Bible Study: April 17, 2024

Okay, so we weren't together last week, and a couple weeks ago we went through chapters 2 and 3. I did prepare a PowerPoint for tonight, so I'm going to go ahead and pull that up and speak from it for a little bit. I don't have every single verse on this PowerPoint, so if you have your Bibles in front of you, but many of them I do have on. I'm going to need to see as people are joining. You're not seeing it, are you? I can see what I did wrong. I forgot to share. Let me share the screen. There, now you can see that, and I can see you, and I can see if anyone's joining and needs to be admitted in. Let me just do a little recap since it's been a couple weeks since we've been together. Ezekiel was a prophet. You remember chapter 1. God called him in a very dramatic way, giving him a vision of heaven and in his throne room.

We know that that really had an effect on Ezekiel, as it would on all of us, to realize that you're in the presence of God. You remember at the end of that chapter, as Ezekiel was going through everything in his mind, that he just literally fell down on his face in awe of God. The same awe and reverence and fear of God that we should have. That healthy fear that draws us to him and makes us want to obey him. He was called to be a prophet and a watchman. We talked last time about a watchman. You remember the words that God gave him. Ezekiel said, many times, you're going to speak to Israel. You're going to speak to my people. They're not going to listen to you. They're going to refuse what you have to say. They are a stubborn people. They are a rebellious house. He said that over and over and over again. But he said, your job is to speak it anyway. You still go out there and you give the words that God gave him. And so Ezekiel did that. God said, if you warn them, if you warn the people, they'll pay the consequences for their sin. But the blood won't be on your head. But if you fail to tell them their sin, they'll still pay the consequences for their actions. But God said, I'll hold you accountable. So that's kind of a real message for us today as God's church. We do have a responsibility to probably allow and spare not, and to let the world know whether they choose to hear it or not. It is still our job to to preach the gospel, to give a warning message to them, just as God said. Show them their sins. God will call those who he wants. Some ears will open to him. And then as he prays them into our midst, and in his church, we welcome them in as part of our body. So Ezekiel was in—remember there were three different exiles from Jerusalem. Ezekiel was in the second one, so he finds himself in Babylon along the river Chabar, K-bar there, as we talked about. He was a contemporary of Jeremiah and Daniel, and a few times tonight we'll go back into Jeremiah and see the very same prophecies that God gave Ezekiel while he was in Babylon to Jeremiah, who was prophesying in Jerusalem.

And I think that kind of brings us up to speed. So I'm going to just kind of read the ending of chapter 3 and verses 26 and 27 that lead right into chapter 4, and how God is going to witness, and how God is going to preach through to the house of Israel and Jerusalem through Ezekiel. So chapter 3, 26, says, God speaking to Ezekiel, says, I will make your tongue clean to the roof of your mouth, so that you shall be mute, and not be one to rebuke them, for they are a rebellious house. God said, I'll be controlling your tongue. You're not going to be able to speak to them. Remember, over and over he said, you're going to need to speak to them when I say, but they are rebellious house. They don't listen. They haven't listened to the words that have been given brought to them. But when I speak with you in verse 27, he says, I will open your mouth, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord God, he who hears, let him hear, and he who refuses, let him refuse, for they are a rebellious house.

So say the words, and if they refuse, don't worry about it. Ezekiel, still do it. So he goes right into chapter 4, and then in verse 1, he gives Ezekiel a way of preaching to the people that's different than speaking. And so in verse 1, he has him put together a... I really want to do this from a slideshow. Let me see if I can do this correctly and not lose anyone.

He gives him a vision. Ezekiel 4 verse 1, he says, He says, You also sown a man, take a clay tablet, and lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem. And so here's a portrait of what that stone might have looked like. Some of the commentators say that it was like two feet long, a foot wide, three or four inches thick. It was a platform that God was going to instruct Israel.

You kind of put together this drama thing. They're not listening to words, but perhaps they're going to look at this and wonder, what is Ezekiel doing? Sometimes I think, as we read through some of the things that God had Ezekiel do, and as he had Jeremiah do, it was like he's using every method he can that's available to get the attention of the people. Will they listen to anything? And it's kind of what he says to us today, too. Use the methods available. There are so many methods of communication today that we need to use, that we have to use more effectively, and put them out there, and wherever God wants to call someone, he will, but we will do these. So this is one of the things that he's telling Ezekiel here. Take this clay tablet, lay it before you, and portray on it a city, Jerusalem. And then he says, lay siege against it. Lay siege against it. Build a siege wall against it. And this is kind of like an artist's rendering of what Isaiah, not as Isaiah, Ezekiel would have built up on that clay tablet was there. Lay siege against it, build a siege wall against it, and heap up a mound against it. Set camps around it also, and place battering rams against it all around. So you've probably seen movies way back whenever. The Masada is one who, when it comes to mind, and they would build these cities on high walls or high hills. They would have walls around them, and they were almost impenetrable. They didn't have airplanes, of course, in those days, and so the walls would protect the city. And one of the ways they would attack a city is armament around it. They would build these siege walls up against it. That would allow them to take battering rams up against the wall, and bang it, and bang it, and bang it, until the wall would fall down. Meanwhile, since they had the city surrounded, no supplies could come in or out of that city. So they could literally starve the people to death on the inside. So God is kind of giving a message. Here's Jerusalem. You're going to portray Jerusalem. Remember, they're in Babylon, when this is happening, to portray Jerusalem and build these siege walls around it. People will pay attention to what Ezekiel is doing and wonder, he's not saying anything, what is he doing? He's got this kind of like little scene that he's building there, and God has a message that he's going to give them about that scene that he's building.

So if we go on to verse 3, let me put this in here. I'm assuming everyone knows what a siege is. Let me just say this here from dictionary.com. It is, as you see there, a type of warfare in ancient times, a military operation in which enemy forces surround the town or building, cutting off essential supplies with the aim of compelling the surrender of those inside.

And as you as you review Jerusalem, I mean here's Ezekiel, you know, putting together this thing, history says that there were 27 sieges of Jerusalem. The most notable one was Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC when the first temple was destroyed, and then in 70 AD when the second temple was destroyed. So you know Jerusalem has had a history of these sieges being used against it to conquer it. It has been a city under attack, you know, for most of its existence. It's interesting as the Israeli war has started over there once Hamas attacked Israel, that a siege is really what Israel had in mind to attack Gaza. What they wanted to do was completely seal off that city, and they wanted the city of Gaza and Hamas specifically to just completely surrender to them.

And so you have the same mentality, and I'm sure as they were looking at the Bible, and as Netanyahu would talk about, we have to completely destroy Hamas. If we allow them to continue, they're going to continue to attack us. They are going to be a continual threat to us, no matter what they say. And he used the word Amalekites in some of his press conferences that drew some ire from people. But that was the mentality he was using, and siege was part of what the game plan over there was. Of course, the world has come to the rescue or aid of Gaza, and all these supplies were supposed to go in there. But if those supplies hadn't gone in there, the world would look at it as a very cruel type of warfare, but it just might have made that war end, because sieges were very effective. Anyway, so here's—I keep saying Isaiah—if I say Isaiah, you know I mean Ezekiel—here's Ezekiel, following what God has him do to kind of portray this drama about what is going to happen to Jerusalem. So in verse some—let's see, is this verse three? Oh, here's the battering rams that were read about in verse two. Let me read verse two again. Let's siege against it, build a siege wall against it, and eap up a mound against it, set camps around it also, and place battering rams against it all around. So those are the things. There's a picture of one that is there. The aim was the city was going to be—the city was going to be destroyed. Verse three then says, Moreover, take for yourself an iron plate, and set it as an iron wall between you and the city.

Set your face against it, and it shall be besieged, and you shall lay siege against it.

This will be a sign—and notice he says to the house of Israel, you know, he says, do this picture, build this city of Jerusalem, but this is going to be a sign to the house of Israel.

And as he says, build this siege wall against it, and you will be behind this siege wall, Ezekiel. Set it as an iron wall between you and the city. Some commentators—I think it's even our our UCG Bible commentary—indicate that that was a wall that was going to separate God from that city. Separate Ezekiel from that city as well, and God's people from that city. You know, later on in the chapter, in chapter five, God becomes quite, quite detailed in what is going to happen to people that depart from him. He talks about how he will leave them. He won't have any mercy on them. And so this siege wall that Ezekiel is going to be behind may indicate, here's a separation between the people who have sinned against God and turned against him, and God and his people. Put your face up against it. You'll see what's going on. You will participate or partake of that, Ezekiel, but there will be this separation between you and the city as it goes through what it is destined to go through. And he says this will be assigned to the house of Israel. Throughout the book of Ezekiel, you'll recall that if many times it'll say this will be assigned for the house of Israel. Speak to the house of Israel. We bear in mind that the house of Israel had gone into captivity 130 years before Ezekiel lived. So Jerusalem hadn't fallen yet. It was in the process of being conquered by Babylon in those three stages we talked about, one of which was Ezekiel being taken captive and moved over to Babylon. But Israel was already gone. So we know that the prophecies in here, and especially later on as we get into the book of Ezekiel, we know, therefore, the end times. We know there are times, therefore, modern-day Israel in a time before Jesus Christ returns. And as you're familiar with the book of Ezekiel, we get into the latter chapters. We talk about the millennial temple. We talk about the resurrection from the dead. And all of it comes together, and you can see the plan of God and what he has in mind. But here we have this siege in verse 3, and God says it's a sign for the house of Israel. This is what's going to befall them as they turn away from God. And then in verse 4, you know, we have this scene that Ezekiel is putting together. But then God has him become an obstacle himself, or a sign, if you will. And he gives something that is really difficult for us to kind of maybe understand how it would be. But remember that whatever God asks us to do, he gives us the power and the discipline to do it. You know, his spirit gives the power, love, and a sound mind, and gives us the discipline and the self-control to do what he wants done. So when we read these next three verses, I think we need to take them literally. You know, some people say, oh, he didn't really mean all these days that Ezekiel would be there. But no, it's probably very literally there. And it would have been quite a spectacle, quite a spectacle for the people of that area to see what Ezekiel was doing, and to get the message that God was giving him. Not through any words that Ezekiel was speaking, but again, the message that he was giving through what he asked Ezekiel to do. In verse 4, it says, Lie also on your left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it.

Lay on your left side, lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it. According to the number of the days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have laid on you, God says, the years of their iniquity. According to the number of the days, 390 days, so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. So you lay there for 390 days, Ezekiel. That's 13 months, you know, more than a year. Quite a thing that Ezekiel had to do. Now, I'm sure that he wasn't there 24... well, I shouldn't say I'm sure about anything. Most likely he was able to get up, but for 390 days, he was laying there on his left side as he was burying the sins of the house of Israel. In verse 6, verse 6, then he says, and when you have completed those days, lie again on your right side. So turn over, then you will bear the iniquity of the house of Judah for 40 days. I have laid on you a day for each year. And so we have this concept that we see in the Bible that God says, you know, a day represents a year. That comes from Numbers 14, verse 34. I'm going to go ahead. You don't have to turn there. I didn't put it up on the screen, but just for those that are newer, that may wonder where we come up with these concepts of 390 years. And God actually says that they're in verse 6, a day for a year. But the Numbers 14 and verse 34 talks about the spies that he sent into the Promised Land as Israel was coming out of Egypt. And you remember, they came back with a bad report. And so God punishes them for not having faith in him that he could deliver that land into their hands. So in verse 34 of Numbers 14, it says, according to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, 40 days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely 40 years, and you shall know my rejection. So the day for the year concept we find throughout the Bible. 390 days, Ezekiel would lay on his left side, represents 390 years.

Then he would lay on his right side for 40 days, representing 40 years. I have laid on you a day for each year. During this time, Ezekiel wasn't speaking. He wasn't crying aloud while he was doing that. But by his actions, what God told him to do, used this method of communication, people will ask, what does this mean? Then they would have an opportunity to know whether that was Ezekiel when God would open his mouth to say what it meant, or if someone else was interpreting, or however God meant it to happen, it was happening. God uses various means to get the message out to the people. As you look at these 390 years plus the 40 years, there are some explanations. I'm not going to go through all of them. In the UCG Bible commentary, it'll give you some dates between when some of the kings began their reign and what happened 430 years. If you add the 390 and the 40 together, you have 430 years. What they may be, no one knows exactly what that time frame is. But you do have the 430 years that is talked about as Israel came out of Egypt. You'll remember that. We're here in the time of Passover, the days of Unleavened Bread, when God delivered Israel out of Egypt. I'll just go ahead and read Exodus 12 verses 40 and 41.

Where 430 years, 390 plus 40, is written in there. Maybe God is referring to that.

When God puts numbers in a place and they have a similarity, He's trying to give us a message of something that is similar to it. In verse 40 of Exodus 12, it says, The soldier of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was 430 years. They were there from the time that they went into Egypt as Jacob brought his family into Egypt when they discovered that Joseph was alive and second-in-command in Egypt. The sojourn there was 430 years, and it came to pass at the end of the 430 years. On that very same day, it came to pass that all the armies of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. So we have that 430 years that God says, okay, here's the 430 years of the punishment of Israel and Judah for the sins that they've committed against God. They will pay the price for those times of sin. Interesting, I thought one of the things that was interesting was that Saul, the first king of Israel, was coronated around 1025 BC, and then as God is giving this prophecy to Ezekiel, it's around 595 BC. Again, that happens to be 430 years. Does that have any significance? I have no idea, but from the beginning of the time of the king of Saul and the sinful ways that Judah, well, first Israel and then Judah, now going into captivity, you know, you have this 430 years now as God is giving this prophecy to Ezekiel. Anyway, there's something in mind, and that number 430 has some significance to it when you look at the Bible and see how these pieces fit together and God uses these numerical indicators along the way.

So then going on in verse 7, again, we've got the clay tablet, we've got the picture of the siege against Jerusalem, we have Ezekiel laying on his side, left side, then right side, have as a meaning to what he's going on there with the iniquity of the houses of Israel and Judah laid upon him. And then in verse 7, you have this strong arm. Therefore, he says in verse 7, you shall set your face toward the siege of Jerusalem. Look at that siege. You're the one who has put this together. You had the clay tablet, you built it, you're depicting the siege against Jerusalem. Set your face against it. Your arm shall be uncovered and you shall prophesy against it. So you have this strong arm that God wants Israel or Ezekiel to. I'm going to put some light here. I'm having a hard time kind of reading my words here. You have this strong arm that God is showing, you know, and you have this picture of a strong arm there. It's signifying God's strength. God's strength. You know, you will remember that back in chat in Isaiah, we talked about this strong arm that God is. Now, when we read about a strong arm, it would be about God's strength. I'll go back to Isaiah 52 for a moment and just refresh our memory here. But in Isaiah 52 and verse 10, yeah, the Lord or the Eternal has made bare his holy arm. Okay, just like a depiction of this you have here, the Eternal has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. That arm is the strength. That's the energy. That's ready to go to work, ready to do the job, ready to finish the job and accomplish what God would have us do. So, as Ezekiel has prepared the scene of the siege against Jerusalem, as he's laid on his side exactly as God commanded, and he sets his face just like God sets his face against Jerusalem. And we have that siege wall. He's setting his face. He's taking a stand against Jerusalem and Israel because of the sins they've committed, and here is his arm. He's about to render his judgment, and you shall prophesy against it. Open your mouth and prophesy against it. Let them know your sins are their sins. In verse 8, surely I will advance my slide here. And surely, I will restrain you so that you cannot turn from one side to another until you have ended the days of your siege. That's really interesting, isn't it? It's like God's going to restrain him. You are going to lay there, right? Ezekiel, you're going to lay there for all these times. I will restrain you so that you can't turn from one side to another. It's interesting because we can refer back to chapter 3. Yeah, chapter 3 and verse 25 of Ezekiel. And before God is telling him, your tongue is going to cleave to the top of your mouth. You're not going to be able to speak. You'll only speak when I tell you to speak. In verse 25, he says, In you, O son of man, surely they will put ropes on you and bind you with them so that you cannot go out among them. You're going to be restrained. You're going to be restrained, Ezekiel. So remember, as God is giving Ezekiel, what his calling is, Ezekiel is in awe. He absolutely knows it's God who's giving him this commission that he has. And here God is telling him, this is what's going to happen. This is what you're going to do. Not an easy life that Ezekiel was called to. Quite the opposite of an easy life.

And what God, you know, but he was willing to do it, and he did it exactly the way God said. The same thing that you and I, you know, whatever God has in mind for us to do, we gladly do, knowing it's God who gives us that, and knowing what the future holds. So we have Ezekiel in all these positions now, lying down, restrained. Also, verse 9, you probably recognize that Ezekiel 4 9 bread up there. Here's where they get the recipe for Ezekiel 4 9 bread that you can buy in your store. Also take for yourself wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and spelt. Put them into one vessel and make bread of them for yourself. During the number of days that you lie on your side, 390 days, you shall eat it. This is going to be your food. You're not going to have a break to go out to McDonald's, Arby's, whatever it is. This is what you're eating for 390 days. I don't know if you've ever tasted Ezekiel 4 9 bread. I have. It would be very easy to do without bread, in my opinion. If Ezekiel 4 9 bread was the only that you had to eat. But if God tells you to eat it, you eat it. And that is what Ezekiel did for it, Valus Deis. He made the bread. He gave Ezekiel what it is to eat. It has the nutrients and the protein, the dietitians say, to sustain a person. Isn't the perfect food, they say, but it was what God gave Ezekiel to eat so we know it had merit to it because God wouldn't give us anything that that would harm us. Verse 10, in your food, that's my slide here, and your food which you eat shall be by weight 20 shekels a day from time to time you shall eat it. So, God ate to be alive. There's a lot of days, but God is giving Ezekiel here a ration. He had a limited amount of food. I'm going to tell you how much you're going to eat a day. This is what you're going to eat, and this is how much you are going to have to eat. You will you will eat it by weight 20 shekels a day from time to time you eat it. When those 20 shekels are done, that's what you're eating for that day. So, what Ezekiel is depicting here among all the other things that we've already seen is there's a time of rationing. There's a time the food is scarce. There isn't plenty of food. There isn't a variety of food. You are just happy to eat what you are given, and you will use, and you will eat exactly what God gives you. So, he's picturing here as well this concept of a famine, of a time coming where there will be a scarcity of food for nations that disobey God. And there will be that rationing, as it says in verse 11 as well. You shall also drink water by measure. One-sixth of a hen from time to time you shall drink.

A little bit at a time. This is how much you can have for a day. We can picture a time. I don't know if everything I remember about World War II from the movies, but there was rationing during that time. People had, this is what you ate, this is what you were given. As you watch movies of people who are in wartime, they line up. They're given what their amount of food to eat that day is, their amount of water, and they have to make do with it. And that's all there is. There are no supermarkets. There are no marketplaces you go to. This is what you eat, and it's whatever you are given. It's an austere time. You know, we can think about a time that comes, that's going to come like that. If you want to keep your finger there in Ezekiel, go back to Revelation 6. And as the end of the age progresses along, you'll remember the four horsemen, that ride, the false religion, famine, pestilence, war. They're all Romans, not Romans, Revelation 6.

Revelation 6, we read about this time of famine in verse 5. You know, again, verses 1, 2, 3, 4. I've talked about these, the first two horsemen. But in verse 5, it says, When he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come and see. So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. So he's going to weigh things out. This is what there is available to eat. Just like God said, 20 shekels a day, or a sixth of a hint of water. He who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, A quart of wheat for a denarius. That's a full day wages. There's a lot of inflation going on that time when food is scarce. There's a lot of money, and people are willing to pay whatever it takes for it. A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius. And don't harm the oil and the wine. So as this third horseman rides across the earth, you have a time of famine. You have a time of scarcity of food. Oftentimes in the history of mankind, famines accompanied war.

Because land is destroyed during that time, civilizations are upset. And as we are beginning to live in a time of war where many people are even talking about World War Three and what other conflicts are going to begin to erupt on the face of the earth. We have the threat of China and Taiwan. Other places that are at odds with one another. But as you look at Ukraine, you know, the breadbasket of Europe, they said, and Russia, the complete devastation that has gone on there. When you look at Israel, and they're kind of the breadbasket of the Middle East, they are a very fertile nation. And you look at Iran and the Middle Eastern nations at war. You have this time of war over there. What will happen to the food supply? What will go on with that? And is this what Ezekiel referring to, that God is having Ezekiel refer to? This time of famine that accompanies these sieges. This time of warfare. This time where God punishes the nations because they have turned against him. And they have to realize the blessings that come from God because he is the one who provides food, water, all the blessings of life, the things that make our life worthwhile. And when we turn against him and he withholds those blessings from nations, people, individuals, you know, we begin to realize it is wise. And it is in our best interest to obey God and the joy and the peace that comes with being at one with God is beyond anything you could ever have in this earth. So here in Ezekiel 4, we have all these things going on that God is showing through Ezekiel. You got war, you got siege, you've got punishment, you've got famine. And in verse 12, if we go back to Ezekiel 4, he says, you shall eat it. You shall eat this Ezekiel 4, 9 bread.

You shall eat it as barley cakes and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight. Now, that's kind of a disgusting thing, isn't it? To think that the food that you eat might even have to be fertilized by human waste. And yet God is showing how desperate things are going to be.

The other thing that he could be signifying in this is that as Israel is taken out of their land, that he is blessed, they'll be taken to unclean lands, lands that they are unfamiliar with, lands of captors where it would be you have no idea what you're eating, you're not in control of everything, and you will eat what you are given. And so it may be that he's signifying that as well, because later on here in chapter 5, he will talk about a time of famine, a time of pestilence, a time of war, a time of captivity, a time of people being exiled to other lands, and showing, again, what are the consequences of turning from God? So, you know, he says this here, and you know, eat it and bake it using fuel of human waste in their sight. In verse 13, the eternal said, so shall the children of Israel, not Jerusalem, right, the children of Israel already gone into captivity. So we know this is talking about another time, because Israel is already gone. They've already been scattered through the nations. The Lord says, so shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles in a foreign land, in an unclean land, in a land that they're not familiar with, where I will drive them. They didn't honor and appreciate the land I gave them, so I will send them to a land that isn't clean and bright and productive as the land I gave them. So Ezekiel takes issue with what God has said, right? And it's okay. So he is, it's okay what he says. So I said, ah, Lord God, indeed I have never defiled myself from my youth till now. I have never eaten what died of itself or was torn by beasts, nor has abominable flesh ever come into my mouth. It's like, what are you asking me to do, God? I have never eaten this. And you're going to say, eat this food that has been fertilized by human waste? I've never done that.

Why would I need to do that? You know, this section here, that verse kind of reminds us of the Apostle Peter, you know, in Acts 10 and 11, where that sheet of unclean animals came down before him. And God said, rise Peter, kill and eat. And Peter had the same kind of response to God. I've never eaten any unclean foods. I've never done it. And then as the chapter goes on, you see, God was not. God was not telling Peter to eat unclean foods. It was okay. He was showing him that it was unclean. There are no unclean people. When God calls people, they are seen as His children as well when they respond to Him. And so we have that through Acts 10 and 11. But here we have Ezekiel saying the same thing. I've never done that. I've never eaten the things that you have said don't eat. I've always abided by your food laws. And so verse 15, verse 15, God said, that's not on your screen there, but, and then God said to me, Ezekiel says, see, I'm giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it. You know, God knew what he was saying. You know, perhaps he was looking to see what will Ezekiel say? Well, God, you instructed this. Why would you instruct me now to do something that you have told us not to do?

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, right? Malachi, it says, I am the Lord your God, I change not. Jesus Christ said in or it's recorded in Hebrews 13 5 or 13 8 to that, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. They don't change. When the word comes out of their mouths, when it's in the Bible, it's there forever. God doesn't change. Jesus Christ doesn't change. And you see here in verse 15, God says, okay, don't fertilize it the way your food has been fertilized. You know, the verse in Joel 2, someone mentioned these biblical worldviews were doing, and I think last last week's we used Joel 2 verse 13, which says, you know, turn to God, who knows if he will relent from what he has said, turn to him and repent. And here, Ezekiel did approach God and God did relent. It wasn't that God made a mistake looking to see what is in Ezekiel's heart, what is your heart, and his heart was doing what God said. It was part of him, and it was going to go against the nature of God in him to eat this foreign substance that God had taught him throughout his life. Don't eat. So in verse 16, it says, Moreover, he said to me, surely I will cut off the supply of bread of Jerusalem. The siege will succeed. The food supply will end. Surely I will cut off the supply of bread of Jerusalem. They shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety. When you're in a rationing situation, when you're under siege by someone, there is anxiety. So many people in the world today think they have anxiety. They have no idea what anxiety is. Then when you're under attack and when you're in a situation where food is scarce, everything is controlled, and you have lost complete control of your life, and everything you knew has just completely changed. They will eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and with dread. Every day will be a torment. So God is kind of explaining even what these signs that Ezekiel is going to act out here, what it means. Jerusalem is going to have that, and history does show us Jerusalem has had gone endured through 27 different sieges, and the house of Israel. The house of Israel as well. I have said to them, you know, this is going to happen, verse 17, that they may lack bread and water and be dismayed with one another. Be dismayed with one another. You know, it'll be a time where it's, you know, when God says dismayed, it isn't a pleasant dismay. It's kind of one of what has happened. Look at you, right? I mean, there's this, they'll be dismayed with one another and waste away because of their iniquity.

They're going to get skinnier and skinnier. They're going to really be skin and bones. They're going to show the effect of what a famine is like, and they will be feeling the consequences of turning from God who gives blessings and seeing what happens when those blessings are no longer there. They will learn. They will learn to appreciate God. Later on, in Ezekiel 6, I think, is, you know, we will see again a verse that I've used a few times in sermons over the last couple months, where God says the people of Israel, they will loathe. They will loathe themselves for what they have done when they realize everything that God had given them. You know, the lands that that we live in—Canada, Britain, Australia, America, the nations of earth that God has so richly blessed. And when it all disappears and these these sentences and these visions or prophecies that God gives us in Ezekiel 4 come to pass, people will understand. They will know, yeah, we were warned.

There was that warning message. If you turn from God, this is what's going to happen. It's happened. How did we let it happen to ourselves? So it behooves you and me as we read these verses, not to be scared, not to panic, but to really, and with all our hearts and minds, turn to God. Look to Him. Be enthused with what He has called us to become. Become an example to people. Pray for Him for His time to come. When the world can understand Him and the rest of eternity, they can live by His law of laws and not have to suffer the way that the world has suffered through all of the existence where man has been in control. So that's chapter four.

I'm not going to take the time to return to look to Lamentations 1 verse 11 and Lamentations 4 and 9. You can look at those. Lamentations, of course, is the short little book that comes right after Jerusalem after they have fallen and the people of Jerusalem are writing their mourning of what they have done. How have we let this happen to us? So this is a book that's a short read that would be good to read. Hey, Tracy, you got a comment? Yes, I'm curious about something. I hope this is a side subject. I try to ask not dumb questions. But so I've always wondered like World War II, when the Jewish people were so attacked and their bodies got so skinny because they were in another country where they were being held captive and things.

Was that foretold in some way? Is that in relation to anything in Ezekiel and all that?

I think it shows the suffering of the people of Judah, and I hadn't thought of that, but the concentration camps were a picture of what we just read, weren't they? They were given what they were going to eat. They were skin and bones when you look at those pictures, and they lived an absolutely miserable life. So remember, yeah, there are end-time prophecies, but God said, this is what's going to happen to people who turn away from God. And yeah, it's part of that prophecy of what God would do to people. Maybe not a specific one, but through the courses of time.

Yeah, good point, a good observation and good vision for us of what exactly these verses look like when they come to pass. Hey, Patrick! Just a quick comment. I found this interesting. I just looked up Ezekiel bread, and apparently it's unleavened. So the bread that we have now, Ezekiel, is not, but they said that at this time, the Ezekiel bread would have been 11. So he would have been able to eat this even through an unleavened bread and not actually the bread that he ate. So I just thought that was interesting. So you're saying the current, if you buy that in the story, it's not unleavened today? No, well, some is, but most of it's not. Most of it is leavened today. But when you go back and you look at what the ingredients are of this bread, all the commentaries agree that this was unleavened bread that he was eating. Interesting. It's just funny you mentioned that, because as we were reading, I thought, well, I wonder what he did during the days of unleavened bread. Now we know it was unleavened. So, okay, very good. Okay, chapter five. Anything else, anyone? Before we move on to chapter five, I'm gonna... I'm Mr. JB. Yeah, hey, Brad. Yeah, how are you? I seen a couple of days ago on a website about the Israeli Arab war, or Iran war, and he said if Iran attacked Israel, it would cause an economic disaster. And then he went on to say that it would cause food shortages, which we are talking about. And, like, trucks couldn't get in, because the price of everything would go so, so high. So would you like to make a comment on that, please? No, other than what you said, I think some of the leaders are aware of what will happen in a time before. Our own president here in the United States a few years back warned of coming food shortages, and everyone questioned, what is he talking about? But, you know, I may be...

No, I think that they know as they make those... as they leave the world in the war, there are going to be times, there are going to be trying times for people. So... Hey, Dave. Hi, good evening. Yeah, just a quick question. Not a question, but just a comment on... we were talking about the number 430 earlier. It's interesting that the word holy in the Old Testament in the King James version is used exactly 430 times as well. Wow. Okay. That's cool. Okay, 430 times. Yep. The numbers are kind of amazing when you put them together. Yeah, very good. Hey, Jim. Hello, can you hear me? We can hear you, yes. Oh, okay, sorry. I'll have a little computer difficulties. I was just curious about verse 5 to 7, where he has to lay on his side and bear the iniquity of Israel for a year for the house of Israel. I think we lost you, Jim, or you still there?

Can you hear me? Okay, now we can hear you, yes. Okay, so is there anything to the difference in the time he did for Israel and the time he does for Judah, because that's only 40 days in respect to the fact that it isn't complete yet? Yeah, I don't know how God came up with those numbers. I didn't take the time to look at that. There probably is some reason why it's 390 versus 40. I don't know what that is, though. Perhaps it was significant to them. Could be.

I mean, it's almost 10 times worse for Israel than Judah, which is interesting.

Mr. Shaby. Hey, Frank. Yeah, is there any significance about laying down on your side?

Other than the fact that it would be an uncomfortable position for a long time, right, to just lay there on your side, it's kind of like almost unnatural for that long a time to be laying on your side. So I don't know. I don't know. Unless someone laying on their side maybe has looked at it, has there been topple? They've been defeated? I don't know. Laying on your back when you look like you're resting, if you're laying on your stomach, may look like you're resting. You know, maybe it signifies something by the fact that that's not the restful position, but one that isn't as natural. I don't know.

It looks to me like it's uncomfortable. Yes, it does. Especially on the ground, right? It's one thing on a mattress, but on the hard ground it would be uncomfortable.

Question. Is the fetus position on the side? You know, when people curl up, like they're being fumbled by somebody else? The fetal position. Yeah, the fetal position is on the side, isn't it? Yeah. Okay. Could be. Could be. Yeah. Okay. Want to go on chapter five?

Chapter five, you know, again, God has given a lot of symbolism here in chapter four.

You'll hear a lot of symbolism here in chapter four. In chapter five, it becomes even more intense and a lot more direct, if you will. In chapter five, verse one, he says to Ezekiel, Son of man, take a sharp sword, take it as a barber's razor and pass it over your head and your beard, and then take scales to weigh and divide the hair. So he's got this thing going on. In ancient times, if you shaved your head and your beard, that was a sign of humility, right? You had been humbled. You had been conquered. I read someplace, I didn't check it out, that you weren't even allowed to go into the temple of God if you had shaved your head and hair like he's doing here. So this is showing a submission, a humility that God is asking Ezekiel to take. And then he says, measure, measure. Take the scales to weigh these hairs of your head. Burn them with fire, or you shall burn with fire one third of them in the midst of the city when the days of the siege are finished.

When those days are done, burn one of them, one third of them in the midst of the city.

Then you shall take one third and strike around it with the sword, and one third you shall scatter in the wind. I will draw out a sword after you or after them. Now if we, you know, go ahead a little bit. God shows exactly what that one third, one third, one third represents. If we go down to verse 12 of the same chapter, he says, one third of you shall die of the pestilence.

Now the pestilence within the city, you know, there's going to be, there's going to be death in the city. One third of you shall die of the pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst. So one third will fall in the city, and one third shall fall by the sword all around you, violence, war, whatever it might be. Now I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them. Another third will be sent out of the country to a foreign land, taken captive someplace. So you have, you have the people of Israel here, the people that God is talking about, and he's divided them into thirds.

One third is going to die by pestilence and famine in the city. One third is going to die by war, violence, or whatever it would be with the sword. One third are going to be taken out and taken to a captive land. So with that in mind, as we go back to verse 3 then, God's, you know, he's interpreted the verse for us. We don't have to wonder what it is or assume things. God, the Bible, interprets itself, as we often say.

In verse 3 then it says, you shall take a small number of those hairs, a small number, you know, we've got 300 million people in America, for instance. Take a few, you know, 100 million goes here, 100 million, this happens to 100 million, that happens to, but take a few, take a few of those hairs and bind them in the edge of your garment. Take them and protect them. You know, God would say, just hold them up in your garment.

Then take some of them again and throw them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. And from there a fire will go out into all the house of Israel. So again, God is having Ezekiel act out something that is prophetic of what will happen to his people who have turned from him that will suffer the consequences of their actions. So he talks about this population, one-third, one-third, one-third, but there is a small remnant, there's a small group of people, bind them, protect them from this one-third, one-third, prophecy.

Who would those people be? Who would those people be? They would be the people who were on the outside of the siege, who God is looking at, who are obeying God, who are following his way, whose heart is with him, not just looking for a way out of a problem, but whose heart is really with God.

And God looks at them and says, find them. You know, we might say, just as an example, it's the Church of God, the true Church of God. Find them. You know, there is, if we go back to Isaiah 6, remember that God says, as he's calling Isaiah, the prophet, that Israel is going to be destroyed. They're going to have all these things that come up that befall them because of their insolence and their refusal to listen to God, of their disobedience.

And in verse 11 of Isaiah 6, as God is giving Isaiah his commission, you go aloud, Isaiah. You say the things that I have. He's not telling Ezekiel, you say these things unless I say Isaiah was, you go out and preach. And Isaiah says, well, I'll do it. And verse 11 says, how long? How long? And God answered, until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant. We're going to see in chapter 6 in Ezekiel that same thing, the cities will be laid waste.

Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. But yet a tenth will be in it. This is the remnant. You know, a tenth will be in it and will return and be for consuming. Now, I don't think that's 10% or the small number that gets bound in the garment.

It's a much smaller number than that. Jesus Christ says it's a small flock that he is working with, not a huge flock, a small group of called out ones who yield to him. And so he says, he says, find these up. They're there. Now, if we go back to Revelation and look at, you know, as we would call it, the two end-time churches, Philadelphia and Laodicea, we see some interesting verses that God talks about his people. All of them in the church, if we can put it in the Apernacular, all in the church, you know, of the Philadelphia and Laodicean churches that are mentioned here.

But one is very much with God, and he has nothing to say about them, nothing bad to say about them, because they have yielded their lives to God. They are living in the way that God has them live. Let's just look at Revelation 3, verse, well, 7, it says, write to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. Verse 8, I know your works.

See, I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it. For you have a little, you have a little strength. You are a small flock. You're not a third of the population. You're not even 10% of the population. You're very small, negligible. You have a little strength, but you have kept my word. You have not denied my name. You followed me exactly the way I asked you to. Because you have, let's verse 9, indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews and are not, but lie, indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. God loves those people. He loves all of mankind, but this group loves God too. When Jesus cried, if you love me, keep my commandments, they do that. They do what pleases God. Verse 10, Because you have kept my command to persevere, you haven't wilted in the face of adversity, you haven't wilted in the face of persecution, you have stayed behind me, you have followed me through thick and thin, because you've kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

I'll keep you. I'll keep you from that hour of trial. Just think of the symbolism of what Ezekiel said. There's this group of hairs in that garment protected from what is going on there.

Then we have verse 8. Then we have the Laodicean church later on in the chapter.

They aren't as spiritually strong as the church in Philadelphia. They kind of are complacent, kind of going about in life, not really paying attention to what's going on.

Maybe half of them are one foot in the church and one foot in the world.

In verse 15, then, as he's speaking to this church of the Laodiceans, he says, I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. Then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth, part of my church, but you haven't done what I have asked you to do.

And so you will be vomited out of my mouth. Why? Because you say, I'm rich. I don't need anything else. I've become wealthy. I have need of nothing. And you don't know that in God's eyes, you are wretched. You are miserable. You are poor, blind, and naked. God says, develop spiritual strength. Develop the strength in me. Stand behind me. Discipline yourself. Use the Holy Spirit. Become like Jesus Christ, as we're called to do. And he says in verse 18, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with eyesab that you may see. There's a group of people that will come that will have their robes washed white in the Great Tribulation. They will be cast into that fire, that fiery furnace, and they will have their robes washed white during that time. So as Ezekiel is talking about this small group of hairs that are hidden in the garment, people of God, but then he says you take some of them, take some of them, and throw them into the midst of the fire. They're going to be refined in fire. They aren't to be protected yet. They have to develop the spiritual strength and character that God wants us to. Throw them into the midst of the fire and burn them in the fire. From there, a fire will go out into all the house of Israel. It will spread. The people, people will, people will understand God. During that time of the Tribulation, many, says innumerable multitudes in Revelation, will come before God as they then realize the things they've heard, the seeds that have been planted by the Church of God over the years, the messages that go out that today may people just refuse, scoff at, ignore, but they're hearing it. They're hearing it, and at some point in time, several will listen and think if we had just listened then, if we had just paid attention back then when we were hearing it and turned to God, and they'll know. They need to turn to God now and have their ropes washed wide in the Tribulation. So as he has Ezekiel act out this, again he's giving quite a strong message about what the Church will be like, his people, and what is going to happen to the house of Israel and Jerusalem as a whole, but also this small group, this small group that God protects, the small group of people that God calls, opens their minds to the truth, and then it's our responsibility to respond to that truth, repent, and begin to turn to him. Mr. Savie. Yes, sir. I've kind of connected what you just went through in Revelations and what we just talked about in chapter 5, verses 3 and 4. I connect that to the Ten Virgins. I think that's an appropriate analogy. It's the same thing. Some of them are ready to go into the bridegroom. The others weren't. They kind of slept during that time and weren't ready when the time came. I'm looking at the time here. I'm going to do one more. Is there another... Jim, did you have another comment?

Let me put the... I'm going to close with the next verse here. If I go back to the verse here, let's look at verses 5 and 6, and then we'll close for tonight. Verse 5, it says, Thus says the Lord God, This is Jerusalem. This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the midst of the nations and the countries all around her. You know, it is interesting when you look at a map of Jerusalem. When you look at the world as the apostles knew it at that time. There was Africa, there was Asia, there was the countries to the north and east there. When you look at the world map, those three continents that we have today, they're all joined by land. When you look at the map, Jerusalem is right there in the center, right there in the center of all of that. We know as end time comes, as we looked at prophecy, as we talked about Daniel 11, and we talk about the King of the North, that's there north of the Mediterranean Sea, the King of the South, that's there in the Middle East and the South of the Mediterranean Sea, the Eastern nations, north and east of Jerusalem, the Russians, China's, North Koreas of the world, and that alliance. We made the comments. You don't see any of the west. You don't see any of the west over there. You see the United States going. North America doesn't figure into the battles at the end of the age, and as everything is happening there. But you do see the center of attention comes to Jerusalem, right there in the center of the earth, and in the end time you have the King of the North coming in. He's there, armies surrounding Jerusalem. It is the focal point of history and the focal point of what is going to happen. God says here, I've set you in the midst of the nations and the countries all around. They're right there in that. I'm going to finish in verse 6, and we'll pick it up here next week. Verse 6, it says, She, Jerusalem has rebelled against my judgments by doing wickedness more than the nations and against my statutes more than the countries that are all around her.

They have turned, God says, from me more than all those others. They may be Muslims. They may have every religion, but Judah knew better. Jerusalem knew better. Israel knew better. They knew who God was. He gave them those blessings, and they have rebelled against Him more than nations who never had those blessings of God or knew who God was. They rebelled against His statues that are all around her, for they have refused my judgments and they have not walked in my statutes. Then He goes on to, therefore, because you've multiplied disobedience, He will multiply judgment on them. So, again, this is leads. Therefore, this is everything that God is now telling Ezekiel that He's going to act out. He's going to portray. This is the way He will give that message. Then we come down to verse 7, therefore, taking all this into account, this is what God says. So, we'll pick it up there next week. We'll pick it up there next week.

So, this is your time. If you've got any questions, comments, anything you want to talk about, we can do that. Yes, ma'am. Please, I ask you two questions. Sure.

One, it seems like God's using regular mankind themselves, Satan's people, if you will, to warn about these families coming first to war in Russia, saying they're going to be bread wars, bread famines in Europe and America. Now, Israel entered Iran, tried to...

I can't remember... entered the country that came against them and seized them.

It seems like God's using mankind themselves to say, hey, hey, hey, this is coming, this is coming.

And we're only infinitesimal people. Yep. And this generation, this is all foreign to them, right? This is foreign. I mean, the world has had food in most places around the earth, and certainly these places that we're talking about that are in war, as these things happen, they're going to let us see. Mankind did it to himself. You know, mankind is his own worst enemy. He brings all this ruin and problems on himself. And the other question, it says in Revelation, no, not Revelation, another prophecy book, which I can't think offhand. I haven't memorized this stuff yet. I don't know if I will know in 56, but still my point is, it says when the countries surround Jerusalem, you flee, said Matthew. You flee. It seems like they are surrounding Jerusalem right now. Jerusalem is just fighting right now, but they haven't had the utter sacrifice yet. Shouldn't they be leaving right about now? No, not yet. That talks about a time when the Roman armies, right, or the the king of the north, surround Jerusalem, and they will march down through that area, and they will surround Jerusalem. And then God says, when you see that happen, flee. And I read, one last thing, sorry, I read recently on Google, I also looked it up on other sources, that the Euphrates is drying up. It's even dried up in some places. Yep. Yeah, that's interesting. And at the end of the time, remember the Euphrates does dry up, and the civilian man army marches there toward Jerusalem. That very interesting. I think a lot of it has dried up now.

Dry even up. Yep. And it's interesting, a lot of those places over there have the same name as in the Bible. So when these things happen, it's like, oh, the Euphrates is mentioned in the Bible, Gaza is mentioned in the Bible, Egypt, and all these nations. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, Betsy. Hi, good evening. This is a digital question. I know that there are a lot of people that listen to this Bible study online after it's posted. However, I think your PowerPoint is so important to go with it. And maybe Dave Permater is your man here. But I'm wondering if you can put the recording of this Zoom study with the PowerPoint and post that for people.

That is what we're going to do. We're going to post the video of this one. We use PowerPoints, we'll have the whole video, and when it's just talking, it'll just be the audio. So that is great. Thank you. Thank you so much. Hey, Elussegun, how are you today?

I'm good. Can you hear me? We can hear you, yes.

Thank you very much. Thank you. I just have a quick comment.

Okay. It's interesting how God spoke to the nation of Israel through the drama Ezekiel acted out. And I feel God is speaking to us in these end times in the same way through the events that are playing out on the world scene. And that's why I think it's a very good series that you do today. It's really talk-through. I want to say thank you for that. Thank you so much. We are going to see these things play out on the world scene. As I watch things that are going on, I think it's kind of like the Bible coming alive in a lot of cases, right? I mean, if you watch what's happening in America, all over the world.

Okay. Anyone? Anything else? Yeah. It's just continually interesting how the Old Testament, with the physical trials that Israel went through, how they parallel with the spiritual trials that we will go into.

I mean, they were surrounded by the world. And in a sense, we are too, spiritually. We're surrounded by the world. So we just have to make sure we don't fall for the same traps they did.

Absolutely. Absolutely. There's a lot of, was the word, synergy or, I guess, similarity between the physical Israel's plight and our spiritual journey today, as we go wilderness. Yeah. That we don't make the same mistakes they did. Yeah. Very good.

It seems like that mosque, I didn't realize it was in Israel, will probably come down too. And that's what they're all mad about right now. Is that mosque in that temple? Yeah, you know, they are. The thing we're posting this week doesn't talk about the red heifers, except incidentally. But I've been watching, kind of keeping progress on those red heifers over there.

And of course, the Jews are saying they're not going to be, they're not going to be sacrificed on Passover. There's been too much attention on them. And I think they're very weary or leery of what the Palestinians will do, or all the Middle Eastern nations, if it becomes known that they sacrifice those red heifers. But I was watching something else on it just this week, and it talked about, you know, they had, apparently they do need to be sacrificed during their third year of life. And that they turned for, I think it is in September or October. So sometime between now and then, they would need to be sacrificed. And someone over there in Israel made the comment between Passover, you know, they keep the same Passover as we are next week, and Pentecost. But they said Pentecost was May 19. But that's, that's the Catholic Pentecost, our Pentecost, 16th, right? So it's like, they keep getting these dates mixed up because of this year that we're in. And they look at these dates, because, you know, Glenn Beck, when he was talking about the Passover, he was talking about Easter that weekend. But he was, and now the Pentecost is like, well, no, it's not going to happen May 19. That's not the Jewish Pentecost. That's not God's Pentecost. Ours is June 16. So it's interesting that they don't have their act together and do that. So it gives us an opportunity maybe to talk a little bit about that. But keep your eyes on those red heifers. Something's going to have, something has to happen with them.

Something has to happen with them here sometime this year. It would appear. It would appear if, it would appear if they are the red heifer they've been waiting for. So.

Brother Shaby. Yes, sir. It is said recently that the Institute, was it? The Institute that wants to build a temple. Yeah, they want to do a Lidar of all of Jerusalem because for some reason they are having an itch that they may not be in the right place for the temple. Oh, interesting. Yeah, I think there's going to be a lot of things going on over in Israel over the next few months as they try to put all this together and how they get this done. So, yeah. Yeah, because there's, I don't remember who, but someone said it should be south, south of where the wall is. A little bit south is where the real Jerusalem temple was. Yeah, and that's going to open the door because right now it's that El-Aqsa Mosque that is the problem, right? So if it's not, if they determine that's not it, they can go in there, they can do something and they wouldn't disturb. Well, the Muslim still wouldn't be happy, but they can do it. So, yeah. It'll be justified. Yep. Yeah, Connie, did you have something? No? Okay.

Connie? No, I'm sorry. Okay, okay, okay. Okay, well, you know what? Here we are on the Wednesday before Passover and the night to be much observed, the first day of Unleavened Bread. So, hope everyone has just a very meaningful and inspiring Holy Day season here between now and the next time we meet. We will do a Bible study, God willing, next Wednesday night, so we will plan that. But between now and then, there's a lot of opportunities we have to serve God, worship Him, and keep Jesus Christ in our mind. So we should do that and immerse ourselves in what we're about to observe here as we honor Jesus Christ and commemorate His death and all it means for all mankind. So let me leave you with that, and everyone have a good Sabbath, Passover, and Holy Day, and we'll see you next week. Bye-bye. Thank you. Bye, everybody. Bye.