The One Year Bible TLB (236 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
A rebel’s frustrations are heavier than sand and rocks.
November 6Then this message of the Lord came to me:
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“Son of dust, if the people of a land sin against me, then I will crush them with my fist, break off their food supply, and send famine to destroy both man and beast.
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Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they alone would be saved by their righteousness, and I would destroy the remainder of Israel,” says the Lord God.
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“If I send an invasion of dangerous wild animals into the land to devastate the land,
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even if these three men were there, the Lord God swears that it would do no good—it would not save the people from their doom. Those three only would be saved, but the land would be devastated.
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“Or if I bring war against that land and tell the armies of the enemy to come and destroy everything,
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even if these three men were in the land, the Lord God declares that they alone would be saved.
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“And if I pour out my fury by sending an epidemic of disease into the land, and the plague kills man and beast alike,
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though Noah, Daniel, and Job were living there, the Lord God says that only they would be saved because of their righteousness.”
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And the Lord says: “Four great punishments await Jerusalem to destroy all life: war, famine, ferocious beasts, plague.
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If there are survivors and they come here to join you as exiles in Babylon, you will see with your own eyes how wicked they are, and you will know it was right for me to destroy Jerusalem.
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You will agree, when you meet them, that it is not without cause that all these things are being done to Israel.”
15:
1
Then this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, what good are vines from the forest? Are they as useful as trees? Are they even as valuable as a single branch?
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No, for vines can’t be used even for making pegs to hang up pots and pans!
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All they are good for is fuel—and even so, they burn but poorly!
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So they are useless both before and after being put in the fire!
“This is what I mean,” the Lord God says: “The people of Jerusalem are like the vines of the forest—useless before being burned and certainly useless afterwards!
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And I will set myself against them to see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another; and then you shall know I am the Lord.
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And I will make the land desolate because they worship idols,” says the Lord God.
16:
1
Then again a message came to me from the Lord.
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“Son of dust,” he said, “speak to Jerusalem about her loathsome sins.
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Tell her, ‘The Lord God says: You are no better than the people of Canaan—your father must have been an Amorite and your mother a Hittite!
*
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When you were born, no one cared for you. When I first saw you, your umbilical cord was uncut, and you had been neither washed nor rubbed with salt nor clothed.
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No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On that day when you were born, you were dumped out into a field and left to die, unwanted.
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“‘But I came by and saw you there, covered with your own blood, and I said, “Live! Thrive like a plant in the field!” And you did! You grew up and became tall, slender and supple, a jewel among jewels. And when you reached the age of maidenhood, your breasts were full-formed and your pubic hair had grown; yet you were naked.
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“‘Later, when I passed by and saw you again, you were old enough for marriage; and I wrapped my cloak around you to legally declare my marriage vow. I signed a covenant with you, and you became mine.
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Then, when the marriage had taken place, I gave you beautiful clothes of linens and silk, embroidered, and sandals made of dolphin hide.
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I gave you lovely ornaments, bracelets, and beautiful necklaces,
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a ring for your nose and two more for your ears, and a lovely tiara for your head.
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And so you were made beautiful with gold and silver, and your clothes were silk and linen and beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were!
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Your reputation was great among the nations for your beauty; it was perfect because of all the gifts I gave you,’” says the Lord God.
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“‘But you thought you could get along without me—you trusted in your beauty instead; and you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was his for the asking.
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You used the lovely things I gave you for making idol shrines and to decorate your bed of prostitution. Unbelievable! There has never been anything like it before!
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You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I gave to you and made statues of men and worshiped them, which is adultery against me.
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You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you—to cover your idols! And used my oil and incense to worship
them!
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You set before
them
as a lovely sacrifice—imagine it—the fine flour and oil and honey I gave you!
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And you took my sons and daughters you had borne to me and sacrificed them to your gods; and they are gone. Wasn’t it enough that you should be a prostitute?
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Must you also slay my children by sacrificing them to idols?
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“‘And in all these years of adultery and sin you have not thought of those days long ago when you were naked and covered with blood.
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“‘And then, in addition to all your other wickedness—woe, woe upon you, says the Lord God—
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you built a spacious brothel for your lovers and idol altars on every street,
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and there you offered your beauty to every man who came by, in an endless stream of prostitution.
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And you added lustful Egypt to your prostitutions by your alliance with her. My anger is great.
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“‘Therefore I have crushed you with my fist; I have reduced your boundaries and delivered you into the hands of those who hate you—the Philistines—and even they are ashamed of you.
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“‘You have committed adultery with the Assyrians too by making them your allies and worshiping their gods;
*
it seems that you can never find enough new gods. After your adultery there, you still weren’t satisfied,
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so you worshiped the gods of that great merchant land of Babylon—and you still weren’t satisfied.
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What a filthy heart you have, says the Lord God, to do such things as these; you are a brazen prostitute,
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building your idol altars, your brothels, on every street. You have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even charged for your love!
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Yes, you are an adulterous wife who lives with other men instead of her own husband.
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Prostitutes charge for their services—men pay with many gifts. But not you, you give
them
gifts, bribing them to come to you! So you are different from other prostitutes. But you had to pay them, for no one wanted you.
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“‘O prostitute, hear the word of the Lord:
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This is what the Lord God says! Because I see your filthy sins, your adultery with your lovers—your worshiping of idols—and the slaying of your children as sacrifices to your gods,
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this is what I am going to do: I will gather together all your allies—these lovers of yours you have sinned with, both those you loved and those you hated—and I will make you naked before them that they may see you.
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I will punish you as a murderess is punished and as a woman breaking wedlock living with other men.
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I will give you to your lovers—these many nations—to destroy, and they will knock down your brothels and idol altars. They will strip you, take your beautiful jewels, and leave you naked and ashamed.
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They will burn your homes, punishing you before the eyes of many women. And I will see to it that you stop your adulteries with other gods and end your payments to your allies for their love.”
Yes, the old system of priesthood based on family lines was canceled because it didn’t work. It was weak and useless for saving people.
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It never made anyone really right with God. But now we have a far better hope, for Christ makes us acceptable to God, and now we may draw near to him.
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God took an oath that Christ would always be a Priest,
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although he never said that of other priests. Only to Christ he said, “The Lord has sworn and will never change his mind: You are a Priest forever, with the rank of Melchizedek.”
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Because of God’s oath, Christ can guarantee forever the success of this new and better arrangement.
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Under the old arrangement there had to be many priests so that when the older ones died off, the system could still be carried on by others who took their places.
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But Jesus lives forever and continues to be a Priest so that no one else is needed.
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He is able to save completely all who come to God through him. Since he will live forever, he will always be there to remind God that he has paid for their sins with his blood.
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He is, therefore, exactly the kind of High Priest we need; for he is holy and blameless, unstained by sin, undefiled by sinners, and to him has been given the place of honor in heaven.
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He never needs the daily blood of animal sacrifices, as other priests did, to cover over first their own sins and then the sins of the people; for he finished all sacrifices, once and for all, when he sacrificed himself on the cross.
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Under the old system, even the high priests were weak and sinful men who could not keep from doing wrong, but later God appointed by his oath his Son who is perfect forever.
Hallelujah! Thank you, Lord! How good you are! Your love for us continues on forever.
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Who can ever list the glorious miracles of God? Who can ever praise him half enough?
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Happiness comes to those who are fair to others and are always just and good.
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Remember me too, O Lord, while you are blessing and saving your people.
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Let me share in your chosen ones’ prosperity and rejoice in all their joys, and receive the glory you give to them.
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Both we and our fathers have sinned so much.
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They weren’t impressed by the wonder of your miracles in Egypt and soon forgot your many acts of kindness to them. Instead they rebelled against you at the Red Sea.
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Even so you saved them—to defend the honor of your name and demonstrate your power to all the world.
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You commanded the Red Sea to divide, forming a dry road across its bottom. Yes, as dry as any desert!
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Thus you rescued them from their enemies.
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Then the water returned and covered the road and drowned their foes; not one survived.
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Then at last his people believed him. Then they finally sang his praise.
Jealousy is more dangerous and cruel than anger.
5
Open rebuke is better than hidden love!
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Wounds from a friend are better than kisses from an enemy!
November 7“‘Then at last my fury against you will die away; my jealousy against you will end, and I will be quiet and not be angry with you anymore.
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But first, because you have not remembered your youth but have angered me by all these evil things you do, I will fully repay you for all of your sins,’” says the Lord. “‘For you are thankless in addition to all your other faults.
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“‘“Like mother, like daughter”—that is what everyone will say of you.
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For your mother loathed her husband and her children, and you do too. And you are exactly like your sisters, for they despised their husbands and their children. Truly, your mother must have been a Hittite and your father an Amorite.
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“‘Your older sister is Samaria, living with her daughters north of you; your younger sister is Sodom and her daughters, in the south.
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You have not merely sinned as they do—no, that was nothing to you; in a very short time you far surpassed them.
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“‘As I live, the Lord God says, Sodom and her daughters have never been as wicked as you and your daughters.
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Your sister Sodom’s sins were pride, laziness, and too much food, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.
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She insolently worshiped many idols as I watched. Therefore I crushed her.
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“‘Even Samaria has not committed half your sins. You have worshiped idols far more than your sisters have; they seem almost righteous in comparison with you!
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Don’t be surprised then by the lighter punishment they get. For your sins are so awful that in comparison with you, your sisters seem innocent!
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(But someday I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and Samaria again, and those of Judah too.)
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Your terrible punishment will be a consolation to them, for it will be greater than theirs.
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“‘Yes, your sisters, Sodom and Samaria, and all their people will be restored again, and Judah, too, will prosper in that day.
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In your proud days you held Sodom in unspeakable contempt.
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But now your greater wickedness has been exposed to all the world, and you are the one who is scorned—by Edom and all her neighbors and by all the Philistines.
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This is part of your punishment for all your sins,’” says the Lord.
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For the Lord God says: “I will repay you for your broken promises. You lightly broke your solemn vows to me, yet I will keep the pledge I made to you when you were young. I will establish an everlasting covenant with you forever,
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and you will remember with shame all the evil you have done; and you will be overcome by my favor when I take your sisters, Samaria and Sodom, and make them your daughters, for you to rule over. You will know you don’t deserve this gracious act, for you did not keep my covenant.
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I will reaffirm my covenant with you, and you will know I am the Lord.
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Despite all you have done, I will be kind to you again; you will cover your mouth in silence and in shame when I forgive you all that you have done,” says the Lord God.
17:
1
Then this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, give this riddle to the people of Israel:
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“A great eagle with broad wings full of many-colored feathers came to Lebanon and plucked off the shoot at the top of the tallest cedar tree and carried it into a city filled with merchants.
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There he planted it
*
in fertile ground beside a broad river, where it would grow as quickly as a willow tree.
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It took root and grew and became a low but spreading vine that turned toward the eagle and produced strong branches and luxuriant leaves.
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But when another great, broad-winged, full-feathered eagle came along, this tree sent its roots and branches out toward him instead,
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even though it was already in good soil with plenty of water to become a splendid vine, producing leaves and fruit.”
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The Lord God asks: “Shall I let this tree grow and prosper? No! I will pull it out, roots and all! I will cut off its branches and let its leaves wither and die. It will pull out easily enough—it won’t take a big crew or a lot of equipment to do that.
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Though the vine began so well, will it thrive? No, it will wither away completely when the east wind touches it, dying in the same choice soil where it had grown so well.”
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Then this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Ask these rebels of Israel: Don’t you understand what this riddle of the eagles means? I will tell you. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (the first of the two eagles),
*
came to Jerusalem, took away her king and princes (her topmost buds and shoots), and brought them to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar made a covenant with a member of the royal family (Zedekiah), and made him take an oath of loyalty. He took a seedling and planted it in fertile ground beside a broad river. He also exiled the top men of Israel’s government,
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so that Israel would not be strong again and revolt. But by keeping her promises, Israel could be respected and maintain her identity.
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“Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to seek for a great army and many horses to fight against Nebuchadnezzar. But will Israel prosper after breaking all her promises like that? Will she succeed?
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No! For as I live,” says the Lord, “the king of Israel shall die. (Nebuchadnezzar will pull out the tree, roots and all!) Zedekiah shall die in Babylon, where the king lives who gave him his power, and whose covenant he despised and broke.
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Pharaoh and all his mighty army shall fail to help Israel when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem again and slaughters many lives.
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For the king of Israel broke his promise after swearing to obey; therefore he shall not escape.”
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The Lord God says: “As I live, surely I will punish him for despising the solemn oath he made in my name.
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I will throw my net over him, and he shall be captured in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and deal with him there for this treason against me.
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And all the best soldiers of Israel will be killed by the sword, and those remaining in the city will be scattered to the four winds. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken these words.”
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The Lord God says: “I will take a tender sprout from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. It shall become a noble cedar, bringing forth branches and bearing seed. Animals of every sort will gather under it; its branches will shelter every kind of bird.
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And everyone shall know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts down the high trees and exalts the low, that I make the green tree wither and the dead tree grow. I, the Lord, have said that I would do it, and I will.”
What we are saying is this: Christ, whose priesthood we have just described, is our High Priest and is in heaven at the place of greatest honor next to God himself.
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He ministers in the temple in heaven, the true place of worship built by the Lord and not by human hands.
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And since every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices, Christ must make an offering too.
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The sacrifice he offers is far better than those offered by the earthly priests. (But even so, if he were here on earth he wouldn’t even be permitted to be a priest because down here the priests still follow the old Jewish system of sacrifices.)
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Their work is connected with a mere earthly model of the real tabernacle in heaven; for when Moses was getting ready to build the tabernacle, God warned him to follow exactly the pattern of the heavenly tabernacle as shown to him on Mount Sinai.
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But Christ, as a Minister in heaven, has been rewarded with a far more important work than those who serve under the old laws because the new agreement that he passes on to us from God contains far more wonderful promises.
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The old agreement didn’t even work. If it had, there would have been no need for another to replace it.
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But God himself found fault with the old one, for he said, “The day will come when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah.
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This new agreement will not be like the old one I gave to their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; they did not keep their part in that agreement, so I had to cancel it.
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But this is the new agreement I will make with the people of Israel, says the Lord: I will write my laws in their minds so that they will know what I want them to do without my even telling them, and these laws will be in their hearts so that they will want to obey them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people.
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And no one then will need to speak to his friend or neighbor or brother, saying, ‘You, too, should know the Lord,’ because everyone, great and small, will know me already.
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And I will be merciful to them in their wrongdoings, and I will remember their sins no more.”
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God speaks of these new promises, of this new agreement, as taking the place of the old one; for the old one is out of date now and has been put aside forever.
Yet how quickly they forgot again! They wouldn’t wait for him to act
14
but demanded better food,
*
testing God’s patience to the breaking point.
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So he gave them their demands but sent them leanness in their souls.
*
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They were envious of Moses, yes, and Aaron too, the man anointed
*
by God as his priest.
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Because of this, the earth opened and swallowed Dathan, Abiram, and his friends;
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and fire fell from heaven to consume these wicked men.
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For they preferred a statue of an ox that eats grass to the glorious presence of God himself.
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Thus they despised their Savior who had done such mighty miracles in Egypt and at the Red Sea.
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So the Lord declared he would destroy them. But Moses, his chosen one, stepped into the breach between the people and their God and begged him to turn from his wrath and not destroy them.
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They refused to enter the Promised Land, for they wouldn’t believe his solemn oath to care for them.
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Instead, they pouted in their tents and mourned and despised his command.
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Therefore he swore that he would kill them in the wilderness
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and send their children away to distant lands as exiles.
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Then our fathers joined the worshipers of Baal at Peor and even offered sacrifices to the dead!
*
29
With all these things they angered him—and so a plague broke out upon them
30
and continued until Phinehas executed those whose sins had caused the plague to start.
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(For this good deed Phinehas will be remembered forever.)
Even honey seems tasteless to a man who is full; but if he is hungry, he’ll eat anything!
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A man who strays from home is like a bird that wanders from its nest.
9
Friendly suggestions are as pleasant as perfume.