EZEKIEL 16:
This book should make modern day ‘prophets’ reconsider what they do in the Lord’s name. In this book we have heard again and again that the Lord will punish those who prophesy falsely. And in the part about the wood of a vine being useless in yesterday’s reading, there is only one useful thing a grape vine does, and this is bear grapes. And God was saying that since Israel did not bear the proper fruit, He would judge them, and do this without delay. The complaints become even more graphic in today’s reading.

ISAIAH 1:
For a number of years now, Isaiah has marked the end of my year. We will be reading Isaiah in our poetry portions until day number 365. Since I start my readings anew every January 1st, I always enjoy the preparation Isaiah gives for Christmas, and also the correspondences with Revelation in the New Testament, which we also will read at the end of our reading calendar.

Isaiah was written between 739 and 681 BC. I am of the opinion that the break in material at chapter 40 does not signal a different author. Isaiah simply was older and the Lord gave him different messages at the end of his life. Isaiah was a man of royal blood and of high standing.

In the New Testament, Isaiah is the most frequently quoted OT book. Isaiah has 66 chapters and the Bible has 66 books. Further, Isaiah dIvides just where the testaments break, with 40 corresponding to Matthew in the NT. The first part of Isaiah deals with God’s judgment on Judah and on other nations. The senselessness of idolatry is preached against all the way through Isaiah. In Isaiah we can also see two comings for Christ, with Isaiah giving the wonderful 53rd chapter about the suffering Servant (Christ), and his coming in power is spoken about in chapter 34.

MATTHEW 27b:
Today we hear the second half of the crucifixion events.

GNT Translation note:
Ez. 16:23 The Sovereign Lord [says//said], “You are doomed! Doomed! You did all that evil, and then
====
Mat. 27:40 “You were going to tear down the Temple and build it back up in three days! [Go on and] Save yourself if you are God's Son! Come on down from the cross!”
56 Among them were Mary [from the village of Magdala//Magdalene], Mary the mother of James and Joseph ([who were Jesus’ half-brothers//0]), and the wife of Zebedee.

EZEKIEL 14-15:
The title that the Lord calls Ezekiel is ‘son of man’, which the Lord is using in the normal sense, meaning ‘ordinary human’. The title for Jesus— ‘Son of Man’, is a special usage. For that, check out Daniel 7.

Note in yesterday’s reading when Ezekiel acted out how King Zedekiah would go into exile, Ezekiel covered his eyes. It was revealed to Ezekiel that Zedekiah would go to Babylon but not see it. This was fulfilled since Zedekiah had his eyes blinded after watching his sons’ deaths. This also fulfilled the prophecy against his sons.

If you are reading along with me in the GNT, in chapter 14, verses 14 and 20, GNT followed the liberal side of Biblical scholarship popular in the 1960s in identifying Daniel the prophet as Danel, the mythical Ugaritic hero. Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporaries. Ezekiel arrived in Babylonia only 9 years after Daniel. I think it very plausible that Daniel’s miraculous deeds (publicized even in the king’s proclamations) would have made him famous, especially among his fellow exiles during the time Ezekiel was writing. So I disagree with GNT and will read Daniel instead of Danel.The remote Ugaritic figure named Danel was not famed to be righteous, as would be necessary in today’s passage. See the footnote in the NET in 14:14 and these articles for more information.

Article: Did Ezekiel know Daniel?

Wallace: Who is Ezekiel’s Daniel?

https://www.everlastingstrength.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Daniel-_-Ezekiel-Timeline-Tabloid-11x17.pdf

SONG OF SOLOMON 8:
Yesterday we heard more passionate expressions of love, and today is the final chapter of Solomon’s Song.

MATTHEW 27a:
I imagine that as the high priest tore his clothes and shouted ‘blasphemy’ that his expression was not one of grief, but of triumph. And Peter recognized that Jesus was to be sentenced to death when he denied Christ.

GNT Translation note:
Mat. 27:34 There they offered [to] Jesus wine mixed with a bitter substance; but after tasting it, he would not drink it.

EZEKIEL 12-13:
In yesterday’s reading, the vision of the glory of the Lord left the temple. Then God disagreed with what the leaders of the Israelites were saying, that they were safe in the ‘pot’ of Jerusalem.

SONG OF SOLOMON 7:
As we heard yesterday, the bride is captivating in beauty, and so radiant that she is compared to the sun and moon.

MATTHEW 26b:
In yesterday’s reading we heard about these events: the plot to kill Jesus, Jesus being anointed at Bethany, the Last Supper, and Peter vowing that he would never deny Jesus.

GNT Translation notes:
Mat. 26:45 Then he returned to the disciples and said, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look! The hour has come for [me,] the Son of Man[,] to be handed over to the power of sinners.
64 Jesus answered him, “So you say. But I tell all of you: from this time on you will see [me,] the Son of Man[,] sitting at the right side of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of heaven!”

EZEKIEL 10-11:
Yesterday in chapters 8-9 we heard the story of Ezekiel’s being transported to Jerusalem and his awesome vision of our glorious God revealing the idolatry of Israel happening right at the temple. Some of the locations shown are literal, and some are to be taken figuratively. One clearly sees that God has every right to be highly offended. Note that the people sharing God’s grief at this idolatrous situation received a mark on their foreheads.

SONG OF SOLOMON 6:
Yesterday in chapter 5, we heard the young woman relating her dream.

MATTHEW 26a:
Yesterday we heard Jesus’ direct and clear teaching about the final judgment. This was no parable. And note the words, “eternal punishment.”

GNT Translation note:
Mat. 26:14 Then one of the twelve disciples— [Judas, the one from the village of Karioth//the one named Judas Iscariot] —went to the chief priests
24 [I,] The Son of Man will die as the Scriptures say [I//he] will, but how terrible for that man who will betray [me//the Son of Man]! It would have been better for that man if he had never been born!”

EZEKIEL 8-9:
Terrible destruction is prophesied against Judah and Jerusalem. The trumpet will sound the battle call, but no one will get ready, because they are under God’s wrath.

SONG OF SOLOMON 5:
Yesterday the young man extolled the perfection of his bride.

MATTHEW 25b:
Yesterday in Matthew 25, we heard two parables that speak about being ready for Christ’s return. Something that is repeated in the parables on this topic is that, “outside there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jesus is by that teaching an important idea: That the punishment in hell will be conscious punishment (shown by the weeping), and it will be painful (as shown by the gnashing of teeth).

GNT Translation notes:
[As in other places, I modify the text from verse 31 on so that Jesus talks about himself in the first person instead of the third person. Jesus’ audience by now knew that he was referring to himself as “the Son of Man”. Note that in Ezekiel the Lord often calls Ezekiel in Hebrew “son of man.” If you are reading or listening to the GNT, those words are translated correctly as “Mortal Man.” God was using those words in their normal sense, as it is used in Daniel 7. But every time Jesus used that title He was using it in a special sense— in effect saying, “I am the One Daniel saw.”]

EZEKIEL 6-7:
In yesterday’s reading Ezekiel portrayed the punishment of Israel and the siege on Jerusalem for a total of 430 days. Then he took a razor and cut his hair and divided it into three parts with a little left over. This was used as a demonstration that a third of the people would die in the city from disease and famine. A third will be killed by the enemy outside the city, and the last third will be scattered by the sword. A small remnant will be saved.

SONG OF SOLOMON 4:
Yesterday the woman had an extended speech. Today it is the man’s turn.

MATTHEW 25a:
Yesterday was Jesus’ extended teaching about the end times and His own return, and the parables about our Being READY to receive our Master. And at the beginning of this chapter, we have one of my favorite parables.

GNT Translation note:
Mat. 25:13 And Jesus concluded, “Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour [of my return].

EZEKIEL 4-5:
In Ezekiel 2-3 God commissioned Ezekiel to speak for God to the rebellious people of Israel. God fed Ezekiel a scroll. This tasted sweet, but afterwards I think he would tell us that it produced “bitterness”— as we will see with John who eats a similar scroll in Revelation. God gave these important words to Ezekiel in yesterday’s reading:

Ez. 3:10 NLT …“Son of man, let all my words sink deep into your own heart first. Listen to them carefully for yourself.

SONG OF SOLOMON 3:
As we have seen, this Song of Songs is high poetry. The woman’s stories— such as what we hear today, are better taken as poetic expressions of her deep love than as true narratives.

MATTHEW 24b:
Jesus said, “Immediately after those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will give no light.” Here is a story from 2014, the first year I was recording these podcasts. I wrote: Just three days ago, in the evening, I was with the Orya people at an open-air youth retreat. The pastor pointed out that the Bible says the moon will turn into blood (or be the color of blood). He had come from town and is not an Orya speaker. He told the people that he had seen that morning on the Internet that on that very night there would be a “blood moon”— or a lunar eclipse where the moon would turn red like blood. And while he was speaking about that and other end-times signs, sure enough, it happened! Nothing like God managing a visual presentation for you! I have never seen a more moving sight.

GNT Translation notes:
Mat. 24:15 “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place.” ([May the one who reads out loud note this and explain it to those who listen!//Note to the reader: understand what this means!])
27 For [when I,] the Son of Man, [come, it will be//will come] like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man [(my sign)] will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see [me//the Son of Man] coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 The great trumpet will sound, and [I//he] will send out [my//his] angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather [my//his] chosen people from one end of the world to the other.
37 [My//The] coming [as//of] the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah.
yet they did not realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away.
39 That is how it will be when [I,] the Son of Man[, come// comes].
44 So then, you also must always be ready, because [my coming as] the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting [me//him].

EZEKIEL 2-3:
Yesterday Ezekiel described his vision of the four cherubim, and the chapter ended just as Ezekiel started hearing a Voice. The last verse ends of chapter 1 says:

Ezk. 1:28b GNT When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice

SONG OF SOLOMON 2:
Song of Solomon has many speaking parts for the woman, the man, and the chorus parts for people of Jerusalem or the other young women.

MATTHEW 24a:
After a full chapter (chapter 23) of Jesus’ stern and harsh criticism and warning to his enemies— the Pharisees and teachers of religious law, Jesus teaches his disciples about what will happen in the future. Some of these warnings are about what will happen to Jerusalem 40 years after Jesus was crucified. But will those prophecies be the kind that will be re-fulfilled at the end times?

GNT Translation notes:
Mat. 24:10 Many will [stop believing in Me//give up their faith] at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another.
15 “You will see ‘The Awful Horror’ of which the prophet Daniel spoke. It will be standing in the holy place.” ([May the one who reads out loud note this and explain it to those who listen!//Note to the reader: understand what this means!])
27 For [when I,] the Son of Man, [come, it will be//will come] like the lightning which flashes across the whole sky from the east to the west.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man [(my sign)] will appear in the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep as they see [me//the Son of Man] coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 The great trumpet will sound, and [I//he] will send out [my//his] angels to the four corners of the earth, and they will gather [my//his] chosen people from one end of the world to the other.