Today Ezekiel compares Samaria, the capital of Northern Israel, and Jerusalem, the capital of Southern Judah, to 2 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 he told the people, “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!” And all the people said they were going to do that. But they didn’t bc when the generation after Joshua died, the people stopped following the Lord. Well, God has been on a constant pursuit to get them to turn back to Him and He is still working His plan to redeem His people.

Ezekiel says that Samaria played the harlot with the Assyrians. “Therefore I have delivered her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, for whom she lusted.”

Her sister, Jerusalem, saw this go down but 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…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.”

Tomorrow Ezekiel’s wife dies. 😢 Keep reading to find out why the Lord tells him not to mourn her death.

(Ezekiel 22:17-23:49, 2 Kings 25:1-2, Jeremiah 52:4-5, Jeremiah 39:1, Ezekiel 24:1-14)

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The elders of Israel come to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. Instead of answering them, Ezekiel retells their story and points out Israel’s rebellion in contrast to God’s mercy.

– When He brought them out of Egypt, “they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me…nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.”

– In the wilderness the Lord gave them the law and the Sabbath yet “they did not walk in My statues; they despised My judgements…they greatly defiled My Sabbath.”

As a result, the Lord turned them over to themselves and “to statues that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live” with their pagan worship and practices.

God tells the elders that they have been unfaithful, just like their fathers, but the Lord will restore them one day and it won’t be because of anything they have done. He will restore them bc of His mercy and grace and His name’s sake. “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 that judgment from Babylon is coming and will impact everyone, both the righteous and the wicked. We live in a broken, fallen world where the righteous are impacted by the actions of the wicked but the difference is that the righteous will only have temporary suffering in the hope of eternity with the Lord.

Tomorrow, Babylon invades Jerusalem so keep reading.

(Ezekiel 20:1-22:16)

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The Lord instructs Ezekiel to speak a riddle about 2 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. Therefore, he would not receive any help from Egypt and he would die in the midst of Babylon.

Ezekiel confronts the complaining captives who blame their captivity on the sins of the previous generations. Ezekiel says each person is responsible for his own actions. 🤔 I know…this is a hard concept for people to accept, even today, but it is true with the Lord. “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. His desire is for the people to repent of their sin and turn to Him. “Repent and turn from all of your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin…For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies…Therefore turn and live!”

Ezekiel then laments over the kings. He says there is a lioness, Judah, and her 2 cubs: 1) King Jehoahaz who reigned 3 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)

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

Today the Lord says that the people are so persistent in their

unfaithfulness that “Even if these men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.” Basically, even these 3 great men of faith couldn’t intercede for the people at this point.

The Lord is sending “four judgments on Jerusalem – the sword and famine and wild beast and pestilence…Yet behold, there shall be left in it a remnant who will be brought out, both sons and daughters.”

The Lord compares Jerusalem to an unfaithful wife. God 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 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 is worse than her older and younger sisters, Sodom and Samaria. But after her punishment, the Lord will restore Jerusalem as well as her sisters. The Lord is pointing to a future time when the Gospel will go out from Jerusalem to the Gentiles. “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.”

This new covenant and atonement is coming through the arrival of Jesus Christ so keep reading .

(Ezekiel 14:1-16:63)

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Today Ezekiel sees another vision with the temple of the Lord and the 4 creatures and the 4 wheels that he saw in the first vision. “Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub, and paused over the threshold of the temple…” “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.”

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.” The Lord is going to do what He says and destroy Jerusalem for the wickedness and lack of repentance from the people.

However, one day the Lord will gather the remnant, “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.”

The presence of the Lord then 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 will return. Jesus will tell them that after the tribulation, “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 is patient with His judgment bc His desire is for all to reach repentance. As Peter will later tell us, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

The Lord has been patient with the Israelites. He has sent prophet after prophet to warn them but there is an expiration date and His judgment will occur just like it will upon Jesus’s second coming. So God has Ezekiel tell the Israelites, “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.”

Keep reading.

(Ezekiel 10:1-13:23)

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God tells Ezekiel to shave his head and beard and then divide his hair into 3 parts: 1/3 to burn in a fire, 1/3 to chop in pieces, and 1/3 to toss into the wind. Then He says to bind a few strands in his garment. This is to illustrate the fate of the people. Some will die by famine and pestilence when Jerusalem is set on fire, some will die by the sword, and some will be exiled into foreign lands. But 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 judge them for their wicked ways and have no pity for, “Then you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes.” God says that all the worthless stuff they 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.”

Then the Lord gives Ezekiel a horrific vision of Jerusalem:

– In the court of the temple is an idol of jealousy.

– Inside the temple are 70 elders practicing idolatry.

– At the gate of the temple are women weeping for the false god Tammuz.

– At the door of the temple, people are worshipping the sun.

Although idolatry is a trivial thing for the people it is not for God and He will not tolerate it forever.

The next vision is of 7 angels, with one being a scribe, coming to execute the people. He told the scribe to mark the ones who have repented so they would be spared. The rest will be killed beginning with the elders who led the people astray.

Tomorrow the glory of the Lord departs the temple. Keep reading.

(Ezekiel 5:1-9:11)

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God tells Ezekiel that he is the watchman for the house of Israel. Ezekiel will be held accountable for speaking the Word of God 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 sins, God tells Ezekiel “his blood I will require at your hand.” Then the Lord fills Ezekiel with the Spirit so that he is equipped to handle the job of watchman.

We will find out later in the Story that we too have the same command (Luke 12). By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to share the Gospel. How people respond is on them, but what we do or don’t do with God’s Word is on us. And this really isn’t any pressure…it’s a privilege!

So the Lord tells Ezekiel to go to his home and that 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.

God instructs Ezekiel to perform 3 symbolic acts:

1) Sketch the city of Jerusalem on a clay tablet and play 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 one. 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 summit to Babylon.

The false prophet, Hananiah, tells the people they will be released from captivity in 2 years and he yanks the yoke off Jeremiah’s neck. God rebukes this false prophet for making the people believe lies and says he will die within the year. And Hananiah dies 2 months later.

Tomorrow, God has Ezekiel perform some more strange 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)

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After the Chaldeans return home for fear of the Egyptians, Jeremiah goes to leave Jerusalem to claim his property in the land of Benjamin. A guard falsely accuses him of defecting to the Chaldeans and Jeremiah is thrown into a dungeon.

Many days later, Zedekiah secretly visits Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord is consistent with His message to Zedekiah – “You shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon.” Then Jeremiah asks to not go back to the dungeon where he will die. So Zedekiah places Jeremiah in the court of prison and gives him a daily ration of bread.

When Shephatiah, a prince of Judah, hears the Lord’s message from Jeremiah, that the people should go with the Chaldeans to live or stay and die, he wants Jeremiah dead. Shephatiah is worried that this message will make the people fearful. Therefore, Jeremiah is lowered down into a muddy dungeon with no water.

When Ebed-Melech, an Egyptian eunuch working in the King’s house, hears about the state of Jeremiah, he pleads for Jeremiah’s life and Zedekiah allows him to rescue Jeremiah from the dungeon. Zedekiah secretly inquires of Jeremiah again and Jeremiah is consistent with the Lord’s message. He tells Zedekiah to surrender to the Chaldeans and he will live and the city will not be burned or don’t surrender and he, his wives and children will be delivered into the hands of the Babylonians and the city will be burned.

Zedekiah is afraid that if he surrenders, the Jews who already defected will kill him. So Jeremiah assures him that all will be ok if he will just obey the Lord! Jeremiah is placed in the court prison where he will remain until the invasion of Jerusalem.

Next we meet Ezekiel who was taken to Babylon during the second wave of captivity in 597 BC. Four and a half years later, while by the River Chebar in the land of the Chaldeans, Ezekiel has his first vision from the Lord. Ezekiel tries to explain what he sees but he has never seen anything quite like it before. There are 4 marvelous creatures and 4 spinning wheels and at the sound of a voice the creatures appear to submit. Ezekiel sees the throne of the Lord and a splendid being which causes Ezekiel to fall to his face in the presence of the Lord. The Lord tells him to rise and while He is speaking to him, the Spirit of the Lord fills Ezekiel. God tells him that He is sending him to speak to rebellious people who may or may not listen but Ezekiel’s job is to just say what the Lord has said and leave the rest up to the Lord. Ezekiel then eats a scroll that tastes like honey, “And written on it were lamentation and mourning and woe.”

Ezekiel is now commissioned to be the voice of God to the captives. Keep reading.

(Jeremiah 37:11-38:28, Ezekiel 1:1-3:15)

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Today the Lord says Babylon is “My battle ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nations into pieces”.

After the Lord uses Babylon to judge the nations, Babylon will be judged by the Lord. The Medes and Persians will one day destroy Babylon.

In 597 BC Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, comes up against Jerusalem and besieges the city. He carries off as captives King Jehoiachin as well as everyone else in Jerusalem leaving only the poorest people. “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.”

Nebuchadnezzar makes King Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, the new king of Judah and changes his name to Zedekiah. Zedekiah is an evil king who ignores the Word of God and he also rebels against King Nebuchadnezzar. When the Chaldeans come up against Jerusalem, Zedekiah has his men ask Jeremiah to pray to the Lord for them.

Pharaoh’s army from Egypt comes to help Jerusalem so the Chaldeans turn back. However, the Lord responds by saying that next time Egypt’s army won’t come to help and, “The Chaldeans shall come back and fight against this city, and take it and burn it with fire.”

Tomorrow Jeremiah gets thrown into a dungeon and we meet the prophet Ezekiel so keep reading.

(Jeremiah 51:15-58, 2 Kings 24:10-17, 2 Chronicles 36:10, 1 Chronicles 3:10-16, 2 Chronicles 36:11-14, Jeremiah 52:1-3, 2 Kings 24:18-20, Jeremiah 37:1-10)

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#chronologicalbibleteaching

Today Jeremiah says a voice was heard – “Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, because they were no more.”

Remember Rachel was the younger sister of Leah, who Jacob loved and wanted to marry, but he got tricked into marrying Leah first. Well, Leah and Rachel both became Jacob’s wives and the tribes Ephraim and Manasseh (sons of Joseph) and Benjamin came from Jacob and Rachel.

The Lord says to stop weeping because there is hope for her children’s future. God says He will bring His people home and make a new covenant with them since they broke the old covenant. “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…For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sins I will remember no more.”

This new covenant will be established through the shedding of the blood of the innocent, Jesus Christ, on behalf of guilty sinners, us. While Jesus is having supper with His disciples before He is crucified, He will take a cup of wine as an illustration and tell the men, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you” (Luke 22:20). Later Paul will tell us that this is a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22). After Jesus’s death and resurrection, Jesus will ascend to heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Lord as the High Priest. “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). And anyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ will be saved by grace through faith.

God goes on to say that He will punish Babylon because they took such joy in destroying His inheritance – “First the king of Assyria devoured him; Now at last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has broken his bones.” The Lord will break Babylon like He broke Assyria and, “The iniquity of Israel shall be sought, but there shall be none…For I will pardon those whom I preserve.”

Tomorrow Babylon captures Jerusalem. Keep reading.

(Jeremiah 31:15-40, Jeremiah 49:34-51:14)

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