The Lord God reveals a message
to Ezekiel the prophet
As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters. Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good. Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thine abominations which thou hast done. Thou also, which hast judged thy sisters, bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yea, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters. When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them: That thou mayest bear thine own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort unto them. When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former estate, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former estate, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former estate. For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride, Before thy wickedness was discovered, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are round about her, the daughters of the Philistines, which despise thee round about. Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thine abominations, saith the LORD.-Ezekiel 16:48-58***Ezekiel was an Israelite and a prophet of the Lord God. Ezekiel's home was in Judah, the southern nation in the Promised Land, the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), and to Abraham's son Isaac, and to Isaac's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel), and to their descendants. When the Lord God spoke to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Amorites, and the people of Sodom, and other idol worshiping groups were living throughout the land. King Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was the 17th king to rule Judah and was from the tribe of Judah, descended from Jacob and his 1st wife Leah, and Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem, the royal city, 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's Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives, his mother, and Ezekiel, to Babylon. During the 11th year of 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. Similarly, over 100 years earlier, the Assyrians invaded the northern nation of Israel in the Promised Land and conquered the royal city, Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 600 years before Samaria and Jerusalem were conquered, Joshua led his fellow Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the Promised Land, according to the commands of the Lord God. During the 40th year before Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan River, Moses and his older brother Aaron led the Israelites away from Egyptian slavery, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur, according to the commands of the Lord God. 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. When Samuel the priest, prophet and judge from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi 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 to reign, according to the command of the Lord God. David, from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah, was the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. 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. Judah was the nation in the south and Israel was the northern nation. David's descendants ruled Judah, except for the 6-year reign of Athaliah. In the northern nation of Israel, murderers and idolaters successively reigned. The Lord God sent prophets to speak warnings to the Israelites in both nations, and sometimes the prophets were killed. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, were born. John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). Jesus the Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that Jesus spoke about the deaths of the prophets.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 29:1-29, 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges, 1 Samuel 1:1-3:21, 8:1-31:13, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-34, 2:1-17, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 8:1-40, 9:35-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Jeremiah 26:1-24, 39:1-18, 52:1-34, Ezekiel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26