Bible In One Year Day 233 (Jeremiah 10-11, Ezekiel 40, Proverbs 15:5-8)

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Day 233: Correct Me Lord 

Agape Bible Study 
Jeremiah 10 - 11 

Chapter 10: Idols of the Nations and the True God

Chapter 10 is divided into two parts: the first part is a hymn that contrasts meaningless idols with the majesty of the living God who created the heavens and the earth in verses 2-16. The second part is a call for judgment against those who stand in opposition to God in verses 17-25.

Chapter 10:1-16 is a hymn that switches back and forth between the condemnation of foreign idols and Yahweh the One True God in verses 2-16:

Verses 2-5	foreign idols
Verses 6-7	Yahweh, King of the nations
Verses 8-9	foreign idols
Verse 10	Yahweh the true God, the living God, and everlasting King
Verse 11	foreign gods
Verses 12-13	Yahweh God who has sovereignty over Creation
Verses 14-15	foreign idols
Verses 16	Yahweh, heritage of Jacob, maker of everything

Jeremiah 10:1-5 ~ The Meaningless Idols of the Gentile Nations

Two themes are the focus of Chapter 10:1-16:

1. the nothingness of false gods (10:1-5)
2. the uniqueness of Yahweh the Creator (10:6-16)

Jeremiah 10:6-16 ~ The Uniqueness of Yahweh the Creator

Verses 6-9 are missing from the Greek Septuagint translation and also from the Dead Sea Jeremiah Scroll 4QJer6. Jeremiah summed up the ineffectiveness of the pagan idols in verse 5, Like scarecrows in a melon patch, they cannot talk, they have to be carried, since they cannot walk. Have no fear of them: they can do no harm, nor any good either! Then in verses 6-7, he compares the nothingness of pagan idols to the majesty of Yahweh, 6 Yahweh, there is no one like you, so great you are, so great your mighty name. 7 Who would not revere you, King of nations? Yes, this is your due. Since of all the wise among the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is not a single one like you.

"Name" (shem) signifies the essential character of Yahweh (Ex 3:13-14). God and His name are synonymous, and therefore Yahweh is Himself great (vs 6b).

7 Who would not revere you, King of nations?
Verse 7 begins by offering a contrast to the pagan idols that no one should fear (verse 5) and a rebuke to the people who have no fear of God, as Jeremiah lamented in 5:22. The point is that fear/reverence of Yahweh is founded upon the awesome power of the Creator and His relationship to those who are obedient to His covenant. The title "King of nations" is a reminder of God's sovereignty over the earth He created and the nations that dwell on it, as is repeatedly proclaimed in the Psalms:

• Psalm 22:28, For to Yahweh, ruler of the nations, belongs kingly power!
• Psalm 47:7-8, For he is king of the whole world; learn the music, let it sound for God! God reigns over the nations, seated on his holy throne.
• Psalm 96:10, Say among the nations, "Yahweh is king." The world is set firm, it cannot be moved. He will judge the nations with justice.

Jeremiah 10:17-21 ~ Prepare for Judah's Mortal Wound

Verses 17-21 comprise the second part of Chapter 10. Yahweh is speaking through His prophet. The danger to Judah and Jerusalem appears more imminent than in Jeremiah 9:9-21.

Physical and emotional suffering is the result of sin, either as a consequence of personal sins committed by an individual or as a result of the suffering of the innocent caused by the corrupting power of sin and evil in the world. 

Question: Does God intend that the innocent should suffer? See Wis 2:13, 24.
Answer: No! It is not God's will that the innocent should suffer, Because God did not make death, nor does he rejoice in the destruction of the living. For he fashioned all things that they might have being ... But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world...

We should view personal suffering that is the result of sinful influences as a chastisement that is an opportunity for us to turn away from sin and to turn back to fellowship with God. Scripture addresses the condition of suffering for both the guilty and the innocent. In the Old Testament, the innocent who suffered because of the guilty became an offering to God, and their suffering counted toward their ultimate salvation. In the New Testament, personal suffering of the innocent that comes from sin in the world can be of value when the person unites his/her suffering to the suffering of Christ on the Cross. His/her suffering then becomes a holy sacrifice. Redemptive suffering can atone for sin and can bring the person to a more intimate personal relationship with Christ, aiding in the person's journey to salvation.

St. Paul wrote concerning the expiation of our sins and our promise of glory associated in offering up our sacrifice of suffering united to Christ, The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him (Rom 8:16-17). St. Peter wrote ...Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example so that we should follow in his steps (1 Pt 2:21; see CCC 307, 618, 1460, 1508).

Jeremiah 10:22-25 ~ Pour out Your Anger

Jeremiah is speaking to Yahweh. Verses 22 announces the end of the foe-lament series that began in Jeremiah 4:5-6, and the series ends as it began with a watchman's report that the enemy is advancing. Like Habakkuk and Ezekiel, Jeremiah is Yahweh's watchman. Verse 22 is the third repetition that the enemy from the north is coming (see 4:6 and 6:22).

to reduce the towns of Judah to desert, to a lair for jackals!
The curse of jackals was mentioned in 9:10. It is a frequent curse in Scripture; wild animals were known to inhabit the ruins of an abandoned city (see for example Ps 44:19; 63:10; Is 13:22; 34:13; 35:7; Jer 9:11; 10:22; 14:6; 49:33; 51:37; 5:18; Ez 13:4; Mic 1:8; Ma 1:3).

Jeremiah knows that ultimately it is Yahweh who guides the lives of people and their affairs. It is a theme repeated throughout Scripture (for example see 2 Chr 27:6; Ps 37:23; Prov 3:5-6; 16:9; 20:24; Rom 7:18-20).

Jeremiah 11:1-5 ~ The Curses of the Covenant

1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yahweh
This same introduction to an oracle as in Jeremiah 7:1; 18:1; 21:1 (with a slight variation) and in 30:1. Verses 1-5 contain the first of the three covenant oracles.

2 Hear the terms [words] of this covenant; tell them to the people of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Verse 2 is a summary of the oracle's message. The word "hear" is plural and defines the scope of this directive that is to all the people without exception of their social standing in the community. The literal Hebrew is "words (debar plural) of this covenant," but it is also acceptable to translate debar as "terms" in this context.

Verse 2 has the first of many "covenant" references in the Book of Jeremiah. Covenants mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah:

• The God-ordained covenant with Israel at Sinai (11:1-14; 22:9; 34:13).
• The God-ordained covenants that included the Davidic covenant, the Aaronic priestly covenant, and the covenant with Adam and creation (33:20-26).
• The covenant King Zedekiah made with the people to free Hebrew slaves (34:8-22).
• God's promise of a New and Eternal Covenant (31:31-34; 32:40 and 50:5).

Jesus' referred to the New Covenant at the Last Supper in Luke 22:20 and so did St. Paul in his description of the Last Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:25.

Jeremiah 11:6-8 ~ Obeying the Covenant

This passage is the second of the covenant oracles, and it stresses the necessity of not just "hearing" but "doing" the commandments. Jeremiah is told to proclaim the covenant oracle to every citizen of Judah, telling them that because of their apostasy the covenant curse-judgments are now "put into action." That he is to proclaim the covenant lawsuit "in the towns of Judah" doesn't mean that he traveled to all the towns. It is a reoccurring phrase and means his message in Jerusalem concerns all the towns in Judah. Those citizens from other towns visiting Jerusalem and the Temple will carry his message to their towns.

Jeremiah 11:9-13 ~ The Covenant is Broken
This passage is the third of the covenant oracles. Notice the movement of the oracles from Jeremiah's present time to the past of the Exodus generation and now in verses 9-14 back again to Jeremiah's present time. The charge of the people's treason, that includes the already destroyed Northern Kingdom of Israel (722 BC), is that 10 They have reverted to the sins of their ancestors who refused to listen to my words: they too are following other gods and serving them. The House of Israel and the House of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with their ancestors. Verse 10 is the summary statement for the oracles. "Their ancestors" in this case refers to the Exodus generation and the covenant formation at Mt. Sinai establishing Israel as a nation belonging to Yahweh their divine King, So now, if you are really prepared to obey me and keep my covenant, you, out of all peoples, shall be my personal possession, for the whole world is mine (Ex 19:5).

Jeremiah 11:14-17 ~ Yahweh's Rebuke of Temple Worshippers

In this passage, there are two speakers:

1. Yahweh speaks to Jeremiah in verse 14 (prose), to an unspecified audience in verse 15a, and then directly to the people in verse 15b (poetry in verse 15).
2. Jeremiah speaks directly to the people in verse 16a, followed by speaking to an unspecified audience in verse 16b (poetry in verse 16), and again directly to the people in verse 17 (prose).

Jeremiah 11:18-23 ~ Jeremiah's Persecution

Jeremiah 11:19 is a verse frequently used as a proof-text by the Fathers of the Catholic Church in support of the prophecies in the Old Testament that referred to the promise of Eucharist. The key words are the Hebrew word ets that can mean "tree" or "wood" (Strongs, H6086) and the Hebrew word for "bread" that is lehem/lechem (Strongs, H3899). An additional key word is be/belehmo that can mean "in," "for," "with," or "through" and where belehmo translates "in" or "with" or "for" its bread. The Fathers of the Church and Catholic liturgy applied this verse to the Passion of Christ who died on the wood/tree of the cross and to the gift of the Eucharist when Jesus offered the bread at the Last Supper, saying "this is my Body" (Mt 26:26; Mk 14:22; Lk 22:19).

In verses 20-21, Jeremiah asks God to bring His vengeance upon Jeremiah's kinsmen who conspire to kill him. In verses 22-23, God promises Jeremiah that He will indeed bring divine judgment against Jeremiah's priestly kinsmen.

Agape Bible Study 
Ezekiel 40 

Chapter 40: Ezekiel's Vision of the Future Temple

Ezekiel 40:1-48:35 presents a lengthy narrative of Ezekiel's vision of the new Temple, the new Israel, and the new Jerusalem.

Chapter 40: The Future Temple

 

The focus of the final vision in Chapters 40-48 was presented previously in the book: the need for the cleansing and renewal of the people, the land, and the liturgy of worship. Purification and renewal are the only ways that a right relationship with God can be established and maintained for His covenant people. The description of the new Temple in Ezekiel's final vision is very detailed and difficult to follow. However, the description does convey the idea of a perfect dwelling place for Yahweh the Most High. Ezekiel's final vision is in four parts:

1. Ezekiel receives a guided tour of an idealized Temple complex (Chapters 40-42).
2. He witnesses the glory of Yahweh returning to the rebuilt Temple, whose departure he saw in the first Temple vision in 10:18-22 (Chapter 43:1-12).
3. Then, his angelic guide gives him instruction in the Torah relevant to the new structure and the community gathered around it (Chapter 43:13-46:24).
4. Finally, the guide defines and describes the land beyond the Temple (Chapters 47-48).

Measuring Rod and Flax Cord

Ezekiel 40:1-4 ~ Announcement of the Vision and the Man with a Measuring Rod

The date for the vision in verse 1 is the tenth day of Abib (March/April), the first month in the Liturgical Calendar (Ex 12:1-1; 13:4) in 573 BC, fourteen years after the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Babylonians. Returning exiles will later use the Babylonian name "Nisan" for this month.

Question: What is significant about the tenth day of the first month in the covenant people's Liturgical Calendar concerning Israel's history and the Passion of the Christ? See Ex 12:1-6 and Jn 12:1, 12-15. Hint: remember that the ancients did not count with the concept of a zero place-value; therefore, six days before the Passover (celebrated on the 14^th) in John 12:1 makes Jesus' visit to Bethany the 9^th day of the first month.
Answer: The 10^th of the first month was the day the Israelites in Egypt selected the victim for the Passover sacrifice, according to God's command. The 10^th day of the first month is also the day Jesus of Nazareth rode into Jerusalem as the true Lamb of sacrifice on Palm/Passion Sunday.

Question: What three expressions in 40:1b-3 locate the site of Ezekiel's visionary experience?
Answer:

1. The land of Israel
2. A very high mountain
3. A city on the south side of the mountain

The Hebrew word eres yisra'el means "land of Israel" (the expression is also in 27:17 and 47:18). Har gaboah me'od means "a very high mountain," and ir means "city" (Interlineal Bible Hebrew-English, vol. III, page 2003; The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon). Visionary experiences on a "very high mountain" recalls Moses' visionary experience on Mt. Sinai when, in the company of God, he viewed the heavenly Sanctuary (Ez 24:18-31:18), and the Transfiguration of the Christ experienced by Peter, James, and John on what Matthew's Gospel calls "a high mountain" (Mt 17:1-2). See the chart on the holy mountains of God in Scripture.

Arriving at the Temple, Ezekiel sees the mysterious figure of a man. The man has a form that glows like bronze. His bronze figure is reminiscent of the bronze figures that Ezekiel saw supporting Yahweh's chariot throne in Ezekiel 1:7. The description is also similar to the angelic interpreter with the measuring rod to determine the width and length of Jerusalem in Zechariah 2:5 and St. John's vision of the glorified Christ in Revelation 1:15 whose feet looked like polished bronze. The man held two measuring devices: a flax cord and a measuring rod. The cord made of flax fibers was used like a modern carpenter's tape to measure longer distances while the measuring rod was used like a modern ruler or yardstick to measure shorter distances. The formula saying "he took me"/"then he took me," announces most of the sections of the Temple vision that the angelic figure describes to Ezekiel.

Question: What two functions does the angelic figure fulfill?
Answer: He is Ezekiel's guide, and he is a surveyor.

The figure serves as a guide like the angelic guide in Ezekiel's first Temple vision in Chapter 8. The opening words of the guide suggest that he was expecting Ezekiel.
Question: In verse 4, what four instructions does the angelic guide give Ezekiel?
Answer:

1. look carefully
2. listen closely
3. pay attention to everything I show you
4. tell the House of Israel everything you see

Angelic guides or interpreters are present in Daniel 8:16; 9:21ff; 10:5ff; Zechariah 1:8ff; 2:2-4; and the Book of Revelation. In some cases, it is possible that the angelic guide is the pre-Incarnate Jesus Christ, and in Revelation, He is the Glorified Christ.

Question: What do Ezekiel's two Temple visions have in common?
Answer: The Temple visions are both associated with dates and angelic guides.

Ezekiel 40:5-16 ~ The Exterior Features of the Temple Compound

There were two different cubit measurements used in the ancient Near East: the common cubit of six palms/handbreadths (18 inches/45cm) and the older "great" or "royal" cubit of seven palms/handbreadths (21 inches/53cm). Both were used for linear measurements. In verse 5, the angelic guide uses the great or royal cubit which measures six cubits long (common cubit) and a palm. The measurement used in building Solomon's Temple was the shorter cubit (2 Chr 3:3; also see Ez 43:13). The "rod" in verses 3 and 5 was a little longer than 10 feet 3 inches/315 cm.²

However, the structure Ezekiel sees is not Solomon's Temple, destroyed fourteen years earlier, nor is the modest Temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel after the return from exile. Instead, Chapters 40-48 appear to describe the ideal Temple that reflects the perfection of the heavenly Sanctuary. Or, perhaps it symbolizes the perfect place for God's people, redeemed by the sacrifice of Christ, to offer worship and sacrifice within the temples of their lives. As St. Paul writes: Do you not realize that you are a temple of God with the Spirit of God living in you? If anybody should destroy the temple of God, God will destroy that person, because God's temple is holy; and you are that temple (1 Cor 3:16-17; also see Acts 7:48; 17:24).

The angelic figure measures an idealized Temple that Ezekiel describes as a huge, rectangular walled space (verses 1-17). The Temple's orientation is from east to west like the desert Sanctuary and Solomon's Temple. At its center is another walled space that covers about a tenth of the total space (verses 28-47). The western area of the smaller space of the main Temple is also a rectangle (40:48-41:26). Inside the Temple's Sanctuary, there is a vestibule (porch), the nave (Holy Place), and the holiest place (Holy of Holies) in the westernmost part of the Temple.

The dimensions of each area and every room appear in great detail, but it is all symbolic. Evidence that points to the symbolic nature of the vision is the repetition of the symbolic numbers seven, eight, and ten. Seven is the number symbolizing perfection, especially spiritual perfection, eight is the number of rebirth/regeneration, and ten is the number symbolizing the perfection of divine order. Other repeated numbers are twenty-five and fifty.

The mysterious guide engaged in measuring the dimensions of the Temple suggests the action of both setting boundaries and judging. These are two actions associated with the people's covenant relationship with Yahweh. They must live within the boundaries of the Law, separating the sacred from the profane (42:20) so God will judge them as worthy.

Ezekiel 40:17-23 ~ Visions of the Outer Court and the North Gate

The three gates to the outer court are apparently alike, but the passage only describes the east gate in detail. Before moving to the north gate, the guide leads Ezekiel through the east gate for a look at the outer court. What he sees isn't clear because Biblical scholars dispute the meaning of the technical architectural terms. There were evidently chambers facing the paved courtyard. Ezekiel 42:6 appears to suggest that these rooms were pillared porticoes like those in Solomon's Temple and also in the Second (Herod's) Temple where Jesus, Peter, and the Apostles taught and healed (Jn 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12). Ezekiel counts thirty chambers (cf. Jer 35:2-4; Neh 13:4-14) probably used for meetings or storage.

Verse 20 moves to the northern gate of the outer wall that contains all the features of the former three: three recesses on either side of the walkway, jambs, a vestibule, niches, and palm decorations as well as identical measurements. An additional detail is the seven steps leading up to the gate, indicating the elevation of the entire temple complex above the surrounding landscape. One can assume the other gates also had seven steps.

Ezekiel 40:24-27 ~ Visions of the South Gate and the Inner Court

The guidance formula saying that was missing in the last section reappears in verse 24, opening the description of the southern gate that is a duplicate of the eastern and northern outer gates.

Ezekiel 40:28-31 ~ The Gates of the Inner Wall

Leaving the outer gates, the guide brings Ezekiel through a series of gateways that provide passage to an inner court. An inner wall apparently separates the inner court from the outer.

Ezekiel 40:32-37 ~ Visions of the Inner Court

The south, east, and north gates leading from the outer to the inner courtyards involves an elevation of eight stairs and pilasters decorated with palm trees.

Ezekiel 40:38-46 ~ The Courtyard of Sacrifice

Chambers were located in one of the inside gates, probably the north one since it had just been described. These rooms were probably for the preparation of animal sacrifices in the activities of washing and slaughtering before offering the sacrifice on the altar. Instructions for whole burnt offerings and sin offerings are in Leviticus Chapters 1 and 4-7. Why would it be necessary for the heavenly Temple to have accommodations for animals offered in sacrifice as a holocaust or for whole burnt offerings?

Question: What is the only sacrifice St. John views in the heavenly Temple in Revelation 5:6-10?
Answer: John sees Jesus, the Lamb of God, whose blood redeemed the people of God from every nation under Heaven.

Verses 44-46 describe rooms for priests:

1. The north chamber was for the priestly descendants of Aaron through the line of Zadok who the passage says could perform the altar sacrifices.
2. The south chamber was for the ministers of lesser status: the Levites who served as assistants to the chief priests (Lev 3:5, 9-10), Temple guards, and in the choir (1 Chr 16).

Zadok was a priestly descendant of Aaron through his third son, Eleazar (1 Chr 6:50-53). Zadok served as the High Priest under David and his son Solomon. Zadok and his descendants were responsible for the high priesthood in Jerusalem from the time of Solomon until the destruction of the Temple in 587/6 BC (2 Chr 31:10). Verse 46 suggests that the high priesthood be restricted to Zadokites because they had never committed apostasy during the time of the monarchy (cf. 40:46; 43:19; 44:15; 48:11).⁴

Ezekiel 40:47-49 ~ Visions of the Inner Court and the Sanctuary's Portico

The guide leads Ezekiel into the Temple proper. The inner court formed a perfect square, considered the shape of perfection or holiness. It is odd that there is no mention of an Altar of Sacrifice in the inner courtyard as in Solomon's Temple. Ten steps led up to the Temple's entrance. There are three essential elements to the Sanctuary:

1. The Ulam that is the vestibule or porch (40:48-49)
2. The Hekal that is the Nave or Holy Place (41:1-2)
3. The Debir that is the Holy of Holies (41:3-4)

The Ulam is the vestibule or porch that is the entryway to the Sanctuary containing the Holy Place (Hekal) and the Holy of Holies (Debir). The vestibule, Holy Place (or Nave), and the Holy of Holies are the three divisions of the Sanctuary building in progressing order of sanctity, moving from east to west. The Holy of Holies or Debir is the inner sanctuary and the dwelling place of God among His covenant people (see 1 Kng 6). The three rooms, arranged on a linear axis, had the following dimensions:

1. Ulam/Vestibule: 35 feet long by 21 feet wide.
2. Hekal/Holy Place: 71 feet long by 25 feet wide.
3. Debir/Holy of Holies: 35 feet by 35 feet by 35 feet.

Like the Holy of Holies in the desert Sanctuary and Solomon's Temple, the Holy of Holies is a cube whose length, breadth, and height suggest the three-in-one of the Most Holy Trinity (1 Kng 6:20) as does the three-part plan of the main Temple building.

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A Daily Defense 

Day 233 Josephus on Jesus

CHALLENGE: “Jesus never existed. The passage where Josephus refers to him is fake.”

DEFENSE: The passage in question is not a fake.

Most manuscripts of Josephus’s Antiquities of the Jews, written around A.D. 93, contain this passage:

Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works—a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day(18:3:3).

This speaks of Jesus the way a Christian might, but Josephus was not a Christian, so scholars have concluded the passage did not appear in this form in his original writings. However, that doesn’t mean it’s fake. It means it was edited by a later Christian. 

There is a broad consensus among scholars that Antiquities originally contained a version of this passage, but certain phrases were added by a Christian editor. When the phrases indicating a Christian editor are removed, the original passage may be reconstructed along these lines:

At that time there appeared Jesus, a wise man. For he was a doer of startling deeds, a teacher of people who receive the truth with pleasure. And he gained a following both among many Jews and among many of Greek origin. And when Pilate, because of an accusation made by the leading men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him previously did not cease to do so. And up until this very day the tribe of Christians (named after him) has not died out (John Meier, A Marginal Jew, 1:61).

In addition, there is a later passage (Antiquities 20:9:1) that refers back to Jesus, further indicating that Josephus originally included a version of this passage (see Day 147).

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