We Have Reviewed Chapter After Chapter of Predictions of Impending Judgment

How God Deals with His People Through the Ages January 11, 2017 Oholah and Oholibah A Parable Ezekiel 23 Page 1

We have reviewed chapter after chapter of predictions of impending judgment. God made promises to His people and expected obedience in return. Part of this dealt with ignoring the Sabbath. We shall see there are other reasons for judgment to come as well. But if God deals with the Jews this way under the Law, what changed as a result of the work of Christ?

In fact, as we have studied through the Old Testament, it appears that God actually changed the way He dealt with mankind, more than once.

The Dispensations are distinguished, exhibiting the majestic, progressive order of the divine dealings of God with humanity, “the increasing purpose” which runs through and links together the ages, from the beginning of the life of man to the end in eternity. Augustine said: “Distinguish the ages, and the Scriptures harmonize.” C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1917), iii.

A dispensation is a period of time during which man is tested in respect of obedience to some specific revelation of the will of God. Seven such dispensations are distinguished in Scripture. C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1917), 5.

The “Dispensations” are— THE EDENIC. THE ANTE-DILUVIAN. THE POST-DILUVIAN. THE PATRIARCHAL. THE LEGAL. THE ECCLESIASTICAL. THE MESSIANIC. THE DISPENSATION OF THE “FULNESS OF TIMES.” Clarence Larkin, Rightly Dividing the Word (Philadelphia, PA: Clarence Larkin, 1921), 7.

The First Dispensation: Innocency. Man was created in innocency, placed in a perfect environment, subjected to an absolutely simple test, and warned of the consequence of disobedience. The woman fell through pride; the man, deliberately (1 Tim. 2:14). God restored His sinning creatures, but the dispensation of innocency ended in the judgment of the Expulsion (Gen. 3:24). See, for the other dispensations: Conscience (Gen. 3:23); Human Government (Gen. 8:20); Promise (Gen. 12:1); Law (Ex. 19:8); Grace (John 1:17); Kingdom (Eph. 1:10). C. I. Scofield, ed., The Scofield Reference Bible: The Holy Bible Containing the Old and New Testaments (New York; London; Toronto; Melbourne; Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1917), 5.

A concise definition of a dispensation is this: A dispensation is a distinguishable economy in the outworking of God’s purpose. Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Dispensationalism, Rev. and expanded. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1995), 33. Page 2 There is a difference between a dispensation and an age. An age is a period of time in which a particular economy prevails. There was the economy before the flood when God was dealing with men according to conscience. We do not know just how God’s children met and carried on a public testimony in those days. All that we have concerning that particular time is given us in two or three brief chapters. But after the flood, there was a new economy; civil magistracy was instituted by God for the restraint of human conduct. Then we see God calling Abraham out, and making him to be the beginning of a new race of people to whom He entrusted a new economy, the promise of the coming Seed through whom all nations of the earth should be blessed. And then at Mount Sinai the law was given to the people of Israel. That economy was in force until our blessed Lord cried, “It is finished,” on Calvary’s cross. Now in the present age of the grace of God, we have this wonderful dispensation of the Holy Spirit, in which the gospel of God is being sent out into all the world. There is no one favored nation, but God’s grace goes out to all nations. We are not under law as a principle either of salvation or of life, but we are under grace, saved by Christ, kept by Christ, called upon to walk in Christ to the praise of the glory of His grace. By-and- by there will be another glorious economy, “The dispensation of the fulness of times.” That will be in the last glorious age, which has been called ever since the dawn of the Christian era, “The Millennium,” H. A. Ironside, In the Heavenlies : Practical Expository Addresses on the Epistle to the Ephesians. (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1937), 67–68.

So why this background? The period of time we are currently studying is the time of the Law. We live in the age of grace There is an expectation of obedience by God of believers today, but we are not under the Law. Paul went to great pains to discuss the difference between the Law and grace in the Book of Romans.

Romans 6:14–18 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness? But thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed, and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” (NASB95)

Under the Law, there was not only the expectation of obedience, but also specific penalties as part of the covenant with the people regarding what was a curse or blessing contingent upon obedience. The people living at this time had not listened to what God had commanded and told them to do. They were busy doing their own thing. Remember the elders asked Ezekiel to no longer speak in parables? They complained to him about it and he told the Lord.

Ezekiel 20:49 Then I said, “Ah Lord GOD! They are saying of me, ‘Is he not just speaking parables?’ ” (NASB95)

They thought that Ezekiel was just entertainment. Let’s go to Zeke’s place and see what crazy thing he is up to today. Ezekiel 2:4–7 “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ As for them, whether they listen or not—for they are a rebellious house—they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions; neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. But you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” (NASB95)

So God now chooses to communicate, through a parable. He is in charge, not the elders, not the people, not Ezekiel. We are about to be introduced to two godless sisters. They have some issues

Ezekiel 23:1–3 The word of the LORD came to me again, saying, “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother; and they played the harlot in Egypt. They played the harlot in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and there their virgin bosom was handled.” (NASB95)

Two daughters, one mother, we are talking about the original unity of Israel, how they were one when they entered into the Land but wound up being two later down the road. One of the sisters will be the Northern Kingdom, the other will represent Judah. This is not new imagery, if the elders were in Jerusalem, they would have been familiar with what Jeremiah had said towards the beginning of his ministry.

Jeremiah 3:7–10 “I thought, ‘After she has done all these things she will return to Me’; but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it. And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with all her heart, but rather in deception,” declares the LORD.” (NASB95)

We have also already seen the nation compared to a harlot in chapter 16. There the issue was apostasy from the Lord and turning away from Him. The sin was idolatry in chapter 16.

…in chapter 23, the sin is trusting other nations to protect her. In this chapter you will find both Israel (the Northern Kingdom) and Judah (the Southern Kingdom) playing the harlot and looking for help from Assyria, Babylon, and Egypt, instead of trusting Jehovah God to guide them and rescue them. Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Reverent, “Be” Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Chariot Victor/Cook Communications, 2000), 109.

They committed whoredom even in Egypt in their youth, for even in Egypt the Israelites defiled themselves with Egyptian idolatry. Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 9 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 185.

Ezekiel 8:10 “So I entered and looked, and behold, every form of creeping things and beasts and detestable things, with all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around.” (NASB95)

Ezekiel 23:4 “Their names were Oholah the elder and Oholibah her sister. And they became Mine, and they bore sons and daughters. And as for their names, Samaria is Oholah and Jerusalem is Oholibah.” (NASB95) Page 4 The Northern Kingdom is Oholah and Judah, the Southern Kingdom is Oholibah. The meaning of the names gives you a hint of the direction of the story. Both of their names are a play on the Hebrew word for tent. Oholah (lit. “her tent,” which may be an allusion to pagan tent-shrines or to false temples at Dan and Bethel) stands for the capital of Israel, Samaria, Oholibah (lit. “my tent is in her,” i.e., temple) stands for the capital of Judah, Jerusalem. Bob Utley, Ezekiel, Study Guide Commentary Series (Marshall, TX: Bible Lessons International, 2008), 200. Page 4 What we see here is that at the point of the separation of the kingdoms, shortly after Solomon’s death, the Northern Kingdom and the ten tribes with them went out and lived independently of God. They created their own tent and did not consider God in the equation.

1 Kings 12:26–31 Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will return to the house of David. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will return to their lord, even to Rehoboam king of Judah; and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt.” He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan. And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi. (NASB95)

All of those who wished to worship God went south, those who wanted idol worship and a more liberal form of government went north. Meanwhile in Judah, God had His tent there, thus the meaning of the name of the second sister, Oholibah.

Ezekiel 23:5–10 “Oholah played the harlot while she was Mine; and she lusted after her lovers, after the Assyrians, her neighbors, who were clothed in purple, governors and officials, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. She bestowed her harlotries on them, all of whom were the choicest men of Assyria; and with all whom she lusted after, with all their idols she defiled herself. She did not forsake her harlotries from the time in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her, and they handled her virgin bosom and poured out their lust on her. Therefore, I gave her into the hand of her lovers, into the hand of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. They uncovered her nakedness; they took her sons and her daughters, but they slew her with the sword. Thus she became a byword among women, and they executed judgments on her.” (NASB95)

In verses 5 – 10 we get a quick history of the Northern Kingdom. Starting with:

2 Kings 15:19–20 Pul, king of Assyria, came against the land, and Menahem gave Pul a thousand talents of silver so that his hand might be with him to strengthen the kingdom under his rule. Then Menahem exacted the money from Israel, even from all the mighty men of wealth, from each man fifty shekels of silver to pay the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria returned and did not remain there in the land. (NASB95)

Verse seven shows us that as the Northern Kingdom entered into these alliances, they began to adopt the gods and customs of those who they allied themselves with.

Assyrian capture of Samaria

In 701 B.C. Assyrian king Senacherib conquered most of Judah including the fortress–city of Lachish. The victory was recorded in remarkable detail on bas–reliefs at Nineveh palace. This scene is poignant testimony to the plight of his victims, who were deported with only what they could carry on their backs. Paul J. Achtemeier, Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature, Harper’s Bible Dictionary (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985), 1168. The Northern Kingdom went into captivity and all were forcibly resettled elsewhere.

2 Kings 17:6–12 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the LORD had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced. The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the LORD their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the LORD had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things provoking the LORD. They served idols, concerning which the LORD had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” (NASB95)

So much for the Northern Kingdom. Now the parable turns toward Judah.

Ezekiel 23:11–35 “Now her sister Oholibah saw this, yet she was more corrupt in her lust than she, and her harlotries were more than the harlotries of her sister. She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and officials, the ones near, magnificently dressed, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. I saw that she had defiled herself; they both took the same way. So she increased her harlotries. And she saw men portrayed on the wall, images of the Chaldeans portrayed with vermilion, girded with belts on their loins, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them looking like officers, like the Babylonians in Chaldea, the land of their birth. When she saw them she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. The Babylonians came to her to the bed of love and defiled her with their harlotry. And when she had been defiled by them, she became disgusted with them. She uncovered her harlotries and uncovered her nakedness; then I became disgusted with her, as I had become disgusted with her sister. Yet she multiplied her harlotries, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the harlot in the land of Egypt. She lusted after their paramours, whose flesh is like the flesh of donkeys and whose issue is like the issue of horses. Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom because of the breasts of your youth. Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold I will arouse your lovers against you, from whom you were alienated, and I will bring them against you from every side: the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them; desirable young men, governors and officials all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. They will come against you with weapons, chariots and wagons, and with a company of peoples. They will set themselves against you on every side with buckler and shield and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they will judge you according to their customs. I will set My jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in wrath. They will remove your nose and your ears; and your survivors will fall by the sword. They will take your sons and your daughters; and your survivors will be consumed by the fire. They will also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. Thus I will make your lewdness and your harlotry brought from the land of Egypt to cease from you, so that you will not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore.’ For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Behold, I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate, into the hand of those from whom you were alienated. They will deal with you in hatred, take all your property, and leave you naked and bare. And the nakedness of your harlotries will be uncovered, both your lewdness and your harlotries. These things will be done to you because you have played the harlot with the nations, because you have defiled yourself with their idols. You have walked in the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand.’ Thus says the Lord GOD, ‘You will drink your sister’s cup, Which is deep and wide. You will be laughed at and held in derision; It contains much. You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, The cup of horror and desolation, The cup of your sister Samaria. You will drink it and drain it. Then you will gnaw its fragments And tear your breasts; for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord GOD. Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Because you have forgotten Me and cast Me behind your back, bear now the punishment of your lewdness and your harlotries.’ ” (NASB95)

So what did Judah learn about being obedient and following the commands of God from seeing what happened to the Northern Kingdom?

Nothing

The king of Judah went after political entanglements with the same nations. Expecting a different outcome, perhaps. But they added to the sin of the Northern Kingdom.

2 Kings 16:7–14 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death. Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and saw the altar which was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to Urijah the priest the pattern of the altar and its model, according to all its workmanship. So Urijah the priest built an altar; according to all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus, thus Urijah the priest made it, before the coming of King Ahaz from Damascus. When the king came from Damascus, the king saw the altar; then the king approached the altar and went up to it, and burned his burnt offering and his meal offering, and poured his drink offering and sprinkled the blood of his peace offerings on the altar. The bronze altar, which was before the LORD, he brought from the front of the house, from between his altar and the house of the LORD, and he put it on the north side of his altar. (NASB95)

We see the Nation of Judah being taken in by the impact of propaganda, ancient Middle-Eastern style. The appearance of the courtroom of the Assyrian king. The artwork of battles won. Followed by the Babylonians

As we followed the history of Judah, we see that they did become a vassal state of Babylon. This happened after the death of Josiah at the hands of Pharaoh Neco. Pharaoh Neco was killed at a later battle with Nebuchadnezzar and as a result of all battles, Judah winds up being a vassal of Babylon.

They later rebel and turn to Egypt who does nothing to help.

She lusted after the Egyptians that pursued her like donkeys and horses in heat (cf. Jer. 2:24; 5:8; 13:27). Donkeys and horses were proverbial for their strong sexual drive (cf. Jer. 2:24; 5:8; 13:27), and the Lord used these animals as a figure for the Egyptians’ potency that attracted the Israelites. Jerusalem returned to her old lover, namely, Egypt. Tom Constable, Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), Eze 23:17.

We see, after verse 23, the judgment from God, made in four statements: I will commit the judgment to them – v.24 I will set My jealousy against you– v. 25 I will give you into the hand of those whom you hate – v. 28 I will give her cup into your hand – v. 31 The judgment that was received by the Northern Kingdom will also become the judgment of Judah.

Ezekiel then describes the madness that will flow from the events taking place.

All Caused By:

Ezekiel 22:12 “In you they have taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and profits, and you have injured your neighbors for gain by oppression, and you have forgotten Me,” declares the Lord GOD. (NASB95)

Ezekiel 23:36–39 Moreover, the LORD said to me, “Son of man, will you judge Oholah and Oholibah? Then declare to them their abominations. For they have committed adultery, and blood is on their hands. Thus they have committed adultery with their idols and even caused their sons, whom they bore to Me, to pass through the fire to them as food. Again, they have done this to Me: they have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and have profaned My sabbaths. For when they had slaughtered their children for their idols, they entered My sanctuary on the same day to profane it; and lo, thus they did within My house.” (NASB95) Judah’s residents saw nothing wrong with going and sacrificing a child in the valley of Hinnom, then walking up the hill and going to the Temple to worship.

Jeremiah 7:31–34 “They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind. Therefore, behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when it will no longer be called Topheth, or the valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of the Slaughter; for they will bury in Topheth because there is no other place. The dead bodies of this people will be food for the birds of the sky and for the beasts of the earth; and no one will frighten them away. Then I will make to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride; for the land will become a ruin.” (NASB95)

Jeremiah 32:35 “They built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” (NASB95)

The idea of Gehenna originated in the OT. The Valley of Hinnom (Wâdī er-Rabâbeh, S of Jerusalem) was infamous for the pagan rites, especially child sacrifice, that were offered there (2 K. 16:3; 23:10), and Jeremiah prophesied that God’s judgment would fall there (e.g., Jer. 19:6f.; see HINNOM, VALLEY OF). As the concept of the afterlife developed in the intertestamental period, the Valley of Hinnom came to represent the eschatological place of judgment (12En 27:1f.; 54:1–6; 90:25–27; etc.) or hell itself (2 Esd. 7:36; 2Bar 85:13). W. Ewing, “Gehenna,” ed. Geoffrey W Bromiley, The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Revised (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1979–1988), 423.

Unfortunately we see a lot of the same behavior today. Folks participate in some of the most questionable activities in the name of being culturally relevant. They celebrate the “right” to have an abortion, and then go to a prayer meeting or church service.

“We learn from history that we do not learn from history.” ― Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Page 8

Ecclesiastes 1:9–11 That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; And also of the later things which will occur, There will be for them no remembrance Among those who will come later still. (NASB95)

Ezekiel 23:40–49 “Furthermore, they have even sent for men who come from afar, to whom a messenger was sent; and lo, they came—for whom you bathed, painted your eyes and decorated yourselves with ornaments; and you sat on a splendid couch with a table arranged before it on which you had set My incense and My oil. The sound of a carefree multitude was with her; and drunkards were brought from the wilderness with men of the common sort. And they put bracelets on the hands of the women and beautiful crowns on their heads. Then I said concerning her who was worn out by adulteries, ‘Will they now commit adultery with her when she is thus?’ But they went in to her as they would go in to a harlot. Thus they went in to Oholah and to Oholibah, the lewd women. But they, righteous men, will judge them with the judgment of adulteresses and with the judgment of women who shed blood, because they are adulteresses and blood is on their hands. For thus says the Lord GOD, ‘Bring up a company against them and give them over to terror and plunder. The company will stone them with stones and cut them down with their swords; they will slay their sons and their daughters and burn their houses with fire. Thus I will make lewdness cease from the land, that all women may be admonished and not commit lewdness as you have done. Your lewdness will be requited upon you, and you will bear the penalty of worshiping your idols; thus you will know that I am the Lord GOD.’ ” (NASB95)

Then we see the picture of a people, who belong to God, but have strayed so far that now they were using that which had been dedicated to Him, being used to obtain pleasure for them. God sees the picture differently than we do, He has some righteous left, a remnant that He looks to.

In his mind they have defiled themselves with their immoral behavior and must be judged according to the laws of adultery and murder. They have betrayed the marriage covenant with him and have stained their hands with the blood of children they had borne for him. Daniel Isaac Block, The Book of Ezekiel, Chapters 1–24, The New International Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), 762.

Now the Babylonian invasion of the southern kingdom is about to take place—there’s no alternative to it. God is judging both the northern and the southern kingdoms because they have turned away from the living and true God; one went brazenly into idolatry, and the other pretended to worship the Lord. J. Vernon McGee, Thru the Bible Commentary, electronic ed., vol. 3 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1997), 483.

For Judah, they had the outward sort of down, but culturally they were confused and they were confused about God as well. How are we doing? Are we confused about God? Do we truly know what His Word says about how we should be living as believers in Jesus Christ in the 21st Century? Page 9

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” (NASB95)

Matthew 7:15–23 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’” (NASB95)

Romans 10:8–13 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” (NASB95)

Current and Past Teachings, Study Notes and Slides of “Through the Bible” with Pastor Ken Brown are available at: www.calvaryword.com/bible