Ezekiel's Responsibility

November 23, 2025 Background Scripture: Ezekiel 18:1 32; 33: 1 - 20 Lesson Passage: Ezekiel 33:7 - 16a We touched on part of Ezekiel's responsibility in last week's lesson. God used the example of a watchman for a city. Ancient cities protected themselves by erecting a wall around the perimeter of the city. The walls contained gates that were used for entering and exiting the city by day—or when it was safe to do so, Those walled cities also erected towers strategically placed upon the wall. A person, called a watchman, was charged with occupying each tower and using it to survey the horizon to ensure no enemy was attempting a surprise attack against the city. The watchman's responsibility was simple: If the watchman sees an army approaching, he was to sound an alarm for the people to come into the city and secure the gates. Those protecting the city from the inside would go atop the walls with weapons to defend the city. If when the watchman sounded the alarm, a person on the outside refused to come into the city, that person could be captured or killed. That person would be solely responsible for the consequences of their decision to not heed the warning. All who came into the city was protected because they heeded the warning of the watchman. On the other hand, if the watchman saw an army approaching and failed to sound an alarm, anyone outside of the city could face capture or death at the hands of the enemy. Their blood would be on the hands of the watchman who had failed to execute his duty of warning them. God told Ezekiel that He made him a watchman over the souls of His people. God would show Ezekiel when there was impending danger coming against His people because of their transgressions against God. Ezekiel's responsibility as a watchman was to sound the alarm for the people of God. All who heeded Ezekiel's warning and repented and turned from their transgressions would be spared God's judgment against their souls. God declared that He would not remember their transgressions committed prior to the warning and their repentance. Their repentance allowed them to again be in right standing with God. Put another way, when the people of God repented of their unrighteousness and obeyed God's instructions, God counted their obedience as righteousness. Contrariwise, all who ignored Ezekiel's warning and continued in their transgressions against God would be condemned by God. In either case, Ezekiel's warning kept him in right standing with God. Ezekiel was not responsible for whether a person repented or not. Ezekiel was only responsible for warning them, so they would have the option to repent and be spared. On the other hand, if Ezekiel failed to warn the people after God instructed him to do so, transgressors would die in their transgression, but their blood would be on Ezekiel's hands. God holds the watchman accountable for warning the people. God also holds each individual responsible for the decisions they make to either obey Him or not. God does not condemn a person for the transgressions of their ancestors. Neither does God reward an unrighteous person for the righteous deeds of their ancestors. The soul that sins without repenting shall die. Repentance of the wicked leads to life. Transgressions of the righteous without repentance will lead to death. God does not rejoice in the death of the wicked. God desires to spare the repentant. Therefore, He sends a warning to the people through His watchman. Ezekiel's responsibility to the people of God was to be their watchman. C. Hudson November 7, 2025

Ezekiel's Sign

November 16, 2025 Background Scripture: Ezekiel 1:1 - 3; 2:1 - 3:27; 8:1 - 4; 11:22 - 25; 24:15 - 24; 33:30 - 33 Lesson Passage: Ezekiel 3: 10, 11; 24:15 - 24, 27 King Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian army attacked Judah in 597 B.C. and carried many Jews into captivity. Ezekiel was one of the captives taken to Babylon. Judah's capitol city, Jerusalem, was left intact for approximately eleven years after that. King Nebuchadnezzar set up a vassal leader in Jerusalem and left a remnant of the Jews in Judah. Ezekiel was a priest; however, God began to show him visions and called him to be a prophet to the children of Israel while he was a captive in Babylon. God assured him that the people would know that he is a prophet whether they listen to him or not. Ezekiel was told to receive from God what God gives him and not to rebel like the other children of Israel. He was shown a scroll with lamentations and woes written on it. He was told to eat the scroll and then go speak to Israel. God told Ezekiel to not be afraid of their faces. He was told the people would not listen to him because they didn't listen to God. God told him that He had made him a watchman for Israel. He was warned that if he did not obey God and warn the people according to God's word, the unrighteous would die in their sins but God would require their blood at Ezekiel' s hand. God also told Ezekiel that the children of his people were talking about him. They were treating his prophecies as entertainment. They gladly listened to the word of God and responded verbally. However, their hearts were not aligned with their mouths. Despite the prophecies, they refused to heed what the word of God said to them. Of the many signs God showed Ezekiel, the one in today's lesson was perhaps the most personal for him. God acknowledged that He knew that Ezekiel' s wife was the desire of his eyes; however, God told him that He was going to take her from him. God commanded Ezekiel to not show any visible signs of grieving, such as mourning or crying. Ezekiel was told that he could only grieve her death silently. Ezekiel prophesied as God instructed him to do in the morning, and that evening his wife died. Ezekiel obeyed God's instructions as to how he was allowed to respond emotionally. His behavior confused the children of Israel. They understood that Ezekiel should have been mourning the sudden loss of his wife; his behavior was far from normal. Finally, God gave Ezekiel the prophecy to explain his behavior. The children of Israel who were left as a remnant in Judah would be killed by the sword of their enemy. This would occur because the temple of the Lord had been desecrated. One of the Jews who was part of the remnant in Judah would escape to bring the sad news to the captives. After receiving the news of death of the remnant, the children of Israel in captivity would be required to behave just as Ezekiel had acted. In the past, God had established the manner of sacrifices He required of Israel. They were to be offered at the tabernacle. God permitted King Solomon to build a temple to replace the tabernacle. Rather than focus on the sacrifices as prescribed by God, Israel focused on the temple and polluted it by setting up idol gods in it. Over the course of time, God became one of many gods that Israel associated with the temple that was dedicated to Him. It was an absolute abomination to consider the only living God to be on the level with idols. Giving honor that should only be given to God to idols by bowing down to them provoked God. Israel thought the presence of the temple was their protection, God had left the temple long ago because of its desecration, and now He was preparing for its destruction. Ezekiel's behavior after the death of his wife, was the sign God chose because Israel could not see His emotional response, but they would feel the deep grief He experienced because of their idolatry. Robert C. Hudson November 5, 2025

Jerusalem's Fall

November 9, 2025 Background Scripture: 2 Kings 23:1 - 25:21 Lesson Passage: 2 Kings 24:18 - 20; 25:1 - 9 The end of a sovereign nation at the hands of its enemies is a devastating situation for its leaders and citizens to endure. The ultimate consummation of its fall is the destruction of its capitol city and the capture of its head of state. In 2013, Millennium Films released a film entitled "Olympus Has Fallen". It was a political action film that featured lots of violence and an unrealistic plot. In the film, well organized and heavily armed terrorists launched a bold daytime attack on America's capitol. The president was taken captive, and the White House was destroyed. Of course, at the end of the movie all is well, but the amount of violence in the movie was heavily criticized. It was a stark reminder that war is not pretty, and it has a heavy toll of human lives. The use of the name, Olympus, is worth noting because in Greek mythology, Olympus is the home of the gods of the Greek pantheon. I was reminded of the movie as I studied today's lesson. Prior to the events of this lesson, Israel had existed as a sovereign nation for over four hundred years. Judah, the last vestige of Israel as a sovereign nation, fell to the Babylonians. The capitol city of Jerusalem was destroyed, and its king was taken into captivity. This was their punishment for worshipping idol gods, which provoked the Lord to anger. In a real sense, Jerusalem had become an Olympus. When Jerusalem was destroyed, many of Judah's dignitaries and leaders were either killed or carried away into captivity. The group of captives included craftsmen, civic leaders, the once wealthy, and all men who were fit to serve in the military. Only the poorest citizens were left to tend vineyards and farms that were left intact. Jerusalem had been under siege by Babylon for almost two years. The city was experiencing a famine, and the men of war breached the wall and fled the city by night. Others in the city were left to fend for themselves before the final collapse. King Zedekiah and his sons also attempted to escape. They were captured by the army of the Chaldeans who turned them over to the king of Babylon. They killed King Zedekiah's sons in his presence, and then they put his eyes out. The last thing King Zedekiah saw before they took his eyesight was the death of his sons. Then King Zedekiah was bound and carried into captivity in Babylon, knowing that the end of his family's reign in Jerusalem was final. All the major structures inside the city were burned down. The Lord's house, the king's house, and all other houses were reduced to ashes. Finally, the walls that surrounded the city were broken down all around. Jerusalem could no longer serve as a fortress for people to hide within and feel protected from their enemy. It was at that point that all the people in the city, except the very poor farmers and vinedressers, were taken captive. All vessels and structures made of, or overlaid with, precious metals, from gold to bronze, were dismantled or cut in pieces and carried to Babylon as spoils of war. The inhabitants of Judah were taken from the land God had promised to the descendants of their patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Judah consisted of the last two tribes of the twelve tribes of Israel. The other ten tribes to the north were defeated and taken into captivity by Assyria one hundred and thirty-six years earlier. All twelve tribes and their leaders had failed to live up to the covenant God made with them. They had openly provoked God by worshipping idols and leading the nation to do so. When God sent prophets to warn them, they either killed the prophets or labeled them as false prophets and ignored them. When God punished them to bring them to repentance, they fled to Gentile nations to avoid the punishment. Today's lesson was not a political action film, but it can be described as "Olympus Has Fallen". C. Hudson October 29, 2025

Jeremiah's Rescue

November 2, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 20:1 – 6: 37:1 - 38:28; 43: I - 7 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 38:7 - 13 Our Background Scripture covers many difficult situations that occurred in Jeremiah's life prior to the fall of Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonian empire. Jeremiah was physically abused and unfairly restrained because he steadfastly proclaimed what the Lord told him to proclaim. Some of the Jewish leaders wanted Jeremiah to prophesy good things to them that was contrary to what the Lord was telling him to say. Jeremiah refused to prophesy anything except what the Lord told him to prophesy. Jeremiah's fidelity in doing the will of God became the reason for his mistreatment. He was physically abused on several occasions by those who did not like what he prophesied, They believed Jeremiah was speaking evil against them, and they were experiencing it as a result. They reasoned that if Jeremiah spoke well of them, then they would experience good. They did not consider that Jeremiah was God's mouthpiece. Jeremiah proclaimed what the Lord told him to say. To do otherwise would make Jeremiah a false prophet, and his prophecies would not come to pass. Eventually, Jerusalem was besieged by the Babylonian army, and many Jews were taken captive to Babylon. A very small remnant of Jews was left in Judah. They continued to live contrary to God's word and to mistreat Jeremiah. On one occasion, Jeremiah was put in prison, and from there he was placed in a dungeon. The dungeon was a deep pit with mud in the bottom. When Jeremiah was placed in the dungeon, he sank down in the mud. There was no water to drink in the pit; just mud. When an Ethiopian eunuch heard what had happened to Jeremiah, he complained to the king about the unfair treatment of Jeremiah. He told the king that Jeremiah would die of hunger if he was not removed from the pit. The king ordered the Ethiopian to take thirty men and remove Jeremiah from the dungeon. They lifted Jeremiah out of the dungeon with care, so as not to injure him, and placed him in prison. He was not given freedom; he was placed in better living conditions in a prison. They kept restraining the prophet, but the prophecy God sent through him could not be restrained. Finally, the Jewish remnant in Judah asked Jeremiah to petition the Lord on their behalf and whatever God said they would obey. Jeremiah petitioned the Lord for them, and ten days later the Lord sent them a reply through Jeremiah, The Lord rebuked them because of their hypocrisy that He knew about beforehand. They were already plotting something that was against God's will. They were planning to go to Egypt to avoid further judgment from God. God warned them to not do what they were planning and remain as a remnant in Judah. God promised to protect them in Judah and cause them to grow again. On the other hand, if they go to Egypt, they would be destroyed there. God would send the Babylonian army to crush Egypt and destroy them as well. (God used the Babylonian empire to do His will. The Babylonian army became God's sword of justice.) The remnant of Jews refused to accept Jeremiah's prophecy and denounced Jeremiah as a false prophet. They went to Egypt and carried Jeremiah with them. Throughout the series of mistreatments Jeremiah endured, God always provided someone to rescue him. Note that Jeremiah was not spared from going through those situations, but God protected him and delivered him. Sometimes we must go through the valley of the shadow of death. Our faith is that the Lord will rescue us as He did Jeremiah. Robert C. Hudson October 24, 2025

Changes Promised

October 26, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 31:1 - 40; John 1 :17; Hebrews 8:7 - 13 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 31:29 - 34; John 1:17 Even as Jeremiah continued to prophesy the nation's punishment that was imminent, God sent a prophecy of consolation. There was hope beyond their upcoming exile into Babylon. God promised to restore His people after the punishment. Most of them would be sent into exile. But a remnant would survive the Babylonian siege and destruction of Jerusalem. God would allow that remnant of Judah to return to Palestine. Their disobedience to the covenant God made with their ancestors led to their imminent punishment. Israel accepted the terms of that covenant with the chastisement that came with it; God chastens those He love. The covenant promised blessings from God in exchange for their obedient behavior to His Law. The same covenant also warned of punishment for disobedient behavior. Some in Israel believed they were being punished for the deeds of their ancestors who lived contrary to God's law. Today we call this generational curse. It was easier for them to blame their ancestors than to admit their failure to live up to the standards of the Law. Unfortunately, the Law did not give them the ability to live holy. The Law only exposed sin that is in human flesh. That exposure should lead us to seek the mercy of God. Instead, human pride causes us to stubbornly continue down the path of unrighteousness. The result for them was the punishment outlined in the covenant God made with them. The covenant only stipulated rewards or punishment based on their behavior. The covenant did exactly what it was intended to do. The Law exposed sin that is in human flesh. That sin causes us to rebel against the holiness of God and embrace human pride. The Law stipulated the punishment for it. God promised a new covenant for the remnant that would be restored to the land. They would have the opportunity to get it right. The new covenant would not be written on tablets of stone like the first covenant God gave to the nation through Moses. The provisions and punishments of that covenant had to be taught to the people. The new covenant would be written in the hearts of God's people. Each person would know what God expects of them. Then, each person would be accountable for their own sin. It would be clear that no one would be punished for the deeds of their ancestors. Each person would be accountable for their own iniquity. The new covenant within each person would cause them to know God, and that knowledge would convict them of personal sin. The first covenant was weak because it was based on the works of the flesh. The flesh fights against the things of God which are holy. The first covenant exposed it but was powerless to do anything about it because it was based on rewards and punishments for human behavior. Therefore, they reacted even as we do today: they ignored their sin and acted as though it did not exist. They thought they could avoid punishment by doing so. That is not an option for anyone who is made aware of the new covenant. The new covenant would recognize the presence of God within His people. We cannot ignore His presence because we are brought under conviction by it. While under conviction, the only option is to plead with God for mercy. This new covenant causes God to extend His unmerited favor to us. The new covenant goes beyond rewards and punishments based on human behavior. The new covenant promises the presence of God's grace in the lives of His repentant children. This new covenant would make the first covenant obsolete. These were drastic changes promised by God. The remnant would have reason to hope in the promises of God, and so do we. Robert C. Hudson September 19, 2025

A Family's Example

October 19, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 35: 1 - 19 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 35:5 - 11 We have learned that the human brain receives and processes information from different sources. Some things we hear and learn, some things we see and learn, and some things we touch, or experience, and learn. Although we tend to be biased towards one of these modes of learning, the human brain receives and processes information from each mode. God uses all these modes to communicate with His people. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. That reflects the power of visual learning. God sometimes uses role models as visual examples to be followed. It is rare for an individual to be chosen by God for such a privilege. It is even rarer that an entire family is identified as role models. In today's lesson, God used a family of Rechabites as a demonstration of loyal behavior to the instructions of a father. After giving a series of verbal messages to Jeremiah, God arranged a visual message for him. God used the example of a family that was committed to following the instructions of their patriarch. God told Jeremiah to go to the family's home and invite them to the temple. God told him to take the family into a room inside of the temple. Following God's instructions, Jeremiah had prepared a bowl of wine and some cups. Jeremiah told the family to drink some wine. They were steadfast in their refusal to do so because of the past instructions of the family's patriarch. Their patriarch had given instructions to his family to abstain from drinking wine forever. They were told to not build houses or plant fields or vineyards, but they were to remain nomadic. They were to live as foreigners and not homesteaders. They were given instructions to live in a manner that reinforced the temporary nature of life in this world. However, they were living in Jerusalem at the time Jeremiah received these instructions. They were living in Jerusalem rather than as nomads because they fled there from the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, when he invaded Palestine. Jeremiah took the family into a very private area of the temple. Their reaction to Jeremiah's invitation for them to indulge in the wine he provided was instructive. This was the heart of the message: Even in a private environment where no one could see what they were doing except Jeremiah, that family steadfastly obeyed the instructions of their father. God contrasted their obedient behavior to their patriarch to the disobedience of His people who have received His commandments. God challenged Jeremiah to go tell the men of Judah to receive instructions to obey God's words with that same type of fidelity to God's word that the Rechabite family had to the instructions of their patriarch. This was a human family obeying the instructions of their forefather, but God's family refused to obey His divine instructions. God reached out to His people many times; including through many prophets. God warned them to obey His commandments and avoid idol gods so they would be allowed to remain in the land of promise. However, the people of God refused to listen to God's warnings. And because they refused to listen to God's instructions, neither did they obey them. Therefore, the doom prophesied against His people would happen. They would not be allowed to remain in the land but would become slaves in a foreign land. The Rechabite family, in contrast, would be rewarded with a servant standing in God's presence forever because of their example of obedience to their father. Rarely do individuals receive such an honor; and here the Rechabites were used by God as a family's example of obedience to their father. Robert C. Hudson September 26, 2025

Jeremiah's Message

October 12, 2025 Background Scripture: Jeremiah 7:1 - 26 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 7:1 -11, 21-23 Last week's lesson looked at Jeremiah's calling and the hostile reaction of the priests and other prophets towards him. That was a peculiar combination of critics given that Jeremiah was born into a priestly family and called to be a prophet of God at an early age, In this week's lesson, we examine the contents of one of Jeremiah's messages that sparked their hostile reaction. This message was delivered at one of the gates that led into the temple area. The Lord sent the message to those who were entering the temple. The message proclaimed that God would not allow the people to continue to enter the temple and offer empty worship. God demanded that their hearts and lifestyle line up with their worship. God denounced their hypocritical attitude that they could live as they pleased and still worship God in the temple. A true relationship with God is manifest first in a changed heart whereby a person's desires and motives align with the will of God. Only then will outward worship be sincere and pure without hypocrisy. God is not moved by external acts of worship that come from an unrepentant heart. An unrepentant heart chases after evil. Religious activities by a sinner cannot atone for an unclean heart. God demanded that His people live as He commanded in the Law. Namely, that they would sincerely love Him with all their being and demonstrate benevolent love towards others. The demonstration of love towards God would require them to totally abandon their idols. They were going to the temple to worship while they were still worshiping idol gods. The demonstration of love towards others would manifest as being just towards everybody and non-oppressive to widows, orphans, and strangers. God did not allow them to live in the land of promise simply as a birthright, He gave the land to their forefathers forever. However, they were required to live there as people of God as specified in the Law. They wanted the benefits of living in the promise land while they lived there in a manner they chose. Sinful and selfish living would bring the wrath of God upon them. God warned their ancestors to not bow down and worship idol gods. Since the days He brought their ancestors out of Egypt, He had sent prophets to warn them about sinful living. Now, this generation was following in the footsteps of their ancestors who rebelled against God. They were attempting to live in rebellion against God and worship God as though they had not turned their backs on Him. God sent Jeremiah to expose and denounce their hypocritical living. God reminded them to look at the history of their ancestors who had abandoned God's ways. They worshiped idols and attempted to worship God at the tabernacle. God totally wiped out any signs of the place where the tabernacle once stood as His dwelling place. This was done because of the wickedness of God's people, their ancestors. Wickedness was not a matter of them being mean and evil all the time. Their wickedness was in living as they pleased while pretending to honor and worship God. That was an affront to an all-knowing God. God declared that He would likewise destroy the temple in Jerusalem if His people failed to repent. God went even further and forbade Jeremiah from interceding in prayer for the people because their actions showed no remorse. God did not demand worship from His people. He demanded holy living from them. The Law described holiness, so they knew what God expected of them. But as it is with us today, the more we understand what God requires of us, the more our flesh rebels against it. Even today, Jeremiah's message still resonates in us and convicts us! C. Hudson September 19, 2025

Jeremiah's Call and Arrest October 5, 2025

Background Scripture: Jeremiah 1:1 - 10; 8:18; 9:2; 26:1 -24 Lesson Passage: Jeremiah 1:6 10; 26:8, 9, 12 - 15 Jeremiah's life and ministry as a prophet of God should serve as a reminder of the heavy burden God's prophets carried. Many of them were arrested, beaten, and even killed for doing God's will. They spoke to the people the words that God gave them to deliver. God's words were often received with contempt and anger. Their anger was directed towards the servant of God who delivered the message. Anger turned into hostility, and many recipients responded with violence towards those prophets. In today's lesson, Jeremiah received his calling as a prophet of God when he was a young person. Jeremiah was born into the family of priests. His assignment in life was specified in the Law. However, God had other plans for Jeremiah. God told Jeremiah that He knew him before He formed him in the womb. Furthermore, God ordained Jeremiah to be His prophet before he was born. In other words, although Jeremiah was born into the family of priests, he was born to do God's will as a prophet rather than performing the duties of the priests that are specified in the Law. Some prophets had minor roles, but Jeremiah was not given a minor role as a prophet of God. God declared that Jeremiah would be a prophet that would speak to the nations and national leaders in His name. Jeremiah was an eyewitness of the spiritual decline of God's people. Despite being rescued from their enemies repeatedly by God, His people continued to revert to worshiping idols, Jeremiah grew tired of seeing it. He wanted to run away and seek refuge so he would not have to continue to see the nation's spiritual corruption and downfall. Instead of being allowed to run away, God sent Jeremiah to prophesy to His people in the courtyard of the temple. Jeremiah was sent to confront God's people as they entered the temple to worship. As he stood in the courtyard, he prophesied about the destruction that would come upon the people of God. That was a difficult message for the people to receive when they arrived for worship. However, God said if the people listen to Jeremiah and repent, He will not allow the calamities prophesied to occur. When Jeremiah finished speaking in the courtyard, the priests and other prophets took him into custody because of the message he proclaimed to them in God's name. They threatened Jeremiah with death because of the message. Jeremiah insisted that he was only doing what God instructed him to do. He acknowledged that he could not defend himself against them if they chose to put him to death. But he told them that if they were to kill him, they would have innocent blood on their hands. He had not spoken in his own name. Nor was he in control of the events God told him to prophesy. After he finished speaking in his own defense, some of the elders accepted Jeremiah's message and explanation. They compared him to other prophets sent by God in Israel's past who had similar testimonies. They also acknowledged that the nation was guilty of the trespasses against God spoken of by Jeremiah. Despite the reasoning of some, others offered opposing views of how some prophets in the nation's past had to be arrested and put to death to silence them and supposedly, the nation prospered afterwards! As a prophet of God, Jeremiah stood between the Lord and His people. The Lord used Jeremiah as His mouthpiece to warn His people. Rather than heed the warnings as being from God, many chose to view the warnings as Jeremiah's personal message. They rejected the message, and they persecuted Jeremiah because they were offended by the message. At the onset of his ministry, God assured Jeremiah of his divine calling. God also assured Jeremiah that He would be with him to deliver him because the people hearing his prophecy would fight against him. Jeremiah needed this assurance many times during his ministry. Robert C. Hudson September 19, 2025