Tommy Mann

  The Lord gave the prophet Ezekiel many interesting visions, including one contained in the tenth chapter of the book that bears his name. In this vision Ezekiel saw the Lord inside the temple, which was where God’s invisible presence resided in Israel. The timing of this was shortly before the Southern Kingdom was defeated and exiled.   After describing the four angels around the throne, the prophet described what he saw next: “Then the glory of the LORD went out from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubim. And the cherubim lifted up their wings and mounted up from the earth before my eyes as they went out, with the wheels beside them. And they stood at the entrance of the east gate of the house of the LORD, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them (v.18-19).” In a shocking scene, the Lord left the temple. The vision was meant as a warning that the Israelites would not be able to go into the temple for worship because they would not be in their homel...

There is an interesting figure mentioned in the book of Jeremiah. In 7:18 we learn, “The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven.” Who is this queen of heaven? She is only mentioned here and three times in chapter 44, where the Israelites insist they will continue to worship her instead of the Lord.   Most scholars believe this was Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of war and fertility. Archaeologists have discovered statues and other images of her in ancient Israel, a place where Ishtar never should have been, but King Manasseh imported idol worship during his reign. This was a silly primitive practice.  But today there is a modern queen of heaven that is just as silly to worship. Roman Catholics use this title for Mary, the human mother of Jesus. They pray to her, asking her to ask her Son to do things for them, not realizing they can talk directly to her Son and enter “boldly before the throne of grace (He...

The Jews didn’t think God loved them anymore. It certainly didn’t look like He did. The nation split into two, and both North and South had been defeated. Not only were they decimated by their enemies, the survivors were rounded up and marched out of their land. No, it certainly didn’t look like God still loved them.  That is why His message through the prophet Jeremiah in chapter 31 were welcomed words. In the third verse we read, “The LORD appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” “From far away” reminds us they were in Babylon, far away from the Promised Land, and far away from the temple where they went to meet with the Lord. That He would appear to them at all, and especially from far away, was in itself wonderful news.  But notice what He said when He appeared. He loved them with an everlasting love. Their idolatry was not enough to break the love of the Lord. Their being conquered and di...

In Jeremiah 13 God asked an interesting question through His prophet: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots (v.23)?” This question is rhetorical because we know the answer to both halves of that question is no. The Ethiopian cannot change the color of his skin, nor can the leopard get rid of his trademark pattern.   But why did God ask such an obvious question? He was making a point, as the second half of the verse tells us: “Then also you can do good who are accustomed to do evil.” The things about the Ethiopian and the leopard is not that they do not have the ability to change, but that they have no desire to change. Why would the Ethiopian want to change his dark skin? Why would the leopard want to remove his spots? They are proud of the way they look; that is part of their distinguishing characteristic.  The point was the stubborn people of Israel’s Southern Kingdom had even less desire to change their behavior. Their identifying mark was their idolat...

  Where we sit says a lot about us. Or I should say, who we sit with says a lot about us. Do you prefer the company of the wicked or the righteous?   In Psalm 26 David prayed for God to vindicate him because he was being falsely accused of something. To David, the problem wasn’t just that he was accused of something he didn’t do, but that he was accused of something he wouldn’t do because he hated it.  (Although we don’t know for sure, this psalm may be in reference to the assassination of Ishbosheth, the son of Saul who installed himself as king even though David had been anointed as successor. People likely accused David of ordering the hit, and he didn’t want people think he condoned the murder.) In v.4-5 of the psalm the king said, “I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked.” If hate seems like a strong word, to David it wasn’t strong enough. What else could he say? He loa...

  The old prophets rarely used years to date their work, and instead chose to tie their writings to events in history. In the Old Testament Amos said he wrote, “in the days of Uzziah…two years before the earthquake.” (1:1) His fellow minor prophet Zechariah mentioned this same earthquake, saying that on that future day of the Lord (a time of judgment), “you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah.” (14:5) Uzziah’s story is found in both 2 Kings 15 and 2 Chronicles 26, but neither account mentions an earthquake. But since two prophets later referenced it, it must have been a doozy. The fact that the narratives about Uzziah do not cite this earthquake has given scoffers some ammunition to say the Bible is not credible.  But not anymore. Archaeologists now believe a massive earthquake rocked the Middle East in 760 BC, during the reign of Uzziah. They estimate that the quake would register a staggering 8.2 on today’s Richter scale, which mea...