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 Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, the Lord God told Abraham to go out from 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, 75-year-old Abraham and 65-year-old Sarah journeyed with Lot and their servants and possessions to Canaan, a land inhabited by idolaters, and the Lord God promised to give Canaan to Abraham's descendants and childless 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. Ishmael was born to 86-year-old Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's maidservant. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. A few years after 127-year-old Sarah died, Abraham sent his top servant to Haran to make marital arrangements for Isaac. The servant prayed, and saw Rebekah, Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. Rebekah and her brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean) lived with their parents, and Laban kept idols. The marital arrangements were made, and Abraham's servant brought Rebekah to Canaan, and Rebekah became the wife of 40-year-old Isaac. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was Isaac's favorite, and Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. After Jacob deceived Isaac, and cheated Esau, and Rebekah learned that Esau planned to kill Jacob, she spoke words to Isaac that led him to send Jacob to Rebekah's family in Padan Aram, Haran. During Jacob's 7th year in Haran, he was married to Laban's daughters Leah and Rachel. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel. During Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Before leaving, Rachel took Laban's idols. When Joseph was 17 years old, his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast. Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. 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 Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh. 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, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes, and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites, and the Israelites said that they would obey the words of the Lord God. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai 40 days and nights with the Lord God, the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. Meanwhile, the Israelites thought they were abandoned and told Aaron to make gods to lead them. Aaron told the Israelites to bring him their gold earrings, and he made a golden calf. The Israelites worshiped the golden calf, and Moses burned and ground the golden calf. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. In Shittim, some Israelites worshiped the idols with the Moabites, the descendants of Lot and Lot's oldest daughter and their son Moab. The Ammonites were the descendants of Lot and Lot's youngest daughter and their son Ben-ammi. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died, and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' aide and 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, the Israelites were led by elders, judges and their own minds, and they continually worshiped idols. Samuel the priest, prophet and judge was from the tribe of Levi. When Samuel was elderly, and his sons Joel (Vashni) and Abiah (Abijah) were not obeying the commands of the Lord God, and King Nahash and his Ammonite army were preparing to attack, the Israelite elders demanded that Samuel appoint a king to lead them, and Samuel anointed Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to reign, according to the command of the Lord God. David, from the tribe of 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, a son 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 Asa, the 3rd king, Asa's son Jehoshaphat, the 4th king, Jehoshaphat's great-great-great-grandson Uzziah (Azariah), the 9th king, Uzziah's son Jotham, the 10th king, Jotham's grandson Hezekiah, the 12th king, and Hezekiah's great-grandson Josiah, the 15th king, were Judah's only rulers who did not worship idols. In the northern nation of Israel, Jeroboam established idolatry throughout the kingdom, and the idolatry was not removed. 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 captive. 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. Less than 120 years after Samaria was conquered, Jehoahaz, a son born to Josiah and Hamutal, became the 16th king to rule Judah. Jehoiakim (Eliakim), the son born to Josiah and Zebudah, was the 17th king. 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. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. When Ezekiel the priest and 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 11th year of the reign of Josiah and Hamutal's son Zedekiah (Mattaniah), the 19th king, 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