Ezekiel 1-3; 33-34; 36-37; 47

READINGS FOR NEXT WEEK

Daniel 1-12

Background:

• Audience: Jews who were taken captive to Babylonia in 597 B.C.
• He writes over 22 year period between 593 and 571 B.C.
• Theme: Ezekiel the priest assures his fellow Jews that God will one day return them to Jerusalem and restore the temple.
• Only prophetic book written from exile. 
• The Hebrew translation of his name is God will strengthen or God’s Strength. 
• On August 14, 586 B.C., the city of Jerusalem and the temple were burned.
• The book of Ezekiel contains more dates than any other OT prophetic book—they can date his prophecies with considerable precision.
• Ezekiel was married, a priest, and a prophet. “As a priest-prophet called to minister to the exiles (separated from the temple of the Lord with its symbolism, sacrifices, priestly work and worship rituals), his message had much to do with the temple and its ceremonies. 

Literary features: (major/minor prophets have to do with the length of the scrolls)

The three major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) all have the same basic sequence of messages: 

1. prophecies against Israel
2. prophecies against the nations
3. consolation for Israel. In no other book is this pattern clearer than in Ezekiel. 

Jehovah directed many prophets during this time: Ezekiel prophesied among the exiled community in Babylon, Jeremiah prophesied in Jerusalem, Daniel prophesied to the king of Babylon, Lehi left Jerusalem with his family and the records

Ezekiel began to prophesy only after arriving in Babylon, so prophets in Jerusalem, like Lehi and Jeremiah, may not even have known about Ezekiel.

Ezekiel’s Inaugural Vision  - Imagery

“The bible also works on a micro-level. . . often when we read the bible, the thing which strikes us, that moves us, that shapes us is a single verse or a single image that we can carry with us and that can really shape and form our mental framework, our religious world view . . . . Individual verses can sometimes contain individual images that can fire the imagination.”

Dr. Kristian Heal - Abide Podcast - Maxwell Institute 

Consider: As we work through Ezekiel, think about images that resonate with you.

Q: What is the Lord teaching here? How is the command not to mourn Ezekiel’s wife symbolic of the times?

“In chapter 24 we read that Ezekiel’s wife died on the very day Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem (see verses 1–2). Here was given the ultimate symbol or type of Jerusalem’s coming destruction. Isn’t that something? The Lord said in essence that the death of Ezekiel’s wife would serve as a type and symbol of Jerusalem’s destruction. When the people saw his wife die and saw that Ezekiel did not mourn, they asked why. In verse 22 the answer was given: “Ye shall do as I have done: ye shall not cover your lips, nor eat the bread of men.” And then in verse 24, the Lord explained: “Thus Ezekiel is unto you a sign: according to all that he hath done shall ye do.” Jerusalem was the bride of Jehovah, but there could be no mourning, for her tragedy was just and fully deserved.”     

Gerald Lund

Gerald N. Lund, “Ezekiel: Prophet of Judgment, Prophet of Promise,” in Isaiah and the Prophets: Inspired Voices from the Old Testament, ed. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate Jr. (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1984), 75–88.

Transition Point of Ezekiel’s Prophecies

“As the fall of Jerusalem marked an important transition in the life of the Israelites, it also marked an important transition in Ezekiel’s prophecies. No longer did he call Jews to repentance to avoid being overthrown. He addressed instead the questions that must have been on their minds now that their nation was no more. What future did they have now that they had offended God so grievously that he had allowed them to be driven from their land? Was he still their God? Were they still his chosen people? And even if he were willing, could he gather people so widely dispersed as the Israelites were in Assyria, Babylonia, Egypt, and elsewhere throughout the world?”

Keith H. Meservy

https://archive.bookofmormoncentral.org/content/ezekiel-prophet-hope

The River of Life from the Temple - 40-47

“After twenty-five years in captivity, Ezekiel had a homecoming of sorts: the Lord gave him a vision of his native Israel and a glorious, complete temple in the midst of the land (Ezekiel 40–48). [3] In this vision, Ezekiel is not alone—he is guided on a tour of the temple by an angelic figure (Ezekiel 40:3) who measures the temple’s dimensions. Ezekiel then describes in detail the appearance of this temple, as well as its inner workings and its rejuvenating effects on the surrounding land. Finally, his temple vision concludes with the city of Jerusalem receiving the comforting new name of “The LORD is there” (Ezekiel 48:35).” 

Jacob Rennaker

https://rsc.byu.edu/ascending-mountain-lord/approaching-holiness-sacred-space-ezekiel-paper

The Glorious Vision of the Temple and the Waters Flowing Beneath - 47

In a vision, the prophet Ezekiel saw the house of the Lord, and as he approached the door of the temple, “behold, waters issued out from under the threshold of the house eastward” (Ezekiel 47:1). A heavenly ministrant then brought Ezekiel through the waters until they reached his ankles and then his knees and eventually became “a river that [he] could not pass over” (Ezekiel 47:3–5).

The heavenly ministrant told Ezekiel, “These waters issue out toward the east country, and go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth into the sea, the waters shall be healed. And it shall come to pass, that . . . everything shall live wither the river cometh” (Ezekiel 47:8–9).

I testify that this passage, in addition to being a geological prediction, is a sacred, metaphorical, and prophetic promise that all who drink of the living waters which issue from the holy temple can and will be healed. If the living waters issuing from the temple can heal the Dead Sea, the living waters can also heal an unhappy marriage, refresh a parched testimony, restore a broken heart, and mend a strained relationship with neighbors or family members. They can give us all a new heart.

Spencer Condie: Sperry Symposium 2017 - https://rsc.byu.edu/prophets-prophecies-old-testament/i-will-write-my-law-their-hearts

“But when the water departs, the salt is all left, and you still have a desert and you still have a place. So it's fascinating to me that he's not just describing the healing of the sea, but the desert around it, and everything about it, that it needs this healing. It's fun to think about what that water is. I mean there are so many things you could choose. The Word of God, or covenants, or temple relationships, and the eternal families, and the way God heals things.”

Dr. Jan Martin - Follow Him Podcast

Seeking the Presence of the Lord

The book of Ezekiel is full of visions and revelations from Jehovah. Joseph Smith advised we be prepared when encountering messages from God: “. . . because the things of God are of deep import, and time and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out, thy mind O man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto Salvation, must stretch as High as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity.”

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-c-1-2-november-1838-31-july-1842/86

“Our religion is one in which we are preparing to enter into the presence of God. Second, it’s clear that we are also invited to seek the Lord on a personal basis to cultivate our relationship, purify our lives and keep His commandments and as we do we, we are promised that he will appear to us. It seems that these experiences are deeply personal and sacred. As is that personal mystical journey back into the presence of our Heavenly Parents. So we want to cultivate an active spiritual life but I think one of the most wonderful guides and somebody worth spending time on this is Elder Richard G. Scott who really sought to help develop in the saints this experience of communing with God and of learning to receive revelation to act upon revelation and to receive more. Finally, we learn from this that we are not alone in this journey. Many of God’s children hear his voice and seek His face. Many believers desire to taste and see. So we are part of a community of seekers from many different traditions and to learn more about these fellow travelers we can read about their experiences of encountering God and that I think is worth doing.”

Dr. Kristian Heal - Abide Podcast - Maxwell Institute 

Jeremiah 30-33; 36; Lamentations 1:3

READING FOR NEXT WEEK

Ezekiel 1-3; 33-34; 36-37; 47

JEREMIAH

“We see a man haunted by his calling, wrestling with feelings of being battled by ridicule and shame and concerned that God might fail him. There’s a double edge to the lament, one that fears being let down while also expressing confidence and desire that God would not let him down.”

Kristian Heal, Abide, Maxwell Institute Podcast 

Canon Cook says of Jeremiah, “His character is most interesting. We find him sensitive to a most painful degree, timid, shy, hopeless, desponding, constantly complaining and dissatisfied with the course of events, but never flinching from duty. ... Timid in resolve, he was unflinching in execution: as fearless when he had to face the whole world as he was dispirited and prone to murmuring when alone with God. Judged by his own estimate of himself, he was feeble, and his mission a failure; really, in the hour of action and when duty called him, he was in very truth “a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the whole land” (Jeremiah 1:18). He was a noble example of the triumph of the moral over the physical nature. It is not strange that he was desponding when we consider his circumstances. He saw the nation going straight to irremediable ruin, and turning a deaf ear to all warnings. A reign of terror had commenced (in the preceding reign), during which not only the prophets, but all who were distinguished for religion and virtue were cruelly murdered. How could one who saw the nation about to reap the awful harvest they had been sowing, and yet had a vision of what they might have been and might yet be, help indulging in ‘Lamentations’?”

https://biblecentral.info/people/jeremiah/

“Born of a priestly family in Anathoth, and prophesied from the 13th year of Josiah till after the downfall of Jerusalem, a period of over 40 years, 626–586 B.C. After Josiah’s death he tried to stem, almost alone, the tide of idolatry and immorality, of self-deception founded on superficial reforms (Jer. 3:4–5; 7:8–10), and of fanatical confidence in the Lord’s protection, in which all classes were carried away. He had to face continuous opposition and insult from the priests (20:2), the mob (26:8–9), his townsmen at Anathoth (11:19), the frivolous and cruel (22:13; 36:23; 26:20), the king (36:19), and the army (38:4). After the fall
of Jerusalem the Jews who escaped into Egypt took Jeremiah with them as a kind of fetish (43:6), and at last, according to tradition, stoned him to death. The prophet dwells much on the inwardness of the Lord’s relation to the mind of His servants. External service is useless where there is no devotion of heart and life; superficial reforms were of no avail—a complete regeneration in the national life was required. He develops the idea of individual fellowship with the Lord (5:1, 7, 26–28; 9:1–6; 18); though the Jewish state falls, the Lord remains, and religion remains in the life of the individual.”

Bible Dictionary, Jeremiah

FALSE PROPHETS 

Read Jeremiah 28 and think about the following questions:
1. What did Hannaniah tell the people?
2. What was Jeremiah’s response?
3. What happened to Hanniniah?
4. What kind of prophet will the people believe?

“What turns the gifted person into a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal? Some of the factors are the same in essence as they were in Old Testament times. This act came home to me as I read a book about false prophecy in the Old Testament – or rather about conflict among the prophets, because the line between true and false is usually difficult to draw when you are in the situation, and a true prophet may become a false one, while a false prophet may speak an authentic word. Perhaps we all have the capacity for either. So what factors influence a prophet to speak false rather than true?”

John Goldingay, https://www.theologyethics.com/2016/05/29/jeremiah-what-makes-a-false-prophet-goldingay/

“False prophets—broaden the idea of that. You will find them today in the media, in politics, activists, conspiracy theorists, celebrities, experts. We just have to watch that the Hananiahs aren't coming and those phrases in Jeremiah 23 are not happening to us. There are good political leaders and activists, and there can be positive things, but we have to be careful.”

Michael Wilcox, Follow Him Podcast #43, Part II

LAMENTATIONS

“There’s also brilliant use of personification. Jerusalem is depicted as ‘Lady Zion,’ a widowed, childless, vulnerable woman who endured rape, exploitation, affliction, and starvation during the siege and
capture of the city. The narrator and Lady Zion begin to ‘dialogue' in chapter one, allowing us to hear her express her pain. She cries to all who pass by her, looking for comfort amidst her affliction, though none is found. She weeps with sorrow, her strength fails, she’s in distress, she groans continually, she cries to God, all to no avail. You can’t help but be moved by her pain and shame, even if it was the result of her sin.”

Whitney Woollard, https://bibleproject.com/blog/lamentations-voice-of-grief/

“Although we can’t draw a one-to-one application from Israel’s circumstances to ours, Lamentations can teach us to hear and speak the biblical language of lament, which is crucial to dealing with grief. Lament allows us to fully face and name our pain, and it creates space for future resolution and hope without glossing over our trauma. It gives us permission to protest life’s difficulties, to scream, cry, vent, plead, and complain in he presence of God and others. It lets us ask the hard questions without
condemnation: Why did this have to happen? How could you allow it? Where are you in the midst of it? It allows weeping without explanation. It might be messy and uncomfortable, but it’s the first step towards healing.”

Whitney Woollard, https://bibleproject.com/blog/lamentations-voice-of-grief/

“We could benefit from incorporating both the individual and corporate elements of lament into our lives. For example, if you feel alone, forsaken, or abandoned by God, give honest expression to those feelings. If you’re exhausted by life’s blows, having lost all endurance or the will to go on, tell it to God. Really. The Bible wants you to do this. Cry out with the author, ‘My soul is bereft of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is; so I say My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the LORD.’

If you’re not used to this kind of raw honesty in God’s presence, it might seem scary at first. That’s okay. Just know that lament isn’t irreverent; it’s biblical. Going to God in your grief is an act of faith all on its own.”

Whitney Woollard, https://bibleproject.com/blog/lamentations-voice-of-grief/

CONSEQUENCES AND COVENANTS

“The reward for keeping covenants with God is heavenly power—power that strengthens us to withstand our trials, temptations, and heartaches better. This power eases our way. Those who live the higher laws of Jesus Christ have access to His higher power. Thus, covenant keepers are entitled to a special kind of rest that comes to them through their covenantal relationship with God.”

Russell M. Nelson, Overcome the World and Find Rest, General Conference, October 2022

Jeremiah 1-3; 7; 16-18; 20

It was so great to be together again! Thank you for your incredible comments and insights. As a reminder class announcements plus a short message from the reading can be found on Instagram at Seek the Covenant Path. 

Reading for next week:

Jeremiah 30-33; 36; Lamentations 1:3 

A FAMILIAR VOICE

"And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the dust, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust."

Isaiah 29:4

“This is the Bible being a voice out of the ground speaking to us. I feel like this year this verse has been fulfilled more than ever before in those terms. I feel like that the Bible and our Israelite ancestors that we're reading about are speaking to us out of the ground with a familiar spirit out of the dust. They're coming to life again as it were for us, and we're learning the lessons that they would have us learn from their lives.”

Dr. Kerry Muhlestein, Follow Him Podcast Episode 38, Part II

THE BOOK OF JEREMIAH

“The book of Jeremiah is unique in many regards, but especially because the Greek tradition differs from the Hebrew tradition in this book more than any other. A major difference in the Greek tradition (the Septuagint) locates the ‘oracles against the nations’ not at the end of the book, but rather immediately following an appropriate reference to ‘this book’ in 25:13. This and other differences between the Hebrew and the Greek has convinced many scholars that the Greek tradition preserves earlier and better traditions concerning the oracles, the language of the text, and the character of Jeremiah. Both of these textual traditions are attested among the Hebrew biblical texts found at Qumran (the Dead Sea Scrolls), indicating that the book of Jeremiah had a fluid editorial history.”

The New Oxford Annotate Bible, New Revised Standard Version, pg. 1058

PURPOSE OF THE COVENANT

“The purpose of the covenant is not so that you will get blessings; it’s not so you will prosper. The purpose of the covenant is so that you will have a relationship with God and with each other.”

Avram Shannon, The Scriptures are Real Podcast, Episode 145

THE POTTER

“This is a parable that challenges our notions of inevitability. It challenges our notions of the set future; that things will only be a certain way. Only the past is inevitable.”

Dr. Kristian Heel, Abide Podcast, BYU Maxwell Institute

RITUALS

“[W]e need to beware . . . of shallow talk about ‘empty rituals.’ To be sure, rituals can indeed become empty, performed habitually and thoughtlessly, without regard to their meaning and the ethic that is supposed to be associated with them. The prophets of Israel were unstinting in their condemnation of just that sort of pro forma religion. But it is also important to remember that, like other habitual behaviors, rituals are hardy—like habits, difficult to break—and thus likely to survive the spiritual dry periods when faith and feelings are just not there.

The ritual without the theological truth to which it bears witness, the act without the affect, can come alive—the empty ritual can be filled up—when the dry period passes. Indeed, the very existence of the ritual can help the spiritual dryness pass from the scene. Conversely, when the ritual is no longer observed, the likelihood declines that the message with which it is associated will survive, and the likelihood that old practice will come to be associated with new meanings declines still further.”

Jon D. Levenson, The Love of God, pp. 32-33

“Rituals are a practice of the faith that provide the structure for our spiritual lives. Rituals are not beholden to our thinking but shape our thinking and, when necessary, step into the gap when our minds are tired and our feelings empty.

Sooner or later we all need that kind of help.”

Pete Enns, Ph.D.

Jeremiah Movie 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pL4FYXj0qQQ&feature=share

Welcome Back!

Hi Everyone,

I'm excited to be in class with you again soon! Our first class will be Thursday, October 13 from 9:30 to 11 a.m.  We will meet in the Relief Society room at the Old Gilbert building. The Thursday class time will help us better align with the timing of the Come Follow Me schedule.  

I'm thrilled to welcome Kim Wold this year. Kim is a deep thinker and excellent instructor. It will be wonderful to learn from her! We plan on teaching every other week. 

We will begin with the reading outlined in Come Follow Me for the week of October 10-16, which is Jeremiah 1-3; 7; 16-18; 20. For historical background of this time period see 2 Kings 21-15.

Please contact me with any questions. You can leave a comment here or email me at debratolman75@gmail.com. 

See you soon!

Esther

The events of the book of Esther took place while the Jews where living in Persia after the Babylonian exile. The story is remarkable and instructive. One commentator has said, "Readers who are satisfied that they know what Esther means would be well advised to examine it again in search of other dimensions." Jon Lavenson, Bible scholar, states, "It is the story of the assent of a woman, an orphan in exile, to the most powerful woman, perhaps the most powerful person, in the empire and arguably the world."

"The author's central purpose was to record the institution of the annual festival of Purim and to keep alive for later generations the memory of the great and providential deliverance of the Jewish people during the reign of Xerxes. The book accounts for both initiation of that observance and the obligation for its perpetual commemoration." (NIV Study Bible, pg 802.) This commemoration has continued through modern history. This is a story of redemption akin to the story of Joseph in Egypt. 

God accomplishes this all through an orphaned woman, living in exile on the margins of society. Esther and her actions teach many things that stand the test of time. Her account portrays a broader perspective if read through eyes to see.

"When you see the book of Esther, it is the book of Ishtar. It is the book of Asherah. It is the book of Hadassah. It is the book of Esther who has these two names, her Jewish name, and her Babylonian or Persian name. By functioning in this role of redemption, she is in some ways fulfilling her divine counterpart. Esther is just another powerful example how God works that deliverance. And it means something that he works it through a woman."  Dr. Ariel Silver, https://followhim.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/31-Ariel-Silver-ESTHER-followHIM-Podcast-SHOW-NOTES-ENGLISH.pdf 

"The God-fearing defiant women of the Exodus, and also Rahab, are models of how Israel should behave in adversity and the reward they can expect. Yael the apparently powerless tent-dweller is the archetype of those who conquer their powerful adversaries by faith and determination. Later, when once again there was no king, Esther became the model for the behavior and salvation of Jews in the diaspora, and Judith, like the much earlier Yael, rose to destroy the enemy of Israel. The women who were saviors of Israel, like the boy David who slew Goliath, all demonstrate the ability of the small and marginal to win by their will and the power of God." Frymer-Kensky, Tikva. Reading the Women of the Bible (p. 335). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. 

"An outstanding feature of this book—one that has given rise to considerable discussion—is the complete absence of any explicit reference to God, worship, prayer, or sacrifice. This “secularity” has produced many detractors who have judged the book to be of little religious value. However, it appears that the author has deliberately refrained from mentioning God or any religious activity as a literary device to heighten the fact that it is God who controls and directs all the seemingly insignificant coincidences that make up the plot and issue in deliverance for the Jews. God’s sovereign rule is assumed at every point, an assumption made all the more effective by the total absence of reference to him. It becomes clear to the careful reader that Israel’s Great King exercises his providential and sovereign control over all the vicissitudes of his beleaguered covenant people." NIV Study Bible, page 804

 "There is another side to the story, God being hidden in this text, he is present. And I hope that our discussion has demonstrated the ways in which God was present in Esther's life, was present in Mordecai's life, was present in this text and in this story. But many people have suggested that the hiddenness of God, that figure is obscured slightly so that we can see what we might call the female divine.                         And I think our most comfortable corollary is a heavenly mother. I think it's worth mentioning that she really functions in much the way that Esther does. She's both hidden and she's revealed. There's not a lot that is said about her, her role remains a bit obscured, and yet we also affirm and reaffirm her presence. And we recognize that divinity is incomplete without her." Dr. Ariel Silver, https://followhim.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/31-Ariel-Silver-ESTHER-followHIM-Podcast-SHOW-NOTES-ENGLISH.pdf 

We are given the opportunity to watch Esther come to understand her purpose and grow into what it required of her. Often, we struggle with purpose day-to-day. Esther's story provides a guidepost for the growth we seek even in the midst of challenging and painful times.   

"[Biblical authors] mostly perceive exile as something to be endured, something to be survived, something for which we hope for a resolution. We don't really want this to endure longer than it has to. In the book of Esther, she sees it as an opportunity, even in the face of a really severe life-threatening situation where a decree against their lives has been placed, but she sees exile as an opportunity to develop capacities, to grow. And this is the other really interesting, one of the many other interesting things about this text is that the female character of Esther across the span of these 10 chapters changes, she evolves, she develops, she progresses. It's a heroine story. What they call a Bildungsroman, coming of age story. She comes into her own and as her purpose becomes more clear, her power and her knowledge and her understanding also grows, her capacity to act and to do things that are going to work toward her salvation personally, and toward the salvation of her people." Dr. Ariel Silver, https://followhim.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/31-Ariel-Silver-ESTHER-followHIM-Podcast-SHOW-NOTES-ENGLISH.pdf