Thematic Bible


Thematic Bible



I will also stretch out My hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the idol priests with the [false] priests, And those who worship the starry host of the heavens upon their housetops and those who [pretend to] worship the Lord and swear by and to Him and yet swear by and to [the heathen god Molech or] Malcam [their idol king], And those who have drawn back from following the Lord and those who have not sought the Lord nor inquired for, inquired of, and required the Lord [as their first necessity].

Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching. For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. read more.
Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)? For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation], says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people. It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!

But our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul. Verse ConceptsPerditionSteadfastness, Examples OfSaved By FaithBackslidersThe SoulpreservationChrist As The Object Of Saving Faith


For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first. For never to have obtained a [full, personal] knowledge of the way of righteousness would have been better for them than, having obtained [such knowledge], to turn back from the holy commandment which was [verbally] delivered to them. There has befallen them the thing spoken of in the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and, The sow is washed only to wallow again in the mire.

I will also stretch out My hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the idol priests with the [false] priests, And those who worship the starry host of the heavens upon their housetops and those who [pretend to] worship the Lord and swear by and to Him and yet swear by and to [the heathen god Molech or] Malcam [their idol king], And those who have drawn back from following the Lord and those who have not sought the Lord nor inquired for, inquired of, and required the Lord [as their first necessity].

Not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing (warning, urging, and encouraging) one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching. For if we go on deliberately and willingly sinning after once acquiring the knowledge of the Truth, there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for [our] sins [no further offering to which to look forward]. [There is nothing left for us then] but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition [to God]. read more.
Any person who has violated and [thus] rejected and set at naught the Law of Moses is put to death without pity or mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse (sterner and heavier) punishment do you suppose he will be judged to deserve who has spurned and [thus] trampled underfoot the Son of God, and who has considered the covenant blood by which he was consecrated common and unhallowed, thus profaning it and insulting and outraging the [Holy] Spirit [Who imparts] grace (the unmerited favor and blessing of God)? For we know Him Who said, Vengeance is Mine [retribution and the meting out of full justice rest with Me]; I will repay [I will exact the compensation], says the Lord. And again, The Lord will judge and determine and solve and settle the cause and the cases of His people. It is a fearful (formidable and terrible) thing to incur the divine penalties and be cast into the hands of the living God!

But our way is not that of those who shrink back to destruction, but [we are] of those who believe [relying on God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah] and by this confident faith preserve the soul. Verse ConceptsPerditionSteadfastness, Examples OfSaved By FaithBackslidersThe SoulpreservationChrist As The Object Of Saving Faith


For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through [the full, personal] knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are overcome, their last condition is worse [for them] than the first. For never to have obtained a [full, personal] knowledge of the way of righteousness would have been better for them than, having obtained [such knowledge], to turn back from the holy commandment which was [verbally] delivered to them. There has befallen them the thing spoken of in the true proverb, The dog turns back to his own vomit, and, The sow is washed only to wallow again in the mire.

After Amaziah came back from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought the gods of the sons of Seir, and set them up to be his gods, bowed before them, and burned incense to them. Verse ConceptsBowingTwelve Beings

He did right in the sight of the Lord, yet not wholeheartedly. Verse ConceptsHalf HeartednessLosing A FriendDoing The Right Thingdevotion


They turned back and acted unfaithfully like their fathers;
They were twisted like a warped bow [that will not respond to the archer’s aim].
Verse ConceptsFaultsBow And Arrows, Illustrations OfUnreliabilityTwistingUseless PeopleFalling Away From God


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.
Verse ConceptsdewLoyaltyMistMorningUnreliabilityWeather, As God's JudgmentLukewarmnessInstabilityWhat Does God Do?


And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord [as their most important need] or inquired of Him.”
Verse ConceptsComplacencyIndifferenceNot Enquiring Of GodNot Seeking GodguidanceHelping Those In Needfollowing

Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this tragedy has come on us. Yet we have not wholeheartedly begged for forgiveness and sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our wickedness and paying attention to and placing value in Your truth. Verse ConceptsConversion, nature ofComplacencyPrayerlessnessWritten In The LawSeeking The Favour Of Godclosure


And those who have turned back from following the Lord,
And those who have not sought the Lord [as their most important need] or inquired of Him.”
Verse ConceptsComplacencyIndifferenceNot Enquiring Of GodNot Seeking GodguidanceHelping Those In Needfollowing


Have workers of wickedness no knowledge or no understanding?
They eat up My people as though they ate bread
And have not called upon God.
Verse ConceptsEating, Metaphorical UseCalling upon GodPrayer, Practicalities OfCharacter Of WickedEvildoersNot PrayingThose Who Were Ignorant


There is no one who calls on Your name,
Who awakens and causes himself to take hold of You;
For You have hidden Your face from us
And have handed us over to the [consuming and destructive] power of our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing].
Verse ConceptsFace Of GodComplacencyGod, Revelation OfImperfection, And God's PurposesLonelinessPrayerlessnessReconciliation, Of The World To GodSin, Effects OfSin, God's Judgment OnStriving With GodWorship, Hindrances ToGod HidingGraspingNo One AvailableNot Praying

You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God]. Verse ConceptsAmbition, Warnings RegardingPrayer, Practicalities OfPrayerlessnessCovetousness, Nature ofEvil DesiresReady To KillFighting One Anothergrandmas


“Yet you have not called on Me [in prayer and worship], O Jacob;
But you have grown weary of Me, O Israel.
Verse ConceptsComplacencyPrayerlessnessNot PrayingWeary Of Godtired


For the shepherds [of the people] have become [like brutes,] irrational and stupid,
And have not searched for the Lord or asked about Him or realized their need for Him;
Therefore they have not been wise and have not prospered,
And all their flocks are scattered.
Verse ConceptsFolly, Examples OfComplacencyenquiring of GodAskingGuidance, Need For God'sPrayer, Practicalities OfPrayerlessnessShepherds, As Kings And LeadersWisdom, Human ImportanceInadequate ShepherdingScattered Like SheepNot Seeking GodFoolishness Of Menprospering


They are all hot like an oven
And they consume their judges (rulers);
All their kings have fallen.
There is no one among them who calls to Me.
Verse ConceptsComplacencyHeatHot ThingsAttitudes Towards KingsNot Praying

I will also stretch out My hand over Judah and over all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place and the name of the idol priests with the [false] priests, And those who worship the starry host of the heavens upon their housetops and those who [pretend to] worship the Lord and swear by and to Him and yet swear by and to [the heathen god Molech or] Malcam [their idol king], And those who have drawn back from following the Lord and those who have not sought the Lord nor inquired for, inquired of, and required the Lord [as their first necessity].