Prostitution Greatly Pollutes The Land
3:1
They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and become another man's, will he return to her again? Won't that land be greatly polluted? But you have played the prostitute with many lovers; yet return again to me, says Yahweh. 3:2Lift up your eyes to the bare heights, and see; where have you not been lain with? By the ways have you sat for them, as an `Aravian in the wilderness; and you have polluted the land with your prostitution and with your wickedness. 3:3Therefore the showers have been withheld, and there has been no latter rain; yet you have a prostitute's forehead, you refused to be ashamed. 3:4Will you not from this time cry to me, My Father, you are the guide of my youth? 3:5Will he retain his anger forever? Will he keep it to the end? Behold, you have spoken and have done evil things, and have had your way.3:6
Moreover Yahweh said to me in the days of Yoshiyahu the king, Have you seen that which backsliding Yisra'el has done? She is gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the prostitute. 3:7I said after she had done all these things, She will return to me; but she didn't return: and her treacherous sister Yahudah saw it. 3:8I saw, when, for this very cause that backsliding Yisra'el had committed adultery, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce, yet treacherous Yahudah, her sister, didn't fear; but she also went and played the prostitute. 3:9It happened through the lightness of her prostitution, that the land was polluted, and she committed adultery with stones and with stocks. 3:10Yet for all this her treacherous sister Yahudah has not returned to me with her whole heart, but only in pretense, says Yahweh.3:11
Yahweh said to me, Backsliding Yisra'el has showed herself more righteous than treacherous Yahudah. 3:12Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, you backsliding Yisra'el, says Yahweh; I will not look in anger on you; for I am merciful, says Yahweh, I will not keep anger forever. 3:13Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have transgressed against Yahweh your Mighty One, and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed my voice, says Yahweh. 3:14Return, backsliding children, says Yahweh; for I am a husband to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Tzion: 3:15and I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.3:16
It shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says Yahweh, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Yahweh; neither shall it come to mind; neither shall they remember it; neither shall they miss it; neither shall it be made any more. 3:17At that time they shall call Yerushalayim the throne of Yahweh; and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Yahweh, to Yerushalayim: neither shall they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 3:18In those days the house of Yahudah shall walk with the house of Yisra'el, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land that I gave for an inheritance to your fathers.3:19
But I said, How I will put you among the children, and give you a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of the nations! And I said, You shall call me My Father, and shall not turn away from following me. 3:20Surely as a wife treacherously departs from her husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, house of Yisra'el, says Yahweh.3:21
A voice is heard on the bare heights, the weeping and the petitions of the children of Yisra'el; because they have perverted their way, they have forgotten Yahweh their Mighty One. 3:22Return, you backsliding children, I will heal your backsliding. Behold, we are come to you; for you are Yahweh our Mighty One. 3:23Truly in vain is the help that is looked for from the hills, the tumult on the mountains: truly in Yahweh our Mighty One is the salvation of Yisra'el. 3:24But the shameful thing has devoured the labor of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters.3:25
Let us lie down in our shame, and let our confusion cover us; for we have sinned against Yahweh our Mighty One, we and our fathers, from our youth even to this day; and we have not obeyed the voice of Yahweh our Mighty One.3:1-2 shows that prostitution greatly pollutes the land. For when a woman has more than one lover, the land whereby she conducts her prostitution becomes greatly polluted.
Curses On Land Polluted With Prostitution
3:3 shows the effects upon a land of the great pollution upon it occasioned by the prostitution of its inhabitants. The showers are withheld and there is no latter rain. In other words, Yahweh withholds the blessings he would have accorded a land on account of the prostitution of its inhabitants!
What is the solution for these inhabitants if they desire Yahweh's blessings?
Is it not to cease their prostitution?
And if those committing their prostitution refuse to cease their prostitution, they should be removed from that land! For why should their evil conduct bring evil upon the entire land, afflicting the inhabitants of that entire land? And why should the inhabitants of that land bear with this evil committed by these prostitutes? Has not Yahweh commanded his people to remove from within their midst those who engage in prostitution, adultery, sorcery, divination and idolatry? Prostitutes should therefore be removed from within the midst of Yahweh's people. That Yahweh's people may be spared the curses upon them on account of the prostitution committed within their midst, a prostitution they tolerate, in that they do not do away with it.
3:6 equates idolatry with prostitution. Implying that Yahweh only should be worshipped and obeyed. But when one does not worship and obey Yahweh, choosing instead to worship and obey another, then that one is both an idolater and a prostitute.
Righteous Husbands Should Divorce Adulterous Wives
3:8 shows that, following Yahweh's example, righteous husbands should put away their adulterous wives and give them bills of divorce.
It should also be remembered that adultery is prostitution, and this prostitution greatly pollutes a husband's household. The effect of this pollution is that Yahweh withholds his showers of blessing from that household!
It should also be remembered that Yahweh requires those in a particular territory to remove from within their midst the evils of adultery, prostitution, idolatry, divination and sorcery. For such conduct brings about curses not only upon those who practise them, but also upon their children. And also, should those dwelling in such a territory not remove such evildoers from within their midst, Yahweh himself will require it of them. Therefore, a husband whose wife is engaging in any of these wicked deeds MUST remove her from his household. For so removing such a wife prevents the curse resultant from such wickedness coming upon his children, and also prevents Yahweh requiring it of him on account of his failure to remove his wife from his household. Such a husband should put away his wife and give her a bill of divorce!
Righteous Husbands Should Be Angry With Unrighteous Deeds Of Their Wives
3:11-13 shows that it is appropriate for a husband to be angry with the unrighteous deeds of his wife, such as her adultery and prostitution. For Yahweh was indeed angry with Yisrael on account of her adultery.
It should also be noted that Yahweh is indeed merciful and forgives the wrongs committed against him. Nevertheless, before he forgives our sins, we must first acknowledge our sins before him, by confessing them before him, and duly repent of them, seeking his forgiveness.
Adultery Is Equated With Rebellion
3:13 shows that the sin of Yisrael was not only her adultery, but also her rebellion against Yahweh, for she did not obey Yahweh's voice. It therefore appears that adultery and rebellion are equated together. For the wife who does not listen to her husband, to be faithful to him, is her who becomes an adulteress by sexually lying with another man. It therefore appears that a rebellious wife is effectively an adulterous wife, seeing that she is not faithful to her husband to obey his word.
3:22 notes that Yahweh has power to heal our backslidings. And those who are repentant and he heals, he receives back to his fold.
5:1
Run you back and forth through the streets of Yerushalayim, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places of it, if you can find a man, if there are any who does justly, who seeks truth; and I will pardon her. 5:2Though they say, As Yahweh lives; surely they swear falsely.5:3
O Yahweh, don't your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved; you have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. 5:4Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they don't know the way of Yahweh, nor the law of their Mighty One: 5:5I will get me to the great men, and will speak to them; for they know the way of Yahweh, and the law of their Mighty One. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. 5:6Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; everyone who goes out there shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backsliding is increased.5:7
How can I pardon you? Your children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no mighty ones: when I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the prostitutes' houses. 5:8They were as fed horses roaming at large; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife. 5:9Shall I not visit for these things? Says Yahweh; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?5:10
Go you up on her walls, and destroy; but don't make a full end: take away her branches; for they are not Yahweh's. 5:11For the house of Yisra'el and the house of Yahudah have dealt very treacherously against me, says Yahweh. 5:12They have denied Yahweh, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come on us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: 5:13and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done to them. 5:14Therefore thus says Yahweh, the Mighty One-Tzva'ot, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make my words in your mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. 5:15Behold, I will bring a nation on you from far, house of Yisra'el, says Yahweh: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you don't know, neither understand what they say. 5:16Their quiver is an open tomb, they are all mighty men. 5:17They shall eat up your harvest, and your bread, which your sons and your daughters should eat; they shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig-trees; they shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword. 5:18But even in those days, says Yahweh, I will not make a full end with you.5:19
It shall happen, when you shall say, Why has Yahweh our Mighty One done all these things to us? Then shall you say to them, Like as you have forsaken me, and served foreign mighty ones in your land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 5:20Declare you this in the house of Ya`akov, and publish it in Yahudah, saying, 5:21Hear now this, foolish people, and without understanding; who have eyes, and don't see; who have ears, and don't hear: 5:22Don't you fear me? Says Yahweh: won't you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can't pass it? And though the waves of it toss themselves, yet they can't prevail; though they roar, yet they can't pass over it. 5:23But this people has a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. 5:24Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Yahweh our Mighty One, who gives rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; who preserves to us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 5:25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you.5:26
For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. 5:27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and grew rich. 5:28They are grown fat, they shine: yes, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they don't plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy they don't judge. 5:29Shall I not visit for these things? Says Yahweh; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 5:30A wonderful and horrible thing is happen in the land: 5:31the prophets prophesy falsely, and the Kohanim bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will you do in the end of it?5:7-19 shows that Yahweh punishes adulterers, prostitutes, the unthankful, the treacherous and idolaters. These deny Yahweh by their rebellious conduct.
5:23-25 shows that it is sin that withholds from one the good blessings that Yahweh intends to give to one. Blessings including seasonal rain and good harvests. Such sins include revolting and rebellious hearts. Therefore, it is seen that Yahweh equates adultery and prostitution with revolt and rebellion. For the penalty that he inflicts upon adulterers and prostitutes, withholding of his seasonal rain and good harvests, is the very same penalty that he inflicts upon those with revolting and rebellious hearts. It should therefore be clear that one with a revolting and rebellious heart is equated as an adulteress and a prostitute and an idolater and a sorceress and a diviner!
Surely rebellion is a witchcraft, and stubbornness as divination. Those who are rebels and are stubborn are numbered with idolaters, sorcerers, diviners, witches, adulterers, prostitutes and familiar spiritists!
Falsely Professing To Follow Yahweh
7:1
The word that came to Yirmeyahu from Yahweh, saying, 7:2Stand in the gate of Yahweh's house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Yahweh, all you of Yahudah, who enter in at these gates to worship Yahweh. 7:3Thus says Yahweh-Tzva'ot, the Mighty One of Yisra'el, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. 7:4Don't you trust in lying words, saying, The temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, are these. 7:5For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute justice between a man and his neighbor; 7:6if you don't oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, and don't shed innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other mighty ones to your own hurt: 7:7then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, from of old even forevermore. 7:8Behold, you trust in lying words, that can't profit. 7:9Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Ba`al, and walk after other mighty ones that you have not known, 7:10and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that you may do all these abominations? 7:11Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says Yahweh. 7:12But go you now to my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Yisra'el. 7:13Now, because you have done all these works, says Yahweh, and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you didn't hear; and I called you, but you didn't answer: 7:14therefore will I do to the house which is called by my name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. 7:15I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brothers, even the whole seed of Efrayim.7:16
Therefore don't you pray for this people, neither lift up a cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me; for I will not hear you. 7:17Don't you see what they do in the cities of Yahudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim? 7:18The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of the sky, and to pour out drink-offerings to other mighty ones, that they may provoke me to anger. 7:19Do they provoke me to anger? Says Yahweh; do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces? 7:20Therefore thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Behold, my anger and my wrath shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on animal, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.7:21
Thus says Yahweh-Tzva'ot, the Mighty One of Yisra'el: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat you flesh. 7:22For I didn't speak to your fathers, nor command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: 7:23but this thing I commanded them, saying, Listen to my voice, and I will be your Mighty One, and you shall be my people; and walk you in all the way that I command you, that it may be well with you. 7:24But they didn't listen nor turn their ear, but walked in their own counsels and in the stubbornness of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward. 7:25Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Mitzrayim to this day, I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: 7:26yet they didn't listen to me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.7:27
You shall speak all these words to them; but they will not listen to you: you shall also call to them; but they will not answer you. 7:28You shall tell them, This is the nation that has not listened to the voice of Yahweh their Mighty One, nor received instruction: truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth. 7:29Cut off your hair, Yerushalayim, and cast it away, and take up a lamentation on the bare heights; for Yahweh has rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. 7:30For the children of Yahudah have done that which is evil in my sight, says Yahweh: they have set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. 7:31They have built the high places of Tofet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I didn't command, neither came it into my mind. 7:32Therefore, behold, the days come, says Yahweh, that it shall no more be called Tofet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of Slaughter: for they shall bury in Tofet, until there be no place to bury. 7:33The dead bodies of this people shall be food for the birds of the sky, and for the animals of the earth; and none shall frighten them away. 7:34Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Yahudah, and from the streets of Yerushalayim, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land shall become a waste.7:1-2 shows that the word Yahweh gave Yirmeyahu was for those who profess to be Yahweh's people, those who profess to worship Yahweh.
7:3-7 admonishes all who profess to worship Yahweh to walk in the way of righteousness and avoid evil. Included in the evil to be avoided is idolatry.
7:8-11 shows that some who profess to worship Yahweh trust in lying words, that cannot profit. They commit adultery and idolatry, yet expect to be deemed righteous before Yahweh and delivered by Yahweh!
7:12-15 shows that those who profess to worship Yahweh, yet deny him by their evil conduct, despite Yahweh's repeated messages to them that they repent of their evil, will be cast out of Yahweh's presence! In other words, adulterers, prostitutes, idolaters, rebels, sorcerers, witches, diviners, the stubborn and those with familiar spirits who profess to worship Yahweh will indeed be cast out of Yahweh's presence. For they profane Yahweh's name by associating his name with all these evils that they do.
9:1
Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a spring of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! 9:2Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 9:3They bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they don't know me, says Yahweh.Yahweh equates adultery with treachery. Those who engage in such evil conduct do not really know Yahweh. These will Yahweh punish appropriately, for their evil deeds that they do.
Yahweh's Punishment On Evildoers
13:1
Thus says Yahweh to me, Go, and buy you a linen belt, and put it on your loins, and don't put it in water. 13:2So I bought a belt according to the word of Yahweh, and put it on my loins.13:3
The word of Yahweh came to me the second time, saying, 13:4Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to the Perat, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock. 13:5So I went, and hid it by the Perat, as Yahweh commanded me. 13:6It happened after many days, that Yahweh said to me, Arise, go to the Perat, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there. 13:7Then I went to the Perat, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the belt was marred; it was profitable for nothing.13:8
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 13:9Thus says Yahweh, After this manner will I mar the pride of Yahudah, and the great pride of Yerushalayim. 13:10This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and are gone after other mighty ones to serve them, and to worship them, shall even be as this belt, which is profitable for nothing. 13:11For as the belt cleaves to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to me the whole house of Yisra'el and the whole house of Yahudah, says Yahweh; that they may be to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.13:12
Therefore you shall speak to them this word: Thus says Yahweh, the Mighty One of Yisra'el, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall tell you, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 13:13Then shall you tell them, Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, and the Kohanim, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Yerushalayim, with drunkenness. 13:14I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together, says Yahweh: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should not destroy them. 13:15Hear you, and give ear; don't be proud; for Yahweh has spoken.13:16
Give glory to Yahweh your Mighty One, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble on the dark mountains, and, while you look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. 13:17But if you will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride; and my eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, because Yahweh's flock is taken captive.13:18
Say you to the king and to the queen-mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for your headdresses are come down, even the crown of your glory. 13:19The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them: Yahudah is carried away captive, all of it; it is wholly carried away captive. 13:20Lift up your eyes, and see those who come from the north: where is the flock that was given you, your beautiful flock? 13:21What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have yourself taught to be friends to you? Shall not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman in travail?13:22
If you say in your heart, Why are these things come on me? For the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts uncovered, and your heels suffer violence. 13:23Can the Kushite change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, who are accustomed to do evil. 13:24Therefore will I scatter them, as the stubble that passes away, by the wind of the wilderness. 13:25This is your lot, the portion measured to you from me, says Yahweh; because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. 13:26Therefore will I also uncover your skirts on your face, and your shame shall appear. 13:27I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighing, the lewdness of your prostitution, on the hills in the field. Woe to you, Yerushalayim! You will not be made clean; how long shall it yet be?Yahweh utterly punishes those who engage in evil, including the evils of idolatry, stubbornness, adultery and prostitution.
Idolatry And Adultery Profanes A Territory
23:9
Concerning the prophets. My heart within me is broken, all my bones shake; I am like a drunken man, and like a man whom wine has overcome, because of Yahweh, and because of his holy words. 23:10For the land is full of adulterers; for because of swearing the land mourns; the pastures of the wilderness are dried up. Their course is evil, and their might is not right; 23:11for both prophet and Kohen are profane; yes, in my house have I found their wickedness, says Yahweh. 23:12Therefore their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein; for I will bring evil on them, even the year of their visitation, says Yahweh.23:13
I have seen folly in the prophets of Shomron; they prophesied by Ba`al, and caused my people Yisra'el to err. 23:14In the prophets of Yerushalayim also I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies; and they strengthen the hands of evil-doers, so that none does return from his wickedness: they are all of them become to me as Sedom, and the inhabitants of it as `Amorah. 23:15Therefore thus says Yahweh-Tzva'ot concerning the prophets: Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall; for from the prophets of Yerushalayim is ungodliness gone forth into all the land.23:16
Thus says Yahweh-Tzva'ot, Don't listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you: they teach you vanity; they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of Yahweh. 23:17They say continually to those who despise me, Yahweh has said, You shall have shalom; and to everyone who walks in the stubbornness of his own heart they say, No evil shall come on you. 23:18For who has stood in the council of Yahweh, that he should perceive and hear his word? Who has marked my word, and heard it? 23:19Behold, the tempest of Yahweh, even his wrath, is gone forth, yes, a whirling tempest: it shall burst on the head of the wicked. 23:20The anger of Yahweh shall not return, until he has executed, and until he has performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly. 23:21I sent not these prophets, yet they ran: I didn't speak to them, yet they prophesied. 23:22But if they had stood in my council, then had they caused my people to hear my words, and had turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.23:10-11 shows that a particular land is full of adulteries when both prophet and priest are profane!
And how are they profane?
23:12-14 shows that they prophesy by Baal and cause Yahweh's people to err. In other words, they are idolaters! And they are also adulterers, and liars, strengthening the hands of evildoers.
Yahweh shows that he will utterly punish such false prophets, who are also idolaters and adulterers!
Punishment On Adulterous False Prophets
29:21
Thus says Yahweh-Tzva'ot, the Mighty One of Yisra'el, concerning Ach'av the son of Kolayah, and concerning Tzidkiyahu the son of Ma`aseyah, who prophesy a lie to you in my name: Behold, I will deliver them into the hand of Nevukhadretztzar king of Bavel; and he shall kill them before your eyes; 29:22and of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captives of Yahudah who are in Bavel, saying, Yahweh make you like Tzidkiyahu and like Ach'av, whom the king of Bavel roasted in the fire; 29:23because they have worked folly in Yisra'el, and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives, and have spoken words in my name falsely, which I didn't command them; and I am he who knows, and am witness, says Yahweh.Avoid Rebellion Against Yahweh
2:1
He said to me, Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you. 2:2The Spirit entered into me when he spoke to me, and set me on my feet; and I heard him who spoke to me. 2:3He said to me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Yisra'el, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me even to this very day. 2:4The children are impudent and stiff-hearted: I do send you to them; and you shall tell them, Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh. 2:5They, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there has been a prophet among them. 2:6You, son of man, don't be afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you, and you do dwell among scorpions: don't be afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 2:7You shall speak my words to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious. 2:8But you, son of man, hear what I tell you; don't be you rebellious like that rebellious house: open your mouth, and eat that which I give you.Yahweh's people should not be rebellious as the children of Yisrael have been, but should do all that Yahweh tells them to do.
Yahweh's Judgement On Rebellious Yisrael
5:1
You, son of man, take a sharp sword; as a barber's razor shall you take it to you, and shall cause it to pass on your head and on your beard: then take balances to weigh, and divide the hair. 5:2A third part shall you burn in the fire in the midst of the city, when the days of the siege are fulfilled; and you shall take a third part, and strike with the sword round about it; and a third part you shall scatter to the wind, and I will draw out a sword after them. 5:3You shall take of it a few in number, and bind them in your skirts. 5:4Of these again shall you take, and cast them into the midst of the fire, and burn them in the fire; therefrom shall a fire come forth into all the house of Yisra'el.5:5
Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: This is Yerushalayim; I have set her in the midst of the nations, and countries are round about her. 5:6She has rebelled against my ordinances in doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries that are round about her; for they have rejected my ordinances, and as for my statutes, they have not walked in them. 5:7Therefore thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Because you are turbulent more than the nations that are round about you, and have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my ordinances, neither have done after the ordinances of the nations that are round about you; 5:8therefore thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Behold, I, even I, am against you; and I will execute judgments in the midst of you in the sight of the nations. 5:9I will do in you that which I have not done, and whereunto I will not do any more the like, because of all your abominations. 5:10Therefore the fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of you, and the sons shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments on you; and the whole remnant of you will I scatter to all the winds. 5:11Therefore, as I live, says the Sovereign Yahweh, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things, and with all your abominations, therefore will I also diminish you; neither shall my eye spare, and I also will have no pity. 5:12A third part of you shall die with the pestilence, and with famine shall they be consumed in the midst of you; and a third part shall fall by the sword round about you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds, and will draw out a sword after them. 5:13Thus shall my anger be accomplished, and I will cause my wrath toward them to rest, and I shall be comforted; and they shall know that I, Yahweh, have spoken in my zeal, when I have accomplished my wrath on them.5:14
Moreover I will make you a desolation and a reproach among the nations that are round about you, in the sight of all that pass by. 5:15So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment, to the nations that are round about you, when I shall execute judgments on you in anger and in wrath, and in wrathful rebukes; (I, Yahweh, have spoken it;) 5:16when I shall send on them the evil arrows of famine, that are for destruction, which I will send to destroy you: and I will increase the famine on you, and will break your staff of bread; 5:17and I will send on you famine and evil animals, and they shall bereave you; and pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring the sword on you: I, Yahweh, have spoken it.Yahweh's Judgement On Idolatrous Yisrael
6:1
The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 6:2Son of man, set your face toward the mountains of Yisra'el, and prophesy to them, 6:3and say, You mountains of Yisra'el, hear the word of the Sovereign Yahweh: Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh to the mountains and to the hills, to the watercourses and to the valleys: Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword on you, and I will destroy your high places. 6:4Your altars shall become desolate, and your sun-images shall be broken; and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. 6:5I will lay the dead bodies of the children of Yisra'el before their idols; and I will scatter your bones round about your altars. 6:6In all your dwelling-places the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your sun-images may be hewn down, and your works may be abolished. 6:7The slain shall fall in the midst of you, and you shall know that I am Yahweh.6:8
Yet will I leave a remnant, in that you shall have some that escape the sword among the nations, when you shall be scattered through the countries. 6:9Those of you that escape shall remember me among the nations where they shall be carried captive, how that I have been broken with their lewd heart, which has departed from me, and with they eyes, which play the prostitute after their idols: and they shall loathe themselves in their own sight for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations. 6:10They shall know that I am Yahweh: I have not said in vain that I would do this evil to them.6:11
Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Smite with your hand, and stamp with your foot, and say, Alas! Because of all the evil abominations of the house of Yisra'el; for they shall fall by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence. 6:12He who is far off shall die of the pestilence; and he who is near shall fall by the sword; and he who remains and is besieged shall die by the famine: thus will I accomplish my wrath on them. 6:13You shall know that I am Yahweh, when their slain men shall be among their idols round about their altars, on every high hill, on all the tops of the mountains, and under every green tree, and under every thick oak, the places where they offered sweet savor to all their idols. 6:14I will stretch out my hand on them, and make the land desolate and waste, from the wilderness toward Diblah, throughout all their habitations: and they shall know that I am Yahweh.Idolaters Are Estranged From Yahweh
14:1
Then came certain of the Zakenim of Yisra'el to me, and sat before me. 14:2The word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 14:3Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their heart, and put the stumbling block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? 14:4Therefore speak to them, and tell them, Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Every man of the house of Yisra'el who takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet; I Yahweh will answer him therein according to the multitude of his idols; 14:5that I may take the house of Yisra'el in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 14:6Therefore tell the house of Yisra'el, Thus says the Sovereign Yahweh: Return you, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 14:7For everyone of the house of Yisra'el, or of the strangers who sojourn in Yisra'el, who separates himself from me, and takes his idols into his heart, and puts the stumbling block of his iniquity before his face, and comes to the prophet to inquire for himself of me; I Yahweh will answer him by myself: 14:8and I will set my face against that man, and will make him an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.14:9
If the prophet be deceived and speak a word, I, Yahweh, have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand on him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Yisra'el. 14:10They shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of him who seeks to him; 14:11that the house of Yisra'el may go no more astray from me, neither defile themselves any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their Mighty One, says the Sovereign Yahweh.14:2-5 shows that idolaters are estranged from Yahweh, even those who are idolaters in their hearts.
Idolaters should not consult Yahweh, seeing that they have rebelled against Yahweh by their idolatry. Servants of Yahweh should therefore not facilitate any attempt by idolaters to consult Yahweh. For Yahweh has specifically prohibited them from so facilitating such consultation. Only those who faithfully worship Yahweh should consult Yahweh, and only these should a servant of Yahweh facilitate in consultation of Yahweh.
14:7-8 clearly shows that Yahweh does not allow himself to be consulted by those worshipping idols. He instead punishes such faithless rebels by setting his face against them, and making them an astonishment, for a sign and a proverb. He cuts off such rebels from the midst of his people.
It should be clear that if we choose to worship Yahweh we should worship only Yahweh. For Yahweh does not accept profane worship of him, which is the worship of idols mixed with the worship of Yahweh.
Husbands Should Not Embrace Prostitute Wives
Seeing that idolatry is prostitution, Yahweh here shows us that he does not receive into his embrace a prostitute wife. If he is to receive a wife into his embrace, that wife must indeed be fully faithful to Yahweh. But if the wife thinks that she can prostitute herself with idols, and still be received into Yahweh's embrace, Yahweh ensures that that wife is estranged from him.
Learning from Yahweh, husbands should not receive into their embrace wives who prostitute themselves. For that is an abomination and a profanity. Such wives should be put away from them, and remain estranged from them, while they continue to prostitute themselves. The only wife a husband should receive into his embrace is one who is faithful to him and does not prostitute herself.
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