Latest / truthunedited / The Book of Ezekiel Like You_ve Never Seen Before

Transcript

The Book of Ezekiel Like You_ve Never Seen Before · truthunedited

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: It all began in the fifth year of King Jehoyacin's exile.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: On the fifth day of the fourth month, Ezekiel, son
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: of the priest Buzi, was among the captives by the
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Kabar River in Babylon. The people of Judah had been
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: taken far from their homeland, torn from the place God
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: had given them. While many wept by the rivers of Babylon,
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: feeling the deep sorrow of exile, Ezekiel looked up to
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the heavens. That was when something extraordinary happened. The heavens
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: opened and he saw things no human had ever seen.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: God was about to make him a voice for a
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: lost nation, a prophet for a people in exile. This
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: is the story of how a simple exiled priest became
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: one of Israel's greatest prophets, and how his visions forever
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: changed the way we understand God. In Ezekiel one one
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to four, the prophet tells us, in the thirtieth year,
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I
• 0:56
  Speaker 1: was among the exiles by the Kabar River, the heaven
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: were opened, and I saw visions of God. What Ezekiel
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: saw in that moment was so incredible he could hardly
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: describe it with human words. From the north came a
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: powerful windstorm, a massive cloud with flashing fire and brilliant
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: light all around it, and from within the fire emerged
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: something that looked like four living beings. In Ezekiel one
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: five fourteen, he describes them. Their appearance was human like,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: but each had four faces and four wings. Imagine witnessing
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: something like that to day. Each being had the face
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: of a man in front, a lion on the right,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: an ox on the left, and an eagle at the back.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Their wings spread upward, with two wings touching those of
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: the beings next to them and two covering their bodies.
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: They moved wherever the spirit directed them, always forward, never
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: needing to turn. Between the beings was something like glowing
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: coals or flaming torches, with fire moving back and forth
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: and lightning flashing out of it. But the vision became
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: even more surreal. In Ezekiel one fifteen to twenty one,
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: he saw a wheel beside each living being on the ground.
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: There was a wheel on the ground beside each creature
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: with its four faces. These wheels sparkled like topaz and
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: looked as though a wheel was intersecting another, like interlocking gears.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: They could move in any direction without turning, perfectly synchronized
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: with the movement of the beings. Above the heads of
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: the beings was something like a vault, gleaming like crystal.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel one twenty two twenty five, he says, spread
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: out above the heads of the living creatures was what
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal. When the
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: beings moved, Ezekiel heard the sound of their wings, like
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the almighty.
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: Then above the vault came something even more astonishing. In
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel one twenty six to twenty eight, he saw a
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: figure like that of a man seated on what looked
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: like a throne made of sapphire. From what appeared to
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: be his waist up, he looked like glowing metal, as
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: if full of fire, And from the waist down he
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: looked like fire, and brilliant lights surrounded him. It was
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: like a rainbow appearing in the clouds on a rainy day.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: This was the appearance of the glory of the Lord.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: When Ezekiel saw it, he fell face down. While he
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: was on the ground, a voice spoke to Ezekiel. In
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel two one to two, the Lord said, son of Man,
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: stand up on your feet, and I will speak to you.
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: The spirit entered him and lifted him to his feet.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: God made Ezekiel's mission very clear. In Ezekiel two three
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: to five, he said, son of Man, I am sending
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: you to the Israelites, to a rebellious nation that has
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: rebelled against me. They and their ancestors have been in
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: revolt against me to this very day. The people to
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says. It
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: wouldn't be an easy task. The people might not listen,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: but at least they would know a prophet had been
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: among them. God warned Ezekiel not to fear. In Ezekiel
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: two six x seven, he commanded, do not be afraid
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: briars and thorns are all around you, and you live
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: among scorpions. Even if they refused to listen because they
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: were rebellious, Ezekiel was to speak God's words to them.
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: Then something remarkable happened. In Ezekiel two eight ten, God
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: showed Ezekiel a hand stretched out to him holding a scroll.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: He unrolled it before me, and on both sides were
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: written words of lament, mourning, and woe. It was a
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: scroll full of heavy messages. Then came a strange command.
• 4:59
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel th three one to three, God said, son
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: of man, eat what is before you eat this scroll,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: then go and speak to the people of Israel. Ezekiel obeyed,
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: so I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: honey in my mouth. This symbolized that Ezekiel needed to
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: fully absorb God's message, make it part of himself before
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: delivering it to the people. The mission would be hard,
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: but God promised to strengthen him. In Ezekiel three eight nine,
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: he said, I will make your forehead like the hardest stone,
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: harder than flint. Ezekiel would be made strong enough to
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: endure the people's resistance. Then the spirit lifted him up,
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: and he heard a loud rumbling behind him. In Ezekiel
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: three twelve to fifteen, the spirit lifted me up, and
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound as the
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: glory of the Lord rose from the place where it
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: was standing. Ezekiel was taken to tell Abebe, where the
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: exile lived by the Kabar River. There he sat among
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: them for seven days, stunned and overwhelmed. After seven days,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: the word of the Lord came again. In Ezekiel three
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: sixteen twenty one, God explained Ezekiel's responsibility as a watchman,
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: son of Man, I have made you a watchman for
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: the people of Israel. So hear the word I speak
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: and give them warning from me. If Ezekiel failed to
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: warn the wicked, he would be held accountable. But if
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: he did warn them, even if they didn't listen, he
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: would have delivered himself. Then God gave him an unusual
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: instruction in Ezekiel four one to three. He said, son
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: of Man, take a block of clay, put it in
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: front of you, and draw the city of Jerusalem on it.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: Then lay siege to it. Ezekiel was to build siege works,
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: erect ramps, and place battering rams around it. He was
• 6:56
  Speaker 1: to take an iron pan and set it up as
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: a wall between himself and the city, turning his face
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: toward it. This would serve as a sign to Israel
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: of what was coming. The demonstration of the siege became
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: even more personal, In Ezekiel four part four eight, God said,
• 7:15
  Speaker 1: lie on your left side and put the sin of
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: the people of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: their sin for the number of days you lie on
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: your side. Ezekiel was to remain like that for three
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: hundred and ninety days, representing the years of Israel's sin.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Then he was to lie on his right side for
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: forty days to bear the sin of Judah. He was
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: bound with ropes so he couldn't turn from one side
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: to the other. To illustrate the coming famine, God gave
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: another command in Ezekiel four nine eleven. He said, take
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: wheat and barley, beans and lentils, millet and spelt, put
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: them in a storage jar, and use them to make
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: bread for yourself. You are to eat it during the
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: three hundred ninety days you lie on your side. Ezekiel
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: was to eat only two hundred and thirty grams about
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: eight ounces of bread per day and drink one sixth
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: of a gallon roughly zero point six liters of water daily. Originally,
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: God commanded that the bread be baked over human excrement
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: to show how the people would eat defiled food among
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: the nations. But when Ezekiel protested in Ezekiel four fourteen, saying, Ah,
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord, I have never defiled myself. God allowed him
• 8:30
  Speaker 1: to use cow dung instead of human feces. The message
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: behind all this was clear. In Ezekiel four sixteen to seventeen,
• 8:40
  Speaker 1: God explained, Son of Man, I am about to cut
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: off the food supply in Jerusalem. The people will eat
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: ration food in anxiety and drink ration water in despair.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: For food and water will be scarce. They will be
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: appalled at the sight of each other and will waste
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: away because of their sin. God then asked Ezekiel to
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: perform another symbolic act. In Ezekiel five one to four,
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: he commanded Son of Man, take a sharp sword and
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: use it as a barber's razor to shave your head
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: and your beard. Then take a set of scales and
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: divide the hair. One third was to be burned in
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: the city when the days of the siege were over.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Another third was to be struck with the sword around
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: the city. The final third was to be scattered to
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: the wind as God would pursue them with a drawn sword.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel was to keep a few strands of hair in
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: his garments, but even from those, he was to take
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: some and throw them into the fire. This symbolized how
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: fire would spread through all of Israel. The meaning of
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: this symbol was terrifying. In Ezekiel five five ten, God said,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: this is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center
• 9:54
  Speaker 1: of the nations, with countries all around her. But Jerusalem
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: had been more rebellious than the surrounding nations, rejecting God's
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: laws and decrees. Therefore, said the Sovereign Lord, I myself
• 10:08
  Speaker 1: am against you, Jerusalem, and I will inflict punishment in
• 10:11
  Speaker 1: the sight of the nations. The punishment would be extreme
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: because of all your detestable practices. I will do to
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: you what I have never done before and will never
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: do again. Therefore, in your midst parents will eat their children,
• 10:27
  Speaker 1: and children will eat their parents. The survivors would be
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: scattered to the winds. God made the reason clear in
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel five eleven to thirteen. He declared, because you have
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: defiled my sanctuary with vile images and detestable practices, I
• 10:44
  Speaker 1: myself will withdraw my favor. I will have no pity
• 10:49
  Speaker 1: or spare you. One third would die by plague or famine,
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: one third by the sword, and the remaining third would
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: be scattered. The punishment was meant as a warning. In
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel five fourteen to seventeen, God said, I will make
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: you a ruin and a reproach among the nations around
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: you in the sight of all who pass by. Jerusalem
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: would become a reproach and a taunt, a warning, and
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: an object of horror to the nations. God would unleash famine,
• 11:20
  Speaker 1: wild beasts, plague, and bloodshed upon them. Then God turned
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel's attention to the mountains of Israel. In Ezekiel six
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: one to three, he commanded, son of Man, set your
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: face against the mountains of Israel. Prophesy against them, and say, oh,
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: mountains of Israel, hear the word of the sovereign Lord.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: God was about to bring a sword against them and
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: destroy their idolatrous altars. The reason was rampant idolatry throughout
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: the land. In Ezekiel six four seven, God declared, your
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: altars will be demolished and your incense altars smashed, and
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I will lay your slain before your idols. The Israelites
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: corpses would be placed before their idols and their bones
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: scattered around the altars. Then you will know that I
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: am the Lord. Some, however, would survive. In Ezekiel six
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: eight ten, God said, but I will spare some of you,
• 12:20
  Speaker 1: for some will escape the sword. When you are scattered
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: among the nations, these survivors would remember the Lord in
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: the nations where they were taken captive. They will loathe
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: themselves for the evil they have done and for all
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: their detestable practices. At last, they would understand that God
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: had not spoken in vain. God instructed Ezekiel to express
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: the horror of the situation. In Ezekiel six eleven to fourteen,
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: he said, clap your hands, stamp your feet, and cry alas,
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: because of all the wicked and detestable practices of the
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: people of Israel, every place where they offered incense to
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: idols would be laid waste. I will stretch out my
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: hand against them and make the land desolate. Then they
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: will know that I am the Lord. The message grew
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: even more urgent. In Ezekiel seven one to four God announced,
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: Son of Man, this is what the sovereign Lord says
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: to the land of Israel. The end. The end has
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: come upon the four corners of the land. The end
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: is now upon you. God would pour out his wrath
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: and judge them according to their ways. I will not
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: look on you with pity or spare you. Then you
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: will know that I am the Lord. The end would
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: be devastating. In Ezekiel seven five nine, God declared, this
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: is what the sovereign Lord says. Disaster, unheard of disaster.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: The end has come. The day was near, a day
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: of panic, not joy. Soon God would pour out his wrath.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: I will not spare you or have pity. I will
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: repay you according to your conduct and your detestable practices.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: The picture of destruction was vivid. In Ezekiel seven ten
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: to thirteen, God said, the day has arrived, Doom has
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: burst forth. Violence has grown into a rod to punish
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: the wicked. The time had come, The day was near.
• 14:18
  Speaker 1: Buyers and sellers would both be struck, for God's wrath
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: was upon all. The consequences were unavoidable. In Ezekiel seven
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: forteen nineteen, God described, though they blow the trumpet and
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: get everything ready, no one will go into battle, for
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: my wrath is on the whole crowd. Outside was the sword.
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: Inside were plague and famine. Every one would be paralyzed.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: With fear head shaved in mourning. They will throw their
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: silver into the streets, and their gold will be treated
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: as a thing unclean. Their silver and gold will not
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: be able to save them on the day of the
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: Lord's wrath. The time of judgment had come because of
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: their idolatry. In Ezekiel seven twenty twenty t to God
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: explained they took pride in their beautiful jewelry and used
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: it to make their detestable idols. Because of this, God
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: would hand them over as plunder to foreigners. I will
• 15:12
  Speaker 1: turn my face away from them, and robbers will desecrate
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: what I treasure. Disaster was now certain. In Ezekiel seven
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: twenty three twenty seven, God commanded prepare chains, for the
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: land is full of bloodshed and the city full of violence.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: He would bring the worst of the nations to seize
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: the homes of the Israelites. When anguish comes, they will
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: seek peace, but there will be none. Calamity upon calamity
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: would follow, and rumor upon rumor, the king will mourn.
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: The prince will be clothed with despair. I will deal
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: with them according to their conduct and judge them by
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: their own standards. Then they will know that I am
• 15:54
  Speaker 1: the Lord. In the sixth year of exile, on the
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: fifth day of the sixth month, Ezekiel had another astonishing vision.
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel Ate one to to four, he recounts, I
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: was sitting in my house, and the elders of Judah
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: were sitting before me, when the hand of the sovereign
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: Lord came upon me with power. Ezekiel saw a figure
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: that looked like fire from the waist down, and something
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: glowing like metal from the waist up. This figure reached
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: out what looked like a hand and took Ezekiel by
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: the hair, lifting him between Earth and Heaven. In the
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: divine vision, he was taken to Jerusalem, to the entrance
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: of the north inner court, where the idol that provokes
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: God's jealousy stood. There, Ezekiel saw the glory of the
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: God of Israel, just as in the vision he had
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: by the plane. God spoke to him in Ezekiel eight
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: five to six, God said, son of Man, looked toward
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: the north. Ezekiel looked and saw the idol of jealousy
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: at the entrance. God said, do you see what they
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: are doing? The utterly detestable things the people of Israel
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: are doing here things that will drive me far from
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: my sanctuary. But you will see even more detestable things.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: God showed Ezekiel an opening in the wall in Ezekiel
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: eight seven to eleven. After digging through it, he found
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: a door. God told him go in and see the
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: wicked and detestable things they are doing here. Ezekiel entered
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: and saw images engraved all over the walls, crawling creatures,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: unclean animals, and all the idols of Israel. In front
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: of them stood seventy elders, each holding a censer, and
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: fragrant clouds of incense rose. God explained, son of man,
• 17:47
  Speaker 1: do you see what the elders of Israel are doing
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: in the darkness, each at the shrine of his own idol.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: They say, the Lord does not see us. The Lord
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: has forsaken the land. Things only got worse in Ezekiel
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: eight thirteen to fifteen. God said, you will see them
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: doing things even more detestable than this. He brought Ezekiel
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: to the north gate of the temple, where women were
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: sitting and mourning for Tamus, a pagan god. God asked,
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: do you see this, son of man? You will see
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: things even more detestable than this. Then came the most
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: shocking scene in Ezekiel eight sixteen eighteen. God took Ezekiel
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: to the inner court of the temple. There, between the
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: portico and the altar were twenty five men. They were
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: facing east, bowing down to the sun. God said, do
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: you see this, son of man? Is it a trivial
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: matter for the people of Judah to do these detestable things?
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Here they were filling the land with violence and constantly
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: provoking God to anger. Therefore, I will deal with them
• 18:53
  Speaker 1: in wrath. I will not look on them with pity
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I
• 18:59
  Speaker 1: will not listen to them. Ezekiel then heard God cry
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: out in a loud voice in Ezekiel nine one two.
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: God commanded, bring near those who are appointed to execute
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: judgment on the city, each with a weapon in hand.
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: Six men came from the upper gate on the north side,
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: each with a deadly weapon. Among them was a man
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: dressed in linen, carrying a writing kit at his waist.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: They came and stood beside the bronze altar. The glory
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: of God moved from the cherub to the threshold of
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: the temple, in Ezekiel nine three four. God called to
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: the man in linen and said, go throughout the city
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: that are done in it. To the others, God said
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: in Ezekiel nine five seven, follow him through the city,
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: and kill without showing pity or compassion. Kill the old men,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: the young men and women, the mother's and children, but
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: my sanctuary. So they began with the elders in front
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: of the temple. God said, defile the temple and fill
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: the courts with the slain. Go and they went out
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: and began killing throughout the city. While the slaughter was happening,
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel was left alone in Ezekiel nine eight to ten.
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: He fell face down and cried out, Alas, Sovereign Lord,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem? God replied,
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: the sin of the people of Israel and Judah is
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: exceedingly great. The land is full of bloodshed and the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: city is full of injustice. They say the Lord has
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: forsaken the land. The Lord does not see, so I
• 20:50
  Speaker 1: will not look on them with pity or spare them,
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: but I will bring down on their own heads what
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: they have done. The man in Lenin returned with a
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: report in his Eikiel nine to eleven. He said, I
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: have done as you commanded. Ezekiel then saw something extraordinary
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: above the vault, over the heads of the cherubim. In
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel ten one two, it looked like a throne of sapphire.
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: God spoke to the man in Linen, Go in among
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: coals from among the cherubim, and scatter them over the city.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: And the man went in. The cherubim was standing on
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: the south side of the temple as the man entered,
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: and the inner court was filled with a cloud. In
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel ten to three TiO five, the glory of the
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: Lord rose from above the cherubim and moved to the
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: the court was full of the radiance of the Lord's glory.
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: The sound of the Cherubim's wings could be heard even
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: in the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: when he speaks. A man in Linen stood beside one
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: of the wheels. In Ezekiel ten six out eight, one
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: of the cherubim reached out to the fire among them,
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: took some coals and placed them in the hands of
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: the man in Linen, who took them and went out.
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: looked like human hands. Ezekiel observed the wheels beside the
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: cherubim in Ezekiel ten nine to fourteen. There were four
• 22:28
  Speaker 1: wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel beside each cherub. The
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: wheels looked like topaz. All four had the same appearance
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: as if one wheel were inside another. When they moved,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: they could go in any of the four directions without turning.
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: The cherubim were covered with eyes all over their bodies,
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: on their backs, hands, wings, and even on the wheels.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: Each cherub had four faces. The first was the face
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: of a cherub, the second that of a human, the
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: third of a lion, and the fourth of an eagle.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: Then the cherubim rose upward. In Ezekiel ten fifteen to seventeen,
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel recognized them as the same living creatures he had
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: seen by the Kiba river. When the Cheribim moved, the
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: wheels beside them moved. When the Cherabim spread their wings
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: to rise from the ground, the wheels stayed right beside them.
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: When the Cherubim stopped, the wheels stopped. When they rose,
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: the wheels rose with them, because the spirit of the
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: living creatures was in them. Then the glory of the
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: Lord departed from the temple. In Ezekiel ten eighteen to
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: twenty two, it moved away from the threshold of the
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: temple and stopped above the Cherubim. The Cheribim spread their
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: wings and rose up from the ground, with the wheels
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: beside them. They stopped at the entrance to the east
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: gate of the Lord's Temple, and the glory of the
• 23:58
  Speaker 1: God of Israel was above them. Ezekiel confirmed, they were
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: the same living creatures I had seen by the Kaba river.
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: After that, the spirit lifted Ezekiel and brought him to
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: the east gate of the Lord's Temple. In Ezekiel eleven
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: one four, there were twenty five men there, among them
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: Jazaniah and Pallatia, leaders of the people. God said to Ezekiel,
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: these are the men who are plotting evil and giving
• 24:27
  Speaker 1: wicked advice in this city, they say, should we be
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: building houses soon? This city is the pot and we
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: are the meat. Therefore prophesy against them. The spirit of
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: the Lord came upon Ezekiel. In Ezekiel eleven five to twelve.
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: God commanded, say, this is what the Lord says. This
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: is what you are saying, house of Israel. But I
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: know what goes through your minds. They had killed many
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: people in the city and filled the streets with the dead.
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: So God said, the dead you have left. There are
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: the the meat, and this city is the pot. But
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: I will drive you out of it. They feared the sword,
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: and the sword would come upon them. They would be
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: taken out of the city and handed over to foreigners.
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: You will not be the meat within the pot. I
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: will judge you at the borders of Israel. Then you
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: will know that I am the Lord. While Ezekiel was
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: still prophesying, something dramatic happened. In Ezekiel eleven thirteen. Pallatia,
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: son of Beniah died. Ezekiel fell face down and cried out, Ah,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord, will you completely destroy the remnant of Israel.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: God then responded with a message of hope. In Ezekiel
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: eleven fourteen to sixteen, he said, Son of Man, concerning
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: your fellow exiles, your relatives, and the whole house of Israel,
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: all of them, the people of Jerusalem are saying they
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: are far from the Lord. This land has been given
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: to as our possession. But God saw it differently. Even
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: though he had scattered them among the nations, he said,
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: I have been a sanctuary to them for a little
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: while in the countries where they have gone. God promised restoration.
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel eleven seventeen to twenty he declared, I will
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: gather you from the nations and bring you back from
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: the countries where you have been scattered, and I will
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: give you back the land of Israel. They would remove
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: all their detestable and abominable things. I will give them
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: an undivided heart and put a new spirit within them.
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: I will remove from them their heart of stone and
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: give them a heart of flesh. Then they would follow
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: God's decrees, and they would be his people, and He
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: would be their God. As for those who clung to
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: their detestable practices, their punishment was certain. In Ezekiel eleven
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: twenty one, God declared, I will bring down on their
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: own heads what they have done. Then the Cherubim, with
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the wheels beside them, spread their wings, while the glory
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: of the God of Israel hovered above them. In Ezekiel
• 27:09
  Speaker 1: eleven twenty two to twenty three, the glory of the
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: Lord rose from within the city and stopped above the
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: mountain east of it. It was as if God's presence
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: was leaving Jerusalem, abandoning the temple because of the people's
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: idolatry and rebellion. Afterward, the spirit lifted Ezekiel and brought
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: him back to the exiles in Babylon. In the vision
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: given by the Spirit of God in Ezekiel eleven twenty
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: four twenty five, the vision I had seen went up
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: from me. Ezekiel then told the exiles everything the Lord
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: had shown him. He shared terrifying visions of judgment, but
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: also promises of hope and future restoration. The word of
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: the Lord came to Ezekiel again in Ezekiel twelve one
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: one two. God said, son of Man, you are living
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: For they are a rebellious people. The issue wasn't that
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: they couldn't understand, it was that they refused to. So
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: God asked Ezekiel to do something unusual to get their attention.
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twelve to three four, the Lord commanded, therefore,
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: son of man, pack your belongings for exile, and during
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: the day in their sight, leave as if you were
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: going into exile. Go to another place in their sight.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious people.
• 28:37
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel obeyed exactly as God instructed. During the day, he
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: brought out his belongings as if preparing for exile. Then,
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: as described in Ezekiel twelve five to six, in the evening,
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: in their sight, dig through the wall with your hands
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: and go out through it as they watch. Carry your
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: belongings on your shoulders, and leave in the cover your
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: face so you cannot see the land. For I have
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: made you a sign to the house of Israel. Ezekiel
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: did exactly what the Lord told him. The next morning,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: the people asked what he was doing. In Ezekiel twelve
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: eighty eleven, the Lord said, tell them, this is what
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: the sovereign Lord says. This prophecy concerns the prince in
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem and all the Israelites who are there. Say to them,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: I am a sign to you. As I have done,
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: so it will be done to them. They will go
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: into exile as captives. What Ezekiel had done was a
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: warning to Jerusalem's prince. In Ezekiel twelve twelve thirteen, God explained,
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: the prince among them will put his belongings on his
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: shoulders at dusk and leave. They will dig through the
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: wall to bring him out. He will cover his face
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: so he cannot see the land. I will spread my
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: net for him, and he will be caught in my snare.
• 29:59
  Speaker 1: I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: but he will not see it, and there he will die.
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: This prophecy was fulfilled when King Zedekiah tried to escape
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: from Jerusalem during the Babylonian siege, but was captured. The
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: Babylonians killed his sons before his eyes, then gouged out
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: his eyes and took him in chains to Babylon. God
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: explained that he would scatter the people, as we read
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: in Ezekiel twelve fourteen sixteen, I will scatter to the
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: winds all who are around him, his staff and all
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: his troops, and I will pursue them with drawn sword.
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: They will know that I am the Lord when I
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries.
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine,
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: and plague, so that in the nations where they go
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord. To show the fear
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: that would come upon the peace, God commanded another sign.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twelve seventeen to twenty he said, eat your
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: food trembling with fear, and drink your water with anxiety
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: and despair. Say to the people of the land, this
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: is what the Sovereign Lord says about those living in
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem and in the land of Israel. They will eat
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair,
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: for their land will be stripped of everything in it
• 31:30
  Speaker 1: because of the violence of all who live there. The
• 31:33
  Speaker 1: people had a saying the days drag on and every
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: vision comes to nothing. But in Ezekiel twelve twenty one
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: twenty five, God said, I'm going to put an end
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: to this proverb, and it will no longer be quoted
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: in Israel. Say to them, the days are near when
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: every vision will be fulfilled, for there will be no
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: more false visions or flattering divinations among the people of Israel.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: Some were saying that his Ezekiel's visions were about a
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: distant future. But in Ezekiel twelve twenty six to twenty eight,
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: God responded, the word I speak will be fulfilled without delay.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: For in your days, you rebellious people, I will fulfill
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: whatever I say, declares the Sovereign Lord. The problem wasn't
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: just that the people refuse to believe true prophecies. There
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: were also false prophets deceiving them. In Ezekiel thirteen one three,
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: God said, son of Man, prophesy, against the prophets of Israel,
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: who are now prophesying. Say to those who prophesy out
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: of their own imagination, hear the word of the Lord.
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: This is what the Sovereign Lord says. Woe to the
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: These false prophets were like foxes among ruins. In Ezekiel
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: thirteen four to seven, God compares them, your prophets Israel
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: are like foxes among them ruins. You have not gone
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: up to repair the gaps in the wall for the
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: people of Israel, so that it will stand firm in
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: battle on the day of the Lord. Their visions are
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: false and their divinations a lie. Even though the Lord
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: has not sent them. They say the Lord declares, and
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: expect him to fulfill their words. God was furious with
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: these false prophets. In Ezekiel thirteen eight to nine, he declared, Therefore,
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: this is what the Sovereign Lord says. Because of your
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord. My hand will be against the prophets
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: not belong to the counsel of my people or be
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: the land of Israel. Then you will know that I
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: am the Sovereign Lord. These false prophets were like builders
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: of weak In Ezekiel thirteen ten to twelve, God explains
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: because they lead my people astray, saying peace when there
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: is no peace, and because when a flimsy wall is built,
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: they cover it with whitewash. Tell those who cover it
• 34:15
  Speaker 1: with whitewash, that it is going to fall. Rain will
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: pour down in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: and violent winds will burst forth. God would completely destroy
• 34:29
  Speaker 1: the wall of the false prophets. In Ezekiel thirteen thirteen sixteen,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: he said, therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: In my wrath, I will unleash a violent wind, and
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: in my anger, hailstones and torrents of rain will fall
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: with destructive fury. I will tear down the wall you
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: have covered with whitewash and level it to the ground,
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls,
• 34:55
  Speaker 1: you will be destroyed in it, and you will know
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: that I am the l There were also false prophetesses
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: deceiving the people. In Ezekiel thirteen seventeen to nineteen, God said, now,
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: son of Man, set your face against the daughters of
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: against them, and say, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: Woe to the women who sow magic charms on all
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: heads in order to ensnare lives. Will you ensnare the
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: lives of my people, but preserve your own. These women
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: were profaning God for a handful of barley and scraps
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: of bread, as written in Ezekiel thirteen nineteen, you have
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: who listen to lies. You kill those who should not
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: have died, and spare those who should not live. God
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: promised to deliver his people from their traps. In Ezekiel
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: thirteen twenty twenty three. He declared, Therefore, this is what
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: the sovereign Lord says. I am against your magic charms,
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: with which you ensnare people like birds, and I will
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: tear them from your arms. I will set free the
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: people that you ensnare like birds. I will tear off
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: your veils and save my people from your hands, and
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: they will no longer fall prey to your power. Then
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: you will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel continued
• 36:30
  Speaker 1: receiving revelations from God about the fate of Jerusalem. This
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: time the message came through the image of the vine.
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel fifteen one three, God asked, son of Man,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: how is the wood of a vine better than that
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: of a branch from any of the trees in the forest.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Do they make pegs from it to hang things on?
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: The answer is obvious. Vine wood is useless for building.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: It's too weak. It's only value is in producing grapes.
• 37:02
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel fifteen four to five, God continues, and after
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: it is thrown on the fire as fuel, and the
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it
• 37:12
  Speaker 1: then useful for anything? If it was not useful for
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: anything while it was whole, how much less can it
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: be made into something useful when the fire has burned
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: and charred it. This was a direct message about Jerusalem.
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel fifteen six to eight, God explained, Therefore, this
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: is what the sovereign Lord says. As I have given
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: the wood of the vine among the trees of the
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: the people living in Jerusalem. I will set my face
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: against them. Although they have come out of the fire,
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: the fire will yet consume them. And when I set
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: my face against them, you will know that I am
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: the Lord. I will make the land desolate because they
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord. Jerusalem was like
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: a vine that had stopped bearing fruit. Without fruit, the
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: vine has no value. Its wood is useless for any
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: other purpose. In the same way, Jerusalem, having abandoned its
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: purpose of serving God, would now face the fire of judgment.
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: God then told Ezekiel a powerful story about Jerusalem, comparing
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: her to an abandoned child whom he rescued. In Ezekiel
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: sixteen one pun five, he begins, son of Man, confront
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem with her detestable practices, and say, this is what
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem. Your ancestry and birth
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: you were born, your cord was not cut, nor were
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: you washed with water to make you clean, nor were
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: do any of these things for you. Rather, you were
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: thrown out into the open field, for on the day
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: you were born, you were despised. This was a vivid
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: image a new born baby filthy and abandoned to die.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: But then God came near. In Ezekiel sixteen six seven,
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: he said, Then I passed by and saw you kicking
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: about in your blood. And as you lay there in
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: your blood, I said to you live. I made you
• 39:27
  Speaker 1: grow like a plant of the field. You grew and
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: were formed, and your hair had grown. Yet you were
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: stark naked. When Jerusalem reached the age for marriage, God
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: made a covenant with her. In Ezekiel sixteen eight to fourteen,
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: he explained, Later, I passed by, and when I looked
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: at you and saw that you were old enough for love,
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: I spread the corner of my garment over you and
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath, and
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: entered into a covenant with you, declares the sovereign Lord,
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: and you became mine. God cared for her like a
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: loving husband. I bathed you with water and washed the
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: blood from you, and put ointments on you. I clothed
• 40:14
  Speaker 1: you with embroidered garments and put fine leather sandals on you.
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry. I put bracelets
• 40:25
  Speaker 1: on your arms, and a necklace around your neck, a
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: ring on your nose, ear rings on your ears, and
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: a beautiful crown on your head. She ate the finest
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: food and became very beautiful, fit for royalty. Her beauty
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: became famous among the nations because of the splendor God
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: had given her. Your beauty was perfect because I had
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: bestowed my splendor on you, declares the sovereign Lord. But
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: then something terrible happened in Ezekiel sixteen fifteen nineteen. God lamented,
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: But you trusted in your bearing beauty and used your
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: any one who passed by, and your beauty became his.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: You took some of your garments to make gaudy high
• 41:12
  Speaker 1: places where you carried on your prostitution. You took my
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: and made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: with them. You took your embroidered clothes and put them
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: Also the food I gave you, the flour olive oil
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: and honey I provided you offered as a fragrant incense
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: before them. Jerusalem forgot her humble beginnings and how God
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: had rescued her. In Ezekiel sixteen twenty twenty two, God continued,
• 41:49
  Speaker 1: and you took your sons and daughters, whom you bore
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: to me, and sacrificed them as food to the idols.
• 41:56
  Speaker 1: Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered my children and
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: sacrificed them to the idols. In all your detestable practices
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: and your prostitution, you did not remember the days of
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: in your blood. Jerusalem built pagan shrines everywhere. In Ezekiel
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: sixteen twenty three twenty nine, God described woe woe to you,
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: declares the sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness,
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: shrine in every public square, at every street corner, you
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. She
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: prostituted herself with the Egyptians, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity.
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: Also prostituted yourself with the Assyrians because you were insatiable,
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: and even after that you still were not satisfied. Then
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia, a land of merchants.
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: But even with this you were not satisfied. God questioned
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: how her heart could be so weak in Ezekiel sixteen
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: thirty thirty four, He asked, how weak willed you are,
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: declares the sovereign Lord. When you do all these things,
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: acting like a brazen prostitute, when you built your mounds
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: at every street corner, and made your lofty shrines in
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: every public square, you were unlike a prostitute because you
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: scorned payment. In fact, Jerusalem was worse than a common prostitute.
• 43:45
  Speaker 1: You adulterous wife. You prefer strangers to your own husband.
• 43:50
  Speaker 1: All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: for your illicit wavers. Because this judgment would come in
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel sixteen thirty five forty three. God declared, therefore, you prostitute,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: hear the word of the Lord. This is what the
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: sovereign Lord says. Because you poured out your lust and
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: exposed your naked body and your promiscuity with your lovers,
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: and because of all your detestable idols, and because you
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: gave them your children's blood. Therefore I I am going
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: to gather all your lovers with whom you found pleasure,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: those you loved, as well as those you hated. I
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: will gather them against you from all around, and will
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: strip you in front of them, and they will see
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: you stark naked. The punishment would be harsh. I will
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery
• 44:44
  Speaker 1: and who shed blood. I will bring on you the
• 44:47
  Speaker 1: blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. Then I
• 44:50
  Speaker 1: will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: They will strip you of your clothes and tear make
• 45:00
  Speaker 1: your fine jewelry, and leave you stark naked. They will
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: bring a mob against you who will stone you and
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: hack you to pieces with their swords. But all of
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: this had a purpose. In Ezekiel sixteen fifty nine sixty three,
• 45:15
  Speaker 1: God revealed that his love was not over yet. I
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: will remember the covenant I made with you in the
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: be ashamed. I will establish my covenant with you, and
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: you will know that I am the Lord. Then, when
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: I make atonement for you for all you have done,
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: you will remember and be ashamed, and never again open
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: God then told Ezekiel another story using imagery from nature.
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel seventeen one two, he said, son of Man,
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: present a riddle and tell a harrible to the people
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: of Israel. The story was about two eagles and a vine.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel seventeen three six, God began say to them,
• 46:10
  Speaker 1: this is what the Sovereign Lord says. A great eagle
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: with powerful wings, long feathers, and full plumage of varied
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: colors came to Lebanon. It took hold of the top
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: of a cedar and plucked off its highest chute. He
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: carried it off to a land of merchants, where he
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: planted it in a city of traders. He also took
• 46:31
  Speaker 1: some of the seed from the land and planted it
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: in fertile soil. He placed it like a willow by
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: abundant water, and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: Its branches turned toward the eagle, and its roots remained
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: under it. So it became a vine and produced branches
• 46:51
  Speaker 1: and put out leafy growth. Then a second eagle enters
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: the scene in Ezekiel seventeen seven to eight, God continued,
• 47:00
  Speaker 1: but there was another great eagle with powerful wings and
• 47:04
  Speaker 1: thick plumage. And this vine now sent out its roots
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: toward him from the bed where it had been planted,
• 47:10
  Speaker 1: and stretched out its branches to him for water. It
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: had been planted in good soil by abundant water, so
• 47:17
  Speaker 1: that it would produce branches, bear fruit, and become a
• 47:20
  Speaker 1: splendid vine. God then asked if this vine would thrive.
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel seventeen nine to ten, he questioned, say to them,
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. Will it thrive?
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: Will it not be uprooted and its fruit torn off
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: so that it withers? All its new growth? Will wither.
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: It will not take a strong arm or many people
• 47:44
  Speaker 1: to pull it up by the roots. Even if it
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: is transplanted, will it thrive? Will it not wither completely
• 47:51
  Speaker 1: when the east wind strikes it whither away in the
• 47:54
  Speaker 1: plot where it grew. This parable had a very clear
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: meaning tied to the political events of the time. In
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel seventeen eleven to fifteen, God explained, then the word
• 48:06
  Speaker 1: of the Lord came to me, Say to this rebellious nation,
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: do you not know what these things mean? Say to them?
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: The King of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its
• 48:17
  Speaker 1: king and officials and brought them back with him to Babylon.
• 48:22
  Speaker 1: Then he took a member of the royal family and
• 48:25
  Speaker 1: made a treaty with him, putting him under oath. He
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: also carried away the leading men of the land, so
• 48:31
  Speaker 1: that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to rise again,
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: surviving only by keeping his covenant. The first eagle was
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: the king of Babylon, nebucad Neza. He took King Jehoiakin
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: of Judah into exile along with many of the nobles.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Then he installed Zedekiah, Jehoiakin's uncle, as a vassal king
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: under oath, but Zedekiah rebelled. In Ezekiel seventeen fifteen, it says,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: but the king rebelled against him by sending his envoys
• 49:03
  Speaker 1: to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will
• 49:07
  Speaker 1: he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will
• 49:11
  Speaker 1: he break the treaty and yet escape? God promised that
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: Zedekiah's betrayal would not go unpunished. In Ezekiel seventeen sixteen
• 49:20
  Speaker 1: two twenty one, he declared, as surely as I live,
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: declares the sovereign Lord, he will die in Babylon, in
• 49:28
  Speaker 1: the land of the king who put him on the throne,
• 49:31
  Speaker 1: whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke. Pharaoh,
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: with his mighty army and great horde, will be of
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: no help to him in war, when ramps are built
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: and siege works erected to destroy many lives. He despised
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: the oath by breaking the covenant, because he had given
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: his hand in pledge, and yet did all these things.
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: He shall not escape. I will spread my net for him,
• 49:55
  Speaker 1: and he will be caught in my snare. I will
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him. There
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: because he was unfaithful to me. All his fleeing troops
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I,
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: the Lord have spoken. However, after the judgment came Hope
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: in Ezekiel seventeen twenty two to twenty four, God promised,
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says, I myself will
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: take a shoot from the very top of a cedar
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: and plant it. I will break off a tender sprig
• 50:31
  Speaker 1: from its topmost huts and plant it on a high
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: and lofty mountain, on the high mountain of Israel. I
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: will plant it. It will produce branches and bear fruit,
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: nest in it. They will find shelter in the shade
• 50:47
  Speaker 1: of its branches. All the trees of the forest will
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: know that I the Lord bring down the tall tree
• 50:54
  Speaker 1: and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up
• 50:57
  Speaker 1: the green tree and make the dry tree flows. I
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: the Lord have spoken, and I will do it. The
• 51:05
  Speaker 1: people of Israel had a popular proverb, the parents eat
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: They believed they were suffering for the sins of previous generations,
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: not for their own failings. In Ezekiel eighteen one four,
• 51:22
  Speaker 1: God challenged that idea. The word of the Lord came
• 51:25
  Speaker 1: to me. What do you people mean by quoting this
• 51:27
  Speaker 1: proverb about the land of Israel? The parents eat sour
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge. As
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: no longer quote this proverb in Israel. For everyone belongs
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: to me. The parent as well as the child, both
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: alike belong to me. The one whose sins is the
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: one who will die. God then presented several scenarios to
• 51:55
  Speaker 1: show that each person is accountable for their own choices.
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel eighteen five nine, he describes a righteous man.
• 52:03
  Speaker 1: Suppose there is a righteous man who does what is
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: just and right. He does not eat at the mountain
• 52:10
  Speaker 1: shrines or look to the idols of Israel. He does
• 52:13
  Speaker 1: not defile his neighbour's wife or sleep with a woman
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: during her period. He does not oppress anyone, but returns
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: what he took in pledge for a loan. He does
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: not commit robbery, but gives his food to the hungry,
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: and provides clothing for the naked. He does not lend
• 52:30
  Speaker 1: at interest or take a profit from others. He withholds
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: his hand from injustice and judges fairly between one person
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: and another. He follows my decrees and faithfully keeps my laws.
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: That man is righteous, he will surely live, declares the
• 52:48
  Speaker 1: sovereign Lord. But what if this righteous man has a
• 52:52
  Speaker 1: violent son? In Ezekiel eighteen ten thirteen, God continues, suppose
• 52:58
  Speaker 1: he has a son who is violent, who sheds blood,
• 53:02
  Speaker 1: or does any of these other things, though the father
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: has done none of them. He eats at the mountain shrines,
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: he defiles his neighbour's wife. He oppresses the poor and needy.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: He commits robbery. He does not return what he took
• 53:17
  Speaker 1: in pledge. He looks to idols, He does detestable things,
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: He lends at interest and takes profit. Will such a
• 53:25
  Speaker 1: man live? He will not, because he has done all
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: these detestable things. He is to be put to death.
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: His blood will be on his own head. What if
• 53:35
  Speaker 1: this wicked man has a son who sees his father's
• 53:38
  Speaker 1: sins and chooses not to follow in his footsteps. In Ezekiel,
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: eighteen fourteen eighteen. God explains, but suppose this son has
• 53:48
  Speaker 1: a son who sees all the sins his father commits,
• 53:51
  Speaker 1: And though he sees them, he does not do such things.
• 53:54
  Speaker 1: He does not eat at the mountain shrines or look
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: to the idols of Israel. He does not file his
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: neighbor's wife. He does not oppress anyone or require a
• 54:04
  Speaker 1: pledge for a loan. He does not commit robbery, but
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: gives his food to the hungry and provides clothing for
• 54:11
  Speaker 1: the naked. He withholds his hand from sin and does
• 54:14
  Speaker 1: not lend at interest or take excessive interest. He keeps
• 54:18
  Speaker 1: my laws and follows my decrees. He will not die
• 54:22
  Speaker 1: for his father's sin. He will surely live. The message
• 54:26
  Speaker 1: is clear. The soul who sins is the one who
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: will die. The son will not bear the guilt of
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: the father, nor will the father bear the guilt of
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: the son. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be
• 54:41
  Speaker 1: charged against them. God also made it clear that people
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: can change their destiny through repentance. In Ezekiel eighteen twenty
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: one twenty three, he says, but if a wicked person
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: turns away from all the sins they have committed and
• 54:58
  Speaker 1: keeps all My decrees and does what is just and right,
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: they will surely live. They will not die. None of
• 55:05
  Speaker 1: the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them.
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked,
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: declares the sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when
• 55:21
  Speaker 1: they turn from their ways and live? Likewise, a righteous
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: person can turn away from righteousness. In Ezekiel eighteen twenty four,
• 55:30
  Speaker 1: God warns, but if a righteous person turns from their
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: righteousness and commits sin, doing the same detestable things the
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: wicked do, will they live? None of the righteous things
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: they have done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: they are guilty of, and because of the sins they
• 55:50
  Speaker 1: have committed, they will die. The people claimed that God's
• 55:54
  Speaker 1: ways were unjust, but in reality it was their own
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: ways that were wrong. In Ezekiel eighteen twenty five twenty nine,
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: God responds, Yet, you say the way of the Lord
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: is not just? Hear you, Israelites? Is my way unjust?
• 56:11
  Speaker 1: Is it not your ways that are unjust? If a
• 56:14
  Speaker 1: righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: will die for it. Because of the sin they have committed,
• 56:22
  Speaker 1: they will die. But if a wicked person turns away
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: from the wickedness they have committed and does what is
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: just and right, they will save their life. Because they
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: from them, they will surely live. They will not die. Yet,
• 56:41
  Speaker 1: the Israelites say, the way of the Lord is not just.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: Are my ways unjust? People of Israel? Is it not
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: your ways that are unjust? The chapter closes with a
• 56:51
  Speaker 1: passionate call to repentance. In Ezekiel eighteen thirty to thirty two,
• 56:56
  Speaker 1: God pleads, therefore, I will judge each of you according
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent, turn
• 57:05
  Speaker 1: away from all your offenses. Then sin will not be
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed,
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: will you die, people of Israel, For I take no
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: pleasure in the death of any one, declares the Sovereign Lord.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: Repent and live. God then instructed Ezekiel to sing a
• 57:26
  Speaker 1: lament for the princes of Israel. In Ezekiel nineteen one four,
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: the prophet sings, take up a lament concerning the princes
• 57:34
  Speaker 1: of Israel, and say, what a lioness was your mother
• 57:38
  Speaker 1: among the lions. She lay down among them and reared
• 57:41
  Speaker 1: her cubs. She brought up one of her cubs, and
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey,
• 57:48
  Speaker 1: and he devoured people. The nations heard about him, and
• 57:52
  Speaker 1: he was trapped in their pit. They led him with
• 57:54
  Speaker 1: hooks to the land of Egypt. This first young lion
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: was likely King Jehoahas, who was taken prisoner to Egypt
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: by Pharaoh Necho after reigning only three months. When the
• 58:07
  Speaker 1: lioness representing the nation of Judah saw that her hope
• 58:10
  Speaker 1: was lost, she raised another cub. The lament continues in
• 58:15
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel nineteen to five to nine. When she saw her
• 58:19
  Speaker 1: hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: cubs and made him a strong lion. He prowled among
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He
• 58:29
  Speaker 1: learned to tear the prey, and he devoured people. He
• 58:32
  Speaker 1: broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land,
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.
• 58:40
  Speaker 1: Then the nations came against him, those from regions all around.
• 58:45
  Speaker 1: They spread their net for him, and he was trapped
• 58:47
  Speaker 1: in their pit with hooks. They pulled him into a
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They
• 58:52
  Speaker 1: put him in prison so his roar would be heard
• 58:55
  Speaker 1: no longer on the mountains of Israel. This second young
• 59:00
  Speaker 1: lion is most likely King Jehoyakin, who was taken captive
• 59:04
  Speaker 1: to Babylon by nebuchad Nezzer. Then the imagery shifts from
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: a lion to a vine. In Ezekiel nineteen ten fourteen,
• 59:13
  Speaker 1: the lament continues, your mother was like a vine in
• 59:16
  Speaker 1: your vineyard, planted by the water. It was fruitful and
• 59:19
  Speaker 1: full of branches. Because of abundant water. Its branches were strong,
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: fit for a ruler's septer. It towered high above the
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: thick foliage, conspicuous for its height and for its many branches.
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: But it was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground.
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: The east wind made its shrivel, stripped off its fruit.
• 59:38
  Speaker 1: Its strong branches withered and were consumed by fire. Now
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: it is planted in the desert, in a dry and
• 59:45
  Speaker 1: thirsty land. Fire spread from one of its main branches
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it,
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: fit for a ruler's septer. This is a lament and
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: is to be used as a lament in the ninth
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 1: year of exile, on the tenth day of the tenth month,
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 1: the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. In Ezekiel
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: twenty four one five, God says, son of Man, record
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: this date, this very date, because the king of Babylon
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: has laid siege to Jerusalem this very day. Tell this
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 1: rebellious people a parable, and say to them, this is
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: what the sovereign Lord says. Put on the cooking pot.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: Put it on and pour water into it. Put into
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 1: it the pieces of meat, all the choice pieces, the
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: leg and the shoulder. Fill it with the best of
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: these bones. Take the pick of the flock. Pile wood
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: beneath it for the bones. Bring it to a boil,
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: and cook the bones in it. This pot symbolized Jerusalem
• 1:00:48
  Speaker 1: under siege. In Ezekiel twenty four six eight, God explains further,
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: for this is what the sovereign Lord says. Woe to
• 1:00:57
  Speaker 1: the city of bloodshed to the pot now in crusted,
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 1: whose deposit will not go away. Take the meat out,
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: piece by piece, in whatever order it comes. For the
• 1:01:08
  Speaker 1: blood she shed is in her midst. She poured it
• 1:01:11
  Speaker 1: on the bare rock. She did not pour it on
• 1:01:13
  Speaker 1: the ground, where the dust would cover it. To stir
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 1: up wrath and take revenge. I put her blood on
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: the bare rock, so that it would not be covered.
• 1:01:22
  Speaker 1: The judgment would be severe. In Ezekiel twenty four nine
• 1:01:26
  Speaker 1: to thirteen, God declared, Therefore, this is what the sovereign
• 1:01:30
  Speaker 1: lord says, woe to the city of bloodshed. I too
• 1:01:34
  Speaker 1: will pile the wood high. So heap on the wood
• 1:01:37
  Speaker 1: and kindle the fire. Cook the meat well, mixing in
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: the spices, and let the bones be charred. Then set
• 1:01:43
  Speaker 1: the empty pot on the coals till it becomes hot
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: and its copper glows, so that its impurities may be
• 1:01:49
  Speaker 1: melted and its corrosion burned away. It has frustrated all efforts.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: Its heavy corrosion has not been removed, not even by fire.
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 1: The corruption of Erusalem ran so deep that not even
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 1: the fire of judgment could fully cleanse it. In Ezekiel
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: twenty four thirteen two fourteen God continued, Now your impurity
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: is lewdness, because I tried to cleanse you, but you
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: would not be cleansed from your impurity. You will not
• 1:02:18
  Speaker 1: be clean again until my wrath against you has subsided. I,
• 1:02:23
  Speaker 1: the Lord, have spoken. The time has come, and I
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 1: will act. I will not hold back. I will not
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 1: have pity, nor will I relent. You will be judged
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 1: according to your conduct and your actions, declares the sovereign Lord.
• 1:02:40
  Speaker 1: Then something deeply personal and painful happened in Ezekiel's life.
• 1:02:45
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twenty four fifteen to seventeen, God said, the
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: word of the Lord came to me, son of man,
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: with one blow. I am about to take away from
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament,
• 1:02:58
  Speaker 1: or weep or shed any tears. Groan quietly, do not
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: sandals on your feet. Do not cover your mustache or
• 1:03:08
  Speaker 1: eat the customary food of mourners. The next morning, Ezekiel
• 1:03:13
  Speaker 1: spoke to the people, and that evening his wife died.
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twenty four eighteen, he recounts, so I spoke
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: to the people in the morning and in the evening
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: my wife died. The next morning, I did as I
• 1:03:27
  Speaker 1: had been commanded. The people were confused by Ezekiel's behavior.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twenty four, nineteen twenty one, they asked. Then,
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 1: the people asked me, won't you tell us what these
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: things have to do with us? Why are you acting
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: like this? So I said to them. The word of
• 1:03:45
  Speaker 1: the Lord came to me. Say to the people of Israel,
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. I am about
• 1:03:53
  Speaker 1: to desecrate my sanctuary, the stronghold in which you take pride,
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 1: the delight of your eyes, the object of your affection.
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: Just as Ezekiel lost his beloved wife suddenly and was
• 1:04:04
  Speaker 1: not allowed to mourn her publicly, the people of Jerusalem
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 1: would lose their treasured temple and would not have the
• 1:04:11
  Speaker 1: chance to grieve properly. In Ezekiel twenty four, twenty one,
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 1: twenty four, God explained, the sons and daughters you left
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: behind in Jerusalem will fall by the sword, and you
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: will do as I have done. You will not cover
• 1:04:27
  Speaker 1: your mustache or eat the customary food of mourners. You
• 1:04:31
  Speaker 1: will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals
• 1:04:35
  Speaker 1: on your feet. You will not mourn or weep, but
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 1: will waste away because of your sins and groan among yourselves.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel will be assigned to you. You will do just
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 1: as he has done. When this happens, you will know
• 1:04:50
  Speaker 1: that I am the sovereign Lord. And on that very day,
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 1: while Ezekiel remained silent in his personal grief, the final
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 1: word of this section of prophecy came in Ezekiel twenty
• 1:05:02
  Speaker 1: four twenty five twenty seven, God concluded, and you, son
• 1:05:06
  Speaker 1: of Man, on the day I take away from them
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 1: their stronghold, there joy and glory, the delight of their eyes,
• 1:05:14
  Speaker 1: their heart's desire, and their sons and daughters as well.
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: On that day a fugitive will come to tell you
• 1:05:21
  Speaker 1: the news. At that time your mouth will be opened.
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: You will speak with him, and will no longer be silent.
• 1:05:29
  Speaker 1: So you will be assigned to them, and they will
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord. After declaring judgment on
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 1: his own people, God turned his attention to the neighboring
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 1: nations that had mocked and rejoiced over Jerusalem's downfall. In
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel twenty five one three, the word of the Lord
• 1:05:49
  Speaker 1: came to Ezekiel, son of man, set your face against
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 1: the Ammonites and prophesy against them. Say to the Ammonites,
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: hear the word of the Sovereign Lord. This is what
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord says. Because you said aha, over my
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 1: sanctuary when it was desecrated, and over the land of
• 1:06:08
  Speaker 1: Israel when it was laid waste, and over the people
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 1: of Judah when they went into exile. The Ammonites were
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: distant relatives of the Israelites, descendants of Lot, Abraham's nephew,
• 1:06:21
  Speaker 1: but instead of showing compassion for their suffering kin, they
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 1: clapped their hands and celebrated. That stirred God's anger. Therefore,
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 1: God continued in Ezekiel twenty five four five, I am
• 1:06:35
  Speaker 1: going to give you to the people of the East
• 1:06:37
  Speaker 1: as a possession. They will set up their camps and
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: pitch their tents among you. They will eat your fruit
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 1: and drink your milk. I will turn Rabbah into a
• 1:06:47
  Speaker 1: pasture for camels, and Amon into a resting place for sheep.
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 1: Then you will know that I am the Lord. The
• 1:06:54
  Speaker 1: punishment would be harsh because the Ammonite's joy at Israel's
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: tragedy was cruel and petty. In Ezekiel, twenty five six
• 1:07:03
  Speaker 1: two seven. God said, because you clapped your hands and
• 1:07:07
  Speaker 1: stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: heart against the land of Israel. Therefore I will stretch
• 1:07:14
  Speaker 1: out my hand against you and give you as plunder
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 1: to the nations. I will wipe you out from among
• 1:07:19
  Speaker 1: the nations and exterminate you from the countries. I will
• 1:07:23
  Speaker 1: destroy you, and you will know that I am the Lord.
• 1:07:27
  Speaker 1: Then God turned to Moab, another nation descended from Lot
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 1: in Ezekiel twenty five eighty eleven. He said, this is
• 1:07:34
  Speaker 1: what the sovereign Lord says, because Moab and Sayer said, look,
• 1:07:39
  Speaker 1: Judah has become like all the other nations. Therefore, I
• 1:07:43
  Speaker 1: will expose the flank of Moab, beginning at its frontier
• 1:07:47
  Speaker 1: towns beth Jeshamuth, Balmaeon, and Kyriathim the glory of that land.
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 1: I will give Moab, along with the Ammonites, to the
• 1:07:55
  Speaker 1: people of the Yeast as a possession, so that the
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: Ammonites will not be remembered the nations, and I will
• 1:08:01
  Speaker 1: inflict punishment on Moab. Then they will know that I
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: am the Lord. The Moabites made the mistake of thinking
• 1:08:12
  Speaker 1: that Israel was nothing special, that it was just like
• 1:08:16
  Speaker 1: all the other nations. They didn't understand that, even in punishment,
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 1: Israel was still God's chosen and beloved people. Then came
• 1:08:25
  Speaker 1: the turn of Edom, descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother. In
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel twenty five twelve to fourteen, God declared, this is
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 1: what the Sovereign Lord says, because Edom took revenge on
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 1: Judah and became very guilty by doing so. Therefore, this
• 1:08:43
  Speaker 1: is what the Sovereign Lord says. I will stretch out
• 1:08:46
  Speaker 1: my hand against Edom and kill both man and beast.
• 1:08:50
  Speaker 1: I will lay at waste, and from Temen to Dedan
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 1: they will fall by the sword. I will take vengeance
• 1:08:56
  Speaker 1: on Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: they will deal with Edom in accordance with my anger
• 1:09:02
  Speaker 1: and my wrath. They will know my vengeance, declares the
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord. The Edomites not only rejoiced over Judah's downfall,
• 1:09:11
  Speaker 1: but they actively took revenge on them when they were weak,
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 1: helping to capture the fugitives and handing them over to
• 1:09:18
  Speaker 1: the Babylonians. Finally, God spoke about the Philistines, ancient enemies
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: who lived along the Mediterranean coast, In Ezekiel twenty five
• 1:09:28
  Speaker 1: fifteen to seventeen, he declared, this is what the sovereign
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 1: Lord says, because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 1: revenge with malice in their hearts, seeking to destroy with
• 1:09:40
  Speaker 1: everlasting hostility. Therefore, I will stretch out my hand against
• 1:09:45
  Speaker 1: the Philistines, and I will cut off the Carethites and
• 1:09:49
  Speaker 1: destroy those remaining along the coast. I will carry out
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 1: great vengeance on them with furious rebukes. Then they will
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord when I take vengeance
• 1:09:59
  Speaker 1: on them. The Philistines had been fighting Israel for centuries,
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: going all the way back to the days of Samson
• 1:10:07
  Speaker 1: and Samuel. Their hostility was long standing, and they too
• 1:10:12
  Speaker 1: seized the opportunity to attack when Judah was at its weakest.
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel then turned his attention to Tire, the wealthy Phoenician
• 1:10:21
  Speaker 1: city state on the Mediterranean coast. Tire was a commercial
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: powerhouse with a famous harbor protected by towering walls. In
• 1:10:30
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel twenty six one two, we read, in the eleventh year,
• 1:10:35
  Speaker 1: on the first day of the month, the word of
• 1:10:36
  Speaker 1: the Lord came to me, son of Man, because Tire
• 1:10:39
  Speaker 1: has said of ye Jerusalem, Aha, the gate to the
• 1:10:44
  Speaker 1: nations is broken, and its doors have swung open to me.
• 1:10:48
  Speaker 1: Now that she lies in ruins, I will prosper just
• 1:10:53
  Speaker 1: like the other nations. Tire saw Jerusalem's fall as a
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: business opportunity. With the city destroyedoid Tire expected to absorb
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 1: its trade routes and become even richer. But God had
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: other plans. In Ezekiel twenty six three to six, he announced, Therefore,
• 1:11:10
  Speaker 1: this is what the Sovereign Lord says. I am against you, Tire,
• 1:11:14
  Speaker 1: and I will bring many nations against you, Like the
• 1:11:16
  Speaker 1: sea casting up its waves. They will destroy the walls
• 1:11:20
  Speaker 1: of Tire and pull down her towers. I will scrape
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: away her rubble and make her a bare rock out
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 1: in the sea. She will become a place to spread
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 1: fishing nets. For I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord.
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 1: She will become plunder for the nations, and her settlements
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: on the mainland will be ravaged by the sword. Then
• 1:11:40
  Speaker 1: they will know that I am the Lord. Tire was
• 1:11:43
  Speaker 1: composed of two parts, a coastal city and its crown jewel,
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 1: an island fortress about eight hundred meters off shore. God
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: described how the attack would unfold. In Ezekiel twenty six
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 1: seven to fourteen, he said, for this is what the
• 1:11:59
  Speaker 1: soft lord says from the Yu North. I am bringing
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 1: against tyre Nebucha Neza, King of Babylon, King of kings,
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: with horses and chariots, with horsemen and a mighty army.
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: He will kill your settlements on the mainland with the sword.
• 1:12:15
  Speaker 1: He will set up siege works against you, build a
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 1: ramp and raise a shield wall. He will direct the
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: your towers with his weapons. His horses will be so
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: many that their dust will cover you. Your walls will
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 1: tremble at the noise of the cavalry wagons and chariots.
• 1:12:37
  Speaker 1: When he enters your gates as men enter a city
• 1:12:40
  Speaker 1: whose walls have been breached, the destruction would be total.
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 1: The hoofs of his horses will trample all your streets.
• 1:12:48
  Speaker 1: He will kill your people with the sword, and your
• 1:12:51
  Speaker 1: strong pillars will fall to the ground. They will plunder
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 1: your wealth and loot your merchandise. They will break down
• 1:12:58
  Speaker 1: your walls and demolish your fine houses, and throw your stones, timber,
• 1:13:03
  Speaker 1: and rubble into the sea. I will put an end
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 1: to your noisy songs, and the music of your harps
• 1:13:08
  Speaker 1: will be heard no more. I will make you a
• 1:13:10
  Speaker 1: bare rock, and you will become a place to spread
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 1: fishing nets. You will never be rebuilt, for I the
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 1: Lord have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. The fall of
• 1:13:21
  Speaker 1: Tire would send shock waves throughout the ancient world. In
• 1:13:24
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel twenty six fifteen out eighteen, God continued, this is
• 1:13:29
  Speaker 1: what the Sovereign Lord says to Tire. Will not the
• 1:13:33
  Speaker 1: coast lands tremble at the sound of your fall? When
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 1: the wounded groan and the slaughter takes place in your midst,
• 1:13:40
  Speaker 1: then all the princes of the sea will step down
• 1:13:43
  Speaker 1: from their thrones and lay aside their robes and take
• 1:13:46
  Speaker 1: off their embroidered garments. Clothed with terror, they will sit
• 1:13:51
  Speaker 1: on the ground, trembling every moment, appalled at you. Then
• 1:13:55
  Speaker 1: they will raise a lament for you and say to you,
• 1:13:58
  Speaker 1: how you are destroyed. City of Renown, peopled by men
• 1:14:02
  Speaker 1: of the sea. Famous city wants mighty on the sea.
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 1: You and your inhabitants impose terror on all who lived there.
• 1:14:10
  Speaker 1: The nations would be stunned at Tire's fate, in Ezekiel
• 1:14:14
  Speaker 1: twenty six nineteen twenty one, God concluded, when I make
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 1: you a desolate city, like cities no longer inhabited, and
• 1:14:22
  Speaker 1: when I bring the deep over you and the great
• 1:14:25
  Speaker 1: waters cover you, then I will bring you down with
• 1:14:28
  Speaker 1: those who go down to the pit, to the people
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 1: of old. I will make you dwell in the earth below,
• 1:14:34
  Speaker 1: as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to
• 1:14:37
  Speaker 1: the pit, and you will not return or take your
• 1:14:40
  Speaker 1: place in the land of the living. I will bring
• 1:14:42
  Speaker 1: you to a horrible end, and you will be no more.
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: You will be sought, but you will never again be found,
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 1: declares the Sovereign Lord. Ezekiel then sang a lament over Tire,
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 1: comparing her to a magnificent ship. In Ezekiel twenty seven
• 1:14:59
  Speaker 1: one three, he began, the word of the Lord came
• 1:15:03
  Speaker 1: to me, son of man, take up a lament concerning Tire.
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 1: Say to Tire situated at the gateway to the sea,
• 1:15:10
  Speaker 1: merchant of peoples on many coastlands. This is what the
• 1:15:14
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord says. You say, Tire, I am perfect in beauty.
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 1: This ship city was built with the finest materials from
• 1:15:23
  Speaker 1: around the world. In Ezekiel twenty seven to forty seven,
• 1:15:27
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel described your domain was on the high seas. Your
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 1: builders brought your beauty to perfection. They made all your
• 1:15:35
  Speaker 1: timbers of juniper from Senea. They took a cedar from
• 1:15:39
  Speaker 1: Lebanon to make a mast for you, of oaks from Burshan.
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 1: They made your oars of cypress wood from the coasts
• 1:15:47
  Speaker 1: of Cyprus. They made your deck adorned with ivory. Fine
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: embroidered linen from Egypt was your sail and served as
• 1:15:55
  Speaker 1: your banner. Your awnings were of blue and purple from
• 1:15:59
  Speaker 1: the coat hoosts of Elisha. Her crew came from renowned
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: maritime cities, and her warriors were mercenaries from many nations.
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twenty seven eighty eleven men of Saidon and
• 1:16:11
  Speaker 1: Arvad were your oarsmen. Your skilled men tire were aboard
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: as your sailors. Veteran craftsmen of Bybloss were on board
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 1: as shipwrights to seal your seams. All the ships of
• 1:16:24
  Speaker 1: the sea and their sailors came alongside to trade for
• 1:16:27
  Speaker 1: your wares. Men of Persia, Lydia and Put served as
• 1:16:31
  Speaker 1: warriors in your army. They hung their shields and helmets
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: on your walls, bringing you splendor. Men of Arvad and
• 1:16:38
  Speaker 1: Hellk guarded your ramparts, and men of Gammad were in
• 1:16:41
  Speaker 1: your towers. They hung their shields around your walls. They
• 1:16:46
  Speaker 1: brought your beauty to perfection. Tire traded with nations from
• 1:16:50
  Speaker 1: across the known world. In Ezekiel twenty seven twelve twenty four,
• 1:16:55
  Speaker 1: the prophet listed dozens of trade partners and the goods
• 1:16:58
  Speaker 1: they brought Tashish, Javan, Tubal, Meshech Beth, Togama, Dodan, Aram, Judah, Israel, Damascus, Vedan, Javan,
• 1:17:11
  Speaker 1: Uzal Dedan, Arabia, Siba, Rama, Haran, Khana, Eden, Assyria, and Kilmad.
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 1: They brought silver, iron, tin, lead, slaves, horses, mules, ivory, ebony, rubies,
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 1: fine fabrics, wine, wool, spices, gold, perfumes, and much more.
• 1:17:28
  Speaker 1: Ships of Tarshish served as carriers for your merchandise. You
• 1:17:33
  Speaker 1: were filled with heavy cargo and glorified in the heart
• 1:17:36
  Speaker 1: of the seas. Your oarsmen took you out to the
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: high seas, Ezekiel said in twenty seven twenty five twenty six.
• 1:17:43
  Speaker 1: But the east wind will break you to pieces. In
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: the heart of the seas, Ezekiel then described the shipwreck
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 1: of this great vessel in Ezekiel twenty seven twenty seven
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 1: thirty six. Your wealth, merchandise and wares, your sailors, your
• 1:17:57
  Speaker 1: pilots and calkers, your merchants, and all your warriors within you,
• 1:18:02
  Speaker 1: along with your entire crew, will sink into the heart
• 1:18:05
  Speaker 1: of the sea. On the day of your shipwreck. The
• 1:18:08
  Speaker 1: coast lands will tremble at the sound of the cry
• 1:18:11
  Speaker 1: of your pilots. All who handle the oars will abandon
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 1: their ships. The mariners and all seafaring men will stand
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 1: on shore. They will raise their voice and cry bitterly
• 1:18:22
  Speaker 1: over you. They will throw dust on their heads and
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 1: roll in ashes. They will shave their heads because of you,
• 1:18:28
  Speaker 1: and put on sackcloth. They will weep over you with
• 1:18:31
  Speaker 1: anguish of soul and bitter mourning. The merchants, who once
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 1: traded with tire would be horrified by her fall. Their
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 1: kings will shudder with horror at you. Their faces will
• 1:18:42
  Speaker 1: be distorted with fear. The merchants among the nations will
• 1:18:46
  Speaker 1: hiss at you. You will come to a horrible end
• 1:18:48
  Speaker 1: and will be no more, Ezekiel concluded in twenty seven
• 1:18:52
  Speaker 1: thirty six. But God wasn't finished with Tire. He now
• 1:18:56
  Speaker 1: turned directly to its ruler. In Ezekiel twenty eight one
• 1:19:00
  Speaker 1: to two, we read the word of the Lord came
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 1: to me, son of man, say too, the ruler of Tire,
• 1:19:08
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. In the pride
• 1:19:11
  Speaker 1: of your heart. You say, I am a god. I
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 1: sit on the throne of a god in the heart
• 1:19:16
  Speaker 1: of the seas. But you are a mere mortal and
• 1:19:19
  Speaker 1: not a god. Though you think you are as wise
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: as a god. The king of Tire had grown so
• 1:19:25
  Speaker 1: powerful and wealthy that he began to think of himself
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: as divine. Surrounded by water and protected by strong walls
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: out in the sea, he felt untouchable, like a god.
• 1:19:37
  Speaker 1: God acknowledged the ruler's exceptional wisdom and commercial prowess. In
• 1:19:42
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel twenty eight three through five, he said, are you
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 1: wiser than Daniel? Is no secret hidden from you. By
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 1: your wisdom and understanding, you have gained wealth for yourself
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 1: and amassed gold and silver in your treasuries. By your
• 1:19:57
  Speaker 1: great skill in trading, you have increased your wor wealth.
• 1:20:00
  Speaker 1: And because of your wealth, your heart has grown proud.
• 1:20:04
  Speaker 1: But that wisdom had bred pride, and pride led to arrogance.
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twenty eight six to par ten, God declared judgment. Therefore,
• 1:20:16
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. Because you think
• 1:20:19
  Speaker 1: you are wise, as wise as a god, I will
• 1:20:23
  Speaker 1: bring foreigners against you, the most ruthless of nations. They
• 1:20:27
  Speaker 1: will draw their swords against your beauty and wisdom and
• 1:20:31
  Speaker 1: pierce your shining splendor. They will bring you down to
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 1: the pit, and you will die of violent death in
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: the heart of the seas. Will you then say I
• 1:20:41
  Speaker 1: am a god In the presence of those who kill you,
• 1:20:45
  Speaker 1: you will be but a mortal, not a god. In
• 1:20:48
  Speaker 1: the hands of those who slay you, you will die
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 1: the death of the uncircumcised at the hands of foreigners.
• 1:20:54
  Speaker 1: I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. Ezekiel then launched
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 1: into a remarkable lament for the King of Tire, using
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 1: language that seems to transcend a mere human being. In
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel twenty eight eleven fifteen, the word of the Lord
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 1: came to me, son of man, take up a lament
• 1:21:14
  Speaker 1: concerning the King of Tire, and say to him, this
• 1:21:17
  Speaker 1: is what the sovereign Lord says. You were the seal
• 1:21:20
  Speaker 1: of perfection, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. You
• 1:21:24
  Speaker 1: were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone
• 1:21:28
  Speaker 1: adorned you ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire,
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 1: turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold.
• 1:21:38
  Speaker 1: On the day you were created, they were prepared. You
• 1:21:41
  Speaker 1: were anointed as a guardian Cherub. For so I ordained you.
• 1:21:45
  Speaker 1: You were on the holy mount of God. You walked
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: from the day you were created till wickedness was found
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 1: in you. This language evokes imagery of Eden and heavenly Cherub.
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: Many theologians see in this passage not only a description
• 1:22:04
  Speaker 1: of Tire's king, but a mirror of Satan's fall, as
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 1: if the ruler's pride reflected the original rebellion in heaven.
• 1:22:13
  Speaker 1: The sin that led to the king's fall was pride
• 1:22:16
  Speaker 1: born of his wealth and splendor. In Ezekiel twenty eight,
• 1:22:21
  Speaker 1: sixteen nineteen, God explained, through your widespread trade, you were
• 1:22:26
  Speaker 1: filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you
• 1:22:29
  Speaker 1: in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled
• 1:22:33
  Speaker 1: you Guardian Cherub from among the fiery stones. Your heart
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 1: became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted
• 1:22:40
  Speaker 1: your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you
• 1:22:43
  Speaker 1: to the earth. I made a spectacle of you before kings.
• 1:22:48
  Speaker 1: The punishment would be total and irreversible. By your many
• 1:22:52
  Speaker 1: sins and dishonest trade, you have desecrated your sanctuaries. So
• 1:22:57
  Speaker 1: I made a fire come out from you, and it
• 1:23:00
  Speaker 1: consumed you, and I reduced you to ashes on the ground.
• 1:23:04
  Speaker 1: In the sight of all who were watching. All the
• 1:23:06
  Speaker 1: nations who knew you are appalled at you. You have
• 1:23:09
  Speaker 1: come to a horrible end and will be no more.
• 1:23:13
  Speaker 1: God then turned Ezekiel's attention to another Phoenician city, Sidon,
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 1: Tire's trading partner. In Ezekiel twenty eight, twenty twenty two,
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 1: we read the word of the Lord came to me,
• 1:23:26
  Speaker 1: son of Man. Set your face against Sidon, prophesy against her,
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 1: and say this is what the sovereign Lord says. I
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 1: am against you Sidon, and I will display my glory
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 1: within you. They will know that I am the Lord
• 1:23:43
  Speaker 1: when I inflict punishment on you and show myself wholly
• 1:23:46
  Speaker 1: within you. Sidon wasn't as powerful as Tire, but it
• 1:23:51
  Speaker 1: was still a wealthy and influential city. Like its sister,
• 1:23:55
  Speaker 1: it had become corrupt and had mocked Israel. The punishment
• 1:24:00
  Speaker 1: would be severe. In Ezekiel twenty eight twenty three, God declared,
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: I will send a plague upon her and make blood
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: flow in her streets. The slain will fall within her,
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: with the sword against her on every side. Then they
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 1: will know that I am the Lord. But the goal
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 1: of this judgment wasn't just punishment. It was for the
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: nations to recognize God's holiness and for Israel to be restored.
• 1:24:27
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twenty eight twenty four twenty six, God promised,
• 1:24:31
  Speaker 1: no longer will the people of Israel have malicious neighbors,
• 1:24:34
  Speaker 1: who are painful briars and sharp thorns. Then they will
• 1:24:38
  Speaker 1: know that I am the sovereign Lord. For Israel restoration
• 1:24:42
  Speaker 1: would come. This is what the Sovereign Lord says. When
• 1:24:45
  Speaker 1: I gather the people of Israel from the nations where
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 1: they have been scattered, I will show myself wholly among
• 1:24:51
  Speaker 1: them in the sight of the nations. Then they will
• 1:24:54
  Speaker 1: live in their own land, the land I gave to
• 1:24:56
  Speaker 1: my servant Jacob. They will live there in safety, and
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 1: will build houses and plant vineyards. They will live in safety.
• 1:25:03
  Speaker 1: When I inflict punishment on all their neighbors who maligned them,
• 1:25:07
  Speaker 1: then they will know that I am the Lord their God.
• 1:25:11
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel then received a series of prophecies against Egypt, the
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 1: great southern power that had long influenced Israel. In Ezekiel
• 1:25:19
  Speaker 1: twenty nine wonder to three, we read in the tenth year,
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 1: in the tenth month, on the twelfth day, the word
• 1:25:26
  Speaker 1: of the Lord came to me, son of Man, Set
• 1:25:30
  Speaker 1: your face against Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and prophesy against
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 1: him and against all Egypt. Speak to him and say,
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. I am against you, Pharaoh,
• 1:25:42
  Speaker 1: King of Egypt, You great monster lying among your streams.
• 1:25:46
  Speaker 1: You say the Nile belongs to me. I made it
• 1:25:49
  Speaker 1: for myself. God compared Pharaoh to a great crocodile, a
• 1:25:54
  Speaker 1: river monster lying in the Nile, like the king of Tire.
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh viewed himself as divine, believing that he had created
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 1: the Nile the very life line of Egypt. But God
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 1: would expose the truth. In Ezekiel twenty nine four to five,
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 1: he said, but I will put hooks in your jaws
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 1: and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales.
• 1:26:16
  Speaker 1: I will pull you out from among your streams, with
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 1: all the fish sticking to your scales, I will leave
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 1: you in the wilderness. You and all the fish of
• 1:26:25
  Speaker 1: your streams. You will fall on the open field and
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 1: not be gathered or buried. I will give you as
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 1: food to the beasts of the earth and the birds
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 1: of the sky. This arrogant crocodile would be yanked from
• 1:26:38
  Speaker 1: his cozy aquatic home and cast into the wilderness, along
• 1:26:42
  Speaker 1: with his fish, his troops, and followers. There he would
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 1: be devoured by animals and birds, a grim fate for
• 1:26:50
  Speaker 1: a self declared God. The purpose of this judgment was
• 1:26:54
  Speaker 1: clear in Ezekiel twenty nine to sixty to seven. God explained, then,
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 1: all who live in Egypt will know that I am
• 1:27:02
  Speaker 1: the Lord. You have been a staff of reed for
• 1:27:05
  Speaker 1: the people of Israel. When they grasped you with their hands,
• 1:27:09
  Speaker 1: you splintered and tore open their shoulders. When they leaned
• 1:27:12
  Speaker 1: on you, you broke, and their backs were wrenched. Egypt had
• 1:27:17
  Speaker 1: been an unreliable ally for Israel. When Israel leaned on
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 1: Egypt for protection against Babylon. Egypt collapsed like a brittle reed,
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: causing Israel even more harm. The judgment would be severe.
• 1:27:31
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel twenty nine eight twelve, God declared, therefore, this
• 1:27:35
  Speaker 1: is what the Sovereign Lord says. I will bring a
• 1:27:38
  Speaker 1: sword against you and kill both man and beast. Egypt
• 1:27:43
  Speaker 1: will become a desolate wasteland. Then they will know that
• 1:27:46
  Speaker 1: I am the Lord. Because you said the Nile is mine,
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 1: I made it. Therefore I am against you and against
• 1:27:53
  Speaker 1: your streams. And I will make the land of Egypt
• 1:27:56
  Speaker 1: a ruin and a desolation. From Migdol to Aswan, as
• 1:28:00
  Speaker 1: far as the border of Kush, no foot of man
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 1: or beast will pass through it. It will be uninhabited
• 1:28:06
  Speaker 1: for forty years. Egypt would become desolate for forty years,
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 1: its cities in ruins, its people scattered among the nations.
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 1: But unlike Tire, which would be destroyed permanently, Egypt would
• 1:28:19
  Speaker 1: be partially restored. In Ezekiel twenty nine to thirteen to sixteen,
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 1: God promised, Yet, this is what the Sovereign Lord says.
• 1:28:29
  Speaker 1: At the end of forty years, I will gather the
• 1:28:32
  Speaker 1: Egyptians from the nations where they were scattered. I will
• 1:28:36
  Speaker 1: bring them back from captivity and return them to Upper Egypt,
• 1:28:40
  Speaker 1: the land of their ancestry. There they will be a
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 1: lowly kingdom. It will be the lowliest of kingdoms and
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 1: will never again exalt itself above the other nations. I
• 1:28:51
  Speaker 1: will make it so weak that it will never again
• 1:28:54
  Speaker 1: rule over the nations. Egypt will no longer be a
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 1: source of confidence for the people of Israel, but will
• 1:29:00
  Speaker 1: be a reminder of their sin in turning to her
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 1: for help. Then they will know that I am the
• 1:29:06
  Speaker 1: sovereign Lord. God then gave Ezekiel a specific update on
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 1: how Egypt would be conquered. In Ezekiel twenty nine seventeen
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 1: to twenty we read in the twenty seventh year, in
• 1:29:17
  Speaker 1: the first month, on the first day, the word of
• 1:29:20
  Speaker 1: the Lord came to me. Son of man nebucud Nezzar,
• 1:29:25
  Speaker 1: king of Babylon, drove his army in a hard campaign
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: against Tire. Every head was rubbed bear and every shoulder
• 1:29:32
  Speaker 1: made roar. Yet he and his army received no reward
• 1:29:36
  Speaker 1: from Tire for the service he rendered against it. God
• 1:29:40
  Speaker 1: explained that he would give Egypt to nebucud Nezza as
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: compensation for his efforts against tire. Therefore, this is what
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord says. I am going to give Egypt
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 1: to nebucud Nezzar, king of Babylon, and he will carry
• 1:29:54
  Speaker 1: off its wealth. He will loot and plunder the land
• 1:29:58
  Speaker 1: as pay for his army. I have given him Egypt
• 1:30:01
  Speaker 1: as a reward for his efforts, because he and his
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 1: army worked for me, declares the Sovereign Lord. The prophecy
• 1:30:09
  Speaker 1: ends with a promise for Israel. In Ezekiel twenty nine
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 1: twenty one, God stated, on that day, I will make
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 1: a horn grow for the house of Israel, and I
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 1: will open your mouth among them. Then they will know
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 1: that I am the Lord. The word of the Lord
• 1:30:24
  Speaker 1: came again to Ezekiel concerning Egypt. In Ezekiel thirty one three,
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 1: he said, wail and say alas for that day, For
• 1:30:32
  Speaker 1: the day is near. The day of the Lord is near,
• 1:30:36
  Speaker 1: a day of clouds, a time of doom for the nations.
• 1:30:39
  Speaker 1: A sword will come against Egypt, and anguish will come
• 1:30:43
  Speaker 1: upon Kush. This would be the day of the Lord,
• 1:30:46
  Speaker 1: a time of divine judgment on the nations, beginning with Egypt.
• 1:30:50
  Speaker 1: It would be a dreadful day filled with dark clouds
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: and devastation, Egypt's defeat would be total. In Ezekiel thirty
• 1:30:59
  Speaker 1: forty nine, God described a sword will come against Egypt,
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: and anguish will come upon Cush. When the slain fall
• 1:31:09
  Speaker 1: in Egypt, her wealth will be carried away and her
• 1:31:11
  Speaker 1: foundations torn down. Cush put lud all Arabia, Libya, and
• 1:31:18
  Speaker 1: the people of the covenant land will fall by the
• 1:31:21
  Speaker 1: sword along with Egypt. Egypt's allies and the nations that
• 1:31:25
  Speaker 1: relied on her would fall as well. This is what
• 1:31:28
  Speaker 1: the Lord says. The allies of Egypt will fall, and
• 1:31:32
  Speaker 1: her proud strength will fail. From Migdol to Asswan, they
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: will fall by the sword within her, declares the sovereign Lord.
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: They will be desolate among desolate lands, and their cities
• 1:31:44
  Speaker 1: will lie among ruined cities. Then they will know that
• 1:31:47
  Speaker 1: I am the Lord when I set fire to Egypt
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: and all her helpers are crushed. On that day, messengers
• 1:31:55
  Speaker 1: would go out to warn distant nations. Messengers will go
• 1:31:59
  Speaker 1: out from me in ships to frighten Cush out of
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 1: her complacency. Anguish will take hold of them on the
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 1: day of Egypt's doom, for it is surely coming. God
• 1:32:09
  Speaker 1: gave more details about the agent of this destruction. In
• 1:32:13
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty ten twelve, he declared, this is what the
• 1:32:17
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord says, I will put an end to the
• 1:32:21
  Speaker 1: hordes of Egypt by the hand of nebucad Nezar, king
• 1:32:25
  Speaker 1: of Babylon. He and his army, the most ruthless of nations,
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: will be brought in to destroy the land. They will
• 1:32:34
  Speaker 1: draw their swords against Egypt and fill the land with
• 1:32:37
  Speaker 1: the slain. I will dry up the streams of the
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 1: Nile and sell the land to evil men by the
• 1:32:43
  Speaker 1: hands of foreigners. I will lay waste the land and
• 1:32:47
  Speaker 1: everything in it. I the Lord have spoken. Nebucad Neza,
• 1:32:51
  Speaker 1: the King of Babylon, would be God's instrument to punish Egypt.
• 1:32:55
  Speaker 1: He and his army would crush Egypt's defenses and even
• 1:32:59
  Speaker 1: dry up the Nile Canals, the very source of Egypt's prosperity.
• 1:33:04
  Speaker 1: God then listed the cities that would be destroyed. In
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty thirteen to nineteen, he said, this is what
• 1:33:12
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord says. I will destroy the idols and
• 1:33:16
  Speaker 1: put an end to the images in Memphis. No longer
• 1:33:19
  Speaker 1: will there be a prince in Egypt, and I will
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: spread fear throughout the land. I will lay waste pathros,
• 1:33:27
  Speaker 1: set fire to Zoen, and inflict punishment on Thebes. I
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: will pour out my wrath on Pelusium, the stronghold of Egypt,
• 1:33:34
  Speaker 1: and wipe out the hordes of Thebes. I will set
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: fire to Egypt. Pelusium will writhe in agony. Thebes will
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 1: be taken by storm, Memphis will be in constant distress.
• 1:33:46
  Speaker 1: The young men of Heliopolis and Bubastis will fall by
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 1: the sword, and the cities will go into captivity. In
• 1:33:54
  Speaker 1: Tapanhis the day will be darkened when I break the
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 1: yoke of Egypt. There her proud strength will come to
• 1:34:02
  Speaker 1: an end. She will be covered with clouds, and her
• 1:34:06
  Speaker 1: villages will go into captivity. So I will execute judgment
• 1:34:10
  Speaker 1: on Egypt, and they will know that I am the Lord.
• 1:34:14
  Speaker 1: Shortly after this prophecy, God gave Ezekiel a specific message
• 1:34:18
  Speaker 1: concerning Pharaoh. In Ezekiel thirty twenty twenty six, we read
• 1:34:23
  Speaker 1: in the eleventh year, in the first month, on the
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 1: seventh day, the word of the Lord came to me,
• 1:34:29
  Speaker 1: son of Man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh.
• 1:34:32
  Speaker 1: King of Egypt. It has not been bound up to
• 1:34:35
  Speaker 1: be healed or splinted, so it can hold a sword.
• 1:34:40
  Speaker 1: God explained that he would continue to weaken Pharaoh. Therefore,
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. I am against Pharaoh,
• 1:34:49
  Speaker 1: King of Egypt. I will break both his arms, the
• 1:34:52
  Speaker 1: good arm as well as the broken one, and make
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 1: the sword fall from his hand. I will disperse the
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 1: Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through the countries.
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 1: I will strengthen the arms of the King of Babylon
• 1:35:05
  Speaker 1: and put my sword in his hand. But I will
• 1:35:08
  Speaker 1: break Pharaoh's arms, and he will groan before him like
• 1:35:11
  Speaker 1: a mortally wounded man. The contrast between the two rulers
• 1:35:15
  Speaker 1: would be unmistakable. I will strengthen the arms of the
• 1:35:20
  Speaker 1: King of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh will fall limp.
• 1:35:23
  Speaker 1: Then they will know that I am the Lord. When
• 1:35:26
  Speaker 1: I put my sword into the hand of the King
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 1: of Babylon and he brandishes it against Egypt, I will
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 1: disperse the Egyptians among the nations and scatter them through
• 1:35:36
  Speaker 1: the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
• 1:35:40
  Speaker 1: In the eleventh year, God gave Ezekiel another message concerning Egypt,
• 1:35:44
  Speaker 1: this time comparing it to a great tree. In Ezekiel
• 1:35:48
  Speaker 1: thirty one one three, we read in the eleventh year,
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 1: in the third month, on the first day, the word
• 1:35:54
  Speaker 1: of the Lord came to me, son of Man, Say
• 1:35:57
  Speaker 1: to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and to his hordes, who
• 1:36:00
  Speaker 1: can be compared to you? In majesty? Consider Assyria, once
• 1:36:04
  Speaker 1: a cedar in Lebanon, with beautiful branches overshadowing the forest.
• 1:36:09
  Speaker 1: It towered on high its top above the thick foliage.
• 1:36:12
  Speaker 1: God used ancient Assyria, already conquered by the Babylonians, as
• 1:36:17
  Speaker 1: an example for Egypt. Assyria had once been a mighty superpower,
• 1:36:22
  Speaker 1: towering like a great tree, but had fallen. This tree
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 1: was magnificent. In Ezekiel thirty one four to six, God
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 1: described the waters nourished it. Deep springs made it grow tall.
• 1:36:36
  Speaker 1: Their streams flowed all around its base and sent their
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 1: channels to all the trees of the field, so it
• 1:36:42
  Speaker 1: towered higher than all the trees of the field. Its
• 1:36:44
  Speaker 1: boughs increased, and its branches grew long, spreading. Because of
• 1:36:49
  Speaker 1: abundant water. All the birds of the sky nested in
• 1:36:53
  Speaker 1: its boughs. All the wild animals gave birth under its branches.
• 1:36:57
  Speaker 1: All the great nations lived in its shape. Assyria was
• 1:37:01
  Speaker 1: so vast and powerful that other nations lived in its shade,
• 1:37:06
  Speaker 1: depending on its strength and protection. It was a tree
• 1:37:09
  Speaker 1: of unmatched beauty. But despite all its glory, as Syria
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 1: fell in Ezekiel thirty one seven eleven, God continued it
• 1:37:20
  Speaker 1: was majestic in beauty with its spreading boughs, for its
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 1: roots went down to abundant waters. The cedars in the
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 1: Garden of God could not rival it, nor could the
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 1: junipers equal its boughs. Nor could the plane trees compare
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 1: with its branches. No tree in the garden of God
• 1:37:39
  Speaker 1: could match its beauty. I made it beautiful with abundant branches,
• 1:37:45
  Speaker 1: the envy of all the trees of Eden in the
• 1:37:48
  Speaker 1: garden of God. Therefore, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 1: Because it towered on high, lifting its top above the
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 1: thick foliage, and because it was proud of its height,
• 1:38:00
  Speaker 1: I gave it into the hands of the ruler of
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 1: the nations for him to deal with it. According to
• 1:38:05
  Speaker 1: its wickedness. I cast it aside. Its fall was violent
• 1:38:10
  Speaker 1: and total. In Ezekiel thirty one twelve thirteen, God described foreigners,
• 1:38:16
  Speaker 1: the most ruthless of nations, cut it down and left it.
• 1:38:20
  Speaker 1: Its boughs fell on the mountains, and in all the valleys.
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 1: Its branches lay broken in all the ravines of the land.
• 1:38:26
  Speaker 1: All the nations of the earth came out from under
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 1: its shade and abandoned it. All the birds settled on
• 1:38:32
  Speaker 1: the fallen tree, and all the wild animals lived among
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 1: its branches. The purpose of this destruction was to serve
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 1: as a warning to other proud trees. In Ezekiel thirty
• 1:38:43
  Speaker 1: one fourteen, God explained, therefore, no other trees by the
• 1:38:49
  Speaker 1: waters are to tower proudly on high, lifting their tops
• 1:38:53
  Speaker 1: above the thick foliage. No other trees so well watered
• 1:38:57
  Speaker 1: are ever to reach such a height. They are all
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 1: all destined for death, for the earth below among mortals
• 1:39:03
  Speaker 1: who go down to the realm of the dead. When
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 1: Assyria fell, the whole world felt its impact. In Ezekiel
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 1: thirty one fifteen to seventeen, God recalled, this is what
• 1:39:16
  Speaker 1: the sovereign lord says. On the day it was brought
• 1:39:20
  Speaker 1: down to the realm of the dead. I covered the
• 1:39:23
  Speaker 1: deep springs with mourning for it. I held back its
• 1:39:26
  Speaker 1: streams and its abundant waters were restrained. Because of it.
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 1: I clothed Lebanon with gloom, and all the trees of
• 1:39:34
  Speaker 1: the field withered away. I made the nations tremble at
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 1: the sound of its fall when I brought it down
• 1:39:41
  Speaker 1: to the realm of the dead, with those who go
• 1:39:44
  Speaker 1: down to the pit. Then all the trees of Eden,
• 1:39:47
  Speaker 1: the choicest and best of Lebanon, the well watered trees,
• 1:39:52
  Speaker 1: were consoled in the earth below. The other nations that
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 1: depended on Assyria also suffered when it fell. They two
• 1:40:01
  Speaker 1: went down to the grave with it, to those slain
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 1: by the sword, along with those who were its arm
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 1: who lived in its shadow among the nations. Then God
• 1:40:10
  Speaker 1: turned his attention to Egypt. In Ezekiel thirty one to eighteen,
• 1:40:14
  Speaker 1: he asked to which of the trees of Eden can
• 1:40:17
  Speaker 1: you be compared in glory and greatness? Yet you will
• 1:40:21
  Speaker 1: be brought down, with the trees of Eden to the
• 1:40:23
  Speaker 1: depths of the earth. You will lie among the uncircumcised,
• 1:40:28
  Speaker 1: with those killed by the sword. This is Pharaoh and
• 1:40:31
  Speaker 1: all his multitude, declares the sovereign Lord. What happened to
• 1:40:35
  Speaker 1: Assyria would also happen to Egypt, despite its current greatness,
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 1: Pharaoh and his people would be cut down like a
• 1:40:43
  Speaker 1: towering tree and fall into the depths of the earth,
• 1:40:47
  Speaker 1: to the pit of oblivion. In the twelfth year of exile,
• 1:40:52
  Speaker 1: God told Ezekiel to raise one final lament over Pharaoh
• 1:40:55
  Speaker 1: in Egypt. In Ezekiel thirty two one to two, we read,
• 1:40:59
  Speaker 1: in the twelfth year, on the first day of the
• 1:41:02
  Speaker 1: twelfth month, the word of the Lord came to me,
• 1:41:06
  Speaker 1: son of Man, take up a lament concerning Pharaoh, king
• 1:41:10
  Speaker 1: of Egypt, and say to him, you are like a
• 1:41:12
  Speaker 1: lion among the nations. You are like a monster in
• 1:41:16
  Speaker 1: the seas, thrashing about in your rivers, muddying the water
• 1:41:20
  Speaker 1: with your feet and fouling the streams. Once again, God
• 1:41:25
  Speaker 1: described Pharaoh as a great sea monster, likely a crocodile,
• 1:41:29
  Speaker 1: stirring up and polluting the waters. But now this monster
• 1:41:33
  Speaker 1: would be caught like a fish in God's net. In
• 1:41:36
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty two three six, God declared, this is what
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 1: the sovereign Lord says, with a great throng of people,
• 1:41:44
  Speaker 1: I will cast my net over you, and they will
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 1: haul you up. In my net. I will throw you
• 1:41:50
  Speaker 1: on the land and hurl you onto the open field.
• 1:41:53
  Speaker 1: I will let all the birds of the sky settle
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 1: on you, and all the wild animals gorge themselves on you.
• 1:41:59
  Speaker 1: Will spread your flesh on the mountains and fill the
• 1:42:02
  Speaker 1: valleys with your remains. I will drench the land with
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 1: your flowing blood all the way to the mountains, and
• 1:42:08
  Speaker 1: the ravines will be filled with your flesh. The death
• 1:42:12
  Speaker 1: of Egypt's monster would have cosmic consequences. In Ezekiel thirty
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 1: two seven eight, God said, when I snuff you out,
• 1:42:21
  Speaker 1: I will cover the heavens and darken their stars. I
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 1: will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 1: will not give its light. All the shining lights in
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 1: the heavens I will darken over you. I will bring
• 1:42:34
  Speaker 1: darkness over your land, declares the sovereign Lord. Egypt's downfall
• 1:42:39
  Speaker 1: would shake many nations. In Ezekiel thirty two nine to ten,
• 1:42:43
  Speaker 1: God continued, I will trouble the hearts of many peoples
• 1:42:47
  Speaker 1: when I bring about your destruction among the nations, among
• 1:42:51
  Speaker 1: lands you have not known. I will cause many peoples
• 1:42:54
  Speaker 1: to be appalled at you, and their kings will shudder
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 1: with horror because of you. When I brandish my sword
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 1: before them, on the day of your downfall, each of
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 1: them will tremble every moment for his life. God then
• 1:43:08
  Speaker 1: revealed once more the instrument of his wrath. In Ezekiel
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 1: thirty two eleven sixteen. He said, for this is what
• 1:43:15
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord says. The sword of the King of
• 1:43:19
  Speaker 1: Babylon will come against you. I will cause your hordes
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 1: to fall by the swords of mighty men, the most
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 1: ruthless of all nations. They will shatter the pride of Egypt,
• 1:43:29
  Speaker 1: and all her hordes will be overthrown. I will destroy
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 1: all her cattle from beside abundant waters. No human but
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 1: will muddy them any more, nor will the hoofs of
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 1: cattle muddy them. Then I will let her waters settle
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 1: and make her rivers flow like oil, declares the Sovereign Lord.
• 1:43:47
  Speaker 1: When I make Egypt desolate and strip the land of
• 1:43:50
  Speaker 1: everything in it, when I strike down all who live there,
• 1:43:54
  Speaker 1: they will know that I am the Lord. This would
• 1:44:00
  Speaker 1: be a lament sung by many nations. This is the
• 1:44:04
  Speaker 1: lament they will chant for her. The daughters of the
• 1:44:07
  Speaker 1: nations will sing it. For Egypt and all her multitude.
• 1:44:10
  Speaker 1: They will chant it, declares the Sovereign Lord. Fourteen days later,
• 1:44:15
  Speaker 1: God gave Ezekiel a striking vision of Egypt's descent into
• 1:44:19
  Speaker 1: the Realm of the Dead. In Ezekiel thirty two seventeen
• 1:44:22
  Speaker 1: to twenty one, we read in the twelfth year, on
• 1:44:26
  Speaker 1: the fifteenth day of the month, the word of the
• 1:44:29
  Speaker 1: Lord came to me, son of Man, wail for the
• 1:44:33
  Speaker 1: hordes of Egypt, and consign them to the earth below
• 1:44:36
  Speaker 1: with the daughters of mighty nations. To those who go
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 1: down to the pit. God mocked Egypt's pride, whom do
• 1:44:44
  Speaker 1: you surpass in beauty? Go down and be laid to
• 1:44:47
  Speaker 1: rest with the uncircumcised. They would fall among those slain
• 1:44:51
  Speaker 1: by the sword. The sword is drawn. Let her be
• 1:44:55
  Speaker 1: dragged off with all her hordes from within the grave.
• 1:44:58
  Speaker 1: The mighty leaders will say of Egypt and her allies,
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 1: they have come down and lie with the uncircumcised, with
• 1:45:05
  Speaker 1: those killed by the sword. A whole list of ancient
• 1:45:09
  Speaker 1: powers was already in the Realm of the Dead, awaiting
• 1:45:13
  Speaker 1: Egypt's arrival. In Ezekiel thirty two twenty two to thirty
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 1: God named some of them. Assyria is there with her
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 1: whole army. She is surrounded by the graves, of all
• 1:45:25
  Speaker 1: her slain fallen by the sword. Their graves are in
• 1:45:29
  Speaker 1: the depths of the pit, and her army lies around
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 1: her grave. All of them are slain fallen by the sword.
• 1:45:36
  Speaker 1: Those who once spread terror in the land of the
• 1:45:39
  Speaker 1: living Ilam, Meshh tubal Dam, the princes of the North,
• 1:45:44
  Speaker 1: and all the Sedonians. All these ancient powers had fallen
• 1:45:48
  Speaker 1: and vanished into the darkness of forgetfulness. Egypt's fate would
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 1: be the same. In Ezekiel thirty two thirty one to
• 1:45:55
  Speaker 1: thirty two, God concluded Pharaoh, he and all his army
• 1:46:00
  Speaker 1: will see them and be consoled for all his hordes
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 1: that were slain by the sword, declares the Sovereign Lord.
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 1: Although I had him spread terror in the land of
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 1: the Living. Pharaoh and all his hordes will lie among
• 1:46:12
  Speaker 1: the uncircumcised, with those killed by the sword, declares the
• 1:46:16
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord. Thus ended Ezekiel's prophecies against the foreign nations.
• 1:46:21
  Speaker 1: Divine judgment would fall not only on Israel, but on
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 1: all nations that opposed God and rejoiced at his people's downfall.
• 1:46:30
  Speaker 1: All these world powers, no matter how wealthy, mighty, or proud,
• 1:46:36
  Speaker 1: would fall before the sovereign Lord who rules over all
• 1:46:39
  Speaker 1: the kingdoms of the earth. The word of the Lord
• 1:46:42
  Speaker 1: came to Ezekiel once again in Ezekiel thirty threes who
• 1:46:45
  Speaker 1: one five, God said, son of Man, speak to your people,
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 1: and say to them, when I bring the sword against
• 1:46:52
  Speaker 1: a land, and the people of the land, choose one
• 1:46:54
  Speaker 1: of their men and make him their watchmen. And he
• 1:46:57
  Speaker 1: seized the sword coming against the land, and blows the
• 1:47:01
  Speaker 1: trumpet to warn the people. Then if any one hears
• 1:47:04
  Speaker 1: the trumpet but does not heed the warning, and the
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 1: sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be
• 1:47:11
  Speaker 1: on their own head. Since they heard the sound of
• 1:47:14
  Speaker 1: the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 1: will be on them. If they had heeded the warning,
• 1:47:20
  Speaker 1: they would have saved themselves. God was reminding Ezekiel of
• 1:47:24
  Speaker 1: his responsibility as a watchman. A watchman in ancient Israel
• 1:47:29
  Speaker 1: stood on the city wall, alert and ready to warn
• 1:47:32
  Speaker 1: of any approaching danger. It was a roll of immense responsibility.
• 1:47:37
  Speaker 1: But God continued in Ezekiel thirty three six. If the
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 1: watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 1: trumpet to warn the people, and the sword comes and
• 1:47:47
  Speaker 1: takes some one's life, that person will be taken because
• 1:47:50
  Speaker 1: of their sin. But I will hold the watchmen accountable
• 1:47:53
  Speaker 1: for their blood. Now as a new beginning, after the
• 1:47:57
  Speaker 1: fall of Jerusalem, God renewed this calling. In Ezekiel thirty
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 1: three seven to nine, he declared, Son of Man, I
• 1:48:06
  Speaker 1: have made you a watchman for the people of Israel.
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 1: So hear the word I speak and give them warning
• 1:48:12
  Speaker 1: from me. When I say to the wicked, you, wicked person,
• 1:48:16
  Speaker 1: you will surely die. And you do not speak out
• 1:48:20
  Speaker 1: to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 1: die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 1: for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked
• 1:48:29
  Speaker 1: to turn from their ways and they do not do so,
• 1:48:32
  Speaker 1: they will die for their sin, though you yourself will
• 1:48:36
  Speaker 1: be saved. The people were confused about why God was
• 1:48:39
  Speaker 1: punishing them. In Ezekiel thirty three ten toot eleven, they said,
• 1:48:43
  Speaker 1: our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 1: wasting away because of them. How then can we live?
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 1: God answered, as surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord.
• 1:48:55
  Speaker 1: I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
• 1:48:58
  Speaker 1: but rather that they turn from their ways and live.
• 1:49:02
  Speaker 1: Turn turn from your evil ways? Why will you die?
• 1:49:06
  Speaker 1: People of Israel. God explained that past righteousness could not
• 1:49:10
  Speaker 1: protect someone who began to sin, just as a sinful
• 1:49:14
  Speaker 1: past would not condemn someone who genuinely repents. In Ezekiel
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 1: thirty three twelve to sixteen, he said, therefore, son of Man,
• 1:49:24
  Speaker 1: say to your people. The righteousness of the righteous will
• 1:49:27
  Speaker 1: not save them when they disobey, and the wickedness of
• 1:49:31
  Speaker 1: the wicked will not cause them to fall when they
• 1:49:34
  Speaker 1: turn from it. The righteous person, if they sin, will
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 1: not be allowed to live because of their former righteousness.
• 1:49:42
  Speaker 1: If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live,
• 1:49:46
  Speaker 1: but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil,
• 1:49:49
  Speaker 1: none of the righteous things they have done will be remembered.
• 1:49:54
  Speaker 1: They will die for the evil they have done. And
• 1:49:57
  Speaker 1: if I say to a wicked person, you will sure die.
• 1:50:01
  Speaker 1: But they then turn away from their sin and do
• 1:50:04
  Speaker 1: what is just and right. If they return what they
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 1: took in pledge, restore what they have stolen, follow the
• 1:50:11
  Speaker 1: decrees that give life, and do no evil, that person
• 1:50:15
  Speaker 1: will surely live. They will not die. None of the
• 1:50:18
  Speaker 1: sins they have committed will be remembered against them. They
• 1:50:21
  Speaker 1: have done what is just and right, they will surely live. However,
• 1:50:26
  Speaker 1: the people of Israel were claiming that God's ways were
• 1:50:29
  Speaker 1: not just. In Ezekiel thirty three seventeen to twenty God responded, Yet,
• 1:50:36
  Speaker 1: your people say the way of the Lord is not just,
• 1:50:38
  Speaker 1: but it is their way that is not just. If
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 1: a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil,
• 1:50:46
  Speaker 1: they will die for it. And if a wicked person
• 1:50:49
  Speaker 1: turns away from their wickedness and does what is just
• 1:50:52
  Speaker 1: and right, they will live by doing so. Yet you
• 1:50:55
  Speaker 1: say the way of the Lord is not just, but
• 1:50:59
  Speaker 1: I I will judge each of you according to your
• 1:51:02
  Speaker 1: own ways, people of Israel. Then something significant happened. In
• 1:51:06
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty three twenty one twenty two, we read in
• 1:51:10
  Speaker 1: the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month,
• 1:51:13
  Speaker 1: on the fifth day, a man who had escaped from
• 1:51:17
  Speaker 1: Jerusalem came to me and said, the city has fallen now.
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 1: The evening before the man arrived, the hand of the
• 1:51:25
  Speaker 1: Lord was on me, and he opened my mouth. Before
• 1:51:28
  Speaker 1: the man came to me in the morning, So my
• 1:51:31
  Speaker 1: mouth was opened, and I was no longer silent. After
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 1: months of forced silence, Ezekiel could speak again. And with
• 1:51:40
  Speaker 1: this new voice came a message about the survivors still
• 1:51:43
  Speaker 1: in Jerusalem. In Ezekiel thirty three, twenty three to twenty six,
• 1:51:47
  Speaker 1: God said, Son of Man, the people living in those
• 1:51:51
  Speaker 1: ruins in the land of Israel are saying. Abraham was
• 1:51:54
  Speaker 1: only one man, yet he possessed the land. We are many.
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 1: Surely the land it has been given to us as
• 1:52:01
  Speaker 1: a possession. But God explain that they were not worthy.
• 1:52:05
  Speaker 1: Say to them, this is what the sovereign Lord says.
• 1:52:09
  Speaker 1: You eat meat with the blood still in it, You
• 1:52:11
  Speaker 1: look to your idols and shed blood. Should you then
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 1: possess the land. You rely on your swords, you do
• 1:52:18
  Speaker 1: detestable things, and each of you defiles his neighbor's wife.
• 1:52:22
  Speaker 1: Should you then possess the land? Destruction was coming even
• 1:52:26
  Speaker 1: for the survivors in Jerusalem. In Ezekiel thirty three twenty
• 1:52:30
  Speaker 1: seven twenty nine, God declared, say this to them, this
• 1:52:34
  Speaker 1: is what the sovereign Lord says. As surely as I live,
• 1:52:38
  Speaker 1: those who are left in the ruins will fall by
• 1:52:40
  Speaker 1: the sword. Those in the open country I will give
• 1:52:43
  Speaker 1: to wild animals to be devoured, and those in strongholds
• 1:52:47
  Speaker 1: and caves will die of plague. I will make the
• 1:52:49
  Speaker 1: land a desolate waste, and her proud strength will come
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 1: to an end. The mountains of Israel will become desolate,
• 1:52:57
  Speaker 1: so that no one will cross them. Then they will
• 1:53:00
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord, when I have made
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 1: the land a desolate waste because of all the detestable
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 1: things they have done. Many were listening to Ezekiel's words
• 1:53:11
  Speaker 1: but not obeying them. In Ezekiel thirty three thirty thirty three,
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 1: God warned, as for you, son of man, your people
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 1: are talking about you by the walls and at the
• 1:53:20
  Speaker 1: doors of the houses, saying to each other. Come and
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 1: hear the message that has come from the Lord. My
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 1: people come to you as they usually do, and sit
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 1: before you to hear your words, but they do not
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 1: put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but
• 1:53:38
  Speaker 1: their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them,
• 1:53:41
  Speaker 1: you are nothing more than one who sings love songs
• 1:53:44
  Speaker 1: with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument. Well. For
• 1:53:48
  Speaker 1: they hear your words, but do not put them into practice.
• 1:53:54
  Speaker 1: When all this comes true, and it surely will, then
• 1:53:57
  Speaker 1: they will know that a prophet has been among them.
• 1:54:01
  Speaker 1: After condemning the people, God turned his attention to the
• 1:54:04
  Speaker 1: leaders of Israel, whom he called shepherds. In Ezekiel thirty
• 1:54:10
  Speaker 1: four one to six, God said, son of Man, prophesy
• 1:54:14
  Speaker 1: against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them,
• 1:54:18
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. Woe to the
• 1:54:21
  Speaker 1: shepherds of Israel, who only take care of themselves. Should
• 1:54:25
  Speaker 1: not shepherds take care of the flock. You eat the koords,
• 1:54:29
  Speaker 1: clothe yourselves with the wool, and slaughter the choice animals.
• 1:54:33
  Speaker 1: But you do not take care of the flock. You
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 1: have not strengthened the weak, or healed the sick, or
• 1:54:38
  Speaker 1: bound up the injured. You have not brought back the
• 1:54:41
  Speaker 1: strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them
• 1:54:45
  Speaker 1: harshly and brutally. So they were scattered because there was
• 1:54:48
  Speaker 1: no shepherd. And when they were scattered, they became food
• 1:54:51
  Speaker 1: for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all
• 1:54:55
  Speaker 1: the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered
• 1:54:58
  Speaker 1: over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked
• 1:55:01
  Speaker 1: for them. Israel's leaders, kings, princes, priests had failed their people.
• 1:55:08
  Speaker 1: They used their positions for personal gain instead of serving
• 1:55:11
  Speaker 1: those under their care. Rather than protecting the sheep, they
• 1:55:15
  Speaker 1: exploited them. Because of this, God pronounced his judgment. In
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty four seven to ten, he declared, Therefore, you shepherds,
• 1:55:24
  Speaker 1: hear the word of the Lord, as surely as I live,
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 1: declares the Sovereign Lord. Because my flock has been plundered
• 1:55:31
  Speaker 1: and has become food for all the wild animals for
• 1:55:35
  Speaker 1: lack of a shepherd, and because my shepherds did not
• 1:55:38
  Speaker 1: search for my flock, but cared for themselves rather than
• 1:55:41
  Speaker 1: for my flock. Therefore, you shepherds hear the word of
• 1:55:45
  Speaker 1: the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says. I
• 1:55:49
  Speaker 1: am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for
• 1:55:52
  Speaker 1: my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock,
• 1:55:56
  Speaker 1: so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I
• 1:55:59
  Speaker 1: will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 1: no longer be food for them. But God would not
• 1:56:05
  Speaker 1: abandon his people. In fact, he himself would come to
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 1: care for them. In Ezekiel thirty four eleven to sixteen,
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 1: he promised, for this is what the Sovereign Lord says,
• 1:56:17
  Speaker 1: I myself will search for my sheep and look after
• 1:56:20
  Speaker 1: them as a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when
• 1:56:23
  Speaker 1: he is with them, so will I look after my sheep.
• 1:56:27
  Speaker 1: I will rescue them from all the places where they
• 1:56:29
  Speaker 1: were scattered. On a day of clouds and darkness. I
• 1:56:33
  Speaker 1: will bring them out from the nations and gather them
• 1:56:35
  Speaker 1: from the countries, and I will bring them into their
• 1:56:38
  Speaker 1: own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel,
• 1:56:42
  Speaker 1: in the valleys, and in all the settlements of the land.
• 1:56:46
  Speaker 1: I will tend them in a good pasture. And the
• 1:56:48
  Speaker 1: mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 1: they will lie down in good grazing land, and there
• 1:56:57
  Speaker 1: they will feed in a rich pasture. On the mountains
• 1:56:59
  Speaker 1: of Israel, I myself will tend my sheep and have
• 1:57:03
  Speaker 1: them lie down, declares the sovereign Lord. I will search
• 1:57:06
  Speaker 1: for the lost and bring back the strays. I will
• 1:57:09
  Speaker 1: bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. But the
• 1:57:12
  Speaker 1: sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd
• 1:57:15
  Speaker 1: the flock with justice. God would also judge between sheep
• 1:57:19
  Speaker 1: and sheep, that is, among members of his people who
• 1:57:22
  Speaker 1: had mistreated and harmed one another. In Ezekiel thirty four,
• 1:57:27
  Speaker 1: seventeen twenty two, He warned, as for you, my flock,
• 1:57:31
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says. I will judge
• 1:57:34
  Speaker 1: between one sheep and another, and between rams and goats.
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 1: Is it not enough for you to feed on the
• 1:57:41
  Speaker 1: good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your
• 1:57:45
  Speaker 1: pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you
• 1:57:47
  Speaker 1: to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest
• 1:57:51
  Speaker 1: with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you
• 1:57:54
  Speaker 1: have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet. Therefore,
• 1:57:57
  Speaker 1: this is what the sovereign Lord says to them. See,
• 1:58:01
  Speaker 1: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the
• 1:58:04
  Speaker 1: lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting
• 1:58:08
  Speaker 1: all the weak sheep with your horns, until you have
• 1:58:11
  Speaker 1: driven them away. I will save my flock, and they
• 1:58:14
  Speaker 1: will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 1: sheep and another. Then God made an extraordinary promise in
• 1:58:23
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty four twenty three to twenty four. He revealed,
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 1: I will place over them one shepherd, my servant, David,
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 1: and he will tend them. He will tend them and
• 1:58:35
  Speaker 1: be their shepherd. I the Lord will be their God,
• 1:58:38
  Speaker 1: and my servant David will be prince among them. I
• 1:58:42
  Speaker 1: the Lord have spoken. This promise pointed to the coming Messiah,
• 1:58:47
  Speaker 1: the son of David, who would shepherd God's people with
• 1:58:51
  Speaker 1: justice and love. The result would be peace and blessing
• 1:58:53
  Speaker 1: for God's people. In Ezekiel thirty four twenty five thirty one,
• 1:58:58
  Speaker 1: he promised, I will make a cover of peace with
• 1:59:00
  Speaker 1: them and rid the land of savage beasts, so that
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 1: they may live in the wilderness and sleep in the
• 1:59:06
  Speaker 1: forests in safety. I will make them and the places
• 1:59:10
  Speaker 1: surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers
• 1:59:14
  Speaker 1: in season. There will be showers of blessing. The trees
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 1: will yield their fruit, and the ground will yield its crops.
• 1:59:21
  Speaker 1: The people will be secure in their land. They will
• 1:59:24
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord. When I break the
• 1:59:26
  Speaker 1: bars of their yoke and rescue them from the hands
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 1: of those who enslaved them. They will no longer be
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 1: plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them.
• 1:59:38
  Speaker 1: They will live in safety, and no one will make
• 1:59:41
  Speaker 1: them afraid. I will provide for them a land renowned
• 1:59:44
  Speaker 1: for its crops, and they will no longer suffer from
• 1:59:47
  Speaker 1: famine in the land, or bear the scorn of the nations.
• 1:59:51
  Speaker 1: Then they will know that I, the Lord their God,
• 1:59:54
  Speaker 1: am with them, and that they, the Israelites, are my people,
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 1: declares the Sovereign Lord. You are my sheep, the sheep
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 1: of my pasture, and I am your God, declares the
• 2:00:03
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord. God then turned his attention to edom Israel's
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 1: ancient enemy and descendant of Esau, Jacob's brother. In Ezekiel
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 1: thirty five wonders four, we read the word of the
• 2:00:16
  Speaker 1: Lord came to me, son of Man. Set your face
• 2:00:20
  Speaker 1: against Mount Sayr. Prophes I against it, and say this
• 2:00:24
  Speaker 1: is what the Sovereign Lord says. I am against you
• 2:00:27
  Speaker 1: Mount Sayr, and I will stretch out my hand against
• 2:00:31
  Speaker 1: you and make you a desolate waste. I will turn
• 2:00:34
  Speaker 1: your towns into ruins, and you will be desolate. Then
• 2:00:38
  Speaker 1: you will know that I am the Lord. Mount Sayr
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 1: was the mountainous region inhabited by the Edomites. God explained
• 2:00:46
  Speaker 1: why he was against them in Ezekiel thirty five five nine.
• 2:00:49
  Speaker 1: He declared, because you harbored an ancient hostility and delivered
• 2:00:54
  Speaker 1: the Israelites over to the sword. At the time of
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 1: their calamity the time their punishment reached its climax. Therefore,
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 1: as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 1: will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you.
• 2:01:09
  Speaker 1: Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you.
• 2:01:13
  Speaker 1: I will make Mount Sair a desolate waste, and cut
• 2:01:16
  Speaker 1: off from it all who come and go. I will
• 2:01:19
  Speaker 1: fill your mountains with the slain those killed by the sword,
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 1: will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in
• 2:01:25
  Speaker 1: all your ravines. I will make you desolate forever. Your
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 1: towns will not be inhabited. Then you will know that
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 1: I am the Lord. The Edomites had committed two fatal mistakes. First,
• 2:01:37
  Speaker 1: they helped the Babylonians capture Israelites who were trying to
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 1: escape when Jerusalem fell. Second, they hoped to take Israel's
• 2:01:44
  Speaker 1: land for themselves. In Ezekiel thirty five ten fifteen, God continued,
• 2:01:49
  Speaker 1: because you have said these two nations and countries will
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 1: be ours, and we will take possession of them, even
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 1: though I the Lord was there. Therefore, as surely as
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 1: I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will treat you
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 1: in accordance with the anger and jealousy you showed in
• 2:02:06
  Speaker 1: your hatred of them, And I will make myself known
• 2:02:09
  Speaker 1: among them when I judge you. Then you will know
• 2:02:13
  Speaker 1: that I the Lord have heard all the contemptible things
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 1: you have said against the mountains of Israel. You said
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 1: they have been laid waste and have been given over
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 1: to us to devour. You boasted against me and spoke
• 2:02:26
  Speaker 1: against me without restraint, and I heard it. This is
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 1: what the Sovereign Lord says, while the whole earth rejoices.
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 1: I will make you desolate, because you rejoiced when the
• 2:02:37
  Speaker 1: inheritance of the people of Israel became desolate. That is
• 2:02:41
  Speaker 1: what I will do to you. You will be desolate,
• 2:02:44
  Speaker 1: mount sair you and all of Edom. Then they will
• 2:02:49
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord. After prophesying against Edom,
• 2:02:54
  Speaker 1: God turned his attention to the mountains of Israel, which
• 2:02:58
  Speaker 1: had been devastated. In contrast to the desolation promised to Edom,
• 2:03:02
  Speaker 1: God promised restoration to Israel. In Ezekiel thirty six one seven.
• 2:03:08
  Speaker 1: He said, son of Man, prophesy to the mountains of Israel,
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 1: and say, oh, mountains of Israel, hear the word of
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 1: the Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says, the
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 1: enemy said of you, Ah, the ancient heights have become
• 2:03:24
  Speaker 1: our possession. Therefore, prophesy and say, this is what the
• 2:03:29
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord says, because they ravaged and attacked you from
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 1: every side, so that you became the possession of the
• 2:03:35
  Speaker 1: rest of the nations and the object of people's talk
• 2:03:38
  Speaker 1: and slander. Therefore, oh, mountains of Israel, hear the word
• 2:03:42
  Speaker 1: of the Sovereign Lord. This is what the Sovereign Lord says.
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 1: To the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys,
• 2:03:50
  Speaker 1: to the desolate ruins and the deserted towns that have
• 2:03:54
  Speaker 1: been plundered and ridiculed by the rest of the surrounding nations.
• 2:03:58
  Speaker 1: This is what the Sovereign Lord says. In my burning zeal,
• 2:04:04
  Speaker 1: I have spoken against the rest of the nations and
• 2:04:07
  Speaker 1: against all edom, for with glee and with malice in
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 1: their hearts, they made my land their own possession, so
• 2:04:15
  Speaker 1: that they might plunder its pasture. Land. Therefore, prophesy concerning
• 2:04:19
  Speaker 1: the land of Israel, and say, to the mountains and hills,
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 1: to the ravines and valleys, this is what the Sovereign
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 1: Lord says. I speak in my jealous wrath, because you
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 1: have suffered the scorn of the nations. God then promised
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 1: renewed prosperity for Israel. In Ezekiel thirty six eight to twelve,
• 2:04:40
  Speaker 1: he declared, but you mountains of Israel, will produce branches
• 2:04:44
  Speaker 1: and fruit for my people Israel, for they will soon
• 2:04:48
  Speaker 1: come home. I am concerned for you and will look
• 2:04:51
  Speaker 1: on you with favor. You will be plowed and sown,
• 2:04:55
  Speaker 1: and I will multiply the number of people upon you,
• 2:04:58
  Speaker 1: the whole house of Israel. The towns will be inhabited
• 2:05:02
  Speaker 1: and the ruins rebuilt. I will increase the number of
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 1: people and animals upon you, and they will be fruitful
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 1: and numerous. I will settle people on you as in
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 1: the past, and will make you prosper more than before.
• 2:05:14
  Speaker 1: Then you will know that I am the Lord. I
• 2:05:18
  Speaker 1: will cause people, my people Israel, to walk upon you.
• 2:05:21
  Speaker 1: They will possess you, and you will be their inheritance.
• 2:05:25
  Speaker 1: You will never again deprive them of their children. The
• 2:05:29
  Speaker 1: issue went deeper than just the land. The people of
• 2:05:32
  Speaker 1: Israel had defiled it through their sins. In Ezekiel thirty
• 2:05:36
  Speaker 1: six to sixteen to nineteen, God explained, the word of
• 2:05:40
  Speaker 1: the Lord came to me, son of Man. When the
• 2:05:43
  Speaker 1: people of Israel were living in their own land, they
• 2:05:47
  Speaker 1: defiled it by their conduct and their actions. Their conduct
• 2:05:51
  Speaker 1: was like a woman's impurity in my sight. So I
• 2:05:55
  Speaker 1: poured out my wrath on them, because they had shed
• 2:05:57
  Speaker 1: blood in the land, and because they had defiled it
• 2:06:00
  Speaker 1: with their idols. I dispersed them among the nations, and
• 2:06:04
  Speaker 1: they were scattered through the countries. I judged them according
• 2:06:07
  Speaker 1: to their conduct and their actions. However, Israel's exile caused
• 2:06:12
  Speaker 1: God's name to be profaned among the nations. In Ezekiel
• 2:06:16
  Speaker 1: thirty six, twenty twenty three, he continued, and wherever they
• 2:06:20
  Speaker 1: went among the nations, they profaned my holy name, for
• 2:06:24
  Speaker 1: it was said of them, these are the Lord's people,
• 2:06:28
  Speaker 1: and yet they had to leave his land. I had
• 2:06:31
  Speaker 1: concern for my Holy Name, which the people of Israel
• 2:06:35
  Speaker 1: profaned among the nations where they had gone. Therefore, say
• 2:06:39
  Speaker 1: to the House of Israel, this is what the Sovereign
• 2:06:42
  Speaker 1: Lord says. It is not for your sake, o House
• 2:06:45
  Speaker 1: of Israel, that I am going to act, but for
• 2:06:48
  Speaker 1: the sake of my holy Name, which you have profaned
• 2:06:51
  Speaker 1: among the nations where you have gone. I will show
• 2:06:54
  Speaker 1: the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned
• 2:06:58
  Speaker 1: among the nations, the name you have profaned among them.
• 2:07:02
  Speaker 1: Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,
• 2:07:05
  Speaker 1: declares the sovereign Lord, when I show myself wholly through
• 2:07:09
  Speaker 1: you before their eyes. So God promised to restore them,
• 2:07:13
  Speaker 1: not because of who they were, but for the sake
• 2:07:16
  Speaker 1: of his name. In Ezekiel thirty six twenty four to
• 2:07:20
  Speaker 1: thirty he declared, for I will take you out of
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 1: the nations. I will gather you from all the countries
• 2:07:26
  Speaker 1: and bring you back into your own land. I will
• 2:07:29
  Speaker 1: sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.
• 2:07:32
  Speaker 1: I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from
• 2:07:36
  Speaker 1: all your idols. I will give you a new heart
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 1: and put a new spirit in you. I will remove
• 2:07:42
  Speaker 1: from you your heart of stone and give you a
• 2:07:44
  Speaker 1: heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit in
• 2:07:47
  Speaker 1: you and move you to follow my decrees and be
• 2:07:51
  Speaker 1: careful to keep my laws. You will live in the
• 2:07:53
  Speaker 1: land I gave your forefathers. You will be my people,
• 2:07:57
  Speaker 1: and I will be your God. I will save you
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 1: from all your uncleanness. I will call for the grain
• 2:08:04
  Speaker 1: and make it plentiful, and will not bring famine upon you.
• 2:08:08
  Speaker 1: I will increase the fruit of the trees and the
• 2:08:11
  Speaker 1: crops of the field, so that you will no longer
• 2:08:13
  Speaker 1: suffer disgrace among the nations because of famine. Eventually the
• 2:08:19
  Speaker 1: people of Israel would acknowledge their sins and repent. In
• 2:08:24
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty six thirty one thirty six, God concluded, then
• 2:08:29
  Speaker 1: you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and
• 2:08:33
  Speaker 1: you will loathe yourselves for your sins and detestable practices.
• 2:08:37
  Speaker 1: I want you to know that I am not doing
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 1: this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed
• 2:08:43
  Speaker 1: and disgraced for your conduct, O house of Israel. This
• 2:08:48
  Speaker 1: is what the Sovereign Lord says. On the day I
• 2:08:52
  Speaker 1: cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns,
• 2:08:57
  Speaker 1: and the ruins will be rebuilt. The desolate land will
• 2:09:00
  Speaker 1: be cultivated instead of lying desolate. In the sight of
• 2:09:04
  Speaker 1: all who pass through it, they will say, this land
• 2:09:09
  Speaker 1: that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden.
• 2:09:13
  Speaker 1: The cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed,
• 2:09:17
  Speaker 1: are now fortified and inhabited. Then the nations around you
• 2:09:21
  Speaker 1: that remain will know that I, the Lord, have rebuilt
• 2:09:26
  Speaker 1: what was destroyed and replanted what was desolate. I the
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 1: Lord have spoken, and I will do it. God ended
• 2:09:36
  Speaker 1: this section with a promise of population increase. In Ezekiel
• 2:09:40
  Speaker 1: thirty six thirty seven to thirty eight, he said, this
• 2:09:43
  Speaker 1: is what the Sovereign Lord says. Once again. I will
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 1: yield to the plea of the House of Israel and
• 2:09:49
  Speaker 1: do this for them. I will make their people as
• 2:09:51
  Speaker 1: numerous as sheep, as numerous as the flocks for offerings
• 2:09:55
  Speaker 1: at Jerusalem during her appointed feasts. So will the ruined
• 2:09:59
  Speaker 1: cities be fill with flocks of people. Then they will
• 2:10:02
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel then received one
• 2:10:06
  Speaker 1: of the most vivid and extraordinary visions in the entire Bible.
• 2:10:09
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel thirty seven don one three, we read the
• 2:10:13
  Speaker 1: hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 1: me out by the spirit of the Lord and set
• 2:10:19
  Speaker 1: me in the middle of a valley. It was full
• 2:10:21
  Speaker 1: of bones. He led me back and forth among them,
• 2:10:24
  Speaker 1: and I saw a great many bones on the floor
• 2:10:27
  Speaker 1: of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me,
• 2:10:31
  Speaker 1: son of man, can these bones live? I said, Sovereign Lord,
• 2:10:35
  Speaker 1: you alone know the chire scene was desolate, a valley
• 2:10:43
  Speaker 1: filled with bones, completely dry, lifeless. For a long time,
• 2:10:47
  Speaker 1: it was a vivid image of the people of Israel
• 2:10:50
  Speaker 1: in exile, hopeless, lifeless, with no future. But God had
• 2:10:54
  Speaker 1: other plans. In Ezekiel thirty seven for two six he commanded.
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 1: Then he said to me, prophesy to these bones, and
• 2:11:03
  Speaker 1: say to them, dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
• 2:11:07
  Speaker 1: This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones.
• 2:11:10
  Speaker 1: I will make breath enter you, and you will come
• 2:11:13
  Speaker 1: to life. I will attach tendons to you and make
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 1: flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I
• 2:11:19
  Speaker 1: will put breath in you, and you will come to life.
• 2:11:23
  Speaker 1: Then you will know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel obeyed,
• 2:11:27
  Speaker 1: and something incredible happened. In Ezekiel thirty seven to seven
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 1: to ten, he recounts, So I prophesied as I was commanded,
• 2:11:36
  Speaker 1: And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a
• 2:11:39
  Speaker 1: rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone.
• 2:11:44
  Speaker 1: I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them, and
• 2:11:47
  Speaker 1: skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
• 2:11:50
  Speaker 1: Then he said to me, prophesy to the breath. Prophesy
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 1: son of Man, and say to it, this is what
• 2:11:55
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord says. Come breath from the four winds
• 2:12:00
  Speaker 1: and breathe into these slain that they may live. So
• 2:12:04
  Speaker 1: I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them.
• 2:12:07
  Speaker 1: They came to life and stood up on their feet
• 2:12:10
  Speaker 1: a vast army. The valley of death had become a
• 2:12:13
  Speaker 1: field of life. Dry bones had been transformed into a
• 2:12:17
  Speaker 1: powerful army. It was a dramatic demonstration of God's power
• 2:12:21
  Speaker 1: to restore the meaning of the vision was made clear
• 2:12:25
  Speaker 1: in Ezekiel thirty seven eleven fourteen. God said, then, he
• 2:12:29
  Speaker 1: said to me, son of Man, these bones are the
• 2:12:32
  Speaker 1: people of Israel. They say, our bones are dried up,
• 2:12:35
  Speaker 1: and our hope is gone. We are cut off. Therefore,
• 2:12:38
  Speaker 1: prophesy and say to them, this is what the Sovereign
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 1: Lord says, my people. I am going to open your
• 2:12:45
  Speaker 1: graves and bring you up from them. I will bring
• 2:12:47
  Speaker 1: you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people,
• 2:12:51
  Speaker 1: will know that I am the Lord. When I open
• 2:12:53
  Speaker 1: your graves and bring you up from them, I will
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 1: put my spirit in you, and you will live, and
• 2:12:59
  Speaker 1: I will settle you in your own land. Then you
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 1: will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I
• 2:13:06
  Speaker 1: have done it, declares the Lord. Just as the dry
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 1: bones came back to life, God promised to restore his
• 2:13:12
  Speaker 1: people to their land, filled with his spirit and renewed
• 2:13:16
  Speaker 1: with hope. Right after the vision of the dry Bones,
• 2:13:21
  Speaker 1: God gave Ezekiel another physical demonstration. In Ezekiel thirty seven
• 2:13:25
  Speaker 1: fifteen seventeen, we read the word of the Lord came
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 1: to me, son of Man. Take a stick of wood
• 2:13:33
  Speaker 1: and write on it belonging to Judah and the Israelites
• 2:13:36
  Speaker 1: associated with him. Then take another stick of wood and
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 1: write on it belonging to Ephraim, the stick of Joseph
• 2:13:45
  Speaker 1: and all the house of Israel associated with him. Join
• 2:13:48
  Speaker 1: them together into one stick, so that they become one
• 2:13:52
  Speaker 1: in your hand. This action symbolized the future reunification of
• 2:13:57
  Speaker 1: Israel's divided kingdom. After Soloman's death, Israel had split into
• 2:14:02
  Speaker 1: two kingdoms, Israel or Ephraim in the north and Judah
• 2:14:06
  Speaker 1: in the south. The northern kingdom was conquered by Assyria
• 2:14:10
  Speaker 1: in seven hundred and twenty two b c. And its
• 2:14:12
  Speaker 1: ten tribes were scattered. The southern kingdom was conquered by
• 2:14:17
  Speaker 1: Babylon in five and eighty six b C. Now, God
• 2:14:21
  Speaker 1: was promising to bring the two back together. When the
• 2:14:24
  Speaker 1: people asked what this meant, Ezekiel explained in thirty seven
• 2:14:28
  Speaker 1: nineteen to twenty two. Say to them, this is what
• 2:14:32
  Speaker 1: the Sovereign Lord says. I am going to take the
• 2:14:34
  Speaker 1: stick of Joseph, which is in Ephraim's hand and of
• 2:14:39
  Speaker 1: the Israelite tribes associated with him, and join it to
• 2:14:42
  Speaker 1: Judah's stick, making them a single stick of wood, and
• 2:14:46
  Speaker 1: they will become one in my hand. Hold before their
• 2:14:50
  Speaker 1: eyes the sticks you have written on, and say to them,
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 1: this is what the Sovereign Lord says. I will take
• 2:14:56
  Speaker 1: the Israelites out of the nations where they have gone.
• 2:14:59
  Speaker 1: I will gather them from all around and bring them
• 2:15:01
  Speaker 1: back into their own land. I will make them one
• 2:15:04
  Speaker 1: nation in the land on the mountains of Israel. There
• 2:15:08
  Speaker 1: will be one king over all of them, and they
• 2:15:11
  Speaker 1: will never again be two nations or divided into two kingdoms.
• 2:15:16
  Speaker 1: This reunification would be accompanied by a deep spiritual cleansing.
• 2:15:21
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel thirty seven twenty three twenty four, God promised
• 2:15:25
  Speaker 1: they will no longer defile themselves with their idols and
• 2:15:29
  Speaker 1: vile images. Or with any of their offenses. For I
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 1: will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 1: will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I
• 2:15:40
  Speaker 1: will be their god. My servant David will be king
• 2:15:43
  Speaker 1: over them, and they will all have one shepherd. They
• 2:15:46
  Speaker 1: will follow my laws and be careful to keep my decrees.
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 1: The servant David mentioned here wasn't literally King David, who
• 2:15:54
  Speaker 1: had died centuries earlier, but rather the promised Messiah, David's descendant,
• 2:15:59
  Speaker 1: who would come to reign in righteousness. The restoration would
• 2:16:03
  Speaker 1: be permanent and complete. In Ezekiel thirty seven twenty five
• 2:16:08
  Speaker 1: twenty eight, God concluded, they will live in the land
• 2:16:11
  Speaker 1: I gave to my servant Jacob, the land where your
• 2:16:14
  Speaker 1: ancestors lived. They and their children and their children's children
• 2:16:18
  Speaker 1: will live there forever, and David, my servant, will be
• 2:16:21
  Speaker 1: their prince forever. I will make a covenant of peace
• 2:16:24
  Speaker 1: with them. It will be an everlasting covenant. I will
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 1: establish them and increase their numbers, and I will put
• 2:16:31
  Speaker 1: my sanctuary among them forever. My dwelling place will be
• 2:16:35
  Speaker 1: with them. I will be their God, and they will
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 1: be my people. Then the nations will know that I
• 2:16:43
  Speaker 1: the Lord, make Israel holy when my sanctuary is among
• 2:16:46
  Speaker 1: them forever. The expectation of a close and permanent relationship
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 1: with God, symbolized by his sanctuary among them, was the
• 2:16:55
  Speaker 1: pinnacle of the restoration promise. Then Ezekiel's prophecies took a
• 2:16:59
  Speaker 1: surprise rising turn. Looking far into the future. In Ezekiel
• 2:17:04
  Speaker 1: at Yate one six, we read the word of the
• 2:17:07
  Speaker 1: Lord came to me, son of Man. Set your face
• 2:17:11
  Speaker 1: against Gog of the land of Magog, the chief prince
• 2:17:15
  Speaker 1: of Meshek and Tubal, prophesy against him, and say this
• 2:17:19
  Speaker 1: is what the sovereign Lord says. I am against you, Gog,
• 2:17:23
  Speaker 1: chief Prince of Meshek and Tubal, I will turn you around,
• 2:17:27
  Speaker 1: put hooks in your jaws and bring you out with
• 2:17:30
  Speaker 1: your whole army, your horses, your horsemen fully armed, and
• 2:17:35
  Speaker 1: a great horde with large and small shields, all of
• 2:17:38
  Speaker 1: them brandishing their swords. Persia, cush and put will be
• 2:17:42
  Speaker 1: with them, all with shields and helmets. Also Goma with
• 2:17:45
  Speaker 1: all its troops, and beth Togama from the far north
• 2:17:49
  Speaker 1: with all its troops. The many nations with you, Gog
• 2:17:53
  Speaker 1: and Magog represent distant nations that will unite against Israel
• 2:17:57
  Speaker 1: in some future time. These nations include peoples from all
• 2:18:01
  Speaker 1: over the earth in a massive coalition against God's people.
• 2:18:05
  Speaker 1: God commanded God to prepare for an attack. In Ezekiel
• 2:18:09
  Speaker 1: thirty eight seventy to nine, he said, get ready, be prepared,
• 2:18:15
  Speaker 1: you and all the hordes gathered about you, and take
• 2:18:18
  Speaker 1: command of them. After many days, you will be called
• 2:18:22
  Speaker 1: to arms. In future years. You will invade a land
• 2:18:25
  Speaker 1: that has recovered from war, whose people were gathered from
• 2:18:29
  Speaker 1: many nations to the mountains of Israel, which had long
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 1: been desolate. They were brought out from the nations, and
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 1: now all of them live in safety. You will advance,
• 2:18:40
  Speaker 1: coming like a storm. You will be like a cloud
• 2:18:43
  Speaker 1: covering the land. You all your troops, and many nations
• 2:18:47
  Speaker 1: with you. God's intention would be to plunder and destroy
• 2:18:51
  Speaker 1: a restored and peaceful Israel. In Ezekiel thirty eight ten twelve,
• 2:18:56
  Speaker 1: God revealed, this is what the sovereign Lord says. On
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 1: that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you
• 2:19:03
  Speaker 1: will devise an evil scheme. You will say, I will
• 2:19:07
  Speaker 1: invade a land of unwalled villages. I will attack a
• 2:19:10
  Speaker 1: peaceful and unsuspecting people, all of them living without walls
• 2:19:14
  Speaker 1: and without gates and bars. I will plunder and loot
• 2:19:18
  Speaker 1: and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the
• 2:19:21
  Speaker 1: people gathered from the nations, rich in live stock and goods,
• 2:19:25
  Speaker 1: living at the center of the land. This invasion would
• 2:19:30
  Speaker 1: be permitted by God for a specific purpose. In Ezekiel
• 2:19:34
  Speaker 1: thirty eight fourteen sixteen, he explained, therefore, son of Man,
• 2:19:39
  Speaker 1: prophesy and say to God, this is what the sovereign
• 2:19:42
  Speaker 1: Lord says. In that day, when my people Israel are
• 2:19:46
  Speaker 1: living in safety, will you not take notice of it?
• 2:19:49
  Speaker 1: You will come from your place in the far north,
• 2:19:52
  Speaker 1: you and many nations with you, all of them riding
• 2:19:55
  Speaker 1: on horses, a great horde, a mighty army. You will
• 2:20:00
  Speaker 1: once against my people Israel like a cloud that covers
• 2:20:03
  Speaker 1: the land. In days to come, Gog, I will bring
• 2:20:07
  Speaker 1: you against my land, so that the nations may know
• 2:20:10
  Speaker 1: me when I improved wholly through you before their eyes.
• 2:20:14
  Speaker 1: When Gog attacks, God will intervene directly. In Ezekiel thirty
• 2:20:18
  Speaker 1: eighth eighteen to twenty three, he declared, this is what
• 2:20:22
  Speaker 1: will happen in that day when Gog attacks the land
• 2:20:25
  Speaker 1: of Israel. My hot anger will be aroused, declares the
• 2:20:29
  Speaker 1: Sovereign Lord in my zeal and fiery wrath. I declare
• 2:20:34
  Speaker 1: that at that time there shall be a great earthquake
• 2:20:36
  Speaker 1: in the land of Israel. The fish in the sea,
• 2:20:40
  Speaker 1: the birds in the sky, the beasts of the field,
• 2:20:43
  Speaker 1: every creature that moves along the ground, and all the
• 2:20:46
  Speaker 1: people on the face of the earth will tremble at
• 2:20:48
  Speaker 1: my presence. The mountains will be overturned, the cliffs will crumble,
• 2:20:53
  Speaker 1: and every wall will fall to the ground. I will
• 2:20:56
  Speaker 1: summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declare,
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 1: as the Sovereign Lord. Every man's sword will be against
• 2:21:03
  Speaker 1: his brother. I will execute judgment on him with plague
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 1: and bloodshed. I will pour down torrents of rain, hail stones,
• 2:21:10
  Speaker 1: and burning sulfur on him, and on his troops, and
• 2:21:13
  Speaker 1: on the many nations with him. And so I will
• 2:21:17
  Speaker 1: show my greatness and my holiness, and I will make
• 2:21:20
  Speaker 1: myself known in the sight of many nations. Then they
• 2:21:23
  Speaker 1: will know that I am the Lord. God's defeat would
• 2:21:27
  Speaker 1: be absolute. In Ezekiel thirty nine one to seven, God continued,
• 2:21:32
  Speaker 1: son of Man, prophesy against God, and say this is
• 2:21:36
  Speaker 1: what the Sovereign Lord says I am against you, Gog,
• 2:21:40
  Speaker 1: chief Prince of Meshek and Tubal. I will turn you
• 2:21:43
  Speaker 1: around and drag you along. I will bring you from
• 2:21:46
  Speaker 1: the far north and send you against the mountains of Israel.
• 2:21:50
  Speaker 1: Then I will strike your bow from your left hand
• 2:21:53
  Speaker 1: and make your arrows drop from your right hand. On
• 2:21:57
  Speaker 1: the mountains of Israel. You will fall, you and all
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 1: your troops, and the nations with you. I will give
• 2:22:03
  Speaker 1: you as food to all kinds of carrion birds and
• 2:22:06
  Speaker 1: to the wild animals. You will fall in the open field.
• 2:22:09
  Speaker 1: For I have spoken, declares the Sovereign Lord. I will
• 2:22:13
  Speaker 1: send fire on Magog and on those who live in
• 2:22:17
  Speaker 1: safety in the coast lands, and they will know that
• 2:22:20
  Speaker 1: I am the Lord. I will make known my holy
• 2:22:23
  Speaker 1: name among my people Israel. I will no longer let
• 2:22:27
  Speaker 1: my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know
• 2:22:30
  Speaker 1: that I the Lord, am the holy one in Israel.
• 2:22:34
  Speaker 1: The aftermath of the battle would be long lasting. In
• 2:22:37
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel thirty nine to nine sixteen, God described, then those
• 2:22:41
  Speaker 1: who live in the towns of Israel will go out
• 2:22:44
  Speaker 1: and use the weapons for fuel and burn them. The
• 2:22:47
  Speaker 1: small and large shields, the bows and arrows, the war
• 2:22:51
  Speaker 1: clubs and spears for seven years. They will use them
• 2:22:55
  Speaker 1: for fuel. They will not need to gather wood from
• 2:22:58
  Speaker 1: the fields or cut it from the fire forests, because
• 2:23:01
  Speaker 1: they will use the weapons for fuel. And they will
• 2:23:04
  Speaker 1: plunder those who plundered them, and loot those who looted them,
• 2:23:08
  Speaker 1: declares the Sovereign Lord. On that day, I will give
• 2:23:11
  Speaker 1: Gog a burial place in Israel, in the valley of
• 2:23:14
  Speaker 1: those who travel east of the sea. It will block
• 2:23:17
  Speaker 1: the way of travelers because Gog and all his hordes
• 2:23:21
  Speaker 1: will be buried there, So it will be called the
• 2:23:25
  Speaker 1: Valley of Hamon Gog. For seven months, the Israelites will
• 2:23:29
  Speaker 1: be burying them in order to cleanse the land. All
• 2:23:33
  Speaker 1: the people of the land will bury them, and the
• 2:23:35
  Speaker 1: day I am glorified will be a memorable day for them,
• 2:23:39
  Speaker 1: declares the Sovereign Lord. The ultimate purpose of this entire
• 2:23:43
  Speaker 1: battle would be to glorify God and fully restore Israel.
• 2:23:48
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel thirty nine twenty one twenty nine, he concluded,
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 1: I will display my glory among the nations, and all
• 2:23:57
  Speaker 1: the nations will see the punishment I inflict and the
• 2:24:00
  Speaker 1: hand I lay on them. From that day forward, the
• 2:24:03
  Speaker 1: people of Israel will know that I am the Lord
• 2:24:06
  Speaker 1: their God, and the nations will know that the people
• 2:24:09
  Speaker 1: of Israel went into exile for their sin because they
• 2:24:13
  Speaker 1: were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from
• 2:24:17
  Speaker 1: them and handed them over to their enemies, and they
• 2:24:20
  Speaker 1: all fell by the sword. I dealt with them according
• 2:24:24
  Speaker 1: to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my
• 2:24:27
  Speaker 1: face from them. Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says.
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 1: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob, and will
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 1: have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I
• 2:24:39
  Speaker 1: will be zealous for my holy name. They will forget
• 2:24:42
  Speaker 1: their shame and all the unfaithfulness they showed toward me
• 2:24:46
  Speaker 1: when they lived in safety in their land, with no
• 2:24:48
  Speaker 1: one to make them afraid. When I have brought them
• 2:24:52
  Speaker 1: back from the nations and have gathered them from the
• 2:24:54
  Speaker 1: countries of their enemies, I will be proved wholly through
• 2:24:58
  Speaker 1: them in the sight of men nations. Then they will
• 2:25:01
  Speaker 1: know that I am the Lord their God. For though
• 2:25:04
  Speaker 1: I sent them into exile among the nations, I will
• 2:25:07
  Speaker 1: gather them to their own land, not leaving any behind.
• 2:25:11
  Speaker 1: I will no longer hide my face from them, for
• 2:25:14
  Speaker 1: I will pour out my spirit on the people of Israel,
• 2:25:17
  Speaker 1: declares the sovereign Lord. In the twenty fifth year of
• 2:25:21
  Speaker 1: the exile, Ezekiel received an extraordinary vision of God's future temple.
• 2:25:26
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel forty one four, we read in the twenty
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 1: fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year,
• 2:25:33
  Speaker 1: on the tenth day of the month in the fourteenth year,
• 2:25:36
  Speaker 1: after the city was taken, on that very day, the
• 2:25:40
  Speaker 1: hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought
• 2:25:43
  Speaker 1: me there in the visions of God. He took me
• 2:25:46
  Speaker 1: to the land of Israel and set me on a
• 2:25:49
  Speaker 1: very high mountain. On its southern slope were some buildings
• 2:25:53
  Speaker 1: that looked like a city. He took me there, and
• 2:25:55
  Speaker 1: I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze. He
• 2:25:59
  Speaker 1: was stable and in the gateway, with a linen cord
• 2:26:02
  Speaker 1: and a measuring rod in his hand. The man said
• 2:26:06
  Speaker 1: to me, son of Man, look with your eyes and
• 2:26:09
  Speaker 1: hear with your ears, and pay attention to everything I
• 2:26:12
  Speaker 1: show you, for that is why you have been brought here.
• 2:26:16
  Speaker 1: Tell the House of Israel everything you see. This intricate
• 2:26:21
  Speaker 1: and detailed vision spans chapters forty to forty three, describing
• 2:26:26
  Speaker 1: a magnificent temple with precise dimensions. It's as if Ezekiel
• 2:26:31
  Speaker 1: was touring a grand architectural project, guided by a divine messenger.
• 2:26:36
  Speaker 1: The temple included gates, courtyards, chambers, and entrances, all meticulously measured. First,
• 2:26:43
  Speaker 1: the messenger measured the outer wall and the eastern gate.
• 2:26:48
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel forty five to sixteen, Ezekiel watched as the
• 2:26:52
  Speaker 1: man with the measuring rod took detailed measurements of the gate,
• 2:26:56
  Speaker 1: its pillars, threshold, courtyard, guard rooms, and vestibule. Every detail
• 2:27:02
  Speaker 1: was recorded with precision. Then, in Ezekiel forty to seventeen
• 2:27:06
  Speaker 1: twenty seven, the messenger led Ezekiel to the outer court
• 2:27:11
  Speaker 1: and measured the northern and southern gates, which had the
• 2:27:14
  Speaker 1: same dimensions as the eastern gate. In Ezekiel forty twenty
• 2:27:18
  Speaker 1: eight thirty seven, he measured the inner court and its
• 2:27:22
  Speaker 1: three gates southeast and north. Once again, the measurements were consistent,
• 2:27:28
  Speaker 1: showing a perfectly symmetrical design. In Ezekiel forty thirty eight
• 2:27:32
  Speaker 1: to forty seven, the messenger showed Ezekiel the rooms where
• 2:27:36
  Speaker 1: the sacrifices were to be prepared and where the priests
• 2:27:39
  Speaker 1: who served in the temple would stay. Everything was arranged
• 2:27:44
  Speaker 1: to insure proper worship. The messenger then measured the temple
• 2:27:47
  Speaker 1: itself in Ezekiel forty one one to four. He began
• 2:27:52
  Speaker 1: with the main sanctuary. Then the man brought me to
• 2:27:55
  Speaker 1: the sanctuary and measured the side pillars. Each was six
• 2:27:59
  Speaker 1: cubits wide. The entrance was ten cubits wide, and the
• 2:28:03
  Speaker 1: side walls of the entrance were five cubits on each side.
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 1: He measured the sanctuary. It was forty cubits long and
• 2:28:10
  Speaker 1: twenty cubits wide. Then he went into the inner sanctuary
• 2:28:14
  Speaker 1: and measured the pillars of the entrance. Each was two
• 2:28:18
  Speaker 1: cubits wide. The entrance was six cubits wide, and the
• 2:28:22
  Speaker 1: side walls of the entrance were seven cubits on each side.
• 2:28:26
  Speaker 1: He measured the inner sanctuary. It was twenty cubits long
• 2:28:30
  Speaker 1: and twenty cubits wide. The rest of chapter forty one
• 2:28:35
  Speaker 1: describes other aspects of the temple, its side rooms, the
• 2:28:39
  Speaker 1: raised platform, decorative carvings of cherubim and palm trees, and
• 2:28:44
  Speaker 1: the wooden altar. In Ezekiel forty two one fourteen, the
• 2:28:48
  Speaker 1: messenger showed Ezekiel the priest chambers to the north and
• 2:28:51
  Speaker 1: south of the temple, where they would eat the most
• 2:28:54
  Speaker 1: sacred offerings and store their special garments. Finally, the messenger
• 2:28:59
  Speaker 1: compleated the external measurements in Ezekiel forty two, fifteen twenty.
• 2:29:05
  Speaker 1: When he had finished measuring what was inside the temple area,
• 2:29:08
  Speaker 1: he led me out through the east gate and measured
• 2:29:11
  Speaker 1: the entire area surrounding it. He measured the east side
• 2:29:16
  Speaker 1: with the measuring rod. It was five hundred rods. He
• 2:29:20
  Speaker 1: measured the north side, it was five hundred rods. He
• 2:29:24
  Speaker 1: measured the south side, it was five hundred rods. Then
• 2:29:28
  Speaker 1: he turned to the west side and measured it was
• 2:29:30
  Speaker 1: five hundred rods. So he measured all four sides. It
• 2:29:35
  Speaker 1: had a wall around it five hundred rods long and
• 2:29:38
  Speaker 1: five hundred rods wide to separate the holly from the common.
• 2:29:43
  Speaker 1: Then something incredible happened. After revealing the temple's design, the
• 2:29:48
  Speaker 1: messenger brought Ezekiel to witness the return of God's glory
• 2:29:52
  Speaker 1: to the temple. In Ezekiel forty three one to five,
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 1: we read, then the man brought me to the gate
• 2:29:58
  Speaker 1: facing east, and I I saw the glory of the
• 2:30:01
  Speaker 1: God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was
• 2:30:04
  Speaker 1: like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was
• 2:30:07
  Speaker 1: radiant with his glory. The vision I saw was like
• 2:30:11
  Speaker 1: the vision I had seen when he came to destroy
• 2:30:14
  Speaker 1: the city, and like the visions I had seen by
• 2:30:17
  Speaker 1: the Kibar river. And I fell face down. The glory
• 2:30:21
  Speaker 1: of the Lord entered the temple through the gate facing east.
• 2:30:25
  Speaker 1: Then the spirit lifted me up and brought me into
• 2:30:28
  Speaker 1: the inner court, and the glory of the Lord filled
• 2:30:31
  Speaker 1: the temple after all the earlier visions of judgment and exile.
• 2:30:36
  Speaker 1: The return of God's glory to the temple, something Ezekiel
• 2:30:40
  Speaker 1: had seen depart in earlier visions, was a triumphant sign
• 2:30:44
  Speaker 1: of full restoration. God then spoke directly to Ezekiel. In
• 2:30:50
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel forty three six to nine, he said, while the
• 2:30:54
  Speaker 1: man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to
• 2:30:57
  Speaker 1: me from inside the temple. He said, Son of Man,
• 2:31:01
  Speaker 1: this is the place of my throne and the place
• 2:31:04
  Speaker 1: for the souls of my feet. This is where I
• 2:31:08
  Speaker 1: will live among the Israelites forever. The people of Israel
• 2:31:11
  Speaker 1: will never again defile my holy name, neither they nor
• 2:31:15
  Speaker 1: their kings by their prostitution or the lifeless idols of
• 2:31:19
  Speaker 1: their kings at their high places. When they placed their
• 2:31:24
  Speaker 1: threshold next to mine and their doorposts beside mine, with
• 2:31:29
  Speaker 1: only a wall between me and them, they defiled my
• 2:31:32
  Speaker 1: holy name by their detestable practices. So I consumed them
• 2:31:36
  Speaker 1: in my anger. Now let them put away their prostitution
• 2:31:39
  Speaker 1: and the lifeless idols of their kings far from me,
• 2:31:43
  Speaker 1: and I will live among them forever. The purpose of
• 2:31:47
  Speaker 1: this detailed vision was to motivate the people to repentance.
• 2:31:52
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel forty three ten twelve, God explained, son of Man,
• 2:31:57
  Speaker 1: describe the Temple to the people of Israel, so that
• 2:32:00
  Speaker 1: they may be ashamed of their sins. Let them consider
• 2:32:04
  Speaker 1: its design, and if they are ashamed of all they
• 2:32:07
  Speaker 1: have done, make known to them the design of the Temple,
• 2:32:10
  Speaker 1: its arrangement, its exits and entrances, its whole design, and
• 2:32:15
  Speaker 1: all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them,
• 2:32:20
  Speaker 1: so that they may be faithful to its design and
• 2:32:23
  Speaker 1: follow all its regulations. This is the law of the Temple.
• 2:32:28
  Speaker 1: The entire area on top of the mountain will be
• 2:32:31
  Speaker 1: most holy. Yes, this is the law of the Temple.
• 2:32:35
  Speaker 1: The remaining chapters describe the altar and its sacrifices forty
• 2:32:39
  Speaker 1: three thirteen twenty seven, the rules for the priests forty
• 2:32:43
  Speaker 1: four one thirty one, the distribution of the land forty
• 2:32:46
  Speaker 1: five on one eighth, Offerings and Festivals forty five nine
• 2:32:51
  Speaker 1: forty six twenty four, and other ordinances for renewed worship.
• 2:32:56
  Speaker 1: At the end of his vision, Ezekiel saw something truly marvelous,
• 2:33:00
  Speaker 1: a river flowing from the temple, bringing life wherever it went.
• 2:33:04
  Speaker 1: In Ezekiel forty seven to one five, he describes it
• 2:33:08
  Speaker 1: like this. The man brought me back to the entrance
• 2:33:11
  Speaker 1: of the temple, and I saw water coming out from
• 2:33:14
  Speaker 1: under the threshold of the temple toward the east. For
• 2:33:17
  Speaker 1: the temple faced east, the water was coming down from
• 2:33:21
  Speaker 1: under the south side of the temple, south of the altar.
• 2:33:25
  Speaker 1: Then he brought me out through the north gate and
• 2:33:28
  Speaker 1: led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east,
• 2:33:32
  Speaker 1: and the water was trickling from the south side. As
• 2:33:36
  Speaker 1: the man went eastward. With a measuring line in his hand,
• 2:33:40
  Speaker 1: he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me
• 2:33:43
  Speaker 1: through water that was ankle deep. He measured off another
• 2:33:46
  Speaker 1: thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee deep.
• 2:33:50
  Speaker 1: He measured off another thousand and led me through water
• 2:33:53
  Speaker 1: that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand.
• 2:33:58
  Speaker 1: But now it was a river that I could not cross,
• 2:34:02
  Speaker 1: because the water had risen and was deep enough to
• 2:34:04
  Speaker 1: swim in. A river that no one could cross. This
• 2:34:08
  Speaker 1: miraculous river grew without any tributary, flowing directly from the
• 2:34:13
  Speaker 1: presence of God in the temple. The messenger explained to
• 2:34:17
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel the transformative effect of this river. In Ezekiel forty
• 2:34:22
  Speaker 1: seven to six to twelve, we read he asked me,
• 2:34:27
  Speaker 1: son of man, do you see this? Then he led
• 2:34:31
  Speaker 1: me back to the bank of the river. When I
• 2:34:33
  Speaker 1: arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on
• 2:34:36
  Speaker 1: each side of the river. He said to me. This
• 2:34:39
  Speaker 1: water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into
• 2:34:43
  Speaker 1: the Araba, where it enters the Dead Sea. When it
• 2:34:46
  Speaker 1: empties into the sea, the salty water there becomes fresh.
• 2:34:51
  Speaker 1: Swarms of living creatures will live. Wherever the river flows.
• 2:34:56
  Speaker 1: There will be large numbers of fish because this water
• 2:34:59
  Speaker 1: flows there and makes the salt water fresh. So where
• 2:35:02
  Speaker 1: the river flows, everything will live. Fishermen will stand along
• 2:35:07
  Speaker 1: the shore from Engeddi to n Eglam. There will be
• 2:35:10
  Speaker 1: places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds,
• 2:35:14
  Speaker 1: like the fish of the Mediterranean Sea. But the swamps
• 2:35:18
  Speaker 1: and marshes will not become fresh. They will be left
• 2:35:22
  Speaker 1: for salt. Fruit. Trees of all kinds will grow on
• 2:35:25
  Speaker 1: both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither,
• 2:35:28
  Speaker 1: nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear
• 2:35:31
  Speaker 1: fruit because the water from the sanctuary flows to them.
• 2:35:36
  Speaker 1: Their fruit will serve for food, and their leaves for healing.
• 2:35:39
  Speaker 1: This powerful image of healing water flowing from God's temple
• 2:35:43
  Speaker 1: symbolize the spiritual purification and renewal that God would bring.
• 2:35:48
  Speaker 1: The dead waters of the Dead Sea, also called the
• 2:35:51
  Speaker 1: Salt Sea, would be transformed into a place of abundant life.
• 2:35:56
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel's vision concluded with the division of the promised land
• 2:36:00
  Speaker 1: among the twelve tribes of Israel. In Ezekiel forty seven
• 2:36:04
  Speaker 1: thirteen to fourteen, God said, this is what the sovereign
• 2:36:08
  Speaker 1: Lord says. These are the boundaries of the land that
• 2:36:12
  Speaker 1: you will divide among the twelve tribes of Israel as
• 2:36:15
  Speaker 1: their inheritance, with two portions. For Joseph. You are to
• 2:36:20
  Speaker 1: divide it equally among them, because I swore with uplifted
• 2:36:24
  Speaker 1: hand to give it to your ancestors. This land will
• 2:36:27
  Speaker 1: become your inheritance. In Ezekiel forty seven fifteen two to twenty,
• 2:36:33
  Speaker 1: God laid out the precise borders of the land to
• 2:36:35
  Speaker 1: the north, east, south and west, covering much of the
• 2:36:40
  Speaker 1: original territory. Promise to Abraham, this land would be divided
• 2:36:44
  Speaker 1: among the tribes of Israel, but there was also provision
• 2:36:48
  Speaker 1: for foreigners. In Ezekiel forty seven twenty one twenty three,
• 2:36:53
  Speaker 1: God declared, you are to distribute this land among yourselves
• 2:36:58
  Speaker 1: according to the tribes of Israel. You are to allot
• 2:37:01
  Speaker 1: it as an inheritance for yourselves and for the foreigners
• 2:37:05
  Speaker 1: residing among you and who have children. You are to
• 2:37:09
  Speaker 1: consider them as native born Israelites along with you. They
• 2:37:14
  Speaker 1: are to be allotted an inheritance among the tribes of Israel.
• 2:37:18
  Speaker 1: In whatever tribe a foreigner resides there, you are to
• 2:37:21
  Speaker 1: give them their inheritance, declares the sovereign Lord. The final
• 2:37:26
  Speaker 1: chapters describe in detail how the land would be divided
• 2:37:29
  Speaker 1: among the tribes, with specific portions assigned to each on
• 2:37:34
  Speaker 1: forty eight one twenty nine, as well as designated areas
• 2:37:37
  Speaker 1: for the Holy City and the Temple. The vision ends
• 2:37:41
  Speaker 1: with a stunning picture of the renewed Holy City in Ezekiel.
• 2:37:46
  Speaker 1: Forty eight thirty or thirty five, we read these will
• 2:37:49
  Speaker 1: be the exits of the city, beginning on the north side,
• 2:37:53
  Speaker 1: which is four thousand, five hundred cubits long. The city
• 2:37:56
  Speaker 1: will have gates named after the tribes of Israel. The
• 2:38:00
  Speaker 1: three gates on the north side will be the Gate
• 2:38:03
  Speaker 1: of Reuben, the Gate of Judah, and the Gate of Levi.
• 2:38:07
  Speaker 1: On the east side, also four thousand, five hundred cubits long,
• 2:38:10
  Speaker 1: will be three gates, the Gate of Joseph, the Gate
• 2:38:14
  Speaker 1: of Benjamin, and the Gate of Dan. On the south side,
• 2:38:17
  Speaker 1: four thousand, five hundred cubits long will be three gates,
• 2:38:21
  Speaker 1: the gate of Simeon, the Gate of Isaka, and the
• 2:38:25
  Speaker 1: gate of Zebulun. On the west side, also four thousand,
• 2:38:29
  Speaker 1: five hundred cubits long, will be three gates, the Gate
• 2:38:32
  Speaker 1: of Gad, the Gate of Asher, and the Gate of Naftali.
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 1: The total perimeter of the city will be eighteen thousand
• 2:38:39
  Speaker 1: cubits and the name of the city from that time
• 2:38:42
  Speaker 1: on will be the Lord is there. With those hopeful words,
• 2:38:47
  Speaker 1: the Lord is there the Book of Ezekiel comes to
• 2:38:50
  Speaker 1: a close after all the desolation, exile, and judgment. The
• 2:38:54
  Speaker 1: final promise is one of God's presence dwelling forever with
• 2:38:58
  Speaker 1: his restored people. If this journey through the Book of
• 2:39:02
  Speaker 1: Ezekiel touched your heart, don't keep it to yourself. Subscribe
• 2:39:07
  Speaker 1: to our channel to continue exploring the depths of biblical
• 2:39:11
  Speaker 1: stories like you've never seen before. Every subscription helps us
• 2:39:15
  Speaker 1: keep creating content that connects the ancient words of scripture
• 2:39:19
  Speaker 1: with our lives to day. And why not share this
• 2:39:23
  Speaker 1: video with friends or family members who need to hear
• 2:39:26
  Speaker 1: this message of hope. May be some one you know
• 2:39:29
  Speaker 1: is going through their own kind of spiritual exile and
• 2:39:32
  Speaker 1: needs to know that restoration is possible. Drop a comment
• 2:39:36
  Speaker 1: sharing which part of Ezekiel's story impacted you the most,
• 2:39:40
  Speaker 1: and stay tuned for our next video, where we'll keep
• 2:39:44
  Speaker 1: uncovering the wonders of God's word. Remember the final words
• 2:39:48
  Speaker 1: of Ezekiel, the name of the heavenly City. The Lord
• 2:39:52
  Speaker 1: is there that promises for you too to day and
• 2:39:56
  Speaker 1: always see you In the next video,