Oh, so much to say concerning today’s reading, and so little time!

“Ezekiel figuratively describes the nation of Israel as being a valley full of disassociated skeletal bones indicating that the nation of Israel would cease to exist as a nation, her people scattered throughout the world and the nation considered dead. The whole house of Israel in this vision has been disassembled and its identity has been destroyed.

The 12 ancestral tribes of Israel are illustrated by the dry bones and is an analogy of God bringing Israel and Judah back together into a living state. During World War II and especially in the years immediately after World War II a determined effort was made to reform the nation of Israel. This prophecy in Ezekiel was fulfilled in the noisy and sometimes violent effort to form the new nation. The rattling of the bones is the rattling of war as the bones of Israel come back together.

The prophecy of the dry bones corresponds to another symbolic prophecy of two sticks also found in the book of Ezekiel. The prophecy of the two sticks is another view of Judah and Israel being brought back together. The Judah stick was put in place first. That happened May 14, 1948 when the nation of Judah came back into the land. The descendants of the nation of Israel are still out in the world somewhere. They will not come back into the land until after Jesus returns. When the Millennial Kingdom is established, Jesus will bring the other tribes out of the nations and they will reclaim their identities. The Israel stick will be bonded to the Judah stick and they will become one nation and will never again be separated. When the two sticks are bonded together the analogy of the dry bones will be complete.”
-excerpt from the book THESE LAST DAYS

The Judah stick is represented in large part by the Messianic Jews who are now returning to the land. 

Gog, Magog, Meshech and Tubal all play extremely significant roles in the prophecies of the last days. Ezekiel also prophesies about what will happen to these nations at Armageddon. One of the very specific prophecies from Ezekiel is that it will take seven months to bury the dead.

Interestingly, God reveals to Ezekiel that He will show Himself holy through the actions of people who are obedient, whether they are His people are not.  

Today’s reading ends with another one of the great promises from God.
Ezek 39:29
I will no longer hide my face from them, for I will pour out my Spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Sovereign LORD."

In Ezekiel’s prophecy to Jerusalem he warns them that they are listening to his words but not putting them into practice. In effect, they are practicing churchianity instead of Christianity.  The heading in today's reading seems to say it all:  NOBODY REALLY CARES

Ezek 33:30-32
"As for you, son of man, your countrymen are talking together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, saying to each other, 'Come and hear the message that has come from the LORD.' My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice.

God tells the people through Ezekiel that the shepherds have not taken care of the flock and that He, Himself will tend His sheep as recorded in Psalm 23 and again in John 10.  The shepherds have not searched for the lost or brought back the strays.  They did not bind up the injured or strengthened the weak.  A person could make many, many applications to the church today and shepherds of the flock who are acting only as hired hands. 

In the millennial kingdom, David will be prince.
Ezek 34:23-24
I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

Another prophecy of the millennial kingdom is that there will be true peace.

Ezek 34:25
"'I will make a covenant of peace with them and rid the land of wild beasts so that they may live in the desert and sleep in the forests in safety.
 

Ezek 34:28
They will no longer be plundered by the nations, nor will wild animals devour them. They will live in safety, and no one will make them afraid.
Wild beasts here have a literal (literal wild beasts) and a figurative (unbelievers) meaning.

Ezekiel once again pronounces judgment on Edom in chapter 35.  These are the countries today that are east of Israel.  Not much has changed, has it?  These countries still want to claim Israel. 

Another great promise for the millennium is this one.
Ezek 36:24-28
"'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

All people will be moved to follow His decrees and His laws.
 

All these great promises for the millennium will of course follow on the heels of the cleansing of the earth by fire.

Ezek 36:35-36
They will say, "This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were  lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited." Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the LORD have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the LORD have spoken, and I will do it.'

There will be a replanting and the land will be made fresh and new with new growth. In order for there to be a replanting, there must first be a plowing.

The following verse reminds us of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit.   

 "I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."

We sometimes forget that the people before Jesus had little knowledge or experience with the Holy Spirit living within.  

For more details see the book THESE LAST DAYS!  

"I will show myself holy through you before their eyes."
Wow!   How would it look for God to show Himself holy through each one of us?

A remnant goes to Egypt, including the king’s two daughters. Even though scripture says that the words of Jeremiah end with Jer. 51:64 there are other writings that tell of Jeremiah and Baruch leaving Egypt with the king’s daughters. The significance of this will be discussed later.

Jeremiah 41 records men who came to offer grain offerings and burn incense in the house of the Lord.  This must have been the equivalent of the synagogue.  They weren't offering burnt offerings in the way of animal sacrifices because they had no temple and no priests.  Remember, they were no longer able to celebrate and rejoice during the feast days.  

As we were reading of the slaughter by Ishmael, we thought about the slaughter of the people in Egypt at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood of not so many years ago as well as the slaughter of the Christians in Iraq and Syria today.  This is just evidence of the generational and territorial demons.

Jeremiah warns the Hebrews living in Egypt that God will bring disaster on them if they continue in their evil ways. The response of the people goes far beyond impudent! They were mocking God. They suffered the consequences.

Gal 6:7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 

Reaping can also have many positive aspects. Especially if we sow in righteousness. (Hos 10:12) Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap according to kindness; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to  seek Jehovah, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

The following words of Jeremiah are echoed later in the words of Paul.

Lam 3:40
Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.
2 Cor 13:5
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you-- unless, of course, you fail the test?

Earlier God had told the people that there would come a time that He would not listen to them.

Lam 3:44
You have covered yourself with a cloud so that no prayer can get through.

Have we as Believers in Jesus “covered ourselves with a cloud”? If so how have we done that?

Lam 4:10
With their own hands compassionate women have cooked their own children who became their food...
This very thing was foretold in Ezekiel 5.

We are told that God's wrath was poured out on the people because of the sins of the prophets and the iniquities of the priests. It is very clear throughout Scripture that God holds spiritual leaders to account.

Even though much of Jeremiah’s lamentations are indeed expressions of grief, he includes this most wonderful of Scriptures.

Lam 3:22-23
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

What a great verse for us to ponder. 

Over the next several chapters in Lamentations, Jeremiah lives up to his reputation as a “weeping prophet”. He is weeping over the fall of Jerusalem. 

The phrase "appointed feasts" is listed several times in today's reading in Lamentations 1-2 always followed by a message about destruction.  In Lamentations we read, "The Lord has made Zion forget her appointed feasts and her Sabbaths;"   While these words may not resonate with us, they surely did with the people then.  These appointed feasts and Sabbaths were commanded by God to be observed.  This was not a suggestion.  When the people no longer were able to go to the temple to worship, they also were unable to participate in the rejoicing in the feast days.  There would no longer be priests in place to make atonement for their sins through the animal sacrifices and there was no longer any rest for them on the weekly  Sabbath. They now had to spend all their time and energy searching for food, or growing their food.  Because of their continual disobedience, God handed over to their enemy the sanctuary and the palaces in Jerusalem.  Now the joyful noise at the temple area was not for their God appointed joyous feast days but for the worship of the pagan gods. 

The book of Lamentations is a perfect example of prophetic foreshadowing. In the last days, and even beginning now, the apostate and false church can be substituted for Jerusalem. Read today’s reading again and see how it sounds with that substitution placed. 

Lam 2:14
The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The oracles they gave you were false and misleading.

The people of Jeremiah’s day listened to the false prophets who did not expose their sins. As a result the people went into captivity. If we are listening to prophets, pastors, and teachers who do not expose sin, what happens to us?  Many people in churches today are not being taught about sin and the consequences of sin.  Many are only told what they want to hear in a country club atmosphere they call a house of worship.  

Lamentations 1:17
Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.

This verse is just another foreshadowing of the apostate and false church.

We as Believers in Jesus have a responsibility to listen to God’s Word and the teaching of the Holy Spirit and not words of false prophets or false teachers. How do we know if we are hearing words from false prophets and false teachers? Easy...be very familiar with God's Word, the Monument of Truth!

Earlier Ezekiel related this prophecy concerning King Zedekiah. He said that Zedekiah would not “see” captivity.

Ezek 12:13
I will spread my net for him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylonia, the land of the Chaldeans, but he will not see it, and there he will die.

Jer 39:7
Then he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with bronze shackles to take him to Babylon.
Zedekiah did not “see” captivity. 

As we read of the death of the many people in the city and the destruction of the city of Jerusalem, we couldn't help but think back on the description of the magnificent temple on the day of dedication by King Solomon.  No wonder people mourned the burning of the city.  In the listing of the treasures in the temple in Jerusalem that were taken by the Babylonians, notice the ark is not listed. But something as insignificant as wick trimmers are listed. Hmmm...

Cherubim were angels who guarded the holiness of God. Cherubim were fashioned on top of the ark. Ezekiel’s earlier vision the four creatures were cherubim. When God’s glory left from the mountain east of Jerusalem (the Mount of Olives) cherubim were beneath His glory. Did the ark leave when God’s glory left?

“…The land enjoyed its Sabbath rests…”
They had violated the Sabbath and God is collecting. Just a reminder that sin has consequences.

Jeremiah stays in Judah and does not go into Babylonian captivity. However, his work for the Lord doesn't stop there.  More later on Jeremiah's future from historical documentation. 

It appears that King Zedekiah wants to redeem himself and sends word to Jeremiah to pray. But, of course, Jeremiah sent back some words that the king didn't want to hear.  The results?  Jeremiah is thrown into a cell in a dungeon.  The Hebrew word for vaulted cell gives the impression that this place was something like a bank vault, with no windows.

Jeremiah certainly is given reason to be called “the weeping prophet” considering all the things that happened to him. One man (Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace) was filled with compassion for Jeremiah and was brave enough to go to the king on Jeremiah’s behalf.

Jer 38:9-10
"My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city." Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, "Take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies."

Ebed-Melech was later rewarded for his trust in the Lord.

Jer 39:16-18
"Go and tell Ebed-Melech the Cushite, 'This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I am about to fulfill my words against this city through disaster, not prosperity. At that time they will be fulfilled before your eyes. But I will rescue you on that day, declares the LORD; you will not be handed over to those you fear. I will save you; you will not fall by the sword but will escape with your life, because you trust in me, declares the LORD.'"

When we trust in the Lord, He rewards us too! How awesome is that!