Is there a special mark on the foreheads of God’s servants to seal them? Is this different from the mark of the beast? Let’s look at Ezekiel 9.
What men did the Lord assign to punish the city of Jerusalem for idolatry?
Then the Lord thundered, “Bring on the men appointed to punish the city! Tell them to bring their weapons with them!” Six men soon appeared from the upper gate that faces north, each carrying a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man dressed in linen, who carried a writer’s case at his side. They all went into the Temple courtyard and stood beside the bronze altar. (Ezek 9:1-2 NLT)
Did the one with the writer’s ink have a special responsibility?
The glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub, whereupon it was, to the threshold of the house; and he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writer’s inkhorn [inkwell] by his side. Yahweh said to him, “Go through the middle of the city, through the middle of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry over all the abominations that are done within it.” (Ezek 9:3-4 WEB)
Were the others to kill everyone except those with a special mark? Is this similar to a prophecy of the end times?
To the others he said in my hearing: Go through the city after him, and attack. Spare no one! Be merciless! Kill them all, old men, young men and women, babies and mothers. Only don’t touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary. So they began with the men, the elders in front of the temple. He said to them: Make the temple unclean! Fill the courts with the slain! Go! And they went out and attacked the city. (Ezek 9:5-7 CEB)
What was Ezekiel’s plea to God about so much punishment?
I was then alone, so I bowed down and cried out to the Lord, “Why are you doing this? Are you so angry with the people of Jerusalem that everyone must die?” (Ezek 9:8 CEV)
What was God’s answer to Ezekiel, His reason for this drastic punishment?
Then he said to me, “The guilt of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great. The land is full of blood, and the city full of injustice. For they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see.’ As for me, my eye will not spare, nor will I have pity; I will bring their deeds upon their heads.” (Ezek 9:9-10 ESV)
Did the man who was setting apart the righteous finish his task?
Then the man clothed in linen with the writing equipment at his side reported back, “I have done as You commanded me.” (Ezek 9:11 HCSB)
Is there a similar end-time event of marking the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads?
After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on the land, on the sea, or on any tree. I saw another angel coming from the east having the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been permitted to harm the land and sea, “Don’t harm the land, the sea, or the trees until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.” I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000. Those who were sealed were from every tribe of Israel: … After these things, I looked, and there was a crowd so large that no one was able to count it! They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing in front of the throne and the lamb and were wearing white robes, with palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:1-4,9 ISV)
Is there a special mark on the foreheads of God’s servants to seal them? Is this different from the mark of the beast? You decide!
Grand Delusions (Ezekiel 8)
Do people still idolize grand delusions even in highly intelligent, highly educated societies? Let’s look at Ezekiel 8.
How did Ezekiel visit Jerusalem in a vision at the hand of the Lord?
In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting in front of me, and there the hand of the Lord God came down on me. I looked, and there was a form that had the appearance of a man. From what seemed to be His waist down was fire, and from His waist up was something that looked bright, like the gleam of amber.
He stretched out what appeared to be a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the offensive statue that provokes jealousy was located. I saw the glory of the God of Israel there, like the vision I had seen in the plain. (Ezek 8:1-4 HCSB)
What detestable idolatry did Ezekiel see taking place in front of the temple? Did God say He was leaving His sanctuary?
Then he told me, “Son of Man, look up toward the north.” So I looked off toward the north. Suddenly, off toward the north, facing the gate that led to the altar, the image that provoked God’s jealousy was standing near the entrance. Then the Spirit told me, “Son of Man, don’t you see what they’re doing? The house of Israel practices awful, detestable things here, so I’m going far away from my sanctuary. But you’re about to see things even more detestable than these.” (Ezek 8:5-6 ISV)
How was Ezekiel enabled to see the wicked abominations taking place inside?
And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. (Ezek 8:7-9 KJV)
What were the elders of the land secretly plotting inside the temple?
So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘Yahweh does not see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.’” (Ezek 8:10-12 LSB)
Were there worse abominations for Ezekiel to witness at the entrance of the temple?
And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing!” Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these!” (Ezek 8:13-15 NASB)
Were sun worship and violence also abominations practiced around the temple?
He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” (Ezek 8:16-18 NIV)
Do people still profess to be wise, but are actually fools, inventing delusions in our modern world?
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. (Rom 1:22-23 NKJV)
Do people still idolize grand delusions even in highly intelligent, highly educated societies? You decide!
How did Ezekiel visit Jerusalem in a vision at the hand of the Lord?
In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house and the elders of Judah were sitting in front of me, and there the hand of the Lord God came down on me. I looked, and there was a form that had the appearance of a man. From what seemed to be His waist down was fire, and from His waist up was something that looked bright, like the gleam of amber.
He stretched out what appeared to be a hand and took me by the hair of my head. Then the Spirit lifted me up between earth and heaven and carried me in visions of God to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the inner gate that faces north, where the offensive statue that provokes jealousy was located. I saw the glory of the God of Israel there, like the vision I had seen in the plain. (Ezek 8:1-4 HCSB)
What detestable idolatry did Ezekiel see taking place in front of the temple? Did God say He was leaving His sanctuary?
Then he told me, “Son of Man, look up toward the north.” So I looked off toward the north. Suddenly, off toward the north, facing the gate that led to the altar, the image that provoked God’s jealousy was standing near the entrance. Then the Spirit told me, “Son of Man, don’t you see what they’re doing? The house of Israel practices awful, detestable things here, so I’m going far away from my sanctuary. But you’re about to see things even more detestable than these.” (Ezek 8:5-6 ISV)
How was Ezekiel enabled to see the wicked abominations taking place inside?
And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. (Ezek 8:7-9 KJV)
What were the elders of the land secretly plotting inside the temple?
So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around. Standing in front of them were seventy elders of the house of Israel, with Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan standing among them, each man with his censer in his hand and the fragrance of the cloud of incense rising. Then He said to me, “Son of man, do you see what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each man in the room of his carved images? For they say, ‘Yahweh does not see us; Yahweh has forsaken the land.’” (Ezek 8:10-12 LSB)
Were there worse abominations for Ezekiel to witness at the entrance of the temple?
And He said to me, “Yet you will see still greater abominations which they are committing!” Then He brought me to the entrance of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. And He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? Yet you will see still greater abominations than these!” (Ezek 8:13-15 NASB)
Were sun worship and violence also abominations practiced around the temple?
He then brought me into the inner court of the house of the Lord, and there at the entrance to the temple, between the portico and the altar, were about twenty-five men. With their backs toward the temple of the Lord and their faces toward the east, they were bowing down to the sun in the east.
He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” (Ezek 8:16-18 NIV)
Do people still profess to be wise, but are actually fools, inventing delusions in our modern world?
Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. (Rom 1:22-23 NKJV)
Do people still idolize grand delusions even in highly intelligent, highly educated societies? You decide!
National Collapse (Ezekiel 7)
What caused Israel’s national collapse? Are we in similar circumstances as a nation? Let’s look at Ezekiel 7.
What did God plan to punish Israel’s abominations like idolatry, sexual immorality and child sacrifice?
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 7:1-4 KJV)
Did God say that the end has come, that doom was coming because of Israel's sins?
Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘A calamitous evil, a unique calamitous evil, behold, it is coming! An end has come; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it is coming! Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near—confusion rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. (Ezek 7:5-7 LSB)
Would God show any pity? Would Israel know that it is God punishing them?
Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and expend My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, am striking. (Ezek 7:8-9 NASB)
Because of their sins, would any one of them preserve their wealth?
See, the day! See, it comes! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! Violence has arisen, a rod to punish the wicked. None of the people will be left, none of that crowd—none of their wealth, nothing of value.
The time has come! The day has arrived! Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. The seller will not recover the property that was sold—as long as both buyer and seller live. For the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve their life. (Ezek 7:10-13 NIV)
Even well-prepared for self-defense, would Israel suffer because of disease, famine and losses on the battlefield?
They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. 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. (Ezek 7:14-15 NKJV)
What horror and shame would happen to those who manage to escape?
The survivors who escape to the mountains will moan like doves, weeping for their sins. Their hands will hang limp, their knees will be weak as water. They will dress themselves in burlap; horror and shame will cover them. They will shave their heads in sorrow and remorse. (Ezek 7:16-18 NLT)
Would the nation’s wealth be of any help? Would even the holy of holies be violated?
They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls or fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing.
I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a plunder; and they will profane it. I will also turn my face from them, and they will profane my secret place. Robbers will enter into it, and profane it. (Ezek 7:19-22 WEB)
Would God allow the cruelest of nations to attack and break Israel’s pride? What about our national pride?
Make a chain! The earth is full of perverted justice, the city full of violence. I’ll bring up the cruelest nations, and they will seize their houses. I’ll break their proud strength, and their sanctuaries will be defiled. (Ezek 7:23-24 CEB)
Are we terrified, looking for peace and not finding it, losing hope in one political tragedy after another? Are we guilty of national sins?
You will be terrified and will desperately look for peace—but there will be no peace. One tragedy will follow another, and you'll hear only bad news. People will beg prophets to give them a message from me. Priests will stop teaching my Law, and wise leaders won't be able to give advice. Even your king and his officials will lose hope and cry in despair. Your hands will tremble with fear. I will punish you for your sins and treat you the same way you have treated others. Then you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 7:25-27 CEV)
Is one driver of our economy covetousness, the exact opposite of contentment, and also idolatry?
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Col 3:5 ESV)
What caused Israel’s national collapse? Are we in similar circumstances as a nation? You decide!
What did God plan to punish Israel’s abominations like idolatry, sexual immorality and child sacrifice?
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land. Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 7:1-4 KJV)
Did God say that the end has come, that doom was coming because of Israel's sins?
Thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘A calamitous evil, a unique calamitous evil, behold, it is coming! An end has come; the end has come! It has awakened against you; behold, it is coming! Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near—confusion rather than joyful shouting on the mountains. (Ezek 7:5-7 LSB)
Would God show any pity? Would Israel know that it is God punishing them?
Now I will shortly pour out My wrath on you and expend My anger against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring on you all your abominations. My eye will have no pity nor will I spare you. I will repay you according to your ways, while your abominations are in your midst; then you will know that I, the Lord, am striking. (Ezek 7:8-9 NASB)
Because of their sins, would any one of them preserve their wealth?
See, the day! See, it comes! Doom has burst forth, the rod has budded, arrogance has blossomed! Violence has arisen, a rod to punish the wicked. None of the people will be left, none of that crowd—none of their wealth, nothing of value.
The time has come! The day has arrived! Let not the buyer rejoice nor the seller grieve, for my wrath is on the whole crowd. The seller will not recover the property that was sold—as long as both buyer and seller live. For the vision concerning the whole crowd will not be reversed. Because of their sins, not one of them will preserve their life. (Ezek 7:10-13 NIV)
Even well-prepared for self-defense, would Israel suffer because of disease, famine and losses on the battlefield?
They have blown the trumpet and made everyone ready, But no one goes to battle; For My wrath is on all their multitude. 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. (Ezek 7:14-15 NKJV)
What horror and shame would happen to those who manage to escape?
The survivors who escape to the mountains will moan like doves, weeping for their sins. Their hands will hang limp, their knees will be weak as water. They will dress themselves in burlap; horror and shame will cover them. They will shave their heads in sorrow and remorse. (Ezek 7:16-18 NLT)
Would the nation’s wealth be of any help? Would even the holy of holies be violated?
They will cast their silver in the streets, and their gold will be as an unclean thing. Their silver and their gold won’t be able to deliver them in the day of Yahweh’s wrath. They won’t satisfy their souls or fill their bellies; because it has been the stumbling block of their iniquity. As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty; but they made the images of their abominations and their detestable things therein. Therefore I have made it to them as an unclean thing.
I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a plunder; and they will profane it. I will also turn my face from them, and they will profane my secret place. Robbers will enter into it, and profane it. (Ezek 7:19-22 WEB)
Would God allow the cruelest of nations to attack and break Israel’s pride? What about our national pride?
Make a chain! The earth is full of perverted justice, the city full of violence. I’ll bring up the cruelest nations, and they will seize their houses. I’ll break their proud strength, and their sanctuaries will be defiled. (Ezek 7:23-24 CEB)
Are we terrified, looking for peace and not finding it, losing hope in one political tragedy after another? Are we guilty of national sins?
You will be terrified and will desperately look for peace—but there will be no peace. One tragedy will follow another, and you'll hear only bad news. People will beg prophets to give them a message from me. Priests will stop teaching my Law, and wise leaders won't be able to give advice. Even your king and his officials will lose hope and cry in despair. Your hands will tremble with fear. I will punish you for your sins and treat you the same way you have treated others. Then you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 7:25-27 CEV)
Is one driver of our economy covetousness, the exact opposite of contentment, and also idolatry?
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Col 3:5 ESV)
What caused Israel’s national collapse? Are we in similar circumstances as a nation? You decide!
Idols (Ezekiel 6)
What separates statues, like those of cherubs, from idolatry? Do we get as close as we can to idolatry or avoid even the appearance of it? Let’s look at Ezekiel 6.
What abomination was found on the high places throughout Israel?
Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them, and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! The Lord Yahweh says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: “Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will become desolate, and your incense altars will be broken. I will cast down your slain men before your idols. (Ezek 6:1-4 WEB)
How angry was God about the rampant idolatry throughout the land?
I’ll throw the Israelites’ corpses in front of their idols, and I’ll scatter your bones all around your altars. Wherever you live, cities will be in ruins, shrines made desolate, turned into utter ruin. Your altars will be punished and then broken down. Your idols will be demolished, your incense altars shattered, and all your works wiped out. The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 6:5-7 CEB)
Should we take God’s warnings in the Bible seriously? Have we disgraced God?
I will let some of the people live through this punishment, but I will scatter them among the nations, where they will be prisoners. And when they think of me, they will realize that they disgraced me by rebelling and by worshiping idols. They will hate themselves for the evil things they did, and they will know that I am the Lord and that my warnings must be taken seriously. (Ezek 6:8-10 CEV)
What three methods of punishment would the people suffer for their sins?
Thus says the Lord God: “Clap your hands and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them. (Ezek 6:11-12 ESV)
What event will cause people to know that God does not approve of idolatry?
You will all know that I am Yahweh when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and every leafy oak—the places where they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols. I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” (Ezek 6:13-14 HCSB)
Should Christians make statues to bow down to and worship in our church buildings?
What agreement can a temple of God make with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: “I will live and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2 Cor 6:16 ISV)
What separates statues, like those of cherubs, from idolatry? Do we get as close as we can to idolatry or avoid even the appearance of it? You decide!
What abomination was found on the high places throughout Israel?
Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy to them, and say, ‘You mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord Yahweh! The Lord Yahweh says to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: “Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. Your altars will become desolate, and your incense altars will be broken. I will cast down your slain men before your idols. (Ezek 6:1-4 WEB)
How angry was God about the rampant idolatry throughout the land?
I’ll throw the Israelites’ corpses in front of their idols, and I’ll scatter your bones all around your altars. Wherever you live, cities will be in ruins, shrines made desolate, turned into utter ruin. Your altars will be punished and then broken down. Your idols will be demolished, your incense altars shattered, and all your works wiped out. The slain will fall among you, and you will know that I am the Lord. (Ezek 6:5-7 CEB)
Should we take God’s warnings in the Bible seriously? Have we disgraced God?
I will let some of the people live through this punishment, but I will scatter them among the nations, where they will be prisoners. And when they think of me, they will realize that they disgraced me by rebelling and by worshiping idols. They will hate themselves for the evil things they did, and they will know that I am the Lord and that my warnings must be taken seriously. (Ezek 6:8-10 CEV)
What three methods of punishment would the people suffer for their sins?
Thus says the Lord God: “Clap your hands and stamp your foot and say, Alas, because of all the evil abominations of the house of Israel, for they shall fall by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. He who is far off shall die of pestilence, and he who is near shall fall by the sword, and he who is left and is preserved shall die of famine. Thus I will spend my fury upon them. (Ezek 6:11-12 ESV)
What event will cause people to know that God does not approve of idolatry?
You will all know that I am Yahweh when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and every leafy oak—the places where they offered pleasing aromas to all their idols. I will stretch out My hand against them, and wherever they live I will make the land a desolate waste, from the wilderness to Diblah. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.” (Ezek 6:13-14 HCSB)
Should Christians make statues to bow down to and worship in our church buildings?
What agreement can a temple of God make with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said: “I will live and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” (2 Cor 6:16 ISV)
What separates statues, like those of cherubs, from idolatry? Do we get as close as we can to idolatry or avoid even the appearance of it? You decide!
Abominations Punished (Ezekiel 5)
Did Ezekiel demonstrate a then future punishment of human abominations? Are our nations without guilt? Let’s look at Ezekiel 5.
What did God ask Ezekiel to demonstrate this time as a prophecy?
“Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts. You are to burn a third of it in the middle of the city when you’ve finished your siege. Next, you are to take another third of it and beat it with your sword.
Last, you are to scatter the remaining third to the wind, after which I’ll unsheathe my sword and pursue them. You are to preserve a few strands of hair and hide them in the folds of your garment. Then you are to take a few strands, throw them in the fire, and incinerate them. A fire will proceed to the house of Israel from there.” (Ezek 5:1-5 ISV)
Was Jerusalem located to be an example for other countries? Did Jerusalem fall into sins that were worse than those of surrounding countries?
Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. (Ezek 5:5-6 KJV)
What did God decide because Jerusalem had sinned so abominably against Him? How bad will the famine be?
Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which are all around you and have not walked in My statutes, nor done My judgments, nor done the judgments of the nations which are all around you,’ therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
And I will do among you what I have not done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind. (Ezek 5:7-10 LSB)
Did idolatry and various undetailed abominations cause God’s punishment by thirds?
Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. A third of you will die by plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. (Ezek 5:11-12 NASB)
What would the nations around know because of God’s punishment on Jerusalem?
Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal. I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. (Ezek 5:13-14 NIV)
What kind of lesson would Jerusalem be for all to see?
‘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. 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. So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’ (Ezek 5:15-17 NKJV)
Did Jerusalem learn its lesson or was a future generation to suffer similar punishment in 70 AD?
They will be killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the period of the Gentiles comes to an end. (Luke 21:24 NLT)
Did Ezekiel demonstrate a then future punishment of human abominations? Are our nations without guilt? You decide!
What did God ask Ezekiel to demonstrate this time as a prophecy?
“Now as for you, Son of Man, you are to go find a sharp sword and use it like a barber’s razor. You are to cut your hair and beard. Then you are to take a weighing scale and divide your shaved hair into three parts. You are to burn a third of it in the middle of the city when you’ve finished your siege. Next, you are to take another third of it and beat it with your sword.
Last, you are to scatter the remaining third to the wind, after which I’ll unsheathe my sword and pursue them. You are to preserve a few strands of hair and hide them in the folds of your garment. Then you are to take a few strands, throw them in the fire, and incinerate them. A fire will proceed to the house of Israel from there.” (Ezek 5:1-5 ISV)
Was Jerusalem located to be an example for other countries? Did Jerusalem fall into sins that were worse than those of surrounding countries?
Thus saith the Lord God; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her. And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. (Ezek 5:5-6 KJV)
What did God decide because Jerusalem had sinned so abominably against Him? How bad will the famine be?
Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which are all around you and have not walked in My statutes, nor done My judgments, nor done the judgments of the nations which are all around you,’ therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations.
And I will do among you what I have not done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind. (Ezek 5:7-10 LSB)
Did idolatry and various undetailed abominations cause God’s punishment by thirds?
Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. A third of you will die by plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. (Ezek 5:11-12 NASB)
What would the nations around know because of God’s punishment on Jerusalem?
Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal. I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. (Ezek 5:13-14 NIV)
What kind of lesson would Jerusalem be for all to see?
‘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. 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. So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken.’ (Ezek 5:15-17 NKJV)
Did Jerusalem learn its lesson or was a future generation to suffer similar punishment in 70 AD?
They will be killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be trampled down by the Gentiles until the period of the Gentiles comes to an end. (Luke 21:24 NLT)
Did Ezekiel demonstrate a then future punishment of human abominations? Are our nations without guilt? You decide!
Prophetic Drama (Ezekiel 4)
Does sin separate us from God like an iron wall? Have we endured physical and social hardship to serve God? Let’s look at Ezekiel 4.
Did Ezekiel make a model of Jerusalem under siege as a visual prophecy? Did an iron pan picture a barrier between God and Israel?
You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem. Lay siege against it, build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it. Also set camps against it and plant battering rams against it all around. Take for yourself an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. Then set your face toward it. It will be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. (Ezek 4:1-3 WEB)
Did God have this very visual prophet lie on his side? Did this picture the unfaithfulness of both Israel and Judah?
Now, lie on your left side, and set the guilt of the house of Israel on it. For the length of time that you lie on your side, you will bear their punishment. I appoint to you three hundred ninety days, one day for each year of their guilt. So you will bear the punishment of the house of Israel.
When you have completed these days, lie on your right side to bear the guilt of the house of Judah. I appoint forty days to you, one day for each year. With your arm stretched out, face the siege of Jerusalem directly and prophesy against it. I’ve now bound you with cords so that you can’t turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege. (Ezek 4:4-8 CEB)
Did God have Ezekiel demonstrate yet another prophecy of bad food?
Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the 390 days you are lying down. Eat only a small loaf of bread each day and drink only two large cups of water. Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you. When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do. (Ezek 4:9-13 CEV)
When Ezekiel asked God why He wanted him to defile himself with tainted bread, what was God’s answer?
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.” Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment. (Ezek 4:14-17 ESV)
Rather than the polluted bread of punishment, did Jesus offer us the bread of life?
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.” (John 6:35 HCSB)
Does sin separate us from God like an iron wall? Have we endured physical and social hardship to serve God? You decide!
Did Ezekiel make a model of Jerusalem under siege as a visual prophecy? Did an iron pan picture a barrier between God and Israel?
You also, son of man, take a tile, and lay it before yourself, and portray on it a city, even Jerusalem. Lay siege against it, build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it. Also set camps against it and plant battering rams against it all around. Take for yourself an iron pan and set it for a wall of iron between you and the city. Then set your face toward it. It will be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel. (Ezek 4:1-3 WEB)
Did God have this very visual prophet lie on his side? Did this picture the unfaithfulness of both Israel and Judah?
Now, lie on your left side, and set the guilt of the house of Israel on it. For the length of time that you lie on your side, you will bear their punishment. I appoint to you three hundred ninety days, one day for each year of their guilt. So you will bear the punishment of the house of Israel.
When you have completed these days, lie on your right side to bear the guilt of the house of Judah. I appoint forty days to you, one day for each year. With your arm stretched out, face the siege of Jerusalem directly and prophesy against it. I’ve now bound you with cords so that you can’t turn from one side to the other until you have completed the days of your siege. (Ezek 4:4-8 CEB)
Did God have Ezekiel demonstrate yet another prophecy of bad food?
Get a large bowl. Then mix together wheat, barley, beans, lentils, and millet, and make some bread. This is what you will eat for the 390 days you are lying down. Eat only a small loaf of bread each day and drink only two large cups of water. Use dried human waste to start a fire, then bake the bread on the coals where everyone can watch you. When I scatter the people of Israel among the nations, they will also have to eat food that is unclean, just as you must do. (Ezek 4:9-13 CEV)
When Ezekiel asked God why He wanted him to defile himself with tainted bread, what was God’s answer?
Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I have never defiled myself. From my youth up till now I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has tainted meat come into my mouth.” Then he said to me, “See, I assign to you cow's dung instead of human dung, on which you may prepare your bread.” Moreover, he said to me, “Son of man, behold, I will break the supply of bread in Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and in dismay. I will do this that they may lack bread and water, and look at one another in dismay, and rot away because of their punishment. (Ezek 4:14-17 ESV)
Rather than the polluted bread of punishment, did Jesus offer us the bread of life?
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.” (John 6:35 HCSB)
Does sin separate us from God like an iron wall? Have we endured physical and social hardship to serve God? You decide!
A Prophet's Duty (Ezekiel 3)
Pastors may comfort us and prophets discomfort us, but don’t we really need both? Let’s look at one prophet’s duty in Ezekiel 3.
Was Ezekiel to eat a scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel?
Then he told me, “Son of Man, eat! Eat what you see—this scroll—and then go talk to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll. Then he told me, “Son of Man, fill your stomach and digest this scroll that I’m giving you.” So I ate it, and it was like sweet honey in my mouth. (Ezek 3:1-3 ISV)
To whom was Ezekiel sent? Would other nations have listened to him, like Nineveh listened to Jonah?
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. (Ezek 3:4-6 KJV)
Was God disappointed in Israel, because she was even worse than the nations around her?
Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which are all around you and have not walked in My statutes, nor done My judgments, nor done the judgments of the nations which are all around you,’ therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. And I will do among you what I have not done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. (Ezek 3:7-9 LSB)
What would be some of the consequences experienced by a nation practicing idolatry and abominations?
Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind. Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. A third of you will die by plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. (Ezek 3:10-12 NASB)
What knowledge will come as the result of a nation punished by God?
Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal. I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. (Ezek 3:13-14 NIV)
What will the nations around Israel learn from her punishment?
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. 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. So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken. (Ezek 3:15-17 NKJV)
What lesson should we in New Testament churches learn from Israel’s bad examples?
These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. (1 Cor 10:6-11 NLT)
Pastors may comfort us and prophets discomfort us, but don’t we really need both? You decide!
Was Ezekiel to eat a scroll, then go and speak to the house of Israel?
Then he told me, “Son of Man, eat! Eat what you see—this scroll—and then go talk to the house of Israel.” So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll. Then he told me, “Son of Man, fill your stomach and digest this scroll that I’m giving you.” So I ate it, and it was like sweet honey in my mouth. (Ezek 3:1-3 ISV)
To whom was Ezekiel sent? Would other nations have listened to him, like Nineveh listened to Jonah?
And he said unto me, Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of an hard language, but to the house of Israel; Not to many people of a strange speech and of an hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee. (Ezek 3:4-6 KJV)
Was God disappointed in Israel, because she was even worse than the nations around her?
Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Because you have more turmoil than the nations which are all around you and have not walked in My statutes, nor done My judgments, nor done the judgments of the nations which are all around you,’ therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, ‘Behold, I, even I, am against you, and I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. And I will do among you what I have not done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. (Ezek 3:7-9 LSB)
What would be some of the consequences experienced by a nation practicing idolatry and abominations?
Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind. Therefore as I live,’ declares the Lord God, ‘Because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominations, I definitely will also withdraw and My eye will have no pity, and I also will not spare. A third of you will die by plague or perish by famine among you, a third will fall by the sword around you, and a third I will scatter to every wind, and I will unsheathe a sword behind them. (Ezek 3:10-12 NASB)
What knowledge will come as the result of a nation punished by God?
Then my anger will cease and my wrath against them will subside, and I will be avenged. And when I have spent my wrath on them, they will know that I the Lord have spoken in my zeal. I will make you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around you, in the sight of all who pass by. (Ezek 3:13-14 NIV)
What will the nations around Israel learn from her punishment?
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. 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. So I will send against you famine and wild beasts, and they will bereave you. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken. (Ezek 3:15-17 NKJV)
What lesson should we in New Testament churches learn from Israel’s bad examples?
These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.
Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. (1 Cor 10:6-11 NLT)
Pastors may comfort us and prophets discomfort us, but don’t we really need both? You decide!
Ezekiel Called (Ezekiel 2)
Is a prophet called to pamper people with smooth words? Let’s look at Ezekiel 2.
How did God begin His calling of Ezekiel as a prophet? Did the Holy Spirit enter him? Was the term Son of man also used by Jesus?
And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. (Ezek 2:1-2 NKJV)
To which nation was Ezekiel assigned? Are the two nations of Israel and Judah righteous, or stubborn and rebellious and hard-hearted against God?
“Son of man,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation [Heb. nations] that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ (Ezek 2:3-4 NLT)
Does a prophet or preacher know whether or not their message will be refused? Is there a temptation for any preacher to water down God’s message so people won’t be offended?
They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them. (Ezek 2:5 WEB)
Is the church really any different to Israel, a household of rebels? How many Christian preachers preach the Word undiluted, whether they listen or not?
And as for you, human one, don’t be afraid of them or their words. Don’t be afraid! You possess thistles and thorns that subdue scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words or shrink from their presence, because they are a household of rebels. You’ll speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they refuse. They are just a household of rebels! (Ezek 2:6-7 CEB)
How many Christian preachers are in rebellion against God by refusing to listen to everything God has to say, to digest what God has given?
Ezekiel, don't rebel against me, as they have done. Instead, listen to everything I tell you. And now, Ezekiel, open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you. (Ezek 2:8 CEV)
How many Christian preachers totally ignore the passages of lament and mourning and woe, only to focus on passages of encouragement?
And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. (Ezek 2:9-10 ESV)
Was John told something similar to Ezekiel, to consume God’s word? Did it start out sweet and end up bitter?
Now the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter. (Rev 10:8–10)
Is a prophet called to pamper people with smooth words? You decide!
How did God begin His calling of Ezekiel as a prophet? Did the Holy Spirit enter him? Was the term Son of man also used by Jesus?
And He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you.” Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard Him who spoke to me. (Ezek 2:1-2 NKJV)
To which nation was Ezekiel assigned? Are the two nations of Israel and Judah righteous, or stubborn and rebellious and hard-hearted against God?
“Son of man,” he said, “I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation [Heb. nations] that has rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says!’ (Ezek 2:3-4 NLT)
Does a prophet or preacher know whether or not their message will be refused? Is there a temptation for any preacher to water down God’s message so people won’t be offended?
They, whether they will hear, or whether they will refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that there has been a prophet among them. (Ezek 2:5 WEB)
Is the church really any different to Israel, a household of rebels? How many Christian preachers preach the Word undiluted, whether they listen or not?
And as for you, human one, don’t be afraid of them or their words. Don’t be afraid! You possess thistles and thorns that subdue scorpions. Don’t be afraid of their words or shrink from their presence, because they are a household of rebels. You’ll speak my words to them whether they listen or whether they refuse. They are just a household of rebels! (Ezek 2:6-7 CEB)
How many Christian preachers are in rebellion against God by refusing to listen to everything God has to say, to digest what God has given?
Ezekiel, don't rebel against me, as they have done. Instead, listen to everything I tell you. And now, Ezekiel, open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you. (Ezek 2:8 CEV)
How many Christian preachers totally ignore the passages of lament and mourning and woe, only to focus on passages of encouragement?
And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe. (Ezek 2:9-10 ESV)
Was John told something similar to Ezekiel, to consume God’s word? Did it start out sweet and end up bitter?
Now the voice that I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the scroll that lies open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” So I went to the angel and asked him to give me the little scroll. He said to me, “Take and eat it; it will be bitter in your stomach, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.” Then I took the little scroll from the angel’s hand and ate it. It was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I ate it, my stomach became bitter. (Rev 10:8–10)
Is a prophet called to pamper people with smooth words? You decide!
God's Mobile Throne (Ezekiel 1)
During the exile of Judah in Babylon, was there a young priest-prophet called to act out living parables as street theater, teaching tools? Does the entire book move from judgment to grace? Let’s begin in Ezekiel 1.
Where was Ezekiel when God began to reveal strange visions to him? Did he settle by an irrigation canal Kebar?
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. (Ezek 1:1 NKJV)
When did these visions take place? Is king Jehoiachin also called Jeconiah and Coniah? Is David’s lineage crushed?
This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (Ezek 1:2 NLT)
If God chose prophets from all walks of life, would He also choose a priest? Whose word came to Ezekiel?
Yahweh’s word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and Yahweh’s hand was there on him. (Ezek 1:3 WEB)
Did Ezekiel see a storm like a tornado coming out of the north, the direction from which both Israel and Judah were conquered? Is the brightness a hint of God’s glory about to appear?
As I watched, suddenly a driving storm [whirlwind] came out of the north, a great cloud flashing fire, with brightness all around. At its center, in the middle of the fire, there was something like gleaming amber [glowing metal]. (Ezek 1:4 CEB)
What amazing angelic creatures did Ezekiel see?
and in that center I saw what looked like four living creatures. They were somewhat like humans, except that each one had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, but their feet looked like the hoofs of calves and sparkled like bronze. Under each of their wings, these creatures had a human hand. The four creatures were standing back to back with the tips of their wings touching. They moved together in every direction, without turning their bodies. (Ezek 1:5-9 CEV)
Are the faces symbolic of each lead tribe of three camped on each side of the tabernacle, the lion of Judah, the ox of Ephraim, the eagle of Dan and the man Reuben? Is this also symbolic of the four gospels as early church fathers speculated?
As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. (Ezek 1:10-11 ESV)
What brightness with lightning coming out of it was between the living creatures?
Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the Spirit wanted to go, they went without turning as they moved. The form of the living creatures was like the appearance of burning coals of fire and torches. Fire was moving back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, with lightning coming out of it. The creatures were darting back and forth like flashes of lightning. (Ezek 1:12-14 HCSB)
What is going on with the wheels within wheels? Are we satisfied with mystery?
As I observed the living beings, I noticed one wheel on the earth beside each being—that is, for the four of them. Their wheels and their construction details looked like gold-colored beryl. Each wheel was identical in form to the others, and they appeared to have been constructed and designed as if one wheel were within another. Whenever the four moved, no matter which of four directions, they moved without turning around. (Ezek 1:15-17 ISV)
Are we drawn to the majesty of it all? Do the eyes reveal God as all-seeing, all-knowing?
As for their rings [rims], they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. (Ezek 1:18-21 KJV)
What awesome gleam and sound of the Almighty were above the four creatures?
Now over the heads of the living creatures there was something with the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads above. And underneath the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.
I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters as they went, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. And there came a sound from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. (Ezek 1:22-25 LSB)
Who was above their heads that was gleaming, on a throne, like a man, a rainbow, radiant like fire with a voice? Was this to teach that God’s glory was no longer tied to the temple, but now mobile in a divine kind of chariot?
Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli [sapphire] in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His waist and upward something like gleaming metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. Like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. (Ezek 1:26-28 NASB)
Is there a similar description seen by the Apostle John in Revelation?
Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev 4:6–8 NIV)
During the exile of Judah in Babylon, was there a young priest-prophet called to act out living parables as street theater, teaching tools? Does the entire book move from judgment to grace? You decide!
Where was Ezekiel when God began to reveal strange visions to him? Did he settle by an irrigation canal Kebar?
Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God. (Ezek 1:1 NKJV)
When did these visions take place? Is king Jehoiachin also called Jeconiah and Coniah? Is David’s lineage crushed?
This happened during the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity. (Ezek 1:2 NLT)
If God chose prophets from all walks of life, would He also choose a priest? Whose word came to Ezekiel?
Yahweh’s word came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and Yahweh’s hand was there on him. (Ezek 1:3 WEB)
Did Ezekiel see a storm like a tornado coming out of the north, the direction from which both Israel and Judah were conquered? Is the brightness a hint of God’s glory about to appear?
As I watched, suddenly a driving storm [whirlwind] came out of the north, a great cloud flashing fire, with brightness all around. At its center, in the middle of the fire, there was something like gleaming amber [glowing metal]. (Ezek 1:4 CEB)
What amazing angelic creatures did Ezekiel see?
and in that center I saw what looked like four living creatures. They were somewhat like humans, except that each one had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, but their feet looked like the hoofs of calves and sparkled like bronze. Under each of their wings, these creatures had a human hand. The four creatures were standing back to back with the tips of their wings touching. They moved together in every direction, without turning their bodies. (Ezek 1:5-9 CEV)
Are the faces symbolic of each lead tribe of three camped on each side of the tabernacle, the lion of Judah, the ox of Ephraim, the eagle of Dan and the man Reuben? Is this also symbolic of the four gospels as early church fathers speculated?
As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their bodies. (Ezek 1:10-11 ESV)
What brightness with lightning coming out of it was between the living creatures?
Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the Spirit wanted to go, they went without turning as they moved. The form of the living creatures was like the appearance of burning coals of fire and torches. Fire was moving back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, with lightning coming out of it. The creatures were darting back and forth like flashes of lightning. (Ezek 1:12-14 HCSB)
What is going on with the wheels within wheels? Are we satisfied with mystery?
As I observed the living beings, I noticed one wheel on the earth beside each being—that is, for the four of them. Their wheels and their construction details looked like gold-colored beryl. Each wheel was identical in form to the others, and they appeared to have been constructed and designed as if one wheel were within another. Whenever the four moved, no matter which of four directions, they moved without turning around. (Ezek 1:15-17 ISV)
Are we drawn to the majesty of it all? Do the eyes reveal God as all-seeing, all-knowing?
As for their rings [rims], they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four. And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels. (Ezek 1:18-21 KJV)
What awesome gleam and sound of the Almighty were above the four creatures?
Now over the heads of the living creatures there was something with the likeness of an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads above. And underneath the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.
I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of many waters as they went, like the sound of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. And there came a sound from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. (Ezek 1:22-25 LSB)
Who was above their heads that was gleaming, on a throne, like a man, a rainbow, radiant like fire with a voice? Was this to teach that God’s glory was no longer tied to the temple, but now mobile in a divine kind of chariot?
Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli [sapphire] in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His waist and upward something like gleaming metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. Like the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. (Ezek 1:26-28 NASB)
Is there a similar description seen by the Apostle John in Revelation?
Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” (Rev 4:6–8 NIV)
During the exile of Judah in Babylon, was there a young priest-prophet called to act out living parables as street theater, teaching tools? Does the entire book move from judgment to grace? You decide!
National Suffering (Lamentations 5)
How can the suffering of a nation bring heavenly hope? Let’s look at Lamentations 5.
When we suffer do we turn our backs on God or go to Him in prayer?
Lord, remember what has happened to us. Pay attention, and look at our shame! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, and our homes to foreigners. We are now orphans—without fathers—and our mothers are like widows. (Lam 5:1-3 ISV)
Was all Israel under the yoke of a foreign power, with people giving everything just to eat?
We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. (Lam 5:4-6 KJV)
Do evils created by past generations cause us to suffer?
Our fathers sinned; they are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities. Slaves rule over us; There is no one to tear us away from their hand. We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness. (Lam 5:7-9 LSB)
Occupied by a foreign power, did Jerusalem starve, were people violated and abused?
Our skin has become as hot as an oven, Because of the ravages of hunger. They violated the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. Leaders were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. (Lam 5:10-12 NASB)
What happened to youthful joy as young men and boys were put to forced labor for the occupying power?
Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. (Lam 5:13-15 NIV)
Rather than shift blame to past generations alone, does the prophet confess the sins of the current generation?
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our heart is faint; Because of these things our eyes grow dim; Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, With foxes walking about on it. (Lam 5:16-18 NKJV)
Does God change? Does He ever forget us? Is being forced by circumstances to examine our evil ways a good thing?
But Lord, you remain the same forever! Your throne continues from generation to generation. Why do you continue to forget us? Why have you abandoned us for so long? Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had! Or have you utterly rejected us? Are you angry with us still? (Lam 5:19-22 NLT)
Is there a purpose in mourning? Why does Jesus call it a blessing? How can God bring comfort though the mourning process?
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Mat 5:4 WEB)
How can the suffering of a nation bring heavenly hope? You decide!
When we suffer do we turn our backs on God or go to Him in prayer?
Lord, remember what has happened to us. Pay attention, and look at our shame! Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, and our homes to foreigners. We are now orphans—without fathers—and our mothers are like widows. (Lam 5:1-3 ISV)
Was all Israel under the yoke of a foreign power, with people giving everything just to eat?
We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. (Lam 5:4-6 KJV)
Do evils created by past generations cause us to suffer?
Our fathers sinned; they are no more; It is we who have borne their iniquities. Slaves rule over us; There is no one to tear us away from their hand. We get our bread at the risk of our lives Because of the sword in the wilderness. (Lam 5:7-9 LSB)
Occupied by a foreign power, did Jerusalem starve, were people violated and abused?
Our skin has become as hot as an oven, Because of the ravages of hunger. They violated the women in Zion, The virgins in the cities of Judah. Leaders were hung by their hands; Elders were not respected. (Lam 5:10-12 NASB)
What happened to youthful joy as young men and boys were put to forced labor for the occupying power?
Young men toil at the millstones; boys stagger under loads of wood. The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music. Joy is gone from our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning. (Lam 5:13-15 NIV)
Rather than shift blame to past generations alone, does the prophet confess the sins of the current generation?
The crown has fallen from our head. Woe to us, for we have sinned! Because of this our heart is faint; Because of these things our eyes grow dim; Because of Mount Zion which is desolate, With foxes walking about on it. (Lam 5:16-18 NKJV)
Does God change? Does He ever forget us? Is being forced by circumstances to examine our evil ways a good thing?
But Lord, you remain the same forever! Your throne continues from generation to generation. Why do you continue to forget us? Why have you abandoned us for so long? Restore us, O Lord, and bring us back to you again! Give us back the joys we once had! Or have you utterly rejected us? Are you angry with us still? (Lam 5:19-22 NLT)
Is there a purpose in mourning? Why does Jesus call it a blessing? How can God bring comfort though the mourning process?
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Mat 5:4 WEB)
How can the suffering of a nation bring heavenly hope? You decide!
Zion Laments (Lamentations 4)
Does sin carry a high cost? Does God hold leaders accountable? Should enemies gloat? Let’s look at the acrostic poem in lamentations 4.
Was Zion once valued like gold, but because of her sins, now like mere pottery?
[Alef א] How tarnished the gold has become, the finest gold debased! Sacred stones have been scattered at every street corner.
[Bet ב] Though the precious people of Zion were like fine gold, how they are valued like clay vessels, the handiwork of a potter! (Lam 4:1-2 ISV)
Was starvation so bad under a Babylonian siege that even nursing babies suffered?
[Gimel ג] Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
[Dalet ד] The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. (Lam 4:3-4 KJV)
Were even the rich suffering? Were Jerusalem’s sins greater than Sodom’s?
[He ה] Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in crimson Embrace ash pits.
[Vav ו] So the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands whirled toward her. (Lam 4:5-6 LSB)
Did Jerusalem’s leaders, once like precious jewels, become like soot?
[Zayin ז] Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, They shined more than milk; They were more ruddy in body than pearls of coral, Their form was like lapis lazuli [sapphire].
[Het ח] Their appearance is darker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is dry, it has become like wood. (Lam 4:7-8 NASB)
Would a quick death have been better than starvation and cannibalism?
[Tet ט] Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.
[Yod י] With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed. (Lam 4:9-10 NIV)
Were foreign kings astonished that Jerusalem was invaded?
[Kaf ך] The Lord has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, And it has devoured its foundations.
[Lamed ל] The kings of the earth, And all inhabitants of the world, Would not have believed That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem— (Lam 4:11-12 NKJV)
Did God place blame on religious leaders? Were dead bodies and blood everywhere?
[Mem ם] Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood.
[Nun נ] They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them. (Lam 4:13-14 NLT)
Did people tell those who touched the blood to go away? Were priests and elders disrespected?
[Samekh ס] “Go away!” they cried to them. “Unclean! Go away! Go away! Don’t touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, “They can’t live here any more.”
[Ayin ע] Yahweh’s anger has scattered them. He will not pay attention to them any more. They didn’t respect the persons of the priests. They didn’t favor the elders. (Lam 4:15-16 WEB)
Did they look to Egypt for help in vain, and their end came anyway?
[Pe פ] Our eyes continually failed, looking for some help, but for nothing. From our watchtower we watched for a nation that doesn’t save.
[Tzadi צ] Our steps were tracked; we could no longer walk in our streets. Our end had drawn near; our days were done—our end had definitely come. (Lam 4:17-18 CEB)
Did the Babylonians pursue anyone who tried to escape Jerusalem, including Zedekiah?
[Qof ק] They swooped down faster than eagles from the sky. They hunted for us in the hills and set traps to catch us out in the desert.
[Resh ר] The Lord's chosen leader was our hope for survival! We thought he would keep us safe somewhere among the nations, but even he was caught in one of their traps. (Lam 4:19-20 CEV)
Did Edom gloat over Zion’s punishment, then learn that they too would be punished?
[Shin ש] Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
[Tav ת] The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins. (Lam 4:21-22 ESV)
For rejecting God and later for crucifying Jesus, was Jerusalem like Capernaum punished much longer than the quick destruction of Sodom?
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Mat 11:23-24 HCSB)
Does sin carry a high cost? Does God hold leaders accountable? Should enemies gloat? You decide!
Was Zion once valued like gold, but because of her sins, now like mere pottery?
[Alef א] How tarnished the gold has become, the finest gold debased! Sacred stones have been scattered at every street corner.
[Bet ב] Though the precious people of Zion were like fine gold, how they are valued like clay vessels, the handiwork of a potter! (Lam 4:1-2 ISV)
Was starvation so bad under a Babylonian siege that even nursing babies suffered?
[Gimel ג] Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people is become cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness.
[Dalet ד] The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, and no man breaketh it unto them. (Lam 4:3-4 KJV)
Were even the rich suffering? Were Jerusalem’s sins greater than Sodom’s?
[He ה] Those who ate delicacies Are desolate in the streets; Those reared in crimson Embrace ash pits.
[Vav ו] So the iniquity of the daughter of my people Is greater than the sin of Sodom, Which was overthrown as in a moment, And no hands whirled toward her. (Lam 4:5-6 LSB)
Did Jerusalem’s leaders, once like precious jewels, become like soot?
[Zayin ז] Her consecrated ones were purer than snow, They shined more than milk; They were more ruddy in body than pearls of coral, Their form was like lapis lazuli [sapphire].
[Het ח] Their appearance is darker than soot, They are not recognized in the streets; Their skin is shriveled on their bones, It is dry, it has become like wood. (Lam 4:7-8 NASB)
Would a quick death have been better than starvation and cannibalism?
[Tet ט] Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field.
[Yod י] With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children, who became their food when my people were destroyed. (Lam 4:9-10 NIV)
Were foreign kings astonished that Jerusalem was invaded?
[Kaf ך] The Lord has fulfilled His fury, He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion, And it has devoured its foundations.
[Lamed ל] The kings of the earth, And all inhabitants of the world, Would not have believed That the adversary and the enemy Could enter the gates of Jerusalem— (Lam 4:11-12 NKJV)
Did God place blame on religious leaders? Were dead bodies and blood everywhere?
[Mem ם] Yet it happened because of the sins of her prophets and the sins of her priests, who defiled the city by shedding innocent blood.
[Nun נ] They wandered blindly through the streets, so defiled by blood that no one dared touch them. (Lam 4:13-14 NLT)
Did people tell those who touched the blood to go away? Were priests and elders disrespected?
[Samekh ס] “Go away!” they cried to them. “Unclean! Go away! Go away! Don’t touch! When they fled away and wandered, men said among the nations, “They can’t live here any more.”
[Ayin ע] Yahweh’s anger has scattered them. He will not pay attention to them any more. They didn’t respect the persons of the priests. They didn’t favor the elders. (Lam 4:15-16 WEB)
Did they look to Egypt for help in vain, and their end came anyway?
[Pe פ] Our eyes continually failed, looking for some help, but for nothing. From our watchtower we watched for a nation that doesn’t save.
[Tzadi צ] Our steps were tracked; we could no longer walk in our streets. Our end had drawn near; our days were done—our end had definitely come. (Lam 4:17-18 CEB)
Did the Babylonians pursue anyone who tried to escape Jerusalem, including Zedekiah?
[Qof ק] They swooped down faster than eagles from the sky. They hunted for us in the hills and set traps to catch us out in the desert.
[Resh ר] The Lord's chosen leader was our hope for survival! We thought he would keep us safe somewhere among the nations, but even he was caught in one of their traps. (Lam 4:19-20 CEV)
Did Edom gloat over Zion’s punishment, then learn that they too would be punished?
[Shin ש] Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, you who dwell in the land of Uz; but to you also the cup shall pass; you shall become drunk and strip yourself bare.
[Tav ת] The punishment of your iniquity, O daughter of Zion, is accomplished; he will keep you in exile no longer; but your iniquity, O daughter of Edom, he will punish; he will uncover your sins. (Lam 4:21-22 ESV)
For rejecting God and later for crucifying Jesus, was Jerusalem like Capernaum punished much longer than the quick destruction of Sodom?
And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to Hades. For if the miracles that were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until today. But I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.” (Mat 11:23-24 HCSB)
Does sin carry a high cost? Does God hold leaders accountable? Should enemies gloat? You decide!
Hope in Suffering (Lamentations 3)
Do we sometimes go from suffering to hope in God? Let’s look at a triple acrostic in Lamentations 3.
Did God lead Jeremiah through a prophet’s life of loneliness, bitterness and suffering?
[Alef א] I am a man familiar with affliction—under the rod of God’s anger. He has led me—brought me into darkness, not into light. He truly turned his hand against me, again and again, all day long.
[Bet ב] He made my flesh and skin prematurely old; he broke my bones. He laid siege against me, surrounding me with bitterness and suffering. He has forced me to live in darkness, like those who are long dead. (Lam 3:1-6 ISV)
When God punishes a sinful city, nation or church, does He even shut out prayer?
[Gimel ג] He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
[Dalet ד] He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. (Lam 3:7-12 KJV)
When we rebel against God, what bitterness can we expect?
[He ה] He made the arrows of His quiver To enter into my inward parts. I have become a laughingstock to all my people, Their music of mockery all the day. He has saturated me with bitterness; He has sated me with wormwood.
[Vav ו] He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust. My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten goodness. So I say, “My strength has perished, As well as my hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.” (Lam 3:13-18 LSB)
Do we suffer for our sins yet wait patiently for God’s compassion upon us?
[Zayin ז] Remember my misery and my homelessness, the wormwood and bitterness. My soul certainly remembers, And is bent over within me. I recall this to my mind, Therefore I wait.
[Het ח] The Lord’s acts of mercy indeed do not end, For His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I wait for Him.” (Lam 3:19-24 NASB)
Do we wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord at the end of this life?
[Tet ט] The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
[Yod י] Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust—there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. (Lam 3:25-30 NIV)
Though God disciplines His followers, does He abandon them forever?
[Kaf ך] For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.
[Lamed ל] To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High, Or subvert a man in his cause—The Lord does not approve. (Lam 3:31-36 NKJV)
Should we test our ways to make sure they are in line with God’s wishes?
[Mem ם] Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission? Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?
[Nun נ] Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.” (Lam 3:37-42 NLT)
Does the One who created life have every right to take it away again?
[Samekh ס] “You have covered us with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have not pitied. You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the middle of the peoples.
[Ayin ע] “All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us. Terror and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.” My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. (Lam 3:43-48 WEB)
Is there any real relief in human efforts of this world or only in God?
[Pe פ] My eyes flow and don’t stop. There is no relief until the Lord looks down from the heavens and notices. My eyes hurt me because of what’s happened to my city’s daughters.
[Tzadi צ] My enemies hunted me down like a bird, relentlessly, for no reason. They caught me alive in a pit and threw stones at me; water flowed over my head. I thought: I’m finished. (Lam 3:49-54 CEB)
Will God rescue us in our hour of affliction, even after our suffering?
[Qof ק] From the bottom of the pit, I prayed to you, Lord. I begged you to listen. “Help!” I shouted. “Save me!” You answered my prayer and came when I was in need. You told me, “Don't worry!”
[Resh ר] You rescued me and saved my life. You saw them abuse me, Lord, so make things right. You know every plot they have made against me. (Lam 3:55-60 CEV)
Will God save us from persecutors and repay them, even though we sometimes suffer?
[Shin ש] “You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts.
[Tav ת] “You will repay them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. You will give them dullness of heart; your curse will be on them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O Lord.” (Lam 3:21-22 ESV)
Does Paul also mention our hope in the midst of suffering?
We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. (2 Cor 4:8-9 HCSB)
Do we sometimes go from suffering to hope in God? You decide!
Did God lead Jeremiah through a prophet’s life of loneliness, bitterness and suffering?
[Alef א] I am a man familiar with affliction—under the rod of God’s anger. He has led me—brought me into darkness, not into light. He truly turned his hand against me, again and again, all day long.
[Bet ב] He made my flesh and skin prematurely old; he broke my bones. He laid siege against me, surrounding me with bitterness and suffering. He has forced me to live in darkness, like those who are long dead. (Lam 3:1-6 ISV)
When God punishes a sinful city, nation or church, does He even shut out prayer?
[Gimel ג] He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer. He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he hath made my paths crooked.
[Dalet ד] He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate. He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for the arrow. (Lam 3:7-12 KJV)
When we rebel against God, what bitterness can we expect?
[He ה] He made the arrows of His quiver To enter into my inward parts. I have become a laughingstock to all my people, Their music of mockery all the day. He has saturated me with bitterness; He has sated me with wormwood.
[Vav ו] He has broken my teeth with gravel; He has made me cower in the dust. My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten goodness. So I say, “My strength has perished, As well as my hopeful waiting which comes from Yahweh.” (Lam 3:13-18 LSB)
Do we suffer for our sins yet wait patiently for God’s compassion upon us?
[Zayin ז] Remember my misery and my homelessness, the wormwood and bitterness. My soul certainly remembers, And is bent over within me. I recall this to my mind, Therefore I wait.
[Het ח] The Lord’s acts of mercy indeed do not end, For His compassions do not fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I wait for Him.” (Lam 3:19-24 NASB)
Do we wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord at the end of this life?
[Tet ט] The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young.
[Yod י] Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust—there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace. (Lam 3:25-30 NIV)
Though God disciplines His followers, does He abandon them forever?
[Kaf ך] For the Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of men.
[Lamed ל] To crush under one’s feet All the prisoners of the earth, To turn aside the justice due a man Before the face of the Most High, Or subvert a man in his cause—The Lord does not approve. (Lam 3:31-36 NKJV)
Should we test our ways to make sure they are in line with God’s wishes?
[Mem ם] Who can command things to happen without the Lord’s permission? Does not the Most High send both calamity and good? Then why should we, mere humans, complain when we are punished for our sins?
[Nun נ] Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, “We have sinned and rebelled, and you have not forgiven us.” (Lam 3:37-42 NLT)
Does the One who created life have every right to take it away again?
[Samekh ס] “You have covered us with anger and pursued us. You have killed. You have not pitied. You have covered yourself with a cloud, so that no prayer can pass through. You have made us an off-scouring and refuse in the middle of the peoples.
[Ayin ע] “All our enemies have opened their mouth wide against us. Terror and the pit have come on us, devastation and destruction.” My eye runs down with streams of water, for the destruction of the daughter of my people. (Lam 3:43-48 WEB)
Is there any real relief in human efforts of this world or only in God?
[Pe פ] My eyes flow and don’t stop. There is no relief until the Lord looks down from the heavens and notices. My eyes hurt me because of what’s happened to my city’s daughters.
[Tzadi צ] My enemies hunted me down like a bird, relentlessly, for no reason. They caught me alive in a pit and threw stones at me; water flowed over my head. I thought: I’m finished. (Lam 3:49-54 CEB)
Will God rescue us in our hour of affliction, even after our suffering?
[Qof ק] From the bottom of the pit, I prayed to you, Lord. I begged you to listen. “Help!” I shouted. “Save me!” You answered my prayer and came when I was in need. You told me, “Don't worry!”
[Resh ר] You rescued me and saved my life. You saw them abuse me, Lord, so make things right. You know every plot they have made against me. (Lam 3:55-60 CEV)
Will God save us from persecutors and repay them, even though we sometimes suffer?
[Shin ש] “You have heard their taunts, O Lord, all their plots against me. The lips and thoughts of my assailants are against me all the day long. Behold their sitting and their rising; I am the object of their taunts.
[Tav ת] “You will repay them, O Lord, according to the work of their hands. You will give them dullness of heart; your curse will be on them. You will pursue them in anger and destroy them from under your heavens, O Lord.” (Lam 3:21-22 ESV)
Does Paul also mention our hope in the midst of suffering?
We are pressured in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. (2 Cor 4:8-9 HCSB)
Do we sometimes go from suffering to hope in God? You decide!
God's Anger (Lamentations 2)
Do we see ourselves in God’s anger at Jerusalem? Let’s look at an acrostic poem in Lamentations 2.
Have we ever been shamed for our sins and cast down in dishonor because of them?
[Alef א] How the Lord in his wrath shamed cherished Zion! He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, He did not remember his footstool in the time of his anger.
[Bet ב] The Lord swallowed up without pity all of Jacob’s habitations. In his wrath he tore down the strongholds of fair Judah. He cast to the ground in dishonor both her kingdom and its rulers. (Lam 2:1-2 ISV)
Have we ever had enemies in life and it seemed like it was caused by our sins?
[Gimel ג] He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
[Dalet ד] He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire. (Lam 2:3-4 KJV)
Have we ever slipped from faithfulness to God, or noticed that even our church has suffered the consequences of sin?
[He ה] The Lord has become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all its palaces; He has brought its strongholds to ruin And multiplied in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning.
[Vav ו] And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has brought His appointed meeting place to ruin. Yahweh has caused to be forgotten The appointed time and sabbath in Zion, And He has spurned king and priest In the indignation of His anger. (Lam 2:5-6 LSB)
Has God rejected our church because of unfaithfulness and handed its walls to the enemy?
[Zayin ז] The Lord has rejected His altar, He has repudiated His sanctuary; He has handed over The walls of her palaces to the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord As on the day of an appointed feast.
[Het ח] The Lord determined to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from destroying, And He has caused rampart and wall to mourn; They have languished together. (Lam 2:7-8 NASB)
Have we lost God’s vision in our lives, and forgotten the law of Christ?
[Tet ט] Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars he has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.
[Yod י] The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. (Lam 2:9-10 NIV)
Do our eyes fail with tears, and are our hearts troubled because the spiritual food of the Gospel lacks in our churches?
[Kaf ך] My eyes fail with tears, My heart is troubled; My bile is poured on the ground Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the children and the infants Faint in the streets of the city.
[Lamed ל] They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they swoon like the wounded In the streets of the city, As their life is poured out In their mothers’ bosom. (Lam 2:11-12 NKJV)
Who can heal a church whose wound is so deep, because the preachers have said too many foolish things, and painted false pictures?
[Mem ם] What can I say about you? Who has ever seen such sorrow? O daughter of Jerusalem, to what can I compare your anguish? O virgin daughter of Zion, how can I comfort you? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?
[Nun נ] Your prophets have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They did not save you from exile by pointing out your sins. Instead, they painted false pictures, filling you with false hope. (Lam 2:13-14 NLT)
Do people mock our churches, not because they preach truth, but because the world has swallowed them up?
[Samekh ס] All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
[Ayin ע] All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.” (Lam 2:15-16 WEB)
Has the enemy rejoiced over our churches, because he has conquered them?
[Pe פ] The Lord did what he had planned. He accomplished the word that he had commanded long ago. He ripped down, showing no compassion. He made the enemy rejoice over you; he raised up your adversaries’ horn.
[Tzadi צ] Cry out to my Lord from the heart, you wall of Daughter Zion; make your tears run down like a flood all day and night. Don’t relax at all; don’t rest your eyes a moment. (Lam 2:17-18 CEB)
Do we pray for God to rescue our churches from those who kill faithful preachers and murder our infants?
[Qof ק] Get up and pray for help all through the night. Pour out your feelings to the Lord, as you would pour water out of a jug. Beg him to save your people, who are starving to death at every street crossing.
[Resh ר] Think about it, Lord! Have you ever been this cruel to anyone before? Is it right for mothers to eat their children, or for priests and prophets to be killed in your temple? (Lam 2:19-20 CEV)
Are our churches to be left with the spiritually dead, while the world rejoices?
[Shin ש] In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity.
[Tav ת] You summoned as if to a festival day my terrors on every side, and on the day of the anger of the Lord no one escaped or survived; those whom I held and raised my enemy destroyed. (Lam 2:21-22 ESV)
Did Jesus ever warn a church about the danger of being spiritually dead?
Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: “The One who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. (Rev 3:1 HCSB)
Do we see ourselves in God’s anger at Jerusalem? You decide!
Have we ever been shamed for our sins and cast down in dishonor because of them?
[Alef א] How the Lord in his wrath shamed cherished Zion! He cast down from heaven to earth the glory of Israel, He did not remember his footstool in the time of his anger.
[Bet ב] The Lord swallowed up without pity all of Jacob’s habitations. In his wrath he tore down the strongholds of fair Judah. He cast to the ground in dishonor both her kingdom and its rulers. (Lam 2:1-2 ISV)
Have we ever had enemies in life and it seemed like it was caused by our sins?
[Gimel ג] He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of Israel: he hath drawn back his right hand from before the enemy, and he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which devoureth round about.
[Dalet ד] He hath bent his bow like an enemy: he stood with his right hand as an adversary, and slew all that were pleasant to the eye in the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion: he poured out his fury like fire. (Lam 2:3-4 KJV)
Have we ever slipped from faithfulness to God, or noticed that even our church has suffered the consequences of sin?
[He ה] The Lord has become like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel; He has swallowed up all its palaces; He has brought its strongholds to ruin And multiplied in the daughter of Judah Mourning and moaning.
[Vav ו] And He has violently treated His tabernacle like a garden booth; He has brought His appointed meeting place to ruin. Yahweh has caused to be forgotten The appointed time and sabbath in Zion, And He has spurned king and priest In the indignation of His anger. (Lam 2:5-6 LSB)
Has God rejected our church because of unfaithfulness and handed its walls to the enemy?
[Zayin ז] The Lord has rejected His altar, He has repudiated His sanctuary; He has handed over The walls of her palaces to the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the Lord As on the day of an appointed feast.
[Het ח] The Lord determined to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line, He has not restrained His hand from destroying, And He has caused rampart and wall to mourn; They have languished together. (Lam 2:7-8 NASB)
Have we lost God’s vision in our lives, and forgotten the law of Christ?
[Tet ט] Her gates have sunk into the ground; their bars he has broken and destroyed. Her king and her princes are exiled among the nations, the law is no more, and her prophets no longer find visions from the Lord.
[Yod י] The elders of Daughter Zion sit on the ground in silence; they have sprinkled dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to the ground. (Lam 2:9-10 NIV)
Do our eyes fail with tears, and are our hearts troubled because the spiritual food of the Gospel lacks in our churches?
[Kaf ך] My eyes fail with tears, My heart is troubled; My bile is poured on the ground Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the children and the infants Faint in the streets of the city.
[Lamed ל] They say to their mothers, “Where is grain and wine?” As they swoon like the wounded In the streets of the city, As their life is poured out In their mothers’ bosom. (Lam 2:11-12 NKJV)
Who can heal a church whose wound is so deep, because the preachers have said too many foolish things, and painted false pictures?
[Mem ם] What can I say about you? Who has ever seen such sorrow? O daughter of Jerusalem, to what can I compare your anguish? O virgin daughter of Zion, how can I comfort you? For your wound is as deep as the sea. Who can heal you?
[Nun נ] Your prophets have said so many foolish things, false to the core. They did not save you from exile by pointing out your sins. Instead, they painted false pictures, filling you with false hope. (Lam 2:13-14 NLT)
Do people mock our churches, not because they preach truth, but because the world has swallowed them up?
[Samekh ס] All that pass by clap their hands at you. They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusalem, saying, “Is this the city that men called ‘The perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth’?”
[Ayin ע] All your enemies have opened their mouth wide against you. They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, “We have swallowed her up. Certainly this is the day that we looked for. We have found it. We have seen it.” (Lam 2:15-16 WEB)
Has the enemy rejoiced over our churches, because he has conquered them?
[Pe פ] The Lord did what he had planned. He accomplished the word that he had commanded long ago. He ripped down, showing no compassion. He made the enemy rejoice over you; he raised up your adversaries’ horn.
[Tzadi צ] Cry out to my Lord from the heart, you wall of Daughter Zion; make your tears run down like a flood all day and night. Don’t relax at all; don’t rest your eyes a moment. (Lam 2:17-18 CEB)
Do we pray for God to rescue our churches from those who kill faithful preachers and murder our infants?
[Qof ק] Get up and pray for help all through the night. Pour out your feelings to the Lord, as you would pour water out of a jug. Beg him to save your people, who are starving to death at every street crossing.
[Resh ר] Think about it, Lord! Have you ever been this cruel to anyone before? Is it right for mothers to eat their children, or for priests and prophets to be killed in your temple? (Lam 2:19-20 CEV)
Are our churches to be left with the spiritually dead, while the world rejoices?
[Shin ש] In the dust of the streets lie the young and the old; my young women and my young men have fallen by the sword; you have killed them in the day of your anger, slaughtering without pity.
[Tav ת] You summoned as if to a festival day my terrors on every side, and on the day of the anger of the Lord no one escaped or survived; those whom I held and raised my enemy destroyed. (Lam 2:21-22 ESV)
Did Jesus ever warn a church about the danger of being spiritually dead?
Write to the angel of the church in Sardis: “The One who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars says: I know your works; you have a reputation for being alive, but you are dead. (Rev 3:1 HCSB)
Do we see ourselves in God’s anger at Jerusalem? You decide!
Jerusalem Laments (Lamentations 1)
Do we see ourselves in Jerusalem lamenting over her sin and suffering? Let’s look at an acrostic poem of Jerusalem’s sorrow in Lamentations 1.
How lonely has Jerusalem become, a vassal city of a foreign king?
[Alef א] How lonely she lies, the city that thronged with people! Like a widow she has become, this great one among nations! The princess among provinces has become a vassal.
[Bet ב] Bitterly she cries in the night, as tears stream down her cheeks. No one consoles her of all her friends. All her neighbors have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. (Lam 1:1-2 LSB)
Are foreign alliances with nations that worship false gods like treacherous lovers?
[Gimel ג] Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
[Dalet ד] The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. (Lam 1:3-4 KJV)
How would we feel if our enemies became our masters?
[He ה] Her adversaries have become her masters; Her enemies are complacent; For Yahweh has caused her grief Because of the greatness of her transgressions; Her infants have gone away As captives before the adversary.
[Vav ו] So all her majesty Has gone out from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; So they have fled without strength Before the pursuer. (Lam 1:5-6 LSB)
Have our nations sinned greatly like Jerusalem and become objects of ridicule?
[Zayin ז] In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her treasures That were hers since the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They laughed at her ruin.
[Het ח] Jerusalem sinned greatly, Therefore she has become an object of ridicule. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away. (Lam 1:7-8 NASB)
Had Jerusalem even thought about cause and effect for her future, that pagan nations would desecrate her holiest place?
[Tet ט] Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her. “Look, Lord, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed.”
[Yod י] The enemy laid hands on all her treasures; she saw pagan nations enter her sanctuary—those you had forbidden to enter your assembly. (Lam 1:9-10 NIV)
Does national sin bring consequences at the dinner table, national sorrow?
[Kaf ך] All her people sigh, They seek bread; They have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, For I am scorned.”
[Lamed ל] “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. (Lam 1:11-12 NKJV)
Has the Lord turned us back, captive to the consequences of our national sins?
[Mem ם] “He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones. He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back. He has left me devastated, racked with sickness all day long.
[Nun נ] “He wove my sins into ropes to hitch me to a yoke of captivity. The Lord sapped my strength and turned me over to my enemies; I am helpless in their hands. (Lam 1:13-14 NLT)
Has God trodden down our nation and has the enemy prevailed?
[Samekh ס] “The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men within me. He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah as in a wine press.
[Ayin ע] “For these things I weep. My eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me. My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.” (Lam 1:15-16 WEB)
Where is the comforter of Zion, because the people disobeyed His word?
[Pe פ] Zion spreads out her hands; she has no comforter. The Lord commanded Jacob’s enemies to surround him. Jerusalem is just a piece of garbage to them.
[Tzadi צ] The Lord is right, because I disobeyed his word. Listen, all you people; look at my suffering. My young women and young men have gone away as prisoners. (Lam 1:17-18 CEB)
Will our national allies come to our aid if we betray the Lord our God?
[Qof ק] I called out to my lovers, but they betrayed me. My priests and my leaders died while searching the city for scraps of food.
[Resh ר] Won't you look and see how upset I am, our Lord? My stomach is in knots, and my heart is broken because I betrayed you. In the streets and at home, my people are slaughtered. (Lam 1:19-20 CEV)
Are our international lovers, our allies glad that our nation groans in trouble?
[Shin ש] “They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
[Tav ת] “Let all their evildoing come before you, and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many, and my heart is faint.” (Lam 1:21-22 ESV)
Did Jesus likewise lament over Jerusalem, because of an impending punishment in 70 AD?
As He approached and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41–44 HCSB)
Do we see ourselves in Jerusalem lamenting over her sin and suffering? You decide!
How lonely has Jerusalem become, a vassal city of a foreign king?
[Alef א] How lonely she lies, the city that thronged with people! Like a widow she has become, this great one among nations! The princess among provinces has become a vassal.
[Bet ב] Bitterly she cries in the night, as tears stream down her cheeks. No one consoles her of all her friends. All her neighbors have betrayed her; they have become her enemies. (Lam 1:1-2 LSB)
Are foreign alliances with nations that worship false gods like treacherous lovers?
[Gimel ג] Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, and because of great servitude: she dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest: all her persecutors overtook her between the straits.
[Dalet ד] The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to the solemn feasts: all her gates are desolate: her priests sigh, her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. (Lam 1:3-4 KJV)
How would we feel if our enemies became our masters?
[He ה] Her adversaries have become her masters; Her enemies are complacent; For Yahweh has caused her grief Because of the greatness of her transgressions; Her infants have gone away As captives before the adversary.
[Vav ו] So all her majesty Has gone out from the daughter of Zion; Her princes have become like deer That have found no pasture; So they have fled without strength Before the pursuer. (Lam 1:5-6 LSB)
Have our nations sinned greatly like Jerusalem and become objects of ridicule?
[Zayin ז] In the days of her affliction and homelessness Jerusalem remembers all her treasures That were hers since the days of old, When her people fell into the hand of the adversary And no one helped her. The adversaries saw her, They laughed at her ruin.
[Het ח] Jerusalem sinned greatly, Therefore she has become an object of ridicule. All who honored her despise her Because they have seen her nakedness; Even she herself groans and turns away. (Lam 1:7-8 NASB)
Had Jerusalem even thought about cause and effect for her future, that pagan nations would desecrate her holiest place?
[Tet ט] Her filthiness clung to her skirts; she did not consider her future. Her fall was astounding; there was none to comfort her. “Look, Lord, on my affliction, for the enemy has triumphed.”
[Yod י] The enemy laid hands on all her treasures; she saw pagan nations enter her sanctuary—those you had forbidden to enter your assembly. (Lam 1:9-10 NIV)
Does national sin bring consequences at the dinner table, national sorrow?
[Kaf ך] All her people sigh, They seek bread; They have given their valuables for food to restore life. “See, O Lord, and consider, For I am scorned.”
[Lamed ל] “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. (Lam 1:11-12 NKJV)
Has the Lord turned us back, captive to the consequences of our national sins?
[Mem ם] “He has sent fire from heaven that burns in my bones. He has placed a trap in my path and turned me back. He has left me devastated, racked with sickness all day long.
[Nun נ] “He wove my sins into ropes to hitch me to a yoke of captivity. The Lord sapped my strength and turned me over to my enemies; I am helpless in their hands. (Lam 1:13-14 NLT)
Has God trodden down our nation and has the enemy prevailed?
[Samekh ס] “The Lord has set at nothing all my mighty men within me. He has called a solemn assembly against me to crush my young men. The Lord has trodden the virgin daughter of Judah as in a wine press.
[Ayin ע] “For these things I weep. My eye, my eye runs down with water, because the comforter who should refresh my soul is far from me. My children are desolate, because the enemy has prevailed.” (Lam 1:15-16 WEB)
Where is the comforter of Zion, because the people disobeyed His word?
[Pe פ] Zion spreads out her hands; she has no comforter. The Lord commanded Jacob’s enemies to surround him. Jerusalem is just a piece of garbage to them.
[Tzadi צ] The Lord is right, because I disobeyed his word. Listen, all you people; look at my suffering. My young women and young men have gone away as prisoners. (Lam 1:17-18 CEB)
Will our national allies come to our aid if we betray the Lord our God?
[Qof ק] I called out to my lovers, but they betrayed me. My priests and my leaders died while searching the city for scraps of food.
[Resh ר] Won't you look and see how upset I am, our Lord? My stomach is in knots, and my heart is broken because I betrayed you. In the streets and at home, my people are slaughtered. (Lam 1:19-20 CEV)
Are our international lovers, our allies glad that our nation groans in trouble?
[Shin ש] “They heard my groaning, yet there is no one to comfort me. All my enemies have heard of my trouble; they are glad that you have done it. You have brought the day you announced; now let them be as I am.
[Tav ת] “Let all their evildoing come before you, and deal with them as you have dealt with me because of all my transgressions; for my groans are many, and my heart is faint.” (Lam 1:21-22 ESV)
Did Jesus likewise lament over Jerusalem, because of an impending punishment in 70 AD?
As He approached and saw the city, He wept over it, saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days will come on you when your enemies will build an embankment against you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. They will crush you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in you, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19:41–44 HCSB)
Do we see ourselves in Jerusalem lamenting over her sin and suffering? You decide!
Jerusalem (Jeremiah 52)
Was this possibly written by Baruch as an appendix, validating Jeremiah’s entire ministry? Let’s look at Jeremiah 52.
Was Zedekiah the last king of Judah before the captivity, and was he an evil king?
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. (Jer 52:1-3 LSB)
Surrounded by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, was Jerusalem without food?
Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a bulwark all around it. So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. (Jer 52:4-6 NASB)
Was king Zedekiah of Judah eventually captured by the king of Babylon?
Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death. (Jer 52:7-11 NIV)
What did Nebuzaradan do to the temple in Jerusalem? Why were some left behind?
Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 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. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. (Jer 52:12-16 NKJV)
Did the Babylonians pillage most of the precious articles from the temple?
The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for liquid offerings, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver. (Jer 52:17-19 NLT)
What other articles from the temple did the Babylonians pillage?
They took the two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made for Yahweh’s house. The bronze of all these vessels was without weight. As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits encircled it; and its thickness was four fingers. It was hollow. A capital of bronze was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. The second pillar also had the same, with pomegranates. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around. (Jer 52:20-23 WEB)
Which high officials of Judah did the king of Babylon put to death?
The commander of the guard also took Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the deputy priest, and the three doorkeepers. From the city, he took a eunuch who was appointed over the army and the seven royal advisors who remained in the city. He also took the scribe of the commander of the army in charge of military conscription and sixty military personnel who were found in the city. Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And Judah went away from its land into exile. (Jer 52:24-27 CEB)
How many prisoners were taken by king Nebuchadnezzar to Babylonia?
Here is a list of the number of the people of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylonia as prisoners: In his seventh year as king, he took 3,023 people. In his eighteenth year as king, he took 832 from Jerusalem. In his twenty-third year as king, his officer Nebuzaradan took 745 people. So, Nebuchadnezzar took a total of 4,600 people from Judah to Babylonia. (Jer 52:28-30 CEV)
Though the last king of Judah, Zedekiah died, what happened to the second last king, Jehoiachin, also known as Jeconiah and Coniah?
And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, until the day of his death, as long as he lived. (Jer 52:31-34 ESV)
Did later people learn the lesson of an earlier destruction of Jerusalem? Will we? What did Jesus predict?
When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that its desolation has come near. (Luke 21:20 HCSB)
Was the last chapter of Jeremiah possibly written by Baruch as an appendix, validating Jeremiah’s entire ministry? You decide!
Was Zedekiah the last king of Judah before the captivity, and was he an evil king?
Zedekiah was twenty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. And he did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For through the anger of Yahweh this came about in Jerusalem and Judah until He cast them out from His presence. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. (Jer 52:1-3 LSB)
Surrounded by Nebuchadnezzar’s army, was Jerusalem without food?
Now it came about in the ninth year of his reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem, camped against it, and built a bulwark all around it. So the city was under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. On the ninth day of the fourth month the famine was so severe in the city that there was no food for the people of the land. (Jer 52:4-6 NASB)
Was king Zedekiah of Judah eventually captured by the king of Babylon?
Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king’s garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued King Zedekiah and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured.
He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he pronounced sentence on him. There at Riblah the king of Babylon killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes; he also killed all the officials of Judah. Then he put out Zedekiah’s eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon, where he put him in prison till the day of his death. (Jer 52:7-11 NIV)
What did Nebuzaradan do to the temple in Jerusalem? Why were some left behind?
Now in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month (which was the nineteenth year of King Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, who served the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. 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. And all the army of the Chaldeans who were with the captain of the guard broke down all the walls of Jerusalem all around.
Then Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive some of the poor people, the rest of the people who remained in the city, the defectors who had deserted to the king of Babylon, and the rest of the craftsmen. But Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard left some of the poor of the land as vinedressers and farmers. (Jer 52:12-16 NKJV)
Did the Babylonians pillage most of the precious articles from the temple?
The Babylonians broke up the bronze pillars in front of the Lord’s Temple, the bronze water carts, and the great bronze basin called the Sea, and they carried all the bronze away to Babylon. They also took all the ash buckets, shovels, lamp snuffers, basins, dishes, and all the other bronze articles used for making sacrifices at the Temple. The captain of the guard also took the small bowls, incense burners, basins, pots, lampstands, ladles, bowls used for liquid offerings, and all the other articles made of pure gold or silver. (Jer 52:17-19 NLT)
What other articles from the temple did the Babylonians pillage?
They took the two pillars, the one sea, and the twelve bronze bulls that were under the bases, which King Solomon had made for Yahweh’s house. The bronze of all these vessels was without weight. As for the pillars, the height of the one pillar was eighteen cubits; and a line of twelve cubits encircled it; and its thickness was four fingers. It was hollow. A capital of bronze was on it; and the height of the one capital was five cubits, with network and pomegranates on the capital all around, all of bronze. The second pillar also had the same, with pomegranates. There were ninety-six pomegranates on the sides; all the pomegranates were one hundred on the network all around. (Jer 52:20-23 WEB)
Which high officials of Judah did the king of Babylon put to death?
The commander of the guard also took Seraiah the high priest, Zephaniah the deputy priest, and the three doorkeepers. From the city, he took a eunuch who was appointed over the army and the seven royal advisors who remained in the city. He also took the scribe of the commander of the army in charge of military conscription and sixty military personnel who were found in the city. Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah. The king of Babylon struck them and put them to death at Riblah in the land of Hamath. And Judah went away from its land into exile. (Jer 52:24-27 CEB)
How many prisoners were taken by king Nebuchadnezzar to Babylonia?
Here is a list of the number of the people of Judah that Nebuchadnezzar took to Babylonia as prisoners: In his seventh year as king, he took 3,023 people. In his eighteenth year as king, he took 832 from Jerusalem. In his twenty-third year as king, his officer Nebuzaradan took 745 people. So, Nebuchadnezzar took a total of 4,600 people from Judah to Babylonia. (Jer 52:28-30 CEV)
Though the last king of Judah, Zedekiah died, what happened to the second last king, Jehoiachin, also known as Jeconiah and Coniah?
And in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, graciously freed Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him out of prison. And he spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat above the seats of the kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put off his prison garments. And every day of his life he dined regularly at the king's table, and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, according to his daily needs, until the day of his death, as long as he lived. (Jer 52:31-34 ESV)
Did later people learn the lesson of an earlier destruction of Jerusalem? Will we? What did Jesus predict?
When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that its desolation has come near. (Luke 21:20 HCSB)
Was the last chapter of Jeremiah possibly written by Baruch as an appendix, validating Jeremiah’s entire ministry? You decide!
End of Babylon (Jeremiah 51)
Is Babylon symbolic of this world’s various oppressive systems that will eventually be destroyed? Let’s look at Jeremiah 51.
Though Babylon was an instrument of punishment against Judah, did they go too far, committing atrocities, desecrating the temple, and continuing in their idolatry?
This is what the Lord says: I am about to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the population of Leb-qamai [Chaldea]. I will send strangers to Babylon who will scatter her and strip her land bare, for they will come against her from every side in the day of disaster.
Don’t let the archer string his bow; don’t let him put on his armor. Don’t spare her young men; completely destroy her entire army! Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, those who were pierced through, in her streets. For Israel and Judah are not left widowed by their God, the Lord of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. (Jer 51:1-5 HCSB)
Can circumstances change, so that one time God said not to flee Jerusalem, but now to flee Babylon?
Flee from Babylon, and each of you, escape with your life! Don’t be destroyed because of her guilt, for it’s time for the Lord’s vengeance. He is paying back what is due to her. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, therefore the nations have gone mad.
Suddenly, Babylon fell down and was shattered. Wail for her! Bring balm for her wound, perhaps she will be healed. We tried to heal Babylon, but she wouldn’t be healed. Leave her, and let each of us go to his own country. For her judgment has reached to the heavens, and is lifted up to the sky. The Lord will vindicate us. Come! Let us declare the work of the Lord our God in Zion. (Jer 51:6-10 ISV)
Who will destroy Babylon? Did the Medes and Persians invade Babylon from the north? Is a key statement: though abundant in treasures, Babylon’s end has come?
Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. (Jer 51:11-14 KJV)
How great is the one true God? Are molten images a lie, a work of mockery?
It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens. When He gives forth His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain And brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image, For his molten images are a lie, And there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish. The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And of the tribe of His inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is His name. (Jer 51:15-19 LSB)
Is judgment about to fall upon Babylon, not just for general sins, but also for atrocities committed against Zion?
He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms. With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider, And with you I shatter man and woman, And with you I shatter the old man and youth, And with you I shatter the young man and virgin, And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, And with you I shatter governors and officials.
“But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord. (Jer 51:20-24 NASB)
Why does God call Babylon a destructive mountain, not even useful for stone masonry?
“I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,” declares the Lord. “I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord. (Jer 51:25-26 NIV)
Would God be sending a coalition of nations, the Medo-Persian empire, against Babylon?
Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. Prepare against her the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion.
And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate are broken.
One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides; The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified. (Jer 32:27-32 NKJV)
Is all this detail to offer reassurance of justice and rescue to those who have suffered under a brutal regime?
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor, about to be trampled. In just a little while her harvest will begin.”
“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us and drained us of strength. He has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches. He has thrown us out of our own country. Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,” say the people of Zion. “Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,” says Jerusalem. (Jer 51:33-35 NLT)
While God brought Babylon to punish Judah, did they go too far, with excessive brutality and arrogance? Is this why He punishes Babylon as well?
Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
When they are inflamed, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says Yahweh. “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. (Jer 51:36-40 (WEB)
Does the pride of Babylon picture the arrogance of this world’s idolatrous and oppressive systems?
How Sheshach [Babylon] has been defeated, the pride of the whole earth taken captive! How Babylon has become a wasteland among the nations! The sea has risen over Babylon; its pounding waves overwhelm her. Her towns are devastated; her land is scorched and barren, a place where no one lives or dares to pass through. I will punish Bel [an idol] in Babylon; I will force him to vomit what he’s consumed. Then nations will no longer stream to him, and Babylon’s walls will collapse! (Jer 51:41-44 CEB)
Is leaving Babylon symbolic of separating ourselves from worldly ways?
Get out of Babylon, my people, and run for your lives, before I strike the city in my anger! Don't be afraid or lose hope, though year after year there are rumors of leaders fighting for control in the city of Babylon. The time will come when I will punish Babylon's false gods. Everyone there will die, and the whole nation will be disgraced, when an army attacks from the north and brings destruction. Then the earth and the heavens and everything in them will celebrate. Babylon must be overthrown, because it slaughtered the people of Israel and of many other nations. (Jer 51:45-49 CEV)
Will God punish Babylon and her images for desecrating the temple in Jerusalem?
“You who have escaped from the sword, go, do not stand still! Remember the Lord from far away, and let Jerusalem come into your mind: ‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach; dishonor has covered our face, for foreigners have come into the holy places of the Lord's house.’
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will execute judgment upon her images, and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strong height, yet destroyers would come from me against her, declares the Lord. (Jer 51:50-53 ESV)
How much are our nations like Babylon, mighty, proud, and headed for destruction?
The sound of a cry from Babylon! The sound of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! For the Lord is going to devastate Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. Their waves roar like abundant waters; the tumult of their voice resounds, for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, their bows shattered, for the Lord is a God of retribution; He will certainly repay.
I will make her princes and sages drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up. This is the King’s declaration; Yahweh of Hosts is His name. This is what Yahweh of Hosts says: Babylon’s thick walls will be totally demolished, and her high gates consumed by fire. The peoples will have labored for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves only to feed the fire. (Jer 51:54-58 HCSB)
What act did Jeremiah perform to illustrate Babylon’s fall?
This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet delivered to Neriah’s son Seraiah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. Jeremiah wrote on a single scroll all the disasters that would come on Babylon, all these things that were written about Babylon.
Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, and say, ‘Lord, you have declared about this place that you would destroy it so that there wouldn’t be an inhabitant in it, neither human nor animal, because it will be a wasteland forever.’
When you finish reading this scroll, tie a rock around it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. Then say, ‘Babylon will sink like this and won’t rise from the disaster that I’m bringing on her. Her people will be exhausted.’” This concludes the writings of Jeremiah. (Jer 51:59-64 ISV)
Is this also symbolic of the fall of the final Babylon at Christ’s return?
And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Rev 14:8 KJV)
Is Babylon symbolic of this world’s various oppressive systems that will eventually be destroyed? You decide!
Though Babylon was an instrument of punishment against Judah, did they go too far, committing atrocities, desecrating the temple, and continuing in their idolatry?
This is what the Lord says: I am about to stir up a destructive wind against Babylon and against the population of Leb-qamai [Chaldea]. I will send strangers to Babylon who will scatter her and strip her land bare, for they will come against her from every side in the day of disaster.
Don’t let the archer string his bow; don’t let him put on his armor. Don’t spare her young men; completely destroy her entire army! Those who were slain will fall in the land of the Chaldeans, those who were pierced through, in her streets. For Israel and Judah are not left widowed by their God, the Lord of Hosts, though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel. (Jer 51:1-5 HCSB)
Can circumstances change, so that one time God said not to flee Jerusalem, but now to flee Babylon?
Flee from Babylon, and each of you, escape with your life! Don’t be destroyed because of her guilt, for it’s time for the Lord’s vengeance. He is paying back what is due to her. Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, making the whole earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, therefore the nations have gone mad.
Suddenly, Babylon fell down and was shattered. Wail for her! Bring balm for her wound, perhaps she will be healed. We tried to heal Babylon, but she wouldn’t be healed. Leave her, and let each of us go to his own country. For her judgment has reached to the heavens, and is lifted up to the sky. The Lord will vindicate us. Come! Let us declare the work of the Lord our God in Zion. (Jer 51:6-10 ISV)
Who will destroy Babylon? Did the Medes and Persians invade Babylon from the north? Is a key statement: though abundant in treasures, Babylon’s end has come?
Make bright the arrows; gather the shields: the Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes: for his device is against Babylon, to destroy it; because it is the vengeance of the Lord, the vengeance of his temple. Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon.
O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying, Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillers; and they shall lift up a shout against thee. (Jer 51:11-14 KJV)
How great is the one true God? Are molten images a lie, a work of mockery?
It is He who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, And by His understanding He stretched out the heavens. When He gives forth His voice, there is a tumult of waters in the heavens, And He causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain And brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
All mankind is senseless, devoid of knowledge; Every goldsmith is put to shame by his graven image, For his molten images are a lie, And there is no breath in them. They are vanity, a work of mockery; In the time of their punishment they will perish. The portion of Jacob is not like these; For the Maker of all is He, And of the tribe of His inheritance; Yahweh of hosts is His name. (Jer 51:15-19 LSB)
Is judgment about to fall upon Babylon, not just for general sins, but also for atrocities committed against Zion?
He says, “You are My war-club, My weapon of war; And with you I shatter nations, And with you I destroy kingdoms. With you I shatter the horse and his rider, And with you I shatter the chariot and its rider, And with you I shatter man and woman, And with you I shatter the old man and youth, And with you I shatter the young man and virgin, And with you I shatter the shepherd and his flock, And with you I shatter the farmer and his team, And with you I shatter governors and officials.
“But I will repay Babylon and all the inhabitants of Chaldea for all their evil that they have done in Zion before your eyes,” declares the Lord. (Jer 51:20-24 NASB)
Why does God call Babylon a destructive mountain, not even useful for stone masonry?
“I am against you, you destroying mountain, you who destroy the whole earth,” declares the Lord. “I will stretch out my hand against you, roll you off the cliffs, and make you a burned-out mountain. No rock will be taken from you for a cornerstone, nor any stone for a foundation, for you will be desolate forever,” declares the Lord. (Jer 51:25-26 NIV)
Would God be sending a coalition of nations, the Medo-Persian empire, against Babylon?
Set up a banner in the land, Blow the trumpet among the nations! Prepare the nations against her, Call the kingdoms together against her: Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz. Appoint a general against her; Cause the horses to come up like the bristling locusts. Prepare against her the nations, With the kings of the Medes, Its governors and all its rulers, All the land of his dominion.
And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant. The mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They have remained in their strongholds; Their might has failed, They became like women; They have burned her dwelling places, The bars of her gate are broken.
One runner will run to meet another, And one messenger to meet another, To show the king of Babylon that his city is taken on all sides; The passages are blocked, The reeds they have burned with fire, And the men of war are terrified. (Jer 32:27-32 NKJV)
Is all this detail to offer reassurance of justice and rescue to those who have suffered under a brutal regime?
This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: “Babylon is like wheat on a threshing floor, about to be trampled. In just a little while her harvest will begin.”
“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has eaten and crushed us and drained us of strength. He has swallowed us like a great monster and filled his belly with our riches. He has thrown us out of our own country. Make Babylon suffer as she made us suffer,” say the people of Zion. “Make the people of Babylonia pay for spilling our blood,” says Jerusalem. (Jer 51:33-35 NLT)
While God brought Babylon to punish Judah, did they go too far, with excessive brutality and arrogance? Is this why He punishes Babylon as well?
Therefore Yahweh says: “Behold, I will plead your cause, and take vengeance for you. I will dry up her sea, and make her fountain dry. Babylon will become heaps, a dwelling place for jackals, an astonishment, and a hissing, without inhabitant. They will roar together like young lions. They will growl as lions’ cubs.
When they are inflamed, I will make their feast, and I will make them drunk, that they may rejoice, and sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake up,” says Yahweh. “I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, like rams with male goats. (Jer 51:36-40 (WEB)
Does the pride of Babylon picture the arrogance of this world’s idolatrous and oppressive systems?
How Sheshach [Babylon] has been defeated, the pride of the whole earth taken captive! How Babylon has become a wasteland among the nations! The sea has risen over Babylon; its pounding waves overwhelm her. Her towns are devastated; her land is scorched and barren, a place where no one lives or dares to pass through. I will punish Bel [an idol] in Babylon; I will force him to vomit what he’s consumed. Then nations will no longer stream to him, and Babylon’s walls will collapse! (Jer 51:41-44 CEB)
Is leaving Babylon symbolic of separating ourselves from worldly ways?
Get out of Babylon, my people, and run for your lives, before I strike the city in my anger! Don't be afraid or lose hope, though year after year there are rumors of leaders fighting for control in the city of Babylon. The time will come when I will punish Babylon's false gods. Everyone there will die, and the whole nation will be disgraced, when an army attacks from the north and brings destruction. Then the earth and the heavens and everything in them will celebrate. Babylon must be overthrown, because it slaughtered the people of Israel and of many other nations. (Jer 51:45-49 CEV)
Will God punish Babylon and her images for desecrating the temple in Jerusalem?
“You who have escaped from the sword, go, do not stand still! Remember the Lord from far away, and let Jerusalem come into your mind: ‘We are put to shame, for we have heard reproach; dishonor has covered our face, for foreigners have come into the holy places of the Lord's house.’
“Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will execute judgment upon her images, and through all her land the wounded shall groan. Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify her strong height, yet destroyers would come from me against her, declares the Lord. (Jer 51:50-53 ESV)
How much are our nations like Babylon, mighty, proud, and headed for destruction?
The sound of a cry from Babylon! The sound of great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans! For the Lord is going to devastate Babylon; He will silence her mighty voice. Their waves roar like abundant waters; the tumult of their voice resounds, for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon. Her warriors will be captured, their bows shattered, for the Lord is a God of retribution; He will certainly repay.
I will make her princes and sages drunk, along with her governors, officials, and warriors. Then they will fall asleep forever and never wake up. This is the King’s declaration; Yahweh of Hosts is His name. This is what Yahweh of Hosts says: Babylon’s thick walls will be totally demolished, and her high gates consumed by fire. The peoples will have labored for nothing; the nations will exhaust themselves only to feed the fire. (Jer 51:54-58 HCSB)
What act did Jeremiah perform to illustrate Babylon’s fall?
This is the message that Jeremiah the prophet delivered to Neriah’s son Seraiah, the grandson of Mahseiah, when he went with King Zedekiah of Judah to Babylon in the fourth year of his reign. Seraiah was the quartermaster. Jeremiah wrote on a single scroll all the disasters that would come on Babylon, all these things that were written about Babylon.
Jeremiah told Seraiah, “When you come to Babylon, see that you read all these words, and say, ‘Lord, you have declared about this place that you would destroy it so that there wouldn’t be an inhabitant in it, neither human nor animal, because it will be a wasteland forever.’
When you finish reading this scroll, tie a rock around it and throw it into the middle of the Euphrates. Then say, ‘Babylon will sink like this and won’t rise from the disaster that I’m bringing on her. Her people will be exhausted.’” This concludes the writings of Jeremiah. (Jer 51:59-64 ISV)
Is this also symbolic of the fall of the final Babylon at Christ’s return?
And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. (Rev 14:8 KJV)
Is Babylon symbolic of this world’s various oppressive systems that will eventually be destroyed? You decide!
Against Babylon (Jeremiah 50)
No matter how powerful and arrogant an empire becomes, can God make it fade to nothing? Let’s look at Jeremiah 50.
What did God say about a nation from the north, the Medes attacking Babylon?
This is what the Lord said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah: Tell the nations; proclaim it far and wide! Set up a flag; proclaim it far and wide! Hold nothing back; just shout it: “Babylon is captured; Bel is shamed; Marduk is panic-stricken. Her images are shamed; her idols are panic-stricken.” A nation from the north has risen up against her. It will decimate her land, and no one will live in it. Every living thing will flee. (Jer 50:1-3 CEB)
Will Israel and Judah eventually embrace the new covenant? Were they like lost sheep?
The Lord said: People of Israel and Judah, when these things happen you will weep, and together you will return to your land and worship me, the Lord your God. You will ask the way to Zion and then come and join with me in making an agreement [covenant] you won't break or forget.
My people, you are lost sheep abandoned in the mountains by their shepherds. You don't even remember your resting place. I am your true pastureland, the one who gave hope to your ancestors. But you abandoned me, so when your enemies found you, they felt no guilt as they gobbled you up. (Jer 50:4-7 CEV)
Would Babylon be conquered? Will the end times Babylon also be conquered?
“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord. (Jer 50:8-10 ESV)
As God used Babylon to punish Judah, will He also punish Babylon and make it desolate?
Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plundered My inheritance—because you frolic like a young cow treading grain and neigh like stallions, your mother will be utterly humiliated; she who bore you will be put to shame. Look! She will lag behind all the nations—a dry land, a wilderness, an Arabah. Because of the Lord’s wrath, she will not be inhabited; she will become a desolation, every bit of her. Everyone who passes through Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds. Line up in battle formation around Babylon, all you archers! Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow, for she has sinned against the Lord. (Jer 50:11-13 HCSB)
In being used by God to punish Judah, had Babylon not learned who God is?
Deploy the troops all around Babylon. All who bend the bow, shoot at her and spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Raise a battle cry against her on every side. She has surrendered, her pillars have fallen, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her. Eliminate from Babylon the one who plants seeds and the one who uses the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor’s sword, let each one turn toward his own people and flee to his own land.” (Jer 50:14-16 ISV)
Had the tribes of Israel been conquered first by Assyria and then by Babylon?
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. (Jer 50:17 KJV)
Will God pardon the remnant of Israel and Judah, because no sin will be found? How is that possible except in Jesus?
Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. And I will return Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and at that time,’ declares Yahweh, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’ (Jer 50:18-20 LSB)
Was Babylon also to be completely destroyed because they fought against the Lord?
“Against the land of Merathaim [double bitterness], go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod [punishment]. Kill and completely destroy them,” declares the Lord, “And do according to everything that I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land, And great destruction.
How the hammer of the whole earth Has been cut off and broken! How Babylon has become An object of horror among the nations! I set a trap for you and you were also caught, Babylon, While you yourself were not aware; You have been found and also seized Because you have engaged in conflict with the Lord.”
The Lord has opened His armory And has brought out the weapons of His indignation, For it is a work of the Lord God of armies In the land of the Chaldeans. Come to her from the farthest border; Open up her barns, Pile her up like heaps of grain And completely destroy her, Let nothing be left to her.
Put all her bulls to the sword; Let them go down to the slaughter! Woe be upon them, for their day has come, The time of their punishment. There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, Vengeance for His temple. (Jer 50:21-28 NASB)
Had Babylon defied the Lord? Had she been an arrogant city? Have our nations been arrogant?
“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord.
“See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, “for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.” (Jer 50:29-32 NIV)
Would God plead the case for Israel and Judah against their oppressors?
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The children of Israel were oppressed, Along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; The Lord of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, That He may give rest to the land, And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. (Jer 50:33-34 NKJV)
Is the lack of repentance from idolatry one reason that God is about to punish Babylon?
“The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians,” says the Lord. “It will strike the people of Babylon—her officials and wise men, too. The sword will strike her wise counselors, and they will become fools. The sword will strike her mightiest warriors, and panic will seize them.
The sword will strike her horses and chariots and her allies from other lands, and they will all become like women. The sword will strike her treasures, and they all will be plundered. A drought will strike her water supply, causing it to dry up. And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols, and the people are madly in love with them. (Jer 50:35-38 NLT)
Is Babylon still a ruin to this very day, inhabited by wild animals?
Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein. It will be inhabited no more forever, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. (Jer 50:39-40 WEB)
Would Babylon be conquered from the north, by the Medes?
Look! An army is on the move from the northern regions. A powerful nation and many kings are coming from the ends of the earth. Equipped with bow and spear, they are cruel and show no mercy. Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea, arrayed in battle formation against you, Daughter Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard reports of them and is panic-stricken; distress overwhelms him, pain like that of a woman in labor. (Jer 50:41-43 CEB)
Who does God say is ultimately responsible for Babylon’s destruction?
Babylonia, I will attack you like a lion from the forest, attacking sheep in a meadow along the Jordan. In a moment the flock runs, and the land is empty. Who will I choose to attack you? I will do it myself! No one can force me to fight or chase me away.
Listen to my plans for you, people of Babylonia. Your children will be dragged off, and your country destroyed. The sounds of your destruction will be heard among the nations, and the earth will shake. (Jer 50:44-46 CEV)
Is there an end time Babylon that will experience a similar fate?
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; (Rev 18:21 ESV)
No matter how powerful and arrogant an empire becomes, can God make it fade to nothing? You decide!
What did God say about a nation from the north, the Medes attacking Babylon?
This is what the Lord said concerning Babylon and the land of the Babylonians through the prophet Jeremiah: Tell the nations; proclaim it far and wide! Set up a flag; proclaim it far and wide! Hold nothing back; just shout it: “Babylon is captured; Bel is shamed; Marduk is panic-stricken. Her images are shamed; her idols are panic-stricken.” A nation from the north has risen up against her. It will decimate her land, and no one will live in it. Every living thing will flee. (Jer 50:1-3 CEB)
Will Israel and Judah eventually embrace the new covenant? Were they like lost sheep?
The Lord said: People of Israel and Judah, when these things happen you will weep, and together you will return to your land and worship me, the Lord your God. You will ask the way to Zion and then come and join with me in making an agreement [covenant] you won't break or forget.
My people, you are lost sheep abandoned in the mountains by their shepherds. You don't even remember your resting place. I am your true pastureland, the one who gave hope to your ancestors. But you abandoned me, so when your enemies found you, they felt no guilt as they gobbled you up. (Jer 50:4-7 CEV)
Would Babylon be conquered? Will the end times Babylon also be conquered?
“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and go out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as male goats before the flock. For behold, I am stirring up and bringing against Babylon a gathering of great nations, from the north country. And they shall array themselves against her. From there she shall be taken. Their arrows are like a skilled warrior who does not return empty-handed. Chaldea shall be plundered; all who plunder her shall be sated, declares the Lord. (Jer 50:8-10 ESV)
As God used Babylon to punish Judah, will He also punish Babylon and make it desolate?
Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plundered My inheritance—because you frolic like a young cow treading grain and neigh like stallions, your mother will be utterly humiliated; she who bore you will be put to shame. Look! She will lag behind all the nations—a dry land, a wilderness, an Arabah. Because of the Lord’s wrath, she will not be inhabited; she will become a desolation, every bit of her. Everyone who passes through Babylon will be horrified and scoff because of all her wounds. Line up in battle formation around Babylon, all you archers! Shoot at her! Do not spare an arrow, for she has sinned against the Lord. (Jer 50:11-13 HCSB)
In being used by God to punish Judah, had Babylon not learned who God is?
Deploy the troops all around Babylon. All who bend the bow, shoot at her and spare no arrows, for she has sinned against the Lord. Raise a battle cry against her on every side. She has surrendered, her pillars have fallen, her walls are thrown down. For this is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance on her; as she has done, do to her. Eliminate from Babylon the one who plants seeds and the one who uses the sickle at harvest time. Because of the oppressor’s sword, let each one turn toward his own people and flee to his own land.” (Jer 50:14-16 ISV)
Had the tribes of Israel been conquered first by Assyria and then by Babylon?
Israel is a scattered sheep; the lions have driven him away: first the king of Assyria hath devoured him; and last this Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon hath broken his bones. (Jer 50:17 KJV)
Will God pardon the remnant of Israel and Judah, because no sin will be found? How is that possible except in Jesus?
Therefore thus says Yahweh of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I am going to punish the king of Babylon and his land, just as I punished the king of Assyria. And I will return Israel back to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan, and his desire will be satisfied in the hill country of Ephraim and Gilead. In those days and at that time,’ declares Yahweh, ‘search will be made for the iniquity of Israel, but there will be none; and for the sins of Judah, but they will not be found; for I will pardon those whom I leave as a remnant.’ (Jer 50:18-20 LSB)
Was Babylon also to be completely destroyed because they fought against the Lord?
“Against the land of Merathaim [double bitterness], go up against it, And against the inhabitants of Pekod [punishment]. Kill and completely destroy them,” declares the Lord, “And do according to everything that I have commanded you. The noise of battle is in the land, And great destruction.
How the hammer of the whole earth Has been cut off and broken! How Babylon has become An object of horror among the nations! I set a trap for you and you were also caught, Babylon, While you yourself were not aware; You have been found and also seized Because you have engaged in conflict with the Lord.”
The Lord has opened His armory And has brought out the weapons of His indignation, For it is a work of the Lord God of armies In the land of the Chaldeans. Come to her from the farthest border; Open up her barns, Pile her up like heaps of grain And completely destroy her, Let nothing be left to her.
Put all her bulls to the sword; Let them go down to the slaughter! Woe be upon them, for their day has come, The time of their punishment. There is a sound of fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, To declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, Vengeance for His temple. (Jer 50:21-28 NASB)
Had Babylon defied the Lord? Had she been an arrogant city? Have our nations been arrogant?
“Summon archers against Babylon, all those who draw the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her for her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets; all her soldiers will be silenced in that day,” declares the Lord.
“See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, “for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up; I will kindle a fire in her towns that will consume all who are around her.” (Jer 50:29-32 NIV)
Would God plead the case for Israel and Judah against their oppressors?
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “The children of Israel were oppressed, Along with the children of Judah; All who took them captive have held them fast; They have refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong; The Lord of hosts is His name. He will thoroughly plead their case, That He may give rest to the land, And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. (Jer 50:33-34 NKJV)
Is the lack of repentance from idolatry one reason that God is about to punish Babylon?
“The sword of destruction will strike the Babylonians,” says the Lord. “It will strike the people of Babylon—her officials and wise men, too. The sword will strike her wise counselors, and they will become fools. The sword will strike her mightiest warriors, and panic will seize them.
The sword will strike her horses and chariots and her allies from other lands, and they will all become like women. The sword will strike her treasures, and they all will be plundered. A drought will strike her water supply, causing it to dry up. And why? Because the whole land is filled with idols, and the people are madly in love with them. (Jer 50:35-38 NLT)
Is Babylon still a ruin to this very day, inhabited by wild animals?
Therefore the wild animals of the desert with the wolves will dwell there. The ostriches will dwell therein. It will be inhabited no more forever, neither will it be lived in from generation to generation. As when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah and its neighbor cities,” says Yahweh, “so no man will dwell there, neither will any son of man live therein. (Jer 50:39-40 WEB)
Would Babylon be conquered from the north, by the Medes?
Look! An army is on the move from the northern regions. A powerful nation and many kings are coming from the ends of the earth. Equipped with bow and spear, they are cruel and show no mercy. Their horsemen sound like the roaring sea, arrayed in battle formation against you, Daughter Babylon. The king of Babylon has heard reports of them and is panic-stricken; distress overwhelms him, pain like that of a woman in labor. (Jer 50:41-43 CEB)
Who does God say is ultimately responsible for Babylon’s destruction?
Babylonia, I will attack you like a lion from the forest, attacking sheep in a meadow along the Jordan. In a moment the flock runs, and the land is empty. Who will I choose to attack you? I will do it myself! No one can force me to fight or chase me away.
Listen to my plans for you, people of Babylonia. Your children will be dragged off, and your country destroyed. The sounds of your destruction will be heard among the nations, and the earth will shake. (Jer 50:44-46 CEV)
Is there an end time Babylon that will experience a similar fate?
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; (Rev 18:21 ESV)
No matter how powerful and arrogant an empire becomes, can God make it fade to nothing? You decide!
Against Nations (Jeremiah 49)
What judgments did Jeremiah predict for surrounding nations, and what would God say about our modern nations? Let’s look at Jeremiah 49.
Against Ammon
Had Ammon seized territory from Gad, east of the Jordan River, while Israel was in exile?
Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam [an idol, a king, Molech] possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities? (Jer 49:1 WEB)
What is the modern name of the city of Rabbah, the capital of Ammon?
Therefore, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will sound the battle alarm against Rabbah [Amman], the capital city of the Ammonites. The city will be demolished, and its neighboring villages will be burned to the ground. Then Israel will repossess the land seized by its captors, says the Lord. Weep, you people of Heshbon; Ai has been destroyed. Wail, you daughters of Rabbah; put on funeral clothing, cry your eyes out, run for shelter. Milcom will surely go into exile, together with his priests and ministers. (Jer 49:2-3 CEB)
Is the arrogance that comes with wealth a deceptive delusion of safety?
You rebellious Ammonites trust your wealth and ask, “Who could attack us?” But I warn you not to boast when your strength is fading. I, the Lord All-Powerful, will send neighboring nations to strike you with terror. You will be scattered, with no one to care for your refugees. Yet someday, I will bring your people back home. I, the Lord, have spoken. (Jer 49:4-6 CEV)
Against Ammon
Had Ammon seized territory from Gad, east of the Jordan River, while Israel was in exile?
Of the children of Ammon. Yahweh says: “Has Israel no sons? Has he no heir? Why then does Malcam [an idol, a king, Molech] possess Gad, and his people dwell in its cities? (Jer 49:1 WEB)
What is the modern name of the city of Rabbah, the capital of Ammon?
Therefore, the time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will sound the battle alarm against Rabbah [Amman], the capital city of the Ammonites. The city will be demolished, and its neighboring villages will be burned to the ground. Then Israel will repossess the land seized by its captors, says the Lord. Weep, you people of Heshbon; Ai has been destroyed. Wail, you daughters of Rabbah; put on funeral clothing, cry your eyes out, run for shelter. Milcom will surely go into exile, together with his priests and ministers. (Jer 49:2-3 CEB)
Is the arrogance that comes with wealth a deceptive delusion of safety?
You rebellious Ammonites trust your wealth and ask, “Who could attack us?” But I warn you not to boast when your strength is fading. I, the Lord All-Powerful, will send neighboring nations to strike you with terror. You will be scattered, with no one to care for your refugees. Yet someday, I will bring your people back home. I, the Lord, have spoken. (Jer 49:4-6 CEV)
Against Edom
What does God have to say about Edom, south of the Dead Sea?
Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him. If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
But I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more. Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.” (Jer 48:7-11 ESV)
Would the capital city of Edom be punished and desolate?
“For this is what the Lord says: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not remain unpunished, for you must drink it too. For by Myself I have sworn”— this is the Lord’s declaration —“Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.” (Jer 49:12-13 HCSB)
Was Edom, a nation of terror, to become the least of nations?
I’ve heard a message from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Gather together and come up against her, and rise up to fight. Indeed, I’ll make you the least of the nations, despised among men. The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you. You who live in hidden places in the rocks, who hold on to the heights of the hill, although you make your nest high like the eagle, I’ll bring you down from there,” declares the Lord. (Jer 49:14-16 ISV)
Were Sodom and Gomorrah, once in this region, a warning?
Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? (Jer 49:17-19 KJV)
Did Teman, the grandson of Esau, give his name to a region in Edom?
Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh which He has counseled against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea. Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor. (Jer 49:20-22 LSB)
What does God have to say about Edom, south of the Dead Sea?
Concerning Edom. Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Is wisdom no more in Teman? Has counsel perished from the prudent? Has their wisdom vanished? Flee, turn back, dwell in the depths, O inhabitants of Dedan! For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him, the time when I punish him. If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave gleanings? If thieves came by night, would they not destroy only enough for themselves?
But I have stripped Esau bare; I have uncovered his hiding places, and he is not able to conceal himself. His children are destroyed, and his brothers, and his neighbors; and he is no more. Leave your fatherless children; I will keep them alive; and let your widows trust in me.” (Jer 48:7-11 ESV)
Would the capital city of Edom be punished and desolate?
“For this is what the Lord says: If those who do not deserve to drink the cup must drink it, can you possibly remain unpunished? You will not remain unpunished, for you must drink it too. For by Myself I have sworn”— this is the Lord’s declaration —“Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will become ruins forever.” (Jer 49:12-13 HCSB)
Was Edom, a nation of terror, to become the least of nations?
I’ve heard a message from the Lord, and a messenger has been sent among the nations: “Gather together and come up against her, and rise up to fight. Indeed, I’ll make you the least of the nations, despised among men. The terror you cause and the pride of your heart have deceived you. You who live in hidden places in the rocks, who hold on to the heights of the hill, although you make your nest high like the eagle, I’ll bring you down from there,” declares the Lord. (Jer 49:14-16 ISV)
Were Sodom and Gomorrah, once in this region, a warning?
Also Edom shall be a desolation: every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss at all the plagues thereof. As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, no man shall abide there, neither shall a son of man dwell in it. Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan against the habitation of the strong: but I will suddenly make him run away from her: and who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? for who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? and who is that shepherd that will stand before me? (Jer 49:17-19 KJV)
Did Teman, the grandson of Esau, give his name to a region in Edom?
Therefore hear the counsel of Yahweh which He has counseled against Edom, and His purposes which He has purposed against the inhabitants of Teman: surely they will drag them off, even the little ones of the flock; surely He will make their pasture desolate because of them. The earth has quaked at the noise of their downfall. There is an outcry! The noise of it has been heard at the Red Sea. Behold, He will mount up and swoop like an eagle and spread out His wings against Bozrah; and the hearts of the mighty men of Edom in that day will be like the heart of a woman in labor. (Jer 49:20-22 LSB)
Against Damascus
Is much of this prophecy against Syrian cities yet to be fulfilled?
Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, For they have heard bad news; They despair. There is anxiety at the sea, It cannot be calmed. Damascus has become helpless; She has turned away to flee, And panic has gripped her; Distress and labor pains have seized her Like a woman in childbirth. How the city of praise has not been deserted, The town of My joy! Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets, And all the men of war will perish on that day,” declares the Lord of armies. “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, And it will devour the fortified palace of Ben-hadad.” (Jer 49:23-27 NASB)
Is much of this prophecy against Syrian cities yet to be fulfilled?
Concerning Damascus: “Hamath and Arpad are put to shame, For they have heard bad news; They despair. There is anxiety at the sea, It cannot be calmed. Damascus has become helpless; She has turned away to flee, And panic has gripped her; Distress and labor pains have seized her Like a woman in childbirth. How the city of praise has not been deserted, The town of My joy! Therefore, her young men will fall in her streets, And all the men of war will perish on that day,” declares the Lord of armies. “I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, And it will devour the fortified palace of Ben-hadad.” (Jer 49:23-27 NASB)
Against Kedar and Hazor
Are Kedar and Hazor, allied nomadic and semi-nomadic clans of Arabia, descended from Ishmael, also warned of a Babylonian invasion?
Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the Lord says: “Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East. Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. People will shout to them, ‘Terror on every side!’ “Flee quickly away! Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,” declares the Lord. “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you; he has devised a plan against you. (Jer 49:28-30 NIV)
Would that Babylonian invasion be for them total devastation?
“Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the Lord, “Which has neither gates nor bars, Dwelling alone. Their camels shall be for booty, And the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners, And I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says the Lord. “Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals, a desolation forever; No one shall reside there, Nor son of man dwell in it.” (Jer 49:31-33 NKJV)
Are Kedar and Hazor, allied nomadic and semi-nomadic clans of Arabia, descended from Ishmael, also warned of a Babylonian invasion?
Concerning Kedar and the kingdoms of Hazor, which Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked: This is what the Lord says: “Arise, and attack Kedar and destroy the people of the East. Their tents and their flocks will be taken; their shelters will be carried off with all their goods and camels. People will shout to them, ‘Terror on every side!’ “Flee quickly away! Stay in deep caves, you who live in Hazor,” declares the Lord. “Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon has plotted against you; he has devised a plan against you. (Jer 49:28-30 NIV)
Would that Babylonian invasion be for them total devastation?
“Arise, go up to the wealthy nation that dwells securely,” says the Lord, “Which has neither gates nor bars, Dwelling alone. Their camels shall be for booty, And the multitude of their cattle for plunder. I will scatter to all winds those in the farthest corners, And I will bring their calamity from all its sides,” says the Lord. “Hazor shall be a dwelling for jackals, a desolation forever; No one shall reside there, Nor son of man dwell in it.” (Jer 49:31-33 NKJV)
Against Elam
What did God say to Elam, between Iraq and Iran on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf? Though He disciplined them severely, did God promise later restoration?
This message concerning Elam came to the prophet Jeremiah from the Lord at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “I will destroy the archers of Elam—the best of their forces. I will bring enemies from all directions, and I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. They will be exiled to countries around the world.
I myself will go with Elam’s enemies to shatter it. In my fierce anger, I will bring great disaster upon the people of Elam,” says the Lord. “Their enemies will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely. I will set my throne in Elam,” says the Lord, “and I will destroy its king and officials. But I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Jer 49:34-39 NLT)
Were representatives of these nations present at Pentecost?
How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes (Acts 2:8-10 WEB)
What judgments did Jeremiah predict for surrounding nations, and what would God say about our modern nations? You decide!
What did God say to Elam, between Iraq and Iran on the northern shore of the Persian Gulf? Though He disciplined them severely, did God promise later restoration?
This message concerning Elam came to the prophet Jeremiah from the Lord at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: “I will destroy the archers of Elam—the best of their forces. I will bring enemies from all directions, and I will scatter the people of Elam to the four winds. They will be exiled to countries around the world.
I myself will go with Elam’s enemies to shatter it. In my fierce anger, I will bring great disaster upon the people of Elam,” says the Lord. “Their enemies will chase them with the sword until I have destroyed them completely. I will set my throne in Elam,” says the Lord, “and I will destroy its king and officials. But I will restore the fortunes of Elam in days to come. I, the Lord, have spoken!” (Jer 49:34-39 NLT)
Were representatives of these nations present at Pentecost?
How do we hear, everyone in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the parts of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes (Acts 2:8-10 WEB)
What judgments did Jeremiah predict for surrounding nations, and what would God say about our modern nations? You decide!
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