Commuter Bible OT

Joel is one of the shortest books of the Old Testament and is divided in two parts. The first half describes a plague of locusts that invade the land and destroy the land’s produce, threatening the survival of animals, people, and even grain offerings before the Lord. That section ends with a plea for God’s people to confess their sins, transitioning to the second half of the book, which contains...

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. Over time, the Lord’s temple had become defiled and desecrated by idols, so the Lord sent the Chaldeans to demolish it. Jerusalem was made a desolation, and the people wer...

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, the Lord commands Ezekiel to prophesy to a v...

Up next in the list of nations being rebuked by the Lord is the nation of Edom. Edom was on the short list of nations receiving prophetic rebuke along with Ammon, Moab, and Philistia when this section began back in chapter 25. Recall that the nation of Edom stems from Jacob’s (aka Israel’s) brother Esau, and they have been at odds more or less ever since the womb. Most recently, Edom participated...

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...

We are in the section of Ezekiel’s prophecies where the proclamations against particular nations have collected together. In our last episode we concluded the prophecy against Tyre and began the prophecies against Egypt. We begin with a symbolic proclamation against the cedar of Assyria. Cedars were seen as symbols of royalty and majesty in the Near East; and just as noble Assyria was brought low,...

As you’ll recall from our last episode, Ezekiel is prophesying against the port city of Tyre. That section of prophecy concludes today and we’ll begin a new prophecy against the nation of Egypt. 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. Bibl...

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. With today’s episo...

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 you might imagine, today’s podcast includes sexually explicit content, so parents, use discretion as you see fit. The Lord tells a parable of sorts, describing Samaria (aka Israel) and Jerusalem as two sisters named Oholah and Oholibah. With scandalous and sordid d...

In our last reading, some of the elders of Israel had gathered around Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord, but God denied them counsel and began to recount the history of Israel’s rebellion and idolatry. Time and again, the Lord would have been justified in exhausting His wrath against Israel, but over and over He relented from disaster so that His name wouldn’t be profaned among the nations. The Lord...

Our reading opens with a consideration of personal responsibility for sin. The Lord says that each man is responsible for his own sins; no man will be charged as guilty for the sins of his father, but will certainly be judged for his own actions. Moreover, a sinful man can be restored when he turns in repentance toward God, but the one who turns away from righteousness to live in unrighteousness w...

Today’s episode contains sexual themes, so parental discretion is advised. 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...

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...

Today, we complete the book of Lamentations, a work of suffering, shame, horror, and defeat, but centered in the middle of the work, we read of Jeremiah’s confident hope in the Lord (that section occurs in today’s reading near the end of chapter 3). As a whole, Lamentations is presented in a series of five poems, of which the first four are acrostics of the Hebrew alphabet, much like Psalm 119, on...

The book of Lamentations has some pretty harrowing imagery, especially as it relates to children, so parental discretion is advised . We have concluded the book Jeremiah but we have not yet exhausted his writings; church history carries tradition that it is Jeremiah who wrote the book of Lamentations after the desolation of Judah had come to pass. Remember that Chaldeans laid siege to Jerusalem, b...

The prophecy against Babylon continues from our last episode today as we read the rest of  chapter 51. In it, the Lord calls upon several nations to wage war against Babylon, bringing devastation and destruction. When that time of judgment comes, the Lord calls his people out of Babylon, telling them not to be fearful. When the prophecy concludes, Jeremiah instructs Seraiah to go to Babylon, decla...

The final prophecy against a particular nation is a doozy, proclaiming total annihilation and ruin and spanning two long chapters, (50, 51) one of which is the sixth 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 exil...

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 judgment. In some cases, the Lor...

Following the destruction of Jerusalem, Jeremiah had elected to stay in the land with permission from the Chaldeans. After an insurrection and no small tumult within the remnant who stayed in the land, the skittish group asked for direction from the Lord. Jeremiah told them plainly that staying in the land would result in blessing but fleeing to Egypt would result in hardship, violence, and famine...

The prophecies of Jeremiah foretelling the devastation of Jerusalem have come to pass. Through it all the Lord has kept His promises and has protected Jeremiah from harm. With the blessing of the Chaldean captain of the guards, Jeremiah has elected to stay in Jerusalem. As Jeremiah continues to serve the Lord through this transition he must navigate new relationships and new authorities. After Ish...