Study Desk

Then God said, "Son of man, do you see this? The people of Judah think my Temple is so unimportant that they will do these terrible things here in my Temple! This country is filled with violence, and they constantly do things to make me angry. Look, they are wearing rings in their noses to honor the moon as a false god!

Then God shouted to the leaders in charge of punishing the city. Each leader had his own destructive weapon in his hand.

Then the Glory of the God of Israel rose from above the Cherub angels where he had been. Then the Glory went to the door of the Temple and stopped when he was over the threshold. Then he called to the man wearing the linen clothes and the scribe's pen and ink set.

Then I heard God say to the other men, "I want you to follow the first man. You must kill all those who do not have the mark on their foreheads. It doesn't matter if they are elders, young men or young women, children or mothers—you must use your weapon and kill everyone who does not have the mark on their forehead. Don't show any mercy. Don't feel sorry for anyone. Start here at my Temple." So they started with the elders in front of the Temple.

I stayed there while the men went to kill the people. I bowed with my face to the ground and said, "Oh, Lord God , in showing your anger against Jerusalem, are you killing all the survivors in Israel?"

The noise from the wings of the Cherub angels could be heard all the way out into the outer courtyard. The sound was very loud—like the thundering voice when God All-Powerful speaks.

God had given the man dressed in linen clothes a command. He had told him to go into the area between the wheels among the Cherub angels and get some hot coals. So the man went there and stood by the wheel.

Then the Cherub angels raised their wings and flew into the air. I saw them leave. The wheels went with them. Then they stopped at the East Gate of the Lord 's Temple. The Glory of the God of Israel was in the air above them.

These were the living beings under the Glory of the God of Israel in the vision at the Kebar Canal, and now I realized that they were Cherub angels.

Then God spoke to me and said, "Son of man, these are the men who make evil plans for this city. They always tell the people to do evil things.

Now, the Lord God says this: ‘The dead bodies are the meat, and the city is the pot. But someone will come and take you out of this safe pot.

You are afraid of the sword, but I am bringing the sword against you!'" This is what the Lord God said.

As soon as I finished speaking for God, Pelatiah son of Benaiah died! I fell to the ground. I bowed with my face touching the ground and said, "Oh, Lord God , you are going to completely destroy all the survivors of Israel!"

"So tell them this: The Lord God says, ‘It is true, I forced my people to go far away to other nations. I did scatter them among many countries. But I will be their temple for a short time while they are in those other countries.

But you must tell those people that the Lord God will bring them back. I have scattered you among many nations, but I will gather you together and bring you back from those nations. I will give the land of Israel back to you.

Then they will obey my laws and my commands. They will do the things I tell them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.'"

Then God said, "But now, their hearts belong to those terrible, filthy idols, and I must punish those people for the bad things they have done." This is what the Lord God said.

Then the Cherub angels raised their wings and flew into the air. The wheels went with them. The Glory of the God of Israel was above them.

Then the Spirit lifted me into the air and brought me back to Babylonia. It brought me back to the people who were forced to leave Israel. I saw all this in the vision from God. Then the one I saw in the vision rose into the air and left me.

Tell them that this is what the Lord God said. This sad message is about the leader of Jerusalem and all the people of Israel who live there.