WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:13.039 This one they've called Doom, which I'm not quite sure is completely fair, but um I wanted to see, as always, if you had reactions or questions to either the reading or the video to start us out. 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:21.359 Well, first I don't understand the repeated reference with the son of man. 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:23.280 Great question. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:36.479 So nobody seems to really have a good understanding of that, and it might be helpful to tell you we actually often when we read, we've got a little oops in our mind. 00:00:36.719 --> 00:00:40.159 We say things like Jesus is the son of God, right? 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:44.560 But in the Psalms, the king is often called the Son of God. 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:58.880 So really, Son of God is sort of a title of somebody who's blessed or favored by God, and it ought not be taken literal in the Hebrew Bible. 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:04.400 Son of Man is really interesting, especially when Jesus uses it. 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:10.799 It really could be actually very literal when Jesus uses it. 00:01:10.959 --> 00:01:14.319 That his claim is, I'm a regular person. 00:01:16.400 --> 00:01:27.040 A lot of scholars have done some work to say, actually, Son of Man is this sort of, if you don't mind me using this big word, eschatological word. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:30.079 Eschatological means like where it's about the end. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:44.319 So it's it's this kind of special person that has a special relationship with God that's either going to speak for God or is the fulfillment of the sons of God as kings. 00:01:44.799 --> 00:01:47.760 So none of these titles are very clear. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:49.599 That's the hard bit. 00:01:50.079 --> 00:02:05.280 They seem to have a lot of ambiguity, but they really seem to be, again, Son of God is saying, like, favored by God, and Son of Man is seems to be saying somebody favored by God, but is really just a human being. 00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:05.840 Right. 00:02:06.560 --> 00:02:09.280 So they actually might be compliments to each other. 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:20.879 The other thing is um the the reference. 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:26.479 I don't quite understand how the book was written. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:34.080 We don't really have a record of that. 00:02:34.240 --> 00:02:42.000 We're going to assume that the author who has the visions writes them down, and who does the stuff, writes down what he did. 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:42.560 Okay. 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:43.039 Yeah. 00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:43.360 Okay. 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:55.199 So so in and reminder, this guy's in Babylon, so he was taken, uh, and and the book starts out before the temple's been destroyed, because he's acting that out. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:00.240 So he's probably taken on the first exile, like 596. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:04.080 This is a very lit, this is a member of the gentry. 00:03:04.400 --> 00:03:11.280 He's a priest, but you want to think like high up in the priestly class, like he's a bishop would be an equivalent. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:17.120 Um, very literate, probably wealthy, um, a little eccentric. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:17.759 Yes. 00:03:18.000 --> 00:03:19.599 Maybe more than a little. 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:33.520 Then then the then the other thing is God seems to take on a different kind of personality. 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:37.280 Um he's more human here. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:41.680 Than I've than we've we've seen in the past, I think. 00:03:42.080 --> 00:03:44.080 Certainly very emotional, right? 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:47.520 Very emotional and prone to things like anger and vengeance. 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:49.199 Those are themes we see in God. 00:03:49.360 --> 00:04:00.960 But remember, we have to decide whether that's true or whether the author is trying to say, because you think of God in these ways, let's go ahead and complete the picture. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:01.360 Okay. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:16.000 So if you think, I mean, for example, if you think you're God's chosen people and God has a special relationship with you, then realize you will be more accountable for what you do than everybody else. 00:04:16.959 --> 00:04:20.480 I'm not sure the author is saying God is actually like that. 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:20.639 Okay. 00:04:21.120 --> 00:04:26.800 That God has special relationships with some instead of others. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:34.319 I think what he's saying is, since you think that, you need to realize that may not be in your favor. 00:04:36.079 --> 00:04:37.839 Because you should know better. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:41.680 I don't know if that makes sense. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:43.600 Yes, it makes super sense. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:50.800 Sometimes we buy at hook, line, and sinker, and we say, aha, uh, Jewish people are favored by God. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:56.079 Well, I'll tell you, I have a problem with the idea that God plays favorites. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:04:57.920 That doesn't seem very good. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:08.079 Could be, though, that uh our Jewish ancestors were the first people who responded to God, specifically in these ways. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:15.759 And since they've got that response and they've put that in Scripture, then they ought to know how to respond. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:16.560 Right. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:23.920 So, I mean, another way to say it, John Wesley wrote this, is that ignorance isn't sinful. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:26.560 Willful ignorance is. 00:05:26.959 --> 00:05:35.519 So if these people know better and are willfully ignorant or are rebelling against what they know to be true, that's sin. 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:42.560 I'm thinking these are the descendants of the people that God had a hand in creating. 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:46.000 But see, God had a hand in creating everybody. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:51.439 There's pretty big differences in the civilizations. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:55.279 Some two. 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:06.800 And that's a good point, but remember that these people are really, really small, like New Hampshire. 00:06:07.040 --> 00:06:10.959 They've never been a successful huge empire nation-state. 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:11.680 Never. 00:06:22.079 --> 00:06:25.360 That that God was always working with these people. 00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:27.600 He had a way of connecting with them. 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:32.319 So these are the uh this bloodline. 00:06:33.360 --> 00:06:37.439 That's that's well, I think that's what I'm trying to say. 00:06:37.600 --> 00:06:42.720 These people are the ones who are tracking the same story we're getting in the Bible. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:49.839 Whereas, let's say the Roman Empire or the Assyrian Empire is tracking different stories from these. 00:06:50.160 --> 00:06:54.800 And Ezekiel says, since you're tracking this story, you ought to know better. 00:06:55.199 --> 00:07:01.279 Well, you know, when you see a tree, I don't mean to be argumentative because I don't even know what I'm talking about here. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:06.160 But you see a family tree, but it it spreads out so far. 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:09.920 And then if you're gonna track somebody, you're just following part of it. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:29.040 I mean, there's there may be other people that may be related, but you're not, I mean, you're carrying this name down, you know, just because I mean other people got married, their name changed from Jones to Smith, and and they're not, you know, they're related, but they don't know that. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:30.560 Well, I think that's really fair. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:32.560 I think we're exactly agreeing about this. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:41.439 So since these Romans were not unrelated, they were, you know, maybe part of the bloodline, but this message was going down through these people. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:42.000 Yeah. 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:44.959 I I think we're exactly on the same page. 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:52.079 So as a result, since Ezekiel's writing to people who are tracking these stories, they ought to know. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:55.759 They're more accountable because they've got this. 00:07:56.319 --> 00:07:57.120 Absolutely true. 00:07:57.360 --> 00:07:57.519 Yeah. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:02.800 If you don't know any better, then you're not as guilty as if you knew better. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:05.439 That's I think that's what Ezekiel's trying to say. 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:14.959 And really what that means is the most accountable people on the face of the planet, according to our own story, are Christians, not non-Christians. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:18.319 And that's this interesting thing when people come evangelize. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.360 There's a danger to accepting the message. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:28.000 Because if you take it at face value, you will be judged more harshly if you buy into this than if you don't. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:30.480 I don't know if that's true. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:36.399 I think Ezekiel's pointing out the internal conflict logically of all of that. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:48.320 If we know we're supposed to be people of grace and forgiving, if we know that and say we believe that, and then don't do it, it'll be worse than if we didn't know that. 00:08:48.960 --> 00:08:50.639 By the way, I don't know that that's true. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:54.559 I'm saying this is a message to our way of thinking. 00:08:56.960 --> 00:09:24.000 So we now have read another prophet uh who, and this is probably the third or fourth prophet in the roe, who has um spoken, we say, I'm I'm saying this as well, spoken for God, condemned the Israelites uh to being a huge dysphora, dyspora, yes, pronounce correctional. 00:09:24.159 --> 00:09:24.799 Diaspora. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:29.519 Diaspora, okay, and that at some point he will bring something back. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:40.960 But I guess what I'm hearing you say, and it makes sense, is that this is the the uh the prophet's position, if you will. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:42.159 The prophet's saying this. 00:09:42.320 --> 00:09:46.960 This isn't necessarily when we hear that God is a jealous and vengeful God, it's not necessarily true. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:51.039 It's their interpretation of this. 00:09:52.080 --> 00:10:07.279 Um do we feel that the prophets are are explaining what happened to the to the to Israel, or are they predicting it? 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:08.240 See it's great. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:08.799 Great course. 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:13.600 It's easy to predict because you can see the Assyrians and a huge army on the other side of the wall. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:15.840 So, yeah, we're not gonna win this one. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:16.960 Unless. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:21.279 We're only gonna win this unless something supernatural happens. 00:10:21.519 --> 00:10:21.679 Yeah. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:29.679 And since you think everything happens for a reason, if you want that supernatural deliverance, you'd better be supernaturally invested. 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:31.919 So if so. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.559 But they weren't delivered. 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:40.000 Well, yes and no. 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:42.720 So Well, I know 70 years later they come back. 00:10:42.879 --> 00:10:43.519 I understand that. 00:10:43.759 --> 00:10:47.759 Well, and Judah gets Judah does get delivered from the Assyrians. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:48.320 Yeah. 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:50.240 Just not from the Babylonians. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:50.559 Yeah. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:51.519 Yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:58.559 Well, I mean, yeah, the Assyrians stop because something happens and the Assyrians king, they have to go back. 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:03.279 But the but the writers will tell you it's because Hezekiah repented. 00:11:04.559 --> 00:11:05.840 That influenced it. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:09.279 So God delivered them from natural consequences. 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:13.759 So I think we always have to pick between two basic readings. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:29.200 There's probably more than two, but we can either say that the Bible is describing us and God and how we relate to each other, or we can decide that the Bible is prescribing how we ought to behave. 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:31.919 And how God ought to behave. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:41.600 So we can either read Ezekielus saying, listen, if you don't do everything right, God's got a big stick that's gonna whip you. 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:48.960 Or we can read Ezekiel saying, since we think that, we better change our ways. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:50.639 Does that make sense? 00:11:50.879 --> 00:11:51.039 Yeah. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:55.279 One way describes our belief, and since we believe, we should behave this way. 00:11:55.440 --> 00:11:57.919 The other way says God is actually this way. 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:00.159 And those aren't the same way of reading. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:02.240 In a way, it's easy. 00:12:04.000 --> 00:12:10.639 It's easy to predict. 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:12.559 I can't say it as well as you. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:21.039 It's easy to predict what is going to happen when you can see what's going to happen over the hill. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:32.879 So, like when the nuclear missiles came to Cuba and were aimed at the United States, seemed like a really tense moment. 00:12:33.440 --> 00:12:38.879 And then when they left, that's a moment of repentance and deliverance, to use biblical language. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:54.559 Now there wasn't any prophet called Ezekiel that wrote about that, but if you're familiar with this incident and with the way it almost got sprung through the Bay of Pigs, it's almost supernatural that Nikita Khrushchev took that stuff back. 00:12:55.360 --> 00:12:55.519 Right? 00:12:57.440 --> 00:13:02.399 And listen, one way we could read that is, oh, America must have been really righteous. 00:13:02.559 --> 00:13:07.679 Another way we could read it is, thank God that non-Christian people repent. 00:13:09.519 --> 00:13:12.639 And so the value, the premium is on the repentance. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:17.919 Because if Khrushchev had not repented, remember, he's the one who sent them. 00:13:18.159 --> 00:13:22.240 If he hadn't repented, we'd have a different story. 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:29.919 So this function of language, I think what Ezekiel's trying to do is not just be predictive or even descriptive. 00:13:30.000 --> 00:13:32.799 He's trying to make meaning out of what's going on. 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:33.519 Yeah. 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:43.039 But is it is he is he making meaning about what is going on versus predicting what is going to happen? 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:49.679 I think it's both in, because when we figure out what things mean, those do have a future and past quality to them. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:51.440 So look at the first image. 00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:52.960 It's a weird book, right? 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.600 The first two chapters are about the wheel and the wheel and the wheel, right? 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.279 And there's a song, a spiritual, called Ezekiel Saw the Wheel, right? 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:06.159 And that may make no sense to you at all, except if we drill down to it. 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:14.879 Remember, Ezekiel has ended up in exile in Babylon, but they believed that God's territory was in Judah. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:18.960 Like that's God's home turf, and God lives in the temple. 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:29.120 So Ezekiel sees this vision, and there's four wheels, and they're covered with eyeballs, and there's a throne seated in this sort of cart. 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.759 And really, what Ezekiel's describing is a throne and a chariot. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:36.240 And what do you know? 00:14:36.559 --> 00:14:38.879 God didn't live in a temple. 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:41.840 God's thrones got wheels. 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:46.159 So the people had been removed, and God went with them. 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:52.320 So it's not like they were in exile from God, God went with them. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.759 So there's meaning making 101, right? 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:05.519 God isn't limited to a place, and the people who are in exile are not in exile from God, just from their home country. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:24.000 By the way, this this image, the chariot is called a Merkava, and this is a kind of Jewish mysticism called Merkava mysticism that involves like burning loins and molten bronze and a chrysalite sky. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:28.000 You'll see it over and over and over again in the Old and New Testament. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:30.720 And again, it's this mystical vision of God. 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:36.799 The creatures, curiously enough, that we see are so superhuman, right? 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:42.159 They have four faces: an ox, an eagle, a man, and a lion. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:47.840 They're covered with eyeballs, they're looking in every direction, right, of the compass. 00:15:48.960 --> 00:15:50.399 And those are cherubim. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:54.000 And Ezekiel's the one who gives us the key to that. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:16:00.399 So when you think about Raphael's picture in the Sistine Chapel, it's completely wrong. 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:02.080 Those are not cherubim. 00:16:02.879 --> 00:16:03.519 No way. 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.039 Because they're not even supernatural. 00:16:05.279 --> 00:16:10.000 The only way they show you that those beings are supernatural is to say they've got wings. 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:10.639 Right? 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:16.879 Well, Ezekiel says, no, no, it's not just that they got wings, they got four heads and they're covered with eyeballs. 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:24.240 So when you see the Raiders of the Lost Ark and you see the two cherubim on top, completely wrong picture. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:32.559 Would not have been two attractive human beings that are maybe androgynous with wings, it would have been these crazy looking things. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:33.840 And they have wheels. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:35.440 And they've got wheels. 00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:37.519 Well, they're and they're pulling a chariot. 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.399 And they're somehow tied to the wheels, right? 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:55.200 So we, I just want to make sure you know, we completely ruin what the Bible has in mind when it talks about cherubim and seraphim, which we talked about with Isaiah, right? 00:16:55.279 --> 00:16:58.080 The burning flying snakes that have six pairs of wings. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:06.079 And um really interesting thing is that the word angel in Greek actually just means messenger. 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:19.279 So we've got a history of tradition that says angels are divine messengers, but actually a singing telegram is an angel. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:28.880 So when the arch messenger Gabriel shows up to Mary, could have been a human being. 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.319 How would the human being have any idea that she was going to have a being? 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:43.200 Same way Ezekiel said, here's what the Lord says. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:45.839 I mean, a messenger can be a prophet. 00:17:46.079 --> 00:17:46.240 Okay. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:47.519 If that makes sense. 00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:56.079 The reason I think that's interesting is sometimes we make things a little so supernatural that we can no longer access them. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:05.119 And when we read in Hebrews, to show hospitality to strangers because some people have entertained angels unaware. 00:18:06.000 --> 00:18:09.920 Well, I'd say we always entertain messengers from God. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:16.559 Because everybody has the opportunity to speak a message from God. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:32.400 So we could either make that really high classification, like the winged things are coming down pretending, or we could say, uh, listen, the way this works is God speaks through human mouths, but through divine words. 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:35.119 But it could be both ways. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.680 It's not always an either-or. 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:44.720 I just think that we've kind of created this angelology, which is fine, and it could be true, it's just not biblical at all. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:45.599 If that makes sense. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:56.799 I mean, I'll tell you about an angel for me, Lee Ann Womack. 00:18:56.880 --> 00:18:58.079 She's a country singer. 00:18:58.240 --> 00:19:05.759 I was extremely depressed, and I heard this song I Hope You Dance, and there was something about that song which is really cheesy that took me right out. 00:19:05.920 --> 00:19:09.680 And um, I've never met Leanne Womack, but she's an archangel for me. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:13.680 She gave me a message for God right when I needed it through a pop song. 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:15.440 What was the name of that again? 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:16.640 I Hope You Dance. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:17.599 I mean it's not a great song. 00:19:18.799 --> 00:19:20.880 Yeah, it's a country song by Leanne Womack. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:22.079 It was on the radio ten years ago. 00:19:23.119 --> 00:19:24.640 Don't go listen to it. 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:26.960 You probably have heard it before. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:33.200 It was all over the radio, but I, you know, she didn't have wings and she also didn't have a lion face. 00:19:34.160 --> 00:19:36.319 But I heard a message from the Lord from her. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:42.079 Oh, my her uncle had an experience just like that. 00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:43.359 Uncle Ruben? 00:19:43.599 --> 00:19:45.440 Yeah, the man that brought him. 00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:46.160 Yeah. 00:19:46.880 --> 00:19:52.000 He he was in Austin, and he's quite an interesting uncle of mine. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:58.400 But anyway, he had been drinking, he'd been having a drinking party, and he swears he was a lot territory where he was. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:08.960 He was walking the street, and he turned around, and there was a black man dressed in a suit, just looking very professional. 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:15.200 And uh the other one would say, Tell the story, I knew he was bringing me home. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:20.160 And he just kept walking, and the man was there, the man was there, the man was there. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:35.119 He walked to his neighborhood, and anyhow, he got home and he knocked on the door, and my my my cousin, uh little Louen, he saw over at the door and said, Daddy, where have you been? 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:36.559 Where have you been? 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:39.279 And he said, I don't know. 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:42.720 I don't know, but here I am. 00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:50.240 And he turned around, and this image of this man that he swears brought him home. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:21:01.359 I mean, and he had a very interesting there are other things about dealing with that, but that story was some of my uncles would say, he made that up. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:03.039 No, he didn't make it up. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:08.880 I you know, I hold big area for things I can't explain. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:09.759 I do. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:17.279 But I think sometimes we make things so magical we forget that God deals with very ordinary things as well. 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:20.880 Well, he didn't say he had wings or anything. 00:21:20.960 --> 00:21:26.400 It was just this black man was very well dressed and seemed to seem to know where he needed to be. 00:21:26.480 --> 00:21:28.079 And he never spoke to him. 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:31.359 He would just look at him and he would Yeah. 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:35.599 So that's what those are the angels you entertained in the early. 00:21:43.440 --> 00:21:49.680 Well, the first other couple chapters talk about how actions speak louder than words. 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:50.400 Right? 00:21:50.799 --> 00:21:56.079 And and there's some weird business, like there's this moment where Ezekiel's stunned for seven days. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:58.079 Maybe he had a seizure or a stroke. 00:21:58.240 --> 00:21:59.440 I don't know the answer to that. 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:05.759 But His meaning is like the word of the Lord was so heavy it knocked him out. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:09.839 And by the way, that's very typical of mysticism. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:13.039 People who have these visions, which he just had, right? 00:22:13.279 --> 00:22:16.079 Are kind of like catatonic for a while. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:18.000 Then he starts doing so. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:26.559 Oh, and then one of those visions, right, is that his forehead gets hardened and thickened so that he can hit heads with the people. 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:28.160 Isn't that interesting? 00:22:28.559 --> 00:22:36.240 This is another image of him hardening his heart as well, because your heart in the Bible is the center of your will. 00:22:36.720 --> 00:22:38.640 We would probably put that in our head, right? 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:40.000 Your will is in your head. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:43.599 And boy, his forehead just got real thick. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:47.920 Then he starts doing stuff, right? 00:22:48.079 --> 00:22:54.079 Like he ties himself up and lays on his left side for 390 days. 00:22:54.400 --> 00:22:56.079 This is in chapter 4. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:56.960 It is. 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:00.480 So that's supposed to represent one year. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:08.559 One day equals one year that the tribes in Israel, now those are the northern ten, are going to be in exile. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:11.119 By the way, we don't know that that exile ever ended. 00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:20.000 Then he lays on his right side for 40 years to show one day per year for Judah. 00:23:20.079 --> 00:23:22.559 But the exile for Judah was longer than 40. 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:23.599 It's important to know. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:26.480 So this may just be like a symbolic number. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:28.640 He plays siege. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:34.880 So he gets down like army men and makes a model of Jerusalem and blows it up. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:37.200 He's showing what's gonna be. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:39.519 I mean, this is really eccentric behavior, don't you think? 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:41.279 I mean, this is something like a 10-year-old would do. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:43.920 And people would say, like, no, no, that's our home. 00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:45.440 But that's what he does. 00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:51.599 He makes Ezekiel bread, which you can buy in the grocery in the freezer section for$7 a loaf. 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.799 And people say, aha, like there's that health recipe. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:56.559 God's telling you how to make healthy bread. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:58.000 This isn't healthy bread. 00:23:58.160 --> 00:23:59.599 This is made from trash. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:04.240 I mean, like this, this is made from the poorest sweepings. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:10.720 This is meant to show people that they're going to be really poor when all of their stuff gets burned. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:13.920 They won't be making wheat, a bread analyst wheat. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:18.160 They're gonna have to use cheap stuff like barley and rye. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:19.920 That's poor man's bread. 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:26.319 So I remember you in a sermon talking about the bread that people ate mostly. 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:29.279 The bread and wine, which was most of the diet. 00:24:29.599 --> 00:24:30.000 Yes. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:34.319 I had a question, like I looked at that and said, that looks pretty good to me. 00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:38.559 Um spelt as we and all this other stuff. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:43.279 We pay high premium for that stuff now, but that was junk grain. 00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:45.680 What what were the rest of them eating? 00:24:46.400 --> 00:24:47.839 Oh, I'll just give you an idea. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:51.279 When my dad grew up, only poor people ate wheat bread. 00:24:51.519 --> 00:24:53.200 If you had money, you ate white bread. 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:53.680 Yes. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:54.400 Oh yeah. 00:24:55.119 --> 00:24:56.640 I had changed a lot. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:01.119 So if you had money, you're eating white bread. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:01.599 Uh-huh. 00:25:01.920 --> 00:25:04.960 And if you had didn't have money, you're eating Ezekiel bread. 00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:10.880 Okay, so they were eating refined wheat products. 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:15.359 Well, but we didn't really have refined, all of it's made with grindstones. 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:22.160 But you know, there's there's just eating better stuff, not the I don't even know if it's better for you. 00:25:22.319 --> 00:25:22.400 Yeah. 00:25:22.640 --> 00:25:26.079 It's assembled bread has always had class associated with it. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:30.319 Because, you know, again, what I told you before is 90% of their diet is bread. 00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:34.000 But what kind of bread depends on how good your mill is. 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:37.519 Everybody's got home mills, but it could be a mortar and pestle. 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:41.119 Now, if you've ever tried using one of those, it's not a fine grind. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:53.440 No, and not only that, they had a different uh species of wheat then because it's been uh modified through uh you know breeding to make it easier to harvest. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:54.799 You got it. 00:25:54.960 --> 00:26:02.240 I'll tell you, I have a grain mill at home, it's electric, and it actually is two stones that run. 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:03.759 Can you change your mind? 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:04.400 Please do. 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:08.559 It's two grains, two stones that run and grind, right? 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:15.599 And I can set the grid on that, but if you've got a home mill back then, you may be doing it by hand. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:22.000 The best flour, the finest flour, is going to come from stones that weigh tons. 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:25.599 And your average person can't afford that. 00:26:25.920 --> 00:26:26.240 A. 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:28.400 And B, how are you gonna power it? 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:32.880 You either need mules to pull it or you need water to turn it, right? 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:37.359 And and that implies you've got technology, you've got available energy. 00:26:37.599 --> 00:26:45.920 So the average person is making bread with very coarsely ground flour, that's what he's making. 00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:49.039 Well, it looks like he didn't even say that he ground it a lot. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:51.759 Well, you have to grind it, or you can't, it won't make bread. 00:26:52.000 --> 00:26:54.160 How could you do that when you're lying on your side? 00:26:54.640 --> 00:26:55.359 He he didn't. 00:26:55.599 --> 00:26:57.519 I know there's a little bit of mystery here. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:02.799 But if you try to make bread without flour, if you just use grain, it ain't gonna work. 00:27:03.200 --> 00:27:04.240 That wouldn't be very good. 00:27:04.640 --> 00:27:04.960 No. 00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:11.440 Well, I mean, actually, if you just cook some grain in some oil, it tastes fine. 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:13.599 It's crunchy, but it isn't bread. 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:16.079 So you have to make that. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:18.160 I didn't mean to. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:19.440 You're fine. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:22.079 I think it's very, very interesting, by the way. 00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:31.359 It certainly would be flat because yeast can't penetrate the gluten, which is the protein, until you break it. 00:27:31.599 --> 00:27:39.440 So until you crush it, the yeast doesn't get in there and create that anaerobic reaction that allows it to congeal until you knead it. 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:39.839 Right? 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:45.759 So you can take flour and mix yeast and water with it, but if you don't knead it, it it really doesn't work very well either. 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:47.839 And they don't have yeast packets. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:49.519 The yeast is in the air. 00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:52.799 So essentially, what they're doing is making sourdough. 00:27:53.119 --> 00:27:59.759 When you hear about Passover and they say you're eating bread without yeast, it's they've just mixed it and cooked it. 00:27:59.839 --> 00:28:02.640 They didn't have time for the yeast from the air to penetrate. 00:28:02.799 --> 00:28:04.240 There's nothing wrong with yeast. 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.480 The whole point is they don't have time for it. 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:09.039 This bread's extra bad. 00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:15.359 Not only is it like all full of grains that nobody wants, but it's cooked on poop. 00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:18.480 And Ezekiel even says, Listen, you're asking too much. 00:28:18.559 --> 00:28:22.559 And God says, Well, fine, cook it over cow poop then. 00:28:23.359 --> 00:28:24.160 First human poop. 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:24.480 Yes. 00:28:24.640 --> 00:28:26.079 And he says, no, thank you. 00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:29.759 But God does say other people are gonna be using human poop. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:30.640 Yeah. 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:33.359 This is uh These aren't fine ovens. 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:39.359 You see, the the the the the goal is they're cooking it however they can, which is not great. 00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:42.480 And sure enough, in sieges, people run out of fuel. 00:28:42.559 --> 00:28:44.000 There's they run out of wood. 00:28:44.079 --> 00:28:45.519 So then what do you put in the oven? 00:28:47.119 --> 00:28:54.160 These are very descriptive images, so one way we could hear it is God's telling you to eat Ezekiel Bredet. 00:28:54.400 --> 00:28:59.359 Another way we could hear it is, oh, it's going to be as bad for us as it is for everybody else. 00:29:00.880 --> 00:29:06.160 And he's showing the exiles, hey, maybe you're wondering how people back home are doing. 00:29:06.319 --> 00:29:07.680 Let me show you. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:10.400 So he was in Babylon. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:11.519 He's in Babylon. 00:29:11.759 --> 00:29:12.480 At this point. 00:29:12.799 --> 00:29:13.359 Yes. 00:29:14.400 --> 00:29:16.319 And then he does something really nuts. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:21.920 I mean, this guy, like I say, he may be schizophrenic, he may just be one of those artist types. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:23.440 Now, I like artists. 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:27.279 But he takes a sword and cuts his hair, right? 00:29:27.519 --> 00:29:38.799 Uh, and then he does he a third of it he burns, and a third of it he chops into pieces, and a third of it he scatters in the wind, and then he takes a couple of long hairs and sticks them down in his robe. 00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:41.359 Now, look, you have to know what that means. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:44.559 Otherwise, you think this guy's a raving lunatic, right? 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:48.480 I mean, most people probably thought, like, what are you doing? 00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:51.039 But here it is in the scriptures. 00:29:51.279 --> 00:29:56.640 Well, because he's because he's saying that there'll be a remnant that will come after me. 00:29:58.160 --> 00:29:59.680 It's really interesting, right? 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:01.680 Actions speak louder than words. 00:30:01.759 --> 00:30:03.119 This is performance art. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:04.559 That's what he's doing. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.440 Because, hey, not everybody does just words. 00:30:07.599 --> 00:30:12.400 Sometimes an image will speak to you in ways words can't. 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:17.599 I mean, this is like monks in Vietnam setting themselves on fire. 00:30:18.240 --> 00:30:23.039 This is like a man stepping in front of the tank in Tianman Square. 00:30:24.640 --> 00:30:28.960 I mean, did he really bring the whole communist regime to a halt? 00:30:29.839 --> 00:30:32.319 Not exactly, but one tank stopped. 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:33.599 Right? 00:30:33.680 --> 00:30:36.480 I mean, that's kind of what's going on here. 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:39.279 But he was outside doing this at the start. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:41.200