Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Alliances » Political » With idolaters forbidden
and when the Lord your God gives them over to you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall not make a covenant (treaty) with them nor show mercy and compassion to them.
Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the ungodly and love those who hate the Lord and in doing so bring wrath from the Lord on yourself?
Who proceed down to Egypt
Without consulting
To take refuge in the stronghold of Pharaoh
And to take shelter in the shadow of Egypt!
Who rely on horses
And trust in chariots because they are many,
And in horsemen because they are very strong,
But they do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek and consult the Lord!
And [continually] pursues the [parching] east wind [which brings destruction];
Every day he multiplies lies and violence.
Further, he makes a covenant with Assyria
And (olive) oil is carried to Egypt [to seek alliances].
You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.
Take heed to yourself, lest you make a covenant or mutual agreement with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in the midst of you. But you shall destroy their altars, dash in pieces their pillars (obelisks, images), and cut down their Asherim [symbols of the goddess Asherah]; For you shall worship no other god; for the Lord, Whose name is Jealous, is a jealous (impassioned) God, read more.
Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they play the harlot after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and one invites you, you eat of his food sacrificed to idols,
Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they play the harlot after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and one invites you, you eat of his food sacrificed to idols,
and as for you, you shall not make a covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed Me; what is this that you have done?
Then Eliezer the son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, “Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the Lord has broken down what you have built.” So the ships were wrecked and were unable to go to Tarshish.
For the Lord spoke thus to me with His strong hand [upon me], and warned and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, Do not call conspiracy [or hard, or holy] all that this people will call conspiracy [or hard, or holy]; neither be in fear of what they fear, nor [make others afraid and] in dread.
Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].
Ephraim » A tribe of israel » Name of, applied to the ten tribes
“Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a darling and beloved child?
For as often as I have spoken against him,
I certainly still remember him.
Therefore My affection is renewed and My heart longs for him;
I will surely have mercy on him,” says the Lord.
“I have surely heard Ephraim (Israel) moaning and grieving,
‘You have chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like a bull unaccustomed to the yoke or an untrained calf;
Bring me back that I may be restored,
For You are the Lord my God.
Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].
For Ephraim has constructed many altars for sin;
They are altars intended for sinning [which multiply his guilt].
O Ephraim, what shall I do with you?
O Judah, what shall I do with you?
For your [wavering] loyalty and kindness are [transient] like the morning cloud
And like the dew that goes away early.
He placed troops in all the fortified cities of Judah, and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim which his father Asa had captured.
He hired also 100,000 mighty men of valor from Israel for 100 talents of silver. But a man of God came to him, saying, O king, do not let all this army of Ephraimites of Israel go with you [of Judah], for the Lord is not with you,
For the head [the capital] of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is [King] Rezin. Within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces so that it will no longer be a people. And the head (the capital) of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son [Pekah]. If you will not believe and trust and rely [on God and on the words of God's prophet instead of Assyria], surely you will not be established nor will you remain.
And He will raise up a signal for the nations and will assemble the outcasts of Israel and will gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy and jealousy of Ephraim also shall depart, and they who vex and harass Judah from outside or inside shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex and harass Ephraim.
“The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim,
And the kingdom from Damascus
And the remnant of Aram (Syria);
They will be like the [departed] glory of [her ally] the children of Israel,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from Me;
For now, O Ephraim, you have played the prostitute and have worshiped idols;
Israel has defiled itself.
But the pride and self-reliance of Israel testifies against him.
Therefore Israel, and [especially]
I have seen a horrible thing [sins of every kind] in the house of Israel!
Ephraim’s prostitution (idolatry) is there; Israel has defiled itself.
Ephraim has provoked most bitter anger;
So his Lord will leave his bloodguilt on him [invoking punishment]
And bring back to him his shame and dishonor.
Holy spirit » Withdrawn from incorrigible sinners
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Even though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them until not one is left.
Indeed, woe (judgment is coming) to them when I look away and withdraw [My blessing] from them!
They will go with their flocks and with their herds
To seek the Lord [diligently searching for Him], but they will not find Him;
He has withdrawn from them [refusing to hear the prayers of the unrepentant].
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin],
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive and remain with man forever, because he is indeed flesh [sinful, corrupt—given over to sensual appetites]; nevertheless his days shall yet be a hundred and twenty years.”
For this reason God gave them over to degrading and vile passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural [a function contrary to nature],
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or consider Him worth knowing [as their Creator], God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive,
‘Cut off your hair [your crown, O Jerusalem] and throw it away,
And take up a mournful cry on the barren heights,
For the Lord has rejected and abandoned
The generation of His wrath.’
“How could one chase a thousand,
And two put ten thousand to flight,
Unless their Rock had sold them,
And the Lord had given them up?
Because I have called and you have refused [to answer], have stretched out my hand and no man has heeded it, And you treated as nothing all my counsel and would accept none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when the thing comes that shall cause you terror and panic -- " read more.
When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me.
When your panic comes as a storm and desolation and your calamity comes on as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then will they call upon me [Wisdom] but I will not answer; they will seek me early and diligently but they will not find me.
Ephraim is joined [fast] to idols, [so] let him alone [to take the consequences]. Their drinking carousal over, they go habitually to play the harlot; [Ephraim's] rulers [continue to] love shame more than her glory [which is the Lord, Israel's God].
Idolatry » Obstinate sinners judicially given up to
Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].
And there you will serve [false and foreign] gods, the work of human hands, [lifeless images of] wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell [the offerings of food given to them].
And the Lord will scatter you among all the nations, from one end of the earth to the other; and there you will [be forced to] serve other gods, [lifeless gods of] wood and stone, which neither you nor your fathers have known.
Judgments » Different kinds of » Abandonment by God
Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].
Self-delusion » Obstinate sinners often given up to
Ephraim is joined to idols,
So let him alone [to suffer the consequences].
And by unlimited seduction to evil and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing (going to perdition) because they did not welcome the Truth but refused to love it that they might be saved. Therefore God sends upon them a misleading influence, a working of error and a strong delusion to make them believe what is false,
But My people would not hearken to My voice, and Israel would have none of Me. So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust and let them go after their own stubborn will, that they might follow their own counsels.
Wicked people » Spirit of God withdrawn from
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their own hearts to [sexual] impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin],
Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive and remain with man forever, because he is indeed flesh [sinful, corrupt—given over to sensual appetites]; nevertheless his days shall yet be a hundred and twenty years.”
For this reason God gave them over to degrading and vile passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural [a function contrary to nature],
And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or consider Him worth knowing [as their Creator], God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do things which are improper and repulsive,
Ephraim is joined [fast] to idols, [so] let him alone [to take the consequences]. Their drinking carousal over, they go habitually to play the harlot; [Ephraim's] rulers [continue to] love shame more than her glory [which is the Lord, Israel's God]. The resistless wind [of God's wrath] has bound up [Israel] in its wings or skirts, and [in captivity] they and their altars shall be put to shame because of their sacrifices [to calves, to sun, moon, and stars, and to heathen gods].