WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.840 Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the daily bible reading experience. 00:00:02.920 --> 00:00:04.150 day 200 and 70 00:00:04.710 --> 00:00:06.270 immersed in Ezekiel. 00:00:08.370 --> 00:00:14.280 The prophecies of Ezekiel, like those of Jeremiah, revolve around the Babylonian 00:00:14.280 --> 00:00:18.720 threat to Judah, which culminated in the destruction of Jerusalem. 00:00:19.650 --> 00:00:23.790 But unlike Jeremiah, Ezekiel was not in Jerusalem. 00:00:24.450 --> 00:00:31.350 Instead as he tells us, he was in the land of Babylonia, living in a colony of Judean 00:00:31.350 --> 00:00:35.130 exiles in Tel eBib beside the Kibar River. 00:00:36.330 --> 00:00:43.170 In 597 BC the Babylonians forced Judah to become a vassal state. 00:00:43.830 --> 00:00:47.460 They took King je Hoya kin, and many of the nation's 00:00:47.460 --> 00:00:49.950 elites into exile as hostages. 00:00:50.910 --> 00:00:57.900 Ezekiel was from a priestly family, so he was among these earlier exiles because 00:00:57.900 --> 00:01:02.130 he saw the world through the eyes of a priest associated with the temple. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:07.470 He was concerned with issues of purity and holiness, and especially 00:01:07.475 --> 00:01:09.510 with God's presence or absence. 00:01:10.830 --> 00:01:14.430 The people of Judah wrongly assumed that the exiles wouldn't 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:16.620 stay in Babylon for very long. 00:01:17.385 --> 00:01:21.705 So God sent messages to the residents of Judah and Jerusalem 00:01:21.705 --> 00:01:26.475 through Jeremiah and to the exiles in Babylonia through Ezekiel. 00:01:27.435 --> 00:01:32.805 The messages of both prophets make it clear that this time of judgment is the 00:01:32.810 --> 00:01:35.175 one God had long promised was coming. 00:01:36.135 --> 00:01:41.085 Ezekiel confirms that God was going to continue to judge Judah for its 00:01:41.085 --> 00:01:43.815 idolatry and oppression of the powerless. 00:01:44.670 --> 00:01:48.450 These practices were corrupting the kingdom from top to bottom. 00:01:48.990 --> 00:01:53.490 Everyone from the political and religious leaders to the common people 00:01:53.520 --> 00:01:55.620 were ignoring God's instructions. 00:01:56.340 --> 00:02:01.680 Ezekiel is particularly emphatic about the failure of Israel's leaders to guide 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:03.960 the people in keeping God's covenant. 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:09.450 As a result, Israel is unclean and God is going to remove 00:02:09.450 --> 00:02:10.980 his presence from the land. 00:02:12.405 --> 00:02:16.095 Used some extraordinary means to demonstrate that he was speaking 00:02:16.095 --> 00:02:21.345 through Ezekiel, for example, just before the destruction of Jerusalem, 00:02:21.555 --> 00:02:26.295 he took away Ezekiel's ability to speak except on occasions when 00:02:26.295 --> 00:02:28.125 he received a message from God. 00:02:28.995 --> 00:02:34.835 But then just before news of the city's destruction reached the exiles, Ezekiel 00:02:34.895 --> 00:02:37.035 was able to speak freely once again. 00:02:38.175 --> 00:02:42.720 Ezekiel sometimes engaged in symbolic actions to illustrate 00:02:42.720 --> 00:02:44.100 what his prophecies meant. 00:02:44.970 --> 00:02:50.250 For example, God told him to dig a hole through a wall and go through it 00:02:50.255 --> 00:02:55.590 with a pack showing how King Zedekiah would soon try to flee from Jerusalem. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:00.990 God also gave Ezekiel remarkable powers of literary expression. 00:03:01.650 --> 00:03:06.690 His prophecies contain parables, stories with a symbolic meaning. 00:03:07.410 --> 00:03:13.950 Memorable poetic images such as a vine, an eagle, a lion, and two sisters. 00:03:14.730 --> 00:03:20.190 Despite all this, the judeans in exile wouldn't listen to Ezekiel any more than 00:03:20.190 --> 00:03:25.440 those in Jerusalem listened to Jeremiah, but the time had come for all the 00:03:25.440 --> 00:03:28.230 prophecies against Judah to be fulfilled. 00:03:29.040 --> 00:03:33.480 One of Ezekiel's most desolate visions was of the Lord's glory 00:03:33.480 --> 00:03:35.520 and presence leaving the temple. 00:03:36.525 --> 00:03:40.515 This provides further confirmation of what Jeremiah was saying. 00:03:41.265 --> 00:03:45.645 No longer could anyone promise safety in Jerusalem because 00:03:45.645 --> 00:03:47.265 the Lord's temple was there. 00:03:48.135 --> 00:03:52.905 God had left, and there was no more protection against the invasion. 00:03:53.195 --> 00:03:59.265 This judgment was disorienting for God's people, but it was a necessary 00:03:59.265 --> 00:04:01.695 first step toward the bigger goal. 00:04:02.355 --> 00:04:09.375 The reorientation of the people to a new future with God Overall, the Book 00:04:09.375 --> 00:04:14.145 of Ezekiel follows the same threefold pattern as the earlier and much 00:04:14.145 --> 00:04:21.195 shorter book of Zephaniah, Oracles of Judgment against Israel, Oracles 00:04:21.255 --> 00:04:26.325 of judgment against other nations and promises of Israel's restoration. 00:04:27.945 --> 00:04:32.415 Again, like Jeremiah, Ezekiel was granted visions of the 00:04:32.415 --> 00:04:34.275 restoration of God's people. 00:04:34.965 --> 00:04:39.195 His visions of Israel's coming renewal are some of the most 00:04:39.195 --> 00:04:40.845 memorable in the prophets. 00:04:42.045 --> 00:04:48.645 Since Israel's shepherds leaders have destroyed their own people, God himself 00:04:48.645 --> 00:04:54.255 will come and be their good shepherd, leading, protecting, and feeding them. 00:04:55.155 --> 00:05:00.195 The Lord also makes the amazing promise that he will transform his people From 00:05:00.195 --> 00:05:08.235 the inside out, I will give you a new heart and I will put a new spirit in you. 00:05:09.105 --> 00:05:14.745 I will put my spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful 00:05:14.745 --> 00:05:19.425 to obey my regulations while in exile. 00:05:19.785 --> 00:05:23.355 Israel is like a valley of old dry bones. 00:05:24.405 --> 00:05:29.295 The creator of life will revive his people and bring them back home. 00:05:29.985 --> 00:05:34.995 The book closes with a lengthy vision of a new temple In a restored Jerusalem, 00:05:35.685 --> 00:05:41.655 a river will flow from this temple like the rivers in the Garden of Eden, and 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:43.965 life will flourish wherever it goes. 00:05:44.835 --> 00:05:50.775 When all things leaders, people, hearts, and land are healed. 00:05:51.510 --> 00:05:56.340 Then God himself will once again come to live there among them, 00:06:02.250 --> 00:06:03.480 the prophet Ezekiel, 00:06:06.090 --> 00:06:11.400 on July 31st of my 30th year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the 00:06:11.400 --> 00:06:17.820 Kibar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God. 00:06:18.765 --> 00:06:22.635 This happened during the fifth year of King Je Hoya Kin's captivity. 00:06:23.865 --> 00:06:29.175 The Lord gave this message to Ezekiel son, abuse I, a priest beside the 00:06:29.175 --> 00:06:33.555 key Bar River and the land of the Babylonians, and he felt the hand 00:06:33.555 --> 00:06:35.115 of the Lord take hold of him. 00:06:35.445 --> 00:06:42.165 As I looked, I saw a great storm coming from the north, driving before it, a 00:06:42.165 --> 00:06:47.085 huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. 00:06:48.285 --> 00:06:52.005 There was fire inside the cloud and in the middle of the fire glowed 00:06:52.005 --> 00:06:58.155 something like gleaming Amber from the center of the cloud came four living 00:06:58.155 --> 00:07:03.585 beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and four wings. 00:07:04.695 --> 00:07:09.645 Their legs were straight and their feet had hooves, like those of a calf, and 00:07:09.645 --> 00:07:15.465 shown like burnished bronze under each of their four wings, I could see human hands. 00:07:16.710 --> 00:07:20.730 So each of the four beings had four faces and four wings. 00:07:21.570 --> 00:07:25.260 The wings of each living being touched, the wings of the beings beside it. 00:07:26.040 --> 00:07:30.810 Each one moved straightforward in any direction without turning around. 00:07:31.860 --> 00:07:36.180 Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side. 00:07:36.540 --> 00:07:40.590 The face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back. 00:07:41.490 --> 00:07:43.920 Each had two pairs of outstretched wings. 00:07:44.670 --> 00:07:48.360 One pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:50.940 it, and the other pair covered its body. 00:07:51.750 --> 00:07:56.220 They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straightforward 00:07:56.220 --> 00:07:58.380 in any direction without turning around. 00:07:59.580 --> 00:08:05.520 The living beings looked like bright coals of fire or brilliant torches, and 00:08:05.520 --> 00:08:10.440 lightning seemed to flash back and forth among them, and the living beings darted 00:08:10.440 --> 00:08:13.020 to and fro like flashes of lightning. 00:08:14.205 --> 00:08:19.485 As I looked at these beings, I saw four wheels touching the ground beside them. 00:08:20.085 --> 00:08:25.965 One wheel belonging to each, the wheels sparkled as if made of barrel. 00:08:27.165 --> 00:08:30.165 All four wheels looked alike and were made the same. 00:08:30.885 --> 00:08:34.155 Each wheel had a second wheel turning crosswise within it. 00:08:34.555 --> 00:08:38.475 The beings could move in any of the four directions they faced 00:08:38.775 --> 00:08:40.335 without turning as they moved. 00:08:41.175 --> 00:08:44.955 The rims of the four wheels were tall and frightening, and they 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:46.965 were covered with eyes all around. 00:08:48.105 --> 00:08:51.465 When the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. 00:08:52.215 --> 00:08:55.005 When they flew upward, the wheels went up too. 00:08:55.875 --> 00:08:58.815 The spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. 00:08:59.775 --> 00:09:03.795 So wherever the spirit went, the wheels and the living beings also went. 00:09:04.725 --> 00:09:07.455 When the beings moved, the wheels moved. 00:09:07.905 --> 00:09:10.725 When the beings stopped, the wheels stopped. 00:09:11.445 --> 00:09:14.475 When the beings flew upward, the wheels rose up. 00:09:14.715 --> 00:09:20.565 For the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels spread out above them was 00:09:20.565 --> 00:09:26.775 a surface like the sky, glittering like crystal beneath this surface, the wings 00:09:26.780 --> 00:09:31.185 of each living being stretched out to touch the other's wings, and each had 00:09:31.185 --> 00:09:34.695 two wings covering its body as they flew. 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:40.260 Their wings sounded to me like waves crashing against the shore, or 00:09:40.260 --> 00:09:44.700 like the voice of the Almighty, or like the shouting of a mighty army. 00:09:45.960 --> 00:09:51.060 When they stopped, they let down their wings as they stood with wings. 00:09:51.060 --> 00:09:55.680 Lowered a voice spoke from beyond The crystal surface above them. 00:09:56.880 --> 00:09:59.370 Above this surface was something that looked like a 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:01.830 throne made of blue lapis lly. 00:10:03.015 --> 00:10:07.785 And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man 00:10:08.895 --> 00:10:10.875 from what appeared to be his waist up. 00:10:11.325 --> 00:10:16.335 He looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire, and from his waist 00:10:16.335 --> 00:10:22.635 down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor All around him 00:10:22.635 --> 00:10:27.765 was a glowing halo, like a rainbow, shining in the clouds on a rainy day. 00:10:28.935 --> 00:10:32.355 This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. 00:10:33.495 --> 00:10:37.485 When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground and I heard 00:10:37.485 --> 00:10:39.255 someone's voice speaking to me. 00:10:40.515 --> 00:10:43.485 Stand up, son of man, said the voice. 00:10:44.145 --> 00:10:45.285 I want to speak with you. 00:10:45.975 --> 00:10:50.715 The spirit came into me as he spoke and he set me on my feet. 00:10:51.405 --> 00:10:56.205 I listened carefully to his words, son of man he said. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:01.320 I am sending you to the Nation of Israel, a rebellious nation 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:02.880 that has rebelled against me. 00:11:03.570 --> 00:11:08.070 They and their ancestors have been rebelling against me to this very day. 00:11:09.300 --> 00:11:15.240 They are a stubborn and hard-hearted people, but I am sending you to say to 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:22.560 them, this is what the Sovereign Lord says, and whether they listen or refuse 00:11:22.565 --> 00:11:25.530 to listen for, remember, they are rebels. 00:11:26.580 --> 00:11:29.370 At least they will know they have had a prophet among them. 00:11:30.870 --> 00:11:34.650 Son of man, do not fear them or their words. 00:11:35.610 --> 00:11:38.250 Don't be afraid, even though their threats surround you. 00:11:38.250 --> 00:11:45.480 Like nettles and briars and stinging scorpions do not be dismayed by their dark 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.240 scowls, even though they, they're rebels. 00:11:49.080 --> 00:11:54.390 You must give them my messages whether they listen or not, but they won't listen. 00:11:55.065 --> 00:11:57.225 For they are completely rebellious. 00:11:58.065 --> 00:12:00.735 Son of man, listen to what I say to you. 00:12:01.065 --> 00:12:02.985 Do not join them in their rebellion. 00:12:03.375 --> 00:12:06.525 Open your mouth and eat what I give you. 00:12:07.875 --> 00:12:11.595 Then I looked and saw a hand reaching out to me. 00:12:11.965 --> 00:12:17.025 It held a scroll, which he unrolled, and I saw that both sides were 00:12:17.025 --> 00:12:22.785 covered with funeral songs, words of sorrow and pronouncements of doom. 00:12:23.850 --> 00:12:28.770 The voice said to me, son of man, eat what I am giving you. 00:12:29.130 --> 00:12:34.440 Eat this scroll, then go and give its message to the people of Israel. 00:12:35.820 --> 00:12:38.880 So I opened my mouth and he fed me the scroll. 00:12:39.660 --> 00:12:41.880 Fill your stomach with this. 00:12:42.000 --> 00:12:47.190 He said, and when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. 00:12:48.120 --> 00:12:50.310 Then he said, son of man. 00:12:51.105 --> 00:12:54.195 Go to the people of Israel and give them my messages. 00:12:55.395 --> 00:12:59.445 I am not sending you to a foreign people whose language you cannot understand. 00:13:00.225 --> 00:13:04.635 No, I am not sending you to people with strange and difficult speech. 00:13:05.145 --> 00:13:09.885 If I did, they would listen, but the people of Israel won't listen 00:13:09.890 --> 00:13:14.115 to you anymore than they listen to me for the whole lot of them 00:13:14.115 --> 00:13:16.125 are hard hearted and stubborn. 00:13:17.385 --> 00:13:22.065 Look, I have made you as obstinate and hard hearted as they are. 00:13:22.905 --> 00:13:26.295 I have made your forehead as hard as the hardest rock. 00:13:27.435 --> 00:13:32.655 So don't be afraid of them or fear their angry looks even though they are rebels. 00:13:33.945 --> 00:13:36.315 Then he added son of man. 00:13:37.245 --> 00:13:40.845 Let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. 00:13:41.595 --> 00:13:43.455 Listen to them carefully for yourself. 00:13:44.610 --> 00:13:48.660 Then go to your people in exile and say to them, this is 00:13:48.660 --> 00:13:50.610 what the sovereign Lord says. 00:13:51.390 --> 00:13:53.700 Do this whether they listen to you or not. 00:13:54.780 --> 00:13:59.370 Then the Spirit lifted me up and I heard a loud rumbling sound behind me. 00:14:00.210 --> 00:14:03.600 May the glory of the Lord be praised in his place. 00:14:04.680 --> 00:14:08.310 It was a sound of the wings of the living beings as they brushed 00:14:08.310 --> 00:14:11.790 against each other and the rumbling of their wheels beneath them. 00:14:12.900 --> 00:14:15.240 The spirit lifted me up and took me away. 00:14:16.260 --> 00:14:21.030 I went in bitterness and turmoil, but the Lord's hold on me was strong. 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:27.270 Then I came to the colony of Judean exiles in Tel Abi beside the Kibar River. 00:14:28.290 --> 00:14:32.490 I was overwhelmed and sat among them for seven days. 00:14:33.930 --> 00:14:36.480 After seven days, the Lord gave me a message. 00:14:37.110 --> 00:14:39.450 He said, son of man. 00:14:40.065 --> 00:14:42.975 I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel. 00:14:44.055 --> 00:14:47.715 Whenever you receive a message from me, warn people immediately. 00:14:48.705 --> 00:14:54.795 If I warn the wicked saying, you are under the penalty of death, but you fail 00:14:54.795 --> 00:15:01.065 to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins and I will hold you responsible 00:15:01.070 --> 00:15:07.245 for their deaths if you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning. 00:15:07.980 --> 00:15:13.440 They will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me. 00:15:14.580 --> 00:15:17.670 If righteous people turn away from their righteous behavior 00:15:18.060 --> 00:15:22.020 and ignore the obstacles I put in their way, they will die. 00:15:22.740 --> 00:15:26.040 And if you do not warn them, they will die in their sins. 00:15:27.060 --> 00:15:30.720 None of their righteous acts will be remembered, and I will hold 00:15:30.720 --> 00:15:32.490 you responsible for their deaths. 00:15:33.465 --> 00:15:36.975 If you warn righteous people not to sin and they listen to you and 00:15:36.975 --> 00:15:41.715 do not sin, they will live and you will have saved yourself too. 00:15:43.005 --> 00:15:46.755 Then the Lord took hold of me and said, get up and go out into the 00:15:46.755 --> 00:15:49.185 valley and I will speak to you there. 00:15:49.845 --> 00:15:54.945 So I got up and went, and there I saw the glory of the Lord, just as I had 00:15:54.945 --> 00:16:00.375 seen in my first vision by the Key Bar River, and I fell face down on the ground. 00:16:01.755 --> 00:16:04.245 Then the spirit came into me and set me on my feet. 00:16:04.785 --> 00:16:10.815 He spoke to me and said, go to your house and shut yourself in there, son of man. 00:16:11.055 --> 00:16:15.825 You will be tied with ropes, so you cannot go out among the people and I will make 00:16:15.830 --> 00:16:20.145 your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth so that you will be speechless and 00:16:20.145 --> 00:16:22.965 unable to rebuke them for they are rebels. 00:16:23.715 --> 00:16:27.885 But when I give you a message, I will loosen your tongue and let you speak. 00:16:28.350 --> 00:16:32.610 Then you will say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says. 00:16:33.510 --> 00:16:37.950 Those who choose to listen will listen, but those who refuse, 00:16:37.950 --> 00:16:40.620 will refuse for they are rebels. 00:16:41.970 --> 00:16:47.160 And now, son of man, take a large clay brick and set it down in front of you. 00:16:47.910 --> 00:16:50.490 Then draw a map of the city of Jerusalem on it. 00:16:51.210 --> 00:16:53.040 Show the city under siege. 00:16:53.730 --> 00:16:56.250 Build a wall around it so no one can escape. 00:16:56.835 --> 00:17:02.055 Set up the enemy camp and surround the city with siege ramps and battering rams. 00:17:02.685 --> 00:17:06.585 Then take an iron griddle and place it between you and the city. 00:17:07.335 --> 00:17:12.285 Turn toward the city and demonstrate how harsh the siege will be against Jerusalem. 00:17:13.035 --> 00:17:15.705 This will be a warning to the people of Israel. 00:17:16.965 --> 00:17:21.315 Now, lie on your left side and place the sins of Israel on yourself. 00:17:22.020 --> 00:17:26.700 You are to bear their sins for the number of days you lie there on your side. 00:17:27.540 --> 00:17:32.970 I am requiring you to bear Israel's sins for 390 days, one 00:17:32.970 --> 00:17:35.280 day for each year of their sin. 00:17:36.360 --> 00:17:42.000 After that turnover and lie on your right side for 40 days, one day for 00:17:42.005 --> 00:17:48.210 each year of Judah's sin meanwhile keeps staring at the siege of Jerusalem. 00:17:48.885 --> 00:17:52.485 Lie there with your arm beared and prophesy her destruction. 00:17:53.475 --> 00:17:56.955 I will tie you up with ropes so you won't be able to turn from 00:17:56.955 --> 00:18:01.005 side to side until the days of your siege have been completed. 00:18:02.355 --> 00:18:07.965 Now go and get some wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and emer wheat 00:18:08.655 --> 00:18:10.815 and mix them together in a storage jar. 00:18:11.565 --> 00:18:15.255 Use them to make bread for yourself during the 390 days. 00:18:15.255 --> 00:18:16.845 You will be lying on your side. 00:18:17.880 --> 00:18:19.380 Ration this out to yourself. 00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:24.030 Eight ounces of food for each day and eat it at set times. 00:18:24.780 --> 00:18:29.310 Then measure out a jar of water for each day and drink it at set times. 00:18:30.390 --> 00:18:34.440 Prepare and eat this food as you would barley cakes while 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:35.880 all the people are watching. 00:18:36.270 --> 00:18:41.430 Bake it over a fire using dried human dung as fuel, and then eat the bread. 00:18:42.660 --> 00:18:43.590 Then the Lord said. 00:18:44.460 --> 00:18:48.030 This is how Israel will eat defiled bread in the gentile 00:18:48.030 --> 00:18:50.160 lands, to which I will banish them. 00:18:51.450 --> 00:18:59.070 Then I said, oh, sovereign Lord must I be defiled by using human dung for 00:18:59.070 --> 00:19:04.290 I have never been defiled before from the time I was a child until now. 00:19:04.590 --> 00:19:09.510 I have never eaten any animal that died of sickness or was killed by other animals. 00:19:10.140 --> 00:19:13.020 I have never eaten any meat forbidden by the law. 00:19:14.115 --> 00:19:14.625 All right. 00:19:14.985 --> 00:19:20.145 The Lord said you may bake your bread with cow dung instead of human dung. 00:19:21.165 --> 00:19:26.505 Then he told me, son of man, I will make food very scarce in Jerusalem. 00:19:27.435 --> 00:19:30.555 It'll be weighed out with great care and eaten fearfully. 00:19:31.425 --> 00:19:35.865 The water will be rationed out, drop by drop, and the people will drink it With 00:19:35.865 --> 00:19:41.295 dismay lacking food and water, people will look at one another in terror. 00:19:42.045 --> 00:19:44.625 They will waste away under their punishment. 00:19:45.975 --> 00:19:51.435 Son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a razor to shave your head and beard. 00:19:52.305 --> 00:19:55.335 Use a scale to weigh the hair into three equal parts. 00:19:56.355 --> 00:19:59.085 Place a third of it at the center of your map of Jerusalem. 00:19:59.715 --> 00:20:05.355 After acting out the siege, burn it there, scatter another third across 00:20:05.355 --> 00:20:07.665 your map and chop it with a sword. 00:20:08.445 --> 00:20:13.425 Scatter the last third to the wind for I will scatter my people with the sword. 00:20:14.295 --> 00:20:17.565 Keep just a bit of the hair and tie it up in your robe. 00:20:18.555 --> 00:20:21.795 Then take some of these hairs out and throw them into the fire. 00:20:21.885 --> 00:20:22.665 Burning them up. 00:20:23.565 --> 00:20:28.005 A fire will then spread from this remnant and destroy all of Israel. 00:20:29.085 --> 00:20:31.605 This is what the sovereign Lord says. 00:20:32.895 --> 00:20:35.805 This is an illustration of what will happen to Jerusalem. 00:20:36.600 --> 00:20:41.220 I placed her at the center of the Nations, but she has rebelled against my 00:20:41.220 --> 00:20:46.530 regulations and decrees and has been even more wicked than the surrounding nations. 00:20:47.520 --> 00:20:52.230 She has refused to obey the regulations and decrees I gave her to follow. 00:20:53.760 --> 00:20:56.430 Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says. 00:20:57.390 --> 00:21:01.560 You people have behaved worse than your neighbors and have refused to 00:21:01.560 --> 00:21:03.750 obey my decrees and regulations. 00:21:04.785 --> 00:21:07.905 You have not even lived up to the standards of the nations around you. 00:21:08.895 --> 00:21:14.145 Therefore, I, myself, the sovereign Lord, am now your enemy. 00:21:15.255 --> 00:21:20.115 I will punish you publicly while all the nations watch because 00:21:20.120 --> 00:21:21.825 of your detestable idols. 00:21:22.425 --> 00:21:26.985 I will punish you like I have never punished anyone before or ever will again. 00:21:28.095 --> 00:21:32.145 Parents will eat their own children, and children will eat their parents. 00:21:33.045 --> 00:21:36.975 I will punish you and scatter to the winds the few who survive. 00:21:37.995 --> 00:21:40.635 As surely as I live says the sovereign Lord. 00:21:41.415 --> 00:21:43.425 I will cut you off completely. 00:21:44.475 --> 00:21:49.005 I will show you no pity at all because you have defiled my temple with your 00:21:49.005 --> 00:21:55.035 vile images and detestable sins, a third of your people will die in 00:21:55.035 --> 00:21:57.285 the city from disease and famine. 00:21:58.065 --> 00:22:01.815 A third of them will be slaughtered by the enemy outside the city walls. 00:22:02.775 --> 00:22:07.035 And I will scatter a third to the winds, chasing them with my sword. 00:22:07.965 --> 00:22:13.035 Then at last, my anger will be spent and I will be satisfied. 00:22:13.965 --> 00:22:18.735 And when my fury against them has subsided, all Israel will know 00:22:18.740 --> 00:22:23.325 that I, the Lord, have spoken to them in my jealous anger. 00:22:24.525 --> 00:22:29.055 So I will turn you into a ruin, a mockery in the eyes of the surrounding 00:22:29.055 --> 00:22:31.215 nations, and to all who pass by. 00:22:31.995 --> 00:22:36.975 You will become an object of mockery and taunting and horror. 00:22:37.845 --> 00:22:40.365 You will be a warning to all the nations around you. 00:22:41.265 --> 00:22:42.405 They will see what happens. 00:22:42.410 --> 00:22:47.175 When the Lord punishes a nation in anger and rebukes, it says the Lord, 00:22:48.105 --> 00:22:51.825 I will shower you with the deadly arrows of famine to destroy you. 00:22:52.695 --> 00:22:57.345 The famine will become more and more severe until every crumb of food 00:22:57.345 --> 00:23:00.045 is gone and along with the famine. 00:23:00.855 --> 00:23:04.755 Wild animals will attack you and rob you of your children. 00:23:05.505 --> 00:23:09.675 Disease and war will stalk your land, and I will bring the 00:23:09.675 --> 00:23:11.385 sword of the enemy against you. 00:23:11.805 --> 00:23:16.755 I, the Lord, have spoken again. 00:23:16.755 --> 00:23:20.085 A message came to me from the Lord, son of man. 00:23:20.685 --> 00:23:24.435 Turn and face the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them. 00:23:25.305 --> 00:23:29.085 Proclaim this message from the sovereign Lord against the mountains of Israel. 00:23:29.835 --> 00:23:33.165 This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and hills 00:23:33.165 --> 00:23:34.845 and to the ravines and valleys. 00:23:36.225 --> 00:23:41.595 I'm about to bring war upon you, and I will smash your pagan shrines. 00:23:42.495 --> 00:23:47.745 All your altars will be demolished and your places of worship will be destroyed. 00:23:48.215 --> 00:23:51.165 I will kill your people in front of your idols. 00:23:51.885 --> 00:23:55.905 I will lay your corpses in front of your idols and scatter 00:23:55.910 --> 00:23:58.005 your bones around your altars. 00:23:59.160 --> 00:24:02.280 Wherever you live, there will be desolation and I will 00:24:02.280 --> 00:24:04.320 destroy your pagan shrines. 00:24:05.340 --> 00:24:09.210 Your altars will be demolished, your idols will be smashed. 00:24:09.510 --> 00:24:13.680 Your places of worship will be torn down, and all the religious objects 00:24:13.680 --> 00:24:15.330 you have made will be destroyed. 00:24:15.610 --> 00:24:20.340 The place will be littered with corpses and you will know that I 00:24:20.340 --> 00:24:25.140 alone am the Lord, but I will let a few of my people escape destruction. 00:24:25.980 --> 00:24:28.590 They will be scattered among the nations of the world. 00:24:29.610 --> 00:24:33.870 Then when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. 00:24:34.830 --> 00:24:39.810 They will recognize how hurt I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful 00:24:39.810 --> 00:24:41.850 eyes that long for their idols. 00:24:43.170 --> 00:24:47.190 Then at last, they will hate themselves for all their detestable sins. 00:24:48.030 --> 00:24:52.920 They will know that I alone am the Lord, and that I was serious when I said 00:24:52.925 --> 00:24:54.660 I would bring this calamity on them. 00:24:55.770 --> 00:24:58.110 This is what the Sovereign Lord says. 00:24:58.710 --> 00:25:01.740 Clap your hands in horror and stamp. 00:25:01.740 --> 00:25:03.990 Your feet cry out. 00:25:03.990 --> 00:25:07.320 Because of all the detestable sins the people of Israel have 00:25:07.320 --> 00:25:12.870 committed, now they're going to die from war and famine and disease. 00:25:13.620 --> 00:25:15.150 Disease will strike down. 00:25:15.150 --> 00:25:21.870 Those who are far away in exile war will destroy those who are nearby and anyone 00:25:21.870 --> 00:25:24.420 who survives will be killed by famine. 00:25:25.290 --> 00:25:28.110 So at last I will spend my fury on them. 00:25:28.860 --> 00:25:32.280 They will know that I am the Lord when their dead life scattered 00:25:32.280 --> 00:25:35.880 among their idols and altars on every hill and mountain. 00:25:36.390 --> 00:25:41.610 And under every green tree and every great shade tree, the places where 00:25:41.615 --> 00:25:47.100 they offered sacrifices to their idols, I will crush them and make their 00:25:47.100 --> 00:25:51.570 cities desolate from the wilderness in the south to rib lie in the north. 00:25:52.230 --> 00:25:54.750 Then they will know that I am the Lord. 00:25:56.280 --> 00:26:00.060 Then this message came to me from the Lord, son of man. 00:26:00.360 --> 00:26:02.850 This is what the sovereign Lord says to Israel. 00:26:04.050 --> 00:26:05.160 The end is here. 00:26:05.760 --> 00:26:09.360 Wherever you look, east, west, north, or south. 00:26:10.020 --> 00:26:11.460 Your land is finished. 00:26:12.120 --> 00:26:16.890 No hope remains for I will unleash my anger against you. 00:26:17.580 --> 00:26:19.170 I will call you to account. 00:26:19.605 --> 00:26:25.545 For all your detestable sins, I will turn my eyes away and show no pity. 00:26:26.235 --> 00:26:29.385 I will repay you for all your detestable sins. 00:26:29.985 --> 00:26:32.595 Then you will know that I am the Lord. 00:26:33.645 --> 00:26:37.335 This is what the sovereign Lord says, disaster after 00:26:37.335 --> 00:26:39.285 disaster is coming your way. 00:26:39.855 --> 00:26:43.245 The end has come, it has finally arrived. 00:26:43.515 --> 00:26:45.555 Your final doom is waiting. 00:26:46.665 --> 00:26:50.265 Oh people of Israel, the day of your destruction is dawning. 00:26:50.775 --> 00:26:52.095 The time has come. 00:26:52.635 --> 00:26:57.285 The day of trouble is near Shouts of anguish will be heard on the 00:26:57.290 --> 00:26:59.715 mountains, not shouts of joy. 00:27:00.435 --> 00:27:05.295 Soon I will pour out my fury on you and unleash my anger against you. 00:27:06.045 --> 00:27:10.245 I will call you to account for all your detestable sins. 00:27:11.295 --> 00:27:13.695 I will turn my eyes away and show no pity. 00:27:14.370 --> 00:27:17.220 I will repay you for all your detestable sins. 00:27:17.820 --> 00:27:22.290 Then you will know that it is I the Lord who is striking the blow. 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:25.020 The day of judgment is here. 00:27:25.350 --> 00:27:27.060 Your destruction awaits. 00:27:28.140 --> 00:27:31.830 The people's wickedness and pride have blossomed to full flower. 00:27:32.040 --> 00:27:37.470 Their violence has grown into a rod that will beat them for their wickedness. 00:27:38.100 --> 00:27:41.340 None of these proud and wicked people will survive. 00:27:42.210 --> 00:27:45.540 All their wealth and prestige will be swept away. 00:27:46.080 --> 00:27:47.910 Yes, the time has come. 00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:49.590 The day is here. 00:27:50.430 --> 00:27:56.400 Buyers should not rejoice over bargains nor sellers Grieve over losses for all of 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:59.370 them will fall under my terrible anger. 00:27:59.690 --> 00:28:04.320 Even if the merchants survive, they will never return to their business. 00:28:04.800 --> 00:28:09.510 For what God has said applies to everyone, it will not be changed. 00:28:10.290 --> 00:28:13.920 Not one person whose life is twisted by sin will ever recover. 00:28:15.360 --> 00:28:19.530 The trumpet calls Israel's army to mobilize, but no one listens. 00:28:20.040 --> 00:28:22.110 For my fury is against them all. 00:28:22.890 --> 00:28:26.790 There is war outside the city and disease and famine. 00:28:26.790 --> 00:28:29.730 Within those outside the city. 00:28:29.730 --> 00:28:32.160 Walls will be killed by enemy swords. 00:28:32.850 --> 00:28:36.720 Those inside the city will die of famine and disease. 00:28:37.515 --> 00:28:41.025 The survivors who escape to the mountains will moan like 00:28:41.025 --> 00:28:43.365 doves weeping for their sins. 00:28:44.055 --> 00:28:45.555 Their hands will hang limp. 00:28:45.885 --> 00:28:48.285 Their knees will be weak as water. 00:28:49.215 --> 00:28:53.655 They will dress themselves in burlap, horror, and shame will cover them. 00:28:54.465 --> 00:28:57.795 They will shave their heads in sorrow and remorse. 00:28:58.875 --> 00:29:01.995 They will throw their money in the streets, tossing it 00:29:01.995 --> 00:29:03.735 out like worthless trash. 00:29:04.665 --> 00:29:09.135 Their silver and gold won't save them on that day of the Lord's anger. 00:29:10.035 --> 00:29:14.715 It will neither satisfy nor feed them for their greed can only trip them up. 00:29:15.615 --> 00:29:19.095 They were proud of their beautiful jewelry and used it to make 00:29:19.100 --> 00:29:21.675 detestable idols and vile images. 00:29:22.845 --> 00:29:25.875 Therefore, I will make all their wealth disgusting to them. 00:29:26.535 --> 00:29:29.925 I will give it as plunder to foreigners to the most wicked of 00:29:29.925 --> 00:29:32.235 nations, and they will defile it. 00:29:33.165 --> 00:29:39.195 I will turn my eyes from them as these robbers invade and defile my treasured 00:29:39.195 --> 00:29:45.615 land, prepare chains for my people for the land is bloodied by terrible crimes. 00:29:46.305 --> 00:29:48.585 Jerusalem is filled with violence. 00:29:49.605 --> 00:29:53.115 I will bring the most ruthless of nations to occupy their homes. 00:29:53.715 --> 00:29:59.685 I will break down their proud fortresses and defile their sanctuaries, terror, 00:29:59.690 --> 00:30:02.145 and trembling will overcome my people. 00:30:03.135 --> 00:30:05.385 They will look for peace but not find it. 00:30:06.285 --> 00:30:08.175 Calamity will follow calamity. 00:30:08.475 --> 00:30:10.215 Rumor will follow rumor. 00:30:11.025 --> 00:30:13.845 They will look in vain for a vision from the prophets. 00:30:14.385 --> 00:30:18.945 They will receive no teaching from the priests and no counsel from the leaders. 00:30:19.815 --> 00:30:25.065 The king and the prince will stand helpless, weeping in despair, and the 00:30:25.065 --> 00:30:27.645 people's hands will tremble with fear. 00:30:28.545 --> 00:30:31.275 I will bring on them the evil they have done to others. 00:30:31.275 --> 00:30:31.335 I. 00:30:31.845 --> 00:30:35.355 They will receive the punishment they so richly deserve. 00:30:36.285 --> 00:30:39.615 Then they will know that I am the Lord. 00:30:41.835 --> 00:30:44.715 This concludes today's immerse reading experience. 00:30:44.835 --> 00:30:45.825 Thank you for joining us. 00:30:45.825 --> 00:30:45.855 I.