THE TRUE test of prophets is whether they have “stood in the council of YHWH to see and hear His word.” (Jer. 23:18)
This week, we discuss the calling of Ezekiel and God’s first commands to the prophet — to prophesy to “a rebellious house,” the scattered people of Israel, and to do so in a rather unpleasant way.
Filed under Bible Study, Old Testament
Not ancient astronauts
EZEKIEL DID not see a spacecraft. Those who think he did are mistaken.
We conclude our study of the Book of Lamentations, which describes the desperate conditions of those in Jerusalem at the time of its destruction by Babylon. We note the parallel between “kings of the earth” in Lamentations 4:12 and Canaanite texts that refer to the “Rephaim of the earth” (i.e., a possible reference by Jeremiah to spirits of the evil dead).
Filed under Bible Study, Old Testament
THERE ARE times when God brings correction into our lives, although not always as drastically as He did to the kingdom of Judah in 586 B.C.
The Book of Lamentations is a series of five poems, possibly written by the prophet Jeremiah, in the wake of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem by Babylon. Today, we look at the first three chapters, which are filled with heart-rending grief and loneliness, even as the author acknowledges that the disaster wrought by Babylon was deserved because of the sin of God’s people. Continue reading
Filed under Bible Study, Old Testament
JEREMIAH’S PROPHECY of doom against Babylon concludes this week as he declares the kingdom’s destruction at the hands of the Medes. The prophecy was fulfilled some fifty years later in 539 B.C.
Digging deeper into the prophecy, we see more evidence for the divine council in action, especially God’s decree of judgment on the fallen bene elohim and demonic spirits behind the pantheon of Babylon. The promised punishment would make no sense if they had been directed at lifeless idols or carved images (see Jeremiah 51:47 and 51:52).
Filed under Bible Study, Old Testament
