Commuter Bible

In today’s episode, Jesus passes through Samaria, a town that most Jews considered to be so loathsome that even setting foot inside the city limits would have been frowned upon. Jesus not only does this , but he breaks custom by asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water, telling her about the living water that leads to eternal life. Along with his disciples, he stays for two days before contin...

As many of you may know, there are four gospel accounts in the New Testament, three of which are called “synoptic” gospels, which means “seeing the same thing.” The gospel of John is the outlier, especially because it dives into some of the deeper aspects of Christ’s life and teachings. John opens with a profound reflection on the Christ of eternity past who existed before creation, calling to min...

For modern audiences like us, these concluding chapters may feel more drudgery than delight, but for the original audience, these final depictions would have been the most exciting. Ezekiel once brought a message of condemnation and despair, but now that those prophecies have come true and Israel has spent 25 years in exile, Ezekiel brings a message of hope and restoration. Some of today’s revelat...

To put today’s passage in context, it’s important to spend a moment considering when this vision occurred and what had happened up to this point. Remember that God had declared through Ezekiel that his glory had left the temple. Jerusalem would be made a desolation, and the people exiled from the land. The temple had become defiled and desecrated by Israel’s idols, so the Lord sent the Chaldeans t...

There are different takes on the exact meaning of the temple Ezekiel sees in today’s passage, some say it is symbolic, others heavenly, while others take note of it’s cross-shaped floor plan. Here’s what we know. First, it was never built. Second, this passage is the longest recording of a revelation in Scripture and it gives very specific dimensions for a temple design with measurements that diff...

You may have noticed this turn already, but ever since the mention of Jerusalem’s fall in chapter 33, God’s message to His people has become one of promise and hope for a restoration that will take place in the future. In our last episode, God promised to send a shepherd to his people, one that would be a prince among them from the line of David. Today, Ezekiel prophesies that Israel will be fruit...

In today’s passage, Ezekiel recalls the day when, 12 years into exile, he first hears word that Jerusalem has been overtaken. Those who remain behind want to claim the land as their own property, but the Lord sees their wickedness and vows to make them a desolate waste. The Lord also sees the shepherds of Israel, those leaders and rulers who have been entrusted with taking care of God’s flock. Rat...

As evidenced by the pyramids that remain standing today, the treasures of the pharaohs, along with abundant of historical records, Egypt was once a major world power that ruled mightily for centuries. Bible readers will recall that Joseph helped Egypt thrive early in their history and that Egypt held the nation of Israel in bondage for 400 years. This proud nation defied the Lord God and proved to...

Israel and Judah have incited the Lord’s wrath by their wanton disregard for His statutes, and the Lord intends to pour His wrath out on His people. Even so, He will continue to stand by His promise to save a remnant and bring them back into the land. This is not the case for the surrounding nations, who have shown contempt for Jerusalem and disregard for the Holy One of Israel. A majority of toda...

The Word of God sometimes shocks us with the imagery it gives to describe the sins of mankind, and today’s passage is no exception. As we begin, the Lord speaks with Ezekiel inviting him to pass judgment on Jerusalem, for the princes of Israel have abused their power in order to shed blood. The Lord goes on to tell a parable of sorts, describing Samaria (aka Israel) and Jerusalem as two sisters na...

Our episode begins with a lament for the princes of Israel, who are compared to lions that grow up to devour people, and are therefore captured and taken away. Some of the elders of Israel gather around Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord, but God denies them and recounts the history of Israel’s rebellion and idolatry. Time and again, the Lord would have been justified in exhausting His wrath against I...

Today we get a glimpse of God’s lovingkindness toward Israel as God describes Himself as a Father who adopts an unwanted baby, then as a man who redeems the life of a woman by claiming her as His bride. This woman becomes beautiful through the nurturing love of God, and as she grows in beauty, she begins to trust her beauty more than her husband. This bride is more anxious to please other men than...

We begin today’s passage with prophecies against false teachers who make up things to say from the Lord even though he didn’t actually say them. These prophets are figuratively like those who don’t repair the structure of a weakened wall so that it is strong once again, but who simply whitewash over it to make it look nice. Women who practice sorcery and sell bracelets as magic charms are condemne...

In our last episode, while meeting with Judah’s elders, Ezekiel was carried off in a vision by the Lord. In one scene after another, the Lord showed Ezekiel the abhorrent practices of idolatry that the people were committing, especially those in the Lord’s temple. Today, the prophet sees an otherworldly visual representation of the Lord’s sovereign decrees as judgment is declared upon Jerusalem an...

When we last left Ezekiel, the Lord had given him prophetic acts to perform before the people of Jerusalem. In one he drew the city of Jerusalem on a brick and then laid siege to it. In another, he was commanded to lay on his left side for 390 days, and then 40 days on his right, all while eating bread baked over cow dung. Today, at the Lord’s direction, Ezekiel shaves his head and beard, a look t...

Ezekiel is on his way to Babylon with a group of exiles when suddenly, the heavens are opened and he sees a vision from God. The symbolism here is pretty deep. Coming from the north, like the Chaldean armies, the Lord’s angels are fourfold with four faces and four wings, communicating the Lord’s sovereignty over the fourfold directions of the earth (north, south, east, and west) over every mighty...

The apostle whom Jesus named “Peter,” the rock upon whom Jesus would build his church, is now writing to encourage the churches who are scattered across northern Asia Minor. The churches were suffering under persecution from those who lived around them, and Peter reminds them of the Savior whom they are called to follow, for he suffered for our sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighte...

The book of the prophet Haggai addresses the people of Judah who returned from exile and who had prioritized making their homes comfortable while neglecting to rebuild the Lord’s temple. The letter known as 2 John is addressed to “the elect lady and her children” which is most likely a reference to the church body to whom he was writing. In it, he encourages the church to continue in love and to r...

The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah’s recorded response to the devastation and ruin of Jerusalem. It is presented in a series of five poems, of which the first four are acrostics of the Hebrew alphabet, much like Psalm 119, only shorter. It is a book of suffering, shame, horror, and defeat, but centered in the middle of the work, we read of Jeremiah’s confident hope in the Lord. The first poem fo...

The final prophecy against a particular nation is a doozy, proclaiming total annihilation and ruin and spanning two long chapters, one of which is the fifth longest chapter in Scripture. Who could this prophecy be against? What nation’s actions would merit such a rebuke? If you guessed Babylon, you are right! Though the Lord allowed Babylon to attack His own people and send them into exile, Babylo...

As noted in our last episode, we’re now in the section of Jeremiah that includes prophecies against individual nations. These prophecies were gathered over the course of Jeremiah’s life and have been collected here at the end of his account. The overarching theme of these chapters is that the Lord sees the injustice and disgrace of the surrounding nations, and they will not escape his wrath and ju...

In our last episode, the prophecies of Jeremiah came to fruition and the King of Babylon successfully destroyed Jerusalem, slaughtered his opponents, and captured those who surrendered. The Chaldeans held Jeremiah in honor and allowed him to choose to remain with a remnant of people. After an insurrection against Gedaliah, the governor, Johanan rescues those taken captive in an effort to flee to E...

In today’s episode, the prophecies of Jeremiah come to pass. The Chaldean army lays siege to Jerusalem and Zedekiah meets Nebuchadnezzar face to face. Those who have surrendered to the Chaldeans have been spared, and those who resisted are put to the sword. Through it all that Lord keeps His promises and protects Jeremiah from harm, and what’s more, the leaders of the Chaldean army treat Jeremiah...

Have you ever been watching a TV show that begins with a jump in the story’s timeline for dramatic interest, then jumps back to show the circumstances that have led up to that point? Similarly, our previous reading opened with Jeremiah in prison, but there was no explanation of how he got there. The accounts in today’s episode pre-date the events in that last episode and lead up to his imprisonmen...

This part of the text may be a little confusing, so let me give a little historical context. The Babylonian siege began after King Zedekiah had been in office for nine years. This siege was lifted for a small window of time when the troops caught word that an Egyptian army was approaching. During this break, Zedekiah arrested Jeremiah because he was encouraging the men of Judah to surrender, but G...