The Berean Pursuit
"As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel and say:
'What was your mother?
A lioness among the lions!
She lay down among the young lions;
she reared her cubs.
She brought up one of her cubs,
and he became a young lion.
After learning to tear his prey,
he devoured men.
When the nations heard of him,
he was trapped in their pit.
With hooks they led him away
to the land of Egypt.
When she saw that she had waited in vain,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a young lion.
He prowled among the lions,
and became a young lion.
After learning to tear his prey,
he devoured men.
He broke down their strongholds
and devastated their cities.
The land and everything in it
shuddered at the sound of his roaring.
Then the nations set out against him
from the provinces on every side.
They spread their net over him;
he was trapped in their pit.
With hooks they caged him
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into captivity
so that his roar was heard no longer
on the mountains of Israel.
Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
because of the abundant waters.
It had strong branches, fit for a ruler's scepter.
It towered high above the thick branches,
conspicuous for its height
and for its dense foliage.
But it was uprooted in fury,
cast down to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches were stripped off
and they withered;
the fire consumed them.
Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.
Fire has gone out from its main branch
and devoured its fruit;
on it no strong branch remains
fit for a ruler's scepter.'
This is a lament and shall be used as a lament."
In the seventh year, on the tenth day of the fifth month, some of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the LORD, and they sat down before me.
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: Have you come to inquire of Me? As surely as I live, I will not be consulted by you, declares the Lord GOD.
Will you judge them, will you judge them, son of man? Confront them with the abominations of their fathers and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. With an uplifted hand I said to them, 'I am the LORD your God.'
On that day I swore to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands. And I said to them: 'Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and you must not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.'
But they rebelled against Me and refused to listen. None of them cast away the abominations before their eyes, and they did not forsake the idols of Egypt. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the land of Egypt. But I acted for the sake of My name, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations among whom they were living, in whose sight I had revealed Myself to Israel by bringing them out of the land of Egypt.
So I brought them out of the land of Egypt and led them into the wilderness. And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances-for the man who does these things will live by them. I also gave them My Sabbaths as a sign between us, so that they would know that I am the LORD who sanctifies them.
Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances-though the man who does these things will live by them-and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness. But I acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
Moreover, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would not bring them into the land that I had given them-a land flowing with milk and honey, the glory of all lands- because they kept rejecting My ordinances, refusing to walk in My statutes, and profaning My Sabbaths; for their hearts continually went after their idols. Yet I looked on them with pity and did not destroy them or bring them to an end in the wilderness.
In the wilderness I said to their children: 'Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers or keep their ordinances or defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD your God; walk in My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Keep My Sabbaths holy, that they may be a sign between us, so that you may know that I am the LORD your God.'
But the children rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes or carefully observe My ordinances-though the man who does these things will live by them-and they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and vent My anger against them in the wilderness. But I withheld My hand and acted for the sake of My name, so that it would not be profaned in the eyes of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.
However, with an uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them throughout the lands. For they did not practice My ordinances, but they rejected My statutes and profaned My Sabbaths, fixing their eyes on the idols of their fathers.
I also gave them over to statutes that were not good and ordinances by which they could not live. And I pronounced them unclean through their gifts-the sacrifice of every firstborn in the fire-so that I might devastate them, in order that they would know that I am the LORD.
Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: In this way also your fathers blasphemed Me by their unfaithfulness against Me. When I brought them into the land that I swore to give them and they saw any high hill or leafy tree, there they offered their sacrifices, presented offerings that provoked Me, sent up their fragrant incense, and poured out their drink offerings. So I asked them: 'What is this high place to which you go?'
(And to this day it is called Bamah.)
Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: Will you defile yourselves the way your fathers did, prostituting yourselves with their abominations? When you offer your gifts, sacrificing your sons in the fire, you continue to defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. So should I be consulted by you, O house of Israel? As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be consulted by you!
When you say, 'Let us be like the nations, like the peoples of the lands, serving wood and stone,' what you have in mind will never come to pass.
As surely as I live, declares the Lord GOD, with a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will rule over you. With a strong hand, an outstretched arm, and outpoured wrath I will bring you out from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, where I will enter into judgment with you face to face.
Just as I entered into judgment with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so I will enter into judgment with you, declares the Lord GOD. I will make you pass under the rod and will bring you into the bond of the covenant. And I will purge you of those who rebel and transgress against Me. I will bring them out of the land in which they dwell, but they will not enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the LORD.
And as for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Lord GOD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you. But afterward, you will surely listen to Me, and you will no longer defile My holy name with your gifts and idols.
For on My holy mountain, the high mountain of Israel, declares the Lord GOD, there the whole house of Israel, all of them, will serve Me in the land. There I will accept them and will require your offerings and choice gifts, along with all your holy sacrifices.
When I bring you from the peoples and gather you from the lands to which you have been scattered, I will accept you as a pleasing aroma. And I will show My holiness through you in the sight of the nations. Then you will know that I am the LORD, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the land that I swore to give your fathers.
There you will remember your ways and all the deeds with which you have defiled yourselves, and you will loathe yourselves for all the evils you have done. Then you will know, O house of Israel, that I am the LORD, when I have dealt with you for the sake of My name and not according to your wicked ways and corrupt acts, declares the Lord GOD."
Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face toward the south, preach against it, and prophesy against the forest of the Negev. Say to the forest of the Negev: Hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says: I am about to ignite in you a fire, and it will devour all your trees, both green and dry. The blazing flame will not be quenched, and by it every face from south to north will be scorched. Then all people will see that I, the LORD, have kindled it; it will not be quenched."
Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD, they are saying of me, 'Is he not just telling parables?'?"
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, set your face against Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries. Prophesy against the land of Israel and tell her that this is what the LORD says: 'I am against you, and I will draw My sword from its sheath and cut off from you both the righteous and the wicked. Because I will cut off both the righteous and the wicked, My sword will be unsheathed against everyone from south to north. Then all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have taken My sword from its sheath, not to return it again.'
But you, son of man, groan! Groan before their eyes with a broken heart and bitter grief. And when they ask, 'Why are you groaning?' you are to say, 'Because of the news that is coming. Every heart will melt, and every hand will go limp. Every spirit will faint, and every knee will turn to water.' Yes, it is coming and it will surely happen, declares the Lord GOD."
Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Son of man, prophesy and tell them that this is what the Lord says:
'A sword, a sword,
sharpened and polished-
it is sharpened for the slaughter,
polished to flash like lightning!
Should we rejoice in the scepter of My son?
The sword despises every such stick.
The sword is appointed to be polished,
to be grasped in the hand.
It is sharpened and polished,
to be placed in the hand of the slayer.
Cry out and wail,
O son of man,
for the sword is wielded against My people;
it is against all the princes of Israel!
They are tossed to the sword with My people;
therefore strike your thigh.
Surely testing will come!
And what if even the scepter,
which the sword despises,
does not continue?'
declares the Lord GOD.
'So then, son of man,
prophesy and strike your hands together.
Let the sword strike two times,
even three.
It is a sword that slays,
a sword of great slaughter
closing in on every side!
So that their hearts may melt
and many may stumble,
I have appointed at all their gates
a sword for slaughter.
Yes, it is ready to flash like lightning;
it is drawn for slaughter.
Slash to the right;
set your blade to the left-
wherever your blade is directed.
I too will strike My hands together,
and I will satisfy My wrath.'
I, the LORD, have spoken."
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Now you, son of man, mark out two roads for the sword of the king of Babylon to take, both starting from the same land. And make a signpost where the road branches off to each city. Mark out one road for the sword to come against Rabbah of the Ammonites, and another against Judah into fortified Jerusalem.
For the king of Babylon stands at the fork in the road, at the junction of the two roads, to seek an omen: He shakes the arrows, he consults the idols, he examines the liver.
In his right hand appears the portent for Jerusalem, where he is to set up battering rams, to call for the slaughter, to lift a battle cry, to direct the battering rams against the gates, to build a ramp, and to erect a siege wall. It will seem like a false omen to the eyes of those who have sworn allegiance to him, but it will draw attention to their guilt and take them captive.
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Because you have drawn attention to your guilt, exposing your transgressions, so that your sins are revealed in all your deeds-because you have come to remembrance-you shall be taken in hand.
And you, O profane and wicked prince of Israel,
the day has come for your final punishment.'
This is what the Lord GOD says:
'Remove the turban,
and take off the crown.
Things will not remain as they are:
Exalt the lowly
and bring low the exalted.
A ruin, a ruin,
I will make it a ruin!
And it will not be restored
until the arrival of Him to whom it belongs,
to whom I have assigned the right of judgment.'
Now prophesy, son of man, and declare that this is what the Lord GOD says concerning the Ammonites and their contempt:
'A sword! A sword
is drawn for slaughter,
polished to consume,
to flash like lightning-
while they offer false visions for you
and lying divinations about you-
to be placed on the necks
of the wicked who are slain,
whose day has come,
the time of their final punishment.
Return the sword to its sheath!
In the place where you were created,
in the land of your origin,
I will judge you.
I will pour out My anger upon you;
I will breathe the fire of My fury against you;
I will hand you over to brutal men,
skilled in destruction.
You will be fuel for the fire.
Your blood will stain your own land.
You will not be remembered,
for I, the LORD, have spoken.'?"
For the choirmaster. According to Gittith. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.
How lovely is Your dwelling place,
O LORD of Hosts!
My soul longs, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she places her young near Your altars,
O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.
How blessed are those who dwell in Your house!
They are ever praising You.
Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
they make it a place of springs;
even the autumn rain covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
until each appears before God in Zion.
O LORD God of Hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob.
Selah
Take notice of our shield, O God,
and look with favor on the face of Your anointed.
For better is one day in Your courts
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the LORD God is a sun and a shield;
the LORD gives grace and glory;
He withholds no good thing
from those who walk with integrity.
O LORD of Hosts,
how blessed is the man who trusts in You!
After this, Jesus traveled throughout Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there were trying to kill Him. However, the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles was near. So Jesus' brothers said to Him, "Leave here and go to Judea, so that Your disciples there may see the works You are doing. For no one who wants to be known publicly acts in secret. Since You are doing these things, show Yourself to the world." For even His own brothers did not believe in Him.
Therefore Jesus told them, "Although your time is always at hand, My time has not yet come. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me, because I testify that its works are evil. Go up to the feast on your own. I am not going up to this feast, because My time has not yet come."
Having said this, Jesus remained in Galilee. But after His brothers had gone up to the feast, He also went-not publicly, but in secret.
So the Jews were looking for Him at the feast and asking, "Where is He?"
Many in the crowds were whispering about Him. Some said, "He is a good man."
But others replied, "No, He deceives the people."
Yet no one would speak publicly about Him for fear of the Jews.
About halfway through the feast, Jesus went up to the temple courts and began to teach. The Jews were amazed and asked, "How did this man attain such learning without having studied?"
"My teaching is not My own," Jesus replied. "It comes from Him who sent Me. If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own. He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory, but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is a man of truth; in Him there is no falsehood. Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps it. Why are you trying to kill Me?"
"You have a demon," the crowd replied. "Who is trying to kill You?"
Jesus answered them, "I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. But because Moses gave you circumcision, you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath (not that it is from Moses, but from the patriarchs.) If a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses will not be broken, why are you angry with Me for making the whole man well on the Sabbath? Stop judging by outward appearances, and start judging justly."
Then some of the people of Jerusalem began to say, "Isn't this the man they are trying to kill? Yet here He is, speaking publicly, and they are not saying anything to Him. Have the rulers truly recognized that this is the Christ? But we know where this man is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where He is from."
Then Jesus, still teaching in the temple courts, cried out, "You know Me, and you know where I am from. I have not come of My own accord, but He who sent Me is true. You do not know Him, but I know Him, because I am from Him and He sent Me."
So they tried to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. Many in the crowd, however, believed in Him and said, "When the Christ comes, will He perform more signs than this man?"
When the Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus, they and the chief priests sent officers to arrest Him. So Jesus said, "I am with you only a little while longer, and then I am going to the One who sent Me. You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come."
At this, the Jews said to one another, "Where does He intend to go that we will not find Him? Will He go where the Jews are dispersed among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What does He mean by saying, 'You will look for Me, but you will not find Me,' and, 'Where I am, you cannot come'?"
On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: 'Streams of living water will flow from within him.'?" He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
On hearing these words, some of the people said, "This is truly the Prophet."
Others declared, "This is the Christ."
But still others asked, "How can the Christ come from Galilee? Doesn't the Scripture say that the Christ will come from the line of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?"
So there was division in the crowd because of Jesus. Some of them wanted to seize Him, but no one laid a hand on Him.
Then the officers returned to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why didn't you bring Him in?"
"Never has anyone spoken like this man!" the officers answered.
"Have you also been deceived?" replied the Pharisees. "Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? But this crowd that does not know the law, they are under a curse."
Nicodemus, who had gone to Jesus earlier and who himself was one of them, asked, "Does our law convict a man without first hearing from him to determine what he has done?"
"Aren't you also from Galilee?" they replied. "Look into it, and you will see that no prophet comes out of Galilee."
Then each went to his own home.