Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Take a breath, find your place, and read deeply. Discover the joy of reading God’s word with the Immerse New Living Translation (NLT) Bible.
This daily Bible podcast will take you through the Bible in a year following the Immerse Bible Reading Experience. So grab your family and small group and go through the Bible in a year together with Immerse. Each of the 6 volumes is available online or at your favorite Christian bookstore.
Nancy: Welcome to immerse: the
daily bible reading experience.
day 200 and 77
again, a message came to me
from the Lord Son of man.
Take a piece of wood and
carve on it these words.
This represents Judah
and its allied tribes.
Then take another piece and
carve these words on it.
This represents Ephraim and
the northern tribes of Israel.
Now, hold them together in your hand
as if they were one piece of wood.
When your people ask you what your
actions mean, say to them, this
is what the sovereign Lord says.
I will take Ephraim and the northern
tribes and join them to Judah.
I will make them one
piece of wood in my hand.
Then hold out the pieces of wood you
have inscribed so that people can
see them and give them this message.
From the sovereign Lord, I will gather the
people of Israel from among the nations.
I will bring them home to their own land.
From the places where they
have been scattered, I will
unify them into one nation.
On the mountains of Israel,
one king will rule them all.
No longer will they be divided into
two nations or into two kingdoms.
They will never again pollute
themselves with their idols
and vile images and rebellion.
For I will save them from
their sinful apostasy.
I will cleanse them.
Then they will truly be my
people and I will be their God.
My servant David will be their king,
and they will have only one shepherd.
They will obey my regulations and
be careful to keep my decrees.
They will live in the land.
I gave my servant Jacob, the land
where their ancestors lived, they and
their children and their grandchildren
after them will live there forever.
Generation after generation.
And my servant David, will
be their prince forever.
And I'll make a covenant of peace
with them, an everlasting covenant.
I will give them their land and
increase their numbers, and I will
put my temple among them forever.
I will make my home among them.
I will be their God and
they will be my people.
And when my temple is among them forever,
the nations will know that I am the Lord.
Who makes Israel holy?
This is another message that came to me
from the Lord Son of man turn and face,
Gog of the land of May, Gog the prince
who rules over the nations of meshech
and tubal and prophesy against him.
Give him this message from the
sovereign Lord Gog, I am your enemy.
I will turn you around and
put hooks in your jaws to lead
you out with your whole army.
Your horses and charioteers in
full armor and a great horde.
Armed with shields and swords.
Persia, Ethiopia and Libya will
join you too with all their weapons.
Gomer and all its armies will also join
you along with the armies of Beth Hogar
from the distant North and many others.
Get ready, be prepared.
Keep all the armies around you
mobilized and take command of them.
A long time from now, you
will be called into action.
In the distant future, you will swoop
down on the land of Israel, which will be
enjoying peace after recovering from war
and after its people have returned from
many lands to the mountains of Israel,
you and all your allies, avast, and
awesome army will roll down on them like
a storm and cover the land like a cloud.
This is what the sovereign Lord says.
At that time, evil thoughts
will come to your mind and you
will devise a wicked scheme.
You will say, Israel is an unprotected
land filled with un walled villages.
I will march against her and destroy
these people who live in such confidence.
I will go to those formerly desolate
cities that are now filled with
people who have returned from exile.
In many nations, I will capture
vast amounts of plunder.
For the people are rich with
livestock and other possessions.
Now they think the whole
world revolves around them.
Cheba and Eden and the merchants
of Tarshish will ask, do you really
think the armies you have gathered
can rob them of silver and gold?
Do you think you can drive
away their livestock and their
goods and carry off plunder?
Therefore, son of man
prophesy against gog.
Give him this message
from the sovereign Lord.
When my people are living in peace in
their land, then you will rouse yourself.
You will come from your homeland
in the distant north with your vast
cavalry and your mighty army, and
you will attack my people Israel,
covering their land like a cloud.
At that time, in the distant future,
I will bring you against my land as
everyone watches, and my holiness will
be displayed by what happens to you.
Gog.
Then all the nations will
know that I am the Lord.
This is what the sovereign Lord asks.
Are you the one I was talking about long
ago when I announced through Israel's
prophets that in the future I would bring
you against my people, but this is what
the sovereign Lord says When God invades
the land of Israel, my fury will boil
over in my jealousy and blazing anger.
I promise a mighty shaking in
the land of Israel on that day.
All living things.
The fish in the sea, the birds of the
sky, the animals of the field, the
small animals that scurry along the
ground and all the people on earth
will quake in terror at my presence.
Mountains will be thrown
down, cliffs will crumble.
Walls will fall to the earth.
I will summon the sword against
you on all the hills of Israel,
says the sovereign Lord.
Your men will turn their
swords against each other.
I will punish you and your armies
with disease and bloodshed.
I will send torrential rain,
hailstones fire, and burning sulfur.
In this way.
I will show my greatness and holiness,
and I will make myself known to
all the nations of the world.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.
Son of man, prophesy against gog.
Give him this message
from the sovereign Lord.
I am your enemy, oh Gog, ruler of
the nations of Meshach and tubal.
I will turn you around and drive
you toward the mountains of Israel,
bringing you from the distant north.
I will knock the bow from your left
hand and the arrows from your right
hand, and I will leave you helpless.
You and your army and your allies
will all die on the mountains.
I will feed you to the
vultures and wild animals.
You will fall in the open fields.
I.
For I have spoken, says the sovereign
Lord and I will reign down fire on
May Gog and on all your allies who
live safely on the coasts, then
they will know that I am the Lord.
In this way, I will make known my
holy name among my people of Israel.
I will not let anyone bring shame on
it, and the nations too will know that
I am the Lord, the holy one of Israel.
That day of judgment will
come, says the sovereign Lord.
Everything will happen
just as I have declared it.
Then the people in the towns of
Israel will go out and pick up
your small and large shields, bows
and arrows, javelins and spears,
and they will use them for fuel.
There will be enough to
last them seven years.
They won't need to cut wood from the
fields or forests for these weapons
will give them all the fuel they need.
They will plunder those who planned to
plunder them, and they will rob those
who plan to rob them, says the sovereign
Lord and I will make a vast graveyard
for Gog and his hordes in the Valley
of the Travelers East of the Dead Sea.
It'll block the way of those who travel
there and they will change the name of
the place to the Valley of Gogs hoards.
It'll take seven months for the
people of Israel to bury the bodies.
And cleanse the land.
Everyone in Israel will help for it
will be a glorious victory for Israel.
When I demonstrate my glory on
that day, says the sovereign Lord.
After seven months, teams of men
will be appointed to search the
land for skeletons to bury, so
the land will be made clean again.
Whenever bones are found, a marker will be
set up so the burial crews will take them
to be buried in the valley of Gogs Hoards.
There will be a town there
named Harmon, which means horde.
And so the land will finally be cleansed.
And now, son of man, this is what
the sovereign Lord says, call
all the birds and wild animals.
Say to them, gather together
for my great sacrificial feast.
Come from far and near to the
mountains of Israel and there,
eat flesh and drink blood.
Eat the flesh of mighty men and drink the
blood of princes as though they were rams.
Lambs goats and bulls all
fattened animals from bian.
Gorge yourselves with flesh
until you are glutted.
Drink blood until you are drunk.
This is the sacrificial feast
I have prepared for you.
Feast at my banquet table.
Feast on Horses and charioteers un mighty
men and all kinds of valiant warriors.
Says the sovereign Lord.
In this way, I will demonstrate
my glory to the nations.
Everyone will see the punishment
I have inflicted on them and the
power of my fist when I strike.
And from that time on, the
people of Israel will know
that I am the Lord their God.
The nations will then know why
Israel was sent away to exile.
It was punishment for sin, for
they were unfaithful to their God.
Therefore, I turned away from them
and let their enemies destroy them.
I turned my face away and
punished them because of their
defilement and their sins.
So now this is what the
sovereign Lord says, I will
end the captivity of my people.
I will have mercy on all Israel.
For I jealously guard my holy reputation,
they will accept responsibility for
their past shame and unfaithfulness.
After they come home to live in peace in
their own land with no one to bother them.
When I bring them home from the lands of
their enemies, I will display my holiness
among them for all the nations to see.
Then my people will know that I am the
Lord their God, because I sent them away
to exile and brought them home again.
I will leave none of my people behind and
I will never again turn my face from them.
For I will pour out my spirit
upon the people of Israel.
I, the sovereign Lord, have spoken
on April 28th during the 25th year
of our captivity, 14 years after
the fall of Jerusalem, the Lord took
hold of me in a vision from God.
He took me to the land of Israel and
set me down on a very high mountain.
From there, I could see toward the
south what appeared to be a city.
As he brought me near, I saw a
man whose face shone like bronze,
standing beside a gateway entrance.
He was holding in his hand a linen
measuring cord and a measuring rod.
He said to me, son of
man, watch and listen.
Pay close attention to
everything I show you.
You have been brought here so
I can show you many things.
Then you will return to the
people of Israel and tell
them everything you have seen.
I could see a wall completely
surrounding the temple area.
The man took a measuring rod that was
10 and a half feet long and measured
the wall, and the wall was 10 and a half
feet thick and 10 and a half feet high.
Then he went over to the eastern gateway.
He climbed the steps and measured
the threshold of the gateway.
It was 10 and a half feet front to back.
There were guard alcoves on each
side built into the gateway passage.
Each of these alcoves was 10 and
a half feet square with a distance
between them of eight and three
quarters feet along the passage wall.
The gateway's inner threshold, which
led to the entry room at the inner
end of the gateway passage was 10
and a half feet, front to back.
He also measured the
entry room of the gateway.
It was 14 feet across with supporting
columns three and a half feet thick.
This entry room was at the inner
end of the gateway structure.
Facing toward the temple, there
were three guard alcoves on each
side of the gateway passage.
Each had the same measurements,
and the dividing walls separating
them were also identical.
The man measured the gateway entrance,
which was 17 and a half feet wide
at the opening, and 22 and three
quarters feet wide in the gateway
passage in front of each of the
guard Alcoves was a 21 inch curb.
The alcoves themselves were 10
and a half feet on each side.
Then he measured the entire width of the
gateway measuring the distance between
the back walls of facing guard El Coves.
This distance was 43
and three quarters feet.
He measured the dividing walls all
along the inside of the gateway up
to the entry room of the gateway.
This distance was 105 feet.
The full length of the gateway
passage was 87 and a half feet
from one end to the other.
There were recessed windows that narrowed
inward through the walls of the guard
El Coves, and there are dividing walls.
There were also windows in the entry room.
The surfaces of the dividing walls were
decorated with carved palm trees, and then
the man brought me through the gateway
into the outer courtyard of the temple.
A stone pavement ran along the
walls of the courtyard, and 30
rooms were built against the
walls opening onto the pavement.
This pavement flanked the gates
and extended out from the walls
into the courtyard, the same
distance as the gateway entrance.
This was the lower pavement
than the man measured across the
temple's, outer courtyard between
the outer and inner gateways.
The distance was 175 feet.
The man measured the gateway on the north,
just like the one on the east here too.
There were three guard
alcoves on each side.
With dividing walls and an
entry room, all the measurements
matched those of the East Gateway.
The gateway passage was 87 and a half feet
long, and 43 and three quarters feet wide.
Between the back walls
of facing guard El Coves.
The windows, the entry room, and the
palm tree decorations were identical
to those in the East Gateway.
There were seven steps leading up to the
gateway entrance, and the entry room was
at the inner end of the gateway passage.
Here on the north side, just as on
the east, there was another gateway
leading to the temple's inner courtyard,
directly opposite this outer gateway.
The distance between the
two gateways was 175 feet.
Then the man took me around to
the south gateway and measured
its various parts, and they were
exactly the same as in the others.
It had windows along the walls of
the others did, and there was an
entry room where the gateway passage
opened into the outer courtyard.
Like the others.
The gateway passage was 87 and a
half feet long, and 43 and three
quarters feet wide between the
back walls of facing guard alcoves.
This gateway also had a stairway of
seven steps leading up to it and an entry
room at the inner end, and palm tree
decorations along the dividing walls.
And here again, directly opposite
the outer gateway was another gateway
that led into the inner courtyard.
The distance between the
two gateways was 175 feet.
Then the man took me to the south
gateway, leading into the inner courtyard.
He measured it and it had the same
measurements as the other gateways.
Its guard, alcoves, dividing
walls, and entry room where the
same size as those in the others.
It also had windows along its
walls and in the entry room.
And like the others, the gateway
passage was 87 and a half feet long,
and 43 and three quarters feet wide.
The entry rooms of the gateways
leading into the inner courtyard
were 14 feet across and 43
and three quarters feet wide.
The entry room to the south gateway
faced into the outer courtyard.
It had palm tree decorations on
its columns, and there were eight
steps leading to its entrance.
Then he took me to the east gateway,
leading to the inner courtyard.
He measured it and it had the same
measurements as the other gateways.
Its guard, coves, dividing
walls, and entry room.
Were the same size as those of the others,
and there were windows along the walls.
And in the entry room, the gateway
passage measured 87 and a half feet long,
and 43 and three quarters feet wide.
Its entry room faced
into the outer courtyard.
It had palm tree decorations on
its columns, and there were eight
steps leading to its entrance.
Then he took me around to the north
gateway, leading to the inner courtyard.
He measured it and it had the same
measurements as the other gateways.
The guardhouse coves dividing walls
and entry room of this gateway had the
same measurements as in the others,
and the same window arrangements.
The gateway passage measured
87 and a half feet long, and 43
and three quarters feet wide.
Its entry room faced into the
outer courtyard, and it had palm
tree decorations on the columns.
There were eight steps
leading to its entrance.
A door led from the entry room of one
of the inner gateways into a side room
where the meet for sacrifices was washed.
On each side of this entry room were
two tables where the sacrificial animals
were slaughtered for the burnt offerings,
sin offerings, and guilt offerings.
Outside the entry room on each side
of the stairs going up to the north
entrance, were two more tables, so
there were eight tables in all four
inside and four outside where the
sacrifices were cut up and prepared.
There were also four tables, the
finished stone for preparation of the
burnt offerings, each 31 and a half
inches square and 21 inches high.
These tables were placed the butchering
knives and other implements for
slaughtering the sacrificial animals.
There were hooks each three inches long,
fastened all around the foyer walls.
The sacrificial meat was laid on the
tables inside the inner courtyard
were two rooms, one beside the north
gateway facing south, and the other
beside the south gateway facing north.
And the man said to me, The room beside
the north inner gate is for the priests
who supervise the temple maintenance.
The room beside the south inner gate
is for the priests in charge of the
altar, the descendants of zadak.
For they alone of all the Levites may
approach the Lord to minister to him.
Then the man measured the inner courtyard
and it was a square 175 feet wide and
175 feet across the altar stood in
the courtyard in front of the temple.
Then he brought me to the
entry room of the temple.
He measured the walls on either side of
the opening to the entry room, and they
were eight and three quarters feet thick.
The entrance itself was 24 and a half
feet wide, and the walls on each side
of the entrance were an additional
five and a quarter feet long.
The entry room was 35 feet
wide and 21 feet deep.
There were 10 steps leading up
to it with a column on each side.
After that, the man brought me
into the sanctuary of the temple.
He measured the walls on either
side of its doorway, and they
were 10 and a half feet thick.
The doorway was 17 and a half feet wide,
and the walls on each side of it were
eight and three quarters feet long.
The sanctuary itself was 70
feet long and 35 feet wide.
Then he went beyond the
sanctuary into the inner room.
He measured the walls on
either side of its entrance.
And they were three and a half feet thick.
The entrance was 10 and a half feet
wide, and the walls on each side of the
entrance were 12 and a quarter feet long.
The inner room of the sanctuary
was 35 feet long and 35 feet wide.
This, he told me is the most holy place.
Then he measured the wall of the temple
and it was 10 and a half feet thick.
There was a row of rooms
along the outside wall.
Each room was seven feet wide.
These side rooms were built in
three levels, one above the other
with 30 rooms on each level.
The supports for these side rooms rested
on exterior ledges on the temple wall.
They did not extend into the wall.
Each level was wider than the
one below it corresponding to
the narrowing of the temple wall.
As it rose higher, a stairway led
up from the bottom level through
the middle level to the top level.
I saw that the temple was built
on a terrace, which provided a
foundation for the side rooms.
This terrace was 10 and a half feet high.
The outer wall of the temple side rooms
was eight and three quarters feet thick.
This left an open area between these
side rooms and the row of rooms along
the outer wall of the inner courtyard.
This open area was 35 feet wide, and
it went all the way around the temple.
Two doors opened from the side rooms
into the terrace yard, which was
eight and three quarters feet wide.
One door faced north and the other south.
A large building stood on the
west facing the temple courtyard.
It was 122 and a half feet wide and 157
and a half feet long, and its walls were
eight and three quarters feet thick.
Then the man measured the
temple and it was 175 feet long.
The courtyard around the building,
including its walls, was an
additional 175 feet in length.
The inner courtyard to the east of
the temple was also 175 feet wide.
The building to the west, including
its two walls, was also 175 feet wide.
The sanctuary, the inner room, and
the entry room of the temple were
all paneled with wood as were the
frames of the recessed windows.
The inner walls of the temple were paneled
with wood above and below the windows.
The space above the door leading
into the inner room and its walls
inside and out were also paneled.
All the walls were decorated with
carvings of cherub, each with two
faces, and there was a carving of a
palm tree between each of the cherub.
One face that of a man looked
toward the palm tree on one side.
The other face that of a young lion
looked toward the palm tree and the
other side, the figures were carved
all along the inside of the temple
from the floor to the top of the walls,
including the outer wall of the sanctuary.
There were square columns at the
entrance to the sanctuary, and
the ones at the entrance of the
most holy place were similar.
There was an altar made of wood,
five and a quarter feet high,
and three and a half feet across.
Its corners, base, and
sides were all made of wood.
This the man told me is the table
that stands in the Lord's presence.
Both the sanctuary and the most
holy place had double doorways
each with two swinging doors.
The doors leading into the sanctuary
were decorated with carved cherub
and palm trees just as on the walls,
and there was a wooden roof at the
front of the entry room to the temple.
On both sides of the entry
room were recessed windows
decorated with carved palm trees.
The side rooms along the
outside wall also had roofs.
Then the man led me out of the temple
courtyard by way of the North gateway.
We entered the outer courtyard and
came to a group of rooms against the
north wall of the inner courtyard.
This structure whose entrance
opened toward the north was 175 feet
long and 87 and a half feet wide.
One block of rooms overlooked the 35
foot width of the inner courtyard.
Another block of rooms looked out onto
the pavement of the outer courtyard.
The two blocks were built, three levels
high and stood across from each other.
Between the two blocks of rooms, ran
a walkway 17 and a half feet wide.
It extended the entire 175 feet of the
complex and all the doors faced north.
Each of the two upper levels of rooms
was narrower than the one beneath it.
The upper levels had to allow space
for walkways in front of them.
Since there were three levels
and they did not have supporting
columns as in the courtyards.
Each of the upper levels was set
back from the level beneath it.
There was an outer wall that separated
the rooms from the outer courtyard.
It was 87 and a half feet long.
This wall added length to the outer
block of rooms, which extended
for only 87 and a half feet.
While the inner block, the rooms
toward the temple extended for 175
feet, there was an eastern entrance
from the outer courtyard to these
rooms on the south side of the temple.
There were two blocks of rooms just
south of the inner courtyard between
the temple and the outer courtyard.
These rooms were arranged just
like the rooms on the north.
There was a walkway between the two
blocks of rooms, just like the complex
on the north side of the temple.
This complex of rooms was the same
length and width as the other one, and
it had the same entrances and doors.
The dimensions of each were identical,
so there was an entrance in the wall
facing the doors of the inner block
of rooms and another on the east
at the end of the interior walkway.
Then the man told me, these rooms
that overlook the temple from the
north and south are holy here.
The priests who offer sacrifices to the
Lord will eat the most holy offerings.
Because these rooms are holy, they
will be used to store the sacred
offerings, the grain offerings,
sin offerings, and guilt offerings.
When the priests leave the
sanctuary, they must not go
directly to the outer courtyard.
They must first take off the
clothes they wore while ministering.
Because these clothes are holy,
they must put on other clothes
before entering the parts of the
building complex open to the public.
When the man had finished measuring
the inside of the temple area, he
led me out through the East Gateway
to measure the entire perimeter.
He measured the east side with his
measuring rod, and it was 875 feet long.
Then he measured the north
side and it was also 875 feet.
The south side was also 875 feet,
and the west side was also 875 feet.
So the area was 875 feet on each side
with a wall all around it to separate
what was holy from what was common.
After this, the man brought me
back around to the east gateway.
Suddenly, the glory of the God
of Israel appeared from the east.
The sound of his coming was like
the roar of rushing waters and the
whole landscape shown with his glory.
This vision was just like
the others I had seen.
First by the Key Bar River, and then
when he came to destroy Jerusalem,
I fell face down on the ground and
the glory of the Lord came into the
temple through the East Gateway.
Then the Spirit took me up and brought
me into the inner courtyard, and the
glory of the Lord filled the temple.
And I heard someone speaking to me from
within the temple while the man who
had been measuring stood beside me.
The Lord said to me, Son of man,
this is the place of my throne and
the place where I will rest my feet.
I will live here forever.
Among the people of Israel, they and
their kings will not defile my holy
name any longer by their adulterous
worship of other gods, or by honoring
the relics of their kings who have died.
They put their idol altars right next to
mine with only a wall between them and me.
They defiled my holy name
by such detestable sin.
So I consume them in my anger.
Now, let them stop worshiping other gods
and honoring the relics of their kings,
and I will live among them forever.
Son of man, describe to the people of
Israel, the temple I have shown you.
So they will be ashamed of all their sins.
Let them study its plan, and they will
be ashamed of what they have done.
Describe to them all the
specifications of the temple.
Including its entrances and exits
and everything else about it.
Tell them about its decrees and laws.
Write down all these specifications
and decrees as they watch, so they will
be sure to remember and follow them.
And this is the basic law of the temple.
Absolute holiness.
The entire top of the mountain
where the temple is built is holy.
Yes, this is the basic law of the temple.
These are the measurements of the altar.
There is a gutter all around the
altar, 21 inches deep and 21 inches
wide with a curb nine inches wide
around its edge, and this is the
height of the altar from the gutter.
The altar rises three and a half feet to
a lower ledge that surrounds the altar
and is 21 inches wide from the lower
ledge, the altar rises seven feet to the
upper ledge that is also 21 inches wide.
The top of the altar, the hearth rises
another seven feet higher with a horn
rising up from each of the four corners.
The top of the altar is square,
measuring 21 feet by 21 feet.
The upper ledge also forms a square
measuring 24 and a half feet by 24 and a
half feet with a 21 inch gutter and a 10
and a half inch curb all around the edge.
There are steps going up
the east side of the altar.
Then he said to me, son of man, this
is what the sovereign Lord says,
these will be the regulations for the
burning of offerings and the sprinkling
of blood when the altar is built.
At that time, the Levitical priests of
the family of Zadak who minister before
me are to be given a young bull for a
sin offering, says the sovereign Lord.
You will take some of its blood and smear
it on the four horns of the altar, the
four corners of the upper ledge, and
the curb that runs around that ledge.
This will cleanse and make
atonement for the altar.
Then take the young bull for the sin
offering and burn it at the appointed
place outside the temple area.
On the second day, sacrifice as
a sin offering a young male goat
that has no physical defects.
Then cleanse and make
atonement for the altar again.
Just as you did with the young bull.
When you have finished the cleansing
ceremony, offer another young bull
that has no defects and a perfect ram.
From the flock, you are to present
them to the Lord, and the priests are
to sprinkle salt on them and offer
them as a burnt offering to the Lord.
Every day For seven days, a male goat,
a young bull, and a ram from the flock
will be sacrificed as a sin offering.
None of these animals may have
physical defects of any kind.
Do this each day for seven days to
cleanse and make atonement for the
altar, thus setting it apart for holy
use on the eighth day and on each day
afterward, the priests will sacrifice
on the altar, the burnt offerings
and peace offerings of the people.
Then I will accept you.
I the sovereign Lord, have spoken.
This concludes today's
Immerse Reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.