Study Desk

When suffering comes, they will look for peace, but there will be none.

Trouble will come upon trouble, and one story will come after another. They will look for a special dream from a man of God, but the Law will be lost from the religious leader. And wisdom will be lost from the leaders.

The king will be full of sorrow. The king's son will be covered with fear. And the hands of the people of the land will shake in fear. I will punish them for their ways. I will give them the punishment they have earned. And they will know that I am the Lord.'"

Then He said to me, "Son of man, do you see what the leaders of the people of Israel are doing without anyone seeing them? They are worshiping in a room full of false gods. For they say, ‘The Lord does not see us. The Lord has left the land.'"

Then He brought me to the north gate of the Lord's house. And I saw women sitting there crying for the false god Tammuz.

And He said to me, "Do you see this, son of man? Is it a little thing for the people of Judah to do the hated sins which they have done here? They have filled the land with sinful actions and have made Me angry again and again. See, they are doing what I hate.

And I saw six men coming from the upper gate on the north side. Each man had his battle-ax in his hand. Among them was a certain man dressed in linen, with things for writing at his side. And the men went in and stood by the brass altar.

Then the shining-greatness of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had been, to the door of the Lord's house. And He called to the man dressed in linen with the things for writing at his side.

Then He said to me, "The sin of the people of Israel and Judah is very, very bad. The land is filled with blood, and the city is full of wrong-doing. For they say, ‘The Lord has left the land, and the Lord does not see.'

But as for Me, My eye will have no pity, and I will not leave any sinner without punishment. I will bring their wrong-doing upon their own heads."

Then I saw the man dressed in linen, who had the things for writing at his side, come and say, "I have done just as You have told me."

When the cherubim stood still, the wheels stood still. When they rose up, the wheels rose with them. For the spirit of the living beings was in them.

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon me, and He said to me, "Tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: "This is what you thought, O people of Israel. For I know the things that come into your mind.

This city will not be a pot for you, and you will not be the meat inside it. But I will punish you all the way to the land of Israel.

And you will know that I am the Lord. For you have not walked in my Laws or obeyed them, but have followed the ways of the nations around you."'"

"Son of man, your brothers, your family, those who were driven out of the land, and all the people of Israel are those of whom the people of Jerusalem have said, ‘They have gone far away from the Lord. This land has been given to us for our own.'

So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord God says: "I sent them far away among the nations. I divided them among the countries. But still I was a holy place for them a little while in the countries where they had gone."'

But as for those whose hearts go after their hated and sinful things, I will bring their actions upon their own heads," says the Lord God.

"Son of man, you live among sinful people. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear. For they are sinful people.

Take your things with you during the day, with them watching you. Take the things you will need for going to another land. Then let them see you go out at evening, like those who go to another land.