put in the midst of those who are slain. 26 There is Meshech, Tubal, and all their multitude; their graves are around them; all of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword; for they caused their terror in the land of the living. 27 They shall not lie with the mighty who are fallen of the uncircumcised, who are gone down to Sheol with their weapons of war, and have laid their swords under their heads, and their iniquities are on their bones; for they were the terror of the mighty in the land of the living. 28 But you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised, and shall lie with those who are slain by the sword. 29 There is Edom, her kings and all her princes, who in their might are laid with those who are slain by the sword: they shall lie with the uncircumcised, and with those who go down to the pit. 30 There are the princes of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who are gone down with the slain; in the terror which they caused by their might they are put to shame; and they lie uncircumcised with those who are slain by the sword, and bear their shame with those who go down to the pit. 31 Pharaoh shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multitude, even Pharaoh and all his army, slain by the sword, says the Lord Yahweh. 32 For I have put his terror in the land of the living; and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those who are slain by the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, says the Lord Yahweh.