1
EZEKIEL
STUDY NOTES BY KEITH ROLAND
All scripture is from the New King James Version. All definitions are from Strongs
on PC Study Bible. All notes are from Pulpit Commentary on PC Study Bible,
Josephus The New Complete Works, Josephus Webpage, and Wikepedia (web
encyclopedia).
NOTES ON EZEKIEL
2/08
2
Ezekiel which means God will strengthen writes to Judah during the Babylonian
captivity. Daniel was taken captive on Nebucchanezer’s 1st campaign against Judah
in 605. Ezekiel was taken on his 2nd in 597, and Jerusalem was destroyed on his 3rd
in 586.
Vs 1. “30th year”- several theories: 1. Ezekiel’s age 2. 30th year of Nabopolassar
who started reigning in 695. 3. 30th year after Josiah found the book of the law in
625.
“4th month” Tammuz which is late June early July
“Chebar” river in upper Mesopotamia which joins the Euphrates
“heavens were opened” used several times in bible
Matt 3:16-17
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and
behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. 17 And suddenly a voice came
from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
John 1:51
51 And He said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see
heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of
Man."
Acts 7:54-56
When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him
with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw
the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, "Look! I
see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
Acts 10:9-13
The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up
on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. 10 Then he became very hungry and
wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance 11 and saw heaven
opened and an object like a great sheet bound at the four corners, descending to
him and let down to the earth. 12 In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the
earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. 13 And a voice came to
him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat."
3
Rev 4:1
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the
first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up
here, and I will show you things which must take place after this."
Vs 2- “5th year” 595
Vs 3- “Ezekiel” only used 2 times in book, other is Ezek 24:24
“hand of the lord” used in Rev 1;17
Rev 1:17-18
7 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on
me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.
Vs 4 “ whirlwind from the north - whirlwind often had reference to God Job
38:1-3
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said:
2 "Who is this who darkens counsel
By words without knowledge?
3 Now prepare yourself like a man;
I will question you, and you shall answer Me.
Jeremiah previously prophecied about Babylon coming from the north
Jer 1:13-16
13 And the word of the LORD came to me the second time, saying, "What do you
see? "And I said, "I see a boiling pot, and it is facing away from the north." 14
Then the LORD said to me:" Out of the north calamity shall break forth On all the
inhabitants of the land. 15 For behold, I am calling
All the families of the kingdoms of the north," says the LORD;
"They shall come and each one set his throne
At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,
Against all its walls all around,
And against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will utter My judgments
Against them concerning all their wickedness,
Because they have forsaken Me,
Burned incense to other gods,
And worshiped the works of their own hands.
4
Rome also came from the north in Ad70
“a great cloud” also judgment language
Ps 68:4
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH,
And rejoice before Him.
Jer 4:13
13 "Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And his chariots like a whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!"
Joel 2:2-3
2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
A people come, great and strong,
The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
Matt 24:30-31
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes
of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other.
Rev 1:7
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who
pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so,
Amen.
5
“amber” OT:2830
chashmal (khash-mal'); of uncertain derivation; probably bronze or polished
spectrum metal: KJV - amber.
Dan 10:6
6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like
torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of
his words like the voice of a multitude.
Rev 1:12-17
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw
seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the
Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest
with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a
furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; 16 He had in His right hand
seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance
was like the sun shining in its strength.
Vs 4 “4 living creatures”
Dan 7:2-8
3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4
The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were
plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a
man, and a man's heart was given to it.
5 "And suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear. It was raised up on one side,
and had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth. And they said thus to it: 'Arise,
devour much flesh!' 6 "After this I looked, and there was another, like a leopard,
which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and
dominion was given to it. 7 "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a
fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth; it
was devouring, breaking in pieces, and trampling the residue with its feet. It was
different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was
considering the horns, and there was another horn, a little one, coming up among
them, before whom three of the first horns were plucked out by the roots. And
there, in this horn, were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking
pompous words.
Rev 4:6-7
6
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the
throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and
in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a
calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature
was like a flying eagle.
“eagle” represented Rome. The Roman insignia was the eagle.
Deut 28:49-51
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth,
as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a
nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to
the young. 51 And they shall eat the increase of your livestock and the produce of
your land, until you are destroyed; they shall not leave you grain or new wine or
oil, or the increase of your cattle or the offspring of your flocks, until they have
destroyed you.
Hos 8:1-3
"Set the trumpet to your mouth!
He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD,
Because they have transgressed My covenant
And rebelled against My law.
2 Israel will cry to Me,
'My God, we know You!'
3 Israel has rejected the good;
The enemy will pursue him.
Matt 24:28-31
28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
29 "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and
the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of
the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of
Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will
send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Rev 4:7
7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the
7
third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a
flying eagle.
Vs 14 “ran and returned” - back and forth i.e. complete
Zech 4:10
10 For who has despised the day of small things?
For these seven rejoice to see
The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
They are the eyes of the LORD,
Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth."
Matt 24:27
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will
the coming of the Son of Man be
Vs 16 “beryl”
Dan 10:6
6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like
torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of
his words like the voice of a multitude.
Vs 22 “firmament” OT:7549
raqiya` (raw-kee'-ah); from OT:7554; properly, an expanse, i.e. the firmament or
(apparently) visible arch of the sky:
KJV - firmament.
Dan 12:3
3 Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.
Vs 24 “noise of great water”
Rev 19:6-7
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many
waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord
God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the
8
marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready."
Vs 25 “voice from the firmament”
John 12:29-33
29 Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered.
Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."
30 Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your
sake. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be
cast out. 32 And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to
Myself." 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.
Vs 26 “throne”
1 Kings 22:19
19 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD
sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and
on His left.
Rev 1:4-5
John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and
from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the
faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the
earth.
“sapphire”
Rev 21:19-20
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious
stones: the first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony,
the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite,
the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and
the twelfth amethyst.
Ezek 1:26
appearance of a man
Dan 7:13
13 "I was watching in the night visions,
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And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
Rev 1:13
13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed
with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.
Ezek 1:28
As the appearance of the bow.
Gen 9:13-17
13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant
between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that
the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which
is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never
again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and
I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every
living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." 17 And God said to Noah, "This is
the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is
on the earth."
The rainbow has been the sign of God’s faithfulness. We have always been taught
that the world would never be destroyed by flood , but would be by fire. Look at
what Genesis says the covenant is with all flesh and is everlasting!
Rev 4:2-4
3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and
there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.
Rev 10:1
I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud.
And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars
of fire.
II. Ezek 2:1
Verse 1. - Son of man, etc. It is noticeable that the phrase (ben adam), as addressed
to a prophet, occurs only in Ezekiel, in whom we find it not less than eighty times,
and in Dan 8:17. As used elsewhere, e.g. in Num 23:19; Ps 8:4; Job 25:6; Isa
10
51:12; 56:2, and in Ezekiel's use of it, it is probably connected with the history of
Adam, as created from the ground (adamah) in Gen 2:7; 3:19. The prophet is
reminded, in the very moment of his highest inspiration, of his Adam nature with
all its infirmity and limitations. In the use of a like phrase (bar enosh, instead of
ben adam) in Dan 7:13 we have the same truth implied. There one like unto man in
all things is called to share the sovereignty of the "Ancient of Days," the Eternal
One.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Dan 8:17
17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my
face; but he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time
of the end."
Num 23:19
19 "God is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Ps 8:4-6
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,And You have crowned him
with glory and honor.
6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
Job 25:6
6 How much less man, who is a maggot,
And a son of man, who is a worm?"
Isa 51:12
12 "I, even I, am He who comforts you.
Who are you that you should be afraid
Of a man who will die,
And of the son of a man who will be made like grass?
Isa 56:2
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
11
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil."
Dan 7:13-14
13 "I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
Ezek 2:3
Verse 3. - To a rebellious nation; literally, with Revised Version, nations that are
rebellious. The Hebrew word (goim) is that used elsewhere for "heathen" and that
may be its sense here. . Judah and Israel may be thought of as having fallen to the
level of the heathen.
OT:1471
gowy (go'-ee); rarely (shortened) goy (go'-ee); apparently from the same root as
OT:1465 (in the sense of massing); a foreign nation; hence, a Gentile; also
(figuratively) a troop of animals, or a flight of locusts:
KJV - Gentile, heathen, nation, people.
Ezek 2:4
Verse 4. - Impudent and stubborn; literally, hard of face (i.e. callous to their
shame) and stiff of heart.
Eph 4:19
19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all
uncleanness with greediness.
Ezek 2:6
Though briers and thorns - don’t be discouraged
12
Jer 1:17
17 "Therefore prepare yourself and arise,
And speak to them all that I command you.
Do not be dismayed before their faces,
Lest I dismay you before them.
Ezek 2:6-8
7 You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for
they are rebellious.
Contrast that with what the false prophets were saying
Ezek 22:28
28 Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and
divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD had
not spoken.
Ezek 2:8
eat what I give you.
Rev 10:9-11:1
9 So I went to the angel and said to him, "Give me the little book."
And he said to me, "Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it
will be as sweet as honey in your mouth."
10 Then I took the little book out of the angel's hand and ate it, and it was as sweet
as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. 11 And
he said to me, "You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues,
and kings."
Matt 4:3-4
3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God,
command that these stones become bread." 4 But He answered and said, "It is
written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God.'"
Ezek 2:9
9 Now when I looked, there was a hand stretched out to me; and behold, a scroll of
a book was in it.
Zech 5:1-3
13
Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying scroll.
2 And he said to me, "What do you see?"So I answered, "I see a flying scroll. Its
length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits." 3 Then he said to me, "This is the
curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: 'Every thief shall be expelled,'
according to this side of the scroll; and, 'Every perjurer shall be expelled,'
according to that side of it."
Deut 28:45
45 "Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you,
until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your
God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you.
Ezek 3:1
Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel."
John 4:34-35
34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to
finish His work.
Ezek 3:5-7
5 For you are not sent to a people of unfamiliar speech and of hard language, but to
the house of Israel, 6 not to many people of unfamiliar speech and of hard
language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, had I sent you to them, they
would have listened to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, because
they will not listen to Me; for all the house of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.
Matt 15:24
24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel."
Matt 23:37-39
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are
sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers
her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left
to you desolate; 39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed
is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"
Matt 11:21-24
21 "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented
14
long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for
Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, who
are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works
which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until
this day. 24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
in the day of judgment than for you."
Ezek 3:12-15
2 Then the Spirit lifted me up, and I heard behind me a great thunderous voice:
"Blessed is the glory of the LORD from His place!" 13 I also heard the noise of the
wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels
beside them, and a great thunderous noise. 14 So the Spirit lifted me up and took
me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the
LORD was strong upon me. 15 Then I came to the captives at Tel Abib, who dwelt
by the River Chebar; and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished
among them seven days.
Acts 8:39-40
9 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip
away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40
But Philip was found at Azotus.
2 Kings 3:14-18
14 And Elisha said,"As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were
it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at
you, nor see you. 15 But now bring me a musician."Then it happened, when the
musician played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. 16 And he said,
"Thus says the LORD:'Make this valley full of ditches.' 17 For thus says the
LORD: 'You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be
filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.' 18 And this
is a simple matter in the sight of the LORD; He will also deliver the Moabites into
your hand.
Ezek 3:17
A watchman unto the house of Israel.
Jer 6:17
17 Also, I set watchmen over you, saying,
'Listen to the sound of the trumpet!'
But they said, 'We will not listen.'
15
Ezek 33:1-9
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, speak to the
children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and
the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their
watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the
trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and
does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be
on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his
blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if
the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the
people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among
them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the
watchman's hand.'
7 "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel;
therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I
say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to
warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his
blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn
from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but
you have delivered your soul.
Heb 13:17-18
17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your
souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief,
for that would be unprofitable for you.
Ezek 3:17-18
18 When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning,
nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same
wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.
Literally ‘dying you shall die’ the same as Gen
Gen 2:17
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the
day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
Acts 18:6-7
6 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to
16
them, "Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to
the Gentiles."
Ezek 33:9
9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn
from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul
Ezek 3:20-21
20 "Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits
iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not
give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done
shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand.
Jer 6:21
21 Therefore thus says the LORD:
"Behold, I will lay stumbling blocks before this people,
And the fathers and the sons together shall fall on them.
The neighbor and his friend shall perish."
Isa 8:13-15
13 The LORD of hosts, Him you shall hallow;
Let Him be your fear,
And let Him be your dread.
14 He will be as a sanctuary,
But a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense
To both the houses of Israel,
As a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
James 1:13-15
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted
when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. 15 Then, when desire has
conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
Rom 9:30-10:1
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have
attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing
the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Why?
Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For
they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:
"Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
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And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
Ezek 3:25-26
25 And you, O son of man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with
them, so that you cannot go out among them.
Jer 38:6
6 So they took Jeremiah and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son,
which was in the court of the prison, and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And
in the dungeon there was no water, but mire. So Jeremiah sank in the mire.
Ezek 3:27
27 But when I speak with you, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them,
'Thus says the Lord GOD.' He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him
refuse; for they are a rebellious house.
Matt 13:9
He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"
Rev 22:11
11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still;
he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still."
Ezek 4:2
2 Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it;
set camps against it also, and place battering rams against it all around.
siege ; occurred by Babylon and later by Rome
2 Kings 25:1-4
Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth
day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came
against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all
around. 2 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 3 By
the ninth day of the fourth month the famine had become so severe in the city that
there was no food for the people of the land.
Jer 52:4-8
4 Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the
tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army
18
came against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against
it all around. 5 So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. 6
By the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the famine had become so
severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. 7 Then the city
wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled and went out of the city at
night by way of the gate between the two walls, which was by the king's garden,
even though the Chaldeans were near the city all around. And they went by way of
the plain.
Battering rams were first recorded used by the Assyrians in 9th century B.C.
But the Romans used battering rams that terminated in a bronze head
Ezekiel is the only prophet that uses battering rams , here and in
Ezek 21:22
22 In his right hand is the divination for Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to
call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with shouting, to set battering rams against the
gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to build a wall.
Ezek 4:5-6
5 For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the
days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house
of Israel. 6 And when you have completed them, lie again on your right side; then
you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have laid on you a
day for each year.
Num 14:34-35
4 According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days,
for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall
know My rejection.
Lots of debate about 390 and 40 but the most logical is when they turned away
from God. The northern 10 tribes rebelled in 975 B.C. and Judah rebelled after
Josiah’s reformation in 624 B.C.
Ezek 4:9-12
9 "Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt; put them
into one vessel, and make bread of them for yourself. During the number of days
that you lie on your side, three hundred and ninety days, you shall eat it. 10 And
your food which you eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day; from time to
time you shall eat it. 11 You shall also drink water by measure, one-sixth of a hin;
from time to time you shall drink. 12 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake
19
it using fuel of human waste in their sight."
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
Shekel. The most common weight in the Hebrew system (Josh 7:21; Ezek 4:10).
The shekel weighed about 11.4 grams, or less than an ounce. Its use was so
common that in Gen 20:16, the Hebrew text states "a thousand pieces of silver"
without even bothering to specify shekel.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson
Publishers)
They had less than 20 oz a day of food to eat
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
The Old Testament contained five major designations for liquid measure. The
homer (Ezek 45:11-14) containing 10 baths, was the largest liquid measure. The
kor was the same size as the homer (Ezek 45:14). The bath was the equivalent in
liquid measure to the ephah in dry measure (Ezek 45:11,14). It was the standard
liquid measure, equaling about 22 liters (5.83 gallons). It was used to measure
water (1 Kings 7:26), wine (Isa 5:10), and oil (2 Chron 2:10). The hin, equal to
one-sixth of a bath, was used to measure water (Ezek 4:11), oil (Ex 29:40), and
wine (Lev 23:13). One-sixth of a hin was considered the daily ration of water
(Ezek 4:11). The log, found only in Lev 14:10-24, was a measure of oil in the
ceremony for the purification of a leper. The log was equal to one-twelfth of a hin.
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson
Publishers)
Bath =5.83 gal ; Hin=1/6 bath=5.83/6=.97gal; 1/6Hin=.97gal/6=.16gal=.16 x
128oz=20.48 oz a day ( less than 3 cups of water a day in the desert
Ezek 4:12-13
2 And you shall eat it as barley cakes; and bake it using fuel of human waste in
their sight." 13 Then the LORD said, "So shall the children of Israel eat their
defiled bread among the Gentiles, where I will drive them."
It was common to bake bread using wood ashes. Nomads in the desert would use
dried camel feces but using human wastes was the deepest of despair.
Ezek 4:14
14 So I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth
till now; I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has
20
abominable flesh ever come into my mouth.
Lev 5:3
3 Or if he touches human uncleanness -- whatever uncleanness with which a man
may be defiled, and he is unaware of it -- when he realizes it, then he shall be
guilty.
Ezek 4:15
15 Then He said to me, "See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste,
and you shall prepare your bread over it."
Job 15:16
16 How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
Who drinks iniquity like water!
God responded to his plea very similar to Abraham pleading for Sodom .
Ezek 4:16-17
16 Moreover He said to me, "Son of man, surely I will cut off the supply of bread
in Jerusalem; they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and shall drink
water by measure and with dread, 17 that they may lack bread and water, and be
dismayed with one another, and waste away because of their iniquity
Isa 30:20
20 And though the Lord gives you
The bread of adversity and the water of affliction,
Yet your teachers will not be moved into a corner anymore,
But your eyes shall see your teachers.
Ezek 5:1-4
"And you, son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber's razor, and pass it
over your head and your beard; then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. 2 You
shall burn with fire one-third in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are
finished; then you shall take one-third and strike around it with the sword, and onethird you shall scatter in the wind: I will draw out a sword after them. 3 You shall
also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment. 4
Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire, and burn
them in the fire. From there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel.
We will look at this fire in a few verses
21
Ezek 5:5-10
5 "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'This is Jerusalem; I have set her in the midst of the
nations and the countries all around her. 6 She has rebelled against My judgments
by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against My statutes more than the
countries that are all around her; for they have refused My judgments, and they
have not walked in My statutes.' 7 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because
you have multiplied disobedience more than the nations that are all around you,
have not walked in My statutes nor kept My judgments, nor even done according
to the judgments of the nations that are all around you' -- 8 therefore thus says the
Lord GOD: 'Indeed I, even I, am against you and will execute judgments in your
midst in the sight of the nations. 9 And I will do among you what I have never
done, and the like of which I will never do again, because of all your
abominations. 10 Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons
shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments among you, and all of you who
remain I will scatter to all the winds.
He can’t be talking about Babylon because he did finally destroy by Rome.
Matt 24:21-22
21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the
beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And unless
those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those
days will be shortened.
This destruction by Rome was first prophesied by Moses
Deut 28:47-50
47 "Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joy and gladness of heart,
for the abundance of everything, 48 therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom
the LORD will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in need of
everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed
you. 49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of
the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not
understand, 50 a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly
nor show favor to the young.
Deut 28:52-53
52 "They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in
which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at
all your gates throughout all your land which the LORD your God has given you.
22
53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and your
daughters whom the LORD your God has given you, in the siege and desperate
straits in which your enemy shall distress you.
Josephus tell us of the horrors during the siege that they killed their children to eat
The Jewish War 6:3:4
Deut 29:23-27
23'The whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it
bear, nor does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah,
Admah, and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath.' 24
All nations would say,'Why has the LORD done so to this land? What does the
heat of this great anger mean?' 25 Then people would say: 'Because they have
forsaken the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with
them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served
other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had not
given to them. 27 Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against this land, to
bring on it every curse that is written in this book.
Sounds very similar to 2 pet 3
2 Peter 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are
reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
2 Peter 3:10-12
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both
the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all
these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy
conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements
will melt with fervent heat?
Let’s look at 2 words in the original Greek : earth and elements.
NT:1093
ge (ghay); contracted from a primary word; soil; by extension a region, or the
solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (including the occupants in each
application):KJV - country, earth (-ly), ground, land, world.
23
Matt 2:20
20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of
Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
Matt 10:15
15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and
Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
NT:4747
stoicheion (stoy-khi'-on); neuter of a presumed derivative of the base of NT:4748;
something orderly in arrangement, i.e. (by implication) a serial (basal,
fundamental, initial) constituent (literally), proposition (figuratively):
KJV - element, principle, rudiment.
Gal 4:3
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the
world:
Col 2:8
8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
Heb 5:12
12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you
again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as
have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
How much different our thinking about 2 Pet 3:12 would have been had the
translators had used the words land and principles!
Ezek 5:11-12
11'Therefore, as I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'surely, because you have defiled My
sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore
I will also diminish you; My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity. 12 Onethird of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your
midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter
another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
John 2:15-17
24
15 When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with
the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money and overturned the
tables. 16 And He said to those who sold doves, "Take these things away! Do not
make My Father's house a house of merchandise!" 17 Then His disciples
remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up."
Lev 26:27-34
7'And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me,
28 then I also will walk contrary to you in fury;
and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.
29 You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your
daughters.
30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your
carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols;
and My soul shall abhor you.
31 I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I
will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas.
32 I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be
astonished at it.
33 I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you;
your land shall be desolate and your cities waste.
Deut 28:64-67
64 "Then the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth
to the other, and there you shall serve other gods, which neither you nor your
fathers have known -- wood and stone. 65 And among those nations you shall find
no rest, nor shall the sole of your foot have a resting place; but there the LORD
will give you a trembling heart, failing eyes, and anguish of soul. 66 Your life shall
hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of
life. 67 In the morning you shall say, 'Oh, that it were evening!' And at evening you
shall say, 'Oh, that it were morning!' because of the fear which terrifies your heart,
and because of the sight which your eyes see. 68 "And the LORD will take you
back to Egypt in ships, by the way of which I said to you, 'You shall never see it
again.' And there you shall be offered for sale to your enemies as male and female
slaves, but no one will buy you."
Josephus , The Jewish War 6:9:3, states that 97,000 were taken captive and
1.100,000 were killed many of whom came to Jerusalem for the Feast Of
unleavened bread from the surrounding nations Jews and proselytes.
25
Ezek 5:13-14
13'Thus shall My anger be spent, and I will cause My fury to rest upon them, and I
will be avenged; and they shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it in My zeal,
when I have spent My fury upon them. 14 Moreover I will make you a waste and a
reproach among the nations that are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
Isa 1:24-25
24 Therefore the Lord says,
The LORD of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel,
"Ah, I will rid Myself of My adversaries,
And take vengeance on My enemies.
25 I will turn My hand against you,
And thoroughly purge away your dross,
And take away all your alloy.
Who were the enemies of God? Rebellious Israel! Look at what jesus said in the
parable of the minas.
Luke 19:27
27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over
them, and slay them before me.'"
1 Cor 15:25-26
25 For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy
that will be destroyed is death.
Rev 11:1-13
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, "Rise
and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But
leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has
been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for fortytwo months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy
one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth." 4 These are the
two olive trees and the two lampstands standing before the God of the earth. 5 And
if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their
enemies. And if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this manner. 6
These have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their
prophecy; and they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the
26
earth with all plagues, as often as they desire. 7 When they finish their testimony,
the beast that ascends out of the bottomless pit will make war against them,
overcome them, and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of
the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our
Lord was crucified. 9 Then those from the peoples, tribes, tongues, and nations
will see their dead bodies three-and-a-half days, and not allow their dead bodies to
be put into graves. 10 And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them,
make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented
those who dwell on the earth. 11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of
life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on
those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them,
"Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw
them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell.
In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and
gave glory to the God of heaven.
Zeal of the Lord
Isa 9:7
7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.
Isa 37:32
2 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant,
And those who escape from Mount Zion.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
Ezek 5:13-17
14
Moreover I will make you a waste and a reproach among
the nations that are all around you, in the sight of all who pass by.
15'So it shall be a reproach, a taunt, a lesson, and an astonishment to the nations
that are all around you, when I execute judgments among you in anger and in fury
and in furious rebukes. I, the LORD, have spoken. 16 When I send against them
the terrible arrows of famine which shall be for destruction, which I will send to
destroy you, I will increase the famine upon you and cut off your supply of bread.
17 So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you.
27
Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against
you. I, the LORD, have spoken.'"
Lam 1:12
12 "Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?
Behold and see
If there is any sorrow like my sorrow,
Which has been brought on me,
Which the LORD has inflicted
In the day of His fierce anger.
Deut 28:37
37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all
nations where the LORD will drive you.
Jer 30:14-15
14 All your lovers have forgotten you;
They do not seek you;
For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy,
With the chastisement of a cruel one,
For the multitude of your iniquities,
Because your sins have increased.
15 Why do you cry about your affliction?
Your sorrow is incurable.
Because of the multitude of your iniquities,
Because your sins have increased,
I have done these things to you.
Wild beasts and famine
Deut 32:24
24 They shall be wasted with hunger,
Devoured by pestilence and bitter destruction;
I will also send against them the teeth of beasts,
With the poison of serpents of the dust.
The wild beasts were the three factions of the Jews lead by Eleazar, John and
Simon who stole from the people their food and killed many of the Jews.
Josephus Wars 5:1:4 through 5:1:6.
28
Ezek 6:1-3
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 "Son of man, set your face
toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them, 3 and say, 'O
mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD to
the mountains, to the hills, to the ravines, and to the valleys: "Indeed I, even I, will
bring a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places.
In the northern kingdom they began idol worship in the mountains but after a time
Judah also committed idolatry in Jerusalem.
2 Kings 17:8-12
9 Also the children of Israel secretly did against the LORD their God things that
were not right, and they built for themselves high places in all their cities, from
watchtower to fortified city. 10 They set up for themselves sacred pillars and
wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree. 11 There they
burned incense on all the high places, like the nations whom the LORD had carried
away before them; and they did wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger, 12
for they served idols, of which the LORD had said to them, "You shall not do this
thing."
Jer 7:28-31
"So you shall say to them, 'This is a nation that does not obey the voice of the
LORD their God nor receive correction. Truth has perished and has been cut off
from their mouth. 29 Cut off your hair and cast it away, and take up a lamentation
on the desolate heights; for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of
His wrath.' 30 For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight," says the
LORD. "They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My
name, to pollute it. 31 And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in
the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire,
which I did not command, nor did it come into My heart.
Isa 57:1-9
The righteous perishes, And no man takes it to heart; Merciful men are taken away,
While no one considers That the righteous is taken away from evil. 2 He shall enter
into peace; They shall rest in their beds, Each one walking in his uprightness.
3 "But come here, You sons of the sorceress, You offspring of the adulterer and the
harlot! 4 Whom do you ridicule? Against whom do you make a wide mouth And
stick out the tongue? Are you not children of transgression, Offspring of falsehood,
5 Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree, Slaying the children in
the valleys, Under the clefts of the rocks? 6 Among the smooth stones of the
29
stream Is your portion; They, they, are your lot! Even to them you have poured a
drink offering, You have offered a grain offering. Should I receive comfort in
these?
7 "On a lofty and high mountain You have set your bed; Even there you went up
To offer sacrifice. 8 Also behind the doors and their posts You have set up your
remembrance; For you have uncovered yourself to those other than Me, And have
gone up to them; You have enlarged your bed And made a covenant with them;
You have loved their bed, Where you saw their nudity.
Mic 6:2
2 Hear, O you mountains, the LORD's complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For the LORD has a complaint against His people,
And He will contend with Israel.
God has also referred to “this mountain as Jerusalem”
Isa 25:1-9
O LORD, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have
done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. 2 For You
have made a city a ruin, A fortified city a ruin ,A palace of foreigners to be a city
no more; It will never be rebuilt. 3 Therefore the strong people will glorify You;
The city of the terrible nations will fear You. 4 For You have been a strength to the
poor, A strength to the needy in his distress, A refuge from the storm, A shade from
the heat; For the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. 5 You will
reduce the noise of aliens, As heat in a dry place; As heat in the shadow of a cloud,
he song of the terrible ones will be diminished.
6 And in this mountain The LORD of hosts will make for all people A feast of
choice pieces, A feast of wines on the lees, Of fat things full of marrow, Of wellrefined wines on the lees. 7 And He will destroy on this mountain The surface of
the covering cast over all people, And the veil that is spread over all nations. 8 He
will swallow up death forever, And the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all
faces; The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; For the
LORD has spoken.
9 And it will be said in that day:" Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him,
and He will save us. This is the LORD; We have waited for Him; We will be glad
and rejoice in His salvation."
The “high places” had references to idol worship. Hezekiah and Josiah destroyed
them but later kings restored them.
30
2 Kings 18:1-6
Now it came to pass in the third year of Hoshea the son of Elah, king of Israel, that
Hezekiah the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, began to reign. 2 He was twenty-five
years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah. 3 And he did what was right
in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. 4 He
removed the high places and broke the sacred pillars, cut down the wooden image
and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made; for until those days
the children of Israel burned incense to it, and called it Nehushtan. 5 He trusted in
the LORD God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings
of Judah, nor who were before him. 6 For he held fast to the LORD; he did not
depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had
commanded Moses.
Josiah was prophesied to destroy the altars.
1 Kings 13:1-3
And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD,
and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the
altar by the word of the LORD, and said, "O altar, altar! Thus says the LORD:
'Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you
he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men's
bones shall be burned on you.'" 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, "This is
the sign which the LORD has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the
ashes on it shall be poured out."
2 Chron 34:1-7
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years
in Jerusalem. 2 And he did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in
the ways of his father David; he did not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. 3
For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the
God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and
Jerusalem of the high places, the wooden images, the carved images, and the
molded images. 4 They broke down the altars of the Baals in his presence, and the
incense altars which were above them he cut down; and the wooden images, the
carved images, and the molded images he broke in pieces, and made dust of them
and scattered it on the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5 He also
burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem. 6
And so he did in the cities of Manasseh, Ephraim, and Simeon, as far as Naphtali
31
and all around, with axes. 7 When he had broken down the altars and the wooden
images, had beaten the carved images into powder, and cut down all the incense
altars throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
Jer 19:4-7
4 "Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have
burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of
Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents 5(they
have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt
offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My
mind), 6 therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that this place
shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley
of Slaughter.
Ezek 6:4-7
4 Then your altars shall be desolate, your incense altars shall be broken, and I will
cast down your slain men before your idols. 5 And I will lay the corpses of the
children of Israel before their idols, and I will scatter your bones all around your
altars. 6 In all your dwelling places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high
places shall be desolate, so that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate,
your idols may be broken and made to cease, your incense altars may be cut down,
and your works may be abolished. 7 The slain shall fall in your midst, and you
shall know that I am the LORD.
This was foretold by Moses.
Deut 29:14-28
4 "I make this covenant and this oath, not with you alone, 15 but with him who
stands here with us today before the LORD our God, as well as with him who is
not here with us today 16(for you know that we dwelt in the land of Egypt and that
we came through the nations which you passed by, 17 and you saw their
abominations and their idols which were among them -- wood and stone and silver
and gold); 18 so that there may not be among you man or woman or family or
tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve
the gods of these nations, and that there may not be among you a root bearing
bitterness or wormwood; 19 and so it may not happen, when he hears the words of
this curse, that he blesses himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, even
though I follow the dictates of my heart' -- as though the drunkard could be
included with the sober.
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20 "The LORD would not spare him; for then the anger of the LORD and His
jealousy would burn against that man, and every curse that is written in this
book would settle on him, and the LORD would blot out his name from under
heaven. 21 And the LORD would separate him from all the tribes of Israel for
adversity, according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book
of the Law, 22 so that the coming generation of your children who rise up after
you, and the foreigner who comes from a far land, would say, when they see the
plagues of that land and the sicknesses which the LORD has laid on it: 23'The
whole land is brimstone, salt, and burning; it is not sown, nor does it bear, nor
does any grass grow there, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah,
and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His anger and His wrath.' 24 All
nations would say,'Why has the LORD done so to this land? What does the heat of
this great anger mean?' 25 Then people would say: 'Because they have forsaken
the covenant of the LORD God of their fathers, which He made with them
when He brought them out of the land of Egypt; 26 for they went and served
other gods and worshiped them, gods that they did not know and that He had
not given to them. 27 Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against this land,
to bring on it every curse that is written in this book. 28 And the LORD uprooted
them from their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into
another land, as it is this day.'
Ezek 6:8-10
8 "Yet I will leave a remnant, so that you may have some who escape the sword
among the nations, when you are scattered through the countries. 9 Then those of
you who escape will remember Me among the nations where they are carried
captive, because I was crushed by their adulterous heart which has departed from
Me, and by their eyes which play the harlot after their idols; they will loathe
themselves for the evils which they committed in all their abominations. 10 And
they shall know that I am the LORD; I have not said in vain that I would bring this
calamity upon them."
Isa 10:20-23
And it shall come to pass in that day
That the remnant of Israel,
And such as have escaped of the house of Jacob,
Will never again depend on him who defeated them,
But will depend on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
21 The remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob,
To the Mighty God.
22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
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A remnant of them will return;
The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.
Zeph 3:13-18
13 The remnant of Israel shall do no unrighteousness And speak no lies, Nor
shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; For they shall feed their flocks
and lie down, And no one shall make them afraid."
14 Joy in God's Faithfulness
Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 The LORD has taken away your judgments, He has
cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst; You shall
see disaster no more.
16 In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:" Do not fear; Zion, let not your hands
be weak. 17 The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save ;He
will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love ,He will
rejoice over you with singing."
Who is the remnant with the Lord in their midst? THE CHURCH.
Rom 9:27-28
27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:
"Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved. 28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in
righteousness, Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth."
Rom 11:5-6
5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of
grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer
grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
The “King” is promised to be in their midst.
Rev 21:1-4
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold,
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the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall
be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Ezek 6:11-14
11'Thus says the Lord GOD:" Pound your fists and stamp your feet, and say, 'Alas,
for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! For they shall fall by the sword,
by famine, and by pestilence. 12 He who is far off shall die by the pestilence, he
who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who remains and is besieged shall die
by the famine. Thus will I spend My fury upon them. 13 Then you shall know that
I am the LORD, when their slain are among their idols all around their altars, on
every high hill, on all the mountaintops, under every green tree, and under every
thick oak, wherever they offered sweet incense to all their idols. 14 So I will
stretch out My hand against them and make the land desolate, yes, more desolate
than the wilderness toward Diblah, in all their dwelling places. Then they shall
know that I am the LORD.'"'"
Pestilence, sword, and famine- 3 ways of death means it is coming from God.
Vs 13- mountaintops, high hill, and trees were places of idol worship.
Hos 4:13
13 They offer sacrifices on the mountaintops,
And burn incense on the hills,
Under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
Because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters commit harlotry,
And your brides commit adultery.
Deut 12:1-4
2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall
dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under
every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars,
and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of
their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the
LORD your God with such things.
Vs 14 “Diblah”
Ezek 6:14
Verse 14. - More desolate than the wilderness towards Diblath; better, with the
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Authorized Version, from the wilderness. The name does not appear elsewhere, and
has not been identified. Assuming the Authorized Version rendering, we must think
of Ezekiel as naming, as Dante haines the Valdichiana ('Inf.,' 29:47), some
specially horrible and desolate region. For such a region the name of Diblah (a
cake of figs) does not seem appropriate. Taking the Revised Version translation
("from the wilderness toward Diblah"), we have a phrase analogous to "from Dan
to Beersheba," as denoting the extent of the desolation. The "wilderness" is usually
applied to the nomad region south of Palestine, and this would lead us to look for
Diblah in the north, and so to look elsewhere than to the two places Bethdiblathaim (Jer 48:22) and Almon-diblathaim (Num 33:46), both of which are in
Moab. The difficulty was solved by Jerome by the conjectural emendation of
Riblah, the two Hebrew letters for d and r being often written by copyists for each
other. Riblah (it is a suggestive fact that the two chief manuscripts of the LXX. the
Alexandrian and the Vatican, have Deblatha, or Deblaa, in 2 Kings 23:33; 25:6)
was a fortified town on the north road from Palestine to Babylon, where the
Babylonian kings used to take up their position during their invasions of the
former. Within a short time after Ezekiel wrote this chapter, it became memorable
in its connection with Zedekiah's sufferings (comp. 2 Kings 23:33; 25:6,20,21; Jer
39:5,6; 52:9,10,26). Its probable site is fixed on the banks of the Orontes. The
evidence, on the whole, is, I think, in favour of this interpretation. It is adopted by
Ewald, Cornill, Smend, Gesenius, and most recent critics. An additional fact in its
favour is that Hamath, in the same region, appears as an ideal northern boundary in
Ezek 47:16.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
2 Kings 23:33
33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he
might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute of one hundred
talents of silver and a talent of gold.
2 Kings 25:6
6 So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and
they pronounced judgment on him
Ezek 7:1-4
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "And you, son of man,
thus says the Lord GOD to the land of Israel:
'An end! The end has come upon the four corners of the land.
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3 Now the end has come upon you,
And I will send My anger against you;
I will judge you according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.
4 My eye will not spare you,
Nor will I have pity;
But I will repay your ways,
And your abominations will be in your midst;
Then you shall know that I am the LORD!'
Let us look at “the end” in both the old and new testament.
OT:7093 qets (kates); contracted from OT:7112: an extremity; adverbially (with
prepositional prefix) after:
KJV - after, (utmost) border, end, [in-] finite, process.
OT:3617 kalah (kaw-law'); from OT:3615; a completion; adverb, completely; also
destruction:
KJV - altogether, (be, utterly) consume (-d), consummation (ption), was determined, (full, utter) end, riddance.
Deut 32:20
20 And He said: 'I will hide My face from them,
I will see what their end will be,
For they are a perverse generation,
Children in whom is no faith.
Deut 32:28-29
28 "For they are a nation void of counsel,
Nor is there any understanding in them.
29 Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this,
That they would consider their latter end!
Amos 8:1-4
2 And He said, "Amos, what do you see?"
So I said, "A basket of summer fruit." Then the LORD said to me:
"The end has come upon My people Israel;
I will not pass by them anymore.
3 And the songs of the temple
Shall be wailing in that day,"
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Says the Lord GOD -"Many dead bodies everywhere,
They shall be thrown out in silence."
4 Hear this, you who swallow up the needy,
And make the poor of the land fail,
Isa 10:22-23
22 For though your people, O Israel, be as the sand of the sea,
A remnant of them will return;
The destruction decreed shall overflow with righteousness.
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts
Will make a determined end
In the midst of all the land.
Dan 8:17-20
17 So he came near where I stood, and when he came I was afraid and fell on my
face; but he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time
of the end."
18 Now, as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the
ground; but he touched me, and stood me upright. 19 And he said, "Look, I am
making known to you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at
the appointed time the end shall be.
Dan 12:4-10
4 "But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end;
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase." 5 Then I, Daniel, looked;
and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the other on that riverbank. 6
And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river,
"How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?"
7 Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river,
when he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who
lives forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power
of the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be
finished.
8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the
end of these things?"
9 And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the
time of the end.
Now let us look at the new testament “end”. it has the same meaning- the end of
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Israel and the law.
NT:5056 telos (tel'-os); from a primary tello (to set out for a definite point or
goal); properly, the point aimed at as a limit, i.e. (by implication) the conclusion of
an act or state (termination [literally, figuratively or indefinitely], result
[immediate, ultimate or prophetic], purpose); specifically, an impost or levy (as
paid):
KJV - continual, custom, end (-ing), finally, uttermost. Compare
Matt 24:6
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for
all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Matt 24:13-14
13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the
kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then
the end will come.
1 Cor 1:4-9
I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to
you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance
and all knowledge, 6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, 7 so
that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus
Christ, 8 who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the
day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the
fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Cor 10:11
1 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for
our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
1 Cor 15:23-26
24 Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when
He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. 25 For He must reign till He
has put all enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy that will be destroyed is deat
2 Cor 3:12-14
12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech -- 13
unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not
look steadily at the end of what was passing away.
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Heb 6:11-12
11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full
assurance of hope until the end, 12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
1 Peter 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your
prayers.
1 Peter 4:17
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it
begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of
God?
Rev 2:25-27
25 But hold fast what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps
My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations -- 27'He shall
rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter's vessels' -Rev 10:7
7 but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound,
the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.
Now lets look at “ the four corners” in verse 2. Has the same meaning as 4 winds.
Look at the time frame when it is to occur.
Zech 2:6-13
6 "Up, up! Flee from the land of the north," says the LORD; "for I have spread you
abroad like the four winds of heaven," says the LORD. 7 "Up, Zion! Escape, you
who dwell with the daughter of Babylon." 8 For thus says the LORD of hosts: "He
sent Me after glory, to the nations which plunder you; for he who touches you
touches the apple of His eye. 9 For surely I will shake My hand against them, and
they shall become spoil for their servants. Then you will know that the LORD of
hosts has sent Me. 10 "Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! For behold, I am
coming and I will dwell in your midst," says the LORD. 11 "Many nations shall
be joined to the LORD in that day, and they shall become My people. And I
will dwell in your midst. Then you will know that the LORD of hosts has sent Me
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to you. 12 And the LORD will take possession of Judah as His inheritance in the
Holy Land, and will again choose Jerusalem. 13 Be silent, all flesh, before the
LORD, for He is aroused from His holy habitation!"
Matt 24:31
31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will
gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Matt 24:34-35
34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all
these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by
no means pass away.
Rev 21:1-3
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be
His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Ezek 7:5-8
5 "Thus says the Lord GOD:
'A disaster, a singular disaster;
Behold, it has come!
6 An end has come,
The end has come;
It has dawned for you;
Behold, it has come!
7 Doom has come to you, you who dwell in the land;
The time has come,
A day of trouble is near,
And not of rejoicing in the mountains.
8 Now upon you I will soon pour out My fury,
And spend My anger upon you;
I will judge you according to your ways,
And I will repay you for all your abominations.
Again this can not refer to Babylon’s destruction because it does not fit “the end”
prophesied in Isaiah and Daniel. Many times a prophet makes a statement that
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something has happened or about to happen even when it is years in the future
because of the certainty of it. Look at Isaiah’s prophecy about Cyrus over 200
years before.
Isa 44:28-45:3
28 Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem," You shall be built,"
And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'
45:1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held -To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
2'I will go before you
And make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the LORD,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
Look at Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus 700 years before it occurred. Notice the past
tense.
Isa 53:4-5
4 Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
Vs 7 “those that dwell in the land” Look how many times it is translated “earth”
but it would give a different meaning if it had been translated “land”.
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OT:776'erets (eh'-rets); from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth
(at large, or partitively a land):
KJV - common, country, earth, field, ground, land, nations, way, wilderness,
world.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded
Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright (c) 1994, Biblesoft and International Bible
Translators, Inc.)
Gen 6:13
And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is
filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Gen 9:11
11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by
the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth."
Ps 37:22
2 For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth,
But those cursed by Him shall be cut off.
Isa 11:4
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Isa 24:19
19 The earth is violently broken,
The earth is split open,
The earth is shaken exceedingly.
Ezek 7:9-12
9'My eye will not spare,
Nor will I have pity;
I will repay you according to your ways,
And your abominations will be in your midst.
Then you shall know that I am the LORD who strikes.
10'Behold, the day!
Behold, it has come!
Doom has gone out;
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The rod has blossomed,
Pride has budded.
11 Violence has risen up into a rod of wickedness;
None of them shall remain,
None of their multitude,
None of them;
Nor shall there be wailing for them.
12 The time has come,
The day draws near.
'Let not the buyer rejoice,
Nor the seller mourn,
For wrath is on their whole multitude.
Vs 11 “no wailing” may have reference to no burial.
Jer 16:4
4 "They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be
buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be
consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds
of heaven and for the beasts of the earth."
Ezek 7:13-15
13 For the seller shall not return to what has been sold,
Though he may still be alive;
For the vision concerns the whole multitude,
And it shall not turn back;
No one will strengthen himself
Who lives in iniquity.
14'They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready,
But no one goes to battle;
For My wrath is on all their multitude.
15 The sword is outside,
And the pestilence and famine within.
Whoever is in the field
Will die by the sword;
And whoever is in the city,
Famine and pestilence will devour him.
Vs 13 “vision not turning back” referring to God’s word not changing
Isa 55:11
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11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
Ezek 7:16-18
16'Those who survive will escape and be on the mountains
Like doves of the valleys,
All of them mourning,
Each for his iniquity.
17 Every hand will be feeble,
And every knee will be as weak as water.
18 They will also be girded with sackcloth;
Horror will cover them;
Shame will be on every face,
Baldness on all their heads.
Matt 24:15-17
"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 "then
let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Matt 24:22
2 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the
elect's sake those days will be shortened.
The following is taken from the Josephus website.
Escapes from Jerusalem AD 66-70 in Josephus
[c. November 66]
Jewish War 2:20:1
After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent of
the Jews swam away from the city...
[c. Winter 67/68 before Passover]
Jewish War 4:6:1
The Idumeans complied with these persuasions; and, in the first
place, they set those that were in the prisons at liberty, being about
two thousand of the populace, who thereupon fled away immediately
to Simon
Jewish War : 4:7:3
These things were told Vespasian by deserters; for although the
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seditious watched all the passages out of the city, and destroyed all,
whosoever they were, that came thither, yet were there some that
had concealed themselves, and when they had fled to the Romans,
... Vespasian did indeed already pity the calamities these men were
in...
[c. June 70]
Jewish War 5:10:1
As Josephus was speaking thus with a loud voice, the seditious
would neither yield to what he said, nor did they deem it safe for them
to alter their conduct; but as for the people, they had a great
inclination to desert to the Romans; accordingly, some of them sold
what they had, and even the most precious things that had been laid
up as treasures by them, for every small matter, and swallowed down
pieces of gold, that they might not be found out by the robbers; and
when they had escaped to the Romans, went to stool, and had
wherewithal to provide plentifully for themselves; for Titus let a great
number of them go away into the country, whither they pleased.
Jewish War 5:13:4
Hereupon some of the deserters, having no other way, leaped down
from the wall immediately, while others of them went out of the city
with stones, as if they would fight them; but thereupon they fled away
to the Romans. But here a worse fate accompanied these than what
they had found within the city; and they met with a quicker dispatch
from the too great abundance they had among the Romans, than
they could have done from the famine among the Jews; for when they
came first to the Romans, they were puffed up by the famine, and
swelled like men in a dropsy; after which they all on the sudden
overfilled those bodies that were before empty, and so burst asunder,
excepting such only as were skillful enough to restrain their appetites,
and by degrees took in their food into bodies unaccustomed thereto.
[August 70 CE]
Jewish War 6:2:2
As Josephus spoke these words, with groans and tears in his eyes,
his voice was intercepted by sobs. However, the Romans could not
but pity the affliction he was under, and wonder at his conduct. But for
John, and those that were with him, they were but the more
exasperated against the Romans on this account, and were desirous
to get Josephus also into their power: yet did that discourse influence
a great many of the better sort; and truly some of them were so afraid
46
of the guards set by the seditious, that they tarried where they were,
but still were satisfied that both they and the city were doomed to
destruction. Some also there were who, watching a proper
opportunity when they might quietly get away, fled to the Romans, of
whom were the high priests Joseph and Jesus, and of the sons of
high priests three, whose father was Ishmael, who was beheaded in
Cyrene, and four sons of Matthias, as also one son of the other
Matthias, who ran away after his father's death, and whose father
was slain by Simon the son of Gioras, with three of his sons, as I
have already related; many also of the other nobility went over to the
Romans, together with the high priests. (Compiled by Paul N. Tobin)
In none of Josephus’ accounts of Jews leaving the city does he mention Christians.
The tradition that they went to Pella came later.
Pseudo-Clementines
(2/3rd
century)
"Subsequently also an evident proof of this great mystery is supplied in the fact,
that every one who, believing in this Prophet who had been foretold by Moses, is
baptized in His name, shall be kept unhurt from the destruction of war which
impends over the unbelieving nation, and the place itself; but that those who do not
believe shall be made exiles from their place and kingdom, that even against their
will they may understand and obey the will of God." (Recognitions 1:39:3)
Eusebius
(325)
"But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation,
vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in
a certain town of Perea called Pella. " (History of the Church 3:5:3)
"The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded
by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war,
removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella.
Here those that believed in Christ, having removed from Jerusalem, as if holy men
had entirely abandoned the royal city itself, and the whole land of Judea; the divine
justice, for their crimes against Christ and his apostles finally overtook them,
totally destroying the whole generation of these evildoers form the earth.
(Eusebius, 3:5.)
"After all those who believed in Christ had generally come to live in Perea, in a
city called Pella of the Decapolis of which it is written in the Gospel and which is
situated in the neighborhood of the region of Batanaea and Basanitis, Ebion's
preaching originated here after they had moved to this place and had lived there."
(Panarion 30:2)
"For when the city was about to be captured and sacked by the Romans, all the
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disciples were warned beforehand by an angel to remove from the city, doomed as
it was to utter destruction. On migrating from it they settled at Pella, the town
already indicated, across the Jordan. It is said to belong to Decapolis (de Mens. et
Pond., 15).
"Now this sect of Nazarenes exists in Beroea in Coele-Syria, and in Decapolis in
the district of Pella, and in Kochaba of Basanitis-- called Kohoraba in Hebrew. For
thence it originated after the migration from Jerusalem of all the disciples who
resided at Pella, Christ having instructed them to leave Jerusalem and retire from it
on account of the impending siege. It was owing to this counsel that they went
away, as I have said, to reside for a while at Pella" (Haer 29:7).
"For when all who believed in Christ had settled down about that time in Peraea,
the majority of the emigrants taking up their abode at Pella, a town belonging to
the Decapolis mentioned in the Gospel, near Batanea and the district to Basanitis,
Ebion got his excuse and opportunity. At first their abode was Kochaba, a village in
the district of Carnaim, Arnem, and Astaroth, in the region of Basanitis, according
to the information we have received. But I have spoken, in other connections and
with regard to other heresies, of the locality of Kochaba and Arabia (Haer 30:2)...
"[The Ebionites] spring for the most part from Batanea ... and Paneas, as well as
from Moabitis and Cochaba in Basanitis on the other side of Adraa" (Haer 30:18).
Epiphanius
(375)
"The Nazoraean sect exists in Beroea near Coele Syria, in the Decapolis near the
region of Pella, and in Bashan in the place called Cocaba, which in Hebrew is
called Chochabe. That is where the sect began, when all the disciples were living in
Pella after they moved from Jerusalem, since Christ told them to leave Jerusalem
and withdraw because it was about to be besieged. For this reason they settled in
Peraea and there, as I said, they lived. This is where the Nazoraean sect began."
(Panarion 29:7:7-8)
"Their sect began after the capture of Jerusalem. For when all those who believed
in Christ settled at that time for the most part in Peraea, in a city called Pella
belonging to the Decapolis mentioned in the gospel, which is next to Batanaea and
the land of Bashan, then they moved there and stayed.." (Panarion 30:2:7)
"For when the city was about to be captured and sacked by the Romans, all the
disciples were warned beforehand by an angel to remove from the city, doomed as
it was to utter destruction. On migrating from it they settled at Pella, the town
already indicated, across the Jordan. It is said to belong to Decapolis " (On Weights
and Measures 15
Of course all these accounts are not inspired but they do give an historical account
of what Jesus had told the disciples to do.
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Ezek 7:19-22
19'They will throw their silver into the streets,
And their gold will be like refuse;
Their silver and their gold will not be able to deliver them
In the day of the wrath of the LORD;
They will not satisfy their souls,
Nor fill their stomachs,
Because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.
20'As for the beauty of his ornaments,
He set it in majesty;
But they made from it
The images of their abominations -Their detestable things;
Therefore I have made it
Like refuse to them.
21 I will give it as plunder
Into the hands of strangers,
And to the wicked of the earth as spoil;
And they shall defile it.
22 I will turn My face from them,
And they will defile My secret place;
For robbers shall enter it and defile it.
Vs 19 “stumbling block”
Col 3:5-7
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication,
uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of
these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in
which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.
vs. 22 several instances of defiling the sanctuary: the Babylonians, Antiochus
Epiphanes, the Jews of Jesus’ day (Matt 21:13), Caius erecting his image in the
temple ( Antiq 18:8:2), and finally destruction by Titus. Josephus tells us that the
Jews themselves first polluted the temple.
War 4.6.3 381-388
But these Zealots came at last to that degree of barbarity as not to bestow a burial
either on those slain in the city, or on those that lay along the roads; but as if they
had made an agreement to cancel both the laws of their country and the laws of
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nature, an, at the same time that they defiled men with their wicked action, they
would pollute the Divinity itself also, they left the dead bodies to putrify under the
sun.
...These men, therefore, trampled upon all the laws of man, and laughed at the
Laws of God; and for the oracles of the prophets, they ridiculed them as the tricks
of jugglers. Yet did these prophets foretell many things concerning virtue and vice,
by the transgression of which these Zealots occasioned the fulfilling of those very
prophecies belonging to their country.
For there was a certain ancient oracle of those men, that the city should then be
taken and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade the
Jews and their own hands should pollute the Temple of God. Now, while these
Zealots did not disbelieve these predictions, they made themselves the instruments
of their accomplishment.
Ezek 7:23-26
23'Make a chain,
For the land is filled with crimes of blood,
And the city is full of violence.
24 Therefore I will bring the worst of the Gentiles,
And they will possess their houses;
I will cause the pomp of the strong to cease,
And their holy places shall be defiled.
25 Destruction comes;
They will seek peace, but there shall be none.
26 Disaster will come upon disaster,
And rumor will be upon rumor.
Then they will seek a vision from a prophet;
But the law will perish from the priest,
And counsel from the elders.
27'The king will mourn,
The prince will be clothed with desolation,
And the hands of the common people will tremble.
I will do to them according to their way,
And according to what they deserve I will judge them;
Then they shall know that I am the LORD!'"
vs. 23 “chains”
Nah 3:10
Yet she was carried away,
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She went into captivity;
Her young children also were dashed to pieces
At the head of every street;
They cast lots for her honorable men,
And all her great men were bound in chains.
Vs 24 “ the worst of the gentiles”
Deut 28:49-50
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth,
as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a
nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to
the young.
Vs 26 “disaster upon disaster”
Matt 24:6-8
6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled;
for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines,
pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of
sorrows.
Vs 26 “seek a prophet”
Zech 13:1-3
"In that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness.
2 "It shall be in that day," says the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names
of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also
cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. 3 It shall come to
pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will
say to him, 'You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the
LORD.' And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when
he prophesies.
Vs 26 “ law will perish from the priest”
Mal 2:1-9
"And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. 2 If you will not hear,And if
you will not take it to heart,To give glory to My name,"Says the LORD of hosts,"I
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will send a curse upon you,And I will curse your blessings.Yes, I have cursed them
already,Because you do not take it to heart.
3 "Behold, I will rebuke your descendants And spread refuse on your faces,The
refuse of your solemn feasts;And one will take you away with it. 4 Then you shall
know that I have sent this commandment to you,That My covenant with Levi may
continue,"Says the LORD of hosts. 5 "My covenant was with him, one of life and
peace,And I gave them to him that he might fear Me;So he feared Me And was
reverent before My name. 6 The law of truth was in his mouth,And injustice was
not found on his lips.He walked with Me in peace and equity,And turned many
away from iniquity.
7 "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,And people should seek the law
from his mouth;For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts. 8 But you have
departed from the way;You have caused many to stumble at the law.You have
corrupted the covenant of Levi,"Says the LORD of hosts. 9 "Therefore I also
have made you contemptible and base Before all the people,Because you have not
kept My ways But have shown partiality in the law."
Vs 27 “ the king will mourn” many scholars state that this is referring to
Babylon’s destruction. But the king and all the nobles had already been captured.
It may have reference to the rulers of Jerusalem.
2 Kings 24:10-16
10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against
Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came against the city, as his servants were besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin king of
Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of
Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him
prisoner. 13 And he carried out from there all the treasures of the house of the
LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and he cut in pieces all the articles of
gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of the LORD, as the
LORD had said. 14 Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and
all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and
smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land. 15 And he carried
Jehoiachin captive to Babylon. The king's mother, the king's wives, his
officers, and the mighty of the land he carried into captivity from Jerusalem
to Babylon. 16 All the valiant men, seven thousand, and craftsmen and smiths, one
thousand, all who were strong and fit for war, these the king of Babylon brought
captive to Babylon.
Ezek 8:1-4
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And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the
month, as I sat in my house with the elders of Judah sitting before me, that the
hand of the Lord GOD fell upon me there. 2 Then I looked, and there was a
likeness, like the appearance of fire -- from the appearance of His waist and
downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness,
like the color of amber. 3 He stretched out the form of a hand, and took me by a
lock of my hair; and the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven, and brought
me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the north gate of the inner
court, where the seat of the image of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
4 And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, like the vision that I saw in
the plain.
Vs 1 a little over a year later. We have already looked at “the hand of God” and
“fire” in his previous vision. Vs 3 “The north gate” was the same as ‘the new gate
in Jeremiah.
Jer 36:9-10
10 Then Baruch read from the book the words of Jeremiah in the house of the
LORD, in the chamber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the upper
court at the entry of the New Gate of the LORD's house, in the hearing of all the
people.
Vs 3 “image of jealousy”
Deut 32:16-17
16 They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
With abominations they provoked Him to anger.
17 They sacrificed to demons, not to God,
To gods they did not know,
To new gods, new arrivals
That your fathers did not fear.
Ps 78:58-59
58 For they provoked Him to anger with their high places,
And moved Him to jealousy with their carved images.
59 When God heard this, He was furious,
And greatly abhorred Israel,
Ezek 8:5-12
5 Then He said to me, "Son of man, lift your eyes now toward the north." So I
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lifted my eyes toward the north, and there, north of the altar gate, was this image of
jealousy in the entrance.
6 Furthermore He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing, the
great abominations that the house of Israel commits here, to make Me go far
away from My sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see greater abominations." 7
So He brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, there was a hole in
the wall. 8 Then He said to me, "Son of man, dig into the wall"; and when I dug
into the wall, there was a door.
9 And He said to me, "Go in, and see the wicked abominations which they are
doing there." 10 So I went in and saw, and there -- every sort of creeping thing,
abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, portrayed all around on
the walls. 11 And there stood before them seventy men of the elders of the house
of Israel, and in their midst stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan. Each man had a
censer in his hand, and a thick 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 the room of his idols? For they say,'The LORD does not see us, the
LORD has forsaken the land.'"
Vs 6 “make me go far away “ Josephus gives an account of an omen occurring of
God leaving the temple. .
War 6.5.3 299-300
Moreover at that feast which we call Pentecost, as the priests were going
by night into the inner temple, as their custom was, to perform their sacred
ministrations, they said that, in the first place, they felt a quaking, and heard
a great noise, and after that they heard a sound as of a great multitude,
saying, "Let us remove hence."
Vs 11. 70 always a significant number to the Jews.
Ex 24:9-10
Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of
Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel.
The Sanhedrin or as referred to in scripture as “council” had 70 members plus the
high priest.
Vs 11 Shaphan was one of the faithful under Josiah. How difficult it must have
been for Ezekiel knowing that Shaphan’s son had become unfaithful.
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2 Kings 22:8-10
8 Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe,"I have found the Book
of the Law in the house of the LORD." And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and
he read it. 9 So Shaphan the scribe went to the king, bringing the king word,
saying, "Your servants have gathered the money that was found in the house, and
have delivered it into the hand of those who do the work, who oversee the house of
the LORD." 10 Then Shaphan the scribe showed the king, saying, "Hilkiah the
priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read it before the king.
Vs 12 “dark”
John 3:19-21
19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men
loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone
practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should
be exposed.
Ezek 8:13-16
13 And He said to me, "Turn again, and you will see greater abominations that they
are doing." 14 So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the LORD's
house; and to my dismay, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz.
15 Then He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Turn again, you will
see greater abominations than these." 16 So He brought me into the inner court of
the LORD's house; and there, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the
porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple
of the LORD and their faces toward the east, and they were worshiping the sun
toward the east.
Vs 14
The name Tammuz does not meet us elsewhere in the Old Testament. All
interpreters, however, agree that it answers to the Adonis of Greek mythology. So
Jerome translates it, and expressly states (in loc.) that what Ezekiel saw
corresponded to the Adonis festivals. It may be enough to state, without going into
the details of the story, that Adonis, the beautiful youth beloved of Aphrodite, was
slain by a wild boar; that after his death he was allowed to spend six months of
each year with her, while the other was passed with Persephone in Hades. The
cultus thus became the symbol of the annual decay and revival of nature; but the
legend rather than the inner meaning was in the thoughts of the worshippers.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
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Vs 16 “ backs toward the temple” and “ worshiping the sun”
2 Chron 29:6-7
6 For our fathers have trespassed and done evil in the eyes of the LORD our God;
they have forsaken Him, have turned their faces away from the dwelling place
of the LORD, and turned their backs on Him.
Deut 4:19
19 And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the
moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and
serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the
whole heaven as a heritage.
Job 31:26-28
26 If I have observed the sun when it shines,
Or the moon moving in brightness,
27 So that my heart has been secretly enticed,
And my mouth has kissed my hand;
28 This also would be an iniquity deserving of judgment,
For I would have denied God who is above.
Ezek 8:17-18
17 And He said to me, "Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to
the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they
have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger.
Indeed they put the branch to their nose. 18 Therefore I also will act in fury. My
eye will not spare nor will I have pity; and though they cry in My ears with a loud
voice, I will not hear them."
Vs 17 “branch to the nose”
The act described probably finds its best explanation in the Persian ritual of the
Avesta. When men prayed to the sun, they held in their left hands a bouquet of
palm, pomegranate, and tamarisk twigs, while the priests for the same purpose
held a veil before their mouth (Spiegel, 'Iran. Alterth.,' 3:571, 572, in Smend), so
that the bright rays of the sun might not be polluted by human breath.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
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Vs 18 “ will not spare” used several times in Ezekiel and no other prophet uses it
in reference to God. Job uses it in reference to a husband which in Israel’s case
was God , and Paul uses it to refer to himself.
Prov 6:34-35
34 For jealousy is a husband's fury;
Therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
35 He will accept no recompense,
Nor will he be appeased though you give many gifts.
2 Cor 12:20-13:2
20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall
be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies,
outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults;
21 lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn
for many who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness,
fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.
13:1 This will be the third time I am coming to you. "By the mouth of two or three
witnesses every word shall be established." 2 I have told you before, and foretell
as if I were present the second time, and now being absent I write to those who
have sinned before, and to all the rest, that if I come again I will not spare -Ezek 9:1-7
Then He called out in my hearing with a loud voice, saying, "Let those who have
charge over the city draw near, each with a deadly weapon in his hand." 2 And
suddenly six men came from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north,
each with his battle-ax in his hand. One man among them was clothed with linen
and had a writer's inkhorn at his side. They went in and stood beside the bronze
altar. 3 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it
had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with
linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side; 4 and the LORD said to him, "Go
through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on
the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done
within it." 5 To the others He said in my hearing, "Go after him through the city
and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6 Utterly slay old and young
men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on
whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." So they began with the elders
who were before the temple. 7 Then He said to them, "Defile the temple, and fill
the courts with the slain. Go out!" And they went out and killed in the city.
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Vs 1 “those in charge” were probably angels just as in Sodom
Gen 19:1-2
Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate
of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with
his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to
your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise
early and go on your way."
Gen 19:12-13
Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons,
your daughters, and whomever you have in the city -- take them out of this place!
13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown
great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."
And in Jerusalem
1 Chron 21:16-17
16 Then David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the LORD standing between
earth and heaven, having in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over
Jerusalem. So David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell on their faces. 17
And David said to God, "Was it not I who commanded the people to be numbered?
I am the one who has sinned and done evil indeed; but these sheep, what have they
done? Let Your hand, I pray, O LORD my God, be against me and my father's
house, but not against Your people that they should be plagued."
Vs 4 the mark on the faithful, first in Egypt and last in Revelation
Ex 12:13
13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I
see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy
you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Rev 7:1-4
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on
the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having
the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to
whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying,"Do not harm the
earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their
foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and
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forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
Vs 6 “ begin at my sanctuary” the temple Peter states that the judgment would
begin at the house of God.
1 Peter 4:17-18
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it
begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of
God? 18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and
the sinner appear?"
John tells us it begins at the temple
Rev 11:1-3
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying ,"Rise
and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But
leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has
been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for fortytwo months.
Rev 11:8
8 And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is
called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
Ezek 9:8-11
8 So it was, that while they were killing them, I was left alone; and I fell on my
face and cried out, and said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Will You destroy all the remnant of
Israel in pouring out Your fury 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
bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, 'The LORD has forsaken the
land, and the LORD does not see!' 10 And as for Me also, My eye will neither
spare, nor will I have pity, but I will recompense their deeds on their own
head." 11 Just then, the man clothed with linen, who had the inkhorn at his side,
reported back and said, "I have done as You commanded me."
Vs 8 Ezekiel cries out in despair, very similar to Daniel
Dan 8:15-27
Then it happened, when I, Daniel, had seen the vision and was seeking the
meaning, that suddenly there stood before me one having the appearance of a man.
16 And I heard a man's voice between the banks of the Ulai, who called, and said,
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"Gabriel, make this man understand the vision." 17 So he came near where I stood,
and when he came I was afraid and fell on my face; but he said to me,
"Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the time of the end." 18 Now, as
he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep with my face to the ground; but he
touched me, and stood me upright. 19 And he said, "Look, I am making known to
you what shall happen in the latter time of the indignation; for at the appointed
time the end shall be. 20 The ram which you saw, having the two horns -- they are
the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The
large horn that is between its eyes is the first king. 22 As for the broken horn and
the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall arise out of that nation, but
not with its power. 23 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, When the
transgressors have reached their fullness,
A king shall arise, Having fierce features,
Who understands sinister schemes.
24 His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power;
He shall destroy fearfully, And shall prosper and thrive;
He shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people.
25 "Through his cunning He shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; And he
shall exalt himself in his heart.
He shall destroy many in their prosperity.
He shall even rise against the Prince of princes;
But he shall be broken without human means.
26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings
Which was told is true;
Therefore seal up the vision,
For it refers to many days in the future."
27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went
about the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.
Paul has the same concern for his people
Rom 9:1-5
I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in
the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. 3
For I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my
countrymen according to the flesh, 4 who are Israelites, to whom pertain the
adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and
the promises; 5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh,
Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.
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Vs 10 “recompense” is the same as judgment first prophesied by Moses in Deut
regarding the “curses”, by Daniel, and by Zechariah and Malachi
Zech 14:1-2
Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity,
But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Mal 3:2-3
2 "But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner's fire
And like launderers' soap.
3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness.
Mal 4:1
"For behold, the day is coming,
Burning like an oven,
And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble.
And the day which is coming shall burn them up,"
Says the LORD of hosts,
"That will leave them neither root nor branch.
Mal 4:5-6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet
Before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD.
6 And he will turn
The hearts of the fathers to the children,
And the hearts of the children to their fathers,
Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."
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We know that the Elijah to come was John the Baptist (Matt 17:12-13) Look at
what he says is about to happen to the Jews.
Matt 3:1-12
In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and
saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who was
spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: "The voice of one crying in the
wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.'" 4 Now John himself was clothed in camel's hair, with a
leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then
Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and
were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many
of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of
vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits
worthy of repentance, 9 and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham
as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham
from these stones. 10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.
Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown
into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is
coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will
baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fan is in His
hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His
wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
In matt 3:8 “to come” the Greek has the word mello which means is about to.
NT:3195
mello (mel'-lo); a strengthened form of NT:3199 (through the idea of expectation);
to attend, i.e. be about to be, do, or suffer something (of persons or things,
especially events; in the sense of purpose, duty, necessity, probability, possibility,
or hesitation):
KJV - about, after that, be (almost), (that which is, things, which was for) to come,
intend, was to (be), mean, mind, be at the point, (be) ready, return, shall (begin),
(which, that) should (after, afterwards, hereafter) tarry, which was for, will, would,
be yet.
Paul warns Felix. The same Greek word “mello” is used
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Acts 24:25
5 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come,
Felix was afraid and answered, "Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I
will call for you."
Other places it is used in reference to the judgment about to happen.
2 Tim 4:1
:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge
the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Heb 10:27
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall
devour the adversaries.
Ezek 10:1-5
And I looked, and there in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubim,
there appeared something like a sapphire stone, having the appearance of the
likeness of a throne. 2 Then He spoke to the man clothed with linen, and said, "Go
in among the wheels, under the cherub, fill your hands with coals of fire from
among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." And he went in as I watched.
3 Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man
went in, and the cloud filled the inner court. 4 Then the glory of the LORD went up
from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple; and the house was
filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory.
5 And the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard even in the outer court,
like the voice of Almighty God when He speaks.
Vs 2 “linen” was worn by priests and kings
LINEN :
A cloth woven from fibers of the flax or hemp plant. The word linen is also used to
describe clothes or garments made from this cloth. The Hebrew word meaning
"whiteness" also is used to represent linen, because bleached linen was so white.
Fine linen was used in the clothing and headdress of the priests.
Fine linen garments were especially worn by kings and queens and members of
their royal courts. Those who ministered in the TABERNACLE and TEMPLE also
wore fine linen.
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(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Copyright (c)1986, Thomas Nelson
Publishers)
John 19:40
Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as
the custom of the Jews is to bury.
Ezekiel is describing what will happen at the destruction of Jerusalem. John later
describes it very similar.
Rev 15:6-8
6 And out of the temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, clothed in
pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. 7 Then one of
the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the
wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from
the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till
the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Rev 19:6-8
6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many
waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord
God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the
marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready." 8 And to
her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is
the righteous acts of the saints.
Rev 19:11-16
Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was
called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His
eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name
written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in
blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven,
clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out
of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He
Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His
thigh a name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Vs 3 “cloud” was God’s presence in the temple which first appeared when
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Solomon built the temple and later when Isaiah saw it.
1 Kings 8:10-11
10 And it came to pass, when the priests came out of the holy place, that the cloud
filled the house of the LORD, 11 so that the priests could not continue ministering
because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.
Isa 6:1-3
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and
lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim;
each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet,
and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!"
Interesting is that Isaiah used the word “earth” to represent the temple. Remember
Josephus’ comments that to the Jew “heaven and earth” meant the temple. Isaiah
later uses the term “Heavens and earth” to represent Jerusalem where the temple
was. Later Peter uses the same phrase to refer to the new temple-the church.
Isa 65:17-19
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem,
And joy in My people;
Isa 66:22-23
22 "For as the new heavens and the new earth
Which I will make shall remain before Me," says the LORD,
"So shall your descendants and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass
That from one New Moon to another,
And from one Sabbath to another,
All flesh shall come to worship before Me," says the LORD.
2 Peter 3:13
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new
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earth in which righteousness dwells.
Ezek 10:6-8
6 Then it happened, when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying, "Take
fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim," that he went in and stood
beside the wheels. 7 And the cherub stretched out his hand from among the
cherubim to the fire that was among the cherubim, and took some of it and put it
into the hands of the man clothed with linen, who took it and went out. 8 The
cherubim appeared to have the form of a man's hand under their wings.
The two words translated wheels are different in the Hebrew. The first is singular
and collective (galgal, the "whirling thing," used of the wheel of a war chariot,
Ezek 23:24; Isa 5:28), and might well be translated "chariot" here. The second,
that used in Ezek 1:15,16, also in the singular, is applied to the single wheel of the
four by which the angel, ministers stood.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Isa 5:28
28 Whose arrows are sharp,
And all their bows bent;
Their horses' hooves will seem like flint,
And their wheels like a whirlwind.
Ezek 10:9-13
9 And when I looked, there were four wheels by the cherubim, one wheel by one
cherub and another wheel by each other cherub; the wheels appeared to have the
color of a beryl stone. 10 As for their appearance, all four looked alike -- as it were,
a wheel in the middle of a wheel. 11 When they went, they went toward any of
their four directions; they did not turn aside when they went, but followed in the
direction the head was facing. They did not turn aside when they went. 12 And
their whole body, with their back, their hands, their wings, and the wheels that the
four had, were full of eyes all around. 13 As for the wheels, they were called in
my hearing, "Wheel."
Vs 9 is very similar to
Ezek 1:20-21
20 Wherever the spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the spirit went; and
the wheels were lifted together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures
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was in the wheels. 21 When those went, these went; when those stood, these
stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up
together with them, for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
Vs 12 “eyes” later used by Zechariah and John to describe what will happen
when God destroys Jerusalem.
Zech 3:9
9 For behold, the stone
That I have laid before Joshua:
Upon the stone are seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,'
Says the LORD of hosts,
'And I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
Rev 4:6-8
6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the
throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in
back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a
calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature
was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were
full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
"Holy, holy, holy,Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!"
Ezek 10:14-17
14 Each one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, the second face
the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15
And the cherubim were lifted up. This was the living creature I saw by the River
Chebar. 16 When the cherubim went, the wheels went beside them; and when the
cherubim lifted their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also did
not turn from beside them. 17 When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still,
and when one was lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the spirit of the living
creature was in them.
Vs 15 Ezekiel saw the same creature that he saw in chapter 1.
Ezek 10:18-19
18 Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and
stood over the cherubim. 19 And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up
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from the earth in my sight. When they went out, the wheels were beside them; and
they stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house, and the glory of the
God of Israel was above them.
Remember earlier when we quoted Josephus Wars 6:5:3 “ Let us depart Hence”
referring to the voice the people heard from the temple during the siege of
Jerusalem.
Ezek 10:20-11:1
20 This is the living creature I saw under the God of Israel by the River Chebar,
and I knew they were cherubim. 21 Each one had four faces and each one four
wings, and the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. 22 And the
likeness of their faces was the same as the faces which I had seen by the River
Chebar, their appearance and their persons. They each went straight forward.
He is repeating what he saw in chapter 1.
Ezek 11:1-4
Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the East Gate of the LORD's house,
which faces eastward; and there at the door of the gate were twenty-five men,
among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azzur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah,
princes of the people. 2 And He said to me: "Son of man, these are the men who
devise iniquity and give wicked counsel in this city, 3 who say, 'The time is not
near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and we are the meat.' 4 Therefore
prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man!"
Ezek 11:1
Five and twenty men. The number at first reminds us of the worshippers of the sun,
in Ezek 8:16; but that, as we saw, was probably a company of priests. On the other
hand, the two who are named are styled princes of the people, which suggests a lay
rather than a priestly status, and they are seen in a different locality. Conjectures
as to the significance of the number vary.
(1) Two from each tribe of Israel, with the king at their head.
(2) Two from each of the twelve divisions of the army, each containing twenty-four
thousand men (1 Chron 27:1-15).
(3) Representatives of twelve regions of the city - a kind of municipal council, with
their president. Possibly, after all, the number was used more or less vaguely - a
"round" number, as we say (Smend). It is probably safe, however, to think of them
as representing the lay element of authority. Nothing is known further as to the
persons named. Jaazaniah is distinguished by his parentage from his namesake of
Ezek 8:11 and Jer 35:3. Both were probably familiar to those for whom Ezekiel
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wrote, as leaders of the party that was "always devising mischief," in opposition,
i.e., to Jeremiah and the true prophets. Possibly the meanings of the names
Jaazaniah (equivalent to "God hearkens") the son of Azur (equivalent to "The
Helper"), Pelatiah (equivalent to "God rescues") the son of Benaiah (equivalent to
"God builds"), are chosen as with a grim irony. The name of Azur meets us in Jer
28:1 as that of the father of the false prophet Hananiah. The death of Pelatiah was
probably an historical event to which the prophet pointed as a warning to those
who, either at Jerusalem or among the exiles, were speaking as he spoke.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Vs 3 who say, 'The time is not near to build houses; this city is the caldron, and
we are the meat.' Different translations give different views.
Ezek 11:3
They say, 'Will it not soon be time to build houses? This city is a cooking pot, and
we are the meat.'
(from New International Version)
Ezek 11:3
3 Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be
the flesh. KJV
Ezek 11:3
3 that say, (The time) is not near to build houses: this (city) is the caldron, and we
are the flesh.
ASV
Ezek 11:3 who say, “the time is not near to build houses. This city is the caldron,
and we are the meat.
ESV
The NKJV, ASV and ESV give the reading that the time to build houses is not near
but the KJV and NIV give the opposite reading
Ezek 11:5-12
5 Then the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said to me, "Speak! 'Thus says the
LORD: "Thus you have said, O 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 GOD: "Your slain whom
you have laid in its midst, they are the meat, and this city is the caldron; but I shall
bring you out of the midst of it. 8 You have feared the sword; and I will bring a
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sword upon you," says the Lord GOD. 9 "And I will bring you out of its midst, and
deliver you into the hands of strangers, and execute judgments on you. 10 You
shall fall by the sword. I will judge you at the border of Israel. Then you shall
know that I am the LORD. 11 This city shall not be your caldron, nor shall you be
the meat in its midst. I will judge you at the border of Israel. 12 And you shall
know that I am the LORD; for you have not walked in My statutes nor executed
My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are
all around you."'"
Notice he is sent to the whole house of Israel not just Judah. At the time of the
writing the 10 tribes of Israel were already gone, thus the judgment is for a later
time after all 12 tribes came back into the land after the return from the
Babylonian captivity.
Ezek 2:2-3
3 And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to
a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have
transgressed against Me to this very day.
Vs 5 “I know” God knows the intent of our heart.
Heb 4:12-13
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.
Vs 9 “hands of strangers”-most commentators place this to be the Babylonians,
but the context to the whole house of Israel and the punishment that he would
never do again (Ezek 5:3) puts it to the Romans. I think this prophecy refers first to
the Babylonians and the finally to the Romans. Also remember what Moses had
said.
Deut 28:49-50
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth,
as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a
nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to
the young
vs. 11 “I will judge you at the border” is in reference to the princes spoken of
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earlier.
10. Ezek 11:13
13 Now it happened, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah
died. Then I fell on my face and cried with a loud voice, and said, "Ah, Lord
GOD! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?"
Vs 13 very similar to Daniel’s reaction to his visions
Dan 7:15
"I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head
troubled me.
Dan 7:28
8 "This is the end of the account. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly troubled
me, and my countenance changed; but I kept the matter in my heart."
Dan 8:26-27
26 "And the vision of the evenings and mornings
Which was told is true;
Therefore seal up the vision,
For it refers to many days in the future."
27 And I, Daniel, fainted and was sick for days; afterward I arose and went about
the king's business. I was astonished by the vision, but no one understood it.
Dan 9:3
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and
supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
Vs 13 Ezekiel did not understand that the remnant was to be spiritual Israel.
Ezekiel 11:13-21
Again the word of the
LORD came to me, saying, 15 "Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your
countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its entirety, are those about whom the
inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Get far away from the LORD; this land has
been given to us as a possession.' 16 Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Although I have cast them far off among the Gentiles, and although I have
scattered them among the countries, yet I shall be a little sanctuary for them in the
countries where they have gone."' 17 Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:"I
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will gather you from the peoples, assemble you from the countries where you have
been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel."' 18 And they will go there,
and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there.
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they
may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be
My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts follow the
desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their
deeds on their own heads," says the Lord GOD.
Vs 19 very similar to Jeremiah’s prophecy.
Jer 31:31-36
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -- 32 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, My covenant which they broke, though I was a
husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their
minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the
greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I
will remember no more."
35 Thus says the LORD,
Who gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
Who disturbs the sea,
And its waves roar
(The LORD of hosts is His name):
36 "If those ordinances depart
From before Me, says the LORD,
Then the seed of Israel shall also cease
From being a nation before Me forever."
Look at what God promises in vs. 36- the order of the universe is never going to
change!!
Also look at the prophecy later by Ezekiel
Ezek 37:21-28
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21 "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of
Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them
from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one
nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them
all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two
kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor
with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver
them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse
them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 24 "David My
servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall
also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25 Then they
shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers
dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children,
forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will
make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with
them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their
midst forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be
their God, and they shall be My people. 28 The nations also will know that I,
the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst
forevermore."'
This is later fulfilled in Rev.
Rev 21:1-4
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying,
"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and
they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And
God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor
sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed
away."
Rev 21:22-27
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of
God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are
saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor
into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26
And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there
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shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Who is the remnant- the church.
Gal 6:16
And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and
upon the Israel of God.
Rom 9:8-9
8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God;
but the children of the promise are counted as the seed.
Gal 3:26-29
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one
in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise.
Ezek 11:22-25
22 So the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the
glory of the God of Israel was high above them. 23 And the glory of the LORD
went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain, which is on the
east side of the city.
24 Then the Spirit took me up and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into
Chaldea, to those in captivity. And the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25
So I spoke to those in captivity of all the things the LORD had shown me.
Vs 23 “the glory of the Lord” leaving the temple but being on the east when the
city is destroyed. Later prophesied by Zechariah after the return from Babylon.
Zech 14:1-4
Behold, the day of the LORD is coming,
And your spoil will be divided in your midst.
2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem;
The city shall be taken,
The houses rifled,
And the women ravished.
Half of the city shall go into captivity,
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But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the LORD will go forth
And fight against those nations,
As He fights in the day of battle.
4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives,
Which faces Jerusalem on the east.
And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west,
Jesus later tells them that they did not recognize when God was with them
Luke 19:41-44
Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had
known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace!
But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when
your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you
in on every side, 44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground;
and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know
the time of your visitation."
Ezek 12:1-2
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 "Son of man, you dwell in the
midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to
hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.
Vs2 Israel refused to hear the word of God
Isa 6:9-10
9 And He said, "Go, and tell this people:
'Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'
10 "Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed."
Isa 42:20
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20 Seeing many things, but you do not observe;
Opening the ears, but he does not hear."
Jesus quotes Isaiah when he explains why he speaks in parables
Matt 13:13-15
13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and
hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. 14 And in them the prophecy
of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:
'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;
15 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.'
Later Paul quotes Isaiah
Acts 28:23-29
23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to
whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading
them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from
morning till evening. 24 And some were persuaded by the things which were
spoken, and some disbelieved. 25 So when they did not agree among themselves,
they departed after Paul had said one word: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through
Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, 26 saying,
'Go to this people and say:
'Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand;
And seeing you will see, and not perceive;
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."'
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to
the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
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Ezek 12:3-6
3 "Therefore, son of man, prepare your belongings for captivity, and go into
captivity by day in their sight. You shall go from your place into captivity to
another place in their sight. It may be that they will consider, though they are a
rebellious house. 4 By day you shall bring out your belongings in their sight, as
though going into captivity; and at evening you shall go in their sight, like those
who go into captivity. 5 Dig through the wall in their sight, and carry your
belongings out through it. 6 In their sight you shall bear them on your shoulders
and carry them out at twilight; you shall cover your face, so that you cannot see the
ground, for I have made you a sign to the house of Israel." 7 So I did as I was
commanded. I brought out my belongings by day, as though going into captivity,
and at evening I dug through the wall with my hand. I brought them out at twilight,
and I bore them on my shoulder in their sight.
God often made the prophets do something as a sign.
Hos 1:2
When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea: "Go, take
yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry
By departing from the LORD."
Jer 27:1-4
In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this
word came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 "Thus says the LORD to me:
'Make for yourselves bonds and yokes, and put them on your neck, 3 and send
them to the king of Edom, the king of Moab, the king of the Ammonites, the king
of Tyre, and the king of Sidon, by the hand of the messengers who come to
Jerusalem to Zedekiah king of Judah.
Ezek 12:8-14
8 And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "Son of man,
has not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said to you, 'What are you doing?'
10 Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "This burden concerns the prince in
Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are among them."' 11 Say, 'I am a sign to
you. As I have done, so shall it be done to them; they shall be carried away into
captivity.' 12 And the prince who is among them shall bear his belongings on his
shoulder at twilight and go out. They shall dig through the wall to carry them out
through it. He shall cover his face, so that he cannot see the ground with his eyes.
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13 I will also spread My net over him, and he shall be caught in My snare. I will
bring him to Babylon, to the land of the Chaldeans; yet he shall not see it,
though he shall die there. 14 I will scatter to every wind all who are around him
to help him, and all his troops; and I will draw out the sword after them.
Vs 12, 13 seems to refer to Babylon and to king Zedekiah
2 Kings 25:4-7
4 Then the city wall was broken through, and all the men of war fled at night by
way of the gate between two walls, which was by the king's garden, even though
the Chaldeans were still encamped all around against the city. And the king went
by way of the plain. 5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they
overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. 6 So
they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they
pronounced judgment on him. 7 Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his
eyes, put out the eyes of Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him
to Babylon.
Ezek 12:15-16
15 "Then they shall know that I am the LORD, when I scatter them among the
nations and disperse them throughout the countries. 16 But I will spare a few of
their men from the sword, from famine, and from pestilence, that they may declare
all their abominations among the Gentiles wherever they go. Then they shall know
that I am the LORD.
The phrase “then they shall know that I am the Lord” occurs 19 times in the whole
Bible but ALL are in Ezekiel!
Ezek 12:17-25
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, eat your
bread with quaking, and drink your water with trembling and anxiety. 19 And say
to the people of the land, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the inhabitants of Jerusalem
and to the land of Israel: "They shall eat their bread with anxiety, and drink their
water with dread, so that her land may be emptied of all who are in it, because of
the violence of all those who dwell in it. 20 Then the cities that are inhabited shall
be laid waste, and the land shall become desolate; and you shall know that I am the
LORD."'"
21 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 22 "Son of man, what is this
proverb that you people have about the land of Israel, which says, 'The days are
prolonged, and every vision fails'? 23 Tell them therefore, 'Thus says the Lord
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GOD: "I will lay this proverb to rest, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in
Israel." But say to them, "The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision.
24 For no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the
house of Israel. 25 For I am the LORD. I speak, and the word which I speak will
come to pass; it will no more be postponed; for in your days, O rebellious house, I
will say the word and perform it," says the Lord GOD.'"
Jesus warns the disciple about false prophets that would come before the
destruction of Jerusalem
Matt 24:24-25
24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders
to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand.
Matt 24:48-49
48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, 'My master is delaying his coming,'
Peter warns that some will deny that Jesus is coming soon as he had promised to
come in their lifetime (Matt 16:27-28)
2 Peter 3:1-4
Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your
pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which
were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the
apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the
last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the
promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as
they were from the beginning of creation."
Paul tells of 2 men who claim that Jesus had already come.
2 Tim 2:15-18
16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more
ungodliness. 17 And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and
Philetus are of this sort, 18 who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the
resurrection is already past; and they overthrow the faith of some.
Ezek 12:26-28
26 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27 "Son of man, look, the
house of Israel is saying, 'The vision that he sees is for many days from now, and
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he prophesies of times far off.' 28 Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord
GOD: "None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak
will be done," says the Lord GOD.'"
The judgment on Jerusalem by God using Babylon was at hand, very similar to the
new testament’s promise of the kingdom, Christ’s return and the judgment by God
using Rome.
Matt 3:2-3
and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" 3 For this is he who
was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
'Prepare the way of the LORD;
Make His paths straight.'"
Matt 4:17
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand."
Rom 13:11-12
And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for
now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent,
the day is at hand.
Phil 4:5
5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand
James 5:8
8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at
hand.
1 Peter 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your
prayers
Rev 22:10
Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
Ezek 13:1-7
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy against
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the prophets of Israel who prophesy, and say to those who prophesy out of their
own heart, 'Hear the word of the LORD!'" 3 Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to
the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! 4 O Israel,
your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. 5 You have not gone up into the gaps
to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD. 6
They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, 'Thus says the LORD!'
But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed. 7
Have you not seen a futile vision, and have you not spoken false divination? You
say, 'The LORD says,' but I have not spoken."
This could have reference to Babylon because of a similar statement in Jeremiah
Jer 14:14-18
14 And the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not
sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false
vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. 15 Therefore
thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I
did not send, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land' -- 'By sword
and famine those prophets shall be consumed! 16 And the people to whom they
prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the
sword; they will have no one to bury them -- them nor their wives, their sons nor
their daughters -- for I will pour their wickedness on them.'
17 "Therefore you shall say this word to them:
'Let my eyes flow with tears night and day,
And let them not cease;
For the virgin daughter of my people
Has been broken with a mighty stroke, with a very severe blow.
18 If I go out to the field,
Then behold, those slain with the sword!
And if I enter the city,
Then behold, those sick from famine!
Yes, both prophet and priest go about in a land they do not know.'"
But Ezekiel can also be talking about Rome because of Zecheriah’s prophecy.
Zech 13:2-3
2 "It shall be in that day," says the LORD of hosts, "that I will cut off the names of
the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause
the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. 3 It shall come to
pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will
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say to him, 'You shall not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the
LORD.' And his father and mother who begot him shall thrust him through when
he prophesies.
NKJV
Look at vs. 4 “like foxes” Very similar to “wolves”
Matt 7:15-20
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather
grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears
good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor
can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Acts 20:29-30
29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you,
not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking
perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
Ezek 13:8-12
8 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you have spoken nonsense and
envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you," says the Lord GOD. 9 "My
hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they
shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the
house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know
that I am the Lord GOD. 10 "Because, indeed, because they have seduced My
people, saying, 'Peace!' when there is no peace -- and one builds a wall, and they
plaster it with untempered mortar -- 11 say to those who plaster it with untempered
mortar, that it will fall. There will be flooding rain, and you, O great hailstones,
shall fall; and a stormy wind shall tear it down. 12 Surely, when the wall has fallen,
will it not be said to you, 'Where is the mortar with which you plastered it?'"
Vs 9 written in the record of Israel is same as the “book “of life
Isa 4:3-5
3 And it shall come to pass that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem
will be called holy -- everyone who is recorded among the living in Jerusalem. 4
When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged the
blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of
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burning, 5 then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion,
and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming
fire by night.
Dan 12:1
"At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
Vs 10 builds a wall with intemperate mortar-it has the appearance that it can stand
but has no substance.
Luke 6:47-49
47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you
whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the
foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently
against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But
he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth
without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and
immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great."
Untempered is similar to whitewashed
Matt 23:27-29
27 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed
tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's
bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to
men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Acts 23:2-3
h. 3 Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you
sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary
to the law?"
Ezek 13:13-16
13 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "I will cause a stormy wind to break forth in
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My fury; and there shall be a flooding rain in My anger, and great hailstones in
fury to consume it. 14 So I will break down the wall you have plastered with
untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation will be
uncovered; it will fall, and you shall be consumed in the midst of it. Then you shall
know that I am the LORD. 15 "Thus will I accomplish My wrath on the wall and
on those who have plastered it with untempered mortar; and I will say to you, 'The
wall is no more, nor those who plastered it, 16 that is, the prophets of Israel who
prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is
no peace,'" says the Lord GOD.7 "Likewise, son of man, set your face against the
daughters of your people, who prophesy out of their own heart; prophesy
against them, 18 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Woe to the women who sew
magic charms on their sleeves and make veils for the heads of people of every
height to hunt souls! Will you hunt the souls of My people, and keep yourselves
alive? 19 And will you profane Me among My people for handfuls of barley and
for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die, and keeping people alive
who should not live, by your lying to My people who listen to lies?
Very similar to the warnings in Rev
Rev 2:20-22
20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman
Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to
commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her
time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent.
Also similar to Isaaih
Isa 3:16-23
16 Moreover the LORD says:
"Because the daughters of Zion are haughty,
And walk with outstretched necks
And wanton eyes,
Walking and mincing as they go,
Making a jingling with their feet,
17 Therefore the Lord will strike with a scab
The crown of the head of the daughters of Zion,
And the LORD will uncover their secret parts."
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery:
The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents;
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19 The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;
20 The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;
The perfume boxes, the charms, 21 and the rings;
The nose jewels, 22 the festal apparel, and the mantles;
The outer garments, the purses, 23 and the mirrors;
The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.
Ezek 13:20-14:1
20'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against your magic charms
by which you hunt souls there like birds. I will tear them from your arms, and let
the souls go, the souls you hunt like birds. 21 I will also tear off your veils and
deliver My people out of your hand, and they shall no longer be as prey in your
hand. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
22 "Because with lies you have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have
not made sad; and you have strengthened the hands of the wicked, so that he does
not turn from his wicked way to save his life. 23 Therefore you shall no longer
envision futility nor practice divination; for I will deliver My people out of your
hand, and you shall know that I am the LORD."'"
The wicked are often refereed as fowlers
Ps 91:3-6
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous
pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
Ps 124:7-125:1
7 Our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers ;The snare is
broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
Ezek 14:1-5
Now some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat before me. 2 And the word of
the LORD came to me, saying, 3 "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in
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their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to stumble into iniquity.
Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?
4 "Therefore speak to them, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Everyone
of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, and puts before him what
causes him to stumble into iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD
will answer him who comes, according to the multitude of his idols, 5 that I may
seize the house of Israel by their heart, because they are all estranged from Me by
their idols."
They wanted to worship their idols and still pray to God. Very similar to what
James says.
James 1:6-8
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the
sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will
receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his
ways.
Ezek 14:6-11
6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Repent, turn
away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations. 7 For
anyone of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who separates
himself from Me and sets up his idols in his heart and puts before him what causes
him to stumble into iniquity, then comes to a prophet to inquire of him concerning
Me, I the LORD will answer him by Myself. 8 I will set My face against that
man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst
of My people. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 9 "And if the prophet is
induced to speak anything, I the LORD have induced that prophet, and I will
stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel. 10
And they shall bear their iniquity; the punishment of the prophet shall be the same
as the punishment of the one who inquired, 11 that the house of Israel may no
longer stray from Me, nor be profaned anymore with all their transgressions, but
that they may be My people and I may be their God," says the Lord GOD.'"
Vs 8 the Revised version uses the word “astonishment”
Deut 28:37
37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all
nations where the LORD will drive you.
Vs 9 “ the Lord had induced” is similar to sending strong delusion.
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2 Thess 2:10-12
because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And
for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure
in unrighteousness.
Ezek 14:12-16
The word of the LORD came again to me, saying: 13 "Son of man, when a land
sins against Me by persistent unfaithfulness, I will stretch out My hand against it; I
will cut off its supply of bread, send famine on it, and cut off man and beast from
it. 14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would
deliver only themselves by their righteousness," says the Lord GOD. 15 "If I
cause wild beasts to pass through the land, and they empty it, and make it so
desolate that no man may pass through because of the beasts, 16 even though these
three men were in it, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they would deliver neither
sons nor daughters; only they would be delivered, and the land would be desolate.
Vs 14 is very similar to a statement in Jeremiah
Jer 15:1
Then the LORD said to me,"Even if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind
would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them
go forth.
Ezek 14:17-23
17 "Or if I bring a sword on that land, and say, 'Sword, go through the land,' and I
cut off man and beast from it, 18 even though these three men were in it, as I live,"
says the Lord GOD, "they would deliver neither sons nor daughters, but only they
themselves would be delivered. 19 "Or if I send a pestilence into that land and pour
out My fury on it in blood, and cut off from it man and beast, 20 even though
Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "they would
deliver neither son nor daughter; they would deliver only themselves by their
righteousness."
21 For thus says the Lord GOD: "How much more it shall be when I send My four
severe judgments on Jerusalem -- the sword and famine and wild beasts and
pestilence -- to cut off man and beast from it? 22 Yet behold, there shall be left in it
a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters; surely they will come
out to you, and you will see their ways and their doings. Then you will be
comforted concerning the disaster that I have brought upon Jerusalem, all that I
have brought upon it. 23 And they will comfort you, when you see their ways and
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their doings; and you shall know that I have done nothing without cause that I
have done in it," says the Lord GOD.
Vs 21 we have seen the four judgments before- God using man to accomplish his
judgment
Vs 23 God is always just
Gen 18:25
25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the
wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not
the Judge of all the earth do right?"
Ezek 15:1-8
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 2 "Son of man, how is the wood
of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees
of the forest? 3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg
from it to hang any vessel on? 4 Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire
devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? 5
Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it
be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned? 6 "Therefore
thus says the Lord GOD: 'Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the
forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants
of Jerusalem; 7 and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one
fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I set My face against them. 8 Thus I will make the land desolate, because
they have persisted in unfaithfulness,' says the Lord GOD."
Vs 2 the vine is in reference to Israel
Ps 80:8-9
8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
Deut 32:32-33
32 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom
And of the fields of Gomorrah;
Their grapes are grapes of gall,
Their clusters are bitter.
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33 Their wine is the poison of serpents,
And the cruel venom of cobras.
Jer 2:21
21 Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me
Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
John 15:1-2
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that
does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that
it may bear more fruit.
In Ezek 15:6 he will burn up the vine.
John 15:6-7
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and
they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.
Ezek 16:1-5
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, cause Jerusalem
to know her abominations, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to Jerusalem:
"Your birth and your nativity are from the land of Canaan; your father was an
Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 As for your nativity, on the day you were born
your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed in water to cleanse you; you
were not rubbed with salt nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to
do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you; but you were thrown
out into the open field, when you yourself were loathed on the day you were born.
Salt was used as a purifier and as an antiseptic. Swaddling clothes was still being
used at Jesus’ birth.
Luke 2:6-7
7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths,
and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Ezek 16:6-8
6 "And when I passed by you and saw you struggling in your own blood, I said to
you in your blood, 'Live!' Yes, I said to you in your blood, 'Live!' 7 I made you
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thrive like a plant in the field; and you grew, matured, and became very beautiful.
Your breasts were formed, your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.
8 "When I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed your time was the
time of love; so I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I
swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine,"
says the Lord GOD.
God made a covenant with them which they broke.
Ex 19:5-6
5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then
you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6
And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the
words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."
Lev 26:9
9'For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm
My covenant with you.
Deut 5:1-3
2 The LORD our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3 The LORD did not
make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, those who are here today, all of us
who are alive.
Ezek 16:9-14
9 "Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I
anointed you with oil. 10 I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals
of badger skin; I clothed you with fine linen and covered you with silk. 11 I
adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your wrists, and a chain on your
neck. 12 And I put a jewel in your nose, earrings in your ears, and a beautiful
crown on your head. 13 Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your
clothing was of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate pastry of fine flour,
honey, and oil. You were exceedingly beautiful, and succeeded to royalty. 14 Your
fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through
My splendor which I had bestowed on you," says the Lord GOD.
The washing was customary in preparing for marriage.
Est 2:12-14
12 Each young woman's turn came to go in to King Ahasuerus after she had
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completed twelve months' preparation, according to the regulations for the women,
for thus were the days of their preparation apportioned: six months with oil of
myrrh, and six months with perfumes and preparations for beautifying women. 13
Thus prepared, each young woman went to the king, and she was given whatever
she desired to take with her from the women's quarters to the king's palace.
Ezek 16:10
Badgers' skin. Elsewhere in the Old Testament the word is found only in the
Pentateuch (Ex 28:5; 26:14; Num 4:6,8,10, et al.). It has been commonly taken as
meaning the skin of some animal - badger, dolphin, or porpoise, or, as in the
Revised Version, seal, which was used for sandals. All the older versions, however,
take it as a word of colour, the LXX. giving <START GREEK>u(aki/nqon<END
GREEK> ("dark red"); Aquila, Symmachus, and Vulgate, ianthino ("violet").
Possibly the two meanings may coalesce, one giving the material, the other the tint
which met the eye.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Ezek 16:10
It is significant that three out of the four articles specified are prominent (as the
references show) in the description of the tabernacle and the priestly dress, in Ex
28; 39. The dress of the bride symbolized the ritual and cultus of Judaism.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Nose ring
Gen 24:47-48
47 Then I asked her, and said, 'Whose daughter are you?' And she said, 'The
daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son, whom Milcah bore to him.' So I put the nose
Isa 3:18-23
18 In that day the Lord will take away the finery:
The jingling anklets, the scarves, and the crescents;
19 The pendants, the bracelets, and the veils;
20 The headdresses, the leg ornaments, and the headbands;
The perfume boxes, the charms, 21 and the rings;
The nose jewels, 22 the festal apparel, and the mantles;
The outer garments, the purses, 23 and the mirrors;
The fine linen, the turbans, and the robes.
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Vs 14 perfect
Lam 2:15
15 All who pass by clap their hands at you;
They hiss and shake their heads
At the daughter of Jerusalem:
"Is this the city that is called
'The perfection of beauty,
The joy of the whole earth'?"
Ezek 16:15-19
"But you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame, and
poured out your harlotry on everyone passing by who would have it. 16 You took
some of your garments and adorned multicolored high places for yourself, and
played the harlot on them. Such things should not happen, nor be. 17 You have also
taken your beautiful jewelry from My gold and My silver, which I had given you,
and made for yourself male images and played the harlot with them. 18 You took
your embroidered garments and covered them, and you set My oil and My incense
before them. 19 Also My food which I gave you -- the pastry of fine flour, oil, and
honey which I fed you -- you set it before them as sweet incense; and so it was,"
says the Lord GOD.
Vs 15 “played the harlot”
Deut 31:16-17
16 And the LORD said to Moses: "Behold, you will rest with your fathers; and this
people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land,
where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant
which I have made with them.
Judg 2:17
7 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other
gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their
fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so.
Isa 1:21
How the faithful city has become a harlot!
It was full of justice;
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Righteousness lodged in it,
But now murderers.
Jer 2:20
"For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds;
And you said, 'I will not transgress,'
When on every high hill and under every green tree
You lay down, playing the harlot.
Hos 1:2
When the LORD began to speak by Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea:
"Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry
And children of harlotry,
For the land has committed great harlotry
By departing from the LORD."
Vs 16 “took garments and adorned high places”
2 Kings 23:7
7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the
house of the LORD, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image
Look how the harlot adorns her bed
Prov 7:16-20
16 I have spread my bed with tapestry,
Colored coverings of Egyptian linen.
17 I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;
Let us delight ourselves with love.
19 For my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey;
Vs 18 “my oil”-they used what was God’s to worship their idols.
Ex 30:22-30
Moreover the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 23 "Also take for yourself quality
spices -- five hundred shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much sweet-smelling
cinnamon (two hundred and fifty shekels), two hundred and fifty shekels of sweetsmelling cane, 24 five hundred shekels of cassia, according to the shekel of the
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sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. 25 And you shall make from these a holy
anointing oil, an ointment compounded according to the art of the perfumer. It
shall be a holy anointing oil. 26 With it you shall anoint the tabernacle of meeting
and the ark of the Testimony; 27 the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and its
utensils, and the altar of incense; 28 the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils,
and the laver and its base. 29 You shall consecrate them, that they may be most
holy; whatever touches them must be holy. 30 And you shall anoint Aaron and his
sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister to Me as priests.
Ezek 16:20-26
20 "Moreover you took your sons and your daughters, whom you bore to Me, and
these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your acts of harlotry a small
matter, 21 that you have slain My children and offered them up to them by causing
them to pass through the fire? 22 And in all your abominations and acts of harlotry
you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare,
struggling in your blood. 23 "Then it was so, after all your wickedness -- 'Woe,
woe to you!' says the Lord GOD -- 24 that you also built for yourself a shrine, and
made a high place for yourself in every street. 25 You built your high places at the
head of every road, and made your beauty to be abhorred. You offered yourself to
everyone who passed by, and multiplied your acts of harlotry. 26 You also
committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased
your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger.
Vs 20 they sacrificed their children to Molech
2 Kings 16:3-4
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel; indeed he made his son pass
through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD
had cast out from before the children of Israel. 4 And he sacrificed and burned
incense on the high places, on the hills, and under every green tree.
Ps 106:37-39
37 They even sacrificed their sons
And their daughters to demons,
38 And shed innocent blood,
The blood of their sons and daughters,
Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan;
And the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they were defiled by their own works,
And played the harlot by their own deeds.
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Other verses that describe this
Isa 57:5; Jer 7:32; 19:5; Mic 6:7; Lev 18:21; 20:2
Ezek 16:27-30
27 "Behold, therefore, I stretched out My hand against you, diminished your
allotment, and gave you up to the will of those who hate you, the daughters of the
Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd behavior. 28 You also played the
harlot with the Assyrians, because you were insatiable; indeed you played the
harlot with them and still were not satisfied. 29 Moreover you multiplied your acts
of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; and even then you were not
satisfied. 30 "How degenerate is your heart!" says the Lord GOD, "seeing you do
all these things, the deeds of a brazen harlot.
Vs 28 “played the harlot with Assyria
2 Kings 16:7-8
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your
servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and
from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me." 8 And Ahaz took the
silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of
the king's house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria.
Ezek 16:31-34
"You erected your shrine at the head of every road, and built your high place in
every street. Yet you were not like a harlot, because you scorned payment. 32 You
are an adulterous wife, who takes strangers instead of her husband. 33 Men make
payment to all harlots, but you made your payments to all your lovers, and hired
them to come to you from all around for your harlotry. 34 You are the opposite of
other women in your harlotry, because no one solicited you to be a harlot. In that
you gave payment but no payment was given you, therefore you are the opposite."
Vs 33 they took from God and gave it to other nations
Hos 12:1
"Ephraim feeds on the wind,
And pursues the east wind;
He daily increases lies and desolation.
Also they make a covenant with the Assyrians,
And oil is carried to Egypt.
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Isa 30:6-7
6 The burden against the beasts of the South.
Through a land of trouble and anguish,
From which came the lioness and lion,
The viper and fiery flying serpent,
They will carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys,
And their treasures on the humps of camels,
To a people who shall not profit;
7 For the Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.
Therefore I have called her
Rahab-Hem-Shebeth.
Ezek 16:35-39
'Now then, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD! 36 Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Because your filthiness was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your
harlotry with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the
blood of your children which you gave to them, 37 surely, therefore, I will gather
all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved, and all those you
hated; I will gather them from all around against you and will uncover your
nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. 38 And I will judge you
as women who break wedlock or shed blood are judged; I will bring blood upon
you in fury and jealousy. 39 I will also give you into their hand, and they shall
throw down your shrines and break down your high places. They shall also strip
you of your clothes, take your beautiful jewelry, and leave you naked and bare.
Vs 36 “ the blood of their children”
Jer 2:34
34 Also on your skirts is found
The blood of the lives of the poor innocents.
I have not found it by secret search,
But plainly on all these things.
Lev 20:1-2
Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 "Again, you shall say to the children of
Israel:'Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel,
who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The
people of the land shall stone him with stones.
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Vs 37 God will use their “lovers” to destroy them
2 Kings 24:1-2
2 And the LORD sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians,
bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah
to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His
servants the prophets
Vs 38 the penalty for adultery was death
Deut 22:20-21
21 then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house,
and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has done a
disgraceful thing in Israel, to play the harlot in her father's house
John 8:5
Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do
You say?"
Vs 39 similar to Lamentations
Lam 1:1-9
How lonely sits the city That was full of people!How like a widow is she,Who was
great among the nations!The princess among the provinces Has become a slave!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,Her tears are on her cheeks;Among all her lovers
She has none to comfort her.All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;They
have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into captivity,Under affliction and hard servitude;She dwells
among the nations,She finds no rest;All her persecutors overtake her in dire straits.
4 The roads to Zion mourn Because no one comes to the set feasts.All her gates are
desolate;Her priests sigh,Her virgins are afflicted,And she is in bitterness.
5 Her adversaries have become the master,Her enemies prosper;For the LORD has
afflicted her Because of the multitude of her transgressions.Her children have gone
into captivity before the enemy.
6 And from the daughter of ZionAll her splendor has departed.Her princes have
become like deer That find no pasture,That flee without strength Before the
pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and roaming,Jerusalem remembers all her pleasant
things That she had in the days of old.When her people fell into the hand of the
enemy,With no one to help her,The adversaries saw her And mocked at her
downfall.
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8 Jerusalem has sinned gravely,Therefore she has become vile.All who honored her
despise her Because they have seen her nakedness;Yes, she sighs and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness is in her skirts;She did not consider her destiny;Therefore her
collapse was awesome;She had no comforter."O LORD, behold my affliction,For
the enemy is exalted!"
Ezek 16:40-43
40 "They shall also bring up an assembly against you, and they shall stone you
with stones and thrust you through with their swords. 41 They shall burn your
houses with fire, and execute judgments on you in the sight of many women; and I
will make you cease playing the harlot, and you shall no longer hire lovers. 42 So I
will lay to rest My fury toward you, and My jealousy shall depart from you. I will
be quiet, and be angry no more. 43 Because you did not remember the days of your
youth, but agitated Me with all these things, surely I will also recompense your
deeds on your own head," says the Lord GOD. "And you shall not commit
lewdness in addition to all your abominations.
Stoning was common punishment
Lev 20:2-3
2 "Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: 'Whoever of the children of Israel,
or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to
Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him
with stones.
Vs 41 burned with fire
2 Kings 25:8-9
8 And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month (which was the
nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan the
captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 9 He
burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of Jerusalem,
that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.
Jer 52:13
13 He burned the house of the LORD and the king's house; all the houses of
Jerusalem, that is, all the houses of the great, he burned with fire.
Vs 43 agitated
Ezra 5:11-12
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12 But because our fathers provoked the God of heaven to wrath, He gave them
into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Chaldean, who destroyed
this temple and carried the people away to Babylon.
Vs 43 lewdness
Jer 13:27
7 I have seen your adulteries
And your lustful neighings,
The lewdness of your harlotry,
Your abominations on the hills in the fields.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
Will you still not be made clean?"
Ezek 16:44-47
"Indeed everyone who quotes proverbs will use this proverb against you: 'Like
mother, like daughter!' 45 You are your mother's daughter, loathing husband and
children; and you are the sister of your sisters, who loathed their husbands and
children; your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
46 "Your elder sister is Samaria, who dwells with her daughters to the north of you;
and your younger sister, who dwells to the south of you, is Sodom and her
daughters. 47 You did not walk in their ways nor act according to their
abominations; but, as if that were too little, you became more corrupt than they in
all your ways.
Very similar to Jesus talking about the scribes and Pharisees
John 8:44
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources,
for he is a liar and the father of it
Vs 47 older translations add “in a small way” after “ did not walk in their ways”
Ezek 16:48-52
48 "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters
have done as you and your daughters have done. 49 Look, this was the iniquity of
your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and
abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.
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50 And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took
them away as I saw fit.
51 "Samaria did not commit half of your sins; but you have multiplied your
abominations more than they, and have justified your sisters by all the
abominations which you have done. 52 You who judged your sisters, bear your
own shame also, because the sins which you committed were more abominable
than theirs; they are more righteous than you. Yes, be disgraced also, and bear your
own shame, because you justified your sisters.
Paul in Rom 1 listed the sins of the gentiles but he also accuses the Jews of the
same
Rom 2:17-24
Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18
and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out
of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to
those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes,
having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach
another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do
you steal? 22 You who say, "Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery?
You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law,
do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For "the name of God is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," as it is written.
Rom 3:9-18
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged
both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. 10 As it is written:
"There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one."
13 "Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit";"The poison of asps is under their
lips";
14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known."
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18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Ezek 16:53-59
53 "When I bring back their captives, the captives of Sodom and her daughters,
and the captives of Samaria and her daughters, then I will also bring back the
captives of your captivity among them, 54 that you may bear your own shame and
be disgraced by all that you did when you comforted them. 55 When your sisters,
Sodom and her daughters, return to their former state, and Samaria and her
daughters return to their former state, then you and your daughters will return to
your former state. 56 For your sister Sodom was not a byword in your mouth in the
days of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. It was like the time
of the reproach of the daughters of Syria and all those around her, and of the
daughters of the Philistines, who despise you everywhere. 58 You have paid for
your lewdness and your abominations," says the LORD. 59 For thus says the Lord
GOD: "I will deal with you as you have done, who despised the oath by breaking
the covenant.
Look what Jesus says about Sodom
Matt 11:24
24 But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day
of judgment than for you."
Vs 58 you have paid
Isa 40:2
2 "Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the LORD's hand
Double for all her sins."
Ezek 16:60-63
"Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth,
and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will
remember your ways and be ashamed, when you receive your older and your
younger sisters; for I will give them to you for daughters, but not because of My
covenant with you. 62 And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall
know that I am the LORD, 63 that you may remember and be ashamed, and never
open your mouth anymore because of your shame, when I provide you an
atonement for all you have done," says the Lord GOD.'"
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Vs 60 is very similar to the promise made in Jer 31
Jer 31:31-34
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -- 32 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, My covenant which they broke, though I was a
husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their
minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the
greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I
will remember no more."
Vs 63 you may remember
Hos 3:4-4:1
4 For the children of Israel shall abide many days without king or prince, without
sacrifice or sacred pillar, without ephod or teraphim. 5 Afterward the children of
Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They
shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days.
Ezek 17:1-8
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, pose a riddle, and
speak a parable to the house of Israel, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, Full of feathers of various colors,
Came to Lebanon And took from the cedar the highest branch. 4 He cropped off its
topmost young twig And carried it to a land of trade ;He set it in a city of
merchants. 5 Then he took some of the seed of the land And planted it in a fertile
field; He placed it by abundant waters And set it like a willow tree. 6 And it grew
and became a spreading vine of low stature; Its branches turned toward him ,But its
roots were under it. So it became a vine, Brought forth branches, And put forth
shoots.
7 "But there was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; And
behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, And stretched its branches toward him,
From the garden terrace where it had been planted, That he might water it. 8 It was
planted in good soil by many waters, To bring forth branches, bear fruit, And
become a majestic vine."'
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Vs 2 parable is translated many different words
OT:2420
chiydah (khee-daw'); from OT:2330; a puzzle, hence, a trick, conundrum,
sententious maxim:
Num 12:8
8 I speak with him face to face,
Even plainly, and not in dark sayings;
And he sees the form of the LORD.
Why then were you not afraid
To speak against My servant Moses?
Judg 14:12-13
12 Then Samson said to them, "Let me pose a riddle to you. If you can correctly
solve and explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, then I will give you
thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing. 13 But if you cannot explain it
to me, then you shall give me thirty linen garments and thirty changes of clothing."
2 Chron 9:1
Now when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to
Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions, having a very great retinue,
camels that bore spices, gold in abundance, and precious stones; and when she
came to Solomon, she spoke with him about all that was in her heart.
Ps 78:2
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Hab 2:6
6 "Will not all these take up a proverb against him,
And a taunting riddle against him, and say,
'Woe to him who increases
What is not his -- how long?
And to him who loads himself with many pledges'?
Vs 3 “ a great eagle” may represent Nebuchadnezzar , but as we have seen before
refers to Rome. When Jeremiah uses it , it is Babylon.
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Jer 48:40-42
40 For thus says the LORD:
"Behold, one shall fly like an eagle,
And spread his wings over Moab.
41 Kerioth is taken,
And the strongholds are surprised;
The mighty men's hearts in Moab on that day shall be
Like the heart of a woman in birth pangs.
42 And Moab shall be destroyed as a people,
Because he exalted himself against the LORD.
Isaiah uses “bird of prey” to mean Cyrus
Isa 46:11
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east,
The man who executes My counsel, from a far country.
Indeed I have spoken it;
I will also bring it to pass.
I have purposed it;
I will also do it.
Vs 3 “ came to Lebanon and took the highest branch” refers to taking the king
prisoner. Lebanon refers to the house that Solomon built
1 Kings 7:2
2 He also built the House of the Forest of Lebanon; its length was one hundred
cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits, with four rows of cedar
pillars, and cedar beams on the pillars.
2 Kings 24:10-12
10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against
Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. 11 And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon
came against the city, as his servants were besieging it. 12 Then Jehoiachin king of
Judah, his mother, his servants, his princes, and his officers went out to the king of
Babylon; and the king of Babylon, in the eighth year of his reign, took him
prisoner.
Vs 5 “ willows” refers to the trees in Babylon.
Ps 137:2-3
2 We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
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3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
Vs 7 the other great eagle was probably Egypt
Jer 44:30
30 "Thus says the LORD: 'Behold, I will give Pharaoh Hophra king of Egypt into
the hand of his enemies and into the hand of those who seek his life, as I gave
Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, his
enemy who sought his life.'
Ezek 17:9-10
9 "Say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Will it thrive?
Will he not pull up its roots,
Cut off its fruit,
And leave it to wither?
All of its spring leaves will wither,
And no great power or many people
Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.
10 Behold, it is planted,
Will it thrive?
Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?
It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew."'"
Both Jeremiah and Isaiah both warn them not to make an alliance with Egypt
Jer 37:7-10
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Thus you shall say to the king of Judah,
who sent you to Me to inquire of Me: "Behold, Pharaoh's army which has come up
to help you will return to Egypt, to their own land. 8 And the Chaldeans shall come
back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire."' 9 Thus says the
LORD: 'Do not deceive yourselves, saying, "The Chaldeans will surely depart
from us," for they will not depart. 10 For though you had defeated the whole army
of the Chaldeans who fight against you, and there remained only wounded men
among them, they would rise up, every man in his tent, and burn the city with
fire.'"
Isa 30:1-2
"Woe to the rebellious children," says the LORD,
"Who take counsel, but not of Me,
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And who devise plans, but not of My Spirit,
That they may add sin to sin;
2 Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Vs 10 “east wind” known to blow from the desert was very destructive. Here it has
reference to Babylon. In Hosea it is Assyria.
Hos 13:15
15 Though he is fruitful among his brethren,
An east wind shall come;
The wind of the LORD shall come up from the wilderness.
Then his spring shall become dry,
And his fountain shall be dried up.
He shall plunder the treasury of every desirable prize.
Ezek 17:11-15
11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 "Say now to the
rebellious house: 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Tell them, 'Indeed the
king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them
with him to Babylon. 13 And he took the king's offspring, made a covenant with
him, and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, 14 that the
kingdom might be brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his
covenant it might stand. 15 But he rebelled against him by sending his
ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he
prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still
be delivered?
2 Chron 36:11-14
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven
years in Jerusalem. 12 He did evil in the sight of the LORD his God, and did not
humble himself before Jeremiah the prophet, who spoke from the mouth of the
LORD. 13 And he also rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him
swear an oath by God; but he stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against
turning to the LORD God of Israel. 14 Moreover all the leaders of the priests and
the people transgressed more and more, according to all the abominations of the
nations, and defiled the house of the LORD which He had consecrated in
Jerusalem.
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Ezek 17:16-18
16'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'surely in the place where the king dwells who
made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke -- with him
in the midst of Babylon he shall die. 17 Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and
great company do anything in the war, when they heap up a siege mound and
build a wall to cut off many persons. 18 Since he despised the oath by breaking the
covenant, and in fact gave his hand and still did all these things, he shall not
escape.'"
2 Kings 25:1
Now it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth
day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army came
against Jerusalem and encamped against it; and they built a siege wall against it all
around.
Ezek 17:19-21
19 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "As I live, surely My oath which he
despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head. 20
I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him
to Babylon and try him there for the treason which he committed against Me. 21
All his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain
shall be scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the LORD, have
spoken." 22 Thus says the Lord GOD: "I will take also one of the highest branches
of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs
a tender one, and will plant it on a high and prominent mountain. 23 On the
mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear
fruit, and be a majestic cedar. Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow
of its branches they will dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I,
the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the
green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, the LORD, have spoken and have done
it."
Vs 22 is the promise of a remnant that will be made a mountain.
Isa 2:2
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD's house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
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Mic 4:1
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD's house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
Vs 23 “ birds of every sort”
Matt 13:31-32
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a
mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the
least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes
a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches."
Vs 24 “bought down the high tree and exalted the lowly”
Luke 1:51-52
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
Ezek 18:1-3
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "What do you mean when you
use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying: 'The fathers have eaten sour
grapes,
And the children's teeth are set on edge'? 3 "As I live," says the Lord GOD, "you
shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.
God tells Jeremiah the same
Jer 31:29-30
29 In those days they shall say no more:
'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children's teeth are set on edge.'
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour
grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
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This error came from a misunderstanding of the law.
Deut 5:9-10
For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 10 but
showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Lam 5:7
7 Our fathers sinned and are no more,
But we bear their iniquities.
They didn’t understand that the consequences of sin affected the children but did
not make them guilty unless they committed the same sin.
Deut 24:16
16 "Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to
death for their fathers; a person shall be put to death for his own sin.
Ezek 18:4-9
4 "Behold, all souls are Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
The soul who sins shall die.
5 But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right;
6 If he has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor's wife,
Nor approached a woman during her impurity;
7 If he has not oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
8 If he has not exacted usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And executed true judgment between man and man;
9 If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully --
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He is just;
He shall surely live!"
Says the Lord GOD.
God is just and desires all men to be saved
1 Tim 2:3-4
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all
men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
“Eat en on the high places” has reference to idol worship
Deut 12:2
2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall
dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under
every green tree.
“lifted up eyes” also idol worship
Deut 4:19
19 And take heed, lest you lift your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun, the
moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, you feel driven to worship them and
serve them, which the LORD your God has given to all the peoples under the
whole heaven as a heritage
Vs 7 refers to his dealings with his fellow man
Deut 24:12-13
12 And if the man is poor, you shall not keep his pledge overnight. 13 You shall in
any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep
in his own garment and bless you; and it shall be righteousness to you before the
LORD your God.
Lev 6:1-7
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "If a person sins and commits a trespass
against the LORD by lying to his neighbor about what was delivered to him for
safekeeping, or about a pledge, or about a robbery, or if he has extorted from his
neighbor, 3 or if he has found what was lost and lies concerning it, and swears
falsely -- in any one of these things that a man may do in which he sins: 4 then it
shall be, because he has sinned and is guilty, that he shall restore what he has
stolen, or the thing which he has extorted, or what was delivered to him for
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safekeeping, or the lost thing which he found, 5 or all that about which he has
sworn falsely. He shall restore its full value, add one-fifth more to it, and give it to
whomever it belongs, on the day of his trespass offering. 6 And he shall bring his
trespass offering to the LORD, a ram without blemish from the flock, with your
valuation, as a trespass offering, to the priest. 7 So the priest shall make atonement
for him before the LORD, and he shall be forgiven for any one of these things that
he may have done in which he trespasses."
Isa 58:6-7
6 "Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Vs 8 charging interest to fellow Jews was forbidden but was allowed for
foreigners.
Ex 22:25-26
25 "If you lend money to any of My people who are poor among you, you shall not
be like a moneylender to him; you shall not charge him interest.
Deut 23:19-20
19 "You shall not charge interest to your brother -- interest on money or food or
anything that is lent out at interest. 20 To a foreigner you may charge interest, but
to your brother you shall not charge interest, that the LORD your God may bless
you in all to which you set your hand in the land which you are entering to possess.
Luke 6:35
35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and
your reward will be great,
“Executed true judgment”
1 Sam 8:3
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3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took
bribes, and perverted justice.
Amos 5:12
12 For I know your manifold transgressions
And your mighty sins:
Afflicting the just and taking bribes;
Diverting the poor from justice at the gate.
Isa 33:15
15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly,
He who despises the gain of oppressions,
Who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes,
Who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed,
And shuts his eyes from seeing evil:
Ezek 18:10-13
10 "If he begets a son who is a robber
Or a shedder of blood,
Who does any of these things
11 And does none of those duties,
But has eaten on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor's wife;
12 If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or committed abomination;
13 If he has exacted usury
Or taken increase -Shall he then live?
He shall not live!
If he has done any of these abominations,
He shall surely die;
His blood shall be upon him.
Vs 12 abomination used 117 in OT, 43 times in Ezekiel
OT:8441
tow` ebah (to-ay-baw'); or to` ebah (to-ay-baw'); feminine active participle of
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OT:8581; properly, something disgusting (morally), i.e. (as noun) an abhorrence;
especially idolatry or (concretely) an idol: KJV - abominable (custom, thing),
abomination.
Lev 18:21-23
22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. 23 Nor
shall you mate with any animal, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman
stand before an animal to mate with it. It is perversion.
Deut 7:25-26
25 You shall burn the carved images of their gods with fire; you shall not covet the
silver or gold that is on them, nor take it for yourselves, lest you be snared by it;
for it is an abomination to the LORD your God. 26 Nor shall you bring an
abomination into your house, lest you be doomed to destruction like it. You shall
utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing.
Deut 13:12-16
12 "If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives
you to dwell in, saying, 13'Corrupt men have gone out from among you and
enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods"' -which you have not known -- 14 then you shall inquire, search out, and ask
diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was
committed among you, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with
the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock -- with
the edge of the sword.
Prov 6:16-19
16 These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19 A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Ezek 18:14-17
14 "If, however, he begets a son
Who sees all the sins which his father has done,
And considers but does not do likewise;
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15 Who has not eaten on the mountains,
Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor's wife;
16 Has not oppressed anyone,
Nor withheld a pledge,
Nor robbed by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
17 Who has withdrawn his hand from the poorAnd not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments
And walked in My statutes -He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;
He shall surely live!
18 "As for his father,
Because he cruelly oppressed,
Robbed his brother by violence,
And did what is not good among his people,
Behold, he shall die for his iniquity.
Vs 17 he shall surely live in the Hebrew is “living he shall live”
Ezek 18:19-23
"Yet you say, 'Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?' Because the son
has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them,
he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt
of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the
righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon
himself. 21 "But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed,
keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he
shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be
remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall
live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?" says the Lord
GOD, "and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
Vs 20 “ the soul that sins shall die” this scripture clearly teaches against
Calvinistic doctrines of predestination and once saved always saved.
1 Cor 9:27
7 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached
to others, I myself should become disqualified.
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1 Cor 10:12
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Vs 23 God does not want any to be lost.
1 Tim 2:3-4
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all
men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come
to repentance.
Ezek 18:24
24 "But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits
iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does,
shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered;
because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has
committed, because of them he shall die.
Vs 24 when one falls away knowing the truth it is almost impossible to restore them
because they have hardened their heart
Heb 6:4-6
4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the
heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the
good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 if they fall away, to renew
them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God,
and put Him to an open shame.
2 Peter 2:20-22
0 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and
overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have
been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having
known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has
happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit,"
and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."
Ezek 18:25-32
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25 "Yet you say,'The way of the Lord is not fair.' Hear now, O house of Israel, is it
not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous
man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is
because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked
man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful
and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from
all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29
Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not fair.' O house of Israel, is it
not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair? 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 get 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!"
If we repent God will save us
Ezek 11:19-21
19 Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and
take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they
may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be
My people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts follow the
desire for their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their
deeds on their own heads," says the Lord GOD.
Ezek 14:6
6 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Repent, turn
away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
Ezek 19:1-4
"Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say:
'What is your mother? A lioness:
She lay down among the lions;
Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs,
And he became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey,
And he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him;
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He was trapped in their pit,
And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt.
“Princes of Israel” refers to the sons of Josiah. The reference to lions goes back to
Jacob’s blessings.
Gen 49:9
9 Judah is a lion's whelp;
From the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion;
And as a lion, who shall rouse him?
The cub taken to Egypt refers to Jehoahaz also known as Shalum.
Jer 22:11-12
For thus says the LORD concerning Shallum the son of Josiah, king of Judah, who
reigned instead of Josiah his father, who went from this place: "He shall not return
here anymore, 12 but he shall die in the place where they have led him captive, and
shall see this land no more.
2 Kings 23:31-34
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three
months in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of
Libnah. 32 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his
fathers had done. 33 Now Pharaoh Necho put him in prison at Riblah in the land of
Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem; and he imposed on the land a tribute
of one hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 Then Pharaoh Necho made
Eliakim the son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and changed his name
to Jehoiakim. And Pharaoh took Jehoahaz and went to Egypt, and he died there.
Ezek 19:5-7
5'When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost,
She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6 He roved among the lions,
And became a young lion;
He learned to catch prey;
He devoured men.
7 He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities;
The land with its fullness was desolated
By the noise of his roaring.
8 Then
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the nations set against him from the provinces on every side,
And spread their net over him;
He was trapped in their pit.
9 They put him in a cage with chains,
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in nets,
That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.
Vs 5 probably refers to Jehoiachin
Vs 7 desolate place is actually the word for widow. Every where else is translated
widow except here and in Isa 13.
OT:490
almanah (al-maw-naw'); fem of OT:488; a widow; also a desolate place:
KJV - desolate house (palace), widow.
Isa 13:22
22 The hyenas will howl in their citadels,
And jackals in their pleasant palaces.
Her time is near to come,
And her days will not be prolonged."
Vs 9 refers to Zedekiah the last king of Judah
2 Kings 25:5-7
5 But the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him in the
plains of Jericho. All his army was scattered from him. 6 So they took the king and
brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment
on him. 7 Then they killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, put out the eyes of
Zedekiah, bound him with bronze fetters, and took him to Babylon.
Ezek 19:10-20:1
10'Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, Planted by the waters,
Fruitful and full of branches
Because of many waters.
11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers.
She towered in stature above the thick branches,
And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage.
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12 But she was plucked up in fury,
She was cast down to the ground,
And the east wind dried her fruit.
Her strong branches were broken and withered;
The fire consumed them.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire has come out from a rod of her branches
And devoured her fruit,
So that she has no strong branch -- a scepter for ruling.'"
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
“Like a vine” is very similar to Ezek 17:6
Ezek 17:6
6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature;
Its branches turned toward him,
But its roots were under it.
So it became a vine,
Brought forth branches,
And put forth shoots.
Vine is also used in the new testament.
John 15:1-7
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that
does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that
it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have
spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of
itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 "I am
the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much
fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is
cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them
into the fire, and they are burned.
This occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70.
Rev 14:18-20
18 And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he
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cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp
sickle and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are fully
ripe." 19 So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the
earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20 And the
winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up
to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.
Look at vs. 14.
Ezekiel 19:14
14 Fire has come out from a rod of her branches
And devoured her fruit,
So that she has no strong branch -- a scepter for ruling.'"
Rod of her branches refers to a descendant of the king and fire came from it. This
can only be Jesus, no other king destroyed them. This was prophesied in Isa.
Isa 11:1-4
There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.
3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
Ezek 20:1-4
It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the
month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and sat
before me. 2 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 "Son of man,
speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Have you
come to inquire of Me? As I live," says the Lord GOD,"I will not be inquired of by
you."' 4 Will you judge them, son of man, will you judge them? Then make known
to them the abominations of their fathers.
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Vs 3 is the same as God had said earlier in Ezek 14
Ezek 14:2-3
2 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 3 "Son of man, these men have
set up their idols in their hearts, and put before them that which causes them to
stumble into iniquity. Should I let Myself be inquired of at all by them?
Ezek 20:5-9
5 "Say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On the day when I chose Israel and
raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made
Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them,
saying, 'I am the LORD your God.' 6 On that day I raised My hand in an oath to
them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for
them, 'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands. 7 Then I said to them,
'Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not
defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.' 8 But they
rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the
abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.
Then I said, 'I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in
the midst of the land of Egypt.' 9 But I acted for My name's sake, that it should not
be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in whose sight I had
made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
Vs 5 God made an oath to them.
Ex 6:8-9
8 And I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob; and I will give it to you as a heritage: I am the LORD.'"
Vs 6 “ land of milk and honey”
Ex 3:7-8
8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to
bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk
and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the
Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
Ezek 20:10-17
10 "Therefore I made them go out of the land of Egypt and brought them into the
wilderness. 11 And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments,
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'which, if a man does, he shall live by them.' 12 Moreover I also gave them My
Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I am the
LORD who sanctifies them. 13 Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the
wilderness; they did not walk in My statutes; they despised My judgments ,'which,
if a man does, he shall live by them'; and they greatly defiled My Sabbaths. Then I
said I would pour out My fury on them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But
I acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned before the Gentiles, in
whose sight I had brought them out. 15 So I also raised My hand in an oath to them
in the wilderness, that I would not bring them into the land which I had given
them, 'flowing with milk and honey,' the glory of all lands, 16 because they
despised My judgments and did not walk in My statutes, but profaned My
Sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols. 17 Nevertheless My eye spared
them from destruction. I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
God gave them commandments for their own good
Deut 30:15-31:1
15 "See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I
command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep
His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and
multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to
possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn
away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you
shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross
over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today
against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing;
therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you
may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may
cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may
dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, to give them."
Vs 12 he gave them the Sabbath
Ex 31:12-14
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 13 "Speak also to the children of Israel,
saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you
throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who
sanctifies you. 14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you.
Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work
on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people.
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Isa 56:2
Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil
Jer 17:21-23
21 Thus says the LORD: "Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the
Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 nor carry a burden out of
your houses on the Sabbath day, nor do any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I
commanded your fathers. 23 But they did not obey nor incline their ear, but made
their neck stiff, that they might not hear nor receive instruction.
vs. 15 he was ready to destroy them in the wilderness
Num 14:26-29
And the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 "How long shall I bear with
this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints
which the children of Israel make against Me. 28 Say to them, 'As I live,' says the
LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:
Amos 5:25-27
25 "Did you offer Me sacrifices and offerings
In the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel?
26 You also carried Sikkuth your kingAnd Chiun, your idols,
The star of your gods,
Which you made for yourselves.
27 Therefore I will send you into captivity beyond Damascus,"
Says the LORD, whose name is the God of hosts.
Ezek 20:18-20
18 "But I said to their children in the wilderness, 'Do not walk in the statutes of
your fathers, nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. 19
I am the LORD your God: Walk in My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them;
20 hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may
know that I am the LORD your God.'
21 "Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My
statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, 'which, if a man does, he
shall live by them'; but they profaned My Sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out
My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness. 22
Nevertheless I withdrew My hand and acted for My name's sake, that it should not
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be profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in whose sight I had brought them out. 23
Also I raised My hand in an oath to those in the wilderness, that I would scatter
them among the Gentiles and disperse them throughout the countries, 24 because
they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My statutes, profaned My
Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers' idols.
Vs 23 is from Deut
Deut 28:36-37
36 "The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation
which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other
gods -- wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and
a byword among all nations where the LORD will drive you.
Ezek 20:25-26
25 "Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and judgments by
which they could not live; 26 and I pronounced them unclean because of their
ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to pass through the fire, that I
might make them desolate and that they might know that I am the LORD."'
Vs 25 God allows us to go deeper in sin.
Rom 1:24-25
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to
dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for
the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen.
2 Thess 2:10-12
11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should
believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but
had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Ps 81:12
12 So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart,
To walk in their own counsels.
Ezek 20:27-32
27 "Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, 'Thus says
the Lord GOD: "In this too your fathers have blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful
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to Me. 28 When I brought them into the land concerning which I had raised My
hand in an oath to give them, and they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees,
there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings. There they
also sent up their sweet aroma and poured out their drink offerings. 29 Then I said
to them, 'What is this high place to which you go?' So its name is called Bamah to
this day."' 30 Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Are
you defiling yourselves in the manner of your fathers, and committing harlotry
according to their abominations? 31 For when you offer your gifts and make your
sons pass through the fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols, even to this
day. So shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live," says the Lord
GOD, "I will not be inquired of by you. 32 What you have in your mind shall never
be, when you say, 'We will be like the Gentiles, like the families in other countries,
serving wood and stone.'
Isa 57:5
5 Inflaming yourselves with gods under every green tree,
Slaying the children in the valleys,
Under the clefts of the rocks?
Jer 2:20
20 "For of old I have broken your yoke and burst your bonds;
And you said, 'I will not transgress,'
When on every high hill and under every green tree
You lay down, playing the harlot.
Isa 65:3-5
3 A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
4 Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
Who eat swine's flesh,
And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
5 Who say, 'Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!'
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.
Ezek 20:33-38
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As I live," says the Lord GOD, "surely with a mighty hand, with an outstretched
arm, and with fury poured out, I will rule over you. 34 I will bring you out from the
peoples and gather you out of the countries where you are scattered, with a mighty
hand, with an outstretched arm, and with fury poured out. 35 And I will bring you
into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I will plead My case with you face to
face. 36 Just as I pleaded My case with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of
Egypt, so I will plead My case with you," says the Lord GOD. 37 "I will make you
pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant; 38 I will
purge the rebels from among you, and those who transgress against Me; I will
bring them out of the country where they dwell, but they shall not enter the land of
Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
God promises a remnant to return
Isa 11:11
11 It shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time
To recover the remnant of His people who are left,
From Assyria and Egypt,
From Pathros and Cush,
From Elam and Shinar,
From Hamath and the islands of the sea.
Fulfilled in Ezra
Ezra 8:21-23
Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble
ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones
and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of
soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had
spoken to the king, saying,"The hand of our God is upon all those for good who
seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him." 23
So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer.
Ezek 20:39-44
39 "As for you, O house of Israel," thus says the Lord GOD:" Go, serve every one
of you his idols -- and hereafter -- if you will not obey Me; but profane My holy
name no more with your gifts and your idols. 40 For on My holy mountain, on the
mountain height of Israel," says the Lord GOD, "there all the house of Israel, all of
them in the land, shall serve Me; there I will accept them, and there I will require
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your offerings and the firstfruits of your sacrifices, together with all your holy
things. 41 I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the
peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I
will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. 42 Then you shall know that I am the
LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised
My hand in an oath to give to your fathers. 43 And there you shall remember your
ways and all your doings with which you were defiled; and you shall loathe
yourselves in your own sight because of all the evils that you have committed. 44
Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for My
name's sake, not according to your wicked ways nor according to your corrupt
doings, O house of Israel," says the Lord GOD.'"
Josh 24:19-20
19 But Joshua said to the people, "You cannot serve the LORD, for He is a holy
God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20
If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you
harm and consume you, after He has done you good."
Again reference to the mountain
Mic 4:1
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD's house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
Isa 2:2
2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD's house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it.
God will be hallowed
Lev 10:3
And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying:
'By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
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And before all the people
I must be glorified.'"
Ezek 20:45-49
Furthermore the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 46 "Son of man, set your
face toward the south; preach against the south and prophesy against the forest
land, the South, 47 and say to the forest of the South, 'Hear the word of the
LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I will kindle a fire in you, and it shall
devour every green tree and every dry tree in you; the blazing flame shall not be
quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be scorched by it. 48 All
flesh shall see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched."'" 49
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me, 'Does he not speak parables?'"
vs. 47 referring to green and dry tree is similar to Jesus’ statement
Luke 23:28-31
But
Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do
not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For indeed the
days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never
bore, and breasts which never nursed!' 30 Then they will begin 'to say to the
mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!"' 31 For if they do these
things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"
Vs 49 they do not understand what has said
Mark 8:21
21 So He said to them, "How is it you do not understand?"
Ezek 21:1-7
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face
toward Jerusalem, preach against the holy places, and prophesy against the land
of Israel; 3 and say to the land of Israel, 'Thus says the LORD: "Behold, I am
against you, and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off both righteous
and wicked from you. 4 Because I will cut off both righteous and wicked from you,
therefore My sword shall go out of its sheath against all flesh from south to north,
5 that all flesh may know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its
sheath; it shall not return anymore."' 6 Sigh therefore, son of man, with a breaking
heart, and sigh with bitterness before their eyes. 7 And it shall be when they say to
you, 'Why are you sighing?' that you shall answer, 'Because of the news; when it
comes, every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint, and all
knees will be weak as water. Behold, it is coming and shall be brought to pass,'
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says the Lord GOD."
Notice the three things- Jerusalem, holy places, and land of Israel. The number
three means that the punishment is from God.
Ezek 21:8-11
8 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 9 "Son of man, prophesy and
say, 'Thus says the LORD!' Say:
'A sword, a sword is sharpened
And also polished!
10 Sharpened to make a dreadful slaughter,
Polished to flash like lightning!
Should we then make mirth?
It despises the scepter of My son,
As it does all wood.
11 And He has given it to be polished,
That it may be handled;
This sword is sharpened, and it is polished
To be given into the hand of the slayer.'
Vs 8 “sword” is very similar to Deut 32.
Deut 32:41
41 If I whet My glittering sword,
And My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to My enemies,
And repay those who hate Me.
Very similar to Jesus’ parable of the minas.
Luke 19:27
27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them,
and slay them before me.'"
Vs 10 “ despises the scepter of my son” refers to the line of kings from Judah.
Gen 49:10
0 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
Nor a lawgiver from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes;
And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.
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Look at the word “Shiloh”. There was city where they worshipped in the north
named Shiloh but the meaning of the word is very interesting.
OT:7886
Shiyloh (shee-lo'); from OT:7951; tranquil; Shiloh, an epithet of the Messiah:
OT:7951
shalah (shaw-law'); or shalav (Job 3:26) (shaw-lav'); a primitive root; to be
tranquil, i.e. secure or successful:
Ezek 21:12-13
12 "Cry and wail, son of man;
For it will be against My people,
Against all the princes of Israel.
Terrors including the sword will be against My people;
Therefore strike your thigh.
13 "Because it is a testing,
And what if the sword despises even the scepter?
The scepter shall be no more,"
says the Lord GOD.
“Strike your thigh” was a gesture of mourning.
Jer 31:19
19 Surely, after my turning, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.
Ezek 21:14-17
14 "You therefore, son of man, prophesy,
And strike your hands together.
The third time let the sword do double damage.
It is the sword that slays,
The sword that slays the great men,
That enters their private chambers.
15 I have set the point of the sword against all their gates,
That the heart may melt and many may stumble.
Ah! It is made bright;
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It is grasped for slaughter:
16 "Swords at the ready!
Thrust right!
Set your blade!
Thrust left -Wherever your edge is ordered!
17 "I also will beat My fists together,
And I will cause My fury to rest;
I, the LORD, have spoken."
Vs 14 “the third “ makes reference to God and on Nebuchadnezzar’s third
invasion he destroyed Jerusalem.
Ezek 21:18-23
18 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying: 19 "And son of man, appoint
for yourself two ways for the sword of the king of Babylon to go; both of them
shall go from the same land. Make a sign; put it at the head of the road to the city.
20 Appoint a road for the sword to go to Rabbah of the Ammonites, and to Judah,
into fortified Jerusalem. 21 For the king of Babylon stands at the parting of the
road, at the fork of the two roads, to use divination: he shakes the arrows, he
consults the images, he looks at the liver. 22 In his right hand is the divination for
Jerusalem: to set up battering rams, to call for a slaughter, to lift the voice with
shouting, to set battering rams against the gates, to heap up a siege mound, and to
build a wall. 23 And it will be to them like a false divination in the eyes of those
who have sworn oaths with them; but he will bring their iniquity to remembrance,
that they may be taken.
Look at “divination”
OT:7081
qecem (keh'-sem); from OT:7080; a lot: also divination (including its fee), oracle:
KJV - (reward of) divination, divine sentence, witchcraft.
OT:7080
qacam (kaw-sam'); a primitive root; properly, to distribute, i.e. determine by lot or
magical scroll; by implication, to divine:
KJV - divine (-r, -ation), prudent, soothsayer, use [divination].
Vs 23 Zedekiah and the people had sworn an oath to Babylon but they broke it by
making an alliance with Egypt.
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Ezek 21:24-27
24 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have made your iniquity to
be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your
doings your sins appear -- because you have come to remembrance, you shall be
taken in hand. 25'Now to you, O profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day has
come, whose iniquity shall end, 26 thus says the Lord GOD:
"Remove the turban, and take off the crown;
Nothing shall remain the same.
Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted.
27 Overthrown, overthrown,
I will make it overthrown!
It shall be no longer,
Until He comes whose right it is,
And I will give it to Him."'
Vs 25 “ wicked prince” refers to Zedekiah. Vs 26 “ turban” was official headdress
of the priests.
OT:4701
mitsnepheth (mits-neh'-feth); from OT:6801; a tiara, i.e. official turban (of a king
or high priest):
Ex 28:3-4
3 So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the
spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments, to consecrate him, that he
may minister to Me as priest. 4 And these are the garments which they shall make:
a breastplate, an ephod, a robe, a skillfully woven tunic, a turban, and a sash. So
they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons, that he may
minister to Me as priest.
Vs 27 refers to Jesus
Ezek 34:23-24
23 I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them -- My servant
David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be
their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
Ezek 21:28-32
"And you, son of man, prophesy and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD concerning the
Ammonites and concerning their reproach,' and say:
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'A sword, a sword is drawn,
Polished for slaughter,
For consuming, for flashing -29 While they see false visions for you,
While they divine a lie to you,
To bring you on the necks of the wicked, the slain
Whose day has come,
Whose iniquity shall end.
30'Return it to its sheath.
I will judge you
In the place where you were created,
In the land of your nativity.
31 I will pour out My indignation on you;
I will blow against you with the fire of My wrath,
And deliver you into the hands of brutal men who are skillful to destroy.
32 You shall be fuel for the fire;
Your blood shall be in the midst of the land.
You shall not be remembered,
For I the LORD have spoken.'"
Ammon was a constant threat to Israel
Zeph 2:8-9
8 "I have heard the reproach of Moab,
And the insults of the people of Ammon,
With which they have reproached My people,
And made arrogant threats against their borders.
9 Therefore, as I live,"
Says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel,
"Surely Moab shall be like Sodom,
And the people of Ammon like Gomorrah -Overrun with weeds and saltpits,
And a perpetual desolation.
The residue of My people shall plunder them,
And the remnant of My people shall possess them."
Ezek 25:1-5
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against
the Ammonites, and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, 'Hear the
word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you said, 'Aha!'
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against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it
was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, 4
indeed, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of the East, and they
shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they
shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 And I will make Rabbah a
stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you shall know that I
am the LORD."
Ezek 22:1-5
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Now, son of man, will
you judge, will you judge the bloody city? Yes, show her all her abominations! 3
Then say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "The city sheds blood in her own midst, that
her time may come; and she makes idols within herself to defile herself. 4 You
have become guilty by the blood which you have shed, and have defiled yourself
with the idols which you have made. You have caused your days to draw near, and
have come to the end of your years; therefore I have made you a reproach to the
nations, and a mockery to all countries. 5 Those near and those far from you will
mock you as infamous and full of tumult.
“Bloody city” is often used. Nahum uses it to describe Ninevah and Isaiah uses it
to describe Jerusalem.
Nah 3:1
Woe to the bloody city!
It is all full of lies and robbery.
Its victim never departs.
Isa 1:15
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood.
Isa 4:4-5:1
4 When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and purged
the blood of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit
of burning, 5 then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount
Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a
flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. 6 And there
will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge,
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and for a shelter from storm and rain.
Isaiah 4 has reference to when God destroyed Jerusalem by Rome.
Look at verse 4 “the end of your years”
OT:3117
yowm (yome); from an unused root meaning to be hot; a day (as the warm hours),
whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or
figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), [often used adverb]:
KJV - age, always, chronicals, continually (-ance), daily, ([birth-], each, to) day,
(now a, two) days (agone), elder, end, evening, (for) ever (-lasting, -more), full,
life, as (so) long as (... live), (even) now, old, outlived, perpetually, presently,
remaineth, required, season, since, space, then, (process of) time, as at other times,
in trouble, weather, (as) when, (a, the, within a) while (that), whole (+age), (full)
year (-ly), younger.
X (multiplication) denotes a rendering in the A.V. that results from an idiom
peculiar to the Hebrew.
Look at verse 5“tumult”
OT:4103
mehuwmah (meh-hoo-maw'); from OT:1949; confusion or uproar:
KJV - destruction, discomfiture, trouble, tumult, vexation, vexed.
Zech 14:13
13 It shall come to pass in that day
That a great panic from the LORD will be among them.
Everyone will seize the hand of his neighbor,
And raise his hand against his neighbor's hand;
Ezek 22:6-12
6 "Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. 7
In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have
oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. 8
You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths. 9 In you are men
who slander to cause bloodshed; in you are those who eat on the mountains; in
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your midst they commit lewdness. 10 In you men uncover their fathers' nakedness;
in you they violate women who are set apart during their impurity. 11 One commits
abomination with his neighbor's wife; another lewdly defiles his daughter-in-law;
and another in you violates his sister, his father's daughter. 12 In you they take
bribes to shed blood; you take usury and increase; you have made profit from your
neighbors by extortion, and have forgotten Me," says the Lord GOD.
The princes refers to the evil kings of Judah.
2 Kings 21:16
16 Moreover Manasseh shed very much innocent blood, till he had filled
Jerusalem from one end to another, besides his sin by which he made Judah sin, in
doing evil in the sight of the LORD
2 Kings 24:1-4
In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his
vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD
sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites,
and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it,
according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the
prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the LORD this came upon Judah, to
remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that
he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had
filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the LORD would not pardon.
Vs 7 they did not honor their parents. And they oppressed the stranger.
Ex 20:12
12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land
which the LORD your God is giving you.
Deut 27:16
16'Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.'
Deut 27:19
19'Cursed is the one who perverts the justice due the stranger, the fatherless, and
widow.'
Vs 9 “slander”
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Ex 23:1
"You shall not circulate a false report
Lev 19:16
16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a
stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD.
Look at what they did to Jeremiah
Jer 37:13-14
3 And when he was in the Gate of Benjamin, a captain of the guard was there
whose name was Irijah the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he seized
Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "You are defecting to the Chaldeans!" 14 Then
Jeremiah said, "False! I am not defecting to the Chaldeans." But he did not listen to
him.
Vs 9 they committed lewdness on the mountains as part of their idol worship.
Lev 20:10-16
10'The man who commits adultery with another man's wife, he who commits
adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress, shall surely be
put to death. 11 The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's
nakedness; both of them shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon
them. 12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to
death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. 13 If a
man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an
abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. 14
If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned
with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. 15 If a
man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the
animal. 16 If a woman approaches any animal and mates with it, you shall kill the
woman and the animal. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood is upon
them.
They were very similar to the gentiles.
Rom 1:28-32
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them
over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled
with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness,
maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are
whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil
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things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving,
unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that
those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but
also approve of those who practice them.
Ezek 22:13-17
13 "Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made,
and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. 14 Can your heart endure, or
can your hands remain strong, in the days when I shall deal with you? I, the
LORD, have spoken, and will do it. 15 I will scatter you among the nations,
disperse you throughout the countries, and remove your filthiness completely from
you. 16 You shall defile yourself in the sight of the nations; then you shall know
that I am the LORD."'"
“Beat my fist only occurs here and in Ezek 21:17.
Ezek 21:17
17 "I also will beat My fists together,
And I will cause My fury to rest;
I, the LORD, have spoken."
Ezek 22:17-22
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man, the house of Israel
has become dross to Me; they are all bronze, tin, iron, and lead, in the midst of a
furnace; they have become dross from silver. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord
GOD: 'Because you have all become dross, therefore behold, I will gather you into
the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As men gather silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into the
midst of a furnace, to blow fire on it, to melt it; so I will gather you in My anger
and in My fury, and I will leave you there and melt you. 21 Yes, I will gather you
and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst. 22
As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall you be melted in its midst;
then you shall know that I, the LORD, have poured out My fury on you.
Vs 19 “ I will gather you into Jerusalem and melt you” This did not occur by
Babylon but by Rome as prophesied by Malachi.
Mal 3:2-3
2 "But who can endure the day of His coming?
And who can stand when He appears?
For He is like a refiner's fire
And like launderers' soap.
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3 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver;
He will purify the sons of Levi,
And purge them as gold and silver,
That they may offer to the LORD
An offering in righteousness.
Peter prophesies this also but the Christian will endure
1 Peter 1:6-9
6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have
been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much
more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to
praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, 8 whom having not
seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy
inexpressible and full of glory, 9 receiving the end of your faith -- the salvation of
your souls.
Peter gives us the time frame when it will occur.
1 Peter 4:7
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your
prayers.
1 Peter 4:12-13
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as
though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you
partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be
glad with exceeding joy.
1 Peter 4:17-18
17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it
begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of
God?
Ezek 22:23-26
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 24 "Son of man, say to her: 'You
are a land that is not cleansed or rained on in the day of indignation.' 25 The
conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they
have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have
made many widows in her midst. 26 Her priests have violated My law and
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profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy,
nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and
they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.
Vs 24 “ no rain” is a description of the punishment God will bring
Isa 5:6-7
6 I will lay it waste;
It shall not be pruned or dug,
But there shall come up briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it."
7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
Vs 25 “ roaring lions”
Zeph 3:3-4
3 Her princes in her midst are roaring lions;
Her judges are evening wolves
That leave not a bone till morning.
4 Her prophets are insolent, treacherous people;
Her priests have polluted the sanctuary,
They have done violence to the law.
1 Peter 5:8
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a
roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour
Vs 26 “ difference between clean and unclean”
Lev 10:9-11
It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations, 10 that you may
distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean, 11 and that
you may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD has spoken to
them by the hand of Moses."
John 7:24
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24 Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."
Ezek 22:27-31
27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to
destroy people, and to get dishonest gain. 28 Her prophets plastered them with
untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, 'Thus
says the Lord GOD,' when the LORD had not spoken. 29 The people of the land
have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and
they wrongfully oppress the stranger. 30 So I sought for a man among them who
would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I
should not destroy it; but I found no one. 31 Therefore I have poured out My
indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of My wrath; and I have
recompensed their deeds on their own heads," says the Lord GOD.
Vs 27 “wolves”
Matt 7:15-16
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they
are ravenous wolves.
Acts 20:29-30
29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you,
not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking
perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.
Vs 28 “untemperate mortar” we have looked at this earlier.
Ezek 13:10-11
10 "Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying,'Peace!' when
there is no peace -- and one builds a wall, and they plaster it with untempered
mortar -- 11 say to those who plaster it with untempered mortar, that it will fall
Vs 30 “ sought for a man” He could not find one. Contrast the time in the
wilderness.
Ps 106:23
23 Therefore He said that He would destroy them,
Had not Moses His chosen one stood before Him in the breach,
To turn away His wrath, lest He destroy them.
Jer 5:1
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"Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem;
See now and know;
And seek in her open places
If you can find a man,
If there is anyone who executes judgment,
Who seeks the truth,
And I will pardon her.
Vs 30 “ land” is the correct translation where many times it is translated “earth”
and has given us the wrong conclusion”
OT:776
'erets (eh'-rets); from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at
large, or partitively a land):
KJV - common, country, earth, field, ground, land, natins, way, wilderness, world.
Let’s look at just a few examples of how it is translated correct in one verse but not
in another. It’s all the same word!
Isa 10:23
23 For the Lord GOD of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the
midst of all the land.
Isa 11:4
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the
meek of the earth and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with
the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (Land)
Isa 11:9
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. (Land)
Isa 13:9
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to
lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
Isa 13:13
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place,
in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. (Land)
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Vs 31“ recompensed their deeds”
1 Thess 2:16
, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them
to the uttermost.
Matt 23:31-37
31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who
murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt. 33
Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? 34
Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you
will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and
persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all the righteous blood
shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son
of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Assuredly,
I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
Ezek 23:1-4
The word of the LORD came again to me, saying:
2 "Son of man, there were two women,
The daughters of one mother.
3 They committed harlotry in Egypt,
They committed harlotry in their youth;
Their breasts were there embraced,
Their virgin bosom was there pressed.
4 Their names: Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister;
They were Mine,
And they bore sons and daughters.
As for their names,
Samaria is Oholah, and Jerusalem is Oholibah.
OT:170
'Oholah (o-hol-aw'); in form a feminine of OT:168, but in fact for 'Oholahh (o-holaw'); from OT:168; her tent (i.e. idolatrous sanctuary); Oholah, a symbol. name for
Samaria:
KJV - Aholah.
OT:172
'Oholiybah (o''- hol-ee-baw'); (similarly with OT:170) for 'Oholiybahh (o''- hol-ebaw'); from OT:168; my tent (is) in her; Oholibah, a symbolic name for Judah:
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KJV - Aholibah.
The only place these 2 names are used is this chapter.
Ezek 23:5-8
"Oholah played the harlot even though she was Mine;
And she lusted for her lovers, the neighboring Assyrians,
6 Who were clothed in purple,
Captains and rulers,
All of them desirable young men,
Horsemen riding on horses.
7 Thus she committed her harlotry with them,
All of them choice men of Assyria;
And with all for whom she lusted,
With all their idols, she defiled herself.
8 She has never given up her harlotry brought from Egypt,
For in her youth they had lain with her,
Pressed her virgin bosom,
And poured out their immorality upon her.
“played the harlot” has reference to their making alliances with other nations
instead of relying on God.
Ezek 16:32-34
33 Men make payment to all harlots, but you made your payments to all your
lovers, and hired them to come to you from all around for your harlotry.
2 Kings 15:20
20 And Menahem exacted the money from Israel, from all the very wealthy, from
each man fifty shekels of silver, to give to the king of Assyria. So the king of
Assyria turned back, and did not stay there in the land.
Hos 7:11-12
"Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without sense -They call to Egypt,
They go to Assyria.
12 Wherever they go, I will spread My net on them;
I will bring them down like birds of the air;
I will chastise them
According to what their congregation has heard.
2 Kings 17:4
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4 And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent
messengers to So, king of Egypt, and brought no tribute to the king of Assyria, as
he had done year by year. Therefore the king of Assyria shut him up, and bound
him in prison.
Ezek 23:9-11
9 "Therefore I have delivered her
Into the hand of her lovers,
Into the hand of the Assyrians,
For whom she lusted.
10 They uncovered her nakedness,
Took away her sons and daughters,
And slew her with the sword;
She became a byword among women,
For they had executed judgment on her.
Verses 9 and 10 refer to God giving them to the Assyrians.
Ezek 23:11-16
"Now although her sister Oholibah saw this, she became more corrupt in her lust
than she, and in her harlotry more corrupt than her sister's harlotry.
12 "She lusted for the neighboring Assyrians,
Captains and rulers,
Clothed most gorgeously,
Horsemen riding on horses,
All of them desirable young men.
13 Then I saw that she was defiled;
Both took the same way.
14 But she increased her harlotry;
She looked at men portrayed on the wall,
Images of Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion,
15 Girded with belts around their waists,
Flowing turbans on their heads,
All of them looking like captains,
In the manner of the Babylonians of Chaldea,
The land of their nativity.
16 As soon as her eyes saw them,
She lusted for them
And sent messengers to them in Chaldea.
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2 Kings 16:7-9
7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, saying, "I am your
servant and your son. Come up and save me from the hand of the king of Syria and
from the hand of the king of Israel, who rise up against me." 8 And Ahaz took the
silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD, and in the treasuries of
the king's house, and sent it as a present to the king of Assyria. 9 So the king of
Assyria heeded him; for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and took it,
carried its people captive to Kir, and killed Rezin.
Isa 39:1-2
At that time Merodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters
and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and had recovered. 2
And Hezekiah was pleased with them, and showed them the house of his treasures
-- the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory -- all
that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his
dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
Ezek 23:17-21
17 "Then the Babylonians came to her, into the bed of love,
And they defiled her with their immorality;
So she was defiled by them, and alienated herself from them.
18 She revealed her harlotry and uncovered her nakedness.
Then I alienated Myself from her,
As I had alienated Myself from her sister.
19 "Yet she multiplied her harlotry
In calling to remembrance the days of her youth,
When she had played the harlot in the land of Egypt.
20 For she lusted for her paramours,
Whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys,
And whose issue is like the issue of horses.
21 Thus you called to remembrance the lewdness of your youth,
When the Egyptians pressed your bosom
Because of your youthful breasts.
OT:6370
piylegesh (pee-leh'-ghesh); or pilegesh (pee-leh'-ghesh); of uncertain derivation; a
concubine; also (masculine) a paramour:
KJV - concubine, paramour.
Judg 8:31
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31 And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, whose name he
called Abimelech
Ezek 23:22-24
"Therefore, Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD:
'Behold, I will stir up your lovers against you,
From whom you have alienated yourself,
And I will bring them against you from every side:
23 The Babylonians,
All the Chaldeans,
Pekod, Shoa, Koa,
All the Assyrians with them,
All of them desirable young men,
Governors and rulers,
Captains and men of renown,
All of them riding on horses.
24 And they shall come against you
With chariots, wagons, and war-horses,
With a horde of people.
They shall array against you
Buckler, shield, and helmet all around.
'I will delegate judgment to them,
And they shall judge you according to their judgments.
OT:6489
Peqowd (pek-ode'); from OT:6485; punishment; Pekod, a symbolic name for Bab.:
KJV - Pekod.
OT:7772
Showa` (sho'-ah); the same as OT:7771; rich; Shoa, an Oriental people:
KJV - Shoa.
OT:6970
Qowa` (ko'-ah); probably from OT:6972 in the original sense of cutting off;
curtailment; Koa, a region of Bab.:
KJV - Koa.
Ezek 23:25-27
25 I will set My jealousy against you,
And they shall deal furiously with you;
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They shall remove your nose and your ears,
And your remnant shall fall by the sword;
They shall take your sons and your daughters,
And your remnant shall be devoured by fire.
26 They shall also strip you of your clothes
And take away your beautiful jewelry.
27'Thus I will make you cease your lewdness and your harlotry
Brought from the land of Egypt,
So that you will not lift your eyes to
Jer 52:11
11 He also put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the king of Babylon bound him in
bronze fetters, took him to Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death.
Ezek 23:28-31
28 "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'Surely I will deliver you into the hand of those
you hate, into the hand of those from whom you alienated yourself. 29 They will
deal hatefully with you, take away all you have worked for, and leave you naked
and bare. The nakedness of your harlotry shall be uncovered, both your lewdness
and your harlotry. 30 I will do these things to you because you have gone as a
harlot after the Gentiles, because you have become defiled by their idols. 31 You
have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will put her cup in your hand.'
Isa 51:17
Awake, awake!
Stand up, O Jerusalem,
You who have drunk at the hand of the LORD
The cup of His fury;
You have drunk the dregs of the cup of trembling,
And drained it out.
Jer 25:15-16
For thus says the LORD God of Israel to me: "Take this wine cup of fury from My
hand, and cause all the nations, to whom I send you, to drink it. 16 And they will
drink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them."
Ezek 23:32-35
32 "Thus says the Lord GOD:
'You shall drink of your sister's cup,
The deep and wide one;
You shall be laughed to scorn
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And held in derision;
It contains much.
33 You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow,
The cup of horror and desolation,
The cup of your sister Samaria.
34 You shall drink and drain it,
You shall break its shards,
And tear at your own breasts;
For I have spoken,'
Says the Lord GOD.
35 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
'Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back,
Therefore you shall bear the penalty
Of your lewdness and your harlotry.'"
OT:2789
cheres (kheh'-res); a collateral form mediating between OT:2775 and OT:2791; a
piece of pottery:
KJV - earth (-en), (pot-) sherd, stone.
Ezek 23:36-39
The LORD also said to me: "Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah?
Then declare to them their abominations. 37 For they have committed adultery, and
blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even
sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to
devour them. 38 Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My
sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths. 39 For after they had slain
their children for their idols, on the same day they came into My sanctuary to
profane it; and indeed thus they have done in the midst of My house.
2 Kings 21:1-9
Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five
years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Hephzibah. 2 And he did evil in the
sight of the LORD, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD
had cast out before the children of Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which
Hezekiah his father had destroyed; he raised up altars for Baal, and made a wooden
image, as Ahab king of Israel had done; and he worshiped all the host of heaven
and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the LORD, of which the
LORD had said,"In Jerusalem I will put My name." 5 And he built altars for all the
host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Also he made his son
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pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted
spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke
Him to anger. 7 He even set a carved image of Asherah that he had made, in the
house of which the LORD had said to David and to Solomon his son,"In this house
and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put My
name forever; 8 and I will not make the feet of Israel wander anymore from the
land which I gave their fathers -- only if they are careful to do according to all that
I have commanded them, and according to all the law that My servant Moses
commanded them." 9 But they paid no attention, and Manasseh seduced them to do
more evil than the nations whom the LORD had destroyed before the children of
Israel.
Jer 32:34
34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to
defile it.
Ezek 23:40-45
40 "Furthermore you sent for men to come from afar, to whom a messenger was
sent; and there they came. And you washed yourself for them, painted your eyes,
and adorned yourself with ornaments. 41 You sat on a stately couch, with a table
prepared before it, on which you had set My incense and My oil. 42 The sound of a
carefree multitude was with her, and Sabeans were brought from the wilderness
with men of the common sort, who put bracelets on their wrists and beautiful
crowns on their heads. 43 Then I said concerning her who had grown old in
adulteries, 'Will they commit harlotry with her now, and she with them?' 44 Yet
they went in to her, as men go in to a woman who plays the harlot; thus they went
in to Oholah and Oholibah, the lewd women. 45 But righteous men will judge
them after the manner of adulteresses, and after the manner of women who shed
blood, because they are adulteresses, and blood is on their hands.
Judah played the harlot
Prov 7:10-22
10 And there a woman met him,With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart. 11
She was loud and rebellious,Her feet would not stay at home. 12 At times she was
outside, at times in the open square,Lurking at every corner. 13 So she caught him
and kissed him;With an impudent face she said to him: 14 "I have peace offerings
with me;Today I have paid my vows. 15 So I came out to meet you,Diligently to
seek your face,And I have found you. 16 I have spread my bed with
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tapestry,Colored coverings of Egyptian linen. 17 I have perfumed my bed With
myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18 Come, let us take our fill of love until morning;Let
us delight ourselves with love. 19 For my husband is not at home;He has gone on a
long journey; 20 He has taken a bag of money with him,And will come home on
the appointed day."
21 With her enticing speech she caused him to yield,With her flattering lips she
seduced him. 22 Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter,Or as
a fool to the correction of the stocks,
Jer 35:12-16
12 Then came the word of the LORD to Jeremiah, saying, 13 "Thus says the
LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, "Will you not receive instruction to obey My words?" says the
LORD. 14 "The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, which he commanded his
sons, not to drink wine, are performed; for to this day they drink none, and obey
their father's commandment. But although I have spoken to you, rising early and
speaking, you did not obey Me. 15 I have also sent to you all My servants the
prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying,'Turn now everyone from his
evil way, amend your doings, and do not go after other gods to serve them; then
you will dwell in the land which I have given you and your fathers.' But you have
not inclined your ear, nor obeyed Me. 16 Surely the sons of Jonadab the son of
Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded
them, but this people has not obeyed Me."'
Deut 22:22
22 "If a man is found lying with a woman married to a husband, then both of them
shall die -- the man that lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall put
away the evil from Israel.
Ezek 23:46-49
46 "For thus says the Lord GOD:'Bring up an assembly against them, give them up
to trouble and plunder. 47 The assembly shall stone them with stones and execute
them with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn
their houses with fire. 48 Thus I will cause lewdness to cease from the land, that all
women may be taught not to practice your lewdness. 49 They shall repay you for
your lewdness, and you shall pay for your idolatrous sins. Then you shall know
that I am the Lord GOD.'"
Deut 28:36-37
36 "The LORD will bring you and the king whom you set over you to a nation
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which neither you nor your fathers have known, and there you shall serve other
gods -- wood and stone. 37 And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and
a byword among all nations where the LORD will drive you.
Deut 28:41-42
41 You shall beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go
into captivity.
Deut 28:45-46
45 "Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you,
until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your
God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you. 46
And they shall be upon you for a sign and a wonder, and on your descendants
forever.
Ezek 24:1-5
Again, in the ninth year, in the tenth month, on the tenth day of the month, the
word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, write down the name of the
day, this very day -- the king of Babylon started his siege against Jerusalem this
very day. 3 And utter a parable to the rebellious house, and say to them, 'Thus says
the Lord GOD:
"Put on a pot, set it on, And also pour water into it.
4 Gather pieces of meat in it, Every good piece,
The thigh and the shoulder. Fill it with choice cuts;
5 Take the choice of the flock. Also pile fuel bones under it,
Make it boil well, And let the cuts simmer in it."
Jer 39:1-2
In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth month, Nebuchadnezzar
king of Babylon and all his army came against Jerusalem, and besieged it. 2 In the
eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, on the ninth day of the month, the
city was penetrated.
This occurred in 590 BC. The “choice cuts” were the rulers.
Ezek 24:6-8
6'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"Woe to the bloody city, To the pot whose scum is in it,
And whose scum is not gone from it!
Bring it out piece by piece, On which no lot has fallen.
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7 For her blood is in her midst; She set it on top of a rock;
She did not pour it on the ground, To cover it with dust.
8 That it may raise up fury and take vengeance,
I have set her blood on top of a rock, That it may not be covered."
“Scum” is only used in Ezek 24, no where else!
OT:2457
chel'ah (khel-aw'); from OT:2456; properly, disease; hence, rust:
KJV - scum.
“No lot has fallen “ refers to a custom of conquerors killing only a portion of the
captured, usually one tenth from which we get the word decimate.
2 Sam 8:2
2 Then he defeated Moab. Forcing them down to the ground, he measured them off
with a line. With two lines he measured off those to be put to death, and with one
full line those to be kept alive. So the Moabites became David's servants, and
brought tribute.
Joel 3:3
3 They have cast lots for My people,
Have given a boy as payment for a harlot,
And sold a girl for wine, that they may drink.
Verse 8 “blood uncovered”
Isa 26:21
21 For behold, the LORD comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood,
And will no more cover her slain.
Ezek 24:9-14
9'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
"Woe to the bloody city! I too will make the pyre great. 10 Heap on the wood,
Kindle the fire; Cook the meat well, Mix in the spices, And let the cuts be burned
up.
11 "Then set the pot empty on the coals, That it may become hot and its bronze
may burn, That its filthiness may be melted in it, That its scum may be consumed.
12 She has grown weary with lies, And her great scum has not gone from her. Let
her scum be in the fire! 13 In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed
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you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness
anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you. 14 I, the LORD, have
spoken it; It shall come to pass, and I will do it; I will not hold back, Nor will I
spare, Nor will I relent; According to your ways And according to your deeds They
will judge you," Says the Lord GOD.'"
God cleansed them with the Babylonian captivity but they would not be cleansed. A
future judgment is coming in that God would repay them for their deeds.
Isa 65:6-7
6 "Behold, it is written before Me:
I will not keep silence, but will repay -Even repay into their bosom -7 Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,"
Says the LORD,
"Who have burned incense on the mountains
And blasphemed Me on the hills;
Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom."
They would be punished because they partook in the sins of their fathers.
Matt 23:29-36
29 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of
the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, 'If we had
lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the
blood of the prophets.' 31 "Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that
you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of
your fathers' guilt. 33 Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the
condemnation of hell? 34 Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and
scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge
in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, 35 that on you may come all
the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the
blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple
and the altar. 36 Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this
generation.
Rev 18:4-8
4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest
you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins have
reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Render to her just as
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she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup
which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 In the measure that she glorified
herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for
she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.' 8
Therefore her plagues will come in one day -- death and mourning and famine.
And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her
Ezek 24:15-18
Also the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16 "Son of man, behold, I take
away from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn
nor weep, nor shall your tears run down. 17 Sigh in silence, make no mourning for
the dead; bind your turban on your head, and put your sandals on your feet; do not
cover your lips, and do not eat man's bread of sorrow." 18 So I spoke to the people
in the morning, and at evening my wife died; and the next morning I did as I was
commanded.
We can only conjecture why God took his wife’s life ,but Ezekiel was not the first
prophet whose life events portrayed what would happen to Judah. Look at Hosea
who was told to marry a prostitute (Gomer).
Ezek 24:19-27
19 And the people said to me," Will you not tell us what these things signify to us,
that you behave so?" 20 Then I answered them, "The word of the LORD came to
me, saying, 21'Speak to the house of Israel, "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I
will profane My sanctuary, your arrogant boast, the desire of your eyes, the delight
of your soul; and your sons and daughters whom you left behind shall fall by the
sword. 22 And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat
man's bread of sorrow. 23 Your turbans shall be on your heads and your sandals on
your feet; you shall neither mourn nor weep, but you shall pine away in your
iniquities and mourn with one another. 24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign to you; according
to all that he has done you shall do; and when this comes, you shall know that I am
the Lord GOD.'" 25'And you, son of man -- will it not be in the day when I take
from them their stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and
that on which they set their minds, their sons and their daughters: 26 on that day
one who escapes will come to you to let you hear it with your ears; 27 on that day
your mouth will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer
be mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the
LORD.'"
Those that escaped death will know that their sins caused this.
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Lev 26:38-39
38 You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you
up.
39 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your
enemies' lands; also in their fathers' iniquities, which are with them, they shall
waste away.
“You shall know that I am the Lord” occurs 32 times in Ezekiel, more than all the
other occurrences combined. Here are a few of other places it is used.
Ex 16:11-12
11 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12 "I have heard the complaints of the
children of Israel. Speak to them, saying,' At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the
morning you shall be filled with bread. And you shall know that I am the LORD
your God.'
Joel 3:17
17 "So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,
Dwelling in Zion My holy mountain.
Then Jerusalem shall be holy,
And no aliens shall ever pass through her again."
Isa 60:16
16 You shall drink the milk of the Gentiles,
And milk the breast of kings;
You shall know that I, the LORD, am your Savior
And your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
Ezek 25:1-7
The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against
the Ammonites, and prophesy against them. 3 Say to the Ammonites, 'Hear the
word of the Lord GOD! Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you said, 'Aha!'
against My sanctuary when it was profaned, and against the land of Israel when it
was desolate, and against the house of Judah when they went into captivity, 4
indeed, therefore, I will deliver you as a possession to the men of the East, and they
shall set their encampments among you and make their dwellings among you; they
shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. 5 And I will make Rabbah a
stable for camels and Ammon a resting place for flocks. Then you shall know that I
am the LORD."
6'For thus says the Lord GOD: "Because you clapped your hands, stamped your
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feet, and rejoiced in heart with all your disdain for the land of Israel, 7 indeed,
therefore, I will stretch out My hand against you, and give you as plunder to the
nations; I will cut you off from the peoples, and I will cause you to perish from the
countries; I will destroy you, and you shall know that I am the LORD."
2 Kings 24:1-3
In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his
vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him. 2 And the LORD
sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites,
and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it,
according to the word of the LORD which He had spoken by His servants the
prophets.
Amos 1:13-2:1
13 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,
That they might enlarge their territory.
14 But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah,
And it shall devour its palaces,
Amid shouting in the day of battle,
And a tempest in the day of the whirlwind.
15 Their king shall go into captivity,
He and his princes together,"
Says the LORD.
Jer 49:2
2 Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I will cause to be heard an alarm of war
In Rabbah of the Ammonites;
It shall be a desolate mound,
And her villages shall be burned with fire.
Then Israel shall take possession of his inheritance," says the LORD.
According to the Pulpit commentary, Rabbah was revived by the Greeks for a
period of time but now lies desolate!
Ezek 25:8-11
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because Moab and Seir say, 'Look! The house of Judah
is like all the nations,' 9 therefore, behold, I will clear the territory of Moab of
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cities, of the cities on its frontier, the glory of the country, Beth Jeshimoth, Baal
Meon, and Kirjathaim. 10 To the men of the East I will give it as a possession,
together with the Ammonites, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among
the nations.
Seir is usually referring to Edom
Gen 36:8
8 So Esau dwelt in Mount Seir. Esau is Edom.
But Ammon conquered Seir prior to Ezekiel’s writings.
2 Chron 20:23
23 For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount
Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the
inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.
Isa 15:1-2
The burden against Moab.
Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
Because in the night Kir of Moab is laid waste
And destroyed,
2 He has gone up to the temple and Dibon,
To the high places to weep.
Moab will wail over Nebo and over Medeba;
On all their heads will be baldness,
And every beard cut off.
Ezek 25:12-14
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because of what Edom did against the house of Judah
by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended by avenging itself on them," 13
therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also stretch out My hand against Edom,
cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman; Dedan shall fall
by the sword. 14 I will lay My vengeance on Edom by the hand of My people
Israel, that they may do in Edom according to My anger and according to My fury;
and they shall know My vengeance," says the Lord GOD.
Ps 137:7
7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
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The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, "Raze it, raze it,
To its very foundation!"
Amos 1:11-12
11 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because he pursued his brother with the sword,
And cast off all pity;
His anger tore perpetually,
And he kept his wrath forever.
12 But I will send a fire upon Teman,
Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah."
Vs 14 states “I will lay waste by the hand of my people”. This happened when John
Hyrcanus son of Simon Maccabees destroyed them during his rule 134-104 BC
Ezek 25:15-26:1
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because the Philistines dealt vengefully and took
vengeance with a spiteful heart, to destroy because of the old hatred," 16 therefore
thus says the Lord GOD:"I will stretch out My hand against the Philistines, and I
will cut off the Cherethites and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. 17 I will
execute great vengeance on them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I
am the LORD, when I lay My vengeance upon them."'"
Zeph 2:5
Woe to the inhabitants of the seacoast,
The nation of the Cherethites!
The word of the LORD is against you,
O Canaan, land of the Philistines:
"I will destroy you;
Zech 9:3-4
3 For Tyre built herself a tower,
Heaped up silver like the dust,
And gold like the mire of the streets.
4 Behold, the LORD will cast her out;
He will destroy her power in the sea,
And she will be devoured by fire.
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Tyre was conquered by Alexander the great in 334 BC
Ezek 26:1-6
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, that the
word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, because Tyre has said
against Jerusalem,'Aha! She is broken who was the gateway of the peoples; now
she is turned over to me; I shall be filled; she is laid waste.'
3 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will
cause many nations to come up against you, as the sea causes its waves to come
up. 4 And they shall destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; I will
also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock. 5 It shall be a
place for spreading nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,' says the Lord
GOD; 'it shall become plunder for the nations. 6 Also her daughter villages which
are in the fields shall be slain by the sword. Then they shall know that I am the
LORD.'
Other prophets have spoken about Tyre
Joel 3:4
4 "Indeed, what have you to do with Me,
O Tyre and Sidon, and all the coasts of Philistia?
Will you retaliate against Me?
But if you retaliate against Me,
Swiftly and speedily I will return your retaliation upon your own head;
Isa 23:1
The burden against Tyre.
Wail, you ships of Tarshish!
For it is laid waste,
So that there is no house, no harbor;
From the land of Cyprus it is revealed to them.
The original city was an island and after it was destroyed by Alexander, the city
was rebuilt inland.
Ezek 26:7-14
7 "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and
with horsemen, and an army with many people. 8 He will slay with the sword your
daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up a siege mound against you, build a
wall against you, and raise a defense against you. 9 He will direct his battering
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rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10
Because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will
shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, when he enters
your gates, as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hooves of his
horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the sword, and
your strong pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your riches and
pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your
pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst
of the water. 13 I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your
harps shall be heard no more. 14 I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall
be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have
spoken,' says the Lord GOD.
Tyre was known for it’s music (verse 13)
Isa 23:16
16 "Take a harp, go about the city,
You forgotten harlot;
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered."
Ezek 26:7-14
7 "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'Behold, I will bring against Tyre from the north
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses, with chariots, and
with horsemen, and an army with many people. 8 He will slay with the sword your
daughter villages in the fields; he will heap up a siege mound against you, build a
wall against you, and raise a defense against you. 9 He will direct his battering
rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. 10
Because of the abundance of his horses, their dust will cover you; your walls will
shake at the noise of the horsemen, the wagons, and the chariots, when he enters
your gates, as men enter a city that has been breached. 11 With the hooves of his
horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people by the sword, and
your strong pillars will fall to the ground. 12 They will plunder your riches and
pillage your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your
pleasant houses; they will lay your stones, your timber, and your soil in the midst
of the water. 13 I will put an end to the sound of your songs, and the sound of your
harps shall be heard no more. 14 I will make you like the top of a rock; you shall
be a place for spreading nets, and you shall never be rebuilt, for I the LORD have
spoken,' says the Lord GOD.
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Isa 23:16
16 "Take a harp, go about the city,
You forgotten harlot;
Make sweet melody, sing many songs,
That you may be remembered."
Ezek 26:15-18
15 "Thus says the Lord GOD to Tyre: 'Will the coastlands not shake at the sound of
your fall, when the wounded cry, when slaughter is made in the midst of you? 16
Then all the princes of the sea will come down from their thrones, lay aside their
robes, and take off their embroidered garments; they will clothe themselves with
trembling; they will sit on the ground, tremble every moment, and be astonished at
you. 17 And they will take up a lamentation for you, and say to you:
"How you have perished,
O one inhabited by seafaring men,
O renowned city,
Who was strong at sea,
She and her inhabitants,
Who caused their terror to be on all her inhabitants!
18 Now the coastlands tremble on the day of your fall;
Yes, the coastlands by the sea are troubled at your departure."'
Vs 16 “princes” here refers to merchants.
Isa 23:8-9
8 Who has taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city,
Whose merchants are princes,
Whose traders are the honorable of the earth?
9 The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory,
To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
Ezek 26:19-21
19 "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'When I make you a desolate city, like cities that
are not inhabited, when I bring the deep upon you, and great waters cover you, 20
then I will bring you down with those who descend into the Pit, to the people of
old, and I will make you dwell in the lowest part of the earth, in places desolate
from antiquity, with those who go down to the Pit, so that you may never be
inhabited; and I shall establish glory in the land of the living. 21 I will make you a
terror, and you shall be no more; though you are sought for, you will never be
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found again,' says the Lord GOD."
Vs 20 is very similar to Isaiah’s prophecy regarding Babylon.
Isa 14:9-11
9 "Hell from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall speak and say to you:
'Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.'
Vs 21 “terror” is destruction.
OT:1091
ballahah (bal-law-haw'); from OT:1089; alarm; hence, destruction:
Ezek 27:1-7
The word of the LORD came again to me, saying, 2 "Now, son of man, take up a
lamentation for Tyre, 3 and say to Tyre,' You who are situated at the entrance of the
sea, merchant of the peoples on many coastlands, thus says the Lord GOD:
"O Tyre, you have said,
'I am perfect in beauty.'
4 Your borders are in the midst of the seas.
Your builders have perfected your beauty.
5 They made all your planks of fir trees from Senir;
They took a cedar from Lebanon to make you a mast.
6 Of oaks from Bashan they made your oars;
The company of Ashurites have inlaid your planks
With ivory from the coasts of Cyprus.
7 Fine embroidered linen from Egypt was what you spread for your sail;
Blue and purple from the coasts of Elishah was what covered you.
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The picture is of a sailing ship because Tyre was the leading port on the coast.
Vs 6 “Ashurites” were an obscure Canaanite people
2 Sam 2:8-9
But Abner the son of Ner, commander of Saul's army, took Ishbosheth the son of
Saul and brought him over to Mahanaim; 9 and he made him king over Gilead,
over the Ashurites, over Jezreel, over Ephraim, over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
“Cyprus” in older translations is “Chittim”
Num 24:24
24 But ships shall come from the coasts of Cyprus, And they shall afflict Asshur
and afflict Eber,
And so shall Amalek, until he perishes."
Not much is known about “Elishah”
Gen 10:3-5
4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these
the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone
according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
Ezek 27:8-11
8 "Inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your oarsmen;
Your wise men, O Tyre, were in you;
They became your pilots.
9 Elders of Gebal and its wise men
Were in you to caulk your seams;
All the ships of the sea
And their oarsmen were in you
To market your merchandise.
10 "Those from Persia, Lydia, and Libya Were in your army as men of war;
They hung shield and helmet in you;
They gave splendor to you.
11 Men of Arvad with your army were on your walls all around,
And the men of Gammad were in your towers;
They hung their shields on your walls all around;
They made your beauty perfect.
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Sidon was from Canaan as was Arvad
Gen 10:15-19
15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; 16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and
the Girgashite; 17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 18 the Arvadite, the
Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were
dispersed. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward
Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and
Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
“Gebal” is one of the cities that conspired against Israel.
Ps 83:5-8
5 For they have consulted together with one consent;
They form a confederacy against You:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot.
Persia by name is not mentioned until the exile except where it is prophesied by
Isaiah, but only it’s ruler is named, not the country
Isa 44:28
28 Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem,"You shall be built,"
And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'
2 Chron 36:20-21
0 And those who escaped from the sword he carried away to Babylon, where they
became servants to him and his sons until the rule of the kingdom of Persia, 21 to
fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed
her Sabbaths.
“Libya” was often in alliance with Egypt.
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Jer 46:9
9 Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!
And let the mighty men come forth:
The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield,
And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
“Gammad” meant warrior.
OT:1575
Gammad (gam-mawd'); from the same as OT:1574; a warrior (as grasping
weapons):
Ezek 27:12-24
12 "Tarshish was your merchant because of your many luxury goods. They gave
you silver, iron, tin, and lead for your goods. 13 Javan, Tubal, and Meshech were
your traders. They bartered human lives and vessels of bronze for your
merchandise. 14 Those from the house of Togarmah traded for your wares with
horses, steeds, and mules. 15 The men of Dedan were your traders; many isles
were the market of your hand. They brought you ivory tusks and ebony as
payment. 16 Syria was your merchant because of the abundance of goods you
made. They gave you for your wares emeralds, purple, embroidery, fine linen,
corals, and rubies. 17 Judah and the land of Israel were your traders. They traded
for your merchandise wheat of Minnith, millet, honey, oil, and balm. 18 Damascus
was your merchant because of the abundance of goods you made, because of your
many luxury items, with the wine of Helbon and with white wool. 19 Dan and
Javan paid for your wares, traversing back and forth. Wrought iron, cassia, and
cane were among your merchandise. 20 Dedan was your merchant in saddlecloths
for riding. 21 Arabia and all the princes of Kedar were your regular merchants.
They traded with you in lambs, rams, and goats. 22 The merchants of Sheba and
Raamah were your merchants. They traded for your wares the choicest spices, all
kinds of precious stones, and gold. 23 Haran, Canneh, Eden, the merchants of
Sheba, Assyria, and Chilmad were your merchants. 24 These were your merchants
in choice items -- in purple clothes, in embroidered garments, in chests of
multicolored apparel, in sturdy woven cords, which were in your marketplace.
Vs 12 “Tarshish” is thought to be a Phoenician colony on the coast of Spain,
known for it’s precious metals and sailing ships.
Jer 10:9
9 Silver is beaten into plates;
It is brought from Tarshish,
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And gold from Uphaz,
The work of the craftsman
And of the hands of the metalsmith;
Blue and purple are their clothing;
They are all the work of skillful men.
Isa 2:16
6 Upon all the ships of Tarshish,
And upon all the beautiful sloops.
Javan, Tubal, and Meshech probably stand for Greece.
Gen 10:1-2
Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons
were born to them after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and
Tiras.3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
Ezek 38:1-6
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face
against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and
prophesy against him, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against
you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put
hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen,
all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them
handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with
shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far
north and all its troops -- many people are with you.
Ezek 25:13
herefore thus says the Lord GOD: "I will also stretch out My hand against Edom,
cut off man and beast from it, and make it desolate from Teman; Dedan shall fall
by the sword.
Isa 21:13-15
The burden against Arabia.
In the forest in Arabia you will lodge,
O you traveling companies of Dedanites.
14 O inhabitants of the land of Tema,
Bring water to him who is thirsty;
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With their bread they met him who fled.
15 For they fled from the swords, from the drawn sword,
From the bent bow, and from the distress of war.
Ezek 27:25-27
25 "The ships of Tarshish were carriers of your merchandise.
You were filled and very glorious in the midst of the seas.
26 Your oarsmen brought you into many waters,
But the east wind broke you in the midst of the seas.
27 "Your riches, wares, and merchandise,
Your mariners and pilots,
Your caulkers and merchandisers,
All your men of war who are in you,
And the entire company which is in your midst,
Will fall into the midst of the seas on the day of your ruin.
“East wind” is named in Acts
Acts 27:14-15
4 But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon. 15 So
when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive.
Ezek 27:28-32
28 The common-land will shake at the sound of the cry of your pilots.
29 "All who handle the oar,
The mariners,
All the pilots of the sea
Will come down from their ships and stand on the shore.
30 They will make their voice heard because of you;
They will cry bitterly and cast dust on their heads;
They will roll about in ashes;
31 They will shave themselves completely bald because of you,
Gird themselves with sackcloth,
And weep for you
With bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
32 In their wailing for you
They will take up a lamentation,
And lament for you:
'What city is like Tyre,
Destroyed in the midst of the sea?
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“Cast dust” was a sign of mourning.
Josh 7:6
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes, and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the
LORD until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and they put dust on their heads.
Job 2:12
12 And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they
lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his
head toward heaven.
Ezek 27:33-36
33'When your wares went out by sea,
You satisfied many people;
You enriched the kings of the earth
With your many luxury goods and your merchandise.
34 But you are broken by the seas in the depths of the waters;
Your merchandise and the entire company will fall in your midst.
35 All the inhabitants of the isles will be astonished at you;
Their kings will be greatly afraid,
And their countenance will be troubled.
36 The merchants among the peoples will hiss at you;
You will become a horror, and be no more forever.'"'"
“Horror”
OT:1091
ballahah (bal-law-haw'); from OT:1089; alarm; hence, destruction:
Ezek 28:1-5
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "Son of man, say to the prince
of Tyre, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Because your heart is lifted up,
And you say, 'I am a god,
I sit in the seat of gods,
In the midst of the seas,'
Yet you are a man, and not a god,
Though you set your heart as the heart of a god
3(Behold, you are wiser than Daniel!
There is no secret that can be hidden from you!
4 With your wisdom and your understanding
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You have gained riches for yourself,
And gathered gold and silver into your treasuries;
5 By your great wisdom in trade you have increased your riches,
And your heart is lifted up because of your riches),"
The King of Tyro at the time was Ithobal or Ethbaal III. (Josephus, 'Contra Apion,'
1:21), who had taken part with Pharaoh-Hophra and Zedekiah in the league
against Nebuchadnezzar,
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Vs 2 “I am a god” is very similar to Isaiah talking about the king of Babylon. And
then in Daniel, we see it fulfilled.
Isa 14:13
13 For you have said in your heart:
'I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
Dan 4:30
30 The king spoke, saying, "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal
dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?"
In the NT we see Herod accepting the peoples accolades
Acts 12:21-23
21 So on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne and gave an
oration to them. 22 And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a
man!" 23 Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not
give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.
Vs 3 “wiser than Daniel” we have already seen Ezekiel’s respect for daniel.
Ezek 14:14
14 Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver
only themselves by their righteousness," says the Lord GOD.
Ezek 28:6-10
6'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD:
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"Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god,
7 Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers against you,
The most terrible of the nations;
And they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom,
And defile your splendor.
8 They shall throw you down into the Pit,
And you shall die the death of the slain
In the midst of the seas.
9 "Will you still say before him who slays you,
'I am a god'?
But you shall be a man, and not a god,
In the hand of him who slays you.
10 You shall die the death of the uncircumcised
By the hand of aliens;
For I have spoken," says the Lord GOD.'"
Vs 7 “strangers” later he uses he word aliens to describe punishment of Egypt.
Ezek 31:12
12 And aliens, the most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its
branches have fallen on the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken
by all the rivers of the land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under
its shadow and left it.
Ezek 28:11-15
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 12 "Son of man, take up a
lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"You were the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
Beryl, onyx, and jasper,
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold.
The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes
Was prepared for you on the day you were created.
14 "You were the anointed cherub who covers;
I established you;
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
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15 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created,
Till iniquity was found in you.
Vs 13 all these precious stones were on the garment of the priest.
Ex 28:16-20
17 And you shall put settings of stones in it, four rows of stones: The first row
shall be a sardius, a topaz, and an emerald; this shall be the first row; 18 the second
row shall be a turquoise, a sapphire, and a diamond; 19 the third row, a jacinth, an
agate, and an amethyst; 20 and the fourth row, a beryl, an onyx, and a jasper. They
shall be set in gold settings.
Ezek 28:16-19
"By the abundance of your trading
You became filled with violence within,
And you sinned;
Therefore I cast you as a profane thing
Out of the mountain of God;
And I destroyed you, O covering cherub,
From the midst of the fiery stones.
17 "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty;
You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor;
I cast you to the ground,
I laid you before kings,
That they might gaze at you.
18 "You defiled your sanctuaries
By the multitude of your iniquities,
By the iniquity of your trading;
Therefore I brought fire from your midst;
It devoured you,
And I turned you to ashes upon the earth
In the sight of all who saw you.
19 All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you;
You have become a horror,
And shall be no more forever."'"
Vs 17 his pride was his downfall.
Isa 23:9
9 The LORD of hosts has purposed it,
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To bring to dishonor the pride of all glory,
To bring into contempt all the honorable of the earth.
Josephus ('Ant.,' 10:11. 1; 'Contra Apion,' 1:19) states that Nebuchadnezzar
besieged the island Tyre and Ithobal (Ethbaal III.) for thirteen years; that, on his
father's death, leaving his Phoenician and other captives to be brought by slower
stages, he himself hastened to Babylon, and that afterwards he conquered the
whole of Syria and Phoenicia; but he does not say, with all the Tyrian records
before him, that the city was actually captured by him.
Two hundred and fifty years after Nebuchadnezzar, Tyre was still so strongly
fortified that Alexander the Great did not take it till after a seven years' siege
(Died. Sic., 17:20; Arrian., 2:17; Q. Curtius, 4:2-4). It rose again into wealth and
power under the Selencidare, and the Romans made it the capital of their province
of Phoenicia. It appears as a flourishing town in Matt 15:21; Acts 12:20; 21:37,
and is described by Strabo (16:2, 23), as having two harbors and lofty houses.
From A.D. 636 to 1125 it was in the hands of the Saracens. Saladin attacked it
without success in A.D. 1189. In A.D. 1291, after Acre had been taken by storm by
El-Ashraf, Sultan of Egypt, Tyro passed into his hands without a struggle. When it
again passed into the power of the Saracens, its fortifications were demolished,
and from that time it sank gradually into its present obscurity. The present Sur is a
small town of narrow, crooked, and dirty streets, and the ruins of the old
Phoenician city cover the suburbs to the extent of half a league round. The harbor
is choked up with sand, and with remains of the old palaces and walls and temples,
and is available for small boats only. The sea has swallowed up its grandeur. The
soft on which the traveler stands is a mass of debris, in which marble, porphyry,
and granite mingle with coarser stones. So it has come to pass that it is little more
than "a place for the spreading of nets" and that the sentence, "Thou shalt never be
any more," seems to be receiving its fulfillment.
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Ezek 28:20-24
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21 "Son of man, set your face
toward Sidon, and prophesy against her, 22 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, I am against you, O Sidon;
I will be glorified in your midst;
And they shall know that I am the LORD,
When I execute judgments in her and am hallowed in her.
23 For I will send pestilence upon her,
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And blood in her streets;
The wounded shall be judged in her midst
By the sword against her on every side;
Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
24 "And there shall no longer be a pricking brier or a painful thorn for the house of
Israel from among all who are around them, who despise them. Then they shall
know that I am the Lord GOD."
vs. 22 “I will be glorified”
Lev 10:3
And Moses said to Aaron, "This is what the LORD spoke, saying:
'By those who come near Me
I must be regarded as holy;
And before all the people
I must be glorified.'"
vs. 24 calls them a thorn in Israel.
Num 33:55-56
55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it
shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns
in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. 56 Moreover
it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.'"
Ezek 28:25-26
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "When I have gathered the house of Israel from the
peoples among whom they are scattered, and am hallowed in them in the sight of
the Gentiles, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to My servant
Jacob. 26 And they will dwell safely there, build houses, and plant vineyards; yes,
they will dwell securely, when I execute judgments on all those around them who
despise them. Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God."'"
This a promise of the remnant returning, similar to Jeremiah
Jer 23:6-8
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 "Therefore, behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that they shall no
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longer say, 'As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land
of Egypt,' 8 but, 'As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the
house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had
driven them.' And they shall dwell in their own land."
Ezek 29:1-5
n the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of
the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king
of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt. 3 Speak, and say, 'Thus
says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, I am against you,
O Pharaoh king of Egypt,
O great monster who lies in the midst of his rivers,
Who has said, 'My River is my own;
I have made it for myself.'
4 But I will put hooks in your jaws,
And cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales;
I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers,
And all the fish in your rivers will stick to your scales.
5 I will leave you in the wilderness,
You and all the fish of your rivers;
You shall fall on the open field;
You shall not be picked up or gathered.I have given you as food
To the beasts of the field
And to the birds of the heavens.
“The precision with which the dates of the several portions of the prophecy against
Egypt are given, here and in Ver. 17; Ezek 30:20; 31:1; 32:1,7, shows that each
was called forth by the political events of the time, and has to be studied in
connection with them. It will be well, therefore, to begin with a Brief survey of the
relations which existed at this period between Judah, Egypt, and Babylon. After the
great defeat of Pharaoh-Necho by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish (B.C. 604), on
which Jeremiah (46.) dwells fully, he was succeeded in B.C. 594 by his son
Psammetik II. the Psammis of Herodotus 2:160, who invaded Ethiopia, and died in
B.C. 588, leaving the throne to his son Uah-prahet, the Pharaoh Hophra of Jer
44:30, the Apries of Herod., 2:161. The Greek historian tells us that he attacked
Tyre and Zidon, failed in an enterprise against Cyrene, and was deposed by Amasis
(B.C. 569). Zedekiah and his counselors, following in the steps of Hezekiah (Isa
30.) and Jehoiakim (Jer 46.), had courted his alliance against the Chaldeans. As
Ezekiel had prophesied (Ezek 17:11-18), they found that they were once more
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leaning on a broken reed. We have now come to B.C. 589, when Jerusalem was
actually besieged, but was still dreaming of being relieved by an Egyptian army.”
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
“O great monster” has been translated “dragon” and is the same word used in
Genesis and Isaiah which is probably the crocodile.
Gen 1:21
21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with
which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird
according to its kind.
Isa 27:1
In that day the LORD with His severe sword, great and strong,
Will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent,
Leviathan that twisted serpent;
And He will slay the reptile that is in the sea.
vs. 4 “ catch with a hook” refers to how they would bait a hook with swine’s flesh
to catch the crocodile.
Job 41:1-2
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?
2 Can you put a reed through his nose,
Or pierce his jaw with a hook?
Ezek 29:6-12
6 "Then all the inhabitants of Egypt
Shall know that I am the LORD,
Because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7 When they took hold of you with the hand,
You broke and tore all their shoulders; When they leaned on you,
You broke and made all their backs quiver."
8'Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will bring a sword upon you and
cut off from you man and beast. 9 And the land of Egypt shall become desolate and
waste; then they will know that I am the LORD, because he said, 'The River is
mine, and I have made it.' 10 Indeed, therefore, I am against you and against your
rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from Migdol
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to Syene, as far as the border of Ethiopia. 11 Neither foot of man shall pass through
it nor foot of beast pass through it, and it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 I will
make the land of Egypt desolate in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and
among the cities that are laid waste, her cities shall be desolate forty years; and I
will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the
countries."
Vs 6 “staff of reed” recalls what had been said earlier.
2 Kings 18:21-22
21 Now look! You are trusting in the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, on which if
a man leans, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to
all who trust in him.
vs. 11 “forty years” is not an absolute number and there is no historical record of
devastation that lasted that long. It is a complete number.
Judg 3:11
11 So the land had rest for forty years.
Judg 5:31
31 "Thus let all Your enemies perish, O LORD!
But let those who love Him be like the sun
When it comes out in full strength."
So the land had rest for forty years.
“Josephus ('Contra Apion,' 1:20) speaks of Nebuchadnezzar as having invaded
Libya. The reign of Amasis, which followed on the deposition of Hophra, was one
of general prosperity as regards commerce and culture, but Egypt ceased to be one
of the great world-powers after the time of Nebuchadnezzar and fell easily into the
hands of the Persians under Cambyses.”
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Ezek 29:13-16
13'Yet, thus says the Lord GOD: "At the end of forty years I will gather the
Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered. 14 I will bring back
the captives of Egypt and cause them to return to the land of Pathros, to the land of
their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the lowliest of
kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish
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them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore. 16 No longer shall it be
the confidence of the house of Israel, but will remind them of their iniquity when
they turned to follow them. Then they shall know that I am the Lord GOD."'"
Both Israel and Judah had a history of relying on Egypt. Hoshea king of Israel,
Hezekiah and Jehoikim kings of Judah.
2 Kings 17:4
4 And the king of Assyria uncovered a conspiracy by Hoshea; for he had sent
messengers to So, king of Egypt,
Isa 30:2
2 Who walk to go down to Egypt,
And have not asked My advice,
To strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh,
And to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
2 Kings 23:35
So Jehoiakim gave the silver and gold to Pharaoh; but he taxed the land to give
money according to the command of Pharaoh; he exacted the silver and gold from
the people of the land, from every one according to his assessment, to give it to
Pharaoh Necho
Ezek 29:17-21
And it came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day
of the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18 "Son of man,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to labor strenuously against
Tyre; every head was made bald, and every shoulder rubbed raw; yet neither he nor
his army received wages from Tyre, for the labor which they expended on it. 19
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Surely I will give the land of Egypt to
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; he shall take away her wealth, carry off her
spoil, and remove her pillage; and that will be the wages for his army. 20 I have
given him the land of Egypt for his labor, because they worked for Me,' says the
Lord GOD. 21'In that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to spring
forth, and I will open your mouth to speak in their midst. Then they shall know that
I am the LORD.'"
This occurred in 572 BC. In vs. 18 they did not receive “wages” from Tyre because
Nebuchadnezzar did not conquer it with his 14 year siege. The horn in vs. 21 refers
to power. Apparently it refers to Ezekiel resuming prophecy
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Ps 92:10
0 But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox;
I have been anointed with fresh oil.
Ps 112:9
9 He has dispersed abroad,
He has given to the poor;
His righteousness endures forever;
His horn will be exalted with honor
Ezek 30:1-4
The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy and
say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Wail, 'Woe to the day!'
3 For the day is near,
Even the day of the LORD is near;
It will be a day of clouds, the time of the Gentiles.
4 The sword shall come upon Egypt,
And great anguish shall be in Ethiopia,
When the slain fall in Egypt,
And they take away her wealth,
And her foundations are broken down.
“The day of the lord” and a “day of clouds” is judgment language. Here it is to
Egypt. In Isaiah it is to Babylon and in Joel to Jerusalem. In Joel “fire” is also
judgment language.
Isa 13:6
6 Wail, for the day of the LORD is at hand!
It will come as destruction from the Almighty.
Joel 2:1-3
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the LORD is coming,
For it is at hand:
2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
A people come, great and strong,
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The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Let’s look at all the places “the day of the lord” is used in the new testament.
Acts 2:14-21
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of
Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my
words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of
the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.'
Peter states the fulfillment of Joel started at Pentecost with the pouring out of the
holy spirit, so the day of the lord would be in their generation.
1 Cor 5:3-5
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along
with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 deliver such a one to
Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the
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Lord Jesus.
2 Cor 1:13-14
13 For we are not writing any other things to you than what you read or
understand. Now I trust you will understand, even to the end 14(as also you have
understood us in part), that we are your boast as you also are ours, in the day of
the Lord Jesus.
1 Thess 5:1-2
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should
write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so
comes as a thief in the night.
2 Peter 3:10-12
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will
pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the
earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these
things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct
and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements
will melt with fervent heat?
Rev 1:9-10
I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of
God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
Day,
John in the spirit was seeing the judgment of God not the first day of the week!
Ezek 30:5-9
5 "Ethiopia, Libya, Lydia, all the mingled people, Chub, and the men of the lands
who are allied, shall fall with them by the sword."
6'Thus says the LORD:
"Those who uphold Egypt shall fall,
And the pride of her power shall come down.
From Migdol to Syene
Those within her shall fall by the sword,"
Says the Lord GOD.
7 "They shall be desolate in the midst of the desolate countries,
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And her cities shall be in the midst of the cities that are laid waste.
8 Then they will know that I am the LORD,
When I have set a fire in Egypt
And all her helpers are destroyed.
9 On that day messengers shall go forth from Me in ships
To make the careless Ethiopians afraid,
And great anguish shall come upon them,
As on the day of Egypt;
For indeed it is coming!"
Jeremiah also includes the other African nations in the prophecy.
Jer 46:7-10
7 "Who is this coming up like a flood,
Whose waters move like the rivers?
8 Egypt rises up like a flood,
And its waters move like the rivers;
And he says, 'I will go up and cover the earth,
I will destroy the city and its inhabitants.'
9 Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!
And let the mighty men come forth:
The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield,
And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
10 For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,
A day of vengeance,
Look at the hyperbole “ cover the earth”. Did it mean the whole earth? Of course
not!
Ezek 30:10-12
10'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"I will also make a multitude of Egypt to cease
By the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, the most terrible of the nations,
Shall be brought to destroy the land;
They shall draw their swords against Egypt,
And fill the land with the slain.
12 I will make the rivers dry,
And sell the land into the hand of the wicked;
I will make the land waste, and all that is in it,
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By the hand of aliens.
I, the LORD, have spoken."
Why didn’t the translators here use the word “earth” instead of “land” like they
mistranslated elsewhere in judgment language?
Ezek 30:13-19
13'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"I will also destroy the idols,
And cause the images to cease from Noph; There shall no longer be princes from
the land of Egypt;
I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make Pathros desolate,
Set fire to Zoan,
And execute judgments in No.
15 I will pour My fury on Sin, the strength of Egypt;
I will cut off the multitude of No,
16 And set a fire in Egypt;
Sin shall have great pain,
No shall be split open,
And Noph shall be in distress daily.
17 The young men of Aven and Pi Beseth shall fall by the sword,
And these cities shall go into captivity.
18 At Tehaphnehes the day shall also be darkened, When I break the yokes of
Egypt there.
And her arrogant strength shall cease in her;
As for her, a cloud shall cover her,
And her daughters shall go into captivity.
9 Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt,
Then they shall know that I am the LORD."'
Again “darkness” and “clouds” indicate judgment.
Amos 5:20
20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light?
Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it?
Amos 8:9
9 "And it shall come to pass in that day," says the Lord GOD,
"That I will make the sun go down at noon,
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And I will darken the earth in broad daylight;
Isa 5:30
30 In that day they will roar against them
Like the roaring of the sea.
And if one looks to the land,
Behold, darkness and sorrow;
And the light is darkened by the clouds.
Mark 13:24-27
"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon
will not give its light; 25 the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the
heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send His angels, and
gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the
farthest part of heaven.
Mark 13:30-31
30 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all
these things take place.
Ezek 30:20-26
And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of
the month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 21 "Son of man, I have
broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and see, it has not been bandaged for
healing, nor a splint put on to bind it, to make it strong enough to hold a sword. 22
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Surely I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt,
and will break his arms, both the strong one and the one that was broken; and I will
make the sword fall out of his hand. 23 I will scatter the Egyptians among the
nations, and disperse them throughout the countries. 24 I will strengthen the arms
of the king of Babylon and put My sword in his hand; but I will break Pharaoh's
arms, and he will groan before him with the groanings of a mortally wounded man.
25 Thus I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh
shall fall down; they shall know that I am the LORD, when I put My sword into
the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt.
26 I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the
countries. Then they shall know that I am the LORD.'"
Jeremiah also prophecies about this.
Jer 43:9-13
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9 "Take large stones in your hand, and hide them in the sight of the men of Judah,
in the clay in the brick courtyard which is at the entrance to Pharaoh's house in
Tahpanhes; 10 and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel:
"Behold, I will send and bring Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant,
and will set his throne above these stones that I have hidden. And he will spread his
royal pavilion over them. 11 When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and
deliver to death those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for
captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword. 12 I will kindle a fire in
the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away
captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on
his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. 13 He shall also break the
sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the
gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire."'"
Vs 26 “then they shall know I am the Lord” Ezekiel has used before in 28:26 and
29:21. It reminds me of Jesus telling Caiphas that he would see Jesus coming in
judgment.
Matt 26:63-64
63 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him,"I put You
under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!" 64
Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will
see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the
clouds of heaven."
Ezek 31:1-9
Now it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, on the first day of the
month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, say to
Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his multitude:
'Whom are you like in your greatness? 3 Indeed Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon,
With fine branches that shaded the forest, And of high stature; And its top was
among the thick boughs. 4 The waters made it grow; Underground waters gave it
height, With their rivers running around the place where it was planted, And sent
out rivulets to all the trees of the field.
5'Therefore its height was exalted above all the trees of the field; Its boughs were
multiplied, And its branches became long because of the abundance of water, As it
sent them out. 6 All the birds of the heavens made their nests in its boughs; Under
its branches all the beasts of the field brought forth their young; And in its shadow
all great nations made their home.
7'Thus it was beautiful in greatness and in the length of its branches ,Because its
roots reached to abundant waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide
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it; The fir trees were not like its boughs, And the chestnut trees were not like its
branches; No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty. 9 I made it beautiful
with a multitude of branches, So that all the trees of Eden envied it, That were in
the garden of God.'
Vs 6 imagery is similar to Daniel.
Dan 4:10-12
I was looking, and behold,
A tree in the midst of the earth,
And its height was great.
11 The tree grew and became strong;
Its height reached to the heavens,
And it could be seen to the ends of all the earth.
12 Its leaves were lovely,
Its fruit abundant,
And in it was food for all.
The beasts of the field found shade under it,
The birds of the heavens dwelt in its branches,
And all flesh was fed from it.
Vs 9 compares the tree of Eden.
Gen 2:8-9
The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man
whom He had formed. 9 And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree
grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.
Ezek 31:10-14
10 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Because you have increased in height, and
it set its top among the thick boughs, and its heart was lifted up in its height, 11
therefore I will deliver it into the hand of the mighty one of the nations, and he
shall surely deal with it; I have driven it out for its wickedness. 12 And aliens, the
most terrible of the nations, have cut it down and left it; its branches have fallen on
the mountains and in all the valleys; its boughs lie broken by all the rivers of the
land; and all the peoples of the earth have gone from under its shadow and left it.
13'On its ruin will remain all the birds of the heavens,
And all the beasts of the field will come to its branches -14'So that no trees by the waters may ever again exalt themselves for their height,
nor set their tops among the thick boughs, that no tree which drinks water may ever
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be high enough to reach up to them.
'For they have all been delivered to death,
To the depths of the earth,
Among the children of men who go down to the Pit.'
In the next chapter we get the details of Egypt’s destruction
Ezek 32:17-18
It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the
word of the LORD came to me, saying:
18 "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt,
And cast them down to the depths of the earth,
Her and the daughters of the famous nations,
With those who go down to the Pit:
Ezek 31:15-18
15 "Thus says the Lord GOD: 'In the day when it went down to hell, I caused
mourning. I covered the deep because of it. I restrained its rivers, and the great
waters were held back. I caused Lebanon to mourn for it, and all the trees of the
field wilted because of it. 16 I made the nations shake at the sound of its fall, when
I cast it down to hell together with those who descend into the Pit; and all the trees
of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, were comforted in
the depths of the earth. 17 They also went down to hell with it, with those slain by
the sword; and those who were its strong arm dwelt in its shadows among the
nations.
18'To which of the trees in Eden will you then be likened in glory and greatness?
Yet you shall be brought down with the trees of Eden to the depths of the earth;
you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those slain by the sword. This
is Pharaoh and all his multitude,' says the Lord GOD."
Vs 16 “were comforted” is very similar to Isaiah’s prophecy regarding Babylon
Isa 14:9-11
9 "Hell from beneath is excited about you,
To meet you at your coming;
It stirs up the dead for you,
All the chief ones of the earth;
It has raised up from their thrones
All the kings of the nations.
10 They all shall speak and say to you:
'Have you also become as weak as we?
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Have you become like us?
11 Your pomp is brought down to Sheol,
And the sound of your stringed instruments;
The maggot is spread under you,
And worms cover you.'
Ezek 32:1-5
And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the twelfth month, on the first day of the
month, that the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, take up a
lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say to him:
'You are like a young lion among the nations,
And you are like a monster in the seas,
Bursting forth in your rivers,
Troubling the waters with your feet,
And fouling their rivers.'
3 "Thus says the Lord GOD:
'I will therefore spread My net over you with a company of many people,
And they will draw you up in My net.
4 Then I will leave you on the land;
I will cast you out on the open fields,
And cause to settle on you all the birds of the heavens.
And with you I will fill the beasts of the whole earth.
5 I will lay your flesh on the mountains,
And fill the valleys with your carcass.
584 BC 19 months after the destruction of Jerusalem. Vs 2 “monster of the seas”
refers to the crocodile the symbol of Egypt
Job 41:1
"Can you draw out Leviathan with a hook,
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?
Job 41:13-15
13 Who can remove his outer coat?
Who can approach him with a double bridle?
14 Who can open the doors of his face,
With his terrible teeth all around?
15 His rows of scales are his pride,
Shut up tightly as with a seal;
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Ps 74:14
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces,
And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
Ezek 32:6-8
6'I will also water the land with the flow of your blood,
Even to the mountains;
And the riverbeds will be full of you.
7 When I put out your light,
I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark;
I will cover the sun with a cloud,
And the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you,
And bring darkness upon your land,'
Says the Lord GOD.
Vs 6 “flow of your blood” recalls the first time God filled Egypt with blood
Ex 7:19
19 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your rod and stretch out
your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their streams, over their rivers, over their
ponds, and over all their pools of water, that they may become blood.
Vs 7 look at judgment language in 7 and 8.
Isa 34:4-5
4 All the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
And the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll;
All their host shall fall down
As the leaf falls from the vine,
And as fruit falling from a fig tree.
5 "For My sword shall be bathed in heaven;
Indeed it shall come down on Edom,
And on the people of My curse, for judgment.
This occurred in God’s punishment of Edom by babylon
Joel 2:10-11
10 The earth quakes before them,
The heavens tremble;
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The sun and moon grow dark,
And the stars diminish their brightness.
11 The LORD gives voice before His army,
For His camp is very great;
For strong is the One who executes His word.
For the day of the LORD is great and very terrible;
Who can endure it?
Joel has 2 fulfillments, first by Babylon and then by Rome. In Acts 2 Peter tells us
that the judgment is beginning.
Acts 2:14-21
But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, "Men of
Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my
words. 15 For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of
the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.'
Ezek 32:9-16
9'I will also trouble the hearts of many peoples, when I bring your destruction
among the nations, into the countries which you have not known. 10 Yes, I will
make many peoples astonished at you, and their kings shall be horribly afraid of
you when I brandish My sword before them; and they shall tremble every moment,
every man for his own life, in the day of your fall.'
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11 "For thus says the Lord GOD: 'The sword of the king of Babylon shall come
upon you. 12 By the swords of the mighty warriors, all of them the most terrible of
the nations, I will cause your multitude to fall.
'They shall plunder the pomp of Egypt,
And all its multitude shall be destroyed.
13 Also I will destroy all its animals
From beside its great waters;
The foot of man shall muddy them no more,
Nor shall the hooves of animals muddy them.
14 Then I will make their waters clear,
And make their rivers run like oil,'
Says the Lord GOD.
15'When I make the land of Egypt desolate,
And the country is destitute of all that once filled it,
When I strike all who dwell in it,
Then they shall know that I am the LORD.
16'This is the lamentation
With which they shall lament her;
The daughters of the nations shall lament her;
They shall lament for her, for Egypt,
And for all her multitude,'
Says the Lord GOD."
Vs 16 “daughters lament” refers to the custom of women gathering together to
wail.
Jer 9:17
Thus says the LORD of hosts:
"Consider and call for the mourning women,
That they may come;
And send for skillful wailing women,
That they may come.
2 Chron 35:25
25 Jeremiah also lamented for Josiah. And to this day all the singing men and the
singing women speak of Josiah in their lamentations. They made it a custom in
Israel; and indeed they are written in the Laments.
Ezek 32:17-21
It came to pass also in the twelfth year, on the fifteenth day of the month, that the
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word of the LORD came to me, saying:
18 "Son of man, wail over the multitude of Egypt,
And cast them down to the depths of the earth,
Her and the daughters of the famous nations,
With those who go down to the Pit:
19'Whom do you surpass in beauty?
Go down, be placed with the uncircumcised.'
20 "They shall fall in the midst of those slain by the sword;
She is delivered to the sword,
Drawing her and all her multitudes.
21 The strong among the mighty
Shall speak to him out of the midst of hell
With those who help him:
'They have gone down,
They lie with the uncircumcised, slain by the sword.'
Vs 18 God tells Ezekiel to cast them down, similar to what he told Jeremiah
Jer 1:9-10
9 Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said
to me:
"Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
10 See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To root out and to pull down,
To destroy and to throw down,
Vs 19 Egypt is going to Sheol with the rest of the uncircumcised, but God in
Jeremiah also places Israel there.
Jer 9:25-26
25 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that I will punish all who are
circumcised with the uncircumcised -- 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, the people of
Ammon, Moab, and all who are in the farthest corners, who dwell in the
wilderness. For all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are
uncircumcised in the heart."
Ezek 32:22-25
22 "Assyria is there, and all her company,
With their graves all around her,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword.
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23 Her graves are set in the recesses of the Pit,
And her company is all around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who caused terror in the land of the living.
24 "There is Elam and all her multitude,
All around her grave,
All of them slain, fallen by the sword,
Who have gone down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth,
Who caused their terror in the land of the living;
Now they bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
25 They have set her bed in the midst of the slain,
With all her multitude,
With her graves all around it,
All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword;
Though their terror was caused
In the land of the living,
Yet they bear their shame
With those who go down to the Pit;
It was put in the midst of the slain.
Elam was kin to Assyria
Gen 10:22-23
22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.
Vs 25 “bed” has reference to the grave.
Isa 57:1-2
The righteous perishes,
And no man takes it to heart;
Merciful men are taken away,
While no one considers
That the righteous is taken away from evil.
2 He shall enter into peace;
They shall rest in their beds,
Each one walking in his uprightness.
Ezek 32:26-30
26 "There are Meshech and Tubal and all their multitudes,
With all their graves around it,
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All of them uncircumcised, slain by the sword,
Though they caused their terror in the land of the living.
27 They do not lie with the mighty
Who are fallen of the uncircumcised,
Who have gone down to hell with their weapons of war;
They have laid their swords under their heads,
But their iniquities will be on their bones,
Because of the terror of the mighty in the land of the living.
28 Yes, you shall be broken in the midst of the uncircumcised,
And lie with those slain by the sword.
29 "There is Edom,
Her kings and all her princes,
Who despite their might
Are laid beside those slain by the sword;
They shall lie with the uncircumcised,
And with those who go down to the Pit.
30 There are the princes of the north,
All of them, and all the Sidonians,
Who have gone down with the slain
In shame at the terror which they caused by their might;
They lie uncircumcised with those slain by the sword,
And bear their shame with those who go down to the Pit.
Edom has always been an enemy of Israel
Ps 137:7
7 Remember, O LORD, against the sons of Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, "Raze it, raze it,
To its very foundation!"
Ezek 32:31-32
31 "Pharaoh will see them
And be comforted over all his multitude,
Pharaoh and all his army,
Slain by the sword,"
Says the Lord GOD.
32 "For I have caused My terror in the land of the living;
And he shall be placed in the midst of the uncircumcised
With those slain by the sword,
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Pharaoh and all his multitude,"
Says the Lord GOD.
“Pharaoh will be comforted” refers to the concept that misery loves company. He
will see all these other nations in Sheol with him
Ezek 33:1-6
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, speak to the
children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and
the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their
watchman, 3 when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the
trumpet and warns the people, 4 then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and
does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be
on his own head. 5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his
blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 But if
the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the
people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among
them, he is taken away in his
Once again God tells Ezekiel he is a watchman and blowing the trumpet is a
symbol of warning the people.
Hab 2:1
I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
Hos 8:1
"Set the trumpet to your mouth!
He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD,
Because they have transgressed My covenant
And rebelled against My law.
Ezek 33:7-11
7 "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel;
therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me. 8 When I
say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to
warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his
blood I will require at your hand. 9 Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn
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from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but
you have delivered your soul.
10 "Therefore you, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: 'Thus you say, "If our
transgressions and our sins lie upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we
then live?"' 11 Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD,'I have no pleasure in
the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn
from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'
This call for repentance goes back to the law.
Lev 26:39-42
9 And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies'
lands;
also in their fathers' iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.
40'But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their
unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked
contrary to Me,
41 and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the
land of their enemies;
if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt -42 then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and
My covenant with Abraham I will remember;
I will remember the land.
Ezek 33:12- 20
"Therefore
you, O son of man, say to the children of your people: 'The righteousness of the
righteous man shall not deliver him in the day of his transgression; as for the
wickedness of the wicked, he shall not fall because of it in the day that he turns
from his wickedness; nor shall the righteous be able to live because of his
righteousness in the day that he sins.' 13 When I say to the righteous that he shall
surely live, but he trusts in his own righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his
righteous works shall be remembered; but because of the iniquity that he has
committed, he shall die. 14 Again, when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,'
if he turns from his sin and does what is lawful and right, 15 if the wicked restores
the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without
committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 16 None of his sins
which he has committed shall be remembered against him; he has done what is
lawful and right; he shall surely live. 17 "Yet the children of your people say, 'The
way of the LORD is not fair.' But it is their way which is not fair! 18 When the
righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because
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of it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful
and right, he shall live because of it. 20 Yet you say,' The way of the LORD is not
fair.' O house of Israel, I will judge every one of you according to his own ways."
This is the same as Ezekiel 18. In vs. 15 “restoring the pledge” is the same in the
NT.
Luke 3:12-13
12 Then tax collectors also came to be baptized, and said to him, "Teacher, what
shall we do?" 13 And he said to them, "Collect no more than what is appointed for
you."
Luke 19:8
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods
to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore
fourfold."
Ezek 33:21-22
And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, on the
fifth day of the month, that one who had escaped from Jerusalem came to me and
said, "The city has been captured!" 22 Now the hand of the LORD had been upon
me the evening before the man came who had escaped. And He had opened my
mouth; so when he came to me in the morning, my mouth was opened, and I was
no longer mute.
Apparently he had been mute since Ezekiel 24.
Ezek 24:25-27
25'And you, son of man -- will it not be in the day when I take from them their
stronghold, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that on which they
set their minds, their sons and their daughters: 26 on that day one who escapes
will come to you to let you hear it with your ears; 27 on that day your mouth
will be opened to him who has escaped; you shall speak and no longer be
mute. Thus you will be a sign to them, and they shall know that I am the LORD.'"
Ezek 33:23-29
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 24 "Son of man, they who inhabit
those ruins in the land of Israel are saying, 'Abraham was only one, and he
inherited the land. But we are many; the land has been given to us as a possession.'
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25 "Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:" You eat meat with blood,
you lift up your eyes toward your idols, and shed blood. Should you then possess
the land? 26 You rely on your sword, you commit abominations, and you defile one
another's wives. Should you then possess the land?"' 27 "Say thus to them, 'Thus
says the Lord GOD: "As I live, surely those who are in the ruins shall fall by the
sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured,
and those who are in the strongholds and caves shall die of the pestilence. 28 For I
will make the land most desolate, her arrogant strength shall cease, and the
mountains of Israel shall be so desolate that no one will pass through. 29 Then they
shall know that I am the LORD, when I have made the land most desolate because
of all their abominations which they have committed."'
They like the Pharisees thought that since Abraham was their father they would be
protected.
Matt 3:9-10
9 and do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say
to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 10 And
even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees.
Vs 25 the commandment to not eat blood was first given to all men and then later
to Israel.
Gen 9:4-5
4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your
lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it,
and from the hand of man.
Lev 17:10-12
10'And whatever man of the house of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell among
you, who eats any blood, I will set My face against that person who eats blood, and
will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood,
and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is
the blood that makes atonement for the soul.' 12 Therefore I said to the children of
Israel, 'No one among you shall eat blood, nor shall any stranger who dwells
among you eat blood.'
Acts 15:19-21
9 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who
are turning to God, 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by
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idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood.
Ezek 33:30-33
"As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside
the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone
saying to his brother, 'Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the
LORD.' 31 So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people,
and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show
much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain. 32 Indeed you are to them as a
very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an
instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them. 33 And when this
comes to pass -- surely it will come -- then they will know that a prophet has been
among them."
“Children of your people” leaves no doubt who he is talking about, similar to
Daniel.
Dan 9:24
24 "Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.
Dan 12:1-3
"At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
3 Those who are wise shall shine
Like the brightness of the firmament,
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And those who turn many to righteousness
Like the stars forever and ever.
Dan 12:6-7
6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river,
"How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?" 7 Then I heard the man
clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when he held up his right
hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever, that it shall
be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of the holy people has
been completely shattered, all these things shall be finished.
Vs 31 they hear but do not do the word of the Lord.
Matt 7:26-27
26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be
like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the
floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was
its fall."
James 1:23-25
3 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing
his natural face in a mirror; 24 for he observes himself, goes away, and
immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 25 But he who looks into the perfect
law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the
work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
Vs 32 “ a lovely song”
Ps 137:3
3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
Vs 33 “surely it will come to pass” God is always faithful to his word.
Ps 119:90
90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
You established the earth, and it abides.
Lam 3:23
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3 They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Rom 3:3
3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of
God without effect?
Ezek 34:1-6
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, prophesy against
the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD to the
shepherds: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the
shepherds feed the flocks? 3 You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool;
you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. 4 The weak you have not
strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken,
nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force
and cruelty you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered because there was no
shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were
scattered. 6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill;
yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was
seeking or searching for them."
Similar to Jeremiah
Jer 23:1-6
"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the
LORD. 2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who
feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended
to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the LORD. 3
"But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven
them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. 4 I
will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more,
nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD.
5 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness;
A King shall reign and prosper,
And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved,
And Israel will dwell safely;
Now this is His name by which He will be called:
THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
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This is fulfilled in Jesus.
John 10:11-16
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12
But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees
the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and
scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care
about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known
by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay
down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold;
them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock
and one shepherd.
“The shepherds” have reference to the leaders of the people but mainly the king.
Look at where it refers to Ahab.
1 Kings 22:17-18
17 Then he said, "I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no
shepherd. And the LORD said, 'These have no master. Let each return to his house
in peace.'"
18 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Did I not tell you he would not
prophesy good concerning me, but evil?"
Here it refers to David
Ps 78:70-72
70 He also chose David His servant,
And took him from the sheepfolds;
71 From following the ewes that had young He brought him,
To shepherd Jacob His people,
And Israel His inheritance.
72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart,
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
Vs 6 the sheep were scattered because they had no shepherd.
Matt 9:36-38
36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them,
because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then
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He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38
Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Ezek 34:7-10
7'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 "As I live," says the
Lord GOD, "surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food
for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds
search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock" - 9 therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! 10 Thus says the Lord
GOD: "Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their
hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed
themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may
no longer be food for them."
After they return from captivity, they fall into the same sin and Zechariah
prophecies against them.
Zech 10:3
3 "My anger is kindled against the shepherds,
And I will punish the goatherds.
For the LORD of hosts will visit His flock,
The house of Judah,
And will make them as His royal horse in the battle.
Ezek 34:11-16
'For thus says the Lord GOD: "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek
them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered
sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they
were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 And I will bring them out from the
peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land;
I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited
places of the country. 14 I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on
the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in
rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed My flock, and I will make
them lie down," says the Lord GOD. 16 "I will seek what was lost and bring back
what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will
destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment."
This promise was fulfilled in Jesus.
Matt 15:24
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24 But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house
of Israel."
Luke 15:4-7
4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not
leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he
finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And
when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them,
'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' 7 I say to you that
likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Vs 16 is the judgment that came when he restored spiritual Israel.
Matt 25:31-34
"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then
He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before
Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his
sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the
goats on the left.
When did Jesus say this would happen? In his generation!
Matt 16:27-28
27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and
then He will reward each according to his works. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, there
are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of Man
coming in His kingdom."
Ezek 34:17-24
17'And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I shall judge
between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. 18 Is it too little for you to have
eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of
your pasture -- and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue
with your feet? 19 And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your
feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet." 20'Therefore thus says
the Lord GOD to them: "Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean
sheep. 21 Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak
ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, 22 therefore I will save My flock,
and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. 23 I
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will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them -- My servant David.
He shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the LORD, will be their God,
and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.
The prophecy of the shepherd judging.
Isa 40:10-11
10 Behold, the Lord GOD shall come with a strong hand,
And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him,
And His work before Him.
11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.
Zech 12:10-11
"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him
as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in
Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
The “great mourning” is because of the judgment of God.
Ezek 34:25-31
25 "I will make a covenant of peace with them, and cause wild beasts to cease from
the land; and they will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. 26 I
will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause
showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing. 27 Then
the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase.
They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I
have broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those
who enslaved them. 28 And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall
beasts of the land devour them; but they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make
them afraid. 29 I will raise up for them a garden of renown, and they shall no
longer be consumed with hunger in the land, nor bear the shame of the Gentiles
anymore. 30 Thus they shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and
they, the house of Israel, are My people," says the Lord GOD.'"
31 "You are My flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,"
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says the Lord GOD.
This covenant is the same promised by Jeremiah.
Jer 31:31-34
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -- 32 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, My covenant which they broke, though I was a
husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their
minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the
greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I
will remember no more."
Vs 29 “nor bear the shame of the gentiles anymore” has reference to the final
judgment on Israel.
Luke 21:20-28
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its
desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let
those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country
enter her. 22 For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written
may be fulfilled. 23 But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are
nursing babies in those days! For there will be great distress in the land and wrath
upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away
captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times
of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the
earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; 26 men's
hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming
on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see
the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when
these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your
redemption draws near."
Ezek 35:1-4
Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face
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against Mount Seir and prophesy against it, 3 and say to it, 'Thus says the Lord
GOD:
"Behold, O Mount Seir, I am against you;
I will stretch out My hand against you,
And make you most desolate;
4 I shall lay your cities waste,
And you shall be desolate.
Then you shall know that I am the LORD.
Mount Seir refers to Edom- Esau’s descendants
Gen 36:9
9 And this is the genealogy of Esau the father of the Edomites in Mount Seir.
“Stretch out my hand” refers to God’s punishment.
Ex 7:5
5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand
on Egypt and bring out the children of Israel from among them."
Obad 8
8 "Will I not in that day," says the LORD,
"Even destroy the wise men from Edom,
And understanding from the mountains of Esau?
Ezek 35:5-9
5 "Because you have had an ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children
of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, when their iniquity
came to an end, 6 therefore, as I live," says the Lord GOD, "I will prepare you for
blood, and blood shall pursue you; since you have not hated blood, therefore blood
shall pursue you. 7 Thus I will make Mount Seir most desolate, and cut off from it
the one who leaves and the one who returns. 8 And I will fill its mountains with the
slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain
by the sword shall fall. 9 I will make you perpetually desolate, and your cities shall
be uninhabited; then you shall know that I am the LORD
Amos 1:11-12
11 Thus says the LORD:
"For three transgressions of Edom, and for four,
I will not turn away its punishment,
Because he pursued his brother with the sword,
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And cast off all pity;
His anger tore perpetually,
And he kept his wrath forever.
12 But I will send a fire upon Teman,
Which shall devour the palaces of Bozrah."
Ps 83:1-8
Do not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult;
And those who hate You have lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, "Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more."
5 For they have consulted together with one consent;
They form a confederacy against You:
6 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot.
Ezek 35:10-15
10 "Because you have said, 'These two nations and these two countries shall be
mine, and we will possess them,' although the LORD was there, 11 therefore, as I
live," says the Lord GOD, "I will do according to your anger and according to the
envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself
known among them when I judge you. 12 Then you shall know that I am the
LORD. I have heard all your blasphemies which you have spoken against the
mountains of Israel, saying, 'They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.'
13 Thus with your mouth you have boasted against Me and multiplied your words
against Me; I have heard them."
14'Thus says the Lord GOD:" The whole earth will rejoice when I make you
desolate. 15 As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was
desolate, so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of
Edom -- all of it! Then they shall know that I am the LORD."'
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Vs 14 “the whole earth” correctly translated would be “land”
OT:776
'erets (eh'-rets); from an unused root probably meaning to be firm; the earth (at
large, or partitively a land):
Gen 11:28
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the
Chaldees.
Gen 12:1
2:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 19:28
28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the
plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a
furnace.
Ex 33:1-3
33:1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the
people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I
sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it:
Lev 25:10
10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the
land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall
return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his
family.
Num 33:53
53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have
given you the land to possess it.
Deut 13:6-7
6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of
thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying,
Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;7
Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far
off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
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Deut 28:1-2
28:1 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the
LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command
thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the
earth:
Ps 48:2
2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of
the north, the city of the great King.
Ps 50:4
4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his
people.
Ps 98:3
3 He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel: all the
ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Ps 98:9
9 Before the LORD; for he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he
judge the world, and the people with equity.
“World” here also refers to the land
OT:8398
tebel (tay-bale'); from OT:2986; the earth (as moist and therefore inhabited); by
extension, the globe; by implication, its inhabitants; specifically, a partic. land, as
Babylonia, Palestine:
Isa 1:7
7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers
devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
Isa 2:8
8 Their land also is full of idols; they worship the work of their own hands, that
which their own fingers have made:
Isa 2:19
19 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for
fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake
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terribly the earth.
Isa 9:19
19 Through the wrath of the LORD of hosts is the land darkened, and the people
shall be as the fuel of the fire: no man shall spare his brother.
Isa 11:9
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be
full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
Isa 13:13-14
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place,
in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.
14 And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they
shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land.
Isa 24:1-3
24:1 Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth
it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.
3 The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken
this word.
Isa 24:19
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is
moved exceedingly.
Isa 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the
earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain.
Isa 51:6
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the
heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment,
and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for
ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished.
Isa 57:13
13 When thou criest, let thy companies deliver thee; but the wind shall carry them
all away; vanity shall take them: but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the
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land, and shall inherit my holy mountain;
Jer 3:9
9 And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the
land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks.
Jer 4:5
5 Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in
the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the
defenced cities
Jer 4:27-28
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not
make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have
spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
Jer 22:28-30
28 Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? is he a vessel wherein is no
pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land
which they know not?
29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.
30 Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper
in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David,
and ruling any more in Judah.
Jer 25:9
9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and
Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this
land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about,
and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and
perpetual desolations.
Jer 25:29
29 For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city which is called by my name, and should
ye be utterly unpunished? Ye shall not be unpunished: for I will call for a sword
upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the LORD of hosts.
Jer 25:33
33 And the slain of the LORD shall be at that day from one end of the earth even
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unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor
buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.
Jer 25:38
38 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the
fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
Jer 33:15
15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow
up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
Jer 51:25-29
25 Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which
destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee
down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain.
26 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations;
but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.
27 Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare
the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and
Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough
caterpillers.28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the
captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion.29 And
the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be
performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an
inhabitant.
Joel 2:1
2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all
the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh
at hand;
Joel 2:10
0 The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the
moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Mal 4:5-6
5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the LORD:
6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the
children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
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Ezek 36:1-5
"And you, son of man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel, and say, 'O mountains
of Israel, hear the word of the LORD! 2 Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because the
enemy has said of you, 'Aha! The ancient heights have become our possession,'"' 3
therefore prophesy, and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because they made you
desolate and swallowed you up on every side, so that you became the possession of
the rest of the nations, and you are taken up by the lips of talkers and slandered by
the people" -- 4 therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD!
Thus says the Lord GOD to the mountains, the hills, the rivers, the valleys, the
desolate wastes, and the cities that have been forsaken, which became plunder and
mockery to the rest of the nations all around -- 5 therefore thus says the Lord
GOD: "Surely I have spoken in My burning jealousy against the rest of the nations
and against all Edom, who gave My land to themselves as a possession, with
wholehearted joy and spiteful minds, in order to plunder its open country."'
God is continuing his judgment on nations surrounding Israel . Vs 3 “because”
gives the reason why God is punishing them.
Lev 26:43
43 The land also shall be left empty by them, and will enjoy its sabbaths while it
lies desolate without them; they will accept their guilt, because they despised My
judgments and because their soul abhorred My statutes.
Vs 3 “slandered”
Ps 140:11
11 Let not a slanderer be established in the earth;
Let evil hunt the violent man to overthrow him."
Ps 79:4-7
4 We have become a reproach to our neighbors,
A scorn and derision to those who are around us.
5 How long, LORD?
Will You be angry forever?
Will Your jealousy burn like fire?
6 Pour out Your wrath on the nations that do not know You,
And on the kingdoms that do not call on Your name.
7 For they have devoured Jacob,
And laid waste his dwelling place.
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Vs 5 “burning jealousy”
Zeph 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold
Shall be able to deliver them
In the day of the LORD's wrath;
But the whole land shall be devoured
By the fire of His jealousy,
For He will make speedy riddance
Of all those who dwell in the land.
Deut 4:24
24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Heb 12:28-29
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us
have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Ezek 36:6-12
6 "Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains, the
hills, the rivers, and the valleys, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I have spoken
in My jealousy and My fury, because you have borne the shame of the nations." 7
Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: "I have raised My hand in an oath that surely
the nations that are around you shall bear their own shame. 8 But you, O mountains
of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to My people
Israel, for they are about to come. 9 For indeed I am for you, and I will turn to you,
and you shall be tilled and sown. 10 I will multiply men upon you, all the house of
Israel, all of it; and the cities shall be inhabited and the ruins rebuilt. 11 I will
multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bear young; I will
make you inhabited as in former times, and do better for you than at your
beginnings. Then you shall know that I am the LORD. 12 Yes, I will cause men to
walk on you, My people Israel; they shall take possession of you, and you shall be
their inheritance; no more shall you bereave them of children."
Vs 7 “ raised my hand”
Deut 32:40-41
40 For I raise My hand to heaven,
And say, "As I live forever,
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41 If I whet My glittering sword,
And My hand takes hold on judgment,
I will render vengeance to My enemies,
And repay those who hate Me.
Vs 10 promises the rebuilding of Israel. This is a dual prophecy. 1 st the physical
when they returned from captivity and 2nd the spiritual in Christ’s kingdom.
Isa 44:26-28
confirms the word of His servant,
And performs the counsel of His messengers;
Who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited,'
To the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built,'
And I will raise up her waste places;
27 Who says to the deep, 'Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers';
28 Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built,"
And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'
26 Who
Ezek 36:13-15
13'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because they say to you, 'You devour men and
bereave your nation of children,' 14 therefore you shall devour men no more, nor
bereave your nation anymore," says the Lord GOD. 15 Nor will I let you hear the
taunts of the nations anymore, nor bear the reproach of the peoples anymore, nor
shall you cause your nation to stumble anymore," says the Lord GOD.'"
Vs 15 “taunts”
Mic 6:16
16 For the statutes of Omri are kept;
All the works of Ahab's house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people."
Ezek 36:16-21
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Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 17 "Son of man, when the
house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own ways and
deeds; to Me their way was like the uncleanness of a woman in her customary
impurity. 18 Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed
on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. 19 So I scattered
them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I
judged them according to their ways and their deeds. 20 When they came to the
nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name -- when they said of
them, 'These are the people of the LORD, and yet they have gone out of His land.'
21 But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned
among the nations wherever they went.
Vs 17 they have become unclean by their rebellion against God.
Isa 64:6-7
6 But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.
7 And there is no one who calls on Your name,
Who stirs himself up to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us,
And have consumed us because of our iniquities.
Vs 20 God’s name is profaned by Israel.
Rom 2:17-24
Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18
and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out
of the law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to
those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes,
having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore, who teach
another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do
you steal? 22 You who say, "Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery?
You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your boast in the law,
do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For "the name of God is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you," as it is written.
Ezek 36:22-32
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22 "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "I do not do
this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name's sake, which you have
profaned among the nations wherever you went. 23 And I will sanctify My great
name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in
their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD," says the Lord GOD,
"when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. 24 For I will take you from among
the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. 25
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give
you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. 28 Then you shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be
your God. 29 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the
grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. 30 And I will multiply the
fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear
the reproach of famine among the nations. 31 Then you will remember your evil
ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your
own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. 32 Not for your sake do I do
this," says the Lord GOD, "let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for
your own ways, O house of Israel!"
Vs 22 they do not deserve God’s favour
Deut 9:6
6 Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land
to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.
Eph 2:8-9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Vs 23 God’s name will be sanctified.
Mal 1:11
11 For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,
My name shall be great among the Gentiles;
In every place incense shall be offered to My name,
And a pure offering;
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For My name shall be great among the nations,"
Says the LORD of hosts.
Vs 26 “ a new heart”
Jer 24:7
7 Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD; and they shall
be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole
heart.
Jer 31:31-34
"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah -- 32 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, My covenant which they broke, though I was a
husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their
minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My
people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the
greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I
will remember no more."
Vs 28 “they shall be my people and I shall be their God”
2 Cor 6:14-18
14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15
And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an
unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are
the temple of the living God. As God has said:
"I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people."
17 Therefore
"Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you."
18'I will be a Father to you,
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And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty."
This promise is fulfilled in the new Jerusalem which is the church
Rev 21:1-3
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be
His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Rev 21:1-3
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth
had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be
His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
2 Peter 3:13
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth in which righteousness dwells.
Heb 12:22-24
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the
Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the
new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of
Abel.
Ezek 36:33-38
33'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On the day that I cleanse you from all your
iniquities, I will also enable you to dwell in the cities, and the ruins shall be rebuilt.
34 The desolate land shall be tilled instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who
pass by. 35 So they will say, 'This land that was desolate has become like the
garden of Eden; and the wasted, desolate, and ruined cities are now fortified and
inhabited.' 36 Then the nations which are left all around you shall know that I, the
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LORD, have rebuilt the ruined places and planted what was desolate. I, the LORD,
have spoken it, and I will do it."
37'Thus says the Lord GOD:"I will also let the house of Israel inquire of Me to do
this for them: I will increase their men like a flock. 38 Like a flock offered as holy
sacrifices, like the flock at Jerusalem on its feast days, so shall the ruined cities be
filled with flocks of men. Then they shall know that I am the LORD."'"
Vs 35 has become like the garden of Eden is just the opposite in Joel 2
Joel 2:3
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
Isa 51:3
3 For the LORD will comfort Zion,
He will comfort all her waste places;
He will make her wilderness like Eden,
And her desert like the garden of the LORD;
Joy and gladness will be found in it,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
Vs 36 “nations shall know” is fulfilled when the gentiles ae part of the kingdom.
Rev 21:22-27
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of
God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are
saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and
honor into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day( there shall be no night
there). 26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27
But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination
or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Ezek 37:1-6
The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the
LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then
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He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the
open valley; and indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can
these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." 4 Again He said to
me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the
LORD! 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to
enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon
you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall
know that I am the LORD."'"
Vs 3 the prophet’s answer “you know” is the same answer John gave.
Rev 7:13-14
13 Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in white
robes, and where did they come from?" 14 And I said to him, "Sir, you know."
Vs 4 “prophesy” does not mean predict but means to speak the words of God.
OT:5012 naba' (naw-baw'); a primitive root; to prophesy, i.e. speak (or sing) by
inspiration
Vs 5 “breath”
Gen 2:7
7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
This promise of resurrection is not new.
Isa 26:19
19 Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body they shall arise.
Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;
For your dew is like the dew of herbs,
And the earth shall cast out the dead.
Dan 12:1-2
"At that time Michael shall stand up,
The great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people;
And there shall be a time of trouble,
Such as never was since there was a nation,
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Even to that time.
And at that time your people shall be delivered,
Every one who is found written in the book.
2 And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting contempt.
In Isaiah if you go back to Isa 25 the time of the resurrection is when God destroys
“his holy mountain” which is Zion in Jerusalem. In Daniel the resurrection is
promised when he destroys the holy people.
Dan 12:5-7
5 Then I, Daniel, looked; and there stood two others, one on this riverbank and the
other on that riverbank. 6 And one said to the man clothed in linen, who was above
the waters of the river, "How long shall the fulfillment of these wonders be?" 7
Then I heard the man clothed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, when
he held up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and swore by Him who lives
forever, that it shall be for a time, times, and half a time; and when the power of
the holy people has been completely shattered, all these things shall be
finished.
Ezek 37:7-10
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and
suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I
looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over;
but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath,
prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD :"Come
from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."'" 10
So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived,
and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
John 5:25-30
25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead
will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the
Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27
and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of
Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the
graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth -- those who have done good, to the
resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of
condemnation.
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Jesus said the time is near.
NT:3568
nun (noon); a primary particle of present time; "now" (as adverb of date, a
transition or emphasis); also as noun or adjective present or immediate:
Vs 9 “four winds” is a symbol of completeness and is used in reference to
resurrection.
Matt 24:30-35
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of
the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of
heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds,
from one end of heaven to the other. 32 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree:
When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that
summer is near. 33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near
-- at the doors! 34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass
away till all these things take place.
Rev 7:1-4
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on
the sea, or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having
the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels to
whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, 3 saying, "Do not harm the
earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their
foreheads." 4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. One hundred and
forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel were sealed:
Ezek 37:11-14
11 Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'
12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My
people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and
bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD,
when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your
graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in
your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and
performed it," says the LORD.'"
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Vs 14 “my Spirit” is the same word as “breath in vs. 9. It is the same word in Joel
2 and Acts 2 that Peter quotes.
OT:7307
ruwach (roo'-akh); from OT:7306; wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or
even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a
region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its
expression and functions):
Joel 2:28
28 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all
flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream
dreams, your young men shall see visions:
But look and see what all is going to happen. Peter is just telling the beginning of
the fulfillment.
Joel 2:1-3
Blow the trumpet in Zion,
And sound an alarm in My holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble;
For the day of the LORD is coming,
For it is at hand:
2 A day of darkness and gloominess,
A day of clouds and thick darkness,
Like the morning clouds spread over the mountains.
A people come, great and strong,
The like of whom has never been;
Nor will there ever be any such after them,
Even for many successive generations.
3 A fire devours before them,
And behind them a flame burns;
The land is like the Garden of Eden before them,
And behind them a desolate wilderness;
Surely nothing shall escape them.
Ezek 37:15-20
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 16 "As for you, son of man, take
a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his
companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of
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Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.' 17 Then join them one to
another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. 18
"And when the children of your people speak to you, saying,' Will you not show us
what you mean by these?' -- 19 say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I
will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of
Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and
make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' 20 And the sticks on
which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.
Ephraim became the symbol for the northern 10 tribes.
Isa 7:17
7 The LORD will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your
father's house -- days that have not come since the day that Ephraim departed
from Judah."
Ezek 37:21-28
21 "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of
Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them
from every side and bring them into their own land; 22 and I will make them one
nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them
all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two
kingdoms again. 23 They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor
with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver
them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse
them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God. 24 "David My servant
shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk
in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. 25 Then they shall dwell
in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and
they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever;
and My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 Moreover I will make a
covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I
will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst
forevermore. 27 My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God,
and they shall be My people. 28 The nations also will know that I, the LORD,
sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."'"
Vs 24 can only refer to Christ and the fulfillment of the promise made to David.
2 Sam 7:12-16
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12 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your
seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13
He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits
iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of
men. 15 But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I
removed from before you. 16 And your house and your kingdom shall be
established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever."'"
Isaiah and Jeremiah also prophesied this.
Isa 55:3-4
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you -The sure mercies of David.
4 Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
Jer 32:37-41
37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My
anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I
will cause them to dwell safely. 38 They shall be My people, and I will be their
God; 39 then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me
forever, for the good of them and their children after them. 40 And I will make an
everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good;
but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. 41 Yes, I
will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land,
with all My heart and with all My soul.'
Paul quotes from Ezekiel
2 Cor 6:16
16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple
of the living God. As God has said:
"I will dwell in them
And walk among them.
I will be their God,
And they shall be My people."
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This is also prophesied by John.
Rev 21:3-4
3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself
will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no
more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Rev 21:22-27
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of
God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are
saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor
into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26
And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there
shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Keep reading in Rev and you will see the time frame of this happening.
Rev 22:6-7
Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the
holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly
take place. 7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of
the prophecy of this book."
“Shortly”
NT:5034
tachos (takh'-os); from the same as NT:5036; a brief space (of time),
“Quickly”
NT:5035
tachu (takh-oo'); neuter singular of NT:5036 (as adverb); shortly, i.e. without delay,
soon, or (by surprise) suddenly, or (by implication, of ease) readily:
This was to happen soon after the writing of Revelation.
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Ezek 38:1-6
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, set your face
against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and
prophesy against him, 3 and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I am against
you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal. 4 I will turn you around, put
hooks into your jaws, and lead you out, with all your army, horses, and horsemen,
all splendidly clothed, a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them
handling swords. 5 Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya are with them, all of them with
shield and helmet; 6 Gomer and all its troops; the house of Togarmah from the far
north and all its troops -- many people are with you.
Magog was a descendant of Japeth. Josephus in Ant 1:6:1 states these were the
Scythians who were northeast of Assyria. However I believe Gog and magog are
figurative. At first it appears to be Rome but in the next chapter it becomes clear
that it cannot be Rome but is probably Israel.
Gen 10:2
2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and
Tiras.
John in the Revelation uses similar language.
Rev 20:7-8
Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison
8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of
the sea.
Vs 5 indicates the four corners of the land-Persia (east), Ethiopia (south), Libya
(west), and Gomer (north).
Rev 7:1
After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth,
holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on
the sea, or on any tree.
Matt 24:29-31
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven,
and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man
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coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And He will send
His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect
from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Ezek 38:7-9
7 "Prepare yourself and be ready, you and all your companies that are gathered
about you; and be a guard for them. 8 After many days you will be visited. In the
latter years you will come into the land of those brought back from the sword and
gathered from many people on the mountains of Israel, which had long been
desolate; they were brought out of the nations, and now all of them dwell safely. 9
You will ascend, coming like a storm, covering the land like a cloud, you and all
your troops and many peoples with you."
Vs 8 “latter years” actually means the end
OT:319
'achariyth (akh-ar-eeth'); from OT:310; the last or end, hence, the future; also
posterity:
Isa 41:22
22 "Let them bring forth and show us what will happen;
Let them show the former things, what they were,
That we may consider them,
And know the latter end of them;
Or declare to us things to come.
Dan 8:19
19 And he said, "Look, I am making known to you what shall happen in the latter
time of the indignation; for at the appointed time the end shall be.
Dan 12:8-13
8 Although I heard, I did not understand. Then I said, "My lord, what shall be the
end of these things?" 9 And he said, "Go your way, Daniel, for the words are
closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, made
white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall
understand, but the wise shall understand. 11 "And from the time that the daily
sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be
one thousand two hundred and ninety days. 12 Blessed is he who waits, and comes
to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. 13 "But you, go your way
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till the end; for you shall rest, and
Mic 4:1
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the LORD's house
Shall be established on the top of the mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And peoples shall flow to it.
In vs. 8 Magog will come into the land in the latter days after they have returned
from captivity. Magog will cover the land like “a cloud” which is judgment
language.
Jer 4:13
13 "Behold, he shall come up like clouds,
And his chariots like a whirlwind.
His horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us, for we are plundered!"
Ezek 38:10-17
10'Thus says the Lord GOD: "On that day it shall come to pass that thoughts will
arise in your mind, and you will make an evil plan: 11 You will say, 'I will go up
against a land of unwalled villages; I will go to a peaceful people, who dwell
safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates' -- 12
to take plunder and to take booty, to stretch out your hand against the waste places
that are again inhabited, and against a people gathered from the nations, who have
acquired livestock and goods, who dwell in the midst of the land. 13 Sheba, Dedan,
the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, 'Have you
come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away
silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?'"' 14
"Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say to Gog, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:"On
that day when My people Israel dwell safely, will you not know it? 15 Then you
will come from your place out of the far north, you and many peoples with you, all
of them riding on horses, a great company and a mighty army. 16 You will come up
against My people Israel like a cloud, to cover the land. It will be in the latter days
that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me, when I am
hallowed in you, O Gog, before their eyes." 17 Thus says the Lord GOD: "Are you
he of whom I have spoken in former days by My servants the prophets of Israel,
who prophesied for years in those days that I would bring you against them?
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Moses was the first prophet to state this.
Deut 28:49-51
49 The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth,
as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a
nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to
the young.
Jer 30:23-24
23 Behold, the whirlwind of the LORD
Goes forth with fury,
A continuing whirlwind;
It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the LORD will not return until He has done it,
And until He has performed the intents of His heart.
In the latter days you will consider it.
Ezek 38:18-23
"And it will come to pass at the same time, when Gog comes against the land of
Israel," says the Lord GOD, "that My fury will show in My face. 19 For in My
jealousy and in the fire of My wrath I have spoken: 'Surely in that day there shall
be a great earthquake in the land of Israel, 20 so that the fish of the sea, the birds of
the heavens, the beasts of the field, all creeping things that creep on the earth, and
all men who are on the face of the earth shall shake at My presence. The mountains
shall be thrown down, the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the
ground.' 21 I will call for a sword against Gog throughout all My mountains," says
the Lord GOD. "Every man's sword will be against his brother. 22 And I will bring
him to judgment with pestilence and bloodshed; I will rain down on him, on his
troops, and on the many peoples who are with him, flooding rain, great hailstones,
fire, and brimstone. 23 Thus I will magnify Myself and sanctify Myself, and I will
be known in the eyes of many nations. Then they shall know that I am the LORD."'
In vs. 16 God says that he will bring Gog against the land of Israel. Now he is
going to punish Gog.
Zech 14:1-5
Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, And your spoil will be divided in your
midst. 2 For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem; The city shall
be taken, The houses rifled, And the women ravished. Half of the city shall go into
captivity, But the remnant of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in
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the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives
,Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two,
From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move
toward the north And half of it toward the south.
5 Then you shall flee through My mountain valley For the mountain valley shall
reach to Azal. Yes, you shall flee As you fled from the earthquake In the days of
Uzziah king of Judah.
Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You.
In Zechariah, God promises to fight for his saints (Christians). The saints were to
flee through the mountain valley.
Matt 24:15-17
"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), 16 "then
let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Ezek 39:1-8
"And you, son of man, prophesy against Gog, and say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD:
"Behold, I am against you, O Gog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal; 2 and I
will turn you around and lead you on, bringing you up from the far north, and bring
you against the mountains of Israel. 3 Then I will knock the bow out of your left
hand, and cause the arrows to fall out of your right hand. 4 You shall fall upon the
mountains of Israel, you and all your troops and the peoples who are with you; I
will give you to birds of prey of every sort and to the beasts of the field to be
devoured. 5 You shall fall on the open field; for I have spoken," says the Lord
GOD. 6 "And I will send fire on Magog and on those who live in security in the
coastlands. Then they shall know that I am the LORD. 7 So I will make My holy
name known in the midst of My people Israel, and I will not let them profane My
holy name anymore. Then the nations shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy
One in Israel. 8 Surely it is coming, and it shall be done," says the Lord GOD.
"This is the day of which I have spoken.
IN chap 38 Gog and Magog seemed to be Rome because it was to happen in the
“latter days” and they came upon Israel after they returned from captivity. In this
chapter the prophecy is against Magog and God is going to destroy them in the
land of Israel which then means it could not be Rome.
Ezek 39:9-16
9 "Then
those who dwell in the cities of Israel will go out and set on fire and burn the
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weapons, both the shields and bucklers, the bows and arrows, the javelins and
spears; and they will make fires with them for seven years. 10 They will not take
wood from the field nor cut down any from the forests, because they will make
fires with the weapons; and they will plunder those who plundered them, and
pillage those who pillaged them," says the Lord GOD. "It will come to pass in that
day that I will give Gog a burial place there in Israel, the valley of those who pass
by east of the sea; and it will obstruct travelers, because there they will bury Gog
and all his multitude. Therefore they will call it the Valley of Hamon Gog. 12 For
seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land.
13 Indeed all the people of the land will be burying, and they will gain renown for
it on the day that I am glorified," says the Lord GOD. 14 "They will set apart men
regularly employed, with the help of a search party, to pass through the land and
bury those bodies remaining on the ground, in order to cleanse it. At the end of
seven months they will make a search. 15 The search party will pass through the
land; and when anyone sees a man's bone, he shall set up a marker by it, till the
buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon Gog. 16 The name of the city will
also be Hamonah. Thus they shall cleanse the land."'
I’ ve looked at several commentators and none agree what all this means
Ezek 39:17-20
"And as for you, son of man, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Speak to every sort of bird
and to every beast of the field:
"Assemble yourselves and come;
Gather together from all sides to My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you,
A great sacrificial meal on the mountains of Israel,
That you may eat flesh and drink blood.
18 You shall eat the flesh of the mighty,
Drink the blood of the princes of the earth,
Of rams and lambs,
Of goats and bulls,
All of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 You shall eat fat till you are full,
And drink blood till you are drunk,
At My sacrificial meal
Which I am sacrificing for you.
20 You shall be filled at My table
With horses and riders,
With mighty men
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And with all the men of war," says the Lord GOD.
God’s judgment is said to be a feast.
Zeph 1:7-9
7 Be silent in the presence of the Lord GOD;
For the day of the LORD is at hand,
For the LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
He has invited His guests.
8 "And it shall be,
In the day of the LORD's sacrifice,
That I will punish the princes and the king's children,
And all such as are clothed with foreign apparel.
9 In the same day I will punish
All those who leap over the threshold, Who fill their masters' houses with violence
and deceit.
Rev 19:17-21
Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to
all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, "Come and gather together for the
supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of
captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them,
and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great." 19 And I saw the
beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war
against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was
captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by
which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who
worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with
brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the
mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Ezek 39:21-29
"I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment
which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them. 22 So the house
of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward. 23
The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their
iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I
gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24
According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt
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with them, and hidden My face from them."'
25 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Now I will bring back the captives of
Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My
holy name -- 26 after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in
which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no
one made them afraid. 27 When I have brought them back from the peoples and
gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of
many nations, 28 then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent
them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land,
and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from
them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,'
says the Lord GOD."
This is similar to Joel 2 and Acts 2 and refers to the new covenant and the
kingdom. It may very be that Gog is a symbol of Israel!
Isa 59:21
21 "As for Me," says the LORD, "this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who
is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from
your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your
descendants' descendants," says the LORD, "from this time and forevermore."
Joel 2:28
"And it shall come to pass afterward
That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams,
Zech 12:10-12
"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the
Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him
as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in
Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
Acts 2:17-21
17'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
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18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.
21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the LORD
Shall be saved.'
Ezek 40:1-3
In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth
day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was captured, on the very
same day the hand of the LORD was upon me; and He took me there. 2 In the
visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high
mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. 3 He
took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the
appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he
stood in the gateway.
Probably 575 bc if he was taken in 600 bc. This was the time of the Passover.
Ex 12:2
2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the
year to you.
Ex 12:11
It is the LORD's Passover.
Vs 2 “visions of God” means the same as John wrote in Revelation.
Rev 1:10
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day,
Vs 3 “ the appearance of bronze” is the same picture in Daniel and Revelation.
Dan 10:4-6
4 Now on the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great
river, that is, the Tigris, 5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man
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clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz! 6 His body was like
beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his
arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the
voice of a multitude.
Rev 1:12-15
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw
seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the
Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest
with a golden band. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and His eyes like a flame of fire; 15 His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a
furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;
Ezek 40:4-5
4 And the man said to me, "Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your
ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so
that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see."
5 Now there was a wall all around the outside of the temple. In the man's hand was
a measuring rod six cubits long, each being a cubit and a handbreadth; and he
measured the width of the wall structure, one rod; and the height, one rod.
Very similar to Daniel being shown the future.
Dan 9:20-23
Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my
people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the
holy mountain of my God, 21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel,
whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached
me about the time of the evening offering. 22 And he informed me, and talked with
me, and said, "O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. 23
At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to
tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand
the vision:
Vs 5 God is giving the measurements of the temple to be rebuilt. This could very
well be for the physical temple that was rebuilt but I think it is more symbolic of the
spiritual temple (the church) that will never be destroyed. God uses a measuring
rod for the building and in Revelation ,he uses a measuring rod for the destruction
of the physical temple.
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Rev 11:1-3
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, "Rise
and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave
out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been
given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two
months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy one
thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth."
Ezek 40:6-10
Then he went to the gateway which faced east; and he went up its stairs and
measured the threshold of the gateway, which was one rod wide, and the other
threshold was one rod wide. 7 Each gate chamber was one rod long and one rod
wide; between the gate chambers was a space of five cubits; and the threshold of
the gateway by the vestibule of the inside gate was one rod. 8 He also measured the
vestibule of the inside gate, one rod. 9 Then he measured the vestibule of the
gateway, eight cubits; and the gateposts, two cubits. The vestibule of the gate was
on the inside. 10 In the eastern gateway were three gate chambers on one side and
three on the other; the three were all the same size; also the gateposts were of the
same size on this side and that side.
OT:520
'ammah (am-maw'); prolonged from OT:517; properly, a mother (i.e. unit of
measure, or the fore-arm (below the elbow), i.e. a cubit; also a door-base (as a
bond of the entrance):
2 Chron 3:3
3 This is the foundation which Solomon laid for building the house of God: The
length was sixty cubits (by cubits according to the former measure) and the
width twenty cubits.
Vs 7 length and width the same , similar in Revelation.
Rev 21:16
16 The city is laid out as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he
measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and
height are equal.
Ezek 40:11-46
11 He measured the width of the entrance to the gateway, ten cubits; and the length
of the gate, thirteen cubits. 12 There was a space in front of the gate chambers, one
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cubit on this side and one cubit on that side; the gate chambers were six cubits on
this side and six cubits on that side. 13 Then he measured the gateway from the
roof of one gate chamber to the roof of the other; the width was twenty-five cubits,
as door faces door. 14 He measured the gateposts, sixty cubits high, and the court
all around the gateway extended to the gatepost. 15 From the front of the entrance
gate to the front of the vestibule of the inner gate was fifty cubits. 16 There were
beveled window frames in the gate chambers and in their intervening archways on
the inside of the gateway all around, and likewise in the vestibules. There were
windows all around on the inside. And on each gatepost were palm trees.
17 then he brought me into the outer court; and there were chambers and a
pavement made all around the court; thirty chambers faced the pavement. 18 The
pavement was by the side of the gateways, corresponding to the length of the
gateways; this was the lower pavement. 19 Then he measured the width from the
front of the lower gateway to the front of the inner court exterior, one hundred
cubits toward the east and the north. 20 On the outer court was also a gateway
facing north, and he measured its length and its width. 21 Its gate chambers, three
on this side and three on that side, its gateposts and its archways, had the same
measurements as the first gate; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five
cubits. 22 Its windows and those of its archways, and also its palm trees, had the
same measurements as the gateway facing east; it was ascended by seven steps,
and its archway was in front of it. 23 A gate of the inner court was opposite the
northern gateway, just as the eastern gateway; and he measured from gateway to
gateway, one hundred cubits. 24 After that he brought me toward the south, and
there a gateway was facing south; and he measured its gateposts and archways
according to these same measurements. 25 There were windows in it and in its
archways all around like those windows; its length was fifty cubits and its width
twenty-five cubits. 26 Seven steps led up to it, and its archway was in front of
them; and it had palm trees on its gateposts, one on this side and one on that side.
27 There was also a gateway on the inner court, facing south; and he measured
from gateway to gateway toward the south, one hundred cubits.
28 Then he brought me to the inner court through the southern gateway; he
measured the southern gateway according to these same measurements. 29 Also its
gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways were according to these same
measurements; there were windows in it and in its archways all around; it was fifty
cubits long and twenty-five cubits wide. 30 There were archways all around,
twenty-five cubits long and five cubits wide. 31 Its archways faced the outer court,
palm trees were on its gateposts, and going up to it were eight steps. 32 32 And he
brought me into the inner court facing east; he measured the gateway according to
these same measurements. 33 Also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its
archways were according to these same measurements; and there were windows in
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it and in its archways all around; it was fifty cubits long and twenty-five cubits
wide. 34 Its archways faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its gateposts on
this side and on that side; and going up to it were eight steps. 35 Then he brought
me to the north gateway and measured it according to these same measurements -36 also its gate chambers, its gateposts, and its archways. It had windows all
around; its length was fifty cubits and its width twenty-five cubits. 37 Its gateposts
faced the outer court, palm trees were on its gateposts on this side and on that side,
and going up to it were eight steps. 38 There was a chamber and its entrance by the
gateposts of the gateway, where they washed the burnt offering. 39 In the vestibule
of the gateway were two tables on this side and two tables on that side, on which to
slay the burnt offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. 40 At the outer
side of the vestibule, as one goes up to the entrance of the northern gateway, were
two tables; and on the other side of the vestibule of the gateway were two tables.
41 Four tables were on this side and four tables on that side, by the side of the
gateway, eight tables on which they slaughtered the sacrifices. 42 There were also
four tables of hewn stone for the burnt offering, one cubit and a half long, one cubit
and a half wide, and one cubit high; on these they laid the instruments with which
they slaughtered the burnt offering and the sacrifice. 43 Inside were hooks, a
handbreadth wide, fastened all around; and the flesh of the sacrifices was on the
tables. 44 Outside the inner gate were the chambers for the singers in the inner
court, one facing south at the side of the northern gateway, and the other facing
north at the side of the southern gateway. 45 Then he said to me, "This chamber
which faces south is for the priests who have charge of the temple. 46 The chamber
which faces north is for the priests who have charge of the altar; these are the sons
of Zadok, from the sons of Levi, who come near the LORD to minister to Him."
Vs 45 the priests would sing. This is a change from the Levites being the singers.
2 Chron 20:19
19 Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of the
Korahites stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with voices loud and high.
In the spiritual temple we are priests.
1 Peter 2:9-10
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own
special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of
darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the
people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
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Rev 1:5-6
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has
made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
Rev 5:10
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
Rev 20:6
6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the
second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with Him a thousand years.
And we are commanded to sing.
Eph 5:19-21
19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody in your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for all things to
God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another
in the fear of God.
Ezek 40:47-49
And he measured the court, one hundred cubits long and one hundred cubits wide,
foursquare. The altar was in front of the temple. 48 Then he brought me to the
vestibule of the temple and measured the doorposts of the vestibule, five cubits on
this side and five cubits on that side; and the width of the gateway was three cubits
on this side and three cubits on that side. 49 The length of the vestibule was twenty
cubits, and the width eleven cubits; and by the steps which led up to it there were
pillars by the doorposts, one on this side and another on that side.
Ezek 41:1-4
Then he brought me into the sanctuary and measured the doorposts, six cubits wide
on one side and six cubits wide on the other side -- the width of the tabernacle. 2
The width of the entryway was ten cubits, and the side walls of the entrance were
five cubits on this side and five cubits on the other side; and he measured its
length, forty cubits, and its width, twenty cubits.
3 Also he went inside and measured the doorposts, two cubits; and the entrance, six
cubits high; and the width of the entrance, seven cubits. 4 He measured the length,
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twenty cubits; and the width, twenty cubits, beyond the sanctuary; and he said to
me, "This is the Most Holy Place."
Only the high priest could enter the most holy once a year
Ex 30:10
10 And Aaron shall make atonement upon its horns once a year with the blood of
the sin offering of atonement; once a year he shall make atonement upon it
throughout your generations. It is most holy to the LORD."
Lev 16:16-18
17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make
atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for
himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.
Heb 9:7-8
7 But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without
blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins committed in
ignorance; 8 the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was
not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.
Ezek 41:5-11
Next, he measured the wall of the temple, six cubits. The width of each side
chamber all around the temple was four cubits on every side. 6 The side chambers
were in three stories, one above the other, thirty chambers in each story; they rested
on ledges which were for the side chambers all around, that they might be
supported, but not fastened to the wall of the temple. 7 As one went up from story
to story, the side chambers became wider all around, because their supporting
ledges in the wall of the temple ascended like steps; therefore the width of the
structure increased as one went up from the lowest story to the highest by way of
the middle one. 8 I also saw an elevation all around the temple; it was the
foundation of the side chambers, a full rod, that is, six cubits high. 9 The thickness
of the outer wall of the side chambers was five cubits, and so also the remaining
terrace by the place of the side chambers of the temple. 10 And between it and the
wall chambers was a width of twenty cubits all around the temple on every side. 11
The doors of the side chambers opened on the terrace, one door toward the north
and another toward the south; and the width of the terrace was five cubits all
around.
It probably had a spiral staircase as Solomon’s temple.
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1 Kings 6:7-8
8 The doorway for the middle story was on the right side of the temple. They went
up by stairs to the middle story, and from the middle to the third.
Ezek 41:12-17
The building that faced the separating courtyard at its western end was seventy
cubits wide; the wall of the building was five cubits thick all around, and its length
ninety cubits. 13 So he measured the temple, one hundred cubits long; and the
separating courtyard with the building and its walls was one hundred cubits long;
14 also the width of the eastern face of the temple, including the separating
courtyard, was one hundred cubits. 15 He measured the length of the building
behind it, facing the separating courtyard, with its galleries on the one side and on
the other side, one hundred cubits, as well as the inner temple and the porches of
the court, 16 their doorposts and the beveled window frames. And the galleries all
around their three stories opposite the threshold were paneled with wood from the
ground to the windows -- the windows were covered -- 17 from the space above
the door, even to the inner room, as well as outside, and on every wall all around,
inside and outside, by measure.
Ezek 41:18-26
18 And it was made with cherubim and palm trees, a palm tree between cherub and
cherub. Each cherub had two faces, 19 so that the face of a man was toward a palm
tree on one side, and the face of a young lion toward a palm tree on the other side;
thus it was made throughout the temple all around. 20 From the floor to the space
above the door, and on the wall of the sanctuary, cherubim and palm trees were
carved.
21 The doorposts of the temple were square, as was the front of the sanctuary; their
appearance was similar. 22 The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length
two cubits. Its corners, its length, and its sides were of wood; and he said to me,
"This is the table that is before the LORD."
23 The temple and the sanctuary had two doors. 24 The doors had two panels
apiece, two folding panels: two panels for one door and two panels for the other
door. 25 Cherubim and palm trees were carved on the doors of the temple just as
they were carved on the walls. A wooden canopy was on the front of the vestibule
outside. 26 There were beveled window frames and palm trees on one side and on
the other, on the sides of the vestibule -- also on the side chambers of the temple
and on the canopies.
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The altar in the tabernacle was of acacia wood, in Solomon’s temple it was brass
and the showbread altar was gold and this one was to be wood (vs. 22)
Ex 30:1
"You shall make an altar to burn incense on; you shall make it of acacia wood.
2 Chron 4:1
Moreover he made a bronze altar: twenty cubits was its length, twenty cubits its
width, and ten cubits its height.
1 Kings 7:48
48 Thus Solomon had all the furnishings made for the house of the LORD: the
altar of gold, and the table of gold on which was the showbread;
Ezek 42:1-9
Then he brought me out into the outer court, by the way toward the north; and he
brought me into the chamber which was opposite the separating courtyard, and
which was opposite the building toward the north. 2 Facing the length, which was
one hundred cubits (the width was fifty cubits), was the north door. 3 Opposite the
inner court of twenty cubits, and opposite the pavement of the outer court, was
gallery against gallery in three stories. 4 In front of the chambers, toward the
inside, was a walk ten cubits wide, at a distance of one cubit; and their doors faced
north. 5 Now the upper chambers were shorter, because the galleries took away
space from them more than from the lower and middle stories of the building. 6
For they were in three stories and did not have pillars like the pillars of the courts;
therefore the upper level was shortened more than the lower and middle levels
from the ground up. 7 And a wall which was outside ran parallel to the chambers,
at the front of the chambers, toward the outer court; its length was fifty cubits. 8
The length of the chambers toward the outer court was fifty cubits, whereas that
facing the temple was one hundred cubits. 9 At the lower chambers was the
entrance on the east side, as one goes into them from the outer court.
In vs. 3 the literal is “in thirds” which is only used here and in Gen 6 .
Gen 6:15-16
16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from
above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second,
and third decks.
Ezek 42:10-14
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10 Also there were chambers in the thickness of the wall of the court toward the
east, opposite the separating courtyard and opposite the building. 11 There was a
walk in front of them also, and their appearance was like the chambers which were
toward the north; they were as long and as wide as the others, and all their exits
and entrances were according to plan. 12 And corresponding to the doors of the
chambers that were facing south, as one enters them, there was a door in front of
the walk, the way directly in front of the wall toward the east. 13 Then he said to
me, "The north chambers and the south chambers, which are opposite the
separating courtyard, are the holy chambers where the priests who approach the
LORD shall eat the most holy offerings. There they shall lay the most holy
offerings -- the grain offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering -- for the
place is holy. 14 When the priests enter them, they shall not go out of the holy
chamber into the outer court; but there they shall leave their garments in which
they minister, for they are holy. They shall put on other garments; then they may
approach that which is for the people."
Vs 14 the priests leave their garments just as the law commanded.
Lev 16:23
23 "Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen
garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them
there.
Ezek 42:15-20
Now when he had finished measuring the inner temple, he brought me out through
the gateway that faces toward the east, and measured it all around. 16 He measured
the east side with the measuring rod, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all
around. 17 He measured the north side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod all
around. 18 He measured the south side, five hundred rods by the measuring rod. 19
He came around to the west side and measured five hundred rods by the measuring
rod. 20 He measured it on the four sides; it had a wall all around, five hundred
cubits long and five hundred wide, to separate the holy areas from the common.
OT:7070
qaneh (kaw-neh'); from OT:7069; a reed (as erect); by resemblance a rod
(especially for measuring), shaft, tube, stem, the radius (of the arm), beam (of a
steelyard):
The rod was a measuring tool but I could not find a specific amount. Also used in
Revelation.
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Rev 11:1-3
Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel stood, saying, "Rise
and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But leave
out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been
given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for forty-two
months. 3
Ezek 43:1-5
Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. 2 And
behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was
like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. 3 It was like
the appearance of the vision which I saw -- like the vision which I saw when I
came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River
Chebar; and I fell on my face. 4 And the glory of the LORD came into the temple
by way of the gate which faces toward the east. 5 The Spirit lifted me up and
brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the
temple.
Vs 2 “the earth shone with his glory” is one of the references to the temple being
called he earth. The new temple which is the church is “the new earth”
Isa 6:1-3
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and
lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim;
each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet,
and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!"
Isa 65:17-18
For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth;
And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18 But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create;
For behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing,
And her people a joy.
Heb 12:22-27
22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, 23 to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the
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Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the Mediator of the
new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of
Abel. 25 See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape
who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn
away from Him who speaks from heaven, 26 whose voice then shook the earth; but
now He has promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also
heaven." 27 Now this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that
are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be
shaken may remain.
Rev 21:1-4
Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first
earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy
city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be
His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Ezek 43:6-9
6 Then I heard Him speaking to me from the temple, while a man stood beside me.
7 And He said to me, "Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of
the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel
forever. No more shall the house of Israel defile My holy name, they nor their
kings, by their harlotry or with the carcasses of their kings on their high places. 8
When they set their threshold by My threshold, and their doorpost by My doorpost,
with a wall between them and Me, they defiled My holy name by the abominations
which they committed; therefore I have consumed them in My anger. 9 Now let
them put their harlotry and the carcasses of their kings far away from Me, and I
will dwell in their midst forever.
The promise to dwell with them forever is after he has consumed them ie “the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away” Jesus promises that he and the father
will abide with us.
John 14:23
23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word;
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with
him.
Ezek 43:10-12
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10 "Son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be
ashamed of their iniquities; and let them measure the pattern. 11 And if they are
ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple
and its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, its entire design and all its
ordinances, all its forms and all its laws. Write it down in their sight, so that they
may keep its whole design and all its ordinances, and perform them. 12 This is the
law of the temple: The whole area surrounding the mountaintop is most holy.
Behold, this is the law of the temple.
Ezek 43:13-17
"These are the measurements of the altar in cubits(the cubit is one cubit and a
handbreadth): the base one cubit high and one cubit wide, with a rim all around its
edge of one span. This is the height of the altar: 14 from the base on the ground to
the lower ledge, two cubits; the width of the ledge, one cubit; from the smaller
ledge to the larger ledge, four cubits; and the width of the ledge, one cubit. 15 The
altar hearth is four cubits high, with four horns extending upward from the hearth.
16 The altar hearth is twelve cubits long, twelve wide, square at its four corners; 17
the ledge, fourteen cubits long and fourteen wide on its four sides, with a rim of
half a cubit around it; its base, one cubit all around; and its steps face toward the
east."
Interestingly, the pulpit commentary realizes that this vision cannot be the post
exile temple.
Ezek 43:16-17
The stairs (or, steps), mention of which closes the description, mark a departure,
not from the pattern of the Solomonic temple, in which the altar must have had
steps (see Keil's 'Biblische Archaologie,' p. 141), but from the pattern of the
tabernacle, in which altar-steps were disallowed (Ex 20:26) and did not exist (Ex
38:1-7). But if, as Jewish tradition asserts, the pest-exilic altar had no steps as
Ezekiel's had, having been reached by an inclined plane, because in the so-called
book of the covenant steps were forbidden, how does this harmonize with the
theory that Ezekiel's vision temple was designed as a model for the post-exilic
temple?
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Ezek 43:18-27
And He said to me, "Son of man, thus says the Lord GOD: 'These are the
ordinances for the altar on the day when it is made, for sacrificing burnt offerings
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on it, and for sprinkling blood on it. 19 You shall give a young bull for a sin
offering to the priests, the Levites, who are of the seed of Zadok, who approach Me
to minister to Me,' says the Lord GOD. 20 You shall take some of its blood and put
it on the four horns of the altar, on the four corners of the ledge, and on the rim
around it; thus you shall cleanse it and make atonement for it. 21 Then you shall
also take the bull of the sin offering, and burn it in the appointed place of the
temple, outside the sanctuary. 22 On the second day you shall offer a kid of the
goats without blemish for a sin offering; and they shall cleanse the altar, as they
cleansed it with the bull. 23 When you have finished cleansing it, you shall offer a
young bull without blemish, and a ram from the flock without blemish. 24 When
you offer them before the LORD, the priests shall throw salt on them, and they will
offer them up as a burnt offering to the LORD. 25 Every day for seven days you
shall prepare a goat for a sin offering; they shall also prepare a young bull and a
ram from the flock, both without blemish. 26 Seven days they shall make
atonement for the altar and purify it, and so consecrate it. 27 When these days are
over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your
burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,' says
the Lord GOD."
Vs 19 ‘seed of Zadok” the pulpit commentary explains
The priesthood, at its institution, having been entrusted to Aaron and his sons (Ex
27:20,21; 28:1-4; 29:9,44; Num 3:10; 16:40; 18:7; 25:13), on Aaron's death the
high priesthood passed into the hands of Eleazar, his eldest (living) son (Num
20:26-28), and after Eleazar's death into those of Phinehas, his eldest son (Num
25:11-13). In the last days of the judges, when the ark and tabernacle stood at
Shiloh? The high priesthood belonged to Eli, of the line of Ithamar (comp. 1 Sam
14:3 and 22:20 with 1 Chron 24:3), in which line it continued till the reign of
David, when it was held conjointly by Abiathar (called also Ahimelech) of the line
of Ithamar, and Zadok of the line of Eleazar (2 Sam 8:17; 20:25; 1 Kings 4:4). This
arrangement, however, Solomon eventually overturned, by deposing the former for
espousing Adonijah's pretensions to the throne (1 Kings 1:7; 2:26), and from that
time forward till the exile the high priesthood remained with Zadok and his sons (1
Kings 2:35; 1 Chron 29:22).
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Vs 24 talks about using salt to purify the sacrifice
Mark 9:49-50
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"For everyone will be seasoned with fire, and will every sacrifice be seasoned
with salt. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?
Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another."
Ezek 44:1-3
Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the
east, but it was shut. 2 And the LORD said to me, "This gate shall be shut; it shall
not be opened, and no man shall enter by it, because the LORD God of Israel has
entered by it; therefore it shall be shut. 3 As for the prince, because he is the prince,
he may sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by way of the
vestibule of the gateway, and go out the same way."
Vs 3 the “prince” could refer to Jesus who not only was king but also priest. The
king was to come from Judah and the priest from Levi, but in the new kingdom the
law had been changed. However later the term is plural which could not refer to
Jesus but probably the governors of the land who happened to be priests.
OT:5387
nasiy' (naw-see'); or nasi' (naw-see'); from OT:5375; properly, an exalted one, i.e.
a king or sheik; also a rising mist:
KJV - captain, chief, cloud, governor, prince, ruler, vapour.
Lev 2:3
3 The rest of the grain offering shall be Aaron's and his sons'. It is most holy of the
offerings to the LORD made by fire.
Lev 24:9
9 And it shall be for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place; for it
is most holy to him from the offerings of the LORD made by fire, by a perpetual
statute."
Heb 7:11-17
Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the
people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should
rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order
of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change
of the law. 13 For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe,
from which no man has officiated at the altar. 14 For it is evident that our Lord
arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. 15
And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises
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another priest 16 who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly
commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. 17 For He testifies:
"You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek."
Ezek 44:4-9
Also He brought me by way of the north gate to the front of the temple; so I
looked, and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD; and I fell
on my face. 5 And the LORD said to me, "Son of man, mark well, see with your
eyes and hear with your ears, all that I say to you concerning all the ordinances of
the house of the LORD and all its laws. Mark well who may enter the house and all
who go out from the sanctuary. 6 "Now say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel,
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "O house of Israel, let Us have no more of all your
abominations. 7 When you brought in foreigners, uncircumcised in heart and
uncircumcised in flesh, to be in My sanctuary to defile it -- My house -- and when
you offered My food, the fat and the blood, then they broke My covenant because
of all your abominations. 8 And you have not kept charge of My holy things, but
you have set others to keep charge of My sanctuary for you." 9 Thus says the Lord
GOD: "No foreigner, uncircumcised in heart or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter
My sanctuary, including any foreigner who is among the children of Israel.
Solomon was the first king to defile the worship.
1 Kings 11:3-8
4 For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other
gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his
father David. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians,
and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did evil in the
sight of the LORD, and did not fully follow the LORD, as did his father David. 7
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, on the
hill that is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the people of
Ammon. 8 And he did likewise for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and
sacrificed to their gods.
Then Jeroboam, the first king of the northern 10 tribes, began to defile the worship
of God.
1 Kings 12:25-31
Then Jeroboam built Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and dwelt there. Also
he went out from there and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now
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the kingdom may return to the house of David: 27 If these people go up to offer
sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will
turn back to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and go back
to Rehoboam king of Judah." 28 Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves
of gold, and said to the people, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here
are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!" 29 And he
set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. 30 Now this thing became a sin,
for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. 31 He made shrines on
the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the
sons of Levi.
Manasseh was one of the worst kings.
2 Chron 33:1-5
Manasseh
was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned fifty-five years in
Jerusalem. 2 But he did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to the
abominations of the nations whom the LORD had cast out before the children of
Israel. 3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down;
he raised up altars for the Baals, and made wooden images; and he worshiped all
the host of heaven and served them. 4 He also built altars in the house of the
LORD, of which the LORD had said," In Jerusalem shall My name be forever." 5
And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the
LORD.
Ezek 44:10-14
"And the Levites who went far from Me, when Israel went astray, who strayed
away from Me after their idols, they shall bear their iniquity. 11 Yet they shall be
ministers in My sanctuary, as gatekeepers of the house and ministers of the house;
they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall
stand before them to minister to them. 12 Because they ministered to them before
their idols and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity, therefore I have
raised My hand in an oath against them," says the Lord GOD, "that they shall bear
their iniquity. 13 And they shall not come near Me to minister to Me as priest, nor
come near any of My holy things, nor into the Most Holy Place; but they shall bear
their shame and their abominations which they have committed. 14 Nevertheless I
will make them keep charge of the temple, for all its work, and for all that has to be
done in it.
All priests were of the tribe of Levi and were the sons of Aaron. So all priests were
Levites but not all Levites were priests.
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Num 16:8-11
8 Then Moses said to Korah, "Hear now, you sons of Levi: 9 Is it a small thing to
you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to
bring you near to Himself, to do the work of the tabernacle of the LORD, and to
stand before the congregation to serve them; 10 and that He has brought you near
to Himself, you and all your brethren, the sons of Levi, with you? And are you
seeking the priesthood also? 11 Therefore you and all your company are gathered
together against the LORD. And what is Aaron that you complain against him?"
Ezek 44:15-19
15 "But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, who kept charge of My
sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near
Me to minister to Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer to Me the fat and the
blood," says the Lord GOD. 16 "They shall enter My sanctuary, and they shall
come near My table to minister to Me, and they shall keep My charge. 17 And it
shall be, whenever they enter the gates of the inner court, that they shall put on
linen garments; no wool shall come upon them while they minister within the gates
of the inner court or within the house. 18 They shall have linen turbans on their
heads and linen trousers on their bodies; they shall not clothe themselves with
anything that causes sweat. 19 When they go out to the outer court, to the outer
court to the people, they shall take off their garments in which they have
ministered, leave them in the holy chambers, and put on other garments; and in
their holy garments they shall not sanctify the people.
Zadok was to carry the ark of God.
2 Sam 15:24
24 There was Zadok also, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the
covenant of God.
The priesthood, at its institution, having been entrusted to Aaron and his sons (Ex
27:20,21; 28:1-4; 29:9,44; Num 3:10; 16:40; 18:7; 25:13), on Aaron's death the
high priesthood passed into the hands of Eleazar, his eldest (living) son (Num
20:26-28), and after Eleazar's death into those of Phinehas, his eldest son (Num
25:11-13). In the last days of the judges, when the ark and tabernacle stood at
Shiloh? The high priesthood belonged to Eli, of the line of Ithamar (comp. 1 Sam
14:3 and 22:20 with 1 Chron 24:3), in which line it continued till the reign of
David, when it was held conjointly by Abiathar (called also Ahimelech) of the line
of Ithamar, and Zadok of the line of Eleazar (2 Sam 8:17; 20:25; 1 Kings 4:4).
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This arrangement, however, Solomon eventually overturned, by deposing the
former for espousing Adonijah's pretensions to the throne (1 Kings 1:7; 2:26), and
from that time forward till the exile the high priesthood remained with Zadok and
his sons (1 Kings 2:35; 1 Chron 29:22).
(from The Pulpit Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2001 by
Biblesoft)
Ezek 44:20-24
20 "They shall neither shave their heads, nor let their hair grow long, but they shall
keep their hair well trimmed. 21 No priest shall drink wine when he enters the
inner court. 22 They shall not take as wife a widow or a divorced woman, but take
virgins of the descendants of the house of Israel, or widows of priests. 23 "And
they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and
cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean. 24 In controversy they
shall stand as judges, and judge it according to My judgments. They shall keep My
laws and My statutes in all My appointed meetings, and they shall hallow My
Sabbaths.
The commandment of marriage was the same as before.
Lev 21:7
7 They shall not take a wife who is a harlot or a defiled woman, nor shall they take
a woman divorced from her husband; for the priest is holy to his God.
Lev 21:13-15
13 And he shall take a wife in her virginity. 14 A widow or a divorced woman or a
defiled woman or a harlot -- these he shall not marry; but he shall take a virgin of
his own people as wife. 15 Nor shall he profane his posterity among his people, for
I the LORD sanctify him.'"
Vs 23 the Priests and Levites were to teach the people the Law.
Deut 33:8-10
8 And of Levi he said:
"Let Your Thummim and Your Urim be with Your holy one,
Whom You tested at Massah,
And with whom You contended at the waters of Meribah,
9 Who says of his father and mother,
'I have not seen them';
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Nor did he acknowledge his brothers,
Or know his own children;
For they have observed Your word
And kept Your covenant.
10 They shall teach Jacob Your judgments,
And Israel Your law.
Mal 2:7-8
7 "For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
For he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.
8 But you have departed from the way;
You have caused many to stumble at the law.
You have corrupted the covenant of Levi,"
Says the LORD of hosts.
Ezek 44:25-31
25 "They shall not defile themselves by coming near a dead person. Only for father
or mother, for son or daughter, for brother or unmarried sister may they defile
themselves. 26 After he is cleansed, they shall count seven days for him. 27 And on
the day that he goes to the sanctuary to minister in the sanctuary, he must offer his
sin offering in the inner court," says the Lord GOD. 28 "It shall be, in regard to
their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in
Israel, for I am their possession. 29 They shall eat the grain offering, the sin
offering, and the trespass offering; every dedicated thing in Israel shall be theirs. 30
The best of all firstfruits of any kind, and every sacrifice of any kind from all your
sacrifices, shall be the priest's; also you shall give to the priest the first of your
ground meal, to cause a blessing to rest on your house. 31 The priests shall not eat
anything, bird or beast, that died naturally or was torn by wild beasts.
This is the same as the Law.
Lev 21:1-4
And the LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to
them:'None shall defile himself for the dead among his people, 2 except for his
relatives who are nearest to him: his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, and
his brother; 3 also his virgin sister who is near to him, who has had no husband, for
her he may defile himself. 4 Otherwise he shall not defile himself, being a chief
man among his people, to profane himself.
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Vs 28 the Levites and priests’ inheritance was the same in the Law.
Num 18:20
20 Then the LORD said to Aaron: "You shall have no inheritance in their land, nor
shall you have any portion among them; I am your portion and your inheritance
among the children of Israel.
Deut 10:9
9 Therefore Levi has no portion nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD is his
inheritance, just as the LORD your God promised him.)
Ezek 45:1-5
"Moreover, when you divide the land by lot into inheritance, you shall set apart a
district for the LORD, a holy section of the land; its length shall be twenty-five
thousand cubits, and the width ten thousand. It shall be holy throughout its territory
all around. 2 Of this there shall be a square plot for the sanctuary, five hundred by
five hundred rods, with fifty cubits around it for an open space. 3 So this is the
district you shall measure: twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide;
in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. 4 It shall be a holy section of the
land, belonging to the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to
minister to the LORD; it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the
sanctuary. 5 An area twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide shall
belong to the Levites, the ministers of the temple; they shall have twenty chambers
as a possession.
When they came into the land from Egypt, they did the same thing.
Num 26:54-56
54 To a large tribe you shall give a larger inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall
give a smaller inheritance. Each shall be given its inheritance according to those
who were numbered of them. 55 But the land shall be divided by lot; they shall
inherit according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. 56 According to the lot
their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller."
Ezek 45:6-8
"You shall appoint as the property of the city an area five thousand cubits wide and
twenty-five thousand long, adjacent to the district of the holy section; it shall
belong to the whole house of Israel. 7 "The prince shall have a section on one side
and the other of the holy district and the city's property; and bordering on the holy
district and the city's property, extending westward on the west side and eastward
on the east side, the length shall be side by side with one of the tribal portions,
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from the west border to the east border. 8 The land shall be his possession in Israel;
and My princes shall no more oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the
land to the house of Israel, according to their tribes."
The kings had long oppressed the people as Samuel warned them.
1 Sam 8:10-18
10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a
king. 11 And he said, "This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over
you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his
horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over
his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and
reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his
chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14
And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and
give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage,
and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants,
your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to
his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18
And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for
yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day."
Ezek 45:9-17
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Enough, O princes of Israel! Remove violence and
plundering, execute justice and righteousness, and stop dispossessing My people,"
says the Lord GOD. 10 "You shall have honest scales, an honest ephah, and an
honest bath. 11 The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, so that the
bath contains one-tenth of a homer, and the ephah one-tenth of a homer; their
measure shall be according to the homer. 12 The shekel shall be twenty gerahs;
twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be your mina. 13
"This is the offering which you shall offer: you shall give one-sixth of an ephah
from a homer of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah from a homer of barley. 14 The
ordinance concerning oil, the bath of oil, is one-tenth of a bath from a kor. A kor is
a homer or ten baths, for ten baths are a homer. 15 And one lamb shall be given
from a flock of two hundred, from the rich pastures of Israel. These shall be for
grain offerings, burnt offerings, and peace offerings, to make atonement for them,"
says the Lord GOD. 16 "All the people of the land shall give this offering for the
prince in Israel. 17 Then it shall be the prince's part to give burnt offerings, grain
offerings, and drink offerings, at the feasts, the New Moons, the Sabbaths, and at
all the appointed seasons of the house of Israel. He shall prepare the sin offering,
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the grain offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings to make atonement
for the house of Israel."
Lev 19:35-36
35'You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or
volume. 36 You shall have honest scales, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an
honest hin: I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.
The prince to offer sacrifices was not new.
1 Kings 8:62-63
Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD. 63 And
Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to the LORD,
twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the
king and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.
Ezek 45:18-25
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "In the first month, on the first day of the month, you
shall take a young bull without blemish and cleanse the sanctuary. 19 The priest
shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the
temple, on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the gateposts of the gate
of the inner court. 20 And so you shall do on the seventh day of the month for
everyone who has sinned unintentionally or in ignorance. Thus you shall make
atonement for the temple.
21 "In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall observe the
Passover, a feast of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. 22 And on that
day the prince shall prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bull for
a sin offering. 23 On the seven days of the feast he shall prepare a burnt offering to
the LORD, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish, daily for seven days, and
a kid of the goats daily for a sin offering. 24 And he shall prepare a grain offering
of one ephah for each bull and one ephah for each ram, together with a hin of oil
for each ephah.
25 "In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, at the feast, he shall do
likewise for seven days, according to the sin offering, the burnt offering, the grain
offering, and the oil."
The first month was the Passover but was also the time that the tabernacle was
built.
Ex 40:1-3
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Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 2 "On the first day of the first month you
shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting. 3 You shall put in it the ark of the
Testimony, and partition off the ark with the veil
The seventh month was when the temple was dedicated.
2 Chron 7:8-11
8 At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very
great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. 9 And on the
eighth day they held a sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the
altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the
seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for
the good that the LORD had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people
Israel. 11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the LORD and the king's house; and
Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the
house of the LORD and in his own house.
There is a difference in the offerings from what the law commanded.
Num 28:19-25
19 And you shall present an offering made by fire as a burnt offering to the LORD:
two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year. Be sure they are
without blemish. 20 Their grain offering shall be of fine flour mixed with oil:
three-tenths of an ephah you shall offer for a bull, and two-tenths for a ram; 21 you
shall offer one-tenth of an ephah for each of the seven lambs; 22 also one goat as a
sin offering, to make atonement for you. 23 You shall offer these besides the burnt
offering of the morning, which is for a regular burnt offering. 24 In this manner
you shall offer the food of the offering made by fire daily for seven days, as a
sweet aroma to the LORD; it shall be offered besides the regular burnt offering and
its drink offering. 25 And on the seventh day you shall have a holy convocation.
You shall do no customary work.
Vs 25 refers to the feasts of tabernacles but in Ezekiel there is no mention of living
in booths. However they did celebrate the feast by living in booths.
Lev 23:40-43
40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees,
branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and
you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. 41 You shall keep it
as a feast to the LORD for seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in
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your generations. You shall celebrate it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell
in booths for seven days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, 43
that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths
when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.'"
Neh 8:14-18
14 And they found written in the Law, which the LORD had commanded by
Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the
seventh month, 15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities
and in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches,
branches of oil trees, myrtle branches, palm branches, and branches of leafy trees,
to make booths, as it is written."
16 Then the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each
one on the roof of his house, or in their courtyards or the courts of the house of
God, and in the open square of the Water Gate and in the open square of the Gate
of Ephraim. 17 So the whole assembly of those who had returned from the
captivity made booths and sat under the booths; for since the days of Joshua
the son of Nun until that day the children of Israel had not done so. And there
was very great gladness. 18 Also day by day, from the first day until the last day, he
read from the Book of the Law of God. And they kept the feast seven days; and on
the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.
Ezek 46:1-8
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "The gateway of the inner court that faces toward the
east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and
on the day of the New Moon it shall be opened. 2 The prince shall enter by way of
the vestibule of the gateway from the outside, and stand by the gatepost. The
priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings. He shall worship at
the threshold of the gate. Then he shall go out, but the gate shall not be shut until
evening. 3 Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the entrance to this
gateway before the LORD on the Sabbaths and the New Moons. 4 The burnt
offering that the prince offers to the LORD on the Sabbath day shall be six lambs
without blemish, and a ram without blemish; 5 and the grain offering shall be one
ephah for a ram, and the grain offering for the lambs, as much as he wants to give,
as well as a hin of oil with every ephah. 6 On the day of the New Moon it shall be
a young bull without blemish, six lambs, and a ram; they shall be without blemish.
7 He shall prepare a grain offering of an ephah for a bull, an ephah for a ram, as
much as he wants to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil with every ephah. 8 When
the prince enters, he shall go in by way of the vestibule of the gateway, and go out
the same way.
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Vs 4 the burnt offering is different from the law.
Num 28:9-10
'And on the Sabbath day two lambs in their first year, without blemish, and twotenths of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering, mixed with oil, with its drink
offering -- 10 this is the burnt offering for every Sabbath, besides the regular burnt
offering with its drink offering.
Ezek 46:9-11
9 "But when the people of the land come before the LORD on the appointed feast
days, whoever enters by way of the north gate to worship shall go out by way of
the south gate; and whoever enters by way of the south gate shall go out by way of
the north gate. He shall not return by way of the gate through which he came, but
shall go out through the opposite gate. 10 The prince shall then be in their midst.
When they go in, he shall go in; and when they go out, he shall go out. 11 At the
festivals and the appointed feast days the grain offering shall be an ephah for a
bull, an ephah for a ram, as much as he wants to give for the lambs, and a hin of oil
with every ephah.
Vs 9 gives the orderly movement of the people.
1 Cor 14:40
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
Ezek 46:12
12 "Now when the prince makes a voluntary burnt offering or voluntary peace
offering to the LORD, the gate that faces toward the east shall then be opened for
him; and he shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings as he did on the
Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he goes out the gate shall be shut.
“Voluntary” is the same as “freewill”.
Ex 35:29
29 The children of Israel brought a freewill offering to the LORD, all the men and
women whose hearts were willing to bring material for all kinds of work which the
LORD, by the hand of Moses, had commanded to be done.
Ezek 46:13-15
13 "You shall daily make a burnt offering to the LORD of a lamb of the first year
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without blemish; you shall prepare it every morning. 14 And you shall prepare a
grain offering with it every morning, a sixth of an ephah, and a third of a hin of oil
to moisten the fine flour. This grain offering is a perpetual ordinance, to be made
regularly to the LORD. 15 Thus they shall prepare the lamb, the grain offering, and
the oil, as a regular burnt offering every morning."
Again this is different from the law.
Ex 29:38-39
"Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs of the first year, day by
day continually. 39 One lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb
you shall offer at twilight.
Ezek 46:16-18
'Thus says the Lord GOD: "If the prince gives a gift of some of his inheritance to
any of his sons, it shall belong to his sons; it is their possession by inheritance. 17
But if he gives a gift of some of his inheritance to one of his servants, it shall be his
until the year of liberty, after which it shall return to the prince. But his inheritance
shall belong to his sons; it shall become theirs. 18 Moreover the prince shall not
take any of the people's inheritance by evicting them from their property; he shall
provide an inheritance for his sons from his own property, so that none of My
people may be scattered from his property."'"
“Year of liberty” could mean the year of Jubilee.
Lev 25:10-11
0 And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the
land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return
to his possession, and each of you shall return to his family.
Or it could mean the seventh year.
Deut 15:12
"If your brother, a Hebrew man, or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and serves you
six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you.
Ezek 46:19-24
Now he brought me through the entrance, which was at the side of the gate, into
the holy chambers of the priests which face toward the north; and there a place was
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situated at their extreme western end. 20 And he said to me, "This is the place
where the priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering, and where
they shall bake the grain offering, so that they do not bring them out into the outer
court to sanctify the people."
21 Then he brought me out into the outer court and caused me to pass by the four
corners of the court; and in fact, in every corner of the court there was another
court. 22 In the four corners of the court were enclosed courts, forty cubits long
and thirty wide; all four corners were the same size. 23 There was a row of
building stones all around in them, all around the four of them; and cooking
hearths were made under the rows of stones all around. 24 And he said to me,
"These are the kitchens where the ministers of the temple shall boil the sacrifices
of the people."
Vs 20 the priests have to come out to the people to sanctify them giving the
example that Jesus had to come out that is return to sanctify the people.
Ezek 47:1-6
Then he brought me back to the door of the temple; and there was water, flowing
from under the threshold of the temple toward the east, for the front of the temple
faced east; the water was flowing from under the right side of the temple, south of
the altar. 2 He brought me out by way of the north gate, and led me around on the
outside to the outer gateway that faces east; and there was water, running out on
the right side.
3 And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one
thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my
ankles. 4 Again he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the
water came up to my knees. Again he measured one thousand and brought me
through; the water came up to my waist. 5 Again he measured one thousand, and it
was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one
must swim, a river that could not be crossed. 6 He said to me, "Son of man, have
you seen this?" Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river.
The amount of water is similar to.
Ezek 32:6-8
6'I will also water the land with the flow of your blood,
Even to the mountains;
And the riverbeds will be full of you.
7 When I put out your light,
I will cover the heavens, and make its stars dark;
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I will cover the sun with a cloud,
And the moon shall not give her light.
8 All the bright lights of the heavens I will make dark over you,
And bring darkness upon your land,'
Says the Lord GOD.
Ezek 47:7-12
7 When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one
side and the other. 8 Then he said to me: "This water flows toward the eastern
region, goes down into the valley, and enters the sea. When it reaches the sea, its
waters are healed. 9 And it shall be that every living thing that moves, wherever the
rivers go, will live. There will be a very great multitude of fish, because these
waters go there; for they will be healed, and everything will live wherever the river
goes. 10 It shall be that fishermen will stand by it from En Gedi to En Eglaim; they
will be places for spreading their nets. Their fish will be of the same kinds as the
fish of the Great Sea, exceedingly many. 11 But its swamps and marshes will not
be healed; they will be given over to salt. 12 Along the bank of the river, on this
side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither,
and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water
flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for
medicine."
Similar to:
Rev 22:2
In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which
bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree
were for the healing of the nations.
Vs 11 probably refers to the Dead Sea which was where Sodom was which God
destroyed by turning everything into salt.
Deut 3:17
17 the plain also, with the Jordan as the border, from Chinnereth as far as the east
side of the Sea of the Arabah (the Salt Sea), below the slopes of Pisgah.
Gen 19:23-26
23 The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. 24 Then the LORD
rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the
heavens. 25 So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the
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cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Ezek 47:13-17
Thus says the Lord GOD: "These are the borders by which you shall divide the
land as an inheritance among the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph shall have two
portions. 14 You shall inherit it equally with one another; for I raised My hand in
an oath to give it to your fathers, and this land shall fall to you as your inheritance.
15 "This shall be the border of the land on the north: from the Great Sea, by the
road to Hethlon, as one goes to Zedad, 16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim (which is
between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath), to Hazar Hatticon
(which is on the border of Hauran). 17 Thus the boundary shall be from the Sea to
Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus; and as for the north, northward, it is the
border of Hamath. This is the north side.
Joseph had 2 portions
Josh 17:17-18
17 And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph -- to Ephraim and Manasseh -- saying,
"You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, 18
but the mountain country shall be yours.
Bringing back all 12 tribes is prophesied in Zech after the return from Babylon
thus is fulfilled in the kingdom.
Zech 10:6
6 "I will strengthen the house of Judah,
And I will save the house of Joseph.
I will bring them back,
Because I have mercy on them.
Ezek 47:18-23
18 "On the east side you shall mark out the border from between Hauran and
Damascus, and between Gilead and the land of Israel, along the Jordan, and along
the eastern side of the sea. This is the east side. 19 "The south side, toward the
South, shall be from Tamar to the waters of Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to
the Great Sea. This is the south side, toward the South.
20 "The west side shall be the Great Sea, from the southern boundary until one
comes to a point opposite Hamath. This is the west side. 21 "Thus you shall divide
this land among yourselves according to the tribes of Israel. 22 It shall be that you
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will divide it by lot as an inheritance for yourselves, and for the strangers who
dwell among you and who bear children among you. They shall be to you as
native-born among the children of Israel; they shall have an inheritance with you
among the tribes of Israel. 23 And it shall be that in whatever tribe the stranger
dwells, there you shall give him his inheritance," says the Lord GOD.
Vs 22 the strangers (Gentiles) are promised an inheritance.
Gal 3:7-9
7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the
Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the
gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9
So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
Gal 3:26-29
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as
were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one
in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and
heirs according to the promise.
Eph 2:14-18
For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the
middle wall of separation, 15 having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the
law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new
man from the two, thus making peace, 16 and that He might reconcile them both to
God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. 17 And He
came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. 18
For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.
Ezek 48:1-8
"Now these are the names of the tribes: From the northern border along the road to
Hethlon at the entrance of Hamath, to Hazar Enan, the border of Damascus
northward, in the direction of Hamath, there shall be one section for Dan from its
east to its west side; 2 by the border of Dan, from the east side to the west, one
section for Asher; 3 by the border of Asher, from the east side to the west, one
section for Naphtali; 4 by the border of Naphtali, from the east side to the west,
one section for Manasseh; 5 by the border of Manasseh, from the east side to the
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west, one section for Ephraim; 6 by the border of Ephraim, from the east side to
the west, one section for Reuben; 7 by the border of Reuben, from the east side to
the west, one section for Judah; 8 by the border of Judah, from the east side to the
west, shall be the district which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in
width, and in length the same as one of the other portions, from the east side to the
west, with the sanctuary in the center.
Ezek 48:9-12
9 "The district that you shall set apart for the LORD shall be twenty-five thousand
cubits in length and ten thousand in width. 10 To these -- to the priests -- the holy
district shall belong: on the north twenty-five thousand cubits in length, on the
west ten thousand in width, on the east ten thousand in width, and on the south
twenty-five thousand in length. The sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the center.
11 It shall be for the priests of the sons of Zadok, who are sanctified, who have
kept My charge, who did not go astray when the children of Israel went astray, as
the Levites went astray. 12 And this district of land that is set apart shall be to them
a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
Ezek 48:13-20
13 "Opposite the border of the priests, the Levites shall have an area twenty-five
thousand cubits in length and ten thousand in width; its entire length shall be
twenty-five thousand and its width ten thousand. 14 And they shall not sell or
exchange any of it; they may not alienate this best part of the land, for it is holy to
the LORD. 15 "The five thousand cubits in width that remain, along the edge of the
twenty-five thousand, shall be for general use by the city, for dwellings and
common-land; and the city shall be in the center. 16 These shall be its
measurements: the north side four thousand five hundred cubits, the south side four
thousand five hundred, the east side four thousand five hundred, and the west side
four thousand five hundred. 17 The common-land of the city shall be: to the north
two hundred and fifty cubits, to the south two hundred and fifty, to the east two
hundred and fifty, and to the west two hundred and fifty. 18 The rest of the length,
alongside the district of the holy section, shall be ten thousand cubits to the east
and ten thousand to the west. It shall be adjacent to the district of the holy section,
and its produce shall be food for the workers of the city. 19 The workers of the city,
from all the tribes of Israel, shall cultivate it. 20 The entire district shall be twentyfive thousand cubits by twenty-five thousand cubits, foursquare. You shall set apart
the holy district with the property of the city.
Ezek 48:21-29
21 "The rest shall belong to the prince, on one side and on the other of the holy
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district and of the city's property, next to the twenty-five thousand cubits of the
holy district as far as the eastern border, and westward next to the twenty-five
thousand as far as the western border, adjacent to the tribal portions; it shall belong
to the prince. It shall be the holy district, and the sanctuary of the temple shall be in
the center. 22 Moreover, apart from the possession of the Levites and the
possession of the city which are in the midst of what belongs to the prince, the area
between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin shall belong to the prince.
23 "As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side to the west, Benjamin shall have
one section; 24 by the border of Benjamin, from the east side to the west, Simeon
shall have one section; 25 by the border of Simeon, from the east side to the west,
Issachar shall have one section; 26 by the border of Issachar, from the east side to
the west, Zebulun shall have one section; 27 by the border of Zebulun, from the
east side to the west, Gad shall have one section; 28 by the border of Gad, on the
south side, toward the South, the border shall be from Tamar to the waters of
Meribah by Kadesh, along the brook to the Great Sea. 29 This is the land which
you shall divide by lot as an inheritance among the tribes of Israel, and these are
their portions," says the Lord GOD.
Ezek 48:30-35
"These are the exits of the city. On the north side, measuring four thousand five
hundred cubits 31(the gates of the city shall be named after the tribes of Israel),
the three gates northward: one gate for Reuben, one gate for Judah, and one gate
for Levi; 32 on the east side, four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one
gate for Joseph, one gate for Benjamin, and one gate for Dan; 33 on the south side,
measuring four thousand five hundred cubits, three gates: one gate for Simeon, one
gate for Issachar, and one gate for Zebulun; 34 on the west side, four thousand five
hundred cubits with their three gates: one gate for Gad, one gate for Asher, and one
gate for Naphtali. 35 All the way around shall be eighteen thousand cubits; and the
name of the city from that day shall be: THE LORD IS THERE."
12 gates is similar in Revelation
Rev 21:11-13
12 Also she had a great and high wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the
gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the
children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on
the south, and three gates on the west.
Vs 35 ‘the Lord is there” is similar to Isaiah’s prophecy
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Isa 60:1-14
Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon
you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the
people; But the LORD will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. 3
The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.
4 "Lift up your eyes all around, and see: They all gather together, they come to
you; Y our sons shall come from afar, And your daughters shall be nursed at your
side. 5 Then you shall see and become radiant, And your heart shall swell with joy;
Because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, The wealth of the Gentiles
shall come to you. 6 The multitude of camels shall cover your land, The
dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; All those from Sheba shall come; They shall
bring gold and incense, And they shall proclaim the praises of the LORD. 7 All the
flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together to you, The rams of Nebaioth shall
minister to you; They shall ascend with acceptance on My altar, And I will glorify
the house of My glory.
8 "Who are these who fly like a cloud, And like doves to their roosts? 9 Surely the
coastlands shall wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring
your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, To the name of the
LORD your God, And to the Holy One of Israel, Because He has glorified you.
10 "The sons of foreigners shall build up your walls, And their kings shall minister
to you; For in My wrath I struck you, But in My favor I have had mercy on you. 11
Therefore your gates shall be open continually; They shall not be shut day or night,
That men may bring to you the wealth of the Gentiles, And their kings in
procession. 12 For the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish,
And those nations shall be utterly ruined.
13 "The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, The cypress, the pine, and the box
tree together, To beautify the place of My sanctuary; And I will make the place of
My feet glorious. 14 Also the sons of those who afflicted you Shall come bowing
to you, And all those who despised you shall fall prostrate at the soles of your feet;
And they shall call you The City of the LORD, Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Look at vs. 11 in Isaiah about the gates shall not be shut.
Rev 21:22-27
But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of
God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are
saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor
into it. 25 Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).
26 And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there
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shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie,
but only those who are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. 270
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