Hebrews 8-10 Following in Faith, Hope, and Love

TMS 1John 2:15-16 Your Three Temptations

1Jn 2:15 “Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world -

-- the lust of the flesh,

the lust of the eyes,

and the pride of life

--- is not of the Father but is of the world.

17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it;

but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Observations: 2:15-16 God made us with desires for power (security/significance), pleasure, and possessions, and has a plan to fulfill those desires, according to His will. Satan also has a will for our lives, which is to take a temporal short-cut to fulfilling our desires, rather than doing God's will to get them. Adam and Eve took the bait, and chomped down on the temporal and fatal short-cut (see comments on Genesis 3). Jesus refused to follow Satan's will for His life to take the easy way to what the Father wanted for Him (see His temptations and comments in Mt 4). John tells us not to love all the stuff in Satan's world: the lust of the flesh (pleasure), the lust of the eyes (possessions), and the pride of life (power, success/safety). If anyone loves those things, they can't love God (Js 4:4). The double-edged key to not loving the things of the world is to love or be loyal to God, and to see the things of the world as they really are (Proverbs is great for teaching this). Once we've unmasked the deceitfulness of Satan's temptations, and considered the consequences of indulging in them, they're not so appealing. Once we've set our affections on things above (Col 3), and experienced the delights of abiding in Christ (Jn 15) the world is downright unappealing. The one who does God's will rather than Satan's abides forever, getting both temporal and eternal benefit. The worldling loses both eternally, and temporally (eventually).

Application: Work on purifying your desires, and don't develop an appetite for things that aren't eternally good for you.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for loving me; may I loyally love You, and delight in Your presence and will more than any created thing. Amen.

Hebrews 8-10 These chapters continue to make the case for the superiority of Christ, particularly mediating the blessings of the New Covenant which enable believers to have a cleansed conscience by the working of the Holy Spirit in renewing their hearts, so they serve God and do His will. The author summarizes the book in the “hinge” near the end of chapter 10, and then gives another stern warning passage of the punishment that awaits unfaithful believers who succumb to the temptation to go back to the way they were. However, he is expectant that his readers will press on to perfection and reap the reward God has planned for those who serve Him.

Hebrews 8 New Covenant

8:1 Now in the things which we are saying, the main point is this. We have such a high priest, who sat down on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, 2 a servant of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 For if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, seeing there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, even as Moses was warned by God when he was about to make the tabernacle, for he said, "See, you shall make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain."

6 But now he has obtained a more excellent ministry, by so much as he is also the mediator of a better covenant, which on better promises has been given as law. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, he said, "Behold, the days come," says the Lord, "that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they didn’t continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them," says the Lord.

10 "For this is the covenant that I will make

1. with the house of Israel.
2. After those days," says the Lord;
3. "I will put my laws into their mind,
4. I will also write them on their heart.
5. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
6. 11 They will not teach every man his fellow citizen, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know me, from their least to their greatest.
7. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. I will remember their sins and lawless deeds no more."

13 In that he says, "A new covenant," he has made the first old. But that which is becoming old and grows aged is near to vanishing away.

Observations: 8:1-5 The superiority of what believers in Christ have over what they had in Judaism is further demonstrated by the position of Christ in the heavens where the real tabernacle is, sitting, after completing His work, and mediating a New Covenant. The tabernacle on earth was a mere copy and shadow of the real deal in heaven.

8:6-9 The ministry Christ now has is that of the mediator of a better covenant, which is based upon better promises. The first offered temporary forgiveness and temporary blessings in the land. The second, new and improved, offers permanent forgiveness and permanent blessings in the Messianic Kingdom. It is not like the covenant God made with Israel in the day He took them out of Egypt (Ex 15:26 or Ex 20), which they broke, therefore this is a covenant that will not be forsaken by Israel (and thus is yet future).

8:10-13 Here are some more noteworthy features of the New Covenant

1) It is with the house of Israel (not the church).
2) It is made with Israel after the days when God regathers Israel and resettles them in the land.
3) God will put His laws into their mind, which means God still requires obedience of His people (Isa 59:20-21 indicates that this is a function of the Holy Spirit, after the Redeemer comes to Zion).
4) God will also write His laws on their heart, which means the spot where they make their decisions will have God's values; in Proverbs 3:1-3 and 7:1-3 the wise write God's law on their own heart.
5) He will be their God, and they will be His people, which means they will live in covenantal loyalty with Him, keeping His requirements, and looking only to Him for help and protection.
6) All will know God, probably because of His presence in the Millennial temple, so that there will be no need for teaching.
7) God will be merciful, no longer holding their sins and lawless deeds against them, but will reinstate them as His privileged people.
The fact that a New Covenant was promised showed that the Old Covenant was not permanent and would become obsolete. See comments on Jeremiah 31:31 for a deeper understanding of the New Covenant. New Testament believers receive the blessings of the Holy Spirit, especially in His sanctifying and renewing work, but the New Covenant as promised to Israel in the OT is still future.

Application: If the Holy Spirit has free reign in our life, His law will be on our heart, controlling our actions, so we do God's will.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me know and do Your will, so that the righteous requirements of Your law might be fulfilled in me as I walk according to the guidance and grace of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Hebrews 9 Christ's Return to Bring Salvation

9:1 Now indeed even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service, and an earthly sanctuary. 2 For a tabernacle was prepared. In the first part were the lampstand, the table, and the show bread; which is called the Holy Place. 3 After the second veil was the tabernacle which is called the Holy of Hollies, 4 having a golden altar of incense, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which was a golden pot holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; 5 and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail. 6 Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in continually into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services, 7 but into the second the high priest alone, once in the year, not without blood, which he offers for himself, and for the errors of the people.

8 The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing; 9 which is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect; 10 being only (with meats and drinks and various washings) fleshly ordinances, imposed until a time of reformation. 11 But Christ having come as a high priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, 12 nor yet through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, entered in once for all into the Holy Place, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify to the cleanness of the flesh: 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, since a death has occurred for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, that those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a last will and testament is, there must of necessity be the death of him who made it. 17 For a will is in force where there has been death, for it is never in force while he who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant has not been dedicated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you." 21 Moreover he sprinkled the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry in the same way with the blood. 22 According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.

23 It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ hasn’t entered into holy places made with hands, which are representations of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place year by year with blood not his own, 26 or else he must have suffered often since the foundation of the world. But now once at the end of the ages, he has been revealed to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 (NIV) Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him

Observations: 9:1-7 The author reviews the set up of the sacrificial system, giving details of what was in the ark of the covenant not found in the OT. Exodus 16:32-34 said the manna was to be kept before the Lord and Numbers 17 speaks of Aaron's rod. But the point is that the high priest entered the Holy of Hollies only once every year to sprinkle blood on the mercy seat which sat on top of the Ark/Chest that contained the Covenant. The idea was that God's presence, dwelling in between the Cherubim would look down and see the Law which pointed out the sin of the people, and called for their death was violated. But the mercy seat, between His presence and the law, would be covered over with blood (the word for atone means to cover) thus covering the people's sin, and satisfying God's wrath temporarily until a more permanent solution would come.

9:8-15 A veil stood between God and the people indicating that there was not free access to Him, due to the sins which separated them from Him. The ritual sacrifices were incapable of making the worshiper “perfect” according to the measure of (kata with the accusative) their conscience. “Perfect” was used earlier of completion or bringing to the glorified state (2:10; 5:9; 7:11 -noun, 19) and later (10:1, 14, 11:40; 12:23) which is dependent upon fulfilling, perfecting or bringing to completion God's plan (via living in accord with His will). The conscience, our governing sense of right and wrong, is what guides our actions. The OT sacrificial system, which was a matter of flesh rather than Spirit, was not able to “re-program” our conscience by having the Holy Spirit write God's law on our heart (a condition which the New Covenant changes, as explained in chapter 10). At Christ's death the veil was torn from top to bottom (Mt 27:51), indicating the way was now accessible. As the high priest of the coming good things (among them being the Holy Spirit) He entered once for all into the Holy place after having secured eternal redemption (payment for sin). The blood of animals sanctify or cleanse the flesh, but the blood of Christ goes to the core of the problem, cleansing our conscience from acts that lead to death (NIV or dead works) so that we can serve the living God. If our “governor” of what's right and wrong is programmed by the worldly values, we will choose to do what's wrong, rather than serve God. If our conscience is cleansed by the blood, and rewritten by the Spirit of God with His truth, we will choose to serve God, and wind up getting blessed/glorified.

9:16-22 For this reason of cleaning up and renewing our conscience, Christ is the mediator of the New Covenant (and the work of the Spirit), so that those, who have been redeemed from their transgressions pointed out by the Law, may receive the promise of inheritance in the Age. In order for a covenant (as in last will and testament) to take effect, there needs to be the death of the person making it. The first covenant went into effect with the blood of animals. In the Ancient Near East, when a covenant was made, animals were sacrificed, and the halves laid apart from each other. The parties making the covenant would join hands and walk through the animals saying something to the effect of “may what happened to these animals happen to us if we violate the terms of this covenant.” This is the background to God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 (see comments there) although only God passed through the covenant, indicating that His promises to bless Abraham was solely dependent upon His efforts. When Moses was making the covenant with the nation of Israel, he sprinkled blood on the nation, as a symbol of the normal covenant making practice. Similarly using hyssop and blood, Moses sprinkled blood over everything in the tabernacle to cleanse it from sin, by covering it over with the blood, which was the required payment for sin. Without the shedding of blood, there is no covering nor forgiveness (Lev 17:11).

9:23-26 It was necessary for the earthly copies of the heavenly things to be cleansed with the blood of animals, but the heavenly things are cleansed with the blood of Jesus. Christ didn't enter a man made tabernacle multiple times, but a heavenly one, once for all with His own blood. The timing was one time only, at the end of the OT age, to put away/make void or annul sin (only used elsewhere in 7:18 of the law).

9:27-28 These last two verses are worth knowing well. Humans get one chance at life, and then face judgment. There are no second chances; there is no re-incarnation. Just like Christ died once, so do humans; flipping the analogy around, just like humans die once, so did Christ. The whole argument in the preceding verses is that Christ died once, because that is all that was necessary to permanently pay for all sin for all time. Those who think they are re-sacrificing Christ on an altar must be ignorant of this passage . Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many (since not all will accept His death on their behalf and choose to die for their own sins). Christ will return again, but not in reference to sin (“to bear sin” is a good interpretation -NIV), because He already did that. He will return at His second coming to bring salvation (glorification, since justification is already our present possession) to those who eagerly await Him. Those who aren't looking forward to His return are probably not busy laying up rewards in heaven according to His instructions (Mt 6:19-20).

Application: Since it's inevitable that we die and face judgment, it might be a good idea to use the time we have on earth preparing to do well at the judgment seat of Christ.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, please guide me in living to please You so I can eagerly anticipate Your return in glory. Amen.

Hebrews 10 Faith, Hope and Love

10:1 For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins? 3 But in those sacrifices there is a yearly reminder of sins. 4 For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins.

5 Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, "Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire, but you prepared a body for me; 6 You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.’" 8 Previously saying, "Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you didn’t desire, neither had pleasure in them" (those which are offered according to the law), 9 then he has said, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He takes away the first, that he may establish the second, 10 by which will we have been sanctified because of (dia) the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Every priest indeed stands day by day serving and often offering the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins, 12 but he, when he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 from that time waiting until his enemies are made the footstool of his feet. 14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them: ‘After those days,’ says the Lord, ‘I will put my laws on their heart, I will also write them on their mind;’" then he says, 17 "I will remember their sins and their iniquities no more." 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

19 Having therefore, brothers,

confidence to enter into the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

21 and having a great priest over the house of God,

22 let us draw near with a true heart in fulness of faith,

having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and having our body washed with pure water,

23 let us hold fast the profession of our hope without wavering;

for he who promised is faithful.

24 Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,

25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom/manner of some is,

but exhorting/encouraging one another;

and so much the more, as you see the Day approaching.

26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and a fierceness of fire which will devour the adversaries.

28 A man who disregards Moses’ law dies without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will he be judged worthy of,

who has trodden under foot the Son of God,

and has counted the blood of the covenant with which he was sanctified an unholy thing,

and has insulted the Spirit of grace?

30 For we know him who said, "Vengeance belongs to me," says the Lord, "I will repay." Again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

32 But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened,

you endured a great struggle with sufferings; 33 partly, being exposed to both reproaches and oppressions; and partly, becoming partakers with those who were treated so. 34 For you both had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your possessions, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an enduring one in the heavens.

35 Therefore don’t throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you need endurance so that, having done the will of God, you may receive the promise. 37 "In a very little while, he who comes will come, and will not wait. 38 But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the saving of the soul.

Observations:10:1-5 The OT ritual and sacrificial law was just a shadow of the good to come, because they could never make perfect (bring to completion/fulfillment or glorification) those who draw near to worship. If they could do that, they wouldn't be continually offered, because the worshipers would no longer have a consciousness of sins (because they wouldn't be consciously sinning). But in the sacrifices of the Day of Atonement there is an annual reminder of sins.

10:6-18 Quoting Psalm 40 to show that God doesn't desire sacrifices but prefers obedient service, the author stresses the importance of having the law within one's heart (a function of the Holy Spirit in the New Covenant).

Psalm 40:6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened. Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require. 7 Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart."

God gives us ears so we can hear His will, and do it. He gave the sacrificial system for when we failed to do His will, which He would prefer. Jesus takes away the sacrifices (and the need for them) so He can establish (set in place) the second, which is the doing of God's will, on the basis of His law being internalized by the Holy Spirit. By Christ doing the will of God, we are in the condition of having been sanctified/set apart (present indicative plus perfect participle, like in Eph 2:8, stressing the ongoing nature of a previous event). Note that verse 14 refers to the ongoing (present tense) aspect of being sanctified.

Daily Levitical sacrifices can never take away sins, but Jesus, by one sacrifice, did, and has sat down (in contrast to the standing priest) after having finished His work, and is now awaiting future glorification. As verse 14 emphasizes, by means of one offering Jesus has perfected (perfect tense) for all time (continuously) those who are being sanctified. His death removes all barriers to their glorification. The Holy Spirit testifies to this in the terms of the New Covenant. The law will be internalized, and God will no longer hold their sins against them, but instead will be their God, and they will be His people. Where there is remission (sending away or forgiveness) of sins, there is no more offering for sin, and thus no need for the daily sacrifices, nor the system.

10:19-25 Now the author summarizes what believers have in Christ, and outlines the three major areas in which they should progress in doing God's will on the press to perfection/glorification. This is the “hinge” of Hebrews (it's also called the “salad” passage, since it's comprised of three kinds of “let us”). Believers/brothers have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, through a new way, through his flesh (put for His sacrificial death) which cleansed them of their sin, and cleansed their consciences so they can serve God. They also have a great and faithful high priest who lives to make intercession for them and help them. Therefore they need to progress in faith, hope, and love, which will be expanded upon in the following three chapters (faith in 11, hope in 12, love in 13). But first the author gives a summary statement and then another warning passage, and encouragement to persevere.

First believers should draw near (used of approaching a deity in worship) to God with a true (rather than hardened or false or lie-filled) heart in fullness of faith (no room for anything else). He further elaborates that the heart is sprinkled/cleansed (only used elsewhere in 9:13, 19, 21) from an evil conscience (by the Holy Spirit renewing our heart), and our body washed with pure water (clean of dead works).

Secondly, believers should hold fast the profession of their hope (expectation of the Messiah's return to reward the faithful in His kingdom) without wavering (succumbing to the temptation to be unfaithful to avoid persecution), because the God who promised to do so is faithful.

Thirdly, believers should live in love, by not thinking only about themselves, but considering one another for the purpose of stimulating the love and good deeds that God will reward. Believers should not forsake assembling together, although their Jewish families and neighbors would be pressuring them to. When gathered with other believers, the goal should be to encourage one another (call up the mountain) with increased fervency as they see or recognize the future Day of judgment (return of the Lord) approaching. The author warns against not doing this in the next verses.

10:26-30 In this third warning passage the author again address an “enlightened” audience (10:32) who had been walking in God's will, and were being tempted and pressured to go back to the way they were. The “willful sin” is not a momentary rebellion or relapse that is part of the normal growth and maturity pattern, but, like chapter 6, a return to Judaism (which the whole letter warns against by showing the superiority of Christ over Judaism). The ones warned have “received the truth” (cf Jn 1:12), and then by going back to Judaism left the sphere where forgiveness was found (by the blood of Christ, described earlier in the chapter). In the Levitical sacrifices there was no longer a sacrifice for sins, but only the expectation of judgment, and the fire which will consume the adversaries. This is the judgment John spoke of in Matthew 3:12. It is not being tossed into the lake of fire with the unforgiven and unregenerate, but being judged in the fire of the garbage dump of Gehenna where fire will test the quality of each man's work (1Cor 3:15). Believers don't face the former, only the latter.

The author clearly states that believers who behave badly will face discipline as did Jesus (see comments on Luke 12:47 and the unprofitable servants -Mt 25:30). Anyone who disregarded the lesser law of Moses would die (be deprived of dominion) on the testimony of witnesses. Those who disregard and despise the rule of the Son of God in their lives are worthy of greater punishment. Note the three aspects of the sin:

trampling under foot the Son of God in their denial of the Lord who bought them (cf 6:6);

considered the blood of Jesus, which sanctified them (set them apart for New Covenant blessings) an unholy, profane, or common thing;

insulted/despised or abused the Spirit of Grace who saved, sanctified, and “indwelt” them.

These are clearly bad believers. If one's theology doesn't allow for such critters, one is not only unbiblical, but incredibly naive. It might be time to bring one's theological thinking into harmony with the truth.

The reason the believer will be disciplined/punished is because our infinitely just God has said

Dt 32:35 “It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them. 36 For the Lord will judge His people...”

This is in the context of God promising to judge His unfaithful children who deserted the God who made/fathered them, and Rock who saved them (32:15, 18). The parallel, cited also by Paul in Romans 12:19 should be obvious to all except the most obstinate. It is indeed a fearsome thing to fall into the hands of the living and livid God for judgment. It is better to not fear those who can kill the body than to not fear Him who can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna (Mt 10:28).

10:32-39 The author provides positive encouragement to persevere, by reminding his audience of the earlier times after they were born again/enlightened. They endured persecution and afflictions from the Jews, and shared in the sufferings of the apostles and other of God's people, joyfully accepting the loss of their possessions because they knew that had better and enduring possessions in heaven (which is a whole lot more than many modern believers know and do). The author exhorts them to not throw away their confidence in Christ, which has great reward. The issue is reward or loss thereof, not undoing justification.

The corrective is to exercise endurance, so that after having done the will of God (obviously something that is attainable and doable – see Eph 5:17 comments if in doubt), they may receive the promised blessing in the Kingdom (not a reference to getting forgiveness on the basis of works). Loosely quoting Habakkuk 2:3-4 “For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hurries toward the end, and won’t prove false. Though it takes time, wait for it; because it will surely come. It won’t delay. 4 Behold, his soul is puffed up. It is not upright in him, but the righteous/just will live by his faith.” the author reminds that God's promise will arrive. In the meantime the just (those who are already justified -see comments on Romans 1:17) will live (exercise dominion) by faith in God's promises. If anyone fails to follow in faith, and shrinks back from the difficulties of enduring denial and opposition, God will have no pleasure in that person. God only blesses those with whom He is pleased. The author groups himself with his audience in asserting that they are not among those who shrink back to destruction but who continue to have faith to the end goal of saving their souls (glorification -cf Lk 9:23-27 and the calls to discipleship in the gospels).

Application: God has given us all we need to progress in faith, hope and love as we await His return to reward His faithful servants.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thanks for all You've done to save and sanctify me, and make possible a great future with You; help me draw on Your Spirit to keep my conscience and actions aligned with Your will. Amen.

Digging Deeper

God in a nutshell: God has given us ears so we can hear and do His will, and He can bless us. He provided the sacrificial system as a temporary measure for dealing with sins, until Christ would come and put an end to sin. He provides the Holy Spirit to enable us to be perfected.

Build-a-Jesus: As our High Priest, Jesus paid for our sins with His own blood securing total redemption for us. As the mediator of the New Covenant, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to apply the benefits of His death in cleansing our consciences from sin and dead works so we can serve the living God

Us in a nutshell: NT believers participate in the blessings of the Holy Spirit in His sanctifying and perfecting us. If we follow God's will, particularly in the areas of faith, hope and love, we will be rewarded, if we don't, we will be punished with destruction (it's a promise).

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

2 Corinthians 1-3 Encouragement, Liberty, Glory

2 Corinthians 1-3 Encouragement, Liberty, Glory

Psalm 139:1-24 Awesomely and Wonderfully Created

Ps 139:1 A Psalm by David “Yahweh, you have searched me, and you know me. 2 You know my sitting down and my rising up. You perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word on my tongue, but, behold, Yahweh, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in behind and before. You laid your hand on me. 6 This knowledge is beyond me. It’s lofty. I can’t attain it.

7 Where could I go from your Spirit? Or where could I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend up into heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the dawn, and settle in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10 Even there your hand will lead me, and your right hand will hold me. 11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me; the light around me will be night"; 12 even the darkness doesn’t hide from you, but the night shines as the day. The darkness is like light to you.

(NIV to 18)13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I praise you because I am fearfully/awesomely and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would kill the wicked. Get away from me, you bloodthirsty men! 20 For they speak against you wickedly. Your enemies take your name in vain. 21 Yahweh, don’t I hate those who hate you? Am I not grieved with those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with perfect hatred. They have become my enemies. 23 Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. 24 See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way."

Observations: 139:1-24 Wicked people build their worth and value by putting others down. Prideful people build their worth and value by accomplishments at the expense of others. Godly people build their worth and value by doing what is pleasing in His sight. But all of God's children can find worth and value in God's knowledge and creation of them.

139:1-12 David draws comfort from God's omniscience (139:1-6) and omnipresence (139:7-12). God knows everything that goes on in our lives, and there is no place we can go that is outside the realm of His care for us.

139:13-18 David praises God for His omnipotence in creating him as He did. God created us as He wanted us to be. We humans are awesome and wonderful creations (in the image of God – Gen 1), with a purpose and meaning by virtue of being created by God, who has planned days and good works for us (Eph 2:10). He doesn't make mistakes nor trash. There are no accidents. This gives us worth and value, and the basis of a good self image (what's not to like?). Anyone who doesn't appreciate God's handiwork doesn't have good taste, and isn't worth paying any attention to. God thinks the world of you, so why should you care what morons don't think?

139:19-24 David asks God to eliminate his enemies who are also God's enemies, since David is God's loyal friend. He also asks for God to reveal anything he needs to change or improve so that he can get to where God wants him to go.

Application: Accept yourself as the wonderful creation of God which you are, and devote your energies to fulfilling the purposes for which He knit you together.

Prayer: God, I praise You for the wonderful job You did in planning and creating me. Search me, God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked or offensive way in me, and guide me in the way that is more pleasing to You. Amen.

TMS Matthew 18:20 Corporate Prayer

Mt 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered together

in My name,

I am there

in the midst of them."

Observations: 18:20 This is used as a passage about fellowship in the TMS, but its major context is that of church discipline (see comments on Mt 18). There believers were gathered to do God's will in helping an erring believer respond to reproof and rebuke, and rejoin the fellowship of believers. (Like the situation in 1Cor 5 referenced below). As believers gather in the power/authority/name of Jesus, which would imply submission to His will, to do His will, then He is there in the midst of them. This is not what constitutes a Church, but the same dynamic should apply. God's ears are always open to the prayers of His people (2Chronicles 6:39; 30:27), when they seek Him according to His will. Two or 2,000 carnal Christians gathered and chanting “Jesus, Jesus” probably isn't what He had in mind. See Catacomb Church Blog on corporate prayer.

Application: God listens to three, two, or even one person who prays to Him under the conditions He has specified, namely, in His name, submitted to His will.

Prayer: God, thanks that You are present in the prayers and praises of Your people; thanks for the privilege of being able to seek You and pray together. Amen.

2 Corinthians 1-3 This epistle has some of the best teaching on glory (2Cor 4-5), giving (2Cor 7-8), and grace (2Cor 12), but the rest deals with the heart of Paul in fighting the spiritual battle for the welfare of the Corinthians, some of whom despise him. Poor Paul is like the parent with ungrateful and rebellious children. God gave the Corinthians life through him, and he tended and cared for them, only to have them go over to the dark side and fight against him. The background is a little difficult to reconstruct, but goes something like this: Paul had established the Church (Acts 18) and ministered there for a year and a half; he wrote a letter, the prequel to 1Corinthinans, which we don't have, trying to correct problems; he wrote 1Corinthians trying to correct still remaining problems, but Satan's agents fought against the truth and sought to discredit Paul; he visited again, referenced in chapter two, which didn't go well; he wrote a third letter, the severe and sorrowful one, delivered by Titus, which is not extant; some responded to truth, some still resisted, so he writes this fourth letter, 2Corinthians, and plans to visit again. The exact flow is difficult to follow since much is written to not present truth but persuade without hurting feelings, so it is veiled and shaded. However, in this post there are some clear principles on suffering, encouragement, ministry, and the Holy Spirit worth noting and applying.

2 Corinthians 1 Encouragement to Endure

1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the assembly of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies/hesed and God of all comfort/encouragement; 4 who comforts/encourages us in all our affliction/tribulation, that we may be able to comfort/encourage those who are in any affliction/trouble, through the comfort/encouragement with which we ourselves are comforted/encouraged by God. 5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort/encouragement also abounds through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort/encouagement and salvation. If we are comforted/encouraged, it is for your comfort/encouragement, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.

7 Our hope for you is steadfast, knowing that, since you are partakers of the sufferings, so also are you of the comfort/consolation/encouragement. 8 For we don’t desire to have you uninformed, brothers, concerning our affliction which happened to us in Asia, that we were weighed down exceedingly, beyond our power, so much that we despaired even of life. 9 Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead, 10 who delivered us out of so great a death, and does deliver; on whom we have set our hope that he will also still deliver us; 11 you also helping together on our behalf by your supplication; that, for the gracething bestowed on us by means of many, thanks may be given by many persons on your behalf.

12 For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you. 13 For we write no other things to you, than what you read or even acknowledge, and I hope you will acknowledge to the end; 14 as also you acknowledged us in part, that we are your boasting, even as you also are ours, in the day of our Lord Jesus.

15 In this confidence, I was determined to come first to you, that you might have a second benefit; 16 and by you to pass into Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and to be sent forward by you on my journey to Judea. 17 When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with me there should be the "Yes, yes" and the "No, no?" 18 But as God is faithful, our word toward you was not "Yes and no." 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, by me, Silvanus, and Timothy, was not "Yes and no," but in him is "Yes." 20 For however many are the promises of God, in him is the "Yes." Therefore also through him is the "Amen," to the glory of God through us. 21 Now he who establishes us with you in Christ, and anointed us, is God; 22 who also sealed us, and gave us the down payment of the Spirit in our hearts. 23 But I call God for a witness to my soul, that I didn’t come to Corinth to spare you. 24 Not that we have lordship over your faith, but are fellow workers with you for your joy. For you stand firm in/by faith.

Observations: 1:1-11 Paul opens with a wish for the Corinthians to receive the blessings of grace and peace from God. He then blesses the God who blesses His people by comforting/encouraging them in all their affliction. The translation of “comfort” is somewhat misleading. The word (parakaleo Strong''s #3870) literally means to “call along side,” not “come alongside.” It is more usually translated “beseech” or “exhort” in the KJV, but in modern times “encourage” is preferred in most contexts. “Comfort” has the idea of “there-there now,” as in comforting a toddler who got a boo-boo on their knee. There is a Greek word for this (paramutheomai Strong's #3888) which means to “speak alongside” and used of folks consoling Mary and Martha over the death of their brother (Jn 11:19,31). The only other times it is used in the NT are in 1Thessalonians 2:11 and 5:14.

The purpose of encouragement is to produce courage for “patient enduring of suffering” (verse 6), not the marshmallow comfort of feeling that something bad shouldn't have happened to you. There is a place for that, but Paul's usage of encouragement, here, and at other places is that of strengthening to face difficulties. So God gives encouragement in tough times (usually through the truth -Rom 15:4 encouragement). When we are weighed down beyond our power to endure, we draw on His power and grace to endure (by abiding in Christ, the Vine, and His words -Jn 15). But God does this, so we can use what we've learned to help others, thus having a fruitful ministry in helping them persevere for the prize (saved=glorification -verse 6). Paul doesn't trust in His strength to endure, but trusts in God who raises the dead (as happened to him at Lystra -Acts 14:19).

Paul's hope on behalf of the Corinthians is sure, because as they partake of suffering they will partake of the encouragement or reward (Rom 8:17). God has delivered, does deliver, and will deliver. The three aspects of salvation (justification, sanctification, and glorification) are in these verses. Notice that the hope is in the future aspect of God's deliverance. Paul considers the prayers of the believers an aid in his deliverance, so that thanks and praise might be given by many to God.

1:12-24 In the second half of the chapter Paul turns to defending himself and message against the accusations and fault-finding of Satan's agents, because he had changed his plans to visit them. In not coming to visit them when they were more engrossed in sin, he was sparing them the judgment they would experience in person. In verse 20 God is glorified as we respond affirmatively to His promises (causing the revelation of His character, actions, and bestowal of reward). In verse 21 Paul states that God “establishes” (as in on a foundation), “anoints” (as in empowers), and “seals” (as protectively mark). Paul says that the Holy Spirit is a down-payment, or promise of more to come (the Spirit of Glory). See comments on Ephesians 1.

Paul mentions an important ministry principle, in the last verse. God gives authority to leaders to build others up in their faith (belief and trust in God's revelation), for them to experience joy (fellow-workers with the individuals for their joy). Sometimes bad leadership is more concerned about their own joy, rather than the joy of those they serve. Usually those who object to authority are not walking or living by God's promises (Heb 11:6), and don't have joy to begin with.

Application: God gives encouragement in difficult times so we can endure, and help others as we've been helped.

Prayer: God, thanks that You give encouragement in response to my prayers and those of others, so I can draw upon you grace and endure for the prize; please guide me in helping others experience Your encouragement. Amen.

2 Corinthians 2 Fragrance of Life or Death

2:1 But I determined this for myself, that I would not come to you again in sorrow. 2 For if I make you sorry, then who will make me glad but he who is made sorry by me? 3 And I wrote this very thing to you, so that, when I came, I wouldn’t have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy would be shared by all of you. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not that you should be made sorry, but that you might know the love that I have so abundantly for you.

5 But if any has caused sorrow, he has caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I not press too heavily) to you all. 6 Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the many; 7 so that on the contrary you should rather forgive him and comfort him, lest by any means such a one should be swallowed up with his excessive sorrow. 8 Therefore I beg you to confirm your love toward him. 9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, whether you are obedient in all things. 10 Now I also forgive whomever you forgive anything. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, 11 that no advantage may be gained over us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

12 Now when I came to Troas for the Good News of Christ, and when a door was opened to me in/by the Lord, 13 I had no relief for my spirit, because I didn’t find Titus, my brother, but taking my leave of them, I went out into Macedonia. 14 Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and reveals through us the sweet aroma of his knowledge in every place. 15 For we are a sweet aroma of Christ to God, in those who are being saved, and in those who are perishing; 16 to the one a stench from death to death; to the other a sweet aroma from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? 17 For we are not as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

Observations: 2:1-4 Paul had written the second lost letter (see intro) not to make them sad, but to cause them to repent. Our initial reaction to someone reproving or rebuking us is to think that they hate us; but the opposite is usually the case. Only those who genuinely love us will care enough about our present and eternal destiny to risk rejection in saying something we might not want to hear. The Corinthians were a source of joy to Paul, so he wouldn't want to cause them unnecessary sorrow.

2:5-11 Many think that this section refers to the incestuous sinner from 1Corinthians 5 who had been disciplined by the Body, per Paul's instructions, although some think it refers to someone who had slighted Paul (about which we have no context). The former view has more to commend it, since it does give us a context and instruction for accepting back into fellowship those who repent. By continuing to shun the repentant believer and not forgive them, bitterness would result, a red-flag for attracting demonic attention and resultant defilement of many (Heb 12:15). The purpose of God is not to have us dwell on past sin, but present holiness, and future glory. Satan's purpose is otherwise.

2:12-17 Paul goes back to His change of travel plans, in looking for Titus, who is mentioned eight times more in this book, than in the one that bears his name. Apparently Titus had information about the Corinthians that Paul was anxious to know, because of his concern for them. It was in Troas that Paul first received his Macedonian call (Acts 16:8-9), which resulted in his ministry to the Corinthians. He arrived there through much persecution and affliction. Reflecting on the ministry that resulted, Paul praises God for the victory over the trials that God had given the apostolic band, as they were in union with Christ. Through them, the sweet aroma of Christ was revealed to all, to those who are being saved (present tense) Christ is the aroma of life. To those who reject and are perishing, it is the stench of death. God makes them sufficient/worthy/adequate (3:45) for this honor and labor. Paul doesn't peddle the word of God for personal profit, but speaks with pure motives (sincerity) knowing he will have to give an account to God.

Application: We need to forgive ourselves and others as God has forgiven us, so we can move on, away from our sin, to better and brighter things; otherwise, Satan will use guilt, bitterness, and disunity to disrupt God's plans for our lives.

Prayer: God, thanks that You accept us back into fellowship with You when we repent; may we accept ourselves, and each other, as You have accepted us. Amen.

2 Corinthians 3 From Glory to Glory

3:1 Are we beginning again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as do some, letters of commendation to you or from you? 2 You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men; 3 being revealed that you are a letter of Christ, served by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tablets of stone, but in tablets that are hearts of flesh. 4 Such confidence we have through Christ toward God; 5 not that we are sufficient of ourselves, to account anything as from ourselves; but our sufficiency is from God;

6 who also made us sufficient as servants/ministers of a new covenant; not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 But if the service/ministry of death, written engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the children of Israel could not look steadfastly on the face of Moses for the glory of his face; which was passing away: 8 won’t service of the Spirit be with much more glory? 9 For if the service of condemnation has glory, the service of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For most certainly that which has been made glorious has not been made glorious in this respect, by reason of the glory that surpasses. 11 For if that which passes away was with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.

12 Having therefore such a hope, we use great boldness of speech, 13 and not as Moses, who put a veil on his face, that the children of Israel wouldn’t look steadfastly on the end of that which was passing away. 14 But their minds were hardened, for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains, because in Christ it passes away. 15 But to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 But whenever one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 Now, we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Observations: 3:1-5 Paul wants to establish his credibility so the Corinthians will listen and follow what he says. But since some would charge him with presumptuous self-promotion, he cites the work in the lives of the Corinthians as his letter of recommendation from the Spirit of God. Wisdom is justified by her children. They, at least the ones who heard and obeyed, fleshed out the word of God in their lives, becoming living epistles. This wasn't a result of Paul, but God working through Paul to bless them, as Paul spoke God's word.

3:6-16 Paul then contrasts the letter of the law which God wrote to tablets of stone in the OT, which produces death for sin, with that which the Spirit wrote in their hearts and results in life. Probably some of Paul's detractors were Jewish (as was the case in much of Acts), so he demonstrates the superiority of the glory of the Spirit in the New Covenant to that of the Old Covenant (much like the author of Hebrews does). Paul was a minister of the New Covenant (see comments on Jer 31:31), specifically that aspect of the Spirit giving life. The OT came with a glory that fades, as shown by Moses losing the mountain glow. The NT has a greater glory, which surpasses that of the Law. The glory of the NT will remain, as the next two chapters detail. This is Paul's hope. Many Jews, in both the time of Moses and Paul's time, reject God's law and authority in their lives, and thus their minds became insensitive to truth and were hardened.

Acts 28:27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them."

So they don't respond to the truth and turn to God. But when the Holy Spirit convicts them (Jn 16:8), and they turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away, and they can see clearly.

6:17-18 Paul equates the Lord with the Spirit (see sentence immediately above). Where the Spirit of the Lord is (who now resides in their hearts as a seal – see 1:22) there is liberty, or freedom, from sin (Jn 8:31-32; Rm 6:18) and the law, and death (Rm 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.). Now, having the veil removed, and seeing clearly the glory of the Lord, we are transformed (metamorphosized). This word is used of us in Romans 12:1-2 when we go from being carnal caterpillars to beautiful butterflies, by the renewing of our minds, and of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt 17:2; Mk 9:2) when He was seen clothed with His glory. The former leads to the latter for us. We are transformed into the same image, for one degree of glory to another, as a result of the ministry of the Spirit, who conforms us to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29), as we focus on Him.

Application: As we turn to the Lord, and keep focused on Him, we will be changed into His image.

Prayer: God, thanks for the ministry of Your Holy Spirit in my life, and Your desire to give me freedom and glory; may I be responsive and receptive, and become more like Jesus. Amen.

Digging Deeper

God in a nutshell: God gives encouragement so we can endure, and share it with others. God always leads those who follow Him into victory.

Build-a-Jesus: Jesus shines in hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit, enabling those who receive Him to be transformed into His image and share in His glory.

Us in a nutshell: Those who seek to serve God will be welcome by those who seek God according to truth, and despised by those who don't. God's servants are made sufficient by God's Spirit to do His will, regardless of the response of others. Those who respond well, become like Christ, both now, and in the future.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Ezekiel 6-11 Glory Goes, New Covenant Comes

Ezekiel 6-11 Glory Goes, New Covenant Comes

Psalm 94:12-23 Wait for It

Psalm 94:12 “Blessed is the man whom You discipline, Yah, and teach out of Your law; 13 that You may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit is dug for the wicked. 14 For Yahweh won’t reject His people, neither will He forsake His inheritance. 15 For judgment will return to righteousness. All the upright in heart shall follow it. 16 Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against the evildoers? 17 Unless Yahweh had been my help, my soul would have soon lived in silence. 18 When I said, "My foot is slipping!" Your hesed/loyal covenantal love, Yahweh, held me up. 19 In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Your comforts delight my soul. 20 Shall the throne of wickedness have fellowship with You, which brings about mischief/evil by statute/legislation? 21 They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. 22 But Yahweh has been my high tower, my God, the rock of my refuge. 23 He has brought on them their own iniquity, and will cut them off in their own wickedness. Yahweh, our God, will cut them off."

Observations: 94:1-11 See post on 2 Kings 2 for vv 1-11, in which the psalmist laments the free reign of the wicked who appear to do evil without consequences. He pleads to the God of vengeance to see and act on his behalf.

94:12-23 In the second half the psalmist confesses the blessedness of the one who God corrects and teaches out of His law, so that they will have rest from their adversaries. God never rejects His people but always loyally acts toward them in hesed. He sustains them until the time is right to destroy their enemies. He sees all that goes on, and has no fellowship with wicked rulers who make laws for their own benefit rather than that of the people.

Application: God might not immediately change the situation, but rest assured, He will act for those rightly related to Him. In the meantime, learn to draw comfort from God's revealed character and hesed alone.

Prayer: God thanks that You do discipline and bless Your people with Your presence and protection; thanks too that You execute vengeance and justice for Your people. Amen.

Proverbs 22:13-14 Lying about Lions

Pr 22:13 “The sluggard says, "There is a lion outside! I will be killed in the streets!" 14 The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit: he who is under Yahweh’s wrath will fall into it.“

Observations: 22:13 Sluggards who are always lying about, lie about lions. In Solomon's civilized day, the only lions in town were in zoos. The sluggard comes up with false excuses for inactivity in not doing what they should be doing, (like trusting, obeying and serving God). See Saga of the Sorry Sluggard on Truthbase.net for the loss the sluggard suffers.

22:14 The adulteress frequently catches her prey with her flattering words (Pr 7:21). Someone who is not following God, but going their own way is subject to His wrath, and will fall into a trap from which they won't escape (Pr 2:16-20).

Ps 81:12 So I gave them up to their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels.

Application: Those who don't desire God, desire destruction.

Prayer: Lord, expose any false excuses and deadly traps or desires which could keep me from doing Your will. Thanks. Amen.

Ezekiel 6-11 Ezekiel gets another vision of God's glory, seeing Him pour out judgment and depart from Jerusalem. The usual warnings and judgments are given to those sinning against God. Comfort is offered in God being a Sanctuary for the exiles, promising to return them to the land, and planning to put a new heart and spirit in them.

Ezekiel 6 God Doesn't Warn in Vain

6:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them, 3 and say, 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: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

8 Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries. 9 Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 10 They shall know that I am Yahweh: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.

11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 12 He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them. 13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered pleasant aroma to all their idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Observations: 6:1-14 God will bring judgment with the usual sword, famine, pestilence and scattering the remnant into captivity, because of Israel's idolatry, so that they may know that He is Yahweh (and the idols are not). By destroying the idols and those who worship them Yahweh was demonstrating the worthlessness of the idols and fulfilling His promise to punish the unfaithful evildoers. The oft repeated words “they shall know that I am Yahweh” is a reminder that Yahweh was the one who established them as a nation, and was the One who made a covenant with Abraham, Jacob, and them; it was not the idols that blessed them.

Application: God never speaks His words in vain; He will punish His disloyal people.

Prayer: God, I know that You mean what You say, and will do all You promised; may I have the same integrity in my life. Amen.

Ezekiel 7 According to Your Ways

7:1 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, An end: the end has come on the four corners of the land. 3 Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations. 4 My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes. 6 An end has come, the end has come; it awakes against you; behold, it comes. 7 Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains. 8 Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations. 9 My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, do strike. 10 Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded. 11 Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. There shall be nothing of value among them. 12 The time has come, the day draws near: don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 14 They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all its multitude. 15 The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

16 But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity. 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 18 They shall also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing. 21 I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. 22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.

23 Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned. 25 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come on mischief, and rumour shall be on rumour; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Observations: 7:1-27 The dreaded day of judgment draws near. God will judge Judah according to their judgments (7:27), according to the decisions they made to sin and do their will rather than God's will. There is no escape; everything they could trust in is worthless. Because they defiled the sanctuary with their abominable worship of other gods, He will defile it with strangers.

Application: Since God always judges in response to our judgments/choices, choose wisely what kind of consequences you want.

Prayer: Lord, show me how to sow righteousness, so I will reap a sure reward of blessing. Thanks. Amen.

Ezekiel 8 Dark Deeds Exposed

8:1 It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me. 2 Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal. 3 He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4 Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain. 5 Then he said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. 6 He said to me, Son of man, do you see what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations.

7 He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door. 9 He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here. 10 So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall. 11 There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odor of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn’t see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.

13 He said also to me, you shall again see yet other great abominations which they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these. 16 He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshiping the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

Observations: 8:1-18 Ezekiel gets another vision of God like chapter one, who took him to Jerusalem to see what goes on in secret worship. He sees all the abominations that the elders and people worship, which cause jealousy. The prophet, as the embodiment of the word of God digs through the wall to expose the sinful things they worship in secret: creepy crawly things (particularly serpents), Tammuz the Sumerian pagan fertility god who dies near the end of summer, is mourned, and comes back to life at the winter solstice (forerunner of pagan holiday taken over by Christmas; his consort Ishtar gave rise to Easter under Roman influence), and they even turned their backs to Yahweh to worship the sun. People tend to think that if they don't die or suffer immediate devastation, they've gotten away with their sin. Think again.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Application: God sees and judges what we do in secret; nothing escapes His notice, so only do what you won't mind having displayed and judged in the light.

Prayer: All-Seeing God, I know that You see and know all I do; don't let me ever deceive myself into an alternative reality, but rather help me live and walk in the light rather than darkness. Amen.

Ezekiel 9 Killer Angels

9:1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. 2 Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in their midst clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side. 4 Yahweh said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in its midst.

5 To the others he said in my hearing, Go through the city after him, and strike: don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity; 6 kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but don’t come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house. 7 He said to them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth! They went forth, and struck in the city. 8 It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem? 9 Then he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion: for they say, Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn’t see. 10 As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head. 11 Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as you have commanded me.

Observations: 9:1-11 Ezekiel witnesses the judgment and destruction of all who did not mourn the abominations being committed in Jerusalem. A group of killer angels follow a servant of God clothed in linen who marks those spared from judgment, similar to the blood of the Passover lamb sparing from the final plague. There are no specific identifications of the mystery man in linen, who also executes judgment on the city with coals from under the throne (in the next chapter), but some believe it might be a per-incarnate appearance of the Living Word (although in Revelation 8:5 it is an angel who judges the earth in a similar manner).

Verse 3 starts to trace the movement of the glory of the Lord from the Temple, which will continue in 10:4,18-19; depart in 11:23; and return to the Millennial temple in 43:2-5.

Application: Embracing God's values cause us to rejoice over what pleases Him, and mourn over what grieves Him; it also spare us from judgment.

Prayer: God, may I be so in tune with what pleases and displeases You that I reject and grieve over my sin, and that of my nation. Amen.

Ezekiel 10 Glory Going

10:1 Then I looked, and saw, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim, there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2 He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched. 3 Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 The glory of Yahweh mounted 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 Yahweh’s glory. 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. 6 It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel. 7 The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.

8 There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings. 9 I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone. 10 As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn’t turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn’t turn as they went. 12 Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. 14 Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 The cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. 16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn’t turn from beside them. 17 When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them. 18 The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

Observations: 10:1-7 After the killer angels destroyed the people the agent of God takes coals from the midst of God's throne and scatters them over the city. The imagery is judgment that burns the impurities (Isa 6; 10:16; Rev 4:5; 8:5-7). God probably doesn't have coals under his throne to keep warm, but to show how judgment is inextricably bound up in His rulership and glory. If it was all about love, there would be a hot chocolate dispenser (with marshmallows) under the throne.

10:8-22 The vision of God's glory parallels that of chapter one and Revelation 4:5-8. Note that He is seen on His throne, exercising dominion, an integral part of His glory. In verse 18 the glory moves from the Temple back to the throne, which moves and stands at the east gate. The glory will depart the city in the next chapter, after judgment is pronounced against the leaders. In Exodus 34 God's reveals His glory to Moses, in the exercise of His rule to pardon or punish according to the terms of His hesed (covenantal loyalty).

34:5 Now Yahweh descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of Yahweh. 6 And Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed, "Yahweh, Yahweh God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping hesed for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and the fourth generation."

Application: God's judgment of the rebellious is as much a part of His glory as is His pardoning of the repentant.

Prayer: God, may I always be conscious of Your glory, and never take You for granted, but live so You can delight in me. Amen.

Ezekiel 11 Glory Gone, New Covenant Comes

11:1 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh’s house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 He said to me, Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3 who say, “Is not the time near to build houses: this is the caldron, and we are the meat.” 4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man. 5 The Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, Speak, Thus says Yahweh: Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this is the caldron; but you shall be brought out of its midst. 8 You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you, says the Lord Yahweh. 9 I will bring you forth out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 10 You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 11 This shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the meat in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel; 12 and you shall know that I am Yahweh: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you. 13 It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

14 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 15 Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Go far away from Yahweh. This land has been given to us for a possession. 16 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come. 17 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18 They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all its abominations from there. 19 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 a heart of flesh; 20 that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh.

22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 23 The glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city. 24 The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 Then I spoke to them of the captivity all the things that Yahweh had shown me.

Observations: 11:1-13 Ezekiel prophesies against the leaders who give false counsel to the people, denying the reality that the end is near (Ezek 7:2) and refusing to lead in the Lord's way, but instead led the people in the ways of the pagan nations. They were saying that it's time to build houses (rather than go into captivity). The meat-cauldron statement is difficult (probably indicating that they are the choice pieces in the pot, or a mockery of judgment) and is reversed by the Lord in verses seven and eleven. While Ezekiel is prophesying one of the leaders dies, prompting Ezekiel to fear that God will wipe out the remnant, which is corrected in the following verses.

11:14-17 God tells Ezekiel that his relatives in captivity are the remnant (not those in Jerusalem) and that He will not only be with them in their captivity, but will bring them back to the land of Israel.

11:18-21 When the scattered are regathered and returned to the land, they will remove all the abominations that caused the captivity, and then God will enter into the new covenant with them. As mentioned in Jeremiah 31:33 the new heart is a function of the new Spirit in them (Isa 59:21). As a result of the Spirit, God's people would walk in His ways. Some however, would refuse, and would suffer the consequences of their continued rebellion. Just like God gave Israel the land, experiencing the benefits of it would be dependent upon dependent obedience. Those with the Spirit, don't automatically obey and have a relationship of covenant obedience with God (at least this hasn't been seen yet, and the potential for rejection is obvious from verse 21). In order to experience benefits of the Spirit, one needs to dependently submit his/her will to Him rather than grieve or quench Him.

Ezekiel 18:30 "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord GOD. "Therefore turn and live!"

11:22-25 The glory of God finally departs the city. Ichabod.

Application: One can't go on following abominable practices and expect an amicable relationship with God.

Prayer: God, I want to live in daily fellowship with You, doing Your will, and experiencing Your delights and glory; change my heart so I only desire You. Amen.

Digging Deeper:

God in a nutshell: God is awesome in power and judgment, as well as in love and forgiveness. None of His warning or threats are in vain, for He always follows through on His word. He sees and judges everything, even our most hidden actions. The comforting thing is that He equally follows through on His promises to bless. He is a sanctuary to His people even while judging them, if they seek Him. He has plans to regather and bless Israel, putting His Spirit in them on a full-time basis.

Us in a nutshell: We will surely reap the consequences of our actions. A good relationship with God is dependent upon loyal obedience. Leaders frequently lead people astray because they don't take God's word seriously; they will suffer the greater judgment, and their secret sins will be exposed. Even when God offers a new heart and spirit, some will persist in their old ways and refuse the benefits of walking with God, and will miss out on His glory.

Where to Go for More:

Truthbase.net

Ezekiel complete text

Ezekiel 6

6:1 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them, 3 and say, 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: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. 4 Your altars shall become desolate, and your incense altars shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones around your altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your incense altars may be cut down, and your works may be abolished. 7 The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

8 Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries. 9 Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with their eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 10 They shall know that I am Yahweh: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.

11 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Strike with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas! because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 12 He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them. 13 You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered pleasant aroma to all their idols. 14 I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Ezekiel 7

7:1 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 You, son of man, thus says the Lord Yahweh to the land of Israel, An end: the end has come on the four corners of the land. 3 Now is the end on you, and I will send my anger on you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations. 4 My eye shall not spare you, neither will I have pity; but I will bring your ways on you, and your abominations shall be in the midst of you: and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 5 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: An evil, an only evil; behold, it comes. 6 An end has come, the end has come; it awakes against you; behold, it comes. 7 Your doom has come to you, inhabitant of the land: the time has come, the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting, on the mountains. 8 Now will I shortly pour out my wrath on you, and accomplish my anger against you, and will judge you according to your ways; and I will bring on you all your abominations. 9 My eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will bring on you according to your ways; and your abominations shall be in the midst of you; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, do strike. 10 Behold, the day, behold, it comes: your doom is gone forth; the rod has blossomed, pride has budded. 11 Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness. None of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of their wealth. There shall be nothing of value among them. 12 The time has come, the day draws near: don’t let the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn; for wrath is on all its multitude. 13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they be yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude of it, none shall return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life. 14 They have blown the trumpet, and have made all ready; but none goes to the battle; for my wrath is on all its multitude. 15 The sword is outside, and the pestilence and the famine within: he who is in the field shall die with the sword: and he who is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.

16 But those of those who escape shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one in his iniquity. 17 All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water. 18 They shall also clothe themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be on all faces, and baldness on all their heads. 19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be as an unclean thing; their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of Yahweh: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. 20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein: therefore have I made it to them as an unclean thing. 21 I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall profane it. 22 My face will I turn also from them, and they shall profane my secret place; and robbers shall enter into it, and profane it.

23 Make the chain; for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence. 24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the nations, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pride of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be profaned. 25 Destruction comes; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. 26 Mischief shall come on mischief, and rumour shall be on rumour; and they shall seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the elders. 27 The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do to them after their way, and according to their own judgments will I judge them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.

Ezekiel 8

8:1 It happened in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in my house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord Yahweh fell there on me. 2 Then I saw, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire; from the appearance of his waist and downward, fire; and from his waist and upward, as the appearance of brightness, as it were glowing metal. 3 He put forth the form of a hand, and took me by a lock of my head; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the sky, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the gate of the inner court that looks toward the north; where there was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provokes to jealousy. 4 Behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the appearance that I saw in the plain. 5 Then he said to me, Son of man, lift up your eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up my eyes the way toward the north, and see, northward of the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. 6 He said to me, Son of man, do you see what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel do commit here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But you shall again see yet other great abominations.

7 He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. 8 Then he said to me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had dug in the wall, behold, a door. 9 He said to me, Go in, and see the wicked abominations that they do here. 10 So I went in and saw; and see, every form of creeping things, and abominable animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed around on the wall. 11 There stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel; and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, every man with his censer in his hand; and the odour of the cloud of incense went up. 12 Then he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in his rooms of imagery? for they say, Yahweh doesn’t see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.

13 He said also to me, you shall again see yet other great abominations which they do. 14 Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh’s house which was toward the north; and see, there sat the women weeping for Tammuz. 15 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, son of man? You shall again see yet greater abominations than these. 16 He brought me into the inner court of Yahweh’s house; and see, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they were worshipping the sun toward the east. 17 Then he said to me, Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger: and behold, they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore will I also deal in wrath; my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in my ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

Ezekiel 9

9:1 Then he cried in my ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause those who are in charge of the city to draw near, every man with his destroying weapon in his hand. 2 Behold, six men came from the way of the upper gate, which lies toward the north, every man with his slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man in their midst clothed in linen, with a writer’s inkhorn by his side. They went in, and stood beside the bronze altar. 3 The glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house: and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn by his side. 4 Yahweh said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done in its midst.

5 To the others he said in my hearing, Go through the city after him, and strike: don’t let your eye spare, neither have pity; 6 kill utterly the old man, the young man and the virgin, and little children and women; but don’t come near any man on whom is the mark: and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the old men that were before the house. 7 He said to them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go forth! They went forth, and struck in the city. 8 It happened, while they were smiting, and I was left, that I fell on my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you destroy all the residue of Israel in your pouring out of your wrath on Jerusalem? 9 Then he said to me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion: for they say, Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn’t see. 10 As for me also, my eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will bring their way on their head. 11 Behold, the man clothed in linen, who had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as you have commanded me.

Ezekiel 10

10:1 Then I looked, and see, in the expanse that was over the head of the cherubim there appeared above them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. 2 He spoke to the man clothed in linen, and said, Go in between the whirling wheels, even under the cherub, and fill both your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city. He went in as I watched. 3 Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 The glory of Yahweh mounted 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 Yahweh’s glory. 5 The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. 6 It came to pass, when he commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, Take fire from between the whirling wheels, from between the cherubim, that he went in, and stood beside a wheel. 7 The cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubim to the fire that was between the cherubim, and took of it, and put it into the hands of him who was clothed in linen, who took it and went out.

8 There appeared in the cherubim the form of a man’s hand under their wings. 9 I looked, and behold, four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub; and the appearance of the wheels was like a beryl stone. 10 As for their appearance, the four of them had one likeness, like a wheel within a wheel. 11 When they went, they went in their four directions: they didn’t turn as they went, but to the place where the head looked they followed it; they didn’t turn as they went. 12 Their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes all around, even the wheels that the four of them had. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling wheels. 14 Every one had four faces: the first face was the face of the cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third face the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15 The cherubim mounted up: this is the living creature that I saw by the river Chebar. 16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the cherubim lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the wheels also didn’t turn from beside them. 17 When they stood, these stood; and when they mounted up, these mounted up with them: for the spirit of the living creature was in them. 18 The glory of Yahweh went forth from over the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. 19 The cherubim lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight when they went forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the door of the east gate of Yahweh’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chebar; and I knew that they were cherubim. 21 Every one had four faces, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 As for the likeness of their faces, they were the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appearances and themselves; they went every one straight forward.

Ezekiel 11

11:1 Moreover the Spirit lifted me up, and brought me to the east gate of Yahweh’s house, which looks eastward: and see, at the door of the gate twenty-five men; and I saw in their midst Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people. 2 He said to me, Son of man, these are the men who devise iniquity, and who give wicked counsel in this city; 3 who say, The time is not near to build houses: this is the caldron, and we are the meat. 4 Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, son of man. 5 The Spirit of Yahweh fell on me, and he said to me, Speak, Thus says Yahweh: Thus you have said, house of Israel; for I know the things that come into your mind. 6 You have multiplied your slain in this city, and you have filled its streets with the slain. 7 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this is the caldron; but you shall be brought out of its midst. 8 You have feared the sword; and I will bring the sword on you, says the Lord Yahweh. 9 I will bring you forth out of its midst, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 10 You shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and you shall know that I am Yahweh. 11 This shall not be your caldron, neither shall you be the meat in its midst; I will judge you in the border of Israel; 12 and you shall know that I am Yahweh: for you have not walked in my statutes, neither have you executed my ordinances, but have done after the ordinances of the nations that are around you. 13 It happened, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down on my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord Yahweh! will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?

14 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 15 Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, the men of your relatives, and all the house of Israel, all of them, to whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Go far away from Yahweh. This land has been given to us for a possession. 16 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: Whereas I have removed them far off among the nations, and whereas I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they have come. 17 Therefore say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: I will gather you from the peoples, and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18 They shall come there, and they shall take away all the detestable things of it and all its abominations from there. 19 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 a heart of flesh; 20 that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for them whose heart walks after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will bring their way on their own heads, says the Lord Yahweh.

22 Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, and the wheels were beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 23 The glory of Yahweh went up from the midst of the city, and stood on the mountain which is on the east side of the city. 24 The Spirit lifted me up, and brought me in the vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25 Then I spoke to them of the captivity all the things that Yahweh had shown me.