Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
The One Year Bible TLB (237 page)
November 8Then the Lord’s message came to me again.
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“Why do people use this proverb about the land of Israel: The children are punished for their fathers’ sins?
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As I live,” says the Lord God, “you will not use this proverb anymore in Israel,
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for all souls are mine to judge—fathers and sons alike—and my rule is this: It is for a man’s own sins that he will die.
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“But if a man is just and does what is lawful and right,
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and has not gone out to the mountains to feast before the idols of Israel and worship them, and does not commit adultery nor lie with any woman during the time of her menstruation;
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if he is a merciful creditor, not holding onto the items given to him in pledge by poor debtors, and is no robber but gives food to the hungry and clothes to those in need;
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and if he grants loans without interest,
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stays away from sin, is honest and fair when judging others,
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and obeys my laws—that man is just,” says the Lord, “and he shall surely live.
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“But if that man has a son who is a robber or murderer and who fulfills none of his responsibilities,
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who refuses to obey the laws of God but worships idols on the mountains and commits adultery,
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oppresses the poor and helpless, robs his debtors by refusing to let them redeem what they have given him in pledge, loves idols and worships them,
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and loans out his money at interest
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—shall that man live? No! He shall surely die, and it is his own fault.
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“But if this sinful man has, in turn, a son who sees all his father’s wickedness, so that he fears God and decides against that kind of life;
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he doesn’t go up on the mountains to feast before the idols and worship them and does not commit adultery;
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he is fair to those who borrow from him and doesn’t rob them, but feeds the hungry, clothes the needy,
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helps the poor, does not loan money at interest, and obeys my laws—he shall not die because of his father’s sins; he shall surely live.
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But his father shall die for his own sins because he is cruel and robs and does wrong.
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“‘What?’ you ask. ‘Doesn’t the son pay for his father’s sins?’ No! For if the son does what is right and keeps my laws, he shall surely live.
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The one who sins is the one who dies. The son shall not be punished for his father’s sins, nor the father for his son’s. The righteous person will be rewarded for his own goodness and the wicked person for his wickedness.
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But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins and begins to obey my laws and do what is just and right, he shall surely live and not die.
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All his past sins will be forgotten, and he shall live because of his goodness.
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“Do you think I like to see the wicked die?” asks the Lord. “Of course not! I only want him to turn from his wicked ways and live.
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However, if a righteous person turns to sinning and acts like any other sinner, should he be allowed to live? No, of course not. All his previous goodness will be forgotten and he shall die for his sins.
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“Yet you say: ‘The Lord isn’t being fair!’ Listen to me, O people of Israel. Am I the one who is unfair, or is it you?
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When a good man turns away from being good, begins sinning, and dies in his sins, he dies for the evil he has done.
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And if a wicked person turns away from his wickedness and obeys the law and does right, he shall save his soul,
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for he has thought it over and decided to turn from his sins and live a good life. He shall surely live—he shall not die.
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“And yet the people of Israel keep saying: ‘The Lord is unfair!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are unfair, not I.
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I will judge each of you, O Israel, and punish or reward each according to his own actions. Oh, turn from your sins while there is yet time.
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Put them behind you and receive a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O Israel?
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I do not enjoy seeing you die,” the Lord God says. “Turn, turn and live!
19:
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“Sing this death dirge for the leaders of Israel:
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What a woman your mother was—like a lioness! Her children were like lion’s cubs!
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One of her cubs, King Jehoahaz,
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grew into a strong young lion and learned to catch prey and became a man-eater.
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Then the nations called out their hunters; they trapped him in a pit and brought him in chains to Egypt.
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“When Israel, the mother lion, saw that all her hopes for him were gone, she took another of her cubs, King Jehoiachin,
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and taught him to be ‘king of the beasts.’
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He became a leader among the lions and learned to catch prey, and he too became a man-eater.
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He demolished the palaces of the surrounding nations and ruined their cities; their farms were desolated, their crops destroyed; everyone in the land shook with terror when they heard him roar.
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Then the armies of the nations surrounded him, coming from every side, and trapped him in a pit and captured him.
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They prodded him into a cage and brought him before the king of Babylon. He was held in captivity so that his voice could never again be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
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“Your mother was like a vine beside an irrigation ditch, with lush, green foliage because of all the water.
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Its strongest branch became a ruler’s scepter, and it was very great, towering above the others and noticed from far away.
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But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. Its branches were broken and withered by a strong wind from the east; the fruit was destroyed by fire.
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Now the vine is planted in the wilderness where the ground is hard and dry.
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It is decaying from within;
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no strong branch remains. The fulfillment of this sad prophecy has already begun, and there is more ahead.”
Now in that first agreement between God and his people there were rules for worship and there was a sacred tent down here on earth. Inside this place of worship there were two rooms. The first one contained the golden candlestick and a table with special loaves of holy bread upon it; this part was called the Holy Place.
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Then there was a curtain, and behind the curtain was a room called the Holy of Holies.
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In that room there were a golden incense-altar and the golden chest, called the ark of the covenant, completely covered on all sides with pure gold. Inside the ark were the tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments written on them, and a golden jar with some manna in it, and Aaron’s wooden cane that budded.
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Above the golden chest were statues of angels called the cherubim—the guardians of God’s glory—with their wings stretched out over the ark’s golden cover, called the mercy seat. But enough of such details.
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Well, when all was ready, the priests went in and out of the first room whenever they wanted to, doing their work.
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But only the high priest went into the inner room, and then only once a year, all alone, and always with blood that he sprinkled on the mercy seat as an offering to God to cover his own mistakes and sins and the mistakes and sins of all the people.
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And the Holy Spirit uses all this to point out to us that under the old system the common people could not go into the Holy of Holies as long as the outer room and the entire system it represents were still in use.
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This has an important lesson for us today. For under the old system, gifts and sacrifices were offered, but these failed to cleanse the hearts of the people who brought them.
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For the old system dealt only with certain rituals—what foods to eat and drink, rules for washing themselves, and rules about this and that. The people had to keep these rules to tide them over until Christ came with God’s new and better way.
At Meribah, too, Israel angered God, causing Moses serious trouble,
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for he became angry and spoke foolishly.
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Nor did Israel destroy the nations in the land as God had told them to,
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but mingled in among the heathen and learned their evil ways,
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sacrificing to their idols, and were led away from God.
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They even sacrificed their little children to the demons—the idols of Canaan—shedding innocent blood and polluting the land with murder.
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Their evil deeds defiled them, for their love of idols was adultery in the sight of God.
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That is why Jehovah’s anger burned against his people, and he abhorred them.
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That is why he let the heathen nations crush them. They were ruled by those who hated them and oppressed by their enemies.
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Again and again he delivered them from their slavery, but they continued to rebel against him and were finally destroyed by their sin.
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Yet, even so, he listened to their cries and heeded their distress;
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he remembered his promises to them and relented because of his great love,
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and caused even their enemies who captured them to pity them.
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O Lord God, save us! Regather us from the nations so we can thank your holy name and rejoice and praise you.
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Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Let all the people say, “Amen!” Hallelujah!
Never abandon a friend—either yours or your father’s. Then you won’t need to go to a distant relative for help in your time of need.
November 9Late in July, six years after King Jeconiah was captured,
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some of the elders of Israel came to ask instructions from the Lord and sat before me awaiting his reply.
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Then the Lord gave me this message:
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“Son of dust, say to the elders of Israel, ‘The Lord God says: How dare you come to ask my help? I swear that I will tell you nothing.’
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Judge them, son of dust; condemn them; tell them of all the sins of this nation from the times of their fathers until now.
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Tell them, ‘The Lord God says: When I chose Israel and revealed myself to her in Egypt, I swore to her and her descendants that I would bring them out of Egypt to a land I had discovered and explored for them—a good land, flowing as it were with milk and honey, the best of all lands anywhere.’
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“Then I said to them: ‘Get rid of every idol; do not defile yourselves with the Egyptian gods, for I am the Lord your God.’
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But they rebelled against me and would not listen. They didn’t get rid of their idols nor forsake the gods of Egypt. Then I thought, I will pour out my fury upon them and fulfill my anger against them while they are still in Egypt.
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“But I didn’t do it, for I acted to protect the honor of my name, lest the Egyptians laugh at Israel’s God who couldn’t keep them from harm. So I brought my people out of Egypt right before the Egyptians’ eyes and led them into the wilderness.
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There I gave them my laws so they could live by keeping them. If anyone keeps them, he will live.
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And I gave them the Sabbath—a day of rest every seventh day—as a symbol between them and me, to remind them that it is I, the Lord, who sanctifies them—that they are truly my people.
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“But Israel rebelled against me. There in the wilderness they refused my laws. They would not obey my rules even though obeying them means life. And they misused my Sabbaths. Then I thought, I will pour out my fury upon them and utterly consume them in the desert.
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“But again I refrained in order to protect the honor of my name, lest the nations who saw me bring them out of Egypt would say that it was because I couldn’t care for them that I destroyed them.
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But I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land I had given them, a land full of milk and honey, the choicest spot on earth,
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because they laughed at my laws, ignored my wishes, and violated my Sabbaths—their hearts were with their idols!
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Nevertheless, I spared them. I didn’t finish them off in the wilderness.
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“Then I spoke to their children and said: ‘Don’t follow your fathers’ footsteps. Don’t defile yourselves with their idols,
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for I am the Lord your God. Follow my laws; keep my ordinances;
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hallow my Sabbaths; for they are a symbol of the contract between us to help you remember that I am the Lord your God.’
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“But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused my laws—the laws that if a person keeps them, he will live. And they defiled my Sabbaths. So then I said: ‘Now at last I will pour out my fury upon you in the wilderness.’
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“Nevertheless, again I withdrew my judgment against them to protect my name among the nations who had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt.
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But I took a solemn oath against them while they were in the wilderness that I would scatter them, dispersing them to the ends of the earth because they did not obey my laws but scorned them and violated my Sabbaths and longed for their fathers’ idols.
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I let them adopt
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customs and laws which were worthless. Through the keeping of them they could not attain life.
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In the hope that they would draw back in horror and know that I alone am God, I let them pollute themselves with the very gifts I gave them. They burnt their firstborn children as offerings to their gods!
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“Son of dust, tell them that the Lord God says: Your fathers continued to blaspheme and betray me when I brought them into the land I promised them, for they offered sacrifices and incense on every high hill and under every tree! They roused my fury as they offered up their sacrifices to those ‘gods.’ They brought their perfumes and incense and poured out their drink offerings to them!
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I said to them: ‘What is this place of sacrifice
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where you go?’ And so it is still called ‘The Place of Sacrifice’—that is how it got its name.
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“The Lord God wants to know whether you are going to pollute yourselves just as your fathers did and keep on worshiping idols.
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For when you offer gifts to them and give your little sons to be burned to ashes as you do even today, shall I listen to you or help you, Israel? As I live,” the Lord God says, “I will not give you any message, though you have come to me to ask.
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“What you have in mind will not be done—to be like the nations all around you, serving gods of wood and stone.
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I will rule you with an iron fist and in great anger and with power.
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With might and fury I will bring you out from the lands where you are scattered,
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and will bring you into my desert judgment hall.
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I will judge you there and get rid of the rebels, just as I did in the wilderness after I brought you out of Egypt.
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I will count you carefully and let only a small quota return.
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And the others—the rebels and all those who sin against me—I will purge from among you. They shall not enter Israel, but I will bring them out of the countries where they are in exile. And when that happens, you will know I am the Lord.
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“O Israel,” the Lord God says: “If you insist on worshiping your idols, go right ahead, but then don’t bring your gifts to me as well! Such desecration of my holy name must stop!
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“For at Jerusalem in my holy mountain,” says the Lord, “all Israel shall worship me. There I will accept you and require you to bring me your offerings and the finest of your gifts.
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You will be to me as an offering of perfumed incense when I bring you back from exile, and the nations will see the great change in your hearts.
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Then, when I have brought you home to the land I promised your fathers, you will know I am the Lord.
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Then you will look back at all your sins and loathe yourselves because of the evil you have done.
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And when I have honored my name by blessing you despite your wickedness, then, O Israel, you will know I am the Lord.”
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Then this message came to me from the Lord:
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“Son of dust, look toward Jerusalem and speak out against it and the forest lands of the Negeb.
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Prophesy to it and say: ‘Hear the word of the Lord. I will set you on fire, O forest, and every tree will die, green and dry alike. The terrible flames will not be quenched, and they will scorch the world.
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And all the world will see that I, the Lord, have set the fire. It shall not be put out.’”
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Then I said, “O Lord God, they say of me, ‘He only talks in riddles!’”
He came as High Priest of this better system that we now have. He went into that greater, perfect tabernacle in heaven, not made by men nor part of this world,
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and once for all took blood into that inner room, the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled it on the mercy seat; but it was not the blood of goats and calves. No, he took his own blood, and with it he, by himself, made sure of our eternal salvation.
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And if under the old system the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of young cows could cleanse men’s bodies from sin,
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just think how much more surely the blood of Christ will transform our lives and hearts. His sacrifice frees us from the worry of having to obey the old rules and makes us want to serve the living God. For by the help of the eternal Holy Spirit, Christ willingly gave himself to God to die for our sins—he being perfect, without a single sin or fault.
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Christ came with this new agreement so that all who are invited may come and have forever all the wonders God has promised them. For Christ died to rescue them from the penalty of the sins they had committed while still under that old system.
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Now, if someone dies and leaves a will—a list of things to be given away to certain people when he dies—no one gets anything until it is proved that the person who wrote the will is dead.
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The will goes into effect only after the death of the person who wrote it. While he is still alive no one can use it to get any of those things he has promised them.
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That is why blood was sprinkled as proof of Christ’s death
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before even the first agreement could go into effect.
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For after Moses had given the people all of God’s laws, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled the blood over the book of God’s laws and over all the people, using branches of hyssop bushes and scarlet wool to sprinkle with.
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Then he said, “This is the blood that marks the beginning of the agreement between you and God, the agreement God commanded me to make with you.”
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And in the same way he sprinkled blood on the sacred tent and on whatever instruments were used for worship.
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In fact we can say that under the old agreement almost everything was cleansed by sprinkling it with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
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That is why the sacred tent down here on earth and everything in it—all copied from things in heaven—all had to be made pure by Moses in this way, by being sprinkled with the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven, of which these down here are copies, were made pure with far more precious offerings.
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For Christ has entered into heaven itself to appear now before God as our Friend. It was not in the earthly place of worship that he did this, for that was merely a copy of the real temple in heaven.
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Nor has he offered himself again and again, as the high priest down here on earth offers animal blood in the Holy of Holies each year.
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If that had been necessary, then he would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But no! He came once for all, at the end of the age, to put away the power of sin forever by dying for us.
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And just as it is destined that men die only once, and after that comes judgment,
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so also Christ died only once as an offering for the sins of many people; and he will come again, but not to deal again with our sins.
This time he will come bringing salvation to all those who are eagerly and patiently waiting for him.
Say thank you to the Lord for being so good, for always being so loving and kind.
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Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has saved you from your enemies.
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He brought the exiles back from the farthest corners of the earth.
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They were wandering homeless in the desert,
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hungry and thirsty and faint.
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“Lord, help!” they cried, and he did!
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He led them straight to safety and a place to live.
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Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness, and for all of his wonderful deeds!
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For he satisfies the thirsty soul and fills the hungry soul with good.
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Who are these who sit in darkness, in the shadow of death, crushed by misery and slavery?
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They rebelled against the Lord, scorning him who is the God above all gods.
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That is why he broke them with hard labor; they fell and none could help them rise again.
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Then they cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he rescued them!
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He led them from the darkness and shadow of death and snapped their chains.
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Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds!
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For he broke down their prison gates of brass and cut apart their iron bars.
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Others, the fools, were ill because of their sinful ways.
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Their appetites were gone, and death was near.
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Then they cried to the Lord in their troubles, and he helped them and delivered them.
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He spoke, and they were healed—snatched from the door of death.
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Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds!
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Let them tell him thank you as their sacrifice and sing about his glorious deeds.
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And then there are the sailors sailing the seven seas, plying the trade routes of the world.
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They, too, observe the power of God in action.
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He calls to the storm winds; the waves rise high.
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Their ships are tossed to the heavens and sink again to the depths; the sailors cringe in terror.
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They reel and stagger like drunkards and are at their wit’s end.
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Then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and he saves them.
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He calms the storm and stills the waves.
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What a blessing is that stillness as he brings them safely into harbor!
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Oh, that these men would praise the Lord for his loving-kindness and for all of his wonderful deeds!
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Let them praise him publicly before the congregation and before the leaders of the nation.
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He dries up rivers
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and turns the good land of the wicked into deserts of salt.
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Again, he turns deserts into fertile, watered valleys.
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He brings the hungry to settle there and build their cities,
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to sow their fields and plant their vineyards, and reap their bumper crops!
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How he blesses them! They raise big families there and many cattle.
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But others become poor through oppression, trouble, and sorrow.
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For God pours contempt upon the haughty and causes princes to wander among ruins;
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but he rescues the poor who are godly and gives them many children and much prosperity.
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Good men everywhere will see it and be glad, while evil men are stricken silent.
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Listen, if you are wise, to what I am saying. Think about the loving-kindness of the Lord!