The One Year Bible TLB (234 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The man who sets a trap for others will get caught in it himself. Roll a boulder down on someone, and it will roll back and crush you.
November 3This further message came to me from God:
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“Tell Israel, ‘Wherever you look—east, west, north, or south—your land is finished.
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No hope remains, for I will loose my anger on you for your worshiping of idols.
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I will turn my eyes away and show no pity; I will repay you in full, and you shall know I am the Lord.’”
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The Lord God says: “With one blow after another I will finish you. The end has come; your final doom is waiting.
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O Israel, the day of your damnation dawns; the time has come; the day of trouble nears. It is a day of shouts of anguish, not shouts of joy!
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Soon I will pour out my fury and let it finish its work of punishing you for all your evil deeds. I will not spare nor pity you, and you will know that I, the Lord, am doing it.
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The day of judgment has come; the morning dawns, for your wickedness and pride have run their course and reached their climax—none of these rich and wicked men of pride shall live. All your boasting will die away, and no one will be left to bewail your fate.
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“Yes, the time has come; the day draws near. There will be nothing to buy or sell, for the wrath of God is on the land.
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And even if a merchant lives, his business will be gone, for God has spoken against all the people of Israel; all will be destroyed. Not one of those whose lives are filled with sin will recover.
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“The trumpets shout to Israel’s army, ‘Mobilize!’ but no one listens, for my wrath is on them all.
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If you go outside the walls, there stands the enemy to kill you. If you stay inside, famine and disease will devour you.
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Any who escape will be lonely as mourning doves hiding on the mountains, each weeping for his sins.
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All hands shall be feeble, and all knees as weak as water.
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You shall clothe yourselves with sackcloth, and horror and shame shall cover you; you shall shave your heads in sorrow and remorse.
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“Throw away your money! Toss it out like worthless rubbish, for it will have no value in that day of wrath. It will neither satisfy nor feed you, for your love of money is the reason for your sin.
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I gave you gold to use in decorating the Temple, and you used it instead to make idols! Therefore, I will take it all away from you.
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I will give it to foreigners and to wicked men as booty. They shall defile my Temple.
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I will not look when they defile it, nor will I stop them. Like robbers, they will loot the treasures and leave the Temple in ruins.
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“Prepare chains for my people, for the land is full of bloody crimes. Jerusalem is filled with violence, so I will enslave her people.
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I will crush your pride by bringing to Jerusalem the worst of the nations to occupy your homes, break down your fortifications you are so proud of, and defile your Temple.
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For the time has come for the cutting off of Israel. You will sue for peace, but you won’t get it.
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Calamity upon calamity will befall you; woe upon woe, disaster upon disaster! You will long for a prophet to guide you, but the priests and elders and the kings and princes will stand helpless, weeping in despair. The people will tremble with fear, for I will do to them the evil they have done and give them all their just deserts. They shall learn that I am the Lord.”
8:
1
Then, late in August of the sixth year of King Jehoiachin’s captivity,
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as I was talking with the elders of Judah in my home, the power of the Lord God fell upon me.
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I saw what appeared to be a Man; from his waist down, he was made of fire; from his waist up, he was all amber-colored brightness.
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He put out what seemed to be a hand and took me by the hair. And the Spirit lifted me up into the sky and seemed to transport me to Jerusalem, to the entrance of the north gate, where the large idol was that had made the Lord so angry.
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Suddenly the glory of the God of Israel was there, just as I had seen it before in the valley.
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He said to me, “Son of dust, look toward the north.” So I looked and, sure enough, north of the altar gate in the entrance stood the idol.
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And he said: “Son of dust, do you see what they are doing? Do you see what great sins the people of Israel are doing here, to push me from my Temple? But come, and I will show you greater sins than these!”
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Then he brought me to the door of the Temple court, where I could see an opening in the wall.
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“Now dig into the wall,” he said. I did and uncovered a door to a hidden room.
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“Go in,” he said, “and see the wickedness going on in there!”
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So I went in. The walls were covered with pictures of all kinds of snakes, lizards, and hideous creatures, besides all the various idols worshiped by the people of Israel.
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Seventy elders of Israel were standing there along with Jaazaniah (son of Shaphan) worshiping the pictures. Each of them held a censer of burning incense, so there was a thick cloud of smoke above their heads.
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Then the Lord said to me: “Son of dust, have you seen what the elders of Israel are doing in their minds? For they say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has gone away!’”
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Then he added, “Come, and I will show you greater sins than these!”
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He brought me to the north gate of the Temple, and there sat women weeping for Tammuz,
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their god.
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“Have you seen this?” he asked. “But I will show you greater evils than these!”
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Then he brought me into the inner court of the Temple, and there at the door, between the porch and the bronze altar, were about twenty-five men standing with their backs to the Temple of the Lord, facing east, worshiping the sun!
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“Have you seen this?” he asked. “Is it nothing to the people of Judah that they commit these terrible sins, leading the whole nation into idolatry, thumbing their noses at me and arousing my fury against them?
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Therefore, I will deal with them in fury. I will neither pity nor spare. And though they scream for mercy, I will not listen.”
9:
1
Then he thundered, “Call those to whom I have given the city! Tell them to bring their weapons with them!”
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Six men appeared at his call, coming from the upper north gate, each one with his sword. One of them wore linen clothing and carried a writer’s case strapped to his side. They all went into the Temple and stood beside the bronze altar.
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And the glory of the God of Israel rose from between the Guardian Angels where it had rested and stood above the entrance to
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the Temple.
And the Lord called to the man with the writer’s case
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and said to him, “Walk through the streets of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who weep and sigh because of all the sins they see around them.”
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Then I heard the Lord tell the other men: “Follow him through the city and kill everyone whose forehead isn’t marked. Spare not nor pity them—
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kill them all—old and young, girls, women, and little children; but don’t touch anyone with the mark. And begin right here at the Temple.” And so they began by killing the seventy elders.
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And he said, “Defile the Temple! Fill its courts with the bodies of those you kill! Go!” And they went out through the city and did as they were told.
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While they were fulfilling their orders, I was alone. I fell to the ground on my face and cried out: “O Lord God! Will your fury against Jerusalem wipe out everyone left in Israel?”
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But he said to me, “The sins of the people of Israel and Judah are very great and all the land is full of murder and injustice, for they say, ‘The Lord doesn’t see it! He has gone away!’
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And so I will not spare them nor have any pity on them, and I will fully repay them for all that they have done.”
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Just then the man in linen clothing, carrying the writer’s case, reported back and said, “I have finished the work you gave me to do.”
The Jewish high priest is merely a man like anyone else, but he is chosen to speak for all other men in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers to him the blood of animals that are sacrificed to cover the sins of the people and his own sins too. And because he is a man, he can deal gently with other men, though they are foolish and ignorant, for he, too, is surrounded with the same temptations and understands their problems very well.
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Another thing to remember is that no one can be a high priest just because he wants to be. He has to be called by God for this work in the same way God chose Aaron.
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That is why Christ did not elect himself to the honor of being High Priest; no, he was chosen by God. God said to him, “My Son, today I have honored you.”
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And another time God said to him, “You have been chosen to be a priest forever, with the same rank as Melchizedek.”
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Yet while Christ was here on earth he pleaded with God, praying with tears and agony of soul to the only one who would save him from premature
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death. And God heard his prayers because of his strong desire to obey God at all times.
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And even though Jesus was God’s Son, he had to learn from experience what it was like to obey when obeying meant suffering.
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It was after he had proved himself perfect in this experience that Jesus became the Giver of eternal salvation to all those who obey him.
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For remember that God has chosen him to be a High Priest with the same rank as Melchizedek.
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There is much more I would like to say along these lines, but you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand.
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You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others, but instead you have dropped back to the place where you need someone to teach you all over again the very first principles in God’s Word. You are like babies who can drink only milk, not old enough for solid food. And when a person is still living on milk it shows he isn’t very far along in the Christian life, and doesn’t know much about the difference between right and wrong. He is still a baby Christian!
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You will never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the deeper things of God’s Word until you become better Christians and learn right from wrong by practicing doing right.
Thank the Lord for all the glorious things he does; proclaim them to the nations.
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Sing his praises and tell everyone about his miracles.
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Glory in the Lord; O worshipers of God, rejoice.
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Search for him and for his strength, and keep on searching!
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Think of the mighty deeds he did for us, his chosen ones—descendants of God’s servant Abraham, and of Jacob. Remember how he destroyed our enemies.
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He is the Lord our God. His goodness
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is seen everywhere throughout the land.
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Though a thousand generations pass he never forgets his promise, his covenant with Abraham and Isaac
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and confirmed with Jacob. This is his never-ending treaty with the people of Israel:
“I will give you the land of Canaan as your inheritance.”
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He said this when they were but few in number, very few, and were only visitors in Canaan.
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Later they were dispersed among the nations and were driven from one kingdom to another;
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but through it all he would not let one thing be done to them apart from his decision.
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He destroyed many a king who tried!
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“Touch not these chosen ones of mine,” he warned, “and do not hurt my prophets.”
Flattery is a form of hatred and wounds cruelly.
November 4Suddenly a throne of beautiful blue sapphire
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appeared in the sky above the heads of the Guardian Angels.
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Then the Lord spoke to the man in linen clothing and said: “Go in between the whirling wheels beneath the Guardian Angels, and take a handful of glowing coals and scatter them over the city.”
He did so while I watched.
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The Guardian Angels were standing at the south end of the Temple when the man went in. And the cloud of glory filled the inner court.
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Then the glory of the Lord rose from above the Guardian Angels and went over to the door of the Temple. The Temple was filled with the cloud of glory, and the court of the Temple was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord.
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And the sound of the wings of the Guardian Angels was as the voice of Almighty God when he speaks and could be heard clear out in the outer court.
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When the Lord told the man in linen clothing to go between the Guardian Angels and take some burning coals from between the wheels, the man went in and stood beside one of the wheels,
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and one of the Guardian Angels reached out his hand (for each of the mighty Angels had, beneath his wings, what looked like human hands) and took some live coals from the flames between the Angels and put them into the hands of the man in linen clothes, who took them and went out.
9-13
Each of the four Guardian Angels had a wheel beside him—“The Whirl-Wheels,” as I heard them called, for each one had a second wheel crosswise within—sparkling like chrysolite, giving off a greenish yellow glow. Because of the construction of these wheels,
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the Angels could go straight forward in each of four directions; they did not turn when they changed direction but could go in any of the four ways their faces looked. Each of the four wheels was covered with eyes, including the rims and spokes.
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Each of the four Guardian Angels had four faces—the first was that of an ox;
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the second, a man’s; the third, a lion’s; and the fourth, an eagle’s.
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These were the same beings I had seen beside the Chebar Canal, and when they rose into the air, the wheels rose with them and stayed beside them as they flew.
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When the Guardian Angels stood still, so did the wheels, for the spirit of the Guardian Angels was in the wheels.
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Then the glory of the Lord moved from the door of the Temple and stood above the Guardian Angels.
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And as I watched, the Guardian Angels flew with their wheels beside them to the east gate of the Temple. And the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
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These were the living beings I had seen beneath the God of Israel beside the Chebar Canal. I knew they were the same,
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for each had four faces and four wings, with what looked like human hands under their wings.
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Their faces too were identical to the faces of those I had seen at the canal, and they traveled straight ahead, just as the others did.
11:
1-2
Then the Spirit lifted me and brought me over to the east gate of the Temple, where I saw twenty-five of the most prominent men of the city, including two officers, Jaazaniah (son of Azzur) and Pelatiah (son of Benaiah).
Then the Spirit said to me, “Son of dust, these are the men who are responsible for all of the wicked counsel being given out in this city.
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For they say to the people, ‘It is time to rebuild Jerusalem, for our city is an iron shield and will protect us from all harm.’
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Therefore, son of dust, prophesy against them loudly and clearly.”
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Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me and told me to say: “The Lord says to the people of Israel: Is that what you are saying? Yes, I know it is, for I know everything you think—every thought that comes into your minds.
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You have murdered endlessly and filled your streets with the dead.”
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Therefore the Lord God says: “You think this city is an iron shield? No, it isn’t! It will not protect you. Your slain will lie within it, but you will be dragged out and slaughtered.
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I will expose you to the war you have so greatly feared, says the Lord God,
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and I will take you from Jerusalem and hand you over to foreigners who will carry out my judgments against you.
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You will be slaughtered all the way to the borders of Israel, and you will know I am the Lord.
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No, this city will not be an iron shield for you, and you safe within. I will chase you even to the borders of Israel,
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and you will know I am the Lord—you who have not obeyed me but rather have copied the nations all around you.”
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While I was still speaking and telling them this, Pelatiah (son of Benaiah) suddenly died. Then I fell to the ground on my face and cried out: “O Lord God, are you going to kill everyone in all Israel?”
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Again a message came from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, the remnant left in Jerusalem are saying about your brother exiles: ‘It is because they were so wicked that the Lord has deported them. Now the Lord has given us their land!’
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“But tell the exiles that the Lord God says: Although I have scattered you in the countries of the world, yet I will be a sanctuary to you for the time that you are there,
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and I will gather you back from the nations where you are scattered and give you the land of Israel again.
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And when you return, you will remove every trace of all this idol worship.
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I will give you one heart and a new spirit; I will take from you your hearts of stone and give you tender hearts of love for God,
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so that you can obey my laws and be my people, and I will be your God.
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But as for those now in Jerusalem
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who long for idols, I will repay them fully for their sins,” the Lord God says.
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Then the Guardian Angels lifted their wings and rose into the air with their wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel stood above them.
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Then the glory of the Lord rose from over the city and stood above the mountain on the east side.
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Afterwards the Spirit of God carried me back again to Babylon, to the Jews in exile there. And so ended the vision of my visit to Jerusalem.
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And I told the exiles everything the Lord had shown me.
Let us stop going over the same old ground again and again, always teaching those first lessons about Christ. Let us go on instead to other things and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be. Surely we don’t need to speak further about the foolishness of trying to be saved by being good, or about the necessity of faith in God;
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you don’t need further instruction about baptism and spiritual gifts
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and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.
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The Lord willing, we will go on now to other things.
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There is no use trying to bring you back to the Lord again if you have once understood the Good News and tasted for yourself the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit,
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and know how good the Word of God is, and felt the mighty powers of the world to come,
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and then have turned against God. You cannot bring yourself to repent again if you have nailed the Son of God to the cross again by rejecting him, holding him up to mocking and to public shame.
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When a farmer’s land has had many showers upon it and good crops come up, that land has experienced God’s blessing upon it.
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But if it keeps on having crops of thistles and thorns, the land is considered no good and is ready for condemnation and burning off.
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Dear friends, even though I am talking like this I really don’t believe that what I am saying applies to you. I am confident you are producing the good fruit that comes along with your salvation.
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For God is not unfair. How can he forget your hard work for him, or forget the way you used to show your love for him—and still do—by helping his children?
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And we are anxious that you keep right on loving others as long as life lasts, so that you will get your full reward.
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Then, knowing what lies ahead for you, you won’t become bored with being a Christian nor become spiritually dull and indifferent, but you will be anxious to follow the example of those who receive all that God has promised them because of their strong faith and patience.
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For instance, there was God’s promise to Abraham: God took an oath in his own name, since there was no one greater to swear by,
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that he would bless Abraham again and again, and give him a son and make him the father of a great nation of people.
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Then Abraham waited patiently until finally God gave him a son, Isaac, just as he had promised.
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When a man takes an oath, he is calling upon someone greater than himself to force him to do what he has promised or to punish him if he later refuses to do it; the oath ends all argument about it.
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God also bound himself with an oath, so that those he promised to help would be perfectly sure and never need to wonder whether he might change his plans.
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He has given us both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it is impossible for God to tell a lie. Now all those who flee to him to save them can take new courage when they hear such assurances from God; now they can know without doubt that he will give them the salvation he has promised them.
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This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself behind the sacred curtains of heaven,
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where Christ has gone ahead to plead for us from his position as our High Priest,
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with the honor and rank of Melchizedek.
He called for a famine on the land of Canaan, cutting off its food supply.
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Then he sent Joseph as a slave to Egypt to save his people from starvation.
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There in prison they hurt his feet with fetters and placed his neck in an iron collar
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until God’s time finally came—how God tested his patience!
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Then the king sent for him and set him free.
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He was put in charge of all the king’s possessions.
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At his pleasure he could imprison the king’s aides and teach the king’s advisors.
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Then Jacob (Israel) arrived in Egypt and lived there with his sons.
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In the years that followed, the people of Israel multiplied explosively until they were a greater nation than their rulers.
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At that point God turned the Egyptians against the Israelis; they hated and enslaved them.
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But God sent Moses as his representative, and Aaron with him,
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to call down miracles of terror upon the land of Egypt.
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They
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followed his instructions. He sent thick darkness through the land
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and turned the nation’s water into blood, poisoning the fish.
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Then frogs invaded in enormous numbers; they were found even in the king’s private rooms.
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When Moses spoke, the flies and other insects swarmed in vast clouds from one end of Egypt to the other.
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Instead of rain he sent down murderous hail, and lightning flashes overwhelmed the nation.
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Their grapevines and fig trees were ruined; all the trees lay broken on the ground.
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He spoke, and hordes of locusts came
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and ate up everything green, destroying all the crops.
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Then he killed the oldest child in each Egyptian home, their pride and joy—
Don’t brag about your plans for tomorrow—wait and see what happens.
2
Don’t praise yourself; let others do it!