A message the Lord God
revealed to Ezekiel the prophet:
Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to enquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet; and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel. And they shall bear the punishment of their iniquity: the punishment of the prophet shall be even as the punishment of him that seeketh unto him; That the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither be polluted any more with all their transgressions; but that they may be my people, and I may be their God, saith the Lord GOD.-Ezekiel 14:1-11***When Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and his wife Sarah (Sarai) were living in southern Mesopotamia in Ur, the Lord God told Abraham to leave his country and kin and come into the land he would be shown. Ur was an idolatrous environment, and some of Abraham and Sarah's family members, including their father Terah, worshiped idols. Abraham, Sarah, Terah, and nephew Lot journeyed to northern Mesopotamia and began living in Haran. Sometime after 205-year-old Terah died in Haran, Abraham, Sarah, Lot, and their servants journeyed to Canaan, a land inhabited by idolaters. The Lord God promised to give Canaan to Abraham's descendants and Abraham. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Lord God knew Abraham to be the man who would command all who came from his body and household to accomplish justice and righteousness. When Abraham was 100 years old, Isaac was born to Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. When Abraham was ready for Isaac to have a bride, Abraham sent his top servant to Haran to bring home a young lady in the family for Isaac to marry. The servant prayed and saw Rebekah, Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. Rebekah lived with her family, and her brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean) kept idols. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. Decades thereafter, Rebekah helped Jacob deceive Isaac and cheat Esau. After Rebekah learned that Esau planned to kill Jacob, she spoke words to Isaac that led Isaac to send Jacob to Rebekah's family in Haran. During Jacob's 7th year in Haran, he was married to Laban's daughters Leah and Rachel. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began returning to Canaan with Leah, and Rachel, and Bilhah and Zilpah the maidservants, and all of their children, servants, goods, and animals. Before leaving, Rachel took Laban's idols. When Jacob was 130 years old, he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt, the country wherein Joseph, the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel, was second-in-command. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, their descendants the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, when Moses was upon Mount Sinai with the Lord God 40 days and nights, the Israelites began worshiping the golden calf that Aaron made. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron died. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses died and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' successor from the tribe of Ephraim, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. After 110-year-old Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, and the elders associated with Joshua were dead, the Israelites lived under the leadership of elders, judges or their own minds, and the Israelites continually worshiped idols. Samuel, from the tribe of Levi, was the last judge who served the Lord God and led the Israelites. Saul, from the tribe of Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin, was the 1st king. David, from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah, was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. David was a man after God's own heart and only worshiped the Lord God. Solomon, the 2nd child born to David and Bathsheba, was the 3rd king to reign. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city, and Jeroboam, the son born to Nebat and Zeruah, was the 1st king to reign. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city, and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Rehoboam worshiped idols. Rehoboam's grandson King Asa, Asa's son King Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat's great-great-great-grandson King Uzziah (Azariah), Uzziah's son King Jotham, Jotham's grandson King Hezekiah, and Hezekiah's great-grandson King Josiah were the only rulers in Judah who did not worship idols. Jeroboam established idolatry throughout the kingdom, and idolatry remained throughout the reigns of every king who ruled the northern nation of Israel. King Pekah was the 18th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel. During Pekah's 20-year reign, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and King Tiglath-pileser, ruler of Assyria, began taking Israelites to Assyria. During the 9th year of the reign of King Hoshea, the 19th king to rule the northern nation, the Assyrians conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Jehoiakim (Eliakim), the son born to Josiah and Zebidah, was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon, began looting the temple of the Lord. Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. When Ezekiel the prophet was living among other Israelite captives in Babylon, he was visited by a group of Israelites whose hearts were still not committed to the Lord God. During the reign of Jehoiakim's brother King Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king to rule Judah, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Ezekiel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26