Overview of 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, 7 Bowls and Eschatology

3 main views of Eschatology

Preterist: Catholic view
Historicist: Refer to Apostalic to second coming i.e. history of the church
Futurist: 70th week to be fulfilled in the future, they believe in rapture before tribulation

 This guy believe in none of the above

Book of Life

  



Few people ever to talked about book of life mentioned in Bible. But remember he is an Engineer like me, not a Bible scholar, but we look at technical details and try to make up what it means and how it fits in to the big picture. I like his approach but not agree 100% on all things he said especially on his view of the first 3 seals, but he has got fresh ideas.
Generally Interesting views!

Ephesians 1

New International Version (NIV)

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,

To God’s holy people in Ephesus,^[a] the faithful in Christ Jesus:

² Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise for Spiritual Blessings in Christ

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵ he^[b] predestined us for adoption to sonship^[c] through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood,the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace⁸ that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, ⁹ he^[d]made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

¹¹ In him we were also chosen,^[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. ¹³ And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴ who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.

If it bothers you read here
http://knowthebook.com/WhattheBibleTeaches/21%20-%20Predestination.pdf

John 20:24-30

New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Appears to Thomas

²⁴ Now Thomas (also known as Didymus^[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. ²⁵ So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
²⁶ A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
²⁸ Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
²⁹ Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The Purpose of John’s Gospel

³⁰ Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.

Why this passage? What I am trying to say is, Do you need to argue about every details???

Walk in Faith, that is all that is needed. Read the scripture below on Romans 4

Romans 4

English Standard Version (ESV)

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by^[a] Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? ² For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. ³ For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” ⁴ Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. ⁵ And to the one who does not work but believes in^[b] him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶ just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
⁸ blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

⁹ Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. ¹⁰ How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. ¹¹ He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,¹² and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

¹³ For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness^[c]of Sarah's womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ Butthe words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Bible Propecy Clues

Prophecy Interpretation Rules

The Antichrist by Walid Shoebat

Elijah

False and Bad Prophets

Balaam: An example
http://prepareforthelamb.wordpress.com

A journey of Judgement
http://www.preachtheword.com/sermon/ezek06.shtml

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here. Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction. He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God.

— 2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 NRSV 

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but only until the one who now restrains it is removed. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy with the breath of his mouth, annihilating him by the manifestation of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the working of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

— 2 Thessalonians 2:7–10 NRSV 

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.

— Matthew 24:24 and Mark 13:22 NRSV 

Then I saw another beast that rose out of the earth; it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. It exercises all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. It performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all; and by the signs that it is allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceives the inhabitants of earth, telling them to make an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived; and it was allowed to give breath to the image of the beast so that the image of the beast could even speak and cause those who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, so that no one can buy or sell who does not have the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

— Revelation 13:11–17 NRSV

And I saw three foul spirits like frogs coming from the mouth of the dragon, from the mouth of the beast, and from the mouth of the false prophet. These are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

— Revelation 16:13–14 NRSV

Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against the rider on the horse and against his army. And the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet who had performed in its presence the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped its image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.

— Revelation 19:19–20 NRSV

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

— Revelation 20:10 NRSV 

Judgement for unfaithfulness-Noah, Daniel and Job could save only themselves by their righteousness

^{Ezekiel 14
12} The word of the Lord came to me: ¹³ “Son of man, if a country sinsagainst me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, ¹⁴ even if these three men—Noah, Daniel^[a] and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness,declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁵ “Or if I send wild beasts through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, ¹⁶ as surely as I live, declares the SovereignLord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate.

¹⁷ “Or if I bring a sword against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, ¹⁸ as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved.

¹⁹ “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath on it through bloodshed, killing its people and their animals, ²⁰ as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.

²¹ “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments—swordand famine and wild beasts and plague—to kill its men and their animals! 

²² Yet there will be some survivors—sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They will come to you, and when you see their conduct and their actions, you will be consoled regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem—every disaster I have brought on it.²³ You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 18

New International Version (NIV)

The One Who Sins Will Die

18 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:

“‘The parents eat sour grapes,
    and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

³ “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. ⁴ For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins is the one who will die.

⁵ “Suppose there is a righteous man
    who does what is just and right.
⁶ He does not eat at the mountain shrines
    or look to the idols of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife
    or have sexual relations with a woman during her period.
⁷ He does not oppress anyone,
    but returns what he took in pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
    but gives his food to the hungry
    and provides clothing for the naked.
⁸ He does not lend to them at interest
    or take a profit from them.
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
    and judges fairly between two parties.
⁹ He follows my decrees
    and faithfully keeps my laws.
That man is righteous;
    he will surely live,
declares the Sovereign Lord.

¹⁰ “Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these other things^[a] 11 (though the father has done none of them):

“He eats at the mountain shrines.
He defiles his neighbor’s wife.
¹² He oppresses the poor and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.
¹³ He lends at interest and takes a profit.

Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.

¹⁴ “But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:

¹⁵ “He does not eat at the mountain shrines
    or look to the idols of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.
¹⁶ He does not oppress anyone
    or require a pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
    but gives his food to the hungry
    and provides clothing for the naked.
¹⁷ He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor
    and takes no interest or profit from them.
He keeps my laws and follows my decrees.

He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. ¹⁸ But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.

¹⁹ “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. ²⁰ The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.
²¹ “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²² None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?
²⁴ “But if a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.
²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust? ²⁶ If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. ²⁷ But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life. ²⁸ Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²⁹ Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
³⁰ “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

Duty of a Prophet

^{Ezekiel 3}

¹⁶ At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me: 

¹⁷ “Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you must give them a warning from me. 

¹⁸ When I say to the wicked, “You will certainly die,” and you do not warn him—you do not speak out to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked deed and wicked lifestyle so that he may live—that wicked person will die for his iniquity, but I will hold you accountable for his death. 

¹⁹ But as for you, if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wicked deed and from his wicked lifestyle, he will die for his iniquity but you will have saved your own life.

²⁰ “When a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I set an obstacle before him, he will die. If you have not warned him, he will die for his sin. The righteous deeds he performed will not be considered, but I will hold you accountable for his death.

²¹ However, if you warn the righteous person not to sin, and he does not sin, he will certainly live because he was warned, and you will have saved your own life.”

Judgement of Israel for idolatry, Ezekiel sword, plague, famine

Isaiah 44

The Foolishness of Idols

⁶ This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:

“I am the First and the Last;
    there is no other God.
⁷ Who is like me?
    Let him step forward and prove to you his power.
Let him do as I have done since ancient times
    when I established a people and explained its future.
⁸ Do not tremble; do not be afraid.
    Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago?
You are my witnesses—is there any other God?
    No! There is no other Rock—not one!”

⁹ How foolish are those who manufacture idols.
    These prized objects are really worthless.
The people who worship idols don’t know this,
    so they are all put to shame.
¹⁰ Who but a fool would make his own god—
    an idol that cannot help him one bit?
¹¹ All who worship idols will be disgraced
    along with all these craftsmen—mere humans—
    who claim they can make a god.
They may all stand together,
    but they will stand in terror and shame.

¹² The blacksmith stands at his forge to make a sharp tool,
    pounding and shaping it with all his might.
His work makes him hungry and weak.
    It makes him thirsty and faint.
¹³ Then the wood-carver measures a block of wood
    and draws a pattern on it.
He works with chisel and plane
    and carves it into a human figure.
He gives it human beauty
    and puts it in a little shrine.
¹⁴ He cuts down cedars;
    he selects the cypress and the oak;
he plants the pine in the forest
    to be nourished by the rain.
¹⁵ Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire.
    With it he warms himself and bakes his bread.
Then—yes, it’s true—he takes the rest of it
    and makes himself a god to worship!
He makes an idol
    and bows down in front of it!
¹⁶ He burns part of the tree to roast his meat
    and to keep himself warm.
    He says, “Ah, that fire feels good.”
¹⁷ Then he takes what’s left
    and makes his god: a carved idol!
He falls down in front of it,
    worshiping and praying to it.
“Rescue me!” he says.
    “You are my god!”

¹⁸ Such stupidity and ignorance!
    Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see.
    Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.
¹⁹ The person who made the idol never stops to reflect,
    “Why, it’s just a block of wood!
I burned half of it for heat
    and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.
How can the rest of it be a god?
    Should I bow down to worship a piece of wood?”
²⁰ The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes.
    He trusts something that can’t help him at all.
Yet he cannot bring himself to ask,
    “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?”

Ezekiel Judgements on idolatry
extracted version, For complete article read here http://www.preachtheword.com/sermon/ezek06.shtml. 

Ezekiel chapter 8 and 11
Chapters 8 to 11 of Ezekiel comprise the second vision of this man of God. The date that Ezekiel received this vision is found in verse 1 of chapter 8. It says the fifth day of the sixth month of the sixth year of Jehoiachin's exile, and if we translate that into our present day calendar it was the 18th of September 592BC. Mathematically, if you work it out with all the other dates that we have in this book, and indeed comprising the 430 day lying on his side that Ezekiel went through and the fasting of a famine food, you find that 14 months had passed since Ezekiel's first vision. The 430 days that Ezekiel was lying on his side is almost now finished. Now, we know that Ezekiel didn't lie exactly every hour of every day for those 430 days, because he had to get up and he had to make that food that was talked about within the word of God - the food of husks and dry bread that he had to bake over the dung, and eat, as a sign of the famine that would come upon the people of Judah in later years in exile. On one of those occasions, just at the end of the 430 days of Ezekiel's signing, perhaps he was up and he was making this food - but there was a group of elders, we know, in his house and they had gathered into his home to talk to Ezekiel.

Now the word of God doesn't tell us why they were there, but I think that possibly they were there looking for a favourable word from the Lord from God's prophet. If you remember, there are false prophets running around this concentration camp in Babylon, they are telling the people: 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace - they are telling them that 'the armies of God are going to come very soon and deliver you, they're going to bring you back to Jerusalem, and they're going to take with you all your riches, all your family, all your wealth, and everything is going to be OK'.

So perhaps these men, the elders, the leaders of Judah, have come to hear a favourable word of the Lord from God's prophet. If you were to turn to Jeremiah 28 tonight, you would find that in the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign the prophet Hananiah declared that within two years the Babylonian yoke would be broken. Hananiah was one of these false prophets, and I just wonder did the people in exile hear Hananiah's prophecy in Jerusalem - and now the two years were almost up, and these people listening to Hananiah's false prophecy were expecting that very soon the armies would come from Jerusalem and would deliver them, and the Babylonian yoke would be broken. They had calculated it well, as far as they were concerned the clock that had once said two years was running down to zero, and they now expected to be saved.

That angelic figure takes Ezekiel on a journey of judgement to the house of God

But what a shock they got when they got to Ezekiel's house! For the prophet had no word of comfort, but the opposite - an absolute condemnatory message from God! A message of judgement because of the people's sins, and the sins of the nation that they represented. As they are standing in Ezekiel's home, and speaking to Ezekiel and asking a request of Ezekiel, we find that the Spirit of God falls upon this man of God and he receives another vision from the Lord. What an elders meeting that proved to be! For we read that an angelic figure, that we read of in chapter 1 and verse 27 that showed Ezekiel his first vision of the chariot of God, this angelic figure comes back again. It says that it lifts Ezekiel by the hair, and transports him - in his mind, of course, it is a vision - transports him to the city of Jerusalem, and specifically to the temple of God.

That angelic figure takes Ezekiel on a journey of judgement to the house of God. The first thing that we note is the abomination of the temple worship that Ezekiel witnesses. Chapter 8 unfolds the details of what the word of God calls 'the detestable idols of vile images of Israel'. You remember in chapters 6 and 7 that we looked at last week, the condemnation and the judgement of God was upon the whole people. You remember that God told Ezekiel to face the mountains of Israel and prophesy to the mountains, and the mountains were a figure of God's home country, the border, signifying the whole of the land of Israel - Northern and Southern Kingdoms. But now it's being narrowed down in chapters 8 through to 11, and God is now specifically addressing the elders of Judah - those who are the leaders of God's people.

As this vision opens we see this glowing angelic figure corresponding to Ezekiel to tell these men who lead the children of Judah what their judgement will be. We see later, in chapter 10 - we'll see it next week - that again this angelic figure causes Ezekiel to see the glory of the Lord and the chariot of God once more. But why is this happening? Why is God showing Ezekiel this same vision again? Well, the reason is the context in which He is showing it to him. The first context in chapter 1 was in relation to the whole of the nation, the whole of the people and the people's sin. But now in chapter 10 it is specifically in relation to the sins of the elders, the leaders of Israel.

The prophet is given a tour of the temple of God. God shows him four scenes of increasing abomination and the offence that it is to God. He is shown one by one, and you see the four on your study sheet, each one becomes a greater abomination in the eyes of God - and each one brings Ezekiel and that angel nearer to the very Holy of Holies in the temple of God. So we look at the first that Ezekiel saw. The first abomination was the image of jealousy in verses 3 to 6, and here the tour begins. Ezekiel is given a vision of the idol of jealousy, and it says that it's at the North Gate of the city of Jerusalem. It seems that this idol was in the shape of a human figure, probably the Canaanite goddess Asherah that we thought about last week. Indeed in the book of Jeremiah we find that he denunciates the 'Queen of Heaven'. It's probable that the 'Queen of Heaven' that Jeremiah talks about is this specific image of the goddess Asherah that sits at the North Gate of Jerusalem. It may well be the image that Manasseh set up and erected in the temple - you remember that Manasseh did not follow the Lord, but followed Baal and the gods of the Canaanites, and he erected this idol to this goddess of fertility, Asherah, right in the very midst of the temple. When good King Josiah came he took it out of the temple, took it to the brook Kidron and burnt it. But we know from Jewish history that idol in another form reappeared, and every time men and women of Judah fell into sin this idol seemed to jump up again for their worship.

The irony of the whole thing is that the incense that was burning in this secret chamber of the temple, and the old idol that was outside the gate of the city that was there to ward off the dangerous enemies, and ward off the dangerous spirits - do you know what it was actually doing? It was bringing upon the people the terror and anger of God. The thing it was there to do, it was doing the exact opposite!

There was the image of jealousy, and the art of idolatry, and then thirdly - verses 13 to 14 - there's the mourning of Tammuz. It gets worse still, for Ezekiel is brought to see the sight of these women weeping for Tammuz at the North Gate of the temple itself. With each new scene, do you see where we're going? The North Gate of the city, right to the gate of the temple, and now we're coming into the very inner court of the temple itself - and there's a group of women there weeping. By each movement of this vision you're coming closer and closer to the heart of Israel's worship. Weeping for Tammuz was a Babylonian ritual that marked the death and the resurrection, or better the return, of their god Tammuz. In other words, when autumn came and all the leaves and fruit started to die they believed that Tammuz was dying - the spirit of creation, the rhythm of nature, a fertility god. Therefore they believed that through this ritual of weeping for Tammuz that spring would come, then summer, and then there would be a harvest - so they believed that by crying for this god, that their tears would bring fruit.

The sad thing about it all is that not only were they worshipping the gods of Babylon in the image of jealousy - the goddess Asherah - and then they were worshipping the gods of Egypt, these animal gods, inside the temple itself, but here they are worshipping another god: the god of plant life. Isn't it amazing? The people of God are lamenting for a dead god, instead of worshipping the living God. They had substituted lamentation for the dead for worship for the living God. The Bible is so up-to-date! You could turn your television screen on and see these poor folk, Roman Catholic folk, running after St. Therese - touching these dead bones in the coffin, and they are lamenting the dead rather than worshipping the living God as they pray to saints! I heard today that they've even exhumed the body of Pope John! They've set him up in the Vatican, put a wax face on him, he's embalmed - and they're there touching him, they're practically worshipping him! They are lamenting the dead rather than worshipping the living God! 

The mourning of Tammuz. Then, fourthly, you come to the worshipping of the sun in verses 15 to 16. This is the final supreme act of idolatry, for God has brought them from the gate, to the door of the temple, into the inner court of the temple, and now they've come into the very temple itself - and they can see there 25 men, it says that they are actually elders again, with their backs to the temple of God, facing eastward worshipping the sun. Verse 16, look at it, chapter 8: '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'. Elders of Judah worshipping the sun, and turning their back on the God of heaven - this was the ultimate abomination: turning their back on God, and worshipping the created order!

Now think about this, that's been quite technical, but let's really think about it all together - because what you have here are Egyptian gods, animal gods on the walls of the temple. You have Babylonian gods, Phoenician gods, Tammuz that these women were weeping for. You have sun worship, which is Zabian worship, and Persian worship. In other words, you have all these foreign gods, and it's depicting for Ezekiel and the elders the comprehensive nature of Jerusalem's sin. Now that's the gods that they worshipped, what about location, what about the journey that Ezekiel is taken on? Well, they're going from the very outside of the city gate right into the very inner courtyard of the temple. Their sin, their idolatry, covers the whole of the city and the whole of religious worship!

The elders were men; the women weeping, female. Seventy elders symbolic of the leadership, picturing the state of the whole people. You have men, women, boys and girls, leaders and servants - and what God is saying is: 'This incorporates the idolatry of the whole of the nation, they are assimilating for themselves the idolatry of Egypt, Babylon, Phoenicia, Zabia, all of these gods they are worshipping - they have turned their back on Me!'. They have worshipped male gods and female gods, human gods and gods of animals, they are even worshipping the planets, bowing down to the sun. Can you see this? This journey of judgement that abomination is being piled up on abomination, and eventually in verse 17 of chapter 8 God says to them: 'Is this trivial to you? Does this mean nothing to you? That this is the way the leaders of God's people are acting?'.

The inference is that it was trivial to some. It may seem foreign to us, we might say: 'We will never bow down to pieces of stone or pieces of wood'. But as one writer said: 'If you substitute their gods for football colours, a flag, a swastika, or even a pair of jeans, we find ourselves back in the seventh century BC'. Worse, they've even resorted to worshipping the stars once again in our nation. The Lord says: 'Because of all this idolatry I will now let loose my explosive anger. The axe is ready to fall'. Once they engage their final act of idolatry God says: 'I will be deaf to their cries, I will not spare. Unlike their cries to me, I'm not going to listen to them - but when I cry, I'm going to do it, I'm really going to do what works' - look at chapter 9 and verse 1. In verse 18 He is saying: 'I'm not going to listen to their cries', and in verse 1 of chapter 9 Ezekiel hears God's cry, and God's cry is the clarion cry that His judgement is coming!

We live in a pluralistic society, don't we? People say to us as evangelical fundamental Christians: 'Things are different now. We live in a multicultural society, you can't say that your God is an exclusive God, and your way is an exclusive way - the only way to God'. It's as if our exclusive faith is unique, that it's never been before. It's as if men and women have never ever lived in a multicultural society before, but we find that the people of God - especially in the Old Testament - were constantly finding themselves surrounded by other nations, surrounded by other gods, and they find themselves as pluralists! It was exactly what is going on today that evoked God's anger here: syncretism - where men said: 'I'll take a bit of this religion, a bit of that; a bit of this culture, a bit of that - and I'll make my own man-made way that suits me. I'll hedge my bets by having a bit of everything, I'll keep the gods happy no matter who they may be!'.

¹¹ “Therefore, as surely as I live, says the sovereign Lord, because you defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable idols and with all your abominable practices, I will withdraw; my eye will not pity you, nor will I spare you. ¹² A third of your people will die of plague or be overcome by the famine within you. A third of your people will fall by the sword surrounding you, and a third I will scatter to the winds. 

I will unleash a sword behind them. 

¹³ Then my anger will be fully vented; I will exhaust my rage on them, and I will be appeased. Then they will know that I, the Lord, have spoken in my jealousy when I have fully vented my rage against them.

¹⁴ “I will make you desolate and an object of scorn among the nations around you, in the sight of everyone who passes by. ¹⁵ You will be an object of scorn and taunting, a prime example of destruction among the nations around you when I execute judgments against you in anger and raging fury. I, the Lord, have spoken! 

¹⁶ I will shoot against them deadly, destructive arrows of famine, which I will shoot to destroy you. I will prolong a famine on you and will remove the bread supply. ¹⁷ I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they will take your children from you. Plague and bloodshed will overwhelm you, and I will bring a sword against you. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Ezekiel 6

New English Translation (NET)

Judgment on the Mountains of Israel

6 The word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, turn toward the mountains of Israel and prophesy against them: ³ Say, ‘Mountains of Israel, Hear the word of the sovereign Lord! 

Sword against you for Idolatry

This is what the sovereign Lord says to the mountains and the hills, to the ravines and the valleys: I am bringing a sword against you, and I will destroy your high places. ⁴ Your altars will be ruined and your incense altars will be broken. I will throw down your slain in front of your idols. ⁵ I will place the corpses of the people of Israel in front of their idols, and I will scatter your bones around your altars. ⁶ In all your dwellings, the cities will be laid waste and the high places ruined so that your altars will be laid waste and ruined, your idols will be shattered and demolished, your incense altars will be broken down, and your works wiped out. ⁷ The slain will fall among you and then you will know that I am the Lord.

⁸ “‘But I will spare some of you. Some will escape the sword when you are scattered in foreign lands. ⁹ Then your survivors will remember me among the nations where they are exiled. They will realize how I was crushed by their unfaithful heart which turned from me and by their eyes which lusted after their idols. They will loathe themselves because of the evil they have done and because of all their abominable practices. ¹⁰ They will know that I am the Lord; my threats to bring this catastrophe on them were not empty.’

¹¹ “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Clap your hands, stamp your feet, and say, “Ah!” because of all the evil, abominable practices of the house of Israel, for they will fall by the sword, famine, and pestilence. 

¹² The one far away will die by pestilence, the one close by will fall by the sword, and whoever is left and has escaped these will die by famine. I will fully vent my rage against them. 

¹³ Then you will know that I am the Lord—when their dead lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill and all the mountaintops, under every green tree and every leafy oak, the places where they have offered fragrant incense to all their idols. 

¹⁴ I will stretch out my hand against them and make the land a desolate waste from the wilderness to Riblah, in all the places where they live. Then they will know that I am the Lord!”

Ezekiel 8

New International Version (NIV)

Idolatry in the Temple

Ezekiel 9

New International Version (NIV)

Judgment on the Idolaters

9 Then I heard him call out in a loud voice, “Bring near those who are appointed to execute judgment on the city, each with a weapon in his hand.” ² And I saw six men coming from the direction of the upper gate, which faces north, each with a deadly weapon in his hand. With them was a man clothed in linen who had a writing kit at his side. They came in and stood beside the bronze altar.

³ Now the glory of the God of Israel went up from above the cherubim,where it had been, and moved to the threshold of the temple. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side ⁴ and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”
⁵ As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. ⁶ Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.
⁷ Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.⁸ While they were killing and I was left alone, I fell facedown, crying out, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! Are you going to destroy the entire remnant of Israel in this outpouring of your wrath on Jerusalem?”
⁹ He answered me, “The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great; the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of injustice. They say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land; the Lord does not see.’ ¹⁰ So I will not look on them with pity or spare them, but I will bring down on their own heads what they have done.”
¹¹ Then the man in linen with the writing kit at his side brought back word, saying, “I have done as you commanded.”

Ezekiel 11

The Promise of Israel’s Return

¹⁴ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁵ “Son of man, the people of Jerusalem have said of your fellow exiles and all the other Israelites, ‘They are far away from the Lord; this land was given to us as our possession.’

¹⁶ “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’

¹⁷ “Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’

¹⁸ “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. ¹⁹ I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. ²⁰ Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. ²¹ But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 12:14-20

¹⁴ I will scatter to the winds all those around him—his staff and all his troops—and I will pursue them with drawn sword.

¹⁵ “They will know that I am the Lord, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries. ¹⁶ But I will spare a few of them from the sword, famine and plague, so that in the nations where they go they may acknowledge all their detestable practices. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”

¹⁷ The word of the Lord came to me: ¹⁸ “Son of man, tremble as you eat your food, and shudder in fear as you drink your water. ¹⁹ Say to the people of the land: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: They will eat their food in anxiety and drink their water in despair, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who live there. ²⁰ The inhabited towns will be laid waste and the land will be desolate. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Ezekiel 14

Idolaters Condemned

14 Some of the elders of Israel came to me and sat down in front of me. ² Then the word of the Lord came to me: ³ “Son of man, these men have set up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocksbefore their faces. Should I let them inquire of me at all? ⁴ Therefore speak to them and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: When any of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lordwill answer them myself in keeping with their great idolatry. ⁵ I will do this to recapture the hearts of the people of Israel, who have all deserted me for their idols.’

⁶ “Therefore say to the people of Israel, ‘This is what the SovereignLord says: Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!
⁷ “‘When any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing in Israel separate themselves from me and set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block before their faces and then go to a prophet to inquire of me, I the Lord will answer them myself. ⁸ I will set my face against them and make them an example and a byword. I will remove them from my people. Then you will know that I am the Lord.
⁹ “‘And if the prophet is enticed to utter a prophecy, I the Lord have enticed that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand against him and destroy him from among my people Israel. ¹⁰ They will bear their guilt—the prophet will be as guilty as the one who consults him. ¹¹ Then the people of Israel will no longer stray from me, nor will they defile themselves anymore with all their sins. They will be my people, and I will be their God, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”