• Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 24th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Ezekiel 3-4

    Bible Study: Ezekiel 3-4

    Ezekiel, chapter three, as we continue our journey through the Bible. Ezekiel chapter three. In the third chapter we find God calling Ezekiel to minister to the people who are in captivity in Babylon. As Jeremiah is ministering to those who are still left in Jerusalem, chapters three and four actually take place approximately in the fifth year of Zedekiah, and thus Jeremiah is still prophesying there in the, Jerusalem.
    The Lord said unto me, [Ezekiel said] Son of man, eat that which you find; eat this roll, and go and speak unto the house of Israel (3:1).
    Now in the previous chapter, verse nine and ten, the Lord put a roll of a book, and it had, He spread it out before him, and there was writing within and without. So now the Lord commands him to eat it.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 23rd, 2013

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    Bible Study: Ezekiel 1-2

    Bible Study: Ezekiel 1-2

    As Judah was falling to the powers of Babylon, there were three separate sieges in which the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, and took captives. In the first siege, Daniel the prophet, and that will be the next book we come to after Ezekiel, Daniel was taken as a captive in the first siege. In the second siege Jehoiachin was taken captive, and with him, Ezekiel was a part of the captives that were taken at the second siege. There was that third siege in which Jerusalem was utterly destroyed, and they carried away the remaining people as captives at that time.

    So Ezekiel became a prophet in Babylon, at the same time that Daniel was a prophet in Babylon. Daniel was in the capital, he was in the city of Babylon itself. He was a statesman in the Babylonian kingdom, whereas Ezekiel prophesied about two hundred miles north of the city of Babylon, where the river Chebar flows into the Euphrates. So he makes mention of there by the river of Chebar, where the heavens were opened, and he saw the visions of God. So he begins the prophesies by declaring, or his book by declaring…

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 22nd, 2013

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    Bible Study: Zechariah 13-14

    Bible Study: Zechariah 13-14

    Now the prophet from Chapter 2 has been pointing to a day in the future. And as we pointed out this morning, it is not a 24 hour day. There are many things that will transpire in this day of which the prophet speaks. It is the day in which God will again work in Israel. A day in which they will recognize that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. A day in which the kingdom of God shall be established upon the earth and so it will actually cover a period of time. A day when Israel will become a nation again. A day when God will defend the nation of Israel against their enemies. So this day has actually already begun. Because Israel is a nation and God has defended them from their enemies. They have become a burdensome stone to all the nations round about and those nations that would dare to attack her have felt really the wrath and the judgment of God as God has defended her. So that day has begun but it will culminate in the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ as He comes again, sets His foot on the mount of Olives, as we will get to a little later this evening. But
    It shall come to pass in that day saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off all the names of the idols out of the land and they shall no more be remembered and I will also cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 21st, 2013

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    Bible Study: Zechariah 10-12

    Bible Study: Zechariah 10-12

    The nation of Israel has been a disappointment to God. He had called them and chosen them. He ordained through them to bring the Messiah into the world. He desired that they live in a relationship with Him, so that He could show to the world, the blessings of a nation whose God is Jehovah. But they were always turning their backs on God. God sent the prophets to them with promises of blessing if they would only seek the Lord and with words of warning of the dire consequences of forsaking the Lord. And thus you’ll find mixed promises with sort of threats or announcements of the consequences of taking the path you are on. Now if you’re on a path that is leading, to destruction, and people keep warning you, “if you go down that path, you’re going to be destroyed.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 20th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Zechariah 7-9

    Bible Study: Zechariah 7-9

    Now the first part of Zechariah was written in the second year of the reign of Darius the King. It was also in the second year of the reign of Darius that Haggai, exercised his ministry. So evidently there in the second year of the reign of Darius there was a spiritual awakening among the people as God stirred up these two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the people to again seek the Lord. To put the Lord first. To get back to work for the Lord. Now as we move into Chapter 7, we are moving up two years. So the prophecy in Chapter seven came in the fourth year of the reign of Darius or two years after the previous prophecies and the ministry of Haggai.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 19th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Zechariah 4-6

    Bible Study: Zechariah 4-6

    Let’s turn to Zechariah, chapter four. Zechariah had a series of ten visions in the night. Whether or not they all came in the same night, or over a period of time is immaterial. In chapter four, he declares…
    And the angel that came and talked with me (4:1),
    There was angel that was more or less, interpreting these visions to Daniel. In the book of Revelation, as John was beholding the various events, he also had an angel that would interpret, as well as the elders who would interpret for John. Here is an angel who helps Zechariah to understand the visions, helps to interpret them.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 18th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Zechariah 1-3

    Bible Study: Zechariah 1-3

    Now at the same time that God raised up Haggai to prophecy, so the Lord raised up Zechariah. And the first prophecy of Zechariah actually took place during the time that Haggai was prophesying. Now we made note of the fact that Haggai began his prophecies in the second year that Darius was the king in Persia. And he began it in the sixth month, the first day of the month. In his last prophecy was the twenty four day of the ninth month. So one month before Haggai’s last prophecy is Zechariah’s first prophecy. This must have been a time of intense dealings of the Lord with His people. They were discouraged, they were demoralized. The task of the rebuilding of the temple seemed more than what they could really do in their own energies and they were going through hard times. Haggai explained that part of their reason for their hard times was that they had put God second and the work of the Lord second. They had put their own interest first above that of their interest for God and thus they had been allowed by God to experience these hard times.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 17th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 32-34

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 32-34

    Let’s turn now to Deuteronomy, chapter thirty two. Moses is noted mostly as the law giver, but there are three songs, or psalms in the bible, that were written by Moses. Certainly in the songs of Moses, he expresses a heart of a poet. There was a song of deliverance when they came out of Egypt. There is this song of Moses in chapter thirty two, and then the ninetieth Psalm is ascribed to Moses. So the three psalms of Moses.

    Now to get a background for chapter thirty two, you really have to go back to verse nineteen, in chapter thirty one. As the Lord has told Moses that he is going to rest with his fathers, “But write down this song for yourselves, teach it to the children of Israel, put it in their mouths that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I brought them to the land that is flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves, and grown fat: then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and they will provoke me and break my covenant. Then it shall be when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness. For it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I’ve brought them to the land which I swore to give them”. So, the purpose of this song.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 16th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 29-31

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 29-31

    Let’s turn now in our bibles to Deuteronomy, twenty nine. You don’t know how happy I am to be at chapter twenty nine. God established a covenant with the children of Israel, when He brought them out of Egypt, and brought them to mount Sinai. Mount Horeb, there in the Sinai peninsula. God gave to them a law, and He said, if they would keep the law and His statutes, and His covenants, He would be their God, they would be His people, a special people unto Him. They failed, they did not enter in to the land, they wandered for forty years in the wilderness, but now they are back again on the border, ready to enter the land. So Moses gathered them together again, in order that God might renew the covenant that He made with them.

    So, in chapter twenty nine, we come to the renewal of the covenant. It must be noted that even as God was renewing the covenant, God knew of their failure to keep it. So even at this time, which should’ve been a time of tremendous spiritual excitement, and blessing. It was also a time of grief on the part of Moses, because God revealed to him, “I know their hearts, I know these people, they’re not going to walk in my ways”. So there was the predicted judgement that was going to come upon the, at the time of the announcing of the great blessings, if they would just continue in the ways of the Lord.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 15th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 26-28

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 26-28

    Let’s turn now to Deuteronomy, twenty six, as we continue our study through the bible. And, we’re almost through with Deuteronomy, and I have to commend you, it isn’t easy, but you’ve stuck by it. Now, hey from now on, it’s, after we get out of Deuteronomy, it will really begin to pick up pace, and we get into some fascinating events in Joshua, Judges, and Ruth, and, ah I really love this historic portion, I love the law. It’s not always the easiest thing to handle, but I love it, and you’ve done very well.

    Moses is making his final speeches to the congregation of Israel. He actually has four final speeches. Tonight we will be dealing with the third. Next week, we’ll begin the fourth of Moses’ final charges, final speeches to the people of Israel, prior to their going into the land. Moses is going to lay down somewhere on mount Nebo, and die. God will bury him. A new leader, Joshua will be raised up of the Lord, to bring the people into the land.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 14th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 23-25

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 23-25

    Shall we turn to Deuteronomy, chapter twenty three. Under the Old Testament economy, the closer you came to God, the more exclusive was the group, that could come. As a Gentile, you would be excluded, period. They had in the temple, the outer court, which was the court of the Gentiles. They had signs along the fences warning any Gentile, that if he would come beyond that point, it would mean death. A Gentile could not approach the altar of God.

    Then there was the next court, which was the court of the women. Where if they had gone through the various rituals, they could come to worship the Lord. Then within that was the court of the men. The congregation of the Lord. But the congregation of the Lord was also quite exclusive. You had to go through purification rites and so forth before you could enter the congregation of the Lord.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 13th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 19-22

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 19-22

    In the nineteenth chapter the first thing that Moses is dealing with is, when they come into the land, and they possess the land that God is giving to them, the establishing of these three cities of refuge, that were to be a sanctuary for the person who accidentally killed someone else. In that culture, and still today, in the Bedouin culture of the Middle East, if someone kills one of your family members, you become honor bound to kill them. I mean it’s your duty. You’re honor bound to do it, to avenge the blood of the family member that was slain. Now, because this was a culture, and the customs of the people, injustices were wrought, because often times if you killed someone, it was by accident.

    Moses gives an example here, of what we would call manslaughter. You’re going out into the woods with your friend to cut down some trees, and as you’re swinging your axe, the axe head flies off, and hits the guy and it kills him. Now he was your friend. You didn’t intend to kill him. It wasn’t with malice, it wasn’t something premeditated, it was just a pure accident. So in order that you might be protected from vengeance by the family member, of that other person, within the center of the land, more or less, that is in centralized locations there were to be established these cities of refuge, where you could flee and be protected within the gates of that city. So that the avenger of blood could not pursue you within the city, to take vengeance upon you for the accidental killing of the member of his family.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 12th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 17-18

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 17-18

    Now into chapter seventeen. It would sound like it’s just a repeat of the twelfth chapter, in a way, as he deals again with the offering of sacrifices.

    You’re not to sacrifice to the Lord your God any bull, or sheep which has any blemish or any defect: for that is an abomination to the Lord. [You’re not to say, “Ahh it’s no good, let’s give it to God. Look at it. It’s got a ripped out eye, or something. Sacrifice it to the Lord”. Not so.] If there is found among you, within any of your gates with the Lord your God gives you, a man or a woman who has been wicked in the sight of the Lord your God, in transgressing his covenant, Who has gone and served other gods, worshiped them, either the sun, or the moon, or the hosts of heaven, which I have not commanded; And it’s told you, and you hear of it, you will inquire diligently, and, if it indeed is true and certain, that such an abomination has been committed in Israel: Then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman, who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone them to death. And whoever is worthy of death, shall be put to death; on the testimony of two or three witnesses, but he shall not be put to death on the testimony of one witness (17:1-7).

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 11th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 14-16

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 14-16

    You are the children of the Jehovah your God: because of this, you are to be different from other people [People look upon Christians, and expect from them different actions and reactions than what they expect from just anybody. Our actions and reactions should be different from other people, because of the fact that we are children of the Lord. My relationship with God should have an effect upon my relationship with everyone else, and everything else. So he starts out with this statement, “You are the children of Jehovah your God, therefore because of this,”] you are not to cut yourself, or shave, or do abnormal things for the dead (14:1).

    Our reaction to death should be different than the Pagan’s reaction to death. Now, at this point, they did not have that much of an understanding of life after death. In the scriptures, up to this point, very little is said concerning resurrection. But God is teaching them, even at this point, that our reactions towards the dead should be different from that of a pagan. As the revelation of God progresses, as we come to a greater understanding of the plan of God and the way of God, and as we begin to understand the resurrection, through Jesus Christ, who is the first fruits of those who rise from the dead, all the more do we realize that our reactions towards death, should be different from those who know not, Jesus Christ. Paul said, “We sorrow, not as those who have no hope”.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 10th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 12-13

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 12-13

    Destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God, with such things (12:3-4).

    So, utterly destroy their places of worship, their objects of worship. Their idols, the images. Much of the worship in the primitive world, or in the ancient world, and today in more primitive cultures, is the worship of the capacity of man to procreate. Because there is, it seems, a divine power almost in the capacity of man, to reproduce. The power of creation. The creation of new life. It’s an awe, it’s a mystery, it’s a wonder! Whenever you hold a new baby in your hands, and look at that little thing, and the fingers and the toes, and the whole thing, you just. To me one of the most awesome experiences in the world is the birth of a new child. I don’t know of anything that is quite like it. To see the birth of a child, and to hold that new baby in your hands. To cut the umbilical cord, and to experience new life, and hold it there in your hands. It’s just a marvelous experience! It’s sort of almost a sacred experience. I mean there’s something sort of sacred about the whole thing. Here is new life, and you realize this tremendous capacity that God has given us, to bring forth new life.

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 9th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 9-11

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 9-11

    Let’s turn to the book of Deuteronomy. Before we get to our lesson, in chapter nine, this past week I was listening to Raul Rees on the radio, and he was reading Judges, chapter three, the first five verses. And in as much as we had just covered the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy. I thought how significant it is! Now, you read the seventh chapter of Deuteronomy, you stay there.

    Verse one, “When the Lord your God brings you into the land, which you go to possess, has cast our many nations before you, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than you; And when the Lord your God delivers them over to you; you shall conquer them, and utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them: (Verse three) Nor shall you make marriages with them; you shall not give them your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following me, (The warning, and the consequence if you don’t follow it. If your sons marry them, then what will happen is that they will turn your sons away from following me.)”

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 8th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 7-8

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 7-8

    Shall we turn now in our bibles to Deuteronomy, chapter seven. Again the background for this book. Moses is about to turn the leadership over to Joshua. He has brought them as far as God is going to allow him to take them. He cannot lead them into the promised land. So, Moses, knowing that he is soon going to pass the torch on to Joshua, he’s going to be with his people, gathered together with his people. He is instructing them now. Really, the final words of instruction, by Moses, to these people that he has led for these forty years. Chapter seven, he’s instructing them as to when they come into the land, and they possess the land that God has promised them.

    When the Lord God brings you into the land which you go to possess, and he’s cast out the many nations before you, seven nations, [who are here listed] nations that were greater and mightier than you (7:1);

  • Bible Studies, Chuck Smith

    Posted on May 7th, 2013

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    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 5-6

    Bible Study: Deuteronomy 5-6

    So we turn now in our Bibles to the fifth chapter of Deuteronomy. Moses is revealing the history of the nation from it’s birth to this point. The nation is only forty years old. God has brought them out of Egypt. They are not yet into their homeland. They will soon be going in and taking the land that God has promised to them.

    But as Moses is reviewing their history, in the book of Deuteronomy, he is also giving to them exhortations on how they are to continue to exist as a nation. And if they will follow certain precepts. If they will remain obedient and true unto God, then they will become a great nation on the face of the earth. But if they break their covenant with God, then surely they shall perish from the land. They will lose the benefits that God has given them. So the importance of hearing the Word of God, of following, of obeying, of observing and of doing all of the things that God said. So those are words that we are going to find repeated often, in the Book of Deuteronomy, and in chapter five, verse one…

    Moses called all Israel, and said to them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the judgements which I speak in your hearing today, that you may learn them [hear, learn] and be careful to observe them (5:1).

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