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 7 - 9

Ezekiel warns that they will be punished.
Ezekiel has a vision of God destroying Jerusalem.


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 7

God talked to me. He said, "Tell Israel that the end is coming. I will send my anger on them. I will judge them by what they have done. I will punish them for the bad things they have done.
[1] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Also, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD unto the land of Israel; An end, the end is come upon the four corners of the land.
[3] Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations.

I won't have pity on them. I will pay them back for their bad actions. They will know that I am the Lord."
[4] And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity: but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

God said to Israel, "You haven't seen anything like what is coming. The end is coming for sure.
[5] Thus saith the Lord GOD; An evil, an only evil, behold, is come.
[6] An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come.

Your time of trouble is coming. I will show you my anger. I will punish you for all of the bad things you have done.
[7] The morning is come unto thee, O thou that dwellest in the land: the time is come, the day of trouble is near, and not the sounding again of the mountains.
[8] Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish mine anger upon thee: and I will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense thee for all thine abominations.

I won't have pity on you or spare your lives. I will punish you for what you have done against me.  You will know that I, the Lord, has punished you.
[9] And mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: I will recompense thee according to thy ways and thine abominations that are in the midst of thee; and ye shall know that I am the LORD that smiteth.

The time is coming. There is a lot of violence. No one will be left alone.
[10] Behold the day, behold, it is come: the morning is gone forth; the rod hath blossomed, pride hath budded.
[11] Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.
[12] The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.
People will sell property, but never get it back. Everyone will be punished.
[13] For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.

You have gotten ready for war. But no one will go because I am punishing everyone.
[14] They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.


There is disease and famine inside. There is violence outside.  The man working outside in his field will die from violence. The man working in the city will die from famine and disease. Some will escape. They will go to the mountains like doves.
[15] The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.
[16] But they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them mourning, every one for his iniquity.


The people will be weak like water. They will put on rough sackcloth for clothes. They will look bad and shameful. They will have bald heads.
[17] All hands shall be feeble, and all knees shall be weak as water.
[18] They shall also gird themselves with sackcloth, and horror shall cover them; and shame shall be upon all faces, and baldness upon all their heads.
Their money won't save them.  It will be thrown in the streets.  Their money has caused them to sin.
[19] They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.


They had beautiful jewelry, but they made images of false gods with it. So I have taken it away from them. Strangers and wicked people will have it.
[20] As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them.
[21] And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.


They will make My temple dirty. I will look away.
[22] My face will I turn also from them, and they shall pollute my secret place: for the robbers shall enter into it, and defile it.


Your land is full of violence and blood. I will bring terrible heathens, and they will take over your houses. They will end your pride. Your holy places will be dirty.
[23] Make a chain: for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence.
[24] Wherefore I will bring the worst of the heathen, and they shall possess their houses: I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease; and their holy places shall be defiled.
Everything will be destroyed. The people will look for peace, but there will be no peace.
[25] Destruction cometh; and they shall seek peace, and there shall be none.

There will be trouble and more trouble. There will be rumors of bad things and then more rumors.  The people will look for a prophet to tell them what to do. But the priests will not have the law. The law will be dead.
[26] Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumour shall be upon rumour; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish from the priest, and counsel from the ancients.

Everyone, even the king and prince, will be very depressed.  I will punish them for their bad behavior.  They will know that I am the Lord."
[27] The king shall mourn, and the prince shall be clothed with desolation, and the hands of the people of the land shall be troubled: I will do unto them after their way, and according to their deserts will I judge them; and they shall know that I am the LORD.

Ezekiel 8

In the sixth year, in the sixth month, on the fifth day of the month, I was sitting in my house. The leaders of Judah were sitting in front of me. The hand of God fell on me, and I had a vision.  I saw God, and He looked like fire. He was bright all over like the color of yellow amber.

[1] And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord GOD fell there upon me.
[2] Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.


He reached His hand to me and pulled me up by my hair. The spirit lifted me up high between the earth and heaven. He took me to Jerusalem.  It was the door of the inside gate that looks to the north. There was a statue idol that made God very jealous and angry.
[3] And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
The glory of the God of Israel was there. Then God said to me, "Son of man, look toward the north."  So, I looked toward the north.  I saw the statue idol that made God jealous.  It was in the gate.
[4] And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain.
[5] Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry.


Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what they are doing? They are doing terrible things in the temple that will make Me leave. It is not a place for worship anymore. But look and you will see worse things."
[6] He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
He brought me to the door of the court. I looked and saw a hole in the wall. Then, He told me to dig in the wall. I dug in the wall, and I saw a door.
[7] And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.
[8] Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door.

He told me to go in and see the horrible things they do here.
[9] And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here.

I went in, and I saw very bad pictures on the walls. There were pictures of unclean animals and idols.
[10] So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about.
There were 70 Israelite men standing there. In the middle of them was Jaazaniah (his father was Shaphan).  He and the other men held bowls of incense. They were worshiping the horrible pictures on the wall.  God said to me, "Do you see what the leaders of the Israelites do in secret? They tell themselves that I don't see what they're doing. They tell themselves I don't care about the earth."
[11] And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up.
[12] Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.


Ezekiel sees the women mourning for Tammuz. 

By Gustave Doré - Doré's English Bible, Public Domain,   https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10709513
God told me to turn around and that I would see worse things than that.
[13] He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do.

He brought me to the north gate. I saw there women who were crying for Tammuz (a false god).
 [14] Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.

Then, God told me to turn around and look. He said I would see something worse.  He brought me to the inner part of the Lord's house. In the door, I saw 25 men. They had their backs toward the temple and their faces were toward the east. They were worshiping the sun.
[15] Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these.
[16] And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.


Then God asked me if I had seen anything like this.  It was bad that they did bad things in the Lord's house, but they have done bad things in the land, too. They have done violent things that made God mad.
[17] Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose.

God said He will punish them. He won't spare any of them. He won't have pity on them. Even though they cry to Him, he won't hear them.
[18] Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

Ezekiel 9

God called out loudly that the men who will destroy the city should come.  Each man should bring his weapon.
[1] He cried also in mine ears with a loud voice, saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near, even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.
I saw 6 men coming from the north gate. Each man had a weapon in his hand. One of the men was wearing linen.  He had something to write with.  They all went in and stood by the altar.
[2] And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the north, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brasen altar.

The glory of God went up from the cherub that was by the door. He called to the man wearing linen. He told him to go through the middle of the city. He should look for the men who were crying because of the bad things happening in Jerusalem.  He should put a mark on their foreheads.
[3] And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed with linen, which had the writer's inkhorn by his side;
[4] And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.

He told the other 6 men to follow the man who was wearing linen. They should kill everyone who does not have the mark on their forehead. It doesn't matter if they are old or young. They should kill anyone who does not have the mark.
[5] And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
[6] Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.


He told them to pile the dead bodies up in the temple. Then, the men left and started killing people.
[7] And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain: go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city.


They continued to kill the Israelites.  I fell down and cried to God, "Oh God! Are you going to destroy all of the Israelites while you punish Jerusalem?"
[8] And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, Ah Lord GOD! wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem?


God said to me, "Israel and Judah sinned a lot.  The land is full of blood.  Jerusalem is full of perverted people.  They say that God has gone away and doesn't see them.  But I see them, and I won't have pity on them. I will punish them for their sins."
[9] Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The LORD hath forsaken the earth, and the LORD seeth not.
[10] And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their head.


Then, I saw that the man who was wearing linen and carrying the writing tool gave his report. He told God that he had done everything God told him to do.
[11] And, behold, the man clothed with linen, which had the inkhorn by his side, reported the matter, saying, I have done as thou hast commanded me.