Offense Defense > Farrell's Bible Notes

Day 301: Jeremiah 15-17

.Jeremiah 15:1 (Oct.12.2012) | God name drops some All Stars. Sounds like God is pretty much saying "Jeremiah, remember what I told you (in verse 14:10-11). Even Moses and Samuel couldn't change my mind." Notice also that God says "let them go forth." As God says in Genesis 6:3, sometimes it's time to stop striving with ignorant people and let them do what they're going to do, and get the consequences they're going to get. Rest assured that God has been patient to the extreme.

.Jeremiah 15:2 (Oct.12.2012) | It's very simple. They have only four choices/consequences: Death, Sword, Famine, Captivity. The captivity will come about in the way mentioned in verse 14. These consequences are mentioned in Jeremiah 21:9, and some of it happens in 39:5-6.

.Jeremiah 15:3 (Oct.12.2012) | The first three consequences are mentioned here. The fowls of the heaven devour and destroy likely worse than the boll weevils did to U.S. cotton crops in the 1920's.

.Jeremiah 15:4 (Oct.12.2012) | (Need to look back and see what Hezekiah did.)

.Jeremiah 15:6 (Oct.12.2012) | God says "I am weary with repenting." Wow! They made God weary. In Galatians 6:9, Paul reminds us not to be weary in well doing. Well God is about to do well by destroying them. That's how He's going to not be weary. You leave that type of thing up to God though, and do as Jeremiah.

.Jeremiah 15:7 (Oct.12.2012) | Notice that when God says here "I will destroy my people" He is still calling them His people.

.Jeremiah 15:11 (Oct.12.2012) | There will be a remnant. This remnant will be fished/hunted, as mentioned in Jeremiah 16:16, which is what Christ refers to later, saying He will make fishers of men. This remnant is mentioned in Jeremiah 39:9 and 40:11. We see God being merciful to this remnant in 42:12. The children of Israel would do well to realize that all God needs is a remnant to keep His promise to, told to Abraham, and that this promise does not need to apply to every person born under Israel. As we see, He did not deal well with many of them who fought against Him and chose to go astray.

.Jeremiah 15:12 (Oct.12.2012) | Iron and steel? I thought steel wasn't created yet. I was wrong. It's reported that steel dates back to 1400 B.C., although it wasn't mass produced until more recently.

.Jeremiah 15:15-18 (Oct.12.2012) | Being for God can sometimes cause you to be a loner and can be painful.

.Jeremiah 15:15 (Oct.12.2012) | longsuffering mentioned.

.Jeremiah 15:19 (Oct.12.2012) | In verse 1 God said "let them go forth" and now he says "let them return." This sounds like John the Baptist's scenario when the people went out to him to be baptized in Matthew 3:5-7.

.Jeremiah 15:20 (Oct.12.2012) | Since they can't fight God, they'll go after the closest to Him; so does the Devil. Remember what God said in 1:18 ("brasen walls"). Brasen = brazen = brass.

Day 302: Jeremiah 18-19

.Jeremiah 18:1 (Oct.14.2012) | Apparently someone else is writing at this point aside from Jeremiah, since Jeremiah is mentioned from a third person perspective. Here again the word from the Lord is said to come to Jeremiah, as if it were a traveling person, which aligns with John 1:1,14.

.Jeremiah 18:2 (Oct.14.2012) | God says here, "I will cause thee to hear my words." So we see that it doesn't take listener effort from Jeremiah.

.Jeremiah 18:3 (Oct.14.2012) | The first three words in this verse present an interesting scenario, because we know Jeremiah is being spoken to, being told to go down to the potter's house. Now this verse starts with the words "Then I went" - this allows us to see that this is Jeremiah speaking/writing this, unlike what we see two verses before, in verse one, where it appears that someone else is speaking about what happened to Jeremiah. I wasn't there, so I'm not sure, but it appears to me what may have happened is that Jeremiah had someone writing this for him, or that someone came across Jeremiah's writing and compiled it into this one book, adding in the transition points, or explanations such as we see with verse 1. The other possibility is that Jeremiah wrote it, but spoke of himself from a third person perspective. This is not unheard of, since we know even Jesus did that at times, such as when He said "the son of man hath not where to lay his head," speaking of Himself in Matthew 8:20.

.Jeremiah 18:5 (Oct.14.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Jeremiah 18:8 (Oct.14.2012) | What exactly is "evil?" and what does God mean when He says it here? I'm not going to answer that question here, but we see that it is something that God avoids. However, looking at this verse, apparently God does do evil (or is capable of doing it), but not only evil continually, as is termed in Genesis 6:5. God uses evil people and evil spirits to accomplish His work, which could be considered as Him doing evil vicariously through them, as we see done in verse 11, when He says "behold, I frame evil against you..." We see it also in other scriptures where God sends evil people, or evil spirits against other evil people. There's probably only one instance told in the Bible where God sends someone/something evil against someone who is good, and that's the old famous scenario of Satan against Job. However, it may be argued that God didn't actually send Satan in that instance, but merely pointed out Job, and gave Satan certain permissions, not employing him.

.Jeremiah 18:10 (Oct.14.2012) | Another word that would do us well to look into is repentance. What exactly does it mean to "repent?" and what does God mean when He says it here? It is apparent that it does not simply mean to apologize.

.Jeremiah 18:11-12 (Oct.14.2012) | highlighted verse 11-12. Despite the fact that God tells these people in 17:7 that their hope should be in the Lord, they claim that "there is no hope," which shows that they do not trust in the Lord. And then they purposely determine to do whatever each of their evil hearts imagines (to each his own).

.Jeremiah 18:11 (Oct.14.2012) | God says here "Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you" which He says in verse 8 that He will repent of the thought to do so to them if they turn from their evil. It is conditional, based on what they choose.

.Jeremiah 18:16 (Oct.14.2012) | Wagging one's head is apparently part of an everlasting universal sign language to display disapproval or shame on someone else. Where else do we see this wagging of the head? In Matthew 27:39, when the people reviled Jesus on the cross. Even today, I'm sure almost all of us have been so fortunate to have the experience of someone looking at us and wagging their head. Oh yes, the wagging of the head.

.Jeremiah 18:18 (Oct.14.2012) | Look at them conspiring. "Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words." These idiots are acting like it's Jeremiah's own words that he's speaking. Jeremiah is trying to save them, they're trying to destroy him. But God did tell him not to pray for them (14:11).

.Jeremiah 18:21 (Oct.14.2012) | Finally, Jeremiah turns his tide, and is no longer praying for their good as he comes to the realization that these people, or at least the vast majority of them, are no good. He says here "let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows;" Bereavement is the grieving over losing a loved one; so what he's praying here is that the men and the children would killed. And in case he wasn't understood in those words, he plainly says afterward "let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle."

.Jeremiah 18:22 (Oct.14.2012) | As we see here and in verse 21, not only has Jeremiah stopped praying for their good, but has completely turned around and is now praying for their destruction.

Day 303: Jeremiah 20-21

.Jeremiah 20:1 (Oct.15.2012) | It is revealed in verse 6, that Pashur is a false prophet.

.Jeremiah 20:6 (Oct.15.2012) | "thou hast prophesied lies" God says to Pashur, who is mentioned in verse 1.

.Jeremiah 20:9 (Oct.15.2012) | As we see with Jeremiah here, being a prophet is not something that is glamorous. Jeremiah, as much as God has coached him, is having a very very tough time handling it here, and even tries to break free from it. But as God said in Jeremiah 5:14, God makes His word in Jeremiah's mouth like fire. It is to devour the people, although Jeremiah probably feels a bit like it's devouring him, although it's not.

.Jeremiah 20:12 (Oct.15.2012) | It is better if God tries you first. It is also mentioned in Jeremiah 11:20 that God tries the reins of the heart.

.Jeremiah 20:15 (Oct.15.2012) | God ordered it in Genesis 1:28, Jeremiah, so it is celebrated as a good thing. And besides, you don't realize here how great your life will become to the world.

.Jeremiah 20:16 (Oct.15.2012) | These cities were mentioned in 4:26

.Jeremiah 21:8 (Oct.15.2012) | The Lord had previously set this before them. He's not just now setting it before them. "I set before you" is past tense here. One of the final instances of this is in 18:8-10, but moreso goes back at least to Jeremiah 3:12-14.

.Jeremiah 21:9 (Oct.15.2012) | This is mentioned in 15:2 about them falling by the sword, famine, and pestilence, and being captive to others. We see them get taken captive by the Chaldeans in 39:5-6.

Day 304: Jeremiah 22-23

.Jeremiah 22:3 (Oct.16.2012) | What is meant here by "executing judgement" is expounded in verse 16, which mentions judging the cause of the poor and needy. Even later in this verse (v.3), you'll notice that the stranger, fatherless, and widow are mentioned. These three are usually mentioned together, because generally they had no inheritance in the land, because of their situation. You'll often hear the Levite mentioned along with them as well, for the same reason (no inheritance). When "judgement" is spoken of in regard to them, what is meant is judging what their need is. God doesn't say to necessarily give a certain amount to every widow, stranger, or fatherless person, because most of them will have different needs. He also doesn't say that people are supposed to blindly give to anyone who may appear to be needy. A rich widow, of course would have no financial need. She may need in some other area, such as protection. But what "judge" means is to put forth the time and effort to actually find out someone's level of need, which in most instances would likely also mean providing toward that need. In the Old Testament, this was almost always tied to tithing also, because a certain portion of the tithe was supposed to be set aside for the widow, fatherless, stranger, and Levite. In the New Testament, even though the tithe is no longer being carried out, and the tithing structure is no longer in place, these people are still not to be forgotten, because they still have need. James 1:27 reminds us that we are to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction. He says that's the first part of the definition of what religion is; the second part, being to keep oneself unspotted from the world. To the contrary, the church has handed over much of its religious responsibility to worldly governments who usually determine not to be religious in any way. The other word I highlighted at the beginning of Jeremiah 22:3 is "righteousness," because not only must the people judge what is right, but must also do what is right, and live by what is right. Doing judgement is also mentioned here in verse 15. Next, here in 22:3, the word "spoiled" is used, which is a far different use of the word than we intend when we call someone a "spoiled brat" or something to that effect. Actually, in the Bible "spoiled" means something a little different, although not completely different when we really start to understand what the word means. To "spoil" means to seize by force; or to pillage, or rob (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spoil, Oct. 16, 2012). Once something is spoiled, it usually falls into another definition of spoiled, which is to lose valuable or useful qualities usually as a result of decay, such as spoiled fruit or spoiled milk... or perhaps, a spoiled brat.
Now concerning the rest of this verse, it can be understood why someone would do violence to these poor people, and shed innocent blood. It is for no other reason than greed, desiring to keep for oneself what one would otherwise give to the poor. This type of thinking is not far from the minds of some people today whose twisted minds rationalize the killing of innocent people to exchange one type of guilt for a more convenient. Instead of constantly feeling guilty for neglecting the poor over a lifetime, they'd rather take their guilt in a lump sum and just kill the poor (or cause them to die) so there is no more poor to feel guilty about neglecting. Read Isaiah 10:1-2; Matthew 25:35-45, and then understand Malachi 3:5-8 as it was meant to be understood. Proverbs 29:7 is also a good verse to read that closely relates to this verse.

.Jeremiah 22:13 (Oct.16.2012) | On the other side of the neglect and wrongdoing that people are called away from in 22:3, we see this also... people being used (or their services) without compensation. I don't know how it was done then, but nowadays, it's generally done by manipulating people by playing on their compassion or feeling of obligation. It often is used to give some less accomplished people a sense of self-worth since they are helping toward something they may see as a good cause, even though they are often still left poor and needy in the end, because they didn't get paid for their work, even thought they deserved it. Oftentimes, there was pay available for them, but it was pocketed by the manipulator. Volunteering is acceptable, and has it's place, but it should not be compulsory, nor leave the needy even more needy than before, having given away his earning potential for free. As it is said in 1 Timothy 5:18, "the labourer is worthy of his reward." This oppressing the hireling of his wages is also mentioned in Malachi 3:5, along with not giving the needy their share of the tithe, which they had a right to receive.

.Jeremiah 22:15-16 (Oct.16.2012) | See 22:3 notes concerning this judgement mentioned here.

.Jeremiah 22:13 (Oct.16.2012) | Nowadays, the common view is that all pastors are looked upon favorably by God and do the work of God, but we see here in this verse and many places in the book of Jeremiah that God did not see many of pastors in a favorable light. Most often, it appears that they were not doing His will. It is also interesting to note that this Jeremiah the prophet, is the only pastor actually named in the whole Bible, as Jeremiah refers to himself as a pastor in calls himself a pastor in Jeremiah 17:16. In fact, this is the only time the word "pastor" is ever used in singular form, and aside from one instance in Ephesians 4:11, the book of Jeremiah is the only place in the Bible the word "pastors" is ever used (in the King James version, at least). However, the fact that Jeremiah was the only pastor specifically identified does not mean that he was the only good pastor in the Bible. We can rightly conclude otherwise, seeing the necessity of the pastor mentioned in Ephesians 4:13, along with other language that God uses in the Old Testament (esp. Jeremiah 3:15). However, it is an error to exalt pastors to the position of being the ultimate authority on all things spiritual, because that is not the position that pastors occupy according to the Bible.

Day 305: Jeremiah 24-26

.Jeremiah 24:2 (Oct.19.2012) | Remember the parable of the fig tree in Matthew 24:32 and Mark 11:13-14,20. Lynnelle warns "Don't be a naughty fig."

.Jeremiah 24:7 (Oct.19.2012) | "I will give them an heart to know me" God says of these good figs after they are already being good.

.Jeremiah 25:1 (Oct.19.2012) | Again, like 21:1 and 18:1, this chapter starts out by speaking of Jeremiah from the third person perspective. See 18:1 notes.

.Jeremiah 25:11 (Oct.19.2012) | being made an "astonishment" is also mentioned in 29:18. "And these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years." This is also mentioned in 29:10.

.Jeremiah 25:15-16 (Oct.19.2012) | Remember when Jesus prayed "let this cup pass from me"? Well, this is probably that same cup; God's cup of fury.

.Jeremiah 25:18-26 (Oct.19.2012) | Just because everybody's doing it doesn't make it right. Here's a prime example of that. When you're going up against God, there's no such thing as "strength in numbers."

.Jeremiah 26:11 (Oct.19.2012) | In 27:3-4, God commands Jeremiah to use these same priests and prophets who are now speaking against Jeremiah. We see here in verse 11 that they have gotten to the point where they don't even know what prophecy is anymore. They think it's someone choosing what they want to say, not an actual word from the Lord, so in error they have fixed their negative attention on Jeremiah.

.Jeremiah 26:16 (Oct.19.2012) | In verse 11, the priests and prophets said Jeremiah was worthy to die, but the princes and the people say here to the priests and prophets that Jeremiah is not worthy to die. They believe in God and prophecy more than the prophets and priests.

.Jeremiah 26:17 (Oct.19.2012) | The elders remember and believe.

.Jeremiah 26:24 (Oct.19.2012) | The prophets and priests are more vile than the people.

Day 306: Jeremiah 27-29

.Jeremiah 27:3-4 (Oct.21.2012) | Since they want to kill the messenger (26:11), God flips the script and uses their own messengers.

.Jeremiah 27:9 (Oct.21.2012) | Now God has disowned them, saying "your prophets" instead of "the prophets," if He ever did own them, considering what He says at the beginning of 27:18.

.Jeremiah 27:13 (Oct.21.2012) | Prideful, but not honorable here for someone to rather die than surrender, in this case, at least.

.Jeremiah 27:18 (Oct.21.2012) | God says "if they be prophets," which gives us the notion that they may not even be prophets at all. We see in Jeremiah 29:26 that God speaks of people who make their own selves "prophets" instead of being made that by God, as God did with Jeremiah who was ordained a prophet and given jurisdiction before he even came out of the womb (Jeremiah 1:5).

.Jeremiah 27:20 (Oct.21.2012) | Sometimes you'll find his name spelled "Nebuchadnezzar" and sometimes "Nebuchadrezzar, such as in 32:1.

.Jeremiah 27:22 (Oct.21.2012) | In 28:1-4, Hananaiah prophesies a lie, concerning this, saying all will be returned in two years, and even Jeremiah appears to fall for it it seems in 28:6.

.Jeremiah 28:1-4 (Oct.21.2012) | In 27:22, God says they would be carried away. And here, in 28:1-4, Hananaiah prophesies a lie, concerning this, saying all will be returned in two years, and even Jeremiah appears to fall for it it seems in 28:6.

.Jeremiah 28:5-6 (Oct.21.2012) | Pay close attention to how these events unfold. We'll come to see that God seemingly allows Jeremiah to be deceived by Hananiah for a reason. As we see here, it sounds like Jeremiah doesn't really know if Hananiah is telling the truth or not, which allows Jeremiah to go along in agreement with Hananiah without guilty conscience. This allows Hananiah to see Jeremiah as non-threatening, and breaks the yoke from Jeremiah's neck in verse 10. We see in 28:12-13, after the yoke is broken, God reveals it to Jeremiah that Hananiah was wrong. Considering what God revealed to Jeremiah in 25:11, it's possible that Jeremiah may have known, however, since God says they would serve Babylon seventy years. Jeremiah could have had doubt as to what could transpire during those seventy years, however.

.Jeremiah 28:7-8 (Oct.21.2012) | Jeremiah tells them that he's not doing anything new or radical, and how to identify a fake prophet.

.Jeremiah 28:10 (Oct.21.2012) | In Jeremiah 27:2, God told Jeremiah to put these bonds and yokes on his neck.

.Jeremiah 28:11 (Oct.21.2012) | Hananiah, restates his false prophecy, which he said in verses 2-3.

.Jeremiah 28:12-13 (Oct.21.2012) | Notice that God, seemingly strategically, waits until after Hananiah breaks the yokes from Jeremiah's neck, then reveal to him that something Hananiah is saying is not quite right.

.Jeremiah 28:16-17 (Oct.21.2012) | It is seemingly strategic as well of God to have this prophecy of Hananiah's death fulfilled before those two years come to pass, which Hananiah mentioned in verse 3. Notice also that this, along with what Jeremiah says in verse 9, about how to tell a true prophet, works to identify Jeremiah as a true prophet to the people. We see here that Jeremiah's prophecy happens just as mentioned, which solidifies the facts that Jeremiah is a prophet truly sent by the Lord, and that Hananiah was not a prophet truly sent by the Lord.

.Jeremiah 29:6 (Oct.21.2012) | God instructs them to strategically bear children so that they may be increased and not diminished. I don't know what y'all are talking 'bout, but this is what I call planned parenthood.

.Jeremiah 29:10 (Oct.21.2012) | Again, God mentions this seventy years, which he mentioned in 25:11.

.Jeremiah 29:13 (Oct.21.2012) | This is what "seek and ye shall find" means. There are a lot of things that people search for with all of their heart, and usually, a relationship with God is not one of them. He doesn't say, "search for me a little," or "put some effort into searching for me." He says "search for me with all your heart."

.Jeremiah 29:14 (Oct.21.2012) | And what does God say happens when you search for Him with all your heart? "I will be found" He says here.

.Jeremiah 29:17 (Oct.21.2012) | Remember the naughty figs God mentioned in 24:2-3? Even then, God used an intensifying adverb with the adjective "evil" to describe their level of evilness, saying they are "very" evil. And now he uses another intensifying adverb, saying they are "so" evil. That's pretty bad, because I don't remember God using intensifying adverbs much at all in the Bible when He speaks. The first intensifying adverb we find used in the Bible happened to be after He created man (with woman), then it says he saw every thing that He made, and that it was "very good" in Genesis 1:31. Before this, it just says He saw the things as made as simply "good." It seems that after making us, every thing else to Him just looked so much better, not just good, but very good. But I guess, with our great ability to seemingly affect God's perception, came the great ability to negatively affect God's perception. It's true that it doesn't say He expressly said the words "very good" in Genesis 1:31, but we do know that He uttered the words "very evil" and "so evil" in these passages in the book of Jeremiah. I'm not sure if God has ever mentioned anything aside from us as being "very" bad or evil, but I'm taking a wild guess that He never has. Leave it up to us... But I guess that's what happens when you get an extra dose of free will... greater highs and lows. A cow could probably never disappoint God as much as a man, but then again, a cow probably couldn't ever please God as much as a man either.

.Jeremiah 29:18 (Oct.21.2012) | As mentioned in 25:11, God says they will be an "astonishment."

.Jeremiah 29:19 (Oct.21.2012) | Umm, does God sleep? It sounds like He's saying here that He rose up early and sent them. Maybe He was just resting, like it says in Exodus 31:17. I have fond childhood memories of saying my mother was sleep, only for her to correct me and said she was not sleep; she was just resting her eyes. But I don't know, it sounded like she was sleep. Now, I'm willing to believe that God was not actually sleep though, but after all the mess He's seen, I'd readily believe that He may have, in fact, been resting His eyes.

.Jeremiah 29:26 (Oct.21.2012) | Wow! God calls people that make themselves prophets mad. He says here they are lunatics. They must have delusions of grandeur. Read also 27:9,18 and 27:13-14 about these people prophesying lies. God says don't hearken unto them.

.Jeremiah 29:31 (Oct.21.2012) | Uh oh, God is naming names. So far, we see that Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and Hananiah prophesied falsely, and were not sent by God. Maybe I should make a list.

Day 307: Jeremiah 30-31

.Jeremiah 30:2 (Oct.26.2012) | This is where this book comes from. God told Jeremiah to write all of His words in a book.

.Jeremiah 30:9 (Oct.26.2012) | King David was prophesied. Notice that God says "David their king, whom I will raise up unto them." The strange thing about this is that David was said to have died in 970 B.C. and reigned as King beginning in 1010, according to Wikipedia (I haven't found the Bible time references yet). Jeremiah was not even alive yet at this time. Jeremiah 36:1-2 says that the Lord spoke to Jeremiah in the fourth year of Jehoikim's reign; Jehoikim is the son of Josiah king of Judah. It's tedious to trace down the actual year (as we count them) by what the Bible. But says, because years were counted in a different way in the Bible. But from 2 Kings 22:1-2 we can see that Jeremiah definitely came after David, because it says that Josiah reigned thirty years, "and walked in all the way of David his father..." So we know that David came before Josiah, and that the Lord dealt with Jeremiah during the reign of Josiah's son. Our next order of business is to find out exactly what God means by this. Is He saying He's going to resurrect David, enthrone someone from David's lineage or something else?

.Jeremiah 30:13 (Oct.26.2012) | God acknowledges healing medicines. It's not a patented idea. But God says in verse 17, that He will be the one to restore health to them and heal their wounds.

.Jeremiah 30:17 (Oct.26.2012) | As we see in verse 13, medicine won't do it. God will heal. Remember as said in Ecclesiastes 3:3, there is a time to heal.

.Jeremiah 31:15 (2009) | Matthew 2:17-18

.Jeremiah 31:20 (Oct.26.2012) | the word "bowels" here is said to mean "heart" according to Rainbow Studies, the publisher of my Bible.

.Jeremiah 31:21 (Oct.26.2012) | Waymarks appear to be the opposite of waypoints, which some of us are now familiar with, as our GPS refers to the stops we will make along the way to our destination. Waymarks, however, refer to the indicators of stops one has already made along the way. If you've ever seen an etching or writing on the tree or something that said "John was here," that's an example of a waymark. The breadcrumbs that Hansel and Gretel dropped on the ground (of that old childhood story) were waymarks, for them to mark the way they came. In this case, the waymarks God tells them to leave are high heaps, so they can return the way they came.

.Jeremiah 31:31-34 (2009) | This is quoted verbatim in Hebrews 8:8-12

.Jeremiah 31:31 (Oct.26.2012) | God says here that He will make a new "covenant" with the house of Israel. He doesn't say "testament." A covenant and a testament are not the same thing, although sometimes people use the terms interchangeably. (Oct.31.2012) This new covenant is also mentioned by God in Jeremiah 32:40, and in Hebrews 8:8, which quotes verse 31.

.Jeremiah 31:32 (2009) | "although I was an husband unto them" This is like what's said about Christ and the church in Ephesians 5:25-32 and Genesis 2:24. I believe Genesis 2 was speaking of Christ also, since it said a man shall leave his father and mother, although Adam didn't have a mother.

.Jeremiah 31:33 (2009) | Hebrews 10:15-16

.Jeremiah 31:35 (2009) | "The Lord of hosts is his name" | Other mentionings of God's name(s) are Exodus 3:15 "The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob" and Exodus 6:3 says his name is also God Almighty, and Jehovah (or JHVH / YHWH)

Day 308: Jeremiah 32-33

.Jeremiah 32:1 (Oct.31.2012) | Sometimes you'll find his name spelled "Nebuchadrezzar" and sometimes "Nebuchadnezzar, such as in 27:20.

.Jeremiah 32:2 (Oct.31.2012) | Like Joseph the prophet, Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the prison, or at least the court of the prison, as it says here.

.Jeremiah 32:7-8 (Oct.31.2012) | Jeremiah's test. Notice that he says it was when this actually happened when he knew that it was the word of the Lord, at the end of verse 8. Being that he's dealt with the Lord so closely, receiving the word of the Lord, I believe he already knew it was the Lord, but when he saw the thing actually happen, he was left with no doubt whatsoever. It's also interesting to note that when Hanameel came to him, that he didn't say the exact words that were prophesied; what was said in verse seven was not verbatim. There were a few words different, but we see that it did not need to be exactly word for word. This may help if the Lord ever reveals any prophecy to you, or you are looking for some prophecy to come to pass that is already written in the Bible, you won't be thrown off if two words were not in the same order, or slightly different terminology is used, or something as small as that if the message is the same.

.Jeremiah 32:9-12 (2009) | Sounds like a Deed of Trust. (Oct.31.2012) Notice in verse 11 that Jeremiah is following law and custom. In verse twelve, if you're reading the King James Version, you'll see the word "subscribed" used, which obviously has a different meaning than the way we use it today. It sounds more like they notarized a document. Their use of the word "subscribe" is probably more literal, when you think of the fact that the word "scribe" means to write, and the prefix sub means "under." So it would literally mean "to write under" or "to write/sign one's name under." The reason I say it sounds like a notary instead of a co-signer or underwriter, is because it calls the person a witness, which does not sound like that person is guaranteeing any payment, or assuming any financial risk.

.Jeremiah 32:30 (Oct.31.2012) | God says that the children of Israel and of Judah have "only done evil" before Him from their youth. This sounds eerily similar to what God said in Genesis 6:5, that "every imagination of the thoughts of [man's] heart was only evil continually." And in the next verse, Genesis 6:6, it says "it grieved him at his heart," compared to God saying here in verse thirty that "the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the word of their hands." "Only provoked" Him sounds like all they did was provoke Him to anger, never provoked Him to have pleasant thoughts of them. Lord have mercy. This is likely even worse than back in Genesis. Then, He was only speaking of what was in man's heart, but here, He's speaking of what has overflowed out of man's heart and into his hands. More than just thinking the evil thoughts, they actually did the evil actions that provoked God to anger, as if thinking evil thoughts is not floodworthy already.

.Jeremiah 32:35 (Oct.31.2012) | Highlighted "built the high places". A high place here was likely just a physical pedestal of some sort that would allow an object of worship to literally be placed up high where everyone could look upon it, even from a distance. However, a high place may be any platform, stage, or means of exalting someone or something to a place where they can be seen or heard from near and far, and looked up to. This may include a stage, TV, radio, or any other means that would afford one such status or "visibility," hence the term, "American Idol."
At the end of this verse it sounds like God didn't even think of this (them causing their children to pass through the fire unto Molech) when He says "neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." But perhaps He means that this was not His intention for them. I'm not sure whether it's possible that He just didn't even think of it, and was surprised by it.

.Jeremiah 32:39-40 (Oct.31.2012) | God says He will give them "one heart, and one way," which we now understand is Jesus Christ, who says that He is "the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)..." In Verse 40, God says "I will make an everlasting covenant with them," which of course is a new covenant, being that they are already under the old covenant. It's interesting to note also that He says that this covenant is everlasting. There are some who have come and tried to deceive man into thinking that this new covenant made by the blood of Jesus was just temporary until the next big thing, but it's everlasting. (Related scripture: Hebrews 8:8; 9:14). This new covenant is also mentioned by God in Jeremiah 31:31.

.Jeremiah 32:41 (Oct.31.2012) | When we see God asking us to search for Him with our whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13), and to love Him with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Mark 12:30), He's only asking for reciprocation from us, as we see here in 32:41 that He has dedicated His whole heart and His whole soul to us. I know He said this to them, Israel, be He does not do any less for us who are in Christ, who is of Judah, who is of Israel.

.Jeremiah 33:12 (2009) | "...an habitation of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down..." | Psalm 23:1-2 "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures..."

Day 309: Jeremiah 34-36

.Jeremiah 34:1 (Nov.2.2012) | "The word of the Lord" as mentioned in 18:5 is expounded upon here in 34:1 as it says "The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord." From John 1:1,14 I am led to believe Him we now know as Jesus Christ is this same word that came to Jeremiah.

.Jeremiah 34:3 (Nov.2.2012) | "thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt surely be taken" reminds me of the movie trailer ad I saw on TV where the father tells his daughter, "you're going to be taken, now here's what you need to do" right before she is snatched from under the bed by the kidnappers. Unlike the movie, however, they are prophesied to about what their end will be in verses 4-5.

.Jeremiah 34:10 (Nov.2.2012) | Similar to how Pharaoh let the people go in Exodus 12:31.

.Jeremiah 34:11 (Nov.2.2012) | This is similar to what the Egyptians tried to do in Exodus 14:8-9.

.Jeremiah 34:17 (Nov.2.2012) | When God says here "ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming liberty" it is true that they did technically let them go, but they still did wrong in principle, because they turned right back around and put them back into bondage, when they were supposed to remain free. Concerning when God tells them here, "I proclaim liberty for you," there are some that are commonly called "liberals" today, speaking of those who want liberty from God, which is not true liberty. However, we see here also that God proclaims liberty for them, but when God does such a thing in this case, He's allowing them to be liberated from Him (God) and delivered into the hand of Satan, which we know is not good.

.Jeremiah 34:22 (Nov.2.2012) | Sounds like what Adolph Hitler did.

Day 310: Jeremiah 37-39

.Jeremiah 37:15 (Dec.2.2012) | Nebuchadnezzar appoints a king. Maybe that's why he's called a king of kings in Daniel 2:37.

.Jeremiah 37:15 (Nov.4.2012) | We find out here that the house of Jonathan was made into a prison.

.Jeremiah 37:16 (Nov.4.2012) | This verse specifies that Jeremiah was actually put into the dungeon. Perhaps this was at a later time, after the house, or perhaps he was in another part of the house considered a dungeon, if the whole house wasn't considered the dungeon.

.Jeremiah 37:21 (Nov.4.2012) | Here, we see that Jeremiah, who I just had the sudden urge to call "J-Rock," gets delivered out of the dungeon, and gets placed in the court of the prison. For the record, out of respect, I decided not to nickname him J-Rock. I think that nickname would be more fitting of Jesus, if I felt I was in the position to nickname Him, which I'm not, being only a man.

.Jeremiah 38:4 (Nov.4.2012) | What? Did you think all princes were honorable and noble like in the fairytales? There's nothing honorable or noble about these nonbelieving princes who want to kill God's prophet. In our own time, there is one such person, who is currently the President of a country who said a very similar thing to this. He said that Jesus' sermon on the mountain was "so radical that it's doubtful that our own defense department would survive its application." Seeing that this person was running to win the office of Commander in Chief, it's plain to see that in that statement, he shows that he clearly saw a conflict between the two, but favored the defense department. That makes me wonder, if Jesus were walking the earth now and effectively preached that sermon and was affecting the hearts of the people, would this president say the same thing about Him that these princes are saying about Jeremiah. "Let this man be put to death."

.Jeremiah 38:6 (Nov.4.2012) | Jeremiah, back in another dungeon.

.Jeremiah 38:6-10 (Nov.4.2012) | We see from verse 4, that their intentions were to kill him, and from 37:20 that Jeremiah even spoke of the other dungeon as a place that would probably kill him. In verse six, we're told he has no water, and sunk in the mire, which is wet, soggy, sludgy, or muddy ground. Verse nine tells us that he had nothing to eat. And in verse 10, the king also recognizes that Jeremiah has been placed in a deadly situation, and once again, the king delivers Jeremiah from the dungeon.

.Jeremiah 38:15-16 (Nov.4.2012) | They have kind of a Pontius Pilate/Jesus Christ type of relationship going on here... almost.

Day 311: Jeremiah 40-42

.Jeremiah 40:11 (Nov.5.2012) | Here we see that there is a remnant left. God mentioned in 15:11 that there would be a remnant (people left remaining) and that things would go well for them.

.Jeremiah 41:1 (Nov.5.2012) | This gives us a time reference for this part of the Bible. This is most likely still in the eleventh year of Zedekiah king of Judah, since there was no other time reference mentioned since Jeremiah 39:1-2. Time is counted by what king is reigning, starting over at zero when a new king takes the throne. The year is now 2012 because we are now counting by what year Jesus Christ, our king, began his reign on earth (to our awareness at least). 2012 is not only 2012, but 2012 A.D. (A.D. means "Anno Domini" which translates to "The Year of our Lord").

.Jeremiah 41:1-2 (Nov.5.2012) | Did you just catch that? They went and ate with the man, then stood up and killed him.

.Jeremiah 41:5-7 (Nov.5.2012) | Ishmael again deceives and massacres 80 men by pretending to cry and grieve with them, setting them up to be killed.

.Jeremiah 41:16 (Nov.5.2012) | The eunuchs were not men of war, and are mentioned separately here. However, we see in Jeremiah 52:25 there is a eunuch that was in charge of the men of war. We are not told in the Bible exactly what a eunuch is, but Matthew 19:12 gives a hint about how people become eunuchs, while Jesus was talking to his disciples about marriage, divorce, and people who don't marry. Doing a quick search for this answer, I've found that there are many people who commonly say what a eunuch is, but I have not seen them mention any source of their information to confirm what they say. So at this point, I have to count that information as hearsay, not fact. I'd rather not pass along hearsay. It is not good enough for me to say it as if it's a fact (i.e. A eunuch is someone who (blah blah blah) with nothing to back up my statement. It is not good enough for me to read/hear someone say "A eunuch is someone who blah blah blah." Before I just take it and run with it, I'd like to know where they got that information or how they came to that conclusion, and why they are so confident that it is a fact. It's possible that they just heard someone else say it, who heard someone else say it, who heard someone else say it, and that person was just guessing, and wasn't really sure. Sometimes, that information that is passed along in that way turns out to be wrong. It happens all the time. It happens frequently in the church as well, concerning the things of God, when people make plain statements in a way that makes them appear to be more knowledgeable than they are. Some fear that if they say "I don't know" it will make them appear to be a less credible source of information, and people will not believe or trust in them as much, which may be true. However, I believe it is dishonest to present opinion or hearsay as if it is fact, even if it will scratch people's itching ears. So for now, I'm saying "I don't know what a eunuch is." Concerning other issues, going forward, remember 1 Timothy 1:7 "Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm." Don't believe everything everybody tells you without knowing, and sometimes checking their source of information, even if they sound convincing.

.Jeremiah 42:7 (Nov.5.2012) | It took ten days for God to answer Jeremiah's prayer in verse 4. Now ten days is not a lot of time, but how often have you prayed to God for an answer and only gave Him half of one minute to answer you. It is important that we remember this scripture as a reminder to give God time to answer us. Many times, we ask God a question and then answer it ourselves, telling ourselves that we received the answer from God. At other times, we pray to God for an answer about what to do, but instead of asking and waiting for a reply, we are really just telling God what we are going to do and challenging Him to hurry up and stop us if we're wrong. In one such case, after a Sunday service, I told a young lady, a friend of mine, that her tight clothes and body parts hanging out was distracting, which is something I don't go around telling people. She told me that that's my problem because she prayed about it before she left the house. She assumed that it was okay with God, since He didn't stop her from walking out her front door two minutes later, so when God used me to answer her question (which is what I believed happened), she wouldn't even listen, and even got upset. The fact that she even felt the need to pray about it tells me she already had doubts about it herself. We do not have the authority to tell God "if you have any objections, speak now or forever hold your peace." If we are going to ask God questions, we have to learn to give God time to answer us without being in despair if He doesn't immediately answer us. He may answer immediately, or He may take longer than the ten days it took for Him to answer Jeremiah here in this passage. I believe we can ask God questions that we need immediate answers to, but I also believe that we need to learn to ask our questions in advance so we have time to receive an answer instead of waiting until the deadline, when our minds will probably be too hurried and frazzled to even be quiet and still long enough to hear Him even if He does try to give us an immediate answer. We also need to be ready to receive His answer from somebody or some thing other than what we imagine, and at a time when we may not be expecting it. Jeremiah didn't know whether God would answer Him the next day, or five, ten, or twenty days later. He just had to be ready to hear whenever God chose to answer. The people also didn't know when Jeremiah would return with an answer for them.

.Jeremiah 42:12 (Nov.5.2012) | This was foretold in Jeremiah 15:11.

.Jeremiah 42:14 (Nov.5.2012) | Don't walk by sight, but by faith (2 Corinthians 5:7).

.Jeremiah 42:19 (Nov.5.2012) | They were given fair warning.

.Jeremiah 42:20 (Nov.5.2012) | They asked this back in verses 2-3. Jeremiah may have gotten their words wrong though. Here he quotes them as saying "and we will do it," but in verse three he says they said "the way wherein we may walk, and the thing that we may do." That sounds to me, less like they are saying they will, and more like they would like to get God's input so they can consider it as an option.

Day 312: Jeremiah 43-45

.Jeremiah 43:7 (Nov.7.2012) | Oh My Goodness! Oh my God, Will they never learn? I'm so frustrated with them.

.Jeremiah 43:8 (Nov.7.2012) | Yes, it says Jeremiah in Tahpanhes. Jeremiah had to go back there with them too, as we see in verse six.

.Jeremiah 44:1 (Nov.7.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Jeremiah 44:3 (Nov.7.2012) | Notice that God is not saying "Oh, they were confused, deceived and didn't know any better." It's obvious that being confused and deceived is not seen by God as a valid excuse.

.Jeremiah 44:16-17 (Nov.7.2012) | Believe that God will punish the disobedient as He says in 46:25. Now these people here in verse 16 are awfully bold, but no more bold than the people of my day. We would be wise to see this and remember the scripture that says "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). Also Proverbs 16:2, which says "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits." There are many people who want to follow the traditions or religions of their ancestors, thinking that it is justifiable to do so, because of their heritage or upbringing, but we see here that following the way of your ancestors may be dead wrong.

.Jeremiah 44:17-18 (Nov.7.2012) | Their rationality used here in verses 17-18 sounds like the same rationality that I hear people use for why they practice their new form of monetary tithes and offerings.

.Jeremiah 44:22 (Nov.7.2012) | ROTFL! (Rolling on the floor laughing). I'm probably not supposed to laugh at this, but I'm just imagining God saying "That's it! I can't stand it no more!" It says "the Lord could no longer bear..." That's BAD! You have to really be a bad pain in the butt to make God lose His patience. God is the most patient being ever. God lets so much nonsense slide for so long that people forget that what they're doing even offends Him.

.Jeremiah 44:24 (Nov.7.2012) | Writer says "and to all the women," making sure we know that the women were included.

.Jeremiah 44:25 (Nov.7.2012) | "...and to pour out drink offerings unto her..." Loa?

.Jeremiah 44:27 (Nov.7.2012) | Lamentations 3:38 comments on God regarding evil and good. We see here in verse 27 that God is going to make sure evil befalls them; what they will probably call "bad luck" or something like that.

.Jeremiah 44:28 (Nov.7.2012) | God says the people shall know whose word shall stand, His or theirs! Well let the showdown go down! as they say on a 2012 cooking show on TV. We already know the outcome.

Day 313: Jeremiah 46-47

.Jeremiah 46:4 (Nov.9.2012) | Brigandines = coats of mail

.Jeremiah 46:10 (Nov.9.2012) | "a day of vengeance" - Vengeance is the Lord's, and He can use man to exact it. He often uses the evil against the evil or the good to kill the evil in self-defense. My Bible doesn't specify that this is still the Word of the Lord here in verse ten, but it sounds like it is. In Romans 12:19 the Lord says vengeance is His and He will repay.

.Jeremiah 46:11 (Nov.9.2012) | They are not being instructed to take medicine, but prophesied that they will take medicine in vain.

.Jeremiah 46:25 (Nov.9.2012) | "The multitude of no"? I'm wondering if this means "No, we will not hearken" or if it's a reference to the people of Noph.

Day 314: Jeremiah 48-49

.Jeremiah 48:10 (Nov.9.2012) | For people who are so focused on curses, I wonder why they don't preach this scripture every Sunday instead of Malachi 3:9.

.Jeremiah 48:17 (Nov.9.2012) | Zechariah 11:7,10,14; Psalms 23:4

.Jeremiah 48:31-32 (Nov.9.2012) | God cries and weeps.

.Jeremiah 49:7 (Nov.9.2012) | Unfamiliar word alert. I know what "Entenman" means, but I need to look up what "Inteman" means.

.Jeremiah 49:11 (Nov.9.2012) | Again, we see fatherless and widows mentioned together.

.Jeremiah 49:12 (Nov.9.2012) | This cup is speaking of the cup of the wrath of God, mentioned before by Jeremiah. Contrast this with God's wrath being "poured out" upon them as mentioned in 2 Chronicles 34:25. Actually, I don't know which is worse, to drink something and have it tear you up inside, or to have it poured on you.

.Jeremiah 49:16 (Nov.9.2012) | Nobody can hide from God, not even hidden governments, hidden societies, and hidden terrorists in the mountains. There is no place safe.

.Jeremiah 49:20 (Nov.9.2012) | Edom mentioned, and the inhabitants of Teman.

.Jeremiah 49:20-21 (Nov.10.2012) | This is the exact same thing God says about Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans in 50:44-46, except it's being said about "Edom" and "the inhabitants of Teman" and that the cry is heard "in the Red Sea," instead of "among the nations."

Day 315: Jeremiah 50

.Jeremiah 50:3 (Nov.10.2012) | "...there cometh up a nation against her..." I'm not sure that all nations are mentioned as being feminine in the Bible, but Israel is clearly spoken of as a "she" many times in the Bible. This sounds like it's Babylon that's being spoken of here when it says "her." There is at least one instance (verse 17) where Israel is referred to as a "him," although at other times referred to as a "she."

.Jeremiah 50:17 (Nov.10.2012) | This is at least one instance where Israel is referred to as a "him" instead of a "she." In most or all other instances, Israel (the nation) is referred to as a "she" although Israel the nation is from Israel, the man. In fact, most or all other nations in the Bible are mentioned as if they are feminine, if I can recall, such as Babylon in verse three.

.Jeremiah 50:44-46 (Nov.10.2012) | This is the exact same thing God said about Edom and the inhabitants of Teman in 49:19-21, except it's being said about "Babylon" and "the land of the Chaldeans" and that the cry is heard "among the nations," instead of "in the Red sea."

Day 316: Jeremiah 51-52

.Jeremiah 51:2 (Nov.11.2012) | Most trusted traitors? Fanners

.Jeremiah 51:6 (Nov.11.2012) | We see this said also in verses 45 and 50 and in Revelation 18:4. God does, at times, instruct people to flee from certain lands before His wrath is released on that place. Therefore, it is wise to remain connected in relationship with God so you can hear what He is saying.

.Jeremiah 51:7 (Nov.11.2012) | The Revelation 17:2 and 18:3 expound on this and inform us that Babylon's "wine" is speaking of her fornication, which may be speaking not only of infidelity against God, but also infidelity against these nations' own people. One example of this is when a nation's leader takes an offer from another nation to do something that may hurt one's own nation, but benefit the other nation in exchange for some personal gain, perhaps financial, then that's a form of infidelity. Stated in terms of numbers, if a president or king is paid $500,000 to run the nation, but is offered $5 billion by another nation's king to secretly betray his own nation, some selfish kings will take the $5 billion offer to make a decision that is detrimental to that king's own people. That would be a form of "getting in bed" and committing fornication or adultery with other nations when the king is supposed to be committed to the people of his own nation and not do such a thing under any circumstances.

.Jeremiah 51:8 (Nov.11.2012) | We see this spoken of in The Revelation 18:2,8,10. Speaking of "merchants of the earth" in The Revelation 18:3, it is strange that the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon all happened within 58 minutes, and verse 10 says "in one hour is thy judgement come." It is also strangely concerning that less than thirty miles from the World Trade Centers, there is a city in New York named Babylon.

.Jeremiah 51:9 (Nov.11.2012) | Here is says "her judgment reacheth unto heaven" and in The Revelation 18:5 it says "her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."

.Jeremiah 51:13 (Nov.11.2012) | Compare this verse with The Revelation 18:3,11-17.

.Jeremiah 51:24 (Nov.11.2012) | Remember, Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans was mentioned in 50:45.

.Jeremiah 51:31 (Nov.11.2012) | Things are happening so fast here that there are multiple messengers sent one after another.

.Jeremiah 51:34 (Nov.11.2012) | A dragon is mentioned here, and dragons mentioned in verse 37. There is also a dragon mentioned in The Revelation.

.Jeremiah 51:37 (Nov.11.2012) | Notice here that it says that Babylon shall become a dwellingplace for dragons, but also that it is without inhabitant. The dragons are not considered inhabitants.

.Jeremiah 51:39 (Nov.11.2012) | God says here that He will make these dragons drunk and sleep a perpetual sleep, and in verse 57, God also says this same thing about Babylon's princes, wise men, captains, rulers, and mighty men. We may therefore assume that these people are the dragons being spoken of in verse 37. It is unfortunate that people in wealthy or powerful positions such as them are the people who the masses look up to and honor and respect the most, and even see their positions as anointings of God, and therefore hail them as anointed men of God. The word sleep appears to be used in a different way than we're used to using it, as we also see in 1 Corinthians 11:30, Ephesians 5:14, and perhaps also 1 Corinthians 15:51. In Joel 1:5, the drunkards are told to awake, which may be a reference to what is said here in verse 39, being that God says here He'll make these dragons drunken and that they will sleep.

.Jeremiah 51:42-43 (Nov.11.2012) | Being that verse 42 says that the multitude of waves covers Babylon, yet verse 43 calls Babylon's cities a dry land, perhaps either verse 42 is not talking about waves of water or verse 43 is not speaking of a literal type of "dry."

.Jeremiah 51:45 (Nov.11.2012) | As in verses 6 and 50, God tells His people here to leave this place and save their soul.

.Jeremiah 51:46 (Nov.11.2012) | It sounds here as if the rumour causes the war. Remember Matthew 24:6-7 speaks of wars and rumours of wars, and rulers against rulers, in regard to the beginning of sorrows, which precede the END of the world.

.Jeremiah 51:50 (Nov.11.2012) | In verses 6 and 45, God tells His people to leave this place and save their soul.

.Jeremiah 51:57 (Nov.11.2012) | This is said in verse 39 about the dragons dwelling in Babylon, which leads us to believe that these people here are identified by God as being dragons despite their probable prestige and power in the eyes of many people.

.Jeremiah 52:4 (Nov.11.2012) | This is also told in 2 Kings 25:1 and Jeremiah 39:1. This is speaking of the ninth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (9th year, 10th month, 10th day = 9-10-10). On the 9th year, 10th month, 10th day (9-10-10), the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel and told him that in this very same day the King of Babylon set himself against Jerusalem. I'm not sure if this was the actual day it was happening, or if this is in the future and God is talking about what happened on this same day in the past. It is the 9th year, as was the day in Jeremiah 52:4 and 2 Kings 25:1, but in Jeremiah and 2 Kings, that was the ninth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign. Ezekiel's ninth year may be the ninth year of Jehoichin's captivity, as he mentions in Ezekiel 1:2. Periodically, Ezekiel tells which year and month it is that the word of the Lord comes to him, counting up to the ninth year, but he doesn't say who was reigning. Remember, the year is generally counted based on who's reigning, so if someone new takes reign, the year starts all over as year one of (so and so's) reign. However, Ezekiel appears to see it not as the year of someone's reign, but the year since the last reigning king was taken captive, which seems that he is in some way refusing to acknowledge the reign of the king who took the other king captive. As I'm writing now, I'm searching to see if it was Nebuchadnezzar that captured Jehoiachin, which would mean both ninth years were the same. Well, first of all, I see that Nebuchadnezzar was reigning at the same time of Jehoiachin's life (Jehoiachin is also known as Jeconiah or Conia), as we see in Jeremiah 37:1. ... ... Okay, I hate to leave research undone, but I'll have to figure this out later. It seems as if Jehoiachin/Coniah was dethroned and taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, but I haven't found the scripture yet.
Ezekiel's year report:

Thirtieth year, fourth month, fifth day (Ezekiel 1:1)

Fifth year, the month, fifth day after the captivity of king Jehoiachin (Ezekiel 1:2)

Sixth year, sixth month, fifth day (Ezekiel 8:1)

Seventh year, fifth month, tenth day (Ezekiel 20:1)

Ninth year, tenth month, tenth day (Ezekiel 24:1)
Alternatively, looking at Ezekiel 1:1-2, it's possible that the Lord came to Jeremiah in the 30th year and was showing him what happened each year before.
Okay, maybe I was thinking it was Nebuchadnezzar's reign when it was Zedekiah's reign, looking at 52:1 now. Boy oh boy! I'm going to have to come back and clean this up later. I think I've made a mess here.

.Jeremiah 52:17 (Nov.11.2012) | This was reported in 2 Kings 25:13.

.Jeremiah 52:20 (Nov.11.2012) | This was described in detail in 1 Kings 7:15-20.

.Jeremiah 52:21 (Nov.11.2012) | They're measuring in fingers! We measure in feet. They measured in hands in Exodus 37:12. I'm going to stop there.

.Jeremiah 52:27-28 (Nov.11.2012) | As we see here, Jews were those who were specifically from the line of Judah. There were 3023 carried away here in the seventh year.

Day 317: Lamentations 1-2

.Lamentations 1:11 (Nov.12.2012) | At some point, food is more important than your flatscreen TV. In America right now, there are plenty people crying about the rising food cost, but yet Apple ipod/ipad/iphone/i(quit) sales are through the roof. Until the masses start selling those type of things for meat to relieve their souls, I don't think the food crises crying will be taken too seriously. Welcome to Lamentations. Here, you will see that there is a difference between lamenting and whining. Most of what we see around us is whining.

.Lamentations 1:18-19 (Nov.12.2012) | Some believe that Lamentations was probably written by Jeremiah, but this here doesn't sound like Jeremiah.
It appears that the word "virgin" here was meant more to describe female virgins, as it usually refers to in the Bible, but the term "virgin" does apply to men in the Bible as well (at least twice). We see this in Revelation 14:4, also in Jeremiah 31:13, although the Jeremiah passage may be referring to Israel as the virgin, as mentioned in verse four. I would question the actual intended meaning of the term "virgin" there however, if it applied to Israel, being that God divorced Israel in Jeremiah 4:8 for committing adultery against Him.

.Lamentations 1:22 (Nov.12.2012) | Well, I guess it wasn't bad enough that he wouldn't wish it on his worst enemies.

.Lamentations 2:15 (Nov.12.2012) | Here again, we see the universal sign of shame and disapproval, the wagging of the head, as seen in Matthew 27:39, Mark 15:29, and Jeremiah 18:16. In Zephaniah 2:15, it's the wagging of the hand, but I'm not sure I've seen that one before.

.Lamentations 2:18 (Nov.13.2012) | We see where the term "cry me a river" came from. This happens to the writer in 3:48.

.Lamentations 2:19 (Nov.12.2012) | An example of night watches would be five people, each staying up and keeping watch for safety, two hours each person.

.Lamentations 2:20 (Nov.12.2012) | They've got everything else going on in the sanctuary, now they want to consider it a holy place? Hear what God has to say about it in Ezekiel 9:7.

Day 318: Lamentations 3-5

.Lamentations 3:33 (Nov.13.2012) | highlighted

.Lamentations 3:48 (Nov.13.2012) | Like Lamentations 2:18

.Lamentations 3:52-57 (2009) | Psalm 27:1-3
(Nov.13.2012) While Lamentations 1:18-19 didn't sound like Jeremiah, this sounds very much like Jeremiah, and Jeremiah was locked in a dungeon twice. This is possibly why this is thought to be Jeremiah writing this, but the wretched self-portrait doesn't sound like Jeremiah. As we look at Jeremiah 14:20-21 we see that he talked more about the sins of his people and made himself guilty by association, not by his own issues alone like the writer of Lamentations. When we look at Jeremiah 17:16 we see Jeremiah spoke approvingly of himself.

.Lamentations 3:60-64 (Nov.13.2012) | I must admit, this sounds like Jeremiah as well when we look at Jeremiah 18:18-23. He even uses the same words.

.Lamentations 4:20 (Nov.13.2012) | Being under the Lord's shadow, even though among the heathen, is a protected place.

.Lamentations 4:21-22 (Nov.13.2012) | I highlighted "naked" at the end of verse 21. In verse 22, I highlighted "discover thy sins." The word "discover" is like the word "uncover." The meaning of nakedness like Adam and Eve is being/having your sins openly revealed, discovered, uncovered.

.Lamentations 5:3 (Nov.13.2012) | Here's another reason why widows and fatherless are always mentioned together; the fatherless are the widows' children.

.Lamentations 5:4 (Nov.13.2012) | Maybe the writer means they sold their water, or their basic necessities in order to pay for shelter; sold one basic necessity for another. Sounds like they don't even have control over their own belongings, since they've been overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar.

.Lamentations 5:10 (Nov.13.2012) | dead skin or plague?

.Lamentations (Nov.13.2012) | Overall, to me this didn't sound like Jeremiah writing this, but is around the same time.

Day 319: Ezekiel 1-2

.Ezekiel 1:1 (Nov.14.2012) | Ezekiel later references this moment in Ezekiel 3:23 and 43:3. As he does here, Ezekiel periodically tells which year and month it is that the word of the Lord comes to him. Below, I've listed each time he mentioned the year, and we can see that this book of Ezekiel wasn't strictly written in chronological order. Generally when one of the writers in the Bible says what year it is, they say what king is reigning. However, Ezekiel never mentions who is reigning. Remember, since the year is generally counted based on who's reigning, if someone new takes reign, the year starts all over as year one of (so and so's) reign. However, Ezekiel appears to see it not as the year of someone's reign, but the year since them and their king were taken into captivity, which seems that he is in some way refusing to acknowledge the reign of the king who took them captive. From looking at other scriptures, it appears as if it was Nebuchadnezzar that captured king Jehoiachin (1:2), taking the Jews into captivity. It is apparent that Nebuchadnezzar was reigning at the same time of Jehoiachin's life (Jehoiachin is also know as Jeconiah and Conia), as we see in Jeremiah 37:1, since Nebuchadnezzar had the power to make Zedekiah king in Judah. Therefore, it seems that Jehoiachin/Coniah was dethroned and taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, but I haven't found the scripture yet.

Ezekiel's year report:

(Ezekiel 1:1) 04/05/30 - 30th year, 4th month, 5th day (possibly not written in chronological order or not associated with other years mentioned)
(Ezekiel 1:2) ??/05/05 - "5th year of king Jehoiachin's captivity," "the month," 5th day (sounds like not written by Ezekiel)
(Ezekiel 8:1) 06/05/06 - 6th year, 6th month, 5th day
(Ezekiel 20:1) 05/10/07 - 7th year, 5th month, 10th day
(Ezekiel 24:1) 10/10/09 - 9th year, 10th month, 10th day
(Ezekiel 26:1) ??/01/11 - 11th year, "the month," 1st day (possibly not written in chronological order)
(Ezekiel 29:1) 10/12/10 - 10th year, 10th month, 12th day (possibly not written in chronological order)
(Ezekiel 29:17) 01/05/27 - 27th year, 1st month, 5th day (not written in chronological order)
(Ezekiel 30:20) 01/07/11 - 11th year, 1st month, 7th day
(Ezekiel 31:1) 03/01/11 - 11th year, 3rd month, 1st day
(Ezekiel 32:1) 12/01/12 - 12th year, 12th month, 1st day
(Ezekiel 32:17) 12?/15/12 - 12th year, "the month" (12th month?), 15th day (possibly not written in chronological order)
(Ezekiel 33:21) 10/05/12 - "12th year of our captivity," 10th month, 5th day (not written in chronological order)
(Ezekiel 40:1) 1?/10/25 - "25th year of our captivity," "beginning of the year" (1st month?), 10th day

I'm not yet sure why verse 1:1 is listed as the 30th year like this, and then immediately the text switches up to the 5th year of the king's captivity in verse 2. Perhaps this "thirtieth year" mentioned does not mean the thirtieth year of their captivity. Maybe it's in reference to something else. In 1:2-3, it sounds to me like someone else interjecting a clarifying statement into what Ezekiel had already written, but I'm not sure. To be clear, I'm not suspecting that someone added more text to it after it was originally published. That's not my question.

.Ezekiel 2:4-7 (2009) | This is an example of how we also must do what God tells us to do, regardless of what we may think. God said to tell them the message, whether or not they choose to listen now or later, but at least they'll know there was a prophet among them. It may take some time before they realize that there really was a prophet among them, but at least when they look back, they'll know that God did at least care enough to send someone to tell them.

Day 320: Ezekiel 3-4

.Ezekiel 3:7 (Nov.15.2012) | Don't take it personal.

.Ezekiel 3:15 (Nov.15.2012) | I believe this is the same as Tel Aviv, although here it's called Tel-Abib. The name difference may be due to pronunciation, since some people do pronounce their v's like we pronounce b's. Tel Aviv today is the second most populous city in Israel, according to Wikipedia.

.Ezekiel 3:16 (Nov.15.2012) | It's possible that he wasn't informed until v.12-15. He sat among them astonished for seven days without the word of the Lord telling him anything. We see guys like Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Isaiah, etc and we think that they were just always hearing from God. Even though they did hear from God, he still did go a whole week astonished at what he was seeing, seemingly not hearing a thing from God. We're accustomed to not hearing God speak so clearly to us, but When you're accustomed to hearing from God so clearly when He does speak to you, that absence of guidance will seem even that much greater. I'm sure there were plenty of times when these guys went even longer periods of time without hearing a thing from God. But as we do, they just had to remember what God had said previously and lean on that. Many of us see Ezekiel as some great biblical figure, which he was, but at the same time, he was a real person with real feelings. This would be a good moment for us to look at him and realize that. It doesn't say he was working and being productive among them. He didn't even have a word from God at the moment. He was just sitting there among them astonished, being fed, and possibly feeling like a real loser at the moment, probably not even knowing or understanding what his real purpose in life was.

.Ezekiel 3:18 (May.30.2015) | God has given a conditional warning at least twice by saying "thou shalt surely die" at least twice (Genesis 2:17; 20:7). Now He speaks about those words He's used, telling Ezekiel "When I say unto the wicked, 'thou shalt surely die;' and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand." It appears that God said it more than twice, or at least had plans to do so after this moment.

.Ezekiel 3:18-19 (Nov.15.2012) | Verse 18 ends with God saying "his blood will I require at thine hand," which sounds almost like a murder charge.

.Ezekiel 3:20 (Nov.15.2012) | God, in this verse, seems not to agree with the concept of being once saved always saved, which we also see in Romans 11:20-22. God says here that it's possible for a man who was once righteous to "die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered..." There is such a thing in God's eyes as dying in sin, which is even possible to those who were once righteous. It is true that this was before the covenant of Christ, but Christ was also before all of this as well, and the work of Christ, I believe, covered these people back here before His walk on earth, just like it covers us who are here after His walk on earth.

.Ezekiel 3:23 (Nov.15.2012) | He makes a reference back to Ezekiel 1:1.

.Ezekiel 3:24 (Nov.15.2012) | The spirit spoke to him from within him like the spirit does with us now.

.Ezekiel 3:25 (Nov.15.2012) | These bands would have the same function as handcuffs or shackles. When you hear the word "bands" used in this way, you can think of rubber bands without the rubber (no stretch).

.Ezekiel 3:26 (Nov.15.2012) | We see here that it's not always time for reproof. He has plenty of opportunity to reprove them, but reproof is not necessary just because it's possible. Some people are just rebellious, plain and simple. This doesn't mean that God cannot do something like we see in 3:7, however.

.Ezekiel 3:27 (Nov.15.2012) | Even when God does use Ezekiel to speak to them, it's not Ezekiel's job to make them listen. He doesn't have to be a salesman here, he just has to be a messenger. There are times in our lives too I'm sure that God asks some of us to speak up about something. I know we may feel pressure to be successful at whatever we do, but success is defined by what someone is trying to do or achieve. We have to remember this, that just because we may need to speak about something doesn't mean that we need to get some result. Sometimes success means merely doing something. And furthermore, I feel the need to specify, especially today, success is not always measured by how much money is made or collected. I'm going to take a guess and say that we don't hear anything mentioned about how much money Ezekiel made or didn't make, and it would be ridiculous for us to try to find out his earnings so we can judge how successful he was. It's likely that you've never even thought about Ezekiel's money when you hear the mention of his name. The same can be said for many successful people in the Bible. However, when you apply that to people in the world today, I imagine that it would be nearly impossible for most people to look at anyone today as successful or unsuccessful without regarding how much money the person has made. The reason for that is that there has been so much marketing, advertising, and promotion of the idea, especially to men, that the goal in life is to become financially and materially rich even if it's to the detriment of others. With all of that marketing and promotion toward that, in whatever blatant or subtle way that it is done, the common person begins to assume that that's everyone's goal in life, which has led to the term "financially successful" being replaced with the word "successful." We can't assume that material riches is everyone's goal, like We can't assume that leading a certain number of souls to Christ, or getting a certain number of members in one's congregation, or collecting a certain amount of money is every minister's goal. Again, success is recognized by first identifying what someone is trying to do or achieve, and it would be an error if we assumed that everyone was trying to do/achieve the same thing. That's why I wanted to mention that specifically, to help give a broader perspective.

Day 321: Ezekiel 5-7

.Ezekiel 5:1 (Nov.15.2012) | This has to be the oldest profession; either this or gardening. I know it's commonly said that the oldest profession is something else, but it's not true. Besides, man had his own hair, land and animals to take care of before man even had woman. And even when man did have woman, he already had her. In fact, after taking care of the garden, the animals, and keeping their own hair in check, they found themselves doing the job of a seamstress/clothesmaker, sporting the latest fig leaf fashions to deal with their newfound nakedness. Sometime after that, Eve found herself being a stay-at-home mom of two boys who would grow up to be a farmer/gardener and a shepherd (Genesis 4:2), and the story goes on from there.

.Ezekiel 5:2 (Nov.15.2012) | God has him working in thirds, which is a foreshadow of what God says will happen in verse 12.

.Ezekiel 5:3 (Nov.15.2012) | "A few in number" is referring to the hairs, which God began talking about in verse one.

.Ezekiel 5:5-6 (Nov.15.2012) | Talking with Ezekiel, God speaks of Jerusalem from a third person perspective.

.Ezekiel 5:7 (Nov.15.2012) | Talking with Ezekiel about Jerusalem, God switches to speaking of Jerusalem from a second person perspective.

.Ezekiel 5:10 (Nov.15.2012) | They become cannibals as a result of them refusing God's jugments and statutes.

.Ezekiel 5:12 (Nov.15.2012) | Verse 2 was the prelude to this. Notice the working in thirds. Notice also that God works in thirds when He has the angels slay a third of man in Revelation 9:15. There are other mentions of significant thirds mentioned in the Bible, but I'll stop here for now.

.Ezekiel 6:5 (Nov.15.2012) | Each body is not laid in tact as a skeleton.

.Ezekiel 6:9 (Nov.15.2012) | God gets broken. He does have feelings.

.Ezekiel 6:13 (Nov.15.2012) | God mentions this in verse 5. It sounds like He's going to put them there after they are killed, or either kill them in the act.

.Ezekiel 7:12 (Nov.15.2012) | This is not an opportunity to loot the dead sellers' wares or the sellers being left alive without any customers surviving. They will both die.

.Ezekiel 7:13 (Nov.15.2012) | Even if they did live, they wouldn't even have the strength to do these things because of the famine and pestilence.

.Ezekiel 7:17 (Nov.15.2012) | This is mentioned in 21:7.

.Ezekiel 7:24 (Nov.15.2012) | Highlighted "I will also make the pomp of the strong to cease;"

.Ezekiel 7:26 (Nov.15.2012) | The word "ancients" is used here to refer to the older folks.

Day 322: Ezekiel 8-10

.Ezekiel 8:5 (Nov.17.2012) | Wow, an image of jealousy!

.Ezekiel 8:12 (Nov.17.2012) | They were doing this in secret. The people didn't even know about this.

.Ezekiel 8:14 (Nov.17.2012) | I need to find out who this Tammuz is.

.Ezekiel 8:16 (Nov.17.2012) | I assume these are the spiritual leaders doing this. Notice that they are in the inner court of the Lord's house. From what I remember, if the Lord's house has any similar respect to the tabernacle, I believe only the high priests would have been allowed in there. Some will say "how could they do this in God's house?" but look at the things we've done with our bodies, which is God's temple. (Nov.18.2012) On second thought, my logic was flawed. I assumed that if the high priests are the only ones allowed in there, that they were the ones in there. I overlooked the fact that wrongdoers don't follow the rules. If someone is willing to go against God's law by worshipping the sun, then they will almost certainly be willing to go against God's law also and go into a place where they are not supposed to be. So these 25 people could be anybody. In Ezekiel 11:1 we're told some names of who some of these people are... two princes. If you've spent any amount of time reading the Bible, you know that when people go against God like this, eventually, they reap the consequences. That happens in 11:13.

.Ezekiel 8:17 (Nov.17.2012) | God is able to see sin and look at it, and know it, and how bad it is.

.Ezekiel 9:4-6 (Nov.17.2012) | 1 Peter 4:17 is not the first mention of judgement beginning in the house of the Lord. God says here "begin at my sanctuary."

.Ezekiel 9:7 (Nov.17.2012) | I guess this answers the question from Lamentations 2:20.

.Ezekiel 10:7 (Nov.17.2012) | This answers my question from verse 2, which was "I wonder how much should he take?" For the record, I think the likelihood is next to zero that cherubim look like baby angels. I don't know who came up with that, but I have not seen that anywhere in the Bible.

.Ezekiel 10:9 (Nov.17.2012) | Four wheels, huh? I guess not too much has changed. It's obvious that this was written before the time of cars, but I'd imagine some smart guy had a chariot with four wheels.

.Ezekiel 10:14 (Nov.17.2012) | Sounds like what we saw in 1:6,10 except it has no ox face.

.Ezekiel 10:15 (Nov.17.2012) | Read Ezekiel 1:1 and 1:5-25 to see what he's talking about. He expounds on this in verses 20-21 here in chapter 10.

.Ezekiel 10:20-21 (Nov.17.2012) | Mentioned in 1:5 and 10:15.

.Ezekiel 10:14 (Nov.17.2012) | On second thought, maybe I was wrong in my assessment of verse 14. Perhaps a cherubim face look like an ox face, looking at what 1:10 says.

Day 323: Ezekiel 11-13

.Ezekiel 11:1 (Nov.18.2012) | This happened in Ezekiel 8:16. In 11:13 we finally see some consequences of going against God.

.Ezekiel 11:7 (Nov.18.2012) | human sacrifices?

.Ezekiel 11:13 (Nov.18.2012) | There are some people who will try to rationalize things like this and say it was just a coincidence that the guy died, but it's obvious to me that he reaped the consequence of the type of things he was doing in 8:16, for which he was identified in 11:1. It's obvious to Ezekiel too. I'll go with what the prophet says.

.Ezekiel 11:18-20 (Nov.18.2012) | God has exercised drastic authority before.

.Ezekiel 12:1 (Nov.18.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Ezekiel 12:6 (Nov.18.2012) | God knows some things in life need to be taught first by example, so He has Ezekiel do this first as an example for them to follow, then in verse 12, it's their turn to do it. It would be difficult to ask these rebellious people to do something that you wouldn't do yourself. I believe this is the exact type of thing Jesus was speaking of in Luke 11:46, when He says "Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! For ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers." The word "borne" is another form of the word "bear." Both of these passages speak about bearing burdens in some sense.

.Ezekiel 12:13 (Nov.18.2012) | Am I the first to notice that the beginning of the word "Babylon" is "Baby?" I would have never noticed that, but the name here just so happened to be hyphenated between two lines in this verse.

.Ezekiel 12:16 (Nov.18.2012) | Sounds like the "They" that shall know that He is Lord are both the few men left behind and the heathen.

.Ezekiel 12:18-19 (Nov.18.2012) | Both verses here use the word "carefulness." This is also mention in 4:16, except it says "with care" instead of "careful." This also gives you a hint as to what the word "careful" means in Philippians 4:6 (full of care).

.Ezekiel 12:21 (Nov.18.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Ezekiel 12:26 (Nov.18.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Ezekiel 13:10 (Nov.18.2012) | Ezekiel 13:10

.Ezekiel 13:19 (Nov.18.2012) | "to slay the souls that should not die" includes killing to balance food supply and demand, or to control population.

.Ezekiel 13:23 (Nov.18.2012) | Were there truly ever divine divinations?

Day 324: Ezekiel 14-15

.Ezekiel 14:3 (Nov.19.2012) | God asks the rhetorical question, "Should I be enquired of at all by them?" knowing that they will not enquire of God. This lets us know that God sends people to speak to those who otherwise wouldn't seek Him. It's a tough position for the prophet, because God uses him to go speak to those who don't want to hear what God has to say, that's why they don't enquire of God. They don't want God to tell them they're in the wrong. But God is in charge, and He is the creator. If God wants to say something to somebody, He has every right to do so, even if they don't want to hear it. Unfortunately, people tend to treat the messenger as if the message originated with them, which is true especially for those who don't really believe in God. For those who do believe in God, but want to rebel against Him, the closest they can get to putting their hands on God is to try to put their hands on His messenger.

.Ezekiel 14:3,4 (Nov.19.2012) | As we see here at the beginning of verse three and in verse four, idols can be set up in one's heart, not just physically.

.Ezekiel 14:5 (Nov.19.2012) | We see here that God is heart-focused. He's not merely concerned with what people are doing with their hands and bodies, but what's in their heart that causes them to do it. We also see at the end of this verse that idolatry separates people from God.

.Ezekiel 14:7 (Nov.19.2012) | Here toward the end of verse 7, God speaks about those who come to a prophet to enquire of him concerning God. I don't think God is referring to God's true and honest prophets, such as Ezekiel. I'm pretty sure He's talking about the Ezekiel 13:9 prophets.

.Ezekiel 14:9 (Nov.19.2012) | Highlighted this verse. God is speaking of the prophets He mentioned in 13:9-10 and 13:16.

.Ezekiel 14:13 (Nov.19.2012) | #1 (famine)

.Ezekiel 14:15 (Nov.19.2012) | #2 (noisom beasts)

.Ezekiel 14:17 (Nov.19.2012) | #3 (a sword)

.Ezekiel 14:19 (Nov.19.2012) | #4 (a pestilence)

.Ezekiel 14:21 (Nov.19.2012) | God speaks about His "four sore judgments," which I numbered from the previous verses above.

.Ezekiel 14:14 (Nov.19.2012) | This verse lets us know that Daniel came before this (Ezekiel). All of these three men here were brought through horrible storms.

.Ezekiel 14:16 (Nov.19.2012) | This is a more complete purging than in Noah's time. Noah's children were at least delivered.

.Ezekiel 15:2 (Nov.19.2012) | The vine is called a tree. It's a type of tree. I know there are some people who will say that a vine is a vine, and not a tree, but I'll go with the one who made it. Besides, when I had a vine crawling up the side of the house, it was as thick and tough as a tree. It was thinner, but it was wood, and had to be chopped. However, I wouldn't say that all vines are trees.

.Ezekiel 15:4 (Nov.19.2012) | Speaks about casting the wood of the vine into the fire as fuel; the first fuel.

.Ezekiel 15:7 (Nov.26.2012) | "They shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them" God says. This is possibly a mention of Hell. Hell is specifically mentioned by name in Ezekiel 31:16.

Day 325: Ezekiel 16-17

.Ezekiel 16:3 (Nov.20.2012) | Nativity of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was first mentioned in Joshua 10:1 (http://www.abibleconcordance.com/j200.htm), and it's borders first described in Joshua 15:8.

.Ezekiel 16:6 (Nov.20.2012) | "...when thou wast in thy blood..." is probably referring to Jerusalem's birth, told in verse 4.

.Ezekiel 16:7 (Nov.20.2012) | "...whereas thou wast naked and bare." God, in verse 4, says Jerusalem was not swaddled at all, meaning left naked.

.Ezekiel 16:8-15 (Nov.20.2012) | From verse four to this.

.Ezekiel 16:10 (Nov.20.2012) | Badger skin shoes

.Ezekiel 16:13 (Nov.20.2012) | The last shall be first

.Ezekiel 16:14 (Nov.20.2012) | "...it ["thy beauty"] was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God." In Matthew 5:48, Jesus says "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect."

.Ezekiel 16:17 (Nov.20.2012) | Sounds like they made statues and busts of people to worship.

.Ezekiel 16:24 (Nov.20.2012) | "an high place in every street" tells us how common they were.

.Ezekiel 16:25 (Nov.20.2012) | Opening one's feet, as He so kindly calls it here, is the same as we would call opening one's knees or opening one's legs.

.Ezekiel 16:27 (Nov.20.2012) | "...the daughters of the Philistines, which are ashamed of thy lewd way" shows that the Philistines had better morals.

.Ezekiel 16:28 (Nov.20.2012) | Have you ever dealt with lust? You think if you give in that you're pleasuring your flesh, but you're really making your flesh unpleasable.

.Ezekiel 16:31 (Nov.20.2012) | He says they were not like a harlot because they didn't even get paid or want to get paid for their lewdness. They were like a wife committing adultery, verse 32 says.

.Ezekiel 16:33 (Nov.20.2012) | It's not just about giving/receiving money, gifts count too. Being wined and dined, and given gifts because of your sexual favors you're giving others you're not married to could classify you as a prostitute or harlot as well.

.Ezekiel 16:34 (Nov.20.2012) | Women's so-called sexual liberation is nothing new at all.

.Ezekiel 16:35 (Nov.20.2012) | was still a harlot, even though not getting paid, according to Ezekiel.

.Ezekiel 16:37 (Nov.20.2012) | This means, Jerusalem will not be able to pretend anymore like it's not a whore.

.Ezekiel 16:44 (Nov.20.2012) | (mother past -> daughter now)

.Ezekiel 16:45-46 (Nov.20.2012) | Joshua 10:3-5; Joshua 6; Joshua 8

.Ezekiel 16:49-50 (Nov.20.2012) | highlighted

.Ezekiel 16:51 (Nov.20.2012) | "Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins..."

.Ezekiel 16:52 (Nov.20.2012) | God mentions her "sisters" here, and that she committed worse abominations than her sisters. In verse 56, Sodom is mentioned as being one of her sisters, so possibly this means her abominations were worse than what Sodom did.

.Ezekiel 17:2 (Nov.20.2012) | This is one of the few Old Testament parables. Another I can think of is the one that was told to David to reveal to him his sin with Bathsheba and her husband Uriah the Hittite.

Day 326: Ezekiel 18-19

.Ezekiel 18:2 (Nov.21.2012) | "...ye that use this proverb..." lets us know that proverbs are meant to be used.

.Ezekiel 18:3 (Nov.21.2012) | This proverb from verse two won't apply anymore, as we see in verse 17, which says "he shall not die for the iniquity of his father..."

.Ezekiel 18:17 (Nov.21.2012) | It was mentioned in verse three that, unlike before, children wouldn't bear the iniquity of their parents, which we also see in verse 19.

.Ezekiel 18:19 (Nov.21.2012) | It was mentioned in verse three that, unlike before, children wouldn't bear the iniquity of their parents, which we also see in verse 17.

.Ezekiel 18:20 (Nov.21.2012) | This is an introduction to New Testament type of thinking. "The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him" means that instead of having a wicked parent's wickedness come back and bite the righteous child in the butt, the righteous child will instead reap the reward of his righteous elders. Likewise, a wicked child will reap the punishment or consequences from his wicked elders. So the righteous will be regarded as sons of them that are righteous, and the wicked will be counted as sons of them that are wicked. In other words, God is also saying that if you're following that person over there, instead of me, and you're being raised by him, not me, then you are his, not mine. We see this in different instances, such as in John 8:38-44 when Jesus tells the Jews that their father is the devil, when they tried to claim that Abraham was their father.

.Ezekiel 18:24-28 (Nov.21.2012) | God's thought toward the righteous who switch over, historically does not seem to support the "once saved, always saved" doctrine which some believe. We see also in verse 32 that God has "no pleasure in the death of him that dieth."

.Ezekiel 18:32 (Nov.21.2012) | God has no pleasure in the death of these mentioned in verses 24-26. He would rather them turn from their wickedness and live, like He mentioned in verses 27-28.

.Ezekiel 18:24-28 (Nov.21.2012) | This sounds like the description given of someone who trusts in the Lord. Jeremiah 17:8

Day 327: Ezekiel 20-21

.Ezekiel 20:3 (Nov.22.2012) | This is in verse 31 also. To help us understand what God means when He says "I will not be enquired of by you," we need to look back to Ezekiel 14:3. At first, I thought God was refusing to be enquired of by them, but looking back at 14:3 shows that what God is most likely saying here is that these people are simply not going to enquire/inquire of God. In the same way Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him three times before the cock would crow, God is saying here that these people will not seek Him (God) for direction (or whatever one might inquire of God for).

.Ezekiel 20:4 (Nov.22.2012) | We find similar wording in Ezekiel 16:2.

.Ezekiel 20:9 (Nov.22.2012) | God bringing them out of Egypt also allowed God to destroy them in private, without God giving Himself a bad name in the eyes of the heathen, as we see mentioned in verse 14.

.Ezekiel 20:12 (Nov.22.2012) | God tells the reason for sabbaths.

.Ezekiel 20:14 (Nov.22.2012) | This is mentioned also in verse 9.

.Ezekiel 20:17 (Nov.22.2012) | When God says "mine eye spared them from destroying them," this might be a reference to Moses. Also notice that He says it spared them from destroying them, pointing out that it wouldn't have been God destroying them, but them destroying themselves. Don't get it twisted.

.Ezekiel 20:31 (Nov.22.2012) | God asks a question here and then answers Himself. As mentioned in verse 3, He already knows that they are not going to enquire of Him.

.Ezekiel 20:37 (Nov.22.2012) | highlighted

.Ezekiel 20:43 (Nov.22.2012) | I had written something like this in an old rap I named "Sonshine," saying "[people] won't be having fun doing what they did, because they're grieving what they've done."

.Ezekiel 21:3 (May.18.2014) | What about Psalms 121? I guess this falls in line with Psalms 121:7 about the Lord preserving them from evil. It appears that He has to save them from themselves (those among them who are wicked). Read Hebrews 4:12 about the sword being used to divide.

.Ezekiel 21:10 (May.18.2014) | It appears here that Jesus is mentioned by the Father, although God doesn't say His name.

Day 328: Ezekiel 22-23

.Ezekiel 22:1 (Nov.23.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Ezekiel 22:3 (Nov.23.2012) | As mentioned in my Ezekiel 20:17 notes, they bring their own destruction. God says here, "thou has caused thy days to draw near, and art come even unto thy years..." These things that they were doing were also mentioned in 16:36-37.

.Ezekiel 22:5 (Nov.23.2012) | God calls them "infamous." Infamous pretty much means being famous for the wrong thing; for something bad. For example, we wouldn't say Osama bin Laden was one of the most famous characters of our time, we would say he was one of the most infamous characters of our time, because of his bad reputation.

.Ezekiel 22:7 (Nov.23.2012) | (highlighted)

.Ezekiel 22:12 (Nov.23.2012) | It's obviously not okay to knowingly benefit from someone else's crime.

.Ezekiel 22:14 (Nov.23.2012) | This is another way of God saying they will have feeble hands when He deals with them, as he says plainly in Ezekiel 21:7.

.Ezekiel 22:17 (Nov.23.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Ezekiel 22:18 (Nov.23.2012) | "...the house of Israel is to me become dross..." God says. When metal is heated to an extreme temperature, it becomes liquid and it's impurities float to the surface. That waste is called dross. That dross can then be easily removed, leaving behind a pure metal.

.Ezekiel 22:19 (Nov.23.2012) | This comment is a bit random, but while reading this verse, I noticed that at the end of "Jerusalem" you have "salem," which is said to have originated from the word "shalom," which means peace.

.Ezekiel 22:24-25 (Nov.23.2012) | Highlighted these verses, and underlined "They have put no difference between the holy and profane..."

.Ezekiel 22:18 (Nov.23.2012) | "...to get dishonest gain."

.Ezekiel 22:28-29 (Nov.23.2012) | (highlighted)

.Ezekiel 22:28 (Nov.23.2012) | "divining lies unto them, saying, thus saith the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken." When a false prophet lies on God like that it is considered bearing false witness, mentioned in Matthew 15:19 and Exodus 20:16, although 20:16 isn't specifically speaking about bearing false witness against God.

.Ezekiel 22:29 (Nov.23.2012) | This type of thing is mentioned in Malachi 3:8. Notice here that God specifically speaks about them using oppression, which is something specifically done by someone in a power position. He says they exercised robbery, which is specifically mentioned in Malachi 3:8. And he says they have vexed the poor and needy and oppressed the stranger wrongfully, which are also issues usually regarding the tithe. The poor, needy, and stranger, are spoken of by Jesus in Matthew 25:35-40, saying whatever is done to them is done to Him. If someone in a power position robs the poor, needy, and stranger of their right to a portion of the tithe that is due to them, then they are, in fact, robbing God. This oppression is also spoken of a few verses before, in Malachi 3:5. An oppressor is not someone who is on your same level or beneath you, but someone who has power over you, a leader, who abuses their power.

.Ezekiel 22:30 (Nov.23.2012) | God looked for someone that would stand in the gap like Moses & Jeremiah did. Both of them argued on behalf of the people, and threw themselves in the line of fire between God and the people, calling themselves one of them, convincing God to hold back His wrath for their sake.

.Ezekiel 22:31 (Nov.23.2012) | God speaks similarly in Malachi 4:1. I come across people almost everyday who hold their nose up in the air and act proud, and it's good to know that God includes that in Malachi 4:1 also, and points out plenty times in the Bible that it's unacceptable. That lets me know that God, as high as He is, is not like that toward people. God does not hold His nose up in the air at those beneath Him, whether they be sinners or saints, rich or poor. We constantly find God in the position of being on His knees, trying to have a relationship with those beneath Him. Yes, He sits on the throne, but we don't find Him sitting in his throne eating grapes with angels fanning Him, uncaring about all that's going on and what happens to the little people at His mercy. God is not like that, but very caring, and compassionate, patient, and merciful. It took a long time and plenty effort on their part for these people to get to the position they find themselves in here in Ezekiel 22:31.

Day 329: Ezekiel 24-26

.Ezekiel 24:1-2 (Nov.24.2012) | This is told in Jeremiah 52:4 and 2 Kings 25:1.

.Ezekiel 24:16 (Nov.24.2012) | When God tells him "I take away from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke" He's letting him know what's to come, which we see in verse 18. His wife dies.

.Ezekiel 24:17 (Nov.24.2012) | God tells him here not to cover his lips, so in verse 18 he speaks to the people.

.Ezekiel 24:18 (Nov.24.2012) | Ezekiel does as He was told in verse 16-17 by God. Being a prophet of God means being obedient always. But it is no less required for us who are not prophets to also be obedient, and do as commanded like Ezekiel.

.Ezekiel 24:16-17 (Nov.24.2012) | This is commanded of Ezekiel here, but in verses 22-23 is commanded of the house of Israel, as mentioned in verse 21.

.Ezekiel 24:24 (Nov.24.2012) | What we see here is God using Ezekiel as a role model. In verse 16-17, Ezekiel was commanded to do these things, and he did them. In verse 18, we see that he did as commanded. Now, he's in a position to request that the others do likewise, although it is really God requesting. However, they can't look at him and accuse him of requesting them to do something that he himself wouldn't do because he has already done it. This is like that we saw around Ezekiel 12:6-12 and Matthew 23:4, where Jesus speaks of those who command others to do things that they themselves won't come close to doing. God is not interested in Ezekiel being a dictator, but is using him as an ensample.

.Ezekiel 25:13 (Nov.24.2012) | I wonder why he's going to cut off the beasts from it.

.Ezekiel 26:7 (Nov.24.2012) | Nebuchadrezzar (Nebuchadnezzar) is not lukewarm, so God can use him, instead of spewing him out like mentioned in Revelation 3:16. Unfortunately, he's on the bad side of lukewarm. That means, although God can use him, he's still on God's bad side. He's not getting a "get out of jail free" card. Notice how the evil think they're doing their own will only, but their will is overridden by God's will.

.Ezekiel 26:9-10 (Nov.24.2012) | This is one reason God allows the evil people to prosper; so they can do evil efficiently, and He can use them for that. He uses the evil against the evil.

.Ezekiel 26:19 (Nov.24.2012) | Let me translate "the great waters shall cover thee;" It means you'll die. "The deep" may refer to springs inside the ocean or sea, or may refer to the ocean or sea itself.

.Ezekiel 26:20 (Nov.26.2012) | Could "descended into the pit" be a reference to Hell? Likewise, "the low parts of the earth" may be a reference also. The wording reminds me of what Jesus said in Matthew 12:40 - "the heart of the earth." In fact, Ezekiel 31:16 actually mentions Hell by name when God says "...when I cast him down to Hell with them that descend into the pit..."

.Ezekiel 26:21 (Nov.24.2012) | to "never be found again" means lost, which, in Spanish is the word "perder," which sounds like a similar word to "perdition." Remember, in John 17:12, Jesus says to the Father, "I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition..."

Day 330: Ezekiel 27-29

.Ezekiel 27:12 (Nov.25.2012) | This was a trade center; it says "they traded" here. It sounds like their version of a World Trade Center. We hear a similar type of description of Babylon around Revelation 18:9-17.

.Ezekiel 27:13 (Nov.25.2012) | We see slave trading mentioned here, as well as at the end of Revelation 18:13.

.Ezekiel 27:15 (Nov.25.2012) | Before "Ebony and Ivory" was a hit song by Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney, it was a term found right here in this verse of the Old Testament of the Bible.

.Ezekiel 27:19 (Nov.25.2012) | These "fairs" sound like country fairs, swap meets, flea markets, or bazaars.

.Ezekiel 27:24 (Nov.25.2012) | It mentions that they had blue clothes. I can't seem to find the information now, but I once heard that people who wore blue were usually of the "royal class" because it was so expensive to make blue clothes. I suppose the die was much more rare and expensive, and somewhat like someone wearing an expensive brand name of clothing today.

.Ezekiel 27:32 (Nov.25.2012) | This sounds like the exact same thing said in The Revelation 18:11,18.

.Ezekiel 28:6 (Nov.25.2012) | In their heart they think they are God.

.Ezekiel 28:7 (Nov.25.2012) | In verse 17, God says their wisdom was corrupted because of their brightness. As one modern day celebrity also shows an example of, wisdom can be corrupted and wicked; we can't assume that all wisdom is good and righteous.

.Ezekiel 28:9 (Nov.25.2012) | God says this in even plainer speech as He roasts them here in verse 9. Truth!

.Ezekiel 28:15-16 (Nov.25.2012) | God did not make a flawed man, and He did not make man flawed, but He did make man with the ability to consume.

.Ezekiel 28:17 (Nov.25.2012) | As one modern day celebrity also shows an example of, wisdom can be corrupted and wicked; we can't assume that all wisdom is good and righteous.

.Ezekiel 29:1 (Nov.25.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Ezekiel 29:11,12,13 (Nov.25.2012) | Forty years, or forty, appears to be somewhat of a significant number throughout the Bible.

.Ezekiel 29:17 (Nov.25.2012) | John 1:1,14

.Ezekiel 29:18 (Nov.25.2012) | "...every head was made bald..."

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