The Berean Pursuit
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her abominations and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says to Jerusalem: Your origin and your birth were in the land of the Canaanites. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day of your birth your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing. You were not rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one cared enough for you to do even one of these things out of compassion for you. Instead, you were thrown out into the open field, because you were despised on the day of your birth.
Then I passed by and saw you wallowing in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, 'Live!' There I said to you, 'Live!' I made you thrive like a plant of the field. You grew up and matured and became very beautiful. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, but you were naked and bare.
Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD. Then I bathed you with water, rinsed off your blood, and anointed you with oil. I clothed you in embroidered cloth and gave you sandals of fine leather. I wrapped you in fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with jewelry, and I put bracelets on your wrists and a chain around your neck. I put a ring in your nose, earrings on your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head.
So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen. Your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect in the splendor I bestowed on you, declares the Lord GOD.
But because of your fame, you trusted in your beauty and played the harlot. You lavished your favors on everyone who passed by, and your beauty was theirs for the asking. You took some of your garments and made colorful high places for yourself, and on them you prostituted yourself. Such things should not have happened; never should they have occurred!
You also took the fine jewelry of gold and silver I had given you, and you made male idols with which to prostitute yourself. You took your embroidered garments to cover them, and you set My oil and incense before them. And you set before them as a pleasing aroma the food I had given you-the fine flour, oil, and honey that I had fed you. That is what happened, declares the Lord GOD.
You even took the sons and daughters you bore to Me and sacrificed them as food to idols. Was your prostitution not enough? You slaughtered My children and delivered them up through the fire to idols.
And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.
Woe! Woe to you, declares the Lord GOD. And in addition to all your other wickedness, you built yourself a mound and made yourself a lofty shrine in every public square. At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by. You prostituted yourself with your lustful neighbors, the Egyptians, and increased your promiscuity to provoke Me to anger.
Therefore I stretched out My hand against you and reduced your portion. I gave you over to the desire of those who hate you, the daughters of the Philistines, who were ashamed of your lewd conduct. Then you prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, because you were not yet satisfied. Even after that, you were still not satisfied. So you extended your promiscuity to Chaldea, the land of merchants-but even with this you were not satisfied!
How weak-willed is your heart, declares the Lord GOD, while you do all these things, the acts of a shameless prostitute! But when you built your mounds at the head of every street and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were not even like a prostitute, because you scorned payment.
You adulterous wife! You receive strangers instead of your own husband! Men give gifts to all their prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. So your prostitution is the opposite of that of other women: No one solicited your favors, and you paid a fee instead of receiving one; so you are the very opposite!
Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers and with all your detestable idols, and because of the blood of your children which you gave to them, therefore I will surely gather all the lovers with whom you found pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and expose you before them, and they will see you completely naked. And I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and those who shed blood; so I will bring upon you the wrath of your bloodshed and jealousy.
Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will level your mounds and tear down your lofty shrines. They will strip off your clothes, take your fine jewelry, and leave you naked and bare. They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. Then they will burn down your houses and execute judgment against you in the sight of many women.
I will put an end to your prostitution, and you will never again pay your lovers. So I will lay to rest My wrath against you, and My jealousy will turn away from you. Then I will be calm and no longer angry.
Because you did not remember the days of your youth, but enraged Me with all these things, I will surely bring your deeds down upon your own head, declares the Lord GOD. Have you not committed this lewdness on top of all your other abominations?
Behold, all who speak in proverbs will quote this proverb about you:
'Like mother, like daughter.'
You are the daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and children. You are the sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. Your older sister was Samaria, who lived with her daughters to your north; and your younger sister was Sodom, who lived with her daughters to your south. And you not only walked in their ways and practiced their abominations, but soon you were more depraved than they were.
As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did as you and your daughters have done. Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy. Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.
Furthermore, Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have multiplied your abominations beyond theirs, and all the abominations you have committed have made your sisters appear righteous. So now you must bear your disgrace, since you have brought justification for your sisters. For they appear more righteous than you, because your sins were more vile than theirs. So you too must bear your shame and disgrace, since you have made your sisters appear righteous.
But I will restore Sodom and her daughters from captivity, as well as Samaria and her daughters. And I will restore you along with them. So you will bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you did to comfort them.
And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to their former state. You and your daughters will also return to your former state. Did you not treat your sister Sodom as an object of scorn in the day of your pride, before your wickedness was uncovered? Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom and all those around her, and by the daughters of the Philistines-all those around you who despise you. You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your abominations, declares the LORD.
For this is what the Lord GOD says: I will deal with you according to your deeds, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant. But I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your older and younger sisters. I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of My covenant with you.
So I will establish My covenant with you, and you will know that I am the LORD, so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD."
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:
'A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,
full of feathers of many colors,
came to Lebanon
and took away the top of the cedar.
He plucked off its topmost shoot,
carried it to the land of merchants,
and planted it in a city of traders.
He took some of the seed of the land
and planted it in fertile soil;
he placed it by abundant waters
and set it out like a willow.
It sprouted and became a spreading vine,
low in height, with branches turned toward him;
yet its roots remained where it stood.
So it became a vine and yielded branches
and sent out shoots.
But there was another great eagle
with great wings and many feathers.
And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him.
It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed,
so that he might water it.
It had been planted in good soil
by abundant waters
in order to yield branches and bear fruit
and become a splendid vine.'
So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:
'Will it flourish?
Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit
so that it shrivels?
All its foliage will wither!
It will not take a strong arm or many people
to pull it up by its roots.
Even if it is transplanted,
will it flourish?
Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes?
It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.'?"
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Now say to this rebellious house: 'Do you not know what these things mean?'
Tell them, 'Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon. He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to lift itself up, surviving only by keeping his covenant.
But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?'
'As surely as I live,' declares the Lord GOD, 'he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke. Pharaoh with his mighty army and vast horde will not help him in battle, when ramps are built and siege walls constructed to destroy many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!'
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke. I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me. All his choice troops will fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.'
This is what the Lord GOD says:
'I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar,
and I will set it out.
I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots,
and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israel
so that it will bear branches;
it will yield fruit
and become a majestic cedar.
Birds of every kind will nest under it,
taking shelter in the shade of its branches.
Then all the trees of the field will know
that I am the LORD.
I bring the tall tree down
and make the low tree tall.
I dry up the green tree
and make the withered tree flourish.
I, the LORD, have spoken,
and I have done it.'?"
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:
'The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the teeth of the children are set on edge'?
As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, you will no longer quote this proverb in Israel. Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
Now suppose a man is righteous and does what is just and right:
He does not eat at the mountain
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor's wife
or approach a woman during her period.
He does not oppress another,
but restores the pledge to the debtor.
He does not commit robbery,
but gives his bread to the hungry
and covers the naked with clothing.
He does not engage in usury
or take excess interest,
but he withholds his hand from iniquity
and executes true justice between men.
He follows My statutes
and faithfully keeps My ordinances.
That man is righteous;
surely he will live,
declares the Lord GOD.
Now suppose that man has a violent son, who sheds blood or does any of these things, though the father has done none of them:
Indeed, the son eats at the mountain
and defiles his neighbor's wife.
He oppresses the poor and needy;
he commits robbery
and does not restore a pledge.
He lifts his eyes to idols;
he commits abominations.
He engages in usury
and takes excess interest.
Will this son live? He will not! Since he has committed all these abominations, he will surely die; his blood will be on his own head.
Now suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, considers them, and does not do likewise:
He does not eat at the mountain
or look to the idols of the house of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor's wife.
He does not oppress another,
or retain a pledge, or commit robbery.
He gives his bread to the hungry
and covers the naked with clothing.
He withholds his hand from harming the poor
and takes no interest or usury.
He keeps My ordinances
and follows My statutes.
Such a man will not die for his father's iniquity. He will surely live.
As for his father, he will die for his own iniquity, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was wrong among his people.
Yet you may ask, 'Why shouldn't the son bear the iniquity of his father?'
Since the son has done what is just and right, carefully observing all My statutes, he will surely live.
The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.
But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die. None of the transgressions he has committed will be held against him. Because of the righteousness he has practiced, he will live. Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Lord GOD. Wouldn't I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?
But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.
Yet you say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.'
Hear now, O house of Israel: Is it My way that is unjust? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
If a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, he will die for this. He will die because of the iniquity he has committed.
But if a wicked man turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will save his life. Because he considered and turned from all the transgressions he had committed, he will surely live; he will not die.
Yet the house of Israel says, 'The way of the Lord is not just.'
Are My ways unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, so that your iniquity will not become your downfall. Cast away from yourselves all the transgressions you have committed, and fashion for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Why should you die, O house of Israel?
For I take no pleasure in anyone's death, declares the Lord GOD. So repent and live!
After this, Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down with His disciples.
Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?" But He was asking this to test him, for He knew what He was about to do.
Philip answered, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece."
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?"
"Have the people sit down," Jesus said. Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.
And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted."
So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, "Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."
Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.
When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them. A strong wind was blowing, and the sea grew agitated.
When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea-and they were terrified. But Jesus spoke up: "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with His disciples, but they had gone away alone. However, some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him. When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, "Rabbi, when did You get here?"
Jesus replied, "Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval."
Then they inquired, "What must we do to perform the works of God?"
Jesus replied, "The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent."
So they asked Him, "What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
"Sir," they said, "give us this bread at all times."
Jesus answered, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.
Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For it is My Father's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were asking, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, 'I have come down from heaven?'"
"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus replied. "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me- not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father.
Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh."
At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?"
So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink.
Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever."
Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. On hearing it, many of His disciples said, "This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?"
Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, "Does this offend you? Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before?
The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. However, there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him.)
Then Jesus said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him."
From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him.
So Jesus asked the Twelve, "Do you want to leave too?"
Simon Peter replied, "Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God."
Jesus answered them, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus.