Evening Bible reading

November 17th Ezekiel, 11
1: Moreover the spirit lifted me up, and brought me unto the east gate of the LORD's house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among whom I saw Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiah the son of Benaiah, the princes of the people. 2: Then said he unto me, Son of man, these are the men that devise mischief, and give wicked counsel in this city: 3: Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh. 4: Therefore prophesy against them, prophesy, O son of man. 5: And the Spirit of the LORD fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the LORD; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind, every one of them. 6: Ye have multiplied your slain in this city, and ye have filled the streets thereof with the slain. 7: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Your slain whom ye have laid in the midst of it, they are the flesh, and this city is the caldron: but I will bring you forth out of the midst of it. 8: Ye have feared the sword; and I will bring a sword upon you, saith the Lord GOD. 9: And I will bring you out of the midst thereof, and deliver you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judgments among you. 10: Ye shall fall by the sword; I will judge you in the border of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 11: This city shall not be your caldron, neither shall ye be the flesh in the midst thereof; but I will judge you in the border of Israel: 12: And ye shall know that I am the LORD: for ye have not walked in my statutes, neither executed my judgments, but have done after the manners of the heathen that are round about you. 13: And it came to pass, when I prophesied, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then fell I down upon my face, and cried with a loud voice, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou make a full end of the remnant of Israel? 14: Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 15: Son of man, thy brethren, even thy brethren, the men of thy kindred, and all the house of Israel wholly, are they unto whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, Get you far from the LORD: unto us is this land given in possession. 16: Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. 17: Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. 18: And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. 19: And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 21: But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord GOD. 22: Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 23: And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city. 24: Afterwards the spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. 25: Then I spake unto them of the captivity all the things that the LORD had shewed me.

Ezekiel, 12
1: The word of the LORD also came unto me, saying, 2: Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house. 3: Therefore, thou son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight; and thou shalt remove from thy place to another place in their sight: it may be they will consider, though they be a rebellious house. 4: Then shalt thou bring forth thy stuff by day in their sight, as stuff for removing: and thou shalt go forth at even in their sight, as they that go forth into captivity. 5: Dig thou through the wall in their sight, and carry out thereby. 6: In their sight shalt thou bear it upon thy shoulders, and carry it forth in the twilight: thou shalt cover thy face, that thou see not the ground: for I have set thee for a sign unto the house of Israel. 7: And I did so as I was commanded: I brought forth my stuff by day, as stuff for captivity, and in the even I digged through the wall with mine hand; I brought it forth in the twilight, and I bare it upon my shoulder in their sight. 8: And in the morning came the word of the LORD unto me, saying, 9: Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou? 10: Say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; This burden concerneth the prince in Jerusalem, and all the house of Israel that are among them. 11: Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity. 12: And the prince that is among them shall bear upon his shoulder in the twilight, and shall go forth: they shall dig through the wall to carry out thereby: he shall cover his face, that he see not the ground with his eyes. 13: My net also will I spread upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare: and I will bring him to Babylon to the land of the Chaldeans; yet shall he not see it, though he shall die there. 14: And I will scatter toward every wind all that are about him to help him, and all his bands; and I will draw out the sword after them. 15: And they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries. 16: But I will leave a few men of them from the sword, from the famine, and from the pestilence; that they may declare all their abominations among the heathen whither they come; and they shall know that I am the LORD. 17: Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 18: Son of man, eat thy bread with quaking, and drink thy water with trembling and with carefulness; 19: And say unto the people of the land, Thus saith the Lord GOD of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and of the land of Israel; They shall eat their bread with carefulness, and drink their water with astonishment, that her land may be desolate from all that is therein, because of the violence of all them that dwell therein. 20: And the cities that are inhabited shall be laid waste, and the land shall be desolate; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. 21: And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 22: Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? 23: Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. 24: For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. 25: For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. 26: Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 27: Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. 28: Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD.

The Spirit of the Lord lifts Ezekiel up to bring him to the East Gate of the temple. Twenty five men stand below him at the gate, Ezekiel recognises some of them then the lord says these are the men who plan wickedness in this city and give very bad advice. They say the judgment of God is not near however this city is a caldron and the people are the flesh to be boiled. The Lord said you are to tell the people that, this city is the caldron and the people are the flesh to be boiled. The Lord says l will bring war to the city because you have not kept the law nor ordered your lives according to the Lord and you have lived like the wicked nations. Then Ezekiel fell down and asked if the Lord would totally destroy the whole nation and God promised that though they would be scattered yet he would bring a remnant back to the land. He then gives the most wonderful promise of a New Covenant in which he will unite them as one in heart. He will put a new spirit in them. (They will be born again) Then they will keep the laws of the Lord and his ordinances. They will enter into a new relationship with God. Then Ezekiel saw that the glory of the Lord went from the entrance to the temple to the Mount of Olives. Then the Lord enabled Ezekiel to tell this vision to those on the banks of the Babylonian river. Later the Lord spoke again to Ezekiel. The Lord said you live in the middle of a people who have eyes but cannot see, they have ears but cannot hear because they are a rebellious house. So the Lord said l want you to move house in the daytime so that the people will see you. Then Ezekiel was to dig through a wall for all to see and carry his stuff away through it in the evening. Ezekiel was to cover his face so that he could not see the ground. Ezekiel is told to explain that he is a living parable of what will happen to Israel. Next he is told to eat his bread and drink his water with shaking of his hands to show what it will be like when the Babylonians come. All these things are to happen so that Israel will know that God is the Lord. there used to be a proverb which said that..’The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth?’ However in the future no-one will ever say this proverb again. However they will say…’The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision, because there will never again be any empty visions nor flattering messages by divination within the house of Israel. The Lord himself will speak and the word he speaks will come to pass.

Steve