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Towering Figures of the Old Testament |
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Ezekiel |
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Introduction |
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Ezekiel's complex character makes him
one of the most interesting figures in
Israelite prophecy. In many ways he
resembles the more primitive type of
prophet represented by Elijah and
Elisha; yet he clearly depends on all
his predecessors in prophecy, and his
teaching is a development of theirs.
His unique contribution to the history
of prophetism lies in his manifest
interest in the temple and the liturgy,
an interest paralleled in no other
prophet-not even Jeremiah who, like
Ezekiel, was also a priest. Particularly
because of this interest, Ezekiel's
influence on postexilic religion was
enormous, and not without reason has he
been called "the father of Judaism."
This has resulted in his prophecies
reaching us with |
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the evident marks of editing and addition by
the post-exilic circles that shared his
intense interest. However, we may be sure
that in this book we have throughout what is
in substance the prophet's own work. -
USCCB |
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The Visions of the Destruction of Israel
and Judah |
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Ezekiel, a priest, was deported, together with
Joachim as prisoners from Jerusalem, by
Nebuchadnezzar in 597. During this time the
word of the LORD came to Ezekiel through
visions showing the glory of God and the
destruction of Israel and Judah because of
their disobedience of the laws of the LORD and
worshiping foreign gods.
In these visions, the LORD appeared to Ezekiel
in a stormwind with a huge cloud with flashing
fire. In the midst of the fire something
gleamed like electrum. Within this stormwind
were four figures, later identified as the
cherubim, sparkled with a gleam like burnished
bronze. Each of the four had the face of a
man, but on the right side was the face of a
lion, and on the left side the face of an ox,
and finally each had the face of an eagle.
Over
the heads of the living creatures, |
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something like
a firmament could be seen, seeming like glittering
crystal, stretched straight out above their heads.
Beneath the firmament their wings were stretched
out, one toward the other.
Ezekiel heard the sound of their wings that was
like the roar of mighty waters, like the voice of
the Almighty. When they moved, the sound of the
tumult was like the din of an army.
Above the firmament over their heads something
like a throne could be seen, looking like
sapphire. Upon it was seated, up above, one who
had the appearance of a man. Upward from what
resembled his waist Ezekiel saw what gleamed like
electrum; downward from what resembled his waist I
saw what looked like fire; he was surrounded with
splendor.
Like the rainbow in the clouds after a rainy day
was the splendor that surrounded him. Such was the
vision of the likeness of the glory of the LORD
seen by Ezekiel, who fell on his face when he saw
Him and heard the LORD’s voice. |
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The LORD told Ezekiel that He is sending him
to the Israelites, who rebelled and revolted
against Him. He then handed Ezekiel a scroll,
on which was written lamentation and wailing
and woe, for him to eat and thereafter to go
forth and speak His words to the house of
Israel and to warn them for Him, that the
wicked man shall die for his sins and the
virtuous man shall be saved, and that Israel
and Judah will fall.
However, the LORD warned Ezekiel that the
people of Israel will refuse to listen to him
for the house of Israel is stubborn and
obstinate in heart. But the LORD promise
Ezekiel that He will make his face as hard as
theirs, and his brow as stubborn as theirs,
like diamond. |
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After this vision, he came to the exiles who lived
at Tel-abib by the river Chebar, and for seven
days he sat among them distraught, for having been
appointed watchman by the LORD over the house of
Israel.
And the LORD ordered Ezekiel to shut himself up in
his house, making Ezekiel’s tongue stick to his
palate so he will be unable to rebuke the house of
Israel until He orders him to speak to them.
The LORD then told Ezekiel to lie down on his left
side and bear the sins of Israel one day for every
year that Israel sinned, or a total of for three
hundred and ninety days. When that allotted time
is done, the LORD told Ezekiel to then lie down on
his right side and bear the sins of Judah, one day
for every year that Judah sinned, or for forty
days.
The LORD ordered Ezekiel to cut his hair with a
sharp sword and divide the hair he cut into three
portions. He told Ezekiel to burn a third of his
hair in fire within the city, then place another
third around the city and strike it with the sword
and finally to strew the remaining third in the
wind and pursue it with the sword. |
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He told Ezekiel that a third of the house of
Israel will die of pestilence and perish of
hunger within them, another third shall fall
by the sword all around them and a third He
will scatter in every direction and He will
pursue them with the sword.
Further the LORD told Ezekiel to prophesy
against Israel, that the LORD will bring the
sword against them, destroy their high places,
lay waste to their altars and cast down their
slain ones before their idols, scattering
their bones.
The LORD said that the sword is outside;
pestilence and hunger are within. He that is
in the country shall die by the sword;
pestilence and famine shall |
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devour
those in the city. Even those who escape and flee
to the mountains like the doves of the valleys—He
will put them all to death, each one for his own
sins. He will bring in the worst of the nations,
who shall take possession of their houses. He will
put an end to their proud strength, and their
sanctuaries shall be profaned.
When anguish comes they shall seek peace, but
there will be none. There shall be disaster after
disaster, rumor after rumor. Prophetic vision
shall fade; instruction shall be lacking to the
priest, and counsel to the elders, while the
prince shall be enveloped in terror, and the hands
of the common people shall tremble. He will deal
with them according to their conduct, and
according to their judgments He will judge them;
thus they shall know that He is the LORD. |
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After the LORD showed Ezekiel the abominations
that the people of Israel and Judah did, He called
up six men, each with a weapon in his hand. With
them was a man with a writer’s case at his waist
whom the LORD told to pass through the city of
Jerusalem and mark with an X the foreheads of
those who moan and groan over all the abominations
that are practiced within it. The LORD instructed
the other men to pass through the city and strike
without pity every man woman and child without the
mark.
When the men left, Ezekiel cried before the LORD
for his people. The LORD told Ezekiel that the
sins of the house of Israel are great beyond
measure; the land is filled with bloodshed, the
city with lawlessness. They think that the LORD
has forsaken the land, that he does not see them.
These visions foretold the destruction of
Jerusalem in 587 by Nebuchadnezzar, and thus
Ezekiel was vindicated before his unbelieving
people. |
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The
Salvation of Israel |
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The word of the LORD comes to Ezekiel for him
to tell his countrymen that when the LORD
brings the sword against a country, a
watchman, selected from their own, shall see
the sword coming and shall blow his trumpet to
warn the people. Those who hear but shall not
heed the warning shall be slain. Those who
listen shall be spared.
The LORD appoints Ezekiel the watchman.
The LORD tells Ezekiel to tell his people that
the LORD takes no pleasure in the death of the
wicked man, but rather in the wicked man’s
conversion. If the wicked man listens to the
warning and turns away from his sin he shall
live. If a virtuous man turns away from what
is right and does wrong, he shall die for it. |
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The hand of the LORD comes upon Ezekiel one
evening on the twelfth year of the exile and opens
his mouth, so he can speak. On that next day a
fugitive comes to Ezekiel with news that the city
was taken. As ordered by the LORD, Ezekiel tells
his people that the survivors shall not have any
claim to their land. |
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The LORD further says that for lack of a
shepherd His sheep are scattered. They have
become food for the wild beasts, and have been
given to pillage. Because of this the LORD
says that He shall look after and tend His
sheep, rescuing them from every place.
The LORD says that He shall lead them
out from among the peoples and gather
them from foreign lands. He shall bring
them back to their own country. In good
pastures he shall pasture them, and on
the mountain heights of Israel shall be
their grazing ground. There they shall
lie down on good grazing |
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ground, and in rich pastures shall
they
be pastured on the mountains of Israel. The LORD
Himself shall give them rest. He shall bring back
the strays, bind up the blind and heal the sick.
The
LORD says that He shall appoint one shepherd to
pasture them, who shall be prince among them. He
shall make a covenant of peace with his people. He
shall rid the country of ravenous beasts that they
may dwell securely in the desert and sleep in the
forests.
The LORD says that He shall make the fields bear
their fruits and the land their crops. Thus they
shall know that he is the LORD when He breaks the
bonds of their yoke and free them from the power
of those who enslaved them. The countries that
plundered, enslaved and defiled Israel with their
idols shall bear their own reproach. The LORD
shall pour fury upon them. The cities shall then
be resettled with His people and the ruins
rebuilt.
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The hand of the LORD comes upon Ezekiel and
leads him to the center of a plain now filled
with bones. The LORD tells Ezekiel to prophesy
on them so that they shall hear the word of
the LORD, thus they shall rise and come to
life full of the LORD’s spirit. So Ezekiel
prophesies on the dry bones and they come to
life. The LORD tells Ezekiel that the bones
are the whole house of Israel.
The LORD tells Ezekiel to prophesy to Israel
who had lost hope and felt cut off. He shall
open their graves and have them rise from
them, and bring them back to the land of
Israel.
The LORD tells Ezekiel to take a single stick,
and write on it: Judah and those Israelites
who are associated with him. Then to take
another stick and write on it: Joseph (the
stick of Ephraim) and all the house of
Israel
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associated with him. He tells him to join
the two stick together so that they form one
stick in his hand.
The
LORD tells Ezekiel to tell the people that this
meant He shall take the Israelites from among the
nations to which they have come. He shall gather
them from all sides to bring them back to their
land. Then He shall make them one nation upon the
land, in the mountains of Israel, and there shall
be one prince for them all. Never again shall they
be two nations, and never again shall they be
divided into two kingdoms.
No longer shall they defile themselves with their
idols, their abominations, and all their
transgressions. He shall deliver them from all
their sins of apostasy, and cleanse them so that
they may be His people and He may be their God.
His servant David shall be prince over them, and
there shall be one shepherd for them all. They
shall live by His statutes and carefully observe
His decrees.
They shall live on the land which He gave to His
servant Jacob, the land where their fathers lived;
they shall live on it forever, they, and their
children, and their children's children, with His
servant David their prince forever.
He shall make with them a covenant of everlasting
peace and He shall multiply them, and put His
sanctuary among them forever. His dwelling shall
be with them; he shall be their God, and they
shall be His people. |
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The New
Israel |
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On the tenth day of the month beginning
the twenty-fifth year of their exile,
fourteen years after the city is taken,
the LORD comes upon Ezekiel and brings
him in divine visions to the land of
Israel, where He sets him down on a very
high mountain.
On it there a city is being built before
Ezekiel. The LORD gives Ezekiel the
dimensions of the temple that is to be
built, how the temple will be laid out
and how it will be governed. The LORD
specifies that the priests who have
charge of the temple will be the
Zadokites, the only Levites who may come
near to minister to the LORD.
Then the LORD leads Ezekiel to the gate
which faces the east, and there he sees
the glory of the God of Israel coming
from the east. He |
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hears a sound like the roaring of many
waters, and the earth shone with his glory.
The vision is like that which Ezekiel saw when
the LORD came to destroy the city, and like that
which he had seen by the river Chebar. Ezekiel
falls prone as the glory of the LORD enters the
temple.
The spirit lifts Ezekiel up and brings him to the
inner court, which is filled with the glory of the
LORD.
Then Ezekiel hears someone speaking to him from
the temple.
The voice says to him:
Son of man, this is where my throne shall be, this
is where I will set the soles of my feet; here I
will dwell among the Israelites forever. Never
again shall they and their kings profane my holy
name with their harlotries and with the corpses of
their kings (their high places).
When they placed their threshold against my
threshold and their doorpost next to mine, so that
only a wall was between us, they profaned my holy
name by their abominable deeds; therefore I
consumed them in my wrath. |
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From now on they shall put far from me their
harlotry and the corpses of their kings, and I
will dwell in their midst forever.
Then the LORD orders Ezekiel to describe the
temple to the house of Israel - its
measurements and its design, its exits and
entrances, and all its statutes and laws. He
tells Ezekiel to write these down for them to
see, that they may carefully observe all its
laws and statutes.
The LORD also declares the law of the temple:
its whole surrounding area on the mountain top
shall be most sacred.
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The LORD then instructs Ezekiel to set apart a
sacred tract of land for the LORD that will be
sacred, in which the sanctuary, the holy of
holies shall be built. The sanctuary shall be the
sacred part of the land belonging to the priests,
the ministers of the sanctuary, who draw near to
minister to the LORD; it shall be a place for
their homes and pasture land for their cattle.
The LORD says that these priests shall come from
the line of Zadok who cared for His sanctuary when
the Israelites strayed from Him. They shall draw
near Him to minister to Him, and they shall stand
before Him to offer Him fat and blood.
On the other hand, the LORD says to Ezekiel the
Levites, who departed from Him when Israel strayed
from Him to pursue their idols, they shall bear
the consequences of their sin. They shall serve in
His sanctuary as gatekeepers and temple servants;
they shall slaughter the holocausts and the
sacrifices for the people, and they shall stand
before the people to minister for them.
The LORD also specifies the offerings of the
people to the prince of Israel who in turn shall
offer sacrifices to the LORD. The LORD further
specifies what the sacrifices should be and when
to offer them
The LORD tells Ezekiel that the dishonest of the
royalty, whom in collusion with the rich created a
monopoly of land ownership thus evicting the
people, shall stop. The LORD also stresses honesty
among those in business to have fairness with the
people. |
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Then the LORD brings Ezekiel back to the
entrance of the temple, and Ezekiel sees water
flowing in a river from the sanctuary. The
LORD tells Ezekiel that the water shall empty
into the sea, which it makes fresh. Wherever
the river flows, every sort of living creature
that can multiply shall live, and there shall
be abundant fish, for wherever this water
comes the sea shall be made fresh.
The LORD says that the fishermen shall be
standing along it spreading their nets for of
fish shall be like those of the Great Sea,
very numerous. Only its marshes and swamps
shall not be made fresh; they shall be left
for salt. |
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The
LORD tells Ezekiel that along both banks of the
river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their
leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every
month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall
be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their
fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for
medicine.
The Lord GOD tells Ezekiel the boundaries within
which he shall apportion the land among the twelve
tribes of Israel with Joseph having two portions.
All of them shall have a like portion in this land
which He swore to give to their fathers as their
inheritance.
The LORD tells Ezekiel that he shall distribute
this land among the tribes of Israel. They shall
allot it as inheritances for themselves and for
the aliens resident in their midst who have bred
children among them. The aliens shall be to them
like native Israelites; along with them the aliens
shall receive inheritances among the tribes of
Israel. In whatever tribe the alien may be
resident, there he shall assign him his
inheritance, says the Lord GOD. |
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The Chariot of Israel: Exploits of the Prophet of Elijah
THE CHARIOT OF ISRAEL: When Elijah was caught up
to heaven, his disciple Elisha cried out, "the
chariot of Israel, and its horsemen." Elisha was
referring not to the chariot but to the prophet.
This study of Elijah’s life will captivate you
as it walks you through a pivotal period in
Israel’s history, and illustrative maps will
give you a better picture of the physical
geography of this ancient land. |
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The First Book of Kings (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament) This
volume of commentary on the New English Bible text of the First Book of Kings
follows the pattern of the now well-established series on the Old and New
Testaments. The main divisions of the text are those provided by the New English
Bible itself, but these are further subdivided for the purposes of the
commentary, which is printed in short sections following the relevant portion of
the text. |
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Canon Robinson suggests that the editors of I
Kings compiled their history in order to teach
the Hebrews that their existence as Israel, the
covenant people of God, depended upon their
continuing loyalty to their own religious
traditions, and their refusal to exchange them
for the very different traditions of the
Canaanites among whom they lived.
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I & II Samuel: A Commentary (Old Testament Library)
First sentence in
the book:
""THE BOOKS OF SAMUEL contain that
part of the history of Israel which describes
the foundation of the State, running from the
close of the period of the Judges to the
establishment of the united kingdom." |
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Samson and Delilah and Other Old Testament
Stories (Discovering the Bible)
(Hardcover) by Victoria Parker (Author), Retold
by Victoria Parker (Author)
This book provides known Bible stories from
Israel in the Promised land to the Story of
Ruth. It has the stories we grew up with but it
adds historical and religious facts to each
story. It tells the stories gearing them toward
elementary school children. |
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Moses Great Lives Series: Volume 4 ,
by Charles R. Swindoll. This book presents the
Bible's real Moses-the Moses who tried to
decline his assignment from God; the Moses who
dazzled Pharoh; the Moses who received the Ten
Commandments; the Moses who was disobedient and
weak; the Moses who was the greatest leader of
God's people in all of history. Through his
faith and selfless dedication, Moses continually
chose to follow God's will through difficult and
seemingly impossible situations.
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Jacob and Esau
by Harriette Augusta Curtiss and F. Homer
Curtiss (Paperback - Dec 30, 2005) |
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The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction &
Commentary
by J. A. Motyer
Recipient of a Christianity Today 1994 Critics
Choice Award! Among Old Testament prophetic
books no other equals Isaiah's brilliance of
style and metaphor, its arresting vision of the
Holy One of Israel and its kaleidoscopic vision
of God's future restoration of Israel and the
world. Now, after over three decades of studying
and teaching Isaiah, Alec Motyer presents a
wealth of commentary and perspective on this
book. |
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Saint of the Day: Lives, Lessons, and Feasts
(Paperback)
by Leonard Foley (Editor), Pat McCloskey
(Editor) |
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Lives of the
Saints You Should Know by Margaret R. Bunson,
Matthew E. Bunson |
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New Illustrated Book of Saints
Author: Catholic Book Publishing Company |
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One Hundred Saints: Their Lives and Likenesses
Drawn from Butler's
This is a coffee-table collection of 100 popular
saints illustrated with art works taken from
international galleries. The saints are listed
alphabetically in a valuable table of contents,
with a larger list of patron saints following
the text. Inclusion is based on popularity
within the Christian world and the
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availability of
atypical art works. Entries are generally based
on the 1926-38 edition of Butler's Lives of the
Saints, with the length of each entry varying
from one-half page to several pages. Short
entries giving written insight into the lives of
pious individuals are combined with depictions
rendered by artists such as Raphael and El
Greco. An inexpensive tribute to art and faith
more appropriate for gift-giving than for
libraries. |
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