We learned a few weeks ago the way in which the devil was able to gain entrance into the garden by using a fallen angel to inhabit a serpent/snake. We learned that the adam was not attacked directly, but the boēthos, the one the adam was to call on from God, the woman, was deceived. The one thing that the other sons of God cannot do is procreate. Angels do not procreate. Cherubim and Seraphim do not procreate, neither do the incorporeal satan, or the devil. Humans are the only sons of God in Yahweh’s creation that we know of that procreate. The devil is interested in opposing humanity, and adopting his own children. Therefore, instead of life, the devil brings the opposite, death and bloodshed, to humanity. While the devil was created for the angels to sport with, humans may not have been created for the same purpose as the angels, yet humans find themselves in that very position. We find the schemes of the devil to be the opposite of the ordinances of Yahweh. The Apostle Paul tells us that we should be standing against the methodeia, “methods”, of the devil. With this in mind we now know what exousia and dunamis are for. We are to be the opposite of the children of the devil. We are to be people with integrity, the ones holding back evil.
Ephesians 6:11 G1746 Put on G3588 the G3833 full armor G3588 G2316 of God! G4314 for G3588 G1410 you to be able G1473 G2476 to stand G4314 against G3588 the G3180 craft G3588 of the G1228 devil.
3180 LSJ Gloss:μεθοδεία craft, wiliness
Dodson:μεθοδεία scheming, craftiness (a way of search after something, an inquiry; a method), scheming, craftiness, deceit.
TBESG:μεθοδεία scheme
G:N-F
μεθ-οδία (Rec. -εία; cf. 131., § 3, 5), -ας, ἡ
(< † μεθοδεύω, 1. to treat by rule. 2. to employ craft: 4Ki.19:27 *)
craft, deceit: Refs (not found elsewhere; see AR, in l).†
(AS)
Thayer:
1) cunning arts, deceit, craft, trickery
μεθοδεία
methodeia meth-od-i'-ah From a compound of G3326 and G3593 [compare “method” ]; traveling over, that is, travesty, (trickery) KJV Usage: wile, lie in wait.
We also recently learned how the devil uses demons, Nephilim, and fallen angels to attack humans. We then saw how Yahweh sometimes uses humans to attack the devil. We have to learn that the devil is a competitor who has made his gameplay an artful craft. Just because we humans need to learn how to compete and sport with the devil does not mean that Yahweh doesn’t know how to compete and sport with the devil.
Yahweh is omnipotent and declares the end from the beginning. If he declares the end from the beginning, then he knows all of the past, present, and the future. Take a moment to imagine that. How then would Yahweh sport with the devil who he created? He knows how the devil will react and what he will do. Is it possible that Yahweh is sporting with the devil, the fallen angels, and the incorporeal satan as well? Is it possible that while humans are learning to fight a spiritual battle, that Yahweh has baited the devil, the fallen angels, and the incorporeal satan, in such a way that even humans who don’t know there is a devil, will be offended by the actions of those who worship the devil?
Isaiah 46:9-10 (KJV)
9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Would it make sense that the very things Yahweh declares as things sacred to him would end up being bait for the devil? The devil takes everything Yahweh declares to humans and twists it in such a way that even people who don’t believe on Yahweh think the actions of the children of the devil are heinous and horrid. Hasn’t this happened in history as well as it is happening today? We looked at Oolla and Ooliba in Ezekiel 23 but now let’s look at what Ezekiel was told prior to that story.
Ezekiel 20:1 And it came to pass in the seventh year, on the fifteenth day of the month, there came men of the elders of the house of Israel to enquire of the Lord, and they sat before me. 2 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 3 Son of man, speak to the elders of the house of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord; Are ye come to enquire of me? As I live, I will not be enquired of by you, saith the Lord. 4 Shall I utterly take vengeance on them, son of man? testify to them of the iniquities of their fathers:
The elders go to Ezekiel and want to hear from the Lord, but the Lord says that he is not going to be asked questions by them. In fact the Lord asks Ezekiel if he should take vengeance on them. Remember this is around 12 years after Josiah died. Yahweh directs Ezekiel to remind these elders of the sins of their fathers.
Ezekiel 20:5 and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord;
From the day that I chose the house of Israel, and became known to the seed of the house of Jacob, and was known to them in the land of Egypt, and helped them with my hand, saying, I am the Lord your God; 6 in that day I helped them with my hand, to bring them out of the land of Egypt into the land which I prepared for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, it is abundant beyond every land. 7 And I said to them, Let every one cast away the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the devices of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
8 But they revolted from me, and would not hearken to me: they cast not away the abominations of their eyes, and forsook not the devices of Egypt: then I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish my wrath upon them in the midst of Egypt. 9 But I wrought so that my name should not be at all profaned in the sight of the Gentiles, in the midst of whom they are, among whom I was made known to them in their sight, to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
Remember the day the Lord came to meet with them in the wilderness?
Ezekiel 20:10 And I brought them into the wilderness. 11 And I gave them my commandments, and made known to them mine ordinances, all which if a man shall do, he shall even live in them. 12 And I gave them my sabbaths, that they should be for a sign between me and them, that they should know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.
13 And I said to the house of Israel in the wilderness, Walk ye in my commandments: but they walked not in them, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man shall do, he shall even live in them; and they grievously profaned my sabbaths: and I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. 14 But I wrought so that my name should not be at all profaned before the Gentiles, before whose eyes I brought them out.
Twice now the Lord wanted to pour out his wrath upon the exiles from Egypt but he did not because if he did, the nations, the goyim, would think and speak negatively about Yahweh. But as we will soon see, instead of being reviled at Yahweh, the nations became reviled at Israel.
Ezekiel 20:15 But I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness once for all, that I would not bring them into the land which I gave them, a land flowing with milk and honey, it is sweeter than all lands: 16 because they rejected mine ordinances, and walked not in my commandments, but profaned my sabbaths, and went after the imaginations of their hearts.
17 Yet mine eyes spared them, so as not to destroy them utterly, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
Sin is the reason that the exiles from Egypt wandered around in the desert for forty years. Even in the wilderness they rejected Yahweh’s ordinances and commands. They went after the imaginations of their hearts. Stephen tells us that they worshipped the cherubim on the mercy seat in the wilderness and named them. They stayed in the desert until that generation died. Yahweh speaks to their children.
Ezekiel 20:18 And I said to their children in the wilderness, Walk not ye in the customs of your fathers, and keep not their ordinances, and have no fellowship with their practices, nor defile yourselves with them. 19 I am the Lord your God; walk in my commandments, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; 20 and hallow my sabbaths, and let them be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.
21 But they provoked me, and their children walked not in my commandments, and they took no heed to mine ordinances to do them, which if a man shall do, he shall even live in them, and they profaned my sabbaths: then I said that I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to accomplish mine anger upon them. 22 But I wrought so that my name might not be at all profaned before the Gentiles; and I brought them out in their sight.
This is the third time that Yahweh wants to pour out wrath upon them but does not. Is Yahweh baiting the devil to influence Judah into more and more evil? Is Yahweh allowing the devil to lure Judah into doing the opposite of Yahweh’s decrees? Would there be a purpose to that gameplay?
Ezekiel 20:23 I lifted up my hand against them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the Gentiles, and disperse them in the countries; 24 because they kept not mine ordinances, and rejected my commandments, and profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes went after the imaginations of their fathers.
As far back as Israel wandering in the wilderness, Yahweh determined that he would disperse them into other countries among the nations. This is not a one time event as we know. This scattering and dispersing happened several times over many years from the Exodus through to the first century.
Ezekiel 20:25 So I gave them commandments that were not good, and ordinances in which they should not live.
It would seem that Yahweh knew they would not follow the laws of Moses. Instead Yahweh will allow both the northern and southern kingdom to make their own doctrines, and then they will defile themselves.
Ezekiel 20:26 And I will defile them by their own decrees, when I pass through upon every one that opens the womb, that I may destroy them.
Ezekiel 20:26 that I might by their own doctrinal notions pollute them, when I passed through all their first born males in order to remove them out of sight. https://studybible.info/Thomson/Ezekiel%2020
Ezekiel 20:26 And I will defile them by their own decrees, when I pass through upon every one that opens the womb, that I may destroy them. https://studybible.info/Brenton/Ezekiel%2020
What does it mean to open the womb? It is in reference to a first born child, who was now being dedicated, passed through the fire, or sacrificed.
Ezekiel 20:26 G2532 And G3392 I will defile G1473 them G1722 in G3588 G1378 their decrees G1473 G1722 in G3588 G1279 my traveling by G1473 G3956 every one G1272 opening wide G3388 the womb, G3704 so that G853 I should obliterate G1473 them, G2443 that G1097 thay shall know G3754 that G1473 I am G2962 the lord .
3392 LSJ Gloss:μιαίνω to stain, dye
Dodson:μιαίνω I stain, pollute, defile I stain, pollute, defile, corrupt.
TBESG:μιαίνω to stain
G:V
μιαίνω
[in LXX chiefly for טָמֵא ;]
__1. to dye or stain.
__2. to stain, defile, soil;
__(a) in physical sense;
__(b) in moral sense : Refs;
__(with) in ritual sense (cf. Refs.†
SYN.: μολύνω, to besmear, which also differs from μ. in that it is never used, as μ. in its primary meaning, in an honourable sense (cf. Tr., Syn., § xxxi) (AS)
Thayer:
1) to dye with another colour, to stain
2) to defile, pollute, sully, contaminate, soil
2a) to defile with sins
For Synonyms see entry G5864
μιαίνω
miainō me-ah'ee-no Perhaps a primary verb; to sully or taint, that is, contaminate (ceremonially or morally) KJV Usage: defile.
1378 LSJ Gloss:δόγμα that which seems to one, an opinion, dogma
Dodson:δόγμα a decree, edict, ordinance.
TBESG:δόγμα decree
G:N-N
δόγμα, -τος, τό
(< δοκέω), [in LXX chiefly for דָּת, טְעֵם ;]
__1. an opinion.
__2. A public decree, ordinance: of Roman rulers, Refs; of the Jewish law, Refs; of the Apostles, Act.16:4 (Cremer, 205).†
(AS)
Thayer:
1) doctrine, decree, ordinance
1a) of public decrees
1b) of the Roman Senate
1c) of rulers
2) the rules and requirements of the law of Moses; carrying a suggestion of severity and of threatened judgment
3) of certain decrees of the apostles relative to right living
δόγμα
dogma dog'-mah From the base of G1380; a law (civil, ceremonial or ecclesiastical) KJV Usage: decree, ordinance.
Yahweh will pollute them with their own rules and ordinances. At this time in Judah’s culture the people made their own rules and ordinances regarding passing their own children through the fire. Even today it is customary for Jewish people to light a candle at the time of the birth of a baby and pass the new born over the flame.
1279 Dodson:διαπορεύομαιI journey through journey through (past).
TBESG:διαπορεύω to go through
G:V
δια-πορεύω
[in LXX for עָבַר, הָלַךְ, etc. ;]
to carry over. Pass., to pass across, journey through: absol., Refs; before κατὰ πόλεις κ. κώμας, Luk.13:22; διά, with genitive, Refs (cf. Pro.9:12 with, Wis.3:1); with accusative, Act.16:4.†
(AS)
Thayer:
1) to cause to pass through a place
2) to carry across
3) to journey through a place, go through
4) to travel through
διαπορεύομαι
diaporeuomai dee-ap-or-yoo'-om-ahee From G1223 and G4198; to travel through KJV Usage: go through, journey in, pass by.
We do not always recognize that Yahweh still passes through the earth. Just as he visited the adam in the garden, he journeys the earth. When a dedication is made of a child to Him, he knows. He sees.
2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord look upon all the earth, to strengthen every heart that is perfect toward him.…
3388 Dodson:μήτρα the womb.
TBESG:μήτρα womb
G:N-F
μήτρα, -ας, ἡ
(< μήτμρ), [in LXX chiefly for רֶחֶם ;]
the womb: Luk.2:23 (LXX), Rom.4:19.†
(AS)
Thayer:
1) the womb
μήτρα
mētra may'-trah From G3384; the matrix KJV Usage: womb.
3384
μήτηρ
mētēr may'-tare Apparently a primary word; a “mother” (literally or figuratively, immediate or remote) KJV Usage: mother.
The womb is the matrix. A matrix is an environment where something develops. Opening wide the womb refers to the first born, generally the first male child. There is something sacred about the matrix where humans develop. Angels don’t have a matrix, neither do cherubim, seraphim, ophanim, the incorporeal satan, nor the devil. Only human’s who are mētēr have an environment where a human develops. This is the way Yahweh created us. This is why the devil distorts this, he does the opposite of Yahweh by taking the sacred dedication and turning it into a blood sacrifice. The devil also tries to downplay the importance of a matrix, as if there is another way to develop babies.
853 LSJ Gloss:ἀφανίζω to make unseen, hide from sight
Dodson:ἀφανίζω I cause to disappear, I hide, remove, disfigure
I cause to disappear, hide, remove; I disfigure (probably by leaving unwashed for a long period), destroy.
TBESG:ἀφανίζω to destroy
G:V
ἀφανίζω
(< ἀφανής), [in LXX for שָׁמֵם ni., שָׁמַד hi., etc. ;]
__1. to make unseen, hide from sight (Xen., a1.).
__2. Later (MM, see word)
__(a) to destroy: Mat.6:19-20;
__(b) to disfigure: Mat.6:16. Pass., to vanish: Jas.4:14; to perish: Act.13:41(LXX).†
(AS)
Thayer:
1) to snatch out of sight, to put out of view, to make unseen
2) to cause to vanish away, to destroy, consume
3) to deprive of lustre, render unsightly
3a) to disfigure
ἀφανίζω
aphanizō af-an-id'-zo From G852; to render unapparent, that is, (actively) consume (becloud), or (passively) disappear (be destroyed) KJV Usage: corrupt, disfigure, perish, vanish away.
The decree was a demonic practice, and when Yahweh visits, or passes by the first born, he will erase them. The first born will become unimportant and disappear. We want to understand, the first born was to be set apart, sanctified for the Lord. They instead took babies and passed them through the fire of Moloch and Baal.
Let’s compare a few verses. We have the law that Moses gave, which Yahweh knew they wouldn’t keep. We will look at one example of the opposite practice, although there are many. Then we have Jeremiah calling them out. Remember, Jeremiah was thrown in prison and then in a pit for prophesying the truth.
Deuteronomy 18:10 There shall not be found in thee one who purges his son or his daughter with fire, one who uses divination, who deals with omens, and augury, 11 a sorcerer employing incantation, one who has in him a divining spirit, and observer of signs, questioning the dead.
4 Kings 16:3 And he {Ahaz} walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, he made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel.
Jeremiah 19:4 Because they forsook me, and profaned this place, and burnt incense in it to strange gods, which they and their fathers knew not; and the kings of Juda have filled this place with innocent blood, 5 and built high places for Baal, to burn their children in the fire, which things I commanded not, neither did I design them in my heart:
This is what they decreed to do. It is noted in the Bible that several kings and political officials purged their children in the fire. It was not what Yahweh decreed for them to do. Remember our time frame. Eleven years and six months after Josiah died, Judah was falling. The first wave of captives were taken into Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar installed his own puppet over Judah, Zedekiah. The people hated the message of Jeremiah and the prophets.
The distortion of the devil is to do the opposite of what Yahweh would like us to do. This is what the heirs of Jacob were supposed to do.
Numbers 18:15 And every thing that opens the womb of all flesh, whatsoever they bring to the Lord, whether man or beast, shall be thine: only the first-born of men shall be surely redeemed, and thou shalt redeem the first-born of unclean cattle.
Luke 2:23 (KJV)
23 (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)
Exodus 13:1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Sanctify to me every first-born, first produced, opening every womb among the children of Israel both of man and beast: it is mine.
We can see the ordinance of Yahweh is clear, and as Ezekiel tells us they would not keep the ordinances of the Lord. They followed their own ordinances in this ritual to Baal.
Ezekiel 20:27 Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Thus saith the Lord: Hitherto have your fathers provoked me in their trespasses in which they transgressed against me. 28 Whereas I brought them into the land concerning which I lifted up mine hand to give it them; and they looked upon every high hill, and every shady tree, and they sacrificed there to their gods, and offered there sweet-smelling savour, and there they poured out their drink-offerings.
Yahweh reminds these men who came to Ezekiel wanting to hear from Yahweh, of their sins. Then Yahweh asks about a high place. Remember Josiah tore down all the high places. But now just a few years later, the high places are back up.
Ezekiel 20:29 And I said to them, What is Abama, that ye go in thither? and they called its name Abama, until this day.
Ezekiel 20:29 (KJV)
29 Then I said unto them, What is the high place whereunto ye go? And the name thereof is called Bamah unto this day.
Bamah or Abama is a high place where they were worshipping idols. They had the temple to worship in, but at this time the glory of the Lord left the temple. The devil through demons and fallen angels directs people to worship in high places, Bamah. If we break this down in Hebrew we see that the high places are places of Baal. Remember there were no vowels in Hebrew, so vowels are interchangeable depending on ones’ pronunciation.
Ezekiel 20:29 H559 ואמר Then I said H413 אלהם unto H4100 מה them, What H1116 הבמה the high place H834 אשׁר whereunto H859 אתם ye H935 הבאים go? H8033 שׁם whereunto H7121 ויקרא thereof is called H8034 שׁמה And the name H1117 במה Bamah H5704 עד unto H3117 היום day. H2088 הזה׃ this
H1117
בּמה
bâmâh baw-maw' The same as H1116; Bamah, a place in Palestine
KJV Usage: Bamah. See also H1120.
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions
בּמה
Bamah = "high place"
1. a place in Palestine (of places of idolatrous worship)
TWOT: None
Parts of Speech: Proper Name Location
H1116
בּמה
bâmâh baw-maw' From an unused root (meaning to be high); an elevation
KJV Usage: height, high place, wave.
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions
בּמה
1. high place, ridge, height, bamah (technical name for cultic platform)
a. high place, mountain
b. high places, battlefields
c. high places (as places of worship)
d. funeral mound?
Origin: from an unused root (meaning to be high)
TWOT: 253
Parts of Speech: Noun Feminine
H1120
בּמות בּעל בּמות
bâmôth bâmôth ba‛al baw-moth', baw-moth' bah'-al Plural of H1116; heights; the second form is a more complete form of the first form; from the same and H1168; heights of Baal; Bamoth or Bamoth Baal, a place East of the Jordan KJV Usage: Bamoth, Bamoth-baal.
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions
בּמות בּעל בּמות
Bamoth = "high places" or "great high place"
1. a town on the river Arnon in Moab
Origin: plural of H1116
TWOT: None
Parts of Speech: Proper Name Location
H1168
בּעל
ba‛al bah'-al The same as H1167; Baal, a Phoenician deity KJV Usage: Baal, [plural] Baalim.
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions
בּעל
Baal = "lord" n pr m
1. supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites
2. a Reubenite
3. the son of Jehiel and grandfather of Saul n pr loc
4. a town of Simeon, probably identical to Baalath-beer
Origin: the same as H1167
TWOT: 262a
Parts of Speech:
H1167
בּעל
ba‛al bah'-al
From H1166; a master; hence a husband, or (figuratively) owner (often used with another noun in modifications of this latter sense
KJV Usage: + archer, + babbler, + bird, captain, chief man, + confederate, + have to do, + dreamer, those to whom it is due, + furious, those that are given to it, great, + hairy, he that hath it, have, + horseman, husband, lord, man, + married, master, person, + sworn, they of.
Brown-Driver-Briggs' Hebrew Definitions
בּעל
1. owner, husband, lord
a. owner
b. a husband
c. citizens, inhabitants
d. rulers, lords
e. (noun of relationship used to characterise - ie, master of dreams)
f. lord (used of foreign gods)
Origin: from H1166
TWOT: 262a
Parts of Speech: Noun Masculine
The word Bamah or Abama is considered a proper name in the Greek and is not translated. It is translated in Hebrew, therefore we have to rely on the Hebrew and hope there isn’t an alteration that we are missing. This high place is a mountain top for worship, a place Yahweh did not decree. What did that look like? There was the region of Judah, the city of Jerusalem, the temple, then on the mountains west of Jerusalem, someone built an altar, a place for fire, some idols, and maybe a few beds. Looking towards the mountains one would see the smoke rising from the fires. There would be no mistake that there was worship going on. They might have been able to hear it in the city. This is where kings, politicians, religious leaders, and the people, went with their new borns to either pass them through the fire or to sacrifice them in the fire. The visible sight should have made the good people leave the land of Israel forever.
Not only are they worshiping Baal, Baal is their lord or owner. The Canaanites and Phoenicians worshipped Baal. Who were the Canaanites? They were the descendants of the cursed forth born son of Ham, who took over Shem’s land. They mostly were a hybrid race of Nephilim, they had become mixed. The Israelite scouts said that they themselves were like grasshoppers compared to the giant Canaanites. The Phoenicians lived along the coast and were seafarers. They also were a hybrid race of Nephilim later becoming known as Philistines. From Baal worship we get our words cannibalism (canaan-baal) and cabal, and Kabbalist.
As we see, Yahweh is not happy with Judah, Israel, or these men. Instead of answering their questions Yahweh reminds them of their sins, which are Baal worship. We can see that the devil inspires people to worship him in the opposite ways that Yahweh has established. But, is this Yahweh’s gameplay with the devil?
Now Yahweh tells them of a time when He will bring them back into the land.
Ezekiel 20:41 I will accept you with a sweet-smelling savour, when I bring you out from the nations, and take you out of the countries wherein ye have been dispersed; and I will be sanctified among you in the sight of the nations. 42 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have brought you into the land of Israel, into the land concerning which I lifted up my hand to give it to your fathers. 43 And ye shall there remember your ways, and your devices wherewith ye defiled yourselves; and ye shall bewail yourselves for all your wickedness. 44 And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I have done thus to you, that my name may not be profaned in your evil ways, and in your corrupt devices, saith the Lord.
This is what Moses told the people before they ever entered into the land.
Deuteronomy 30:1 And it shall come to pass when all these things shall have come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thy face, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, wherein the Lord shall have scattered thee, 2 and shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hearken to his voice, according to all things which I charge thee this day, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul; 3 then the Lord shall heal thine iniquities, and shall pity thee, and shall again gather thee out from all the nations, among which the Lord has scattered thee. 4 If thy dispersion be from one end of heaven to the other, thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and thence will the Lord thy God take thee. http://ecmarsh.com/lxx/Deuteronomy/index.htm
If we go backward to Deuteronomy 28 we can see the curses that the Israelites are still under today. If you want to locate a true Jewish person, from heritage and not conversion, you will find them to be the lowest people in our societies around the world. They are serving their enemies, they are slaves, they are poor, and in bad health. The converted Jews came at a later time, between 650 CE to 900 CE, and these people are those we see as Jews today, which is why they are not under the burdens of the curses of Moses. These tribal, converted, Jews are in the land of Israel and they are not the ones “brought back” to the land in 1917/1948 with the Balfour Act. However they have a purpose in Yahweh’s plan. These people are hated around the world. When we discover why, we see the devil’s plan for the opposite of what Yahweh did to Jacob’s heirs. The devil made them rich, yet the heirs of Jacob are poor. When we see the “opposite” we see the devil. Let’s keep this in mind as we continue.
Ezekiel 22:1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 And thou, son of man, wilt thou judge the bloody city? yea, declare thou to her all her iniquities. 3 And thou shalt say, Thus saith the Lord God: O city that sheds blood in the midst of her, so that her time should come, and that forms devices against herself, to defile herself; 4 in their blood which thou hast shed, thou hast transgressed; and in thy devices which thou hast formed, thou hast polluted thyself; and thou hast brought nigh thy days, and hast brought on the time of thy years: therefore have I made thee a reproach to the Gentiles, and a mockery to all the countries, 5 to those near thee, and to those far distant from thee; and they shall mock thee, thou that art notoriously unclean, and abundant in iniquities.
Yahweh asks Ezekiel to prophesy. Prophecy makes known things that Yahweh sees, but not necessarily what everyone on earth sees. By the method of a prophet speaking, we find that Yahweh knows what evil is being done. The city is bloody. Why is the city bloody? The second wave of Babylon’s army hadn’t come yet. The people of Judah formed ordinances to shed blood. This bloodshed was so bad that the nations, the goyim, disproved of this behavior, and the nations mocked them. Their sacrifices now entered the city. This bloodshed was incredibly excessive, such that all the non-jewish nations were appalled. Doesn’t the devil want us to think all the non-Jewish nations were heathens who worshipped the devil? Yahweh says the opposite.
We somehow believe the Mayans were the most bloody civilization, but they were probably less bloody in comparison to Judah. Someone has buried this history. Now we see why Yahweh did not destroy the Israelites. If he had destroyed them, the nations would have thought that Yahweh was mean, but instead Yahweh let the devil show himself through Israel, causing the nations to reproach Israel. The devil took the bait. Now the nations see the devil working in Israel.
As we consider our own time, the idea of infanticide has become a hot topic. For years Christians have tried to stop this practice but with little headway. Yet now it seems the devil exposed his hand and even non-Christians are crying out. This practice of aborting and killing babies is not new, but the public outrage against it is. People are seeing the truth. People are realizing there is only evil behind it, and the public is becoming aware of the evil practices of devil worship.
Ezekiel 22:6 Behold, the princes of the house of Israel have conspired in thee each one with his kindred, that they might shed blood. 7 In thee they have reviled father and mother; and in thee they have behaved unjustly toward the stranger: they have oppressed the orphan and widow.
We want to understand that Josiah had only been gone about twelve years, and the blood sacrifices came back into the land. This was led by the princes, the political, and religious leaders. They tyrannized orphans and widows. Doesn’t James 1:27 tell us the opposite? That true religious worship is to care for the orphans and widows? The devil is again promoting the opposite.
Ezekiel 22:8 And they have set at nought my holy things, and in thee they have profaned my sabbaths. 9 There are robbers in thee, to shed blood in thee; and in thee they have eaten upon the mountains: they have wrought ungodliness in the midst of thee.
The people were doing lewd and unholy things in the middle of the city. They were eating worship meals on Bamah, the high places. They also had a culture of rape, called humbling.
Ezekiel 22:10 In thee they have uncovered the father’s shame; and in thee they have humbled her that was set apart for uncleanness. 11 They have dealt unlawfully each one with his neighbor’s wife; and each one in ungodliness has defiled his daughter-in-law: and in thee they have humbled each one his sister, the daughter of his father.
If we could time travel and see the city on this day, the day Yahweh is speaking through Ezekiel, we would be horrified. The nations at that time were already horrified. They mocked the Israelites. We would be sickened to witness the awful behavior going on in Judah. Haven’t we been led to believe that the Jews were innocent victims of other people?
Ezekiel 22:12 In thee they have received gifts to shed blood; they have received in thee interest and usurious increase; and by oppression thou hast brought thy wickedness to the full, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord.
People were being paid to shed blood. Today we have abortion clinics which are paid for by government funding, with taxes collected from the citizenry. People are still paid to shed blood. Those in Judah who were performing abortions and infanticide were becoming rich. They were not only killing and sacrificing infants, children, and adults, they were also selling the blood of the victims. This practice continues today. Yet Yahweh specifically said that we are not to drink blood. Another opposite.
Israel, the heirs of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, have fallen for the schemes, and methods of the devil. The Lord says that he will scatter them among the nations. Israel and Judah were scattered, but these practices are still going on today. At times they are hidden from the public’s sight, and at times they resurface. Why? Why do people want to consume the flesh and blood of infants and children? Why do people want to sacrifice infants and children? Why do people want to rape and murder others? Yahweh gives us the answers.
Ezekiel 22:17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18 Son of man, behold, the house of Israel are all become to me as it were mixed with brass, and iron, and tin, and lead; they are mixed up in the midst of the silver.
19 Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord God; Because ye have become one mixture, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 20 As silver, and brass, and iron, and tin, and lead, are gathered into the midst of the furnace, to blow fire into it, that they may be melted: so will I take you in my wrath, and I will gather and melt you. 21 And I will blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 22 As silver is melted in the midst of a furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.
What happened with the heirs of Jacob? They were mixed. Mixed with who? The heirs of the fallen angels. These blood rituals and cannibalism were the practices before the flood. Since the Nephilim were not driven out, and made extinct, they mixed with the heirs of Jacob. Remember Samson, as we read last week. So early on in Israel’s history, there were people intermarrying. The fallen angels, the incorporeal satan, and the Nephilim worship the devil, doing the opposite of what Yahweh decreed. They use different names for different unholy deities, and they use different practices for unholy worship, but it all boils down to the same thing, the gameplay is to do the opposite of what Yahweh wants. From our view, devil worship seems horrid and disgusting, yet the heirs of Jacob were compelled by mixing their DNA with the Nephil to do these things. Israel was silver, but now became a mix of metals, and one day Yahweh will melt them down and regain the silver.
This is the reason for bloodshed, the devil cannot procreate, neither can the angels, the other sons of God, and the incorporeal satan. They are destroying humanity because humans can procreate. They have an insatiable appetite for blood, which is something else they do not have. Yahweh knew what the devil would do, and how the devil would play his hand. As the nations, the goyim, continue to stand against this bloody cult, they are awakening to Yahweh Himself. The devil overplayed his hand and people, who are not Israel, and not Christians are raging against him. People now see evil, and they are looking for good.
The Lord goes on reminding them of their bloody ravening behaviors and then says something so very sad.
Ezekiel 22:30 And I sought from among them a man behaving uprightly, and standing before me perfectly in the time of wrath, so that I should not utterly destroy her: but I found him not. 31 So I have poured out my wrath upon her in the fury of mine anger, to accomplish it. I have recompensed their ways on their own heads, saith the Lord God.
Ezekiel 22:30 G2532 And G2212 I sought G1537 of G1473 them G435 a man G390 behaving G3723 rightly, G2532 and G2476 standing G4253 before G4383 my face G1473 G3650.1 soundly G1722 in G3588 the G2540 time G3588 of the G3709 anger, G3588 so as to not G3361 G1519 [2unto G5056 3 the end G1813 1wipe her away] -- G1473 G2532 but G3756 I did not G2147 find.
390 LSJ Gloss:ἀναστρέφω to turn upside down, upset
Dodson:ἀναστρέφω I overturn, turn upside down, return, mid. and pass: I conduct myself, live I overturn; I turn back, return; I turn hither and thither; pass: I turn myself about; I sojourn, dwell; I conduct myself, behave, live.
TBESG:
ἀναστρέφω
to live/return
G:V
ἀνα-στρέφω
[in LXX chiefly for שׁוּב ;]
__1. to overturn: Jhn.2:15.
__2. to turn back, return: Refs.
__3. to turn hither and thither; pass., to turn oneself about, sojourn, dwell: Mat.17:22 Rec.; metaph. (like Heb. הָלַךְ, in κοινή writers and in π.; see Deiss., LAE, 315; BS, 88, 194; MM, VGT, see word), to conduct oneself, behave, live: Refs.
† SYN.: περιπατέω (Hellenistic), πολιτεύω (AS)
Thayer:
1) to turn upside down, overturn
2) to turn back
3) to turn hither and thither, to turn one's self about, sojourn dwell in a place
4) metaph. to conduct one's self, behave one's self, live
ἀναστρέφω
anastrepho an-as-tref'-o From G303 and G4762; to overturn; also to return; by implication to busy oneself, that is, remain, live KJV Usage: abide, behave self, have conversation, live, overthrow, pass, return, be used.
Yahweh Elohim searched for one male human doing the opposite of everyone else. Someone upside down, right and straight, standing in front of Yahweh Elohim’s face or presence. But Yahweh could not find anyone.
Let’s read the Masoretic Text versions.
Ezekiel 22:30 (KJV)
30 And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.
Ezekiel 22:30 (AMP)
30 And I sought a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
We have created entire doctrines and books about this verse, but did so from an altered text. The truth is that there wasn’t anyone who was righteous in Judah. The prophets were righteous but the people were not. There were no righteous kings, princes, politicians, religious leaders, priests, levites, or the general population. The only righteous ones, the prophets, were being mocked, ridiculed, rejected, imprisoned, and thrown into pits. Yahweh was not looking for someone to build a wall, make up a hedge, or stand in the gap between him and the people, but he was looking for one righteous person. One person dedicated to Yahweh, one person who had not participated in sacrificial murder. One person who did not go up to Bamah, the high places. One person, who did not rape anyone. One person who mourned for Judah, and mourned for the glory leaving the temple. Just as Abraham negotiated for his nephew Lot, just one person. The person who “stands in the gap” is upside down. The person who “stands in the gap” is the one who is right and straight in the presence of Yahweh. The person who “stands in the gap” lives the opposite of the devil.
Ezekiel 22:30 Though I sought among them for a man of integrity and for one who stood uprightly before me in the time of indignation that I might utterly destroy it, yet I found none: https://studybible.info/Thomson/Ezekiel%2022
With this in mind, is it people of integrity, standing in the presence of the Lord, who are holding back the son of perdition from being revealed?
2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 (KJV)
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2 Thessalonians 2:6 G2532 And G3568 now G3588 the one G2722 constraining G1492 you know, G1519 for G3588 the G601 uncovering G1473 him G1722 in G3588 G1438 his own G2540 time.
7 G3588 For the G1063 G3466 mystery G2235 [2already G1754 3operates G3588 G458 1of lawlessness], G3440 only G3588 there is the one G2722 constraining G737 just now G2193 until G1537 [2out of G3319 3 the midst G1096 1he should be].
After Jesus came to reveal the works of the devil, there is a new gameplay. The mystery of iniquity is slowly being revealed. The ones constraining (standing in the gap) are those who are people of integrity, filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore today, there are people standing in the gap, who have turned back to Yahweh, being made righteous through Jesus’ blood. Well played Yahweh! When the people of integrity are taken out of the midst of this world, harpazo, the lawless one will be revealed.
Unfortunately for Israel, it was too late. Yahweh gave them ordinances, like dedicating the first born, but he knew they would not keep them. The devil twisted all of Yahweh’s ordinances so that people worshipping the devil would do the opposite. The people then made their own ordinances and kept those, worshipping on Bamah, and sacrificing infants and adults, and raping one another. The country’s leaders, political and religious, all were defiled and no one was right and straight among them. Today there is hope that the nations are coming into the sheepfold, Romans 11:25. The nations, the ethnos, the goyim, are seeing the evil worship of the devil and are standing against it. They are looking for the Creator, Yahweh, to help them understand. There is a revival in progress, even if we don’t see our churches filling, and our Christian ministries growing. The revival is an organic one, filled with people who reject infanticide, blood rituals, and Baal worship, for our Creator, I Am, Yahweh.
