Hello, this is Father Paul, and I'm glad we're
taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year. Today's reading is from the book of
Ezekiel, chapters 8 through 11. Chapter 8. And
it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth
month, on the fifth day of the month, as I sat
in my house with the elders of Judah, sitting
before me, that the hand of the Lord God fell
upon me there. Then I looked, and there was a
likeness, like the appearance of fire, from the
appearance of his waist and downward, fire, and
from his waist and upward, like the appearance
of brightness, like the color of amber. He stretched
out the form of a hand, and took me by a lock
of my hair, and the Spirit lifted me up between
earth and heaven, and brought me in visions of
God to Jerusalem. to the door of the north gate
of the inner court, where the seat of the image
of jealousy was, which provokes to jealousy.
And behold, the glory of the God of Israel was
there, like the vision that I saw in the plain.
Then he said to me, Son of man, lift your eyes
now toward the north. So I lifted my eyes toward
the north, and there, north of the altar gate,
was this image of jealousy in the entrance. Furthermore,
he said to me, Son of man, do you see what they
are doing? the great abominations that the house
of Israel commits here, to make me go far away
from my sanctuary? Now turn again, you will see
greater abominations. So he brought me to the
door of the court, and when I looked, there was
a hole in the wall. Then he said to me, Son of
man, dig into the wall. And when I dug into the
wall, there was a door. And he said to me, Go
in and see the wicked abominations which they
are doing there. So I went in and saw, and there
Every sort of creeping thing, abominable beasts,
and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed
all around on the walls. And there stood between
them seventy men of the elders of the house of
Israel, and in their midst stood Jezaniah the
son of Shaphan. Each man had a censer in his
hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then
he said to me, Son of man, have you seen what
the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark?
Every man in the room of his idols. for they
say the lord does not see us the lord has forsaken
the land and he said to me turn again and you
will see greater abominations that they are doing
so he brought me to the door of the north gate
of the lord's house and to my dismay women were
sitting there weeping for tammuz then he said
to me have you seen this o son of man Turn again,
you will see greater abominations than these.
So he brought me into the inner court of the
Lord's house. And there at the door of the temple
of the Lord, between the porch and the altar,
were about twenty -five men with their backs
toward the temple of the Lord and their faces
toward the east. And they were worshipping the
sun toward the east. And he said to me, Have
you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial
thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations
which they commit here? for they have filled
the land with violence then they have returned
to provoke me to anger indeed they put the branch
to their nose therefore i also will act in fury
my eye will not spare nor will i have pity and
though they cry in my ears with a loud voice
i will not hear them chapter nine then he called
out in my hearing with a loud voice saying let
those who have charge over the city draw near
each with a deadly weapon in his hand. And suddenly
six men came from the direction of the upper
gate, which faces north, each with his battle
axe in his hand. One man among them was clothed
with linen and had a rider's inkhorn at his side.
They went in and stood beside the bronze altar.
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up
from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold
of the temple, and he called the man clothed
with linen, who had the rider's inkhorn at his
side. And the Lord said to him, Go through the
midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem,
and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who
sigh and cry over all the abominations that are
done within it. To the others he said in my hearing,
Go after him through the city and kill. Do not
let your eyes spare nor have any pity. Utterly
slay old and young men, maidens and little children
and women, but do not come near anyone on whom
is the mark. and begin at my sanctuary. So they
began with the elders who were before the temple.
Then he said to them, Defile the temple and fill
the courts with the slain. Go out. And they went
out and killed in the city. So it was that while
they were killing them, I was left alone. And
I fell on my face and cried out and said, Ah,
Lord God, will you destroy all the remnant of
Israel in pouring out your fury on Jerusalem?
Then he said to me, Chapter 10 And I looked,
and there in the firmament that was above the
head of the cherubim, there appeared something
like a sapphire stone, having the appearance
of the likeness of a throne. Then he spoke to
the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in among
the wheels under the cherub, fill your hands
with coals of fire from among the cherubim, and
scatter them over the city. And he went in as
I watched. Now the cherubim were standing on
the south side of the temple when the man went
in, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then
the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub
and paused over the threshold of the temple.
And the house was filled with the cloud, and
the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's
glory. And the sound of the wings of the cherubim
was heard even in the outer court, like the voice
of Almighty God when He speaks. Then it happened
when He commanded the man clothed in linen, saying,
Take fire from among the wheels, from among the
cherubim, that he went in and stood beside the
wheels. And the cherub stretched out his hand
from among the cherubim to the fire that was
among the cherubim and took some of it and put
it into the hands of the man clothed with linen,
who took it and went out. The cherubim appeared
to have the form of a man's hand under their
wings. And when I looked, there were four wheels
by the cherubim, one wheel by one cherub and
another wheel by each other cherub. The wheels
appeared to have the color of a barrel stone.
As for their appearance, all four looked alike,
as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
When they went, they went toward any of their
four directions. They did not turn aside when
they went, but followed in the direction the
head was facing. They did not turn aside when
they went. And their whole body, with their back,
their hands, their wings, and the wheels that
the four had, were full of eyes all around. As
for the wheels, they were called in my hearing,
wheel. Each one had four faces. The first face
was the face of a cherub. The second face, the
face of a man. The third, the face of a lion.
And the fourth, the face of an eagle. And the
cherubim were lifted up. This was the living
creature I saw by the river Shebar. When the
cherubim went, the wheels went beside them. And
when the cherubim lifted their wings to mount
up from the earth, the same wheels also did not
turn from beside them. When the cherubim stood
still, The wheels stood still, and when one was
lifted up, the other lifted itself up, for the
spirit of the living creature was in them. Then
the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold
of the temple and stood over the cherubim, and
the cherubim lifted their wings and mounted up
from the earth in my sight. When they went out,
the wheels were beside them, and they stood at
the door of the east gate of the Lord's house,
and the glory of the God of Israel was above
them. This is the living creature I saw. under
the God of Israel by the river Shabar, and I
knew they were cherubim. Each one had four faces,
and each one four wings, and the likeness of
the hands of a man was under their wings, and
the likeness of their faces was the same as the
faces which I had seen by the river Shabar, their
appearance and their persons. They each went
straight forward. Chapter 11 Then a spirit lifted
me up and brought me to the east gate of the
Lord's house, which faces eastward. And there
at the door of the gate were twenty -five men,
among whom I saw Jazaniah the son of Azur, and
Pitaiah the son of Benaiah, princes of the people.
And he said to me, Son of man, these are the
men who devise iniquity and give wicked counsel
in this city, who say the time is not near to
build houses. This city is the cauldron, and
we are the meat. Therefore prophesy against them.
Prophesy, O son of man. Then the Spirit of the
Lord fell upon me and said to me, Speak. Thus
says the Lord. Thus you have said, O house of
Israel. For I know the things that come into
your mind. You have multiplied your slain in
this city, and you have filled its streets with
the slain. Therefore thus says the Lord God,
Your slain whom you have laid in its midst, they
are the meat, and this city is the cauldron.
But I shall bring you out of the midst of it.
You have feared the sword, and I will bring a
sword upon you, says the Lord God. And I will
bring you out of its midst, and deliver you into
the hands of strangers, and execute judgments
on you. You shall fall by the sword, I will judge
you at the border of Israel. Then you shall know
that I am the Lord. This city shall not be your
cauldron, nor shall you be the meat in its midst.
I will judge you at the border of Israel, and
you shall know that I am the Lord, for you have
not walked in my statutes, nor executed my judgments,
but have done according to the customs of the
Gentiles which are all around you. Now it happened,
while I was prophesying, that Petiah the son
of Benaiah died. Then I fell on my face and cried
with a loud voice and said, Ah, Lord God, will
you make a complete end of the remnant of Israel?
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
Son of man, your brethren, your relatives, your
countrymen, and all the house of Israel in its
entirety, are those about whom the inhabitants
of Jerusalem have said, Get far away from the
Lord. This land has been given to us as a possession.
therefore say thus says the lord god although
i have cast them far off among the gentiles and
although i have scattered them among the countries
yet i shall be a little sanctuary for them in
the countries where they have gone therefore
say thus says the lord god i will gather you
from the peoples assemble you from the countries
where you have been scattered and i will give
you the land of israel And they will go there,
and they will take away all its detestable things
and all its abominations from there. Then I will
give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit
within them, and take the stony heart out of
their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh,
that they may walk in my statutes, and keep my
judgments, and do them. And they shall be my
people, and I will be their God. But as for those
whose hearts follow the desire of their detestable
things and their abominations, I will recompense
their deeds on their own heads, says the Lord
God. So the cherubim lifted up their wings with
the wheels beside them, and the glory of the
God of Israel was high above them. And the glory
of the Lord went up from the midst of the city
and stood on the mountain, which is on the east
side of the city. Then the Spirit took me up
and brought me in a vision by the Spirit of God
into Chaldea to those in captivity, and the vision
that I had seen went up from me. So I spoke to
those in captivity of all the things the Lord
had shown me. I hope you enjoyed today's reading
as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing
you again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.