Immerse: Prophets - Flipbook - Page 357
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had given them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most beautiful
place on earth. For they had rejected my regulations, refused to follow my
decrees, and violated my Sabbath days. Their hearts were given to their
idols. Nevertheless, I took pity on them and held back from destroying
them in the wilderness.
“Then I warned their children not to follow in their parents’ footsteps,
defiling themselves with their idols. ‘I am the Lord your God,’ I told them.
‘Follow my decrees, pay attention to my regulations, and keep my Sabbath
days holy, for they are a sign to remind you that I am the Lord your God.’
“But their children, too, rebelled against me. They refused to keep my
decrees and follow my regulations, even though obedience would have
given them life. And they also violated my Sabbath days. So again I threat
ened to pour out my fury on them in the wilderness. Nevertheless, I with
drew my judgment against them to protect the honor of my name before
the nations that had seen my power in bringing them out of Egypt. But I
took a solemn oath against them in the wilderness. I swore I would scatter
them among all the nations because they did not obey my regulations.
They scorned my decrees by violating my Sabbath days and longing for
the idols of their ancestors. I gave them over to worthless decrees and
regulations that would not lead to life. I let them pollute themselves with
the very gifts I had given them, and I allowed them to give their firstborn
children as offerings to their gods—so I might devastate them and remind
them that I alone am the Lord.
“Therefore, son of man, give the people of Israel this message from the
Sovereign Lord: Your ancestors continued to blaspheme and betray me,
for when I brought them into the land I had promised them, they offered
sacrifices on every high hill and under every green tree they saw! They
roused my fury as they offered up sacrifices to their gods. They brought
their perfumes and incense and poured out their liquid offerings to them.
I said to them, ‘What is this high place where you are going?’ (This kind of
pagan shrine has been called Bamah—‘high place’—ever since.)
“Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign
Lord: Do you plan to pollute yourselves just as your ancestors did? Do
you intend to keep prostituting yourselves by worshiping vile images? For
when you offer gifts to them and give your little children to be burned as
sacrifices, you continue to pollute yourselves with idols to this day. Should
I allow you to ask for a message from me, O people of Israel? As surely as
I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will tell you nothing.
“You say, ‘We want to be like the nations all around us, who serve idols
of wood and stone.’ But what you have in mind will never happen. As
surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, I will rule over you with an iron
fist in great anger and with awesome power. And in anger I will reach out
