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John 4 and Jesus' Conversation with Oholah

on Apr 14, 2009 in Bible Study

In John 4, Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman that has had 5 husbands. People have always talked about what a sinful woman she was, and how controversial it would be for Jesus to talk to her. Now I know why. In Ezekiel 23, God talks about having two wives that left Him and cheated. One of those wives is Samaria; her name is Oholah. The stuff she does is pretty gross, inciting the ancient rabbis to only allow a man to read Ezekiel after he turned 30. That woman at the well in John 4: she is Oholah. In Ezekiel 23, Oholah lusted after the Assyrians(1) and the Egyptians(2). As time went on, Samaria would be ruled by Persia (3), then in 332 B.C. be filled with Macedonians(4), then in 63 B.C. it would become a Roman Province (5). Jesus arrives on the scene with a nation that has long forgotten who her Husband is in all of her whoring. She’s had 5 identities, and is having trouble...

God Makes the Filthy Beautiful

on Mar 20, 2009 in Bible Study

In Ezekiel 16, God talks about finding Israel out in the field as he was passing by. She was lying in her blood-a newborn whose cord hadn’t even been cut. This was the ancient method of abortion, to have the baby and then dump it in a field. They didn’t even bother cutting the cord because if they were just going to let the ‘thing’ die, why bother taking any care of it at all. The child and the placenta were treated with the same care. How awful. I have seen the scarring, dismembering effects of poor medical care. Numerous people in poverty all over the world are crippled, blind, deaf, or dead simply because a completely preventable illness was not treated properly. I know a guy in Africa that had a little girl in his neighborhood that was being left to die of malaria. She was still a part of the family, etc, but they were just going to let her die in her fever. He paid the...

Ezekiel, Vision, Bitterness, and Silence

on Feb 12, 2009 in Bible Study

Ezekiel 3 14 The Spirit lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness in the heat of my spirit, the hand of the Lord being strong upon me. 15 And I came to the exiles at Tel-abib, who were dwelling by the Chebar canal, and I sat where they were dwelling. And I sat there overwhelmed among them seven days.16 And at the end of seven days, the word of the Lord came to me: 17 ‚ÄúSon of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me.” Ezekiel saw this great vision and then went away bitter and sat among the people. He was overwhelmed and didn‚Äôt tell anybody about it or share it for 7 days, then God came back and said , ‚ÄúLook, I made you a watchman, you gotta tell people this stuff!‚Äù I found myself in Ezekiel 3, sitting around with a vision but bitter because I‚Äôm overwhelmed...