The Lord is going to destroy the Phoenician port city, Tyre, because they rejoiced over the fall of Jerusalem, thinking that they would profit from Jerusalem’s destruction. The Lord speaks of the riches of Tyre and all the nations that do business with Tyre. Therefore, when Tyre is destroyed, many nations will mourn because it will impact them financially. The Lord says, “You satisfied many people; you enriched the kings of the earth with your many luxury goods and your merchandise. But you are broken by the seas in the depths of the waters; your merchandise and the entire company will fall in your midst. All the inhabitants of the isles will be astonished at you.”

Possessing wealth and power means nothing apart from a relationship with the Lord. The people of Tyre are secure in their material possessions, which leads them to believe that they are gods. The Lord says, “Because you have set your heart as the heart of a god, 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. They shall throw you down into the Pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the midst of the seas.”

Many commentators believe the Lord’s rebuke to the King of Tyre goes further than rebuking an earthly king to actually describing Satan, whom the Lord created in perfection, wisdom and beauty; but he fell because of pride – “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. 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. 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. You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. 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.” 

Satan is the father of lies who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 8:44, John 10:10). However, Satan has already been defeated. The Lord expelled Satan from heaven as a profane thing, and ultimately Satan will be cast in a lake of fire for eternity (Revelation 20:10). But until then, Satan is out to devour as many souls as possible. That is why later in the story Peter is going to say, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

The reading ends with the fall of Jerusalem. “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.” The Chaldeans break through Tyre’s wall, instead of surrendering to Babylonians as the Lord had instructed, the men of war and the king flee. “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. So they took the king and brought him up to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and they pronounced judgment on him. 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.”

Meanwhile, Jeremiah is still stuck in prison. Keep reading. (Ezekiel 26:15-28:26, 2 Kings 25:3-7, Jeremiah 52:6-11, Jeremiah 39:2-10)

Babylon is invading Jerusalem, and Jeremiah is still in the court of the prison. In the midst of all that, the Lord instructs Jeremiah to buy a field from his cousin. After Jeremiah signs the deed, the Lord says, “Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in the land.”

Jeremiah is confused because over the last forty years the Lord has been telling him that judgment is coming to Judah, which will result in Judah’s destruction. So why would Jeremiah want to purchase land in a nation that is about to be destroyed? Jeremiah questions the Lord, “And You have said to me, O Lord God, ‘Buy the field for money, and take witness’! – yet the city has been given into the hand of the Chaldeans.” God responds, “Is there anything too hard for me?” 

The Lord tells Jeremiah that the Babylonians will destroy Jerusalem as He has said, “because the children of Israel and the children of Judah have done only evil before Me from their youth.” But the Lord gives hope for restoration. He says He will bring them back and give them a new heart “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… Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.”

The Lord will uphold His promise to the house of David – “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David a Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’”

The promise of restoration will be partially completed during the Return Era under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah. Full restoration will occur under the new covenant established through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, whom the Lord promised to send back in the garden after the fall of mankind. The Lord makes clear that nothing will stop His plan to redeem His people. Keep reading. (Jeremiah 32:1-33:26, Ezekiel 26:1-14)

The Lord tells Ezekiel that his wife, “the desire of your eyes”, is going to die, and He instructs Ezekiel not to mourn her death. This is another effort to get the attention of the people in captivity, and it is an illustration of the destruction coming upon the temple, the desire of their eyes – “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. And you shall do as I have done; you shall not cover your lips nor eat man’s bread of sorrow.”

The Lord gives a word of judgment against Ammon, Moab, Edom and Philistia, and He gives a warning to Zedekiah, king of Judah – “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And you shall not escape from his hand, but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand; your eyes shall see the eyes of the king of Babylon, he shall speak with you face to face, and you shall go to Babylon.”

Jeremiah rebukes the people in Jerusalem for not releasing their slaves after seven years as the Lord had commanded them to do back in the wilderness (Exodus 21:2). “Now when all the princes and all the people, who had entered into the covenant, heard that everyone should set free his male and female slaves, that no one should keep them in bondage anymore, they obeyed and let them go. But afterward they changed their minds and made the male and female slaves return, whom they had set free, and brought them into subjection as male and female slaves.”

Since the people disobeyed the Lord by making their slaves return, the Lord promises to deliver them “to trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth.” The Lord says there will be no deliverance from the hand of the Babylonians; therefore, it is futile to try to escape the coming judgment – “Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death. He who remains in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence; but he who goes out and defects to the Chaldeans who besiege you, he shall live, and his life shall be as a prize to him. For I have set My face against this city for adversity and not for good…It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.” 

The Lord also pronounces judgment upon Egypt. He says, like Assyria, they will be destroyed because of their pride. And Egypt “shall be the lowliest of kingdoms; it shall never again exalt itself above the nations, for I will diminish them so that they will not rule over the nations anymore.”

Disaster is quickly approaching Jerusalem. However, the Lord gives the people a word of hope tomorrow, so keep reading. (Ezekiel 24:15-25:17, Jeremiah 34:1-22, Jeremiah 21:1-14, Ezekiel 29:1-16, Ezekiel 30:20-31:18)

The Lord says the house of Israel, which He once regarded as His precious possession, has become dross from silver, worthless. Therefore, “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.” However, the Lord is sovereign over their punishment and is serving the judgment to refine His people and to salvage what He once saw as precious. 

The Lord compares Samaria, the capital of Northern Israel, and Jerusalem, the capital of Southern Judah, to two sisters; Oholah for Samaria and Oholibah for Jerusalem. Both of these sisters were the Lord’s, but both played the harlot with others. The Lord says, “They committed harlotry in Egypt, they committed harlotry in their youth.” Remember before Joshua died during the Conquest Era, he said to the Israelites, “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:14). And all the people said they were going to serve the Lord. But then during the Judges Era, a new generation arose that didn’t know the Lord, and they fell into all sorts of immortality and idolatry. The people have continued in their unfaithfulness to the Lord, and the Lord has continued to pursue His people in spite of their unfaithfulness. 

Since Samaria played the harlot with the Assyrians, the Lord said, “Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.” And her sister, Jerusalem, saw the destruction of Northern Israel as a nation and still didn’t repent and turn to the Lord – “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.” So the Lord removed His protection from Jerusalem and is turning them over to their lover, the Babylonians. “Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, therefore you shall bear the penalty of your lewdness and your harlotry.”

“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. So the city was besieged until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah.”

The Lord has Ezekiel record the day of the siege of Jerusalem because it’s the beginning of the final siege and ultimately the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. There is nothing that will stop the coming judgment – “‘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.”

Tomorrow Ezekiel’s wife dies, and the Lord tells him not to mourn her death. Keep reading to find out why. (Ezekiel 22:17-23:49, 2 Kings 25:1-2, Jeremiah 52:4-5, Jeremiah 39:1, Ezekiel 24:1-14)

The elders of Israel come to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. The Lord responds saying He will not be inquired of by them; instead the Lord instructs Ezekiel to tell the elders of Israel His story, beginning with the oath He made with Jacob’s descendants to bring them out of the oppression they were under in Egypt. The Lord’s story highlights Israel’s rebellion in contrast to God’s mercy.

The Lord says He promised to bring them out of Egypt and into a land flowing with milk and honey. “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.’ 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.”

In the wilderness, “I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them.’ 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. 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.” Therefore the Lord told that generation that they would not enter the promised land; He would take their children into the land flowing with milk and honey. “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.”

The Lord says when He brought them into the promised land, “they saw all the high hills and all the thick trees, there they offered their sacrifices and provoked Me with their offerings… 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… I will not be inquired of by you. 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.’”

God tells the elders that they have been unfaithful, just like their fathers, but the Lord will restore them one day and it will not be because of anything they have done. He will restore them because of His mercy and grace and His name’s sake; then the people will truly repent – “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. 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. 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.”

Ezekiel once again warns Israel of the judgment coming from Babylon and says it will impact everyone, both the righteous and the wicked. Ezekiel’s heart breaks over the news of the coming disaster – “‘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,’ says the Lord God.”

We live in a broken, fallen world where the righteous are impacted by the actions of the wicked. God has promised that some would be taken into captivity, some would die by the sword, some by a plague, and some by famine. Therefore, all will be impacted by the Lord’s judgment one way or another. However, the righteous will only have temporary suffering on this side of heaven with the hope of eternal peace with the Lord. For the wicked, the unrepentant sinner, there will never be peace.

Tomorrow, Babylon invades Jerusalem. Keep reading. (Ezekiel 20:1-22:16)

The Lord instructs Ezekiel to speak a riddle about two eagles. The eagles represent Babylon and Egypt. The riddle reveals that King Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon by, “Sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people.”

Nebuchadnezzar made Zedekiah king over Jerusalem, but Zedekiah despised the oath by breaking the covenant that he had with Babylon. The Lord says that by breaking the covenant with Babylon and rebelling against the Lord’s ordained judgment, Zedekiah actually rebelled against the Lord. Therefore, he would not receive any help from Egypt and he would die in the midst of Babylon – “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head. 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. 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.”

Although Zedekiah is about to be dethroned, have his eyes gouged out, and be taken to Babylon, the Lord still promises to send the Branch of Jesse, the Messiah, who is coming through the Davidic bloodline. Under the reign of King Jesus and the sovereign hand of the Lord, all people amongst all the nations, Jews and Gentiles, can find peace and rest in Christ as their Lord and Savior- “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. 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. 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.”

The Lord confronts the complaining captives who blame their captivity on the sins of the previous generations. He says each person is responsible for his own actions. “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. But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right… If he has walked in My statutes and kept My judgments faithfully— He is just; He shall surely live!… 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.”

God makes clear that He takes no pleasure in punishing the wicked, but His nature can not let sin go unpunished. He desires for the people to repent of their sin and turn to Him – “‘Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 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? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,’ says the Lord God. ‘Therefore turn and live!’” 

Ezekiel then laments over the kings. He says there is a lioness, Judah, and her two cubs: 1) King Jehoahaz, who reigned three months and was taken to Egypt where he died and 2) King Jehoiachin, who was taken into captivity with Ezekiel. Both of these kings ignored God’s word. Now the cowardly King Zedekiah is sitting on the throne as the last king of Judah. Keep reading. (Ezekiel 17:1-19:14)

From today’s reading in Tyndale’s One Year Chronological Bible dated 8/19:

“The word of the Lord came again to me, saying: ‘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. Even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness,’ says the Lord God.”

Basically, even these three great men of faith couldn’t intercede for the people at this point; they would only save themselves by their righteousness. The multitudes are not saved by the righteousness of a few. We saw this in the days of Noah. Each individual will be judged based on their heart, whether or not they have a heart of stone or a heart of flesh transformed by the power of the Lord. 

The Lord compares Jerusalem to a useless vine. The people believed that the Lord wouldn’t judge them because they were His chosen people, so the Lord says “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; 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. Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord God.”

God also compares Jerusalem to an unfaithful wife. He says He cared for her from her birth through His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and He raised her, clothing her in fine linens and jewels. However, Jerusalem is guilty of several things:

• “you trusted in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your fame”
• “you have slain My children and offered them up to [Molech] by causing them to pass through the fire” 
• “you built for yourself a shrine, and made a high place for yourself on every street” 
• “you committed harlotry with the Egyptians, your very fleshly neighbors, and increased your acts of harlotry to provoke Me to anger”
• “you multiplied your acts of harlotry as far as the land of the trader, Chaldea; and even then you were not satisfied” 

God tells Jerusalem that she has become like her older sister, the corrupt capital of Northern Israel, Samaria, that was destroyed by the Assyrians about one hundred and thirty years before the fall of Jerusalem. The Lord goes on to say that Jerusalem is even worse than her older sister, Sodom, whom the Lord destroyed by fire back in the Patriarch Era. The Lord brought judgment upon the cities of Samaria and Sodom, and He is doing the same to Jerusalem. Later in the story, Jesus will also use the comparison to Sodom when speaking about the judgment that will come upon those who reject Him. He will say it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for the ones who reject Him (Matthew 10:15, Matthew 11:24).

However, despite the judgment, the Lord says He will never forget His covenant that He made with Israel and the promise of the new covenant under Christ- “Nevertheless I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 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. And I will establish My covenant with you. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, 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.” Keep reading. (Ezekiel 14:1-16:63)

Today Ezekiel sees the temple of the Lord and the four creatures and the four wheels that he saw in the first vision the Lord gave him by the River of Chebar. “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up 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.”

The Lord has Ezekiel pronounce judgment over the leaders, “For you have not walked in My statues nor executed My judgments, but have done according to the customs of the Gentiles which are all around you.” And while Ezekiel is prophesying, one of the leaders dies. So Ezekiel cries out, “Ah, Lord God! Will You make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?”

Then the Lord gives a word of hope as He looks forward to the day He returns His people to their land and even further, to the day He establishes a New Covenant with His people through His Son Jesus Christ – “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… I 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… And they will go there, and they will take away all its detestable things and all its abominations from there. 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, 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. 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.”

The Lord says He will be a sanctuary for the ones scattered among the countries because the Lord’s presence is not bound by a building or location. We have seen the Lord’s presence with Daniel and his friends and with Ezekiel while in exile, and we will continue to see His presence with His people throughout the story. 

Then the glory of the Lord departs the temple. “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.” This is the Mount of Olives where Jesus will one day sit and explain to his disciples the second coming and end times. When Jesus returns he will execute judgment upon the entire earth. The ones who refuse to accept Him as their Savior will perish. However, Jesus says He will gather all who belong to Him – “He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matthew 24:31). 

The Lord has been patient with His judgment upon Judah because He desires for all to reach repentance, just like the Lord is being patient in sending the final judgment. However, final judgment is coming just like the judgment upon Judah has arrived. Therefore the Lord instructs Ezekiel to correct the people who are prophesying that their days are prolonged. “The days are at hand, and the fulfillment of every vision. For no more shall there be any false vision or flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord, I speak, and the word which I speak will come to pass… None of My words will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done.”

We end the reading with the Lord rebuking the false prophets who were giving the people a word of false hope – “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you… 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… Because, indeed, because they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace.”

Keep reading. (Ezekiel 10:1-13:23)

As an illustration of the coming judgment on Jerusalem, God tells Ezekiel to shave his head and beard and then divide his hair into three parts: one-third to burn in a fire, one-third to chop in pieces, and one-third to toss into the wind. Then He says to bind a few strands in his garment. This is to show the fate of the people, “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… 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. One-third 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.” However, the Lord will save a remnant of the people and restore them to accomplish His plans and purposes.

The Lord says the end has come for Jerusalem and He “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.” And on that day, all the worthless material items of the world that they so value and receive joy from will be useless – “Their silver and 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 stomach, because it became their stumbling block of iniquity.”

About a year and a half after receiving his first vision from the Lord, the Lord gives what one commentator called “the most tragic vision in the book of Ezekiel” as the Lord gives Ezekiel a view inside the temple in Jerusalem. There Ezekiel sees:

• An idol of jealousy in the court of the temple
• Seventy elders practicing idolatry inside the temple
• Women weeping for the false god Tammuz at the gate of the temple
• People worshiping the sun at the door of the temple 

Although idolatry is a trivial thing for the people, it is not for God and He will not tolerate it forever. So the Lord calls for seven angels, with one being a scribe, to execute the wicked ones. He tells the scribe to mark the people who have repented so they would be spared, but the rest were to be killed, beginning with the elders who led the people astray.

“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. 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?’”

Tomorrow the Lord gives Ezekiel a word of hope for the exiled before the glory of the Lord departs the temple. Keep reading. (Ezekiel 5:1-9:11)

In a vision yesterday the Lord had Ezekiel eat a scroll containing the word of God, illustrating that the Lord expects Ezekiel to digest His word so that he may faithfully relay His message to the people. Today, God calls Ezekiel the watchman for the house of Israel. Ezekiel will be held accountable for speaking the word of God to the exiles, and the people will be accountable for their response. However, if Ezekiel knows God’s word and does not warn the people and they die in their iniquity, God tells Ezekiel “his blood I will require at your hand.” However, if Ezekiel is faithful in sharing the Lord’s message, he will bear no guilt. Then the Lord fills Ezekiel with the Spirit so that he is equipped to handle the job of watchman. And the Lord says, “He who hears, let him hear; and he who refuses, let him refuse; for they are a rebellious house.”

After commissioning Ezekiel as the watchman of Israel, the Lord tells Ezekiel to go to his home, where the people will bind him and the Lord will make him mute. But when the Lord speaks to Ezekiel, he is to open his mouth and speak to those who will hear. Then the Lord instructs Ezekiel to perform three symbolic acts in order to get the attention of the rebellious people:

1) Sketch the city of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and lay siege against it like a kid would with a block toy to illustrate the coming destruction of the city.

2) Lie on his left side 390 days and his right side 40 days for the years of Israel’s and Judah’s sins. There are differing views on this symbolic act; some say the years are for their past sins and some say for their future judgment. 

3) Cook your food over human dung. Now Ezekiel does object to this one, so God says he can use cow dung instead. This is to illustrate the food shortage during the invasion and captivity by the Babylonians.

Over in Jerusalem we find out that during the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah, the Lord has Jeremiah wear a yoke to symbolize Judah’s future enslavement to Babylon. God will use Babylon to subdue all the nations and anyone who fights against them will die. Jeremiah warns the people against listening to false prophets and says to trust the Lord and submit to Babylon.

The false prophet, Hananiah, tells the people they will be released from captivity in two years, and he yanks the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck. God rebukes this false prophet for making the people believe lies and for giving them a false timeline of their judgment. Therefore, the Lord gives Hananiah a timeline on his life. He says Hananiah will die within the year — and two months later, Hananiah dies.

Tomorrow, God has Ezekiel perform some more unusual acts in an effort to get the people’s attention. Keep reading. (Ezekiel 3:16-4:17, Jeremiah 27:1-28:17, Jeremiah 51:59-64)