Study Desk

But I will raise my arm over you and punish you and your people, wherever they live! I will destroy your country! It will be completely empty from the desert in the south to Riblah in the north. Then they will know that I am the Lord !"

This violent man is ready to punish the evil people. There are many people in Israel—but he is not one of them. He is not a person in that crowd. He is not some important leader from them.

"They will blow the trumpet to warn the people. The people will get ready for battle, but they will not go out to fight because I will show the whole crowd how angry I am.

"But some people will escape. The survivors will run to the mountains, but they will not be happy. They will be sad for all their sins. They will cry and make sad noises like doves.

They will throw their silver idols into the streets. They will treat their gold statues like dirty rags, because those things will not be able to save them when the Lord shows his anger. Those things were nothing but a trap that caused the people to fall. They will not give food to the people or put food in their bellies.

"You will shake with fear. You will look for peace, but there will be none.

You will hear one sad story after another. You will hear nothing but bad news. You will look for a prophet and ask him for a vision. The priests will have nothing to teach you, and the elders will not have any good advice to give you.

But the Glory of the God of Israel was there. The Glory looked just like the vision I saw in the valley by the Kebar Canal .

Then he led me to the inner courtyard of the Lord 's Temple area. There I saw 25 men bowing down and worshiping. They were at the entrance to the Lord 's Temple between the porch and the altar—but they were facing the wrong way. Their backs were to the Holy Place. They were bowing down to worship the sun!

I will show them my anger! I will not show them any mercy or feel sorry for them! They will shout to me—but I refuse to listen to them!"

They could go in any direction when they moved, but the Cherub angels did not turn around when they moved. They went in the direction that the head was looking. They did not turn around when they moved.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came on me. He said to me, "Tell them that this is what the Lord said: House of Israel, you are planning big things. But I know what you are thinking.

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.

But then the word of the Lord came to me. He said,

"Son of man, remember your brothers, the family of Israel. They were forced to leave their country, but I will bring them back. But now, the people living in Jerusalem are saying, ‘Stay far away from the Lord . This land was given to us—it is ours!'

"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 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.

"Son of man, you live among people who refuse to obey me. They have eyes to see what I have done for them, but they don't see those things. They have ears to hear what I told them to do, but they don't hear my commands, because they are a rebellious people.