Rich Nelson Uncategorized

39: Hosea — Introduction & God accuses Israel — Hosea 4:1-19

Get Ready

How do you picture a typical “family?” How has your image changed over time? What do you picture as the ideal family? How much of this picture is influenced by the family you now have or the family in which you grew up? How might it change in the future?

Author

Hosea, the prophet, who identifies himself as “the son of Berea [1:1] wrote this book during the later part of his ministry. This is one of the few books in the Old Testament with universal agreement about the author. His name is a variant of “Joshua” and “Jesus,” which means “salvation” in Hebrew.

Context

Hosea also provides the historical context for his book and his ministry: “in the days of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah, and in the days of King Jereboam son of Joash of Israel” [1:1]. This places him at the end of the northern kingdom (where he lived) and just past the middle of the southern kingdom.

While Hezekiah (715-687 BCE) led a return to worshipping God in Judah, Jereboam (791-750 BCE) led Israel in worshipping a mixture of false gods that included some elements of true Jewish worship of Yahweh, in a partially-successful effort to retain the support of the kingdoms that surrounded Israel. The nation was relatively stable and peaceful during his reign; but this ended when he died. Five kings tried to rule until the Israel was defeated in 722 BCE. Hosea probably lived to see his prophecies actually happen.

Structure

The book has two major sections:

  • The first part is the story of Hosea’s very unusual family situation. God’s initial command to Hosea is to marry a prostitute – as a living demonstration of Israel’s prostitution in worshipping the false fertility gods of its pagan neighbors [chapters 1-3].
  • The second part of the book presents Hosea’s prophecies of God’s impending judgment against both Israel and Judah.

In spite of the harsh judgment that Hosea must convey to the Jews and their leaders, he ends his works with a plea for repentance and the assurance that God will forgive those who do return to him.

Major Themes

The primary message of Hosea is God’s impending judgment on Israel’s sin. By Hosea’s time the leaders of both Judah and Israel, with very few exceptions, had forsaken following God’s commandments (and paying any attention to his prophets), and worshipped a mixture of idols. Hosea’s prophecies – both direct and through the symbolism of his marriage and family – present a compelling picture of the nation’s sin and its inevitable consequences.

At the same time Hosea confirms God’s love and promise of forgiveness – again through his marriage and his prophecies. After his wife leaves him and returns to prostitution, he finds her at a slave market and purchases her and restores her to the family. The last two chapters of the book give a picture of God’s compassion and tenderness toward his chosen people: I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down and fed them, [11:4].

Get into the Word

1. Who wrote this book? What is significant about the author’s name? What else do we know about the author and family [see Notes]?

2. When did the prophet do his work? Where did he prophesy? What was the political situation at the time? How about the military situation? What was the religious context for this prophet? What happened a few years after the prophet’s work?

3. How is this book structured? What are the major sections of the book? What is similar about the sections? What is different? Why do you suppose the prophet used the symbolism he did? 

4. What message was this prophet trying to convey? Who was his primary audience? How did his personal situation reinforce his prophetic message? How do you suppose the prophet felt about his marriage and family? How might you feel if this happened to you?

5. What else does the prophet say about Israel’s future? Why do you think he included this message in his prophesies. How does this affect your understanding of God’s character? Of his holiness? Of his compassion?

7. What names did Hosea give his children? Why do you think he chose these names? What do the names signify? Do you think the people understood God’s message in these names?

Bible Trivia
Hosea uses “Ephraim” for Israel since it was the largest of the northern tribes.

Notes . . .

A most unusual family:
God’s very first command to Hosea directs him to, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom,” [1:2]. God’s rationale for this unusual order is to symbolize the nation’s sin of forsaking the Lord and ignoring his commandments. Hosea obeys and marries “Gomer daughter of Diblaim.”

Gomer and Hosea have three children and God tells Hosea to give each one a symbolic name:

  • Jezreel (God sows), a son – “for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel,” [1:4]. Jezreel was the site of a battle in which Jehu killed King Joram.
  • Lo-ruhamah (Not pitied), a daughter – “for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel,” [1:6].
  • Lo-ammi (Not my people), another son – “for you are not my people and I am not your God,” [1:9].

After the children were born Gomer left Hosea and returned to her life of prosti-tution. But Hosea goes after her and buys her from a slave market and restores her as his wife, just as “the Israelites shall return and seek the Lord their God,” [3:5].

Did this really happen?
God’s command to Hosea is unique in the Bible. Plus it seems to go against the fifth and seventh commandments – to honor one’s father and mother and to not commit adultery. The family was sacred to the Jews, as well as the rest of the ancient nations. Some critics insist the story is only an allegory and did not really happen, others suggest that either Gomer became a prostitute only after the marriage or Hosea did not realize she was a prostitute. But Hosea’s language is direct, not poetic: God told him to marry a prostitute so he did. Further, the image certainly fits with Israel’s history of unfaithfully ignoring God and his laws and worshipping other gods.

39: God accuses Israel — Hosea 4:1-19

Get Ready

How do you picture a typical “family?” How has your image changed over time? What do you picture as the ideal family? How much of this picture is influenced by the family you now have or the family in which you grew up? How might it change in the future?

The Word

4Hear the word of the Lord, O people of Israel; for the Lord has an indictment against the inhabitants of the land.There is no faithfulness or loyalty, and no knowledge of God in the land. 
2 Swearing, lying, and murder, and stealing and adulte
ry break out; bloodshed follows bloodshed. 
3 Therefore the land mourns, and all who live in it languish;
together with the wild animals and the birds of the air,even the fish of the sea are perishing. 
4 Yet let no one contend, and let none accuse, for with you is my contention, O priest. 
5 You shall stumble by day; the prophet also shall stumble with you by night, and I will destroy your mother. 
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge,
I reject you from being a priest to me.
And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. 
7 The more they increased, the more they sinned against me; they changed their glory into shame. 
8 They feed on the sin of my people; they are greedy for their iniquity. 
9 And it shall be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways, and repay them for their deeds. 
10 They shall eat, but not be satisfied; they shall play the whore, but not multiply;
because they have forsaken the Lord to devote themselves to 11 whoredom.
Wine and new wine take away the understanding. 
12 My people consult a piece of wood, and their divining rod gives them oracles.
For a spirit of whoredom has led them astray, and they have played the whore, forsaking their God. 
13 They sacrifice on the tops of the mountains, and make offerings upon the hills, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good.
Therefore your daughters play the whore, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. 
14 I will not punish your daughters when they play the whore, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery;
for the men themselves go aside with whores, and sacrifice with temple prostitutes; 
thus a people without understanding comes to ruin. 
15 Though you play the whore, O Israel, do not let Judah become guilty.
Do not enter into Gilgal, or go up to Beth-aven, and do not swear, “As the Lord lives.” 
16 Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
17 Ephraim is joined to idols —let him alone. 
18 When their drinking is ended, they indulge in sexual orgies; they love lewdness more than their glory. 
19 A wind has wrapped them in its wings, and they shall be ashamed because of their altars.  NRSV

Get into the Word

1. How does the prophet begin his message? What is his subject? Who is his audience? How does he describe the people’s actions regarding God? What is the result of this situation?

2. Who all is included in God’s charge? Why are the priests included? What will happen to them? To the people? How will God respond to them? How does Hosea describe their sins? Why are their actions so serious [see Notes]?

3. What are the sins of the people? Why does Hosea call it “playing the whore?” What will be the result of these practices? Why will the women not be punished for their sexual misdeeds?

4. Why does he refer to mountains, hills and trees [see Notes]? Why would people consult “a piece of wood?” What is the significance of Gilgal and Beethoven? Who is Ephraim [see Notes]?







Get Personal

Hosea’s prophecy charges the people because they are not acting like people who follow 

Notes . . .

4:1. Indictment — a legal charge that a person broke the law, also translated “rebuke.”
4:2. There is . . . — Hosea lays out the sins of the people: instead of knowing and following God the Israelites were regularly and consistently violating at least five of the Ten Commandments. “Swearing” here means calling for God to curse someone, which is “making wrongful use of the name of the Lord,”
[Ex 20:7].
4:3. The land mourns — the sin was so widespread it affected the land itself, which God said would happen: I will break your proud glory, and I will make your sky like iron and your earth like copper. Your strength shall be spent to no purpose: your land shall not yield its produce, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit, [Lev 26:19-20].
4:4. Contend . . . accuse — God is prohibiting the people from trying to shift the blame.
O priest — even the priests were sinning, and they would be punished as the rest of the people [check 4:9-10].
4:5. Stumble — continue to sin. 
Prophets — Hosea refers to the advisors who are loyal only to the king and themselves; God had ordered the priests to teach the law to the people [Deut 31:9-13].
4:6. Reject — God will reject the self-seeking religious leaders, Malachi also

prophesied about corrupt priests: you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble by your instruction; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the Lord of hosts, and so I make you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways but have shown partiality in your instruction, [Mal 2:8-9, also check Jer 23:11 and Mic 3:11].
4:8. Feed on the sin — priests actually got a portion of the sin offerings of the people [Lev 7:7-10].
4:10. Play the whore — Israelites were participating in pagan fertility rites, hoping for good crops and increased herds of livestock.
4:12. Piece of wood — many idols were little more than a carved image.
4:13. Top of mountains . . . under oak — pagan worship sites were often on hills or under large trees [check Deut 12:2-4 for God’s directive about such shrines].
4:15. Beth-aven — “house of wickedness,” actually Bethel, where Jacob dreamt about God’s “ladder,” [Gen 28:10-19; also check Amos 5:5 for the town’s future]. Gilgal was another pagan worship site.
4:17. Ephraim — one of Jacob’s sons and the largest tribe in the northern kingdom – Hosea uses “Ephraim” to mean all of the kingdom.

Memory Verse
For the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them, [Hosea 14:9].

Next Lesson
Joel 2: The army of locusts.

Rich Nelson Uncategorized

38: Introduction & The four beasts — Daniel 7:1-8, 15-28

Get Ready

Daniel wrote a much shorter book than the three previous prophets, but he packed in some of the most striking images and provocative prophecies of any book in the Bible. Along the way he describes some of the most dramatic miracles anyone has experienced until Jesus arrived.

Author

Scholars agree that Daniel, the Jewish prophet in Babylon, wrote this book. The detail in the first part of the book about life in Babylon and in the king’s court argues for an author who knew such details from personal experience. And the prophecies and images in the second part point to an author very familiar with the Torah and history of the Jewish nation.

A small group of scholars argue that the detail in the prophecies could only come from someone writing after the events described in the prophecies had taken place. However, the amount of detail varies from one prophet to the next and one prophecy to the next. It is no clue to the authenticity of a given prophecy.

Context

Daniel was taken to Babylon in the first wave of captives in 605 BCE. He lived under various Babylonian and Persian rulers, often as part of the royal court. He saw the second defeat of Judah in 597 BCE (when Ezekiel came to Babylon) and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 586 BCE. Yet he lived to see the Persians succeed the Babylonians and answer his prayer that the Jews would be allowed to return to Jerusalem (Cyrus issued his decree in 538 BCE).

Like Ezekiel, Daniel prophesied to the people of Israel in their captivity. He was also a living example of what he preached: he continued to follow the commandments and honor God, even when it might have cost him his life (see below).

Structure

The book begins by introducing Daniel and then presents two major sections:

  • First, events in the life of Daniel and his three friends from Jerusalem: Hannah, Mishael and Azariah (whose names were changed to the Babylonian Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) [chapters 2-6]. These events include:
    • Proving the Jewish diet was superior to the rich, court foods the Babylonians wanted them to eat.
    • Interpreting dreams of King Nebuchadnezzar when his own magicians and sorcerers could not.
    • Surviving a fiery furnace when they refused to bow down and worship a statue of the king.
    • Interpreting the “writing on the wall” at King Belshazzar’s great feast.
    • Surviving a den of lions when Daniel refused to stop praying to God three times a day.
  • The second section presents Daniels visions and prophecies about Israel’s future and the end of time (chapters 7-12). These visions include: the four beasts, a ram and a goat, the seventy weeks, and a great battle between earthly and heavenly powers. 

The book also includes Daniel’s prayer for the Jewish people [chapter 9]. After realizing Jeremiah’s prophecy that Jerusalem would be destroyed for seventy years, Daniel prays that God will somehow allow the people to return to Jerusalem.

Major Themes

Daniel presents God as the ultimate ruler of history – in Daniel’s time in Babylon, in the near future of the kingdoms of the Middle East, and in the far future.

  • The incidents in the first part of the book demonstrate God’s ability to protect his people in even the most life-threatening situations. God is greater than any local god or national ruler.
  • God is in control of the near future. Daniel’s vision of the four beasts accurately foretells the rise and fall of the Babylonian, Persian, Greek and Roman empires over the next five hundred years.
  • God also controls events on earth and in the heavens in the far future and the end of time. Daniel also includes God’s promise that Israel (Daniel’s “people” in 12:1) will be delivered.

The final message of the book is a caution to those who would use the detail of the prophetic visions as the basis for predicting when the events will actually take place. Daniel asks the archangel Michael “what shall be the outcome of these things,” [12:8]. Michael replies, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are to remain secret and sealed until the time of the end,” [12:9] and, “you shall rise for your reward at the end of the days,” [12:13].

Get into the Word

1. Who wrote this book? Where did he write it? When did he write it? Who was his intended audience? Why do some believe a different person wrote the book?

2. What was the situation facing the author? What were his living conditions like? What events affected his life? Who else was in similar circumstances?

3. How is this book organized? What are the major sections of the book? What events does the book cover? Why do you suppose the author chose these events and not others? What links these events together? What do they say about the author? About the Jews? About God?

4. What is the second major section about? How does it differ from the first section? What types of events does it present? What images does it include? How do you think the author’s listeners felt about these prophecies? What did the author hope to accomplish with them?

5. What are the primary themes of this book? What does it say about God? About the Jewish people? About other nations?

6. How does this book end? What does the author ask of God? How does God respond to this request? What does this say about our response to questions about the future?

Bible Trivia:
God sometimes uses pagans to accomplish his purposes. King Nebuchadnezzar’s second dream, according to Daniel, meant that he would lose his reason and be forced to live with wild animals because he thought he was more powerful than God. It happened just as Daniel predicted: the king was driven away from Babylon and “ate grass like oxen,” [4:33]. When he recovered he “blessed the Most High, and praised and honored the one who lives forever. For his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation,” [4:34].

Notes . . .

Seventy Weeks . . .
Daniel contains one of the most provocative prophecies of the Bible. The angel Gabriel tells Daniel [9:24-27]: Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city. Gabriel goes on to describe “seven weeks” from rebuilding Jerusalem to “an anointed prince,” sixty-two weeks until “an anointed one shall be cut off,” wars and desolations, a “covenant with many for one week,” and “an abomination that desolates.” Many scholars have ignored Michael’s warning and wasted considerable paper and ink presenting interpretations of the “seventy weeks” that predict when the end times will occur.

38: The four beasts – Daniel 7:1-8, 15-28

Get Ready

How concerned are you about the future? Are you more concerned with your near-term future, like the next couple of months, or about what will happen in the more distant future? Are you more concerned about your own future or about the future of a larger group?

The Word

7In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2 I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3 and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 4 The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then, as I watched, its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a human being; and a human mind was given to it. 5 Another beast appeared, a second one, that looked like a bear. It was raised up on one side, had three tusks in its mouth among its teeth and was told, “Arise, devour many bodies!” 6 After this, as I watched, another appeared, like a leopard. The beast had four wings of a bird on its back and four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the visions by night a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth and was devouring, breaking in pieces, and stamping what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that preceded it, and it had ten horns. 8 I was considering the horns, when another horn appeared, a little one coming up among them; to make room for it, three of the earlier horns were plucked up by the roots. There were eyes like human eyes in this horn, and a mouth speaking arrogantly.

There is a vision of judgment before the Ancient One and then Daniel’s visions are interpreted.

15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16 I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17 “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”

19 Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all the rest, exceedingly terrifying, with its teeth of iron and claws of bronze, and which devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped what was left with its feet; 20 and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and concerning the other horn, which came up and to make room for which three of them fell out—the horn that had eyes and a mouth that spoke arrogantly, and that seemed greater than the others. 21 As I looked, this horn made war with the holy ones and was prevailing over them, 22 until the Ancient One came; then judgment was given for the holy ones of the Most High, and the time arrived when the holy ones gained possession of the kingdom.
23 This is what he said: “As for the fourth beast, there shall be a fourth kingdom on earth that shall be different from all the other kingdoms; it shall devour the whole earth, and trample it down, and break it to pieces.
24 As for the ten horns, out of this kingdom ten kings shall arise, and another shall arise after them. This one shall be different from the former ones, and shall put down three kings.
25 He shall speak words against the Most High, shall wear out the holy ones of the Most High, and shall attempt to change the sacred seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his power for a time, two times, and half a time.
26 Then the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and totally destroyed.
27 The kingship and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the holy ones of the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey them.”

28 Here the account ends. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly terrified me, and my face turned pale; but I kept the matter in my mind.

Get into the Word:

1. What is happening as this passage begins? Who is involved? When does it take place?

2. What does Daniel see? How many things does he see? How does he describe each of the things in his vision? How do you think Daniel felt about what he saw? How might you have felt if the vision had come to you?

3. Which beast do you think is the most terrifying? What images stand out for you in this vision?

4. How does Daniel respond to the vision? Who does he ask for help in explaining the vision? How does this being respond to Daniel?

5. How does the attendant explain the vision? What do the four beasts represent? What kingdoms actually did exist in Daniel’s future [see Notes]? Why is the fourth beast/kingdom different than the other three?

6. What does the 11th horn represent [see Notes]? How does this being deal with the other horns? With the “Holy ones?” What will ultimately happen to this being?

7. Who are the “holy ones?” Who do you think is the “Ancient One?” Is this being the same as the “Most High?”









Get Personal:

How do you respond to God’s promises about your life? How has God helped you to trust his promise of salvation? How does his promise affect your day-to-day activities?


Notes . . .

7:1. First year — probably 552 BCE – Belshazzar was a co-regent with his father, Nabonidus, before Persian King Cyrus defeated the Medes.
7:2. Winds of heaven — a fairly common symbol of divine activity in ancient cultures [check Jer 23:19; 49:36; 51:1; and Zech 6:1-6; 7:14, as is stirring up the sea, which was a symbol for chaos and uncertainty.
7:4. Winged lion — another common image in the ancient Middle East (the lion and eagle were two of the symbols for Babylon).
7:5. Bear — a symbol of great strength, but little grace or finesse.
7:6. Leopard — a symbol of speed and cunning [as in Hab 1:8 or Hos 13:7].
7:7. Fourth beast — this beast is not named, but described as “terrifying and dreadful.”
Ten horns — horns were a symbol of strength and power.

7:17. Four kings — the “attendant” tells Daniel the four beasts represent kingdoms. Most interpreters agree the lion represents Babylon, the Bear symbolizes Persia, the leopard represents Greece under Alexander the Great, and the fourth beast is Rome.
7:19. Teeth of iron — Rome was the strongest of the empires named and its army destroyed any kingdom that challenged it.
7:20. Horns — the ten horns represent kings, which succeeded Rome (many think the countries of Europe). The eleventh horn is evidently another king (or kingdom) that displaces three of the ten and is intelligent and very arrogant [7:8]. Daniel now learns [7:23-27] that this king will challenge God and persecute his “holy ones,” before being defeated, judged and destroyed. The Apostle John uses this imagery in his description of the end times in Revelation [check Rev 17-20].

Memory Verse
All his works are truth, and his ways are justice; and he is able to bring low those who walk in pride, [Daniel 4:37].

Next Lesson
Hosea 4: God accuses Israel.

Rich Nelson Uncategorized

37: Ezekiel — Introduction & Vision of the scroll — Ezekiel 2:1-3:14

Get Ready

Ezekiel is the third prophet in the Old Testament (and his book is the third longest). He prophesied to the Jewish captives in Babylon after the Babylonians had defeated the kingdom of Judah. His message explains their situation to the people and also gives them hope for the future of Israel.

Author

Scholars agree that Ezekiel, the prophet, wrote this book. He uses the pronoun, “I,” throughout the book and says the Lord told him to “go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them,” [3:4]. He was a priest (and the son of a priest, Buzi) during the first part of Israel’s captivity in Babylon. Since he was born in Jerusalem and lived there during the first part of his life, it is likely he knew about Jeremiah (which would explain his use of symbolism and actions to convey his messages).

Context

Babylon defeated the kingdom of Judah and took the King and most of the leaders captive in 597 BCE. God called Ezekiel in “the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin,” [1:2]. He prophesied for twenty years (he refers to the twenty-fifth year of captivity at 40:1).

Ezekiel went to Babylon as part of the second group of captives. The first group (which included the prophet Daniel) was exiled in 605 BCE; and the remaining Israelites joined them in 586 BCE, after Jerusalem was destroyed.

The book reflects Ezekiel’s perspective as an exile waiting for the inevitable destruction of his homeland. He prophesied during the period when the Babylonians defeated the kingdom, then laid siege to and destroyed the capital and the temple.

Structure

Ezekiel, like Isaiah and Jeremiah before it (in the Old Testament), is a long book; but its organization makes it fairly easy to read and understand (although some of the prophetic images are quite complex). The first section [chapters 1-3] introduces the prophet and de- scribes his call from God and the purpose of this work.

There are three groups of prophesies:

  • The first group is God’s judgment on Judah’s persistent idolatry, [chapters 4-24].
  • The second group contains judgments against the nations around Judah: Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia, Tyre and Sidon, and Egypt, [chapters 25-32].
  • The last group includes the visions God gave Ezekiel about the future of Israel, including the people’s return to Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the temple, [chapters 33-48].

Major Themes

God’s character is Ezekiel’s subject and he focuses on three major aspects:

  • Righteousness: Ezekiel contrasts God’s righteousness with Israel’s idolatry. While God has been faithful to his covenant with Israel, the people have consistently and persistently ignored God’s commandments, especially the first. The people have followed (most of) their leaders into worshipping the pagan gods. In some cases idols have actually been placed in the temple. Because of Israel’s unrighteousness, Ezekiel tells the people that God is completely justified in allowing Babylon to hold them in captivity.
  • Patience: Ezekiel points to the captivity as evidence of God’s patience with his people. God has destroyed other nations for their sin – he told Moses and Joshua to kill all the people in the Canaanite nations because their sin would infect the Israelites if they were allowed to live with them, [Joshua 6-7]. The Israelites did not “cleanse” the land as God commanded, which eventually led to the idolatry that Ezekiel was confronting in Judah. But God chose to try – once again – to teach his people to follow his law and avoid future captivity.
  • Love and restoration: Ezekiel provides some of the most beautiful visions of the future God wants for his people in the last third of the book. Ezekiel stresses God’s promise to Abraham and Israel: he will bring them “home” and he will dwell with them. The captivity is actually another demonstration of God’s concern for his people. Ezekiel quotes God as saying “You [or they] will know that I am the Lord,” more than thirty times.

Ezekiel’s other major theme is personal responsibility. We are each responsible to God for our sin. The people of Israel had lived as “God’s chosen people” for so long they had lost sight of the fact that they had a personal and individual responsibility to follow the law. Ezekiel made it very clear: The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself, [18:20].

After the fall of Jerusalem Ezekiel presents God’s condemnation of the people’s sins along with the promise that in the short term the land will become a “desolation and a waste and its proud might will come to an end,” [33:28].

Get into the Word

1. Who wrote this book? What was his “day job?” How did he start his prophesying? What was his mission as a prophet? What preparation did he have?

2. When was the book probably written? Where was it written? What was the historical, military and political situation at the time? Who were the major participants?

3. Who was Ezekiel’s audience? What was their situation? How did they respond to Ezekiel’s prophesies? How do you think you might have responded if you had been there at the time?

4. How is this book similar to the two prophets preceding it? How is it different? What are the major sections of the book? What does each section deal with?

Bible Trivia:
Ezekiel is one of the most-quoted prophets by New Testament writers. Check Ezek 36:2 and Rom 2:24; Eek 20:11 and Rom 10:5 along with Gal 3:12; or Eek 12:22 and 2 Peter 3:4.

5. What is the primary subject of the book? How does Ezekiel approach his subject? What aspects does he emphasize in the book? What does he say about each aspect? Why do you suppose he chose (or God directed) to focus on these aspects? Why would they be important to Ezekiel? To the Jewish people? To future readers?

6. What is Ezekiel’s other major topic? Why would this be important to his audience? How do you think they responded to this message? How do you respond to it?

(More) Bible Trivia:
Ezekiel often echoes Moses’ writings in the Torah. Some examples: Ezek 28:13, 31:8, 36:11, and 47:13.

Note . . .
This book includes many striking images and symbols, but one of the most is the “Valley of Dry Bones,” [37]: God takes Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones and tells him to prophesy to the bones: So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come one them. . . and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet.

37: The vision of the scroll — Ezekiel 2:1-3:14

Get Ready

How do you feel when someone asks you to deliver a message to another person? What is your major concern about doing so? Do you write down the message so you are confident you will accurately convey the message? Do you let the other person know how the recipient responded to the message?

The Word

2He said to me: O mortal, stand up on your feet, and I will speak with you.
2 And when he spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. 3 He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. 4 The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD.” 5 Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them. 6 And you, O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 7 You shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear; for they are a rebellious house.

8 But you, mortal, hear what I say to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you. 9 I looked, and a hand was stretched out to me, and a written scroll was in it. 10 He spread it before me; it had writing on the front and on the back, and written on it were words of lamentation and mourning and woe.

3He said to me, O mortal, eat what is offered to you; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel. 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3 He said to me, Mortal, eat this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it. Then I ate it; and in my mouth it was as sweet as honey.

4 He said to me: Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them. 5 For you are not sent to a people of obscure speech and difficult language, but to the house of Israel—
6 not to many peoples of obscure speech and difficult language, whose words you cannot understand. Surely, if I sent you to them, they would listen to you. 7 But the house of Israel will not listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me; because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart. 8 See, I have made your face hard against their faces, and your forehead hard against their foreheads. 9 Like the hardest stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not fear them or be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. 10 He said to me: Mortal, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart and hear with your ears; 11 then go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them. Say to them, “Thus says the Lord GOD”; whether they hear or refuse to hear.

12 Then the spirit lifted me up, and as the glory of the LORD rose from its place, I heard behind me the sound of loud rumbling; 13 it was the sound of the wings of the living creatures brushing against one another, and the sound of the wheels beside them, that sounded like a loud rumbling. 14 The spirit lifted me up and bore me away; I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the LORD being strong upon me. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is speaking in this passage? To whom is he speaking? Why does the speaker begin with “Stand up” [see Notes]? How does the listener respond?

2. What is God telling Ezekiel? Where is God sending him? Who will be his audience? How does God describe the people? What have they done? How will they treat Ezekiel? How should Ezekiel respond?

3. What command does God give Ezekiel? How is he to act? What image does God use to emphasize his expectations of Ezekiel? What does he say about the experience?

4. How much autonomy does Ezekiel have regarding God’s message? What does God say about Israel’s likely response to the message? How has God prepared Ezekiel to deal with this?







Get Personal

How have you responded to the chance to share your experiences with Christ? How has God prepared you to do so? What message did he give you to share?

Notes . . .

2:1. Mortal — literally “son of man.” God uses the phrase 93 times in his book to address Ezekiel, which seems to stress his status as a human.
Stand up — Ezekiel had fallen on his face in response to his vision of “the likeness of the glory of the Lord,” [1:28].
2:2. Spirit entered into me — in the Old Testament God’s Spirit “entered” certain individuals when needed to empower them for God’s work; it was not the permanent relationship that believers have with the Holy Spirit.
2:3. Sending — the Hebrew word means “designating as an official representative” – Ezekiel was to be God’s ambassador to the captive Jews (“apostle” comes from the Greek equivalence).
A nation of . . . — God does not sugar-coat the difficulty of this assignment: his fellow Jews are rebels, transgressors, impudent and stubborn – in fact, God uses “rebellious house” four times in describing Israel.
2:5. Whether they . . . — God knows most of the people will “refuse to hear,” but that will be their choice – each person is responsible for their decisions about following or ignoring God.
2:8. Do not be rebellious — God wants Ezekiel to follow him and represent him to Israel.
Eat what I give you — Ezekiel was to receive and repeat what God would say to him; he was

not to pick and choose what to say (God says speak my very words to them in 3:4).
2:9. Written scroll — God underscores the importance of conveying his message to the people by putting it in writing – and then ordering Ezekiel to actually eat it, to make it part of himself.
2:10. Lamentation and mourning and woe — actually the title of the scroll (and the content of Ezekiel’s initial prophecies).
3:3. Sweet as honey — even though the message was about judgment, God’s words were still sweet; David and Jeremiah use similar expressions: More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey, and drippings of the honeycomb, [Psalm 19:10]; and Your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, Jer15:16].
3:6. Obscure speech and difficult language — God reminds Ezekiel that he will be speaking to his own people – they understand the language if not the importance of the message.
3:7. Hard forehead — the literal meaning of the word translated “impudent” in v. 3. God equips Ezekiel to withstand the opposition and rejection he is about to face.
3:14. Bitterness — Ezekiel has internalized God’s reaction to sin, as God commanded him in v. 10: Receive [my words] in your heart.

Memory Verse
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, [Ezekiel 34:15].

Next Lesson
Daniel 7: Visions of the four beasts.

Rich Nelson Uncategorized

36: God's steadfast love endures — Lamentations 3:1-40

Get Ready

Which type of day do you prefer – a day in which nothing bad happens to you, but nothing really great happens either? Or a day with a mix of really good things happening to you along with some bad things that you would have preferred not happen?

The Word

3I am one who has seen affliction under the rod of God’s wrath;
2 he has driven and brought me into darkness without any light;
3 against me alone he turns his hand, again and again, all day long.
4 He has made my flesh and my skin waste away, and broken my bones;
5 he has besieged and enveloped me with bitterness and tribulation;
6 he has made me sit in darkness like the dead of long ago.
7 He has walled me about so that I cannot escape; he has put heavy chains on me;
8 though I call and cry for help, he shuts out my prayer;
9 he has blocked my ways with hewn stones, he has made my paths crooked.
10 He is a bear lying in wait for me, a lion in hiding;
11 he led me off my way and tore me to pieces; he has made me desolate;
12 he bent his bow and set me as a mark for his arrow.
13 He shot into my vitals the arrows of his quiver;
14 I have become the laughingstock of all my people,
the object of their taunt-songs all day long.
15 He has filled me with bitterness, he has sated me with wormwood.
16 He has made my teeth grind on gravel, and made me cower in ashes;
17 my soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is;
18 so I say, “Gone is my glory, and all that I had hoped for from the LORD.”
19 The thought of my affliction and my homelessness is wormwood and gall!
20 My soul continually thinks of it and is bowed down within me.
21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
27 It is good for one to bear the yoke in youth,
28 to sit alone in silence when the Lord has imposed it,
29 to put one’s mouth to the dust (there may yet be hope),
30 to give one’s cheek to the smiter, and be filled with insults.
31 For the Lord will not reject forever.
32 Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
33 for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.
34 When all the prisoners of the land are crushed under foot,
35 when human rights are perverted in the presence of the Most High,
36 when one’s case is subverted—does the Lord not see it?
37 Who can command and have it done, if the Lord has not ordained it?
38 Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come?
39 Why should any who draw breath complain about the punishment of their sins?
40 Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. Who is speaking in this section? How does the speaker describe her/his situation? What images does the speaker use? Who does the speaker see as responsible for the situ- ation? Why do you suppose he identifies God?

2. What is the speaker’s physical state? What is his emotional state? How hopeful is the speaker about the situa- tion he is dealing with?

3. How does the speaker describe what God is doing to him? How are other people reacting to the speaker? How does this make the speaker feel? What images does he use to describe his emotions?

4. What does the speaker remember that changes his outlook? How does he describe God’s love? What images does he use? How does this affect the speaker’s attitude toward God? Toward his current suffering?

5. What does the speaker say about suffering and affliction? How should a person respond? What should a person remember about affliction? How does God respond to affliction?





Get Personal

How do you usually respond to difficulties in your life? How do you see God’s involvement in suffering? How has God helped you understand your life in relationship to him?

Notes . . .

3:1. Seen affliction — even though this chapter begins with the same focus on sin and suffering as the first two chapters (as well as chapters 4 and 5), God’s enduring love is the center of the author’s message.
I am one — most conservative scholars believe Jeremiah is the author of Lamentations, and the sufferings in this chapter are very similar to the afflictions Jeremiah faced in his career.
3:3. Turns his hand — God’s “hand” as a symbol of his actions appears in other Old Testament passages, such as: The hand of the Lord was heavy upon the people of Ashdod, and he terrified and struck them with tumors, both in Ashdod and in its territory, [1 Sam 5:6]. 
3:4-6. Made my flesh . . . — Jeremiah’s afflictions led to severe health problems, which then affected his emotional state [check v. 15]. Some of the Psalms also describe the consequences of God’s punishment: There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin, [38:3].

3:7-9. Walled me about . . . — to Jeremiah the situation appears hopeless: God is against him. (Compare with Job’s perception of his problems: For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me, [6:4] and, Why have you made me your target? Why have I become a burden to you? [7:20].)
3:9. Crooked paths — often an image of sinful behavior, here it signifies Jeremiah’s separation from God.
3:15. Wormwood — a desert shrub with a strong odor and extremely bitter taste; in the Bible it is a symbol for a very bad experience [check Amos 5:7 or Rev 8:10-11].
3:21. But this I call to mind — in the midst of his litany of suffering Jeremiah remembers God’s loyalty and love for his people.
3:26. It is good . . . Jeremiah gives us a primer on affliction: it does not supplant our hope for God’s salvation [26-30]; it is temporary [31]; it is mod erated by God’s love [32]; it is not something God enjoys or prefers [33]; God is always aware of it and its effects [34-37]; it is due to sin [39]; it should lead to repentance [40].

Memory Verse
The Lord is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him, [Lamentations 3:24].

Next Lesson
Ezekiel 2: The vision of the scroll