The gospel of John begins with words that can stretch the mind to its limits. John repeats the opening words of the book of Genesis, but for the non-Jewish person, it also had a creative connotation. John introduces the reader to the "Word" who was with God and who is God. The Word was the genesis of all things.
This passage represents the only account of Jesus as a youth. The Bible does not offer many details outside Jesus' infancy and his ministry beginning at age thirty. Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover Feast for the annual commemoration of God's deliverance from Egypt. Jesus grew up in a home where he was taught the things of God and the family observed the law.
God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked. Malachi is the last book in the Old Testament, but he exhorts the people to remember the law of Moses and to obey all that God commanded at Mount Horeb. God keeps his covenant, and he is faithful even when his people are unfaithful.
God pursues his people and gives grace abundantly. A remnant returned to Jerusalem sixteen years earlier and began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The temple had been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar after he endured another rebellion. After God had brought the people back, they started well, but the good intentions and the hard work had been interrupted by the surrounding nations and an injunction from the Emporer himself. After the work on the temple had stalled, the people turned their attention to their own personal interests.
Absolute allegiance was demanded, and if anyone refused to comply, they would be cast into a fiery furnace. When the signal was given, and the music began to play, the vast majority of the people bowed before the image in worship as they had been instructed. However, there were three young Hebrew men that refused to bow before this monstrous idol, and it was not long before certain Chaldeans come forward bringing charges against these Jewish men.
King Nebuchadnezzar suffered from insomnia during the second year of his reign due to some troubling dreams. Sleep deprivation took its toll on the King until he finally sought help. The king summoned the magicians, the enchanters, and the astrologers to interpret his dreams. This distinguished group gathered before the king, and he explained his trouble and suffering. King Nebuchadnezzar's servants are eager to help their leader, and they assure him that they will be able to explain it to him after he discloses the details of the dreams. The King stuns the group when he declares that they must make the dream known and its interpretation or they will be torn limb from limb and their houses destroyed.
When King Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem, God handed Judah over to him and some of the vessels belonging to the house of God. King Nebuchadnezzar took the vessels and some hostages from the royal family and the nobility as a sign of Judah's surrender and his power. King Nebuchadnezzar ordered his chief eunuch to select young men that were royal or noble by birth, physically and intellectually superior, and competent to have the poise and precision needed to stand in the presence of the king of Babylon.
The hand of the Lord came upon Ezekiel again, and in this vision, He found himself in the middle of a valley that was filled with bones. This sight must have been unsettling, to say the least. This valley is a place of death and reminders litter the ground in every direction. These skeletal remains were never buried and were in full view of any who would approach this valley. The bones were not covered in sinew; they were dry and in an advanced state of decomposition. Bones were everywhere, and as Ezekiel toured the valley taking in the grisly remains with his eyes, the Lord asks a question, "Son of man, can these bones live?"
Ezekiel gives some details concerning the cherubim at this point. They were standing on the south side of the Temple, and when the man in white went in between the cherubim, a cloud filled the inner court just outside the temple doors. The glory of the Lord went up from the cherub and came to the threshold of the house and then filled the Temple itself. The cloud was the representation of God's presence for it was his cloud and his fire that had rested on the tabernacle and the temple to show his people that he was in their midst.
Ezekiel was born during the reign of King Josiah during a time of religious reformation. The idols may have been destroyed, but the idolatry of the heart was not gone, and when King Josiah was killed in battle the people returned to their idolatrous ways. After a short-lived rebellion in Judah, Nebuchadnezzar took ten thousand leading citizens to Babylon. One of the people taken was Ezekiel. Ezekiel is very detailed about when his ministry in Babylon began. His prophetic ministry began about the time his priestly ministry would have started in the Temple if he still lived in Jerusalem. Ezekiel was among the exiles by the Chebar canal when the heavens were opened, and he saw visions of God.
King Nebuchadnezzar would not endure any more rebellions by Judah, and so he came to Jerusalem and laid siege to it. Jerusalem was a fortified city, and the people were able to hold out for some time, but they would not escape this Babylonian assault.
The Lord had determined that he would remove Judah and following the death of King Josiah, sinful patterns returned, and destruction followed close behind. Judah became a vassal to Egypt while the political landscape was changing as Babylon moved into power. Jehoiakim did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and when Nebuchadnezzar came against Judah, he capitulated to Babylon.
Jeremiah sends a letter to the leaders of the exiles in Babylon. Jerusalem does not look the same, and many of its people have been taken to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. The letter was carried to the people who had been dispatched to Babylon. The letter began with a reminder that these were the words of the Lord and it was he who had sent the people into captivity. He commands the people settle in Babylon.
King Josiah's reformation proved to be only a temporary reprieve for Judah, and the people quickly returned to their idolatry. God confronts Judah about her sin, and he moves to talking about divorce. The law of Moses would not allow a husband to reclaim his wife after he divorced her regardless of the circumstances because it pollutes the land. God declares that Judah's behavior was worse than what the law described for she was not a divorced wife, she had played the whore with many lovers. The graphic language describes the way the Judah was insatiable in her pursuit of false worship.
God called Jeremiah in an intimate and personal way. The sovereign Creator of the universe had known Jeremiah before he was formed in the womb. Jeremiah was no accident, and God had set him apart for his work as a prophet before he was ever born. Jeremiah was appointed to be a prophet to the nations.
When King Josiah heard the words from the prophetess, he called the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to assemble. The gathering turned out to be a national assembly. The King took his place in the courts of the temple, and he read the Book of the Covenant. King Josiah renewed the covenant before the Lord and the people. He promised to obey the Lord with all of his heart and soul, and the people agreed to do the same.
Judah was living under the approaching retribution of holy God. Manasseh's sin brought retribution from the Lord and Judah's end was prophesied. However, the grandson of this wicked king would bring Judah a temporary reprieve from the Lord. Josiah was only a boy of eight years old when he became the king. This child would grow up on the throne and reign thirty-one years in Jerusalem.
God is jealous for his glory, and he will act in wrath as a righteous judge. Make no mistake; God is patient and slow to anger. He is not capricious, arbitrary, or impetuous in the exercise of his wrath. His wrath is thoroughly planned and carefully placed. God is powerful, and he will do just as he promises no matter how unlikely or difficult. God is just, so he cannot clear the guilty and he will not acquit the wicked.
King Hezekiah's reforms were in full swing, but the temple was not cleansed in time for the Passover to be observed at the traditional time. Passover was a feast to commemorate Israel's birth as a nation and the redemption that was experienced when God delivered his people out of slavery. Additionally, King Hezekiah needed time to announce the Passover throughout Israel and to sanctify a sufficient number of priests. King Hezekiah's plan found favor in the eyes of the assembly, and they issued a decree for the people to come because they had not kept the feast as often as prescribed.
God's invitation is published, and no one is left off the list. He bids the thirsty, the poor, and the unfulfilled to come to him because he will freely supply the needs of all people. God asks why anyone would look for satisfaction in things that cannot satisfy. The people would have to listen and come to the Lord for the only food that will satisfy the soul.
