Bible In One Year Day 232 (Jeremiah 9, Ezekiel 39, Proverbs 15:1-4)

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Day: 232 Glory in Knowing God 

Agape Bible Study 
Jeremiah 9 

Chapter 9: The Moral Corruption of Judah

The oracles that began in chapter 7 continue in chapters 8-10. Jeremiah is a broken-hearted prophet, living in the midst of a people who have abandoned the God of Israel and who have taken up everything that is vile (8:6; 9:2-9). In Chapter 9, the verse numbers are listed differently in other translations; for example, 9:1 is listed as 9:2 and so on.

Jeremiah 9:1-8 ~ Yahweh Laments the Moral Corruption of His People

This oracle is in the poetic form from 9:1-10 and then continues in as a poetic oracle from 9:16-22. Jeremiah is the one referring to "my people" in verse 1: Who will find me a wayfarer's shelter in the desert, for me to quit my people, and leave them far behind? Is Jeremiah fearful for his life, and does he think that perhaps he should have a safe place to hide from his enemies?
Question: What flight of an earlier prophet who sought shelter in the desert might Jeremiah be recalling? See 1 Kng 19:1-8.
Answer: He is likely recalling the 9^th century BC Prophet Elijah's escape into the wilderness after threats on his life.

Perhaps like Elijah, Jeremiah may be thinking of making a similar journey. His words in verse 1a closely resemble Psalm 55:6-7, And I say, "Who will give me wings like a dove, to fly away and find rest?" How far I would escape, and make a nest in the desert! I would soon find a refuge from the storm of abuse, from the destructive tempest, Lord, from the flood of their tongues.

Yahweh sympathizes with His prophet and recounts the sins of the people, For all of them are adulterers, a conspiracy of traitors. This verse uses the word "adulterers" in the sense of those who apostatize from the covenant with Yahweh, which is a traitorous act.

Jeremiah 9:9-10 ~ Sorrow in Zion

In verse 9 Jeremiah again expresses his anguish for his people. It is not only because of what he knows is their fate (the destruction and exile God pronounces in verse 10), but because they reject God's invitation to repent and be spiritually healed.

Jeremiah 9:11-15 ~ Questions Asked and Answered

Verse 11a breaks the poetic form with Jeremiah's first question but returns with his second question in 11b, only to return to prose in verses 12-15. In verse 11, Jeremiah asks Yahweh three question concerning the destruction of the people. Yahweh answers Jeremiah in verses 12-13.

The three reasons for God's judgment of destruction and exile?

1. The people abandoned the Law of His covenant.
2. They rebelled against Him through a desire to forge their own destinies.
3. They adopted the worship of the Baals (false gods).

Jeremiah 9:16-21 ~ Yahweh's Advice to the Women of Jerusalem

The oracles are in prose in verses 11a-15 (except verse 11b), and then the oracle returns to the poetic form in verses 16-23. The laments are to be offered for the people, the land, and for the fall of Jerusalem which has not yet taken place. Yahweh says the people of Zion should prepare for the funeral of the city of Jerusalem (verse 16). The poem calls for women to lead the mourning for the destruction of the people and the land. Verse 16 doesn't just refer to the professional mourners (the "best at it"), women who were hired to present the customary expression of grief at funerals. All the women must join in the mourning, and mothers must teach their daughters to mourn (verse 19).

Notice the progression of the mourning:

1. First, Jeremiah weeps and mourns (Jer 9:9-10).
2. Then, the women are told they should prepare to lead the mourning (Jer 9:16-18).
3. Finally, the entire city of Jerusalem is heard chanting dirges led by Jerusalem's women and their daughters (Jer 9:19-21).

The background for these poems is probably the ravaging of Judah that was the result of the Babylonian invasion of 598-97 BC. 

Jeremiah 9:22-23 ~ Yahweh Defines True Religion

People prize human wisdom, valor in war, and riches and boast of these attributes. However, in themselves these attributes are not prized by God. Jeremiah denounced the "boast of the wise" in Jeremiah 8:8 when speaking for his foolish countrymen, and he asked, How can you say, "We are wise since we have Yahweh's Law?"
Question: What two reasons did Jeremiah give as for why his people are without wisdom? See Jer 8:9.
Answer: The people are without wisdom, he says, when they falsify Yahweh's written word in the Torah and reject His spoken word through His prophet.

In this passage, Jeremiah says one should only boast about understanding and knowledge of Yahweh. Verse 22 defines "knowledge of Yahweh" as the sum of true religion. The word "religion," is from the Latin word religare, "to tie, fasten, bind," or relegere, "to gather up, treat with care." Religion is not a feeling, emotion, or a series of meaningless actions. True religion is the moral virtue by which a person is disposed to render God worship and righteous service as an expression of a love relationship that comes from an intimate knowledge and understanding of God.

Jeremiah 9:24-25 ~ No Security in the Outward Sign of Circumcision

For Israel the physical sign of circumcision was the symbol of their covenant relationship with Yahweh (Gen 17:9-14). In this prose section, Yahweh repeats that the physical sign of circumcision is not enough.

Agape Bible Study 
Ezekiel 39 

Ezekiel 39:1-16 ~ Part 5: God's Victory Over Gog

Yahweh describes His combat with Gog, depicted as an archer (verse 3). The challenge in 39:1b draws the lines in the conflict: Yahweh is in opposition to Gog! Yahweh outlines His strategy against Gog in seven declarations:

1. I shall turn you about, lead you on
2. bring you from the farthest north against the mountains of Israel
3. I shall make you food for every kind of bird of prey and wild animals
4. You will fall in the wilds, for I have spoken, declares the Lord Yahweh
5. I shall send down fire on Magog and on those living undisturbed in the islands
6. I shall see that my holy name is acknowledged by my people Israel, and no longer allow my holy name to be profaned
7. the nations will know that I am Yahweh, holy in Israel

God's judgment includes no proper burial for Gog's warriors who are the food of birds and scavengers and destruction by fire (verses 5-6). 

Ezekiel 39:17-20 ~ Part 6: The Sacrificial Victory Banquet

Verses 17-20 are a repeat of 39:4b and depicts an event in which all will acknowledge Yahweh's sovereignty as supreme. The scene is set in a vast sacrificial feast at which all living creatures will partake of the sacrificed victims. God commands Ezekiel to summon birds and animals the bizarre sacrificial feast at which all the animals will partake of the sacrificed victims, the flesh and blood of the enemies of God's covenant people, in Yahweh's honor (cf. Is 25:6-8). The text reveals the sacrificial character of the feast by comparing the dead warriors to animals acceptable for sacrifice (see Ps 22:12; Amos 4:1). The description of eating flesh and drinking blood only refers to the animals and since such practices were forbidden for humans (Gen 9:4; Lev 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-12, 14; 19:26; Dt 12:16, 23-28). According to the Law, blood and fat were not consumed by the members of the covenant family but reserved for God on His sacrificial altar (Lev 3:16-17).

The Book of Revelation uses similar imagery in the eschatological banquet of the Lamb and His Bride, the Church, at the end of time (Rev 19:17-18). However, that final feast celebrates the defeat of Satan and all of God's enemies and the recreation event of the new Heaven and new earth. It is the feast to which our Eucharistic banquet anticipates.

The Gog and Magog people being walled off by Alexander's forces Jean Wauquelin's 

Ezekiel 39:21-29 ~ Part 7: Israel and the Nations Acknowledge Yahweh and His Final Word

Verses 21-29 are the conclusion of the oracle and sums up the reason for Israel's restoration announced in Chapters 33-39 that is the glory and holiness of God. The nations and Israel will acknowledge God's mighty works in defeating the powers of evil. In verse 23, God declares that defeat and exile were God's just punishments when He "hid His face" (verse 29) from His people because of their unrepented sins (Num 6:24-26; Ps 13:1; 22:24; 27:9; 104:29; Is 54:8; 57:17; 59:2; 64:7). However, God promises to restore the fortunes of Israel and bring them back. Notice that the return to complete restoration to the land and their relationship with Yahweh is in the future tense, predicting a future event (verse 27).

I shall pour out my spirit on the House of Israel, declares the Lord Yahweh.
Vere 29 proclaims the greatest gift of the renewal of Israel that is the outpouring of God's Spirit. God will "pour out" His spirit in contrast to having previously poured out His wrath. To pour out His spirit upon His covenant people is to spiritually restore them to holiness in communion with their holy God.

Christians understand this verse as an announcement of the presence of the Holy Spirit who renews the New Covenant people of God, the Kingdom of Jesus' Church, with His many gifts: "The Church, which the Spirit guides in the way of all truth and which he unified in communion and in works of ministry, he both equips and directs with hierarchical and charismatic gifts and adorns with his fruits. By the power of the Gospel, he makes the Church keep the freshness of youth. Uninterruptedly he renews her and leads her to perfect union with her Spouse" (Vatican II, Lumen gentium, 4).

Where do the Events depicted in Chapters 38-39 stand in Salvation History?

We understand that the invasion of Gog's army and its defeat is a future event beyond Ezekiel's time, but is it a future event in our time? The Book of Revelation, the last Bible book, has ties to the Book of Ezekiel at many points, especially the last twelve chapters of Ezekiel and St. John's concluding chapters in the Book of Revelation. Gog and Magog are mentioned again in the Book of Revelation: When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to lead astray all the nations in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and mobilize them for war, his armies being as many as the sands of the sea. They came swarming over the entire country and besieged the camp of the saints, which is the beloved City. But the fire rained down on them from heaven and consumed them (Rev 20:7-9).

St. John uses the same vivid imagery of Ezekiel 38-39, calling the ungodly forces Gog and Magog, but it cannot be the same enemy, and it cannot be synonymous with the eschatological (end time) Battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:16). There are significant differences between Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:7-9 and Ezekiel 38-39:

1. The reason for Gog's invasion of Israel in the Ezekiel passage is to plunder her silver and gold and take her cattle (38:11-13).
2. All of Gog's warriors are on horseback (38:15); there are no soldiers in motorized vehicles like trucks, jeeps, tanks, helicopters, or jets.
3. All of Gog's warriors carry swords, wooden shields, and wooden bows (39:3, 9).
4. The victorious Jews will burn their weapons for fuel for seven years (39:9-10).

None of these details point to events taking place in the modern age.

In addition, the war of Gog and Magog in Revelation cannot be identical to the Gog prophecy in Ezekiel for these reasons:

1. In Ezekiel's account, the enemy is Gog from the land of Magog. In Revelation, Gog and Magog are one entity.
2. Ezekiel's Gog is a prince or chief ruler (Ez 38:2). In Revelation, Gog and Magog are a confederation of nations across the face of the earth (Rev 20:7).
3. In Ezekiel, God comes against Israel with people from various countries in the geographic region of Israel. In Revelation, Gog and Magog are nations beguiled by Satan from the four quarters of the earth and number as the sands of the sea.
4. In Ezekiel, Gog's warriors come against the covenant people who have recently returned from captivity and are dwelling in towns without walls. In Revelation, Gog and Magog come to encompass the city of the saints from the breadth of the earth.
5. In Ezekiel, when God' people defeat the army of Gog, they burn the enemy's wooden weapons. In Revelation, God destroys Gog and Magog with fire from Heaven, and nothing remains.

In Revelation, Gog and Magog (mentioned as one like the combination "Hitler and Germany") become a symbol for Gentile nations and their rulers who stand in opposition to God and His Divine Plan for Israel and mankind's universal salvation (see Ps 2). It is a symbol like the other symbols in Revelation used in the same way:

1. The Jezebel of Revelation (Rev 2:20) is not the same woman as in the Book of Kings (1 Kng 16:29-31; 18:3-4, 19; 19:1-18; 21:5-16; 2 Kng 9:30-37).
2. Sodom in Revelation (11:8) is not the same Sodom as in Genesis 19.
3. Babylon in Revelation (Rev 11:8; 18:8-9, 24) is not the Babylon of the Old Testament books.
4. The "new" Jerusalem in Revelation (Rev 3:12; 19:7-9; 21:1-22:5) cannot mean the old Jerusalem.

In each instance, the former serves as a Biblical type. Queen Jezebel had already died, the cities of Sodom and Babylon had already received God's judgment, and the battle of Ezekiel 38-39 had already met its fulfillment within the setting of the time before the Advent of the Christ.

Question: There is another significant difference. When God ordains the time is ready for the final defeat of Satan, what will happen to initiate the great battle in Revelation 20:7?
Answer: The release of Satan from the Abyss will initiate the final battle.

Satan was released earlier in Revelation Chapter 9 to lead the attack against the "Great City." That war was a prelude that foreshadows the final battle in the Book of Revelation.
Question: For what reason will he be released in addition to leading the nations astray? Hint: see Matthew 13:37-43. What is the outcome of Jesus parable of the wheat and the weeds?
Answer: When both the wheat (believers) and the weeds/tares (those who reject Christ) come to full maturity, Satan will be released for a short time to deceive the nations in one last attempt to overthrow the Kingdom of Christ.

Overthrowing the rule of Christ on earth has been Satan's goal from the beginning. Perhaps you recall the concentration of demonic activity during Jesus' ministry? Satan knew he was facing the ultimate fight. But God used Satan to fulfill His plan by allowing Satan to engineer his defeat at the Cross. This last and final battle described in the Book of Revelation will be the sequel to the last attempt to defeat God's plans for man's salvation. Satan will be released to bring about the last rebellion.

In this last battle sequence in the Book of Revelation, St. John uses vivid imagery from the book of the Prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel Chapters 38-39 the prophet predicts the victory over the evil army and the reestablishment of Israel as an independent nation. Ezekiel writes about Gog and Magog, but they are not the same Gog and Magog of Revelation chapter 20. In Ezekiel, Gog is a prince and in Revelation a nation. In Revelation, Gog and Magog become the standard expression for rebellious nations just as Jezebel (in Rev 2:20) is not the same woman as the harlot queen of Israel in the book of 1Kings. Instead the Jezebel of Revelation 2:20 is a "type" of the previous Jezebel just as Gog and Magog are a "type" of the rebellious nations under the influence of Satan in the Last Battle in salvation history.

The rebellious nations in the Book of Revelation, symbolized by Gog and Magog, are "from the four corners of the earth" "in other words, not centrally located. They are numbered "like the sands of the sea" which is hyperbolic imagery to express their great numbers (see Josh 11:4; Judg 7:12; 1 Sam 13:5; 2 Sam 17:11 1 Kng 4:20, 29; Job 6:3; Is 15:8; 33:22; Hos 1:10, etc.). It is the same hyperbole used by Joshua for the Canaanite nations in Joshua 11:4 and for the numbers of the Midianites defeated by Gideon in Judges 7:12. 

Joshua's defeat of the Canaanites and Gideon's defeat of the Midianites became two of the greatest victories in the history of the covenant people. The victory against the armies of Satan is going to be a repeat of those first victories to take possession of the Promised Land! And it is the real "Promised Land" that is at stake! Just as God brought judgment on the Jerusalem Temple in 587 BC and again in 70 AD, so too will He bring judgment on the earth in the final battle. And just as God brought judgment on Judea and Jerusalem who heard the Word and rejected Christ, so will He also bring the same judgment on the nations and great cities of the earth: on Rome, on Ephesus, and on Washington D.C., Paris, London, etc.

In Revelation 20:9-10, St. John writes again in the imagery of Ezekiel Chapters 38-39 where Ezekiel describes how the invaders advance until they reach the mountains of Judah, the location of the great city of Jerusalem. The reference to the "camp of Saints" recalls the kahal or "called out" sacred assembly "camp of God" of the Sinai Covenant Church. When David took Jerusalem in 1003 BC, the city which became known as "Yahweh will provide peace" in Hebrew, [yireh (jireh)-salem] became Jerusalem [in Hebrew, Yerusalem] the "holy camp of God."

Question: What is this beloved city? Hint: see Revelation 21:9; 22:5.
Answer: In this scene, Jerusalem has become the symbol of the "beloved city" of the New Covenant Church.

Like Ezekiel's vision, the overwhelming power of God suddenly halts the invasion as God destroys the unbelievers with fire and condemns the devil to Hell and eternal torment. Satan's release from the Abyss was a trap intended to draw the forces of evil out into the open to destroy them. Once again Scripture teaches the everlasting duration of divine punishment (also see Mt 18:8; 25:41, 46; Mk 4:43, 48). One point to note is that in the Premillennial view of a perfect Messianic kingdom before the Second Coming of Christ, how could Satan be successful in orchestrating such a defection and rebellion? However, if the Millennium rule is the Age of the Church, it is understandable that there would be those in the world who had either not yielded themselves to Christ or abandoned Christ and, therefore, yielded themselves to Satan.

Citation 677 in the Catechism concerns the passage relating to the Church and the final battle of Gog and Magog in the Book of Revelation 20:7-10: "The Church will enter the glory of the kingdom only through this final Passover, when she will follow her Lord in his death and Resurrection (Rev 19:1-9). The kingdom will be fulfilled, then, not by a historic triumph of the Church through a progressive ascendancy, but only by God's victory over the final unleashing of evil, which will cause his Bride to come down from heaven (Rev 13:8; 20:7-10; 21:2-4). God's triumph over the revolt of evil will take the form of the Last Judgment after the final cosmic upheaval of this passing world (Rev 20:12; 2 Pt 3:12-13)."

If Ezekiel's defeat of Gog of Magog is not the vision St. John describes in the Book of Revelation, what is it that Ezekiel predicts? Some Biblical scholars believe the events in Ezekiel Chapters 38 and 39 depict the Maccabees' defeat of the Syrian Greeks in the 2^nd century BC (Ezekiel's ministry was in the 6^th century BC). The Macedonian king, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), was one of the most successful conquers in history. He conquered Greece, Asia Minor, Tyre, Gaza, Egypt, the kingdoms of Mesopotamia, Persia, parts of India, and the Levant that included Judah. After his death, four of his generals divided his empire.

Judah was first dominated by the Greek Ptolemaic Pharaohs of Egypt and then by the Greek Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid Greek Syrians (312 BC-63 BC), at the height of their empire, controlled the greater part of the division of Alexander's empire with domination over central Anatolia (Turkey), Persia, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and what is now Kuwait, Afghanistan, parts of Pakistan and Turkmenistan. These are the territories mentioned that composed the combined forces of the armies of Gog.

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A Daily Defense
DAY 232 The Women at the Tomb

CHALLENGE: “The Gospels contradict each other about which women went to Jesus’ tomb.”

DEFENSE: The Gospels simply record different details.

The following women are mentioned as going to the tomb:

• Mary Magdalen and the “other Mary,” who is identified as “the mother of James and Joseph” (Matt. 28:1; cf. Matt. 27:56, 61)

• Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (Mark 16:1)

• Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them (Luke 24:10)

• Mary Magdalen (John 20:1)

For a contradiction to exist, one Gospel would have to assert a particular woman was there and another would have to deny she was, but this is not what happens. No Gospel asserts any of the women wasn’t there. This means different evangelists merely chose to record different details, in keeping with the choices every author must make (see Day 258’s discussion of descriptive approximation).

Based on Luke’s list, which is the most extensive, there were a minimum of five women who went to the tomb and possibly more, so it’s not surprising the evangelists chose not to name everyone.

We may be able to determine why they made some of the choices they did. Mary Magdalen is always mentioned first, indicating a special prominence. It’s likely she went on to be the most well-known female witness to the empty tomb in the first-century Church.

The other named women may be mentioned because the evangelist who names them was personally familiar with their testimony. Named individuals in the Gospels sometimes appear to be the key tra dents (tradition-bearers) for the sections where they appear . It’s also possible they were mentioned because they were known to the audiences of the individual Gospels (compare the way Mark 15:21 mentions Alexander and Rufus, who were apparently known to his audience). It’s even possible the named women were among the Gospels’ intended audiences.

The reason John mentions only Mary Magdalen is likely because he intended to supplement the synoptic Gospels (see Bauckham, “John for Readers of Mark” in The Gospels for All Christians), because she was involved in his own eyewitness experience (John 20:1–10), and because he had information about her encounter not recorded in the other Gospels (John 20:11–18).

Jimmy Akin, A Daily Defense: 365 Days (Plus One) to Becoming a Better Apologist