The Bible by David Alley

Oholah and Oholibah were two sisters who did the most lewd, rude, adulterous and unfaithful things, and the Bible describes their practices in .... well, language you don't want your children reading about. This is "that chapter."

The Lord tells Ezekiel that when his wife dies, he is not allowed to mourn or show any signs of sadness.... and that night she dies. Why did the Lord say that to Him? Anyone want to swap places with Ezekiel?

In this video we explore the city of blood, Jerusalem. Or at least in the mind of God it was a city of blood. Why exactly was that the case, and what could the Lord has been so upset about?

Ezekiel is approached by leaders of God's people wanting to inquire of the Lord, but the Lord refuses to be inquired of. In his mind, their behaviour is despicable. In this video you will learn why God would refuse to talk to people that seemed to be interested in Him.

A sword! A sword! It is sharpened, and also polished. The sword is sharp, and clean…. Ready to be used. It is sharpened that it may make a slaughter. It is polished that it may be as lightning. Should we then make mirth? The rod of my son condemns every tree. In this chapter Ezekiel gives us a song, the song of the sword. A terrible song about the judgement coming on Jerusalem.

‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? That parable is the basis for a word from the Lord to Ezekiel about how the moral choices of parents affect their children.

Judah was a majestic lion, and she had several cubs. The first was taken away in hooks and chains to Egypt, but then the next cub was taken away in chains to Babylon. Ezekiel sang a kinah - a special type of funeral song - for these poor cubs, and the end of Judah. Join us as we explore what this is all about.

An Eagle flies down and snaps the top off a cedar tree and plants it far away, but the plant actually reaches out towards a different eagle. What is that all about? In this video we explain the riddle of the two eagles and the cedar tree.

The House of Israel is described as God's wife in this chapter - and she is an adulterous woman, who chases after her lovers. God does everything he can, but she is one wild lady, and God loses his wife's heart. This is not only the longest chapter in Ezekiel, but also the saddest. Join us in exploring God's heart towards his wife.

In this chapter, God tries to compare a fruitless burnt vine to a tree..... any tree. The tree wins. Jerusalem is the burnt and fruitless vine - totally useless for any purpose. In this video we consider why God said this, and also the analogy of the true vine in John 15.

In this unusual chapter God says he hates pillows, but the question is, what was that pillow that was being referred to. The bigger picture of this chapter is about false prophets, male and female, and the things they did (sometimes using "pillows") were tied in with speaking on behalf of the Lord, when in fact they were speaking false things. Watch this video and clear up this whole pillow thing.

Noah, Daniel and Job were three of the most righteous people in the Bible. Noah saved 8 people, Daniel saved 4, and Job saved 2, but if these three were in Jerusalem, none would be saved. Why?

The Lord tells Ezekiel to dig through the wall and then move house. Given the strangeness of what he did, it prompted his neighbours to ask the inevitable "what are you doing?" This video will answer that question and why.

"We are the meat" must be the strangest metaphor to modern ears, but that metaphor is what the residents of Jerusalem used in an attempt to make themselves feel safe.... safe inside the cauldron. The cauldron however is on fire... and the meat is being cooked.

Ezekiel's vision of Jerusalem continues. In the vision he sees a man dressed in linen with a writers inkpot who has the task or marking people for safety. Then six executioners go through the city killing everyone who does not have the mark. What is this mark? Who are these executioners? What is this about?

In Ezekiel's vision, he sees the glory of God get up (in the previous chapter) and now has gone to the door and has paused for one last look around (this chapter) before leaving for good. (chapter) Why is God leaving His very own temple? What does it mean in context, and what does it mean for us?

God tells Ezekiel than an unique evil is coming agains the land of Judah. What is this unique evil? Then we find that God has a unique name - Jehovah Makkah - the God who strikes. What is that about?

Ezekiel has a second major vision in which he is lifted and taken to Jerusalem where he sees a series of terrible idols and idol worship in the temple. Things are terrible and the people who should be worshipping the Lord are worshipping everything else.

The Lord tells Jeremiah to shave with a sword, then weigh his hair, divide it into thirds, and then attack one third of it with his sword. Ezekiel seems to be asked to do many strange things. Why is he doing this, and what does it mean?

Ezekiel is told to speak to the mountains, the valleys and the watercourses. What is that all about?

Ezekiel is told by the Lord to build a model city of the Lord and symbolically lay siege to it. Then he is bound and told to lay on his left side for 390 days for the years of the sins of Israel, and to lay on his right side 40 days for the years of the sins of Judah. What do these numbers mean? And why is God wanting him to do this?

Having been given (in a vision) a double-sided scroll to eat, Ezekiel is told to fill his bowels and to prophecy. He is then sent to the house of Israel, just as the apostles were sent in the NT. But what is he to say?

As Ezekiel's weird vision continues, he is called by God to speak for him, and as part of that is given a scroll with writing on the inside as normal, but also on the outside. Then weirdly he is told to eat the scroll and "fill his bowels." What is this about bowels? And why does he have to eat a scroll?

Ezekiel is a Prophet that we meet after he has already been taken away by the Babylonians, but while Jerusalem is still intact. In this first chapter he sees strange visions by the river Chebar in Babylonia - things that we see again later in the book of Revelation.

In the last chapter of Lamentations the numerical pattern in the literature continues, but this time we find Jeremiah changes the content... and prays one of the saddest prayers of all time for those around him. I wonder what would happen if we carried such a big heart for others too?