Workers For Jesus Online Bible Study Table of Contents

About this Bible Study........The King James Version of the Bible is written in a beautiful form of the English language. It can be hard for modern English readers to understand.  In this study, you will find notes and summaries in brown just above the the verses from the Bible. We recommend that you read the notes and summaries first, and then read the verses in their KJV form. 

Timeline of the Bible

God creates the world. --- God destroys the world with the flood, but saves  Noah and his family.---  God chooses Abraham and his descendants to His people. ---Abraham's grandson, Jacob, has 12 sons who lead the 12 tribes of Israel.--- The Israelites become slaves in Egypt.--- God helps the Israelites escape and leads them to Canaan. ---The Israelites fight in wars and take control of Canaan.---Judges lead the Israelites, but the Israelites want to have kings instead of judges. --- David is Israel's greatest king.--- Israel divides into 2 parts: Israel and Judah.---► The people of Israel and Judah continue to sin and worship false gods.--- God allows the Assyrians and the Babylonians to take the Israelites out of Israel and Judah.---  ◄This book of the Bible happens during this time The Israelites (Jews) live in Babylonia and then Persia. --- When Persia defeats the Babylonians, the Jews go back to Judah.--- The Jews build God's Temple in Jerusalem again.--- Greece defeats Persia, and the Greeks control Judah (also now called Israel).--- The Jews become independent for 100 years.-- The Romans take control of Israel.--- Jesus is born. At age 30, Jesus begins his ministry. ---Jesus is crucified and then is resurrected. --- A Roman named Saul is converted to Christianity and becomes Paul.--- Christianity spreads. --- Paul write letters to Christians in other places. In the year, 70 A.D., God's Temple in Jerusalem is destroyed again.

 

Ezekiel 4 - 6
God tells Ezekiel to make a model of Jerusalem.
God tells Ezekiel to cut his hair.
Ezekiel gives a prophecy about the coming punishment.


Ezekiel was one of the Israelites who got sent away (exiled) to Babylon.  He had lived in Jerusalem before the exile. He was in the first group to be exiled to Babylon.  His book starts 5 years after the exile. He was 30 years old when he began to see visions and became a prophet. Ezekiel and some of the other Israelite exiles had a camp by the river named Chebar.


Ezekiel 4


God tells Ezekiel to make a model of Jerusalem.


God told Ezekiel to take a brick and set it in front of him.  He should draw a picture of Jerusalem on it.  He should make a model of Jerusalem being attacked.  He should build a fort around it. He should build a mountain. He should make an army camp with battering rams around it.
[1] Thou also, son of man, take thee a tile, and lay it before thee, and pourtray upon it the city, even Jerusalem:
[2] And lay siege against it, and build a fort against it, and cast a mount against it; set the camp also against it, and set battering rams against it round about.

God said, "Take an iron pan and use it to make a wall  between you and the city. Turn your face to it. Attack it. This will be a sign to Israel.
[3] Moreover take thou unto thee an iron pan, and set it for a wall of iron between thee and the city: and set thy face against it, and it shall be besieged, and thou shalt lay siege against it. This shall be a sign to the house of Israel.

Then, lay on your left side. This represents the sins of Israel. Continue to lay on your left side as many days as the days they sinned. That is 390 days. You are taking their sin.
[4] Lie thou also upon thy left side, and lay the iniquity of the house of Israel upon it: according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon it thou shalt bear their iniquity.
[5] For I have laid upon thee the years of their iniquity, according to the number of the days, three hundred and ninety days: so shalt thou bear the iniquity of the house of Israel.

After you have done this, lay on your right side for 40 days. This is taking the sin of Judah. Each day means a year that they sinned.
[6] And when thou hast accomplished them, lie again on thy right side, and thou shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days: I have appointed thee each day for a year.

Face the model of Jerusalem that you made. Attack it and talk against it. I will tie you up until your attack is finished.
[7] Therefore thou shalt set thy face toward the siege of Jerusalem, and thine arm shall be uncovered, and thou shalt prophesy against it.
[8] And, behold, I will lay bands upon thee, and thou shalt not turn thee from one side to another, till thou hast ended the days of thy siege.

Put these in a large bowl: wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and fitches.  Mix them together and make  bread. You will eat the bread all the days you lay on your side.
[9] Take thou also unto thee wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentiles, and millet, and fitches, and put them in one vessel, and make thee bread thereof, according to the number of the days that thou shalt lie upon thy side, three hundred and ninety days shalt thou eat thereof.

Eat just a little each day. Drink a little water each day.
[10] And thy meat which thou shalt eat shall be by weight, twenty shekels a day: from time to time shalt thou eat it.
[11] Thou shalt drink also water by measure, the sixth part of an hin: from time to time shalt thou drink.
Make a fire with human feces. Bake the barley cake over the fire so everyone can see it.
[12] And thou shalt eat it as barley cakes, and thou shalt bake it with dung that cometh out of man, in their sight.

The Israelites will eat this dirty bread in the land of the Gentiles. God will send them there."
[13] And the LORD said, Even thus shall the children of Israel eat their defiled bread among the Gentiles, whither I will drive them.

Ezekiel said, "Lord God, I have never eaten food that is dirty.  Never in my whole life did I eat food that is against your laws."
[14] Then said I, Ah Lord GOD! behold, my soul hath not been polluted: for from my youth up even till now have I not eaten of that which dieth of itself, or is torn in pieces; neither came there abominable flesh into my mouth.
Then God said, "Look, I have given you cow's feces in the place of humans' feces. You will cook the bread here."
[15] Then he said unto me, Lo, I have given thee cow's dung for man's dung, and thou shalt prepare thy bread therewith.


Then He said to me, "Son of man, look. There won't be bread in  Jerusalem. They won't have much to eat. They will feel hopeless.
[16] Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem: and they shall eat bread by weight, and with care; and they shall drink water by measure, and with astonishment:
[17] That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.

Ezekiel 5

God tells Ezekiel to cut his hair and use it to tell the Israelites what will happen to them.

And you should take a sharp knife and shave your beard and your head. Weigh the hair and divide it into 3 parts.

[1] And thou, son of man, take thee a sharp knife, take thee a barber's rasor, and cause it to pass upon thine head and upon thy beard: then take thee balances to weight, and divide the hair.

When you attack the model of Jerusalem, burn a third of the hair in the middle of the city.  Take another third and cut it up with a knife. Take the last third and throw it in the wind. I will hit it with a sword. You can take a few of the hairs and put them in your clothes. 
[2] Thou shalt burn with fire a third part in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled: and thou shalt take a third part, and smite about it with a knife: and a third part thou shalt scatter in the wind; and I will draw out a sword after them.
[3] Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number, and bind them in thy skirts.

Put a few of the hairs in the fire and burn them. There will be a fire in the house of Israel.
[4] Then take of them again, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; for thereof shall a fire come forth into all the house of Israel.
God said, "I have made Jerusalem. It is in the middle of the other countries. She has sinned more than any other nation. The people in Jerusalem have not obeyed My laws.
[5] Thus saith the Lord GOD; This is Jerusalem: I have set it in the midst of the nations and countries that are round about her.
[6] And she hath changed my judgments into wickedness more than the nations, and my statutes more than the countries that are round about her: for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them.


That is why I will punish you. The other nations will watch. I will punish you because you sinned more than the nations around you.
[7] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye multiplied more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments, neither have done according to the judgments of the nations that are round about you;
[8] Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.


I will punish you more than I punished anyone before. You will be very desperate. People will eat their children and their parents. And I will scatter you into the wind so you will have to live in many other places.
[9] And I will do in thee that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all thine abominations.
[10] Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in thee, and the whole remnant of thee will I scatter into all the winds.
You have put dirty things in my temple.  So, I will punish you. I will not have pity on you.  A third of you will die from pestilence (disease, swarms of bugs) and the famine that follows. A third part will be killed by swords.  The last third will be scattered like the wind, then I will find them and kill them.
[11] Wherefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD; Surely, because thou hast defiled my sanctuary with all thy detestable things, and with all thine abominations, therefore will I also diminish thee; neither shall mine eye spare, neither will I have any pity.
[12] A third part of thee shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of thee: and a third part shall fall by the sword round about thee and I will scatter a third part into all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.
Then I will be finished.They will know that I have done what I said I would do.
[13] Thus shall mine anger be accomplished, and I will cause my fury to rest upon them, and I will be comforted: and they shall know that I the LORD have spoken it in my zeal, when I have accomplished my fury in them.

They will be destroyed. Other nations will hate them.
[14] Moreover I will make thee waste, and a reproach among the nations that are round about thee, in the sight of all that pass by.

The other nations will be afraid when they see what I did to you.
[15] So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee in anger and in fury and in furious rebukes. I the LORD have spoken it.

I will send famine, and You will starve.  I will send wild beasts. There will swarms of bugs and violence. I am the Lord, and I have said it will happen.
[16] When I shall send upon them the evil arrows of famine, which shall be for their destruction, and which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine upon you, and will break your staff of bread:
[17] So will I send upon you famine and evil beasts, and they shall bereave thee; and pestilence and blood shall pass through thee; and I will bring the sword upon thee. I the LORD have spoken it.

Ezekiel 6


Ezekiel gives a prophecy about the coming punishment.


The Lord told me to look toward Israel and say this prophecy.  He told me to say, "Mountains of Israel, hear the word of God. He tells the mountains, hills, rivers, and valley that He will destroy their sinful places. He will destroy the altars where they worship false gods.
[1] And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, set thy face toward the mountains of Israel, and prophesy against them,
[3] And say, Ye mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD; Thus saith the Lord GOD to the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys; Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword upon you, and I will destroy your high places.

Your altars will be destroyed. Your statues of false gods will be broken.  I will put dead bodies and bones around your altars.
[4] And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols.
[5] And I will lay the dead carcases of the children of Israel before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars.


The cities where you live will be destroyed. The sinful places will be destroyed.  The altars will be destroyed. Your idols and images will be destroyed. All of your work will be gone.
[6] In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may be cut down, and your works may be abolished.
You will have people die in your group. You will know that I am the Lord. I will save some. They will not die. They will be scattered to other countries.
[7] And the slain shall fall in the midst of you, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
[8] Yet will I leave a remnant, that ye may have some that shall escape the sword among the nations, when ye shall be scattered through the countries.

When they are in other countries, they will be prisoners.  They will remember Me. They will know they did not obey Me.  They will be mad at themselves for the bad things they did.
[9] And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives, because I am broken with their whorish heart, which hath departed from me, and with their eyes, which go a whoring after their idols: and they shall lothe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations.

They will know that I did what I said I would do.
[10] And they shall know that I am the LORD, and that I have not said in vain that I would do this evil unto them.


God said to me, "Beat with your hands and stomp your feet. Tell Israel they will die because of the bad things they did against Me. They will die by swords, by famine (no food), and by pestilence (disease).  The people far away will die from disease. People who live close will be killed with swords. The rest will starve.  That is how I will punish them.
[11] Thus saith the Lord GOD; Smite with thine hand, and stamp with thy foot, and say, Alas for all the evil abominations of the house of Israel! for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.
[12] He that is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he that is near shall fall by the sword; and he that remaineth and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my fury upon them.


Then you will know that I am the Lord.  They will know when their dead men are with the idols around their altars.  Dead bodies will be in every area where they worshiped the false gods.
[13] Then shall ye know that I am the LORD, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, upon every high hill, in all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols.

I will cause the land to be desolate with nothing growing. It will be more desolate than any of their areas like the one in Diblath.
[14] So will I stretch out my hand upon them, and make the land desolate, yea, more desolate than the wilderness toward Diblath, in all their habitations: and they shall know that I am the LORD.