Ezekiel

The book of Ezekiel relates to one of the most critical periods in the history of Israel. It is one of the most interesting and compelling books of the Hebrew Bible, and it is simultaneously one of the Bible's most difficult and perplexing books. It presents the visions and oracles of Ezekiel ben (son of) Buzi, which span a period of 22 years from 593 to 571 BC. [cf. Isaiah 740-700; Jeremiah 626-587; Daniel 604-535.]

Ezekiel was a Judean priest and prophet exiled to Babylon in 597 BC together with King Jehoiachin ben Jehoiakim of Judah as part of the first exile by King Nebchadnezzar of Babylon (2 Ki 24:8-17; 2 Chr 36:9-10). This first exile took place some 10 years prior to 587/586 BC, when Nebchadnezzar invaded Judah a seond time to destroy Jerusalem and the Temple of Solomon and to exile a major portion of the surviving Jerusalemite/Judean population to Babylon.

Ezekiel was a priest of the line of Zadok who was trained to serve at the altar of the Jerusalem Temple during the last 10 years of the Judean monarchy. But he was taken into captivity and was settled at a city called Tel Aviv, which in Hebrew means "hill of spring." When Ezekiel reached his 30th birthday (Ez 1:1), the age at chich he would have begun service in the Jerusalem Temple had he not been exiled to a foreqgn land, he saw visions of God, which marked the beginning of his new career as a visionary prophet of Yahweh.

Ezekiel wrote his messages to the exiles in Babylon in essentially a chronological order. He, as a watchman, warned Judah that her disobedience to the Mosaic covenant would bring its cursing upon her in the form of judgment upon the land and upon Jerusalem. Ezekiel employed every means to communicate his message: speaking, acting, visions, symbols, allegories, parables. But Judah had gone too far. Yahweh's glory was removed from the Temple and from Judah in preparation for the coming judgment. Systematically Ezekiel removed all their arguments against such a judgment. Then Jerusalem fell. Quickly judgment was also announced on the nations around Judah who cheered at her collapse and sought to plunder her.

The final portion of the book brought hope. Just prior to the news of Jerusalem's fall by the exiles in Babylon, Ezekiel received and proclaimed 6 night messages of blessing on Judah through cleansing and restoration to the land of Israel in the future. With the return of Israel to her land, Yahweh's glory would return to the new Temple constructed as His dwelling place among them.

The book of Ezekiel thus portrays the purging of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the people, to reconstitute them as part of a new creation at the conclusion of the book. With Jerusalem, the Temple, and the people so purged, Yahweh stands once again in the holy center of the created world. Ezekiel then points to the return of Yahweh to the holy temple at the center of a reconstituted Israel and creation at large. It ultimately represents a profound attempt to encounter the holy in the profane world, and based on that encounter, to sanctify the world in which we live. By him Judah was to know of the future restoration of all Israel to the Promised Land by the Messiah.

Ezekial is mostly a mystery to modern readers. Few can handle his relentless denunciations, his unconventional antics, his repetitive style and his bewildering array of topics. He is like a stranger from a distant time and land.

• Who is this priest who, on his 30th birthday, has a dazzling vision of God on a wheeled throne?
• Who is this odd prophet who engages in outlandish street theater and speaks for God on international affairs?
• Who is this seer who paints murals of apocalyptic doom and then of a restored temple bursting with emblems of paradise?

Ezekiel means "whom God strengthens." The prayer of his parent when he was born is "May God strengthen him." He was born in 622 BC [based on the assumption that when he was 30 (1:1-2), it was the 5th hear of King Jehoiachin - 593-592 BC]. It was the year the book of the law was discovered in the temple, which spurred King Josiah's reforms (2 Kings 22; 2 Chr 34:3-7). He had been king for 18 years since 640 BC.

Ezekiel's visions include:

• a vision of Yahweh's throne chariot in Ezekiel 1, which appears to him while he stands on the banks of the Kebar River (1:1).
  
• a vision of Yahweh's decision to destroy the city of Jerusalem and to kill or exile its population (Ezekiel 8-11).
• a vision of the new temple which portends not only a new temple structure in Jerusalem, but a renewed and reconstituted Twelve Tribes of Israel and even creation at large (Ezekiel 40-48).

Ezekiel's visions are characterized by bizarre imagery and concepts, such as:

• the vision of the four cherubim who bear Yahweh's throne chariot through the heavens, each of whom has a body of burnished bronze, the feet of cattle, three sets of wings, and four faces, which represent four aspects of the divine character.
  
• the vision of the restoration of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37, which plays a major role in defining expectations concerning resurrection in both Judaism and Christianity.
• the vision of the restored temple in Ezekiel 40-48, which differs markedly from what is known of the First Temple, built by King Solomon ben David, and the Second Temple, built at the beginning of the Persian period.

His actions are also frequently bizarre:

• He cuts off his hair, divides it into 3 portions, and chops, burns, and scatters it to illustrate the fate of the people of Judah (Exeziel 5).
• He refuses to mourn for his dead wife to emulate Yahweh's response to Jerusalem's demise (Ezekiel 24).
• He serves as watchman to warn his people concerning the approach of danger, including danger due to their own alleged wrongdoing (Ezekiel 3 and 33).

Key verses are Ezekiel 36:24-27, 36:33-35.

"For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land.25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanseyou from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws" (Ez 36:24-27).

"This is what the Sovereign Lord says: On the day I cleanse you from all your sins, I will resettle your towns, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34 The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through it.35 They will say, "This land that was laid waste has become like the garden of Eden; the cities that were lying in ruins, desolate and destroyed, are now fortified and inhabited" (Ez 36:33-35).

The key chapter is Ezekiel 37: Restoration & Resurrection of Redeemed Israel.