Through The Bible
27 Ezekiel
August 19 - Ezekiel 1

We saw in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah that God spoke through those prophets as a warning of the coming captivity because they had turned away from God and worshiped idols.  As we begin the book of Ezekiel, we see that he was a priest, who was carried away to Babylon about 10 years before the destruction of Jerusalem.  Ezekiel saw "visions of God" and that is how the book begins.

"1  Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.
2  In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
3  The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him."  (Ezekiel 1:1-3)

Psalm 137 told us how distraught, distressed, and devastated the people were.

"1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4  How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?
8  O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us.
9  Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones."  (Psalm 137:1-4 and 8-9)

Ezekiel 1:3 tells us, "the hand of the LORD was there upon him."  We read in 3:14, "... the hand of the LORD was strong upon me" and 3:22 begins, "And the hand of the LORD was there upon me;.."  This thought is repeated in 8:1, 33:22, 37:1, and also in 40:1.  As we continue with the vision, notice how Ezekiel describes the vision using the words, "likeness" and "appearance".  For example, in verse 13, he didn't say it was fire, but "their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning."  It is hard to describe the things of heaven with our limited earthly minds. I have not seen the beauty of heaven, but there have been times when the Lord blessed me with such joy, or peace, or understanding of His Word, that it was impossible to put into words.  Ezekiel describes these living creatures again in Chapter 10 and says, "This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims."  (Ezekiel 10:20)

"4  And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
5  Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
6  And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
7  And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf's foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
8  And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
9  Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
10  As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
11  Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
12  And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
13  As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
14  And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
15  Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
16  The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
17  When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
18  As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
19  And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
20  Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
21  When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
22  And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
23  And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
24  And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
25  And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
26  And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
27  And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
28  As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake."  (Ezekiel 1:4-28)

In Ezekiel 10:8-22 we learn that these are cherubims.  When Ezekiel saw this vision of the glory of the Lord, he fell upon his face.  In our notes for Isaiah 6:1 we looked at Abraham, Moses, and others who fell on their faces when they saw the glory of the Lord.  When we see the Lord in His glory, we too, will bow before Him.  We can choose to bow to Him now, of our own free will, or choose not to, but we will surely bow to Him. 

"Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." (Isaiah 45:22-23)

"For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God." (Romans 14:11-12)

"9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)

"Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.  And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." (Revelation 5:12-13)

August 20 - Ezekiel 2 - 4

​Life Lesson... "When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."  (Ezekiel 3:18)

Chapter 2 continues where we left off with Chapter 1.  God calls Ezekiel, "Son of man", 93 times.  I think Daniel is the only other prophet called, "son of man", in Daniel 8:17.  Jesus calls Himself, "Son of man", in the New Testament.  "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."  (Matthew 18:11)

"1  And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
2  And the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spake unto me.
3  And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
4  For they are impudent children and stiffhearted. I do send thee unto them; and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD.
5  And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
6  And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
8  But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; Be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that I give thee.
9  And when I looked, behold, an hand was sent unto me; and, lo, a roll of a book was therein;
10  And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe."  (Verses from Ezekiel 2)

In verse 5 the Lord said, "yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them."  In 61 verses of the book of Ezekiel, the Lord said that they "shall know..." and in most cases it is repeated, "shall know that I am the LORD."

In Chapter 3 the Lord told Ezekiel to eat the roll and it would fill his belly with sweetness as honey, and he was to go and speak those words to the house of Israel.

"8  Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads.
9  As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
10  Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears.
11  And go, get thee to them of the captivity, unto the children of thy people, and speak unto them, and tell them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.
12  Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the LORD from his place.
13  I heard also the noise of the wings of the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rushing.
14  So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit; but the hand of the LORD was strong upon me.
15  Then I came to them of the captivity at Telabib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished among them seven days.
16  And it came to pass at the end of seven days, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
17  Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
18  When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
19  Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
20  Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
21  Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
22  And the hand of the LORD was there upon me; and he said unto me, Arise, go forth into the plain, and I will there talk with thee.
23  Then I arose, and went forth into the plain: and, behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar: and I fell on my face.
24  Then the spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me, and said unto me, Go, shut thyself within thine house.
25  But thou, O son of man, behold, they shall put bands upon thee, and shall bind thee with them, and thou shalt not go out among them:
26  And I will make thy tongue cleave to the roof of thy mouth, that thou shalt be dumb, and shalt not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.
27  But when I speak with thee, I will open thy mouth, and thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; He that heareth, let him hear; and he that forbeareth, let him forbear: for they are a rebellious house."  (Ezekiel 3:8-27)

​In Chapter 4 we read of the sign of the tile and the siege against Jerusalem.  Ezekiel had to lay on his left side 390 days for the iniquity of the house of Israel, and then on his right side 40 days for the iniquity of Judah, a day for each year.  He had to measure out his food and water.  The Lord put bands on him so that he could not turn from one side to another.

"1  Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
2  And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.
3  Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.
4  Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
5  For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.
6  And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year."  (Ezekiel 4:1-6)

August 21 - Ezekiel 5 - 7

​The Lord gave Ezekiel another sign in Chapter 5.

​"1  And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's razor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weigh, and divide the hair.
2  Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
3  Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.
4  Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
5  Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
6  And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.
7  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
8  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.
9  And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
10  Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
11  Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
12  A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee; and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
13  Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them."  (Ezekiel 5:1-13)

In Chapter 6 the Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy against the mountains of Israel that the Lord would destroy their high places, and break down their images, and scatter their bones round about their altars.

"7  And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
8  Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.
9  And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives,...
10  And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.
11  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
13  Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols."  (Ezekiel 6:7-11 & 13)

In Chapter 7 the message is repeated over and over that the end had come, and their silver and gold would be cast into the streets.  I think this was saying that their silver and gold idols would be of no value and would not be able to deliver them.  Verse 25 reminds me of Isaiah 48:22, "There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked."

​"1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
3  Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.
4  And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
5  Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
6  An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.
10  Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
17  All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
18  They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
19  They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.
24  Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.
25  Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none."  (Verses from Chapter 7)

​August 22 - Ezekiel 8 - 9

​In Chapter 8 Ezekiel had another vision of the glory of God.  As in Chapter 1, we see "a likeness as the appearance of fire..."   Ezekiel was lifted up by the hair of his head and shown the abominations of Israel.  In verse 12 we see that even though they tried to hide their sin, the Lord saw them.  They provoked the Lord so much that in the last verse He said, "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."  (Ezekiel 8:18)  Chapters 8 and 9 are included in entirety.

"1  And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
2  Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
3  And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
4  And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
5  Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.
6  He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
7  And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
8  Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.
9  And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.
10  So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
11  And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
12  Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.
13  He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.
14  Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.
15  Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
16  And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.
17  Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.
18  Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them."  (Ezekiel 8:1-18)

In Chapter 9 the Lord said to "set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations..."  (Ezekiel 9:4)  Satan will copy and make people receive the mark of the beast in Revelation 13.  In verse 6 we see that judgment was to " begin at my sanctuary."  We see this in the New Testament in I Peter 4:17.  "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?" 

"1  He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
2  And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.
3  And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
5  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
6  Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.
7  And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.
8  And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?
9  Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
10  And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.
11  And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me."  (9:1-11)

​August 23 - Ezekiel 10 - 11

Chapter 10 is another vision of the cherubims.  When I read of the wheel in the midst of a wheel, (verses 10-11), I think of my computer chair which can move in any direction without me having to turn around. 

​"1  Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
2  And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.
3  Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
4  Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD'S glory.
5  And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.
6  And it came to pass, that when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels.
7  And one cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that was between the cherubims, and took thereof, and put it into the hands of him that was clothed with linen: who took it, and went out.
8  And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings.
9  And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels was as the colour of a beryl stone.
10  And as for their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel.
11  When they went, they went upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place whither the head looked they followed it; they turned not as they went.
12  And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, were full of eyes round about, even the wheels that they four had.
13  As for the wheels, it was cried unto them in my hearing, O wheel.
14  And every one had four faces: the first face was the face of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man, and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle.
15  And the cherubims were lifted up. This is the living creature that I saw by the river of Chebar.
16  And when the cherubims went, the wheels went by them: and when the cherubims lifted up their wings to mount up from the earth, the same wheels also turned not from beside them.
17  When they stood, these stood; and when they were lifted up, these lifted up themselves also: for the spirit of the living creature was in them.
18  Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims.
19  And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD'S house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.
20  This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims."  (Ezekiel 10:1-20)

​"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, 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.
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."  (Verses from Ezekiel 11)

​August 24 - Ezekiel 12 - 13

​In Chapter 12 Ezekiel is again a sign to Israel, that they will be carried away captive to Babylon.  "Say, I am your sign: like as I have done, so shall it be done unto them: they shall remove and go into captivity."  (Ezekiel 12:11)  Verse 2 reminds us how Jeremiah also pleaded with the people.  "Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:"  (Jeremiah 5:21)  When Jesus preached to the people He said, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."  (Matthew 11:15)  And to each of the seven letters to the churches, John wrote, "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches."  (Revelation 3:22)

"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.
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.
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.
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."  (Ezekiel 12:1-28)

Chapter 13 is a message for the false prophets.  In verse 5 Ezekiel tells them that they have not gone into the gaps or made up the hedge.  As the older men and women who have served the Lord go on to heaven, are we taking their place to fill in the gaps that they leave?  We will see this again in Chapter 22, with a sad conclusion.

"28  And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29  The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31  Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD."  (Ezekiel 22:28-31)

As you read this chapter, notice verse 8, "... I am against you, saith the Lord GOD."  This is the most dangerous place to be in, in all the world!  After Moses came down from the mount with the commandments of God in his hand and saw the golden calf he asked the question, "Who is on the Lord's side?"  (Exodus 32:26)  I am on the Lord's side!

"1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear ye the word of the LORD;
3  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
4  O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts.
5  Ye have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the LORD.
6  They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.
7  Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say, The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken?
8  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.
9  And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
10  Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
11  Say unto them which daub it with untempered morter, that it shall fall: there shall be an overflowing shower; and ye, O great hailstones, shall fall; and a stormy wind shall rend it.
13  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury; and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it.
14  So will I break down the wall that ye have daubed with untempered morter, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
16  To wit, the prophets of Israel which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, saith the Lord GOD."  (Verses from Ezekiel 13)

August 25 - Ezekiel 14 - 17

Life Lesson... "Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness."  (Ezekiel 14:20)  Our salvation does not save our children.  All must come to Jesus and be saved.

In Chapter 14 certain of the elders went to Ezekiel and the Lord asked, "Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?"  The Lord also answered that every man that set up idols in his heart and put a stumbling block of iniquity before his face, He would set his face against that man.  "Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations."  (Ezekiel 14:6)  The Chapter closes with references to Noah, Daniel, and Job.  Daniel was a captive in Babylon at this time. 

"12  The word of the LORD came again to me, saying,
13  Son of man, when the land sinneth against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it:
14  Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GOD.
15  If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it, so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beasts:
16  Though these three men were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters; they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
17  Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say, Sword, go through the land; so that I cut off man and beast from it:
19  Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast:
20  Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.
21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?
22  Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that shall be brought forth, both sons and daughters: behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings: and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, even concerning all that I have brought upon it.
23  And they shall comfort you, when ye see their ways and their doings: and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord GOD."  (Verses from Ezekiel 14)

Chapter 15 begins as the Lord told Ezekiel that vines were worth nothing but fuel for the fire.  "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.  And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them."  (Ezekiel 15:6-7)

​Chapter 16 describes how the Lord chose Israel and caused them to multiply.  He fed them, and adorned them with gold and silver and embroidered garments, and they left the Lord and worshiped false idols.  Even though they broke their covenant, the Lord promised to remember His covenant.

"59  For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.
60  Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
61  Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.
62  And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:
63  That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD."  (Ezekiel 16:59-63)

"1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
3  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4  He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5  He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6  And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7  There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8  It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
9  Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10  Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12  Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
13  And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
14  That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15  But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
22  Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
23  In the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24  And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it."  (Verses from Ezekiel 17)

​August 26 - Ezekiel 18 - 21

​Life Lesson... The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."  (Ezekiel 18:20)

​"1  The word of the LORD came unto me again, saying,
2  What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
3  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
4  Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
5  But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
​9  Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.
20  The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21  But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22  All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
23  Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
24  But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
​25  Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
26  When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
27  Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
28  Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
30  Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31  Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32  For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."  (Verses from Ezekiel 18)

"1  Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2  And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
3  And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
4  The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
5  Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
6  And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.
7  And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
8  Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.
9  And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel."  (Ezekiel 19:1-9)

In Chapter 20 certain elders went to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord.  The Lord reminded them of how He chose Israel, and delivered them out of Egypt and told them to put away the idols of Egypt.  He said, "I am the LORD your God."  (Ezekiel 20:7)  "But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me..."  (20:8)  The Lord continued to remind them of how He gave them judgments and statutes and they rebelled against Him.  The chapter ends, "Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! they say of me, Doth he not speak parables?"  (20:49)  They still did not believe the prophesy of Ezekiel.

"1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, set thy face toward Jerusalem, and drop thy word toward the holy places, and prophesy against the land of Israel,
3  And say to the land of Israel, Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I am against thee, and will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked.
4  Seeing then that I will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked, therefore shall my sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh from the south to the north:
5  That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more.
6  Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes.
7  And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD."  (Ezekiel 21:1-7)

August 27 - Ezekiel 22 - 24

Chapter 22 begins with the terrible sins of the people. The Lord called out the sins of the prophets, the priests, the princes, and the people.

"23  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
24  Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation.
25  There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof.
26  Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
27  Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.
28  And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken.
29  The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
30  And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
31  Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD."  (Ezeiel 22:23-31)

In Chapter 23 the Lord told Ezekiel that Samaria was Aholah and Jerusalem was Aholibah.  He told of their great sin in serving idols, even to the point of offering their chidren to idols, and said they would be judged.

​"36  The LORD said moreover unto me; Son of man, wilt thou judge Aholah and Aholibah? yea, declare unto them their abominations;
37  That they have committed adultery, and blood is in their hands, and with their idols have they committed adultery, and have also caused their sons, whom they bare unto me, to pass for them through the fire, to devour them.
39  For when they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it; and, lo, thus have they done in the midst of mine house."  (Verses from Ezekiel 23)

We see judgment against Jerusalem again in Chapter 24.  At the end of the chapter the Lord told Ezekiel that his wife would die and he could not mourn or cry for her.  He was a sign to them that the ones they loved would fall by the sword and they would not mourn or weep for them.

"16  Son of man, behold, I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke: yet neither shalt thou mourn nor weep, neither shall thy tears run down.
17  Forbear to cry, make no mourning for the dead, bind the tire of thine head upon thee, and put on thy shoes upon thy feet, and cover not thy lips, and eat not the bread of men.
18  So I spake unto the people in the morning: and at even my wife died; and I did in the morning as I was commanded.
19  And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
20  Then I answered them, The word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21  Speak unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will profane my sanctuary, the excellency of your strength, the desire of your eyes, and that which your soul pitieth; and your sons and your daughters whom ye have left shall fall by the sword.
22  And ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.
23  And your tires shall be upon your heads, and your shoes upon your feet: ye shall not mourn nor weep; but ye shall pine away for your iniquities, and mourn one toward another.
24  Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do: and when this cometh, ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
25  Also, thou son of man, shall it not be in the day when I take from them their strength, the joy of their glory, the desire of their eyes, and that whereupon they set their minds, their sons and their daughters,
26  That he that escapeth in that day shall come unto thee, to cause thee to hear it with thine ears?
27  In that day shall thy mouth be opened to him which is escaped, and thou shalt speak, and be no more dumb: and thou shalt be a sign unto them; and they shall know that I am the LORD." (Ezekiel 24:16-27)

​August 28 - Ezekiel 25 - 26

The prophecy of Ezekiel was not only against Israel. Chapter 25 proclaims judgment against the Ammonites, against Moab and Edom, and the chapter ends with vengeance upon the Philistines.  We read of judgment against the Gentile nations in Isaiah chapters 12 through 23 and in Jeremiah chapters 46 through 51.  Amos, Zechariah, and other prophets also spoke of the punishment of the nations surrounding Israel and Judah.

"1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, set thy face against the Ammonites, and prophesy against them;
3  And say unto the Ammonites, Hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou saidst, Aha, against my sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel, when it was desolate; and against the house of Judah, when they went into captivity;
4  Behold, therefore I will deliver thee to the men of the east for a possession, and they shall set their palaces in thee, and make their dwellings in thee: they shall eat thy fruit, and they shall drink thy milk.
6  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast clapped thine hands, and stamped with the feet, and rejoiced in heart with all thy despite against the land of Israel;
7  Behold, therefore I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and will deliver thee for a spoil to the heathen; and I will cut thee off from the people, and I will cause thee to perish out of the countries: I will destroy thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
8  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Moab and Seir do say, Behold, the house of Judah is like unto all the heathen;
9  Therefore, behold, I will open the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which are on his frontiers, the glory of the country, Bethjeshimoth, Baalmeon, and Kiriathaim,
10  Unto the men of the east with the Ammonites, and will give them in possession, that the Ammonites may not be remembered among the nations.
11  And I will execute judgments upon Moab; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
12  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended, and revenged himself upon them;
13  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also stretch out mine hand upon Edom, and will cut off man and beast from it; and I will make it desolate from Teman; and they of Dedan shall fall by the sword.
14  And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to mine anger and according to my fury; and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord GOD.
15  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy it for the old hatred;
16  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast.
17  And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them."  (Verses from Ezekiel 25)

​Ezekiel told of the coming judgment and fall of Tyre and Sidon in Chapters 26, 27, and 28.  Chapter 26 tells of the destruction by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon.  Chapter 27 tells how the merchants of surrounding areas were made rich by the seaport of Tyre.  I am spreading out these chapters over two days, to give us a better understanding of the massive impact that the fall of Tyre had on so much of the world.

"1  And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, because that Tyrus hath said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the gates of the people: she is turned unto me: I shall be replenished, now she is laid waste:
3  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea causeth his waves to come up.
4  And they shall destroy the walls of Tyrus, and break down her towers: I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the top of a rock.
5  It shall be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD: and it shall become a spoil to the nations.
7  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, a king of kings, from the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with horsemen, and companies, and much people.
8  He shall slay with the sword thy daughters in the field: and he shall make a fort against thee, and cast a mount against thee, and lift up the buckler against thee.
9  And he shall set engines of war against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers.
10  By reason of the abundance of his horses their dust shall cover thee: thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a breach.
11  With the hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets: he shall slay thy people by the sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the ground.
12  And they shall make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy merchandise: and they shall break down thy walls, and destroy thy pleasant houses: and they shall lay thy stones and thy timber and thy dust in the midst of the water.
13  And I will cause the noise of thy songs to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.
14  And I will make thee like the top of a rock: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon; thou shalt be built no more: for I the LORD have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
15  Thus saith the Lord GOD to Tyrus; Shall not the isles shake at the sound of thy fall, when the wounded cry, when the slaughter is made in the midst of thee?
16  Then all the princes of the sea shall come down from their thrones, and lay away their robes, and put off their broidered garments: they shall clothe themselves with trembling; they shall sit upon the ground, and shall tremble at every moment, and be astonished at thee.
17  And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!
18  Now shall the isles tremble in the day of thy fall; yea, the isles that are in the sea shall be troubled at thy departure.
19  For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee;
20  When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;
21  I will make thee a terror, and thou shalt be no more: though thou be sought for, yet shalt thou never be found again, saith the Lord GOD."  (Verses from Ezekiel 26)

August 29 - Ezekiel 27 - 28

Life Lesson... "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall."  (Proverbs 16:18)
Today we continue with the prophecy of Ezekiel against Tyre in Chapters 27 and 28.  We see the reason of their fall in Ezekiel 28:2.  "Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:"

​"1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2  Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3  And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty.
4  Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.
5  They have made all thy ship boards of fir trees of Senir: they have taken cedars from Lebanon to make masts for thee.
6  Of the oaks of Bashan have they made thine oars; the company of the Ashurites have made thy benches of ivory, brought out of the isles of Chittim.
7  Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
8  The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad were thy mariners: thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee, were thy pilots.
9  The ancients of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee thy calkers: all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise.
10  They of Persia and of Lud and of Phut were in thine army, thy men of war: they hanged the shield and helmet in thee; they set forth thy comeliness.
11  The men of Arvad with thine army were upon thy walls round about, and the Gammadims were in thy towers: they hanged their shields upon thy walls round about; they have made thy beauty perfect.
12  Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kind of riches; with silver, iron, tin, and lead, they traded in thy fairs.
13  Javan, Tubal, and Meshech, they were thy merchants: they traded the persons of men and vessels of brass in thy market.
14  They of the house of Togarmah traded in thy fairs with horses and horsemen and mules.
15  The men of Dedan were thy merchants; many isles were the merchandise of thine hand: they brought thee for a present horns of ivory and ebony.
16  Syria was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of the wares of thy making: they occupied in thy fairs with emeralds, purple, and broidered work, and fine linen, and coral, and agate.
17  Judah, and the land of Israel, they were thy merchants: they traded in thy market wheat of Minnith, and Pannag, and honey, and oil, and balm.
18  Damascus was thy merchant in the multitude of the wares of thy making, for the multitude of all riches; in the wine of Helbon, and white wool.
19  Dan also and Javan going to and fro occupied in thy fairs: bright iron, cassia, and calamus, were in thy market.
20  Dedan was thy merchant in precious clothes for chariots.
21  Arabia, and all the princes of Kedar, they occupied with thee in lambs, and rams, and goats: in these were they thy merchants.
22  The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.
23  Haran, and Canneh, and Eden, the merchants of Sheba, Asshur, and Chilmad, were thy merchants.
24  These were thy merchants in all sorts of things, in blue clothes, and broidered work, and in chests of rich apparel, bound with cords, and made of cedar, among thy merchandise.
25  The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
26  Thy rowers have brought thee into great waters: the east wind hath broken thee in the midst of the seas.
27  Thy riches, and thy fairs, thy merchandise, thy mariners, and thy pilots, thy calkers, and the occupiers of thy merchandise, and all thy men of war, that are in thee, and in all thy company which is in the midst of thee, shall fall into the midst of the seas in the day of thy ruin.
28  The suburbs shall shake at the sound of the cry of thy pilots.
29  And all that handle the oar, the mariners, and all the pilots of the sea, shall come down from their ships, they shall stand upon the land;
30  And shall cause their voice to be heard against thee, and shall cry bitterly, and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall wallow themselves in the ashes:
31  And they shall make themselves utterly bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, and they shall weep for thee with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
32  And in their wailing they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and lament over thee, saying, What city is like Tyrus, like the destroyed in the midst of the sea?
33  When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
34  In the time when thou shalt be broken by the seas in the depths of the waters thy merchandise and all thy company in the midst of thee shall fall.
35  All the inhabitants of the isles shall be astonished at thee, and their kings shall be sore afraid, they shall be troubled in their countenance.
36  The merchants among the people shall hiss at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt be any more."  (Ezekiel 27:1-36)

In Chapter 28 we see that pride preceded the downfall of Tyre.  The prince of Tyrus said, "... I am a God..."  In verse 3 he was described as being wiser than Daniel.   And we know that God gave Daniel great wisdom, even to interpret visions and dreams.  Ezekiel goes on to explain that by his wisdom, he grew rich, and because of his great riches, he lifted up his heart in pride.  In verse 11, the prophecy takes on the picture of Satan.  "Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God..."  (vs. 13)  "Thou art the anointed cherub..."  (vs. 14)  Verse 15, "Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee."  And in verse 17 we see the pride and fall of Satan.  "Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground,..."  In the book of Revelation we will see the final defeat of Satan.  "And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."  (Revelation 20:10)

​"1  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
3  Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee:
4  With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures:
5  By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches:
6  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
7  Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.
8  They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.
9  Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee.
10  Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
11  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
12  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19  All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
20  Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
21  Son of man, set thy face against Zidon, and prophesy against it,
22  And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon; and I will be glorified in the midst of thee: and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall have executed judgments in her, and shall be sanctified in her.
23  For I will send into her pestilence, and blood into her streets; and the wounded shall be judged in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side; and they shall know that I am the LORD.
24  And there shall be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn of all that are round about them, that despised them; and they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
25  Thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in the sight of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob.
26  And they shall dwell safely therein, and shall build houses, and plant vineyards; yea, they shall dwell with confidence, when I have executed judgments upon all those that despise them round about them; and they shall know that I am the LORD their God."  (Ezekiel 28:1-26)

​August 30 - Ezekiel 29 - 32

​The prophecies against the Gentile nations continue as God sends out a message against Egypt, in Chapters 29 through 32.  Nine times in these four chapters the Lord said that Egypt, "shall know that I am the LORD."  I find this interesting because these are the same words that God repeatedly  told Moses in the book of Exodus when the Children of Israel were under Egyptian bondage.  "And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them."  (Exodus 7:5)

​"1  In the tenth year, in the tenth month, in the twelfth day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, set thy face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him, and against all Egypt:
3  Speak, and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great dragon that lieth in the midst of his rivers, which hath said, My river is mine own, and I have made it for myself.
4  But I will put hooks in thy jaws, and I will cause the fish of thy rivers to stick unto thy scales, and I will bring thee up out of the midst of thy rivers, and all the fish of thy rivers shall stick unto thy scales.
5  And I will leave thee thrown into the wilderness, thee and all the fish of thy rivers: thou shalt fall upon the open fields; thou shalt not be brought together, nor gathered: I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven.
6  And all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the LORD, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.
7  When they took hold of thee by thy hand, thou didst break, and rend all their shoulder: and when they leaned upon thee, thou brakest, and madest all their loins to be at a stand.
8  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee.
9  And the land of Egypt shall be desolate and waste; and they shall know that I am the LORD: because he hath said, The river is mine, and I have made it.
10  Behold, therefore I am against thee, and against thy rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt utterly waste and desolate, from the tower of Syene even unto the border of Ethiopia.
11  No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of beast shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.
13  Yet thus saith the Lord GOD; At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the people whither they were scattered:
14  And I will bring again the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their habitation; and they shall be there a base kingdom.
15  It shall be the basest of the kingdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any more above the nations: for I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.
16  And it shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, which bringeth their iniquity to remembrance, when they shall look after them: but they shall know that I am the Lord GOD.
17  And it came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
18  Son of man, Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyrus: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was peeled: yet had he no wages, nor his army, for Tyrus, for the service that he had served against it:
19  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will give the land of Egypt unto Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; and he shall take her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.
20  I have given him the land of Egypt for his labour wherewith he served against it, because they wrought for me, saith the Lord GOD.
21  In that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am the LORD."  (Verses from Ezekiel 29)

In Chapter 30 we see that it was the pride of Egypt that played a part in bringing her down.  "Thus saith the LORD; They also that uphold Egypt shall fall; and the pride of her power shall come down: from the tower of Syene shall they fall in it by the sword, saith the Lord GOD."  (Ezekiel 30:6)  This chapter ends, "But I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, and the arms of Pharaoh shall fall down; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I shall put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall stretch it out upon the land of Egypt.  And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them among the countries; and they shall know that I am the LORD."  (Ezekiel 30:25-26)  Chapter 31 compares Egypt to a tall cedar tree.

​"10  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height;
11  I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12  And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him.
​18  To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD."  (Verses from Ezekiel 31)

In Chapter 32 the Lord told Ezekiel to take up a lamentation for Pharaoh, king of Egypt.  "For thus saith the Lord GOD; The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee.  By the swords of the mighty will I cause thy multitude to fall, the terrible of the nations, all of them: and they shall spoil the pomp of Egypt, and all the multitude thereof shall be destroyed."  (Ezekiel 32:11-12)  The chapter ends, "For I have caused my terror in the land of the living: and he shall be laid in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that are slain with the sword, even Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD."  (32:32)  Now, that we see that the king of Babylon would destroy Egypt, I want to back up to verses 7-8.  "And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD."  I don't know if this was fulfilled back then, or if it is a future prophecy, because other prophets spoke of the sun and moon being turned into darkness in the day of the Lord.

"Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine."  (Isaiah 13:9-10)
"The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:...  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come."  (Joel 2:10 & 31)
"The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining."  (Joel 3:15)
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:"  (Matthew 24:29)
"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,"  (Mark 13:24)
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;"  (Luke 21:25)
"The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:"  (Acts 2:20)
"And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;"  (Revelation 6:12)

August 31 - Ezekiel 33 - 36

Chapter 33 repeats the duty of the watchman, as in Chapter 3.  Beginning at verse 21, Ezekiel learns that Jerusalem was smitten.

"8  When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
9  Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
21  And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
22  Now the hand of the LORD was upon me in the evening, afore he that was escaped came; and had opened my mouth, until he came to me in the morning; and my mouth was opened, and I was no more dumb.
30  Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD.
31  And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
32  And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
33  And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them." (Verses from Ezekiel 33)

​Chapter 34 gives us a picture of the faithless shepherds of Israel, and then of the Good Shepherd who will restore Israel and set up the Davidic kingdom.

"1  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
3  Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock.
4  The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them.
5  And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered.
6  My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.
7  Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the LORD;
8  As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock;
10  Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.
11  For thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out.
12  As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13  And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14  I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.
15  I will feed my flock, and I will cause them to lie down, saith the Lord GOD.
16  I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.
17  And as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I judge between cattle and cattle, between the rams and the he goats.
23  And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24  And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.
25  And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26  And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing.
30  Thus shall they know that I the LORD their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people, saith the Lord GOD.
31  And ye my flock, the flock of my pasture, are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord GOD."  (Verses from Ezekiel 34)

​"1  Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2  Son of man, set thy face against mount Seir, and prophesy against it,
3  And say unto it, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O mount Seir, I am against thee, and I will stretch out mine hand against thee, and I will make thee most desolate.
4  I will lay thy cities waste, and thou shalt be desolate, and thou shalt know that I am the LORD.
5  Because thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an end:
13  Thus with your mouth ye have boasted against me, and have multiplied your words against me: I have heard them.
14  Thus saith the Lord GOD; When the whole earth rejoiceth, I will make thee desolate.
15  As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so will I do unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, O mount Seir, and all Idumea, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the LORD."  (Verses from Ezekiel 35)

You may remember that we read in Ezekiel 13:8, "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the Lord GOD."  Now, that God had judged Israel, He let them know that He would restore them.  "For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you..."  (Ezekeil 36:9)

"6  Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
7  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; I have lifted up mine hand, Surely the heathen that are about you, they shall bear their shame.
8  But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come.
9  For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown:
10  And I will multiply men upon you, all the house of Israel, even all of it: and the cities shall be inhabited, and the wastes shall be builded:
11  And I will multiply upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates, and will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
22  Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went.
23  And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24  For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25  Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28  And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God."  (Verses from Ezekiel 36)

September 1 - Ezekiel 37

Chapter 37 brings us to another vision of Ezekiel, the valley of dry bones.  One summer we had a Through The Bible Study with our youth at Pine Grove Baptist Church, and during the study of Ezekiel we learned the old song, "Dry Bones", or "Dem Bones" written by James Weldon Johnson, (1871–1938) and his brother, J. Rosamond Johnson.  It was so much fun to hear the children sing, "Dem bones, dem bones, gonna walk around... O hear the Word of the Lord."

"Toe bone connected to the foot bone
Foot bone connected to the heel bone
Heel bone connected to the ankle bone
Ankle bone connected to the leg bone...
O hear the Word of the Lord."

"1  The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2  And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3  And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4  Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5  Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6  And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
7  So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8  And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9  Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11  Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14  And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD."  (Ezekiel 37:1-14)

I would like to share some thoughts from the book, "Come O Breath! Awakening Messages" by James A Stewart.  To be used Ezekiel had to have the hand of the Lord upon him.  He also had to be close to the dry bones.  He was set down in the midst of them, and then told to walk around about them.  He saw that there were very many, and they were very dry.  Then, the Lord asked him, "Son of man, can these bones live?"  In Preacher Stewart's message he says that some are serving in churches where there may be many people, but they are very dry, and you may wonder if they can live.  Ezekiel answerd, "O Lord GOD, thou knowest."  The Lord told Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones, and there was a shaking, and a noise, but the noise didn't mean there was life.  Then the bones were covered with flesh and skin and they looked much better, but thy were still dead.  Then the Lord told Ezekiel to call out, "Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live."  The following quote is from page 49 of the book.

"One kiss of the breath of God did more than all Ezekiel's preaching could accomplish.  We may have our mighty sermons and our mighty preachers but at the end we must go from preaching to prayer, crying, "O Breath, come and breathe upon these slain".  Mere preaching may make a noise; it may create a sensation; it may even gather the hundreds and the thousands together.  It may produce reformation: dry bones may be clothed with flesh and sinew, but spiritual life can alone be imparted by the Holy Ghost."  (James A Stewart)

Chapter 37 continues...

"15  The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16  Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17  And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18  And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19  Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20  And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21  And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22  And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23  Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24  And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25  And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26  Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27  My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28  And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore."  (Ezekiel 37:15-28)

September 2 - Ezekiel 38 - 45

Chapters 38 and 39 are prophecies against Gog and Magog.

"14  Therefore, son of man, prophesy and say unto Gog, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In that day when my people of Israel dwelleth safely, shalt thou not know it?
15  And thou shalt come from thy place out of the north parts, thou, and many people with thee, all of them riding upon horses, a great company, and a mighty army:
16  And thou shalt come up against my people of Israel, as a cloud to cover the land; it shall be in the latter days, and I will bring thee against my land, that the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes.
18  And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord GOD, that my fury shall come up in my face.
19  For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;"  (Ezekiel 38:14-19)

"6  And I will send a fire on Magog, and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7  So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel."  (Ezekiel 39:6-7)

We will see the great battle with Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:7-10.

"7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10  And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." 

​Ezekiel 40 is the vision of the man with the measuring reed.

​"1  In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.
2  In the visions of God brought he me into the land of Israel, and set me upon a very high mountain, by which was as the frame of a city on the south.
3  And he brought me thither, and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
4  And the man said unto me, Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee; for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee art thou brought hither: declare all that thou seest to the house of Israel."  (Ezekiel 40:1-4)

He measured the walls of the house, the gates, every little chamber and the porch.  He measured the roof from one chamber to the roof of another, and the posts.  Ezekiel described the windows, the arches, the palm trees, and the steps.  He also described the tables for the sacrifices and spoke of the chambers of the singers in the inner court.  In Chapter 41 he measured the temple, including the doors, posts, and chambers.  He described the cherubims and palm trees that decorated the house.  In Chapter 42 he finished measuring the inside and went out and measured the outside walls.  In Chapter 43 the glory of the Lord came into the house.

"1  Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east:
2  And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.
3  And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face.
4  And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.
5  So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house.
6  And I heard him speaking unto me out of the house; and the man stood by me.
7  And he said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel for ever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile, neither they, nor their kings, by their whoredom, nor by the carcases of their kings in their high places."  (Ezekiel 43:1-7)

The Lord gave Ezekiel the laws of the offerings and the chapter closes, "And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord GOD."  (43:27)

In Chapter 44 the Lord gave Ezekiel laws for the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, to keep charge of the sanctuary. 

"1  Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut.
2  Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut.
3  It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same.
4  Then brought he me the way of the north gate before the house: and I looked, and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD: and I fell upon my face.
5  And the LORD said unto me, Son of man, mark well, and behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears all that I say unto thee concerning all the ordinances of the house of the LORD, and all the laws thereof; and mark well the entering in of the house, with every going forth of the sanctuary.
15  But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near to me to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord GOD:
16  They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge."  (Verses from Ezekiel 44)

​Chapter 45 tells of dividing the land and the "holy portion of the land." It gives the law of just balances and the offereings of the people and of the princes.  They were also reminded of the laws in keeping the Passover.

September 3 - Ezekiel 46 - 48

Chapter 46 gives more rules of worship for the princes and the people.  In verse 9 we see that they were instructed to go out a different way than they came in.  My Grandmother used to talk about going out a different door of the house than the one she came in.  I am reminded of that each time I read this scripture.  More instructions follow in the remainder of the chapter.

"1  Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened.
2  And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.
3  Likewise the people of the land shall worship at the door of this gate before the LORD in the sabbaths and in the new moons.
4  And the burnt offering that the prince shall offer unto the LORD in the sabbath day shall be six lambs without blemish, and a ram without blemish.
5  And the meat offering shall be an ephah for a ram, and the meat offering for the lambs as he shall be able to give, and an hin of oil to an ephah.
6  And in the day of the new moon it shall be a young bullock without blemish, and six lambs, and a ram: they shall be without blemish.
7  And he shall prepare a meat offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs according as his hand shall attain unto, and an hin of oil to an ephah.
8  And when the prince shall enter, he shall go in by the way of the porch of that gate, and he shall go forth by the way thereof.
9  But when the people of the land shall come before the LORD in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it."  (Ezekiel 46:1-9)

Chapter 47 tells of the river that came out from under the sacntuary.  This is also prophesied in Joel 3:18, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim."  And again in Zechariah 14:8-9.  "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.  And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one."  We also see this fulfilled in the last chapter of the Bible.  "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations."  (Revelation 22:1-2)

​"1  Afterward he brought me again unto the door of the house; and, behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward: for the forefront of the house stood toward the east, and the waters came down from under from the right side of the house, at the south side of the altar.
2  Then brought he me out of the way of the gate northward, and led me about the way without unto the utter gate by the way that looketh eastward; and, behold, there ran out waters on the right side.
3  And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles.
4  Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins.
5  Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
6  And he said unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me, and caused me to return to the brink of the river.
7  Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many trees on the one side and on the other.
8  Then said he unto me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed.
9  And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth, whithersoever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither: for they shall be healed; and every thing shall live whither the river cometh.
10  And it shall come to pass, that the fishers shall stand upon it from Engedi even unto Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.
11  But the miry places thereof and the marishes thereof shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt.
12  And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine."  (Ezekiel 47:1-12)

The chapter continues with the borders for Israel.  Chapter 48 is the final chapter of Ezekiel and tells how the land is to be divided among the tribes of Israel.  It tells the oblation given to the Lord for the priests and Levites.  The chapter then tells what shall be for the prince.  The chapter and book end with the names of the gates of the city.

"9  The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10  And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11  It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12  And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
31  And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
32  And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33  And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34  At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35  It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there."  (Verses from Ezekiel 48)